On their way home from the market, Regal was irritated. Nina had caused a scene for no good reason. They broke up when he went away to college.
"Are you okay?" he asked Harper. He wanted to make sure she wasn't upset about Nina.
"Yes. I knew my shyness was going to cause a problem. Nina reminded me of all the girls I dealt with in high school. They didn't know when to leave me alone and I don't think Nina does either. What was your break up like?" she asked.
"She broke up with me to be honest. I was going away to college, and she was staying here to go to the local university. She didn't want to leave her dad alone with their store. Her mom passed away from cancer in high school."
"I think she regrets letting you go," Harper commented, and he shrugged.
"It was her choice. She never let on that she wanted back together and I don't know where she got the idea we would mate when I turned thirty-five. I wouldn't have mated her then either," he replied, reaching over to take her hand in his. She squeezed his hand, and he knew she wasn't worried about Nina anymore.
"Did your mom want us to bring anything over for dinner?" she asked.
"She said something about dessert, you up for the task?" he asked, he'd done most of the cooking since they'd moved in together.
"I'll whip up a cheesecake, I love making them," she replied.
"You make cheesecake?"
"Sometimes. Like I said, Heather is the one who has a knack for baking," she answered.
"Do we have everything you need?"
"No, can we stop at the market on our way back home?"
"Sure," he agreed and turned their car down a small street to get to their corner market.
"Are you okay?" Harper asked him, he turned his head to look at her.
"Yes, why?"
"Well, I knew you introducing me to your people must have been stressful. Then with Nina trying to cause a stir, I wanted to make sure you were okay," she said. His heart swelled with his love for her. She had been worried about him, when she was the one meeting everyone today.
"I am just fine, baby. I am so proud of you and I know you will make me an amazing mate. We never talked about a date for our wedding. Did you have one in mind?" Christmas was just two weeks away and then there would be New Year Eve.
"Maybe after all of the holidays, we could aim for February. I think that would give my mom plenty of time to help me plan. I don't want anything big, but I assume with you being Alpha our wedding needs to be big?"
"Not necessarily. You are already my mate, so in the eyes of my people we are already married. We might need to throw a large party for my people to come celebrate us though." He parked the car and they climbed out, he watched her shiver when a cold wind blew over them. Wrapping his arm around her shoulders they walked into the market. He picked up a basket and motioned for her to lead the way.
"I am not religious, so I don't want it in a church. We could have your dad or one of your friends marry us? They could easily get ordained on the internet," she replied, walking toward the refrigerator section.
"I can ask my dad. I want Hunter to be my best man and Benson and Anders to be my groomsmen."
"Perfect, I'll have Hainsley as my maid of honor and Hannah and Heather to be my bridesmaids." She grabbed several packages of cream cheese, butter and sour cream to make a topping. Regal watched in awe, he always needed a list when he went to the store or he would forget what he went there for in the first place.
"Have you heard anything more about the people who attacked my car and my apartment?" she asked.
"No. I need to dig into Joseph King and his finances," he replied and she nodded.
"I remember speaking with him on the phone. He was very demanding when he found out I had inherited my grandfather's collection. We need to go through his books, I want to see if I can sell any of them and pair down the collection. My guess is George had many of the same books my grandfather did. If I have two of a book I will place one up for sale, it doesn't do me any good to have two of a book," she replied walking into the baking aisle to get graham cracker crumbs.
"Makes sense, want to go through everything tomorrow? It is Sunday and we don't have to work," he suggested and she nodded.
"Okay I have everything, let's pay and head home." He smiled and took her hand walking her up to the self checkout. He paid for their groceries and they drove home. While she made the cheesecake Regal holed himself up in one of the small rooms off the main room. He wanted to turn it into his office, but they needed to get a paint crew here to paint the rooms.
"Harper?" he called, she poked her head in the doorway.
"Yes?"
"Pick out your paint colors, I want to get a crew in here so we can move everything in without worry of damaging anything," he explained and she smiled.
"I already picked out colors, I had Julie and Hainsley help me pick out colors. I have two for the master bedroom, I want you to pick your favorite. Also I have several for your office," she explained running off and coming back with a pile of paint chips. His eyes widened and he lifted an eyebrow.
"Which one is the bedroom?" he asked, holding out his hand for the colors. She handed him a pale yellow and a sky blue.
"Blue," he said without thinking hard about it. He disliked the color yellow.
"Okay and for your office." She handed him three colors to choose from. One was an off white, one was a very light brown and the other a green.
"I like the light brown," he said handing her the color. She gave him a skeptical look but nodded. He knew she didn't fully agree with his choice but would let him have his way since it was his office.
"Where do you want me to put all the colors?" she asked.
"Can you label them and leave them on the counter? I will call up James and have his painting crew here tomorrow. Perks of being the alpha, your project gets pushed ahead of others," he explained and she laughed. He loved the sound of her laugh, it made him feel warm and content with his life. He couldn't wait until she was swollen with his child.
"I love you," she said kissing him on the cheek and heading back into the kitchen. He watched her go enjoying the sway of her hips. Opening his email he noticed several emails from Jace and Anders. He opened Jace's first,
Regal,
I did some digging and it turns out two of my juvenile wolves destroyed your mates car. I will have them report to you tomorrow at your home to pay for damages. The attack on her home, no one in my pack was responsible. I suggest looking outside of our community for who attacked your mate.
Jace
Regal shook his head and figured the wolves were part of the first attack, the home was more personal. He opened the email from Anders,
I dug into my contacts some more and came up with some disturbing news about Joseph King. His main man Gerard is a trained assassin, with ties to the military. He might be more dangerous than we thought. Proceed with caution when digging into his background. I know he will employ the very best to block hackers.
Anders
Regal sighed, he knew Joseph King was going to need a gentle touch. Even more so if what Anders uncovered is true. Pulling up Joseph King's information on his computer he began to dig into his business. The more he dug the worse things seemed. Joseph King ran the local crime ring, he was untouchable by the police because his businesses were kept squeaky clean. He needed all the alphas together again. If Joseph King was going after Harper he needed all the back up he could get.
"Baby?" Harper called, he closed down all the open windows on his computer and walked out to see Harper pulling a baked cheesecake out of the oven.
"You called?"
"We need to leave in ten minutes for your parents," she replied and he walked over to wrap his arms around her waist.
"That gives me ten minutes to love on you," he replied and caught her mouth in a sweet kiss. Scooping her up in his arms he marched them up to their bedroom and made love to her.
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