He said the most incredible things.
“I’ll never be able to explain what it’s like knowing you understand me.” I kissed him gently. “You were there for me from the first moment you stepped into my office. I will always be grateful for your open mind and your wonderful heart. I love you.”
In that moment, I knew he would always be my Alpha and my lover, but I also knew that one day he would be even more. He would be the man I always came home to, the man who loved me to distraction, and understood all the parts of me I’d never been able to share with anyone else.
He was my Alpha.
Epilogue
Shane
“If I haveto see that man flirt with one more waiter, I might kill him.” Tanner looked up at me sweetly. “You’ll help me hide the body, won’t you?”
Before I could answer, Austin came down the hall, grinning. “If he won’t, I will. Your father even chased off that hunky beta waiter I was eyeing. He needs a hobby.”
I wasn’t sure what to say about that.
Overall the fundraiser had gone well, but I was out of my league on some things. Luckily, the two omegas didn’t need me to help with their murderous plans.
“Why did he chase off the waiter? You know, you have that lake house. It would be perfect to hide the body.” Tanner smiled innocently at Austin, his fingers stroking mine. “He doesn’t think you’ll date him, does he? He’s nuts, but he’s not suicidal.”
I was back to not knowing what to say again.
Austin waved a hand, shrugging delicately. “I have no idea, but I actually think he was eyeing the big beta. I guess kinky runs in the family.”
Tanner started to choke. Austin looked like he’d just won the lottery…or bought another ridiculous town.
“You okay?” When he was still coughing after a long few seconds, I started to get concerned.
He nodded and managed a few deep breaths. When he’d recovered, he narrowed his eyes at Austin. “I’ll get you for putting that image in my head.”
Austin giggled, running his hands down his tux jacket like he was smoothing out a ballgown. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I just came over to complain about your father and to see how your evening went.”
Tanner snorted but seemed to have decided to get revenge at a later date. “It’s gone well. My father still hasn’t decided how he feels, but he only dragged over two alphas under the guise of making introductions, so I think we’re doing better.”
Tanner’s father hadn’t exactly been surprised by the news that we were seeing one another, but he wasn’t particularly pleased. I had a feeling he was hoping for an alpha that was a bit easier to manage or maybe one that would help him manage Tanner—either way, I wasn’t playing his games.
After his first politely worded email had shown up in my account asking me to encourage Tanner to hire a new decorator so Reginald could finally get some good photos of Tanner’s house, I’d made it clear that I wasn’t going to be used. He hadn’t appreciated it—and hadn’t appreciated it when I’d outed him to Tanner.
With Austin’s help, we’d figured out that he was dating the head designer at a new local company who thought Tanner would be a good stepping-stone for his career. Tanner hadn’t been pleased.
Austin snorted. “Your father is a moron. But that whole generation seems to be, so there’s nothing you can do. He’ll come around eventually. Now, did either of you see which way my date went? He’s slippery.”
Tanner chuckled and pointed. “Wade went that way.”
“He escapes worse than a real date.” Austin huffed. “If he ditches me for one of the waiters, I might kill him too.”
“I don’t think you have to worry about that.” I shook my head.
We’d only seen Wade because he’d decided to escape the crowd by heading through the narrow service hallways too. We were just around the corner from the coatroom, but most people would have never found us. Evidently, the gang of troublemakers had gone to a lot of events there in the past, so they knew their way around. “I have a feeling he’s hiding. I don’t know how you got him to agree to come tonight.”
“The attention made him nervous.” Tanner looked toward the coatroom that Wade had wandered toward.
I had a feeling anyone Austin had shown up with would have gotten attention, but the fact that it was Wade and he just looked so wholesome made it worse. But Tanner said Wade hadn’t wanted Austin to go alone, so he’d volunteered to go.
“It’s good for him to get out and do something different.” Then Austin grinned wickedly. “Did you see how everyone was looking at him? They just about ate him up. He’s so cute in that tux.”
They both looked at me, chuckling as I nodded. “What? I’m taken, not dead. He did look good.”