Chapter Sixteen

Shaun stared across the Moonshine Pub at Gem, wondering how it was possible for them to be so connected, and him still have no bloody idea was going on in that pretty head of hers.

Odds were he was simply too stupid to read the signs.

A couple of women from the pack wandered over and joined the table, leaning in to chat with Gem and Caroline. The four ladies laughed freely, their heads close together. To their left, Gem’s father sipped from a large brandy glass, a group of old-timers gathered at his side shooting the breeze and trying to one up each other with fish stories. The stiff in the suit leaned on the wall, a dark pair of glasses covering his eyes.

Shaun shook his head and turned his gaze back to his mate. She was far more interesting to look at, even if the secretive glances being tossed his direction from the four women made him nervous.

“You going to tell me what’s got you looking so constipated?” Evan slammed a new beer on the table in front of him, then propped himself up on the tall stool to Shaun’s right.

Shaun took a constitutional swig of the brew before pointing the mouth of his bottle in the direction of the ladies. “I don’t understand what you’re doing with a human who’s not your mate, but hell if I’m going to give you shit when I’ve got a mate and don’t quite know what I’m doing either.”

Evan lifted his drink and saluted him. “Women. Can’t live with them, can’t find the car keys without them.”

They set down their bottles at the same time, simultaneous sighs escaping as they stared at the women.

Shaun shot a glance at Evan.

Evan snorted.

Then the laughter set in for real, and they were lost. Shaun had tears streaming down his face right about the time Evan fell off his stool. Things kinda went downhill from there.

Every time Shaun managed to catch his breath, Evan started up again and set him off. Shaun clutched his stomach, the pain almost as bad as being beaten black and blue. Somehow they were both on the floor, dragging themselves up against the wall and hoping for a reprieve.

“Do I need to come and rescue you?”

The sweet touch of Gem’s voice in his mind hadn’t grown old. Not as they had traveled from the camp to the chopper, not over the past couple days as they’d shown her father around Whitehorse.

It calmed him and excited him all in the same breath. She was in his core, and he couldn’t imagine living without her.

“Nah, we’re okay. You having fun with the girls?” He tried poking his head around the barstool legs to spot her face again.

“Yes, but what I’d like is…”

When she stopped, a touch of longing in her tone, it was enough to sober him up from his giggle fest. He groaned as he slapped Evan on the shoulder, his stomach protesting as he sat up. “On that note, I’ll be back. My mate needs something, and your ugly mug just don’t cut it anymore.”

Evan waved him off as they both rolled to their knees.

“Now you should know better than to stop in the middle of that kind of a sentence. Me being the hound dog I am, I could find all kinds of fascinating ways to finish that thought.”

She watched as he approached, her dark lashes fluttering over her bright eyes. Her mouth curved in a smile meant all for him. “That sounds more interesting than what I was going to ask.”

Shaun stopped at her side, nodding politely at the rest of the table. “Ladies. If you don’t mind, I’d like to borrow Gem for a few minutes.”

For a bunch of grown wolves, there was far too much winking and nodding happening as she took his hand. Shaun’s face grew hot at the blunt stares from Caroline and the other girls. What the hell had they been talking about, and holy shit, was he actually blushing?

This night got weirder by the minute.

Gem squeezed his fingers. “Where we going?”

Shaun tugged her close, his hand slipping to her lower back to keep them close. “Dance floor for now.”

They swayed easily, the music nice and slow. Gem draped her arms around his neck, the move lifting her breasts against him.

Hmmm.

They danced, bodies comfortable, in harmony. Part of what he’d longed for was right there. Complete connection, total belonging. There was no question about that truth—he and Gem were together.

“Shaun, we need to make some decisions.”

He turned her slowly, holding on to the peace for one more moment. “There was only one decision that had to be made, love, and you already made it when you marked me.”

Gem stiffened. “When…I marked you?”

Shaun nodded, attempting to guide her from the dance floor toward the open patio. “Come here, let’s not do this in the middle of the entire pack.”

She resisted. “No, this is as fine a place as any.”

