The Wolf's Mate Book 4: Michael & Shyne (16 page)

Jason was sitting at the kitchen table having a snack of a large wedge of the apple pie Karly had left.

"Shyne asleep?" Jason asked, gesturing to the empty plate and fork and the full glass of milk.  Clearly his brother was expecting him.

"Yeah.  She was really upset and then finally fell asleep."  Michael knew that Jason and Cades would have been able to hear at least her crying, if not a good portion of what was said.  Wolves had excellent hearing, even in their human form.  He cut a wedge of pie and put it on his plate, sinking his fork through the glistening layers of apples and perfectly flaky crust.  Cinnamon exploded on his tongue, along with the sweet taste of apples that were picked from the trees in his parent's backyard.  They ate in silence, and Michael was reminded of the many times in their youth when they would steal down to the kitchen for a snack in the middle of the night.

Plates cleared to the sink and glasses of milk topped off, Jason leaned back in the chair and said, "What do you want to talk about first?"

His brother knew him so well.  "Housing.  I can't ask her to marry me and then take her back to the trailer.  She deserves a house so she can finally have the home she's been denied."

Jason nodded in agreement.  "Dad wants to talk to you about that, so go see him after breakfast.  Next?"

As he wondered what his father wanted to talk to him about, he told Jason about his need to buy a car and an engagement ring, and most pressing it seemed, find a way for Shyne to continue to do what she worked so hard to put herself through school for, without her having to work at that gym.

"Karly mentioned that the rec center in the development where Linus' mom and grandparents live is looking for an activities director.  Maybe you should go visit grandpa over there and have him arrange for a visit from the head of the center.  You remember her, Bradshaw's human mate Susan."

Bradshaw and Susan were his grandpa's age and lived in the large wolf-centric development on the other side of town.  It was a retiree community, made of modest homes with small, well tended yards.  They even had a patrol of wolves from the pack that kept an eye on things overnight.  That would be a perfect place for Shyne to work.  Close, well protected, and valuable.  He had a feeling that besides how hard she worked to get where she was in life, she wanted to be vital and important, to make her mark.  She'd been practically kicked to the curb when she turned eighteen, left to fend for herself with nothing but a few dollars and a GED.  He admired her immensely.

He finished his third glass of milk, said goodnight to his brother, and headed back upstairs.  He'd had a few aches and bruises from the fight, but they were well on their way to almost entirely healed.  He kept his jeans on and climbed into bed next to her, careful not to wake her up.  He tucked himself against her back, resting his arm across her waist.  After a few deep breaths of her naturally sweet scent, he slipped down into a deep sleep.

He woke just moments before she did, and got to watch as she rolled onto her back and stretched, making a cute squeaking noise before opening her eyes.  She pressed her hands against both sides of his face.  "Did you hear everything I said to your wolf last night?"

"Yeah.  Why?"

She grinned.  "I just didn't want to have to repeat myself."

"Heaven forbid."  He dipped his head down to kiss her exposed collar bone.  "When I'm in my shift, I'm still me; it's just there's this other, more primal part of myself that wants and feels things, too."

"Such as?"

He picked up her wrist and inspected the scabbed bite marks.  "Such as marking you as mine so that everyone who sees these marks knows that a wolf loves you."

"That hurt, you know."  Her eyes narrowed slightly.

"Says the woman who cut her own hand with a knife."

Her mouth pursed slightly and then her lids dropped halfway, giving her a sultry look.  "Didn't you say something about having a long, naked talk?"

His eye twitched, and his cock leapt to life.  "You're the one who said naked.  And besides, baby, we're in my brother's house, and wolves have really excellent hearing."

She sighed exaggeratedly.  "I don't think I'll ever get to see you naked again."

Damn it, he loved her spunk.  "You will, later.  First, breakfast, and then I need to go talk to my dad for a bit, and then we can head back to my place.  Or yours."

"Yours is fine."

She yawned and stretched again, flashing a bit of perfect belly that he had to lean over and kiss.  Which was a mistake, because all he wanted to do was shove the shirt up and find out what color her nipples were.  Steeling himself against his baser urges, which was some damn feat, he shoved off the bed and stood up, finding his shirt on the small dresser.

She put her hand in his when he opened the bedroom door, and they stepped out into the hall.  "Does that mean they heard everything I said last night, too?"

"Probably.  But they won't bring it up unless you do first.  There are certain things you get used to with werewolves.  One is never having a private conversation if one of them is anywhere nearby."

"Anything else I should know?" she asked as they headed down the stairs.

Cades called from the kitchen, "Wolves are really possessive of their mates."

She and Michael both laughed, knowing that Cades had heard the whole conversation from upstairs.  When they came into the kitchen, Cades was standing at the stove while Jason leaned against the counter watching her closely. 

Michael held out a chair for Shyne and grabbed coffee for both of them.  Cades finished cooking the sausage links, and Jason brought the filled plate over to the table for her.  It was sweet for him to see how his brother was with his wife, especially now that she was pregnant.  Cades and Shyne carried on their own conversation about an outlet mall twenty minutes east of Allen, and he and Jason rolled their eyes at each other, fairly sure that they were going to get roped into an all-day shopping spree.  But that was actually okay with him.  As much as Shyne needed family, Cades needed friendship.  The two seemed well-matched.

Before he and Shyne left to walk to his parent's home, a short ten minute walk from Jason and Cades' home, Jason said, "I have some good news for you.  Fritz and Jazlyn's pack are going to take over the bar."

"Really?"  That was excellent news.  It was a huge burden for him.  He may just want to dance a jig.

