Page 95 of Her Second-Hand Mate

“Dominic Hedge, you big softie,” David laughed, and I didn’t want to break his nose anymore.

“We should probably go say hello to your in-laws,” John said.

I frowned, “Only Isaac is here.”

Neither male asked anything, which I appreciated. Both twins had been reluctant to invite their father. Penelope, because she'd feared he’d decline or say the ceremony was frivolous and unnecessary. Isaac, because he was trying to keep his mate away from his father for as long as possible.

He’d introduced them, of course, but kept a healthy distance between them in order to give her as much fun and freedom as possible before settling down in their pack. I was already dreading their mating ceremony, which was scheduled to be held over the holidays.

I couldn’t blame Isaac. Alpha Hansen and his son’s mate didn’t see eye to eye in many things but were both very stubborn, so it was better to keep them apart unless absolutely necessary. And I wanted Penelope to be happy and enjoy her day – if that meant keeping her father away, so be it.

The ceremony part was a blur. Even under Alpha command, I didn’t think I’d be able to explain why. I was suddenly seized with nerves and jitters and excitement – this was technically my third mating ceremony, but it was the first time I was feeling like this.

Years later, I’d think back on the day, and there would only be flashes of memories: Penelope’s shy but radiant smile, the mirth in her eyes when she saw the dandelion bouquet I had the florist make for her, like she knew something I didn’t.

Her dress was a nod to the one I saw her in at the pup shower the day I’d come back from Spruce Mountain. She looked like a nymph emerging from turquoise sea foam, and her eyes shone with unrestrained love for me while Isaac fastened our hands together with a red ribbon.

I could feel my heart beating in my throat, and as Isaac was speaking the words about love, mates, loyalty, and honor, I silently made my own vows.

I’ll never make you feel unloved again.

I’ll never abandon you again.

I’ll always put you first.

While I’ll probably never hold your hand while driving, I want to hold it any time I’m not.

You’re the most important wolf in my life, and I’ll make sure you know it for as long as we both shall live.

The one thing no one who was present that day would ever be able forget, though, was my Gamma coming to the dais during the speech part of the ceremony. We’d already heard from my mother, Isaac, and Charlotte, and I tried remembering whether Theo was even scheduled to speak, but with Penelope’s warm hand in mine, I couldn’t care less who was up there, talking.

“Hello, everyone,” he started saying, but gone was the confident, at times even aloof male that normally whipped my enforcers into shape.

“Theodore Lucas Hooper,” Theresa hissed from the table next to us. Her sweet pea smell was heated with unbelievable anger, “Get back here!”

“I’m sorry, Tiny, I have to get this off my chest. I need everyone to know how I messed up and how badly I hurt my mate. The one female who is perfect for me.”

He swallowed and fixed his gaze on her.

“You’re perfect, Tiny. You’re so vicious and bossy, and when you clawed my arm earlier when I tried to hold your hand, fuck, it made me hard as a rock,” he explained dreamily as Penelope choked on her drink and Theresa’s face burned bright red.

I didn’t know whether it was from shame, anger, or arousal.

“All my life, I’ve had these urges, some might say less than masculine urges, and I was always worried that my mate would be someone who wasn’t able to respond to that. When we first met, you were so quiet and shy and reticent that it freaked me out, I was terrified that I’d live my life hiding away an important part of me.

But Tiny, you’re the female of my dreams. I want to be your humble servant for as long as we live, and I want you to unleash all that pent-up fury and heat onto me,” he said, and then he was being dragged off the dais by Theresa, and no one saw them for the rest of the evening.

The next day, they were seen in town with marks on their necks, and from that day onward, Theo got into all sorts of petty mischief so that his mate could sort him out.

???

“How long will it take to furnish it?” I asked Darryl, our interior designer.

“It can be done in three weeks when I get your final decisions. But we’re talking after the holidays, right?”

“Yeah, no worries. We’re in no rush. My mate has a way of talking that makes it seem like he’s angry with you, but it’s just how he talks,” Penelope reassured the male, whodidseem worried, now that I looked at him closely.

“Thank you, Luna.”

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