The Alpha's Heart (Wilde Creek Two) (15 page)

Lifting from the drugging kiss, he waited for her to open her eyes and then he whispered, “Mine.”

Without hesitation, she smiled and said, “Yes.”

Chapter 16

Monday afternoon, Brynn sat on her bed and watched Acksel unpack his duffel into the top drawer of her dresser.  Although he was going to be sleeping on the couch, he still needed a place to stow his things.  She liked the idea of his clothes near hers.

When Acksel had kissed her in front of the females, council, and protectors, she had felt their acceptance of her.  She had a feeling it was a combination of things — the new laws, the partial mating, and sealing things with a kiss that rocked her straight to the core.

Acksel had led her down the steps onto the grass and stood by her side as the females stood and came forward, one by one, to greet her.  Eveny was first, calling her
sister
and hugging her tightly before hugging Acksel and kissing his cheek.  Mia was next, her eyes alight with tears that made Brynn want to cry, too.  She steeled herself, not sure if she-wolves thought crying was a sign of weakness in their alpha female.

Well, she wasn’t exactly alpha female yet.  But darn close enough.

“I’m so happy for you, B.  Friend of my heart, mate of my alpha.”  Mia’s words seemed significant, and Brynn hugged her tightly before releasing her.

Most of the women seemed content, following what Mia called a mate-and-let-mate attitude, even with their alpha.  But there were a few females who looked down their noses at Brynn.  They were girls she’d known in high school to be very
wolves are better than humans
.  She’d known there would be opposition to their mating, but at least with the new laws, they wouldn’t be able to hurt her.

Carissa, a leggy blonde, narrowed her brown eyes at Brynn and said, “Welcome, Alpha,” and ducked her head in a tiny bow, her voice dripping with sarcasm.  Then she turned her attention to Acksel, beaming at him with unrestrained joy.  Brynn frowned and tightened her hold on Acksel’s hand.  She very much wanted to punch the female in the face for smiling like that at her mate.  Yeah, they might not be mated completely yet, but he was still hers, damn it.

“Move along, she-wolf,” Brynn said in a dark tone.  She was surprised at her quick anger, but embraced it.

Carissa sniffed derisively at her and then walked away, her hips swaying exaggeratedly.

Two more females — Hailey and Ava — behaved in a similar way, looking at Brynn with barely contained disdain and practically beaming at Acksel.  When the last of the females had come by to welcome her, she was still seething at the females’ behavior.  Something feral was building inside her, and she wasn’t really sure what to do with the feelings.  She felt…slighted.  Acksel had said she was his mate and had to be treated with respect, but those females hadn’t respected her at all.

Acksel told her afterwards that the females were behaving like children, testing her worth through words and behavior because they weren’t able to do so physically.  She had a feeling that if the laws hadn’t been in place, she would have been tag-teamed by three pissed off she-wolves.  Apparently the laws only covered physical assaults.  They could still make her feel like shit, as long as they appeared to be politically polite.  ‘Lip service’ was the term that Dade had used when he came over to them as the females were leaving the yard.  Acksel said he was proud of her for asserting herself with the females, and she was proud of herself, too, but she didn’t know if she could handle being snarked at forever.  They’d eventually accept her, wouldn’t they?

The sound of the drawer sliding shut drew her back to the present.  Acksel leaned against the dresser and folded his arms, his biceps bulging and drawing her attention.  “The males are coming to my house tonight for a similar meeting.  I thought we could go to Luna’s for dinner afterwards, if that sounds good to you.  Eveny and Luke would like to join us, and Mia and her brother Malachi, too.  Mal will be driving you to work and guarding you during your shift tomorrow and Wednesday, and then my dad is going to take over for the remainder of the week.  And before you ask, yes, I know that Malachi isn’t mated, but he’s trustworthy and he’s going to join the protector ranks on the full moon and fight for position.  He’s strong enough to beat Sam for theto, but he doesn’t want to.”

“I wasn’t going to say anything,” she promised.

He snorted and then said, “I have some work to finish up so I’m going to settle into the front room.  Do you need anything?”

Another kiss would be nice
.

“Nope.”

