The Alpha's Mail Order Mate: A Paranormal Shifter Romance (18 page)

“And here is Hope,” said Chastity proudly as her older daughter caught sight of her and ran their way.

“She’s so big,” said Julian in surprise. “My dear, you look nearly twice the size I’d been visualizing. I’m going to have to seriously rethink your birthday list.”

“Who are you, sir?” she asked curiously.

“Oh, I’m your Uncle Julian, my dear.”

“The Alpha that Julie’s named for?” asked Hope curiously. “Mother says that I was to receive your name, but that you changed it sometime before my birth. I wish you hadn’t, since my sister’s name is much prettier.”

“Oh no, my dear, never say so,” he chuckled. “For you see, you’re named for this place, and that name is much more important than mine. This place is meant to last much longer than just you or I. It’s meant to house werewolves for many, many of our lifetimes. To become something greater than any of us can possibly imagine. And that is why you are Hope.”

“Well, when you put it that way, I guess I must be pretty important,” she smirked as Julie came to join them. “Even more important than my silly little sister.”

“Both of you are very important,” Julian corrected her. “You two, and the others, you’re all part of our future, and it’s going to be up to all of you to build and maintain it even when the elders are finally gone. Remember that.”

Little John stepped up behind Julie and pulled one of her pigtails.

“Hey, cut it out!” she protested. “You’re always so mean, Johnny.”

“Ah, so this is the boy I’ve heard so much about?” Julian smirked.

“You’ve heard of me?” asked John with a surprised expression that made the adults chuckle. “I’ve heard of a boy who is strong and true, who can’t sit still till the day is through. A half-made, half-true wolf, are you not, young John?”

“Yeah,” he answered with a scowl. He hated to be reminded that he wasn’t fully werewolf, and Julian could tell this right away.

“There’s nothing wrong with having a parent who once was human, my boy,” he said. “You must think of the future, as I have said. Humans and wolves, we’re meant to get along together, aren’t we? So, to have a heritage that mixes both types, that’s a very special thing. You should be proud of both your parents.”

“I am proud of them both,” he said. “Just not of what my mother used to be. I do try to be, but I just can’t seem to bring myself to do so.”

“I see,” said Julian. “Then perhaps you still need to grow just a bit more.”

“What do you mean, sir?”

“I don’t wish to bring along a wolf who isn’t proud of who and what he is,” said Julian.

“Bring along?” John repeated. “Bring along where?”

“I thought perhaps you’d benefit from a few years in the city,” he explained. “Maybe about five, so that when you return you’ll be much more refined and know a great many more things.”

“I know quite a lot already,” John informed him.

“I don’t mean just book learning, son,” he scoffed. “I want somebody to come along with me to experience those things he’s read about. Maybe turn him into another Rick, or perhaps a genius in some other capacity. But, I don’t wish to choose somebody who is faint of heart. I want someone with a backbone, someone who knows how very important he’s going to be to us one day. Am I talking to the right wolf?”

“Have you spoken to my parents, then?” he inquired.

“They approve, and so does your Alpha,” he said. “I understand he has big plans for you as well.”

John blushed slightly at this. “Yes, I suppose he does,” he agreed, doing his best not to look over at the small blonde urchin who was currently playing with her wolf doll.

“We’ll say no more about that, if you like?”

“Perhaps later?” he asked hopefully.

“Of course,” said Julian. “Now, why don’t you come along with Night and I for a men’s only evening? We could certainly use the company.”

“Yes, sir!” he agreed. He hugged his mother quickly on the way out the door. “I’ll see you later, Mom.” Tess grinned and messed up his hair affectionately, making him grimace as he straightened it again. “Women,” he grumbled as they stepped outside.

The two men grinned knowingly. Night said, “Oh, John, women do have their uses. They never fail to let us men know that we are loved as long as we love them in return, do they, Julian?”

“No, indeed,” he agreed. “Ah, young John, it looks like your father’s come up as well. Shall we invite him along?”

“Of course,” he said, waving his sire over. “We’re on our way to Night’s house for a men’s evening, Father. We’d love to have you come along.”

“It would be my pleasure,” he said agreeably. “But first I must go in and kiss my wife.”

“Ew,” Johnny teased him. “Good thing we don’t have to see that.”

“I’ll remember that, son, when you’ve got one of your own,” he teased. “I will join you there shortly.”

