CHAPTER 53
Krusk
“Nothing’s too much for you,” I told Emma, leaning down to press my lips against hers. She reached up to cup my cheek, so I kept my head bent, kissing her. Even with my clan nearby, I had zero qualms. If she needed me, I would be there.
I gave her a gentle smile, sweeping my thumb against the small of her back, trying to tell her how much I treasured her.
“You’re going to make me cry again, and I don’t want to do that in front of everyone,” she warned me.
I deepened our kiss and it wasn’t long before she was lost to the moment. To me.
Boxes were stacked like a small city, dust motes floating lazily around in the afternoon sunlight. The faint scent of polish and old books filled the air. My mate and I were elbow-deep in packing materials, along with the rest of my clan brothers.
Dristan had been the only one who was excused from helping, since he wasn’t willing to leave his mate and their new youngling alone for any longer than five seconds. I completely understood how he felt.
Grandma hovered nearby, her hands on her hips as she supervised the chaos with sharp eyes and a soft smile.
“Careful with that box, Emma,” she said, tugging gently at my mate’s sleeve. “You’re not a mountain goat. Let all these strong, fine males carry them.” She winked at Emma, who just giggled, shaking her head. I’d only assigned her to the boxes marked Pillows.
Somehow, there were still a shocking amount of those. I couldn’t fathom how this many boxes had been in Grandma’s apartment at the nursing home.
“And you,” Grandma turned to me with a twinkle in her eyes. “Don’t knock over the furniture. Everything has sentimental meaning.”
I grinned, tusks flashing slightly. “Noted. I’m very careful… mostly.” I hoisted a box with ease, careful not to bump anything.
Grandma leaned closer to me, lowering her voice in mock conspiracy. “You’re quite… impressive, you know. Big, and somewhat terrifying-looking, but also… useful.”
I rumbled low in my chest. “Useful is my middle name.”
She laughed, a warm, wheezy sound that made me grin. “I like him,” she whispered to my mate. “Even if he’s enormous.”
“Definitely a keeper,” my mate joked, winking at me.
Grandma had asked if we’d be moving in with her, but my mate had shaken her head, kissed her cheek and told her that we would be staying in the clan building. Grandma had understood, hugging us both before demanding that we go out to get paper to wrap her china so nothing would get chipped.
Emma had called the nice naiad who’d worked at the nursing home to be her private caretaker.
I’d contacted her afterward, paying her whatever she’d asked for to move in with her so she could be full-time.
And I’d already asked her to hire any extra help she needed.
I wasn’t taking a chance with the new matriarch of our family.
I carried another load of boxes into the house, glancing at my beautiful female. Moving day had a rhythm, chaotic and exhausting, but there was something satisfying about helping her reclaim her space, something grounding about being here with them both.
Finally, after lugging the last of the boxes inside, I set it down and exhaled, shoulders relaxing. My mate wiped her hands on her jeans, a playful smirk tugging at her lips. “Thank you,” she murmured and I raised an eyebrow.
“I’m pretty sure it’s my brothers who’re the ones who need thanking. Enka was complaining that we haven’t fed him yet.”
“The pizzas are on the way,” she laughed, moving over to hug me around my waist. I studied her beautiful face, allowing myself to settle into the knowledge that she was mine. This female who had all the choices in the world had chosen me.
“I love you, Zemar,” I whispered, tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear.
She grinned up at me. “Are you trying to bribe me into more butt stuff?”
My snort was loud as I laughed. The sound echoed around us, and the swell of love that I had inside of my heart for this female—for this family that was growing and that I was somehow a part of.
And as we stood there, wrapped up in each other, Grandma smirking approvingly in the background, sunlight streaming through the windows, I felt it. The start of something solid, chaotic and full of laughter—a life together, officially begun.
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