Brink Of Passion (Alpine Woods Shifters)

by Sondrae Bennett

  “What?” On the other side of the table, seemingly unconcerned with the sibling squabble, Max sat down and dug into his food with a vigor only a fellow foodie could appreciate. Someday they’d have to go head to head and see who was the bigger food hound.

  “After all the overprotective crap you gave me, and Amber, you’re giving me a hard time over one sentence.”

  Laurie flushed remembering all the—as Danny had put it—crap she’d pulled. She still couldn’t believe she’d almost gotten into a legitimate fistfight with her brother’s mate.

  “You’re right. Turnabout’s fair play. Go ahead and hit him a couple times then.”

  “What?” Max’s head, leaning forward to take a bite of eggs, jerked upward. The egg fell from his fork, landing squarely on his crotch. For a moment, they all stared at his lap in silence. Then, a snort slipped past her guard. She reigned in her humor, but Danny either couldn’t, or didn’t care enough to try. His laughter exploded into the air as he hunched over the table laughing. Sure enough, as was always the case when someone else laughed, Laurie lost control of her amusement. Her own laughter spilled out to join her brother’s.

  “It’s not that funny,” Max grumbled, but she caught the smile curving his lips before he looked down and wiped his pants off with a napkin.

  “It kind of is,” Laurie replied. When he glared at her—at least she thought it was a glare as his mouth was turned down in an exaggerated frown—amusement lit his eyes. Silently, Laurie held out the container of bacon. “Sorry?”

  The man was lethal when he smiled. She’d have to be careful or he would have her eating out of the palm of his hand.

  Laurie snorted as she picked up her coffee. Who was she kidding? He might be gorgeous, but she could hold her own. No one walked all over her, and if he tried, he’d better gird his loins. Laurie wasn’t above playing dirty.

  With that thought in mind, she pulled her cup away and let a drop linger on her bottom lip. Staring straight into Max’s eyes as he bit into the bacon, she swept her tongue out and captured the drop. His gaze darkened.

  “For Christ’s sake, do you have to do that here?”

  Laurie bit her lip to hide her smile. She’d forgotten about Danny.

  “So will you be moving to Alpine Woods, Max?”

  Silence descended. Suddenly, Laurie didn’t feel so cheerful. Instinct had given her the answer even before she heard him say it.

  “That won’t work.” He turned to her, an apology in his gaze. “I’m Premier of my leap. I cannot leave them.”

  She swallowed past the lump in her throat. She’d known it would be something like that. The vibes radiating off him had alpha written all over them. Not many had that level of strength without holding some important position in their pack, or leap, or whatever. So she had no reason to be upset. But the thought of leaving everything she’d ever known made her want to cry.

  “Leap?” she heard Danny ask.

  “I’m a leopard shifter,” he replied, but she barely heard him.

  Her chest felt tight, but she pushed down the pain and fear, raising her chin as reality crashed over her. She’d jumped into this mating so fast, they hadn’t discussed any of the important details. Not that the details would have made a difference in the end. Laurie didn’t believe in the whole one and only one destined mate thing like some shifters did, but in her thirty-one years she’d never run into any potential partners. And for all her worry about the lack of time, so far they seemed to suit. In reality, even if they hadn’t rushed into things, she still would have wanted to go back with him and see where things would lead.

  “So where am I going then?” As long as it wasn’t Alaska, she could make it work. She liked snow, just not that much of it. And living without sunshine for months on end would simply not work for her. That was one of the things she loved about Colorado. There was snow, but the sun still shone most of the year.

  “New York.”

  Laurie’s thoughts stuttered to a stop.

  “New York? As in City?” It was about as far from Alpine Woods as possible, not in distance, but in character. When she was eight, her family had traveled there on vacation. All she remembered was swarms of people, and streets that all looked the same. Surrounded by steel and concrete instead of grass and trees had been an entirely new experience. A fun vacation, but living there?

  “You’ll love it.”

