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She stands on her tiptoes to plant a kiss on my cheek before I wrap her in a hug. “That’s the goal. Spoil my girl each day that I have.”

She pulls back to glare at me. “What are you up to?”

A chuckle rumbles out of me. “What makes you think that I’m up to something?”

She holds up one finger before placing her pointer finger on top of it. “One, your heart is racing.” Her second finger pops up as she moves her finger to that. “Secondly, you didn’t make a sexual joke the night before the full moon.”

I full belly laugh at that one because she isn’t wrong.

Her third finger pops up. “While you do spoil me, even this is over the top for you.”

Trying to keep the ruse up for longer, I say, “So a man can’t step it up every once in a while for the love of his life?”

Her hands drop to her hips as she just stares at me, waiting.

“Fine, I’m up to something, but can you at least sit down for dinner first?” I ask as I move my hand over the display of food.

She huffs before plopping down on the blanket. I can’t help but smile at her fit. She has the patience of a toddler when it comes to things she wants. I love it about her and she hates I make her wait. Especially if I delay her orgasms, another fun thing Ilearned I love doing with her. She claims to hate it, but we both know it’s all for show.

She snatches bits of food from each of the plates, making sure she has something on her plate. Something I’ve learned is her way of appeasing me while still being a brat. She sits there waiting for me to reveal her surprise.

“You know how this works, Rose.”

The strawberry gushes out its juice as she takes a bite. Rolling my eyes, I pull the envelope from my back pocket. I learned along the way to pick and choose my battles. She learned to give in to my requests if she wants something as well.

My hand extends across the space between us, with the envelope dangling from my two fingers. She quickly grabs it before flipping the tab open to see the contents inside. Her face crumbles in confusion as she sees the itinerary resting in there.

“Conall, the Alpha of the Conri na Sliabh pack, emailed me back this morning. We have permission to travel to Ireland and visit their pack, just like you dreamed.”

Her mouth drops open as she looks between the paper and me. “I can’t believe you actually were able to get permission. What about the bookstore and the pack?”

“I already talked to Silas, and he said it was not an issue. As for the bookstore, one of our teen wolves actually volunteered because she wants to be an author when she grows up.”

“Who?”

“Callista Rue.”

“Ah, that is so cool! I would love to have her hang out with me until we leave. Do you think she would be okay with that?”

I nod my head, as I knew she would say that. “Yes, of course. I told her you would want to walk her through it before we left.”

“That’s amazing. I can’t believe you were able to get all that done already. I didn’t even think you were being serious about it.”

“Very serious. But, now that you rushed the surprise, can we eat dinner?” I ask with a lift of my brow.

She laughs as she earnestly begins to eat. We spend the rest of the night discussing all the things she would like to see when we go to Ireland. I listen as I watch her animatedly explain each place, even opening her phone up to show me pictures.

I can’t help but thank the goddess for gifting me with such a precious mate. I was such an idiot for almost ruining this forever.

Aetheria

Leaning in close to the window pane, I watch as my children finally give into the gift I gave them. Warrick finally acceptingthe love he deserved and Aspen giving him the chance to prove himself.

It’s a beautiful sight to watch as they spend their night together. Another successful mating. Time for the next one.

In a blink, I’m outside the cabin of my next child to focus on. He is busy on his computer as he always is. A fond smile crosses my aged face. This one will be one of the most challenging as I bring him out of his shell.

Chapter 31