Chapter Nineteen
It turned out that they had run pretty far. Far away from the city but close enough to the valley that they were on familiar ground for Rhetta. Walking out of the forest, Rhetta flagged down a neighbor who didn’t question their nudity. He gave them a blanket and a ride back to her family’s ranch.
Similarly, no one in Rhetta’s family raised an eyebrow as she and Rory walked in the back door covered only in a blanket.
“Hungry?” asked her mother. Gloria looped an arm around her daughter. “We saved you two a plate. Figured you’d make your way back here sometime soon.”
Rhetta stood still in her mother’s loose embrace. Then she wrapped her arms around the woman and squeezed. “Thank you, mama.”
“For what?” asked Gloria as she pulled away from Rhetta and peered into her face. She brushed her daughter’s hair aside and ran her palm over her forehead.
“I’m fine,” Rhetta said, removing her mother’s hand. “Thank you for thinking of me.”
“I always take care of my girl.” Gloria turned to Rory and gave him a wink. “She give you a good run?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Rory nodded. “Best run of my life. She’ll be the only woman I chase after from this day on.”
“I don’t believe that,” said Gloria.
Rhetta’s heart stuttered at the pronouncement. She thought her mother liked Rory. To further confuse her, her mother grinned broadly.
“I suspect you’ll be chasing after Rhetta and a little one soon.”
“Mama.” Rhetta nearly stomped her foot in indignation, just like she would do as a child when her mother embarrassed her. Rhetta peeked out the corner of her eye to ascertain Rory’s reaction. He stood beside her grinning like a proud wolf. “You knew?”
“Of course, I knew.” Rory took her in his arms and inhaled deeply at her neck.
Of course, he knew. He was an alpha and the baby’s father. He probably smelled the new life growing inside her the moment his seed had taken root.
“But you didn’t say,” she said.
“You’ve been too busy running from me since the day that I met you.”
“Now there will be two of you,” Rhetta groaned.
“Maybe three,” said Vivi helpfully. “Twins run in the family.”
That made Rory’s smug grin slip. Rhetta felt him gulp, and then a quiet laugh rumbled through him. He squeezed her tighter and took another sniff. Rhetta relaxed in his embrace, allowing her body to fold neatly into his. Rory took on the brunt of her weight as she did so.
“We ran pretty far,” Rhetta said, pulling back from him. “Your foot must be killing you.”
Rory shrugged. “I’d run to the end of the earth for you.”
“You wouldn’t have to. I’d let you catch me.”
A knock at the door had everyone frowning. Everyone in the family was already present and accounted for. Pierce rose and opened the door. He turned back to Rhetta with a concerned look. “It’s Jordan.”
Rhetta sighed. She’d completely forgotten about Jordan and the talk she needed to have with him about their future. “I’ll take care of him.”
But Rory held Rhetta back. “He’s my brother. It’s my responsibility. I’ll tell him.”
“We’ll do it together,” said Rhetta.
After a brief pause, Rory nodded.
Pierce turned back to the door and let Jordan pass. Jordan entered the room and looked around. He saw Rory and his eyes lit with surprise. “Andrew, what are you doing here?”
“Having dinner with my new family.”
Jordan’s eyes found Rhetta’s. Rhetta expected there to be anger, at least confusion in her fiancé’s eyes as he witnessed her in the embrace of another man. But all she could make out on Jordan’s pinched features was guilt.
“I’m glad that you have made friends with this family,” Jordan said. “You might take care to look in on your own kin. Mother is recovered, by the way.”
“I didn’t realize she was sick,” said Rory.
“Her recovery is why I’m here.” Jordan turned back to Rhetta. “Rhetta, may I speak with you in private?”
“No, Jordan,” she said. “Anything you need to say to me you can do it in front of my family.”
Jordan took a deep breath and then he came out with it. “As I said, my mother has recovered, but she still needs looking after. So, I’ve decided to move back in with her.”
“That’s what you came to tell me?” she said. “That you’re moving back in with your mother?”
Jordan nodded. “Because the two of you have never gotten along, I think it best that we call off the engagement.”
