“It’s been three weeks.”
“I know.”
“What am I supposed to do?”
“I don’t know.”
“Well, thanks for the advice,” Olivia muttered sarcastically.
Cecilia rolled her eyes.
The two women were in the gardens, plucking green beans. A great deal had changed over the course of the last three weeks. Sander had met with Olivia and Genevieve and grimly announced that they were officially bankrupt. There was no more currency. There were no goods, no way to provide the residents of the coterie with a means to live their daily lives.
Genevieve had been shocked and appalled—“How will I throw my next party?”—but Olivia had not been remotely surprised. Genevieve’s parties were expensive affairs, and the king had never asked his subjects to contribute to the financial well-being of the royal family. In fact, she now realized that for her entire life, the king had constantly been the one to give, while everyone else in the coterie took, without ever providing something in return. She had been too busy worried about his decision to mate her to Dane to truly think about how asinine his way of ruling was, and besides, until now, it had never seemed to be a problem.
She felt guilty for not having realized sooner.
“He would not have listened to you,” Cecilia had assured her on that first day, when the king released all of the servants except for Carley. Cecilia was right, of course, but Olivia still felt as though she should have tried.
“Well, when you take over as ruler, you will be able to change things,” Cecilia had suggested.
“My firstborn son will be the ruler, not me,” Olivia had replied listlessly. “That is, if there is even anything left to rule by then.”
“Ask your subjects to grow their own crops, to raise their own cattle, and donate a portion of their goods or services to the royal family,” she had suggested to her father, spurred by desperation. “We keep them safe, we keep them organized and well-fed, and maintain a decent lifestyle for all. It’s the least they can do in return.”
Her father had given her a cool stare at that point. “You think our subjects truly believe we keep them safe?” he’d asked. “After we allowed shifters into our coterie?”
“What will happen to everyone we’ve dismissed?” Olivia had asked her father that first evening.
His face and his tone had been grim. “I fear they will have to look outside the coterie for means to support themselves.” It was as if he’d given up all hope.
Olivia was beginning to feel the same way. “He isn’t coming back,” she said, speaking her greatest fear.
“You do not know that,” Cecilia replied.
“I do not know that he intends to return, either,” Olivia retorted. “He did not say goodbye when he left. In fact, he said nothing at all. He just left. And he took his mother with him.”
“And Finn.”
“It only makes sense that he went back to Wyoming to run the pack there.”
Cecilia chewed on her lip and did not reply. Olivia assumed it was because both women suspected the same thing.
Olivia suddenly dropped her basket of beans and stood up straight. “I’m going to Wyoming,” she announced.
Cecilia gave her a surprised look. Olivia nodded firmly.
“If Tanner is going to live in Wyoming, then so am I.”
“What about Dane?”
“What about him? In my mind, we aren’t mated.”
“I can’t tell you how glad I am to hear that.”
Olivia whipped around at the sound of the masculine, gravelly voice. Tanner stood in the shade, just outside the door to the kitchens. His dark hair was wind-whipped. The shadow on his cheeks was thicker than it had been when he left. His pale blue eyes glowed faintly as they drank in Olivia as if he was a thirsty man and she was the only cup of water in the vicinity.
“Tanner,” she whispered. Cecilia gave her a small nudge and she lifted her skirts and rushed through the gardens, leaping into the air when she was still four feet away. He caught her easily, one hand cupping her bottom, the other tangling into her braid, twisting it as he crushed his mouth down onto hers.
“Upstairs,” she said against his mouth.
He carried her to her chamber.
“Where have you been?” she asked as she urgently tugged off his shirt and his shorts.
“Wyoming,” he replied as he pulled her dress over her head. “I need you,” he said as they fell onto the bed together.
“You’ve been gone so long,” Olivia complained as she rolled over so that she straddled his hips.
“Like this,” he said, and he rolled her onto the bed and then flipped her onto her stomach. “I need you like this.”
He covered her with his body. He thrust and a moment later they were connected. Olivia cried out as she clutched at the bedcovers, her body flaring with magic at the sudden intrusion. He leaned over her as he continued to thrust, until his lips were near her ear.
“Mine,” he whispered.
