Carnal Secrets (46 page)

Hell, even Caleb thought he was part of this supposed “pack.” To his surprise, Nick found that he actually liked Caleb despite the male’s close friendship with Shaya. Although Caleb was protective of her, it wasn’t to the extent that he imposed on Nick’s role. Also, Nick was grateful to him for being there for Shaya growing up when her mother wasn’t.

If Nick was honest with himself, he would admit that being an Alpha again would be a challenge he would enjoy, because this time he’d have his mate with him, and he would be an Alpha of a dispersed pack—something his “pack” had subtly hinted they would all be fine with. That meant he would have plenty of time alone with his mate. The “pack” all deferred to Shaya a lot, treating her with respect and acknowledging the inner strength that many people would have overlooked.

In essence, they had made her their Alpha female, and she was perfectly fine with it since it didn’t interfere with her position as a mediator. She had gotten the job, just like he had known she would. Naturally, she was ecstatic. The only time he had seen her happier was the evening of their mating ceremony.

As planned, they had the ceremony a few days after the attack, when everyone was fully healed. Trey performed the ceremony for them, just as Nick had done for Trey and Taryn. Shaya had looked absolutely beautiful; he could vividly remember every detail—her halter-neck dress had been azure in color, all satin with a layer of silk beneath the skirt that had trailed slightly below the satin. As tradition, he had worn a simple suit, which had been a dark gray—the same color as his wolf’s fur. And for the first time since he’d first surfaced, his wolf had been truly and utterly content. He still was.

The after-party had been pretty funny as Rhett had gotten so drunk he’d actually passed out near the music speaker. Seriously, how was that even possible for someone with shifter hearing? But then, Nick supposed it wasn’t every day a male discovered his mate was pregnant. To Rhett’s dismay, Grace was refusing to “take it easy,” in spite of the fact that she had fussed over Taryn when the Alpha female was pregnant with Kye. Nick knew that the day Shaya became pregnant—something he would know just by a slight change in her scent—would be one of the best days of his life, but it would still shock the shit out of him, just as it had Rhett.

His mother, who was currently laughing hysterically about something with Shaya, Roni, and Eli, had been leaving not-so-subtle hints about him giving her grandchildren sometime soon. She absolutely adored Shaya, which was why she had spent a good portion of the mating ceremony snarling at Gabrielle—who had been extremely well behaved that night, not insulting Shaya even once. Stone had been pleasant enough to Nick, but he’d patted his Glock a few times and given Nick a look that said, “I’m watching you.” Whatever.

Eli, too, had easily taken to Shaya. Of course he had. She had a natural ease with people that Nick was sure would make her fantastic at her job. She, Kathy, and Eli had been conspiring together about ways to keep Roni from returning to her wolf form for another long period of time. If anyone could accomplish that, it was Shaya.

A big relief was that, so far, he hadn’t had a single headache since Taryn healed him. Not one. Nor had he had any other problems that might signify his cognitive functions were beginning to degenerate again. At Shaya’s request, Taryn occasionally laid a hand on his forehead to see if any luminous patches showed up under his scalp. But there were none. If what everyone speculated was true, the only reason he had gotten ill again after his first healing was that Amber had deliberately failed to fully heal him. As such, Shaya was confident that he was healed for good now. His gut told him that she was right.

Nick was pulled from his thoughts when a chunky ginger cat sprang onto the table and then onto Jaime’s lap, hissing loudly at Dante, who was opposite her. Nick looked down at the animal that always managed to scare the hell out of his dog. In Bruce’s defense…“That is one motherfucking ugly cat.”

Jaime gasped in horror while Dante nodded his agreement. Cuddling her cat close, Jaime turned on her mate, cursing him for being antisocial toward her pet. Gabe consoled her until she ended her rant with a huff, though he and Hope were chuckling to themselves.

“These disputes between them about her freaky pet are commonplace,” Gabe told Nick, petting Bruce, who had taken a liking to the male. “Dante gets jealous of the attention Hunk receives from his mate.” Dante didn’t deny it.

Although Nick had initially disliked Dante for warning him away from Shaya—in fairness, he had been merely trying to protect Shaya—Nick had come to like the Beta male. Over the past few months, Dante and Tao had taken it upon themselves to subject Jesse, Bracken, and Zander to the training given to enforcers. Nick knew why; they were preparing them to be enforcers for Nick. Yep, the Phoenix Pack was also taking part in the plan to make him an Alpha again.

