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And, beginning with tonight, I’m the lucky female who gets to keep him.
* * *
There are onlya few hours to go until the Luna hangs heavy in the sky and, the more the day drags on, the more I wish we can just get this over with.
I want to be Ryker’s mate. I want to be so totally bonded that nothing can ever come between us. And I want this shadow that seems to be hanging over my head to go the hell away.
I just can’t shake it. Especially after Ryker’s reaction to the foursome’s offer to be my personal guard, I’m convinced he feels it, too. He immediately put them to work, stationing them around the four points of his cabin, just in case.
That’s what he said.
Just in case.
But I know him. I know that expression, and I know the way he closes down when he has a mountain of thoughts on his mind. He might fool the packmates who expect a powerful yet aloof Alpha, but I know better.
He’s on edge, too. Like me, Ryker doesn’t know what we’re waiting for, but that doesn’t stop us from also being on alert.
I highly doubt that news of our mating tonight will have reached any of our enemies, but who knows? It’s possible. And until we’re mated, the threat that I can be forced into mating someone else—like, oh, Shane for example?—is a very real one.
Which is why, when Ryker invites me to take a quick walk outside with him to work off some of my wolf’s extra energy, I interpret it as him wanting to get a sense for his territory and take him up on his offer. Maybe this foreboding feeling will go away when I see for myself that Accalia, like Muncie, is nearly impossible for anyone to sneak into.
No sooner do I have that thought, though, that the little hairs on the back of my neck stand straight up as I sense someone sneaking up behind me.
The two of us have barely stepped a few feet away from the back of the cabin when the shiver skitters down my spine. I freeze in time to notice that Ryker already has more than a foot behind me.
I glance back at him. My soon-to-be forever mate is giving nothing away. His lips are pulled in a thin line, arms crossed over his chest again.
His eyes, though? His eyes are bright, lightened with an emotion I can’t quite place. Almost like he’s excited to see my reaction.
That tells me two things. One: that whoever is stalking toward me isn’t a threat otherwise Ryker wouldn’t be standing there as cool as can be. And, two: that he’s responsible for whoever is there.
I take a deep breath, opening up my senses.
Like the day Ryker chased after me to his townhouse in Muncie, I think:They’re good. The two shifters behind me. They’re good, and I’ll give them that.
Melding with the other pack auras and coming up from downwind makes it difficult to pinpoint exactly who it is. But, Luna, I’m analpha. Tapping into my wolf, I use every bit of her that I can to figure out who’s behind me because Ryker seems so pleased with himself already.
And then I smile.
He knows. An alpha himself, he knows the second that I’ve figured it out.
So, with a voice that ripples over the mountain, he calls out, “Hey there, Kitten. You gonna give your old man a hug?”
I don’t need the familiar scent of home or the booming voice to confirm who’s there. The nickname alone is enough.
I whirl around. “Dad!”
Paul Booker might not be the man who impregnated my mother, but he’s the only dad I’ve ever had. I am so, so glad to see him—and the beautiful brunette standing at his side.
There’s my mom, a beaming smile on her pretty face. She clasps her hands to her chest, moving just in time as my dad flings his arms wide open.
I take that as my cue. With a delighted squeal, I race right over to him, jumping into my dad’s arms like I’m a two-year-old pup again instead of a twenty-six-year-old female. He closes his arms around me, swinging me off the ground as he twirls around.
My mom’s so used to the two of us that she just side-steps us so that I don’t kick her as I spin.
When my dad finally puts me back on the ground, I burrow my face into his chest, squeezing him tight. After I hug him, I turn and throw my arms around my mom. As she rubs her palms up and down my back, most of my worries seem to melt away.
I needed this.
