The Alpha's Mail Order Mate: A Paranormal Shifter Romance (16 page)

“It won’t be long now, Jules,” he told her.

The little girl made a face at them all and climbed off her father, stalking away from them without a word. Night cast John a confused look.

Hope said, “Johnny’s been telling her all about our adventures the other day just to make her jealous.”

“And it appears to be working, too,” the boy chuckled.

“How very unpleasant of you,” Night reprimanded him. “Are you simply predisposed to be mean, or do you have to work at it?”

“A little of both, actually,” he said. “I don’t mean to do it, but somehow with her, it just happens. She just brings it out of me.”

“Interesting,” Night said. “Wonder if you two will mate one day.”

“Mate Julie?” he gasped. “Now that is disgusting. She’s—she’s maddening. She’s always got to have her own way and—“

“And?”

“And I’d rather not have this discussion in front of a room full of people, that’s all,” he said with a blush.

“Well then how about just you and I go on down to the forest floor?” Night offered.

“Truly?” he asked, somewhat surprised.

“An Alpha’s got to know what’s on the mind of his pack members, right?”

“Then let’s go!” he excitedly agreed.

Hope climbed off her father so he could get up and smiled up at him. “You two have fun, okay? And if you happen to see the bears, do say hello from me won’t you?”

“So you’re okay with this?” Night wanted to know.

“Of course I am, father,” she said. “This little talk needs to happen, if you ask me.”

Night chuckled. “Well, all right then.”

Night and Little John walked companionably out the door and headed for the elevator that would take them down to the forest below. They did not speak until they had reached it, and as the door closed, Night asked, “So, what did you not want to say in there?”

“It’s kind of embarrassing,” he said.

“Go ahead, it’s not likely to shock me,” he said. “I was a boy once, too.”

“Julie makes me feel funny,” he said, blushing. “I mean, you know me, I’m a rather gruff person. But she makes me want to bring her flowers and stuff. And my body feels funny when I get near her. Is that normal, sir?”

Night laughed. “Well, yes, I think it is,” he replied. “Your body is getting ready for puberty, and so it’s beginning to search for a mate. It’s happening a little earlier for you and Hope than it did with my generation, though. I hit my puberty around ten years old, and you’re not quite six. Perhaps the supplements are at fault. My only real concern is whether or not you’re ready for it at such a young age. You are, after all, still very much a boy in your attitudes and behaviors, are you not?”

They hit the bottom and stepped out. John appeared to be giving Night’s question some serious thought. “Sir, I’m sorry that I am often so mean-spirited. I really do want to be a productive member of the pack. It’s just sometimes I feel restless, you know? Like I need to get outside and run through the grass, or maybe hunt down my first kill. Anything other than sitting primly in school.”

“It’s to be expected, of course,” Night said. “A young male always has these feelings. Perhaps you would like to have a job down at the resort? The place is sorely in need of another janitor. But, you can only go down to work if you finish your homework first. I’ll arrange it so your father can take you. Maybe three days a week?”

“Anything,” John said desperately. “I’ll do anything you like, so long as I get out and about. Thank you, sir.”

“No problem,” he said with a smile. “Now, what do you say I show you the land we’re about to clear to make the path? You might even be useful doing that as well, come to think of it. No sense wasting perfectly good man power.”

“My brother ought to come do that as well,” he mentioned.

“Yes, you’re right,” Night agreed. “He’s probably feeling even more restless than you.”

John tramped happily along with Night as he showed him the path he wanted to clear. The two of them even decided to sit down and begin to pull some of the weeds out by the water. The sun glinted on the water, and the air was crisp and clean, and the bears discovered them about an hour later.

“Well, go on then,” said Night with a grin. “We can’t spend all the time working, can we? You can learn that lesson all around you out here. Once the work is done, it’s time for play.”

“Sir?” asked John shyly as he got ready to stand up. “Do you think Julie hates me? I mean, because I’m always picking on her. I don’t think she would ever want to mate with me.”

Night laughed. “She’s always talking about the things you do, son, both the good and the bad. She always scrunches up her little nose and rolls her eyes almost the same way her mother does when she is mad at me. I think it’s highly likely that she does hate you right now, but you’ve got her attention either way. So, if you really want to mate her someday, perhaps now is a good time to start treating her with a bit of respect. Also, I would not tell her about the plan. Women love to resist before they give in, and you don’t want to start her resisting you too soon, or it’ll be one hell of a ride.”

