Angela

Two Weeks Later

Things returned to normal with an almost shocking ease. Andrew, Charles, and Braden dealt with the dead polar bear, removing it so that no civilians would have to see. They’d also cleaned up the park the next day, along with help from Noah and some others. It would be impossible to fix it until the spring, but another source had stepped forward and offered to do that.

Koche Konstruction, the company founded by the five Koche brothers who had first taken up residence on the north side of the city after their destruction of the Institute, had volunteered to fix everything. The park had been in need of an overhaul to begin with, and from what she understood, the promise to completely revamp it and keep it clean and in working order had been generously accepted not just by the Cloud Lake town council, but also the population as a majority. There were some who still opposed having shifters living there at all, and they had gotten more vocal, but for now she felt everything was going okay.

With that settled, everything else had sort of just…relaxed. Noah was brought into the fold and introduced to everyone who lived in the forested community on the north side of town. There were the five Koche brothers, alongside an identical number of shifters who were the last known survivors of the former shifter territory of Kronum, which had been wiped out by the Institute. There were also folks like Gray and Hector who had settled out there, as opposed to staying within the embassy itself.

For now she was staying with Rachel and Hector, living out of one of the spare rooms in their place. Noah still lived at the embassy, though they spent most of their time with the other mated pair.

Mates. It was still a strange way to think of her and Noah. Boyfriend/Girlfriend. A couple. Engaged. Fiancé/Fiancée, those were all things she was familiar with. Even husband and wife.

But thinking of Noah as her mate, that was new and unusual. Not unwanted, just, different. She was rapidly adjusting to it, however, and had exactly zero objections to the idea that they would spend the rest of their life together.

Speaking of which… She looked over at the clock on the wall. It was quarter after five. Noah should have been home at least half an hour ago. He was almost never late, and if he was, he texted her to let her know. So where was he? She went over and picked up Cooper from his crib, cuddling him tight to her as she went down the stairs.

Before she reached the bottom the front door opened to admit her mate and the love of her life. They didn’t bother locking the doors. Anyone stupid enough to try and rob them was in for a very rude surprise.

“Hello darling,” she said, sweeping down the rest of the stairs and into his arms.

“Ahh, my family,” he sighed, kissing her before he whisked Cooper out of her hands, lifting him high into the sky. “And how are you doing today?” he asked with a happy growl, answered by a giggle from their son.

Not her son. Their son. She’d first used the term that one night, but now she used it on the regular. The three of them had become a family, one singular cohesive unit. Over the past two weeks Noah had slotted himself firmly into the role of “Dad,” even adopting the moniker for use as he talked to their son, referring to her as Mommy. Every time he said it she wanted to jump him.

Most times she did.

“And where have you been?” she asked, giving him her best “You’re not in trouble but you had still better make it up to me” look.

He grinned and kissed her again, longer this time, making sure he was thorough. When they broke apart she was breathing heavily.

“Get dressed,” he said, evading.

“I am dressed. Which I realize is something of a surprise when you’re around, but I do have clothes on.”

He rolled his eyes. “Outdoor clothes, my love. Outdoor clothes. Put them on. Let me see the way your butt shakes those snow pants.” Noah waggled his eyebrows suggestively at the picture.

Angela couldn’t help herself. She laughed. “You won’t be able to see much in a snowsuit. I’m not wearing one of those skintight ski-suits that you’re probably imagining right now, you filthy man.”

He buried himself in her neck. “I’ll show you how filthy I am as soon as we get back,” he promised.

The throaty purr to this promised her a very exciting time and she felt her body respond. “Damn you, Noah Landeau. You’re turning me into such a sex fiend!”

“I can’t force you to be something you aren’t already.”

She shivered, knowing that he was partially right. “Sure you can. By being so good in the bedroom you’ve made me comfortable enough to…well, it doesn’t matter what I do now,” she said primly, not giving him the satisfaction of putting it to words. Besides, he knew.

“Well, let’s go. Then we can be back sooner and you can ‘not’ show me what it is you ‘don’t’ do.”

Angela almost melted as he kissed her once again, his left hand dropping from holding Cooper to grasp her butt, squeezing tightly.

“Okay,” she gasped, pulling back. “Okay. I’m going. You’re responsible for getting Cooper ready. Rachel isn’t here so he’s coming with.”

“That was the plan no matter what,” he informed her, shucking off his shoes and heading for the nursery.

“Whatever,” she said with fake sarcasm.

Ten minutes and one diaper change later they were ready and had departed, following Noah, who was being more secretive than she could remember. He held her hand and they all walked together, with him carrying Cooper. One rather underappreciated aspect of his shifter strength was that he quite literally never got tired carrying their child around. While she still held him often, it meant no more tired, achy arms and holding him until she was numb from doing so.

She was spoiled, and she knew it, but there was no way Angela could go back to being a single mother now. Having Noah as her partner was just way too perfect. They clicked. Half the time he took Cooper before she even had to ask, they rarely argued, and even then their arguments made the relationship stronger, never detracting from it. Although they meshed well, they were two different people, and Angela knew there were some aspects of him that she would never, ever be able to understand, or forgive.

