Chapter 31
Willow
Wyatt was rushed to my place as it was closest, but the three large wolves that carried him up the steps hardly fit in the stairwell. Once they’d laid him down, Sandra shooed them away to give the witches room to work.
Jordyn managed to get all the silver residue out.
Still, it had taken a frightening toll on Wyatt, who remained unconscious in my bed.
Citrine, the owner of the crystal shop, had come to help Jordyn and Iris with the healing spell work.
There was no way to tell if Wyatt had any further internal injuries without taking him to the hospital, which Eloise and Sandra rejected harshly.
But Citrine was the most powerful healer in town, so I knew he was in good hands.
He only needed a few stitches, but due to how risky it was to treat him after such an adrenaline-inducing fight, it was safer for the witches to knock him out with a blend of wolfsbane, poppy essence, and chamomile.
It wasn’t until the fifth time Citrine had told me he was going to be okay that I managed to take a deep breath and let myself fall apart. To see someone as strong as him slipping in and out of consciousness wrecked me. Harlow held me in her arms for as long as it took for the tears to dry up.
The rest of the pack had long since gone home to wait to hear that their alpha had been healed.
It wasn’t easy, but after Jordyn had confirmed he’d be okay, they’d relented.
Their faith in the witches’ healing abilities was all they’d needed.
Before she’d left, Sandra had looked at me with disdain in her eyes as she’d said, “Tell me when they wake him.”
I’d been too numb to do anything but nod.
“I still can’t believe she made Eloise leave with her.” Harlow had already raged about this, but with my tears finally stopping, she harped on it again. “I know your apartment is small, but what is she going to do at Sandra’s house? Just hang out?”
“Sandra is holding on to the last bits of control she still wields,” Citrine said sagely, her eyes closed and palms outstretched over Wyatt’s chest. “She’s trying to pull her wayward daughter back into the fold.”
As reigning matriarch, Sandra’s word was gospel but not law. While everyone in the pack held respect and her reputation in high regard, her end date as top wolf was closing in.
“That bitch needs someone to smack her across the face,” Harlow rebutted.
“If you need a hex . . . ,” Jordyn said, sipping from a cup of tea as we sat around my small dining room table.
“That’ll go over well,” Harlow countered. “I don’t think hexing her potential mother-in-law is a good idea. That’s bound to cause a pack fallout—again.”
Jordyn shrugged. “Just saying, if my hex book happened to fall open onto a stomach bug emergency spell . . . Nothing more humbling than shitting your pants.”
“Indeed,” Citrine agreed in her masseuse-like voice.
I didn’t have enough energy to laugh. I dropped my head into my hands, my anxiety leaving me exhausted. The immediate threat was over, but there was still so much to figure out. But the only thing I could do was wait for Citrine to wake him up.
“You still have time to back out, you know,” Harlow hedged. “You don’t have to marry him. You don’t have to be the pack queen.”
“I want to marry him,” I replied instantly. “Even if he never actually asked me.”
Her eyes bulged. “What do you mean he didn’t ask you?”
A tired smile pulled at my lips. I wasn’t too numb to find my sister’s reaction comical, it would seem. “It was more like ‘the pack wants me to get married under the next full moon’ and less of a proposal.”
Jordyn snorted. “You two have done everything out of order.”
“We’ve always worked differently,” I countered. “We pre-dated for four years. But if being with him means being the pack queen, then I guess I want that.”
“Good,” Jordyn agreed. “It’s about damn time.”
I smiled at that because it really was about damn time.
“So, what’s next? A half-wolf, half-human baby?” Harlow asked, and I nearly choked on my own saliva. “Eloise better watch out because I’m going to be the cool aunt.”
Jordyn elbowed Harlow.
“What?” Harlow threw her hands up. “Everyone was thinking it!”
“Everyone?”
“Okay, well, mainly me,” Harlow amended.
“And me.” Citrine chirped as she waved her hands in the air in delicate circles.
Harlow held up her arms and vaguely gestured to Citrine in grateful thanks.
“See!” She shook her head and continued, “How exactly does that all work?”
“I’ve barely gotten to date him, and now I’m about to marry him,” I said. “I haven’t really had time to think about wolf baby logistics!”
That was a lie.
After our romp in the forest, it was all I’d been thinking about.
But telling them that would entail a lot of TMI content—and that was definitely not happening.
The truth was I’d been fantasizing about children for years, children who had my eyes and Wyatt’s mop of unruly hair.
It was his fault, really, for being so sweet and nurturing.
Who wouldn’t see him and think he’d make a great dad?
“You’ve always wanted kids,” Harlow said, giving voice to my thoughts. “Unless that’s changed now that they might come out with tails and fangs?”
“Oh gods, will they?” I asked Jordyn, my panic rising again. “Not that I’d love them any less!” I amended quickly.
“I’d much prefer a tail and fur over fangs,” Citrine added, getting to her feet to attend to the teapot on the stove. She snickered and shook her head. “No.”
“Of course not,” Harlow jeered. “But no one wants a Twilight-style wolf baby chewing its way out of you, either.”
I blinked at her. “I can’t believe you just said that to me.”
“If you and Wyatt had children,” Jordyn said, “it would be up to them to decide whether they wanted to embrace their wolf side or remain human once they hit puberty. There’s usually a big family party. It’s really fun.”
“Like a werewolf version of a quinceanera?” Harlow asked.
“Wow,” I whispered, a soft smile tugging on my lips. “They’d all get a choice, then.”
