Amy’s heart was so full she could have exploded. He rolled her under him, opening her thighs to let his hips settle. The hard length of his heavy shaft pressed to her softness, and as she dragged her nails down his back he rocked, teasing her to a higher pitch.
Between one breath and the next, he slipped into her. Filled her completely, joining them the way they were supposed to be as mates.
Trust. Connection.
She held on tight as he convinced her they belonged together. For the next couple hours, he convinced her. Her loneliness and doubts finally erased.
Chapter Nineteen
Evan wasn’t sure how he had survived before. It was as if he’d been asleep, and now woken up. He wanted to wax poetic about how the sun seemed brighter, and the air seemed clearer, but mostly he just wanted to hold Amy’s hand and be with her.
His brain was playing every cheesy Beatles song imaginable, and he didn’t even give a damn.
It was time to move forward together. Not only were they mates, but united they were powerful enough to accomplish whatever was necessary to calm the packs.
He knew it was his fault it had taken so long to get to this point. Amy resisted saying I told you so, and he appreciated it.
He expected no such restraint when he next saw his Beta.
“I want to do this.” Amy rubbed his fingers absently as they walked from his car to the Moonshine Inn, headed to the bar. “Merging is going to be tough, but it doesn’t need to become a huge war.”
“Unfortunately, it might be too late. We’re already doing damage control. But since I’ve got a commitment from Canyon that they’ll support me if I behave…” he gave her a wink, “…it’s the hard heads at Takhini we need to work over, mine included.”
“That’s why I suggested dropping in at the bar. Just don’t feel as if all of them need to fall in love with me today.”
Evan had no intention of pushing things, but he was also immensely aware of what was on the line. It wouldn’t do for him to be distracted or preoccupied.
“About time you got here, Evan. Oh. It’s you. Hi, Amy.” Shaun stood in the doorway, looking her over as if checking for lice.
Oh, hell no. Tonight was going to be about challenges, but Shaun should know better. Evan readied to defend Amy, but she beat him to it, grabbing Shaun by the collar. She whipped his Beta around and pushed him back into the bar. “Show a little more respect to your betters, brat.”
Voices dropped throughout the bar as pack stopped in their tracks and turned their attention toward the door. Everyone wanted to see what Shaun would do, especially since he’d been pretty vocal about dissing her.
Then Amy stepped to Shaun’s side and hip-checked him, rocking him hard enough to knock him off balance. She laughed, catching him before he could fall to the floor. “Oh, Shaun, don’t you know women always arrive on time?”
Gem rose from where she was sitting, a real smile on her lips. “She’s got you there. Or…” Shaun’s mate raised a brow, “…did you have a comment to make regarding women and punctuality?”
Gem and Amy glanced at each other then burst out laughing, and the tension faded. Evan took his place beside Amy, slipping his arm around her and bringing her tight to his side.
Shaun wrinkled his nose, sniffed a couple of times, then rolled his eyes. “Great. This is what I get for being so smart.”
“Yes, this is your fault.” Amy glanced at Gem. The woman nodded in approval as Amy grabbed Shaun and gave him an enormous hug, kissing his cheek before she released him. Amy kept hold of Shaun’s shoulders, looking up at him, her happiness shining bright. “This is your fault, and I don’t ever want you to forget it. You wonderful man.”
A flush spread over his face, and Shaun turned abruptly. Stomped to his chair and sat with a plop, scooping Gem into his lap and burying his face in her neck.
All around the bar, people eyed the situation with unease, and not a little confusion.
Someone sidled up to Amy and paused. Looked her up and down, then dipped his head before fleeing to the far corner of the pub.
“What was that about?” Amy muttered.
Evan had a bad feeling about it. “Going to snitch on us, I think.”
He took a slow look around, examining everyone in the room. Taking in the rustic wood decorations on the walls, the pulsing beat of music in the background as conversations slowly resumed.
Moonshine Pub was his baby. This was something he had worked hard to make a success. In a way, it was very right that here was where he and Amy would make their first stand to prove they were more than Alphas of two packs. He couldn’t fault Takhini for feeling confused, not after the way he had left them directionless.
But that was going to stop. Here and now.
“Come on, let’s dance.” Evan linked his fingers with Amy’s and tugged her toward the dance floor.
A sense of normality continued to grow as people observed Amy settling against him, their questioning expressions fading to smiles as they sensed Evan’s contentment.
Soft fingers touched his face, and he looked at his mate.
Mate. A rush of happiness struck again. He could’ve been doing moonshine shots for the past five hours and not ended up as lightheaded as over one touch of her fingers.
“Heads up,” Amy warned. “There seems to be some kind of discussion group headed our way from the far corner of the room.”
Evan nodded, settling her hands around his neck before grabbing hold of her hips and continuing to sway to the music. “Until they prove otherwise, I’m going to assume the best.”
One of her brows rose. “This isn’t your fight anyway, right?”
She had him over a barrel. He’d promised to let her deal with anyone if it was appropriate, but that promise was about to drive him mad. He drove down his fears. “Fine. You spank them this time, but if they need any extra chastisement, I’m your man.”
“I seem to remember hearing Caroline had to prove her worth when she started dating you. If anything, the expectations on me are much higher.” She whispered the words, barely audible even from where he stood. “Trust me.”
And that was the most powerful thing she could have reminded him of.
“Since when did Takhini become the play toys for Canyon?”
“Damn it, Toby. You got that backwards. Evan’s found a new chew toy, and look, it’s one of the little Canyon freaks.” Lance stood behind Amy, Toby one step back. A small group of young male wolves clustered loosely behind them.
Amy rotated, leaning her back against Evan’s chest. She was short enough the top of her head barely touched his chin, but somehow she seemed to tower over the annoying wolves standing before them.
“Were you talking to me?” she asked.
Lance and Toby glanced at each other before turning back with a smirk. “Not really talking to you. You’re not going to be around for long enough for us to even find out your name. Evan has this bad habit of picking up strays. The last one had fleas. Had to fumigate the entire hotel after she left.”
“I don’t know, Lance. I think this one is worse than the last.” Toby made a show of sniffing. “Think she’s been hanging out too long with all those Canyon losers. She doesn’t know how to handle real wolves.”
Evan found stifling his growl of disapproval damn near impossible. He wanted nothing more than to knock Toby’s and Lance’s heads together, but he had to let her do this alone.