The Wolf's Mate Book 4: Michael & Shyne (23 page)

"What's going on?"

Michael dropped to one knee, and her breath froze in her chest.  From the pocket of his jeans he pulled out a ring and picked up her left hand.  Poised in front of her ring finger, he danced the edge of the diamond ring around her fingertip and looked up into her eyes.  A bare hint of uncertainty glimmered in the depths, as if he wondered what her response would be.

"I love you, Shyne.  There's never been another woman that has touched my heart and soul the way that you have.  You make me want to be a better man.  Be mine, Shyne.  Be my mate, my wife.  Let me be everything for you and give you the family and home that was robbed from you by fate.  Marry me."

Tears edged her vision as she contemplated the man before her for bare moments.  He was everything she'd ever wanted in a man and more that she hadn't known existed.  A fighter, a lover, a friend.  Funny and gorgeous, with a devastatingly wicked tongue, and a cock that made her mouth water.  This was exactly what she wanted, and now she had it.  Wolves mated forever, and Michael loved her with an intensity that rivaled the sun.

"Yes!"

His eyes lit up, and her very favorite grin spread across his face as he pushed the ring onto her finger and stood up, catching her close to his body and kissing her.  He kissed her cheek and hugged her, burying his face in her neck.  "I'm going to spend the rest of my life making you happy, sweetheart."

She hugged him tighter before they released each other, and he grinned, "Want to see our new home, baby?"

"What's going on?  Where are your parents?"

He grasped her hand and led her upstairs.  He turned on the light in the bedroom at the end of the hall, which turned out to be the master.  A ceiling fan swirled slowly overhead.  The dark carpeting was thick under her feet as they walked into the room.  Only Michael's bed stood in the room, the covers turned down.  She peeked into the attached full bath and large closet and found some of their clothes hung up and two towels stacked on the counter.

"I wanted to have more done, but we spent the day in bed, and when the guys called and time was so short, I had them bring the bed.  I brought some of our clothes and things over yesterday while you were working."  He looked very pleased with himself, and she thought he should have been.  She had no clue that he'd been up to anything as fantastic as this.

He opened the blind and looked out into the backyard.  He told her how his parents had planned for him to have the house when he found his mate and that they had moved during the week into their new home in the development in town.

She turned off the overhead light and joined him, looking out into the darkness.  He put his arm around her and said, "I always felt like an adult, you know?  I moved out at eighteen and got my trailer, I had my bike and a job and a place in the pack.  But when I met you, I felt like I'd been playing at being an adult without ever actually growing up.  Things that had seemed important were suddenly foolish.  It was as if I was in darkness and you lit up the world for me, showed me things I hadn't known were there — hadn't known I would crave like my next breath.

"That's why this place is so important.  I have amazing memories here as a kid, and I want to share those same things with our kids.  Build a life here that's just us, give you everything you ever want or need."  He looked down at her, his eyes shining with happiness.  "You are going to let me spoil you rotten, aren't you?"

"If you insist."  She couldn't help but smile.  Happiness overflowed in her heart, and she gazed up at the man who, within a short amount of time, had come to mean everything to her.

"I've got an idea," she slid out of his grasp and toed off her shoes, stepping backwards slowly towards the bed.

"Do tell," he said with a gruff tone, his expression changing from one of pure love and happiness to wild animal lust.  The sight of it made her body tremble with excitement.  No one ever touched her the way Michael did.  She was one damn lucky woman.

The button of her shorts popped open, and she undid the zipper and dropped them to the floor.  "Make love to me and mark me, Michael.  Make me yours forever."

He stalked to her as if he would devour her.  She certainly hoped he would.

Their clothes disappeared, and he tossed her to the bed, following with a growl that was happy and lustful at the same time.  After they made love, when he was still buried deep inside her, they kissed and talked quietly until passion rose up between them like a tidal wave.  This time, he turned her away from him on her side, sliding into her hot core from behind with one hand gripping her hip tightly.  He shifted her sweat-drenched hair away from her neck as he moved in and out of her.

"Ready, baby?" he murmured, nuzzling her hair as his grip tightened on her hip.

She pressed her hand to the top of his and linked their fingers.  "Yes," she hissed.  She felt his body grow warmer, and he teased her neck with the tips of what felt like very sharp fangs.  Closing her eyes as he pierced her flesh on either side of her spine, she let out a gasp of pain and then moaned as he began to thrust into her in earnest.  The pain faded as he pulled his fangs out and licked across the fresh wounds.  He pushed their joined hands down her body until their fingers found her needy clit, and he deviled her into oblivion and followed just behind her.

The pounding beginning of Michael's ringtone for Jason woke both of them up from a dead sleep, and catapulted them into alertness.  Shyne groaned and pulled the covers up over her head as Michael fumbled for his cell in his jean's pocket.

"'Sup?"

He was quiet for several moments, and then he said, "No shit?  That's great.  Yeah, we'll be there.  Thanks, man."

He tugged the covers from her clenched hands and grinned, "Cades is in labor, sweetheart."

She gasped in surprise, all the annoyance at getting woken up so jarringly dissipating like morning fog.  "That's awesome!"

"Come on, they want the family there at the doc's office, so we need to get going."

Although she would have preferred to get some more sleep, she was thrilled to be included in something so special.  After a quick shower, they dressed and drove to the wolf doctor who was delivering her baby, a friendly older man named Doctor Mirelli.  He was a rogue, which meant he wasn't part of any pack, but he was the only wolf doctor around and well thought of.  They met Michael's parents and grandfather in the waiting room of the small office.  After saying hello to everyone, she cuddled up next to Michael on the padded chairs and promptly fell asleep.

