It had been a great night so far but, cranky about having to share his mate’s attention, his cat wanted to leave. Honestly, Tate would like to take her home and spend the rest of the night celebrating their mating in style. But one of the setbacks of being Alpha was that he couldn’t do as other couples often did and escape their party early. He had to “set an example” and be sure to thank all the other Alpha pairs for being present.
Holding a paper plate piled with food from the buffet table, Alex said, “Go, Tate, take your mate and have some time alone with her—it’s obvious you want to. No one will judge you for it.”
Bree snorted at the wolverine. “You’re just saying that because if they leave early, it won’t look so awful if you leave early.”
Alex appeared genuinely perplexed. “You’re clearly forgetting it means nothing to me if people would find me ‘awful’ for leaving. My opinion matters. Your opinion matters. Anyone else? I could give less of a fuck what they think.”
“Now you’re being rude,” said Bree.
Alex shrugged. “I don’t care.”
Just then, Jessie and Farrell approached. The female beamed and said, “Congratulations on your mating.”
“Aw, thank you.” Havana smiled at the tiny baby in the Head Enforcer’s arms. “I don’t know how he’s sleeping through all this noise.”
“He seems to sleep better when there’s noise,” said Jessie.
Havana put her hands together as if in prayer. “Can I have a hold?”
“Sure,” said Farrell, who then carefully placed the baby in her arms.
Watching his mate cradle the newborn, Tate felt his chest tighten. He wanted that. Wanted them to start their own family one day. Wanted to see her holding their child. “How’s fatherhood?” he asked Farrell.
The male cat grinned. “The best. And exhausting, but worth it.”
Tate had arranged for Deke to temporarily replace Farrell as one of Tate’s bodyguards, wanting the Head Enforcer to have plenty of time to spend at home with his mate and newborn baby boy.
At first, Tate had wanted both Deke and Isaiah to continue shadowing Havana, but she’d fought him on it every step of the way, refusing to have added protection when she simply didn’t need it. She had, however, agreed to keep the car with the bulletproof windows. Mostly because she couldn’t argue that Vinnie’s enemies might strike at him via her or Tate.
The music changed again, but the minks didn’t leave the dance floor. Tate twisted his mouth as he watched them. “So, minks like the conga too, huh?”
“As does Bailey, apparently,” said Luke.
So it would seem. The female mamba was actually leading the line, looking in her element. A little girl with ruby red hair was at the rear, having the time of her life—the daughter of Casey and Eli, the Mercury Pack’s Head Enforcer. Her slightly older brother stood off to the side, shaking his head at her.
Elle chuckled. “Bailey is a riot. I just love her. Oh, she’s dragging Damian into the conga line. And he’s letting her. Someone should really warn her that she’s dancing with the son of Satan.”
Vinnie flicked his daughter an exasperated look. “Elle, you’ve got to let it go.”
The redhead’s lips thinned. “He painted satanic symbols on my front door.”
“Probably because you painted crucifixes on his bedroom door,” said Vinnie.
Elle threw up her arms. “How else can we combat his evil?”
Still cradling the baby, Havana looked at Luke. “Hey, how’s your left hand?”
The Beta’s brow creased. “My hand?”
“Yeah,” she replied. “Is it sore or anything?”
Luke slid Tate a confused glance before shaking his head. “No, it’s fine,” he told her.
Havana frowned. “Oh. Okay.”
Feeling his mouth quirk, Tate leaned into her. “You almost sound disappointed.”
“Not disappointed,” she said. “Just surprised. The universe warned me that something would happen to his hand. I don’t get why he’s fine.”
“I do. It’s because the universe doesn’t warn us.” But Tate still found it endearing that she believed differently.
“Come on, even you have to admit the signs are there. The movie Cool Hand Luke popped up as a new title on my streaming service, I saw a novel in the bookstore yesterday with that exact same title, and a song called Left Hand Luke played on the radio this morning.”
“I think it’s a coincidence. Nothing more.”
She sniffed. “There’s no helping you. There really isn’t.”
At that moment, Aspen sidled over with Camden close behind her. After cooing and awing over the baby, the bearcat said, “Bailey’s certainly popular with the minks. You have to admire her ability to blend into whatever social circle she enters. Not that she’s always welcome for long, since she can’t help but stir shit. Still …”
Camden looked at Tate. “Not sure if you know, but those two wolves look like they’re about to throw down. Well, the youngest doesn’t seem all that pissed. But the older one is getting all worked up.”
“Yeah, they do that often,” said Tate. “Nick, who’s the Alpha male of the Mercury Pack, doesn’t like that the son of the Phoenix Pack Alphas hangs with Nick’s daughter a lot. The two males regularly get into stare-outs, but they never take it further.”
Aspen tipped her chin toward Corbin and Dawn. “Those two are so cute together.”
“Totally,” agreed Havana. “I’ll be surprised if they don’t imprint on each other. Corbin’s absolutely gone for her.”
Luke smirked at Tate. “Kind of like you’re gone for Havana. Or ‘whipped’ might be a better word. Kidding, no need to growl.” He clapped Tate on the back. “Happy for you, bro. You might have tried to kill me several times over the years, but I still got nothing but love for you.” Luke sighed when Tate didn’t speak. “You’re supposed to return the sentiment.”
“You want me to lie to you?” asked Tate.
Luke rolled his eyes. “I know you love me.”
“Funny. You once accused me of hating your guts with a pathological passion.”
“You broke my leg in two places! And you did it because I went into your room without knocking first.”
“You missed out the part where you peed all over my shoes while you were in there.”
“I only did that because you tried to drown me for the third time.”
Tate shrugged. “They say ‘third time’s a charm,’ so I figured it was worth a shot.”
“Come on,” Havana cut in, tugging on Tate’s shirt. “Let’s go thank some more people before you and your brother get into a full-blown argument.” She returned the sleeping baby to Farrell.
She and Tate spent over another hour circling the Tavern and dishing out their thanks.
When they’d finally done their rounds and the night was coming to a close, Tate grazed her ear with his lips as he said, “Don’t know about you, but I’m ready to get out of here.”
“Sounds good to me,” she said.