Penny sighed. “I admit the pressure becomes greater every day. And then I think about my human kids. They know they’re adopted, but not the real reason I didn’t have children of my own. Tom doesn’t know, either, of course. Maybe they should, but I can’t imagine just throwing it out there.”
“I can’t, either.” Emma glanced over at Aidan again. “So here’s my idea. Plan a family vacation to New York. Stay with us at the Wallace family compound. You can say we’re old friends of your folks, whatever excuse you want. But let Tom and your kids see how normally we live. Then, when we’re all around, including Abby and me, who are human like Tom and your kids, break the news.”
Aidan smiled. “Brilliant, Emma.”
“I agree,” Howard said. “Well done, Emma. It could work.”
“Or it could backfire,” Kate said. “It’s still very risky.”
“It is, but not as risky as me telling them when I’m surrounded by humans.” Penny studied Emma carefully. “And living the way I do now is torture and not fair to them, either. They don’t really know me.”
Emma gave her a quick hug. “Think about it. And let me know. I hate to see you suffering.”
“Yes, but I put myself in this position, didn’t I?”
Not long ago, Kate would have said the same about her sister. But she saw the situation differently now. “You put yourself in this position because you found your one true love.” She looked over at Duncan and took a long, slow breath. “I finally understand that.” She absorbed the warmth of Duncan’s answering smile before turning back to her sister.
The tension in Penny’s expression eased. “You do?”
Kate nodded. “Uh-huh. Found him.”
“Oh, Kate! Congratulations!” Penny hugged her tight. “That’s so wonderful.” Then she stepped back and turned her attention to Duncan. “You’d better treat my baby sister like the treasure that she is.”
“Aye. I plan to.”
“And on that note,” Elizabeth said, “it’s time to put things to rights around here. Aidan and Roarke, if you wouldn’t mind loading Neil onto the elevator, I’ll ride down with you. I’d rather not haul him out through the lobby.” She pulled a cell phone out of a small evening bag. “I’ll arrange for members of our pack to meet us at ground level.”
Roarke nodded. “We can do that. Come on, Aidan. Let’s dispose of this unwanted garbage.” He walked over to Neil, who had begun to stir. “He won’t be happy when he comes to, so we need him out of here before then.” He leaned down and grabbed Neil’s feet.
Aidan moved into position and took hold of his wrists. “Should we put a blanket over him? It’s cold out there.”
Roarke looked at his brother. “No.”
“Right.”
Elizabeth sighed. “Taking him out the back way may be silly. I realize it’ll be all over Sniffer soon, but I’d rather not supply a visual to go along with it. You notice I didn’t allow Angela to bring her camera crew up here.”
Upon hearing her name, Angela paused in her cataloging of the details of the scene. “And what will happen to him, pray tell?”
“I have an idea about that,” Howard said. “Now that WOW exists, I propose that we use the council to determine the fate of our rogues. But he’s from the Stillman pack, and we’ll be setting a precedent. Elizabeth, you should weigh in. What do you think?”
“I think that makes perfect sense. Chances are he’d get a much harsher sentence from his pack once they discover he was blackmailing one of us and threatening to expose all of us.”
“I guarantee the council won’t go easy on him, either,” Howard said. “Can you detain him for us temporarily, until we set up our procedures?”
“I most certainly can.”
“If you’d like to transport him to Scotland, I can provide a dungeon.” Duncan seemed quite taken with that idea.
“It’s tempting to turn him over to you, Duncan,” Elizabeth said, “but I can create something very dungeonlike right here.”
“Good.” Howard nodded in satisfaction. “Then we’ll be in touch, and I’ll work something out as soon as possible.”
“I’ll await your instructions.” Elizabeth’s glance fell on Penny. “I’ll arrange for a car to take you home, sweetie.”
“That would be great.”
“Abby and I will walk with you downstairs,” Emma said. “On the way we’ll help you come up with a good cover story to tell Tom. I’m an expert at that kind of thing after keeping my mother in the dark for all this time.”
