Warrior Invasion: A Science Fiction Alien Mail Order Bride Romance (TerraMates Book 10) (18 page)

When the pair saw Mac loping toward them, they stopped and waited for him to catch up.

Mac shifted mid stride, taking the last few feet in his human form, as Keelyn climbed down from Bane, allowing him to shift human as well.

"This should really be way weirder than it is. I think you two have corrupted me," Keelyn spoke with a grin, her eyes flashing back and forth between Mac and Bane.

"How so?" Mac asked her.

"I'm the only one dressed. The three of us are standing in the woods, about to converse I'm sure, and you two are both buck ass naked. And it's just normal now."

Bane grinned at her and turned to Mac, saying, "We have an announcement to make."

"You're with cub? Congratulations!"

"No."

"Oh, sorry. What announcement?"

"We're engaged!"

"Why?"

Keelyn's fist landed on Mac's bicep in a halfhearted punch.

Mac laughed as he realized what his reaction probably sounded like to the human.

"I just meant since you are already mated and all. Sorry, Kee."

"You're forgiven. It's for mom, mainly. And my sisters. Humans don't recognize bite marks as rings, or sex as a marriage contract."

"So you guys worked it out? I was hoping you would. So now what? What's the plan?"

"We're headed home," Keelyn spoke. "To tell everyone that we are getting married. Mom will want a few months to a year to plan a wedding, but we want it done faster. Way faster. Since we are already one in the eyes of Bane's pack, this is just a formality for my family."

"Sandra's mom read us the riot act when we went to get her and bring her here to help with the birth," Bane clarified, filling in some missing pieces for Mac.

"Yeah. I think her exact words were 'Give your mamma a proper wedding. That woman has been through enough.'"

Mac grinned, nodding.

"So, does this engagement announcement also include a 'surprise, he's a shifter!' announcement as well?"

By the panicked look that shot onto Keelyn's face, and the negative shake to Bane's head, Mac guessed not.

"Ah, one life changing announcement at a time, I see."

"Yeah, I'd like for the lot of us to survive a few more days at least. Until Sandra can run again," Keelyn said the words with a teasing grin.

Mac nodded.

"I guess that makes sense. Do you really think it would come to that, Keelyn? Does your family hate our kind that much?"

"I see my amazing personality has been enough to make you forget how we all met, Mac. Was my walking through town with a werewolf's hide on my shoulders all that forgettable?"

"Bane's reaction is etched into my mind forever, Kee. As is the image of the furrier you were headed to sell that hide to. Seeing him hanging there from his own doorway, with two of your arrows pinning his outstretched hands to the frame, with his pants down around his ankles? Those two things, my dear, are things I will never forget, as long as I live."

He watched as Keelyn's face reddened in embarrassment at the memories Mac mentioned.

She'd gone into the furrier's shop to sell the hide around her neck, passing Bane and his pack in the street just out front. The furrier was a known asshole, who propositioned her quite rudely while she was inside. When she left him she had her cash, she still had the furr to sell elsewhere, and the furrier was quite embarrassed, and pissed, at literally being caught with his pants down, and bested by a woman, to boot.

Bane had scented Keelyn as his mate, but was pissed when he realized his mate was a were-hunter, so he followed Keelyn, to prove his wolf wrong. The rest, as they say, is history.

The story, although funny now, in hind sight, brought up questions in Mac's mind that he felt needed to be addressed before any announcements were made down at the house.

"So, Keelyn, if you two are to be married in the human fashion, and you've accepted Bane's claiming bite..."

"I have hung up my bow, Mac. I knew even before Bane and I worked things out that I could never go back to were-hunting. Not after meeting all of you. Bane's wolf pack, and you as well, Mac, are family to me now. Of course, once I do tell my mom and sisters about what you all really are, you may very well be my
only
family," she said with a wry, sad laugh. "But still. Mac, I deeply regret all the years I..."

He watched as her eyes filled with tears at the memories only she could see.

"I didn't mean to upset you."

"I know. You've always been very kind. I just..."

She wiped at a tear that escaped, running down her cheek before she continued.

"If only things had been different, Mac."

"Then you wouldn't be here. You wouldn't have found Bane, I wouldn't have scented Bella. Things have a way of working out for the best."

"Speaking of Bella," Keelyn said, seemingly glad to change the topic, even if toward an equally sticky subject. "How has that been going? Make any progress while we were gone getting Mrs. Mitchell for Sandra?"

"That depends on what you'd consider progress, I guess. Bella thanked me for getting her some peppermints. They help with the morning sickness."

"Nice! What else?"

"Yeah, that's about it."

Bane and Keelyn laughed at the sad tone in Mac's voice.

"Ah, so it's not going well? Sounds like stubborn resistance to our charms runs deep in this family, Mac. At least Bella hasn't shot you yet."

"That's not fair!" Keelyn's protest was loud and offended. "I only shot you because...Oh, forget it! You two are hopeless!"

The guys were laughing at her, teasing her, and Mac was glad she was still around to tease, and had accepted his best friend as her mate. Now if only he could work the same magic on her sister.

"So, shall we head down and see how this engagement announcement plays out?" Mac asked the pair, preparing to shift back into his bear form and aim for the tree his clothes were hidden in near the house.

"Yeah, about that. Hey Mac, think you could slip inside the house and get me some clothes? I kind of lost mine in the shift when Keelyn and I were..."

"Stop! Stop talking right there! I don't need to hear anymore. Yes, I'll bring you out some clothes, just stop talking."

Chapter 5

"Peppermint, huh?" Ivy asked Bella as the pair stood alone in the kitchen.

"What about it?"

"Jeeze, Bella. Testy much?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I was asking, or trying to, before you bit my head off, if the peppermint Mac brought you was working."

