Dark Wolf (Spirit Wild) - By Kate Douglas Page 0,102

with witnesses present.”

“Exactly what I was thinking.”

They shifted at precisely the same time, so in sync since the bonding that it was the most natural thing in the world to know what Alex was going to do next. He pulled her into his thoughts and contacted Anton first.

Annie and I would like to meet with our parents at your house tonight. Is that okay?

If you get here in the next ten minutes, you can sit down to dinner with them. Annie’s parents just arrived, and yours will be here in a couple of minutes.

Alex wanted to laugh out loud. You know, don’t you? How do you do that?

Pack alpha secret, and no, I don’t know, but I’m guessing you and Annie have mated, and if so, you have my congratulations.

Thank you.

Annie added her thanks. We want to tell our parents at the same time, she said.

With witnesses, so Tinker won’t kill me.

Anton’s laughter wasn’t unexpected. The only witnesses will be your parents, Keisha, and me. Lily and Sebastian aren’t back from their visit with Eve on the astral. Come quickly. I expect this will be one of our more interesting dinner parties.

Annie glanced at Alex and caught the twinkle in her mate’s eyes. She was afraid their alpha might just be right.

Alex sat beside his father with Tinker on the far side of Stefan at Anton’s bar while the alpha poured drinks for all of them. Tinker hadn’t said much during dinner, especially when the women had been all over the two of them with congratulations, hugs, and kisses.

Now the four women—Keisha, Xandi, Lisa, and Annie—had headed off to town to shop for something special for Annie to wear when their mating was announced to the pack.

Alex didn’t like the fact they’d left the compound, especially since it was already after seven. Not with Aldo Xenakis back in town and rogue wolves about, but he figured he’d better get used to deferring to what his woman wanted—to a point. He took the cognac Anton handed him and caught his father’s steady gaze. “Congratulations, Alex. I think you’ve made a brilliant choice.” His dad held his glass out in a casual toast.

Alex touched his glass to Stefan’s. “Thank you. She’s pretty amazing, Dad.” Then he glanced at Tinker. “I do love your daughter, Tink. I promise I’ll be good to her, and I’ll do whatever it takes to make her happy. Just knowing she loves me is the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

“Damned straight you’ll be good to her.” He practically growled, but at least he smiled when he said it. Then he touched his glass to Alex’s.

Anton held up his glass. “My very best to both of you, Alex. Though, because of you, my wife has once again proved both your father and me wrong.”

Stefan chuckled and took a sip of his cognac. “I know. Include Xandi in that, too. She’s said all along that you and Annie would make a better pairing than you and Lily. How come we were the last ones to see this coming?”

Tinker shook his head and shot a grin at Alex. “Well, I sure as hell missed out on everything, but Lisa always says I’m the last to figure stuff out. So, what’s the plan now, son?”

Alex silently cringed at the unspoken challenge in that question. He swallowed down the short shot of Hennessy and set the glass on the bar. “The plan right now is to follow the women to town.” He stood up and shoved the bar stool back under the bar. “I know that Keisha, Lisa, and Xandi are a formidable team, but a couple of rogues tried to capture us last night, and I don’t feel comfortable with the women going into Kalispell without backup.”

Tinker studied him with a surprising show of respect. Then he nodded slowly, finished his drink, and set the glass on the bar. “Do you want company?”

“Yes, sir, I do. Dad? Anton? Interested in an evening shopping trip in town?”

Anton’s lip curled up in a grin. “The girls won’t like it.”

Alex looked him directly in the eye. No submission at all. Not this time. “Does that really matter?”

Anton shook his head and clapped Alex on the shoulder. “Not a bit. C’mon. We’ll take the Rover.”

Anton handed the keys to Alex and then rode shotgun. He wanted to sit where he could watch him, see how he continued to handle the situation, and he didn’t want to be distracted by either the need to drive