"What did I tell you about calling me weak? You must want to be punished later," Grant whispered against her ear.
Darn it all! She did not want to get hot and bothered during an emotional meltdown at the table. She must look like a ninny!
"Have you seen me lately?" Meryn demanded. "I'm fucking huge! Like seriously." She pointed down at her belly. "I'm not all sexy curvy like you. It's starting to look like I've swallowed a damn beach ball." She shrugged. "If Aiden pulls me onto his lap and risks me squishing his nuts, I let him. It makes him happy to go all caveman, and if he drops me, Ryuu will shock his ass."
Ellie stared. "I don't know what to say to that."
"I do." Grant nipped at her neck. "Don't squish my nuts."
"Did he just make a joke?" Declan crowed.
Adriel rubbed his chin. "I do believe he did."
"You see, my love, I told you you're beautiful." Grant wiped away her tears.
"You know, maybe I'm starting to believe you."
And she was.
CHAPTER NINE
Ellie inhaled deeply when they walked through the door of the house they were sharing with her gram on Level Six. Checking in on the kids took longer than the previous night since there were more children. By the time they had finished with the nightly doses she was starting to get hungry again. She followed her nose to the kitchen. Two plates of assorted cookies covered with plastic wrap were on the table.
"Gods, what's that smell?" Grant asked.
She held up the plate. "Cookie?"
"Is that my plate?"
She turned her body, guarding the plate. "No. We have to share. The other plate has a name tag for Meryn."
Grant eyed the second plate and shook his head. "I'm afraid of what Meryn would do to me if I ate her cookies."
Giggling, Ellie set the plate down and removed the plastic. She picked up her favorite peanut butter oatmeal cookie and bit it in half.
Grant stared. "Damn, that was sexy."
Ellie chewed quickly then popped the rest of it in her mouth before grabbing two more. Grant was practically inhaling the chocolate chip cookies. He looked around until he located the refrigerator. "Please gods, let there be milk," he pleaded. He opened the door and sighed in relief grabbing the carton.
Ellie opened a few cabinets and found the plates and glasses. He poured them each a glass before returning the milk to the refrigerator.
"I could eat these every day," he announced happily.
"Me too."
"Keep the kitchen stocked for me and I will gladly make you both cookies," a warm amused voice said from behind them. They both turned and hid their cookies behind their backs guiltily. Marjoram laughed. "Too late, I already saw you got into the cookies. Eat up, it's why I made them." She sat at the table, uncovered the cookies, and grabbed one for herself. Ellie and Grant grinned at each other, sat down with their milk and plate of cookies, and continued eating.
"I'm glad you're both here," Marjoram began.
Ellie froze. "The children?"
Marjoram shook her head. "They're just fine. No, I wanted to discuss something else with you." She eyed her granddaughter. "Ellie, have you given much thought to moving here?"
Ellie nibbled on her cookie. "Of course. Grant's here, so I'd have to move." She frowned, thinking of her lab. "Maybe I haven't thought it all the way through."
"I didn't think so. I took the liberty of speaking to Magnus, such a lovely boy." Ellie and Grant exchanged looks, and Marjoram continued. "When he heard about your research, he offered to put in a lab next to Broderick's for you."
Ellie dropped her cookie onto the table. "What?"
Marjoram gave her a sly smile. "He's also willing to pay for all of your lab equipment to be brought here, pay for any additional supplies you may need, and fund your research completely."
"Ohmygosh!" Ellie exclaimed. "When did you do all this?"
"Oh, I've been doing some exploring on my own. Any one of those nice warriors will take me wherever I want to go. I've been sneaking down to have tea with Magnus and Sebastian."
"Magnus, huh?" Grant asked smiling.
Marjoram shrugged. "He's not as bad as I thought he'd be for a vampire."
Ellie brushed the crumbs her fallen cookie had created around the table. "Does that mean you'll stay too? After the children are well."
