David stroked her hair. “We’d left things up in the air so much when you left us because you wanted it that way, thinking I might find someone else before you could leave Yellowknife. I worried you might find someone else too.”
“You were upset with me.” His hand paused on her head, just for a moment, but she felt it.
“I was.” The stroking picked up again, slowly, hypnotically, almost as if he were unaware he was doing it. “I loved you,” he said simply. “I understood you had to be with family, but some part of me feared you wanted to return to be with your pack and stay there. They had been your people for so many years. Not only that, but I was afraid I would bring you down.”
She frowned. “Bring me down?”
“You’re a royal. Your offspring would have your royal genes if you mated another royal wolf, and you wouldn’t have to be concerned about them having half human genes—or the trouble with shifting, once they’re old enough to do it on their own.”
She lifted her head, wanting to make sure he could see the truth in her eyes. “Sure. I would be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about it. We have a natural instinct to preserve our heritage, improve the line, and that’s both the wolf and human thinking driving that. But we also mate for life, so there’s so much more going on during the decision-making. Just meeting another wolf who is a royal is one thing. I’ve met them before. Single males who were looking for a mate. I wasn’t interested in them in the least bit. If I had mated one of them, we would have had full royal kids at some point, but I couldn’t have been mated to any of them and kept my sanity.”
David smiled, appearing pleased she felt that way.
“Anyway”—she rested her head back on his chest—“don’t worry about it. Because I’m a royal, I can help the kids learn to deal with it, and I can do the same for you and the other nonroyal wolves. I can do whatever it takes to help the pack work and have fun, with the fewest setbacks possible.”
Her body rose and fell with his sigh of relief. “During the new moon, you and I are going to eat out every night. Every day. We’ll go to the movies and—”
She turned a little again, bringing her mouth up to his for a kiss. “We are going to enjoy each other’s company to the fullest every day—new moon, full moon, whatever the moon may be.”
“Okay, if you insist.” He smiled that wolfy smile. “But tomorrow, you and Sheri need to find a couple of desks you would like for the office—shelves, whatever you’ll need, and we’ll purchase them from the pack fund. We want you to feel just as at home at the office as you feel with us after hours.”
She smiled. “Thanks. Is there a dollar limit?”
“No. If we look at the setup and we think it’s too much, we’ll say so, but find what you want to make it work and we’ll try and swing it.”
“Okay, thanks.”
Then she took a deep breath, thinking she needed to move off him, but he held her in place, as if he didn’t want to release her no matter what. As if he felt she would vanish if she was in the bed next to him but not touching him like now.
“We’re courting, too. I’m taking you canoeing, if it’s something you want to do. We have an island and I can take you there,” David said.
She smiled. “I’d like that.”
“And the fair.”
“If you win me all kinds of prizes.”
He chuckled.
They lay in silence for a while, until Elizabeth realized he’d fallen asleep. She slipped off him, trying not to wake him even as she snuggled against him, her arm over his chest, a leg over one of his, claiming him for her own.
He was hers, even when they slept.
Chapter 11
David stirred, the sound of an owl hooting in a nearby tree disturbing his sleep. Elizabeth had rolled off him, but she was still snuggled against his body as if she were happy to be with him, right at home. Being with her like this was absolute bliss.
When David next awoke, Elizabeth was gone. He panicked, worried he’d only dreamed she’d been with him, like he’d done on numerous occasions since she had left him. But then he heard her talking softly to Sheri in the kitchen, smelled the coffee brewing, and realized they were just having some coffee before he got his lazy bones out of bed.
He stretched, then climbed out of bed and dressed in boxer briefs and shorts and headed for the kitchen.
“Well, good morning,” Sheri said, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. “We made the coffee and hot tea and were trying to decide on breakfast.”
David ran his hand over his stubbly chin, not quite awake. “I’ve got breakfast food, but I rarely eat it for breakfast—eggs, bacon—”
“And waffles and sausages in the freezer,” Elizabeth said.
“Okay, I’ll make it—” David said.
“No, you go shave and get ready for work. We’ll get breakfast ready.” Elizabeth kissed him, and he kissed her back.
What a way to wake up: first afraid that he’d only dreamed Elizabeth had truly been with him, then this—practically having breakfast in bed.
When he rejoined them, they had scrambled eggs and sausages, tea and coffee spread out on the table. David asked Sheri, “Did you contact your family to let them know you are all right?” He kept wanting to give her the time to do it without badgering her, but he wanted to know they weren’t worried about her safety.
“Yes. Sorry, I should have mentioned it already. I called my dad, since he can be more reasonable than my mom. Or, I should say, less emotional. He said he understood, and he wished me well.”
***
Elizabeth sipped some more of her tea. She was glad David had brought the topic up and hoped Sheri had also actually talked to her mom. “And your mom?”
“She was all upset, of course. But I told them we were going to become full-fledged private investigators and finally do something important with our lives. So what could she say to that? Of course she asked if I had met someone here, and I told her there were a lot of wolves and everyone was warm and welcoming, unlike our own pack. Anyway, they said I had to live my life and they hoped I was happy. They said they loved me no matter what.” Sheri’s eyes were shimmering with tears, and Elizabeth hurried to hug her.
“What about Kintail?” Elizabeth asked.
“He’s furious. You know him. But he hasn’t made any plans to come down here, as far as they know.” Sheri sipped some of her tea.
“And your brother?” David asked.
“I didn’t talk to him. I’m sure he’s furious with me because it puts the whole family in a bad light, at least as far as he’s concerned.”