“Yours,” she replied on a moan. Her orgasm overcame her so suddenly, she let out a small shriek of surprise. Tanner thrust only a few more times before he chased her over the edge and then collapsed onto the bed next to her.
“Mate,” he murmured a moment before sleep claimed him. Olivia let him sleep. He was home, in her bed. Right where she wanted him to be.
* * * *
“Well this is awkward.”
Tanner blinked away the fog of sleep and looked up to see Dane standing over him. He was lying on his back in Olivia’s bed, alone, and when he followed the trail of Dane’s eyes, he realized he was naked, his body in a semiaroused state. He tugged the bedcovers into a more modest position and glared at the lightbearer.
“What are you doing here?”
“I should ask you the same question.”
“Where’s Olivia?”
Dane shrugged. “Plucking fresh vegetables, possibly. Or helping with breakfast. Or cleaning the main sitting room.”
Tanner stared at him as if he’d gone mad.
“A great many things have changed since you’ve been gone,” Dane explained. “The king released most of the servants. There is no currency, no means to support everyone anymore.” He glanced over his shoulder, checking to see if anyone was eavesdropping. “If I were you, I would take Olivia away, start your own life together. The coterie is no place you want to be.”
“Why?”
“The subjects are unhappy with the king. Discovering he ran the coterie into bankruptcy. Knowing he continues to let shifters into the coterie. Many have lost their faith. There are whispers of upheaval, which frankly I think is ridiculous because what is there to take over at this point?”
“Quentin is dead, but it is still not necessarily safe outside the coterie. There are still plenty of shifters out there who hold to his beliefs about killing you all for your magic,” Tanner pointed out. “No one should leave the coterie until all lightbearers have had some defensive training.”
“And who will see to that?”
“Me. And Finn. He came back with me. He’ll lead the training.”
“They will not listen to a shifter.”
“Why not? We are the ones they fear. It makes sense that they learn how to defend themselves from the very ones who may go after them.”
“There is no means to live. No one knows how. For my entire life, for ten years longer than that, the king has provided everything for his subjects. Everything. And now there is nothing. We have no choice but to release the wards on the coterie and let everyone make their way in the world. Some even talk of going back to the land of the fae.”
Tanner shoved the bedcovers away and rolled out of bed. He ignored the way Dane’s eyes widened. He pulled on the shorts Olivia had pulled off him yesterday afternoon.
“Go summon everyone to the breakfast room. Whoever is still here in the beach house.” He turned and strode to the bath chamber, not even bothering to check to ensure Dane did as he said. He knew he would.
* * * *
“You summoned me?” the king blustered a short time later. “This is preposterous.”
Carley placed a basket of fresh cinnamon buns on the table, along with a platter of grilled stuffed-sausage bites and a bowl of cherries. When she tried to pour coffee for everyone, Olivia stood up and shooed her away and did it herself. Tanner watched her for a moment, until he realized everyone in the room was watching him. He stabbed a stuffed-sausage bite and lifted it to his mouth.
The king and queen were there, Sander looking outraged and Genevieve looking confused. They’d both gone downhill in the last three weeks, Tanner noticed. There were worry lines around the king’s eyes and mouth that had not been there before. Genevieve’s eyes looked haunted, and she had developed a slight tremor. He made a mental note to send for Alexa when this little meeting was over. It was time for the queen to deal with her depression—without the assistance of outrageously expensive party planning.
Cecilia was there, which wasn’t surprising. Finn was too, and Tanner noticed that Cecilia was glaring frostily at him. Tanner had already given Finn the directive to ensure her safety, since she had a bad habit of slipping undetected from the coterie, and Tanner did not want Olivia’s cousin and best friend to get attacked—or worse. It looked as if Finn has already had to do his job once since their return. Cecilia may not be happy, but at least she would be safe. Finn would see to that.
Dane, Lisa and the pups, and Tanner’s mother were also in attendance. That made sense. They needed to hear Tanner’s announcement too. It affected everyone at this table.
“It’s not preposterous at all,” Tanner finally responded to the king. He took a generous bite of one of Carley’s delicious cinnamon buns. As he chewed, he slipped his hand into the pocket of his shorts, extracted a folded piece of paper, and slid it across the table toward Sander.
