He heard his phone buzzing on the bedside table. Carefully, he reached out towards his vibrating mobile and checked the screen…
Hmmm, should I answer or not, Lyon?
Looks like someone is missing you like heck. Damn, it’s just been a day, M. Ahahaha!
Ma’Heron chuckled, the sound a low rumbling in his chest, as he answered the call, “Yes?”
“Happy Anniversary and Happy Valentine’s Ma’Heron. Now, when do you plan to get your ass back here?”
M could no longer hold back his laughter at the sound of his Alpha’s slightly tense voice. “I don’t know, it really all depends on someone who’s very important to me.”
On cue, he felt the naked woman beside him suddenly hugging his nude body tighter. He couldn’t help but stare at the sparkling diamond and ruby ring on his beautiful mate’s finger. M’s small smile had become wider at the memory connected to that very gift…
* * *
“MA’HERON!”
“ALEXIA!”
At the back of his mind then, they were probably looking pretty cheesy since they did run into each other’s arms, ignoring their cheering friends and celebrating pack. Think Rocky as he was screaming “Adrian” in the movie’s second installment, or the last scene in Pretty Woman when the male protagonist scrambles up the fire escape to get to his lady love…
Except M was totally naked, bruised, and bloody and there were no stairs to climb.
They both rushed towards each other, screaming each other’s name, with deep passionate love on their faces. They collided like stars, his arms catching her in mid-leap, her curvy legs hugging his slender waist as her arms did the same to his broad shoulders.
Their lips met and their tears mixed, and it seemed that they would not let go of each other at all…
“I saw the needles hit you over and over when you shifted…” she mumbled into his mouth.
“Yes, wife, you did. But I drank a special concoction that Brenner brewed to counter the effects of Abner’s potions. That’s why I was protected from his drug’s effects,” he replied as his lips were still pressed to hers.
M then felt a large hand on his shoulder, its grasp a little firmer than the usual. The preoccupied and distracted Gamma forced himself to tear his mouth away from the sweet kisses of his one true love, then looked over his shoulder.
“Ahem, I believe you asked me to arrange this after the elder’s meeting yesterday?”
“Oh goddess, yes, I almost forgot. Thank you Alpha,” he mumbled to V. He looked back at Alexia’s violet/blue eyes that were even more swollen now, but with tears of joy this time, “I need to put you down, beloved. Don’t worry, it’s for a good reason.”
As his pouting wife reluctantly slid down from his hold, V then gave him the small gift that he asked his Alpha to keep for him after he had purchased it. He nodded a small thanks to his friend and leader, then he looked down at the woman in front of him…
Then he knelt in front of her.
The small black velvet box was now visible as the still naked and dirty man offered it to Alexia with slightly cupped fingers. M kept his gaze on her face, watching as her eyes started to shine with shock… amazement… excitement… “M-Ma’Heron… my love… we’ve marked each other… this… this isn’t necessary…” “It is for me…”
He opened the box with his other hand at just the right angle, so she would see the ring before he did. He heard her gasp, then watched with overflowing love as her eyes started to well up again.
“Beloved… Alexia… will you marry me? Not just because we are mates, not just because of marks…” He took the ring out of the box and held it out to her as she started to sob. “But because I really and truly love you.”
* * *
“Earth to Atty. Ma’Heron Denar. Your location, please?”
It took a second or two before M realized he had left his Alpha hanging. Not that it bothered him that much…
“Sorry V, I know you wouldn’t be calling me if this wasn’t important, but I really am not sure if I can do any work in the middle of my honeymoon-slash-three-year anniversary.”
“I know, I know, but M, these are pack merger arrangements. You’re the pack expert on these things… our lawyer, remember? I realize that Abner showing up days before your anniversary is really bad timing but, we now own everything in the Crescent Moon. So please, just check your email and see which of those you can help me deal with while you’re with Alexia. That’s all I ask.”
Ma’Heron picked up the tension and tiredness in his Alpha’s voice and empathized with him. After all, he was also a workaholic, and going back home to an overflowing to-do list may not be a good start for his now very legal marriage.
“Alright V, just send me everything you need me to look at and I’ll give my recommendations and advice for each one. Just don’t demand too much from me while we’re still on vacation. Please?”
“Yes! I’ll have Myron and Siel send you the most urgent contracts, documents, and such within the hour. Meanwhile, feel free to check what I sent you already. Oh, goddess, I’m so relieved! Thank you, Bro, I owe you this one!”
“No, I’m actually a very gullible Gamma. Later, Alpha, and regards to everyone there in Silvercrest Enterprise.” “Later M. Enjoy! Hahaha!”
M smiled knowingly at his Alpha’s “joke” and then ended the call. He looked towards the laptop that was on an ornate oak executive desk at one end of the first-class hotel room that he’d reserved for their special celebration. He would have preferred it if Bren had gotten them a suite, but it’s Valentine’s Day.