And so it was that, one by one, various men came to visit Night’s house for a bit of talk and fun, and Little John felt very happy to be a part of it all. He didn’t even mind with his older brother, Jacob, wandered in with someone as well.

“Jacob? What are you doing here?” he asked, surprised.

“Well, they let you in here, and I’m three years older than you are,” he pointed out. Then he nodded at Julian politely. “So, are you really taking my little sidekick off for a while, Alpha Julian? And just when he was starting to be useful, too? I’ve only just gotten him to decide to toss a ball with me, you know.”

“There are more important things than balls, Jake,” John grumbled.

“Yes, I suppose for you, there are,” he conceded. “Going to miss you laying books all over the house, though. It’s going to seem weird without them.”

“Thanks,” said John, and he punched his brother in the arm.

*

Little John’s supposed five-year stay stretched to ten before he managed to return. Because he was a werewolf, he was fully matured by around twelve or thirteen, and the last two years had been spent putting on some muscle. All he could think about during the ride home was how Julie was likely to react when she saw him again. He was looking forward to finding out to a disgusting degree.

His arrival was to coincide with Hope’s fifteenth birthday, so he would have an excuse to go see the Nightsky clan as soon as he stepped out of the car—as if the fact that Night and Chastity were the Alphas of the pack he was returning to wasn’t enough of one. All the confidence he’d been building up was a huge mass of jangled nerves at the moment, and he really hoped nobody would notice.

It was Fiske whose car he now rode in to get back to Wolfhaven. True to his word, the man had remained a public servant all this time, but now he had decided he wanted to retire, and he had hired John to be his personal attendant once they got there. It wasn’t exactly the job John had been dreaming of, but it was only meant to be temporary until Fiske could find someone else more suited to the task.

“You’ve been coming and going from Wolfhaven all this time, Fiske,” said John as they neared the gatehouse. “Have they changed much, do you think? Will things be at all the same?”

“Young man, in my experience nothing ever stays the same,” he replied. “You simply need to learn how to adapt to the changes without letting them upset you overmuch. But I wouldn’t worry about any changes at Wolfhaven at any rate. Night’s girls are just as pretty as their mother, and one of them is sure to take a shine to you now that you’re fully grown.”

“I—that’s great, but I wasn’t—” said John with a deep blush.

“Weren’t you?” he chuckled.

“Maybe just a little,” John conceded.

“It’s a good thing we’ve got you dressed in that suit, son,” he smirked. “Girls love a guy in a suit, especially if you loosen that tie and let it hang on your neck a bit. Makes it look like you’ve been up to something.”

“Fiske, you’re so terrible,” he protested as the man loosened the tie for him. “What are you trying to do, make it look like you and I were up to something? That’s not going to incite a girl’s interest, that’s for sure.”

Fiske laughed about this for at least half a minute before he could speak again.

“Well then what are you going to do? Go in there and pull her pigtails again?” he inquired.

“You all talk about this way too much, I think,” John grumbled. “I hope that Julie has not heard any of it.”

“Don’t be too worried about her,” Fiske smirked. “She’s been talking about you coming home non-stop for over a month now.”

“Has she really? What did she say?” he asked curiously.

“Only that she’s thinking of getting a haircut.”

“Over my dead body,” John grumbled then.

“Only kidding, Johnny,” Fiske laughed. “Calm down.”

“Sorry,” he said. “I’ve just really—missed her hair.”

“It sounds like it,” he agreed. “But you’ll be seeing her very soon now. The gatekeeper has finally waved us inside.”

***

The car finally pulled up to a large house just outside of the resort itself. John knew this was the home Fiske had built last year that he would now be living in. He’d even been given his own room and it had an office off to the side with one of the top of the line computers produced by the werewolves through a company called “Up All Night”. His fingers were just itching to touch the keyboard of this promised machine, but he knew they would not be stopping here long enough for him to get the chance.

“Your rooms are at the back of the house, Johnny,” Fiske told him. “There’s even a guest room back there in case you want to invite over any friends sometime. No loud parties unless I’m invited, though.”

“Damn, and here I was planning on a thumper,” he teased his new employer.

Fiske cast him a slightly miffed glare. “Anyway, there’s plenty of room for two in the bed I got you, if you ever manage to land your prize. I imagine she could be employed somewhere in this place too.”

“Hey, now don’t get ahead of yourself,” John said. “We’re not even sure how long I’ll be here.”

