Cash looked at his feet and rocked back on his heels while blowing out a long breath. “It’s our house, Wendi. It’s for all of us…so we don’t have to be apart from you the way we have been.” His admittance came out in a whoosh of words, all strung together.
And I was dumbstruck. Utterly and totally stunned.
I walked back over to the window and took in the building again. It was no longer just some nameless structure of wood and metal going up in stages. I’d actually envied whoever would own the structure and had imagined it as a house in my head so many times.
It was our home. Our home. A place for me and my mates to be together.
So many things made sense now.
“That’s why you’re in charge of it?” I asked Cash but didn’t turn to look at him.
Brandon interjected since it was apparent after a pause Cash wouldn’t. “He basically barged into the alpha’s office and demanded it. Said it wasn’t right anyone else should be in charge of it. Never seen Cash like that.”
Brandon and Cash high-fived. I heard the sound of a slap behind me.
“You did?” I asked, this time whirling to look at my mate.
“Can’t have someone else being in charge of my mate’s home.” He shrugged it off like it wasn’t the most incredible thing anyone had ever done for me.
I closed the distance between us and fell into his already open arms. Since my shift, I’d begun to pick up on my mates’ emotions. Cash was relieved. Relief and freedom pulsed from him in waves.
“You’re building us a house,” I murmured in his ear, still overcome by the weight of it all. This life with my four mates was real and every day it became more solid. So much so that since my shift, I didn’t doubt it for one second.
“Well, we’re all pitching in.”
I looked around the room at my men and smiled at each of them in turn. We weren’t just dating or saying empty words.
We were building a life together.
Apparently a life in a pretty damned big house.
“Can I see it? I mean, I can see the outside but the plans? Can I see them?”
Cash’s chest puffed out. “Sure.”
Cash led the way, and soon we were walking through what would be our home. He emphasized there would be room for additions, not so subtly hinting at children. I chose to ignore that. I could barely take care of myself.
The whole thing was an open floor plan with a huge kitchen. Each of my mates had taken the time to choose their spaces, and the master bedroom was way bigger than the rest.
I spent the entire tour blushing from head to toe, or at least that’s what the heat of it felt like.
Chapter Three
I glanced out the window of my room at Moss’ house and gave a sigh. The setting sun cast its rays through the openings cut in the paper wrapping just that afternoon, and I couldn’t help but imagine how it would look when it was done. When the light glinted off windows and the panels soon to adorn the room would harness the solar power to run everything from the refrigerator to the water heater to Moss’ computer. And the hot tub. On the deck off the master bedroom. This place would be palatial.
Something that should have been minor compared to all the rest of the considerations, I’d noticed how we crowded Moss’ roomy house. How would we be comfortable when we all lived together under one roof full time. I mean, I’d seen the TV shows where people had multiple spouses, and sometimes they had their own homes. The husband (why was it always a guy?) went door to door like a sneaky Fuller Brush sales man or the milkman of fables who fathered everyone’s kids.
We didn’t need to hide. And we wouldn’t hide. But even if I was the sole female, the four of them were my mates, my family. And family is a full-time proposition. At least mine would be. But I hadn’t been able to figure out how to make it happen? At least not comfortably.
My genius mates, on the other hand, had made a plan and put it in place. And while they had scored both on planning and execution, I did plan to insist I be involved in any other big decisions that included us all.
Later. Because right now I was basking in their love.
“Wendi, ready?”
I glanced in the mirror on my dresser and smoothed my hair back then laughed. It wasn’t as if this kind of date involved hair and makeup and a fancy outfit. “On my way.” I skipped out of the room and down the hallway then stopped at the top landing. After all, how would it look if I fell down the stairs due to a silly gait. “This is going to be fun.” My long T-shirt and bare feet were the perfect outfit—easy to get out of.
He held out his arms and I sped up and flung myself into them, tipping my head back for his kiss. Escher’s rough exterior hid a solid and amazing good man. One of the best I’d ever met, in fact. When we came up for air, he ruffled my hair and rested his forehead against mine. “You look beautiful.”
I rolled my eyes. “I did exactly nothing to get ready for this. Everything in me wanted me to get all gussied up, but, you know…”
“Gussied up?” He chuckled. “Is it even a phrase anymore? Or have you been watching old Westerns?”
I shrugged, cheeks heating. “I guess growing up with only my aunt for company aged me before my time. Lucky you guys came along before I slid the rest of the way into my dotage.”
“Anyway, you don’t need to ‘gussy’ yourself to be beautiful. You come by it naturally.”
I couldn’t help preening a little. “You are too sweet to me. But let’s get running. The moon will be up very soon and I want to greet it on that rock overlooking the creek. Maybe howl a little.”
“Howling with you is my favorite thing to do.” He linked our hands and led me out onto the porch. Like a lot of the male shifters, he wore track pants on running nights, and in just a moment he had kicked off his shoes, yanked off the white T-shirt that enhanced his bad-boy good looks, and stepped out of his black pants with the gray stripe up the outside of the legs. All my mates had hot bodies, but Escher…something very James Dean about him dressed and naked James Dean—at least as I imagined the late-great bad-boy star—about him naked.