“All?” Harlow echoed. “How many babies are you planning on having?” Before I could answer, she grabbed Jordyn by the shoulders and jostled her. “We’re going to be aunties!”
“I give it a year,” Jordyn said with a grin while she grabbed my sugar canister and a box of tea from the cupboard.
“I don’t know how many,” I added quickly, getting to my feet and joining them in the kitchen. “This is something I should probably talk to Wyatt about first.” I peered over to where he was lying on the makeshift bed on my living room floor.
“I’ve known the wolf pack all my life. Wyatt has always been the fun uncle to all the pups. Don’t worry, I bet he wants at least two babies,” Jordyn teased. “But with the way he looks at you, I’d bet he’d be willing to have as many as you want.”
I let out a loud, surprised laugh, imagining a future that didn’t seem as hard to reach as it once had. I saw us with kids in tow at the Halloween Festival, grabbing ice cream at Midnight Market, and hosting too-big family holiday dinners every year. . .
But the fantasy soured when I thought about Wyatt’s mother.
What if the relationship was always strained? What if she didn’t love our children? What if . . .
I slammed a fist onto the countertop while the kettle whistled its sympathetic outrage.
“Where are you going?” Harlow asked with surprise as I darted toward the door.
“To Wyatt’s mom’s house. I have a few choice words for her.”
“Hell yeah, you do!” Harlow exclaimed, fist pumping the air. “Go get ‘em!”
“Call me if he wakes up,” I shouted over my shoulder. “I won’t be long.”
I rolled my shoulders back and lifted my chin as I shot out into the night. I’d watched my mate almost die in front of me. I could survive one more dramatic moment.
I dashed across a side street and down the lane, and when I arrived at Sandra’s beautiful house, I burst in without knocking. I made it to the kitchen before anyone could even shoot to their feet.
Eloise flashed me a satisfied smile as I took in the matching looks of surprise on the faces of Wyatt’s mom, aunt, and grandfather. Lulu and a smattering of cousins were present too, all with their eyes trained on the crazed human woman who had barged into their inner sanctum unannounced.
At the sink, Wyatt’s mom threw a dish towel over her shoulder and placed a hand on her hip. “You don’t knock?” She looked to her relatives for backup. “Is this how humans behave?”
“It’s how we behave with stubborn family members, yes,” I countered. “And whether you accept me or not, that’s what I am.”
She huffed. “We shall see.”
Normally, I would’ve let those words knock me back, but right then, all I could think about was Wyatt lying bloodied in my apartment, having nearly died in his effort to protect me from a wolf who wanted to kill me, a wolf who had been a close friend to Wyatt’s own mother.
“I don’t have time for your archaic and outdated ideas. Wyatt is still asleep, and I want to be there when he wakes up.”
“That witch hasn’t woken him yet? What’s taking her so long?”
I knew she wouldn’t be able to resist an update about her son. A mother’s concern bled through her anger.
“Citrine has this handled,” I said before squaring up my shoulders again.
If ever there had been training for this moment, it was being the eldest daughter in my family.
I’d always been made to feel ashamed of being too harsh, too cold, too bitchy.
But those things would come in very handy right now.
“When he does wake up, I know it would mean a lot to him to know that he has his mother’s blessing for our marriage. ”
The room stilled, and she blinked at me.
I let the silence linger for a beat, unsure if she would say anything, when Eloise caught my eye and circled her hand as if to say, “Keep going.”
“I know I’m not your pack’s first choice for him,” I said and was met with a huff of agreement before I pushed on.
I had Sandra speechless for once, and I had to drive my point home.
This was my chance to show her what type of partner I was to her son.
“But I love him with all of my heart. I love him more fiercely than any wolf could. Because to me, he’s more than just the new pack alpha.
I loved him before I knew anything about that.
I fell in love with him for who he truly is. ”
I pinged between Daniel and Sandra, both tight-lipped and silent.
“I love his kindness and his strength,” I continued.
“I love how caring and compassionate he is, but I know the ferocity that resides in his wolf too. He’d do anything for everyone in this room.
I love how protective he is of all of us.
But I am protective of him too. And I love him enough to be by his side even if the pack never accepts me.
I don’t care if I let every single one of you down as long as I don’t let him down. Because he is mine and I am his mate.”
Sandra considered me, her shoulders bunching the longer I went on.
I pinned her with a glare. “And lastly, I vow to tolerate your overly salted biscuits for the rest of my life and eat them with a fucking smile if it means that Wyatt and I can live happily together, the way he wants.”
All attention shifted to Sandra.
Her eyes slowly widened after a long moment of silent contemplation. “You think my two-hundred-year-old recipe for the flakiest buttermilk biscuits is oversalted?”
“I told you, Mom,” Eloise cut in, and her mother gave her a scathing look.
Sandra drew in a long breath. “You can leave now.”
My heart sank.
I panned the room of wary faces, hoping someone would stick up for me, but no one did. Still, I held my head up in triumph. I meant what I’d said. I would accept their disapproval, and I’d be with Wyatt through anything.
I had enough family from the people in this town to make up for it, anyway.
I turned toward the door.
“When he wakes up,” Sandra called, and I paused to glance back. “Tell my son his mate is very brash and wouldn’t know good baking if it hit her right between the eyes.” Her face softened even as my gut clenched. “And tell him that I think you’ll make a worthy queen.”
My throat tightened into a knot as my eyes welled, but I held my chin high and watched as every wolf offered a respectful nod.
Then I returned the gesture and left victorious.