“So maybe I’ll still like having you around no matter what job you get, you don’t know,” Fiske pointed out. “You’re a smart kid and talented, too. With your brain and my connections, we could form a company of our own or something.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, or you could go take a job at the power plant,” he added.

“Well, that is true,” he agreed. “Night said I might do well there.”

“Anyway, I believe you said you were anxious to go see your Alphas and their family, did you not?”

“Not out loud,” John smirked. “But let’s get these bags set in our rooms and go. We can always deal with them later.”

“Couldn’t agree with you more,” Fiske said. “In fact, why don’t we just ring for the butler and maid. They obviously don’t realize that we’ve finally arrived.”

Pressing a buzzer near the light switch, Fiske spoke into a small receiver. “You guys awake? We’re here.”

“Sorry, sir, I did doze off,” said a male voice. “If you leave the things by the front door, Maddie and I will see to them.”

“All my bags are red,” Fiske told him. “The rest will belong to John.”

“Very well, sir,” he said. “I hope the two of you enjoy your evening. And Master John, good luck with Miss Julie. I hear you’ve been hopeful for her regard for a very long time now.”

“Damn, does everybody know about that or something?”

“Everyone that I know of,” the butler smirked.

“Damon, don’t tease him, he’s as red as my luggage now,” Fiske laughed. “Come on, then, Johnny, let’s go. There’s plenty of new things out here to see, and as you know we must not mention the trees while anywhere near the humans.”

“Of course not,” he agreed. “I’d never dream of endangering our world.”

THE FINAL CHAPTER

“For goodness sakes, Julie, will you stop staring at the door?” Hope complained after she’d tried three times to get a response from her younger sister without success. “He’s not going to arrive any sooner just because you want him to, you know.”

“Then you’re not curious how he turned out?” Julie asked with a smirk. “It’s been a very long time. He may have become a completely different person.”

“Unlike you, sister dear, I haven’t been obsessed with Little John practically since the day I was born,” Hope smirked.

“Maybe not, but only because you like his brother Jake,” said Julie triumphantly.

“And what if I do?” she said. “I’m almost sixteen now. I’m supposed to be looking for a mate to settle down with—unlike you. You aren’t even supposed to be looking for another year, are you?”

“Rules were meant to be broken,” Julie smirked. “Hush now, somebody is knocking!”

Chastity, who was well aware of the conversation between her two oldest daughters, smirked over at Night as she headed over to let in their guests. Both of the girls tried very hard to look uninterested as she opened the door.

“Mr. Fiske, I thought we might see you here this evening,” said Chastity with a smile as she stepped out of the way to he and John could come inside. John’s eyes were bright and his face was somewhat red, as if he also had just been teased before she’d answered. “And, you, young John, my goodness, you have grown.”

“Ten years can do that to a lad,” Fiske chuckled as he thumped him on the back. “Go on, go say hello to everyone. I’m sure you can’t wait to get reacquainted with them all.”

“Y-yes,” John managed to say. “I’ve really missed you, Mrs. Nightsky. You’re looking as lovely as ever.”

“Ah, so Julian has made him charming into the bargain?” she chuckled. “Even better. Do go see the girls before they drive me insane. You’re all they ever seem to talk about these days.”

Night thumped John on the back as well and gave him a wink. “We’ll talk in a while, I think?”

“Um—sure,” John agreed. His eyes were already looking across the room. Julie pretended to be very interested in the book she was supposedly reading, but she didn’t quite manage to pull off her ‘not noticing’ act, looking up before he’d finally arrived.

“Oh, it’s you, Johnny,” she said, trying to hide her smile of delight. “I did wonder when you’d be back.”

“I—I heard you were going to cut your hair?” he asked casually.

“Oh, my goodness no,” she scoffed. “Although, with you around it could well be in danger again, so maybe—“

“If I promise to behave myself you’ll keep it, right?”

“Define behaving yourself,” she smirked then, and Hope burst out laughing. “What’s so funny?”

“You are,” she said. “Here, shall I lead by example, then?”

Hope sprang to her feet and threw her arms around Johnny’s neck, then kissed him on the cheek. He laughed and hugged her back.

“The placement of the kiss need not be exact, mind you,” Hope added as she let go again. “Missed you, John. The place hasn’t been nearly the same without you.”

“Great to see you too, Hope.”

“Good, now I’ll leave you two alone so you can—pull each other’s hair or something.”

