The Recruit (Book Six), page 33
“It’ll heal.” She smiled at him and touched his cheek. “It’s over, Will. It’s finally over.”
Epilogue
“Okay, I’m pretty sure it’s the bride who’s supposed to be throwing up from nerves the day of her wedding, not the maid of honour,” Hannah said through the bathroom door. There was no reply and she knocked lightly. “Selena, honey? You okay?”
The door opened and Selena stepped out. “Shit. I’m so sorry, Hannah.”
“It’s fine. Do you feel better?” Hannah returned to the mirror and studied herself.
“Yeah. Mostly. I need a mint.”
“Here, dearest.” Natalie dug through the small canvas bag sitting on the bed and handed Selena a roll of mints.
“You have mints? Why? Does blood drinking give you bad breath?” Hannah said.
“Ha, ha,” Natalie said. “This is my emergency ‘so you’re getting married today’ bag. I saw the idea on Pinterest. I’ve got everything I think the bridal party might need.”
“But we’re at the farmhouse. Why did you need to pack it in a bag?” Hannah said.
“Oh, hush, let me have my fun,” Natalie said with a grin. “It’s not every day that my girl gets married.”
“What do you have in there?” Hannah said.
“A little of everything. Mints, floss, band aids, tampons -”
“Selena’s not going to need the tampons,” Hannah said and then winced. “Oh, shit. Oops.”
Selena stared at her with a mint held in front of her mouth. “What? Oh my God, did Reid tell you? I’m going to kill him! I made him swear that we wouldn’t say anything about the baby until after your wedding.”
“Oh my goodness,” Natalie said. “You’re pregnant?”
“Reid didn’t tell me.” Hannah walked to Selena and took her hands. “I could smell the change in your scent. I didn’t say anything because I figured you would tell me when you were ready.”
She hugged Selena before smiling at her. “I can’t tell you how happy I am for you, honey.”
Selena brushed at the tears on Hannah’s cheek. “Oh God, don’t cry. Miranda will kill me if she has to come back in here and redo your makeup.”
Hannah laughed. “How far along are you?”
“Just three months. After the vampires attacked the facility, Reid told me he didn’t want to wait anymore. Believing I was dead freaked him out more than he’ll admit. He wanted to get married and have a baby. I told him yes to both but that I wanted to wait on the wedding until after you and Will got married. But I said we could start trying right away for the baby, because, honestly, I thought it would take a while. It took two years for my mom to get pregnant with me and three years for my grandma to get pregnant with her. I figured it ran in the family.”
“Obviously not,” Natalie said with a laugh. “It’s only been six months since the facility was attacked.”
Selena smiled and rubbed at her flat abdomen. “Yeah. Reid says he has super sperm.”
“Gross,” Hannah said before hugging her again. “Seriously though, I’m so happy for you both.”
“Thank you. I don’t want it to overshadow your day though so can you keep it to yourself for now?”
“Sure, but you know I don’t mind if you want to tell the others,” Hannah said.
There was a knock on the door and Olivia stuck her head into the room. “How’s everyone doing in here?”
“Good,” Hannah said.
Olivia stared at her. “You look beautiful, Hannah.”
“Thank you, Liv,” Hannah said. “Is everything okay out there?”
Olivia laughed. “It’s fine. Tyrone and Luther are entertaining the guests with a, probably not that appropriate retelling of how their sunshine balls burned up all the vampires. So, if you’re ready, we should probably get started. Oh, Nat, do you have any more sunblock?”
“Yes!” Natalie reached into the canvas bag and produced a bottle of sunscreen. “Is it too much sun, dearest? I thought having the ceremony closer to sundown would help us.”
“No, it’s fine. I just want to slather a bit more on Mannie,” Olivia said. “We’ll see you all outside.”
She left the room and Hannah smiled at Chen when he stepped into the room with two bouquets. “Oh my God, they’re beautiful, Chen. Thank you.”
“Andrew and Douglas did most of the work, I’m just the delivery guy,” Chen said.
She laughed as Chen handed one of the bouquets to Selena before standing in front of her. “You look radiant, Hannah.”
“Thank you.” She impulsively kissed his smooth cheek. “I wouldn’t be standing here if it wasn’t for you, Chen. Thank you. For everything.”
His eyes reddened and he cleared his throat roughly. “I am incredibly proud of you, Hannah.” He glanced behind him at Nat. “I asked Nat for a picture of Sara. Andrew put it in your bouquet.”
He showed her the picture nestled in the middle of the bouquet. Hannah stared at Sara’s sweet face, tears sliding down her cheeks. “Thank you, Chen. I don’t… thank you so much.”
She took the bouquet from him and he wiped at the tears on her cheeks with his thumbs. “Stop crying or your mate will have my head.”
She laughed through her tears and Chen kissed her cheek. “I’ll see you outside.”
Chen left, and Hannah took a deep breath. “I’m ready to get married. Where’s Dad?”
“I’m here.” Her dad stepped into the room. “Sorry, I was just making sure that…”
His voice died and he stared silently at her before starting to cry.
