“They’re at home, resting.”
“I don’t have to tell you that she’s it for you,” Babs said before taking a sip of wine.
“No. You don’t,” he said flatly.
“What are you doing here when she is there?”
“Having a drink,” he said, irritation boiling in his gut. He was so tired of this crap. He had to give Ella her space, let her decide. His bear never shut up, his brother constantly gave him shit, now this woman with her fancy clothes and fancy makeup was doing it too. He couldn’t take it.
“Simmer down, bear boy. I have a bit of advice for you. That girl thinks she knows what’s best for her. But she doesn’t. She runs away from commitment like a normal person runs from an oncoming train. Just because she thinks it’s what will make her happy, doesn’t mean it will.”
“Look, I know that. I know she’d be better off with me. It’s obvious. Who would choose to live alone in a mobile home in Fairbanks when she could live with me in my house on the homestead? But it isn’t up to me to tell Ella what to do.”
“Isn’t it?” Babs said.
“No one can tell anyone else what to do.”
“I’m not suggesting you force her to do anything. I simply suggest you go tell that girl what’s what. And fast, before she runs off again like a scared rabbit.”
“What’s what?”
“Go tell her you’re in charge,” Keaton suggested from his left, smirking as the blond skier giggled.
“Keaton Montgomery,” Babs said, enunciating his name as if each syllable had special meaning.
“What? Don’t cast your eyes one me, witch woman,” Keaton said.
“I’m not a witch!” Babs said with mock offense.
“Whatever you are, lady, I’m not buying what you’re selling.”
“Fated mates wait for no man, Keaton Montgomery.”
“Fated mates?” the blond asked.
“Believe me, hon, you aren’t it,” Babs said, lifting her wine glass and winking at the girl. The blond skier frowned and picked up her pint of beer, sliding from the bar stool.
“It’s been…something. See you around, Keaton,” she said, turning away.
“Wait,” Keaton said, but it was too late. The skier joined a group of equally blond snowboarders in the corner. “Great. Thanks a lot, both of you.”
“She doesn’t matter,” Babs said.
“You didn’t have to do that. I was about to get laid,” Keaton growled.
“Your mate is out there, Keaton Montgomery. She’s just around the corner. Just you wait and see.”
“No thanks,” Keaton said, sliding from the stool himself. “I’ll take my chances with the skiers.”
“And your cattle,” Tate muttered the insult, but it fell flat. Keaton slapped him hard on the back as he walked away.
“Tate Montgomery, what will I do with you?”
“Nothing. I’m none of your business.”
“Everyone is my business. I’m the fairy godmother in Fairy Godmother Dating. It’s my civic duty to match up shifters with their fated mates.”
“Sounds like you’re a bored busybody with too much time on her hands.”
“Haha, Tate, so funny. Think what you want about me. But you’d better get back to your girl before it’s too late.”
“What?” Tate turned back to her but she was already flouncing on her expensive heels out the front door. Goddamn it.
Chapter Fourteen
Ella put the baby down for a nap in her bedroom, but she couldn’t sleep. She felt restless and unsettled. Why had she sent Tate away? Having him close to her had made her feel safer than she had in such a long time. Why did she insist on denying him the one thing he wanted? She sighed and looked in the fridge. She grabbed a bottle of soda and sat down on the couch, flipping on the TV with the remote.
Might as well see what was on satellite TV as long as she was in her parents’ house. It was a comfortable middle class place with a western style, typical of homes in Alaska. It felt good to be home. She sipped the cold soda and flipped through the channels. With a hundred channels to pick from, she still couldn’t find anything to watch on TV. She finally settled on a movie she’d been meaning to watch on one of the movie channels.
As the opening credits rolled, Ella heard a loud crash coming from the back of the house. What the hell? She shot up from her seat and headed toward the sound. It had woken Andrew, and he wailed from the bedroom. She bit her lip and knit her brow, worried about the baby and whatever had made the sound.
