Mating the Red Wolf: (Book 10, Grey Wolf Pack Romance Novellas) (18 page)

Jonathan noisily entered the room.  “Hey, what’s taking so long?  We’re all…”  He stopped when he saw Jennifer.

Moving quickly, he pulled Jennifer into a hug, and she wept into his shoulder. 

Kim stepped from foot to foot, unsure whether she should stay or go.  She turned her back for a couple of seconds to retrieve a salad from the refrigerator.  Spinning round, she found a furious Arthur glaring at Jonathan.

Arthur roared the word ‘mine’ and lunged at his brother.  He tore Jonathan away from Jennifer, and the two males struggled, crashing into the various pieces of furniture.  Kim and Jennifer jumped out the way. 
However, the lasagna was not so fortunate
.  It soon tumbled to the ground.

Jonathan held up his hands in surrender and Arthur duly punched him on the nose.

Arthur turned back to his mate, a look of sorrow on his face.  “Are you sleeping with him?”

“What?!  How dare you!” yelled Jennifer.  Her misery was swiftly replaced with outrage.

The rest of the family crowded at the kitchen door watching with interest.

Jennifer growled.  “You’re the one who’s been running around with god knows who!  You're the one who's...”

“I’m infertile!” bellowed Arthur unexpectedly.

Jennifer stilled.  “What?”

Arthur looked away from her.  “It means I can’t have pups.”

She marched over and forced him to look at her.  “I know what it means!  But how do you…”

He shook his head sadly.  “We were trying for so long that I thought something was wrong.  I had a doctor check me out, and I can’t give you pups.”

She groaned.  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You wanted pups so badly that I didn’t want to disappoint you.”

“So you’re not having an affair?” she asked, frowning.

Arthur huffed at her.  “Of course not, how could you think that?”

Jennifer looked at him in disbelief.  “Ummm, the lying, the staying out to all hours, inviting Helena to the island…”

His nostrils flared.  “She blackmailed me into inviting her.  She found out that I was… that I can’t… She’s friendly with one of the nurses at my doctor’s office and he told her that I was infertile.  She knew that we were trying for a baby and she threatened to tell you the truth.”  He took both her hands in his.  “I swear I would never even look at another woman.”

“So, why have you been avoiding me?”

He looked sheepish.  “I just panicked; I was afraid.”

“Of what?”

“Of you leaving me.    It was easier to go to a bar and get drunk than face you.  I mean, why would you stay with me?  I’m not your true mate, and we’re not blood bonded.  There was no reason why you would want me.  Wolf shifters are supposed to be virile and produce dozens of kids, but I’m… I’m a freak.  Who wants to be with an infertile wolf shifter?” 

Happy, relieved tears slipped down her cheeks.  “I want to be with you, Arthur.  I love you, and I don’t care about that.  I love you with all my heart and as long as I have you, nothing else matters.”

Arthur smiled hopefully.  “You mean that?”

Jennifer brought his hands to her lips and kissed them.  “Of course I do.  I’d be honored to blood bond with you and show you just how much I need you.  I love you and I don’t ever want to lose you.”

Arthur seemed to be on the verge of tears too until he snarled and jerked his head at Jonathan.  “What about him?”

“Jonathan has been a shoulder to cry on and that’s it.  I thought you were having an affair.  I thought you were pulling away from me; I thought I wasn’t good enough.”

“You’re more than good enough, my darling; it’s me that…”

Jennifer shushed him.  “If we want kids we can adopt them.  For now, let’s just be happy that we’ve found each other again.”

They wrapped their arms around one another; Kim, Christine, and Olivia made ‘awwww’ sounds.

Jonathan clucked his tongue.  “Awww nothing, my nose fucking hurts!”

Harold snorted.  “Get over it.”

Kim was happy that Jennifer and Arthur seemed to be back and track, although she was super-pissed about her lasagna. 
The darn thing had turned out perfectly!

“Ed,” Kim sighed, “let’s get some pizza.”

*

A few hours later, everyone was leaving.  Well almost everyone.  Jonathan had consumed so much wine drink that he was passed out on the couch, snoring with the intensity of a thunderstorm.  But, those that were leaving were a lot happier than when they arrived.  Some frank discussions and pepperoni pizzas were apparently just what they needed.

They had all congratulated Kim and Ed on the baby, and had been surprised when Christine announced she was also pregnant.  Kim marveled that Harold was able to look both annoyed and joyous about becoming a father for the fifth time.  They all also agreed to come to the wedding.

Harold spoke to Ed as he was leaving.

“Look, I’m sorry about what I said before.  I was wrong.  I’m pleased you’re happy with Kim.”

Ed couldn’t have been more surprised if his brother had just confessed to being abducted by aliens.  “What’s brought about your change of heart?”

“You marrying Kim doesn’t change anything within our pack.  It might be different if she were joining the pack, but she isn’t, so you are free to do as you wish.  But I doubt Grandmother will give you her blessing.”

“I don’t care about the money, and neither does Kim,” said Ed hotly.

“Good, because you won’t get any.  But, I don’t want you to leave the pack on bad terms.”

Ed smirked.  “Do I hear the voice of Christine?”

Harold gave him a sheepish smile.  “She might have told me what to say.”

“You’re lucky to have Christine.”

“I know,” he said with feeling as he bounded down the porch steps to his car.

Ed softened a little toward his brother.  The Alpha was arrogant and bullish, but he did at least love his mate and children.  It was one of the few arranged matings Ed had come across where both parties were actually happy and in love with one another. 
He should probably nominate Christine for sainthood.

