Page 32 of The Beta’s Heart (Five Fangs #5)
Tyler
I sprawled on the front porch steps, the well-kept wooden boards creaking slightly under my weight. Beside me lounged Landry, his long legs stretched out in front of him, as we sipped on Arizona Sweet Tea, an empty bag of barbecue chips crumpled up between us.
“Been a hell of a year, ain’t it?” Landry broke the comfortable silence between us, something I’d been expecting the chatterbox to do for the last ten minutes.
“Yep. Feels like we’ve lived a lifetime since last March.”
That was the honest truth.
The day after our visit to the Blue Rock pack, Ray Hawkins put in a transfer request, which our alphas approved immediately, so he sold his house in Louisiana and bought the Breckenridges’ old place. He was a frequent guest at our family dinners, and Mom and Julia Price had taken such a liking to him that they set him up with one of their friends, a widowed she-wolf named Emily Webb.
Ray was hesitant at first because Emily was seven years younger and had two teenage sons, but the couple quickly fell in love, and her twins, who were the sweetest and kindest boys I ever met, readily accepted him. When Ray popped the question, no one was surprised, and now Emily was dropping hints about a new addition coming soon to their family.
Speaking of pups, Emmeline Graves gave birth to a son, Patrick, last week, and Mom was ready to push Walker out any day now. Then there was Charlie Popov, who had just announced she was expecting a little one in about six months. Misha was over the moon and thanked me every single time he saw me. I finally told him to stop because I hadn’t done anything special, but he insisted I’d saved his sanity and gave him a new lease on life.
As for my ‘aunt’ Brenda, she’d gone downhill quickly after Covey faded back to the Goddess and had been admitted to the pack’s care facility the day after Bram and Reuben discovered they were mates.
Best place for her, really.
Finding out the truth about my family hit me harder than I ever expected. It took time—time to accept, time to heal—but Bram and I were closer now than I could have imagined. We spent lots of time together and always met up at the gaming shop for our weekly Dungeons & Dragons session with the gammas, rolling dice and sharing laughs over pizza. We’d both been through a round of hell, but we’d finally come out on the other side and were happier than either of us ever thought we could be.
I knew good times ended the same as the bad ones did, but just for now, I was content to laze here next to my best buddy, watching the fluffy clouds skate across the blue sky as a steady breeze blew away the last of winter’s chill, just being in the moment and enjoying the peace while it lasted.
Glancing at Landry, I noticed how much more relaxed he was, and the spark in his eyes was nothing but pure happiness. I knew I wasn’t the me I was a year ago, either, and reckoned I probably looked a little different, too.
Goddess knew, I felt different.
“Don’t guess luna’s going to go back to school in the fall,” Lan said, maybe feeling my eyes on him.
“Naw, she’s had enough of it.” Leaning back, I settled my elbows on the step behind me. “Not that she can’t do the work, but now that she’s confident in her place, she’s taking on more luna duties, and that eats most of her time and energy.”
“Not to mention riding herd on our five alphas. That’s a full-time job right there,” he grunted, and I snorted in agreement.
Then the rumble of a powerful engine reached our ears, and I squinted into the distance. A sleek, vintage Mustang rolled up the driveway, its polished black paint gleaming in the fading sunlight. My heart skipped a beat when I recognized it as the wreck from the Busted Knuckle, the one I’d spent countless hours working on before I became beta.
Parking the beauty a couple of yards in front of us, Nathan Barlow stepped out with a proud smile on his face.
“Thought you might like to see the old girl all gussied up,” he said, patting the hood affectionately.
“She looks amazing!” A grin spread across my face as I approached the Mustang with awed eyes.
“Plenty of hard work and dedication went into making her what she is now. Kind of like you, son,” Dad said, clamping a hand on my shoulder.
I glanced at Landry as he joined us by the car, and we shared a knowing look, understanding Dad’s unspoken message. We’d both been through our own process of restoration this last year, and it had shaped us into better versions of ourselves.
