These Broken Wings

new family

Dixon woke to the sound of the shower running. He glanced at the clock and fought the urge to cover his head with the blankets and go back to sleep. He lost count of how many times that he and his mate had s*x during the night. But he was sure it was enough times that she ought to still be tired. And not up at seven thirty am getting ready for the day. He smiled, chuckling a little to himself. The moon goddess apparently didn’t take into account whether or not someone was a morning person when she handed out blessed mates.

Dixon scratched at the stubble around his goatee. His face smelled of her. And so did his hands. The entire room reeked of s*x. And the bed was filled with the smell of his mate’s arousal. Before he could even think about going back to sleep, the thought of the hot water sluicing down over her naked body had him up and moving across the room despite the early morning hour.

“Need a hand?,” he teased, pulling the shower door open. A cloud of fragrant steam hit him, the soap and shampoo RickyJo was using intermingled with her own distinct scent. Which, he noticed, had changed slightly since he smelled her last. He was quite sure there was a spicy undertone that wasn’t there before. And he wondered if that was because she was now marked and mated.

No, that’s not why she smells different.

Dixon smiled, stepping into the shower and letting RickyJo pull him under the water with her. He encouraged Shadow to tell him what the smell was, since he was apparently some sort of all knowing wolf when it came to their mate. But it was Jade that responded to him.

That’s the smell of your pup inside us.

“You think that’s true?,” he asked, pulling RIckyJo into his arms. The idea of her being pregnant so soon already brought on a myriad of emotions for him. He was excited. Really excited. But it also brought on fears that he buried inside him long ago. He was afraid something bad might happen to her and his pup. Something like what happened to Audrey.

“I don’t know,” RIckyJo admitted, melting into his arms and letting him hold her as tightly as he needed to. With their bond complete, she could feel his long buried trauma. And she could see his memories of the event that caused it in intense flashes when she closed her eyes. She didn’t want to speak or think ill of Dixon’s former mate. RickyJo could feel the love he still had for her. But she could see that what Dominic told her about the woman was true. Audrey didn’t fight to save herself. She didn’t fight to save her baby.

“Hey,” RickyJo said, cupping his face with her hand and looking into his eyes. “Pregnant or not, if anyone ever tries to f**k with me like they f****d with her, I’ll feed ‘em their balls fer breakfast.” Dixon’s blue eyes crinkled up in the corners as his face lit up into a big smile. And he relaxed the intensity of his grip on her, pulling her against him in a more sensual way. They kissed and fondled each other, enjoying the feel of the warm water falling down over their bodies. He lifted her into his arms, bracing her against the tile shower wall as he took her. Their lovemaking was brief but not unsatisfactory. And once they were done, they took their time soaping up each other’s bodies and letting the water wash the suds away.

RickyJo toweled her hair off, leaving it to air dry while she pulled on her clothes. She was relieved to see that her mate was dressed a little more casually than what she had seen him in before. Though he still looked more presentable than her, in his fitted jeans and black button down shirt. She was in sweats and a cropped t-shirt, pairing her outfit with the house slippers she borrowed from her mate without his permission.

When they arrived in the dining room, RickyJo noticed a few people that were still strangers to her. Dixon introduced them, explaining that the tall Korean man was Ji-min, his gamma. The woman was Ji-min’s wife, Sarah. And there was a young woman about RickyJo’s age that was their daughter Grace. RickyJo gave them her best imitation of a proper Luna greeting, hoping that she was still coming off sincere and not as fake snobby as she always felt anytime she had to greet someone formally.

Dixon took the empty seat at the head of the table, gesturing for her to take the seat on his right. RickyJo lowered herself into her chair, trying not to laugh when Justin snatched up his full plate of food and nearly fell over himself rushing over to take the seat on her other side. The look of irritation her mate was giving his nephew added to the humor of the situation. And she noticed that other than the boy’s mother, who looked horrified, everyone else seemed to find the boy’s behavior as funny as she did.

The table was full of food. And with how little she ate over the last two days and how much energy she expended, RickyJo stood up and helped herself to as much as she could fit on her plate and started digging in. Ji-min started briefing Dixon on what happened in the former little lake pack while he was there. RickyJo tried her best to listen in while Justin chatted to her about his video games. She noticed that Dominic seemed to be very preoccupied with his phone, to the point where Dixon had to practically holler at him to get his attention.

