Groaning, he filled her with his seed, but thrust twice more until she’d milked him dry, the orgasm rippling through her.
He closed his eyes and rested on top of her. “You are something else, honey.”
I could say the same about you.” She combed her fingers through his hair. “Now you’ll want a nap.”
Chuckling, he licked her lips. “Now I want a feast. And then dessert again.”
He rolled off her and a few granules of brown sugar sparkled on his chest. She licked them up, then he helped her off the table and wiped the flour from her back. “We’re a mess,” she whispered, her skin flushed with exertion.
He cast her a wolfish grin. “You got the brunt of it.” He brushed flour out of her hair and she groaned. “At least the granules of cinnamon disappear in the color of your hair.”
She gave him an annoyed look. “Next time, I’m on top. You can be covered in flour, sugar, and cinnamon.”
Chuckling, he helped her into her clothes. “I’m game.”
He touched her belly. “I understand Carol believes we’ll have triplets.”
“Conjecture.”
“Right. But she won’t tell me what sex they are.”
Pleased that Carol thought she was pregnant, Lelandi still couldn’t believe Carol could really know such a thing. She shook more flour and sugar out of her hair.
He kissed her forehead. “I invited your brother and uncle and parents to the feast. They dragged Ural along.”
Lelandi stared at Darien, then slapped his shoulder. That’s why he had been so intent on making love to her. It had nothing to do with his pack but all to do with worrying she might want to return to her family.
He grinned. “I thought you’d be pleased.”
“You didn’t have to prove anything to them. I would have stayed with you.”
He took her hand and kissed it. “You’re an alpha pack leader’s mate, and you have the heart of a lion. Let’s get the feast under way.”
Lelandi was sure the fight would come first, but only after she dealt with her father, who wouldn’t like it that she hadn’t gotten his permission to mate Darien.
Darien escorted Lelandi into the sunroom where her parents were sitting, visiting with some of the members of his pack. Her brother and uncle were talking to Jake, and Ural sat in a corner looking unhappy. Probably still mad because of his incarceration and Darien’s people’s treatment of him. But he shouldn’t have hung around.
“We’ll leave you alone for a few minutes to get reacquainted,” Darien said to Lelandi. Everyone remained stiff and formal until Darien gave Lelandi a searing kiss on the mouth, grinned, and then winked at her. He squeezed her hand and reiterated, “The entertainment begins in a few minutes.”
The grays who were speaking with Lelandi’s family rapidly left the sunroom while Lelandi kissed her mother and father, then her brother, uncle, and cousin.
“Triplets,” her mother said, her face beaming. “I’ll stay with you during the last trimester.”
“Will... will you be living with Leidolf all the way out in Oregon?” Lelandi’s voice betrayed her sadness.
“Heavens no. Not with my grandkids coming and Hrothgar now in charge of the pack at Wildhaven,” Her mother patted Uncle Hrothgar’s arm. “Your fathers little brother is now in charge and our land is saved. She glanced at Leidolf. “When are you going to give me some grandkids?”
Leidolf looked annoyed and folded his arms. “I need a mate and none are available, right now.”
Eleanor tugged at Uncle Hrothgar’s arm, “You’ll need a mate, too. I did see a red female in the house earlier. What is she doing in a gray pack?”
“Carol? A red from Bruin’s pack turned her. But she’s an only child now and has aging parents here so I don’t think she’s interested in leaving.”
Leidolf shook his head. “I wouldn’t take a newly turned lupus garou. Too much of a responsibility. They don’t know our ways and would need constant supervision.”
“As if you can be that choosy, dear brother.”
“And there’s our line to think of.”
“You mean because we’re royals?” Lelandi rolled her eyes.
“It never meant much to you, but someone has to keep the line going. And not by mixing up with a gray either.”
Their mother smiled. “Just like the old days. I forget how much you two fought.” She sighed. “Your mate is motioning for this event to get under way. Save your teeth and claws for the one who deserves your wrath, if Darien should fall in his mission to avenge Larissa’s death.”
“He won’t fail,” Lelandi said with confidence. But she sure as hell wanted to know who he was going to be pitted against—who had killed her sister.
In front of his gathered pack and their guests, Darien raised a glass of cider, his free arm around Lelandi’s waist. “We’re gathered here to celebrate the mating between our clans of Silver Town and Wildhaven. Lelandi is not only a royal.” Darien said, pausing until the gasps died away, “but the daughter of pack leaders on both her paternal and maternal sides. So we are much honored to welcome Lelandi and her family into our embrace.”
“Hear, hear,” a chorus of grays and reds responded.
He raised his hand for silence. “Now for the grievous news. A pack bands together as a family, a united front against all others. But when one of our kind deviates from acceptable pack behavior, the individual must be dealt with swiftly and harshly. A death for a death, although in this case the murderer has killed more than one. But we can only mete out justice once.”
“Normally, I would challenge the murderer and face him in our way, wolf to wolf. But I ask my Uncle Sheridan, sheriff of Silver Town, to fight on my behalf.”
Low conversation filled the room and Lelandi glanced at Darien. He pressed her close and whispered in her ear, “I know what I’m doing.”
Sheridan stood tall, a small smile curving his lips. He glanced at Trevor.
“He has agreed to fight Trevor.”
The room was deadly silent.
Red-faced. Trevor stood his ground.
Lelandi looked up at Darien, tears in her eyes. Trevor wasn’t the killer. How could Darien have made the mistake?
“Trevor admitted he lied about taking care of mudslide victims on the night of the shootings. Why? He wouldn’t reveal the answer. But Uncle Sheridan knew. Trevor had hired the gunman who shot Lelandi, Tom, and Sam. He appeared on the ridge and killed the gunman before anyone could question him. The motive, you ask? He wanted to be sheriff. He thought his sister’s mating with me would secure that position for him in the future. But some might have heard rumors Larissa’s offspring were not my own and when Ritka revealed this to Trevor, he dreamed up this blackmail scheme. Through the sheriff’s diligence, he discovered the money in a bank account in Green Valley in Trevor’s name.”
Trevor shot a dagger of a glare at the sheriff.
Darien motioned to Chester. “Acting on our behalf, P.I. Chester McKinley helped to uncover this treachery. All the puzzle pieces fit together. Trevor was a condemned man living on borrowed time.” Darien’s spine stiffened and his eyes held a feral gleam.
But Trevor didn’t look like a condemned man, which made Lelandi suspicious that Darien and he had cooked up this whole charade.
“Except for one thing.” Darien waved at Carol. “I wouldn’t have revealed Carol’s special gift because it’s her choice, but she’s agreed to save a man’s life.”
Carol nodded.
Lelandi stared at her. She knew, too? And didn’t tell Lelandi? Inwardly, she growled.
“Carol has second sight.”