Page 67 of His Prodigal Alpha

“Shut up,” she batted at him, but she was laughing. “Markmy words, Smith, that alpha of yours will knot more babies in you yet.”

Ollie had taken Beck’s surname after they’d gotten married in a very elaborate ceremony in front of the whole pack at the last Christmas parade. He shrugged and looked over at his kids, his eyes lighting up with yearning. “I wouldn’t mind,” he admitted.

Over on the mat, Rex groaned and sent me a look —and accompanying feelings through the bond— that told me not to go getting any ideas.

I rolled my eyes at him.

As if my feelings would have changed from three minutes earlier.

“Anyway,” Ollie said, redirecting the conversation, “Beck and Sandy’s friend and former housemate is finally coming to stay for a while. I’ve only met Micah a few times, but he means a lot to Beck, so can we all please play nicely?”

As Brandt became unusually silent, I gave Ollie an insulted look. “Since when do I not play nicely?”

Ollie pointed at me emphatically. “You fight with Dex every time he comes into the clinic.”

“That’s because he’s an ass—” the growl from the mat reminded me that there were little ears listening.Damn it. “—ssssassin.”

“An assassin, huh?” Ollie repeated with amusement.

I glared. “You know what I actually wanted to say.”

“Not that it’s an excuse,” Brandt cut back in, sounding a littleoff. I supposed that he had actually been there during Dexter’s formative years centuries earlier, so he knew him far better than we did. “But Dexter is…going through some things. He’s not usually quite as abrasive.”

I couldn’t exactly say I couldn’t relate, could I?

Back when I’d met Rex in that bar, I’d been sarcastic and dismissive, too. I’d been miserable in my pack, and if he hadn’t come along and upended my life, who knows where I would have ended up.

Probably still miserable, sneaking out and turning down sleazebags in random roadside bars.

With a bit more empathy, I nodded. “Maybe Dex and I just need to have a proper conversation.”

“Speaking of,” Ollie gave Rex a pointed look and my mate let out a sigh before pushing to his feet and trotting out of the room. When he came back, he was fully clothed.

He took my hand, nodded at Ollie, and then walked me out onto the porch.

“What’s going on?” I asked him.

We were bonded, but I couldn’t get a read on his feelings. They weren’t masked, exactly, but it almost felt like he’d worked out how to muddle them across the connection between us.

He looked out into the darkness and took a deep breath before he turned back around to face me…and then dropped to one knee.

My eyes widened.

“Rex…?”

“I’ve been thinkin’ about the best way to do this for a while now,” he started, then pulled a square ring box from his pocket, which made my heart stammer, “and I’m still nervous as hell.” He paused and chuckled, then, looking up at me with amusement and adoration. I felt those emotions clearly through the bond. “I’m pretty sure I fell head over heels for you when I caught you tellin’ some guy that you didn’t speakEnglish just to turn him down. And even though we’re bonded together already, I still want everything with you, darlin’. Even if that’s more rugrats at some point down the line, or if you decide you want to leave this pack and move to Aruba, I want us to do it all together. So,” he opened the box, while I stood there gaping, the cool breeze and twinkling stars the only witnesses to this magical moment between us, “will you marry me, Damon?”

Nodding, I thought back to that life-changing night as well, and remembered what I had told him then. “Just so you know,” I let all the love I felt flow through the bond to him, and repeated the words I had spoken, setting off a chain of events neither one of us could have predicted, but that I didn’t think either of us would take back. “For you? I’ll speak any language you want.”

As we kissed in joyful celebration, I hoped that the same words would bring just as much unpredictable happiness to us in the future, too.

The End