"Yeah.  Fritz called me yesterday and asked if the offer still stood.  Apparently one of the brothers has an accounting degree, and another used to bartend, and then there's that big ape that will be good for security.  I talked to Dad, and he and Mom are going to take over the general management of the bar.  They'll be the bosses, so Fritz and his crew will report to them but basically handle the actual running of the bar.  Mom will handle the stock and supplies, Dad will handle staff and maintenance.  It will be good for them.  I think Dad's tired of working on the occasional car and wants to do something full time."

"That's great."  Michael was thrilled.  Not only would the bar be out of his hands so he could concentrate on Shyne, but his parents would do a great job of running the show.

The walk to his parent’s home normally took about ten minutes, but he and Shyne held hands and meandered lazily through the wooded area between the two homes.  Both homes had been built about the same time, his parents home had belonged to his grandparents at one time, and Jason and Cades' home had belonged to her grandmother.

When they reached his parent's home, he and Shyne walked in through the back door and found his parents reading the paper at the kitchen table.  His mom popped out of her chair and hugged and kissed him and gave Shyne a warm hug.  "Come with me, honey, I want to show you something."

Shyne beamed as his mom pulled her out of the kitchen and took her upstairs.  "She's just going to show her your old baby pictures."

"Oh, nothing too embarrassing," Michael groaned.  There was that one picture of him asleep on the toilet at age two.  It would be just like his mother to think that picture worthy of showing his new mate.

He joined his father at the table, and his dad folded the newspaper and put it aside.  "Your mom and I want to give you this house."

Michael's mouth dropped open in surprise.  Of all the things his father might say to him, he never expected this.  "Dad?"

His father's eyes crinkled as he smiled.  "Your mom is ready for a smaller house, and with us taking over the bar, it will be nice for us to be closer.  There's a home for sale in the development that's perfect, and we've already put a contract on it.  This home is completely paid for.  We could be out within a month, if all goes smoothly with the house in the development.  What do you think?"

He was stunned and didn't know what to think.  "It seems so fast, Dad.  Why all of a sudden?"

"You found your mate.  Jason never needed a house, because of Cades.  When they got married, we gave them a check for the value of this house, knowing that one day we'd give it to you.  We were just waiting for you to find your mate and settle down, and let me tell you, your mother was beginning to wonder if you were going to be a bachelor for the rest of your life."

He was beginning to wonder that himself.  Until Shyne came along.  He took a quick stock of the house.  Cozy kitchen, large family room, formal dining room.  He could picture children running down the stairs for breakfast, some with Shyne's beautiful skin and hair, some with his light tan and blond hair.  Slowly, piece by piece, his life was coming together.  And the reason was upstairs with his mom:  Shyne.  His mate.  His future wife.  His perfect woman.

"Dad, I'm...well, I'm honored.  Thank you so much."

He leaned over the table and hugged his dad, thankful once more for his family.  A burst of laughter from upstairs told him that Shyne had found something very humorous in his baby pictures.  He and his father talked quietly about the house, and as his mom and Shyne began to move downstairs, he told his father he wanted to wait and share the news with her when things were ready.  Right now, she was overwhelmed with everything she'd been subjected to.  Telling her that he was ready to marry her and start a family might make her run for the hills.  Promising to keep things quiet until he was ready to share the news himself, they made plans to go over the books for the bar with Cades and Fritz's brother-in-law during the evening one week and then for them to shadow him during the next few weekends.

Shyne's eyes were bright, and her grin was infectious when she sat down on his lap and kissed his cheek.  "How embarrassed should I be?"  He tweaked a lock of her hair.

"Not at all...
toilet sleeper.
"

Stifled chuckles told him that his parents also thought the nickname was funny, and he growled with a low voice, "Watch it, or I'll postpone our
talk.
"

Her eyes went very wide, and her laughter died abruptly.  Looking absolutely pitiful, she hung her head and said, "I'll be good."

Not good, baby, fantastic
.

"Thanks, for everything."  He said to his parents as he set his sweetheart on her feet and stood up.

After saying goodbye, they walked back to where his bike was parked in front of Cades and Jason's house and handed her the helmet.  "Where to now?  To talk?" she asked as she fit herself behind him and held him tightly.

"Not yet."

Several hours later, they walked into the trailer with take-out, leaving a brand new black Ford Escape parked in front.  They'd had to go to three dealerships to find the right vehicle, but it was perfect in his mind.  Four wheel drive for roughing it, big enough for a few rugrats, and very safe for his family.  Plus it was pretty damn awesome looking.  Oddly, signing the loan paperwork made him feel like he was on his way to really taking care of his mate.  She would need a better car, too, but first things first.

When he would have sat on the couch, Shyne spread out the blanket from the back of the couch on the floor and began to set out their Chinese.  She ate her cashew chicken with chopsticks like a pro, and he stuck to eating his beef and broccoli, with extra beef, with a fork.  As they ate and talked about the events of last night, the tension grew between them by slow degrees.  Everything she did seemed to be made to purposely ratchet up his desire.  Each stroke of her tongue across her lips, each bite of food chewed slowly and made with pleased humming sounds, was enough to make him believe his cock would tear itself off his body in an effort to get to her.

He put down his things and took a long drink of soda.  He began to tell her about wolves and their mates, deciding that he could save the history lesson on werewolves for another time when he wasn't entirely desperate to find out what she looked like naked.  She listened intently as he told her about wolves' possessive natures, their desire to mark their mates and be together as much as possible, and how he felt about her.

"It's not just that I love you, Shyne, it's that I can't bear the thought of being without you.  And it's not just me but my wolf, too.  When you're away from me, I have this overwhelming urge to find you and hold you tight.  Yesterday, when you were so quiet and withdrawn, it was like torture for me.  I wanted to comfort you, but you were lost in your own thoughts and guilt.  It made me crazy."

"I'm sorry."  Her brows furrowed slightly, and her lush lips pursed.  "So what exactly is this marking thing you keep talking about?"