The Last Shewolf Ch. 29-33

My daughter was home.

She wasn't blood, but she was mine. I had claimed her as such before I walked her down the aisle, I had failed to protect her, and I worried about her constantly after she left. Her return filled something in my heart and allowed me to move forward on the other thing I had been holding out on.

I said goodnight and went home just after midnight. I showered and shaved, changed into my silk boxers and a Harley T-shirt, and made sure everything was ready. When the doorbell rang, I was ready. I pulled it open, she was standing there with her weekend bag. "Are you sure you are all right with this," she asked as she walked in.

"I'm sure, Kelly." She moved into my arms, our lips crashing together as I pulled her tight to me. We were like young kids again. I led her into the bedroom, where I removed her clothes and laid her down on the bed, my eyes taking in her naked form. "I love you, Kelly."

"I love you too, Viper." I pulled off my clothes and made sweet love to her.

The next morning, she was in my arms where she belonged. I got up, she reached for me in her sleep but grabbed the warm pillow and went right back to sleep. I went to the bathroom then pulled on some clothes before going to the kitchen. As I pulled the bacon and eggs out of the fridge, I thought about the strange path that brought us to this point. Kelly had been the wife of a close friend, Doc, my Vice President. We had formed the club together, I had been Best Man at his wedding to her twenty years ago. She and my wife Jean were close friends, and we were always together. When she lost her battle to cancer, it was Doc and Kelly who kept me from slipping into depression.

I made it my mission to return the favor when Doc was killed. I stayed with her in the hospital, took her to her physical therapy appointments, helped her with the estate. She sold their house, unable to pay the mortgage, and I helped her find a small apartment near the Club. I offered to let her stay at my house, but she was afraid of how that would be seen. Moving in on another Club member's widow was frowned upon, and she didn't want the rumors.

It was only in the last year that we started to act on how we felt for each other. It started simple; watching shows together, sitting together at the Club, going places together. Our first kiss had been six months ago, our first time sleeping together a few weeks ago. I finished up making breakfast, putting it on a tray with some juice and brought it back to my bedroom.

She opened her eyes when I came in. "Morning, love," I said as she blinked her eyes open.

"Breakfast in bed?"

I set the tray on the table, kissing her as she sat up. She walked into the bathroom, then asked me if I could bring her bag in. I went and got it, setting it on the bed, I pulled out the bag with her toiletries and knocked on the door. She took it with a smile, and I went back to the bed. I took her clothes and placed them in the dresser, in the drawers I had finally cleaned out. I was ready to move on, I donated the clothes and the other things I didn't want to save of hers. It took me two weeks of work to make the house ready for a new wife, if she'd take me.

She came out just as I was moving the last of her stuff into the drawer. "Viper, what are you doing?"

"What I should have done months ago, Kelly. I'm making a place for you." I took her hand and led her back to the bed, sitting down and pulling her onto my lap. "I've been holding on to Jean's memory far too long. She would have wanted me to be happy, just as Doc would want you to be happy. YOU make me happy." She started to tear up as I pulled her tight. "I prayed to her a few days ago, Kelly. I asked for her permission to do what I want to do, I asked for a sign. Last night, that was her way of telling me that I have a family to take care of, and I need to let her go. Vivian is back, Jessica is like her sister, and she's having a baby that will practically be my grandchild. I can't do that alone."

She was crying now. "Are you sure it isn't too soon?"

I set her on the bed and dropped to my knees in front of her. Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out the ring I had purchased for her. "Kelly, you would make me happy if you would be my Old Lady. Will you marry me?"

"Of course, silly," she said before she kissed me. She put the ring on and looked at it before looking back at me. "You may now molest your fiancé."

Ch. 31

Kelly's POV

"We have to get going, Viper, we're going to be late."

He laughed as he got out of the shower, holding open a towel for me to step into. "They'll wait." He dried me off carefully before doing himself, and I wrapped the towel around as he gave me the bathroom to get ready. I looked in the mirror; I was old, but I looked good. I still had a good body, one that Viper had ridden with skill last night and this morning. "Are we driving separate?"

"I'm not hiding us anymore, Kelly. The only question is if we ride up together or you ride with me."