“Thanks,” I said quietly, meeting my father-in-law’s eyes. “For everything, Dad.”
“I’m proud of you, Ty. You, too, Lan. You boys both traveled down a long, hard road to get to where you are now. I want you to promise me one thing, though.”
We looked at each other, then at him, waiting to see if he was going to make a joke or say something embarrassingly sentimental. With this guy, it was always a fifty-fifty gamble.
“Don’t do anything to fuck it up now.”
“No, sir!” we chorused loud and clear.
“Where are your ladies, anyway?” He looked around as if he could make Peri and Grace appear just by asking.
Which would have been just fine with me if he could! Three hours without my Sunshine was three hours too long!
“Aw, Nathan, they went shopping again .” Landry paused to down the last swig of his tea. “Don’t even know why they bother to go. Peri makes most of her own clothes, and my Gracie never wants to spend a penny!”
“Peri said she goes to get ideas,” I offered, “and Grace goes along to keep her company.”
“Well, then, boys, you have a golden opportunity on this fine Sunday afternoon.” Dad nodded toward the Mustang. “Take her for a spin. Keys are in the ignition. Just don’t get any speeding tickets, or Evie will never let me hear the end of it.”
“No promises,” I smirked.
With wide grins, Landry and I scrambled into the car, the engine rumbling to life when I turned the key. Leaving our driveway, I stomped the gas pedal, filling the air with the unmistakable smell of burning rubber. As we roared down the road, Landry whooped and hollered along with me, wind whipping through our hair, our spirits high and our hearts light.
Of course, we didn’t get ten miles down the road before we rounded a corner and saw Landry’s truck headed our way, Grace at the wheel and Peri in the passenger seat, both of them gabbing like they didn’t just spend all afternoon together.
“U-turn!” Dropping one arm out the window, Landry pounded his hand against the side of the door. “U-turn! U-turn!”
“Boy, what do you think I’m doing?!” I growled as I spun the steering wheel hard, tires squealing in protest. “This old girl can’t drift, you know!”
“No, but she sure can spin!” he laughed as the back end of the car slid around and we were suddenly facing the other direction. “Go, bro, go! Catch up to them!”
Since we were on a quiet stretch of country road, Grace was game and raced us home, and we flew along neck-in-neck. Landry’s truck was far more powerful and should have left us in the dust, but Grace was a careful driver and too timid to hammer the accelerator, unlike me, who had it flat to the floorboard.
When we had to slow down to make the driveway, we allowed them to go first since we were gentlemen. I parked next to them, then revved the engine once before shutting her down, and Dad shook his head at me when I got out.
“What?” I shrugged. “Just blowing out the carbon for you.”
Then two excited girls descended, launching themselves at us and hanging off our necks as they crowed about ‘winning’ the race. Meeting Landry’s eyes over our mates’ heads, I raised an eyebrow and he nodded in agreement, then we each locked our arms around our girl’s waist and swirled her around and around, Grace squeaking in surprise and Peri’s laughter bubbling up like music.
As I gave her one last spin, I took in Peri’s mussed hair, wide grin, and dancing eyes, and my heart expanded until it felt like it would explode out of my chest.
I remember the days I could only dream of having what I have now.
“Baby?” Peri tilted her head to the side, her voice soft. “What are you thinking to give you such a bittersweet smile?”
“How very glad I am that I never stopped fighting for this,” I whispered, holding her tighter and feeling her heartbeat against mine. “Moments like this always make me realize that all those hard days of turning my pain into progress were worth it.”
“Yes, they were. Ty, promise me that we’ll always fight to keep this.”
“Oh, yeah, Sunshine.” Brushing a strand of hair from her face, I kissed her softly. “No matter what.”
“Here’s to the future for all of you kids.” Dad came over, clapping one hand on my back and one on Landry’s. “I hope you make it one hell of a ride.”
And I vowed right then and there to do nothing less.
~ The End ~