Chapter 110-1
‘Don’t open your eyes‘ Finlay mindlinked me as I woke up.
‘Why?‘ I asked.
‘Just don’t.‘ I scented the air and heard him sigh. ‘You could just leave it alone.‘
“Snow!” I exclaimed and sat up in bed.
“Why, Red?” Finlay said with a sigh. “It’s Sunday and for the first time in months we don’t have anything planned. Can’t you just come back to bed?”
“Back to bed? Are you crazy? Have you seen the snow?” I asked as I stood at the window and looked out. It must have been snowing most of the night as the landscape was white.
“I haven’t, but I can smell it. What I am seeing is my naked mate standing in front of the window. I would much rather have you back in bed than let the entire pack see you,” he told me.
“Oh come on. It’s the first snow! And since we don’t have anything planned, you can come with us,” I told him.
“Do we need to get going now? Can’t we spend a couple of hours in bed first?”
“No we can’t. We will waste precious time. We need to get down to the kitchen to pack lunch before meeting with the pups. When we get back we can take a long hot shower. We can have all the fun we want then,” I told him, still looking out the window. I felt his arms surround me and his body heat felt nice against my back.
“Should I be worried that you are more excited to play with pups in the snow than to stay in bed with me?” he asked and kissed my mate mark. A shiver ran through my body that had nothing to do with the cold.
“I would think us having fun until three in the morning would have been enough to show you how much I enjoy our fun times,” I told him. I felt his chest vibrate from laughter.
“One would think so, but I’m greedy,” he told me. I turned around in his arms and looked up at him.
“I don’t have a problem with you being greedy, but you did promise me to follow me around and do whatever I wanted to do,” I said and did my best to give him puppy dog eyes. He sighed and placed a hand over my eyes.
“Those should be counted as lethal weapons. You are right. I will get dressed and let you drag me out into the snow,” he told me and kissed me.
“You won’t regret it.”
We both made sure to get the lunch ready and Finlay took the backpack. The pups stood inside the front door to the pack house, waiting.
“Cade, Jon, aren’t you getting too old for this?” I teased the two teenagers.
“Says the twenty–eight–year–old Luna,” Finlay told me and everyone laughed. We headed for the woods, towards our sledding hill. The hours spent in the snow with the pups were as fun as they always were. Even Finlay relaxed and enjoyed sledding and building snowmen. When I sneaked off to change into my wolf, he joined me and together we ambushed the pups and spent an hour playing tags.
“This has been the best snow day ever!” Cadence said as we were walking home.
“You say that every year,” Jon told him and laughed.
“It’s true. Every year is the best,” Cadence insisted.
He is right. It has been an amazing day,‘ Finlay mindlinked me.
‘I’m forgiven for dragging you out of bed?‘ I asked.
‘You are, but I will still hold you to the hot shower.‘ I wouldn’t objec to that.
Chapter 110-2
Hours later I was snuggled up on the couch in front of the fireplace had a cup of tea in my hands and listened to Finlay working in the kitchen. He had insisted he would make dinner. I was tempted to join him and have a look at how he was doing, but I wouldn’t do it. To distract myself, I called my mom.
“Armeria, how nice of you to call. How are things?” my mom answered her phone.
“Things are good here, things are finally settling down. We had the first snow last night so we have been out most of the day, playing with the pups in the snow,” I told her. Her laughter was warm and genuine.
“I am so pleased both of my pups have chosen to keep that tradition alive,” she cheerfully told me.
“It’s the best tradition. How are things on your end?” I asked.
“We are fine. The group from Ocean Shore is settling in nicely. They are good wolves and have been through a lot.” She paused and looked unsure.
“It’s okay mom, just tell me,” I told her.
“I think James has taken a liking to one of the women. She is a timid thing, but who can blame her. He has been hovering around her, I don’t think they are true mates, but there is something brewing,” she told me. I smiled.
“I’m happy to hear it. It will be good for him to let go of the past, and maybe he will become more open to start talks between our
packs,” I said My mom smiled back at me.
“You are acting very mature about all of this,” my mom pointed out.
“I don’t know if I am. I have Finn, he is the love of my life and we have an amazing life together. I see no reason why I would be petty and not want James to find happiness. Especially since it will make it more probable he will grant you the permission to come and visit,” I told her. “I’m just being selfish.”
“I’ll tell you a secret. I started the snow day tradition for your dad’s sake. He was always working, always dealing with pack issues, and even though I knew he loved it and was good at it he needed a break every now and then. Before we had pups it was always hard to get him to agree to it. You know how he is, he will do anything for anyone else, but never for his own sake. Well, having pups made it easy to tell him he needed to take a break to spend time with you. I’m happy it serves the same purpose for your mate,” she told me. I looked at her for a moment and then I laughed.
“Does dad know?” I asked.
“Finn is in the kitchen making dinner. He has been adamant he needs to get better at cooking. I don’t know why, but if it’s something he feels he needs to do I will support him. That is why I’m being a good mate and calling my mom instead of checking up on him despite the sounds coming from my kitchen,” I told her. She laughed.
Chapter 110-3
“Eh, dinner might be half an hour later than planned,” he told me. I smiled at him, he looked a little tousled and had some kind of food stain on his cheek.
“Melissa?” he asked and walked over to me so he could lean into the view of the camera. “Hi, Melissa, how are you?” he asked with a smile. My mother giggled.
“I’m doing my best.” he glanced towards the kitchen. “I think I need to get back to it. It was nice talking to you. Give Ron my best.” He kissed me and then set off for the kitchen.
“He is adorable. I suspect my kitchen will need a deep cleaning after tonight, but I don’t mind.”
“He’s a good mate,” she agreed. “And it will be useful if he knows how to cook when you have a pup. Are there any plans for that?” she asked. I knew my mom. She was not putting pressure on me, she was just curious.
“We have talked about it. Things are unstable at the moment with the things happening around us, but neither one of us are against it. We are just not actively trying.”
“But you are actively having sex?” she asked.
“MOM!” I felt myself turning bright red in the face as mom chuckled
“Was that pumpkin I heard bellowing?” I heard my dad ask and then saw him coming into view.
“It was. She is fussing over me asking her about her and Finlay’s sex life,” my mom said. My dad turned visibly pale.
“Love you, pumpkin. Have a nice talk and say hi to Finlay from me, he quickly said and walked out of the room. My mom was giggling.
“Having fun?” I asked.
“So much! You should have seen the look on your brother’s face when I asked him when he was newly mated. I have never seen. someone shift through so many colours in so little time,” she told me, still giggling. I had to agree that it sounded amusing.
“You don’t have to worry about us, that is all I have to say on the subject,” I said.
“Good. Then I’m happy. Take your time with pups if that is what feels right for you. It’s nice to have time for each other.” We
continued talking about other things until Finlay came to tell me dinner was ready. He had set the table and served a large pot with a beef stew and homemade bread. I ignored the mess in the kitchen and kissed him.
“This looks and smells amazing. Thank you for cooking for me,” I told him. He smiled at me and kissed my nose.
“The bread is a little black on the sides and I think, I added a little too much chili in the stew,” he told me.
“You should have seen my first attempts at cooking. If you ask my mom about it the next time you talk to her, she will be happy to tell you about my best efforts,” I said. He laughed and pulled out my chair. He was right, the stew made me feel like a fire–breathing dragon, but it was still good and when we added some sour cream as a topping, it was delicious.
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