The Protector's Heart (Wilde Creek Three) (25 page)

Eveny sat next to Nila, her hand resting on
her swollen stomach. As Mia handed Brynn the next gift, Eveny said
in a low voice, “When are you and Mal tying the knot?”

Nila’s thumb rubbed the underside of the
engagement ring that Malachi had given her a week earlier. The
simple but stunning diamond solitaire winked in the overhead lights
as it wiggled back and forth on her finger.

“Not until after Acksel and Brynn are
married. Mal was threatened.”

Eveny laughed and Brynn threw a wad of silver
wrapping paper at Nila. “He was not.”

Mia snorted and said, “Oh yes he was. I heard
that Acksel said you’d skin Mal alive and leave him for dead if
they got married first.”

“Oh, now you’re exaggerating,” Brynn
complained. Then she grinned. “I wouldn’t leave him for dead.”

“What about you?” Nila asked Eveny when Brynn
turned her attention to another gift and began to pull the tissue
paper out of a gift bag.

“We’re going to get married in March. It
doesn’t matter to me when we get married, but Luke’s grandma
threatened to disown him if we weren’t married by the time the baby
is born. Since I’m due in June, that doesn’t leave us much time.”
She lowered her voice. “I was also threatened.”

“I heard that,” Brynn said, grousing.

“Mal and I are talking about April because
the weather will be nicer. It doesn’t matter to me, either, but he
wants me and Jack to have his last name as soon as possible.”

“Males are territorial, aren’t they? Human
and
wolf.”

“Yeah, but I wouldn’t have it any other
way.”

After all the gifts were open and the top of
the table was covered with pretty paper and bows, the party guests
milled around and talked. Nila, Mia, and Eveny offered to help
clean up, but Paula, who owned the restaurant with her husband
Quentin, turned them down.

“Thank you so much for the cappucino machine,
I can’t wait to make one,” Brynn said, hugging Nila and kissing her
cheek.

“A decaf one, right?” Mia asked.

Brynn grimaced. “As soon as this kid is born
I’m having a cup of coffee the size of my head. This caffeine
embargo is killing me.” Then her face brightened. “You’re going to
be at Doc’s on Monday when I come by for my checkup, right?”

“You bet,” Nila said, smiling.

They said goodbye and headed toward the front
door. Eveny’s mate, Luke, was standing just inside the door, and
Nila noticed how his face lit up when he saw Eveny.

“Does anyone need a ride?” Eveny asked as
Luke helped her with her jacket.

“Mia and I rode together, but thanks for the
offer,” Nila said as she put on her coat.

“See you at the full moon,” Eveny said,
kissing Nila and Mia on the cheek and waving.

“How did the month go by so fast?” Mia
groused. “It seems like just yesterday was December’s full moon and
now the full moon for January is in two days. I’m stunned at how
time flies lately.”

“Because you’ve been busy at work?” Nila
asked as she gripped the handrail and navigated the salted steps to
the parking lot.

“Not necessarily, I just feel like life is
passing me by. Twenty-nine, single, no kids. I feel like everyone I
know is getting mated.”

Nila opened the passenger door and sat down,
pulling it firmly closed and rubbing her hands together to warm
them while Mia turned on the car and fiddled with the heater.

“There are a lot of single females in the
pack, though. You’re not alone by any stretch.”

“I mean people I care about. Until you came
along, Mal never even thought about mating and having a family. I
always figured I’d be the first one to get married.”

“Well, you don’t want to rush down the altar
with the wrong guy. Trust me on that.”

“I know. I’m just feeling happy for my
friends but bummed for myself. Ignore me.”

“Never.” Nila knew what Malachi had told her
about Mia’s crush, Lucian, and how dangerous his life was. She’d
never met the man, but Mia seemed despondent, and maybe that’s what
happened when wolves went without their mates. “When Mal and I get
married, will you be my maid of honor?”

Mia gasped and smiled. “Of course, thank you
for asking me.”

