“Hey, buddy,” I murmur, lifting him carefully.“Did you miss me?”
He grabs a fistful of my shirt and drools on me.
“I missed you too.”
My wolf settles into a pleased rumble, the same way he does every time I hold one of our children.He’s protective of Landry first.Always.But our pups are part of her, part of me, part of us.He watches them with the same fierce devotion.
I carry Noah back to our room, and Landry’s face softens when she sees us.
I take a moment to appreciate how open and relaxed Landry always is now.She’s been like that ever since we killed or ran off all the cult members.
I think about that part of the land now.There was a time when the northern border felt like a wound.When the cult’s presence sat over all of us like a storm cloud.
Now that land is empty.
The pack cleared it out after the fight.The remaining women were helped.The people responsible were gone.
After that, Night Grove Falls healed.
So did Landry.Not all at once.Not easily.There were nightmares.Days when the sound of a van made her go pale.Days when she needed every light on in the house.Days when she cried in my arms because being safe didn’t erase having been afraid.
But she healed.She built a life here.She found work at the bookstore and eventually started managing it.She made friends.Married me.Let me love her.Loved me back.She became the heart of this family.
My heart.
Landry tilts her head up, catching me staring.“What?”she asks softly.
“Nothing.”
She gives me the look.
I smile.“Just thinking.”
“About?”
“How lucky I am.”
Her expression softens.“Cooper.”
“It’s true.”
“I’m lucky too.”
My wolf rumbles, pleased.
Mia leans against my chest.“I’m lucky too?”
I kiss the top of her head.“The luckiest pup in the world.”
She nods seriously, accepting that.
Landry laughs, and Noah stirs in her lap, making a sleepy little sound.I reach over and brush my fingers over his soft hair.He settles instantly.
Landry watches me with those green eyes I fell into the first night I met her.Only now, there’s no fear in them.There’s just love and trust.
Just the way I like them.
She leans up and kisses me softly.“I love you.”
