Beaufort Creek Shifters (10 book series)
The Wolf’s Auctioned Mate Chapter 15

Wendell

"What does that mean?"

Perhaps she hadn't heard me over the hubbub of the market. Many creatures were stepping toward her booth now, though they seemed less inclined to speak to us when I looked at them. My face wasn't the friendliest in such situations. Markets weren't my thing. Hopping out of planes and hunting were my things. Dangerous things that came with a price were my things. Recent weeks had seen fewer adventures because Laurencia was such a handful.

Seeing the card she rested upon the wooden booth only perplexed me.

"The Lovers means a happy union," she finally replied. She threaded her fingers through mine. "It's the true love card. Equality. Balance."

"And?"

She took a shaky breath while tracing the edge of the card. "We're drawn together by fate, Wendell. Whether we like it or not, we're just stuck together." "Because of our alphas."

"Because we love each other."

My heart nearly stopped. Had she said what I thought she said? No, it wasn't possible with this much noise billowing around us. It was like the auction all over again with white noise blanketing my ears and energy circling us. While no one was actually staring, it felt like we were on a stage giving the performance of a lifetime.

Actually, there was somebody staring. Peering over my shoulder showed me the mole woman had stuck close to us, watching, ears twitching as she eavesdropped. Didn't matter to me what she heard. Laurencia would undoubtedly repeat it at some point. Much like that strange promise she kept alluding to.

"Rencie," I whispered while turning her toward me. "I need you to be honest with me now. Tell me about the promise. I want to make things right."

That awful frown returned to her lips-and such a reaction was simply unacceptable. For a woman like Laurencia deserved to be cherished and worshiped. Massages were part of the deal with our meals because I wanted her to feel comfortable. Some part of me was eager to do those things, though I wasn't entirely sure why.

I rubbed her shoulders. I ran my thumb along the bite under her chin. Her face lit up and her eyes closed when I circled the scarred flesh.

Her throat clenched as she swallowed hard. "You told me you'd always tell me where you stood with me."

Ah, and there was the memory I was missing. A promise like that had been made by my mouth. She wasn't wrong about that.

I rubbed the back of my head. "I think perhaps those vampires might have stolen some of my memories from that time." "You think or you know?"

"Darling, I can't be entirely sure. All I know is I was lured out to the alley by someone and then knocked over the head."

Her brows knotted together. "What happened after that?"

"Bits and pieces of things. I guess I got dragged to the end of the alley, interrogated, and then left in a dumpster."

"Why haven't you told Troy?"

Three figures sidled up to the booth wearing dark, dusty suits, and demure expressions. Eyes like shimmering marbles stared at me, paled out, with elongated pearly teeth and reddened lips.

These vampires had heard me talk about them, hadn't they?

As I moved Laurencia behind me, she protested, pushing my arm away and then leaning over the booth to greet the foremost member with a kiss on each cheek. They exchanged words too quickly for me to hear over the sound of my blood beating through my ears. The vampire gave me a humble nod.

Laurencia took my hand. "This is Spencer from the Red Velvet Company. They're known for their red velvet cakes, but they cater a lot of events." She bit her lower lip briefly. "They catered the auction where we were matched."

I blinked in surprise. "Oh, I hadn't realized you..." I coughed anxiously. "I didn't think vampires got on well with the Beaufort Creek Pack or the Bravecrests."

Spencer bowed his head. "We've been focused on reparations for damage done, so our catering comes with a discount for local mixed packs." "That's...very kind of you."

"If ever you need an event catered, we're happy to be of service."

I smiled while accepting his card. Embossed white letters glittered on onyx black cardstock, the truly fine kind. This man clearly put a lot of thought into his appearance. Perhaps I needed to do the same for the time being.

And while my head was still setting off alarms, I felt fine with Laurencia next to me. She clearly knew and trusted this bunch. They seemed to be alright with the whole of the market eyeing them carefully. How hard their lives must have been in recent years since the wars officially ended.