I slid my gaze over his even shoulders, lean, muscular biceps, his chest with its light sprinkling of hair that narrowed into a trail leading to his—
He cleared his throat, drawing my attention back to his handsome face. “If you’re done staring, it’s my turn to watch.”
Cheeks flaming, I reached for the hem of my shirt, which hung almost to my knees. It was Moss’. I’d become quite the clothing thief, loving their scents even laundry soap couldn’t allay. “You know, shifters aren’t supposed to be bothered by nakedness.”
His grin…James Dean all the way. And the sparkle in his eyes told me what he’d do to me when the right time came. I quickly jerked my shirt over my head, unsure whether to be glad or even more embarrassed I’d made the no-panties decision. It seemed to silly to wear them for five minutes then leave them lying around. I hated leaving them lying around.
“I’m not bothered by your nakedness,” he drawled. “Unless you mean hot and bothered.” His hand hovered next to his fully erect and way glad to see me dick, and I thought for a second he might close his fist around it.
If he did, we’d be spending the night at home. Might not be sex yet, but heavy making-out had become my favorite activity. Then an owl hooted in the forest nearby, and the moment was broken. I jumped a little.
His hand dropped to his side. “Let’s shift, mate.”
I’ll admit I hesitated just a moment to appreciate his wolf form, as dark as his hair in human shape. Who could resist him? But then i was changing too, bones shifting and fur growing, teeth moving and extending along with my snout.
My vision changed, hearing improved, and the scents of the world around me burst to life. Escher bounded off the porch and waited until I followed before loping off across the clearing and into the woods.
We ran hard, and just managed to reach the rock as the edge of the full moon crept over the horizon. Right i
n an opening in the trees that could have been made for it. I tipped my head back and howled a greeting to the Lady Moon, and Escher joined me. It was beautiful and eerie and intense—especially when another howl joined it, and another, and another…
I glanced at Escher. He still usually did not like to run with others. Despite his gentleness with me, there was a lot of anger in the man, and he feared what might happen if his wolf had control. But he bumped my nose with his, and I knew it was okay. It was better than okay when three wolves padded out of the forest and joined us on the big flat rock over the creek. The rising moon reflected in the moving waters, rippling but still magnificent,
As we stood there, a pack within the larger one, We watched the moon rise higher, until it hung itself high in the sky.
Then we ran. We ran for miles, off pack lands and onto them again, in single file and sometimes in a group, but always of one heart. I had never loved them more than when they were rolling around on the meadow grass nipping at each other like puppies, and finally, as the moon set, we lay in a furry pile and slept, not rising until the sun’s heat replaces the silvery light and we had to change and get to work.
Chapter Four
“I feel like a tiger at the zoo,” I said, plopping down onto the couch next to Moss who wrapped his arm around my shoulders and tucked me into his side. My wolf and I wallowed in his natural scent, associating it with home.
He looked down at me and chuckled. “Sniff me anytime you want, mate.”
My entire face and neck heated up. He didn’t have to say it out loud!
“You’re not going to be in a cage. They simply want to come meet you. Look, I know this pack stuff is still new to you, but the council coming here for something other than a problem is a big deal,” Christie tried to placate me from the kitchen. I also smelled brown sugar and chocolate chips in the air which meant she was trying her hand at cookies—again.
The girl couldn’t boil water but insisted on trying to bake every chance she got. If I didn’t know better, I would think she wanted to bake cookies for some guy.
That’s how determined she was.
“Tell me about this council. Is it a bunch of old men or what?” I crossed my arms over my chest, making Moss chuckle.
“It is older men and women from packs all over the country. They very rarely get together and make a trip like this.” Cash’s calm voice soothed me a little. Moss agreed with a nod and a wink.
If they knew what their winking did to me, they wouldn’t do it in public. Not that Christie was public, but damn, it made me want to drag him into the next room and…well, do things we’d only done a handful of times.
No, not quite. But close. Oh, so close.
“Seriously, Wendi. You should be happy about this,” She said and I turned to see her licking the spoon of batter.
I blew out a breath, trying to make myself feel grateful or honored or privileged they would make such a trip just to see me, but I was having trouble conjuring the emotions. “When will they be here?”
Brandon lay back on the couch and folded his arms behind his head. His shirt lifted a little and it made his lower abs show. Goodness, everywhere I looked there was a hot man. Not complaining. Not one bit. “This afternoon.”
Great.
“It’s going to be fine. They don’t want to inspect you or make you do magic tricks on demand. You go in there and meet them. They ask some obtuse questions then leave. Done and done.” Escher was always so cut and dry about everything. But sometimes that helped me more than the sweetness.
“Fine. Do I have to dress up or something?” I picked at my T-shirt and jeans praying to the shifter gods it would be enough. “Please say no.”
“Well, you could wear jeans, but you might want to put something nicer on. We don’t want them to think you have a lack of respect for their presence.”
Gods, Christie just had to be practical about things.
