Page 66 of Cold Foot King

“No one is allowed to hurt you, Kat.”

“I know, I know. And no one is allowed to hurt you either. Not anymore.”

He pulled her against his chest, cupped her head, gripped her hair, and looked out at the crowd that had gone silent around them. “Hi everyone,” he said in a much growlier voice than he’d intended.

It was Owen who came from the crowd first. “I heard you avenged my mate.” He ducked his chin lower. “We got a beer pong game setting up. Want to be on my team?”

And just like that, the mood was lightened. The chuckles and the claps on his back as he eased out of his hug with Katrina told him everything was okay.

Everything. Was. Okay.

Cash approached him with Reed, and they gave him the manly, back-clap hugs and warm welcomes. Kade was next, and then there was Timber and Raynah with their mushy smiles and ready hugs.

“Tell me I can keep you,” Katrina whispered, squeezing his hand with both of hers.

King searched her eyes, and then slid the folded pocketknife to her. Overwhelmed, she burst out crying, stopping their trek to the beer pong tables someone had set up near the firepit. “Really?” she asked thickly.

He nodded. “Wreck gave it to me in the truck.”

She wiped her eyes and shook her head, hung her gaze toward the ground as she tried to get control of herself. King dragged her in close again and just held her. “It’s all right,” he murmured.

“I have so much to tell you,” she whispered. “I had all these thoughts, all day, everyday, that I wished I could tell you about.”

“We have time now.”

“We have time,” she repeated softly, and gah, her eyes were so full of love. He could feel it.

King leaned down and kissed her lips gently, and she threw her arms around his shoulders and kissed him back. With a chuckle against her lips, he lifted her off the ground and dragged her in the direction of the beer pong tables, where Owen was currently giving Silver tips on how to play beer pong well.

Over the next several hours, the shifters from Damon’s Mountains would filter into Wreck’s territory. He would meet the all-stars. The monsters. The ones who had formed the biggest, most tight-knit community of shifters, and now, he and Katrina would be a part of that.

He let his walls down as the minutes drifted by, and let the laughter that surrounded him flood his defenses.

For the first time in as long as he could remember, he was just…King. And Katrina was graceful, and full of life, and constantly smiling, and God, she was beautiful like this. She was happy, and it fueled his happiness, and that’s how love was supposed to be, right? It wasn’t outside forces planning a destiny. It wasn’t a family group choosing what he should do, or a few prison guards choosing who he should breed.

This was him, King, choosing the woman he loved, Katrina—and his animal agreeing that she was the perfect match for him.

She was his choice, and he was honored to be her choice too.

Do you know what exists there?

Happiness.

Whatever came next, he would be ready. He would roll with it. He would ride the wave and be of service to an Alpha who had taken a chance on a silverback that wasn’t meant to be in his Crew.

Whatever came next, he was going to face it with Katrina, and with the other shifters of the Cold Foot Crew.

He would do his best to be a good partner, a good man, a good mate for a woman who had been through hell and back, and deserved to feel the safety heknewhe could provide.

Whatever came next…he would make sure Katrina—his Katrina—wore smiles like she had today.

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