He nodded and walked out of the room, leaving her alone with her thoughts, which waffled between her wanting to go out into the front room to snuggle up to him and get another kiss and reminding herself that she was trying to make him show that he cared about her for more than the little bun in her oven.  Granted, she was very certain at this point that he did care for her, maybe even loved her.

So how did she feel about him?

The answer came to her quickly.  She loved him.  She loved his arrogant smile, his inner strength, the way his eyes always searched her out first when he walked into a room, and even the way he growled at her and everyone else.  In the past, she’d cared about him, but it was a soft love, born of friendly concern and superficial lust.  Now, the feelings she held for him were strong like the trees that towered in the woods, hot like the blood in her veins, and as wild as the wolves on the full moon.

But…he didn’t need to know that just yet.  Acksel was her mate, and eventually he’d be her husband.  She didn’t want her last chance to be wooed before she committed herself forever to be rushed.  He could work for her ‘yes’ and she’d enjoy every second of it.

Smiling to herself, she went to the bathroom to shower and change before the big meeting.

* * * * *

Acksel thought the meeting with the males went much better than the females.  The males weren’t threatened by a human alpha female.  The protectors watched over her closely as the males came forward one by one to welcome her.  While many of the females had embraced her, the males knew not to touch her.  The older males, like his father and the council members, went to one knee and pledged themselves to her individually.  The protectors had their own pledge, involving a salute with their fists over their hearts and a chorus of howls that echoed around them.

The males treated Brynn with respect.  Even the ones that he thought might not care to have a human alpha female were appropriately respectful of her position as his mate.  Acksel was glad that he was enough of a badass that they were afraid to be disrespectful.  The females, on the other hand, were used to being able to challenge for the alpha female position.  He was glad that there were no males who wanted to challenge him for Brynn.  Not that he would lose, but he’d hate to have to wash blood off himself before he took her out to dinner.

She had changed before they came to his house for the meeting, dressing for their dinner out, her long, dark hair clipped up at the sides to show off the blood-mark on her neck.  She was wearing a long, black skirt that swirled around her when she walked, and a pretty white sweater with gold thread woven throughout.

 Malachi and Sam stood off to the side and several other protectors were stationed around the house and yard.

His dad walked over to them and said, “I’d like to invite you to dinner on Sunday, Brynn.  It’s a family tradition.”

“Thank you so much.  We’ll be there,” she replied, and Acksel couldn’t hide his grin at her willingness to eat dinner with his family.

His dad gave him a wink before he sauntered away, and Acksel put his arm around her.  “I’m going to change and we can go.”

“Okay,” she smiled up at him and he bent and kissed her briefly before leading her back into the house.  She waited for him in the family room while he quickly shaved and changed into a pair of dress slacks and a pullover.

He stooped and opened the bathroom cabinet, pulling out a small purple gift sack.  He had taken Brynn’s words to heart.  She wanted him to prove that he cared for her and knew her, to show that he wanted to be with her because of who she was to him, not just because of the pup.  And he
so
did want to be with her.  She had quickly thawed around him after their conversation on Sunday afternoon where she had asserted her independence, and he was having a hard time keeping his hands off her.  She’d said she was his in front of the pack.  She’d snuggled with him on the couch while they watched a movie.  She’d kissed him.  Again and again.  She might have said she wasn’t his mate officially yet because he hadn’t asked her first, but as far as his wolf was concerned, she was his from head to toe and every part between.

Walking into the family room, he placed the bag on her lap as he sat down next to her.

“What’s this?”  She ran her fingertip over the edge of the bag.

“Proof.”

She looked at him out of the corner of her eye, a curious smile on her lush mouth, and then put her hand into the bag and pulled out the small gift he’d had Jeremiah, one of the pack omegas, get for him.

The leather-bound edition of
Jane Erye
made Brynn gasp.  Stroking the leather cover with one finger, she looked at him in utter shock.  “This is my favorite book.  I don’t think I ever told anyone that.”

His wolf, grinning like a fool in his head, preened like a peacock.  The day before, he had contacted Jeremiah and asked him to find a nice copy of the book about the “nanny and the rich guy with the psycho ex,” because Acksel couldn’t remember what it was called.  Jeremiah had known what it was just based on that loose interpretation of the plot and had given the bundle to Acksel through one of the protectors before the meeting with the she-wolves that morning.  Acksel wasn’t certain where Jeremiah had procured the book, but he was glad he’d found it.

