Twin Wolf Trouble (Shifter Squad Six 2) (22 page)

Now, he had something to fight for. Something that meant so much to him that he had real trouble putting it into words. But when Tex flashed him a mischievous grin, Thatch knew that it was about time he tried. That they both tried.

So, after slowly stopping the swings, they both picked the kids up and stood in front of Madeline. She looked at them a bit confused, but Thatch gave her a reassuring smile that she mirrored happily.

“Madeline, we’ve been thinking about this for a while,” he started, glancing at Tex.

“We have. We have something to say and I think you need to hear us out. So we figured we’d take you to somewhere where you had to.”

“Not that we’re thinking you’re going to run away or anything, but… well, who knows with you, always sticking your nose in the wrong place,” Thatch commented, getting a playful glare from Madeline.

“Okay, smart asses. I’m listening,” she said, her fingers wrapped around the cords holding up the swing, her legs crossed.

She looked like a goddess to him, with her flaming red mane billowing around her in gorgeous waves and her curious eyes slipping from Thatch to Tex and then back again.

“So, we know we haven’t known each other for very long. But I think there’s plenty of reasons for us to get to know as much as we possibly can about one another. Would you agree?” Thatch asked, fixing Raze’s position in his arms a bit and receiving an enthusiastic hug in return for that.

Frowning a bit, Madeline nodded. “Yes,” she said hesitantly, her eyes narrowing as she must have been trying to find out where they were going with all of this.

“Madeline, I love you,” Tex said, and there was a note of softness there that plucked at Thatch’s heartstrings, so he knew it had to do the same for Madeline.

“And I love you too,” Thatch added, smiling.

He could see her eyes welling up a little as she stood up, ready to embrace both of them. “I love you too!” she yelped, her voice breaking a little.

Smiling, Tex stopped her from going in for a hug with a gentle hand to her shoulder. He stuck a hand in his pocket and produced a small dark green velvet box. Madeline’s eyes went wide when she saw it and she practically squealed when Tex opened it, revealing a gorgeous ring.

“So we were wondering,” Thatch continued, smiling like a damn jack-o’-lantern now, “if you’d do us the honor of becoming our wife and our mate?”

She didn’t hesitate for a moment when nodded assent, beaming happily. “Yes, of course!”

They gathered her up in a big group hug, both sets of twins and Madeline bundled together in a big happy pile. Thatch kissed her first and then her lips moved smoothly to Tex, the most natural movement in the world. It took Thatch’s breath away, having her so close and having his brother and his most trusted friend and partner there as well. The triad was almost complete now—only the ceremony still missing—and Thatch’s heart was damn near threatening to bounce out of his chest because he was so happy about it.

The hug and kiss could have lasted a second, it could have lasted a lifetime... it felt both eternal and fleeting at the same time. Like he could live off of that contact alone for all his life, or always need more. All he knew was that he’d never let go again. Whatever he did, the first thing on his mind and on his heart would be his family. And that was all right with him.
 

EPILOGUE

Tex

Tex wasn’t sure if he’d ever been so nervous.

“Have I ever been so nervous?” he asked Thatch, who was fussing with his tie like it was the first time he’d ever put one on.

Tex knew for a fact that both of them had worn ties at least once before—to Connor’s wedding. And maybe to a high school graduation or something, if their mother had made them do it. In any case, it had to be one of those memories that he’d blocked out because tying a tie was still fucking black magic and he could commiserate with his brother’s frustration with his reflection.

“Eighth grade, you forgot to study for that test for Miss Wilcox. You were pretty nervous then,” Thatch offered, his brows furrowed in concentration.

“Not really what I had in mind,” Tex snorted, returning his attention to his own reflection.

He had to say, he cut a nice picture in a suit. Very dapper. It felt scratchy as hell and he couldn’t wait to rip it off at the end of the evening and throw Madeline on the bed and show her that he looked so much better stark fucking naked. Tex grinned to himself when he thought about that particular side of the wedding, and it got him a quick, warning glare from Thatch.

“She can see if you’re hard during the ceremony, you know.”

“Aren’t you fucking helpful. It’s my goddamn wedding, I’ll be as hard as I want to,” Tex grumbled, though he went into suppression mode really fast, trying to scrape the thoughts of their sexy mate out of his head.

Easier said than done.

They’d planned for a big, but fairly frugal church wedding. The ring itself had cost them everything Thatch had saved up to pay off the next installment to Blake, which ended up not being needed, and their line of work didn’t come with big bank rolls. But none of it mattered. Family and friends pitched in and Tex’s and Thatch’s local parish had kindly offered use of the church for free if they held the wedding in Louisiana.

The weather wasn’t perfect, what with it being early January at that point, but doing this at home felt right to everyone involved. If anything, they wanted to be as close to their kin as they could. It was a lucky coincidence, all in all, that said family all happened to be centralized in Louisiana. It did make for an odd wedding party though. Tex’s and Thatch’s side were all old-school werewolves, stuck in the pack ways, very inward facing. Madeline’s family? As free-spirited as one could expect from a bunch of scientists.

It worked, so no one complained. Raze and Rhone helped a lot, of course. Everyone wanted to be a good influence on the boys, who were growing like absolute weeds. Raze was already having arguments with Tex and he
loved
that, much to Madeline’s obvious chagrin.

