Saved By The Alpha
Chapter 32

Six weeks later

“Neigh neigh!” Bella crowed, practically vibrating in the back seat as Eli parked the car. “Neigh neigh!”

She’d barely gotten any sleep last night. We’d made the mistake of telling the little girl that we’d be visiting Uncle Mav at a ranch last night. Horses and ponies were all she could think about. At the moment, she had all but one horse toy, but I was beginning to suspect that might change very soon. If her excitement kept up, she might even replace Wolfie with a horse!

“Yes,” I said, going around the side of the car to get her out of the seat. “We’re going to see some neigh neighs!”

Bella giggled with glee, attempting to dart up the path as soon as her little feet hit the ground. I held on tightly to her hand and shook my head. “We have to be calm, Bella,” I told her, smiling as I pointed to a horse in a far-off paddock. “They get scared easily. We don’t want to scare them, right?”

I wasn’t sure if that was true for all horses, but the rudimentary research I’d done made it very clear that most horses didn’t love it when you ran at them full tilt. And that’s what humans wrote. I could only imagine it would be worse if a little shifter ran at them — we were still predators, after all. We probably smelled like danger if we weren’t careful.

Bella stopped tugging and looked up, giving me a sage nod. “No scare,” she said, briefly looking more serious than any three-year-old ought to. “Bella nice.”

“Exactly,” I said, beginning to follow Eli as we walked toward the ranch house. “Bella is very nice! We want the horses to know that.”

Thankfully, Maverick’s presence on the front porch seemed to distract her from the horses and chickens. Chickens weren’t even something I’d considered. Bella took one look at them and practically started to vibrate all over again. Eli had said an alpha’s prey drive was higher than other wolves’, but that was a bit more than I had expected!

Maverick crouched down, smiling and waving the arm that wasn’t in a sling. “Hi, Bella,” he said softly.

She paused, pressing a little closer to my leg. After a moment, she waved shyly.

I smiled and crouched down, one hand on her back. “It’s okay,” I told her, “You know Uncle Mav. You played Candy Land with him.”

She nodded slowly and waved again. “Hi,” she said, offering him a shy smile.

Warmth blossomed over Mav’s face. “It’s good to see you,” he told her. She clung to my leg as we all got back to our feet. He glanced between me and Eli, raising a brow. “Not that it’s not good to see you both…but what are we doing here?”

Eli ignored his question for a moment, nodding toward the arm in a sling. “Still healing?” he asked, obviously trying not to frown.

Mav exhaled heavily. “Mhm. Silver bullets,” he said, shrugging his good shoulder. “Dr. Hayes said I was lucky they didn’t shatter, or I wouldn’t be here right now.” He paused, glancing out toward the rolling paddocks. “Said it would be months or even years before I recovered fully.” His expression darkened further. “Or maybe never.”

I nodded, making an empathetic noise. I knew he wouldn’t want any sympathy — but I did know exactly how that felt. The only difference was that Mav’s heart hadn’t been hit.

“Well, I know a few good exercises,” I said. “Or if you ever want to vent.”

“Thanks,” he said, clearing his throat. He gave himself a good shake and fixed his gaze back on Eli, eyes narrowing by a fraction. “You didn’t answer my earlier question. Why are we meeting here?”

“I wanted to give you something,” Eli said simply. He handed over the large envelope he’d been carrying.

Mav paused for a second, and I could almost hear the gears whirring between his ears. After a beat had passed, he took the envelope. “What’s this?”

Eli snorted. “Open it!”

Mav’s brows pinched together, and he gave his friend a hard stare before he took a step back. It took some maneuvering, and I was almost inclined to offer to help, but he got the envelope into one hand and opened it with the other. He almost dropped it before he finally got the papers to come free. His eyes quickly scanned over the documents. Suddenly, he inhaled sharply.

“This is a deed,” he said, gaze jerking back up to us.

“It is,” Eli said, the grin growing on his face.

Mav’s eyes found mine, and I gave a small nod, smiling. “It is,” I said. “It’s all yours. Just like it says.”

“But…” He looked between us again. “Why?”

“Because,” Eli replied, his voice quiet and fond. “You’ve done so much for me. When we were kids. Now. If not for you, I don’t know…” He trailed off, his expression going cold for a moment. He shook his head, discarding the ugly thought. “We couldn’t have done this without you, Mav. I’m not alpha of Longbow yet, so I can’t change your status — but at the very least, I could make sure you had a place to land if you wanted.”

Mav just stared.

I cleared my throat. “You don’t have to keep it if you don’t want to,” I said after a moment, “though we’d both love to be able to see you more often. If you don’t want it, you can sell it. Or donate it. Whatever you want, Mav, it’s yours.” I gave a firm nod.

Bella tugged on my hand then. “Neigh neigh?”

