Every Sunset Forever (19 page)

“One for each of us,” he said to Nyte as he lifted the ring from the velvet and looked at it closely.  Az handed the ring to Nyte, who held it between his index finger and thumb.

Giving Az a smile, Nyte said to the woman, “We’ll take it.  It’s perfect.”

Az grinned so widely his cheeks hurt.  He reached into his pocket and removed a ring that he had swiped from the small jewelry box that Whisper had set on the dresser in the master.  The woman took the ring and went to measure it to see if the new band needed to be sized to fit.

“What else do we need to do today?” Az asked.

Nyte glanced at his watch.  “I’ve got a client at two.  You can use Fade’s office.  You need to make reservations for dinner tomorrow, and I told Mack that you’d call today and check in with him.”

Az nodded.  Most of the wedding plans would be handled on Mack’s end.  He was utilizing Whisper’s brothers and two best friends, who had already called that morning to ask what they could do to help.  Nyte had contacted Whisper’s birth parents while Whisper was taking a shower, and they were thrilled to be included in the wedding plans.  Their entire
baro
was going to arrive at Beyton on Friday night, under the guise of watching Whisper perform her last show with her brothers and their band.  Mack was making hotel arrangements.

“The rings are the same size, you lucked out,” the woman said as she returned, handing Whisper’s ring to Az.  Nyte pulled his wallet out to pay as Az’s phone buzzed, and he stepped away from the counter to answer.

“Hi, Mom,” Az said.  They’d called their family earlier that morning to invite them to the wedding.  Dante’s clan and Orion’s clan were also going to make the trip.

“I had a really nice conversation with Whisper’s mother, Lena, just a bit ago.”  She stopped talking, and Az’s back went stiff.  Was something wrong?

“Mom?”

“Are you sure about living in Kentucky, honey?  I know that you followed Dante there, but it’s so far from her family.  Both of them.”

The familiar pang of guilt that had been riding him since they learned of Whisper’s history came back full force.  He rubbed at the space between his eyes with his thumb.  “She says she’s happy here.”

“Are you sure?”

“No.”

She hummed in her throat.  “Well, I just wanted you to know that as your mom, I love you and I want you to be happy.  As the mother-in-law, I think that you need to think long and hard about where Whisper’s true happiness is.  Yes, home is where you make it, and she may be a hyena but she was raised as a wolf.  Your fathers spoke to Mack this morning, and he is an honorable male and raised her to respect her people and traditions even though they’re not really her own.  If she’d been raised as a hyena, it wouldn’t be a hardship to move with you, I don’t think, because she would have known that was a possibility.  Thinking as a wolf, though, she was planning to settle down in the pack.”

“I love you, Mom.”

“Of course you do.  I’m wonderful.”  She chuckled.  “Your dads and I are paying for the flowers for the ceremony, by the way, as our way of contributing.”

“Thanks.”

They said goodbye, and he turned back to see Nyte accept a small black and white striped bag.  “Something up?”  Nyte asked as he joined Az and they left the store.

Az shared their mom’s concern for Whisper’s happiness.

They walked in silence through the mall.  It wasn’t until they were in Nyte’s truck that he finally spoke.  “After the wedding, we’ll ask her where she wants to live.  No matter where she chooses, it’ll be home for us because she’s there.”

Az agreed.  He held the bag on his lap; the slight weight of it, and the knowledge that it held the perfect ring for her, was enough to make him want to dance a jig or break out into song.  On Saturday, they’d ask her to marry them.  Then they’d surprise her with their wedding, and her entire family — birth and adopted — would be there to share in their special day.  He couldn’t think of anything more fitting to celebrate their new lives together than sharing it all with the people she loved.

* * * * *

Fade was lucky enough to be able to stay home with Whisper on Friday as well.  While his brothers trudged off to work, Fade pulled her into the bedroom.  She laughed.

“You’re insatiable.”

“Only when it comes to you, sweetheart.  You need to change; we’re going shopping.”

“Oh?”  Her brow arched.  “Change into what?”

He tugged her hand, and she followed him into the walk-in closet in the master.  “A skirt.”

He flipped through the clothes on hangers as she watched him with an amused expression.  “Why a skirt?”

“Because.  Aren’t you curious why we’re going shopping?”

She hummed in her throat.  “I’ll bite.  Why?”

