The Protector's Heart (Wilde Creek Three) Read online

  He thrust harder. Faster. Gripping her tighter, he shook the sweat from his eyes and pounded into her, until his vision began to blur and his heart threatened to pound out of his chest. Her fingers curled and she cried out, her body locking down on him like a vise. He came hard, his whole body shuddering as he filled her.

  Slumping over her, he pressed a kiss between her shoulders and waited for his bones to resolidify. She wiggled away from him, rolling to her back and scooting up the bed until her head rested on a pillow. She beckoned him, and he joined her. She curled up next to him, her head resting on his chest. He stroked her back and cuddled her closer. This was his heaven. There wasn’t anything better than being with Nila. They’d been through hell to get here, but the thorn-filled journey was over and their new journey — their life together — was just beginning.

  “Sweetheart?”

  She didn’t answer, and he realized she’d fallen asleep. He smiled. He’d loved her that well. Reaching for the covers, he pulled them up and closed his eyes.

  He’d never been happier.

  Chapter 18

  Four Weeks Later

  Nila sat at a large table at Luna’s and watched Brynn open another bridal shower gift. Inside the pretty silver and white paper was a set of pots and pans. Everyone oohed and ahhed over them as Brynn thanked the three she-wolves who had gone in together on the gift.

  Eveny sat next to Nila, her hand resting on her swollen stomach. As Mia handed Brynn the next gift, Eveny said in a low voice, “When are you and Mal tying the knot?”

  Nila’s thumb rubbed the underside of the engagement ring that Malachi had given her a week earlier. The simple but stunning diamond solitaire winked in the overhead lights as it wiggled back and forth on her finger.

  “Not until after Acksel and Brynn are married. Mal was threatened.”

  Eveny laughed and Brynn threw a wad of silver wrapping paper at Nila. “He was not.”

  Mia snorted and said, “Oh yes he was. I heard that Acksel said you’d skin Mal alive and leave him for dead if they got married first.”

  “Oh, now you’re exaggerating,” Brynn complained. Then she grinned. “I wouldn’t leave him for dead.”

  “What about you?” Nila asked Eveny when Brynn turned her attention to another gift and began to pull the tissue paper out of a gift bag.

  “We’re going to get married in March. It doesn’t matter to me when we get married, but Luke’s grandma threatened to disown him if we weren’t married by the time the baby is born. Since I’m due in June, that doesn’t leave us much time.” She lowered her voice. “I was also threatened.”

  “I heard that,” Brynn said, grousing.

  “Mal and I are talking about April because the weather will be nicer. It doesn’t matter to me, either, but he wants me and Jack to have his last name as soon as possible.”

  “Males are territorial, aren’t they? Human and wolf.”

  “Yeah, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  After all the gifts were open and the top of the table was covered with pretty paper and bows, the party guests milled around and talked. Nila, Mia, and Eveny offered to help clean up, but Paula, who owned the restaurant with her husband Quentin, turned them down.

  “Thank you so much for the cappucino machine, I can’t wait to make one,” Brynn said, hugging Nila and kissing her cheek.

  “A decaf one, right?” Mia asked.

  Brynn grimaced. “As soon as this kid is born I’m having a cup of coffee the size of my head. This caffeine embargo is killing me.” Then her face brightened. “You’re going to be at Doc’s on Monday when I come by for my checkup, right?”

  “You bet,” Nila said, smiling.

  They said goodbye and headed toward the front door. Eveny’s mate, Luke, was standing just inside the door, and Nila noticed how his face lit up when he saw Eveny.

  “Does anyone need a ride?” Eveny asked as Luke helped her with her jacket.

  “Mia and I rode together, but thanks for the offer,” Nila said as she put on her coat.

  “See you at the full moon,” Eveny said, kissing Nila and Mia on the cheek and waving.

  “How did the month go by so fast?” Mia groused. “It seems like just yesterday was December’s full moon and now the full moon for January is in two days. I’m stunned at how time flies lately.”

  “Because you’ve been busy at work?” Nila asked as she gripped the handrail and navigated the salted steps to the parking lot.

  “Not necessarily, I just feel like life is passing me by. Twenty-nine, single, no kids. I feel like everyone I know is getting mated.”

  Nila opened the passenger door and sat down, pulling it firmly closed and rubbing her hands together to warm them while Mia turned on the car and fiddled with the heater.