Brushing a lock of hair from her shoulder, he smiled.  “You did a report about the book once for English.  We were maybe in tenth or eleventh grade.”  He could picture her so clearly in his mind; hair pulled back into a neat braid, lips coated with something pink and glossy, emerald eyes bright with excitement to share her report.

Her eyes glittered with unshed tears as she looked between him and the book.

He tapped the cover lightly.  “Don’t ever doubt that you were on my mind.”

“I, uh,” she stuttered, her voice soft with emotion as a fine tremor wove through her.  “Thank you.”

She pressed the book tightly to her chest and hugged him, wrapping one arm around his neck and pressing against him.

“You’re welcome, baby.”

After a lengthy hug and a few stolen kisses, Brynn insisted on fixing her make-up and carried her purse back to the bathroom.  When she was finished, just as beautiful as she was before she ‘fixed herself up,’ he held her hand and walked with her to his SUV parked in the driveway.  He shut her in and climbed in behind the wheel.  As he pulled out onto the street, he saw Sam’s red pickup leave the curb and follow.  Malachi was in the truck with Sam, and they followed Acksel across town to Luna’s.  The only restaurant in town, Luna’s was open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and served an all-meat buffet every Friday and Saturday.  It was run by Quentin and Paula Smythe, who were pack members.  Their son, Zander, was one of the pack protectors, and worked as a cook at the restaurant.

When they arrived at Luna’s, Acksel opened Brynn’s door and escorted her into the restaurant.  Sam was not joining them for dinner, instead standing outside of the restaurant after a perimeter sweep to keep an eye on things.  Malachi walked in behind them, and Brynn waved at Mia who was sitting at a large table at the back.  Eveny and Luke were there as well, talking quietly.

The six of them sat down after the females hugged in greeting.  Kaitlyn, one of the human waitresses, rushed over with glasses of water for everyone.

“Hi!  What can I get everyone to drink?”

Acksel was pleased when everyone looked at Brynn first.  She peered up from the menu, her lip caught between her teeth, and said, “Oh, me?  Sorry.  Root beer?”

“You bet.”  The other orders were taken and Kaitlyn disappeared.

Acksel kept his arm over the back of Brynn’s chair.  He didn’t need to see the menu because he always got the same thing: two double cheeseburgers and extra fries.

Kaitlyn returned and once more everyone waited for Brynn to order.  She looked at Kaitlyn.  “Could I get the double cheeseburger but without the bun or any of the other stuff?”

“So just two hamburger patties with melted cheese?”

“Skip the cheese.”  Brynn closed the menu and then said, “And add an extra patty.”

Mia giggled and Brynn said, “Sue me, I’m hungry for meat.”

“Baby’s making demands already?  Watch out Momma,” Mia chuckled.

Brynn pressed her hand over her stomach and made a snarling sound.  “He’s an angel, and don’t tell me otherwise.”

Acksel couldn’t stop the shit-eating grin that lit his face.  Already so fierce with their pup.  Brynn was going to be a force of nature when the pup was born.

“I promise.  You are naming me godmother, right?  I’ll spoil him or her rotten.”

“You already asked me to name the baby after you.”

“Excuse me?”  Acksel’s smile slipped immediately.  “What if it’s a boy?”

Eveny laughed.  “Before this goes any further we should let Kaitlyn take the rest of our orders so she doesn’t stand there all night while you guys argue.”

Brynn rolled here eyes and made the motion of zipping her lips.  Her eyes were dancing with happiness, though, and it made Acksel feel all warm and squishy inside.  Not that he’d ever utter those words out loud.

Acksel ordered next, and then Mia and Eveny, followed by Malachi and Luke.  Once Kaitlyn was gone, Brynn took a drink of root beer and said, “If it’s a boy we’ll call him Mi for short.  Problem solved.”

His eye twitched.  He wasn’t sure if his mate was joking or not, but he chose to err on the side of teasing and not threaten Mia with bodily harm until she withdrew her request of being the baby’s namesake.