17. Tristan

Tristan

Chapter 17

"Do you think he's happy?" I asked, watching Dylan across the camp. He was kneeling in the garden plot, wearing the shortest shorts I'd ever seen, cropped high enough that I swore I could see the crease under his ass cheek. I was indulging in some serious fantasies about him being on those dirty knees of his.

Shan followed where I was looking. "Dylan? Of course he's happy. He's smiling, he's laughing. Why wouldn't he be happy?"

I snorted. "Oh, gee, I don't know," I began sarcastically, "maybe because he gave up his entire life and everything he's ever known to live in the middle of nowhere?"

He frowned and looked back at Dylan with a more thoughtful expression, likely trying to put himself in my mate's shoes. Shan grew up in the woods just like I did, and while we hadn't always lived quite this rough, it wasn't a big deal for us to go without running water or electricity. "I get what you're saying, but he honestly seems okay."

Jude straightened up and stretched out his back, sawdust stuck to the skin of his bare chest. "Have you tried asking him?"

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not an idiot, of course I've asked him. He says he's fine, that he misses a few things but that it's worth it, but… can I believe him?" Shan opened his mouth, likely to ask why my own mate would lie to me. Gods, my Alpha was so damn na?ve sometimes. I cut him off before he could ask. "He knows I would move back to the city for him, but he's totally the self-sacrificing type that wouldn't complain about a thing because he doesn't want to inconvenience me."

"Do you want to move back to Fairhome?" Shan asked carefully, because he was also the self-sacrificing type. Even accepting his role as Alpha had been a sacrifice in his eyes, even though a lot of shifters would kill to have that kind of power. That was part of what made him such a good leader. I mean, just look at Thorn and his Beta Silas and the lengths to which they'd gone to rule. Shan was different, though. He was kind and righteous and loyal, and I knew that even if he couldn't live without me as his Beta, he would let me leave without a fight if that was what made me happy.

I'd tried to imagine what raising our kids would be like in Fairhome. Bubble baths and jolly jumpers and daycare, walking down to the park on the corner where the play structure was brightly colored and extra safe—and then there was teaching them to hide who they truly were from the humans surrounding us. They would go to school to learn from actual teachers, instead of my packmates. But we were more than capable of that, weren't we? Damon for biology, Dawn for physics, Tara for home ec. I'd already started teaching Mal some basic math, and Brody had been working on his letters. Without the support of my pack, though, it would be empty and lonely, and I just knew our children would not be the better for it. It made me anxious just thinking about it.

I forced myself to shrug, though my body was all kinds of stiff, my shoulders creeping up toward my ears. "Honestly? You know me, I love visiting the city and blowing off some steam, but it's not home. Not to mention the potential risk to my family, being so close to his father's business dealings." Out here, we would hear a car coming from miles away. We knew the area, had allies we could trust. It was safer, even if it wasn't as comfortable. I wondered how I could make Dylan more comfortable here…

I mulled that around for a minute until Jude cleared his throat loudly. "Sorry to interrupt your social hour, but would you guys mind helping me out for a second?" he mumbled.

Oops! I'd lost track of what I was supposed to be doing. We were right in the middle of building a new structure that would become our kitchen. Tara and Stuart had been strongly hinting for ages that we needed something a little more all-weather. Jude was currently trying to hold a 2x4 in place with one hand, hammer in the other, nails sticking out from between his lips. Instead of apologizing for my slacking, though, I said, "What? You can't handle it yourself? I thought you were strong."

He narrowed his eyes, spit out the nails, and I barely had time to duck before the hammer went sailing past my head. When I came back up, it was to catch his shoulder in my chest as he knocked me flat into the dirt. He dropped his full weight on top of me, forcing the air from my lungs, and I groaned.

"Do you yield?" he asked from above me.

"N-never," I grunted out.

I beat two kangaroos and a gorilla, I reminded myself. And a motherfucking tiger! No amount of squirming, though, could get me loose from the lock Jude held me in. He had my legs twisted in a knot, an arm across my neck, and when I bucked my hips, he barely moved.

His grin was wicked. "You might as well just give up. As weak as you think I am, I'm obviously stronger than you—not like that's hard to do."

I could hear a few people laughing at our antics, our scuffling drawing a small crowd. I rolled my eyes. We were short on entertainment around here, but the longer this went on, my cheeks began to burn with embarrassment. Not because my packmates would judge me, but because I didn't want to look weak in front of my mate.

As if being pinned down wasn't bad enough, Jude's smirk widened as he moved his hand to my stomach. "Boy, it really seems like I have you at my mercy. I would really hate for my fingers to slip… like this…"

"No. You wouldn't," I seethed, tensing. But of course he would. An involuntary laugh slipped out when he tickled me. "Stop it!" My thrashing picked up, with zero finesse. I scrabbled to get my hands between us, trying to protect my sensitive belly, but it was no use. Tears leaked from my eyes as I cursed a blue streak. "You're such a… cumbubble!" I gasped out between squeaks.

"Me too, me too! I wanna play!" a little voice shouted, from what turned out to be my most unexpected—but very welcome—ally. Mal launched himself onto Jude's back, his little chubby arms wrapping around his neck from behind. "Grrr!" he said, mimicking a growl he had yet to grow into.