Somehow she twisted from his arms and took a spot a few feet from him. He missed her warmth immediately, and the sadness in her eyes haunted him. “Gem, what’s wrong?”

“Just because I marked you, and you marked me doesn’t mean you get to make all the decisions. I thought you understood that. I thought that was clear when we worked together, on the trail, when we escaped from being kidnapped.”

Complete confusion swirled around him. “Gem? You lost me. I just meant that—I mean, all I wanted to say, is that I love you.”

“I love you too, but…” She sighed, an aching, lonely sound, enough to break his heart.

Shaun scratched his head. “There seem to be whole gaps missing from this conversation. I’m not making any decisions. I’m telling you I’m willing to move south. Check it out for a while. Shit, maybe I’ll learn how to windsurf in your ocean. And I’ll take ballroom-dance lessons, or whatever the hell else you do for fun down south.”

Gem stared at him.

The entire bar seemed to hold their breath. The music faded, the flap flap flap of the overhead fans loud in his ears.

She tilted her head to the side. “You…want to move south?”

Shaun caught her hands in his. “I want to be with you, wherever you want to be. If that’s back in Georgia, I’m not that old a dog. I can learn new tricks.”

She swallowed hard, her lower lip trembling. “You mean it?”

He nodded. “Of all the things in life I’m willing to give up, you’re not one of them. I need you, Gem.”

Gem threw her arms around his neck and squeezed him tight. “I don’t know what to say. Really? You would give up your life here to be with me…?”

Her voice tightened, the words dying away.

He kissed her cheek gently. “Really. Why is that so hard to believe?”

“Because you love the north.”

Moving wouldn’t be easy, but it would work. He’d make it work.

“I love you more,” he vowed.

She melted, her expression of complete adoration making his heart pound.

“I need time to settle details with Tad, and the business end of things. But other than that, I’m good.”

“That’s a fine young man you’ve got there.” Mr. Jacobs’ voice interrupted them, the swirl of others discussing his confession filling the air.

Gem turned to face her father, tucking herself against Shaun’s side in her usual position. “Daddy?”

Jacobs lifted his glass at Shaun. “Nice to see that not all you young’uns are hoodlums and miscreants. Love to show you the place. You play golf?”

Oh boy. Chasing around a little white ball that had never done him any harm and beating it with a club. Exactly how he wanted to spend his days. Not. He took in a deep breath, and Gem’s scent filled his head.

That’s why he was doing this.

He smiled politely at her father. “No, sir, I don’t, but I’m game for poker.”

The colonel’s brow rose. “We’ll see about introducing you down at the club, but I doubt we’ll have time to do it all while you’re visiting. I can’t imagine it’ll take Gem that long to pack.”

Pack?

Gem tugged him. “Oh dear, look at the time. We need to go—”

“Pack?” Shaun tilted his head at his father-in-law, wolf-style. “Why does Gem need to pack?”

The old man grumbled for a moment. “To get her things together to move up here to be with you. Since she told me that’s what she’s going to do.”

Gem stopped pulling. Shaun’s grin grew wider by the second.

“Oh, that reason for packing. How could I forget? Yes, we’ll only be down south for… How long did you say, love?”

He turned and batted his lashes at Gem. She answered sheepishly. “Three weeks. Isn’t that what we had talked about?”

“Of course. Silly me.” He nodded at Mr. Jacobs. This conversation was finishing elsewhere. “Excuse us, sir, things to organize.”

“No problem, I’ll be here with the boys. We’re going to a cancan show later.”

Shaun tugged Gem by the arm and ducked into Evan’s office. Privacy, now, was required. He let his happiness show as he leered at her.

“I’m not even going to mention the fact you made plans without me.”

She lowered her chin, but maintained eye contact. “Tell me you’re disappointed I want to live in the north. Go on, tell me, so I can call you a liar.”

His heart pumped like a jackrabbit in the midst of pursuit. “I can’t support you the same way that you’d be living at home. I’m willing to make some changes in career, so I’m not off flying as often—but once you’ve got your degree, I bet you can get a position with any of the environment groups here in the north. They’d love to have someone with your enthusiasm and background.”

