Harvest Moon (31 page)

All the air sucked from the room. Adam walked away, raking his hair back from his forehead. “
My
blood,
Pack
blood, is mixed with Nero.” His cold gaze locked onto Sebastian. “Madeleine may be a jaguar, but she is still
Pack
. I will tear Severino limb from limb if he comes anywhere near my family.”

Sebastian’s voice lowered to a feral growl. “She is
my
family, too.”

Adam rushed forward, but Aren caught him before he got to Sebastian. “You stay away from my family, you cold-blooded son of a bitch!”

Sebastian rolled his shoulders back, unfazed. “Where be these enemies? Capulet! Montague! See, what a scourge is laid upon your hate, That heaven finds means to kill your joys with love!”

“Spare me your poetic bullshit.” Adam ripped free of Aren’s grasp, but he didn’t attack again.

“It’s
Romeo and Juliet
, Wolf.” He shook his head and glanced at me. “I realize I have many sins, but know this. All of you. Nothing is stronger than blood. And blood is what I protect.”

“What happens when your ‘blood’ orders you to take Adam’s children?”

Sebastian took a step in my direction. “That’s why it was so important that my brother didn’t complete this mission. After I failed to bring in Lana and Sasha, my father suspects my loyalties are in question. He killed Grace…”

He paused and cleared his throat. “To punish me. And when he gave the order to eliminate Grace’s roommate, he called on Damian. Not me. If my brother had succeeded, I have no doubt my father would groom Damian for my position.”

“So like I said, this had nothing to do with saving Kilani and everything to do with saving your own ass.”

“Of course.” The corner of Sebastian’s mouth curved into a half smile. “Would you expect anything different?” He went to the door and stopped, turning back to Adam. “If my brother gains access to the higher security documents, he
will
discover the breeding experiment. I’m trying to keep that knowledge from him because I protect my blood, which includes your mate and your children, but make no mistake, Wolf…I am not your friend or your ally.”

He slammed the door behind him.

We stared at one another for a second. Adam shook his head. “This is all kinds of fucked up. This means we’ll never be rid of Nero, we’ll never be safe until Severino is dead.” He sighed and met my eyes. “Thanks for pinning Sebastian down, Jason. We’re safer knowing than not.”

“How did Lana take it?”

“As well as could be expected. I think she was hoping it wouldn’t be true.”

“Remind her that she didn’t get to pick her family.” I clasped my hands together, resting my elbows on my knees. “Being related to Antonio Severino doesn’t change who she is or who her children are.”

When the others left, I shook my head. “This is going to be tough on Lana. She grew up in foster care. No one wants to finally find their parents and discover their dad is a sick, twisted, evil bastard.”

“She deserves to know. If he comes calling, she needs to be ready.”

I sent up a prayer that that day would never come.

Chapter Thirty-Two

K
ILANI

“W
ell, I lost my job.” I tossed my cell into my purse. “They filled my position while we were gone.”

Jason placed two plates piled high with eggs and bacon on the bar and came around to take the stool next to me. “I have some news. too.”

“Oh yeah?” I popped a forkful of fluffy scrambled eggs in my mouth.

“My nurse, Becky, is pregnant.”

“Okay.”

Even the bacon was perfect. How did I get so lucky to fall in love with a handsome, smart werewolf who could cook?

“She’s a few months along now, carrying twins. She just got put on bed rest.” He grinned at me.

I placed my fork on the edge of my plate and raised a brow. “So you might need a nurse?”

“Exactly.” He took a drink of orange juice. “But she’d have to be a forward thinker, you know, someone who can get what I need before I ask for it.”

I smiled. “Hmmm.”

“And she needs to be short…possibly Hawaiian… Her name should probably start with a
K
…”

I laughed and slid off the stool without a hint of pain. The antibiotics ran out a couple of days before, and other than some bruising and a little scar, no one would’ve guessed I’d been shot two weeks ago.

“Well, I’ll keep my ear to the ground while I’m job hunting. Maybe I’ll find your perfect nurse.” I walked toward the bedroom, swaying my hips in my baggy sweatpants.

He raced up behind me and swept me off my feet, carrying me to the bed. I laughed, screaming as we wrestled on the mattress. Finally, I let him pin me underneath him. “So are you trying to ask me to work for you?”

