Page 26 of Tamed Wolf (Rejected Mates of the Shelter #4)
Brooks, Now
“That should keep the fire fed for a bit,” I say to myself as I brush off my hands and take a few steps back. It's glorious. Built halfway to the goddess, big enough to keep my girl warm when she gets here.
“Hey, Brooks.”
I spin, putting my hands up defensively.
Brooklyn shakes her head and rolls her eyes, linking hands with the guy next to her. “This is Kyle,” she says as he reaches forward to shake my hand. “One of my mates.”
I narrow my eyes at him, ready to give him a tongue thrashing.
“We're good,” Brooklyn immediately interjects, leaping between us. “Kyle and I are good. We’ve spent a lot of time together lately, worked through some things, and made some decisions. He's being good to me, I promise.” She angles her neck to show off a fresh mating bite.
“Congratulations,” I tell her, genuinely happy for her. Also, I can relax a bit now that I know she's not going try anything again.
“Is Lark here yet? Is she coming?”
“Yeah, she should be here any second.”
“Okay, thanks. I wanted to ask her something. We're gonna go grab something to eat over there, but if you see her, let her know I was looking for her, would you?”
“Of course, Brooklyn, I’d happy to do that.”
I keep my eyes on them as they walk off, deciding their body language shows that they actually are comfortable together, and that maybe they are really happy. One less thing for me to try and worry about, I guess.
I can feel like the second my mate gets close, the bond telling me to get over to her. Her hair looks like it's been freshly blow dried, flowing halfway down her back and reflecting some of the fire light bouncing around us.
“There you are,” I say in relief as I grab her and start carrying her to the fire. “I saved you a seat.”
I don't care what people think as I keep her legs wrapped around my waist, sinking onto the giant log I threw my sweater over to keep any other wolves from sitting on it. “Did you have a good day?”
“Your brothers double teamed me over the washing machine,” she giggles into my ear. “During the spin cycle!” She covers her mouth like she did something shocking. “Do you have any idea what that did to my orgasms?”
I throw my head back and laugh, trying to imprint this happy face of hers into my head. “What I'm hearing, is that I missed out and need to make it up to my mate.”
“I mean, I won't stop you.”
I watch as my parents steal our baby the second they see him, leaving my brothers with empty arms and eyes tracking the woman in my lap. They can damn well try, but she's not going anywhere. “You hungry?”
She shakes her head, looking around at the crowd gathered. “No, I've been snacking all day. Maybe I'll get something later.”
“Alright, just let me know.” Then I spin her around so she can watch the fire, keeping her back pressed to me as I wrap my arms tightly around her waist.
“Oh, my parents came by.”
“I'm sorry, what? What happened?”
“Nothing really. It was pretty stupid; I think they were just trying to get into the good graces of you guys now that I’m mated to somebody they deem important. We pretty much chased them off, though.”
“Are you alright?”
“Fine,” she says waving me off. “I’m not going to let them upset me, they don't matter enough. This fire is incredible, by the way. I know you said you were good at building them, but damn.”
“Thanks. I might have made it a little too big, but I wanted to make sure you had a good time tonight.”
“You guys are here, so that's pretty much a given.”
I smack a big kiss on her cheek. “You say the sweetest things to us, Lark. Oh, Brooklyn was looking for you.”
“Where is she?”
I shrug, figuring if Brooklyn wants to talk to my woman, she'll come back and find us soon.
My brothers join us eventually, and we introduce Lark to a few people that stop by and a couple of our buddies we hang out with on occasion and their mates. My favorite thing is that none of them have anything but nice words to say to Lark, and by the time the alpha is about to make his usual pre-run pack announcements, she's got a couple phone numbers and invitations from some of the female wolves in the pack to get together sometime.
Not sure she'll take them up on the offers, but it would be cool if she found some friends she could hang out with when she wanted to.
“Alright, alright, let's bring it in,” my dad calls out, still holding my son. Rowan’s clapping, making people laugh as he tries to get their attention. He's such a ham.
“Hopefully everybody's enjoying the food, thank you to everyone that pitched in to help make it. Tonight is a special evening, as this is the first time my new daughter-in-law will be joining in a pack run. Welcome, Lark. We’re very happy to have you.
