by C. W. Gray
Leo blinked and finished closing the door to his station. “Huh?”
“Coleen spread the word.” Niels, the youngest of them, scooped up Flufflepuff from where she napped on a stack of tires. “We’re having a family meeting over lunch.”
Burkhart pushed his back, and Leo stumbled toward the breakroom where everyone was gathered.
Though they loved their clients, one rule that Leo’s mom and dad stood firm on was lunch time at the Rocchi Garage. No matter how many appointments there were that day, the garage closed for an hour for lunch.
Katrin Rocchi stood next to the refrigerator, tapping her foot impatiently. She held a bowl of Sonny’s chili in her hand. “Hurry, hurry, boys. We have a lot to do.”
Leo grabbed Flufflepuff’s herring snack and set it on the table before getting a bowl of chili for himself.
“I can’t believe we all missed how important handfastings are to witches.” Niels settled Fluff on her spot at the table and went for his own lunch.
Jesse, Leo’s dad, sighed. “To be fair, there aren’t too many interspecies matings. If Sonny were mated to another witch, they would already know about witch customs and traditions.”
Leo growled. “Sonny is mine.”
Flufflepuff looked up from her lunch and hissed toward Jesse.
Jesse snorted. “Settle down, you two. I’m not saying Sonny doesn’t belong with you, Leo.”
“You’re wrong anyway.” Rosemarie made a face at their dad. “There are plenty of interspecies matings, but most people don’t like them, so they either don’t mate or keep a low profile. Think about the Dawson family.”
Rosemarie was the only one that didn’t growl that time. Seven growling bears and a hissing cat made for a tense atmosphere.
Sally Dawson and Leo’s mom had been friends for years. Leo and his brothers and sisters had spent many a day at the Dawson house while growing up. Niels had been good friends with Sally’s youngest daughter and Burk with her oldest daughter. She had always welcomed Leo with a hug and a smile when she saw him.
Then, two weeks ago, Sally had shown up at the garage to tell them all that they weren’t welcome around her family anymore. The way she had looked at Leo made him shudder even now. She thought he was some kind of monster.
“Assholes,” Thorwald said, scowling.
Rosemarie rolled her eyes at them and held her hands up. “I’m not saying the Dawsons were right about anything. I’m just saying a lot of people would agree with them. You were Sally’s friend for a long time, Mom, and she still cut you off because Leo didn’t mate a bear.”
“I think we see what you mean, Rosie.” Jesse frowned. “How do we fix this?”
Coleen cleared her throat and held her notebook up. “I have answers, but it’s going to take all of us to pull this off.” She looked at Leo. “You need to start by asking Sonny about Imbolc. Experience the holiday with him. Talk about his family’s heritage and all that shit.”
Thorwald winced. “But don’t call it shit.”
Leo arched a brow and sniffed. “I know that much, Thor.”
The blond smirked and shrugged. “You’re the one that didn’t know about handfasting.”
“Like you did?” Leo asked, disbelieving.
“Boys.” Katrin’s hard voice made them both hush and sit up straight. She nodded to Coleen. “Go on, sweetie.”
Coleen grinned. “Mom and Dad need to meet with Myrtle and start planning the handfasting for the day after Beltane. It really is a lot of work. I think witches take a full year to plan it, but –”
“Not happening.” Leo shook his head. “I’m not waiting a year to witchy claim my mate.”
“Witchy claim?” Niels snickered.
Coleen glared at him. “As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, but you probably don’t want to wait that long.”
“Hell no, he doesn’t want to wait that long now that he knows something’s missing,” Burkhart said, looking horrified. “No shifter would. It’ll be hard enough to wait until May.”
Leo nodded in agreement. “My bear is content we’re mated, but my head is all screwed up. We need to fix this fast.”
“We’ll go see Myrtle tonight.” Jesse looked grim. “It needs to be perfect, so the sooner we start planning the better.”
“Good.” Coleen pointed at Burkhart and Thorwald. “You two need to start working on our family. You know they’re always down for a good party, but they need to know it’s happening. The handfasting will be May Day, so they need to start clearing their calendars. Mom and Dad will let you know where it will be. I’ve got a list here of appropriate gifts for a handfasting.”
