The Wolf's Mate Book 5: Bo & Reika (17 page)

“I’m okay, sweetheart,” he said, hushing her gently, stroking her hair with one hand and holding her close with the other.

She cried harder, unable to contain the tears any longer, and he stood with her until she’d cried all that she could.  “Thank you, thank you,” she said with a rough voice, squeezing her arms around him.

“I promised it would be okay, didn’t I?” he asked when she lifted her face to look at him.  She sniffled and nodded.

“I love you so much, sweetheart.  I would gladly have died to see you free and safe.”  She shivered at the statement, even though she knew that she, too, would die for him.  He stroked the back of his hand over her cheek.  “I didn’t know what real love was until I met you, sweetheart.  Real love is wanting the person you love to be safe from all harm, even if it means dying to ensure it.  Real love means being willing to be broken, battered, and bruised, if it means that the person you love won’t be harmed.  I love you that much.  I truly do.”

“I love you, too, Bo.  My protector.  My heart.”

“Your mate,” he added.

Reika wiped at the tears under her eyes and stepped back from him, looking him over with a critical eye.  A bruise was already forming around one eye, and blood had dried under his nose and at one corner of his mouth, and she was certain he was bruised on his body, even though she couldn’t see underneath the clothes.

She glanced at her brother and Shayne, who had fought beside Bo.  She’d never been more proud of her brother or more grateful for the quiet man who stood off to the side of the group with his own pack.  Taking Bo’s hand, she walked over to her brother, who was being looked over by the sharp eyes of her mother.  “Thank you, Ben,” she said and hugged him gingerly, worried he was more injured than he appeared.

Ben hugged her back.  “I wanted to make it right, Kiki.  It was my foolishness that caused it to happen in the first place.”

“No,” their father said, “you were just being a child.  It was an accident with severely unfortunate consequences, but we can put it behind us now.”

She hugged her mom and dad and then pulled Bo over to Shayne.  She had heard Bo mention the man who was part of a small pack that lived outside Allen.  Touching Shayne’s large hand, she looked up into his eyes and said, “You’re an honorable man, Shayne.  Thank you for standing with Bo to help set me free.”

His brows rose in surprise, and he ducked his head in a nod, saying with a deep voice, “It was my honor, Reika, to stand with a male such as your mate.”

She looked at the members of Shayne’s pack — his family — and smiled at them gratefully.  “Thank you.”

Jazlyn stepped from the embrace of a young wolf who Bo identified as her mate, Fritz, and hugged Reika.  “Your mate stood up for me.  There was no way that we were going to let him stand alone.  We are not of the same pack, but we’re sisters in wolf-nature, and that can be as strong as family lines.  Stronger, sometimes.”

“It’s my honor to call you sister, Jazlyn.”  Reika hugged the petite she-wolf back and then let Bo pull her away as he thanked Shayne and his pack and turned to go back to Reika’s family and his pack.

Reika looked over her shoulder and said, “I should offer to heal him if he’s injured.”

Bo chuckled.  “I’m pretty sure he’d rather just shift than suffer through your biting.”

She shook her head.  “I only bite for severe injuries like yours.  For smaller things, I can just shift and lick the wound.”

Bo pulled her to an abrupt stop and spun her close.  “You will not lick any males but me, Reika.”

Laughing, she said, “But I’m a healer.  How am I supposed to heal people if I can’t lick them?”

He seemed to consider what she said, and then he narrowed his hazel eyes at her and said, “I will insist on being there, then.”

She teased, “You don’t trust me?”

He jerked her against his body with a soft growl, his eyes flashing to amber for a moment.  “I trust you with my life, sweetheart.  I just don’t trust anyone else.”

She touched the cheek that wasn’t bruised.  “You gave me back my life, Bo.  I hope you know that I’m yours forever.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”  He lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her, just briefly.  Her first kiss as a free woman.

Alpha Grim clapped his hands together and the wolves all quieted down.  “Sixteen years ago, I was forced to make a choice between one young girl and a war.  Although I hated it, the choice was made for the sake of the pack.  In all these years, we held out hope that Reika’s truemate would find her and break her blood-debt.”  He looked at her and Bo and then behind them at the members of the Tressel Pack who had gathered, and Shayne and his pack, as well.  “Thank you for your support, proving that a wolf is not bound by his or her packs, but instead by the bonds of friendship and love.”

Reika’s father said loudly, “Let’s celebrate at the lodge!”

Her pack cheered and began to head to their vehicles.  “What’s the lodge?”  Jason asked, coming to stand next to them.

“It’s like a meeting hall.  The pack gathers there for parties and meetings.  It’s near the alpha’s house.”  She looked up at Bo.  “We can stay, right?”

He looked surprised.  “Of course, sweetheart.  As long as you want.”

“I want to visit with my family for a little while.”

“I have it on good authority that your boss doesn’t need you back at the shop until Wednesday, so you guys can stay here for a few days.”  Jason smiled.

“Thanks, Jason,” Bo said, leaning to Jason as the two clapped each other on the back a few times and then separated quickly.  She smiled at her mate and held his hand as they walked over to his truck.  He took back his jacket before he sat down behind the wheel, and she leaned over and hooked her arm through his as he pulled into the long line of vehicles heading towards her pack’s territory and the lodge.

When they walked through the double doors of the lodge, Bo made a surprised noise.  She looked up at him and he shrugged, saying, “I’m just surprised they put something like this together so fast.”

