Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 33504 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33504 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
Lord pocketed the ring and got to work helping. It was nearly dinnertime, and he wanted to see his woman. He’d not seen her since lunchtime, and that already felt like too much time had passed. He was smitten and wasn’t afraid to admit it. Astrid was his whole focus.
When the doctor had told him that the twenty-four hours she was sick was crucial, he had known there was a slight chance she might deteriorate. All night he had sat beside her bed and watched her, not daring to take his gaze from her, for fear of losing her. He couldn’t stand the thought of losing her. It was in that very moment he realized he wasn’t going to hold back. There were no more games to be played.
Astrid belonged to him, just as he belonged to her. He didn’t know how it had happened, but they were now mates. There was no turning back. Just moving forward together.
They arrived back at the house, and he saw the table outside had been set. The days were getting warmer, with the sun heating everything up.
He glanced back toward the table to see most of the ranch hands sitting around it, and food was already being dished. There was no sign of Astrid.
The ranch hands greeted him, and he nodded in their direction, but his only focus was on his woman.
Stepping into the back of the kitchen, he saw her at the sink, elbows-deep in soapsuds. He hadn’t told her she was pregnant. Lord didn’t know how to tell her. He had picked up the ring before he even realized she was pregnant.
He couldn’t resist stepping right up to her, wrapping his arms around her, placing his face against her neck, and kissing her. She let out a little yelp.
“You startled me.”
“How come you’re in here washing up, rather than outside eating?” he asked. It was on the tip of his tongue to tell her she was eating for two, but he didn’t say anything.
“I burnt the bottom of this pan and wanted to get started on it pronto. Also, you weren’t here, and I kind of like waiting for you.” She leaned back against him.
Blake’s warning ran in his ear. He was waiting for the perfect time but hadn’t the last few months told him there was never a perfect time? There was always a great time to fuck up, which is what he had nearly done, and cost himself this.
“Marry me,” Lord said.
Astrid tensed in his arms, and then slowly turned around to look at him. “What?”
“I love you, Astrid. I’ve loved you for a long time.” He stroked some of her hair out of her face. “I don’t want to say the wrong thing, or mess this up. I’m not good at saying the right thing. I love you. I’m not a people person and the truth is, I can’t stand crowds, but I want to be around you all the time. You’re all I think about. You’re all I want. Just you. No one else. Marry me.”
He saw that he’d surprised her.
Lord waited and it felt like a millennium, but then the smile filled her face and she threw her arms around his neck, screaming yes repeatedly.
He heard the ranchers move from where they were sitting, and he quickly grabbed her face, kissed her, and stared into her eyes.
“You’re pregnant,” he said.
“I know. I took a test this morning. Are you happy about this?”
“Thrilled. Are you?”
She laughed. “Yes.”
They didn’t get much chance to say anything else, as the ranch hands filled the kitchen, wanting to know if everything was okay.
It was not in front of the town, or her parents, but it was in front of their friends and the ranch hands as he slipped the ring he had gotten for her right onto her finger. The applause rang out, but to Lord, it faded as he pulled Astrid into his arms.
The future was uncertain, but he knew it was going to be the best one he could have ever hoped for, as he had his woman.
Epilogue
Ten Years Later
Astrid had lost count of the number of full moons she attended. She stood, naked, at Lord’s favorite spot as he continued to light the candles. This was their anniversary. Their first full moon together.
Each year, he would bring her to this spot, regardless if there was a full moon or not. Blake and his wife always took their four kids, and counting. So far, they were the parents of two boys and two girls: Luke, Tiffany, Michele, and Brian. She also knew they had a fifth on the way, but she hadn’t been able to tell Lord the news. She had a sneaking suspicion he already knew.
Her parents had warned her Lord might want a pack of his own. Astrid didn’t care if Lord wanted a pack or not. She loved him, and his wolf was part of their lives. Over the last ten years, Lord hadn’t changed. He didn’t want to be part of a pack, and it turned out the only pack he was interested in was the one he created—their family, along with their friends, and the ranch hands. They had watched them blossom, grow up, marry, have families of their own. They were not a conventional wolf pack, but they were a family, with both wolves and humans part of it.