“On it.” Thorwald grabbed her note and started reading over it. “Um, why are there diapers on here?” He eyed Leo. “You have something you want to tell us?”
Leo blinked. “Huh?”
Coleen sighed. “Leo, the months before Beltane are going to be Sonny’s most fertile time. Your mating is so new, so he’s going to be all over you. From what I understand, it’s milder than a shifter omega’s heat, but it lasts from Ostara to just after Beltane. Plus, every witch that attends the handfasting is going to be giving you all fertility blessings. A baby is going to happen. That’s almost a given. A lot of witch families fully expect a baby to be conceived the night of the handfasting, so it’s customary for handfasting gifts to take this into account.”
Leo leaned back, face slack. A baby? Already?
Coleen ignored him and looked at Niels and Rosemarie. “There are a lot of supplies they’ll need for the activities for Imbolc and Ostara. You two are in charge of gathering everything. I’m sure if you need help finding something, Myrtle can point you in the right direction.” She handed Rosemarie a huge stack of papers.
“Holy shit.” Rosemarie started looking through them. “I don’t know what most of this stuff is.”
Coleen gave her a hard look. “Figure it out. We need to get this right.” She turned to Leo. “You and I are going to go over everything you need to do and what you need to know. The internet can only tell us so much, so we need to meet with some witches.”
Leo shook his head, trying to clear the fog. A baby witch with Sonny’s eyes. What kind of familiar will they have? They can spend time at the farm with Grandpa and Grandma like I did as a kid.
“Leo!” Coleen snapped her fingers in front of his face. “We need to start working on the rings, the ribbons, and getting the family blessing. There’s no time for daydreaming.”
Chapter 16
At the end of the day, Leo sat in his truck outside of the garage. He looked at the number Coleen had given him.
“Flufflepuff, I don’t know if this is a good idea.” He looked at the passenger seat. Sonny’s familiar watched him sadly. “I don’t have much choice, do I? Sonny doesn’t talk about them, but he still calls them once a month. He’ll want them at the handfasting.”
“Meow.” Flufflepuff didn’t look too impressed with his reasoning.
He dialed the number before he lost his courage.
“Thornton residence,” a brisk voice answered.
“Um, hi. I was hoping to talk to Travis or Cynthia.” Leo swallowed hard. “Please.”
“I’m Cynthia.” Sonny’s mom sounded curious.
“My name is Leo, and I’m mated to Sonny.”
“Sonny.” Cynthia’s voice went flat. “Unless he has decided to become normal, we don’t want anything to do with him. Just because he’s an omega doesn’t mean he’s not a man. Has he finally decided to act like one?”
Leo growled. “Watch your fucking tone. Sonny is a beautiful person who deserves respect and love.”
“I don’t have time for this.” She ended the call.
“Fuck her.” Leo gritted his teeth and threw the phone onto the floorboard. “Fluff, we know who Sonny’s family is. Aaron and Myrtle are a hell of a lot better than that asshole. We don’t need them.”
“Meow.” Flufflepuff nodded and raised one of her paws for a high fiv
e.
Leo tapped her paw with a finger. “We need to talk to Myrtle.”
He made the quick drive to the apartment complex and parked his truck. Myrtle owned the complex, but for some reason, she was perfectly content to live in a small ground-floor apartment instead of taking one of the bigger units.
Leo knocked on her door.
Myrtle answered. The older woman wore yoga pants and a long-sleeved t-shirt with the words village witch running across the front. Her ferret familiar, Toddlebug, stretched across her shoulders.
She scowled. “What do you want, catbear? It’s my meditation time.”
“I have questions. Important ones.” Leo pushed past her and made a path to the couch through her cluttered apartment. He set Flufflepuff on one of the plump pillows, then spun around. “Have you spoken to Mom and Dad yet?”
Myrtle rolled her eyes. “Goddess help me, they just called ten minutes ago. I was taking a shit. I’ll call them back.”
“We don’t have time, Myrtle!” Leo ran his hands through his hair. “Beltane is four months away! I don’t know anything about planning a handfasting. Then, tonight, I called his mom and she’s horrible. She was so rude, and I was rude back. I don’t know what to do.”
