Will nodded. He could hear that truth, and he believed. Even better, the heavy, dark foreboding in his gut melted away. His territory was safe now.
Jackson shifted back into his human form and stood over Alec. With a growl in his voice, Jackson said, “You can wander around for four years and remember how everything was taken from you.”
Will’s pride watched in silence as Alec slowly stood up and walked, naked, back across the road to the wooded area on the other side.
“Good fucking riddance,” Will said.
“Truth.” Hayley offered him a fist bump.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Eleanor hung up the phone, exhausted after speaking to her mother. Last night, she’d endured five minutes of awkward chitchat with her father, for their obligatory Christmas call. With her mother, conversations tended to last a lot longer, and they were always one-sided.
“I met someone,” Eleanor finally blurted.
Her mother had stopped in mid-narrative of the most recent shopping trip she’d taken to New York City. “That’s nice, dear,” she said, then continued on about some new shopping opportunities in Manhattan.
Eleanor had finally had to interrupt her and say she had to go. She slumped against her bedroom door. She’d never be close to her parents, and that was okay. The family she had here was the family she needed.
The doorbell rang, and she heard Will get up to answer. A smile automatically pulled across Eleanor’s face. Yes, her real family was here, and she’d never felt so lucky in her life.
After pressing play on her iPod so that soft, classical holiday tunes came out of the speakers in the living room, Eleanor walked out to greet everyone. Hayley, Marius, Summer, and Jackson were all piling into her house, which felt even cozier because of the tree she and Will had decorated last night.
She and Will gave hugs all around.
“Dick the halls with twats and cock rings, fa la la la la…” Hayley sang along with the music.
“That baby is gonna be so lucky,” Summer whispered in Eleanor’s ear.
Eleanor laughed. “You’re right. Also, we’re going to spoil that child senseless.”
She felt surrounded by warmth and love as they devoured an early Christmas dinner, talking and laughing, making plans for their new homes which would begin construction in the spring under Hayley’s guidance. Eleanor’s small, ordinary life, which had felt a bit lonely before, had expanded into something warm and caring and full of love.
She’d never been so happy, and couldn’t imagine being any happier.
After dinner, she played Christmas carols on the piano and everyone sang along. Will’s rich baritone was actually quite good, but Hayley couldn’t hang onto a tune to save her life. Besides, Hayley kept asking, “It’s time to open presents now, isn’t it?” at the end of each carol.
Eventually they found seats on the couch and on the floor, and tore into their gifts. The most popular gift was the onesie Jackson and Will had ordered for Hayley and Marius’s baby. It read, I have the best effing uncles ever.
“Last gift,” Will said, passing a box to Eleanor. She nearly dropped it, because it was a lot heavier than it looked.
“Aw, honey,” she said. “Bricks? You shouldn’t have.”
He just smirked back at her. The way his eyes danced told her that this definitely was not bricks.
She pulled open the box and gasped. There, in front of her, was a hardbound collector’s edition of the Interstellar Love Connection graphic novels, all compiled into one giant book.
“I love it,” she said, beaming at him. The entire set, all in one place—it was perfect.
But on top of the book was another box, this one small. It wasn’t velvet or anything fancy. In fact, it was made of cardboard and it was painted in the ILC theme colors. Eleanor’s mind raced. Online, Eleanor had found a trademarked “Joona” necklace, with the round shape of her planet, surrounded by rings. Had Will peeked at Eleanor’s browsing history and seen that she’d admired its likeness on the ILC gift site? Sneaky.
Will scooted toward her, still on his knees, the movement slightly awkward because of his injury. “Let me help you with this one,” he said.
Eleanor felt her eyes widen as he picked up the box and presented it to her.
“Eleanor Jean McGowan,” he said, “you have always been, and always will be, my Ellie. And even though I’ve proposed to you so many times over the years that I’ve lost count—”
He grinned while everyone else laughed.
“Even though you keep telling me no,” he said, “I don’t ever want to stop asking. You can even say no now, but until you send me away, I’m going to keep asking, and I’m never going to leave your side again.”
“Yes!” she shouted, her heart tripping wildly in her chest. “Yes, I do. All of it.”
“He hasn’t even asked you yet,” Marius said in a rumbling, amused voice.
“He doesn’t need to,” she said. “I’m his. William Zachary Jaynes, I will marry you and we’ll belong to each other forever.”
“Forever,” he said, opening the box to reveal an elegant solitaire diamond on a platinum band. “This is for a lifetime of happiness.”
She resisted the urge to snatch the ring from the box and cradle it to her chest, and instead waited, breath held, while he placed it on her finger.
She looked into his deep blue eyes and marveled at the beauty and kindness of his face, at his fierce, protective nature that had torn them apart but then had brought them together again. And she knew that, no matter what, this was forever, and they were going to be crazily, happily in love.
“A lifetime of happiness,” she repeated.
He took her face in his hands and kissed her, then whispered in her ear, “I love you, Ellie. Forever.”
*
Free Reads!
Join Liza’s Awesome Readers Group for news on her book releases, as well as exclusive content! Visit Liza’s free book page for details: https://lizastreetauthor.com/free-book/
Also by Liza Street
The Sierra Pride Series
The Sierra Pride: The Complete Series (includes Books 1-8 and “Ava and Jude”)
Fierce Wanderer
Fierce Heartbreaker (free to newsletter subscribers)
Fierce Protector
Fierce Player
Fierce Dancer
Fierce Informer
Fierce Survivor
Fierce Lover
The Corona Pride Series
The Corona Pride: The Complete Series
Savage Yearning
Savage Loss
Savage Thirst
Savage Bliss
The Dark Pines Pride Series
Wild Homecoming
Wild Atonement
Wild Reunion
The Rock Creek Clan
The Rose King
About Liza
Liza got her start in romance by sneak-reading her grandma’s paperbacks. Years later, she tried her own hand as a ghostwriter of romance and it wasn’t long before she started writing her own series. Now she divides her time between freelance editing, ghostwriting, and mountain lion shifters with fierce and savage hearts.
Website
Facebook
Acknowledgments
Tori Knightwood and Keira Blackwood, thank you for your help and your friendship—writing isn't so lonely when I know that you two are just an email away! Lauren Seiberling, you are a force to be reckoned with; thank you for your enthusiasm and your love of all things romance. As always, J. A lifetime of happiness.
Copyright
Wild Reunion: The Dark Pines Pride, Book Three
by Liza Street
Copyright 2017 Liza Street. All rights reserved.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any
resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental or used fictitiously.
Table of Contents
Wild Reunion
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Also by Liza Street
About Liza
Acknowledgments
Copyright