Chapter 14

Nova dressed while Amara grinned. “I’ve never seen you nervous before,” she told him. “It is kind of cute.” Laughing at his baffled expression, she patted his chest, brushing her lips against his cheek. “Relax, baby. It’s going to be fine.”

“What?” He gulped. “I know that. I just want you to be safe, is all.”

“I will be.” Rolling her eyes, she looked around. It looked as if a hurricane had blasted through. A chair was toppled over, broken picture frames and glass covered the floor. The couch cushions were all clumped in a haphazard way. Amara followed his gaze and her grin widened. “I guess we made a mess of things.”

Nova had the good grace to look apologetic. He offered her a sheepish smile. “Sorry about that. I guess I had some…uh, aggression to work out.”

Amara’s answering laugh was delightfully husky. “Oh, don’t worry. I don’t mind in the least. In fact, I’m pretty sure you made up for it.” Her gray eyes twinkled with mischief and pleasure. “Four times.”

Nova chuckled and pulled her up against him. “You’re welcome. Though I’m afraid I ripped your top.”

“Yeah.” Her lips puffed out in a pout. “I really did like that one.” Then she rolled her eyes and playfully slapped his shoulder. “Don’t be ridiculous. I can always get another one. You know it was worth it.”

“Damn right, it was.” He glanced around again, feeling guilty. “Are you sure you don’t want me to stay and help you clean all of this up? It is my fault everything is such a mess. And we did break the majority of it. I’m happy to stay and help, if you’ll let me.”

She pressed a hand firmly to his chest, effectively pushing him away. “No. If you stay, I will only want to get you naked and let you take advantage of me again, and right now neither of us have time for that. You have to get home and talk to your family. I know you have responsibilities for more than just me and Strathford. Besides, I’m supposed to check in at the station and go over a few things with Mac, and I need to stop in at the bar and make sure things are okay with Mitch and Zoe.” She wrinkled her nose in distaste. “I also need to make sure she didn’t screw up my liquor order. Or worse, let Mitchell order it. Last time, I had to send half of it back. I didn’t let him hear the end of it for days. How that man ever manages to survive without me is a mystery.”

Still laughing, Nova nodded. “Alright,” he conceded, “but seriously, don’t get into too much trouble. I’m on patrol tonight since Ian’s still down, so I won’t be able to go with you on Watch. You’re not scheduled to work or anything tonight, are you?”

“Nope. I get to be a homebody tonight. Just me and Sadie with a stack of chick flicks, a bottle of wine, and a gigantic bowl of popcorn.” She frowned. “I’m hoping I can talk her out of dating Kal after the way he acted at Mom’s the other night. I’m terrified it’s going to get her killed.”

Nova scowled. “You and me both.” Leaning forward, he kissed her thoroughly, leaving them both breathless. “Okay, I’ll have my phone. If you need me for anything, just call. I love you.”

Beaming, she kissed him again. “Love you, too.” Nova had just reached the door when she called out again. “Oh, and Nova?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m still expecting a ring.”

A ring. She wanted a ring. Damn, he should have thought of that. He’d planned to get her one, of course. In fact, the one he wanted was locked safely away at his mother’s house. It had been his grandmother’s ring. She’d left it for him when she died, and he’d always hoped to give it to his future wife, but now that he was marrying a human…well, he hoped he could convince his mother to just give it to him. He would hate to get caught stealing what was rightfully his.

Nova drove through the guarded gate and felt a pang of sadness and regret when it wasn’t Ian who nodded back at him. He made a mental note to check in on him before he headed back in to Strathford.

Though he had intended to discuss his engagement with his family, it had been Nemoy who had called the meeting Nova was about to attend. They were all waiting for him in the Council Chamber; Nemoy, Ivanah, and his mother, Neveah. Thankfully, no one else had been invited. He didn’t exactly want the rest of the Council or the community weighing in on his personal life.

Nemoy looked up and both women fell silent. “Where have you been?” he wanted to know.

Nova opened his mouth to answer, but it was Neveah who spoke first. “Isn’t it obvious?” she asked, though to be fair, her tone didn’t contain as much venom as it usually did anytime anyone mentioned Amara. “He was with the human again.” She glared at her son. “He’s always with the human.”

Irritated, Nova fought to keep his composure and maturity enough not to glare right back. If his mother was this upset over him spending time with Amara, how was she going to feel when he told her he was going to marry the woman?

It looked like he was getting that ring by breaking and entering after all.

Nemoy raised a hand for silence. “Enough. Nova, what’s your report on Strathford?”
All serious now, Nova took a seat facing his brother. “About as grave as you would expect. They’re all scared. And they should be. The Valley Clan has shown over and over again that they aren’t afraid to kill. How many deaths have they been responsible for in the last decade or so? How many attacks on innocent humans?”