I smiled down at her before looking at Mav. “Bella would like to meet your new horses. Would that be okay?”

That seemed to break the spell that had fallen over Mav, and he cleared his throat. “Well, I guess I’d like to meet my new horses, too,” he said, giving us both a look. “Didn’t know I’d become a horse owner today.” He crouched down then, smiling at Bella. “Let’s go say hello to the black one first. What do you think?”

“Neigh neigh!” Bella crowed happily, trotting over to take Mav by the hand.

“I think that means yes,” I said, happy to follow the two of them off the porch and down the trail.

The next daywas the naming ceremony we’d decided to host for Bella and introduce her as Bella Nova-Archer. We still didn’t know her official birth date, and this seemed like the next best thing. The official adoption within the human legal system was a hassle and a half, but we didn’t want to wait for Bella to feel welcomed by the packs.

I had opted to take Eli’s last name, given we had sealed our mating bond. I didn’t want Bella to feel left out, but I didn’t want to erase her connection to her birth pack, either. Eli and I agreed that by hyphenating her name, she would always have both. When she came of age, she would have the option of becoming Eli’s heir and inheriting Longbow or striking out to restart Crescent Moon. It didn’t matter what choice she made. As long as it was her choice, I would be happy with it.

When we arrived at Remus’ house that afternoon, Luna and Fiona had already decorated with Bella’s favorite things. There were yellow butterflies and rainbows. A lot of the decoration seemed to revolve around sunshine and clouds. There were streamers and balloons, and even chalk laid out for the kids to play with.

Bella didn’t even seem too shy as she trotted over to join Ryland and Rory, giving Luna a little wave as she sat down and picked up a piece of chalk. I beamed, squeezing Eli’s hand as we followed after her. “She’s getting so brave,” I murmured quietly. My heart felt like it grew a little every time I witnessed her make a step forward.

“She is,” Eli agreed, planting a k!ss to my temple. “I can’t wait to keep watching her grow.”

Suddenly, her head jerked up. She scrambled to her feet and zoomed right by us, back toward the door. I spun around, about to dash after her when I realized who was standing there. She greeted Nic with open arms. He bent down to hug her, his face bright. “Hello, beautiful Bella,” he said, giving her a gentle squeeze.

She giggled, giving him a small hug back. “Hi,” she said quietly. “Story?”

Somehow, Nic’s expression got even brighter, delighted that she remembered he read stories to her. “Of course,” he told her, smoothing a hand over her hair. “We can all sit down for a story later, but I think we’re going to do some fun things first.”

She tipped her head to one side.

Nic pointed over to where his grandsons still sat. “Well, there’s chalk. And I think your Auntie Luna made a cake today, too.”

“Cake!” Bella shrieked, bouncing up and down. She tugged on Nic’s shirt. “Cake now?”

I couldn’t help but laugh as Eli shook his head. “Now you’ve really opened the can of worms,” he said, pretending to scold. “I thought you’d know better, having two grandchildren already.”

Nic smiled back before he stood, scooping Bella up with him. She laughed happily. “My grandsons aren’t quite as big as this little lady here,” he replied, shaking his head. “But she will clearly be good training. Isn’t that right, Bella? You’re going to teach me how to be a better grandfather.”

She gave a firm nod. “Yes!” she said, looking around the house. I had no doubt she was trying to spot the aforementioned cake. “Cake now?” She turned and smiled at Nic.

He chuckled. “Soon, I promise,” he said. “Should we go ask your Auntie Luna about it?”

“Yes!” Bella cheered, laughing happily as Nic bounced her.

I watched them walk toward the kitchen and sighed, leaning in toward Eli. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and squeezed me close, pressing a gentle k!ss to my temple. “Are you doing okay?” he murmured quietly, concern tinting his voice. “I know crowds aren’t exactly your favorite.”

He was right, of course. They weren’t. Once upon a time, at a party at Remus’ house, I’d had a legitimate anxiety attack. It felt different now, though, and it wasn’t just because I knew the hosts so much better. It wasn’t that I knew more of the guests either, and it wasn’t a front I was putting on to make sure Bella felt okay. I would, of course, but…I didn’t have to.

I kept leaning against Eli, the smile tugging on my l!ps. “I’m okay,” I replied. I paused and shook my head. “No, I take that back. I’m more than okay. I’m…I’m really, really good.” I turned so we were facing one another as I leaned up, pressing a gentle k!ss to his l!ps as I met his gaze.

“This is the best I have been in such a long time,” I said quietly, forgetting the party that was going on around us. I took both of his hands in mine and gave them a gentle squeeze.

I felt at home. I had found my family — and I had found my pack. The thought made warmth bubble up through my chest, and a bright smile finally broke across my face. “And I have a feeling that we’re only going to go up from here.”