As Shaya stood and leaned across the table to retrieve the bottle of ketchup from Kent, Nick couldn’t help but enjoy the view. “You truly do have the most perfect ass.” His mate merely smiled brightly.

“I strongly agree,” said Dominic, endangering his life once again. When Nick growled, he raised his hands. “Just kidding.”

Kent sighed at Dominic before turning to Nick. “I’d hit him for you…but look how pretty he is.”

Roni fingered the shirt Dominic was wearing. “Nice shirt. Can I talk you out of it?”

As everyone laughed at her teasing, Dominic pointed at her. “Stop doing that. If you’re not going to marry me and let us be filthy-minded together—”

“You stop doing it to mess with my brother, and I’ll stop doing it to you.” As usual, Roni and Dominic then began to quibble. Nick noticed that Marcus didn’t appear to like the byplay that often went on between Roni and the pervert. Marcus watched and flirted with Roni a lot, who just responded with blank looks. Unlike the other females here, she was resistant to his “charm,” which was a good thing because it meant Nick didn’t have to kill him. Sitting there now, Marcus looked confused more than anything else…like someone who felt as though he had lost his magical powers. And Trick appeared to find it hilarious.

When Grace took Nick’s empty plate and topped up his coffee mug, he gave her a nod of thanks. He had to admit, he’d miss her cooking. Like Lydia, she was also good with injuries; they had both been a great help to Taryn when many had been wounded after the battle. Hell, Tao and Dominic had come very close to dying. Eli, Trey, Marcus, and Trick had also been badly hurt. Taryn had been totally and utterly pissed with Trey about it, as if he’d
wanted
to get shot or something.

At the moment, though, the Alpha pair was perfectly happy, sitting together at the table, playing with their son and laughing as Kye frowned at Cam’s attempt to play peek-a-boo with him—as if the kid was offended that Cam thought such a game would be enough to entertain him. Nick felt a distinct pang of longing. He wanted that with Shaya one day. As if she sensed that, she smiled at him and placed a hand on his thigh. Her hand was nowhere near his cock, but it didn’t matter—like that, he was rock hard. “Can we leave now?”

She laughed. Yeah, she probably shouldn’t have found it amusing that her mate was in hell surrounded by people, or that she could make him hard that easily, but she
so
did. “Let me finish my cake and coffee.”

In truth, Shaya was eager to leave, because Nick was finally taking her to see the house he’d bought for them. He’d refused to tell her anything about it—not even where it was—and she wasn’t a patient person. Still, she wanted to enjoy this meal with the Phoenix Pack because she knew that after that day, things would be very different. She’d be an Alpha female.

Though Nick was reluctant about being an Alpha again, she knew it was a given. Unlike with many other dominant males, he didn’t have to showcase his alpha qualities, he didn’t have to actively work to gain people’s attention—he just
was
. And that was enough for people to notice and be inspired by him. He didn’t have to demand to be obeyed, or respected, or followed—those things happened for him automatically. It was kind of annoying when people often sought him out for help or advice and seemed to gather around him. But it was also kind of funny considering he had such an aversion to company.

“Wrap up the cake with a napkin and bring it with you.”

Grinning at the impatience in his voice, Shaya said, “No, I want to eat it now.”

“But…people keep smiling at me.”

“So smile back.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Just so you know: They’ll still be friendly to you, no matter how much you try to keep them at a distance. They’re determined to break down your defenses and make you one of their own.” Like Jaime, however, the guys also did it to irritate Nick. Yeah, the males of the Phoenix Pack—particularly Trick—lived to tease one another and everyone else around them. As Tao was so easy to provoke, he got it the worst. Ryan simply grunted in what looked like impatience whenever Trick tried it with him.

“Stop hogging my grandson,” complained Greta at Taryn as she held out her arms to Kye, clearly expecting him to reach for her—he didn’t.

“I think you mean
hugging
,” said Taryn sweetly, holding Kye closer. He giggled, playing with her hair.

Greta placed her hands on her hips, scowling at Taryn. The old woman had spent the past half hour insulting the Alpha female and didn’t appear to be done. “You know what I mean, hussy.”