Ed came back in the house to find Kim covering Jonathan with a blanket.  He growled at her thoughtfulness; all of that should be reserved for him.  She stuck out her tongue and pulled Jonathan’s shoes off.

She flipped off the light and led Ed upstairs to their room.  Soon enough, they were naked under the covers and snuggled together.

“Will he be alright on the couch?” asked Kim.  “It is kind of lumpy.”

“Oh, I’m sure he’s slept in worse places.”

“He told me he tried to go and see Ingrid; she won’t even talk to him.”

Ed felt a wave of sadness from his mate.  His wolf urged him to make it better.  “I’m sure she’ll come around.  Jonathan can be very persuasive.” 
He hoped.
 

Kim propped herself up on an elbow.  “We’re okay, right, babe?”

“Never better, gorgeous.”  His wolf couldn’t agree more.   He’d never imagined ever feeling this content.

“And you really don’t mind about losing your allowance?” 

Her voice held a note of worry, and his wolf whined at him.

“Of course, not.  I’m not 12-years-old; I can get by without my family’s money.  I already have everything I need,” he reassured her.

Kim grinned and kissed him.  She climbed over his body and started undulating her hips over his sex.

He groaned as his blood started rushing to his member.  “Besides,” he breathed, “we still have my savings.”

She stopped moving and frowned at him.  His wolf yipped in disappointment.

“You have those?”

Ed ran his hands up her thighs.  “Sure, haven’t I mentioned that before?”

She shook her head.

Carefully, he sat up and his hands reached around her waist.  “Yeah, I have enough for Jamie’s college fund, a new house for us, a college fund for the new baby, and whatever else we need.”  He leaned forward and licked his tongue over her neck.  “What would you say to a honeymoon in Paris?  Romance for me and you, Disneyland for Jamie – it’d be perfect.”

Kim nipped his ear; she and her wolf did like the sound of that,
however…
  “That sounds amazing, but you don’t have to spend your money on that.  I’d be happy just staying home.” 
And happy as long as she never had to go to the Caribbean ever again.

His wolf grumbled at that.  “First of all, it’s our money now.   Second of all, whether you like it or not, I am going to spend the rest of our lives whisking you away to exciting new places, showering you with gifts and treating you like the goddess that you are.  And I won’t hear any argument on the subject, got it?”

Kim pretended to mull that over for a moment, while hiding her delight over what he said.  “Well, it’s going to be rough on me – I won’t deny that, but I guess I’ll just have to learn to live with your total adoration.”

“That’s my girl.”

Yes, she was.  Mate. 
Mine
.

Epilogue

Kim and Ed were married a couple of weeks later.  It was a small wedding with just Ed’s siblings, spouses, nephews and Kim’s mom and closest pack mates.  Jamie acted as bridesmaid.  The three of them then went to Paris for a long honeymoon, which included a lot of trips to Disneyland. 
Jamie was obsessed with meeting every single Disney princess.

Arthur and Jennifer were still discussing their options over adoption.  For now, they decided to take a sabbatical from work and go traveling.  They wanted to spend as much time with each other as possible to make up for all the lost time recently.

Olivia and Will, in spite of their parents’ and grandmother’s objections, were tentatively striving to make their relationship work. 
It wasn’t easy
.  The rest of their pack also looked at them like they were committing an atrocious sin by being together.  The pack members knew it wasn’t incestuous, but they considered the relationship to be too taboo to be right.

They decided to move away.  Will transferred to a different college in Playa Lunar – a city where pretty much anything goes.  Within a matter of weeks, they were blood bonded, living together and very happy.

Christine was delighted to find out she was carrying a girl.  Harold absolutely put his foot down and said this was their last child.  Christine agreed, but without much conviction.  She was pretty sure that if she ever did want another baby, she could talk him round.

Jonathan cut himself off from the family money and took up a job as a high-end car salesman.  There was something about him that meant he could sell anything to anybody.  What was the old saying?  He could sell ice to the Eskimos. 
Well, that.  Especially if the Eskimo happened to be female.

Regarding his own female
, Jonathan was still trying to convince Ingrid to come back to him.  She was adamant she wanted nothing to do with him, but he was hopeful that she would change her mind.

Kim and Ed soon found a suitable house for their burgeoning family and were thrilled to discover Kim was carrying a boy.  They were even more thrilled when Jamie started calling Ed ‘daddy.’  It just slipped out one day, but then it soon became the norm.  The three of them were delighted, and couldn’t wait until it became the four of them.

Mate.  Mine.

Hello!

Thank you for reading!

If you have enjoyed this and would be interested in reading more, please do sign up for my newsletter from my website:
http://elizabethannprice.wix.com/eapricenovellas

The site includes info on previous novellas already available, those planned for the future, as well as the one I’m working on right now.  So please, take a look!

Best wishes

Elizabeth

List of novellas currently available:

Grey Wolf Pack Romance Novellas:

A Mate for the Beta – Book 1

The Alpha’s Mate – Book 2

The Librarian and the Wolf – Book 3

Running from the Vampire into the Arms of the Wolf – Book 4

Wolves for the Bears – Book 5

The Witch, the Wolf and the Snowstorm – Book 6

Patient Mates - Book 7

The Omega’s Mate – Book 8

The Wolf and the Bobcat – Book 9

Christmas for the Wolves & A Wolf for Valentine’s Day (collections of short stories also available from my website)

Mating the Red Wolf – Book 10

Supernatural Bounty Hunters Romance Novellas:

Foxy On the Run – Book One

Dead Man Running – Book Two

To Catch A Snake – Book Three