They both laughed as Hope took her leave. Then they stared in awkward silence for a few seconds before Julie said, “Let’s go for a walk, then. I know you’d like to see some of the new sights.”

“Yeah,” he agreed, blushing slightly.

“Mom, we’re going for a walk,” she called out as she grabbed John’s hand and pulled him with her out the back door. “Am I the only one who thought they were all holding their breaths?”

John chuckled. “No doubt,” he agreed. He reached down and took her hand as they walked along to one of the newest pathways, one that John hadn’t seen, and slowly walked across to another set of trees.

“Any news from Julian?” she asked. “My parents don’t say much.”

“It sounds like he’s recently put out a discreet flyer suggesting the existence of werewolves in the Adirondack Mountains, but not precisely where. It’s been circulating on the internet over a year now. We’ve gotten a lot of hits.”

“What’s the ratio of ‘that’s awesome’s to ‘let’s burn the place down?” asked Julie as she stopped to lean her back against one of the rails.”

“Surprisingly better than I expected,” he said with a laugh. He moved to look over the side and laid his arms along the wood, folded together. “Maybe letting people know werewolves exist for real would be a good step in the right direction. He’s done that as well, by the way.”

“Well, of course,” she said, her voice a bit shaky. “You couldn’t say werewolves occupy the Adirondacks if you didn’t also say they existed, right?”

John blew out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. “Hope’s right, you know. About that kiss, I mean. Coming from you, that isn’t exactly where I’d want it.”

Julie straightened up a bit, and one of her hands gripped his elbow. John back up and turned a bit before leaning in again, his body leaned on hers, and his arms branched out to either side. She pulled him a bit closer as she gave him a hug. She bent up her face and kissed the side of his mouth.

“Almost,” he smirked, turning his head and kissing her full on the lips.

“Right there?” she asked, smirking back.

“Always there,” he told her as he tugged at her hair.

“Hey, you promised me—“

“—that I would be good,” he chuckled. “Would you like to see how good I can be?”

“Johnny, stop,” she gasped softly. “My Dad would kick your butt if we did that already.”

“Only if he knew,” he chuckled. “I wasn’t talking about the flower, sweetheart, just a bit of the nectar.”

Julie’s eyes went wide as she realized what he was saying. “Wow! I can sure tell you’ve been hanging around with the mature males. Maybe we should head back, though, Johnny. I don’t think it’s a good idea right now.”

“I can wait, love,” he told her. “I’ve been waiting this long, right? I’m sure I’ll survive waiting a bit more.”

*

A couple of months went by, and the two lovebirds grew closer than ever. Julie’s initial shyness at going further had worn off fairly quickly, and now the pair were desperately close to going all the way. In fact, John had asked her if she’d sneak off with him during the full moon ceremony again this time, and maybe see if they accomplished what they’d narrowly avoided the month before. Julie had shyly agreed.

But the day before the event, while John was helping to muck out the horse stables they’d put in during his absence, Night was suddenly at his side. Looking up, he said, “Oh, hello Night, what brings you out here?”

“You do, son,” he explained. “Chastity told me she’s worried you and Julie might be moving too fast, so I’ve been sent to give you ‘the talk’.”

“Which one?” John smirked.

“Well, probably the ‘don’t hurt my daughter’ speech,” he said. “Look, I know what it’s like to be young and ready, but not ready at the same time, you know. I wasn’t born yesterday. And I don’t have a problem with it. You’re gainfully employed and Julie has physically matured. I’m just not sure she’s mentally ready to become a mate quite yet.”

John’s cheeks flushed a bit. “We weren’t—well, we weren’t trying to go quite that far yet, Night. I’m not trying to move her into Fiske’s mansion or anything like that. I know you and Chastity aren’t quite ready to give her up, especially since Hope and Jake have started seeing each other as well. I understand all that.”

“You do, but that thing in your pants has a brain of its own,” Night said dryly as he poked his waistband with one finger. “It would be a good idea to listen to the one up top instead.”

“Yes, sir,” he answered, blushing more than ever.

“Well good, then, glad we understand each other,” Night replied. “See you at the ceremony tomorrow.”

“Yes, sir,” John said with a nod. He kept right on working. They both knew he had no intention of doing what Night had just suggested.

***

It was almost midnight when John and Julie finally managed to sneak outside and disappear into the trees. Night and Chastity exchanged a glance, hers somewhat apprehensive and his overly approving. They came together past the dancing bodies and Night took Chastity’s hand.

