Page 69 of Tamed Wolf

I wait for her to exhale and relax into my arms, shaking her head no. “I'm fine. Really. It's a relief to know I won't accidentally run into them at the grocery store or something.”

“It's okay if you're taking it hard, though. Even if they were a bad part, they were still a big part of your life for a long time. They fathered your child. It's okay to feel mixed emotions about this. You're allowed to be sad for it, even while you're celebrating.”

She spins and straddles me again, kissing me. “Thank you, for always knowing exactly what I need to hear.” She rests her head against mine, calming herself back down. “It'll be an adjustment, and I can't say I won't think about them from time to time, but thank you guys for all the work you've been doing to solve that problem for me. I think this is the perfect solution.”

“I do, too. I’ve heard the wolves in charge of The Wilds are pretty hard-core. Hopefully Ivan and Trevor will finally come to realize they ain’t shit.”

“Hey Lark, do you have a second?”

Lark turns her head to see Brooklyn, offering her a real smile. “Of course.” She stands up and takes a few steps away, staying in sight of me and my brothers, who are now on the other side of the fire talking to people.

I don't want to be nosy, but I do want to make sure nobody's upsetting her. The women both smile a little, and even end the conversation with the teary hug. Lark looks genuinely happy for her. And then Brooklyn turns to the tree line to beckon somebody forward, and I'm up out of my seat quickly, because Camden is here.

“Easy, Alpha,” he says quickly, baring his neck in submission. “I'm not here to cause trouble.”

My grunt is all I say in response, making it clear I won't leave my girl's side. “Actually it's good you're here,” he tells me. “I'm starting my mandatory volunteer work at the shelter tomorrow, doing repairs and such.”

“Did you hear about the club?” Lark asks him with zero voice affectation.

He nods, clearly upset about it, but wise enough not to say anything negative. “I did. I'm happy that the shelter is going to get something it needs. And mom,” he says, giving her his sole focus, “I'd like to work on this. Whenever you're ready. I know it's going to take time, but I've been doing a lot of thinking and asking questions I never thought to ask, learning things I wish I could unlearn.

“I'm so sorry,” he says as his voice breaks, and he falls to his knees in front of Lark. “I'm so damn sorry, Mom. I don't think I wanted to know how bad it was for you, because I felt like a king. I just told myself you were fine, that you smiled enough so it couldn't be too bad, and that I'd deal with it later. Well, later never came, did it?”

He's full on crying now, and he bends down to put his head on the forest floor in front of my mate, showing submission and respect. “I'm going to find a way to make everything up to you, Mom. I promise. I don't want to throw my life away like they did, I want to be better.” This he aims at Brooklyn, who seems somewhat affected by the speech, too. I can tell there's a promise in those words to her, that that promise goes for her as well.

“And I don't want to ruin your night,” he continues, “but I just wanted you to know that I love you. I love you, and thank you for everything you've given up for me. I know I've been such an asshole, but I'm going to try and earn my way into being the son you should have had all along. I…want to be there for you, to be a part of your life again. My head is starting to clear, and I’ve lost the rose-colored glasses. I want my dads to pay for everything they did to you, and I know I need to pay for my part in that, as well.”

He doesn't wait for her to respond, but he does press his forehead into the tops of her shoes before shifting and running off.

“We'll talk more later, okay?” Brooklyn asks, gently holding Lark’s arm in comfort before turning off with her mates to go run. Cam pauses before disappearing, sending up a loud howl to the moon in Lark’s honor.

Well.

I start looking around as my brothers come up to meet us, trying to see if there are any more surprises we need to deal with. “Looks like we're getting our happy ending, doesn't it? Everything seems to be falling into place.”

Lark smiles and nods, easily falling into the middle of all three of us without much thought. “Couldn't have planned it better if I wrote it myself,” Lark says, still slightly in shock and maybe a little hesitant about her son's speech. “I hope working at the shelter teaches Camden some godsdamned manners. I think he's got himself a good mate though. She's gonna make him work for it, which is exactly what he needs.”

“Speaking of needs…”

“You're not fucking me here, Beckett,” she spits, eyes amused but trying not to be, before yanking her shirt off.

She steps out of her jeans, making me want to groan at how luscious her legs look in the firelight. Nobody else is looking, because they like their tongues and their eyes attached to their bodies, but then she shifts into a gorgeous wolf, and we're all staring at her, so damn happy it hurts.

She nips at my ass trying to get me to play, and there's no way I'm going to leave her hanging. I playfully snap my jaw at her once I’m shifted as well and I pounce on her, having an incredible time rolling through the pine needles and chasing her through the trees.

As we run, it's almost as if we can feel mother moon smiling down at us, encouraging us to live life to the fullest and make every moment important.

We run as a pack, the paws of the pack at large surrounding us, and the knowledge that when we're all tired and ready to go home, Lark will be in our arms between us, while our son she's decided to adopt (we had to persuade her hard for that one, let me tell you) sleeps down the hall, safe and sound in his room that Lark has been filling with all sorts of books they can read together.

We’ll figure out how our work schedule looks, and we'll start showing Lark the ropes when it comes to construction because she's decided that's something she wants to do with us.

So our little family’s going to flourish and be the happiest, most awful to be around pack in existence.

Me and my brothers don't care if she tames the shit out of us, because we've never been better.

I’m not sure about everything our future will bring, but I do know I’ll have the strength of my pack behind me, braving and overcoming anything.

We might have started our story as broken wolves, and goddess knows we all got lost along the way, but thanks to Lark taking a chance on us, and a big helping of luck and guidance from the goddess, we’re ending this story with an ellipsis.

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