“Innocent.” Neveah scoffed. “Those humans are not innocent. And it didn’t take them long to turn to murder themselves, did it? How many wolves were hunted after those attacks began? How many of our people were killed at the hands of those ‘innocent’ savages? Because make no mistake, my son, it was not just the wolves of the Valley Clan that were murdered. And our people truly were innocent.”

For a moment, Nova merely stared at his mother. She was fuming. However, if he were being honest, he would have to admit that she was right. It hadn’t just been the Valley Clan that the humans had hunted. They had gone after any wolf that crossed their path, shifter or not. He couldn’t count how many of his own pack had died at their hands. His own cousin, the oldest son of his mother’s brother, had been one of them.

“They were scared, Mother,” Nova argued. “It’s not as if they knew about us, or how to differentiate between the Clans. To them, wolves were invading the town and killing their people. Amara’s father was one of them. So, they did what any scared community would do and they tried for population control. And in their eyes, it worked. The attacks stopped for a while. Then Kal got a taste for human flesh again and his father became Alpha, so he attacked Amara and her friends. They haven’t stopped since. So, tell me, Mother, what would you do if you were in their place? Would you just sit back and hope someone else would take care of it? Or would you get out there and do something?”

Neveah frowned. “That is entirely different. I wouldn’t punish an entire species just because one group did me wrong.”

“No?” Nova leaned forward, meeting her eyes. “Isn’t that what you wanted to do to Amara? Didn’t you say she shouldn’t be allowed to live because she knows our secrets? How is that any different, Mother?”

“Ugh. It all comes back to that human girl, doesn’t it?” Neveah threw her arms in the air in a dramatic show.

Nova rolled his eyes. “Maybe it does, Mother. Maybe it does. Either way, you’re going to have to get used to her.” Standing up, he slammed his hands down on the table. He was so infuriated with her that it pleased him to see her jump. “And you know why? Because I asked her to marry me.” He glared at his mother, a cruel smile sliding across his face. “And she said yes.”

Complete and utter silence met his announcement. And Nova had about thirty seconds to think Oh, shit, before all hell broke loose. Then everyone was yelling.

Nemoy was furious, mainly because as Alpha, he should have given permission before the proposal. He was also angry that Nova hadn’t told him as a brother, but from what he could gather amidst all the shouts and accusations, the fact that she was human wasn’t as much of an issue.

To him, at least. Neveah, on the other hand, was another story. Nova was fairly certain that his mother had threatened to disown him if he violated Pack Law to marry a human. She couldn’t believe her youngest son would even consider being that much of an embarrassment and a disgrace to not only her, but to the Pack and his Alpha as well.

It was Ivanah, however, who was the real surprise. Her shouts and yells were whole-heartedly on Nova’s side. Not only did she instruct her husband to allow his brother to lead his own life without asking permission, but she shamed her mother-in-law for putting conditions on the love she had for her son. Nova had never seen such a force to be reckoned with as Ivanah Lowery. And he hoped to high Heaven he never had to again. Of course, being seven months pregnant and hormonal certainly didn’t help, but of that one thing he was completely certain.

She was terrifying.

Throughout the entire argument, Nova merely sat in his chair with his arms crossed over his chest and let them all rage. Finally, Ivanah seemed to get through to her husband. Nemoy raised one hand and bellowed for silence. Neveah grudgingly took a seat, slumping down with a huff like an angry child. Nova tried not to smile. He had adored and idolized his stoic, strong mother his entire life. Even though he wasn’t happy with her, it was nice to find that she could act immature like the rest of them from time to time.

Ivanah, on the other hand, made no move to hide the smug smile she had plastered across her pretty face. She let her husband help her ease into her chair, and then just sat there grinning like a satisfied cat. It was like magic.

“Thank you,” he mouthed silently to her across the table. Ivanah winked.

Nemoy let out an irritated sigh. “Alright, so apparently we all have different opinions in regards to Nova’s engagement. However,” he raised his voice to cut off whatever his mother had been about to say, “the decision really comes down to me.” He glanced nervously at his wife, but soldiered on. “I am the Alpha of this Pack. Nova is the Beta, yes, and a grown man, but it is my job and my responsibility to do what I think is right for our people. That includes Amara.”

“She isn’t one of us,” Neveah snapped.
“And what if she could be?” Nova wanted to know. “What if there was a way to turn a human into one of us? Would you accept her then? Or would she still not be good enough for you, Mother?”

“Enough.” Nemoy closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. “That isn’t the issue right now. Right now the issue is…”

But what the issue was, they didn’t find out. The door to the Council Chamber burst open and Nate strode in, followed by a few other members of the Guard. Nate rushed forward and took a knee in front of his Alpha. “Pardon the interruption, sir,” he begged of Nemoy. “But we have just received the report that the borders have been breached. The Valley Clan has invaded with what could only be described as a small army.” He turned to look right at Nova. “Sir, they’re heading for the town.”