Feral Awakening (The Feral Series-Book 2) (37 page)

 “Are you okay sweet? I
didn’t hurt you did I?” Kat could hear the worry in his voice and rushed to
reassure him.

 “If we are going to do
that every time I tell you I love you, you’re going to hear it a lot.” Kat smiled
when she felt his chest shaking with a laugh where he was pressed against her
back. As his fingers moved their way up to play with the strands of her hair,
Kat could feel her eyes getting heavy. With a sigh of contentment she drifted
off to sleep.

 Ronan watched his mate
sleeping as an unfamiliar sense of peace settled deep in his soul. No longer
was he a man being torn in two different directions. Both man and beast were
whole again, the two were in perfect balance, the tiny female resting
comfortably in his arms making it all possible.

 Never again would he
push her away. She had proven time and time again that she was his equal in
every way. They were made for each other. She was the only one who had ever
been able to tame his beast. He knew she would fight him just as passionately
as she loved him but he wasn’t worried. This tiny woman would always be able to
handle anything he dished out. She was the perfect combination of toughness and
soft female. He love the way she bit and scratched and then yielded to him when
he needed it most. He knew he had treated her badly and he intended to spend
the rest of his life ensuring that she knew nothing but happiness from here on
out. With that thought in mind Ronan finally let himself drift into a much
needed sleep.

Kat and Ronan walked
hand in hand across the thick grass of her backyard.

 “Are you sure about
this?” Ronan looked down in concern into the twinkling eyes of his mate.

 “Heck ya I’m sure. Besides
Uncle Patrick will take good care of Donavan while we are gone. That man is a
natural with babies. Who knew he would have such good mothering instincts.”

 “It’s not Donavan I’m
worried about, it’s you. It’s only been eight weeks since he was born and this
will be the first time you have been running in months. Maybe we should wait a
little longer.” Kat’s pregnancy had been a big surprise for everyone last year,
especially since it was so rare for a female Lykan to get pregnant her first
season, leave it to Kat to break all the rules. She had taken it in stride though
and had teased Ronan that it was because they had been practicing so much.

 Both of them had been deliriously
happy when they realized they were going to be parents. Ronan had strutted
around his parent’s house like a proud papa and then proceeded to drive Kat
crazy for the next eight months with his over-protectiveness. If she thought he
was a domineering and overly protective male before, he had become ten times
worse with her pregnancy.

 She quickly learned to
smile sweetly at him and then as soon as he was out of eye sight she was back
on her feet and doing just as she pleased again, at least until he caught her
and then it would start all over again.

 What had surprised her
the most though was that she had gotten her way a lot while she was pregnant. Anytime
she got her fill of Ronan forcing her to rest and telling her she couldn’t do
something and just in general treating her like glass, she would lose her
temper and start yelling at him. Ronan was so afraid of upsetting her and
harming the baby he refused to fight with her and would eventually give in. Kat
of course took full advantage.

 They had stayed with
Ronan’s parents for a couple of weeks after their mating but then Kat had
decided she really wanted to go home, back to her little farm house.

 Ronan had agreed,
although his beast was quieter, he still wasn’t comfortable living with the
pack. He still had no intentions of resuming his place as the next alpha, that
job was still to fall to his brother Teagan. They had decided to move to her
little farm house for a few years at least. Once little Donavan was older
though they might decide to move a little closer to the pack.

 Teagan and his mate
were settling in to pack life and the little vampire was slowly winning over
the hearts of the more resistant members of the pack. Thanks to Lorcan
O’Donnell the pack could clearly see that there were benefits to being aligned
with the vampires. They had a ways to go yet but things were going well.

 Kat and Ava had said a
tearful goodbye and promised to visit each other regularly and both had been
true to their word. Teagan and Ava were coming for a visit next week as a
matter of fact. To Ronan’s surprise he actually liked that he got to stay in
touch with his family now.

 Kat and Ronan had
settled into a comfortable life here in Eureka Springs. She spent less time at
the shop now and Patrick had brought his cousin in full time to help out. Patrick
was doing well and had no memory of being taken by the vampires that had tried
to use him to get to Ava. He was crazy about little Donavan and visited his
little nephew regularly much to Ronan’s aggravation.

 Ronan was learning to
tolerate the strange feminine man but he really preferred to have Kat and the
baby to himself. Kat still worked at the shop on occasion but it was a little
difficult since Ronan went with her, not allowing her out of his sight for even
a moment. Kat didn’t mind but he really wasn’t good for business. The women all
loved to look at him until his scowl had them scurrying away. Now Kat spent most
of her time in the barn working on new pieces for both her shop and pieces that
she sold to some of the other boutiques in the area.

 Shortly after moving
back into her little house, Ronan had brought her a gift of sorts. As a
surprise, he had retrieved

her old truck from
Claymore and as he pulled up into the drive, six chickens could be heard
squawking from a cage in the bed of the rusty old truck. Kat had loved her
surprise. It wasn’t diamonds and silks but her mate knew her better than anyone
and she thought it was the best gift anyone had ever given her.

 Stopping at the edge
of the woods, Kat beamed up at him, mischief clearly written all over her face.

 “Aw come on Ronan. I’ll
be fine. We have a baby sitter and everything. Let’s go for a run.”

 Ronan huffed at her in
response. The frown creasing his eyebrows clearly showed that he didn’t think
that she was ready for it.

 Pulling away from him,
Kat began to wonder down the path in front of him. Walking backwards she
teased. “What’s the matter Ronan, afraid you won’t be able to keep up?” With a
laugh, her emerald eyes began to glow and then she spun around and raced into
the welcoming embrace of the woods. With an answering growl, Ronan’s eyes
glowed gold in the shadows of the trees.
Gods how I love to chase that
woman.
Trying to give her a head start he resisted the urge to follow her.

 He would let her play
for a bit before capturing her, after all, it would be best if they were deep
in the woods when he tore those tight little running clothes from her body. His
little mate loved it when he chased her. Smiling in anticipation he paced while
he waited. Finally, with a tribal yip he broke into a run and stalked her
through the woods. With a wolfish grin he realized he would be willing to chase
his little mate to the ends of the earth if it made her happy.

A Note From Erin
Ashley:

I sincerely hope you
enjoyed reading Feral Awakening. Thank you very much for allowing me to share
my stories with all of you. I hope for a little while at least, you got a break
from reality and that I managed to entertain you. For those of you who have
read Feral Instincts, Joseph and Alex’s story will be the next book in the
Feral series. The release will hopefully be sometime around May-June 2013.

As you may know I am a
self-published author and as such welcome your feedback.

To contact me and to check
for updates please visit:

 
www.facebook.com/erin.ashley.author