Page 30 of Cherished By Her Guardian

“Alpha Phoenix, this is my mate, Winterlyn Brooks, soon to be Winterlyn Knight.”

Phoenix smiled and extended his hand. “It’s nice to meet you. Have a seat.”

They all sat, including Declan’s parents and several high ranked males. The alpha introduced the males, who all greeted Winterlyn warmly.

“First, I wanted to personally welcome you to town, Winterlyn, and congratulate you on your mating. I wanted to make a suggestion to you both, which is why I’ve invited the high ranked males here as well.”

Winterlyn looked at Declan with wide eyes.

“Sure, what’s the suggestion?” Declan asked.

“Since you’re already mated, I’d like to suggest you have your mating ceremony tonight in front of the pack. We can welcome Winterlyn here, have a good old-fashioned shift and hunt, and then you won’t have to make a trip down on the January full moon when we’d normally do the ceremony.”

“Do you know,” Winterlyn said, her voice wavering a little, “that I can’t shift?”

“I do,” Phoenix said, “and it doesn’t matter to me or anyone else. We have some mates in the pack who are human. Their mates either shift and stay with them, or the non-shifting mates hang out together here until everyone is back. You could do either, whatever you’d like.”

“What do you think?” Declan asked her.

She smiled. He could see the relief in her eyes. “I think that would be amazing. I’d be a pack member then? After the ceremony?”

“One hundred percent,” Alpha Phoenix said. “Technically you’re already a member since you’re mated to Declan, but this makes it official and gives the pack a chance to congratulate you and celebrate.”

“We do like any excuse to party,” Mark, one of the elders, said with a smile.

“Then I think it’s a wonderful idea,” Winterlyn said.

“I hoped you would,” Alpha Phoenix said. He rose to his feet. “I’m going to leave you in the capable hands of the high ranked males who will go over the pack laws for you, and then you can come back here around eight for the ceremony.”

He nodded at them and left, calling for Declan’s parents to follow so they could help get things ready.

“Now how much do you know about wolf hierarchy?” Mark asked.

By the time she and Declan had run home to change and had a quickie in the shower, eight o’clock had rolled around far too fast. She’d gotten a crash course in pack hierarchy and laws, most of which were similar to what she’d grown up with in the skulk.

“So do we have to come back here every full moon so you can shift?” she asked.

“Nope, I mostly shift up in Northernmost. My wolf likes the weather. I do try to come home once a month for dinner and to spend time with my folks.” He held her hand as she navigated the icy sidewalk leading up to the alpha’s home. “What do you think of everything?”

“Your family’s great. I love that you and your cousins are close.” She didn’t have any cousins, her parents were both only children. She envied Declan and his close relationship with Sebastian and Chase.

“They’re your family now too.”

“I know, I love that.”

He stopped her as they reached the porch. “Hey, sweetheart. I love you so much. I just want you to know how much it means to me that you want to be part of the pack.”

She gave him a kiss and then a second one. Because he was irresistible. “I love you too. And it means the world to me that your pack and family have welcomed me so easily.”

The front door opened and his parents were in the doorway. “We’re ready for you both on the back deck,” Barron said.

“You look lovely. It’s the perfect outfit for traipsing through the woods,” Denise said.

“Thanks, I wasn’t sure what to wear, so I just went with the warmest stuff I had.”

Winterlyn had chosen dark jeans with her favorite slouchy, warm boots and a thick sweater she’d layered over one of Declan’s thermal shirts.

“You look great. I’ll take pictures of the ceremony and text them to you.”

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