  She wasn’t so sure about that. She reached for her coffee to clear the tightness in her throat. New York seemed like a whole different world to her. But, she supposed she should be grateful it wasn’t Alaska.

  “You left your phone in your room. Took me ten minutes to figure out you weren’t in there.”

  Laurie glanced at the man who spoke as he pulled a chair up to their table. The familial relationship was obvious. Both had the same dark features. The same square jaw, dusted with the same shadowy stubble. Wowza.

  A growl had all three sets of eyes turning toward Max. He glowered at Laurie, no doubt having seen the interest in her gaze as she’d stared at the new man.

  “Growling at her will put you on my bad side. You don’t want to be on my bad side,” Danny uttered in a low, dark voice. The tension at the table was palpable.

  “What the hell did I walk into?” the man asked.

  Around the room, attention had once again turned their way. This whole weekend was turning into a clusterfuck. Any more of this, and Alpine Woods would be the laughing-stock of shifters everywhere. All the work her brothers had done to build the pack into something respectable would be wasted. And it would be her fault.

  “Danny, I appreciate your concern, but you should know me well enough to know that if he growls at me, I’ll growl right back.” She ignored Danny’s frown and turned to Max. “I’m not big on the macho act, so cut it out. And for the record, I was admiring all his similarities to you, so no need to get jealous.”

  The man who looked like Max turned to her at the word jealous.

  “Who are you?”

  “Ryan, meet my mate, Laurie, and her brother, Danny. Laurie, my brother Ryan.”

  “Ma…” he trailed off, staring at her with wide eyes. “So that’s why you got so intense last night.”

  He recovered quickly. She’d give him that. He smiled as they shook hands. Then, without warning, he pulled her up and into a hug. Max growled, but they both ignored him.

  “Welcome to the family.”

  Chapter 4

  “Are you sure about this?” Ethan asked, holding a sheet of newspaper in one hand and one of her favorite coffee mugs in the other. On the front in blocky blue letters was a quote from Ernest Hemingway that said, “Always do sober what you said you’d do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut.”

  A mostly empty box of donuts from Leo’s Bakery lay open on the counter behind him where they’d been sitting all morning. Leo Hamill had opened that bakery almost thirty years ago and although it had changed hands numerous times, none of the new owners ever changed the name. Fifty years from now, it would probably still have that same plastic blue and white checkered sign out front. Leo’s Bakery was a staple. Laurie wondered if anything could be considered a staple in a big city like New York.

  Her whole family had shown up at the crack of dawn to help pack her house. Between her siblings, their mates, and her parents, there were eleven people scattered in every room placing items into boxes, minus Samantha who at six months pregnant was ordered to sit with her feet up. She loved her brother, but if Max ever pulled the bossy dominant shit Jason did, Laurie would shut him down so fast he wouldn’t know what hit him. Literally. Things would start to fly.

  They’d been working for hours, and Brendan, her sister Julie’s mate, had finally driven Max to pick up the U-Haul. Even though there were so many people, it struck Laurie how quickly her entire life could be packed away. What had taken years to build had been disassembled in less than a day.

  “Laurie?” Behind her, she heard the screech of Ethan’s c
hair as he pushed back from the table.

  She looked through her window at the For Sale sign in the yard. Her home. Her haven. But it wouldn’t be hers much longer. A wave of sadness swept over her, stealing her breath for a moment.

  “Laurie, you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”

  Ethan’s hands came down on her shoulders. She looked behind her and smiled at her older brother, reassuringly, she hoped.

  “I’m sure. I’d be lying if I said this was easy, but Max is a good guy. I have to at least try, right?”

  Ethan rubbed his hands over her arms and pulled her into his embrace. She hugged him back and soaked it in. Comfort and family. Who knew how long before she’d get this again.

  Only a plane ride away, she reminded herself for what felt like the thousandth time.

