Warrior Invasion: A Science Fiction Alien Mail Order Bride Romance (TerraMates Book 10) (19 page)

Bella's eyes shot to Mac when he snorted, but he dropped his gaze and hid his smile when he noticed she was watching him.

Naythan also laughed, saying, "About time, my friend. About time."

Bella looked to Ivy, to see if she thought this whole announcement was going as oddly as she herself did. It was like they thought it was funny that her sister and Bane were engaged.

Yep, Ivy's brows were drawn in thought as well.

Oh good, it's not just me
.

Before she could dwell on it though, the odd tension in the room broke, and the happy couple was being congratulated. Hugs and kisses were exchanged, and Bella took Ivy's advice, letting the romance and the joy of the moment fall over her. For a moment, she chose love.

She was glad for Keelyn. She didn't know Bane well yet, but he seemed to really love her sister, if the look in his eyes as he watched her hug and be hugged was any indication.

Her eyes roamed over the boisterous group offering their congratulations.

Keelyn and Bane seemed to glow at each other, over the heads of everyone else.

Weird,
Bella thought.
In the glow of that lamp it looks like Keelyn has some kind of mark on her neck.

Keelyn stepped forward then, and the mark disappeared.

Must have been the light,
Bella thought.

Sandra said something softly, making Bella smile as she watched Naythan lean down toward her, whispering to her and their newborn child as she cuddled the boy they'd named Ash.

Bella looked back and forth, from Keelyn and Bane, to Sandra and Naythan, for a moment almost wishing...

Wishing what?
She thought, pulling her mind up short.
That you could have that, too? Who would want you now? Carrying Sammy's baby?

She shook her head, trying to clear it of such innocent, childish dreams of finding someone to love her now, only to lock eyes with Mac over everyone else's heads.

He was eyeing her strangely, almost as if his mind had gone to the same place hers had.

Surely not,
she thought.
Surely I'm the only one stupid enough to think that maybe... No. Of course not.

She turned away from Mac's gaze, shutting down her dangerous thoughts before they could take root.

* * *

B
ella escaped
the festivities in the house a few hours later, settling into the swing out back in the garden. It was one of her favorite places to unwind, so she snuck out there as often as she could.

Her thoughts touched on her late father, as they often did when she sat here, in the swing that he built. She missed him often, but the soft sting of his absence seemed to hit her harder this night, for some reason.

Now
he
was a good man,
she thought.
A provider, a gentle soul, a good husband to my mother.

He could also be a tough bastard, though,
she remembered with a smile.
Hell, I guess you'd have to be, to hunt werewolves for a living. I wish I was that tough. Like dad. Like Keelyn. Maybe then I could move on from this a little faster. Maybe then I could somehow tell the good men from the bad. Maybe I would have seen Sammy coming.

Unless...That's it!

She remembered how Sammy acted, before, during and after the rape. The unnaturally focused attention he'd turned on her. The animalistic look in his eyes as he attacked her, the blank, glazed, not-all-there look he had as he finished inside of her.

He wasn't a man at all,
she thought.
Only a shifter could do that to someone, only a shifter could have such little regard for human life!

There's no need for me to be afraid of men! It's just like Ivy said. Men aren't monsters. Dad wasn't. Look at Bane, and Naythan. And Mac. They would never rape anyone. Sammy had to have been a shifter! That explains everything.

Feeling better, she ran the events of tonight over in her mind as she kicked her feet, rocking the swing. She let the swing's rhythm relax her, as she thought about how Keelyn looked as she announced that Bane proposed.

She looked so happy. Joyful, even.

When she heard quiet shuffling from nearby, she didn't panic this time. She found herself smiling as she followed Mac's slow, wandering, plodding footsteps as he got closer to turning the same corner he had that first day. The day she'd jumped up and tried to protect herself with a shovel. Only this time she stayed seated, waiting for him.

His steps stopped suddenly as he turned the corner and saw her there on the swing.

The two stared at each other in uneasy silence, in the almost dark, before Mac ventured to speak.

"No shovel?"

"No shovel."

"It's a beautiful evening," he teased, after a long moment.

"It was..." she answered, a wide smile on her face as she also repeated their first conversation.

"Would you mind if I sat out here with you for a while? It's all a bit overwhelming inside..."

"I'd be honored."

He nodded his head at her before he approached, again making her think that if he'd been wearing a hat he would have tipped it in her direction.

This time though, she didn't think it weird. She thought it kind, and old fashioned, respectful even.

He settled in beside her on the swing, his warm, solid thigh rubbing against hers as he sat.

She could feel a tenseness in him as he sat beside her, and she couldn't blame him. He was probably waiting for her to turn on him, like a cat that put up with a belly rub only so long before its claws came out.

"I'd like to apologize for..."

They both spoke at the same time.

"What do you have to apologize for?" She asked first. "I'm the one who's been a raging bitch since the moment you got here. You've been nothing but nice."

"True. Ok, go ahead. You first."

She shot him a shocked look, and then laughed as she realized he was teasing her again.

Of course, there was often truth in teasing,
she realized.

"Thank you. For getting the peppermint. And the honey. And for trying to be nice to me. And for putting up with me."

"You're welcome. I know it can't be easy to be where you are right now. I respect that."

"What were you going to apologize for?"

"For interrupting your peace and quiet out here. Again. And for showing up a stranger, with Keelyn, when a strange man, or three, was probably the last thing you needed."