Penny smiled. “I have a feeling I’m going to be very glad I met you, Emma Wallace.”
Elizabeth surveyed the room with obvious satisfaction. “Then we’re all set.” She started toward the elevator and paused to glance at Kate. “I’ll send a cleaning crew up here right away. They’ll bring replacement lamps for you, as well.”
Kate exchanged a quick glance with Duncan and was fairly sure she knew what he was thinking. “Could you hold off on that until morning?”
Elizabeth frowned. “I can’t imagine why you’d want to put up with this mess until morning.”
Angela looked over at her. “Oh, I can, Elizabeth. There’s nothing wrong with the bedroom.” She batted her glitter-covered eyelashes. “If you get my drift.”
“Oh.” Elizabeth cleared her throat. “Yes, well, I suppose you’re right. Then I’ll be off. I’ll meet the rest of you at the party when this matter is handled.”
“Wait.” Kate stepped cautiously around scattered books and broken lamp parts to give her grandmother a tight hug. “Thank you, Grandma.”
Elizabeth hugged her back just as fiercely. “You were very brave,” she said in a low voice. “You’re going to make a fine alpha.”
“Thank you.” Her throat tightened in a rush of unexpected emotion. She hadn’t realized how much she’d longed to hear those words.
“And we’re outta here,” Emma said. “Penny, I’ve already thought of several excellent excuses to give your mate.”
“Wonderful.” Penny made her way over to Kate and hugged her. “Be happy.”
“I already am.”
Howard cupped his hand under Angela’s elbow. “Time to go, Ms. Sapworthy.” He propelled her toward the front door. “And I want it understood that there will be no more listening at the door tonight.”
Angela looked offended. “I wouldn’t dream of it.” Then she giggled. “I have so many juicy tidbits, I won’t have to listen outside doors for at least another week.”
Kate followed them to the entryway and called out a few more good-byes before closing the door and twisting the dead bolt. Then she turned, walked back into the living room and straight into Duncan’s arms. “Now, where were we?”
“On our way to your bed, milady.” Guiding her gently through the bedroom door, he nudged it closed with his foot, shutting out all the ugliness and closing in all the beauty.
Duncan learned that a dress that fit like a glove and sparkled like a galaxy of stars was extremely complex and difficult to remove from the female wearing it. But he also suspected that this particular dress cost the moon and stars, too, so he finally stopped his search for a way into it. Reluctantly ending a most satisfactory kiss, he drew back.
“You’ll have to get yourself out of that contraption, lass. I canna do it. Or I could, but I’d ruin it for sure. It’s too lovely to ruin.”
Flushed with the effects of his kisses, she smiled, reached under her arm, and pulled down a side zipper.
“Ah, so that’s the trick.”
“That’s the trick. Once the zipper’s undone, it slides off like a peel from a banana.” She demonstrated by pushing it down to the floor and stepping out of it.
His breath caught. She wore nothing but her ruby jewelry, skimpy lace panties, and red high heels. “I’m glad I let you do it. I have to stand back a bit to appreciate the view.” He’d thought his need for her couldn’t get any more desperate. He’d been wrong.
“Do you want me to leave any of this on?”
He shook his head. “It’s a fantasy, I suppose, but…to tell the truth, all I want is you.” He took a deep breath to rein in the wolf in him, a wild creature yearning to take her in a surge of passion that left no room for tenderness. “Just you, Kate.”
Her eyes grew misty. “And I feel the same about you.” She took off the earrings and laid them on the dresser beside her. Then she removed the necklace and put it there, too. Last she kicked off her shoes and removed her lingerie. “Do you…do you have to leave in the morning?”
“I do.” He would hate leaving. He would hate it so much that he didn’t know how to put it into words.
“Oh.”
“Just to settle some things. It might take a week. Is that too long? Perhaps I can do everything in less, but I’m not sure that I can.”
Her expression was endearingly hopeful. “You mean, after this week of settling things, you’ll come back…to stay?”