“Who are you talking to?,” Dixon asked, giving his brother a questioning glance.

“No one,” he insisted, quickly shutting the screen off and setting the phone face down on the table. Justin’s little sister was sitting next to him and she was more than happy to inform everyone at the table what she saw on his phone screen.

“He’s looking at pictures of a lady with no clothes on!,” Lillian announced. RickyJo snorted, nearly choking on her juice as the laughter bubbled out of her. Ji-min’s daughter Grace made a grab for Dominic’s phone, trying to get a look at the nude photos in question. But he was quick to wrestle it back out of her hands. Their growls mingled in with the laughter that had erupted at the breakfast table. And RickyJo was glad that her new family seemed to be as rambunctious as the one she was used to.

“Will you play Call of Duty with me after breakfast?,” Justin asked, tugging on the sleeve of her shirt. RickyJo smiled at the boy.

“Tell ya what,” she countered. “I’m going fer a run after breakfast and if you can keep up with me, I’ll play yer game with ya.” Justin seemed excited for this proposal. And Grace chimed in, telling RickyJo that she wanted to race her in wolf form since she was currently the fastest wolf in the pack besides her father.

“Oh no!,” Carissa shrieked. “You can’t be out racing around. You have your dress fitting today.” When RickyJo’s only response to this was to look at Carissa like she’d gone totally insane, her new sister-in-law elaborated on her demands. “The dress for your Luna ceremony next week…”

“Oh,” RickyJo said, waving her off. “I’ll figure something out, I brought some clothes with me from home.” Dixon snickered, and grabbed for his coffee mug, trying to hide his grin by taking a large swallow. He could tell Carissa was gearing up to throw a whole fit. And he was curious to see how his mate was going to handle the situation. He didn’t think his sister would take kindly to being told to go piss up a hydrant. Which is what he heard his mate tell the last person that was trying to force a fancy dress on her.

“It’s tradition for the new luna to wear a dress from the pack’s luna wardrobe,” Carissa coaxed. “There’s a whole room full of vintage dresses. And I have a seamstress coming to make any adjustments you need. You can pick out anything you like and we can have it altered to fit you.” When this exciting proposal failed to elicit the expected response from their new Luna, Carissa pressed on, adding that she was sure RickyJo wanted to look appropriate and make the right impression on her new pack.

Dixon had to admit, his sister was handling the situation better than he expected. Instead of screaming and screeching in her usual way, she was using a little more tact. Which seemed to be working. Since RickyJo looked to be considering her suggestions and wasn’t punching Carissa’s teeth down her throat yet. His mate looked at him, clearly hoping for his input on the matter. And he knew exactly what to say as he reached across the table and squeezed her hand.

“You’ll look beautiful no matter what you wear,” he assured her. She beamed her gorgeous smile at him. And for a moment he forgot what they were discussing. When he finally looked away, he saw his brother was giving him a thumbs up and trying not to laugh. Carissa looked less impressed with his opinion.

“Why don’t you just take a look,” Carissa suggested hopefully. Finally, RickyJo shrugged.

“I guess I can look,” she agreed. Lillian leaped up from her chair, clapping her hands.

“Can I watch you try on the dresses?,” she asked. RickyJo laughed, promising her soon-to-be niece that she was welcome to join them.

“Can I watch too?,” Justin asked. He turned in his chair, staring openly at RickyJo’s chest and the small sliver of her tanned stomach that was exposed above the waistline of her pants.

“NO!,” Dixon hollered with a loud growl. Dominic and Ji-min both burst into laughter as Justin nearly jumped out of his chair. RickyJo bit her lip to hide her own laughter as she rose from her seat and settled herself down into her mate’s lap. She snuggled into him, nuzzling her nose into the crook of his neck. This made Dominic laugh even louder, since not only was his brother taking on a pubescent boy like he was competition, now he was being coddled by his mate as well. His brother, the alpha killer. The most feared alpha wolf in the state of Montana, brought to his knees by a pretty girl and his own nephew.

“I’m so glad you found your mate,” Dominic choked out.