Midnight Wolf (Shifters Unbound #11)(55)

“No rides,” Angus tried, but he knew he’d already lost that battle.

“We can pick whichever one we want,” Tamsin said, completely ignoring him. “Celene gave me some passes. Your choice, Ciaran.”

Ciaran gazed around, wide-eyed, his excitement evident. Ciaran had never seen a carnival before. Though he’d lived near New Orleans most of his life, Ciaran stayed in Shiftertown, only venturing out to attend the nearby school. Angus didn’t consider New Orleans a safe place for cubs.

“That one.”

Ciaran pointed eagerly at a tall machine with enclosed cages that rose up a pillar and went down the other side. Didn’t look so bad until the cages started going faster and faster and spinning around themselves. Then the main pillar leaned over sideways and then turned upside down, even as the cages continued zooming around the ride’s vertical axis.

“The Zipper,” Tamsin said with enthusiasm. “Good choice.”

She darted forward, but Angus grabbed Ciaran’s hand and yanked him back. “You are not taking my cu—my son on that contraption.”

Tamsin sent Angus a pitying look. “I’ve been on it lots of times. The ride is only like two minutes long. Come with us if you’re so worried.”

Angus watched the Zipper move upside down, its cages spinning, spinning. “You seriously want me to get on that thing?”

“Please, Dad?” Ciaran looked up at him, hope in his eyes. “Please. All those dads are taking their kids. I want to be like—”

Ciaran closed his mouth before the rest of the words came out, but Angus knew what they’d be. Like a real family.

Ciaran never blamed Angus for his mother leaving him, or for his mother’s death. Angus never blamed himself either—any guilt rested squarely on Gavan and April. But Angus had made it clear he hadn’t forgiven Ciaran’s mother, and he knew that must be hard for Ciaran to live with.

Ciaran had latched on swiftly to Tamsin, giving her more trust than Angus had ever seen him bestow on anyone. It would be very hard for him when Tamsin finally decided to go.

“Death trap,” Angus muttered.

“See, look, it’s stopping,” Tamsin said. “All those riders are fine, and more are getting on.” She grabbed Angus’s hand and Ciaran’s and tugged them forward. “Come on, Angus. It’ll be fun. You do know what fun means, right?”

“I know I’m going to regret this,” Angus said.

Ciaran bounced up and down. “Yay! Come on!”

He started through the crowd, pulling Angus and Tamsin behind him.

Tamsin’s body tingled as the ride operator, a brisk young woman with arms covered in tattoos, shut them firmly in the cage and secured it. Ciaran wriggled with excitement between Angus and Tamsin. He’d had a moment of worry—he had to be a certain height to get on the ride—but he’d passed.

Angus clutched the bar beside him, gritting his teeth and looking grim.

But he’d done it. Tamsin had seen the terror in his eyes when he’d watched the Zipper go around. The big bad wolf who’d chased her through the bayous looked like he wanted to put his tail between his legs and run home. But he’d sucked it up and gotten on the ride—for Ciaran.

“This is how I should have gotten away from you,” Tamsin told him as she removed her hat and secured it between her knees. Ciaran copied her movements. “I should have run to the nearest fairground and hopped on a ride.”

Angus shook his head, every line of him tight. “You’d have to get off eventually.”

“That’s a fair point. Oh, good. We’re starting.”

The ride’s motor began to grind, the cage rising gently, no more frightening than a slow Ferris wheel. Angus breathed out, relaxing a little.

The Zipper sped up, their cage reaching the top. The cage suddenly flipped end over end, and Angus groaned, clutching the bar.

The ride began to move more quickly, the cage spinning first forward, then backward. Tamsin laughed; Ciaran screamed in delight. The whole structure began to rotate, faster and faster, spinning and jerking, spinning again.

Tamsin was pushed back in the seat, then shoved forward. She might be locked into a cage, something she feared as a Shifter, but in this one with Angus and Ciaran, she felt suddenly free.

Freer than she had ever been in her life. She’d run from Collars, from Shifter Bureau, from Shiftertowns, from Shifters themselves, seeking independence, her own life. Running, running.

Now she was squashed against Angus and his cub, the Shifter Lupine who’d tried to capture her and then had turned around and saved her life.

Angus, the snarly Lupine who trusted no one and loved his son so much, squeezed his eyes shut, his cap falling off to release his unruly short hair.

“I’m going to die now,” he roared over Ciaran’s happy cries. “You’re a shit, Tamsin!”

Tamsin smiled, her heart filling as Angus abruptly opened his eyes, turned his head, and glared at her.

His gray eyes, caught in the sunshine that sparkled through the grid, were the most beautiful things she’d ever seen in her life.

“Yes!” she yelled.

The eyes narrowed. “What?”

“I said yes! Angus Murray, in front of witnesses, under the light of the Father God, I accept your mate-claim!”