Vega Brothers: Hannibal: BBW Paranormal Romance Pretend Engagement (The Bear Shifters of Vega Ranch Book 4) (11 page)

The gun rang out, deafening her and making her heart stop. She opened her eyes, terrified of what she would see, and gasped. Khan had his strong arms wrapped around her father’s neck. The smoking gun was pointing in the air.

Julius gulped as he patted his hands all over his body looking for bullet wounds that weren’t there. “Phew,” he said with his pale face returning to normal.

Mikki’s father was thrashing around in Khan’s steel grip, cursing and promising to kill each one of them, including his daughter.

Khan exhaled long and slow as he locked eyes with Mikki. Her stomach was rolling as her heartbeat turned sluggish. She knew what she had to do. He would never leave her alone after this and she couldn’t put her new family in danger. Her father would come back with a whole army at his back and would go after Hannibal with everything that he had.

She looked into Khan’s soft eyes and nodded.

Hannibal wrapped his arms around her as she buried her face into his chest and closed her eyes. She heard the snap of a neck breaking as he pulled her in close and kissed the top of her head.

She stayed like that, listening to the thud thump of her mate’s heart, while Khan, Alexander, and Julius walked away with her father’s dead body.

Tears welled up behind her eyelids and poured down her cheeks as relief sunk in. She was safe. Hannibal was safe. And they were free to be together.

Forever.

eleven

“I got one!” Mikki squealed in delight when her fishing line tightened.

“Great,” Hannibal said, jumping up and walking over to her. “Just aim it towards the fish and be ready to reel it in when the fish slows down.”

Mikki’s heart was pounding. They had been by the river all day and she hadn’t gotten a bite. Hannibal was a natural, of course, and now she would finally get to add a fish to the overflowing bucket of all the fish that he had caught.

“Good job,” he said when she started reeling it in. It was a big one. Her arms were already burning as the fish fought for its life. “Keep doing what you’re doing.”

She took a deep breath and pulled up the rod. The fish’s head popped out of the water with the hook pierced through its lip.

“He’s huge,” Hannibal said, leaning over the river to get a better look. “It’s a trout.”

Mikki felt a thickness in her throat as she reeled it in. She kept thinking of all of his fish babies and how pitiful he looked with the hook caught in his lip.

“Can you do it?” she asked, handing Hannibal the fishing rod.

“Okay,” he said, looking confused. He took the rod from her and had the fish out in a few seconds.

She sat down on the ground and stared at the dirt as she spun her engagement ring around her finger.

“Woo!” Hannibal hollered. “You caught dinner!”

Mikki grimaced, wishing that they did something other than fishing today. It had sounded fun but the sight of the fish wiggling in her man’s hands, gasping for breaths that weren’t coming was anything but fun.

“Are you okay?” Hannibal said as he pulled out the hook. “You look a little pale.”

“Can we put him back in?” she asked in a small voice.

Hannibal gazed at her and smiled. “You caught him. You can do whatever you like.”

She took a relieved breath. “Throw him back in.”

Hannibal shrugged and tossed the large trout into the river. “Sorry about your lip,” she whispered as it disappeared under the water.

“Want to go do something else?” he asked, looking at her knowingly.

She just nodded her head.

Hannibal packed their things up while she watched the current of the river. It was a beautiful summer day and the water was sparkling from the reflection of the sun. The breeze picked up, catching her hair and dragging it along for the ride.

“It’s funny,” she whispered. “I felt more sympathy for that fish than I felt for my father.”

Hannibal froze. It had been four days since Khan killed her father and Hannibal had tried to talk to her about it but she had always refused. She hadn’t been ready. But she was ready now.

“I know that he deserved it,” she said. “He killed my friend, Franklin.”

“Was he a shifter?” Hannibal asked.

Mikki sighed, remembering the sweet kid who she was best friends with in her teens. He was shy and quiet but he was always cracking jokes just for her. He was just an insecure, gentle soul with a heart of gold who was hiding two secrets: his homosexuality and his inner antelope.

She opened up to Hannibal telling him of how Franklin was over at her house one time and he had phased into an antelope while they were listening to music in the basement. Mikki had run to get her father who was in the military and seemed to have answers for everything. Her father just stood at the bottom of the stairs and glared at the animal in his basement. The look on his face still gave Mikki shivers.

A week later Franklin had disappeared. His parents were a mess and Mikki herself was just as bad. The whole town was on the lookout for him but it was like he just vanished into thin air.

His body was found two weeks later, dead in Sierra Leone. It was the middle of the country’s civil war and his body was found by a journalist just lying on the steps outside of the capital.

Franklin’s parents were shocked and utterly confused. Franklin had never left the state, let alone the country, and he had no ties to Sierra Leone at all. “I don’t think he could have pointed the country out on a map,” his mother had said. They wondered how a teenager with no money and no passport could get to a war-torn country without any flags being raised.

Mikki had her theories. And they all pointed to her father. She could never prove it but she always knew that he was somehow behind her best friend’s disappearance.

Her father deserved to die. Not just for what he did to Franklin but for what he did to her fiancee, her soon to be brother-in-laws and humanity in general. The planet didn’t need men like him on it.

Khan had apologized to her after he broke his neck. He felt really bad. She had just hugged him and kissed his cheek. He did the right thing. She knew it all along.