“And you wouldn’t mind?” he clarified. “I mean I’m only a half-breed.”

“John, you’re the smartest boy I know,” said Night seriously. “If you manage to get one of my daughters to become your mate, I’ll be proud to call you my son.”

“Thanks,” he said with a smile. “That really means a lot, coming from you. I’m going to straighten up my act, Night. Be more productive and less naughty and everything else. You’ll see. Even if I don’t mate one of them, I still aim to make you proud.”

*

Night smiled as he looked out on all the work they’d accomplished so far on the path. Ever since the paperwork had cleared he had been bringing down people in sets of ten to work on it. Five near the resort; five near the lake. Now, however, all ten people were within visible distance. Very soon, they would be closing the gap and their path would be completely cleared.

“It’s really happening,” he said to Chastity with a satisfied smile.

Chastity was sitting on the ground with Jaimie strapped to her chest, pulling weeds as she smiled up at him. “Yes, it is,” she said. “This place is going to be perfect! If ever there were a utopia, this would be it. Only, I have been thinking about that. You know that utopias always have the capacity to fail due to lack of proper planning. For example, what if the forest caught fire. We might all be trapped in the tops of the trees with nowhere to go. What would we do then?”

“You make a very good point,” Night agreed. “In fact, Rick and I were just discussing that very contingency, and he has a few thoughts on the matter. I suppose if we wanted to, we could devise some sort of escape pods that we could fill with people in harnesses, and then drop them from the trees. It might not be pretty, but we’d at least be out of the trees.”

“That can’t have been your own idea,” Chastity smirked.

“Not in a million years,” he agreed. “But if done properly, it sounds like it would work.”

“Rick could probably make it sound feasible that he might build a spaceship and we could all fly to a planet of our own, if you let him,” Chastity mentioned, laughing at her own jest.

“No, I think even I might need to tell him to tone down his expectations if he did that,” Night assured her.

“You might be right,” she chuckled. “But does he really think he’s going to build these pod things?”

“I told him pods are all well and good, but preventing the trees from catching fire to begin with might work a bit better,” Night replied. “It’s got his wheels turning, to say the least.”

Night joined the workers as they continued to pull weeds, remove rocks and otherwise clear the pathway. By the end of the day, the two groups had become one and the fine-tuning had begun. To celebrate their accomplishments, Night sent out twenty of the best hunters to catch some deer and they laid out a feast in the common area at the center portion of the tree colony, where all the socializing now took place.

“This is so exciting!’ said Grindelle as she joined Chastity and the other women at their table. “By the time the baby is born, he or she will be able to crawl along the finished path someday. Just imagine, none of this was even here five years ago, but this child will never know what the world was like without it.”

Chastity saw Katie stalking shyly toward their group, and she cast her as welcoming a smile as she could manage. The other woman nodded at her gesture and slid into a seat near the end of the table.

“Katie? Did he finally let you come out of the house then?” Grindelle asked sympathetically.

“I promised him I would behave myself,” she sighed. “But behaving myself seems so difficult.”

Chastity laughed at this. “Do you really think you’re the only one who feels that way, Katie? Every adult here had to learn to follow at least some of the rules. It’s part of being in the pack, you know? You have to sacrifice a little, but in the end you gain a lot more. You’ll get used to it soon enough.”

“You know I’m sixty years old, right?” she pointed out. “I think I ought to know by now, and I do, really. It’s just an urge to misbehave and I really can’t say why.”

“Because your father never let you get away with anything when you were growing up?” asked Chastity sympathetically.

“How did you know that?” she asked curiously.

“Your reaction is based on sound psychological data,” she explained. “But fortunately, it is a learned trait. All that is required is that you condition yourself to another pattern. Over time, it will be a distant memory if you do.”

“I can see why Night favors you,” said Katie appreciatively.

‘Thanks—I think?”

“Chastity? Time to join me,” Night said then, smiling at the others until his eyes fell on Katie. Some of the smile dimmed, replaced by uncertain wariness around the edges.

“Yes, Night,” said Chastity as she took his hand. He brought her to her feet and they stepped up to the head table together. Katie looked down, ashamed that Night still reacted to her that way because she’d pursued him so relentlessly in the past. She could see now how selfish she had been, trying to take him from his wife and children.