“That boy will have a mouth on him!” Tex would often exclaim proudly, followed by Madeline’s groan and Thatch’s snort.

It was true, too. Shifter twins always sort of mirrored their fathers if they were boys. Rhone was more stable, thoughtful, and quiet. Raze raised hell. Tex had no problem guessing which one took after who, not that it mattered. He loved both equally and he’d never known his heart was so big that it could accommodate that much love.

He knew that the twins were already seated up front, too young to really be ring bearers, but with the help of their grandmothers they were still going to perform that duty. And Madeline was somewhere away from them too. They’d gone traditional, according to Madeline’s traditions anyway, and neither Tex nor Thatch had seen her for more than a day now, buying into all of that jinxing stuff and whatever.

It was a bit silly if one were to ask Tex, seeing as they’d already had the ceremony in the light of the full moon, the Gold Moon, a few days ago. As far as he was concerned, she was their mate and that was that. But with that ceremony, there had been no cause for nerves—the wolf was in control there. Here? Hell, the man definitely had some butterflies in his stomach.

Finally, they both tackled their ties and could walk out and take their place at the altar. Connor and the rest of the crew were running security, of course, though Tex was more than certain that nothing would happen. Better safe than sorry, though. Dutch had volunteered to take a sniper nest and lookout position in the bell tower of the church. Tex and Thatch had reluctantly agreed. Dutch had never been much for weddings. Tex was fairly certain that it was going to be hilarious when fate decided to conk that guy over the head.

Tex looked out into the crowd and was met with beaming smiles all around. Grim waved at him and winked, keeping an eye on one of the side exits, and Connor gave an encouraging nod from the back. Tex barely remembered to take a breath before the music started. A thousand thoughts ran through his head, starting from worrying about whether all of this would go off without a hitch, to racking his brain about whether they had enough food for the reception.

All of that chatter stopped the second Madeline stepped out.

She took his breath away, like always. Her red curls loose around her shoulders and her dress off the shoulder and swimming around her in elegance, teasing Tex just enough to have him teetering on the edge of madness. He looked over to Thatch for a second and saw that his brother was exactly as enthralled as he was. She was, in a word, perfect. And she was
theirs
.

He could see her lips quivering a little as she held back tears of happiness, and it took all he had to keep from running across the aisle and scooping her up and eloping with her. Dammit, she was too good to be true.

How did we get so lucky…
he thought to himself, beaming proudly as she stepped up to meet him and Thatch.

Thatch took her left side and Tex her right, with Madeline looping her arms through theirs.

“This is really happening,” she whispered, smiling like every Christmas for the rest of her life had come early.

“It had to,” Thatch said, and Tex could see the shimmer of tears in his eyes. “It was meant to be.”

“I’m going to make you both so goddamn happy you won’t know what hit you,” Tex growled under his breath, wearing the goofiest grin.

Both Thatch and Madeline broke into laughter, loud and uninhibited, and none of the three of them gave a crap about the mild glare they got from the priest. Lock and load, marriage here they come!

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BAD CAT BLUES EXCERPT

“Can I try it?” she asked, pointing at the rifle.

That caught him off guard.

“Why?” he asked, an automatic reaction.

“I’ve never held a real sniper rifle before. Assault rifles for me, mostly. Never had the sureness of hand, I guess. I’d like to know what one feels like,” she said.

“It’s heavy,” he warned, indecision evident in his voice.

“I won’t break,” she purred, catching herself when she heard the flirty tone, but not apologizing for it.

He smirked, shaking his head with mild amusement. At least it was working. He stood up, taking the rifle in his hands, and Ari scrambled to her feet as well. He gave the gun to her and he hadn’t been kidding, that thing was heavy as hell. Ari sucked in a breath through clenched teeth as she hauled it up to her shoulder, pressing the butt against the muscle firmly while her hands gripped it with expertise that couldn’t be forgotten once learned.

Dutch slipped behind her and she had to catch herself from yelping when she felt his strong hands around her and the heat rising from his chest and body licking around her back and ass. It was all she could do to keep from rubbing up against him. He adjusted her grip slightly and that same electricity whirred through her again that she’d felt when they’d touched in the car, and she almost dropped the rifle.

He secured her hands around the heavy gun, his chest against her back now. Leaning forward to press her eye to the scope, she felt his hot breath on her neck as he spoke into her ear, his voice low, growly.

“You need to lean into it, but be ready for it. The kickback’s like getting hit in the shoulder by a mule. It’s the hardest, rawest thing you’ll ever feel,” he whispered, and she was more than sure that he was talking about more than just the gun.

“I can handle it,” she said, her body vibrating with need against him.

“Are you sure?” he asked, his massive hands now sliding down from the gun, around and tracing down her arms.

Ari bit down on her lip so hard she was afraid she’d draw blood. But she couldn’t taste the telltale tang of copper in her mouth, despite the slight hum in her ears and the very familiar feeling of adrenaline starting to snake through her veins again.

She could tell herself that it was the battle, the hormones still riding high. She could even try to convince herself that it could have been anyone, and that Dutch was at the right place at the right time. She could try. But she would be wrong.