by Moxie North
“Of course, that makes sense.” She wasn’t sure where he was heading with this conversation.
“Babe, those other mates, they’re your half-sisters,” he said the words slowly like she wouldn’t understand.
It was good that he had said it slowly, because Poppy needed to hear the words, replay them a few times in her head and then really let it sink in. She had sisters. Half-sisters anyway. But still siblings. Girlfriends to giggle with and share secrets. It was what she had always wanted.
“I have sisters?”
“Yes, and they can’t wait to meet you. I’m going to arrange a time for you to meet them. A few aren’t here, but most are still here helping with the babies.”
“I’d love that! Zane, I have family!”
He gave her a chuckle. “Of course you do. Your mom, me, and your sisters.”
Poppy didn’t think her world could get any better. She had Zane, who looked at her like he never seen anything so beautiful in his life. He was there, checking on her, feeding her, making sure there wasn’t anything she needed. And more importantly, he was always there making sure she was safe. No shadow man. Just the two of them, a combined force .
“Do my sisters have any gifts?”
“A few of them yes. My kind, bearen we were missing our renquas. The marks from the creator that linked us with her. Turns out they were gambled away by someone we were all supposed to trust. But Willow, Bruin’s mate, she gave them all back to us.”
Zane stood up and pulled his shirt off and turned towards her. She could see the darker skin that looked like a clenched fist. Standing up to reach him, she ran her fingertip over the area that looked like a birthmark. His skin shivered under her touch.
“Sorry,” she said pulling her hand back.
“I like it. It feels good when you touch it. It warms me.”
“And she gave them back to you?”
“One touch that was all it took. I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting your other sisters yet. I’ll contact Trevor over at SPD his mate was the first and is the organizer. Your sister, Willow, is the Queen of the bearen so I don’t know if you’ll have to curtsey or not.”
“You think you’re funny. And you are. I can’t wait to meet them! Do you think they’ll like me?”
“They’ll love you like I do. I might suggest to Bruin that we start a monthly reunion for the new mates. Seems like they need to organize something as we go along.”
“You are a sweet, sweet man. How did I get so lucky?”
“We were meant to be.”
Poppy agreed. He was hers and she was his.
“Don’t you think we should break in your new bed? Unless you have other pressing matters to attend to?”
She heard him growl and laughed. Zane scooped her up into his arms.
“You are incorrigible,” he said with a grunt.
“You know the word incorrigible,” she giggled.
She got another growl for that. And she got two orgasms.
Chapter Nineteen
“I don’t want her left alone!” Zane roared.
“She won’t be alone. I’ve got you both covered. We had a report that Khain was spotted about forty miles from here. I don’t think he’s in the area or even attempting to breach at the moment.”
“You don’t know that. It’s not like he has to take the bus to get here.”
Zane was upset. He’d been called in to work even though Conri had promised to not need him. He was at the station with Wade from the SPD there too.
“Our team doesn’t have your knowledge. Their method of firefighting for wildfires is rudimentary. They haven’t been able to get it under control. We’ve tried the knock down method to direct the fire to our backfire we set, but it’s burning out of control through the fields. We need you there,” Conri explained.
Wade stepped forward, his silver hair giving him an air of authority outside of his age and general respect that came with his position. “We’ll watch your mate. She can have both Trevor and Troy along with two other SPD. The KSRT is off checking the disturbance outside of town. It may only take a few hours and you can be back with your mate.”
Zane wanted to bring her with him. Wanted to tuck her in his pocket so he’d know right where she was at all times.
“I just found her,” he ground out.
“I appreciate that and I realize I’m asking a lot of you.” Conri at least had the awareness to look chagrined.
“We’ll watch over her. Maybe I can get one of the wives to come over,” Wade suggested.
“She would like that. Fine, I’ll do what I can,” he conceded.
Zane had gotten the call and thought it was just another catch-up. It wasn’t, there was a fire that another station had been trying to put out for almost twenty-four hours without success. Their problem was trying to put it out instead of controlling it so it could burn out.
His inner animal told him he shouldn’t leave his mate alone, but this was probably just the first of many times he was going to have to leave her alone, or with others. She had been on her own just a few days before and the many years before that.
Nodding to Conri and Wade, he left the office and walked back into the main room to find Poppy sitting on the floor between desks with two large wolfen fighting for space on her lap.
“Don’t think I don’t see what you’re doing,” he said his voice deep and rumbly.
“I’m just petting them,” Poppy replied with a big grin.
“I wasn’t talking to you. I was talking to those two traitors. Getting away with shit all the time.”
Troy gave a coughing laugh that ended with a bark that delighted Poppy.
“I think they’re offended,” Poppy guessed.
“They are,” Tex said from his desk. He was grinning too.
“Like I care. Get off her, now,” Zane said sharply.
Both animals got up with exaggerated slowness which made Poppy laugh even harder.
“You shouldn’t encourage them.”
“Why not, I enjoy them,” she said as he helped her off the floor.
“And they enjoy you, too much.”
She giggled and pushed up on her tiptoes to give him a kiss. “Jealous?”