“Wow,” Hannibal said when she had finished the story. He was staring at the river speechless. “I had no idea.”

“He wasn’t a good man,” she said, shaking her head. “You are. I’m glad you won.”

“Me too,” he said, inching up beside her. He wrapped his arm around her waist and she dropped her head onto his shoulder, enjoying the view of the river. Two cardinals landed on a rock that was jutting out of the water. They sang a little tune for them and then flew off, leaving a smile on her face.

“About our wedding,” she said, trailing off.

“We can put it on hold if you want,” Hannibal said with a hint of sadness in his voice. “I know that you’ve been through a lot.”

“No,” she said, smiling at his kindness. “I want to get married today.”

“Huh?” he said, tilting his head to the side. “Nothing is planned.”

“We don’t need a plan,” she said, inhaling his intoxicating scent. “We just need each other. Let’s go to the city hall and get married. I don’t want to live another day without you as my husband.”

Hannibal jumped to his feet and yanked her up to hers, making her laugh. “Let’s go,” he said, throwing her over his shoulder. He grabbed the bucket of fish, the rods and took off running with Mikki laughing as she bounced over his shoulder.

Hannibal’s heart felt so big that it was going to explode. He stared into Mikki’s eyes as the municipal clerk married them. He had waited for this moment for what felt like so long and he was shaking with anticipation. Nothing could have made this moment more special. All he wanted was to call Mikki his wife. He wanted it as soon as possible.

Mikki smiled as the clerk got to the end of his speech. “Do you Michelle Samson take Hannibal Vega to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

Mikki smiled as she said yes.

He asked Hannibal and he said yes so fast that it made Mikki laugh.

“By virtue of the authority vested in me under the laws of the State of Montana,” the man said. “I now pronounce you husband and wife.”

He looked at Hannibal with a grin. “You may kiss the bride.”

Hannibal lunged forward and kissed Mikki with everything that he had. It was such a long kiss that the clerk got tired of waiting and patted him on the back as he left. “Congratulations,” he said as he walked out the door.

“Mrs. Vega,” Hannibal said when he finally pulled away.

“I like that,” Mikki said with a satisfied grin. “Mikki Vega.” Hannibal watched her lips as she said it and he just had to kiss her again.

“Do you think your brothers will get mad that we got married without them there?”

Hannibal laughed. “You mean your brother-in-laws?” he asked with a grin. “And no. They’re going to thank you for getting them out of wearing a tie for the night. The girls on the other hand…”

“This was all that I wanted,” she said, squeezing his hand. “We can make it up to all of them.”

Hannibal grinned. “I know just the way.”

“Where the hell have you guys been?” Khan asked as Mikki and Hannibal walked onto the balcony. It was such a beautiful night with the sun casting purple hues in the sky as it set behind the mountains. There was a warm breeze and the air felt electric. Everyone was sitting around the table eating the trout that Hannibal had caught earlier. “I cooked all this trout.”

“Where do you think they were?” Bailey asked, raising an eyebrow at her man. “Not everybody chooses food over sex.”

“That’s just crazy talk,” Khan said, shaking his huge head and grabbing another piece of fish.

Hannibal stepped forward with his mate’s hand in his. He looked at his brothers with pride brimming from his eyes.

“We got married!” he said, holding up her hand.

“What?!?” Julius said as the girls jumped up and screamed. Hannibal squeezed Mikki’s hand as his brothers and their mates swarmed over them with congratulations and cheers.

“So, you got married,” Julius said, cocking his head to the side. “Let’s see it.”

Hannibal pulled a folded paper out of his pocket and held it up. “Our marriage certificate. The deed to the Vega Ranch will be ours.”

Julius, Khan, and Alexander all cheered and pounded the table as the girls clapped in delight.

Julius snatched it out of his hands and looked it over. “It’s officially ours,” he said, pumping his fist.

“Who would ever have known that Dad was right all along?” Khan said, shaking his head.

“Not me,” Alexander said.

“Definitely not you,” Julius said, making everyone, including Alexander laugh.

“He was a smart man,” Hannibal said, sitting at the table with his new bride. “I guess we didn’t give him enough credit.”

Khan sniffed as his eyes teared up. “I wish he could see his boys now.” He looked at the women sitting around the table. “You ladies would have loved him,” he said, wiping his eye. “And he would have loved each one of you.”

Alexander took Elena’s hand in his and kissed it. “If he never made the will I would never have found the love of my life.”

Elena raised her glass. “I’ll drink to that.”

They all clinked their wine glasses, took a sip and sat in a moment of quiet reflection. Hannibal missed his father terribly. He had been so angry with his father about getting forced to take on a mate and a wife but now he was just thankful. His father knew what was best for them all along and did whatever it took to make his boys see that. Well, they finally did. Each one of them.

“We love you, Dad,” Julius said, raising his glass to the sky. Ava wrapped her arms around his and kissed his shoulder.

Hannibal looked up and smiled.

The warm breeze picked up causing the hairs on Hannibal’s arms to stand up. He felt a tingle over his body as the sky turned from a soft purple to a fiery red as the sun moved down an inch.

He smiled. It seemed like his father was sending him a hug through Mother Nature with a nod from the heavens. It was probably nothing but Hannibal took it as a sign of love.

I love you too, Dad.

epilogue