“Dane’s a good man,” Grindelle told her when she saw her expression.

“Oh, I’m sure he is,” she said, blushing. “I just feel bad for all the trouble I caused back when Night and I first met. I was so foolish back then. And that foolishness lasted right up until just a couple months ago. I am glad that Dane made me become his mate. He needed someone to cheer him up, and apparently I needed someone too. I never even realized how miserable my life had become.”

“And you think it is better now?”

“Not completely better,” she said. “But at least things are headed in the right direction.”

“That’s good to hear,” Grindelle said, giving her a pat on the shoulder. “And we’re all here for you if you need us. Right, ladies?”

Twenty female voices all gave affirmative replies. Katie’s eyes misted over as she looked at them. “Thank you all. I will try to be deserving of this.”

From their table, Night spotted what was going on. “What’s all that about?” he wanted to know.

“I believe Katie may finally be coming around,” Chastity said with a smile.

“Well, of course she must be, unless Dane is unaware of where she is at present,” Night replied with a light snort. “Especially since he’s not even in the trees at the moment. It’s his shift at the resort tonight.”

“Yes, I gathered as much,” Chastity said. “So, maybe we should think about giving Katie a job. Just up here for now, where we can keep an eye on her. Just because she seems to be reformed doesn’t mean we ought to trust her completely as yet.”

“We could put her in the computer parts shop, I suppose,” Night said. “She might like it there. With Dane’s permission, of course. She’s his little project, after all.”

“You make her sound like a potted plant or something,” Chastity chuckled.

“I’ve desensitized myself where she is concerned,” he said. “Self-preservation and all that.”

Chastity shook her head. “Yeah, I understand. So have I.”

CHAPTER 15

Chastity stepped out of the little hothouse near the lake and took a deep breath of the crisp, fresh mountain air. It had been six months since the path was officially opened and she could hardly believe that the newly erected housing units high up in the trees had been built so quietly once they’d gotten the ground in order.

Rick had figured out a way to muffle the sound of the nail gun so it didn’t carry far enough to be noticeable below. Chastity had no idea what he’d done to accomplish this, but then again, Rick did a lot of things that amazed her these days. Like the plans he had drawn up to create a waterwheel network deep inside the mountain’s caves that they would be using to generate electricity instead of using the system at the resort. It would be a lot safer and that way nobody would have to worry about power outages whenever the inspectors came to call.

Four humans were trotting down the path in her direction, and she cast them a friendly smile. The boy, probably a child of ten, stepped up to her and cast her a winning smile.

“Hello, lady,” he said. “Why do you have a hothouse out here?”

“Oh, well that’s easy,” she answered with a smile. “Some people like to buy a plant to take with that will remind them of their visit here. All the money we make from that goes right back into keeping this path looking the way you see it right now.”

“Oh, mom, can we buy one?” he wanted to know.

“Sure, son, why don’t we have a look and see what they’ve got,” she said with an indulgent smile. “It’s one of the reasons we chose to come here, as a matter of fact.”

“So you’ve heard of the hothouse?” Chastity asked with a smile.

“Yes, a friend of mine still has one of the plants she bought from here, and she said you just can’t beat the view, either,” said the mother enthusiastically. “I’ve been planning a visit to this place for over three months.”

“I’m always so happy to hear when people recommend us,” said Chastity. “I hope you enjoy your stay.”

After looking around for a while, the mother and her son each chose a plant. The father and daughter waited for them out in the park, unpacking their lunch at one of the tables. After they made their purchase, the mother and son rejoined the others and they all enjoyed themselves for about an hour before they packed up and moved on to visit the lake.

Chastity was happy to watch them, and the five other groups who visited that day. It was exciting to her, knowing that everything was coming together the way she and Night had always dreamed it would. Now, only one thing really worried her, and that was what might happen if the humans learned the truth about this place. Would it be a total disaster, like Night and Rick and the others believed, or would the humans actually understand?

There was a time, far in the past, when humans would have automatically sought to kill the werewolves if they discovered their existence, but these days, mankind was all about understanding differences, and accepting people for who and what they were. Would that desire to understand extend beyond their own species as well? Would they seek to understand werewolves rather than destroy them?

