Page 34 of Alpha's Arranged Mate

“If you don’t mind, I would prefer the time with my wife and my children?” Braxton said, gripping hold of Lottie’s hand, which was still tied with his.

“Of course,” Dash said, bowing his head. “Congratulations to you both. Let peace be upon us all.”

With that, Dash turned, and true to his name, dashed off into the trees with Raya and many other members of the pack following behind.

Braxton watched them go before he turned to Lottie and said, “Would you like to meet them?”

He inclined his head toward his children and when she gave an anxious nod, he began to guide her across to them and his grandmother.

“Grandmother, please allow me to introduce you to my wife, Charlotte, Lottie, this is my grandmother,” Braxton explained, and then through gritted teeth, he added, “Travers’s mother.”

To her credit, Lottie appeared unfazed.

“It is wonderful to meet you,” she said, bowing her head to the matriarch of the demon wolf family. “I do hope that you and the others have been made to feel welcome.”

“Save for this,” his grandmother grumbled, showing the bracelet she now wore upon her own wrist. Shock rushed through Braxton. He couldn’t imagine her ever having given up the right to shift into her demon.

“How did you come by that?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

His grandmother shrugged her shoulders. “It was a condition of attending.”

Braxton’s jaw dropped with surprise. She reached up and clapped him on the cheek with affection. “Don’t look so surprised. I wouldn’t miss my grandson’s wedding for anything. Even under these circumstances.”

She glanced Lottie up and down then and gave a sniff before giving a nod of acceptance. “I suppose she’ll do.”

Grinding his teeth against her words, Braxton prayed that Lottie would not take it the wrong way. Coming from someone like his grandmother, that was a compliment.

“Why don’t you join the others?” he suggested to her. “Lottie and I shall put the children to bed. It’s getting late.”

“They should be with the rest of their pack,” his grandmother protested. Braxton glowered back at her.

“They are with them,” Braxton pointed out, drawing Lottie nearer. “Besides, they cannot shift yet, and I would hate for you to feel as though you are babysitting on a night such as this.”

His grandmother scoffed a little, but did not argue again. “Congratulations to you both,” she said in a clipped manner before she turned and kissed both of her great-grandchildren on the forehead. Then she was gone.

Almost the moment that she was, Lottie dropped down into a crouch, practically dragging him with her thanks to the ribbon still tied around their wrists. “Hello, my name is Charlotte, but you can both call me Lottie if you’d like?”

“Don’t we get to call you Mom now?” Diane asked confidently, and Braxton’s insides twisted. It was not because he feared how their true mother might feel about that—she had been long gone for years—but because he was concerned how Lottie might take it.

Seemingly unflustered, Lottie smiled and placed her hand upon Diane’s shoulder. “You may call me whatever you like. Lottie or Mom is just fine.”

The little girl looked ecstatic at the answer, though Duncan looked far less so. He turned his gaze down to the floor and kicked the dust with his boots.

Lottie glanced at Braxton and he mouthed, “Just give him time.”

She nodded silently and smiled before she said to the two children, “How about we head inside and get some cake?”

At that, both of the children’s eyes lit up, and Braxton suspected that Lottie would do just fine as their stepmother. Duncan was always won over with food, and it seemed she had already hit the nail on the head.

***

In the early hours of the morning, he and Lottie finally carried the children to bed after they had eaten their weight in cake and fallen asleep in one of the manor’s many lounges. With a child each thanks to their hands still being bound as a symbol of the alliance beneath the full moon, they were forced to work together up the stairs and into the guest bedroom that adjoined Braxton’s, which Lottie told him Dash had assigned for them for the night.

And laying his children down in the huge double bed, he kissed them both upon the head and whispered, “Good night, my hearts.”

When he looked over at Lottie, he found that her eyes were swelling with tears, and she was smiling at him with such affection it made his heart ache.

“What?” he asked.

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