Myrtle blinked. “Okay. Sit down, catbear. You need to relax. I have some special brownies. Do you need one?”
“I don’t want your pot brownies, Myrtle.” Leo fell onto the couch. “I need your help to fix this.”
Myrtle snorted. “Alright then. First thing first, you got your info wrong. The tradition is to propose with a ring at Ostara, then have a ribbon binding on Beltane. Then, you have to wait a year and a day to have the handfasting.”
Leo gave her a horrified look. “A year? I can’t wait a year to finish mating Sonny. My bear and I want him now.”
Myrtle sighed and picked up a box of tissues. She tossed it at him, hitting him right in the forehead. “Stop being so impatient, damn it. Young folks are so annoying. Now, you wait a year and a day for a reason. It’s supposed to show your true commitment and understanding of one another. You two clearly need it. Talk more, catbear. Fuck less. I feel like you both need the words tattooed on your foreheads.”
“Witches wait a whole year to fully mate?” Leo hadn’t lasted two months in claiming Sonny.
Myrtle arched a brow. “Sometimes they wait longer. For us, mating is more than bodies and hearts. It’s about the merging of souls and minds. You need to take the year to learn Sonny. He needs the time to learn you too.”
Leo bit his lip. “I have to?”
She gave him a hard look. “Do you want Sonny to be happy?”
“Yes.” He sighed. “I’d wait a fucking lifetime if it’s what he wanted.” He brightened at a sudden realization. “So, I’m not behind on mating Sonny?”
Myrtle rolled her eyes. “Oh, you are way behind. You need to plan the Ostara scrying and your proposal. I’ll do the scrying, of course, but the proposal is all on you. It needs to be special, Leo. Then there’s the Beltane binding. It’s not a handfasting, but it’s still important.” She narrowed her eyes. “My Sonny deserves the best. You had better get to showing that you care.”
Leo nodded, utterly determined to be the best mate ever. “I’ll start with Imbolc.”
Chapter 17
Sonny woke slowly. He had been so tired from work yesterday, and Leo had been strangely quiet over dinner. They had both made an early day of it.
He yawned and wiggled back against Leo’s familiar body, then frowned. Something doesn’t feel right.
Sonny lifted the covers. His mate’s big hand was cupping his abdomen. That’s not what Leo usually cupped.
Leo nuzzled the back of Sonny’s neck, distracting him. “You’re taking it easy today, right?”
Sonny hummed under his breath and arched his hips back. Leo’s hard length pressed against the crease in Sonny’s ass. “Yeah. The shop is only open half a day, and Myrtle and Tilisha are working.” Today is a free day with my honey bear, and I know how I want to spend it.
Leo pulled away and swung his legs over the bed, and Sonny fell back, huffing with annoyance.
Leo leaned over and kissed his forehead before he started grabbing clothes. “Well, I have some errands to run this morning. Do you want to meet with Aaron and Gemma for lunch?”
Sonny narrowed his eyes. “What about lazy morning sex? We always have lazy morning sex when we both have off from work.”
Leo almost whimpered. “I don’t have time, sunshine. I’m so sorry.”
Sonny pushed the covers aside and got up. “Fine. I’ll just hang out with Flufflepuff and Ravenpaw today.”
Flufflepuff currently slept in the smaller cat tree in the corner of the room. Ravenpaw was lying on his back inside the tree, batting at a feather hanging from the higher level.
“I thought I’d take –” Leo started, then stopped when Sonny glared at him. “Never mind. I’ll start breakfast. Pancakes okay?”
Sonny sighed softly, irritation softening. “That’s perfect.”
Leo ran to the bathroom and shut the door.
“I don’t even get shower sex,” Sonny grumbled and went to the closet. “Today is definitely a cute sweater and leggings kind of day.”
He pulled out a pair of gray leggings, a long white tunic, and an oversized soft pink and gray cardigan. He grabbed his knee-high, heeled black boots and set them aside. He picked up a heavy vintage bear charm with a long chain and a pretty clasp bracelet with pink rosebuds on it. Both were gifts from Janine.