I thought about it for a moment; I loved riding my Harley, but riding on the back of his motorcycle in our world meant you were his Old Lady. "I'll go with you, then."

He was smiling as he came back in, dressed in jeans, boots, a black T-shirt and his cut. "Beside me or behind me, as long as you are riding with me I'm happy." He pulled me in to his chest, the towel somehow pulling loose. "Hey! We have to go!" I walked past him, finding my lingerie and clothes on the bed where he had laid them out for me.

"We will." He helped me with my boots, then took my hand as we walked out of the bedroom. "Now that we're official, would you like to move in?"

"And leave my palatial studio apartment with the drug dealer neighbor and the cockroaches?"

"Yes. I want you here with me."

We made it to the garage, where he opened the garage door and we walked to his big Harley Ultra Glide. I let him get on, then slipped on behind him. "I want to get married first."

He just laughed. "Fine. We'll get the license on Monday and Crash can do the ceremony next Friday night. That gives us time to pack your stuff and move it over." I just hugged him as he fired up his ride. "Unless that's too soon."

"This afternoon would be fine with me, we can catch up the paperwork later. As long as we're surprising everyone, we may as well go all the way." He pulled out, the door closing behind him as we made the short ride to the clubhouse.

Everyone was waiting outside, enjoying the morning weather. A cheer broke out as we pulled in, and I waved my ring at the girls as we drove to our spot. As President, his bike was parked closest to the entrance. We were mobbed by the time he had backed into the spot and turned off the engine. I no sooner got off than I was hugged by Teri and the girls. They pulled me inside, sitting me at the table as the guys were congratulating Viper outside. "It's about damn time he popped the question," Teri said.

My mouth dropped. "You knew?"

"That you two were running around like a couple teenagers trying to hide from your parents? Yeah, we knew."

Taser laughed. "It was pretty easy to tell, he can't take his eyes off you, and you lean into him every chance you get."

"I think we knew you were getting laid before you did," Teri said.

"And that whole 'I'm going to Viper's house because he's helping me with my bike' thing, we all saw right through that. He can't work on it while it's in the driveway and you're in the bedroom," Sheri said. She was Moose's wife, they married two years ago. She owned a bar in St. Paul, so she was only around in the mornings.

"Well," Katie said, "her Harley may have sat in the cold, but I'm sure she was getting her chrome polished." I started turning red.

"He checked her oil," Sheri added.

"Blew out her pipes," Teri laughed.

"Polished the headlight," Taser added.

"Topped off her tank," said Vivian.

"Oh God," I said as I put my head down on my arms, hiding my tomato face.

"I heard that too, he must have been waxing your finish," Sheri laughed.

"Put her up on the lift and checked her out," Katie said.

"Tested the suspension," Taser laughed.

"Oiled up her saddle," Vivian said as she busted out laughing.

"That's fair, I bet she inflated his tires," Taser teased.

"THAT'S IT," I yelled as I glared at them all. "The next one who cracks a joke doesn't get to be my bridesmaid this afternoon."

Now it was MY time to smile as their jaws dropped. "WHAT?"

"Viper's asking Crash to do it after lunch. I finally got him to ask me, do you think there's any way in hell I'm going to let him get talked out of it?" I looked over at Teri. "Teri, I want you to be my matron of honor," I said.

"Of course," she said as she started to cry.

"Vivian, you know the drill," I said with a grin. "I'd like you to escort Viper down the aisle, you're his closest family."

She didn't say anything, she was nodding and crying before she jumped up and hugged me. "I'm so happy for you," she said.

"Taser, I need you to book a honeymoon suite for us tonight. You better not tell anyone where it is, either," I warned. "I'm not spending our wedding night in a guest room over the bar, or at his house."

"I know just the place," she said.

"We've got church, then lunch. I want to do the ceremony about four, so we can have dinner and party for a while before he takes me out of here. I need someone for decorating, and someone for food."

"I'll draft Snake for the food, he has enough time to put something together," Vivian said. "He studied cooking for years in Grenada, he makes some mean Creole food."

"Mix in some steaks and potatoes, and remind him this is Minnesota, where people say that 'Taco Bell food is too spicy for me,'" I warned. "I like it hot enough to burn the hairs off my lip, though, so just make a variety." She nodded.