He pulled a short black skirt from a hanger and held it up at her waist.  It would hit about mid-thigh and he’d get to peek at her sexy legs which were currently covered with jeans.  “We’re going to Manning’s tomorrow night for dinner, and it’s upscale.  I like your clothes, but we’ll all be wearing suits, and you don’t have anything really dressy.”

“Aw.  That’s sweet.  But why do I need to wear a skirt now?”

“Because I like you in them.”

“Ah.”  She undid her jeans and wiggled them down her hips with far more effort than was most likely necessary.  But he didn’t mind.  Her white lace panties came into view, and she grinned slyly and then looked over her shoulder at the bed.  “Time for a quickie?”

“Alyssa, Dante, Sydney, and Sterling are meeting us at the mall, so no, we don’t really have time for a quickie.  Besides, I like taking my time with you.”

She kicked the jeans away and reached for the skirt he held out.  “I like that, too.”

When the skirt was fastened, she turned in a circle for him, and he was, for just a moment, compelled to toss her on the bed and stay home.  She walked out of the closet, and he followed, his gaze straying to her ass and the gentle sway of her hips as he followed her down the stairs to the first floor.

When they were on their way, the heat kicked on in the truck, and the sweet scent of her arousal drifted to him.  He loved the way she smelled when she was turned on.  Suddenly, all he could think of was making her come.

“Take off your panties,” he said, his voice already gruff from the arousal that was spiking through him.

“What?”

He glanced at her with a raised brow.  “If I have to repeat myself, then we’re not going to play.”

There was only a heartbeat while he turned his attention back to the road, where she sat frozen next to him, and then she slid down further in the seat.  Slipping her feet from her low heels, she arched her body off the seat as her hands disappeared under her skirt.  He clenched the steering wheel and concentrated on the road, glancing frequently as she shimmied out of her panties and tucked them into the cup holder between them.

“Are you wet, baby?” he asked.

“I’m always wet for you.”

He growled.  That was a good answer.

They came to a stoplight, and he braked, looking at her.  “Show me.”

Her fingers dragged the skirt up until her bare pussy was visible, a silky coating of her arousal on the lips of her sex.  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the light turn green, and he looked back to the road.

They were only about ten minutes from the mall.  He liked teasing her, but he didn’t want her to be miserable while they shopped.  He really wanted to watch her, anyway.  Flipping on the turn signal, he turned right down a side street and followed it to the parking lot of what had once been a craft store but was now an abandoned building.

“What are we doing here?” she asked as he pulled around the back of the building where they would be hidden from the street.

He parked, taking a moment to look around and make sure they were alone, and then he unbuckled his seatbelt and turned to face her.  One of her hands gripped the hem of her skirt as it rested above her exposed pussy, and the other stroked the inside of her thigh.

“We’ve got time, I want to watch you.”

Her hand flexed on her thigh, and he heard her heart speed up as she held his gaze.  Her pink tongue darted out to wet her lips, and a small smile curved up at the corner of her mouth.  He reached out, unbuckling her seat belt, and then wrapped a lock of her hair around his index finger, tugging slightly.  She blinked slowly and exhaled, spreading her legs apart.  She let go of her grip on her skirt and stroked her hands up the inside of her thighs.  Her fingers played up her slit, and she lowered her gaze and looked at her glistening fingertips.

Peeking up at him for only a heartbeat, she spread her pussy lips open, and the tight pearl of her clit was exposed.  He ground his teeth together and gave another light tug to the lock of hair he held.

Dipping one finger into her pussy, she circled her clit, moaning softly.  Her finger circled her clit lazily as the fingers of her other hand held her spread open for his gaze.  Her pussy was pink and glistening, and his cock had never been harder.

“I want to see you,” she said softly, rubbing her fingertip along the side of her clit, her hips lifting.

“This is just you, baby.”

“Will you do it for me, sometime?  Let me watch you touch yourself?”  Her finger moved faster, flicking the top of the bud rapidly.

“You like watching, too?”

“Just you.”  She let go of her pussy lips and gripped his wrist with her hand, her finger rubbing hard and fast over her clit as her hips lifted again and again.  “Just us.”

“Fuck, babe, you’re so hot, so fucking sexy.”

She shuddered and groaned, sinking her teeth into her bottom lip as her nails dug into his wrist.  She shouted his name, and he couldn’t stop himself from leaning forward and sliding two fingers inside her hot, wet depths, pumping her hard as the pleasure rolled over her.