“Also, we have some business to take care of. I know everybody's having a good time here, but let's remember that sometimes packs need to take care of difficult tasks.
“I've been in contact with some of the alphas from other packs, as my sons are spearheading some changes we're going to be implementing into our pack in the near future. There will be more details soon about ways to help and ways to get involved, but it's going to take all of us to make their dreams a reality.
“A very generous donor,” he says as his eyes flick to Lark, “recently upgraded the beds at the shelter out of the goodness of their heart, and that's a great solution to get things off the ground, but we're hoping to take those beds out of those rooms and move them to a series of small cabins we want to build behind the Alpha House.
“I know we've been talking about what to do with that land for years, but it's past time we take care of the wolves from our pack that reside at that shelter. They're suffering and need their pack to support them. There will be informational meetings next week at the Alpha House at the normal meeting time, and if anybody has questions or concerns or would like to donate time or materials, you’re encouraged to join.
“Also, I've decided to open up communication with the Wild Pack.” There’s murmuring at this, and my dad allows it for a moment before taking the situation back in his own hands. “If you don't know, many years ago the The Wilds is where we used to send wolves when they got ejected from our pack. There's a high security compound there to reform them, and we have our first set of wolves set to travel and join them tomorrow. This may be an option we keep open as we investigate things in the pack that have been overlooked.”
He starts talking about more inane things like he didn’t just drop a massive bomb on everyone, but we tune him out, because Lark has gone still as stone in my hands and that’s all the three of us can really focus on.
We found out a few days ago that her exes are getting pushed out of the pack, sent to a place that we haven't sent wolves to since I was probably a kid. I don't know why we stopped, but when we were talking to my dad about what to do with her exes, it felt like an aha moment.
They'll be far away so Lark doesn't have to run into them or think about them, they won't be able to interfere with her life. No one will question the heavy beating they took from us for disrespecting Lark after we met her, or ask why they’re healing so slow. In short, out of sight out of mind.
Lark will be able to move on with her life knowing they're living out the rest of theirs in a shitty place, where they'll have to perform hard labor daily if they want to remain fed and sheltered.
“You okay, Lark? Say the word and we’ll get you out of here.”
I wait for her to exhale and relax into my arms, shaking her head no. “I'm fine. Really. It's a relief to know I won't accidentally run into them at the grocery store or something.”
“It's okay if you're taking it hard, though. Even if they were a bad part, they were still a big part of your life for a long time. They fathered your child. It's okay to feel mixed emotions about this. You're allowed to be sad for it, even while you're celebrating.”
She spins and straddles me again, kissing me. “Thank you, for always knowing exactly what I need to hear.” She rests her head against mine, calming herself back down. “It'll be an adjustment, and I can't say I won't think about them from time to time, but thank you guys for all the work you've been doing to solve that problem for me. I think this is the perfect solution.”
“I do, too. I’ve heard the wolves in charge of The Wilds are pretty hard-core. Hopefully Ivan and Trevor will finally come to realize they ain’t shit.”
“Hey Lark, do you have a second?”
Lark turns her head to see Brooklyn, offering her a real smile. “Of course.” She stands up and takes a few steps away, staying in sight of me and my brothers, who are now on the other side of the fire talking to people.
I don't want to be nosy, but I do want to make sure nobody's upsetting her. The women both smile a little, and even end the conversation with the teary hug. Lark looks genuinely happy for her. And then Brooklyn turns to the tree line to beckon somebody forward, and I'm up out of my seat quickly, because Camden is here.
“Easy, Alpha,” he says quickly, baring his neck in submission. “I'm not here to cause trouble.”
My grunt is all I say in response, making it clear I won't leave my girl's side. “Actually it's good you're here,” he tells me. “I'm starting my mandatory volunteer work at the shelter tomorrow, doing repairs and such.”
“Did you hear about the club?” Lark asks him with zero voice affectation.
He nods, clearly upset about it, but wise enough not to say anything negative. “I did. I'm happy that the shelter is going to get something it needs. And mom,” he says, giving her his sole focus, “I'd like to work on this. Whenever you're ready. I know it's going to take time, but I've been doing a lot of thinking and asking questions I never thought to ask, learning things I wish I could unlearn.