  “What’s going on here?” Jason asked, the worry clear in his voice. On one hand she appreciated their concern for her, but on the other, she wished they’d stop. It made her feel loved, but it also made her feel weak. And stupid. She was supposed to be the strong, stable one.

  “I was asking her if she was sure about all this.”

  “She better be, if we’re accepting one of his kind into the family,” Jason grumbled.

  Laurie jerked her head away from Ethan and turned toward him. One of his kind? Jason had mated with an arctic fox shifter. Ethan with an otter shifter. Practically the whole family mated another species.

  Could it be because Max was feline? Still, she’d never thought of her brother as such a speciesist before.

  “Yeah, I never thought I’d see the day we’d have to make nice with one of them,” Ethan grumbled.

  Shocked, Laurie pulled out of his arms completely. What the hell?

  “Now guys, be nice, he’s Laurie’s mate so we’re just going to have to deal with it,” Danny interjected, coming into the room behind Jason. “But are you sure you know what you’re doing? You do realize what he is, don’t you? The rivalry between our kind and his… Well, you know what they say?”

  Danny, too? They’d seemed to be getting along well at the conference. What had changed?

  “Fighting like cats and dogs,” she murmured, still a bit shocked by this aspect of her family.

  Ethan frowned at her. “Don’t be a breedist.”

  Wait…what?

  “But you just said—”

  “He’s a Red Wings fan!”

  With a laugh, Laurie grabbed a sweater laying over the sofa and hit Ethan in the arm. Hockey! Her brothers were seriously talking about a hockey team?

  “You guys really had me going there.”

  “We’re serious, Laurie. Have you discussed how you’ll bring up the children? Avalanche fans or Red Wings fans. They can’t be both.”

  Considering she’d only learned a couple days ago she’d be moving to New York City, they were asking a lot from her.

  “Avalanche fans, of course,” she replied, playing along. She knew her brothers were just teasing her. All of them had grown up cheering for the Avs, but she had a feeling their teasing was meant more to ease her tension than out of serious concern about a hockey team. Mission accomplished.

  “Thanks guys.”

  Ethan pulled her back into his arms. “Anytime. We’re only a phone call or a plane ride away.”

  “Alright. Boxes are pretty much all packed. As soon as Max and Brendan get back with the U-Haul, you men can load it up,” Gwen said, sweeping into the kitchen like a hurricane.

  “Us men? What will you women be doing?” Ethan’s voice rumbled under her cheek where it pressed against his chest.

  Someone pulled her away. Julie, she realized as her sister linked arms with her and tugged her toward the door where she saw her mother, Gwen, and a very pregnant Samantha waiting with purses in hand.

  “We women are stealing Laurie away for lunch at the diner, followed by happy hour at Books ’N’ Crannies before meeting back up with you all for dinner.”

  Her farewell dinner. Tomorrow morning, Max and she would drive her stuff away from Alpine Woods and that would be it. She’d be a New Yorker.

  Even the thought felt weird. She was glad the girls had thought to include happy hour at Books ’N’ Crannies, the store she’d worked so hard to build. She’d poured her heart and soul into that store, as well as the inheritance her grandmother had split between her grandchildren when she’d passed. Happy hour would give her a chance to say goodbye to her second home.

  “No more dwelling. Come on,” Julie said, pulling her toward the waiting women. Laurie glanced around as she left. Her mother and father had offered to sell her furniture for her, and her personal belongings were all in boxes. The place felt like a shell of the home she loved. Blinking back tears, she said a silent good-bye as she walked out the door.

  “Onto bigger and better things,” Gwen murmured, linking with her other arm. Of all people, Gwen understood best the emotions swirling inside her. Gwen was an otter shifter whose romp had been located in California. She’d left everything behind, minus the best friend who had come with her, after Ethan had mated her while visiting her resort on vacation.

  “Tell me it gets easier.”

  “It does. Knowing you, you’ll be having a blast running amok in New York City before you know it. Bigger town just means more fun to be had.”

  “And more trouble to get into,” Julie piped in.

