Grayslake: More than Mated: Make Her Howl (Kindle Worlds Novella) (8 page)

She handed him the keys.

He'd gotten home as soon as he could, and Magda was gone. Just the faintest whiff of her perfume on his pillows. His wolf went from a contented puppy to a raging beast, howling that he needed to find his mate, now.

He sat on the edge of the bed, exhaustion making him dizzy. She was skittish, it had been intense, she might have needed to go home, to get some space. He stripped and crawled into bed, pulling the pillow she'd rested her head on towards him, her scent lingering and soothing him as he drifted back to sleep.

He woke abruptly to his phone's vibrations.
Magda
. He fumbled with the device, but the newest text was from an unknown number.

"Please come to the B&B as soon as possible."

What the hell was going on?

***

Marc stood on the porch, nervously. Something felt off, like the world was skewed a few degrees from center. He couldn't actually see anything wrong, but things felt strange. The air was slippery, like lightning was about to strike, despite the clear summer sky.

He was about to knock on the door when Nancy pulled it open, grabbed a fistful of his shirt and pulled him inside. She put her finger to her lips and shushed him when he tried to say something. She let go of his shirt, but grabbed his hand and drug him into the kitchen.

Grace looked relieved to see him. "How did you know to come here?"

Her back pressed against the wall, Nancy shrugged at both of them. "You promised, Memaw, not me. Magda wasn't exactly quiet when she came home last night, okay?" She rolled her eyes. "I listened at the door. And I didn't text him until she came back."

Marc furrowed his brow and slowly shook his head. "Well, of course she came back from our date, she lives here. And I had to go to the hospital."

"Just sit. Lemme make sure she didn’t hear us." Nancy peeked out into the hallway. "All clear. Let me fill you in, because it seems like you have no idea what is happening.” Nancy plopped in a chair. “Magda went on date. Magda came home, in tears. Magda packed her suitcases, hugged Memaw, who, by the by, then also wept hysterically, then roared down the drive out into the night."

She paused for a sip of water, while Marc mentally ran through every horrible thing that could have happened to Magda. “Then, of all freaking things, like, an hour later, she drives back to the house. Her car? Driven by Reid. Reid, the one asshole who keeps hassling her. They shook hands, then he loped off into the woods."

Marc felt his temper slipping. She'd left. That was what that last frantic coupling had been. It was goodbye.  His hands clenched and he felt fur starting to lift his shirt. He wanted to shift and run, to catch her. Claim her with his bite.
She ran.
A sudden sharp slap broke his thought spiral.

He stared, shocked, at Memaw. "You hit me a spoon?"

"Goddamn right I did. You start to shift at my kitchen table again and I will put you over my knee." She set the utensil back on the table. "Magda is here. She is here, back in Grayslake because she wants to be. Because whatever sent her running, she got past that and turned around and came back. Are you going to figure it out, or let your stupid wolf rule you?"

Marc was suitably chastened. "I'm going to figure it out." Licks of jealousy still curled around his midsection, but he tamped them down. He should be grateful Reid was there to bring her home, even if he did want to rip the man's face off with his bare hands. He shook his head, trying to knock the irrational thoughts out.

Memaw rubbed her fingers between her eyes, shaking her head. "Do you think you can pull it together before you see her?"

He nodded. "Sorry, I've never had reason to be jealous, before. Not my usual experience. It's hard to shake off."

They heard movement overhead and the sound of the shower. Nancy swung into action. She grabbed Marc and pulled him to the back door. She said, "Take this, follow the directions inside. She'll catch up soon enough and will know where you need to go if you get lost."

"What? She's going to see my car and know I'm here."

But her shove into the small of his back sent him sprawling out the door and he headed the direction she indicated. He looked at his arm, dangling from it was an old fashioned picnic basket.

The warm water cascaded over her shoulders. Magda leaned forward, letting the water pressure pound at the knots. Sleeping had helped, but her thoughts were still a crazed jumble.

Reid's words tumbled and kept popping up.
Mate
. Was it even possible to have another mate? Couldn't she like the guy without it being a whole mate situation? Except merely thinking about him made her hot and bothered in a way only one other man had done: Stuart.

Don't let your past destroy your future.

Magda pulled up every moment she'd had with Stuart, every scrap of conversation she could remember. Every emotion and feeling she'd had with him.

It matched.
What I feel for Marc matches what I felt for Stuart.
Her legs wobbly, Magda sank to the floor of the shower.
Holy crap, he's my mate?

And she’d left him without bothering to leave a note. Just a panic-stricken run that apparently half the town saw.
He might never forgive me.

Her wolf whimpered, then growled. At least part of her wasn't giving up without a fight. Magda stood up and got out of the shower. Maybe he hadn't even left the hospital yet. Maybe he didn't know.

And if he did? She was going to hold him down until he gave in.

She threw clothes on and ran down the stairs, slamming directly into Nancy as she did.

"Geez, Magda, you'd think you just realized that running away from your mate was really stupid or something."

Magda winced. "So, everyone knows?"

"Auntie Mags, I think dogs know it at this point."

"Well, frick." What she wanted to do was cuss the air blue.

"You can cuss in front of me."

"Yeah, and if Memaw heard me? I need to go, you're blocking the door."

Nancy said, "You running to find Marc?"

"That obvious?"

"Again, dogs know. But since I know where he is, you should maybe not run off like a bitch in heat." Nancy immediately looked around for Memaw.

From the kitchen came a voice, "I heard that! Tell her already and get in here. I have more than enough soap for that sassy mouth."

Nancy winced and shrugged, "Oh well, I kind of had that coming. Anyways, she didn't rat you out, but I did. Y'all are loud and woke me up with all your drama. So I texted Marc a message to get over here."