Gem nodded. “I’m not too worried about finding work, Shaun. My hesitation has been trying to figure out where I belong. I like being with you, and I like trying new things. I loved running in my wolf, and I don’t ever want to give that up.”

Thank God. “I’m serious though, we can go south if you want to.”

Gem smacked him on the chest. “What part of ‘I like the north’ did you not understand? There’s a lot here for me to experience. I’m sorry I pulled a fast one on you with my father, but I decided it was easier to simply let him know what I wanted.”

She snuck into his arms, and he held on tight. “Don’t think I’m going to be too upset about you going around me, not when it means I get to keep the two things I love the most.”

Shaun lifted her chin and kissed her again, the deep layers of having a mate settling around him and filling him with contentment. She was there for him, she encouraged him. Didn’t seem to mind his rough edges.

Enjoyed spending time with him in the outdoors—he was in wolf heaven.

The kissing got a little rougher as she grabbed him by the jean pockets and tugged him closer. Just as it got real interesting, there was a knock on the door.

“Go away,” Gem growled.

Shaun laughed. “Gem, this is Evan’s office.”

She rested her forehead on his chest. “Shoot. Forgot about that part.”

He opened the door to discover Evan leaning against the doorpost. “May I come in?”

Shaun gestured to him magnanimously.

Gem had smoothed her skirt and stood politely to the side of the couch. “Sorry, Evan. I was a little distracted.”

The Alpha shrugged. “Changes in circumstances can do that to you. Congrats, I heard you’re planning on making the move permanent?”

She nodded. “If that’s okay with you.”

Evan dropped into his recliner. “Maybe.”

Shaun kicked Evan’s foot. “Maybe? What kind of bullshit answer is that?”

There was a pause as Evan tilted his chair back. “I just want to make sure I’ve got the whole situation in the right light. You moving to Whitehorse permanently means you’re either in my territory and pack, or you’re in the Miles Canyon pack. Shaun is strong enough to be Alpha if he wanted to. Am I looking at needing to fight the two of you in the next couple years?”

Shaun couldn’t believe the turn in this conversation. “Why the hell would I want to take over the pack?”

“Because once you see something that needs to be done, with Gem chatting you up, you’re going to find that you’re doing the right thing all the time and suddenly it’ll be work, work, work for me to keep control of you.”

Gem laughed. “You’re pulling our leg. You don’t really think we’re going to take over the Takhini pack, do you?”

Evan smiled broadly. “Actually, I was kind of hoping you’d become Betas for the pack. Saves us fighting and all that.”

It was like a curtain lifted. Somehow Shaun had known this was coming. “Betas? For Takhini?”

Evan shook his head. “You have this issue of repeating everything I say. I’m using small words, Shaun. You want to help lead or not?”

Shaun stared across to where Gem leaned on the back of the couch. She had a secretive little smile on her face, and he paused. Holy shit. “You knew. You knew about this too, and you didn’t tell me?”

Gem shrugged. “Caroline approached me earlier. She wanted to be sure I was okay with a human being a part of the pack.”

Damn, he was the last to learn anything. Still, ego aside for a minute— “Do you want this? You’ve given up your home in the south for me, do you really mean to give up your personal freedom and help run the insanity?”

“There’s a difference between not having something because it’s taken from you and offering to give it up. Huge difference.”

“Yes or no, love?”

Gem nodded. “I think it would be a lot of fun to try as new experience.”

Shaun shrugged. “Can’t be worse than hanging out with Evan like I used to.”

They grinned at each other. Shaun wanted to race over and pick her up, carry her all caveman-like down the hall to one of the back bedrooms. His wolf approved of both ideas. Damn thing was already preening from being given the Beta slot.

Evan rocked forward and shot to his feet.

“Drinks all around to celebrate.” He hung his head out the door and hollered. “Caroline, bring in the hootch. They said yes.”

A loud cheer poured in the open door, and Shaun rolled his eyes. “The pack knew? Fuck it, Evan, everyone in the pack knew before me?”