I thanked Spencer, bowed my head, and then waited until the group had disappeared into the crowd before addressing Laurencia. "I need to ask you something."

"Is this the part where you propose?"

About five heads-two of which were attached to the same body-swiveled in our direction.

I gulped. "What?"

"You're going to ask me to marry you, right?" "Rencie, I-"

She beamed mischievously as I sputtered over syllables, knocked into one of the stools as I tried to pace in the tiny space behind her booth, and ultimately gave up trying to look like I had my shit together. I was a bashful wolf wearing booty shorts in the middle of a supernatural flea market where vampires had just offered to cater for any event I had coming up soon.

If she had planned this somewhere, it was a brilliant plan, one that unthreaded my presentation in every way. For once, I was the awkward and ditzy one. I was tripping over my own feet and words. I was trying to recover myself. All the while, Laurencia and her little crowd of onlookers were watching my every move.

It was now or never.

How odd it is to switch places in such a public space. I was the calm and collected wolf, the most logical of everyone within the pack aside from my capable alpha, and the man who toiled endlessly on repairing a treehouse. She was watching me, the wolf of so many words cut down to almost none at all.

I knelt on the ground.

Gasps erupted nearby. I ignored them as I grabbed a piece of twine from the booth's display, tying it so it would resemble a ring. I knew Laurencia. She wasn't one for fine things, for diamonds, or even for silver in the best of cases. She loved her corded and beaded necklaces. She loved things that had been previously loved and discarded.

I held up the string. "I know this isn't much-this probably isn't the way we should have gone-but I can't help it, Laurencia. I actually love you."

"Actually?"

Nervous chuckles echoed from our crowd.

"Yes, actually," I teased. "I'm actually here with you practically naked." Somebody whistled. More chuckles exploded from our audience. "I'm trying to find the words, but none of them feel appropriate for this moment."

"I understand how you feel."

She caressed my cheek, sending shockwaves of warmth throughout my body.

"I've thought about you many times over the past five years," I continued. "I kept thinking about you after I saw you. I tried to pretend like you didn't exist, but I couldn't ignore you." I rolled my eyes playfully. "And then our alphas made sure I couldn't ignore you." "Ugh, they really did."

I grinned. "But I think it's true about fate. I think our lives were supposed to intersect this way. I don't know why. But I'm glad you haven't let me go. I was afraid..." My voice cracked.

Her hands held my face so lovingly that the crowd around us disappeared. It was just the two of us again existing inside a bubble of our own making. It was back to the auction. It was back to the bar. It was back to our roots.

Pure affection spoke through her fingers. Her eyes glittered with the kind of admiration I'd always hoped to feel from her. As she swept her thumbs along my cheeks, I felt her heart beating through her palms, the sacred rhythm inviting my heart to join hers. We were one.

"Ah...I forgot...what I was about to say," I admitted in a low voice. "I guess it doesn't matter anymore what we have to say about the past, does it?"

"Some of it matters. But right now, no. It kind of doesn't."

My smile went crooked. "Laurencia, would you be my mate for life?"

"You promise you'll never leave me?"

"Yes, I promise."

She whimpered. "How do I know you mean it this time?"

I slid the string over her ring finger, noticing the way she shuddered. I held her hands firmly and massaged her knuckles. "You just have to take a leap of faith and trust me."

For a moment, it seemed everybody was holding their breath-including me. I remained on the ground for a long time while peering up at my love, the woman who would become my life if she allowed it. I stared into her eyes. I allowed the universe to reflect itself there, to show me her true spirit.

She smiled. "Yes."

Applause drowned out my cry of joy. I scooped her up and hugged her tight, feeling her wheezing chuckles vibrate my chest, her tears staining my neck, her excitement overwhelming all other feelings.

She was mine. Finally, she was mine.