"Of course, I'm staying. Even without taking the sick children into consideration, this place is a powder keg waiting to blow. I'm not leaving the two of you and Avery here on your own."
"You're more than welcome to move into our home," Grant offered.
Marjoram shook her head. "Not if I want great-grandchildren any time soon. I need to stay out from underfoot."
"Gram!" Ellie exclaimed, blushing.
"Hush now. I'm not so old that I don't remember what being mated is like. If you only knew how many times you almost caught your grandfather and I in the kitchen." Her grandmother wagged her brows.
"Ugh! I don't need those images!" Ellie covered her eyes, and Marjoram laughed.
"Spontaneity keeps your sex life intriguing." She winked at Grant who grinned back at her.
"I'm scarred for life," Ellie complained, reaching for another cookie.
Marjoram patted her arm. "You'll live. No, I've already gotten permission to stay here. Later, if the wolves decide to return to Texas, those two adorable redheaded twins have offered to carve me out a home on the Unit Level. But for right now, I'm comfortable being around other shifters."
Grant finished his milk and stood. When he reached for his plate, Marjoram waved him off. "I'll get this," she offered.
Grant offered Ellie his hand when she stood. "Come on, we need to start practicing."
Ellie frowned. "Practicing what?"
"Baby making."
"Grant!"
"I wouldn't mind a great-grandson or two," Marjoram chuckled.
"You're both incorrigible!"
"Yes dear, we know. Goodnight!" her grandmother said, shooing her out of the kitchen.
Grant chased Ellie up the stairs to their room. As the door shut, he was already stripping. She hesitated; it felt like her newfound confidence had evaporated like a shallow puddle on a summer day.
When she looked up, he was waiting for her, completely naked, arms crossed. "Well?"
Please don't let me make a fool of myself, she pleaded.
Slowly, she untied the knot on the black wrap dress. It opened like a robe, and she let it fall to the floor. Luckily, she had packed the black corset style bustier and garters that went with this dress. It was the only way she had a small enough waist to make the dress work.
Grant stared, his mouth open. When he started to take a step forward, his feet got caught up in his pants, and he went down hard.
"Grant!" She knelt beside him. "Are you okay?"
He picked himself up so that he was on all fours. He looked at her kneeling beside him, and his eyes flashed yellow. "Mine," he growled.
She held up a hand. "Maybe we could turn off the lights?"
Though his eyes remained golden, the lust dimmed a bit. "Why?"
"This outfit is hiding a lot." She pointed to the corset.
He leered at her. "I know." He licked his lips.
"I meant fat rolls; please turn off the light."
"You didn't have any problem the first time we were together."
"You had just offered to go down on me. I wasn't going to distract you."
"And you were fine when we claimed each other."
"We were in your forest, and it was dark."
He tilted his head. "You do know I can see in the dark, right?"
"Ugh!" Ellie covered her face with her hands.
"You have ten seconds to lose the corset and the panties, or I am ripping them off. Leave on the garters and the stockings," he ordered.
When Ellie peeked back, he was standing over her.
"Ten... nine... eight..."
Ellie stood reaching behind her and made quick work of h
er corset strings before slipping out of her panties. She knew she had gone over ten seconds, but evidently her mate had enjoyed the show. He stood off to one side slowly stroking his hard cock.
"Come here, mate of mine," he said, pointing to the space in front of him.
The heat in his eyes added a sway to her hips, and she was rewarded with a low growl. When she was standing in front of him, he simply lifted her up and wrapped her legs around his waist.
"Grant!"
He held her tightly against his body with one arm and slid his other hand between their bodies. He used his fingers to tease her clit, alternating between gentle rubs and sharp pinches. She ground her body against him, wanting more. The space between their bodies quickly grew slick from her desire.
Grinning, he moved his hand and then the head of his dick was sliding into her. With both hands firmly grasping her ass, he easily lifted her up and down his body, impaling her over and over again.
