When the other two large Shifters moved forward, Ash stepped up, shaking his head once and they retreated. Shade’s anger was now beyond anything he’d encountered before. He’d worshiped every inch of Marissa’s body and that meant he’d seen, up close and personal, the scars that this man before him had caused. Hell’s fire, he couldn’t hold back, he just fucking couldn’t.
“Shit, you don’t need to give me an excuse,” Shade ground out. “You hurt her, you inflicted pain on my mate, and that gives me the right to exact vengeance.”
His fist connected with the man’s jaw, the crunch of it breaking was like music in his blood pounding ears. Blood spurted freely as the sorry excuse for a father reeled backward, Shade stepping forward, fist raised again when a soft hand and softer voice, halted him in his tracks.
“Shade, he’s not worth it. He’ll get what’s coming soon enough.”
Shade’s anger flowed out of him at the sound of her voice, turning to embrace her, he held her tightly and kissed the top of her head. “Ash, can you take the trash out for me?”
“Sure,” Ash replied, waving his own men over to herd the intruders away.
Shade looked over his shoulder, snarling one last time. “You’ve had your last warning. If I see you again there will be no more words . . . I’ll kill you.”
Shade swung his son, Mikey, high in the air, his grin wide as his child giggled, shouting, “More, dada, more.”
His thoughts going back to the Alpha that had caused his mate so much pain and how he’d reveled in hunting him down and exacting his revenge, secretly, with only Ash and Royce beside him. Marissa never found out, and he’d never tell her his secret. It was his burden to bear and one he carried easily. His only regret was he’d been unable to do the same to her father, but that pleasure had been taken from him by the dark Enforcer, Zohar. That fact was one his beautiful mate was aware of, but he’d been sorry that Zohar had taken away his chance to deal with the man who’d scarred Marissa in so many ways. Shade grinned as Mikey pounded on his chest shouting for him to throw him again, pulling him from his thoughts.
“Sure,” Shade laughed, swinging Mikey around before tossing him above his head again.
Marissa watched from the porch, her hands resting on her engorged belly where the twins appeared to be playing football. Her stomach moving around alarmingly as she tried to get comfortable. “You all right, baby?” he asked, seeing her shuffle around in the large comfy chair he’d insisted she used.
“Yeah,” she replied far too quickly.
Shade lowered Mikey to the ground, patting his backside and pointing to Lana who was heading their way. “Lana, can you watch him for a moment?”
Mikey took off running, like he always did when he saw the Healer, who usually produced a cookie for the child. Shade shouted, “No cookies!” before rushing over to his mate.
Shade knelt down in front of her, holding out his hands to take hers. “Tell me?”
“What? You’re not just going to go inside my head?” she snarked.
“No, we agreed I’d stop that. Didn’t we? So, here’s me stopping that. Tell me what’s wrong?”
Her eyes sparkled as tears filled them, her bottom lip trembling as she fought to stop herself crying. Shade had his own battle going on. The one where he didn’t just go right on in and see what was going on in her head. But, he’d agreed not to, so he sat there, scared witless and waited.
“It’s too soon. It’s just too soon,” Marissa wailed.
“What is?” Shade asked, scared he knew exactly what she meant.
“Get Lana, please, these little stinkers aren’t going to wait any longer.”
“I knew it! Why didn’t you say sooner, Mari? How long have you been in labor?” Before she could answer he turned, roaring. “Lana! We need you, now!”
“For a while, I kept hoping it would stop, but it didn’t, and well, now it’s just so sore and I need you, Shade.”
“You’ve got me, baby. Let me in and I’ll take your pain, just like we did with Mikey. I’ll get you through this.”
“You know I love you, don’t you?” Marissa reached for his face, running a finger across his lips. “But if you get me pregnant again I’m gonna cut your balls off.”
Shade threw his head back, laughing. “Deal, baby, deal. Three is more than enough.” He looked back at her, raising an eyebrow. “Unless you decide differently.”
“Shade!” she wailed, hitting his chest.
Lana came running, as did Ash and Royce who was laughing his head off. Shade looked at his friend. “What’s so fucking funny?”
“You, my friend. I just remembered something I said to you a few years ago . . . do you remember? Something along the lines of you being knee-deep in pups?”
Shade chuckled. “Three is hardly knee-deep.”
“Three in less than three years. Just think where you’ll be in five, or ten, or . . .”
“Royce! Will you shut up!” Marissa yelled. “I’m in pain here and I need Shade so just shut the hell up or I’ll knock you on your ass.”
Lana slapped Royce’s head on her way past, rushing to Marissa’s side, issuing orders. “Right, Shade, let’s get her inside and