It had sounded like a combination of breaking glass and a metal pipe clanging against wood. She turned the corner in the hallway toward her parents’ bedroom at the back of the house. Slowly, she pushed the door open, the soda can still absentmindedly gripped in her hand.
By the time she realized what was happening, it was too late. The growling face of the leader of the Glacier wolves snarled in front of her. She threw her soda can at him, but he grabbed her as she tried to run away. The rest of the wolves were piling through the window. One of them pushed past her and through the bedroom door to where Andrew slept.
The baby wailed more loudly, and she struggled against the wolf shifter’s iron grip on her wrist.
“Let me go!” she screamed, tugging toward Andrew. The second wolf had her baby in his arms, a sadistic smile on his face. Why had she been so stupid? Why had she let Tate leave her alone with these psychos on the loose?
“I knew we’d find you if we just waited long enough,” the leader said. “Like sniffing out a rabbit in her hole.”
“Please, let me go to my baby,” she screamed.
He loosened his grip on her arm and she ran to Andrew, sweeping him into her arms. The second man let her take the baby, laughing at her cruelly. “What do you want?” she stammered, backing toward a wall as she tried to calm her child.
“As if you don’t know,” the leader said.
“We know what you saw in Fairbanks. We know you’re connected to the Montgomery clan.”
“I didn’t see anything.”
“Lies won’t save you, sweetheart,” he said, pulling a pistol from his back waistband. She gasped loudly as she saw the silver barrel of the gun moving through the air to point at her.
“You wouldn’t harm a mother and her child,” she pleaded.
“You have no idea, honey. Get on your knees,” the leader said. “Maybe if you’re a good little girl, I’ll spare your life.”
The other men around them laughed. Ella sank to her knees, sobbing hysterically. She couldn’t stop shaking. Tears streamed down her cheeks uncontrollably. Her entire life flashed before her eyes. Her childhood. The day she’d met Tate. At that moment, she realized that she’d felt something that day. She’d known he was hers the moment she’d laid eyes on him.
Her eyes grew wide with the new knowledge. Now that she knew she and Tate belonged together, it was too late. She was going to die for being so stubborn, and her baby was going to die along with her. A lifetime of regret washed over her. She’d been so stupid, running away from the man who loved her. Why had she been so childish? With every wish of her heart, she prayed he would come find her and save her from these brutal men.
The sound of tires crunching on the gravel outside barely registered in her frantic mind.
“Hello?” She heard Tate’s voice outside the front door as he knocked.
“Tate!” she screamed. The wolf pack alpha picked her up by the shirt and shoved her and the baby into her bedroom. The men barred her inside. She heard the front door crash open and the sound of a grizzly bear roaring in the living room. Gunshots fired and wolves howled. There was growling and roaring so violent she knew someone had died.
Please let Tate survive.
Please let Tate survive.
Please let Tate survive.
She repeated it in her mind like a mantra as she held her crying baby. Andrew wouldn’t calm down. She looked at the window and ran to it, flipping open the latch. She didn’t plan
to wait around to let her baby be murdered by these psychopaths.
Stepping on the bed, she pushed the screen out with her foot and slowly maneuvered herself out the first story window and into the bushes. Just as she was running to her car, which Tate must have driven up here, half a dozen state troopers’ vehicles sped to a stop in the driveway.
“You’ve got to help him!” she screamed.
Shaw Montgomery was there, helping her into an ambulance before she knew what was happening. It was warm inside and an EMT began checking her and the baby.
“Have you sustained any injuries, ma’am?” the EMT asked her.
“No. I don’t know. Is Tate all right?”
“I’m worried about you and the baby right now. We’re going to take care of you.” He put a warm blanket around her shoulders and checked Andrew again.
“I’m okay. I think my baby is okay, too.”
There was shouting and gunshots. Her heart pounded hard in her chest. She didn’t know what she would do if something happened to Tate. It was all her fault. She should have listened to him. She should have gone home with him and let him take care of her. Tears slid down her face as the EMT checked her pulse with a stethoscope.