“Maybe we should go find them?” she suggested.

“Sweetheart, if I go with you out into those woods, it isn’t going to be to stop those two from having their moment,” said Night with a smirk. “I’m much more likely to initiate one of our own.”

“You—you can’t be serious,” she complained. “Our little girl is out there getting—getting—“

“Getting what, sweetheart?” he inquired with a smirk. “Maybe we should take this discussion outside as well? What do you say?”

“Night, I can’t believe you,” she grumbled. But still, the touch of his hand as he drew little circles on the back of hers was more alluring than it should be. And when he leaned forward to say something into her ear, Chastity’s heart sped up in response.

“Come with me, Chastity,” he teased. “Let’s go be unchaste in the woods together. You know you want to.”

“But Julie—“

“Is probably already enjoying herself even as we speak,” he said. “She’s grown now, even if you don’t want to realize it yet. Just think, if those two mate we get grandkids to spoil. Chastity, I know that you waited a very long time to be with me, but those two, they’ve known what they are to each other their whole lives. There’s no reason to make them suffer. Let them be.”

Somehow, Night had brought her with him out into the forest. She found herself leaning against a tree gazing up at her mate, wanting him. She imagined it was partly the effects of the full moon, which werewolves had to physically resist if they did not wish to change. She was able to maintain control over that, at any rate, but the arousal that began to rage within her was another matter completely.

The trouble was, Night knew just how to turn Chastity into jelly. Her bones dusted away to nothing, and her legs could no longer support her, and her lips caught fire as they tasted his, and she was lost,! Her husband sought and found, tasted and touched, and she was somehow compelled to do the same.

Chastity’s fingers glided along the smooth flesh of his shoulder. Her fingers found the buttons at the fly of his pants and ripped at them. Her breaths came out in hot little puffs of air, followed by wantonly hollow gasps. Somehow they were naked before she even comprehended that she’d been assist the process. She was still leaning with her back against the tree, gazing into Night’s handsome face.

He entered her, and it was so glorious, she and her lover, bathed in the moonlight, deep in the woods and deep into each other, a sort of perfection that they’d always shared passing between them.

“I love you so much, Night,” Chastity managed to breathe.

“And I love you too, my most unchaste Chastity,” he chuckled.

Neither of them realized that John and Julie had just happened upon the scene. They’d stopped rather abruptly and were now simply staring at the unexpected sight, unable to look away. John’s hand clasped Julie’s tighter, and then they inched away, back into the forest.

“That was—by the moon, is that what it’s like?” Julie asked. “Maybe we should go back where we came from after all?”

“Not yet, my love,” said John decisively. “You mark my words, that looked too much like another sibling in the making. And we’ve already decided we’re not ready to make those two grandparents just yet. There’s nothing much more to say.”

“Johnny?” Julie said, her breath catching as she threw her arms around his neck. “I do love you very much. I’ll be proud when we do make them grandparents, you know?”

Smiling at the thought, John pulled her closer still. “Yeah, baby, I know. Let’s go see if there’s anything left of the food.”

Night and Chastity, sated and spent, had heard every single word. They smiled at each other as they righted their clothes.

“Hm, that’s not a bad idea after something that good,” said Night to his wife. “What do you say we also invade the food?”

*

The human reporter was supposed to have left before moonrise, but since Mr. Dane was busy attending to the birth of his and Katie’s fourth child he’d been somewhat inattentive to making certain the task of getting everyone out had been properly completed. It was, perhaps, lucky that winter had a stranglehold on the area at the time, but the footage of their usual feast was damning either way.

It was lucky that the man had not guessed at anything beyond the fact that werewolves came to Wolfhaven for the full moon. His report stated that the group obviously gathered there for the moons, and that was why other guests were never allowed there during that time. He also had the decency to speculate that this might be a safety precaution for humans on the werewolves’ part.

“This reporter has had discourse with the owners of Wolfhaven, who are clearly werewolves themselves,” the news droned on. “They are a wonderful, loving couple. They care very much about the comfort and well-being of every person who comes there, regardless of their species. I, for one, am glad to be the bearer of this news, to finally prove the rumor that has been circulating to be true. We’ve been wasting all this time wishing for aliens or bigfoots or some other type of sentient non-human, while all this time they’ve been among us. I say it’s time to welcome them to the fold.”