“Please, please, fuck me, please,” she gripped his hand and fucked herself on his fingers, her head thrashing as she shivered and jerked.

His whole body trembled as he straightened in the seat and reached for the button on the side that moved it back from the steering wheel.  She crawled over top of him as he struggled to lower his jeans and release his throbbing cock.  When it sprang free from the confines of his jeans, she slammed her body against his, her knees digging into his sides as she gripped his face with her hands and kissed him.

“So good.”  She panted the words into his mouth, lifting and lowering her body as much as the position would allow in the tight space of the truck.

He wasn’t going to last.  Her body was a heaven he’d never get enough of.  Her hot channel fisted him.  He gripped her hips and helped her ride him.  Her head kicked back, and she moaned loudly, scratching his neck with her nails.

“One more, baby,” he urged, meeting her thrusts with his own, pushing himself into her again and again, lost to everything but the tight, hot feel of her pussy around his cock.

It didn’t take much to push her over the edge, as she wiggled her clit with her fingers and screamed his name once more.  When she screamed, he came hard, grinding his hips up and snarling her name as he climaxed.  She collapsed against him with a mewling cry, shuddering and writhing on him like a live wire.

Stroking his hands up under her top, he kissed her temple and pulled her closer.  “I love you, Whisper, my sweet little exhibitionist.”

She giggled and sighed.  “I love you, too, but now I’m all relaxed and comfy.  I could take a nap.”

He chuckled.  “I’ll let you rest after we find something for you to wear for our dinner out tomorrow.”

She peeked up at him.  “Maybe I don’t want to rest later.”

“Whatever my baby wants.”

“Damn skippy.”

Chapter 15

Whisper reached for her panties to slip them back on once she’d managed to climb back into her own seat and adjust her clothes.  Fade shook his head and shoved the panties into his front pocket.

“I’m sticky,” she protested.

“If you put the panties on now, they’ll get sticky, too.  When we get to the mall, you can stop in the bathroom and clean up.”

“Then you’ll give me back my panties?”

His brows wiggled. “Maybe.”

Silence settled in the truck as he drove, but she didn’t mind.  She was content to just be with him alone.  He’d stayed home with her more over the last week than Nyte and Az did, just because of their schedules, but he’d been busy and she had spent most of her days working on the music for the song.  She’d Skyped with Kayne so he could help her with the music.  She planned to sing it before Bliss’s birthday party the following Friday night as a present for her mates.

She missed her dad and brothers terribly, but she was getting used to being in Dalton.  She’d never thought of living anywhere but with the wolf pack in the busy town of Beyton, so being in the slow-paced Kentucky town was a change, but she could live in a cardboard box with her mates and still be happy.

Fade pulled into a parking space and turned off the engine.  She waited for him to come around and open her door.  All of her mates were gentlemen to the core, and she liked being treated like a lady.  Even if at the moment, his come was starting to leak from her still-tingling pussy.

He took her hand and they walked towards the mall.  He held the massive glass door for her, and she smiled in thanks as she walked inside.  Her gaze immediately found the large directory a few yards into the mall, and they walked to it.  She found the nearest bathroom, and they headed in that direction.

As they stopped in front of the hallway that led to the bathrooms, he said, “I just got a text from Dante; they’re in front of Macy’s.”

“I’ll just be a minute.”  She held out her hand and waited.

“What?” He tried to pull off an innocent look, but she knew his mind was far too wicked for that.

“You know what.  Give me my panties, you naughty boy.”

He snagged her around the waist with a short growl.  “I’m naughty?  I think we’re at least tied in naughtiness.”

She reached into his front pocket and pulled out her panties, rolling them into a ball in her hand.  He brushed his lips against hers and released her, reluctantly.  “I’ll hurry.”

He winked at her, and she blew him a kiss, turning with a smile and walking down the hallway towards the signs for the bathroom.  She turned a corner, squeezing the ball of her panties as a happy tingle wove through her.  Maybe they could stop on the way home for another quickie.

Rounding the corner towards the ladies’ bathroom, someone grabbed her arm from behind and pressed something hard into her back, pushing her towards the wall.  A low voice, dark and laced with fury, growled into her ear, “If you don’t come with me quietly, I’m going to kill the male who’s waiting for you.  Make a sound or try to call for help, and I’ll put a bullet into that young girl’s head.”