His muscles never shook with strain, and his breathing never became labored. His strength allowed Ellie's mind to finally let go of her fears, and she grabbed his shoulders. Squeezing her thighs together, she began to ride him.
He groaned when she began making demands of her own. "Damn baby, you're going to kill me."
"Grant, I need more. Deeper."
Grant moved, and before she knew it, she was lying on the bed as he stood between her legs taking control. Pinning her arms over her head, he snapped his hips forward, burying himself to the hilt. It was exactly what she needed.
All too soon, she felt his pace increase, and he was shouting her name. At his climax, she tilted her pelvis so that his engorged head was pressed against that elusive spot inside her. Reaching down, she barely had to touch her clit to follow him into oblivion.
Groaning, he fell forward, pinning her to the mattress, his cock still buried inside her.
"Grant, move."
"Can't. I'm dead," he complained as he rolled to one side, sliding from her body. They both groaned at the action. He moved them up toward the pillows getting comfortable. "Still worried about being naked in front of me?" he asked, pulling her against his chest.
"No, you make me feel dainty."
He snorted. "You are dainty."
He wrapped his arms and legs around her as if he would never let go.
"Grant?"
"Yeah, baby?"
"Even if we weren't mates, I'd love you forever."
She heard him swallow. Once, then twice. Finally, he cleared his throat. "Me too, my love."
She had been blessed by Fate to have Grant as a mate, and she would do anything to make him happy, even learn to love herself.
*****
The next morning, Grant tried to talk her into showering together, but she adamantly refused.
"Do you know how many bathroom related accidents I saw while working in the ER? Besides those showers are tiny."
Grant pouted the entire time they got dressed, making her giggle. To see a warrior his size making a boo-boo face because he had to shower alone was a wonderful way to start her morning.
Walking hand in hand, they headed toward the children's courtyard. Outside of the Garcia's house, Keegan stood yawning. When he saw them, he waved them over, grinning.
"About time you guys got up," he griped.
Ellie checked her phone; it was only seven in the morning. "How long have you been up?"
Keegan cracked his back. "Technically, I haven't been to bed yet. Last night, after your gram left, the twins got into the cookies and ate them, like, all of them. At one point, I thought Leif was going to chain them to the floor. That's when Travis got the bright idea to use all that energy for something good. So we headed up here and went to work."
Grant and Ellie looked at each other. "Work?" Grant asked.
Keegan wagged his eyebrows. "Wanna see?"
He led them away from the wolves' housing and into the market place. Ellie was astonished to see a large stone building standing to her right between the entrance of the wolf refugee camp and the public bathrooms by the transport tunnel. It was amazing to see such a large structure where once there had been nothing.
Keegan indicated the large structure. "We set it off to one side so as to not block the vendors. The twins built half of it right into the wall that divides Wolf Street from the market place."
"Wolf Street?" Ellie asked.
Keegan shrugged. "We couldn't keep calling it 'that place where the wolf refugees live now'. Anyway, what do you think?"
Ellie stared. "Is this a hospital?"
"Yup." Keegan nodded.
"You all built an entire hospital last night?"
Keegan laughed. "It's not that big and nowhere near as fancy as some of the human hospitals I've seen, but I think we managed to get all the basics." He pointed to the first floor. "There are three floors. We set up the first floor for all the patients. We made little alcoves for the hospital beds that have electricity so that all the individual monitoring machines could be plugged in. Sulis was able to grab thirty beds, so we have fifteen on each side. At the back of the first floor, we installed some industrial sized washers and dryers. We had to spell the pipes to make sure the water got hot enough to disinfect. That was not a fun thing to figure out at two in the morning, let me tell you." He raised his arm. "The second floor has some private rooms for anyone who needs to crash but can't leave, a small lab, and some test machines." He pointed to the top floor. "So far that's empty, so we set it up for storage for the extra mattresses, linens, gowns, and beds. We got enough supplies that in a pinch the hospital could take in as many as one hundred patients." He grinned. "Overkill I know, but you should have seen the twins last night, we actually expanded the hospital twice to keep them busy." He scratched his chin. "We couldn't figure out how to do an elevator, so we installed a mini-tunnel that's large enough for gurneys and the machines." He shook his head. "I had no idea it was so complicated to get sick. Humans have it rough."