Taryn sighed tiredly. “Greta, I think you’ve delighted us long enough. Why not go select some favorite hymns and poems—it won’t be long before the funeral. Have you put any more thought into whether or not you want an open casket?”

“
Humph
. I still have no idea why my Trey mated with you. Tiny, sarcastic, disrespectful—”

“Greta, seriously, careful your vile tongue doesn’t get your false teeth knocked out.”

Of course that made Greta ten times worse.

Nick turned to Shaya. “I really don’t think I can take much more.” These people were crazy. “You done yet?”

Chuckling, Shaya held up her index finger. Drinking down the last of her coffee, she nodded. “
Now
we can leave.”

Both relieved and excited, Nick took her hand in his and helped her rise from the table. All at once, Derren, Roni, Eli, Kathy, Kent, Jesse, Bracken, and Zander rose from their seats. “Oh no. Shaya and I want some privacy for a change.”

“We just want to know where we’ll be living,” said Derren innocently. The others nodded. Most likely in response to Nick’s growl, he said, “You’re not going to get rid of me, you know that. Nor are you going to get rid of these people. And you’re not going to get out of being Alpha either.”

As an idea came to mind, Nick crossed his arms over his chest. “Okay. You want me to be Alpha? You got it…as long as you’re Beta—no more bodyguard shit.”

Derren gawked. “Hell no. I don’t want responsibilities. They scare me.”

“Then I’m afraid I don’t have a place for you. Derren, with regret, you’re officially out of the pack. I’m permanently firing you.”

“Hey, you can’t do that.
I’m
the one who organized the pack,” he more or less whined.

“Doesn’t matter. If I’m Alpha, it’s my decision. So, are you going to accept the position of Beta or not?”

Derren had the look of a sulky teenager. “Fine.”

Smirking, Nick led Shaya around the table. “I’ll show you the house tomorrow,” he told his “pack.” Being an Alpha again was going to take some getting used to. “Shaya and I want to spend our first night there
alone
.” They all nodded respectfully.

After he and Shaya had said their good-byes and she had been molested by Dominic—which almost led to the pervert losing a limb—Nick and Shaya went out of the tunnels and down to the indoor parking lot. He held up something he’d taken from his back pocket.

Shaya tensed. “You want to blindfold me?”

“I told you, I want this to be a surprise.”

“But…you want to blindfold me?”

“What part of ‘surprise’ don’t you understand?”

A little irritated that she wouldn’t even be able to look out the window and guess where they were going, she nonetheless nodded. He gently put on the blindfold, plunging her into complete darkness, and kissed her lightly on the mouth before guiding her into his Mercedes.

When Nick finally drove them out of pack territory, he released a sigh of relief. Those people had the potential to drive him insane. The only person he wanted to be in the company of was Shaya, and now he had her all to himself
finally
. He soon realized that he probably should have brought a gag as well as a blindfold, because she did nothing but quiz him throughout the entire journey—no doubt to annoy him. It worked.

When the car finally came to a stop, Shaya practically bounced in the seat in anticipation. She probably looked like a toddler in a playground, but she didn’t care. Three long months of “it’s a surprise” had her feeling beyond excited—as well as exasperated. “Can I take the blindfold off now?”

“No, that’s my job. Wait there.”

Sighing, Shaya waited as Nick exited the car and then came around and opened the passenger door. Taking her hand, he helped her get out of the vehicle. The familiar scents of pine, sun-warmed earth, and moss hit her nose. The place itself had a familiar scent…she had been here before. “Blindfold. Off.”

Nick
tsk
ed. “No patience.” He led her a short distance and then, standing behind her, untied the piece of black cloth. “
Now
you can look.”

Blinking a few times to adjust to the light, Shaya fully opened her eyes and gasped. “Oh my God.” Yeah, she’d been here before, been here many times as a child. It had been her favorite place back then. “You bought the hunting lodge I told you about?” It was just as she remembered it. The first level was made with large stone while the second and third levels had timber frames. The large glass dove windows took clear advantage of the natural light, practically illuminating it. To add to that, fairy lights now decorated the trees that surrounded the lodge. “I can’t believe you did this.” With emotion clogging her throat, the words came out in a whisper.