"Trust me, whatever that man feels, he feels deeply. Plus with most of our mates tied to Level One, it just made sense to live down there too," he explained.
"What do you mean?
"Well, Eva is pretty much the liaison for the refugees. Not only does the Wolftown pack trust her, all the other refugees look to her to act as their voice. She's kick ass enough to hold her own and they know it. Then there's Kari. I'm just going to be honest, she pretty much runs the city. That's how much Magnus relies on her. She's like a little general behind the scenes telling us all what to do. After Kari, we got Ellie, then Vivi. They will probably get their own labs next to Broderick's. Magnus is no fool, I bet before he got sick he was writing up a list of stuff needed for them to be happy and stay right here and that was before he knew Vivi was his goddsdaughter. Then there's you." He smiled at her. "With the miniature baby boom in Noctem Falls, I bet he will try to bribe you to stay as well. He goes absolutely nuts for the kids." He took another sip of his wine. "So, you see, being on Level One just makes sense."
Serenity looked at him blinking slowly. He could tell she was getting sleepy. "Can we keep your garden? And your swing? And your wine?"
He gently kissed her nose. "Of course."
"You have a nose fetish," she said giggling. "Or you missed my mouth."
"Well, we can't have that," he said before kissing her slowly. When he leaned back she sighed happily. She picked up her glass and drained it before letting it tip over beside her. Smiling she closed her eyes again. "I love your garden."
Micah picked up her glass, then finished his own wine before leaning over to place both empty glasses beside the bottle on the end table.
"Drunk?" he asked, snuggling in beside her.
"No. Just..." she trailed off.
"Completely relaxed, carefree and perfectly content?"
She nodded rubbing her nose playfully on his chest. "I think it did something to the mating pull," she said, before she yawned.
Micah nodded giving in to the lull of peacefulness threatening to overtake him. "I think it sped it up."
She nodded again. "Yup."
"Yup," he echoed.
"Love you Micah."
"Love you too, my one and only," he replied as his eyes finally drifted close.
*****
Serenity woke up and looked around. They were still in Micah's magical, Disney-like garden. Her prince was currently snoring softly as their bed swayed back and forth.
She stared down at him, then remembered their confessions before falling asleep. She expected panic to overtake her at any moment, but nothing happened. If anything, watching his sleeping face snore and drool slightly had her smiling and feeling content. She eyed the bottle of wine. That stuff was potent and needed a warning label. She grinned. They were so drinking some of that later, maybe after dinner.
"Dinner!" she exclaimed.
She shook her mate. "Micah! Micah wake up! What time is it?"
Micah opened his eyes then blinked. "Why did you wake me up to ask me what time it was?"
Serenity hopped off the bed and pulled out her phone. "It's five thirty! We have less than a half an hour to get ready for dinner."
Micah was looking much more alert now. "Shit, I forgot all about dinner." He stretched. "If there wasn't so much going on I'd try to tempt you to stay here."
Serenity shook her head. "No way. I need to, at the very least, check in with Vivi regarding the progress she made testing Aiden's blood." She looked around frantically. "Where's my bag?"
Micah threaded his hands behind his head. "Where we left it, on Level One."
Serenity looked down at her utilitarian white button-down shirt and jeans. "I can't wear this to dinner!"
"Why not? Meryn showed up to dinner last night in Pikachu pajamas."
"That's Meryn, you gave me a list a mile long why she can get away with it," she countered. She gasped. "You never told me what everyone's rank was."