"It seems to be."

"Did you thank him for getting it for you? Or Sandra, for telling him about it? Or did you snap at them, too?"

"I thanked him. I'm not a total ass."

"Could have fooled me."

"Ivy, what the hell is your problem?"

"You are, if you want to know the truth. Look, I get it, OK? You were raped. It was horrible. I'm not making light or being sarcastic, honest. I can't even imagine what you went through. But you're taking it out on the wrong person."

"Oh, who should I be taking it out on?"

"If life was fair? Sammy.
He
did this," she said, with a wave at Bella's midsection. "But you can't take it out on him, cause he's dead. You're scared. You're traumatized. You're angry. As you should be. But I didn't do it. Keelyn didn't do it. Mac didn't do it."

"What are you trying to say?"

"We want to help you, Bella. We want to be there for you. If you would maybe talk about it some? To someone? It might help."

"Talking won't change anything."

"It won't change what happened, no. But it might change how you feel about it. If you keep it inside, if you let it lock you up and change
you
, then Sammy wins, don't you see? If you let it destroy you, it will. It has the power to change
you
. To make you angry and hateful. To make you doubt every man you ever meet, for the actions of one asshole. Most men aren't monsters, Bella. You know this. Deep down, you
know
this. But the mind is an amazing thing. You can let it use you, turn you into a victim from here on out, defined by a thing someone evil did
to
you, or you can fight it. You can let us help you fight it. It can be a thing that happened to you, instead of the thing that defines you from here on out. Have you thought about what you're going to do with the baby?"

"No."

"It's half you, Bella. If you decide to keep it, it will be loved, despite its father. If seeing it, raising it, will hurt you, there are many couples who..."

"I know. I don't want to talk about this anymore."

The door leading outside opened, startling them and making them jump.

Mac stepped inside, sliding to a stop before them.

"Sorry ladies, I didn't mean to scare you. I've just got to grab something. Be right back."

As he wormed his way past, he laid a hand on the small of Bella's back so he could slide by, saying, "Excuse me, Bell."

He kept going, oblivious to the reactions he left behind him.

Bella just nodded, stepping aside for him. She kept her face as blank as she could, not wanting to let him see the reaction his simple touch evoked.

She hugged her arms around her middle, rubbing and soothing the goose-bumps that rose with the touch of his hand. For a minute her mind flashed back to the bathroom, his finger against her lips, sliding a mint into her mouth.

She wondered what his lips would feel like against hers. Would he be rough, like Sammy had been, or...

"Bella!"

"What?" She turned back to Ivy again, still as testy toward her sister as she was at the beginning of this painful conversation.

"He touched you!"

"Yeah, I know. I was there."

"No, Bella. I mean... you let him."

It took her a second to register what Ivy meant.

"You didn't grab the nearest object and aim it at his head," Ivy said with a grin.

"I didn't, did I? I didn't even tell him to back off, or to get his damn hands..."

"...off you before you scream," Ivy finished for her, with her grin turning into a joyous giggle.

"I'm never going to live that one down, am I?"

"I doubt it. Was that the first time Mac has touched you?"

Bella shook her head no, and told Ivy about the peppermint.

"These guys are hiding something, Bella. I'm sure of it. But... that aside, I think Mac might be good for you. What do you think of him?"

She didn't have a chance to answer before Mac was back, with an arm full of clothes, headed back outside.

"Mac?"

"Yeah?" He paused in the doorway, turning toward Ivy, who'd called his name.

"Running away from home?" She asked him, with a glance down at the clothes he carried.

"Ha! No. These are Bane's. There was an...issue. In the woods. He just needs a change of clothes. We'll all be right back."

"Is Keelyn with him? Is she ok?"

"Yes, on both counts."

"What's going on with those two?"

Mac just grinned, looking from Ivy to Bella and back again, his smile widening, and his eyes lit up with mischief.

"Soon enough, ladies. You'll know soon enough."

And with that, he slid outside, shutting the door softly behind him.

"Curiouser and curiouser," Ivy mumbled as she took stock of the little bit of color that was gracing Bella's cheeks as she stared thoughtfully at the door Mac just disappeared from.

"Bella, promise me something would you?"

"What?"

"To keep an open mind. Choose open, not closed. Choose forgiveness. Choose joy. Reach for it, every chance you get."

"What are you talking about
now
?"

"Choose light, choose happiness, choose love. Always choose love."

"Ivy, now you're the one making me want to aim something at your head," she said, shaking her head and walking away.

* * *

M
ac had been right
, it didn't take long before he, Bane and Keelyn were back, assembling everyone around Sandra and her baby, so she could hear the announcement as well.

"I know you all have been wondering things, some of you less subtle in your questioning than others," Keelyn narrowed her eyes at Ivy as she spoke, but grinning and facing everyone in turn.

"Bane and I had been... fighting, I guess would be the easiest way to say it, when we all arrived here. Then with Sandra in labor and all..."

"Spit it out! You're knocked up, too, aren't you, Kee?" Ivy guessed.

"What? No!"

"Are you sure? You've been acting weird since you got home. With Sandra and Bella..."

"No! I'm not pregnant. I'm engaged!"

"Oh, thank God you're not pregnant too," Enid replied with a relived sigh.

Nice, mom,
Bella thought.
Way to make me feel better.

"Why? I mean, when...
When
did that happen?" Sandra asked, seemingly confused.

She was pretty relaxed on whatever herbs her mom gave her, so everyone just kind of laughed at Sandra's question.

"Just now. In the woods. We...made up. From our fight. And Bane proposed."

"And she said yes," Bane grinned. "She's agreed to be mine, forever."