Page 27 of Return to the Pack

“Are you?” I say, my heart pitter-pattering in my chest.

“Extremely. And…” He licks his lips and swallows. “I’m so in love with you, I can barely breathe at times. I don’t care if we have a True Mate bond. You’re my mate, as I am yours. It’s always been this way. I believe my wolf spirit has returned to Earth, again and again, countless times, to find you and be with you.”

Tears of joy fill my eyes. “I feel it, too, Axel. Maybe we were scared of the bond when we did it before. Maybe you had to sever the bond to prove that it’s real and true and right.”

His eyes are shining as he listens to me. “Maybe,” he says in a choked voice. “I’ll never stop regretting that I hurt you, though. I’ll never stop making it up to you. Not in this lifetime or the next.”

I can’t believe how happy I am to be bonded with the pack, with the triplets, with Axel. And yet, in the back of my mind, there’s a tiny whispering voice of warning that tells me our family’s bond will be tested. I can only hope we all make it through the test intact, because I have a feeling we’ll be adding one more to our family soon.

Chapter Ten

Callan

“Fuck this shit,” I say, staring at the dump of a house before us. “This place is a rat-infested dump. Wait, a rat-infested dump would be better than this shit-hole.”

The two-story derelict house, built on stilts to survive a flood, is so severely in need of repair inside and out that it should be condemned. It’s surrounded by palm trees that managed to survive the hurricane—they’re the nicest looking parts of this property. Across the street, lumber and debris float in Goblin Creek. It’ll take months for the waterways to clear the remnants of houses the wind scooped into its greedy paws. Golden Glade Street, where most of the pack lives, is even worse, or we’d just rebuild where Axel’s house was. Luna’s is too small, and ours is in no way built to accommodate a child.

The mealy-mouthed property owner of the house on Holiday Lane shifts side to side on his spindly legs. He’s not a pack member, just one of the many humans who take advantage of the Jacksonville pack however they can. In this case, it’s by charging an exorbitant amount of money for a house that should have been blown away by the storm of a couple of weeks ago.

He starts to say something about how low he can go, but I stopped listening to him when we stepped from the truck. I throw my arm around Luna and guide her back to my bike.

Her face is a study in disappointment. I hate to see that look on her face, and I’ll do anything to change it into one of happiness. “The next place will be better—you’ll see.”

I hand her the helmet we insist she wear when riding on the back of our motorcycles. While we could give a rat’s ass about motorcycle riding laws, she’s precious cargo.

“This is the fifteenth house we’ve looked at,” she whines, frowning as she dons the helmet. “They’re all either too expensive or falling apart like this place. We’ll never find the right place that accommodates all of us. Let’s just go home. I’m tired and hot.”

I hesitate for a moment. There’s got to be something I can do to turn that frown into a smile. The day is like a wet blanket we can’t throw off, though, so she’s right about that part. The heat’s making us all grumpy lately, but I have a feeling Luna’s hormones have something to do with it. Which means we need to get a baby-friendly house, stat.

An idea surfaces, and I snap my fingers.

“What?” she asks, swatting away a handful of mosquitos.

“I’ll tell you back at the house.” I swing my leg over the bike and grab the handlebars.

“Will I like it?” she asks, clambering on the back. She wraps her hands around my midsection.

I wrap my forearm over her arm, hugging her to me. “I think you will,” I say before powering up the engine. I guide the bike onto the street, and we’re away.

Back at the house, I hold Luna’s hand as we stroll toward the porch. I love having a mate—strike that—I love having Luna as my mate. Sharing her with my brothers and Axel might seem funny to an outsider, but it’s natural for us. I’ve been sharing women with my brothers all my life, so it makes sense when we find one worth keeping, we all get to enjoy her. Adding Axel wasn’t even odd for us, since we’re used to sharing. Maybe to him it was, but to me, it’s like we’re all made to be together.

Entering through the screen door, we find the others sitting around the kitchen table. Empty plates sit before them, and they’re all talking about some shit or another.

“Any luck?” Axel says to me, popping the last bit of a taco into his mouth.

“Not a bit of luck, but an idea hit me.” I release Luna’s hand, and she wanders toward Warrick, who pats his lap in invitation.

“Did it hurt?” Ethan asks, smirking. He lifts the bottle of beer before him to his lips and empties it.

I flash him my middle finger, pull a chair out, turn it around, and straddle it.

“What’s your idea?” Axel says, leaning back in his seat. He casts an assessing gaze at Luna as if to make sure she’s still here, still intact.

“You’re the pack leader, right?” I say, resting my arms on the chair back.

Axel frowns at me and nods, waiting to see where I’m going with this.

“So, shouldn’t you be given some extra privileges, like your choice of land to rebuild on? We’re finding nothing but rundown houses or expensive bullshit homes. We can’t live in a dump with a baby, and we don’t need to break our backs to afford something with a pool only a rich prick can live in.”