Page 39 of Her Fake Mate

I shake my head. “No, Zander. That’s not why.”

“Then why?”

When I open my eyes, it’s with all the love in my heart.

“I always hoped that my boyfriend would be my fated mate.”

Zander’s smile spreads and lights up like the sun. “What are you saying, Mia?”

“I’m saying yes,” I whisper, pulling him down for a kiss. “Of course I’ll be your mate.”

When my lips meet his, the crowd gathered around us explodes into clapping.

It’s dramatic. Definitely too much. No one needs to be clapping for me right now.

But, as Zander and I kiss, I realize something else.

It’s also just right.

Epilogue

ZANDER

“Zander, AJ is eating the carrots,” Lana whines.

I laugh, picking her up and putting her on my shoulders. “Those are edible, Lana. He’s allowed to eat them.”

AJ, happily gnawing on a carrot with his relatively new teeth, beams at her. “Carrot,” he says with a smirk.

I swear. I had no idea that a two-year-old could smirk. Until I met this one. It’s a semi-recent development, and I think Josh might have had something to do with it.

The attitude among the foxes is strong.

Lana sighs, like she’s the one annoyed by this. “But then there won’t be any for the festival!”

She still doesn’t quite know how to say it, so the word comes out as “fesuvul,” which just makes me want to squeeze her.

Mia tells me that the way Lana pronounces things is going to change as soon as she starts speech therapy at school, and while I’ll be happy to hear her getting the support she needs, it will make me very sad to hear those little phrases go away.

Mia also tells me not to worry. Both babies will grow into talking age soon. She mentioned that soon, we won’t want them to talk. I disagree.

The fox children are, generally, one of the highlights of my day. They’ve been looking forward to the Harvest Moon Festival since we proposed it after I finished building the garden. Now, the whole pack is looking forward to it as well.

It was Mia’s idea to do a farmer’s market every week, as we had different types of produce become available. After the foxes took their share of what they’d need to live on, we had plenty left over.

We’re even starting to get some humans involved. As customers, of course. Which means that, unlike when the wolves come and just take what they need, the produce is actually earning some money for the pack.

That’s the vision for the event today. The Harvest Moon Festival is a celebration of the fox leash and their contributions to the pack. We advertised for miles around, and we set up an event for the pack that’s not just a little farm stand anymore.

We’re prepared for hundreds.

“Lana. We need to go, or we’re going to be late,” Mia scolds.

“It’s not my fault. Zander is walking slow,” Lana complains.

I give my mate a grin. “Sorry.”

“Hurry up,” she says with a smile.

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