Hours later, after lunch with my men, Cash asked me to pick out some of the finishes for the new house. He laid out tile samples, hardwood boards, paint colors…even roof tiles on the kitchen counter. So many kinds of things. It had never occurred to me that when you built from the ground up the options were endless. And beautiful. How did anyone ever decide? He was beyond giddy that he could finally share those things with me and it not be a secret anymore.
Then I sighed, looking at all the choices. They were building this huge house for us, and I didn’t want to pick out the most expensive, but Cash had made sure to hide the prices. He’d even taken a black marker and marked through the ones he couldn’t hide. He knew me too well.
“What are you worried about? Is this stressing you out? We can do it later.” He began to stack up the samples, but I put my hand on his arm.
“No, I’m concerned about cost, to be honest. I mean, this is a lot of house and that takes a lot of materials. I mean, look at that thing,” I pointed out the window.
Cash looked at the ceiling like he was asking for help from heaven instead of where I was pointing. I was exasperating them. They didn’t seem to mind though. “Wendi, it turns out your mates have been saving for years waiting for you. We each thought we were saving for a different mate and did the best we could to build a nest egg. But when we discovered you were ours, well, we kind of had a meeting.”
I scoffed. “You had a meeting without me! Traitors!” I was joking, of course, But I was eager to find out what this gathering entailed.
Moss leaned over the island. His shoulder bunched, revealing muscles I hadn’t realized were there. He was a great leaner. “We decided our combined nest eggs added up to enough to build our beautiful mate a home that would last us forever, with a floor plan allowing for additions.”
My face burned. I felt the trickle of blood as it rushed to my cheeks. Everyone else’s face reddened along with mine. We all were thinking the same thing.
“I have some money, too,” I offered, feeling like I wasn’t contributing to the house at all. I didn’t have a lot left from my inheritance, but if I sold my house I could get more. It wasn’t like I’d ever live there again. My “temporary” move for my safety was working out great, and of course the new “manor” would cement the deal. I was here to stay.
Escher growled and joined Moss to lean on the counter while Brandon munched on Christie’s cookies despite the fact that they were a little underdone. At least she hadn’t burned them this time.
“Why are you growling at me? We’re a team, right?”
Escher schooled his face and then took my hand across the island. “I’m growling because…well, it’s a male thing. We are honored to provide a home for our mate. You wouldn’t take that away from us would you?”
I squinted, trying to understand but coming up short. Male wolves. Always a mystery to me. “I’m not taking it away, I’m wanting to contribute. There’s a difference.”
“I know that and trust me, we love that you would want to, but this is our way of…” It was like Escher couldn’t find the words.
Brandon put his cookie down. “It’s a mating gift of sorts. Think of it that way. Like a wedding gift, but from your mates.”
Oh, boy. He did not just say wedding. The butterflies in my stomach were the size of pigeons.
“Oh…okay.” That was all I stuttered out. All I could manage to get out.
“Now that’s cleared up,” Cash said, sliding the samples back in front of me. “So stop trying to read the prices and decipher which one is cheapest. Pick what you like.”
I’d been eyeing the almost opalescent backsplash to go with the dark butcher block countertops, but had hesitated. I guess if they insisted….
I pointed to the tiles I wanted for the master bath, and Escher stood up, the biggest grin on his face. “Pay up. Told you she’d pick that one.”
He put out his hand and each of my mates slapped a ten dollar bill in his hand with a groan.
These men. I swear.
I tapped my foot as the five of us stood in front
of the alpha’s door. Four black sedans were parked in the distance and I felt like I was going in to meet members of Men in Black instead of some shifter council.
“Relax, mate,” Moss said, slipping his hand into mine. I grasped it hard and then let it fall more loose as his touch pushed calm into my cells.
The door opened, and the alpha smiled at us. “I knew they wouldn’t let you come alone. Come on in. There’s a group who are eagerly waiting for you to arrive.”
Gods help me.
“If they ask me to do a trick, I’m out,” I leaned over and grumbled into Moss’ ear. He chuckled but then righted himself as the alpha led us down the hallway and into his office.
As we entered the office, four older people stood. Two men and two women. They all had salt and pepper hair and were dressed like they were going to meet an ambassador or the leader of a country, not some girl who just learned how to shift and who had healed someone all of one time.
I would call that a fluke, but clearly these people didn’t share my doubts.
“Ms. Walker, we are so pleased to finally meet you,” One of the women said and as she shook my hand, she introduced herself as Elizabeth. A regla name for a regal looking woman.
“Thank you. It’s a pleasure to meet you all as well.”
The others introduced themselves but the main speaker was Elizabeth. She straightened her scarf and cleared her throat before beginning. “We came to meet you, but also to let you know that we are here for you should you need any training or help. We’re not exactly sure how that would work, but we are looking for texts to help you. And we have a shifter who is researching your parents. We think there must be some link between them and your abilities.”
Gods, she was talking to me like I was a princess. “Look, I’m not even sure that I am a healer. I mean, I know I helped Escher, but maybe that was just because I’m his mate. I don’t know…”
Triumph Page 2