We’re still lucky we got this room, considering that Costa Rica is a very popular tourist spot.
Ma’Heron had already sat up in bed when a soft, smooth hand grabbed his arm and pulled it down with a strength that surprised him…
“I heard you talking to V. Are you really going to work while we are on our honeymoon, Attorney?”
“Guilty as charged, but I don’t know how to go around this, beloved. With the packs being merged and all…”
Alexia stared at the dejected face of the man she just married in a human ceremony the day before, trying hard to hide her amusement. Right now she didn’t know whether to continue acting angry or just let him off the hook by laughing at his not-so-usual facial expression.
She chose to negotiate instead…
“OK, what if I allow you only a few hours, like four, while we are on this holiday? Then the rest of the day can be spent pleasing your very hungry mate?”
M perked up at the suggestion, his signature small smile back on his handsome face, “That sounds like a wonderful offer, wife. Where do I sign?”
Alexia almost laughed aloud as she felt his lengthy hardness flick against her smooth, curvy thigh as he said his last sentence with a passionate flicker in his brown-golden eyes.
“Right here, my love.”
Ma’Heron’s lusty look was immediately replaced by a puzzled one, as Alex pushed down the covers to expose her desirable and fully naked body. She was now patting the lower part of her abdomen, just above her soft dark bush. “Right there? Why there?”
“I want your ear here, please…”
M allowed his smiling mate to pull his head towards the spot she pointed out. He placed his ear against that spot, her silky skin nestling his cheeks, the morning stubble slightly tickling her.
And as he listened to whatever it was, he was supposed to hear, he felt movement underneath it. He jerked his head up to look into his wife’s widely smiling face.
Wait, something moved inside her… and was that a heartbeat?
The realization hit him like warm water going down his chest…
“Beloved… you a-are p-pregnant?”
“I was wondering if you approve…”
M silenced Alex with a joyous kiss since he had no words to equal what he was feeling. Which was fine, since she herself wished to show her love to him more than just telling him.
So, we leave the Gamma-Female, her mate, and their unborn child to enjoy their holiday. And we hope that you have enjoyed it too, dear reader. Until we meet again at our Silvercrest Packhouse…
Happy Valentine’s Day!
******
******
Author’s Note
******
MYRRH D. KEIZER
“Create the worlds you wish existed. Welcome to Wonderland!”
Originally a writer for textbooks, essays, and scripts for more than 30 years, Myrrh’s first published story was about her cat and it was featured in their school paper. She was six years old at that time and has never stopped creating tales that thrill, chill, and tantalize. She had worn many hats, such as being a mom of three, a teacher on various levels, a theater director, a trainer, and more. However, she will always choose writing as a passion and a career.
CAMI KEIZER
“I’ve discovered in this genre a door to the most vulnerable side of humans, one that most of us keep secret, one that always will touch us, some get embarrassed, some get secretly delighted, some remember and re-live, and some just fantasize, but is a world in which we all have taken part at some point in our lives. That’s why, because it’s where we all are human.”
Watchers Group author Cami Keizer writes sweet, fun, and spicy romance and fantasy books. Her characters are clever and fearless, but in real life, Cami is afraid of spiders, darkness, and deep-sea creatures.
Cami is best known for her co-written stories, part of the Heartfelt Holidays series, and Heat books.
MORE FROM THE WATCHERS
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Her Christmas Wolf by Myrrh D. Keizer and Mia Reid
It all started with two paper Christmas angels and the Company’s Christmas tree…
These were Siel Camden’s only hope for her three-year-old twins to have a happy holiday. But when all her dreams fall apart because of a dreadful boss and an abusive ex-husband, someone else finds those paper angels and makes her children’s wishes come true.
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Her Gamma Valentine
Atty. Ma’Heron Denar, the Gamma of the Silvercrest Pack, was the first among the top brass to find his mate although it was in the least ideal situation. However, since all is fair in love and war, they are now together with no regrets… Until their past came back to haunt his beautiful wife, Alexia. A father’s mistake, an old ally now an enemy due to greed and lust, along with a resurgent battle will now jeopardize their love, their lives and their pack. Can Ma’Heron manage to win his wars – both with himself and his long-lost archenemy – for the sake of the pack’s peace, his true love and the hope of having his mate by his side once again?
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Meanwhile, she was eventually included in The Paranormal All-Stars, where she is able to help even more puzzled and troubled individuals. And by sharing these cases and experiences through this book, we hope to help more to not fear what they don’t know… …but to see beyond what their senses tell them.
After all, there’s always more to these things than meets the eye.
SHIFTERS’ SECRETS
Who Kill Cats Nine Times – Book 1 by Samuel Gray Del Rosario
In the city of Illemore, there live cats who each have nine lives.
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Who Kill Cats Nine Times – Book 2 by Samuel Gray Del Rosario
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