With everyone going their separate ways until the party later, Carl and Mateo headed out across the backyard and toward their cabin, holding hands as they walked.
It was a simple pleasure Mateo would never take for granted, considering how many years they’d lived hiding in plain sight.
On their hands they now wore matching wedding bands. There was something magical in knowing they’d gotten married on the same day as Brianna and Da’von.
No excuse to forget their anniversaries, for sure.
Like this was the way their life was meant to be. Sweet and fulfilling.
Carl came to a stop in the middle of the backyard, pulling Mateo into his arms with a playful smile. When his mate smiled down at him with those blue eyes of his, it always melted him. It was like he was once again a nineteen-year-old and terrified someone in that Middle Eastern port they were in was going to stumble across them frantically trying to mate that afternoon.
“What?” Mateo asked. At six-five, Carl was broad and beefy and four inches taller than Mateo’s own six-one.
“Snow angels!” With Mateo wrapped in his arms, Carl laughed and fell sideways into a snowbank, carrying a laughing Mateo with him.
Okay, yes, snow was a new and fun diversion for them both. They’d rarely seen snow in the past sixteen years they were together, and for both of them, before now, it’d been while in the military.
They both flopped onto their backs and started making snow angels. This was something they’d done at the beach with Brianna when she was a kid, but never in snow.
“This place is amazing,” Mateo said. “The people are amazing—”
“You’re amazing.” Carl looked at him and sat up to kiss him. “Thank you for not running away that day.”
Mateo smiled. “I would never run away from you, mate.” Carl was an Alpha wolf shifter, and while Mateo had gone to great lengths in his life to hide the fact that he was gay, that he’d met his mate—a shifter—in a desert port in one of the most hostile regions there were for gay men, told him that the Goddess Herself had laid her fingers on their union.
“Lucky for me.” Carl smiled.
“Lucky forme,” Mateo said. Carl was six years older than Mateo’s thirty-five, but he didn’t look that old. There was barely any grey in his dark blond hair.
They climbed to their feet, dusted the snow off each other, and continued to their cabin.
Once inside, with the door locked, Mateo pulled Carl to him and kissed him. “Do you think Abundio sent anyone looking for us?”
“I wish I could tell you no, but I don’t know.” Carl scowled. “Why are we talking about this now?”
“In case there’s anything we feel we need to talk about with Peyton and Trent while we’re here. I don’t want to miss anything and they think we deliberately withheld information.”
Carl snorted. “Buddy, Dewi, Badger, and Duncan are natural lie detectors. They’re all Primes. You’re still trying to wrap your head around that, aren’t you?”
“Yeah.” Carl had, at least, spent part of his youth with other shifters as part of a pack in Australia, where his uncle was the pack Alpha. “Any faux pas I missed learning about?”
Carl snorted. “Don’t piss in their living room. But that should be common sense.”
Mateo playfully shoved him. “You know what I mean.”
“We’re fine. We’re safe. Bri’s safe, and happy, and this is where we’re supposed to be.” Carl pulled Mateo in for a long, sweet kiss. “The only thing that could make today more perfect would be knowing where Dad is, and that he’s safe.” He felt a wave of old and unresolved grief from his mate.
Yeah, there was that. Carl’s father had disappeared over twenty years ago, while Carl was in the service. The man had moved after sending Carl a message, worried that he might draw the attention of Carl’s uncle.
Carl’s mom had died in an accident that hadn’t been his dad’s fault, but she’d been his uncle’s little sister.
They’d left Australia for Hawaii after her death, and Carl had gone into the Navy once he’d been old enough.
And the rest…
Well, here they were.
They had no idea if Carl’s father was even alive or not. No idea where he was.