“Aye. If you’ll have me.”
“Of course I’ll have you!” She rushed into his arms, nearly knocking him over. “I thought you’d have to stay in Scotland. You’d really be willing to live here, with me?”
“You’re to be the pack alpha one day, so that seems like the right choice for us. I can do my writing and my work with the Woofers anywhere. We can visit Glenbarra whenever you’re ready, but for the most part, I think—” He was prevented from further explanation when she began kissing him as if she would never stop.
But finally she did pull back a little, her voice breathless. “But you’re still dressed.”
“So I am.” He regarded her with amusement. “Perceptive of you to notice.”
“I’m no better at taking off a kilt than you are with a side-zipper dress. And I almost forgot. I still don’t know what you have on under it.”
“The usual.”
“That sounds like what you’d say to Angela Sapworthy. It tells me nothing.” Slipping out of his embrace, she stood with her arms crossed. “Proceed, Woofer.”
He undressed for her, and mindful of what Elizabeth had said, he left the kilt on until the very end.
She moistened her lips. “I’ll say this for you. You know how to build the suspense.”
“No point in wearing a kilt if I don’t plan to make the most of it.” And then he took it off.
Her eyes widened and her hand went to her mouth as she gasped. Then she met his gaze and smiled. “So tell me, how does it feel to waltz like that?”
“Waltzing is no problem.” He moved toward her. “There’s enough room between us in case this starts to happen.” He gestured toward his erect penis. “The tango could be a different story. But I’ve lost all interest in dancing.”
“Good. So have I.”
“We have something else we need to do.” He quivered as he thought of what was to happen between them. It was perhaps the most important event of his life. Yet he had no doubt that she was his destiny, his one true love.
“I know.”
He searched her expression. “Are you willing, then, to be bound to me?”
Her gaze didn’t waver as she placed her hand in his. “Yes. You are my soul mate, Duncan MacDowell.”
“And you are mine, Kate Stillman.” His heart pounded. “We’ll plan a proper mating ceremony when I return, but…”
“It’s the binding that counts.” She took a shaky breath. “I know, Duncan.”
He held her hand firmly in his, wanting to make sure there were no doubts. “For life.”
She didn’t hesitate. “For life.”
“Come, then.”
They walked hand in hand to the bed. And there on that firm mattress, as she braced herself on hands and knees, he took her in the traditional way, the position in which Weres had mated since the beginning of time. He took her with murmured promises, with great tenderness, and with love filling his heart. Her body shuddered against his and his cli**x answered.
It was done. His body hummed with quiet jubilation. Against all odds they’d found each other. Despite their differences, they’d defied logic to create this perfectly imperfect union. And he knew without a doubt they would love as a mated pair was meant to love…forever.
Epilogue
WERECON2012:
MACDOWELL/STILLMAN NEW POWER COUPLE!
Exclusive report for Wereworld Celebrity Watch
by Angela Sapworthy
DENVER—As conference delegates take planes, trains, and automobiles home to their respective packs, the buzz is all about the match of the century between Woofer leader Duncan MacDowell and Howler leader Kate Stillman! Who would have guessed three days ago that this warring pair, who stand on opposite sides of all the major problems facing Weres today, would fall in love?
But such are the vagaries of the Were heart, dear readers. Newly elected president of WOW Howard Wallace was more than willing to comment. “By combining forces, Kate and Duncan will help unify the various elements of our fledgling organization without sacrificing its diversity. I couldn’t be happier about their announcement.”
This reporter was privileged to speak with Kate Stillman as she returned, teary-eyed, from taking her one true love to the Denver airport. “I love him desperately,” she said. “We don’t agree on anything else, but we agree that we can’t live without each other.”
And there you have it, my friends. No one can predict where Destiny will lead us. When asked what she thought about Jake Hunter’s new organization, Weres Against Random Mating (WARM), she said, “He has to do what he feels is right. We have a big-tent philosophy in WOW, and I would prefer that he align himself with our organization, but he chooses not to.”