"I'll take decorations," Sheri said. "I've got a bunch in the storeroom at my bar. What's the theme?"

"Snake and Vivian's wedding for older people," I said. And with that, my dream wedding was planned.

We eventually got all the members back in the conference room for church; riders only, so some of the ladies were left to start getting things together for the wedding. I was pulled into Viper's lap, my place taken by Snake, with Vivian in his lap. We'd have to get more chairs sometime, I thought.

It took about half an hour just to catch everyone up on where we were. We told them about what had happened here after she left. I told about Doc's funeral, about the investigation into the torching of the clinic. Viper's quick thinking with the gasoline and the oxygen had obliterated any evidence of werewolves, and the whole thing had been blamed on druggies. The estate settled with the insurance company, and that was that.

A few strangers poked around in the next few weeks, probably wolves, but they stopped coming soon enough. A woman even stopped by to see Moose, asking about Vivian; from the description, she said it was probably Beta Denise. Moose didn't say a word about her.

None of us had heard from Snake, Vivian, Carson or Jessica since they had fled six years earlier. I was holding onto Viper's hand with a death grip as they told us of their time in the States, the close calls they had before deciding on Grenada. I loved the island through their eyes, and before they were done I was already plotting how to go on a family vacation there next winter. Finally, Jessica told about finding out she was pregnant.

"Didn't you use birth control?" Teri had the obvious question.

"Yes, and we stayed in human form, but no birth control is fully effective." Her hand fell to her belly, she was barely showing. "It doesn't matter, I'm pregnant now, and we have to plan for what that means." She had already explained why abortion was out of the question; I didn't have a wolf in my head, so it didn't make sense, but they were certain about it.

"All of my equipment, all of my notes were in the clinic when it was torched," Vivian said. "I need to fix up the clinic here, I've got about three months before she reaches the dangerous portion of her pregnancy. I've learned a lot, and I'll do what I can," she promised. "We need to get the baby to twenty-three weeks, then I'll give it the shot to develop the lungs. I'll deliver at twenty-four weeks. That's how old Jennifer was, and we were able to keep her alive. My plan is to deliver before the SPUDS sets in, giving Jessica a chance to live."

"You'll need a lot of equipment, won't you?" I remembered how much she had in the clinic.

"Yes, I've been making a list. I was going to start looking on Ebay and medical auction sites this weekend. I also need to go back to the licensing bureau, get my Minnesota license active again. Since I was in school, and practicing in Grenada, that shouldn't be difficult. That way I can order the drugs and supplies I need, except blood."

She had a lot of it stored in the clinic before, and we needed every bag trying to save the women. "You can't use human blood, right?"

"Correct. She needs werewolf blood, type matched. I can have her donate a couple pints before her pregnancy is too far along, but I really need to find a supply of werewolf blood. IV saline can replace the volume, but it won't help with clotting and I need that."

"Can you talk to Packs without getting suspicions?"

Vivian shrugged. "I don't know right now if there are any Packs that have medical staff, much less a doctor. I can make some inquiries, but if someone finds out I'm alive and in Minnesota, I become the number one target of every Pack. They know I was able to save a baby, that word got out, and they'll want me to save theirs too."

"Don't you want to help," Teri asked.

"I do, but I have to protect myself, protect Jessica," Vivian said. "Both of us are targets, even with her pregnant, she's still a werewolf and a registered nurse. Don't forget they can still force mate me, take me away from her." Carson started to growl, and Snake just pulled her tighter.

"All right, first order of business is we have to set protection for these two." There were nods around the table at this, we were family. "I'm sorry, ladies, but you're going to be restricted to the clubhouse. We will have at least four club members here with you, all of them strapped, all the time. Hammer, you'll set up a rotation. Moose, you still have the silver ammunition and knives?"

"Of course, I brought some with this morning when I heard they were back. I'll pass it out when we're done."

Vivian looked sad. "Does this mean we can't ride?"

