Her hands clung to him, tangling in his shirt, her face hidden against his chest as she quivered against him. Shade couldn’t figure out what was wrong, her emotions so mixed he couldn’t latch onto one, so he merely held her and gave her time to compose herself. It was several long minutes before she lifted her head, her eyes still glinting with unshed tears, but a smile on her face.
“I can’t believe you got me all this stuff. I’ve never had this much before, and you got me just the right things, jeans are my favorite things to be in, and you got me underwear. I mean, brand new underwear that’s pretty and lacy, and, shoot, I’ve never had such nice panties before. I’ll feel special, extra special knowing you got them for me.”
Shade smirked cheekily. “I can’t wait to take them off you.”
Marissa stepped back, punching his arm. “Away you go. I’m going to spend forever deciding what to wear.”
“No, you’re not,” Shade replied, reaching over and picking a pair of jeans with sparkles on the back pockets, a plain sleeveless t-shirt with a checked overshirt, then rummaged in the open drawer for underwear. He settled on a pair of lacy black panties and matching bra, then handed the outfit to Marissa. “Here you go, that’s you sorted for today. There’s also brushes and other hair things around here somewhere. I won’t be long.”
Marissa fingered the underwear, her face blushing. “These are beautiful, thank you.”
“I may, or may not, have been thinking of my pleasure while picking those out.” Shade held his hands out, shrugging. “Hey, shoot me, I’m a red-blooded Shifter.”
Marissa merely laughed as he retreated, the tinkling sound was one he wished to hear every single day from now until he drew his last breath.
Shade watched over Marissa protectively as they sat on his porch, members of the Pack dropping by to welcome her. She’d been doing great so far, no signs of nervousness, her bright smile winning everyone over, including several Wolves he’d thought might cause a problem. The only person unhappy to see her was Lana.
The Healer scowling as she’d approached and basically giving them both a good talking to for disregarding her “orders”. Shade watched in amazement as Marissa stood up, facing Lana with hands on hips.
“Excuse me, Lana, but I think you know my life hasn’t exactly been an easy one.”
Marissa paused as Lana’s eyes lowered, her head nodding but the Healer didn’t say a word as his mate continued. “Right, so don’t you think I know what hardship is? Don’t you think I know what my body can and can’t take? I’m fine, honestly, I am. I thank you for looking out for me, but don’t presume to know how I feel, or what I can, or can’t do. If, and I say if I feel tired, then I’ve already told Shade I’ll let him know and he’ll take me inside for a nap. For now, I’m fine and I want to meet my new Pack and get settled in my new surroundings. I hope you can understand that.”
Lana looked chagrined as she nodded. “Of course, sorry, Alpha.”
Shade beamed like an idiot when she used Marissa’s proper title, but Marissa merely inclined her head, sitting back down and asking. “Oh, I meant to ask, do you have any of that chicken broth left? I enjoyed it so much and I think it really helped me earlier.”
Boy! Shade could barely keep from chuckling. This girl was good.
Lana smiled. “Of course I have, I’ll get one of the boys to bring you some right away.”
“Thank you, I appreciate that.”
As soon as Lana was out of earshot, he’d pulled Marissa onto his lap, nibbling her ear. “Well played, Alpha.”
Marissa squirmed, trying to escape. “Shade! People will see.”
“So? What’s your point?”
“My point is . . . people will see!”
Her obvious discomfort causing him to pull back. “And what’s wrong with people seeing? You’re my mate and there’s nothing wrong with them seeing us together, Mari.”
“Really?” She looked around, her face flushed scarlet. “I . . . really?”
“Really,” he reiterated. “Your Pack is obviously very flawed, in so many fucking ways, but love between mates is never something to be ashamed of. It’s to be celebrated. I’m not saying we have sex where everyone can just stop on by and watch, but this, this is more than okay.”
She settled, somewhat, onto his lap, just as Melony arrived, her long blonde hair bouncing around her head as she jogged up the steps, bowing her head in greeting.
“Marissa, this is Melony Paradise, she works with Royce in The Den, truth is that Royce couldn’t run the place without her. Melony runs the bar with an iron-fist and takes no nonsense from the customers, Shifters or humans. Isn’t that so, Mel?”
Melony’s bright blue eyes twinkled as she grinned. “Yeah, that’s right, Alpha. Royce would be cracking heads all night long if it weren’t for me and my charm.”
Marissa seemed awed by Melony but recovered quickly, holding out her hand. “Hi, nice to meet you, Melony. That’s a beautiful name, unusual too.”
Melony laughed, showing off her sparkling white teeth. “Melony is my given name, Paradise is of my own making. I changed it when I joined Silver Lake. I wanted a completely new start and I decided a new start deserved a nice new name to go with it. When I first saw Silver Lake I thought it was like a paradise, so, I took that as my name.”
“That’s beautiful,” Marissa replied honestly.
“Is this just a social visit, or can I help you with something?” Shade asked.
“Bit of both,” Melony said as she settled back to lean on the railing. “I’m needing some more
