CHLOE had never driven so fast in her life. She nearly skidded a few times, as she came up the curvy mountain road to get back to Wolf Springs. But it still wasn’t fast enough. When she got there, she found her Viking once again passed out in the clinic, sleeping off a tranq. But this time he didn’t look nearly as vital as the first time he’d come. His body was still strong and rippling with hard muscle. But underneath the beard he’d once again grown, his cheekbones looked almost sunken in. And there were dark circles under his eyes.

“For a king, this guy doesn’t have a hell of a lot of diplomacy. He not only put a dagger to the king’s throat, but the poor queen had to shoot him with the tranq gun. Again.”

“I’m sure he wasn’t planning to really hurt the king. He just wanted the king to take him to me. If he was really looking to kill, he would have brought out his silver-plated sword.”

Both Doc Fischer and the king gave her a sour look. “Uh-huh,” said Doc Fischer. “Well, it’s a good thing we got him back down the mountain. He’s severely dehydrated, and from what I can tell, malnourished. It’s like he’s been on some kind of hunger strike or something. We hooked him up to an IV, though, so you two should be good to…do whatever you plan to do in a couple of days.”

She took the Viking’s IV-less hand before asking the king, “Where’s F.J.?”

“The wife and I left him with Doc here while we went up the mountain and now the queen has him back at the house. By the way, if you want F.J. to spend the night with us, that’s A-okay with us. We’ve got a travel pack-and-play in the attic. And you left enough breast milk to feed a baby wolf army.”

She stroked the side of the Viking’s face. “I might take you up on that.”

“Might or definitely?” the king asked after the doctor left the room. “Because F.J. was excited about helping me make my famous pancakes in the morning. Maybe you and the Viking can stop by and have breakfast. But tell him to leave the dagger at your place.”

She laughed. “I will. Thank you. Thank you for everything.”

Dale started to turn to leave, but she had one more thing she had to say, since who knew if they’d ever have a chance to talk alone like this again. “And King Nightwolf, I just want to say again that I’m so sorry I hurt your son, and even more sorry I won’t get to have you as a father-in-law. Whoever Rafe mates with is going to be a very lucky she-wolf.”

The king waved a dismissive hand. “Ah, forget about what happened with Rafe. I’ve never doubted you were a great gal. I just had a feeling from the beginning that you and him weren’t meant to be. My grandma had a little of the future reckoning in her. Maybe I inherited it from her.”

“Maybe.”

“But don’t bother yourself too much about Rafe. He’ll get over it. Eventually. Maybe. Okay, probably not. He’s pretty bitter. But you got bigger things than him to worry about right now. We’ll talk some more when you pick up little wolf for breakfast.”

He saluted her and walked out.

Just then, the Viking began to stir. At first he looked around confused, his tangled red hair whipping across his face as his hand automatically went for the sword at his back. But then he saw her, and smiled. The most beautiful smile she had ever seen. It reached all the way into his eyes and seemed to emanate from his very soul.

“Beauty,” he said. And he pulled her onto the bed with him, hugging her tight and strong. “Beauty.”

She would find out later that after his aunt shifted back into human form, she told him there was a reunion spell that would deliver him again to his fated mate, but that it was almost impossible to cast, because it was necessary for both mates to say the words at the same time. Only after a full moon’s worth of the most explosive grief of his life, because it looked like he would never make it back to his mate, did he remember what she told him about seeing his sword on the “internet.” So he had the spell engraved in the sword, and from that moment forward, he ensconced himself in his bed closet, saying the words over and over again, barely pausing to eat or drink and only sleeping when it forcibly overtook him. For the rest of his life, his family would teasingly refer to him as Fenris the Chanting, for his actions over the weeks it took before the black tunnel opened and brought him back to her.

And he wouldn’t care.

“It is you,” he said bringing her hands to his chest with tears in his eyes. “The pup?” he asked, obviously fearing the worst because he wasn’t present.

“Oh, he’s good. He’s great,” she assured, tears also brimming in her eyes. “The Colorado king and queen are babysitting him tonight, and we’re scheduled to see him first thing in the morning. He’s, like, besties with the king now. It’s kind of weird.”

From the confused look on his face, he obviously didn’t understand much of anything she said past, “He’s great.” But eventually his smile returned and he said, “Then it is us.”

And this time tears spilled as she nodded. “Yes, it’s us.”

“We are not able to go to our son until the morn.”

He continued to stroke her face, his own full of fondness. “And your medicine man has made it so your wounds have fully healed.”

“Yes, I got the stitches out a few weeks ago, and I’m healed up pretty nicely.”

“You are fully healed even though three full moons have yet to past?

“Yes, but what does that have to do with anything—”

Without further ado, he flipped her onto her back and was soon reminding her of when she told him in her time, she-wolves weren’t allowed to have sex again until three full moons had passed after the birth of their pup.

She did think to protest. It had only been two months. And they were in a hospital bed with him attached to an IV. But then he yanked the IV needle out of his hand, and bit into her breast, just hard enough to get her attention. And just like that, she felt herself creaming down below as the scent of her arousal rose up in the air and any reservations about having sex with her fated mate flew out of her head.

His own scent, all forest, and longhouse, and burning fires filled her nose as he covered her with his body, before driving himself into her. He then lowered his head to her shoulder and began moving on top of her, almost frantic with his thrusts, as if he were trying to bury himself inside of her, so that they may never be parted again.

And maybe he achieved his aim. A climax rose quickly rose within her and she exploded just as he began to groan his release. For a glorious few moments, they were joined as one, locked together in both space and time in a starburst of pleasure beyond anything either of them had ever known.

And as she came down from the stars, breathing hard, she knew this time they would get it right. They were fated mates, and from this moment on, they would be together always.