Faithfully Yours (Book 2, Dominantly Yours Series)

Three

"So much of what is best in us is bound up in our love of family that it remains the measure of our stability because it measures our sense of loyalty."

― Haniel Long

"Charlie, what should we get Wyatt for his birthday?" Claire asked her little brother as the two of them walked into the mall. His hand curled tight in hers.

Gabe trailed about fifty feet behind them, watching all the other mall patrons closely. Waiting for a strike at any moment.

"A Lego set, Care." Charlie rolled his eyes and tugged harder on her hand. "I told you already."

She laughed silently to herself and turned her head the other way so her little brother couldn't see her grin. She loved the way he said "Lego," the L sounding more like a Y. He'd always struggled with his L's, ever since he was little.

She couldn't help that he sounded so cute. But maybe she should stop asking. That was the third time.

"Oh, right," she said. "I forgot."

The mall was about an hour and a half drive from the pack house. Because it was so far away, Claire convinced Gabe they had to make a full day of it. It would, after all, seem useless if they drove all the way out there only to turn around an hour later.

Gabe didn't seem too thrilled with the idea. He wasn't a big fan of any situation that left her in a crowd of people for long periods of time.

He would get over it, though.

A flutter of delight rose in Claire. Charlie, meanwhile, refused to have anything but a blast. His little body bounced with barely contained excitement all the way to the mall. The second they left Gabe's SUV, Claire had to snatch up his hand to keep him from flying off.

She didn't blame him. Her own little bubble of excitement refused to pop once they got there. It wasn't very long ago that their family struggled to make ends meet. With not much money and only one old, rusty car, they had been lucky if they ever got to visit the mix of shops in the overly large concrete building. Claire had tried to get Charlie over to places like the mall and the movie theater when she could, but that still wasn't as often as she would've liked.

"A Lego set...and maybe a board game?" she asked Charlie. "That way you two can play together."

"Okay." Charlie's head kept spinning in different directions as he glanced around at all the signs and people.

If there was one thing she loved the most about her new role in the pack, it was her newfound ability to provide for her family. She loved getting Marie a new necklace when she spotted one she liked, or Cole a new drill just because.

The best part: getting Charlie all the games and ice cream he wanted.

The money didn't pick at her pride either. Nate had made a deal with her he would "pay" her for the time she spent patrolling. "After all, the other guys doing border patrol get paid for their time," he had said.

"Maybe if we get Monopoly, you can learn business early and start growing your empire, Charlie," she joked. "Start saving your lemonade stand money."

Charlie scrunched his nose at the word Monopoly. "Ew, Care. Monopoly is bording."

She could hear Gabe's laugh from the cell phone case kiosk ten feet behind them. "'Bording'?" She bit her lip sharply to keep in the laugh. "I hate it when my board games are bording."