“What?” Rhetta jerked out of Rory’s hold and advanced on Jordan. “You can’t cancel the engagement. You got down on one knee and gave me a ring.” She pulled the ring from her finger as proof. And then, for good measure, she threw it at Jordan. Surprisingly, he caught it in one hand.
“Rhetta?” said Rory.
Rhetta batted Rory’s hold away, still trying to get her hands on Jordan. “He made a promise. What kind of man goes back on a promise because his mommy told him to?”
“Rhetta?”
It was the gentleness in Rory’s voice that finally made Rhetta turn to him. She’d heard Rory angry, Rory in passion, and Rory commanding. But never Rory gentle.
With her back to Jordan, Rhetta faced Rory. But only for a second because Rory sank down onto one knee and then she was looking down at him. At first, Rhetta thought it was because his foot was troubling him. Then she realized how wrong that thought was.
“Rhetta Veracruz, mate to my very soul, will you do me the honor of being my wife?”
Rhetta inhaled, feeling the nausea come back to her. Anxiety mixed with the demands of the growing baby inside of her. On top of those feelings was a jolt of happiness so strong, so pure, so consuming that it scared her. She let the air out as she regarded Rory down on his knee.
She looked out the window. The full moon shone brightly through the curtains, as though giving its blessing. She turned to her family. They all wore huge, expectant grins on their faces. Finally, she looked back down to Rory.
“Do you have a ring?” she asked.
Rory turned to his brother. “Jordy?”
Jordan jerked from his stupor to stare at his brother.
“Do you mind?” Rory held out his hand, palm open.
Jordan looked down at the ring he’d caught. Then back between Rhetta and Rory. Finally, he extended the ring to his brother.
Rory placed the ring on Rhetta’s finger. “Rhetta, will you do me the honor of being my wife?”
Rhetta looked down at this man who challenged her in every way, a man who would chase her to the ends of the earth, and then sink his teeth into her to stake his claim.
“Yes,” she broke out into a smile. “Yes, Rory. I will be your wife.”
The room opened in applause from her family, while Jordan stood in a fog of confusion. Rory rose from his knees. He brought Rhetta into his arms. She held still for him as he folded her into his embrace like she would do every time she slowed down for him to catch her for the rest of their lives.
The End
****
Did you enjoy this story? There’s more where that came from. Be sure and pick up Moonrise and Moonlight the other two books in the Moonkind series, a paranormal romance series full of alpha men and the strong, capable women that bend them to their knees.
In Moonrise, it’s love at first sight when Lucia rescues a charming wolf shifter from certain death. She’s sure he feels the same way and will tell her so—just as soon as he wakes up from his coma. To remain by his side at the emergency room, she pretends she’s his mate. But her resolve is tested when she gets a glimpse of her fake-mate’s brother.
For months, Jackson has sensed that his fated mate was near. When he enters his unconscious brother’s hospital room, he instantly pounces on the beautiful, curvaceous woman he finds there, ready to mark her as his. Until he learns his brother got there first. Jackson’s skepticism about their mating grows the more he gets to know Lucia. She has nothing in common with his wayward brother, but she checks everyone of Jackson’s boxes.
As Jackson and Lucia fight their attraction, the rest of the family embraces Lucia as one of their own. But what will happen when his brother, her fake-mate, wakes up?
In Moonlight, Viviane Veracruz is on her way home from university with a degree in one hand…and a baby in her belly. Desperate to escape the judgement of her family, she accepts a sexy stranger’s offer to pose as the father for a few days. The plan is for him to run off leaving her family none the wiser. But the longer Pierce Alcede stays, the more she can’t let him go.
Pierce Alcede has finally come to terms with the fact that he is a lone wolf, prone to roam the wilderness alone and never settle down with a family of his own. When he meets a pregnant woman in need, he thinks nothing of stepping in to take the brunt of her family’s ire. But somewhere between working on the Veracruz Ranch by day and climbing into Viviane’s bed at night, Pierce forgets to run away. Can a woman searching for a place to belong find a home with a man who lives to roam?
Get lost Ines Johnson’s Moonkind series today and find yourself caught in the moonglow of this paranormal romance filled with instalove gone hilariously wrong, overbearing families who’ll warm your heart, and the sensuous heat that only happens between fated mates.