“I'm so sorry,” he says as his voice breaks, and he falls to his knees in front of Lark. “I'm so damn sorry, Mom. I don't think I wanted to know how bad it was for you, because I felt like a king. I just told myself you were fine, that you smiled enough so it couldn't be too bad, and that I'd deal with it later. Well, later never came, did it?”
He's full on crying now, and he bends down to put his head on the forest floor in front of my mate, showing submission and respect. “I'm going to find a way to make everything up to you, Mom. I promise. I don't want to throw my life away like they did, I want to be better.” This he aims at Brooklyn, who seems somewhat affected by the speech, too. I can tell there's a promise in those words to her, that that promise goes for her as well.
“And I don't want to ruin your night,” he continues, “but I just wanted you to know that I love you. I love you, and thank you for everything you've given up for me. I know I've been such an asshole, but I'm going to try and earn my way into being the son you should have had all along. I…want to be there for you, to be a part of your life again. My head is starting to clear, and I’ve lost the rose-colored glasses. I want my dads to pay for everything they did to you, and I know I need to pay for my part in that, as well.”
He doesn't wait for her to respond, but he does press his forehead into the tops of her shoes before shifting and running off.
“We'll talk more later, okay?” Brooklyn asks, gently holding Lark’s arm in comfort before turning off with her mates to go run. Cam pauses before disappearing, sending up a loud howl to the moon in Lark’s honor.
Well.
I start looking around as my brothers come up to meet us, trying to see if there are any more surprises we need to deal with. “Looks like we're getting our happy ending, doesn't it? Everything seems to be falling into place.”
Lark smiles and nods, easily falling into the middle of all three of us without much thought. “Couldn't have planned it better if I wrote it myself,” Lark says, still slightly in shock and maybe a little hesitant about her son's speech. “I hope working at the shelter teaches Camden some godsdamned manners. I think he's got himself a good mate though. She's gonna make him work for it, which is exactly what he needs.”
“Speaking of needs…”
“You're not fucking me here, Beckett,” she spits, eyes amused but trying not to be, before yanking her shirt off.
She steps out of her jeans, making me want to groan at how luscious her legs look in the firelight. Nobody else is looking, because they like their tongues and their eyes attached to their bodies, but then she shifts into a gorgeous wolf, and we're all staring at her, so damn happy it hurts.
She nips at my ass trying to get me to play, and there's no way I'm going to leave her hanging. I playfully snap my jaw at her once I’m shifted as well and I pounce on her, having an incredible time rolling through the pine needles and chasing her through the trees.
As we run, it's almost as if we can feel mother moon smiling down at us, encouraging us to live life to the fullest and make every moment important.
We run as a pack, the paws of the pack at large surrounding us, and the knowledge that when we're all tired and ready to go home, Lark will be in our arms between us, while our son she's decided to adopt (we had to persuade her hard for that one, let me tell you) sleeps down the hall, safe and sound in his room that Lark has been filling with all sorts of books they can read together.
We’ll figure out how our work schedule looks, and we'll start showing Lark the ropes when it comes to construction because she's decided that's something she wants to do with us.
So our little family’s going to flourish and be the happiest, most awful to be around pack in existence.
Me and my brothers don't care if she tames the shit out of us, because we've never been better.
I’m not sure about everything our future will bring, but I do know I’ll have the strength of my pack behind me, braving and overcoming anything.
We might have started our story as broken wolves, and goddess knows we all got lost along the way, but thanks to Lark taking a chance on us, and a big helping of luck and guidance from the goddess, we’re ending this story with an ellipsis.
I know we’ll live happily ever after, just as I know that somewhere else, another wolf is waking up to start their own journey.
Maybe the goddess doesn’t make mistakes. Maybe we all made the mistake of not trusting in her, in thinking our past was going to define us.
So tonight, we’ll run and live, and then we’ll get up and do it all again tomorrow.
Storm Pack out.
P.S.
Maple bars taste fucking delicious when they’re celebrating finally being rid of their exes.
Especially when they’re all hyped up from a good run and a good heaping of closure.
Wait, I think I lost the analogy…