"Club rides we can do, plenty of people around, but no rallies or strangers. Carson has to go with, he can ride ahead and make sure the places we stop are clear of werewolves before we arrive. It won't be often, it's a big risk," Viper said. "Also, while they are here at the clubhouse, nobody we don't know unless they are cleared by me or Hammer, and Carson has to sniff them out first. No dropins or open houses. Got it?" He got nods all around. "Vivian, Jessica, whatever you need, you order it or we can get it for you. You're our daughters, that's how we think of you, which makes that baby the grandchild I never thought I'd have. We WILL spoil it, so get used to the idea." I just nodded as Vivian laughed, I was so excited at the prospect.

"Anything else?" No one said anything.

"Then let's get out of here, we've got a wedding to go to," I said. I hopped off his lap and made the rounds, hugging each of the guys before we finally left the room.

What a difference a day makes.

Ch. 32

Vivian's POV

As soon as Church ended, Snake and I headed towards the kitchen. He grabbed a couple prospects and put them to work on rearranging the tables and chairs for the big dinner. He looked at what was in the big refrigerator and the walk-in freezer in back, muttering to himself the whole time. After he had taken some things out, we sat down to make a menu. "We only have about four hours to get this going," I said. "And we need to be able to seat everyone at the same time. The good news is that Kelly said you could make some Island food if you wanted, as long as you remembered not everyone likes their food hot."

"That works for me. I'm thinking rice and gumbo for the main course." My mouth started watering, I absolutely LOVED that Creole dish, and his was amazing. "I can make up a huge batch, plus a smaller batch that uses mild sausage and a lot less cayenne pepper. Rice is easy to make in quantity, and we can serve it family style or have them come up and take plates of it and sit down."

"Are you going to do your famous seafood gumbo?" Made with andouille sausage, shrimp, chicken, crab and fish, my wolf and I both loved it. "Family style would be amazing if we can pull it off," I said. "It's so much more social than being served."

"Ok, so seafood gumbo and rice. I'll make some chicken tenders and fries for the kids, we have plenty of those to use in the fryer, if they aren't adventurous. What other stuff should we have?" He was jotting down things on a pad as we talked.

"French bread, fresh baked, we need it to soak up the juices. We can leave it in the sleeves, just lay it on the table as decoration until needed. Then they break off pieces, island style."

"Potato salad is traditional to serve with gumbo, that's easy enough to buy at a deli. I don't have time to make it myself."

I thought about it, the table needed more color and options. "A garden salad would be nice. The farmer's market is open, we could get some fresh produce."

"That's good, that can be prepared while the gumbo is cooking. What about the cake? I'm not that good at them."

I just giggled. "Sheri knows a woman who owes her a favor. She can do it, barely, but we had to leave the choices up to her based on what she had available. Sheri said that it will be 'appropriate' for the wedding, whatever that means." He shook his head as he finished the list. Calling the prospects over, he sent one to the farmer's market and the other to the local Cub Foods. "You might need to ask where this stuff is, if they don't have enough, go to another store. And hurry up," he said as he handed them cash for it.

"And DeWalt? You get the tough part." I looked at him quizzically. "Go tell the bride what we decided, and tell her if she doesn't agree, it's White Castles for everyone."

"Are you sure, baby? She might go for the sliders."

He just laughed. "I don't think the crowd is drunk enough for White Castles. Now go on and get back here. There's prep to be done."

It took us a while to get comfortable working in the Club kitchen again, having to find where people had put stuff. The day flew by as we laughed and cooked together.

All too soon, Sheri was pulling me out to get ready. "The wedding party is wearing black jeans, white blouses and our cuts," she said. "Now come on, time for you to shower and get ready. You smell like shrimp."

An hour later, I was standing in the same room, with the same man I had been with six years ago. The only difference was who was getting married. "Are you nervous?"

He just shifted in his seat. "You weren't?"

"Of course I was. I have another joke for you."

"Oh God..."

I smacked his arm. "At a nursing home a group of senior citizens were sitting around talking about their aches and pains.

"My arms are so weak I can hardly lift this cup of coffee," said one.

"My cataracts are so bad I can't even see my coffee," replied another.

"I can't turn my head because of the arthritis in my neck," said a third.

"My blood pressure pills make me dizzy," another contributed.

Then there was a short moment of silence.

"Thank God we can still drive," said one woman cheerfully." We both cracked up.