"He's here?" Magda spun around, sniffing the air, trying to track him, until Nancy grabbed her arm.

"Wow, you have no chill. Just…none. I sent him off to the big rock with a picnic basket. He's probably lost, so go find him already."

Magda grabbed her niece and dropped a kiss on her forehead. "Thanks, kiddo. You are shockingly like Memaw."

"What can I say, I enjoy a good meddle. Plus, if you and the doc hook up, he can introduce me and Helen to all the cuties at the hospital."

Magda stepped out of the house and sniffed the air. She shifted as she broke into a run, her wolf had a much better nose and Nancy hadn't been entirely incorrect. She was kind of a bitch in heat. The second Magda's sensitive nose caught the most recent scent trail she was off like a shot, her pace devouring the space between her and her mate.

The closer she got, the wilder she felt. She burst through a set of trees and saw him. Her head thrown back, she howled in exaltation. He was here, he wasn't running away from her. He was running toward her.

As she moved forward, she shifted back to human, their bodies colliding and falling to the ground, wrapped in each other. His lips descended onto her mouth and she eagerly rose to meet him. Her panic dissolving at his touch and her fear fading with every stroke of his tongue.  After a long hot moment, he pulled from her and stared down, looking at her face intently.

Tears slid down the side of her face and she had to force the words out, "I'm sorry I ran."

He peppered her face with kisses and said, "I love you, even if you aren't ready to love me back. I'll follow you wherever you go."

She rested her hand on his face, he was giving her an out, a way to hide. But she hadn't hidden with Stuart and she wasn't going to hide now either. "No. I mean, yes. Dammit. I never thought it could be real, again. I didn't think we got second chances. But I love you and you're my mate."

His hands tightened on her arms and his face grew fierce. "Are you sure?" His intense gaze pinned her to the ground.

"I'm sure. I didn't want it to be true. I thought...well, Reid smacked some sense into me, of all people. But when I'm not with you, I'm miserable and thinking of how to be with you."

"I probably have to give at least a month's notice, maybe more at the hospital. It will be hard to replace me, but now maybe the Southwest Itan and Alpha will have to figure stuff out instead. Not my problem. We can go anywhere in the world you want."

Her heart squeezed tight. He was willing to leave the pack for her, if that's what it took to be with her.

"Oh Marc, what if I said I wanted to be in Grayslake. To watch Lira raise her family and keep Memaw from meddling too much in everything."

His face was serious, "It will be harder for me to be apart from the pack then, but if Ty gives me permission to live in Grayslake there isn't much that Bates can do. Or would want to do. He's not inclined to force me."

"I'm glad to hear that, but, I meant..." this was almost harder than confessing her love, "I meant that I would be your mate, in the pack. Zoey has hinted that they could really use a hospital administrator. And I'm very good at that. I could stay here, with you, as your mate. Join the pack. Even Reid isn't so bad."

"For the first time in my life, I was jealous. Hearing that you came home with Reid? I was ready to take him apart."

"I ended up at the roadside memorial, for the accident. He found me there. Told me I was a goddamn idiot."

"I guess I can let him live. Since he brought you back to me."

"Marc, I love you. I don't want to run from my past anymore. I want to be with you." She tilted her head to the side and exposed her neck. "Claim me."

His lips were hot and fiery against her neck. He paused, "Are you sure, we can wait."

His groan against her skin resonated deep into her core. Her dress pooled around her waist and her fingers fumbled against his belt buckle.

"I've lived without a mate for over twenty years. I don't want to live another moment without your claim. Take me."

He was hard and thick in her hands, and this time, the frenzy inside her to feel him again, it wasn't goodbye. She wrapped her legs around his waist and as he slid home into her waiting sheath, he bit down on her neck, the hot blood forging a connection between them.
Forever
.

Magda was curled in her mate's arms. She really didn't want to get up and face the day, but a churning stomach finally pushed her flying to the bathroom. Marc padded sleepily after her, bringing her a glass of water as she hugged the toilet and threw up.

She slumped against the sink and said, "Ugh, I really shouldn't have eaten those clams the other night. Three days in a row throwing up."

He handed her the glass and sat on the edge of tub. "Babe, I don't think you have food poisoning."

"I wonder if I'm allergic to something. I've never felt so odd before."

He rubbed his forehead and stared at his obtuse mate. "Let's go over your symptoms, shall we?" She shrugged and he started ticking them off on his fingers. "You get sick first thing in the morning. Sorry for noticing, but your boobs are definitely a little bigger. Your scent has changed."

"My boobs? That's simply hormonal, which is also my scent."

"Exactly. Hormonal. You're late for your period. By about two weeks."

"That can't be right. I'm not ready for menopause yet."

"Oh my sweet, obstinate and blind little mate. Open the cabinet."

Magda glared at him, her mind fuzzy and cranky, but she opened the cabinet. Inside, was a box of pregnancy tests. She pulled them out and looked at Marc, confused.

"Are you trying to say you think I'm pregnant? I'm 43!"

Marc said, "You are a healthy, fertile shifter. Why wouldn't you be?"

"But I'm too old, what will Lira say?" Magda slumped against the cool tile on the wall.
Pregnant?

"Who do you think bought the tests?"

"What? Why? Did you tell her you thought that? She must be furious."

"Oh honey, she realized before me, the second your scent changed. She dropped them off a few days ago."

Magda looked up at her mate, and sheepishly said, "Does everyone know?"

Marc gently cupped Magda’s chin and said, "Honey, dogs know."

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Thank you for reading
Make Her Howl.
Did you miss Jake and Lira’s story? You can catch up with them in
Secret to Bear
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