Moon Shine (Takhini Wolves) (19 page)

He kissed her. Pressed his lips to hers, to her cheek, up and over her eyes. Brushing away tears that came involuntarily. Kissing her temples, and her nose, and her chin. As if he couldn’t get enough of touching her.

“I’m yours. I’ll never leave you, and we’ll find a way to be together
and
serve the pack.” He tucked her against his body so they were connected. Not like while making love, but every inch plastered together until neither of them could move without the other being totally aware of it. “If it ever comes to a choice, we’ll work together to find a way. I promise.”

Amy’s heart was so full she could have exploded. He rolled her under him, opening her thighs to let his hips settle. The hard length of his heavy shaft pressed to her softness, and as she dragged her nails down his back he rocked, teasing her to a higher pitch.

Between one breath and the next, he slipped into her. Filled her completely, joining them the way they were supposed to be as mates.

Trust. Connection.

She held on tight as he convinced her they belonged together. For the next couple hours, he convinced her. Her loneliness and doubts finally erased.

Chapter Nineteen

Evan wasn’t sure how he had survived before. It was as if he’d been asleep, and now woken up. He wanted to wax poetic about how the sun seemed brighter, and the air seemed clearer, but mostly he just wanted to hold Amy’s hand and be with her.

His brain was playing every cheesy Beatles song imaginable, and he didn’t even give a damn.

It was time to move forward
together
. Not only were they mates, but united they were powerful enough to accomplish whatever was necessary to calm the packs.

He knew it was his fault it had taken so long to get to this point. Amy resisted saying
I told you so
, and he appreciated it.

He expected no such restraint when he next saw his Beta.

“I want to do this.” Amy rubbed his fingers absently as they walked from his car to the Moonshine Inn, headed to the bar. “Merging is going to be tough, but it doesn’t need to become a huge war.”

“Unfortunately, it might be too late. We’re already doing damage control. But since I’ve got a commitment from Canyon that they’ll support me if I behave…” he gave her a wink, “…it’s the hard heads at Takhini we need to work over, mine included.”

“That’s why I suggested dropping in at the bar. Just don’t feel as if all of them need to fall in love with me today.”

Evan had no intention of pushing things, but he was also immensely aware of what was on the line. It wouldn’t do for him to be distracted or preoccupied.

“About time you got here, Evan. Oh. It’s
you
. Hi, Amy.” Shaun stood in the doorway, looking her over as if checking for lice.

Oh, hell no. Tonight was going to be about challenges, but Shaun should know better. Evan readied to defend Amy, but she beat him to it, grabbing Shaun by the collar. She whipped his Beta around and pushed him back into the bar. “Show a little more respect to your betters, brat.”

Voices dropped throughout the bar as pack stopped in their tracks and turned their attention toward the door. Everyone wanted to see what Shaun would do, especially since he’d been pretty vocal about dissing her.

Then Amy stepped to Shaun’s side and hip-checked him, rocking him hard enough to knock him off balance. She laughed, catching him before he could fall to the floor. “Oh, Shaun, don’t you know women always arrive on time?”

Gem rose from where she was sitting, a real smile on her lips. “She’s got you there. Or…” Shaun’s mate raised a brow, “…did you have a comment to make regarding women and punctuality?”

Gem and Amy glanced at each other then burst out laughing, and the tension faded. Evan took his place beside Amy, slipping his arm around her and bringing her tight to his side.

Shaun wrinkled his nose, sniffed a couple of times, then rolled his eyes. “Great. This is what I get for being so smart.”

“Yes, this is your fault.” Amy glanced at Gem. The woman nodded in approval as Amy grabbed Shaun and gave him an enormous hug, kissing his cheek before she released him. Amy kept hold of Shaun’s shoulders, looking up at him, her happiness shining bright. “This is your fault, and I don’t ever want you to forget it. You wonderful man.”

A flush spread over his face, and Shaun turned abruptly. Stomped to his chair and sat with a plop, scooping Gem into his lap and burying his face in her neck.

All around the bar, people eyed the situation with unease, and not a little confusion.

Someone sidled up to Amy and paused. Looked her up and down, then dipped his head before fleeing to the far corner of the pub.

“What was that about?” Amy muttered.

Evan had a bad feeling about it. “Going to snitch on us, I think.”

He took a slow look around, examining everyone in the room. Taking in the rustic wood decorations on the walls, the pulsing beat of music in the background as conversations slowly resumed.

