“What happened to them?”
“Those who protected Kathy were sent away by the National Circle and the pack was disbanded. Many joined our ranks, but some didn’t. I got word last week that Frank had been rehabilitated and released. Some nonsense about how their fated mate bond had muddled his brain with her crazy, but he admitted the error of his ways and took full responsibility. I knew it was all bullshit, but you can’t argue with the NC.”
“So why did he attack now? Didn’t your father pass away a few years ago?”
A jolt of grief surprised Mason. Losing his father had nearly broken him. He’d only survived through the support of the pack, and though it was difficult, he’d buried himself in his role as the new alpha, if only to honor his father.
“My best guess is that since my father is dead, he put the blame for his mate’s death on me. He must have sniffed out that you were my mate and decided to go after you as payback.”
Lucy rubbed a scar on her shoulder thoughtfully. “Or to finish what his mate started.”
“One more thing you should know. My father arranged to pay your medical bills and set you up with a scholarship, funded by what remained in the Riverson coffers once the pack was disbanded, not the Forest Service. That was just his cover.”
“That was kind of him,” Lucy said quietly.
Mason pulled her tightly, closing his eyes and breathing in her scent. She smelled of bitter smoke and sadness, but he could also smell the wild musk of her wolf developing. Quickly. He hoped her transformation would be complete by nightfall. Then they could seal their bond in a more traditional—and immensely more pleasurable—way.
A soft knock rattled the door and pulled Mason out of the moment. The intruder was Kade, who poked his head into the room after Mason gave the all clear.
“Everyone wants to know how their alpha mate is doing,” he said, smiling at Lucy. “And the NC are growing impatient. Roman said something about having better things to do than hang out in our living room for days on end.”
“Fuck ‘em,” Mason growled, burying his face in Lucy’s hair.
She stroked the back of his head. “No, we should go. I think we all need a little closure.”
He might have been the Blackwood alpha, but he knew better than to argue with his mate when her mind was made up. She would be a strong alpha mate, one who could stand up to the most fearsome wolf in the pack and still expect him to rock her world afterword. What a woman!
The living room erupted with cheers and applause the moment Mason and Lucy rounded the corner. The place was packed to the rafters with Blackwood wolves, and they all wanted to welcome their new alpha mate. Lucy took it all in stride, returning hugs and kissing babies. She was in her element—a true alpha mate.
Three very large wolves hung back, watching the scene, biding their time. After the initial rush of handshakes, back slaps and congratulations, the men approached.
“Mason, we need to talk.”
He couldn’t put them off any longer. “Okay, Roman. Talk.”
Roman’s lips turned into a thin, hard line at how close Mason had come to insubordination, but he let it slide. It’d been a tough couple of days.
“We now believe your version of events. That Frank Riverson set the fire on your lands. That alone would be grounds for extermination.” His gaze shot over to Lucy. “If your mate hadn’t already handled the situation so skillfully.”
“You heard?”
Roman nodded. “Your brothers filled us in. Frank was no longer an alpha, so her actions are considered self-defense instead of interfering with an alpha challenge. You should also know that we now have evidence linking the anonymous report of the illegal turning to Frank directly. It’s clear to everyone that it was an accident, not intentional. As far as the National Ruling Circle is concerned, the matter is closed.”
Mason huffed. “As it should have been from the start.”
“However,” Roman continued, giving Mason a steely stare. “I think we can all agree that your pack’s pups could certainly use some extra lessons in how to control themselves.”
“Agreed,” Mason said with a curt and slightly embarrassed nod. “Lucy will need the same training, so she can join the pups.”
He glanced over at where she stood, holding a chubby toddler. She tossed the girl in the air, a smooth-skinned child going up and a fluffy furball coming down. Lucy laughed and cuddled the wriggling pup before handing her back to her mother.
“She’ll be an excellent alpha mate for your pack, Mason.” Roman slapped Mason’s back. “And good for you, too.”
“I know. But that can’t happen until all of the uninvited guests in this house get the hell out, so I can finally claim her.”
Chuckling, Roman squeezed Mason’s shoulder hard—one last demonstration of his position—before turning to leave. He almost tripped over a blurry figure darting between their legs and heading for Lucy.
“Miss Lucy!” Charlie Tipton shouted as he ran up to her, breathless and panting. “Ghosty… pant pant …porch… pant pant …burned… pant pant …babies!”
Chapter Twenty
“Aren’t the cute?” Charlie exclaimed as he peered into the cardboard box sitting on the gigantic dining table in the middle of the pack house.
Lucy gently pulled him away to allow Drew room to examine the box full of kittens. The exhausted mama cat lay on her side, resting as her babies suckled. Her fur was grey, except where it was coated with soot.
“I still can’t believe she managed to keep them all alive when the house literally burned down around them,” she said, her fingers twitching to pick up a baby and give it sweet kisses. But she wasn’t about to interrupt Drew’s examination.
“It’s a miracle,” Robert Tipton said. “Charlie dragged me all the way over there, insisting we go save Ghost Kitty. I figured she’d have run off at the first whiff of smoke, but she must have been in the process of giving birth, because there they were. Tucked up in the only remaining bit of house that hadn’t burned to ash.”
“You’re a hero,” Mason said, patting Charlie’s back. The boy beamed up at his alpha.
Charlie wriggled out from under Lucy’s hand and crawled onto the table to look at the kittens without getting in the way. “What should we name them?”
Lucy didn’t want to get the boy’s hopes up. “Why don’t we wait to name them until Drew gives them a clean bill of health, okay?”
Drew gently laid the last kitten, this one black with tiny white mittens, against its mother’s tummy and smiled. “No need to wait. Other than smelling like smoke, they’re all fit as a fiddle. Now you just need to figure out what to do with them.”
“Keep them,” Lucy said.
“Get rid of them,” Mason said at the same time.
Lucy gasped and shot him a dark look, daring him to say it again. Ghost Kitty had defied the odds and survived a fire that destroyed an entire house and a lifetime of memories. They were the last surviving memories of her family home, her parents. She’d fight Mason if she had to, but she had a feeling should could convince him.
Somehow.
“We’re not keeping those cats,” he said, squinting hard at her.
She ignored him and turned back to Charlie. “Well, Ghosty already has a name, so what about the rest?”
“That one has mittens, maybe we could call it…um…”
“Lucy, we’re not keeping these cats,” Mason growled. “They’re puppy food. We’re wolves. Wolves do not own cats.”
Lucy gave him a defiant smirk. “You’re absolutely right, my love. Cats do the owning.”
“Lucy…”
Drew glanced between them nervously. “And that’s my cue.”
He was followed out of the house by Robert, who had to drag poor Charlie away from the kittens he still wanted to name. In the matter of a minute, the entire pack house echoed with emptiness. Only Lucy and Mason remained.