“It does,” Remy said, beginning to smile.
“Anyway, in my dream, I found my mate…and then the next thing in my dream was I was holding a tiny pup, all swaddled up in a blue blanket. All I felt was love…surrounding me…in me…everywhere and, when I woke up, I knew it was what I wanted. More than anything else. I wanted my own family, to love, to take care of, to protect from all the pain in the world.”
“Sounds like a good dream,” Remy murmured.
“It was,” Carson smiled. “From that point on, my goal was to become the best Alpha ever so I could do everythingmyfamily would need. Using my father as a role model, I studied the decisions he made, ignoringthose driven by his prejudices. My goal was to be ready when I met my Fated Mate, so I would never make any mistakes.” Snorting at his own foolish thinking, Carson continued, “I was really too young to fully understand the reasoning behind my father’s actions so when I made decisions using his flawed logic…well, it was a fucking disaster.”
Shaking his head Carson continued, “Jackson should get an award. After the massa…when he took over the pack, he never became violent like my father did… just always calmly explained why he made a decision…guiding me without making me feel stupid. And Cody helped, too…spending time with me, teaching me how a good alpha really should act. Looking back, I’m ashamed at how I reacted at first toward Jackson. I’m just grateful he never held any of my behavior against me.”
“He sounds amazing,” Remy said.
“He is…as are my other brothers. Maybe once I finish my work for Dire Enterprises, if you want…”
“I’d love to meet him and the rest of your family.” said Remy.
“They’re your family now too,” Carson said. “Wait till you meet my nephews and niece…they are so adorable. Jessica, Cody’s daughter loves to boss her brother Jake and cousin Daniel around. It’ll be interesting to see how she reacts to Galen and Eamon. Jackson claims the three of them have their own baby language…maybe they’ll teach Rune.”
“You want my brothers to go with us?” asked Remy.
“Of course,” Carson said, “they belong with us.” Then, frowning slightly he asked, “You don’t think they should?”
“No, I do…but they’re warlocks…magic users. I admit, I don’t know a lot about wolf shifters or wolf packs, but I always thought they didn’t like other kinds of paranormals.”
“Not my pack…we have a dragon and two Ghost bears. No one has a problem with it,” Carson assured his mate. “You’re my mate. Trust me when I say Cody and Colton will welcome you with open arms.”
“Then we must go soon,” Remy said.
Slapping his forehead, Carson groaned. “I forgot to tell you, Mystia became our surrogate mother when my brothers and I thought both our parents died, so you won’t be the first magic user in my brothers’ lives.”
“Now that’s good to know,” Remy said, grinning. “I’ll make sure I’m wearing my full warlock outfit when we arrive, after all, I wouldn’t want to disrespect your mother.”
“Not until you model it for me,” replied Carson, chuckling, “If it’s anything like what you wore yesterday, I don’t think you should.”
“Why not? Didn’t Fionn say Kieran wanted to know where he could buy pants like mine?”
Shaking his head, Carson grinned. “Nope, you definitely heard wrong. We’ll have to buy you something else to wear…like baggy pants and sweatshirts. No sense in making my brothers jealous of how I ended up with the sexiest, most gorgeous mate…better to avoid any fights.”
“Or we could just get everyone drunk. I thought Fionn was going to strip and climb on Hunter right there at the wine tasting.”
Chuckling, Carson said, “Poor Hunter, every time he stopped Fionn from unzipping his jeans, his mate tried adifferent tactic. It’s a good thing you gave Pierre the rest of the day off after he set up the wine.”
“I can’t believe Fionn never drank a lot of wine,” Remy said. “Shit, his father owned a fucking winery.”
“I can,” growled Carson, “and you would, too, if you saw where he grew up. After Fionn was rescued, Logan took pictures to show Jackson and if you can picture a crumbling, drafty, old castle that time forgot, it would still be better than the place he grew up in. Fionn’s life was hell.”
“When you were with Hunter in the wine cellar, Fionn asked me about his father…wanted to know how he treated me. I don’t think he believed me when I told him.”
“He probably didn’t,” Carson said, quietly. “The best thing that ever happened to him was getting Hunter as a mate. Do you know Fionn is an amazing artist? No one knew that about him, but when Hunter found out, he negotiated with some galleries to sell his work. When I saw what he drew, I knew I wanted one. It was hard to pick but I finally bought the one he drew of me and my brothers. Hey, would you mind if I asked him to do a family portrait of all of us?”
“Oh, my gods, you really want to torture him, don’t you?” Remy laughed. “Getting Galen and Eamon to sit still for dinner is nearly impossible and it only happens when they’re busy eating.”
“Huh! You haven’t met Admiral Carsso! My men will follow my orders!” Carson exclaimed, “Or face the consequences!”
Giggling, Remy asked, “Pray tell, sir, what will happen if they don’t obey your orders?”
“Tickling…until they yield!”
“This, I’ve got to see,” Remy said, just as a knock sounded on the front door.