Outside the crack in the door of the ambulance, she saw Shaw Montgomery walk past with a man in handcuffs behind his back. She needed to know what was happening. She had to know that Tate was all right. Ella handed Andrew to the EMT and hurried out of the ambulance.
“Ma’am. I can’t let you do that. Ma’am!”
She didn’t listen. Ella threw open the doors and jumped to the ground. As her feet hit the gravel, she looked up at the front door and saw Tate walk out, a blanket around his shoulders, his face bloody. Thank God! She ran to him and threw her arms around him. The troopers quickly took them both away from the scene and brought Tate to the ambulance where the EMT was holding Andrew.
Ella took the baby while the EMT checked Tate for injuries. Blood seeped from several deep wounds on his chest and hips. The EMT began to patch him up as Ella watched.
“These are going to need stitches,” he said.
“Just patch me up. I’m a shifter. I don’t need stitches.”
“Whatever you say, sir,” the EMT said, wrapping bandages over the wounds.
“Thank God you’re okay,” Ella whimpered. “I would never have forgiven myself if something had happened to you.”
“Ella. I’d give my life to protect you. When are you going to realize that?”
“I do, Tate. I do.”
“Really?”
“I’ve always known it. I’ve been so stubborn.”
Shaw opened the doors of the ambulance and looked at his cousin Tate. “Brock is here to drive you guys back to Tate’s house. Are you good with that Ella?”
“Yes.”
“I’m afraid your parents’ house is now a crime scene.”
“I know. They’re going to be pissed,” she said, a half giggle escaping her lips. “How did you know they were here?”
“You’re parents’ alarm system was still armed. We got it all on camera. We’ve got everything we need to book these guys now, Ella. They won’t be bothering you again. I’m only sorry that it took us so long to convince the Shifter Council that these men were a danger to good people like you and your child.”
Shaw helped her out of the ambulance. Brock’s truck was there and Ginger helped her put the baby in his car seat in the back. Tate climbed in beside her, and Brock turned the truck around and drove down the road toward town.
“Well, that sucked,” Ginger said, rubbing her swollen belly in the front seat.
“That is the understatement of the century,” Ella said, a nervous laugh bursting from within. Everyone laughed at that and the car went silent. There was so much to say. She had so much to tell Tate. She could barely keep it inside, but she didn’t want to tell him in front of his brother and sister-in-law. This required privacy, time, space for them to be together.
Brock and Ginger helped Ella, Tate, and the baby get inside. They made sure everyone was okay before taking off in the truck.
Ella put the baby down for a nap. The poor little guy was exhausted. As soon as he was down, she sat beside Tate on the couch and fell into his arms. She wanted to cry so hard it would soak his fresh shirt, but she had to hold herself together.
Now was not the time for crying. Now was time to be brave, to tell him the truth, to finally come clean.
“Tate. I realized something today.”
“Ella, you don’t have to explain anything. I understand. I’ve felt the way you have myself at times.”
“You have?”
“Yeah. Who wants to be told who they’re supposed to love? Even shifters have doubts sometimes.”
“You do? I always thought you were all one hundred percent sure about those kinds of things.”
He chuckled and then winced from pain. “No. We definitely aren’t one hundred percent sure about mating. Why do you think there are people like Babs Bula in the world, tirelessly meddling in other people’s love lives?”
“Babs talked to me when I first came to town. She was really rude.”
“That’s what I’ve heard about Babs. Sometimes she’s your best friend, like she was for Ginger. Sometimes she’s just a jerk.”
They both chuckled for a moment and went silent, staring into each other’s eyes. “Tate. When I had the gun pointed at my head, I had a memory of the day we met. I remembered that when I first saw you, I knew we belonged together. I knew you were meant for me. I must have blocked it out somehow. I forgot. Until today.”
