Page 65 of A Wolf in the Garden

“Good. Thank you.Boys!”There’s a loud crash in the background.“Shit. Just wait a moment, okay?” Lacey drops the phone, so that all I can see on my screen is the ceiling, and I hear both boys crying.

“Everything okay?”

“FINE!”

“It’s not fine,” Ellie whispers in my ear. “She seems really stressed out.” She cuddles into my side, and I wrap an arm around her.

“The boys are a handful,” I murmur, kissing the top of her head. “Sorry.”

“You apologising for them, or for your future offspring?”

“Both. Kids areyearsaway for us, but the boys will keep us on our toes plenty. Maybe we’ll get lucky, and our own kids will have your demeanour.”

“I can’t remember you being a problem child. All my memories of you are of you being responsible and protective, even when we were little.”

“Yeah, well, that’s the alpha in me. It’s an ingrained instinct.”

I can still hear crying in the background, and from the sound of it, it’s not going to let up any time soon. I’m pretty sure we’ll be waiting at least five minutes for Lacey to reappear. She’s been surprisingly relaxed about everything I’ve filled her in on regarding Ellie and the fae, but then again, she understands magic better than I do — she has the natural talent, the same as Mom, though she’s never shown any interest in using it.“If there’s a personal ward attached to Ellie, then you have nothing to worry about, regardless of where she goes,”was all she’d said in regards to the news that fae were stalking my mate.

“Lacey!” I yell into the phone. “Just call me back when you have the chance!”

“OKAY!”

I end the call, and toss the phone on the coffee table. “Come here.”

“What?” Ellie giggles as I pull her atop me, her legs automatically straddling my hips. I’m already growing hard, and I grind into her. She stares at me, biting her lip seductively, eyes heavy with lust, before she pounces, lips crushing against mine, her hand grabbing a fistful of my damp hair.

“I love you,” she breathes as I nibble my way down over her jaw to suck on her neck.

“I love you too. You going to ride in the damn helicopter? You going to accept the gifts I get you, and let me treat you the way you deserve?”

“Yes, but for now, I want to ride something else,” she says, voice husky, deliberately rolling her hips.

I slap her ass, hard, and she moans, kissing my neck. “I’ll race you to the bedroom,” I say, unable to keep the growl out of my voice.

I never get around to answering Lacey’s second call.

Fourteen

VAN

“Ilike this outfit of yours,” I murmur in Ellie’s ear, smoothing my hands over the curve of her hips as we wait at the front desk. She’s wearing an olive-green jumpsuit that hugs her in all the right places, and the low neckline is an absolute tease for a man of my height. Herpounamupendant hangs just above her cleavage, and I’m very much looking forward to peeling the whole thing off of her later.

Ididget her in the helicopter, but for something far more important than a fancy date in the city. Today herkoroturns eighty-seven, and rather than catch an hour-long car ferry and then drive a further three hours to the retirement village he lives in on the outskirts of Whangarei, we flew up here. We’re going to take him out to lunch down in Whangarei Basin, visit a clock museum — because apparently that’s what he wants to do, and when you’re eighty-seven you get to call the shots — then return him here. Ellie thinks we’re heading back to Lost Moon after that, but I have a surprise in store for her.

I hear the sound of a slightly shuffled gait and the squeak of wheels, and then Ellie’skoro, Hemi, enters the reception area, pushing his walking frame along, a helpful nurse hovering behind him.

“There’s mymoko,” he grins, his weathered face lighting up as Ellie rushes forward to greet him. I watch them embrace, feeling a sad ache in my chest. He’s aged significantly since the last time I saw him nine years ago, and it’s a shock to see him so unsteady on his feet rather than the sturdy, solid Maori man I remember from my childhood. I step forward, offering my hand.

“It’s good to see you again, sir.”

Hemi scoffs, taking my hand in a surprisingly strong grip for a man of his age, pulling me in for a hug, his free arm walloping me on the back. “Don’t call me that, son,” he says, and memories from my childhood come flooding back, of Ellie and I helping him out in the garden at Ellie’s old house, doing odd jobs with him around the yard on the days that he visited her. “Look at you, eh? How have you been? I used to think you were a big unit when you were a teenager, but look at you now!”

“I’m well, thank you. And you?”

“Oh, I’m getting on with it, best I can. They make me use this silly thing.” He grabs at the walker, and I take a step back, allowing him to pull it into place in front of him once more. “I suppose it’s better than falling, eh? Thanks for bringing my Ellie-girl up to see me, I know it’s a hike. Was the traffic bad?”

Ellie shakes her head, her dark brown eyes — the matching set to her grandfather’s — wide as she says quietly, “We flew here by helicopter.”

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