“Dad!” Hannah walked over to him and hugged him hard. “Please don’t cry. I’m barely holding on over here and if you cry, I’ll definitely cry again, and then Mom will cry, and we’ll all look terrible for pictures.”
“I’m not going to cry,” Natalie said. “All these years and everyone thinks I’m the sentimental one. Pull it together, Jim.”
Jim laughed and pulled a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe his face. “Sorry, Nat.”
“Let’s get this wedding started. We’ll see you two out there.” Nat kissed them both and she and Selena left the room. Hannah smiled at her dad before kissing his cheek.
He held his arm out to her. “C’mon, honey, your groom-to-be is growing impatient.”
She followed him out of the room and down the hall toward the back door. They stepped outside into the warm air. The sun was just starting to go down and it cast warm beams of light across the ground. Small solar powered lights formed an aisle that wound around the house. Music started and Selena blew her a kiss and walked down the makeshift aisle and around the side of the house.
“Ready, Hannah?” her father said.
She nodded, blinking back tears as she took her father’s arm again. They walked through the soft grass and around the side of the house. Rows of chairs lined neatly in the side yard were filled with her friends and her loved ones. She gazed over them, her heart full of love and happiness.
A wood arbour stood at the front, draped with blue silk and white flowers. Nathaniel stood under it, wearing a suit and holding a bible in one hand. His gaze was on Clem in the second row. She returned his gaze steadily, her love for him written all over her face.
Hannah watched as Selena stopped just to the left of Nathaniel and smiled at Will and Mannie. Will, his thick dark hair gleaming in the sun and looking incredibly handsome in his grey suit, stared at her. Even from here she could see his love for her in his face and smell it on his scent. Her wolf called to her mate, a low-pitched growl that Will returned.
He was holding Gavin, something that wasn’t planned but she was incredibly happy to see. Gavin grinned at her from Will’s arms before raising his arm and opening and closing his chubby hand in his version of a wave.
Will’s wolf called to her wolf again and, smiling radiantly, Hannah walked down the aisle to join her mate.
Willow And The Wolf Excerpt
(The Shifters Series Book One)
Copyright © 2015 Elizabeth Kelly
* * *
“I love your car.” Willow smoothed her hand over the dashboard.
“Thanks,” Mal said.
He opened the window and had to restrain from sticking his head out into the breeze. Willow’s scent was everywhere, and he could barely concentrate on his driving. Her scent would cling to him for the rest of the day and drive his wolf absolutely mad with need.
“Maybe I could drive on the way back?” Willow said.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because you’re too little to handle this type of power.”
She laughed and rolled her eyes. “Please, I’ve been driving cars like this since I was sixteen.”
“Really?”
“Yup. My dad was a mechanic and a collector of fast cars.” She stared out the window. “He taught me how to drive when I was twelve.”
“Twelve?” He couldn’t keep the disbelief out of his voice.
“Yes. Mama wasn’t very happy about that. She gave him the biggest lecture when she found out. She was worried I’d get in an accident. Of course, it was fine. Daddy was a very safe driver and he taught me to be safe as well.”
He grunted in reply and she smiled at him again. “So, what do you say? Can I drive on the way back?”
“No.”
She wrinkled her nose at him. “Meanie.”
“Did you just call me meanie?”
“Yes. What? Is everyone too afraid of the big bad wolf to tell him the truth about his personality?”
“I’m not a meanie,” he protested.
“Well you’re definitely a grumpy,” she said.
“You don’t know anything about me,” he said.
“That’s true. But whose fault is that? Not mine. I’ve been trying to get to know you over the last month,” Willow replied.
“You don’t need to know anything about me. You’re my employee, nothing else.”
“That doesn’t mean we can’t be friends.”
She pouted adorably and he had to clench his hands around the steering wheel to stop himself from pulling the car over and kissing away the pout. “It sort of does.”
“Ridiculous,” she snorted. “I think you just dislike humans.”
“I don’t dislike humans,” he said.
“No? Then it’s just me?”
“Ms. Tanner, I don’t -”
“You know what I think? I think you just don’t know enough about me. Once you get to know me, you won’t be able to resist me, Mal.” She wiggled her eyebrows at him, and he almost groaned out loud when she wet her bottom lip with her small, pink tongue.
“So, here are the facts about Willow Blossom Tanner. I’m twenty-five, I -”
“Your middle name is not Blossom,” he said.
“It totally is. My parents were hippies. Did I forget to mention that?” She giggled.
He didn’t reply and she continued. “As I was saying, I’m twenty-five, single – but you already know that – and my best friend is Ava. What was up with Bishop and the sniffing, by the way?”
“Uh…” He didn’t know how to respond.
“He certainly seemed to like her smell. Is that a bear shifter thing or a shifter thing in general?”
“Most shifters have an excellent sense of smell. They use it to figure out all sorts of things about other paranormals and humans.”
“Like what?”
He shrugged. “Where they live, what they do for a living, how old they are, their emotions at the time.”
“Really? How old they are?”
He nodded. He was suddenly sweating, and he hoped she wouldn’t notice. Most shifters could tell from a single sniff if a person was hungry or happy, or frightened or – he swallowed thickly – aroused.