Wrestling was an important skill for shifter children, even though we obviously didn't put our full effort into it. The goal wasn't to hurt them, but to teach important skills, both offensive and defensive, as well as how to win and lose gracefully. Lucky for me, Jude, unbeatable alpha though he was, was a sucker for kids. He glared down at me and mouthed, "I still won," before he dramatically jerked back, pretending that Mal had overpowered him.

Malachi hadn't had a lot of training yet, but what he lacked in skill, he made up for with enthusiasm. "Got you, Joo-Joo!" he squealed, giggling as he flopped down across Jude's stomach, forgetting to be fierce.

"Yeah! You've got him on the ropes now, buddy!" I picked Mal up and set him on my shoulders so he could jump from above, cannonballing onto Jude's prone form like something out of WrestleMania.

Jude was a good sport, catching Mal and pretending to take the hit. He groaned dramatically and let his head loll to the side like he'd passed out.

Our packmates clapped and cheered, then Mal ran around and demanded high-fives from everyone. Halfway through his victory lap of the clearing, he started to slow. He opened his mouth in a giant yawn and sat down in the grass to pick dandelions.

Brody shook his head, laughing at his son. "I think it's N-A-P time."

"No, no nap! I don't wanna!" Mal shouted, pushing up to run for the trees.

His dad sighed. "I regret teaching him how to spell. He's too damn smart for his own good—or my good, anyway." Brody waved as he left to chase after Mal.

As everyone got back to their work, Dylan swaggered over, dirty knees and all, and I was severely tempted to drag him back to bed. "Hey," he purred, reaching up and plucking a leaf from my hair.

"Did you like watching me win again?" I asked, cocky as hell as I kissed my mate, reaching around to tease at that crease at the hem of his shorts with the tips of my fingers. I wondered if it was just my imagination or was there a bit of slick there?

He chuckled. "I dunno, are you sure you won? Because it looked an awful lot like the toddler won to me."

Ouch. "Hey, I helped," I defended.

"Yes, yes, you're very strong." Dylan pinched my stomach, and I jerked back, trying not to laugh. Oh no, now that he knew I was ticklish, there was no way he wouldn't take advantage of my weakness. "Just let me finish weeding the garden, then maybe you can show me some of those moves, pinning me to the mattress. Or maybe you could let me win…" He turned in my arms, winking once over his shoulder as he walked away, swaying those damn hips, and I laughed, my heart fit to burst. I was so in awe that he was mine.

Reluctantly, cock straining behind my zipper, I got back to work. I definitely wanted to wrap this up so I could go wrestle with my mate. I lined up the next measured plank and nailed it in place with a few swings of the hammer.

"He's way too good for you," Jude teased.

He probably expected me to argue with him, but all I said was, "He sure is. This camp is too basic for someone like him, and he's given up too much. That's why I want to do something nice for him. Something… modern."

"Like what?" Shan asked warily, measuring out some plywood.

I shrugged, hammering in the nails on the next plank and tugging on the board to confirm it wasn't going anywhere. "Well, maybe we could install a few solar panels or maybe like a septic field?"

Shan's eyebrows jumped. "We'd have to clear out a lot of trees for something like that."

I grunted, scruffing a hand through my hair. "I know, I'm just thinking out loud. But what about, like, a gravity shower? I saw one at that prepper store, and you can heat the water using the sun." I couldn't contain my smile as I peeked over at Dylan where he was laughing at something Damon said. "Can you imagine Dylan's reaction to a hot shower?"

This overwhelming need I felt to protect and care for my mate, it could only be described as alpha. As laidback and relaxed as I'd always been, I kinda thought I was immune to it… and then Dylan came along, and the surge of emotion was enough to carry me out to sea—and I would be grateful to drown in it. My smile dipped at the edges. "He deserves better than this. He deserves everything I can give him and most of what I can't."

Shan was shaking his head, and I could tell by his sigh that he was about to drop bad news. He hated having to say no. "Tris, we can't afford all this."

I knew the whole money argument was coming. "You forget, I'm the one who talks with Griffin at the bank. I know exactly what we can and can't afford. Besides, what's the point of investing our money if we don't spend some of it every now and then?"

Shan pinched the bridge of his nose, a muscle ticking in his jaw. "Tris, what you're proposing isn't going to cost a few grand. This isn't like, a generator and an inflatable kiddie pool. We're talking infrastructure."

"And we will all benefit from it," I reasoned. "Don't tell you wouldn't love to offer your mate a chilled glass of wine on your anniversary—and you could because we would have a fridge."

He bit his lower lip, and his eyes took on a greedy kind of glaze as he imagined everything we could do with electricity. Lights, sure, and music and movies, but we could even get satellite internet!

And yes, okay, the ongoing tally of everything I wanted to build would come with a hefty price tag and would require someone more skilled than I was to install it, but I just happened to know someone who was filthy stinking rich and very well connected, and when it came to Dylan, he was also the one other person who would do anything to make him happy.

"Don't worry, boss. Leave everything to me." We were way past due for a visit from my dearest father-in-law.

Shan groaned and rubbed a hand down his face. "Please don't make me regret this.