“Well, you’re Mal’s sister and you’re my
friend. I wouldn’t want anyone else to stand up with me.”
And
, she added silently
, with Lucian as Malachi’s best
man, Mia and Lucian would be together and maybe something would
happen between them
.

“What’s up with that?” Mia asked, slowing the
car and peering through the windshield. Nila looked ahead and saw a
car off to the side of the road, hazard lights blinking. Mia pulled
to a stop in front of the car and said, “I’m going to see what’s
up.”

Nila watched as Mia got out and walked
quickly back to the car. A few minutes later, Mia got back in. “I’m
going to call Ren and ask him to send a tow.”

“What’s the story?” Nila asked after Mia
called Ren.

“Her name is Honey and her car broke down.
She’s a wolf, but her pack is a few states away.”

Nila frowned. “It’s nearly the full moon.
Shouldn’t she be home?”

“I didn’t invite her into the car because
she’s a stranger, but I told her we’d wait until the tow showed
up.”

“Is she going to freeze to death while we
wait?” Nila felt bad that she was back there all alone in a
broken-down car.

“Malachi would skin me alive if I brought a
stranger into the car. She said she understood why I couldn’t
invite her into our car, and besides, Ren will come quickly. He
owns the garage, so he can help her.”

“Where will she stay if the car can’t be
fixed tonight?”

Mia blew out a breath. “I guess I should call
Acksel, especially since she’s a wolf.”

Nila listened as Mia called her alpha. By the
time Mia had explained the situation to him, a tow truck appeared
and Ren helped the woman into the cab of the truck and disappeared
behind it.

“We can go now. Acksel’s on his way and I’m
hungry. The finger sandwiches and veggie trays did
not
fill
me up,” Mia said as she put the car in gear and pulled onto the
street.

Nila chuckled, “Me, either.”

Mia dropped Nila off at home. Nila stomped
her boots on the front mat, kicking the snow from them, and then
walked inside. Malachi and Jack were sitting on the couch. Jack was
in his lap with a large storybook. Malachi was reading, or at least
trying to. Every word that he said, Jack would interrupt and repeat
the word, looking up at Mal for confirmation that he’d said it
correctly.

“Mama,” Jack squealed, bouncing on Malachi’s
lap.

“Hi baby.” She removed her boots and hung up
her coat before crossing the room to them, bending over to kiss
Jack’s cheek. She sat next to them and kissed Malachi. “Hi to you,
too.”

“How was the shower?”

“Fun. I heard that the baby shower involves
the she-wolves hunting and bringing back dead animals. Is that
true?”

He laughed. “Just for the alpha.”

“I don’t have to try to hunt, do I? I don’t
think I’d be fast enough to catch a mouse, let alone a bunny or
something bigger. Plus, you know…ick.”

“You can get her something normal, don’t
worry.”

“Do you think about having kids, Mal?” She
rested her head on his arm, which was draped over the back of the
couch.

His eyes darkened, and a soft smile played on
his lips. “Yeah. I’d love to have a baby with you. As many as you
want.”

He leaned forward to kiss her but Jack put
his hand up between them. “Dada? Woof.”

Malachi made a face. “Woollff.”

“Woof.”

“I think he’s doing it on purpose,” Malachi
said.

Nila grinned. “Not my little angel.”

Malachi put Jack on the floor and grabbed
Nila, pulling her into his lap. “You’re
my
angel. My heart.
My life.”

Her stomach flipped at the heated look and
then she felt Jack fist her shirt and tug as he pulled himself to
standing. “Oose.”

“Juice? Sure, baby. Just tell Daddy to let me
go.”

Malachi growled lightly and nipped her neck.
“That is
never
happening.”

She wiggled off Malachi’s lap and headed into
the kitchen. Malachi snatched Jack off the floor and tickled him
until he giggled hysterically. Nila handed a sippy cup of apple
juice to Jack and sat down next to her mate as Jack climbed off the
couch and toddled around. Malachi kissed her temple and pulled her
close. “However many we have, whether they end up shifting or not —
the only thing I care about is that they’re happy and healthy.”