Could they afford to take such a risk, Chastity wondered. It would be beyond foolish to allow themselves to be revealed to the humans if it could at all be avoided. Even a small boy, like the one who visited today, had the potential to ruin them, she knew. They’d gotten lucky that the one man who had learned the truth had taken their side. And next week, Fiske would arrive to be transformed into one of them.

They’d decided to make a bigger deal of this thing than usual. The only people who would be at the resort for the week would be those already aware of what was going on there. They would all be there to witness when Fiske was bitten, and Julian was going to come there himself to do that biting. This was the first time since the resort had been built that the old Alpha of the pack in New York would set foot on the premises he had financed.

There was a small doubt inside Chastity’s mind, like a niggling little bug that wouldn’t quit wriggling around, that Fiske was truly what he said he was. What if this was all some sort of an elaborate ruse, a way for him to get proof he would need that his story was real. If he were to reveal their intentions to turn a human to the public at large, that would only cause mass hysteria among the humans when they knew.

But really, Fiske had specifically asked to be turned. No one here was forcing him, so if he did try it, they could always use that as a defense. Although that would be of little comfort if an angry mob showed up bent on destroying them all.

When Chastity went home that night, she contemplated telling her husband about these thoughts, but his mind seemed to be preoccupied with other things. He’d had the children sent to the sitter so they could have some time alone, and he even had a bottle of champagne on ice. She spotted it as she walked through the door and wondered if she’d forgotten a special occasion, but she couldn’t think of one that she would have missed.

“What’s all this?” she asked him curiously as he came to the door to give her a kiss as she stepped inside.

“Oh, it’s just because,” he smirked. “I was just realizing it’s been a while since we’ve had any real alone time and I thought we could use a break.”

“That’s so sweet, Night,” she said, kissing him back. “I love you so much.”

“And I love you, my sexy wife,” he grinned. “Tell you what, why don’t you go in the bedroom and try on your new outfit while I serve up our meal?”

“You prepared the food, too?” she gasped. “Okay, seriously, what is going on?”

“Sweetheart, I just want to let you know how happy I am, being with you,” he said with a smile. “That’s really all that’s going on.”

Chastity found the negligee on the bed and put it on, then she joined Night at the table, where he’d placed two very rare steaks and a couple of salads along with two glasses of red wine.

When they had finished their meal, Chastity contentedly let Night lead her into the bedroom. They brought the champagne with them, and alternated between sipping it straight out of the bottle and making love.

“Are you feeling good and appreciated yet, Chastity?” Night asked her with a grin.

“Mm, almost,” she chuckled. “Could you appreciate me just one more time?”

“Sure, babe,” he said with a smirk. “And maybe even a few more times after, if you’d like.”

“Hm, I always love it when you’re thorough, Night,” she chuckled appreciatively.

They didn’t go to sleep for a very long time.

*

The two days leading up to the event were very busy at the resort. All of the human guests had checked out, and now the werewolf visitors had begun to arrive. Fiske himself came just one day early; he looked excited. He even gave Chastity a grateful hug.

“Hey now, just remember, that little she-wolf belongs to me,” Night said as he reclaimed her.

Chastity laughed as she wrapped an arm around Night’s waist. She wondered if Fiske was being a bit too friendly and her misgivings returned. But really, if the man were plotting to harm them in any way, why would he have arranged such an elaborate ruse? He’d been here to visit more than once, he could have easily done something nefarious on either of those occasions if he wanted to, but he hadn’t.

Maybe she was just being paranoid, Chastity thought. Maybe in a way, she wanted him to be pretending so that all of this could be out in the open. Let the chips fall where they may. Wouldn’t it be better if humans and werewolves co-existed together knowingly? Wasn’t the world ready for that to happen?

After Fiske was out of sight again, she couldn’t help but tell Night all of her concerns.

“Oh, now Chastity, I don’t think there’s any call for you to worry about that,” said Night as he gave her a hug. “There’s no way he’d go to this much trouble if he didn’t mean to go through with it. You watch, you’ll feel much better once he’s been bitten. I just got a text saying that Julian is only about an hour away. Shouldn’t you be more worried about greeting our old Alpha than you are about this? We haven’t seen him for five years.”

“You’re right,” she agreed. “I know you’re right, I’m just so happy, that’s all.”

“Happy?” Night asked with a shake of his head. “I don’t understand.”