Moonshine Pub was his baby. This was something he had worked hard to make a success. In a way, it was very right that here was where he and Amy would make their first stand to prove they were more than Alphas of two packs. He couldn’t fault Takhini for feeling confused, not after the way he had left them directionless.

But that was going to stop. Here and now.

“Come on, let’s dance.” Evan linked his fingers with Amy’s and tugged her toward the dance floor.

A sense of normality continued to grow as people observed Amy settling against him, their questioning expressions fading to smiles as they sensed Evan’s contentment.

Soft fingers touched his face, and he looked at his mate.

Mate
. A rush of happiness struck again. He could’ve been doing moonshine shots for the past five hours and not ended up as lightheaded as over one touch of her fingers.

“Heads up,” Amy warned. “There seems to be some kind of
discussion
group
headed our way from the far corner of the room.”

Evan nodded, settling her hands around his neck before grabbing hold of her hips and continuing to sway to the music. “Until they prove otherwise, I’m going to assume the best.”

One of her brows rose. “This isn’t your fight anyway, right?”

She had him over a barrel. He’d promised to let her deal with anyone if it was appropriate, but that promise was about to drive him mad. He drove down his fears. “Fine. You spank them this time, but if they need any extra chastisement, I’m your man.”

“I seem to remember hearing Caroline had to prove her worth when she started dating you. If anything, the expectations on me are much higher.” She whispered the words, barely audible even from where he stood. “Trust me.”

And that was the most powerful thing she could have reminded him of.

“Since when did Takhini become the play toys for Canyon?”

“Damn it, Toby. You got that backwards. Evan’s found a new chew toy, and look, it’s one of the little Canyon freaks.” Lance stood behind Amy, Toby one step back. A small group of young male wolves clustered loosely behind them.

Amy rotated, leaning her back against Evan’s chest. She was short enough the top of her head barely touched his chin, but somehow she seemed to tower over the annoying wolves standing before them.

“Were you talking to me?” she asked.

Lance and Toby glanced at each other before turning back with a smirk. “Not really talking
to
you. You’re not going to be around for long enough for us to even find out your name. Evan has this bad habit of picking up strays. The last one had fleas. Had to fumigate the entire hotel after she left.”

“I don’t know, Lance. I think this one is worse than the last.” Toby made a show of sniffing. “Think she’s been hanging out too long with all those Canyon losers. She doesn’t know how to handle real wolves.”

Evan found stifling his growl of disapproval damn near impossible. He wanted nothing more than to knock Toby’s and Lance’s heads together, but he had to let her do this alone.

He sensed Amy’s change of body tension, but kept himself out of the fight. Just stood like a wall as she wordlessly went into action.

She jumped upward. Caught hold of Evan’s shoulders over her head at the same moment she kicked out her feet and made contact with Lance’s chest. He flew backwards into the men behind him, knocking them over like a set of bowling pins. Before they had finished bouncing, Amy was back on the floor and moving toward Toby. She leapt forward at high speed, hooking an arm around his neck and using momentum to pivot onto his back.

Toby grabbed for the arm that was cutting off his air supply. Evan clenched his teeth to stop from calling a warning that Lance was back on his feet.

He shouldn’t have worried. Amy maintained her chokehold while using her other hand in Toby’s hair like reins to turn the man to face his buddies. Her timing was so perfect the blow Lance swung struck his friend instead of Amy, the sound of fist meeting face making a sickening crack against the lighthearted music playing in the background.

This wasn’t Evan’s fight, but it was.

He folded his arms and shifted his feet to draw attention to himself. “Not that I want to interfere in your entertainment, but just a heads up. Amy has full authority. If you want to beg for mercy, she’s the one you kneel to.”

Then he did the hardest thing he’d ever done. Evan turned and walked away.

He headed to the bar. Slipped behind the counter and poured himself a double shot of whiskey. The burn of the alcohol going down calmed his human side who hated having control out of his hands.

His wolf side wanted to watch his mate rip the disrespectful bastards apart.

But Amy had insisted, and she was right. This was the proper way. So, whistling lightly, Evan grabbed a cloth and wiped down the countertop.

The pack members seated on the barstools glanced back and forth a couple of times between him and the ongoing fight, their momentary panic fading as Evan’s confidence screamed out.

Evan smiled at one of them. “She’s okay.”

The older wolf smiled back. “She’s your mate, right? Of course she’s okay.”

