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The Fourth of July celebration was less than a week away, and every day was a new adventure for Kayla and Nate. Juggling work, getting in nightly wolf runs, checking on the progress on the housebuilding, and making love every chance that they could get. They hadn’t expected it, but the house construction had been checked on daily, not only by all their family but also by the Silver family and several others.
The pack members were fun. Being the promoter that Kayla was, she was already planning a big open-house celebration with family and friends for when their home was completed. Roxie kept telling Kayla that if she got too stressed out, she could take the new house and Kayla and Nate could have hers. But Kayla loved the plans for the new house, and she felt building it with Nate was a work of love. She couldn’t wait to move the beautiful hope chest Nate had built for her into their new home.
Every day they headed over as wolves to the site of their new home to check out the progress of the house and run afterward. The groundbreaking, excavation, and footings were done. Next week, the foundation would be poured. They couldn’t wait.
Kayla had thought that building a home, moving even, was going to be so stressful. But she was excited, thrilled to do this, and nothing was stopping her. Nate was so good about everything, making sure she was fine with everything they’d done so far. He was such a dream come true in a mate.
Tonight, they were going to have a big Fourth of July party for all the pack members in the threeballrooms before going to the pack fireworks on the pack leaders’ property. Even Gabrielle’s friends—the two jaguar sisters—had come to town from Daytona Beach, Florida, to celebrate with them. Both were JAG agents who took down corrupt jaguar shifters and now even wolf shifters. The wolves were going to run with the jaguars tonight after the fireworks.
This morning after making love, Kayla and Nate had taken a wolf run and now were back at his apartment, where she had fixed extra-special lemon berry napoleon pastries topped with strawberries and blueberries as a patriotic touch for breakfast. If Nate hadn’t asked her to mate him at the cabin retreat already, this was how she had planned to ask him to mate her. She’d scheduled herself off for the day in anticipation of mating Nate, even though things had changed. But her siblings wouldn’t think of having her at work today. Not after all she had done in planning the Fourth of July celebration party and when she’d had plans to spend this day with Nate.
“Hey, this is a real treat,” Nate said, pulling her into his arms and kissing her, and she kissed him back soundly.
Then they sat down to eat at the dining room table.
“After our wolf run this morning, we needed this.” Which was their morning routine. She feltbad that she wasn’t running with Roxie in the mornings, but when they moved into their home, she and Nate would run with her since they would be so close by. “You know, I had planned to ask you to mate me today if you hadn’t at the cabin. I mean, I didn’t even know about the cabin trip when I had scheduled the day off and planned to do this with you.”
“Aww, honey, I should have asked you a long time ago.”
“I know. I should have asked you. I should have known you were planning to propose to me once you bought that van.” She took a bite of her sweet breakfast treat.
“Yeah.” He chuckled. “I couldn’t get anything past my parents or my sister. They knew for sure I was getting it for us and for when we have our own kids.”
She smiled and reached over and squeezed his hand. “I love being mated to you.”
“I feel the same way about you. You’re alright staying here, aren’t you?”
“Yeah. When we live in our home, you’ll have the daily commute. And the trip to the lodge isn’t that far away. So for me, this isn’t any big deal. It’ll be so late after the fireworks tonight and then running with the wolves and jaguars on Gabrielle and Landon’s acreage that I thought you and I could see the progress on the house and run as wolves or takea hike through the woods before we go to the party. We’ll be nearer to the lodge that way.”
“That works for me.”
They spent the day playing video games with each other and watching movies, and then for lunch, Nate grilled ribs and corn on the cob while Kayla made a cherry cobbler for them. Then they sat down to eat. “This is delicious,” she said, and took another bite of the meat on a rib.
“Yeah, I can’t believe how wonderful it is being here with you like this, celebrating our first Fourth of July together, the first of many. Not only that, but after a busy day, I just enjoy being with you, sharing what I’m doing and hearing about the crazy and fun stuff you have to take care of at the lodge.”
“I feel the same way as you.”
Once they finished lunch and ate her cherry cobbler that he raved about, which she totally appreciated, they grabbed their clothes for the party and packed them in a bag, then drove to Roxie’s house. Since a lot of Kayla’s things were still there, they were using the house whenever they needed to until their permanent home was built.
There, they left their bag in her bedroom and then stripped off their clothes, trying not to get distracted, and knowing after the run with the wolves and jaguars they’d be back at it tonight—making love—they shifted. Unlike when she ran with her sister and raced her down the stairs, she knew Natewould be a gentleman and let her go first. Then they were out the wolf door and racing through their yard, then Blake and Nicole’s yard, past the construction work on their home, and finally they were out in the woods.
They were running, playing, but then she was drawn to that place where Phil and Manning had been talking about doing a job together the day that Roxie and Kayla had been running in the woods as wolves. Nate followed her, but then he woofed at her, and she turned around to look at him, wondering what was wrong.
He pawed at the ground, and she ran back to him. That’s when she saw a little black plastic sticking out of the dirt. Oh, wow, it couldn’t be…and yet, she’d just wondered if maybe Manning had come here with some of the treasure and hidden it. Not all of it by where he had died, but some of it here too.
She began digging with her paws, thinking the two of them were going to be dirty after this and have to shower before they dressed for the party. But wouldn’t the find of some more jewelry add to the excitement of the Fourth of July party?
If they got another reward, that would be so nice too, and they’d use it toward the house expenses. She was so excited, digging away next to her mate, like two wolves digging for a precious bone.
Then they looked around, and seeing no one,they shifted and began to gently pull the black plastic sack out of the earth. It was rotting in parts, and they didn’t have any clothes to wrap it in. Sure enough, diamond rings, necklaces, watches could be seen through the tears and holes. One of them would have to return to the house and bring back a canvas bag for all of it.
That’s when they heard someone moving in the woods. Two people, she thought.
Kayla and Nate shifted into wolves. She had a really bad feeling about this. She hoped it was family or friends, anybody but who she worried it was.
Nate barked at her to go—to get help. She couldn’t leave him alone. She lifted her chin and howled. She howled for her siblings, for any wolf within hearing distance that could come and aid them now. And Nate nuzzled her, appearing proud of her, and howled his heart out. They were in trouble. They needed help. They were protecting the jewelry and each other.
Howls rent the air from far away. Not close enough.
