25. Matt

TWENTY-FIVE

MATT

"Don't hate me, but?—"

I slapped my hand over Ranger's mouth, not wanting to hear the end of that sentence. Whatever he was about to say wasn't what I wanted to hear unless he'd seen Josh and he was okay.

"—this is my closet."

I giggled. "Your huge walk-in closet." It was the first time I'd inspected it because I had my own which was almost as big as my former apartment that Ranger had convinced me to give up.

Mine was almost empty. Some jeans, T-shirts, underwear, and shorts, plus all the socks Ranger had sent me when we were apart. And I had one suit. The one I'd put on for all my interviews.

I'd thrown away the ones I wore when I was working with Dane. Couldn't donate them, because even after dry cleaning, they reminded me of him. No one looking for a suit in a thrift shop deserved them because I suspected they'd bring bad luck. I'd cut the expensive fabric into tiny pieces and put them in the garbage can on the street, far from my apartment.

"Okay. I just wanted to say hi and wave before skedaddling."

Ranger took me in his arms, my safe place, and I breathed in his scent.

"We could have sex in here."

He pulled away. "In the closet? Why, when we have a huge apartment."

We had christened the beds, the couches, even the armchair in the study and the rugs that had to be sent to the cleaners afterward.

"Just thinking of places where we can fuck. I have a list and I check it off."

"Really?"

"No, silly." I wasn't used to such luxury, and this apartment with the breathtaking view was still a little overwhelming.

Ranger scooped me up and strolled into the bedroom. He stood at the floor-to-ceiling windows, staring at the night sky. "It's the full moon tonight."

Ahhh, the full-moon run. I hadn't been to the previous one because it was just after we discovered I was pregnant. I'd had my head over the toilet, and Ranger had skipped it, but I understood it was a rite of passage to attend. Tony usually went with the kids, but he took his little ones into one of the cabins and they slept.

While the La Luna Noir members had all followed the situation with The Obsidian Circle in the news, including my involvement, I was a little uneasy about being surrounded by most of the pack because everyone tried to attend a full-moon run, according to Ranger.

"Just be yourself, Matt."

That was what I was afraid of. My mouth might get me into trouble.

But him squeezing my palm and giving me reassuring looks couldn't quell the nerves that were roiling my belly. This would be the perfect time to throw up.

What do you think, little one? But the baby wouldn't cooperate, and I shoved my clammy hands in my pockets.

I was sorta part of the pack now, my extended family were shifters, and I had to embrace their traditions and make them mine.

But what was I supposed to do while they got furry and sweaty?

"Tony gave birth to Lottie during a pack run after our beasts killed Emilio and the other traitors," Ranger announced.

If that was supposed to get me excited and say, "Oh goody. More bloodshed. I can't wait," Ranger had miscalculated.

"Ummm…"

"But don't worry." Ranger hugged me. "We have a lot more bodyguards now, and they have all been vetted."

We disagreed on the bodyguard issue because having some guy follow me to the bathroom wasn't part of the plan. Not mine, maybe Ranger's.

Getting ready for the pack run was a thing. Blankets, cushions, loungers, food, and all of it for me. I was tossing crackers, cookies, and cereal bars into a bag when Uncle Arnie sent a message saying he'd bring the food. A feast probably because he didn't do anything by halves.

While I'd been welcomed by the Durand family as one of them, I'd kept my distance from the pack as a whole. Though I was now technically part of the pack, me being human would always set me apart.

Driving outside the city late at night was a little unnerving, not that I hadn't been to Rudy's place, and I'd visited Tony in his huge mafia McMansion. Everything wolf was brash, powerful, and raw. Though Ranger assured me the pack runs weren't for hunting, if a cute bunny crossed their path, would one of them gobble it up?

I wasn't ready to witness a hunt. Maybe I never would be.

But when I mentioned my concerns to Ranger, his response was, "We don't gobble, Matt. That's for turkeys and in fairy tales."

Finding out shifters existed was a sorta fairy tale.

The sky was clear as Ranger drove, and the moon lit up the road in front of us. Pressing my face to the glass, I peered up at the inky blackness and the bright sphere overhead. I raised my mating hand to the window, and the moonlight illuminated the scar.

"I think the moon likes me."

"Of course it does. You're my mate and you're pack."

I rubbed the tiny curve of my belly, wondering if Josh was looking at the same moon. Ranger squeezed my thigh, and I put my mating hand over his. That was my safe place. Hand in hand or hand over hand.

The bodyguards' car in front slowed, its red tail lights glowing in the dark. The vehicle turned off the road, and we drove through huge gates and parked under a tree.

People were milling about, all clothed. I wasn't at the stage where I could conduct a conversation with a bunch of naked people without my gaze being drawn to their bits. Ranger gave me a kiss and told me to stay with Tony, before disappearing into the crowd

Whew. I could do this. Tony was inside the closest cabin with his kids. While it was tempting to hide away with him, I made a choice to witness the beginning and the end of the pack run and everyone shifting. After saying a whispered hello to Tony, I stayed outside.

Flint called everyone together, gave a short speech, and people shucked their clothes, their bare butts visible in the moonlight. But strangely it wasn't their nude bodies I was concentrating on. They shifted, fur rippling over their bodies, and they raised their heads to the moon and howled.

I shivered at the primeval sound, and goosebumps paraded over my skin. Shifters had walked the earth either on four legs or two for thousands of years, and I was one of the few humans who got to witness their transformation from human to wolf.

I put a hand to my heart, honored I was observing their bond with nature and this ancient ceremony, if I could call it that. As a pack, they were united, and somehow, being here, mated to Ranger, I felt as though I belonged.

Josh had been my rock after our parents died, but with him gone, I'd been so alone. Getting back together with Ranger and finding out I was pregnant had swept away my loneliness. I loved and was loved in return, and I'd found my safe place.

The shifters took off, their wolves loping into the woods, the moonbeams bouncing off their fur. Flint led them, Rudy was somewhere in the mix with Ranger, and Hunter at the rear.

This was pack land and I was standing on it, so I tossed off my shoes and curled my toes in the dirt. I raised my shirt and sweater and my belly was bathed in moonlight.

"I belong here too," I said out loud.

"You sure do."

"Uncle Arnie."

He brought out a flask and lots of containers with goodies. Yum.

Now that I was past the initial all-day sickness, I grazed all day, rarely eating a full meal.

"You're not shifting?"

"Nah. For your first time on pack land, Ranger asked me to stay with you."

That was so sweet, and I kissed his bare scalp. "Love you, Uncle Arnie."

"Love you too, kiddo."