The sound of wood splintering nearly made him look, but he resisted temptation and focused on the pack member before him. “She is, and she’s not only beautiful and smart, she knows exactly how to take care of herself. And how to take care of me.”

Heads nodded, one of the old-timers gesturing with his chin to the side. “You know it’s okay for you to help,” he whispered. “We don’t mind.”

Evan shook his head. “Waste of time. Some things she needs me to do, but fight her battles isn’t one of them.”

Someone shouted, and the noise faded to nothing but the pulsing beat of the music from the sound system.

“It’s safe to look,” the old-timer told him. The man grinned approvingly. “She’s a feisty one. Reminds me of my mate.”

Evan turned, leaning both hands on the counter as he hungrily took in the damage from the battle. For the first moment he couldn’t see Amy, not by the broken chairs or near any of the bodies on the floor.

“Looking for me, sailor?”

She stood beside him, a thin ribbon of blood trickling from a cut on her forehead. Scratches and bruises marred her arms, but she showed a whole lot less damage than the pack boys pulling themselves to vertical.

“Do I need to call an ambulance?” Evan pulled her to his side and lifted her onto the counter.

Amy glanced over her shoulder. “I think Toby will be okay. Let me check about the other fellow.” She raised her voice. “Hey, Lance. You want an ambulance, or are you going to shuffle home without a Band-Aid on your boo-boos?”

“Fuck off,” Lance snapped, his lippy words sliding into a sharp scream of pain.

Evan and Amy watched Gem step daintily over the wolf she’d kicked. “If I told you once, I’ve told you a million times. I will not accept that kind of language around here.”

She sniffed then approached the bar. “May I have another glass of white wine, please?”

Off in the background, the youth with the attitudes were helping Toby and Lance from the bar. Evan pulled Gem’s favourite wine from the cooler, pausing to rub his cheek against Amy’s.

Slowly the noise of conversation slipped back to normal.

“What would you like?” Evan asked his mate.

“Some of your moonshine. I hear it’s pretty good.”

He nodded, grabbing the slim blue bottle and gesturing into the bar. “Let’s go sit. I have a feeling there will be a few people coming to chat.”

Evan settled in his usual seat, Amy perched beside him like the queen of the wolves she was. Gem and Shaun joined them, the leadership sitting in state before pack who entered and left, checking out this new thing.

He tipped a little liquid into her glass, then his own. He raised the teeny tumbler in the air. “Whitehorse forever. To becoming one strong, united pack.”

“Whitehorse forever.” The toast was echoed by their Betas, and taken up by the pack. All around the room, glasses were raised and voices rang out.

Amy leaned against him, the warmth of her body against his so right and perfect. “That’s not the last of it, but thank you for letting me take care of them on my own.”

He looked into her eyes and smiled, glad to have put his fears behind him, although he still didn’t like the idea of her being hurt. “Hey, you just about took my head off when we fought. I had no doubt about your physical prowess. I have even less doubts about your smarts.”

Evan took a shot of his moonshine, cupped his hand around the back of her neck, and slipped her a kiss that was two hundred proof, and none of it from the liquor.

If the kiss went on a little longer then normal, he didn’t give a damn. Tongues tangling, breaths mingling. She bit his lip, and Evan growled, hungry for more.

A cheer went up from one corner of the room, and he pulled back far enough to see glasses raised in their direction.

“People like to see their Alpha content.” Amy caught him by the cheeks and smiled at him, bright satisfaction pouring from her in spite of the bruises and cuts.

“Their
Alphas
, you mean. Because we’re doing this together, baby.”

Evan tugged Amy into his lap, curling his arm around her waist and enjoying the sensation of being with her.

She nuzzled against his neck, the connection between them strengthening. “That was exciting,” she confessed in a low whisper.

Evan laughed, his amusement rising. “Bloodthirsty little thing.”

She shrugged, her smile twisting into something a touch more evil. “As much fun as it is to torment people via computer, there’s something satisfying about beating the crap out of a person, isn’t there?”

How had he missed seeing this? The perfect way they fit. Evan stared into her eyes, his attention focused on her. “I can hardly wait to see what comes next.”

Amy put the rest of her extra sheets into a box, closed the lid and taped it shut. She glanced around the house, searching for more things she could get rid of before Evan brought his stuff over.

In the past week, her world had changed so immensely. It seemed impossible, and yet she was a shifter. She knew impossible happened all the time.

This was her experiencing true happiness for the first time in her life, and that’s what made it so unusual.