“Me, too,” she said, smiling as she watched
Jack bang the cup on the table a few times before taking another
drink.

She never expected to find herself engaged to
a wolf, not when so much bad had happened before. Malachi had
protected her when she didn’t want him to, saved her when she
needed him, and was the kind of father to Jack that she had always
wished for him. The journey had been a disaster at times, but the
reward was sweet. She’d never felt more loved and cared for then
she did with Malachi, her fierce protector and the only wolf to
ever steal her heart.

The End

* * * * *

Contact the Author

Website:
http://www.rebutlerauthor.com

Email:
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* * * * *

Also from R. E. Butler

Wiccan-Were-Bear Novella Series

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A Flash of Fang

A Price for a Princess

A Bond of Brothers

A Bead of Blood

A Twitch of Tail

A Promise on White Wings

A Slash of Savagery

The Wolf’s Mate Series

The Wolf’s Mate Book 1: Jason &
Cadence

The Wolf’s Mate Book 2: Linus & The
Angel

The Wolf’s Mate Book 3: Callie & The
Cats

The Wolf’s Mate Book 4: Michael &
Shyne

The Wolf’s Mate Book 5: Bo & Reika

The Wolf’s Mate Book 6: Logan & Jenna

The Wolf’s Mate Book 7: Lindy & The
Wulfen

The Necklace Chronicles

The Tribe’s Bride

The Gigolo’s Bride

Ashland Pride Series

Seducing Samantha (Ashland Pride One)

Loving Lachlyn (Ashland Pride Two)

Marking Melody (Ashland Pride Three)

Redeeming Rue (Ashland Pride Four)

Hyena Heat Series

Every Night Forever (Hyena Heat One)

Every Dawn Forever (Hyena Heat Two)

Every Sunset Forever (Hyena Heat Three)

Wilde Creek Series

Mate of Her Heart (Book One)

The Alpha’s Heart (Book Two)

The Protector’s Heart (Book Three)

Coming Soon… The Omega’s Heart (Wilde Creek
Four)

Jeremiah Kincaid has spent most of his life
on the outside looking in. Unable to shift even though he’s a
full-blooded wolf, he’s forced to be an omega in his pack, looked
down upon by his fellow pack members. No male wants him at his back
in a fight, no female wants him in her bed. As his twenty-eighth
birthday approaches, he finds himself reaching the limit of what he
can tolerate, and makes plans to leave the pack and try to blend in
with the humans.

Honey Williams’ alpha father has been acting
strangely ever since she turned twenty-five, and as the January
full moon draws near, she begins to feel like something is going to
happen to her. Something bad. She takes the opportunity of her
college friend’s bachelorette party to leave town, but instead of
heading to her friend’s house, she runs in the opposite direction.
As the full moon looms near, she knows she needs to find a place to
stay so she can shift and hunt before she moves on in her attempt
to get away from whatever plans her father is making for her. When
she arrives in Wilde Creek two days before the full moon, she sees
a small town with lots of woods to hunt in and knows she’s found a
temporary place to stay. To ensure her father can’t order her home
for the full moon, she disables her car, getting help from a
friendly she-wolf and a handsome tow-truck driver.

When Jeremiah fakes illness to avoid the full
moon preparations, he never expected to be sitting on his back
porch the night of the full moon and have his life change forever.
One look at the sultry beauty who shifts in his yard and he knows
he’s in the presence of his mate. Honey’s father demands she return
home, and the truth of his betrayal is revealed. Jeremiah is
determined to keep Honey safe and keep her forever. He might not be
able to shift, but he’ll be damned if he lets Honey’s life be
ruined.

When a non-shifting wolf and a beautiful
she-wolf get together, expect scorching sex, ripped clothes, and
furniture broken in the heat of passion. Contains m/f
interaction.

* * * * *