Leo yawned when he came out from the bathroom and gave Sonny a long kiss before leaving the bedroom with Ravenpaw on his shoulder.
Sonny tapped his chin. “Flufflepuff, something’s off with Leo.” He looked at his familiar. “Do you know what it is?”
“Meow.” Flufflepuff watched him with deep, wise green eyes.
Calm settled into his mind and tension drained from his shoulders. “You’re right, Fluff. I just need to trust my mate. He loves me and will tell me what’s going on with time.”
Sonny took his time with his makeup and hair, then dressed. By the time he made it downstairs, Leo was setting the plates on the table.
Sonny snapped his fingers to light the brown candle at the center of the table. Blessings on our home, our pets, and the apartment grounds.
Leo hummed happily. “I like your candles. They’re all over, and I know they each mean something.” He cleared his throat. “What does this one mean?”
Sonny blinked for a moment, surprised. Leo hadn’t asked about Sonny’s craft before. “Uh, brown candles are used for stability and blessings of the home, animals, and the earth.”
“How do you light them like that? I kinda thought all your magic went into baked goods, but you’ve done a few other spells too.”
Sonny eyed him. Something is definitely off. “It’s about transferring energy. My energy is best channeled through baking, yes, but I can still do other things too. I’m just better when I use my kitchen witch skills.”
Leo nodded and drizzled honey over his pancakes. “Myrtle trained you, right? You said your mom was a kitchen witch and your dad a hedge witch. Did they teach you a lot too?”
Sonny took a bite of bacon and chewed thoughtfully. What’s going on, honey bear? “My mom taught me as much as Myrtle when I was a child. When I started being more”—he gestured to his makeup and outfit—“she stopped taking an interest in my training. Dad taught me some of the basics of hedge witchery before my affinity testing.”
Leo watched him carefully. “Affinity testing? That happens real young, right?”
“Yeah, around the age of eight or nine. The young witch goes to the local council and is tested for their affinity and magical strength. There’s this whole celebration and everything.” Sonny smiled and propped his chin on his fist. “My parents threw a party and the whole family came. I had fun that day.” It was the last time his parents had ever looked proud of him.
“The whole family?” Leo arch
ed a brow. “Were there more than Thorntons there?”
That’s an odd question. Sonny eyed Leo. “Yeah. Dad is descended from the Blackwood family and Mom the Whitmore family. Both are known for their, uh, fruitfulness. Let’s just say twins and triplets are the norm.”
Leo paled and started swaying in his chair.
Sonny jumped up. “Are you okay?” He braced Leo up and felt his head. “You don’t have a fever. Do you think you caught something at the garage? Hold on and I’ll get you one of Myrtle’s tonics. They boost your immune system.”
“I’m alright.” Leo hugged him, then pushed him away. “Eat your breakfast.”
Sonny sat down and tried to control his worry. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah.” Leo gave him a shaky smile. “So, do you have siblings? I thought you were an only child.”
Sonny winced. “I am. Dad and Mom kind of went against family tradition and only had one kid. They wanted to take on more apprentices instead of breed enough to fill an army like the rest of the family.”
“What about you?” Leo asked, eyes wide and almost glowing gold.
Sonny grinned. “I want a kid or two one day. We’ve never had this conversation, have we? It seems important, and we missed it. What about you?”
“Yeah.” Leo shook his head furiously. “I want lots of kids with you.”
Sonny bit his lip to hide a smile. He liked the way Leo said that. Kids with you.
Leo licked his lips. “Uh, so I was thinking that we could celebrate Imbolc together.”
Sonny made a face. “I don’t do Valentine’s Day.”
Leo shook his head. “No, I said Imbolc. We could do some of the traditions together like make wreathes and a besom and maybe bake some stuff. Mom and Dad want to have a dinner to celebrate, and we can walk around the park and look for signs of spring.”
Sonny opened his mouth, then closed it. Finally, he found his voice. “You want to do that with me?”
“Yeah. Isn’t that what you do for Imbolc?”
Sonny nodded. “Yes, but I thought it would just be me and Myrtle this year. Sometimes Aaron does stuff with us, but with Gemma carrying a kit, he’ll be busy.”