Chapter 10

10

MARIELLE

W hile I waited for Artemis on Keane's porch, I spotted a familiar figure crossing through the backyard.

"Why am I not surprised to find you chomping on a pickle?"

Evette glanced toward me, and her eyes widened. "Marielle! You're to blame for my current addiction. You don't want to know how many of these darn things I've eaten since you gave me that snack pack at the gas station on Saturday. I swear, if I wasn't a nurse and knew better, I'd think these two were going to come out pickled."

"Two?" I echoed, eyeing her rounded belly. "You're having twins?"

She nodded. "Yup, I'm surprised Leyton didn't brag about it to you at the gas station since he's quite proud of himself."

"I'm sure he is."

"What're you doing here? Did you run into some trouble on your hike?" Her brows drew together as she shook her head. "Oops, that must've been the baby brain talking because you were headed out three days ago and don't look as though you spent all that time in the wilderness. In fact, if I didn't know better, I would've guessed that you just spent a week relaxing at a spa."

"That's because of Artemis."

"Oh my gosh," she squealed, clapping her hands. "Were you the reason Artemis flew off with a roar the other day?"

Evette pressed her fingers to her lips, her eyes going wide again as a woman came out of the cabin to join us. "Don't worry, you didn't spill the beans before Artemis had the chance to explain everything. She already knows he's a dragon shifter and she's his fated mate."

"Thank goodness," Evette breathed as she awkwardly dropped down onto one of the oversized patio chairs. "As soon as I said it, I realized you don't have his claiming bite on your neck and was scrambling to come up with another way to explain what I meant. Unfortunately, the pregnancy hormones are wreaking havoc with my brain cells, so I didn't come up with much."

"Are you eating another pickle?" the woman asked.

"Yeah, but it's Marielle's fault," Evette insisted.

"Marielle is such a pretty name." The woman stretched her hand out to shake mine. "I'm Laina, Keane's mate."

"It's nice to meet you."

"You too." I laughed softly, shaking my head. "That's an understatement. It's great to know that I'm not the only woman here who had no clue shifters existed until she met a guy who claimed they were destined to be together. It makes me feel less alone, if that makes any sense when I somehow already know that Artemis would do just about anything for me. Assuming that's what happened with you two…"

I trailed off once I realized I was babbling, a habit of mine when I was nervous.

Laina reached out to squeeze my hand. "We definitely understand. It's a lot to wrap your head around at first."

"Definitely," Evette agreed with a nod. "But you need to know that Artemis wouldn't do just about anything for you. There are no boundaries he wouldn't cross for you."

"Especially if it concerns your safety," Laina added.

Evette rested her hand over her rounded belly. "Or your kids when you have them."

How quickly things had changed for me. I couldn't even imagine going on a date yesterday, but here I was, talking about being with Artemis forever and having his babies. As someone who usually took forever to make a decision, I was surprised by how easily I had accepted that we belonged together. Then again, seeing him shift into a giant dragon kind of blew any of my preconceived notions out of the water.

Tapping my shoulder, I mumbled, "We haven't done the official claiming yet, let alone had the chance to talk about babies."

"Just wait. Shifter males take over-the-top protectiveness to a whole new level," Laina warned.

Evette giggled. "And not just the alphas."

My parents' style of child-rearing had been fairly hands-off, except for when it came to letting me know what I was doing wrong. So I had spent most of my life looking out for myself. Having someone who wanted to watch out for me sounded…nice. "I'm looking forward to it."

"If it has to do with our relationship, you'd better." Artemis stepped outside with another man directly behind him. "Because you're never getting rid of me now that I've finally found you."

He flung his arm around me, and I tilted my head back to grin up at him. "Right back at ya."

"I like her." The other man smiled at Artemis. "She's got you saying more than one-word sentences."

"Mine," Artemis growled, making all of us laugh.

The man inclined his head toward me. "Since your grumpy mate didn't see fit to introduce us, I'll do the honors myself. I'm Keane."

"I assumed." I smiled at him, and Artemis pulled me closer.

Laina sidled up next to her husband, leaning against his side. "He's even more possessive than you were when we first met."

"Because I sank my canines into you only an hour later."

My eyes widened at Keane's answer. "An hour?"

Artemis bumped his hip against me. "It didn't take much longer for us to fall into bed with each other."

I reached up and covered his lips with my hand, my cheeks heating. "You don't need to share all of our secrets with everyone."

"Nobody in The Wilderness Pack is going to judge you for moving fast," Evette assured me, pointing at her rounded belly. "That would be like throwing stones at glass houses. Leyton knocked me up with twins the first week we were together."

Laina nodded. "Love at first sight is par for the course in the world of shifters."

Moving fast was a massive understatement. I'd only met Artemis yesterday, but I wasn't freaked out by the idea of saying those three little words as I should be. My feelings for him were growing by leaps and bounds, and he hadn't even fully claimed me yet. At this rate, when he sank his teeth into my shoulder, I wouldn't be surprised if it was hard to hold back those words, no matter how quickly our relationship progressed.

"Time to head back to our cabin," Artemis muttered. "I want you all to myself."

As he tugged me away from his packmates, Evette called, "Get used to that too. I'm pregnant with his twins, and Leyton is still greedy with my time."

"Don't expect that to change once the twins come," Laina warned. "I've given Keane cubs, and he still wants me all to himself."

"You better not be complaining about that," Keane grumbled.

"Never," Laina promised.

"Don't worry." I patted Artemis's chest. "I'm looking forward to alone time with you even though we can't spend it all in bed while I'm recovering from last night's antics."

"Doesn't matter if we're in bed or not. With you is exactly where I want to be."

Another plus to being with a shifter was how open they were with their feelings and planning a future together. I wouldn't have to deal with any of the game playing I'd heard other girls complain about. Artemis wasn't shy about what he wanted, and I had no doubt that it was me.