  “There are a lot of single females in the pack, though. You’re not alone by any stretch.”

  “I mean people I care about. Until you came along, Mal never even thought about mating and having a family. I always figured I’d be the first one to get married.”

  “Well, you don’t want to rush down the altar with the wrong guy. Trust me on that.”

  “I know. I’m just feeling happy for my friends but bummed for myself. Ignore me.”

  “Never.” Nila knew what Malachi had told her about Mia’s crush, Lucian, and how dangerous his life was. She’d never met the man, but Mia seemed despondent, and maybe that’s what happened when wolves went without their mates. “When Mal and I get married, will you be my maid of honor?”

  Mia gasped and smiled. “Of course, thank you for asking me.”

  “Well, you’re Mal’s sister and you’re my friend. I wouldn’t want anyone else to stand up with me.” And, she added silently, with Lucian as Malachi’s best man, Mia and Lucian would be together and maybe something would happen between them.

  “What’s up with that?” Mia asked, slowing the car and peering through the windshield. Nila looked ahead and saw a car off to the side of the road, hazard lights blinking. Mia pulled to a stop in front of the car and said, “I’m going to see what’s up.”

  Nila watched as Mia got out and walked quickly back to the car. A few minutes later, Mia got back in. “I’m going to call Ren and ask him to send a tow.”

  “What’s the story?” Nila asked after Mia called Ren.

  “Her name is Honey and her car broke down. She’s a wolf, but her pack is a few states away.”

  Nila frowned. “It’s nearly the full moon. Shouldn’t she be home?”

  “I didn’t invite her into the car because she’s a stranger, but I told her we’d wait until the tow showed up.”

  “Is she going to freeze to death while we wait?” Nila felt bad that she was back there all alone in a broken-down car.

  “Malachi would skin me alive if I brought a stranger into the car. She said she understood why I couldn’t invite her into our car, and besides, Ren will come quickly. He owns the garage, so he can help her.”

  “Where will she stay if the car can’t be fixed tonight?”

  Mia blew out a breath. “I guess I should call Acksel, especially since she’s a wolf.”

  Nila listened as Mia called her alpha. By the time Mia had explained the situation to him, a tow truck appeared and Ren helped the woman into the cab of the truck and disappeared behind it.

  “We can go now. Acksel’s on his way and I’m hungry. The finger sandwiches and veggie trays did not fill me up,” Mia said as she put the car in gear and pulled onto the street.

  Nila chuckled, “Me, either.”

  Mia dropped Nila off at home. Nila stomped her boots on the front mat, kicking the snow from them, and then walked inside. Malachi and Jack were sitting on the couch. Jack was in his lap with a large storybook. Malachi was reading, or at least trying to. Every word that he said, Jack would interrupt and repeat the word, looking up at Mal for confirmation that he’d said it correctly.

  “Mama,” Jack squealed, bouncing on Malachi’s lap.

&nbs
p; “Hi baby.” She removed her boots and hung up her coat before crossing the room to them, bending over to kiss Jack’s cheek. She sat next to them and kissed Malachi. “Hi to you, too.”

  “How was the shower?”

  “Fun. I heard that the baby shower involves the she-wolves hunting and bringing back dead animals. Is that true?”

  He laughed. “Just for the alpha.”

  “I don’t have to try to hunt, do I? I don’t think I’d be fast enough to catch a mouse, let alone a bunny or something bigger. Plus, you know…ick.”

  “You can get her something normal, don’t worry.”

  “Do you think about having kids, Mal?” She rested her head on his arm, which was draped over the back of the couch.

  His eyes darkened, and a soft smile played on his lips. “Yeah. I’d love to have a baby with you. As many as you want.”

  He leaned forward to kiss her but Jack put his hand up between them. “Dada? Woof.”

  Malachi made a face. “Woollff.”

  “Woof.”

  “I think he’s doing it on purpose,” Malachi said.

  Nila grinned. “Not my little angel.”

  Malachi put Jack on the floor and grabbed Nila, pulling her into his lap. “You’re my angel. My heart. My life.”

  Her stomach flipped at the heated look and then she felt Jack fist her shirt and tug as he pulled himself to standing. “Oose.”

  “Juice? Sure, baby. Just tell Daddy to let me go.”

  Malachi growled lightly and nipped her neck. “That is never happening.”