How anyone likes mustard and relish on their hamburgers is beyond me. Yuck. Disgusting. Ketchup all the way.

But overall their relationship had blossomed into something unimaginable even three weeks earlier. The incident with Chase would always scar her, but she was also thankful for it, because it had given her Noah, a friend, lover, and companion who lifted her up every day, and made her happier than she could have imagined possible.

“You’ve got that look again,” he said softly.

“I do? Which one?”

“The happy glow. The one where you never tell me why you have it.”

Angela grinned, replying only with, “I know.”

It drove him nuts. She loved it.

“Okay, over here,” he said, suddenly stepping off the shoveled sidewalk and into the snow.

Angela came to a halt, her eyes following his. She noticed the snow had been disturbed, her sharp eyes picking out several sets of back and forth tracks. Whatever it was he was taking her to see, they weren’t the only ones that knew about it. Curious, she went after him without asking where they were going. Noah wanted to surprise her, and she was determined to let him.

That didn’t mean it was easy. They scaled a little hill and the ground flattened. It was mostly covered in trees and bushes, though Noah led them through that until they reached a clearing. She looked around, trying to picture where they were. She thought they were somewhere behind one of the Koche brothers’ property, but she wasn’t positive.

“Okay, ready?” he asked, spinning on his toes so that he could face her.

“Um, I guess? What am I ready for?”

“This!” he said, and stepped away, pointing at the ground.

It was then that she saw the snow behind him had been packed into an artificial shape. Frowning in concentration, she stepped forward, trying to make sense of it. The closer she got the more it resolved itself. It was a building. Not just any building though, it was a—

“It’s a house,” she said. “Somebody made a snow house. Sweet. It’s really detailed,” she said, crouching down. The snow had been compacted with water it appeared, and then half-frozen into the shape of walls and the roof. The detail was actually exquisite. The roof overhung the walls a little; windows and doors were carved into it. Even very faint shingles.

“This is impressive,” she said, rising up. “Who did it?”

He smiled.

“You?”

“Took me two days,” he said proudly. “But the real thing is probably going to take a little longer than that.”

Angela didn’t quite process what he was saying. “Well yeah, a real house takes a while.”

Noah just nodded, waiting.

Something about his look finally clicked everything together, his words and the intent behind it all finally registering. She took a moment to feel silly, and then gasped.

“Wait, do you mean this is going to be our house?” she half-shouted, half-shrieked. “Because if you’re just teasing me, you’re going to be in big trouble!”

He grinned and flung out an arm wide as she launched herself at him, mindful of Cooper.

Yes, this is going to be our house,” he said, kissing her repeatedly. “Construction will start once the snow melts. I’ll be working hand in hand with Koche Konstruction to ensure it gets done as soon as possible, so that we can give Rachel and Hector their house back.

“Oh my God. You bought us a house!” she said, stunned.

“Well, I bought the land. The house you see is just sort of a mockup. We still have time to design it all.” He grinned and kissed her on the cheek. “I figured we’d compromise on design, and you’d get most of the say on decorating.”

“Wise man I have,” she teased, leaning into him. Hard. “A wise man.” She shook her head. “I still can’t believe you did this!”

“Well, I finally got my money out of Cadia. It seemed like a good thing to spend some of it on,” he said with a laugh.

She sensed the underlying tension in it however, and gave his arm a reassuring squeeze. By removing all his money from the Cadian central bank—which in turn then invested it into the human economy to grow it—and bringing it to him to then invest in Cloud Lake and directly into the human economy itself, he truly was making a break from his past life. There was no easy way to go back now.

More and more shifters seemed to want to go this route, and she wondered how long it would be before certain forces within Cadia would try to do something about it. From what Noah and others had told her, the majority truly couldn’t care less. Only certain power-hungry and authoritarian sections would even notice. Unfortunately, those tended to be the most violent of the lot.

Shaking her head, she put the depressing thoughts away and forced herself to think of the here and now. As a human she was safe, and her fears were mostly about Noah. But right now was a time for happiness, and she smiled up at him.

“I’m not objecting, you understand. But you didn’t have to buy me, or us, a house. That wasn’t a requirement of mine.”

“It was one of mine,” he said. “Did I mention I want to get some dogs? They’ll need some yard space.”

She froze. “I’m sorry, did I just hear you say puppies. Like…plural?”

“Maybe,” he said, hesitating. “Is…is that okay?”

“IS IT?!” she asked, almost more excited over that revelation than the house. “I love puppies. I can’t wait! Oh, we’ll have to make sure we have a play room big enough for everyone, dogs and kids.”

Noah stared at her. “We only have one kid.”

“Yeah, that too,” she said, her son forgotten for the moment as she dreamt of puppies. “Oh we’ll have to go to all the places, to see which ones we like most of course. Lots and lots of puppies.” Her voice had taken a sort of unevenness to it.

She had a thing for puppies. Who didn’t?

“I can’t wait,” she said eagerly. “When does spring come again?”

“It’s only December.”

Shit.