Her mom, who had come to greet them, laughed, “When Alpha Grim said what was happening today, that Reika’s mate was going to fight for her blood-debt, the females in the pack decided to have a celebration meal ready for when the fight was over.”

Bo hummed in his throat.  “They had a lot of faith in me.”

Her mom said, “We take truemates very seriously here, son.”

They followed her mom to a large table towards the front of the room where Alpha Grim and his wife sat.  Alpha Grim invited Jason and the rest of the wolves with him to join him at the head table, and Bo pulled Reika’s chair out and pushed it in gently, before sitting next to her.  Reika’s mom disappeared into the large commercial kitchen, but she knew she’d be back to sit down and eat.

Jason sat next to Bo, followed by Michael, Linus, Logan, Teller, and Toby.  Shayne and his family settled further down the table.  Reika had just met Toby today and was told that he worked security at the bar and she could see why.  He was a large man, towering well over six feet, with very broad shoulders and thick with muscles.

Her family joined the long table as the young wolves from her pack began to set huge bowls and platters overflowing with food on the tables.  Like her own pack, the males in Bo’s pack waited while the females filled their plates and then they fell on the food like locusts, laughter and chatter mingling as they ate.

“I packed up most of your clothes,” her mother said, as Reika cut into a slice of honey glazed ham.

“Thanks, Mom.”

Her mother looked up from her plate and smiled, her blue eyes crinkling.  “I was happy to pack you up under these circumstances.”

“Now we just have to get rid of the other one,” her father said with a laugh.

“Oh thanks,” Ben chuckled as he sat down across from Reika, after helping in the kitchen.

Lively conversation flowed around them as they ate, the young wolves refilling the bowls and platters when they were empty.

As the meal wound down, Linus leaned back in his chair and said, “That was the best barbecue pork I’ve ever had!”

Jason laughed and said, “Don’t let Karly hear you say that.”

Linus shrugged.  “Hey, she’s not so insecure that she can’t admit when someone can cook something amazing.  Who made it?  Maybe they can give me the recipe to give to her.”

Ben looked up.  “It was me.”

Bo said, “Reika said you could cook, but I had no idea how well.  Did you make everything?”

Ben’s cheeks tinted with a blush.  Her mother rushed to answer, “He directed all of it.  When the females decided we needed a community meal, Ben took over and prepared everything with help from the females and the young wolves.  He really is fantastic.”

He grinned under the flurry of compliments, and it filled Reika with joy to see her baby brother praised.

Dessert was served, a dozen different cakes and pies and plates of cookies, along with coffee, and slowly the members of her home pack began to clear out and head home.

She and Bo walked his pack members out to their vehicles and thanked them all once more for their support.

Jason said, “Next full moon, Reika can join the pack, and you can declare each other as mates at the same time, if you’re ready.”

Bo put his arm around her.  “Oh, we’re ready.”

She heard running footsteps and turned to see Ben with a paper grocery sack in his hands.  “Here,” Ben said, handing it to Linus.  “I put the recipe in there and some leftovers, too.”

“Wow, thanks,” Linus said and then lowered his voice slightly, speaking quietly to Ben.

She and Bo turned away from his pack members with a wave and headed to his truck to drive to her parent’s home.  They would be spending the next few days with her family, and she looked forward to Bo and her family getting to know each other.

As they drove away, she noticed that Ben was still talking to Bo’s pack, and she made a mental note to ask him about it later.

When Bo carried the duffel bag up to her bedroom, she locked the door and pushed him to the bed.

“Really, sweetheart?  Your parents are right downstairs,” he teased, as she pulled his shoes off and straightened, reaching for the button of his jeans.

“Not for sex, Bo,” she fussed, drawing his pants down his legs, “I want to see your injuries.”

“I’m fine, love,” he promised, but let her strip him anyway.  She ran her fingers over every inch of his body, noticing the fading bruises and healing cut marks that had been the evidence of the brutal battle for her freedom.

She stretched out next to him.  “Did I say thank you?”

“A man never tires of hearing his woman say thank you.”  He twined his hand with hers.

She smiled.  “Thank you, Bo.  For rescuing me in the woods, keeping me safe even against my own wishes, and most of all, for loving me enough to set me free.”

He rolled to his side.  “It was completely selfish.”

“What was?”

“Setting you free.  I wanted to keep you for myself forever.”

“You can be selfish anytime.”

“I’d like to be selfish right now and spend some quality naked time together.”

He tugged her shirt from her jeans with a wicked smile and they made love, reveling in her freedom.

* * * * *

Spending time with her family without the threat of the lynxes filled her with a joy she hadn’t known before.  Ben made her a birthday cake, just as she’d requested, and this time as they sang to her and the twenty-three candles flickered on the cake, her heart wasn’t filled with dread.  Instead, she closed her eyes and wished for a happy life for her family, now that they, too, were free from the lynxes.  She wasn’t the only one who had been burdened by the blood-debt all those years.  Even though she’d kept a brave face for so long, her family suffered right along with her.  Her home pack seemed happier, too.  Alpha Grim had stopped by on Monday night to wish her and Bo a safe journey back to Allen.

Alpha Grim also thanked Bo for breaking the vow and then asked Reika to forgive him.  She looked up in wonder at the man who had represented supreme authority her whole life.

“There is nothing to forgive, Alpha Grim.”