  She wiggled off Malachi’s lap and headed into the kitchen. Malachi snatched Jack off the floor and tickled him until he giggled hysterically. Nila handed a sippy cup of apple juice to Jack and sat down next to her mate as Jack climbed off the couch and toddled around. Malachi kissed her temple and pulled her close. “However many we have, whether they end up shifting or not — the only thing I care about is that they’re happy and healthy.”

  “Me, too,” she said, smiling as she watched Jack bang the cup on the table a few times before taking another drink.

  She never expected to find herself engaged to a wolf, not when so much bad had happened before. Malachi had protected her when she didn’t want him to, saved her when she needed him, and was the kind of father to Jack that she had always wished for him. The journey had been a disaster at times, but the reward was sweet. She’d never felt more loved and cared for then she did with Malachi, her fierce protector and the only wolf to ever steal her heart.

  The End

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  Contact the Author

  Website: http://www.rebutlerauthor.com

  Email: [email protected]

  Twitter: @rebutlerauthor

  Facebook: www.facebook.com/R.E.ButlerAuthorPage

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  Also from R. E. Butler

  Wiccan-Were-Bear Novella Series

  A Curve of Claw

  A Flash of Fang

  A Price for a Princess

  A Bond of Brothers

  A Bead of Blood

  A Twitch of Tail

  A Promise on White Wings

  A Slash of Savagery

  The Wolf’s Mate Series

  The Wolf’s Mate Book 1: Jason & Cadence

  The Wolf’s Mate Book 2: Linus & The Angel

  The Wolf’s Mate Book 3: Callie & The Cats

  The Wolf’s Mate Book 4: Michael & Shyne

  The Wolf’s Mate Book 5: Bo & Reika

  The Wolf’s Mate Book 6: Logan & Jenna

  The Wolf’s Mate Book 7: Lindy & The Wulfen

  The Necklace Chronicles

  The Tribe’s Bride

  The Gigolo’s Bride

  Ashland Pride Series

  Seducing Samantha (Ashland Pride One)

  Loving Lachlyn (Ashland Pride Two)

  Marking Melody (Ashland Pride Three)

  Redeeming Rue (Ashland Pride Four)

  Hyena Heat Series

  Every Night Forever (Hyena Heat One)

  Every Dawn Forever (Hyena Heat Two)

  Every Sunset Forever (Hyena Heat Three)

  Wilde Creek Series

  Mate of Her Heart (Book One)

  The Alpha’s Heart (Book Two)

  The Protector’s Heart (Book Three)

  Coming Soon… The Omega’s Heart (Wilde Creek Four)

  Jeremiah Kincaid has spent most of his life on the outside looking in. Unable to shift even though he’s a full-blooded wolf, he’s forced to be an omega in his pack, looked down upon by his fellow pack members. No male wants him at his back in a fight, no female wants him in her bed. As his twenty-eighth birthday approaches, he finds himself reaching the limit of what he can tolerate, and makes plans to leave the pack and try to blend in with the humans.

  Honey Williams’ alpha father has been acting strangely ever since she turned twenty-five, and as the January full moon draws near, she begins to feel like something is going to happen to her. Something bad. She takes the opportunity of her college friend’s bachelorette party to leave town, but instead of heading to her friend’s house, she runs in the opposite direction. As the full moon looms near, she knows she needs to find a place to stay so she can shift and hunt before she moves on in her attempt to get away from whatever plans her father is making for her. When she arrives in Wilde Creek two days before the full moon, she sees a small town with lots of woods to hunt in and knows she’s found a temporary place to stay. To ensure her father can’t order her home for the full moon, she disables her car, getting help from a friendly she-wolf and a handsome tow-truck driver.

  When Jeremiah fakes illness to avoid the full moon preparations, he never expected to be sitting on his back porch the night of the full moon and have his life change forever. One look at the sultry beauty who shifts in his yard and he knows he’s in the presence of his mate. Honey’s father demands she return home, and the truth of his betrayal is revealed. Jeremiah is determined to keep Honey safe and keep her forever. He might not be able to shift, but he’ll be damned if he lets Honey’s life be ruined.

  When a non-shifting wolf and a beautiful she-wolf get together, expect scorching sex, ripped clothes, and furniture broken in the heat of passion. Contains m/f interaction.

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