Whisper swallowed hard as she made eye contact with a little girl who was holding hands with a woman and walking towards them.

“I won’t.  Please don’t hurt anyone.”

“Keep your mouth shut,” he growled.  His body was vibrating with tension as he waited for the woman and young girl to pass by.

“Why are you doing this?”

“Be quiet, Dawn,” he hissed, his hand flexing on her arm.

“Dawn?  My name is Whisper.”

He growled angrily.  She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, settling her flying pulse.  When she opened her eyes, she saw that the hallway was empty and knew that time had run out.  As the man began to pull her away from the wall, it was clear that nothing good was going to happen.  She’d been raised a fighter, and she wasn’t about to just wander away with a stranger.

Her beast roared to the surface, her hands shifting to claws as her body trembled with her oncoming shift.  She shoved away from the wall and knocked back into the man, throwing him off balance.  He shouted in alarm as she spun, slashing with her claws and calling Fade’s name.  Her beast took over, her clothes shredding as she shifted completely.

The man hit the floor with a thud, and she attacked, her teeth and claws ripping through his clothes as he shrieked in alarm.  She was furious, her beast raging that the stranger had threatened not only her but her mate and her
baro.
  She heard the pounding of feet, and a thick arm wrapped around her neck and pulled her away from her attacker.

“Baby, it’s me,” Fade snarled as she struggled.  When she heard his voice and realized she could hurt him, she stilled in his arms as he backed away.  People gasped in alarm as the man moaned on the floor, clutching his stomach as blood pooled around him.

She didn’t know who he was, but she’d stopped him from taking her and protected her mate.  Lifting her muzzle, she howled, the sound echoing in the hallway as security guards called for backup from the police and an ambulance.

* * * * *

Fade held his mate’s shifted form in his arms as the male lay unmoving on the floor while paramedics surrounded him.  One minute he’d been watching her walk down the hallway with her sexy ass swaying, and the next minute he’d heard her shout his name and then scented blood.

He’d never expected to find her in her shift, attacking a male, her fur covered with blood and her clothes shredded on the ground.  She trembled in his arms, and hadn’t stopped growling since he’d pulled her away from the male.

“Who the fuck is he, baby?”  He stroked her throat and held her a little more firmly to his chest.

She whined softly and turned her head, licking his jaw.

A police officer strode toward him.  “Is your mate okay?”

Fade looked at him in surprise. He’d been prepared to defend her from humans who might think she was dangerous or a real hyena.

The officer smiled ruefully as he looked to where the paramedics were lifting the male onto a gurney.  “I’m a wolf.  I can tell she’s a shifter, and judging from the way you’re holding her protectively, I’m guessing you’re her mate.”

“I am.  Her name is Whisper Callahan, and I’m Fade Stone.”

The paramedics raced out of the emergency exit to a waiting ambulance, taking the male with them.  The officer looked down the hallway to where a woman and a young girl stood.  “That woman said the male looked suspicious.  She was walking out of the bathroom with her daughter when she saw him grab your mate.  She didn’t hear anything, but she thought he looked very threatening and she went straight to the security station.  She asked them to send someone to check things out.  The security officers arrived, clearly, after she shifted.”

Fade’s phone buzzed — and had been buzzing for several minutes — and he ignored it.

“She’ll be in her shift for a few hours,” Fade said.

“I understand.  I can take you both to the station, and you can wait out her shift.  After we get her statement, you can take her home.”

The officer moved away to speak with the mall security, and Fade hugged Whisper closer with one arm and dug his phone out of his pocket.  He dialed Dante, who had been calling him.  “There’s been a problem.  Call my brothers and tell them to meet us at the police station.  Can you guys come down here to the first floor bathroom?  It’s right by the entrance.”

“Are you alright?  Is Whisper okay?”

“We’re fine, but it looks like someone tried to abduct Whisper, and she shifted into her hyena form and attacked.  The police want to get her statement, but it’s going to be a few hours until she’s able to talk.”

Dante blew out a sharp breath.  “We’re on our way.”

Fade slid the phone back into his pocket and hugged her closer.  He rubbed his fingers through the softer fur around her neck.  “I’m so sorry, baby.”  He nuzzled her cheek.  “I’m sorry you had to defend yourself because I wasn’t here.”  He gave her ears a tussle.  “But damn if you didn’t do a kickass job.”

