Page 17 of My Boyfriend Bites (A Moonstruck Mating #3)
They spent a few days in Florida, enjoying the beaches at night. Hitting the theme parks—also after dark. They had the place to themselves because Dante paid for the privilege. Which impressed absolutely no one. Selene’s family, even the extended members, weren’t in awe of his wealth. The only thing that seemed to get them all gushing?
The kids. Ares and his mate, Charlotte, had a pre-school-age daughter named Greta who had no end to her precocious line of questioning. And then there was Apollo, Athena’s son, a little wolf in chubby baby form with long lashes and an adorable smile. The tyke adored Dante immediately, no surprise.
Selene’s mother did, too. She smiled all the time at Dante in direct contrast to Renard, whom she kept at arm’s length. The harder Rennie flirted, the more aloof she became. Amusing because his assistant usually had no problems getting women to like him.
The cruise made the news for a day as media outlets reported every salacious detail gleaned from those willing to talk. Interest tapered when authorities released a report that claimed the passengers on the cruise had experienced a mass hallucination event brought on by some kind of unknown drug in the ventilation system. Just about every story that emerged got discounted, except for the pirates. Yes, the cruise had been boarded, and yes, some passengers died during the robbery, including the captain, but the claims the pirates were massacred by a giant dog? Discounted, because wouldn’t you know some of the loot ended up being sold on the streets, meaning the pirates had escaped.
Dante rewarded Renard with a nice bonus for manipulating the reports to that conclusion.
When the vacation ended, Dante got to see where Selene grew up. He met her rabbits. Tasted some of Mom’s honey. Visited with Grams and Gramps, who kindly let him sleep in their bunker during the day.
Then it was off to Europe, where Selene met Dante’s mother, who took one look at Selene and beamed. “I always wanted a daughter.”
Life couldn’t be better. The problem in Russia turned out to be a mundane black-market organ operation and not Rasputin. Those responsible found themselves without a few body parts once Selene was done with them. She didn’t take kindly to them butchering children.
Weeks passed, then months. They visited her family a few times, and then it was time for the clan to come see them because Selene wasn’t in any condition to travel. Not with morning sickness and her wolf causing trouble—blame the pregnancy hormones. Or the baby. One or the other craved meat. The fresher, the better.
Dante fetched the family from the airport and felt pride as they approached his home and Selene’s mom exclaimed, “It’s like something out of a fairy tale.”
The castle never failed to impress. Even Ares had a grudging, “Nice place,” to offer.
Selene’s mom and Dante’s hit it off immediately. Ares took great interest in the kitchen, where the castle chef prepared everything from scratch, including cheese. Charlotte loved that there was a maid to chase her new baby, the now-crawling little Vesta, who loved her uncle Dante and cooed, “Unky Danni,” while raising her chubby arms. A giggling Greta and Apollo loved all the new rooms they could use to play hide-and-go-seek, keeping their fathers on the run.
As for Grams and Gramps, when they saw the converted castle dungeon—replete with movie theatre, library, underground garden, and even a lake—they looked misty-eyed as they said, “It’s the most beautiful bunker we ever did see.”
By the following January, Selene had given birth to their son, Inferno, who, in a shocking twist, was both vampire and lycan. What that would mean remained to be seen.
Despite protesting she didn’t need marriage, Selene finally agreed to be his wife.
On Valentine’s Day, under an almost full moon, they were married—and mated—in front of friends and family. When it came time for speeches, a glowing Selene stood and gave a toast. “I’d like to first off thank my family for forcing me to go on the best cruise ever. To my husband, Dante, I love you more than I could have ever imagined.” She raised her glass higher and finished with, “To boyfriends who like to bite!”
He raised a glass to that.
I hope you loved this trilogy of love and werewolves.