Arianna quirks up a brow and teases, “I'm a witch. I have a nose for these things.”
“You sound just like her,” I chuckle dryly. “I'm just gonna act like I don't know anything.” I notice Delilah waving us over, and groan. “Goddess! Does she hear your thoughts, too?”
Arianna giggles as she strolls over to the pack, and I'm about to follow her when Noah comes running toward me from the opposite end of the hall, arms stretched out.
“Hey, buddy!” I exclaim as I lift him off the ground and spin him around. As I plant him back on his feet, I crouch low to meet his eyes. “Are you enjoying yourself with your friends?”
“I am, Daddy!” He beams with joy that extends to my heart when he calls me that. “I go now!”
In a flash, my son is gone, joining his friends in the garden outside to play soccer. Again, my chest puffs with pride, and I look forward to the future with my family.
After spending some time with our guests and exchanging some friendly banter with my friends from black ops—pointedly ignoring the tension between Hunter and Delilah and acting like it has nothing to do with what Arianna suspects, just believing that it's how they've always been—Arianna and I finally bid our guests goodbye.
Arianna notices that we don't turn on the street leading to my house when we're making our way out, and she becomes suspicious.
“Where are we going? I thought we were going home…”
“Wearegoing home,” I say, turning the corner and giving her hand a gentle, reassuring squeeze. “Our new home.”
I point to the corner where Arianna's old cottage lies—but it's not dilapidated anymore. With some help from the pack members, I've renovated the place by giving it a fresh coat of paint and some new fixtures. For tonight, it's been embellished with fairy lights hanging from the roof, a trail of lily petals forming a path to the front door.
“Oh, Tyler!” Arianna exclaims. “It's so beautiful!”
I chuckle nervously, rubbing the back of my neck. “I thought it'd be a good idea for us to call this place home whenever we needed some private time.”
“It's perfect…”
“Aha.” I turn to Arianna, pressing a kiss to her cheek before whispering in her ear, “It's far from the rest of the pack, so they don't hear you screaming…”
Arianna gasps, cheeks instantly flushed. “I only scream because you make me, Alpha Tyler.”
“Well, I plan onmakingyou scream a lot tonight, Luna Arianna…” I drawl with a seductive chuckle.
Arianna bites her bottom lip, wrapping her hands around my neck and stepping on her tiptoes to meet my lips. My hands find purchase on her hips, and I pull her closer, letting her feel how hard I am already, and she gasps again.
“Challenge accepted, Alpha Tyler,” she giggles, and our lips meet for a passionate, feverish kiss that draws more blood to my already painfully restrained erection. As I pull away, about to lift her into my arms, I meet her warm, hazel eyes, and find that love I've always known I was destined for.
“I love you, Ari…I really do….”
“I know,” she sighs as she presses her cheek to my chest. “I love you, too, Tyler.”
As I lift Arianna into my arms and carry her into the cottage, everything feels right in my world. My one true mate is in my arms, where I can protect her, care for her, and most of all, love her.
That's what she deserves, and life was only waiting for me to catch up and accept what I was always destined for. Thank Goddess I've come to my senses!
*****
THE END
Hi! Thanks so much for reading this story. I hope you enjoyed it. Would you like to read more? Then be sure to…
Get the next book of the “Nightmist Black Ops Wolves” Series:
Cruel Alpha Mate
A grumpy black ops wolf kidnaps me and forces me to marry him.
We were secretly together once, but he said it was just fun and rejected me as his mate.