"Baby, wake up." Michael roused her gently, and she groaned as she sat up and stretched.  "Mom just said it's close."

"Are you excited to be an uncle?"  She kissed his cheek and settled back against his shoulder, stifling a yawn as she accepted a fresh cup of coffee from Grandpa.

"Yeah," he chuckled, squeezing her shoulder.  "But what I'm really looking forward to is having a baby with you, love."  He kissed the top of her head with a low hum, and she smiled.  She was looking forward to that, too.

A half hour later, Jason, face beaming, walked out into the waiting room and said, "It's a girl!"

They all rallied around him and cheered.  Although Shyne was new to the family, she felt an intense sense of belonging, and it brought tears to her eyes.  She was surprised when Jason gave her a hug, and she swiped at the happy tears on her cheeks as Jason said he'd be back out to get them when Cades was ready for visitors.

No one sat back down, Michael's parents and grandpa chattered excitedly about the first grandchild and wondered what they'd decided to name her.  Michael held her close, and she reveled in his touch.

"Penny for your thoughts?" he murmured, rocking back and forth slightly.

"I was just thinking," she turned in his arms and rested her ear against his heart, "that I really love you.  And your family.  I'm so glad you're mine."

He pressed his lips to the top of her head, "I wouldn't want to be anyone else's."

Epilogue

During the first week of September, the request that Jason had extended to several wolf packs in other states was answered by only one wolf.  The position of fifth ranked in the pack was fought for by those wolves in the pack over the age of eighteen and included the new male wolf, Logan, who came from a pack in Tennessee.  Logan was looking for a change from his old pack and had come from a much larger pack than theirs.

Logan made Michael wary in the way that wolves who are large and powerful enough to smash through car doors can.  Michael didn’t doubt he could defend his position against Logan, but he didn’t want to fight again in front of Shyne unless it was absolutely necessary.  She’d seen more than her share of the darker side of shifters, and he didn’t want her to get a skewed view of what pack-life was really like.

When the rank fights began, Logan stepped up to challenge for the fifth position.  Although he was taller and more muscular than most of the other wolves in the pack, that didn't stop the lower ranked wolves from taking their turn against him for the coveted fifth rank position.  He fought well, using his strength to subdue the males until they submitted, never purposely causing damage or harm.  He had excellent control.

Jason stepped up to him back in the clearing where they held their full moon gatherings and spoke loudly and clearly, "Logan Anderson, do you accept the rank of fifth in the Tressel Pack and vow to do all in your ability to protect and honor the pack?"

Logan's dark brown eyes swept the crowd once and his deep voice rumbled, "I do."

The pack cheered, and he, Linus, and Bo welcomed him into the upper ranked.  Some of the younger wolves were disgruntled at not getting a higher rank, but no one was willing to argue or fight Logan again.

Back at Jason and Cades' home, while four grills were loaded with meat and picnic tables had been arranged to accommodate everyone, Logan joined Michael as he reached down to grab a beer from a cooler.

"I'm not going to try for a higher rank, if you're wondering," Logan rumbled.

He knew he looked confused because for just a moment, Logan smiled.  "I was going to go rogue when I saw the offer for this pack.  My old pack was full of in-fighting; the ranks shifted constantly because the alpha got off on watching his people fight.  A month ago he invited some humans to watch the rank fights and charged them admission," Logan's eyes darkened further, and his jaw tightened, "as if we were animals in a show.  I decided to leave."

The silence stretched for a moment as Michael debated what to say.  It was clear that Logan was well trained, but he also looked tired, and he probably was.  Tired of fighting.  Tired of never knowing where he stood with his own people.  There was consistency within the Tressel Pack because Jason didn't tolerate anything else.

"I just want to live my life in a pack, find a mate, make a home.  I'll defend my position, but I have no designs to move higher.  Your pack works.  Your people respect your alpha and you guys, and I know that it's because you have proven in the past that you would come to their defense.  Packs that worry about the intentions of their alpha and high ranked...it makes for a really unhappy group."

He knew that Logan would fit right into the pack, and it was clear that the single females in the pack found him very attractive.  Michael thought it was strangely funny that he seemed uncomfortable with the attention, when he had stated that he wanted to find his mate.  Perhaps, like Michael, he already could sense that his mate wasn't within the group.  Of course, that didn't mean he wouldn't find her eventually.  Michael soundly believed there was someone for everyone — human, wolf or otherwise — and he was so glad he hadn't pushed himself into a mating with anyone less than his truemate.

"What are you thinking about so seriously?" Shyne chided him, sliding her arms around him and cuddling close as he stood on the deck in the setting sun and looked out over his pack.

His arms went around her, and he took a moment to breathe in the sweet scent of her and revel in the rightness that settled over him whenever she was near.  "I was just thinking that the new guy is going to work out just fine."

"He certainly is popular with the ladies," she mused.

"Don't go getting any ideas, woman," he tipped her chin up.  She grinned.

"I have
lots
of ideas, Michael.  You'll have to be more specific."

He chuckled, loving the way she could charm him — man and wolf — with a simple turn of phrase.  "Do tell, love."

* * * * *

"I never did ask," Michael said, resting his beer on the railing of Jason and Cades' deck and casting a glance at his brother as he flipped steaks on the grill, "how you decided on her name."

Jason's eyes crinkled whenever he spoke about his daughter.  "Well, Cades' name is musical, so she was looking for something similar.  Eventually, she settled on Lyric and said that when she's older she'll probably want to go by Riki.  She decided she didn't want to give her a middle name, and said that when Lyric gets married that she'd want her to take Gerrick as her middle name, as a way to keep our family connected."

"That's really cool."  Michael was impressed.