Caroline walked in and winked at him, the moonshine in one hand and a glass of white wine in the other. “A few of them were taking bets how long it would be before you figured it out.”

Sheesh. “Nice. Nice to know I’m starting with them all shaking in their boots over my mighty authority.”

Caroline handed Gem the wine then passed Evan the bottle. “You’re not the one they want to impress. They’re hoping Gem thinks they’re special.”

Oh, they did, did they? Shaun sauntered over beside the couch and faked a menacing glare as he stared into Gem’s eyes. “I know she’s something special, and that’s more than enough, right?”

Gem winked at him. “Right.”

Shaun sat next to her, the girls continuing to chat. Evan passed him a tiny glass of something that smelled familiar.

His wolf twitched.

Shaun raised his glass as Evan proposed a toast. “To the Takhini pack’s new Betas. May you find happiness in serving the whole crazy lot.”

The instant the glass touched his lips, something tight wrapped around his throat. A loud cry of surprise rose from Gem, and Shaun whirled. He fell to the floor, trapped in his clothes.

He’d shifted to wolf without meaning to and the tight collar of his T-shirt was choking him.

“Shaun? What happened?”

He tugged on the clothing awkwardly with his wolf teeth as Gem attempted to help him, Evan laughing mercilessly in the background.

“I’m not sure, I’ve never had that happen before.”

“You shifted when we first met, remember?”

Dangerous territory. Here be monsters. “Umm, frankly, no, but I’ll explain about that later…”

Shaun took control of himself and shifted back, his shirt tangled around his head, the rest of his clothing a mess.

By now Caroline was giggling as well.

“Sure, laugh at the sickie. What the hell is up?”

It took a couple minutes to get himself back together. Gem very sweetly refrained from laughing. He picked up the shot glass from the ground.

“Sorry about the mess.”

Evan shrugged and reached forward with the bottle again.

Shaun’s belly quivered and his wolf howled in dismay. The world spun again.

“Shaun? Holy shit.” Evan pulled the moonshine away, and Shaun stared up at his Alpha from his haunches, back in wolf form.

“This is getting really boring, really fast,” he complained to Gem.

Evan sat uneasily, shaking his head from side to side. “Oh man, I don’t believe it. Sorry, dude, but I think I know the cause of your problem.”

For the second time in less than five minutes, Shaun adjusted his T-shirt over his human chest. “Tell me, because flashing to wolf while I’m at twenty thousand feet could be more than awkward.”

Evan placed the moonshine bottle on the side table away from Shaun then pointed at it. “You must be having a reaction to this.”

Shit, no. “To your hootch?”

Evan nodded. “It’s not your typical Jack and Coke. I’m not saying you can’t drink, just not my special family blend. Your wolf is trying to stop you from getting looped again.”

“A reaction, eh? That would explain why I had that hangover.” Among other issues. Gem was giving him this very concentrated stare, and he wondered how much it would hurt when she found out about his little memory faux pas. He really needed to tell her the whole story as soon as possible.

His Alpha looked apologetic. “Sorry, man. I had no idea. It’s not that common a reaction, but looks as if you won’t be swilling the ’shine with me anymore.”

“No, I don’t think he will either.” The precise princess tone in his mate’s voice snapped Shaun’s attention to her face.

The uber-polite smile she wore was…kinda scary. He swallowed hard. “Gem?”

She batted her lashes a couple times before delicately laying a hand on his arm. “Darling. So. You have no memory of shifting to a wolf the night we met? But you remember everything else, don’t you?”

Oh boy. Damn those gods of karma—as soon as possible didn’t mean right here, right now. Caroline suddenly got very busy doing something, but Evan happily stared, his gaze darting back and forth between Gem and Shaun as if he was watching a Wimbledon tennis match. Shaun wondered if having an audience was safer than dragging her from the room to complete his confession.

He motioned with his head for Evan to turn away. His Alpha shrugged as if confused, but his smile got wider. Asshole.

So be it. Time to man up—or wolf up. Whatever.

“No. I don’t remember anything between talking with Evan—”

“—and drinking my hootch,” Evan cut in.