The king snapped up the paper and unfolded it. It took a few moments for him to comprehend what it was, but when he did, his eyes went wide and bulged as if they were trying to pop out of his head.
“This—this—this—” He could not even speak.
“Is the entire worth of my late father’s private estate. Yes.”
A collective gasp went up around the table. Genevieve leaned over and peered at the check and then promptly dropped her coffee cup.
“It is enough to get the coterie back on its feet without forcing your subjects to leave to fend for themselves. You will be able to purchase what you need from the local human towns, until the coterie is self-sustaining. I would prefer we avoid going to the land of the fae, though. I don’t trust faeries.”
“The queen has never steered me wrong,” Sander said stiffly.
“There is a reason lightbearers live in this protected coterie in the first place,” Tanner reminded him. It wasn’t only shifters who were attracted to a lightbearers’ magic.
When Sander did not reply, Tanner added, “You will even be able to hire back most of the servants you dismissed.”
“May I throw a party?” Genevieve asked as hopeful as a young girl asking her father if she might go on a date with the local heartthrob.
“No,” Tanner said coldly. “This coterie is not going to operate in the same way as it did while Sander was in charge.”
“But our subjects expect me to throw them parties,” Genevieve pouted.
“They will learn to adjust their expectations. Otherwise, that money will not go very far.”
Genevieve sat back in her chair and continued to pout. She looked so much like Olivia that Tanner found himself amending his stance.
“Maybe once a quarter—when there is a very good reason.”
Genevieve smiled widely and clapped her hands, clearly happy with the compromise.
Sander’s face turned red. “What do you mean, while Sander was in charge?”
Tanner leaned forward. This was it. This was the do-or-die moment.
“It means that I am going to call the shots from this point forward. You will still be king, but you will be no more than a figurehead. You’re lousy at the job, but your subjects, most of them anyway, love you, and it will be much easier to get this place whipped into shape if they think you are giving the orders, instead of a shifter. But understand this: I am master of this pack from now on.” His faintly glowing eyes bore into Sander. He could feel Olivia’s lightbearer magic flare, and he knew his entire body was shimmering.
Over the course of the past three weeks, he’d learned to control the magic, to dim the sparks that danced along his skin. It had been necessary, given he’d been surrounded by shifters, many of whom still clung to Quentin’s misguided beliefs.
The room fell utterly and completely silent. Everyone stared at Tanner. Sander opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water. It was as if no one was even daring to breathe. Then the king abruptly stood up and flung the check away.
“You mean to buy my daughter?” he said, his voice heavy with disgust.
“No,” Tanner said coldly. He snatched the check and slammed it down onto the table, rattling plates and coffee cups. “This is to save your ass. I don’t need to buy Olivia’s love.”
“And what of your pack?” Sander demanded. “You would desert them for—for your arch enemy?”
“They have not been my pack for ten years,” Tanner replied.
His mother interrupted the exchange. “We disbanded the pack,” she explained. “That is what took us so long to return. Tanner determined it would be best to send everyone to other packs, to diffuse the evil notions Quentin had beaten into their heads for all these years.”
Sander would not give up easily. “I will not have it,” he blustered. “I would rather my subjects take their chances in the human world. Besides,” he added, a hint of gloating in his voice, “She is already mated to Dane. With any luck, she is already carrying his babe in her belly.”
“More like a miracle,” Cecilia muttered under her breath.
“She and Dane are not mated,” Tanner said very quietly.
“They certainly are,” Sander insisted. “I performed the ceremony. Only the king can declare someone mated.”
“Shifters have a far different mating ceremony.”
Sander’s eyes widened with comprehension. Those books in his library were not simply for display, Tanner thought. The king had clearly read at least one thing about the shifters’ history.
Sander’s eyes darted from Tanner to Olivia, to Dane and back to Olivia. Dane kept his eyes downcast. Olivia’s face reddened, but she kept her eyes steady and determined. Tanner simply sat back and watched the byplay.
“Daughter, you cannot mean—”
“Yes,” she said very quietly. “In fact, I was already mated to Tanner before you performed the ceremony.”