“
With
me.” He kissed my lips. “Will you come work with me?”

I pretended to give it some thought. “Well, I am available…Yes.”

He kissed me in earnest then and let me roll him over. Straddling his waist, I pulled my sweatshirt over my head and tossed it across the room. He ran his hand up my legs as he stared at me with hungry eyes. “I love you.”

I laid over him, taking his lower lip in my teeth. “You better.”

He laughed and rolled me under him again. “If we didn’t have the twins’ birthday party today, I’d be sure you never left this room.”

Since my injury healed, we had lots of catching up to do. Noisy catching up. I glanced at the digital clock by the bed. “Maybe if we’re fast.”

Jason got up, taking me with him. “I have a better idea.”

I wrapped my arms around his neck. “Oh yeah?”

He carried me into the bathroom and turned on the shower. “Plus, we’ll be conserving water.”

W
e were only fifteen minutes late to Malcolm and Madeleine’s party at the ranch. These twins were like no other one-year-olds I’d ever seen. Not only were they running, but they spoke in sentences. Jason told me it had something to do with the shorter gestational period. Apparently women in the Pack gave birth to full-term babies after four months, instead of nine, and the babies matured at a rapid rate until they leveled out just before kindergarten.

Malcolm scrambled ahead of his sister and tackled Jason around the knees. “Jason.”

“Hey, buddy.” Jason swooped him up, eliciting a bout of giggles. “Happy birthday.”

Madeleine stopped in front of me and stared up. “You’re Jason’s.”

He slid his free arm around my waist. “Madeleine, this is Kilani. She’s my mate.”

The little girl held her hands up to me in the universal symbol of pick-me-up-now. I lifted her into my arms and she grinned. “You’re pretty.”

“Thank you.” I laughed. “You’re beautiful, too.”

Madeleine poked her brother. “We can’t tell her.”

Malcolm shook his head. “Nope, because it’s a secret.”

“A secret?” I glanced up at Jason. “Do you know about this secret?”

He raised a brow and shrugged. “What secret?”

I nudged him. “You’re a horrible liar.”

I set Madeleine down, and Nadya came around the corner. Her eyes lit up as she pulled me into a hug. “You look great. How are you feeling?”

“Much better. Thanks. So are you in on this secret?”

Nadya shot a playful look at the little ones. “Did you two tell her?”

Jason put Malcolm down beside his sister as they both shook their heads. “No, because it’s secret and that means don’t tell.”

They spun around and raced away before I could question them further. I turned to Nadya again. “Has my grandmother gotten here yet?”

She nodded. “Yeah, she and Chloe are out back. They chased Adam away from the barbecue grill.”

I took Jason’s hand. “We should go see if they need any help.”

“I think we both know the answer.”

“True, but we can at least offer.”

Nadya gave Jason a quick hug. “Great to see you both.”

She followed after the twins, and I started to go, but Jason tugged me back to him. I stared up into his eyes. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah. I just wanted one more minute to have you to myself.” He kissed me long and slow. I savored every caress of his lips until my whole body warmed.

He rested his forehead on mine and I smiled. “What was that for?”

“Because I love you.” There was a sparkle in his eyes as he straightened to his full height and took my hand. “Come on.”

We walked through the house, waving hello to Lana and Sasha in the kitchen chopping up condiments for the burgers. Live music played in the back by the barn. This Wolf Pack went all-out for a first birthday party.

I stopped, blinking as the scene changed and a flash of the future took over. Wyatt, Jason’s dad, stood with him, they smiled, lifting their glasses. Where was I? I struggled to catch the details. I was dancing. With Jared. Where?

And it was gone.

Jason sighed beside me. “Tough to surprise a psychic.”

“What?” I looked up at him. “How did you know I had a vision?”

“You blink hard when they come on.”

“I do?”

He nodded and squeezed my hand. “I pay attention.”

“Not bad for a doctor.”

He chuckled. “So is the cat out of the bag?”

I shrugged. “If the big surprise is me dancing with your brother.”

“What?” He raised his eyebrows. “Should I be jealous?”