***

Dawn winked over the fields as I walked with my fiancé back to the treehouse. In the soft hue of morning, it appeared much better than it had when I last worked on it. Which seemed to be hours ago. Had it been that short?

"Oh, the paint," I groaned as I reached for the ladder. "I need to finish this, Rencie. You can't go up there."

"Like hell I can't."

She dropped her skirt, peeled off her tank top, and shifted into her leopard form. Long limbs shot her onto the deck before I could take another breath. Her tail swung over the edge and then her massive paw. Sharp nails extended as she stretched her toes. "Rencie."

A pair of blue eyes so wide and round with wonder that they appeared to be more animal than Laurencia peered over the edge of the deck.

"Just what do you think you're doing?"

Seconds later, she was Rencie again, grinning sleepily while her hair fell around her face. "I'm helping."

"By being sexy?"

"Isn't it helpful to show you what you can have once you're done with this place?"

I scaled the ladder in half the time it usually took and crawled onto the deck, exhaustion weighing heavy in my limbs. "You're a piece of work. Do you know that?"

She giggled lazily and laid out on her back, showing me everything she had-which was everything I liked and more. "I can't believe you proposed."

"I can't believe you pressured me into proposing."

She faked a gasp. "Is this diamond fake?" She held up her left hand. "Wendell Morin, I can't believe you."

"I can always replace it with a, uh..." I searched the deck, but there was nothing for me to finish my little joke. I shrugged it off. "How about a twist tie for a loaf of bread?"

She tapped her lips. "I'll take a kiss instead."

More than eager were my lips to crash into hers. Such lightness with which she gave affection, matching the glorious golden dawn and all that came with it. Kissing her felt as natural as turning into my wolf form. Honey-tinted rays of light shed through the trees and poured over us, glowing with warmth and adoration.

Even the sun approved. To have the universe at my back with my decision and to feel her pliant under my body meant more to me than any promise she could make. It was pure. It was true.

It was fate.

A few kisses led to her shedding my shorts. I rested next to her with my arms wrapped around her waist, watching the steady rise and fall of her breasts, feeling the intensity of her aura burning for me.

She looked into my eyes. "Wendy, I have to tell you something."

"What is it, love?"

"I was so scared of you leaving, and that's why I took off."

I nodded slowly. "That makes sense."

"No, just listen." She sat up, her wild hair frizzy around her head and looking like she had just rolled around in the bushes. "It was my parents. They..." She licked her lips. "Well, my mother kicked me out when I was seventeen. I had to go live with Grandpappy." "What?"

She touched one of the necklaces around her neck, a colorful rainbow of beads that held an evil eye charm. She twirled it between her fingers. "I don't know why they were so mean to me. They would just criticize me all the time, saying I was weird and to quick talking so much."

Gods, I had said things like that to her.

No wonder she ran off. "Baby, I'm so sorry. I didn't know. I shouldn't have-"

She tapped my lips lightly. "No, stop it. Let me finish, Wendy."

I nodded, loving how she traced my lips instead of taking her touch away from me.

"Grandpappy taught me everything I know about ritual magic. He made sure I understood the cards and that I would follow the threads of fate." She smiled warmly. "Those threads led me here, you know. To you."

"To a jerk."

She laughed. "You aren't a jerk anymore. You're actually kind of nice now."

"Aw, gee. Thanks, darling."

"I mean it, Wendy. You used to seem so grumpy. But now you're like..." She tucked a lock of hair behind my ear. "Gentle. Real."

I smiled. "You do that to me."

"And you make me want to help you with this house. Will you let me help you finish it? I can do anything."

"I just don't want you to get hurt."

She blew a raspberry at me. "Do you really think I can hurt myself with a can of paint?"

"Darling, you can barely walk with your own feet. Don't make me tease you about that too."

"You're so rude!"

I rolled her over and pinned her under me, enjoying the way our chuckles echoed between us. This was real love here. This was reality. And this would be my life from now on.