“You know, if you’re at your happiest, there’s always something to bring that down,” she said, blushing.

“Oh, sweetheart, is that really what you think?” Night laughed as he drew her into his arms.

“I’ve even been having nightmares that the villagers would come with their torches and try to burn us right out of our homes,” she admitted with a blush. “I know it doesn’t make any sense—“

“You’re not pregnant again already, are you?” Night teased her. “Didn’t you have something like this last time?”

“Like what?”

“Bad dreams, worrying about things that really aren’t that bad—“

“You’re right, I did,” she admitted as she wiped at her eyes. “Maybe we should have Boris check me out.”

“Yeah, why not, we’ve got an hour to kill,” said Night with a grin. “I’m game if you are.”

“Call and see what he’s doing, tell him what’s up with me,” said Chastity.

Night was already dialing. “Hey, Boris, are you in your office? Me and Chastity wanted to get her checked out for a minute. If nothing else, she could probably use a sounding board to help her work through a few things she’s been worrying about. Sure, we’ll be right there.”

“What did he say?” asked Chastity.

“Oh, he’s in his office,” he said. “We can go right on over, and you can tell him everything you’ve been telling me, see what he thinks, okay?”

“All right,” she agreed.

They stepped into the medical building and greeted the receptionist, Mary, as they continued on toward the door. Night said, “He’s waiting for us now, Mary. Will you hold all calls for a while if any come in?”

“Of course, Alpha Night.”

As they headed for Boris’ door, Chastity couldn’t help smiling yet again. The medical building now employed three resident doctors to care for the two hundred people who now resided at Wolfhaven in the trees. All of them were also trained in human physiology and were capable of treating the resort patrons as well. Boris, of course, was in charge of the other two doctors and the entire nursing staff.

Mary was a human turned wolf who had come here with a male wolf. It was their daughter who hoped to find a mate, and it looked as though she and Leroy Bucket, another made wolf, were soon to be mated. They were actually living down in the resort housing units Rick had devised to make it look like the employees stayed on-site after one of the inspectors had asked about that about a year back.

Boris was seated casually on the breakroom sofa when they entered. He smiled warmly and shook both their hands as he said, “Come in, come in. Why don’t you tell me what’s up.”

“I—well, I guess I’ve been having nightmares about the humans discovering this place,” Chastity admitted. “What with the upcoming turning and all, and realizing just how much we would be losing if any trouble started, it’s really got me keyed up. Of course, Night just had to point out I did this when I got pregnant with Jaimie and made it even worse.”

Boris chuckled. “Hey, Chastity, don’t feel so bad. You’re not the only one who worries about that sort of thing. I’ve been getting others, you know. Mostly the females, though I’m sure that’s because of their mothering instincts and such. Anyway, I understand how you are feeling. Your concerns are a very real and constant threat, so it’s natural to be upset by them. But really, you’ve got to remember that even human women do this. They worry about paying the bills, keeping food on the table, all of that, as well. So when you think about it, you’ve already got a leg up over them. You don’t have to worry about any of those issues here.”

“No, but I sure would if here didn’t exist anymore and I managed to survive its demise,” she pointed out.

“Hm, well let’s go ahead and run a pregnancy test just so you don’t stress on that one way or the other,” he said then. “I’m going to go ahead and change your supplements a bit to give you a calming herb or two, maybe add some St. John’s Wort to create a sense of well-being. It might take a few days before you notice a change but I believe it will be to your benefit.”

Chastity took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “I don’t know, I just can’t seem to shake the feeling something’s going to go wrong tomorrow. I really hope I’m wrong.”

“Interesting,” said Boris. “You’re the fifth person who has told me that today. In fact, even Hope gave me a call earlier from Tess’s place expressing those exact sentiments. Night, perhaps this might be worth looking into?”

“What’s the point, though?” said Night. “Even if it is some sort of a set up, it’s too late to change it up now. All of the principle players are already here, or about to be here. If the humans learn about this place because of tomorrow’s event, we’ll just have to take a stand. Legally, we have every right to use our land as we please as long as we have followed the guidelines of not destroying the ecosystem. The only thing we should be considered guilty of is not filing a plan to build in the trees and failing to obtain the proper permits and such. At worst, they’ll make it tear it all down. At best, we’ll just pay all the fines and cut through the red tape. Either way, we could do what it takes to resolve it.”