"Funny, that exact thought occurred to me when I first saw you guys with her, from the chicken coop."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. But you know what? I've changed my mind. I've been thinking about that, and I think you were exactly what I needed. What this place needed, I mean. Ivy said something, before, and I think men like you three- kind, and giving, where exactly what we needed. Thank you for all the cooking and cleaning you've done, by the way."

"Say that again, please Bella."

"What? Thank you for cooking...?"

"No. The other. Say 'you were exactly what I needed.'"

"That's not what I meant."

"I know, but I wish it was. Bella, from the first moment I saw you, you've had my heart. That's not a manly thing to say, I understand. It's probably also a little creepy, to be honest. But I am- being honest, I mean. When you stuck your head out of the chicken coop, yelling at Keelyn about eggs, with your hair sticking out in some sort of odd halo, I was taken with you.

I tried not to be. I know you are in a delicate place right now, and I'm trying to be respectful of that.

I asked Sandra what I could do, to help you. That's when she mentioned the peppermint. She said it made her feel better in her earliest months, and I wanted to be the one to make you feel better. I wanted to show you that not all men were asshats."

Bella giggled, despite the earnest look in Mac's eyes.

"Asshats? I've never heard that one before."

"Sorry, I shouldn't cuss..."

"No, you should. Sometimes a good cuss word is the only thing that fits. I've just never heard that one before. Asshats. I like it."

She smiled at Mac, feeling silly for rambling, but unsure of what to say next. Or how to act. Thankfully, he took mercy on her and smiled back.

His eyes darted down, settling for a second on her lips.

She was shocked at how readily her body reacted to just his gaze resting there, preparing her for what she really hoped would happen next.

She licked her lips, half in unconscious nervousness, and half in teasing reassurance. She let her own gaze mimic his, glancing down at his full mouth.

His lips were still pulled into a gentle smile, but something in the way he held them changed, making her eyes shoot up to meet his. To hopefully read his next move in their depths, since she felt so very out of her own.

His eyes were warm, focused only on her. She read the questioning intent in them, a heartbeat or two before he leaned in for a kiss.

She closed her eyes, both to fortify herself, and to hold the look on his face in her mind as she tilted her chin up to meet his lips with her own.

His kiss was soft, asking not taking.

She answered him by pressing her lips back against his.

His mouth started to move against hers, leading, but allowing her to follow. The palm of his hand found her cheek, sliding his long fingers into the hair at the base of her neck.

She tilted her head to better fit the curve of her jaw into the warmth of his hand.

His thumb grazed her skin, leaving a trail of heat where he touched her. His mouth opened against her lips, offering her more. The tip of his tongue teased her lips, promising pleasure if she'd only accept it.

She did.

A sigh escaped her lips as she opened them to his kiss.

He took his time with her, exploring her gently but firmly. He didn't push, but he did invite. He did tease. He did offer her a world of possibilities hidden in the sensuality of his kiss.

She tipped her head back further, and melted into his embrace. She felt like she could trust him, like he would protect her and cherish her always, and she responded to that.

She sighed against him, wrapping her arms around his neck as his arms slid around her waist, pulling her close.

She could feel the beat of his heart against hers, and her body seemed to recognize his as a place of comfort and safety.

This, this is what Ivy meant,
she thought.
This is what choosing joy feels like.

Chapter 6

Mac let himself out the back door once again, just like he'd been doing every night since the night he first kissed his Bella.

Their days were full of helping others, both with a newborn baby and planning a wedding, so these nights when he slipped away and walked with Bella in the evening breeze had become what Mac lived for.

He'd originally planned only on accompanying his honorary wolf pack as long as it took to drop Keelyn off, get Sandra to her mother's, and then they were going to take the rest by ear, heading back home whenever it was time.

Funny how life has a tendency to throw a kink into the casual plans of those who scent their mates when they least expect it,
Mac thought.

Mac had been there, and heartily made fun of, Bane when he scented Keelyn as his. Who knew his own situation would turn out almost as warped as a wolf shifter mating with a were-hunter?

Although, he thought his own situation seemed to be going swimmingly well. Bella stopped snapping at every man within sighting distance, and had warmed up to Mac, and his tender kisses.

She'd been willing to start going into town again, with Mac for company, to pick up the endless supply of things needed for newborns and nuptials. As far as Mac knew, Bella was relaxing into normal life again. He felt honored and proud to be a part of her recovery, and he was glad that she seemed to open up to him more and more every day.

His conscience still tugged at him though, as he was very aware that one huge secret still lay between them.

Bella, and her family, minus Keelyn, assumed the three men they had taken into their house, sheltering, feeding and accepting help from, were human.

Mac kept teasing Bane about the fact that, despite the best of intentions and a fervent promise every morning that today would be the day, Keelyn had yet to tell her family the man she was preparing to marry was in fact already her husband, at least under werewolf laws of mating, biting and claiming, and that he was also the Alpha wolf of his pack, providing security of the lands surrounding here, under contract to the very king they paid their yearly rents and swore loyalty to.

Of course the pair usually turned the tables on Mac, pointing out that their secret was also his, as he had yet to tell Bella that he himself was a bear shifter, practically adopted by a werewolf pack.

Mac usually answered by stating that as soon as he thought Bella had healed enough to handle it, he would tell her.

Earlier in the evening though, Bane brought up a point that neither Keelyn nor Mac could refute.

"We all need to pick a day and stick to it. Otherwise, we all know what is going to happen," Bane said.