“It only took a gun in your face to realize you love me,” Tate teased.
“I’m a stubborn idiot.”
“You’re not an idiot. I’m just teasing you.”
“I deserve it.”
“No. You deserve only the best. Now, come here my mate. Let me hold you.”
She snuggled into his arms, feeling the warmth of his body against hers. It was pure heaven. It had taken her all this time and all this trouble to realize that fate really did know best. Finally, she felt safe and content to let it work for her.
Chapter Fifteen
Tate stood in the back room of the Montgomery lodge, as nervous as a kid on his first day of school. He’d put on the tuxedo Ginger insisted all the men wear, but he couldn’t stop sweating.
Marrying Ella was the only thing he’d wanted for as long as he could remember, but now that the day was finally here, all his insecurities came back to haunt him. Was he really ready to take on the responsibility of a woman and a child? He had to be. Even if he was in his early twenties, he was a father now. He and Ella both knew they were meant to be together.
None of that seemed to matter as he waited for Brock to tell him when it was time to come stand in front of the minister. They’d decided to have a small wedding at the lodge. The entire Montgomery clan insisted they do it on Christmas day, claiming it was two birds with one stone.
Tate knew that it wasn’t the clan’s way of multitasking. It was because they all wanted Tate happily married to his mate, and they didn’t want to wait any longer to see it happen. The first time his mother had met the baby, Tate had barely been able to keep the smile from cracking his face open.
Once Ella had accepted him, everything became easy for them. They were together in almost every way, but they’d both agreed to wait until their wedding night to truly claim each other.
Tate had never turned anyone, let alone claiming and turning his bride. He was as nervous about that as anything. No matter how many times Ella told him she wanted it, he still felt apprehension about all the years she’d run from him. Was she truly ready to accept him? He didn’t know what he would do if she changed her mind at the last minute.
Brock knocked on the door and waved for him to follow him to the main room of the lodge. He stood in front of the minister beside the stone fireplace. A fire raged within, warming the big log room. The whole clan was gathered, waiting to wi
tness his marriage. Their happy faces filled him with contentment. He sure as hell hoped this worked out.
His mother held Andrew, who was wearing a baby-sized tuxedo matching his own. In the last month, he’d bonded with his baby son in a way he’d never expected possible. Every time he looked at the little boy, his heart burst with pride and joy.
Ella had given him so much. She was the most beautiful woman he’d ever laid eyes on, but nothing had prepared him for what he saw when the double doors at the end of the room opened. His jaw dropped and a tear squeezed from the corner of his eye as the wedding march played.
Ella wore a form fitting wedding dress that showed off her gorgeous curves in a way that made him both excited and jealous of any other man looking at her. Her dark hair was piled up in soft curls on her head and several hung around her bare shoulders. The off-the-shoulder dress showed the beautiful dark skin of her shoulders and cleavage.
Tate stifled a tear and an erection as he looked at her. Ella slowly marched toward him on her father’s arm. Her parents had been pissed about their house, but nothing had been broken that couldn’t be replaced by the insurance money or the help of the Montgomery clan. They were ecstatic that their daughter had finally come home and decided to settle down with a member of one of the town’s most prominent families.
He took Ella’s arm as she stepped forward with her father. They stood in front of the minister, who began the ceremony. Tate couldn’t focus on anything but her. She was so beautiful and soft and perfect. He wanted to sink his teeth into the exposed flesh of her neck and make her his forever in front of everyone.
His inner bear, who had been quiet for the past month, began to roar in agreement. Tonight, he would finally be allowed to claim his mate. They moved through the traditional human wedding ceremony, professing their love for each other in front of family and friends. Ginger stood as Ella’s matron of honor and had helped Ella arranged the whole wedding. He was grateful his brother had married such a nice girl.
When they finally said “I do,” Tate and Ella kissed each other with restrained passion. Both of them knew what was coming tonight. He could feel in her kiss that she was just as excited and nervous as he was about it.