I elbowed him, shaking my head. We went out back and my breath caught. Beside the three-tiered birthday cake and banner was another banner that read,
Welcome to the Pack, Kilani
.

Logan stopped strumming his guitar and leaned into the microphone. “Can we get everyone out here?”

Jason reached into the pocket of his jeans and withdrew a gray velvet box. My heart leapt into my throat.

“Kilani, everybody here can testify that I never believed in mates. I thought it was impossible for fate to choose your destined soul mate. But I’m here today in front of my family and my Pack to say, I was dead wrong. And I am the luckiest man on earth that fate chose you for me.” He opened the box. “Welcome to the Pack.”

It still caught me off guard sometimes to be publically acknowledged as his mate. I hoped it would wear off eventually. Those days of being rejected were behind me, but some days my new life with Jason still seemed like a dream.

Inside the box was a silver bracelet. Each square alternated with a carving of my
honu
and a wolf. Perfect. Just like my mate.

Tears blurred my vision as I stared into his eyes. “It’s beautiful.”

He took it out and fastened it around my wrist. “I’m glad you like it because”—he pulled another gray box from his other pocket with a twinkle in his eyes—“it matches this.”

He opened the box and a ring sparkled up at me. The band of the ring matched the bracelet with my
honu
on one side of the diamond and a wolf on the other.

“Kilani, will you marry me?”

I resisted the urge to pinch myself. Emotion choked my throat as I scanned the crowd and found my grandmother’s eyes. She wiped a tear from her cheek and smiled at me.

I looked up at Jason and nodded. “Yes. I would love to marry you.”

Howls erupted as Jason pulled me into his arms. He whispered against my lips, “Surprised?”

“Very.” I laughed, nodding and kissing him. “Tough to surprise a psychic.”

“So I’ve heard.” Jason took my hand, sliding the diamond ring onto my finger. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

His parents stood together holding hands, just as I’d seen in my vision at their house. His father met my eyes and came toward me, without a cane, without help, and embraced me. Tears sprang to my eyes all over again as I clung to him.

He held me tight and whispered, “Welcome to the family.”

I never knew my father, no name was listed on my birth certificate, but I couldn’t imagine a better man than the one holding me and offering me a place in his family.

He let me go and smiled. “I hope you’ll grow to call me Dad.”

I wiped my eyes and rose on my toes to kiss his cheek. “I’ve never had a dad.”

“You do now.”

Sarah came up beside us. “And another mom, too, if you can stand it.”

I laughed and embraced her. “Thanks so much for opening your family to me.”

The rest of the Pack descended on us, overwhelming me with love and acceptance that I never expected. After burgers and chips, and cake and ice cream, Logan lifted up his acoustic guitar again. He had a band, but they didn’t know he was a werewolf, so he kept them away from Pack events.

Jared approached and offered his hand. “Could I have a dance with my new sister?”

I winked at Jason and took his brother’s hand. “I’d love to.”

As we danced, Jared grinned. “I can honestly say I have never seen my brother so happy.”

“He makes me pretty happy, too.”

He chuckled and dipped me. “He’d better.”

Jason walked toward us. “Speak of the devil.” He tapped Jared’s shoulder. “Can I cut in?”

“You hate dancing.” Jared raised a brow.

Jason’s eyes met mine. “I was just missing the right partner.”

“Thanks for the dance…sis.” Jared kissed my cheek.

Jason spun me into his arms. “This isn’t the last surprise.”

“No?”

He shook his head. As the song ended, Jared got up, holding a picture with a drape over it. I glanced up at Jason. “You
wanted
Jared to dance with me. You were distracting me so you could get that.”

“I’m just glad your vision wasn’t of this part of the surprise.” He took the draped square from his brother. “You inspired me.”

He tugged the sheet off to reveal a charcoal drawing of me and my grandmother sitting at the pond on Maui with our feet in the water.

“This is what you’ve been working on in the garage while I was recuperating on the couch.”

He nodded, and I focused on the art again. In our downcast eyes, he’d somehow captured every facet of my strained but healing relationship with my grandmother. And in the reflection of the pond, in the subtle ripples of the water, my
honu
stared back at me. The longer I examined Jason’s work, I realized there were wolves hidden in the ripples too. A Pack.