Page 17 of Legally Mated
“Why shouldn’t I get to enjoy my grandson?” she asked, and the hair on the back of my neck stoodonend.
“Just give him some space to feed Zane.” He eased her over toward the door, though it was like water eroding rock, inexorable but slow as forever. I glanced over at Holland, who appeared to be entirely focused on the baby, his back half turned to the room while he curled over his son as if he were expecting anattack.
I heard her huff a little, and felt the sear of her gaze as it swept over me. The air felt heavy, as if she had more to say, but I got the sense that she wouldn’t say it in front of me. It suited me fine—I didn’t need to get into the middle of a family squabble. Or war, which this smelled more like. I had enough going on in my own life, I didn’t need to borrow from someoneelse’s.
But still… As soon as the door closed behind Quin and his mother, I asked, “Youokay?”
“I’m fine.” Holland’s voice was grim. “She won’t be, if shedoesn’tstop.”
The door opened again and Quin slipped in. “She’s gone to Abel’s. Do you want me to sendherhome?”
“I can deal with it. She’s your mother and the pups’ grandmother. And she knows a lot of people. And she’s been Alpha’s Matebefore.”
“I know.” Quin’s tone was wry and he jerked his head at me in a silent request to leave them alone. Quickly as I could, I gathered up my pad and pens and as the door closed behind me, I heard Quin say, “You are exactly the kind of Alpha’s Mate Mercy Hills needs right now, trust me.” And then the door closed between us and I was left standing in the hallway with a snarl of someone else’s worry making itself at home withmyown.
Chapter12
The next day,we headed for the airport and our flight toWashington.
Before I left the city, Bram had been insistent that I should get my suits dry-cleaned, but there hadn’t been time and all I could do was hope that I didn’t look too rumpled. I wore one since I was going as the pack’s lawyer, or legal adviser anyway, and hung the other in the back of the van with Quin’s suits. My bag, with all my other necessities, I tucked into the back alongside the rest of the luggage for Quin’s and Holland’sfamily.
Agatha and Dorian raced out the front doors of the main pack building, shrieking their excitement. Their adoptive parents followed at a more leisurely pace, Quin huge and solid and ruggedly handsome, Holland tall and graceful and stunning in something I suspected had come from his designer friend. He still surprised me with the changes he’d been through, how he’d gone from nearly invisible when he’d first arrived, to… this. Damn, if I could look like that I’d… I’d… I didn’t know what I’d do. Probably wouldn’t have become alawyer.
The thought didn’t appeal to meatall.
Holland had the baby slung across his front in some sort of wrap. I’d seen Bram with one like it, and Bax, now that I put some effort into remembering. It looked convenient. He smiled at me, none of the wary strain that I was used to marring his expression. I didn’t see Quin’s mother at all and wondered what had happened after I’d left yesterday. Certainly Holland looked more relaxedtoday.
“Have you ever been to Washington before?” he asked me, while Quin discussed some last minute details with Mac, who’d be driving us to theairport.
I shook my head. “This’ll be myfirsttime.”
He grinned. “Mine too. It’ll be anadventure.”
The pups came racing around the back of the van and ran straight to Holland. “Can we go now?” Aggie yelped, hanging off Holland’ssleeve.
“Go get in the van. In the back seat!” Holland pointed them toward the open side door and smiled fondly as they raced toward the opening, squabbling about who sat where. “Yes, next to the car seat.” His hand moved gently, hypnotically, over the bulge of the baby in the sling across his chest. The bump squirmed and made a noise and for a moment I was afraid it would start to cry—I hated babies crying. Wasn’t crazy about the babies either, which I supposed made me unnatural, but that was fine. After a moment, little Zane quieted down and Holland gazed down at him with an expression I couldn’t quite name, but which I understood entirely was some formoflove.
“Let’s go,” Quin said, and while he threw a troubled look up at the main pack building, he didn’t try to make anyone wait around. Instead, he carefully helped Holland and his burden get settled into the van, and then we were off to theairport.
The airplane was unnerving, for me at least. I’d never flown, and the trip through security made me so nervous I must have been in danger of breaching some form of human airport etiquette that I didn’t know about, because Holland came to stand beside me at one point. Not quite touching, but close enough that I felt something warm and comforting like fur settle over me, and my nervesquieted.
Quin settled the pups in their seats with a promise of a new coloring book and a brand new pack of crayons after the plane took off. They were over the moon excited over this, bouncing on the seats and fighting to look out the window, and for the first time since Quin had come back to Mercy Hills, I heard him laugh. Holland sat in his seat just on the other side of the aisle from the pups, wearing a contented smile as if this was all he could ever ask for in life. The bulge in the sling stayed safely enclosed in his arms, and his fingers moved mesmerizingly over the mysterious curves it made. And I sat in the seat the farthest from the pups, with Quin between myself and Holland. Not that I thought I had to worry about uncomfortable questions, but it didn’t hurt tobesure.
Our flight went smoothly, except that the baby didn’t seem to like it at all and shrieked madly until Holland draped a blanket over the two of them and then I supposed the dark and warmth soothed the pup back to sleep. My nerves survived tolerably well after that, and I finally allowed myself to feel the excitement that had been building in me since the day we’d finalized thearrangements.
And then we were circling in to land. I craned my neck to peer out the windows, and cursed being in the middle of the airplane. I hadn’t expected so many trees but it almost looked like a forest, and then we got closer, and there was the Washington Monument and we were flying over the river and we came down so close to the water we could have reached out and touched it. It was…marvelous.
Quin came to an abrupt halt as we exited into the main part of the airport. A man and a woman waited in a crowd of people holding signs, their own sign held in front of them with the words “Mercy Hills” printed in neat black lettersonit.
“I guess that’s us,” Quin muttered, and bent to set Aggie on the floor beside her brother, who was hanging off Holland’s free hand. “You can walk, okay? But stay between me andHolland.”
“It’s probably our ride,” Holland murmured, dipping his head close toQuin’s.
Quin sighed and cast a smile in Holland’s direction. “Justincase.”
Holland reached out to pat his cheek. “I thought you were the one with the experience withhumans?”
“I am. It’s what makes me wary. This has been too damn easy so far.” But he took a deep breath and strode out toward the men holding the sign. “I’m Alpha MercyHills.”