She made a huffing sound, and he swore she rolled her eyes at him.  He wasn’t sure of the scenario, but if Whisper attacked then she was provoked.  The smartest thing she could have done was shift, and she had.  It killed him that she’d had to protect herself, but he was damn proud of her for doing it.

An hour later, he sat in the police chief’s office on an old, worn leather couch with Whisper’s head on his lap, his brothers pacing, and Dante talking to the chief.

Dante walked over to him and his brothers, and Whisper lifted her head with a curious whine.

“There’s a problem.  The guy that Whisper attacked fled when the paramedics opened the back of the ambulance and pulled his gurney out.  They chased after him, but he disappeared.”

“Fuck,” Fade said.

“I guess in a way it’s good news, because the paramedics said there was no way he could survive for long without medical help.  Apparently her claws did some real damage to his abdomen and legs, and they believe that if he hasn’t already bled out, he will soon.”

Nyte said, “He could show up at another hospital.”

The chief said, “We have an APB out to the local hospitals.  So far, he hasn’t made an appearance.  If and when he does, we’ll arrest him.”

Whisper made a soft, whining sound, and Az dropped to his knees in front of the couch and hugged her, rubbing his fingers through her fur.  “Not your fault, sweetheart.  The important thing is that you’re safe, and we’re going to make sure you stay that way.”

Dante said, “I want you guys to come stay at the house until we figure out what the hell is going on.  We were going to head down to the den after the full moon, so we’ll go down now and you can stay in the guest room on the second floor.  I’d feel better knowing that we were all close rather than having you guys in town in the apartment.”

Nyte nodded.  “I agree.  Thanks for the offer, we’ll come as soon as she gives her statement.”

Dante left to head home.  Sterling had taken Alyssa and Sydney home when they had headed to the police station.  Fade knew that Dante was anxious to get home to his mate.

* * * * *

Ian paced in the cramped hotel room.  Their dad had gone off the rails.  Brin had been right.  Something was off about the whole situation.  They’d been following Dawn for two weeks and had seen her again and again with the same males from the
gathering.
  And then Ian had seen a scar on her neck and known for sure that she was mated.  Which meant that no matter what their father had told them their whole lives, Dawn was mated to a hyena clan and moving on with her life.  It was time for them to do the same.

When they had confronted their father earlier that day, he’d gone berserk.

“No, no, no,” he shouted, practically howling in anger.  “This is what your mother would have wanted for you!  Dawn is perfect.  I
chose
her.”

Quill clenched his hands into fists.  “What about what we want, Dad?  Our whole lives you’ve told us that Dawn is the one for us.  We’ve searched everywhere for her, following you on this crusade to get her back.  But she doesn’t want us; doesn’t even know we exist!  And now she’s mated. What would you have us do?  Pull her from the arms of her mates and demand she become ours?  Have you lost your mind?”

Their dad gripped his hair and let out a frustrated wail.  Brin approached slowly and put his hands on his shoulders.  “Dad, why did you think she was right for us?  You told us that good hyena parents picked out their sons’ mates, but how come none of the other hyenas had parents at the
gathering
?”

“How could you even think to know she was right for us when we were kids?”  Quill asked suspiciously.

Ian raised a brow, frowning.  “Where did Dawn come from?  Why were you going to get her and bring her to live with us?”

Their dad let out an angry snarl and pushed away from them.  He pressed his forehead to the wall and slapped his hand on the nearby desk a few times.  But he never said anything coherent, only muttered to himself and then stormed out of the hotel room and drove off.

He’d turned off his cell so they hadn’t been able to reach him, and he’d been gone for hours.  Ian was starting to really worry.

Brin pulled aside the ugly striped drapes and looked out at the parking lot.  “He hasn’t been the same since we saw Dawn.  I wish we’d never seen her.”

Quill leaned against the desk.  “I feel the same way.”

Brin gasped, “Oh no!” and rushed to the door, throwing it wide open.  Down on his knees, their father clutched at blood-soaked gauze pressed to his stomach.  “I’m sorry,” he gasped as all three of them grabbed him before he hit the ground.

“Shit!  Dad!”  Quill yelled.

Ian lifted his father into his arms and rushed to the car, his brothers right with him.  “Fucking get us to the hospital, Quill!”

Brin wrenched open the back door, and Ian climbed inside, frantic when his father groaned and made a rasping sound.