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“Me too.”
They opened their packs and began digging through them for their bathing suits.
Nate figured they’d go for a lake swim to cool off, then shower, have lunch, and take it from there. He was so glad she’d wanted to do this with him.
As soon as they had their swimsuits unpacked, they began stripping out of their street clothes. They’d worked up a sweat just from packing and unpacking the car in the heat, so he knew she wouldn’t want to strip and make love in bed just yet.
They hurried to take off all their clothes, and then she pulled on her boy-short bottoms and her bikini top. “Last one in is a rotten egg.” She raced for the back door.
Trying to hurry, Nate lost his balance while pulling on his board shorts so quickly to pursue her. But he thought about Kayla’s comment about puttinghis wallet in the safe and hurried to lock it up. Then he took off after her, grabbing a couple of beach towels from the linen closet. He knew he’d catch up to her, but she was out of the door in a flash.
He laughed and bounded out after her and raced to catch her, dropping the beach towels on the sandy beach, then swept her up in his arms before she could step into the water, startling her. She screamed out and laughed.
“We tied,” he said, carrying her into the lake.
She just laughed again. He loved her laughter.
He waded out until they were deep enough in the lake that he was treading water, but he wasn’t letting her go. She was all his for the whole week long, and he was going to enjoy every minute of it. He had every notion of asking her to mate him, and she had to know that’s what this was all about too.
She seemed to love that he was keeping her close and not releasing her to swim on her own. “It’s going to be a lovely night this evening. A sky-filled with stars. But…I–I might have trouble with shifting nearer the end of our vacation.”
“I know.” It was something he often thought about. He kissed her on the forehead, just enjoying this time with her. He didn’t want her to worry about having little control over her shifting during the full moon. “I had thought of reserving the cabin for when we had a new moon and no chance of you turning. But I wanted to do this for your birthday.And I wanted to run with you during the week too, which we couldn’t have done during the new moon.” Well, he could have; she just couldn’t have.
They had never really discussed the business of her not being a royal like him. She and her siblings’ grandfather had been human before he was turned, so they had more humans in their background than Nate had.
“Speaking of which, it doesn’t bother you that we’re not royals? I know it’s fine with Nicole or she wouldn’t have mated Blake. But…you and I have never really spoken about it.”
He assumed Kayla had figured he felt the same as his sister. It didn’t matter to him in the least that Kayla wasn’t a royal. “Yeah, I’m fine with it, Kayla. Just like my sister is. I always have been.” In the beginning, Nate and Nicole’s parents had some reservations, knowing that their grandchildren wouldn’t be royals, not for generations for their offspring. But they loved the Wolff siblings just the same—like their own children.
Kayla ran her fingers down his chest in a tender caress, her gaze lowered. “At least when Gabrielle and Nicole have their babies, they can control their shifting at all times. The babies will only be able to shift when their moms do when they’re young. And since both of them—Nicole and Gabrielle—are royals with fewer human genes, it’s not that big of an issue. But with me, if I have babies andsuddenly shift—something I don’t have total control over during the full moon—they would too. It puts the babies and me at a bigger risk.”
He kissed her cheek. “That’s what’s great about living in a wolf-run town. Everyone looks out for everyone else. I don’t have any issues with it at all and will be there for you and the babies at any time. And my parents will help out whenever we need them to. You don’t have to worry about it.”
She kissed his chest and looked up at him. “I’m not really comfortable with change.”
He realized then that they had needed to talk to each other about a few things that they’d never made time for before. He was doubly glad he had brought her here where she felt she could discuss everything openly with him.
He nodded. He’d suspected Kayla hadn’t liked change. “In the army, I had to move a lot. But I was ready to really settle down once I retired. Have a home, set down roots,” he said.
“Roxie left the army before she retired, but she doesn’t mind change. It took me awhile to agree with the rest of my siblings to even move from Vermont to Silver Town. There was nothing left for us back there—our parents were gone, and I knew all the benefits to being in a wolf-run town—but I still wasn’t sure of the reception we would get when we moved into another wolf territory. Or how it would be for us dealing with a wolf pack’sleadership. We didn’t have that in Vermont, not in Killington, so we were used to being our own little family pack. I wasn’t sure how it would be for us to run a new ski lodge either. We had managed the one in Vermont as a family forever. And even moving from Vermont to being in Colorado where weather conditions, plants, just everything is different was a big change. At least for me. The rest of the family doesn’t get stressed out like I do about change.”
“But you are all settled in and happy here now, right?” Nate was worried she felt homesick for Vermont, but everyone she cared about was here. What if she wanted to leave and return home?
“Oh, absolutely. Sorry. I was just…” She let out her breath. “I was just thinking about… Well, if you and I mated, I would have to move again. I mean, it’s just that I get stressed when I think of things like that. I know it’s silly and I can do it and be happy, but I just wanted you to know that’s the way I am.”
He smiled. “It’s about moving into my apartment, isn’t it?”
“I know it’s crazy, but—”
“No, I totally understand. My dad doesn’t like change at all either, so I’m used to that. Even though my parents wanted to move to Silver Town from Denver because both Nicole and I were settling down here, my dad wasn’t ready to move, to get a new home, to open a new stationery store, to become part of a pack and have pack leaders’ rulesto follow, though Lelandi and Darien are great leaders. So in that respect, you and he are a lot alike. I totally understand how you feel. Anyway, what can we do to make this work?” Because no matter what, he knew they were right for each other, and he would do anything to make it worth it for them.
“Thanks for understanding.”
He thought for a moment, and then he smiled. “Okay, I got it. We need to find Roxie a mate first. Then she’ll move out and you’ll get the house, and you won’t have to move.”
Kayla laughed, and her laughter echoed across the lake. She kissed him. “She’ll find a mate herself when she’s good and ready. We might have to wait for years though.”
“That wouldn’t do. What if we build a home beyond Blake and Nicole’s home? That was always the plan for the next sibling who found a mate and was staying here, right? Then whoever was still single would have the house nearest the lodge.”
