Larissa’s eyes widened in shock. “Hold up! Are you trying to say Allegra is moving in with you? After only one night?”
“Good question.” I tilted my head back to stare up at him. “Are you?”
He nodded. “Absolutely.”
I beamed a smile at him before looking back at my best friend. “Yup, that’s what we’re saying.”
“I don’t even know what to say to all of this.” She shook her head and pinched the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger.
I leaned into Zeke’s side, my grin widening. “Is it really that much of a shock? You know that all I’ve ever wanted is a family of my own. I finally found a guy I could picture myself growing old with, so why should I go slow?”
“I’ll be more than happy to give you as many babies as you want,” Zeke offered.
“You’re already talking about babies?” she sputtered. “Do I need to remind you again that you only met this guy last night? You haven’t even had time to introduce him to your best friends.”
“I can fix that with half of my best friend duo right now.” I patted Zeke’s chest. “This is Zeke. I get that it’s super crazy, but I’m already falling in love with him.” I pointed at Larissa. “Zeke, this is Larissa, one of my best friends in the whole wide world.”
“Nice to meet you.” Zeke jerked his chin in her direction. “Allegra has told me a lot about you.”
“I wish I could say the same.” I knew Larissa couldn’t possibly understand why we were moving so quickly, and I was surprised when she didn’t try to drag me away from Zeke. “If my mind is blown by all of this, I can just imagine how your parents are going to react.”
I wasn’t quite ready to find out. I wanted at least a little bit of time to settle into my relationship with Zeke—and pack life—before we tackled my parents. “I think I’ll wait until Christmas break to tell them about Zeke, and then I’ll have a whole month to decide if I want to take any classes next semester.”
Larissa’s back was to the door, so she didn’t see it open as she snorted, “Good luck with her mom.”
A wide grin split Zeke’s face as he looked over her shoulder. “Good luck with my alpha.”
“Huh?” Her brow wrinkled in confusion, much of which was probably due to the fact that I hadn’t been able to let her in on the shifter secret yet, so she had no idea what an alpha was. But with the look on Kace’s face as he strode toward her, I had a feeling she’d understand soon.
“Oh, boy.” I shook my head, my jaw dropping open when Kace tossed my best friend over his shoulder and carried her away while she pounded her fists against his back.
“What?” Zeke wrapped his arm around my waist. “Kace hauling her off isn’t that much different to what I did when I found you.”
“Larissa isn’t like me,” I warned. “She isn’t the type to go with the flow. She tends to make the flow go her way instead.”
“I think my alpha has finally met his match.” Zeke grinned. “I think fate nailed it on the head because your best friend seems to be exactly the kind of mate Kace needs.”
I leaned into his side. “It’ll be interesting, that’s for sure.”
“I’ll show you something interesting.” He swept me into his arms and carried me back to the bedroom, where he fulfilled his promise…over and over again.
Epilogue
Zeke
Allegra’s hand squeezed mine tightly as we walked up the steps to a pretty house in a typical suburban neighborhood. “Relax, sweetheart,” I murmured before leaning over to brush a kiss over the top of her head. The curtains in the picture window to our right shifted slightly, and Allegra’s grip tightened again.
She took a deep breath and blew it out. “I just want them to like you and to tell them…” She shivered, and I wasn’t sure if it was nerves or the cold, winter air.
I stopped on the porch and turned to face her, wrapping her in my embrace. “We’ll tell them together, and even if they are resistant to the idea in the beginning, I’m sure they’ll come around eventually.” I wasn’t as confident as I sounded, but I wasn’t about to do anything to upset my mate any further. I couldn’t stand it when she was unhappy.
I wasn’t sure what I’d do if her parents didn’t accept the idea of shifters or having their daughter mated to one. For a moment, my wolf pushed against my skin, and I almost gave in to the urge to bare my teeth as we considered simply killing her parents and removing them from the equation. Just as quickly, I told my wolf to back the fuck off and reminded him how angry and sad it would make our mate. He immediately calmed down and retreated.