“That is so cool,” she said thoughtfully. “Paranormals are so lucky. Imagine being able to sniff someone and know instantly if they were happy.”
“Not all paranormals can do it,” he reminded her. “Some have better senses than others.”
“I suppose something like a penguin shifter wouldn’t be able to smell your happiness,” she replied.
“There is no such thing as a penguin shifter.”
“How do you know?” She countered immediately. “Just because you’ve never seen one doesn’t mean they don’t exist. They wouldn’t live here, would they? It’s much too warm for them.”
“Penguin shifters do not exist,” he said through gritted teeth.
“Do you believe in spirits?”
He blinked at the abrupt change in topic. “What?”
“Spirits? Do you believe in them?”
“You mean ghosts?”
“Ghosts, spirits, ethereal beings – whatever you want to call them.” She shrugged.
“There is no such thing as ghosts.”
She frowned at him. “You know, for being a paranormal you have an awfully restricted view of the world.”
He rolled his eyes. “I’m just not prone to ridiculous thoughts and ideas, Ms. Tanner.”
“You think I’m ridiculous?” She gave him a hurt look.
“I didn’t say that. I’m just implying that you have ridiculous ideas.”
She mulled that over. “I suppose you have a point. To the unbeliever I would come across as ridiculous.”
“The unbeliever?”
“Yes. You know, someone like you. You’re much too practical for your own good, Mal. You have to open your heart and your head to the possibility that there are things in this world that can’t be explained.”
“I prefer to be seen as normal, thanks. It’s better for business.”
She laughed. “True. I blame your upbringing.”
“You know nothing about my upbringing,” he replied.
“I know your parents aren’t hippies like mine were.”
“Were?” He glanced at her.
For the first time since he’d met her, the cheerful look on her face dropped away. “My parents died two years ago in that plane crash. You know the one.”
He nodded. It had been all over the news. One hundred and twenty-five humans and forty paranormals were killed instantly when the plane they were in had crashed into the ocean. “I’m sorry.”
“Thanks. I miss them terribly. I’m an only child and neither of my parents’ siblings are still alive.”
She stared out the window for a moment. “It gets pretty lonely, you know? Thank God for Ava.”
She fidgeted with the buttons on her shirt. “I thought maybe I would see them again. Thought that maybe they would make an appearance just to say they loved me but that never happened. I shouldn’t be surprised. Both my parents were extremely happy people. There was nothing left to keep them in this world. Still… I hoped they would want to see me one last time.”
“What are you talking about?” Just when he thought she was normal, she threw out random crap like that.
“Nothing,” she said cryptically. “Where was I? Oh yes, we were telling each other about our personal lives. It’s your turn now.”
He shook his head. “We weren’t talking about our personal lives - you were talking about your personal life.”
“Oh c’mon,” she wheedled. “Throw me a bone, would you? I want to know something about the big bad wolf.”
He snorted and she grinned at him. “Maybe I can guess.”
She studied him for so long that he could feel a blush creeping up his neck. “Stop staring at me.”
“I’m just trying to figure you out.”
“It’s rude to stare.”
“I suppose it is. Maybe I should sniff you instead.”
Before he could stop her, she had leaned over and nearly buried her face in his neck. She inhaled deeply and he stiffened and leaned away.
“It’s even ruder to smell someone without their invitation,” he snapped.
“Man, I’ve got a lot to learn about shifters. I thought shifters would be cool with the sniffing.”
She sat back in her seat. “That didn’t tell me anything, anyway. Other than you wear really great cologne.”
He blushed and she clapped her hands with unrestrained glee. “I made you blush!”
“No, you didn’t!” he snapped again.
“Of course not. Your natural colour is bright red,” she replied.
He stopped the car at a red light, and she grinned impishly. “Maybe you should smell me.”
“Definitely not,” he growled.
“Oh c’mon…it’ll be fun!”
She unclicked her seat belt and leaned in until he could feel her small breasts pressing against his arm. He stared at her in panic as she tilted her head up.
“Go on, Mal. Sniff me,” she said.
“Ms. Tanner, this isn’t -”
“Are you a chicken?” She smacked him playfully on one broad thigh. “I’ve never seen you in your wolf form. Maybe you’re actually a chicken shifter.”
He growled angrily and pressed his face into her soft throat. He inhaled deeply, his cock hardening against the worn fabric of his jeans as her scent washed over him. He inhaled again and again as Willow waited patiently.
“Well? What can you tell about me?” she asked.
“You showered this morning.”
“Obviously. I shower every morning. C’mon, wolf boy, tell me something you couldn’t possibly know.”
“You had strawberries and wine last night for dinner. You wear vanilla body lotion but not this morning, you were excited by something last night and you’re twenty-six, not twenty-five.”
She leaned back a little and stared at him in wide-eyed wonderment. “That’s amazing! I did totally lie about my age!”
He could feel a grin creeping across his face and her eyes sparkled happily in response. “Do me again, Mal!”
“I – what?” he croaked out. He couldn’t stop the immediate mental image of yanking up Willow’s skirt, tearing off her panties and making her straddle him while he fucked her senseless.
“Sniff me again! Tell me something else!”
“Uh, no, I don’t think -”
