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“Me too,” Adam said.
Dani and Adam said goodbye to the reindeer and followed Malachi and Jeremiah back to the SUV. Acksel spoke to Dragos for several more minutes before joining them. Dani didn’t want to let go of him, so Adam carefully got into the second row of the SUV and held her on his lap.
“If I never see a petting zoo again, it’ll be too soon,” Malachi said as he made a U-turn in the street and left the park behind. Adam glanced behind him and saw a plume of smoke billow into the sky. The park was out of the way enough that no one would notice the smoke for a while. With her abductors dead and the park about to be destroyed, at least no other shifters would be abducted and sold from that location.
“I love you,” Adam whispered, nuzzling Dani’s throat.
“I love you too.”
* * *
Although Adam wanted to put the whole ugly business behind them, he knew he needed to tell his grandparents what had happened. He called his grandmother, wanting to get it over with so he could close this chapter of their lives.
“You found him?” she asked, but he could hear in her voice that she didn’t hold out any hope of him being alive.
“He was killed with the others who had kidnapped my mate.” He opened his mouth to say something comforting, but he realized he didn’t have anything nice to say. He hadn’t been there when his father drew his last breath, so he didn’t know—had he begged for his life, had he tried to promise to change his ways so the reindeer would let him live, did he ask for them to let his mom know he loved her?
“It’s okay, Adam,” his grandmother said, drawing him from his dark thoughts. “You don’t have to tell me anything more. I knew one day that we would get a call like this. Parents always hold such hope for their children, and I always wished that he would have a change of heart. Losing a mate is an awful thing for a wolf to go through, but he shouldn’t have let his grief take over his life the way he did. And we failed you. I understand that you might hate us for the male he became, but if you ever want to come see us, know that you can and that we’d welcome it.”
“Take care,” Adam said, ending the call.
Dani burrowed against him and rested her face against his throat. He could feel the warmth of her breath as she spoke quietly. “You don’t want to see them again, do you?”
“No.”
“Good. You’re amazing, and they don’t deserve to be in our lives.”
“Our kids will have your mom to be their grandma.”
She lifted her head and stared at him, her blue eyes luminous. “Do you think our kids will be reindeer or wolves?”
He tucked a lock of her golden hair behind her ear. “Wolf DNA is dominant, but it would depend a lot on whether they took more after you or me. Either way, we’ll love them and protect them.”
“I hope they’re fierce like their dad.”
“And beautiful like their mom.”
She smiled, and it made all the darkness inside him dissipate. Things could have gone so differently; instead of seeing his father dead, it could have been Dani. He wrapped his arms more securely around her and released a deep sigh. They were going home, together, and that was all that should matter.
CHAPTERTWELVE
Dani blinked at the bright morning light when she awoke as Adam carried her from the SUV toward their home. She hadn’t meant to fall asleep, but she’d found it impossible to stay awake after the stress of her kidnapping. Jeremiah walked ahead of them and opened the front door. She yawned, and Adam whispered, “Let me put Dani to bed and I’ll be right back.”
She hugged her arms around his neck a little tighter and chuckled. “Aren’t you supposed to stay with me if you put me to bed?”
“You need to rest, and I have to talk to Jeremiah about a few things.”
She couldn’t keep from yawning again. “Okay. But you have to promise to join me as soon as you can.”
“As if I could stay away from you long,” he murmured as he lowered her to the bed and began to gently strip her out of the clothes the herd had given her. “I hope you don’t mind, but I’m going to get rid of these things.”
“That’s fine with me.”
He pulled the blankets over her and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I’ll be right back.”
She thought she wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep, but she had no trouble slipping back into a deep slumber, nestled in her mate’s warm bed. When she woke several hours later, Adam was lying next to her, one arm around her and one bent behind his head as he stared at the ceiling. She snuggled closer, rubbing her cheek against his shoulder.
“What are you thinking about?” she asked.