Ellie still couldn't believe that they had created a hospital out of thin air in a single night. "This is amazing!" she gushed.
Keegan blushed and nodded to where warriors were still carrying things into the building. "We're just about done. Some of the vendors have already volunteered for food and laundry detail so you can concentrate on the kiddos."
Ellie was about to hug Keegan when a long tortured wail echoed throughout the level. Ellie's blood froze as all movement around them stopped. An anguished howl followed the wail and catapulted everyone into motion.
Ellie and Grant ran back to the children. They slammed open the front door and stormed through the house. When they reached the courtyard, they watched in horror as Susan Garcia shifted to her wolf. Her sobbing mate wrapped his arms around her body to keep her from hurting herself.
Ellie ran and fell to the floor beside Clara. When she reached out to check for a pulse, a hand stopped her. She looked up and her grandmother's eyes were full of sorrow as she shook her head.
"She's gone, Eleanor." Slowly, her grandmother pulled the sheet up to cover the tiny girl's face. Around them the sobs and sounds of weeping seemed to magnify as the final gesture made the nightmare a reality for the small wolf pack. Susan howled her grief, and her pack answered her cries. Gently, Tobias picked up his mate and stood. When he looked down at her, his eyes were lifeless as if all his joy had left with his daughter's last breath. "Thank you Doc."
"What? But I..." Ellie couldn't understand. Why was he thanking her?
"Because of your help, she wasn't in any pain. If you hadn't come, her final days would have been filled with confusion and fear. Thank you for her peace." His voice broke, and he couldn't speak anymore. He turned and headed toward the house to be alone with his mate in their grief.
Ellie felt detached. Clinically, she knew she was in shock, but she also knew she couldn't afford it. Not right now. She stood and looked around. "We need to move the children as quickly as possible to the hospital and get them hooked up to the monitoring ma
chines."
When Grant started to wrap an arm around her, she stepped back. She looked up. "I can't. If you touch me, I'll fall apart, and I can't right now."
Grant nodded. "What do you need?"
She looked down at the sheet-covered body. "Ellie, I'll take care of her," her grandmother said.
"Thank you." She swallowed against the knot in her throat and turned to Grant. "Can you help organize the warriors to get the children moved while I start checking vitals?" She took a deep breath.
"Of course." She could tell he was fighting the urge to hold her. "We'll be okay Ellie," he said softly.
She looked at the Garcia's back door. "They won't be. They never will be okay again."
She walked away because if she stayed much longer, she would throw herself into her mate's arms. Squaring her shoulders, she started helping the scared children around her.
*****
Grant watched as his mate walked toward the first cot and immediately started to calm both the child and the parents.
Marjoram stepped beside him. "I need to ask a favor."
"You don't have to ask."
"Don't be so quick to answer." She turned to stare at the Garcia's house. "I need you to speak to Tobias and get him to agree to an autopsy."
Grant stared down at his mate's grandmother. "Now? Is that absolutely necessary?" he demanded.
She nodded. "Yes. The sooner the better. The longer we wait, the more information we lose." Her eyes drifted to her granddaughter. "Right now, she is focused on the living. She's running from what she knows she has to do. She can't face the Garcia's pain right now or she'll fall apart." When she looked up at him, her eyes shined with tears. "Please take this burden from her. As a wolf and an Alpha, the Garcia's will listen to you where they might shut everyone else out."
He would do anything to spare his mate this task. "I'll do it."
"Thank you, son. Watch her closely; when everything around her stops and she's able to hear herself think, she will break from this."