Shaun squeezed the bridge of his nose. What a great thing, having a helpful friend in an already tough situation. “Yes, and I was drinking his hootch. The next bit I remember is waking up with you in the morning.”

Gem patted his arm gently. “That must have been simply terrible for you.”

The softer her voice, the more frightened he got. “It was. Wait…I mean it wasn’t. I mean, I loved finding out we were mates, at least once we got past the fighting bit, and I have treasured every touch and every minute since… Oh shit.” The longer he spoke, the higher her right brow rose. So much for sweet-talk—this conversation had gone south faster than an out-of-control tailspin. He cupped her face in his hands. “I was going to tell you, but…”

Faint music drifted through the shut door. Everything else went absolutely still as Shaun scrambled to find the best way to beg for forgiveness.

Evan’s loud burst of laughter cut the silence. “Shaun, you mean you can’t recall your first kiss with Gem? That’s terrible. I remember kissing her in perfect detail.”

This time both Gem and Shaun stiffened. Shock rolled through him as he watched her eyes widen. “You…you kissed Evan?”

Evan shot to his feet. “Oh dear, cat’s out of the bag. Caroline, maybe we should—”

Shaun flung out a hand. “Whoa, puppy. You aren’t going anywhere. You kissed my mate and you didn’t tell me?” He turned to Gem in consternation. “You kissed him and never said a word?”

She gave him a dirty look. “You’re really going to give me heck for not sharing that tidbit of information when you can’t remember the first time we made love?”

Good point. Backing down immediately seemed vital to his continued health and happiness. “Right, you’re right. I mean, it was only a kiss, and not anything else, but I’m still surprised…”

He stopped, distracted by Gem’s reaction. She had flushed red, her mouth opening wide before she slammed her lips together.

Evan snorted.

Shaun spun to give his friend the evil eye. “What else did you do to her, you bastard?”

Caroline snickered in the background, and when all three of them pivoted to face her, she raised her hands in protest. “Sorry, just reacting to the sheer wolfishness of the moment. Let me summarize. Evan kissed Gem, Gem mated with Shaun, Shaun can’t drink Evan’s hootch. Sounds about typical for a day with the Takhini pack. You guys want to return to celebrating becoming Betas?”

Evan lifted his glass in the air in agreement before tossing the evil liquid back. Shaun discovered Gem nestling herself tight to his side. She smiled up at him as she tangled her fingers in his hair. Her lips twitched with amusement as she spoke quietly. “I think we can leave the rest of this discussion for later, don’t you agree?”

“You’re going to kick my butt, aren’t you?”

The innocent delight in her eyes said more about forgiveness than pain coming his direction. “Most definitely. But we can do it in private. Don’t you think you deserve to grovel for a while?”

Shaun breathed a sigh of relief. Groveling in private could be enjoyable. He’d have no problems letting her chastise him for his mistake in keeping secrets too long. Hmmm…punishment. “I definitely deserve whatever you want to hand out. You should make it real official and dress-up for the occasion. Any chance you have thigh-high five-inch-heeled leather boots and a whip somewhere in your luggage?”

Her eyes nearly popped out of her head. “Shaun!”

He grinned. Oh yeah. Apologizing was going to be a ton of fun.

Shaun led her back to the couch and tugged her halfway into his lap. The light brush of her lips across his cheek reassured him as he turned to speak to Evan. “So…where’s the rule book for being Betas? My mate and I have to check to see what regulations we can break first.”

Gem leaned against his chest and sighed, her fingers curled around his thigh. Something caught his eye, and he laughed as he lifted her hand into the air.

“You have pink nails.”

The bright flash of her smile warmed him more than any hootch ever could. “And toes. I found this great little shop downtown that does fabulous manicures and pedicures. I have a standing appointment every week.”

Caroline and Gem high-fived each other, and Shaun stared across the room at Evan. A deep sense of family rolled over him with a satisfying thud. Maybe this wasn’t what he’d been looking for, but in the end? All of it was exactly what he needed. The pack, his mate.

In spite of looming bear wars, an overzealous father-in-law and more responsibility than ever before—his life was damn near perfect.