  “Just try not to take any of Max’s pack skinnydipping in the Hudson. Or Central Park.”

  Laurie laughed at Samantha’s reminder of the night they’d gotten trashed on her homemade margaritas and taken a naked dip in the town park.

  “Probably best to refrain from skinnydipping yourself, as well,” her mother added.

  “What’s the fun in that?” Laurie joked. She was glad the whole family would be together for dinner tonight, but she needed this day out with just the girls.

  “Don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll find plenty of other ways to get into trouble. Max has no idea what he got himself into with you as a mate,” Julie teased.

  “No kidding,” Laurie said, then pulled the group to a halt. “No one tell him.”

  “Too late now. He already mated you.” Her mother’s eyes smiled into hers, but she caught the glaze of tears covering them.

  Laurie let go of Julie and squeezed her mother’s hand. It had been hard enough for her mother when Julie had gone out of state to college, and she had come back four years later. Laurie was moving half way across the country with no plans to return.

  “I love you, Mom.”

  Her mom nodded and wiped at a stray tear.

  “In all seriousness, the man is damn lucky to have you.” Samantha hugged her from behind. Laurie laughed at the feel of the baby bump pressed against her back. A tapping pressed against her. “Apparently the baby thinks so, too.”

  Her smile was bittersweet. Of all the things she’d miss, the birth of her brother’s baby hit her the hardest. Max had assured her she could fly back home once the baby was born, but the baby rested low and the doctors worried about premature labor. Both mom and baby were healthy, but it was doubtful Samantha would carry to full term. Pinning down a delivery date was out of the question, even though the doctors promised they could keep the baby cooking for a couple more months until the due date was closer.

  “Think Martha would deliver diner food and we could cut straight to early happy hour? I need a drink.” Martha was the waitress at the diner located just a few doors down from her bookstore.

  “Worst case scenario, I’ll go pick up take-out,” Julie said as she pulled out her keys. The bookstore was half Julie’s, having taken both their inheritance to start up, but Laurie had gotten it up and running while Julie had left for college. She supposed Julie would put her own flare into the place once Laurie left.

  “Why do I have a bad feeling about this idea?” Gwen asked, following them into the store.

  *****

  In retrospect, happy hour without lunch might not have been the smar
test idea. It had served its purpose and relaxed her. Maybe too much. Her brain felt hazy, but at least the room wasn’t spinning anymore.

  “Chicken fingers, mozzarella sticks, two hamburgers, a patty melt, a ham and cheese omelet, a fish and chips platter, and two whole large take out containers of French fries.”

  Perhaps they had ordered too much, but Laurie hadn’t wanted to choose between all her favorite diner foods.

  “Thanks, Martha.” Julie took the bag and reached for her purse.

  “On the house.” The other woman’s gaze held tenderness as she looked at Laurie. “We’re going to miss you, girl.”

  “I’m going to miss everyone, too.”

  Martha laughed. “Those cats aren’t going to know what hit them.”

  Everyone else soon joined in the laughter.

  “Why does that seem to be a running theme? I’m not liking these implications that I am difficult to deal with.” Laurie exaggerated a deep frown.

  The other women took one look at her before laughing harder than before.

  “I’m not that bad.” Laurie grumbled.

  “Remember when she lined Trey Rogers’ mouth guard with hot sauce right before every wrestling match?” Martha asked her mother.

  Julie giggled with her hand over her mouth.

  “That was payback for stealing my bra during gym class and parading it around the boys’ locker room.” Neither the coach nor the principal had been amused about that one once they’d discovered she’d been the perpetrator, but she maintained he had it coming. It hadn’t helped that he had dumped her on Valentine’s Day the year before. What kind of an asshole dumped a girl on Valentine’s Day?

  “Or when she rubbed poison ivy in the football team’s jock straps?” her mother added with a frown in her direction.

  “I won’t apologize for that. They deserved it.” She would have done worse if she could have.

  “What could they possibly have done to warrant that?” Samantha asked.