“That is impossible! You cannot—you—why did you not tell me?”
Olivia’s eyes narrowed. “You would not give me the chance. I have been trying to tell you for weeks.”
“You—you—” Sander’s head volleyed back and forth, between Olivia and Tanner, as if he was watching a tennis match. “This cannot be.” He backed away from the table. “I will not allow it. I am king of the lightbearers,” he declared from halfway across the room. “My daughter is mated to Dane, and they will produce a bevy of children. Their firstborn son will be my heir. The coterie will be fine. We will find a way without you—without your money. I will not give my daughter to you just to save my kingdom.”
“You already tried that,” Tanner commented, sounding as calm as if they were speaking of the weather. “You sold her to Dane to save your kingdom.”
Sander did the fish-out-of-water routine again.
“In this case, though, I am not buying your daughter. I like to think I don’t have to.”
“You don’t,” Olivia assured him, her beautiful blue eyes looking at him, shining with all of the love he knew she had for him.
“Olivia,” Sander said on a gasp. “You are my daughter.”
“That check is a gift,” Tanner explained. “There are no strings attached. If Olivia does not want to be my mate, then I will walk away, but the money is yours, free and clear.”
“Nothing is ever free,” Sander snapped.
“I am your mate,” Olivia confirmed. “I don’t want you to leave. Not ever again.”
Tanner gave her a brief, appreciative smile, and then turned his focus to Sander. His demeanor instantly hardened. “You’re right,” he said. “Nothing is free. As your daughter intends for me to stay on as her mate, then I intend to take advantage of the position and get this coterie back onto solid footing. And you are going to do whatever I tell you to, so that your subjects accept my changes.”
“No. I refuse.” Sander backed toward the door. “I am summoning my guards. I want you out of this coterie. All of you.”
Sander was a hell of a stubborn man. No doubt Olivia had inherited her stubbornness from him. His life with her would not be entirely smooth, Tanner was sure of it. But he was equally certain that it would be worth it.
He pulled out his trump card.
“She is carrying my pup.”
A collective gasp went up around the room. Dane looked as if he wanted to examine Olivia himself, right that minute. Olivia looked serene. Sander looked shocked.
Genevieve was the first to speak. “My grandbabe?” she gurgled, and then she stood up and rushed around the table, pulled her daughter into her arms, and squeezed the breath out of her.
“My grandbabe,” she chortled, and she immediately began planning a party to make the announcement to the entire coterie. Tanner decided to hold off on bursting that particular bubble. He had to actually ensure the pup was growing inside his mate first.
Sander looked so crestfallen, Tanner almost felt sorry for him. The king looked at Dane, as if seeking some sort of reassurance there, but he just shook his head.
“I’m sorry, your majesty,” Dane said. “I do not wish to be mated to Olivia. She is like a sister to me. We have not consummated the mating. We cannot.” His eyes shifted sideways to look at Tanner.
“He’s right,” Tanner confirmed. “I would gnaw off his arm if he tried.”
Sander looked horrified. Cecilia snickered into her napkin. Finn rolled his eyes.
“My grandbabe,” Genevieve said again, and then she herded Olivia toward the door. “You need rest, sweetling. I am sure Tanner’s sperm is exceedingly strong, however you are combating my heritage with this pregnancy. You must take care. Do not overtax yourself. Do not…” She listed all the various things Olivia should not do as she guided her out of the room and upstairs to rest. Sander trailed after them. Tanner watched them leave and then turned and looked at the remaining occupants of the room.
“What about us?” Lisa asked quietly.
Tanner nodded. “It’s your choice. The pack down in Detroit will take you in and accept you as their own. Or you can stay.”
“Stay,” Dane suddenly blurted. All eyes shifted to look at him. He reddened under the scrutiny and cleared his throat while tugging at the collar of his shirt. “Please,” he added, looking directly at Lisa.
Her eyes widened for a moment, and then narrowed. “I like your cottage,” she said. “And I like your bed.”
“Oh,” Dane said faintly, and his blush deepened.
Tanner shoved a fistful of cinnamon bun into his mouth to keep from laughing out loud. Just as he’d suspected, he had become a pack master after all.