“Hell yes. You’re mine.”
“Of course I am. So what did they need you for?”
“I’m needed at work. I’m going to drop you back off at home. Those two,” he pointed at Trent and Troy who were looking oddly happy already like someone might have already sent them a mental message of what they were scheduled for, “are going with you. Along with two other SPD that will be patrolling outside. I should only be gone a few hours. I’ll keep in touch.”
“You’ll be careful?” she asked worriedly.
“Of course. I have a reason to come home.”
“Home. I guess we’re going to have to figure that out won’t we?”
“I’m sure we can come to an arrangement. Let’s get you back. Come on you two,” he said with a glare to the wolven.
They happily followed along as Poppy kept her hand on at least one of them as they walked back out to his car.
“You know they think like you,” she said once they got in the car.
“Like me?”
“Well no, like humans. Sorry if I’m talking about you guys,” she said turning back to the wolven happily hanging their heads out the windows. They both gave a huffing noise that Zane took as an okay.
“Well they are. I mean they just haven’t shifted.”
“But they could some day, right?” she asked.
“It’s possible. I don’t know much about it really.” He’d never met a bearen that couldn’t shift from animal to human. He had heard about a bearen that had never turned into his bear for the same reason of never seeing a shift at a crucial time as a child.
“I think they will,” she stated with a firm nod.
“What makes you think that?”
“They are confident, both of them. They’re conflicted, but they haven’t given u
p. I think they have strength of will. When the time is right, they both will be everything they’re meant to be.”
“I’m sure they’re glad to hear it,” he said. He couldn’t imagine being a bear and not being able to live his human life too.
Poppy turned around in her seat and offered her hand to Trent and Troy, both nuzzled up against her like she was offering them hotdogs.
“You two, I see big things for you. And when you can shift, I’m taking you out dancing!” She whispered to them.
“I’ll pay a dollar to see that,” Zane said.
One of the wolven behind him made a growling noise and he smiled. He wished he could hear them like other shiften could. But it just wasn’t a skill he had.
“By the way, Tex was telling me that there were shiften with gifts too?”
“There are. Some can communicate with the spirits, other have gifts of awareness. They can sense things. The mates so far have some truly exceptional talents. Mine isn’t as interesting as yours.”
“You have a gift? Why haven’t you told me? What is it? Balloon animals, cake decorating, can you burp the alphabet?”
“Very funny. I can actually manipulate metal. It comes in handy with my work. Sometimes I can help with getting someone out of a car accident while the machines we use are doing their job. I can make metal softer and if I try hard enough I can change its chemistry. Make it more malleable.”
“You don’t think that is interesting? Or amazing? It is. It’s freaking amazing! You’re like Magneto or something.”
“Awesome, I’ll get a costume made up.”
“Well, at least I know what we’re doing for Halloween,” she said saucily.
Zane grunted and kept driving. If she wanted him to dress up in some stupid costume he’d do it with very little complaint. She was practically bouncing in her seat and he wanted her to stay happy just like she was in that moment.
Having a mate changed everything. It made him want nothing in the world but her happiness. It was all frighteningly simple now that he was in it. Before, he had put his friends, his job, even the humans he rescued before himself. Now those were all a distant memory of what was the most important. One woman took up every corner of his mind. Her happiness, her love, her joy, her comfort. Those all came before anything else. Yet now he was racing off to do his job instead of managing the responsibilities of caring for his mate.
His responsibilities were battling inside him and in this case, he was following his boss’s orders. Wade wanted him to go to and he was someone that his new leader Bruin trusted too.
So he would do his duty, and then he would do his mate.
Dropping her at her home, he tried to tuck her back in on the couch and she refused, reminding him that she wasn’t an invalid. That she was capable of cooking dinner and keeping herself busy while he was out.
“I have those two, and I’m guessing out there somewhere there are others watching out for me. Go, show that fire who’s boss,” she said, tipping her head to him so he could give her a goodbye kiss that would ensure she would be thinking about him while he was gone.
“I’ll be safe as long as you’re safe,” he said, wrapping her in his arms.
She hugged him back, her arms squeezing him tight. He’d never get tired of her hugs. That softness pressed against him. It made him realize how delicate she was compared to him.
“I’m going to make some calls to rearrange a few clients since I have no place to do my cuddle therapy. And then I’ll check in with work and clear the voicemail.”
Zane felt his hackles rise. “I don’t like the idea of you touching other people.” He had tried to hold back his anger but he felt it bubbling. Not at her, but at every other person he hadn’t met.
“What are you talking about? This is my job. This is how I help people!”
“But you’re touching them, holding them. That should be for me.”
She shook her head at him and frowned. “I do. I touch them and they feel better. I help their bodies heal their wounds through massage. I help their mind heal through my gift. A gift given to me by my father. I could no more deny that part of myself than you could deny what you are.”
Zane felt bad for jumping on her. Denying what he was would be completely impossible.
“How am I going to get over this? It enrages me, worse it makes me feel jealous. I don’t want to feel that way.”
“Understandable. Except you want me to be happy, don’t you?”
“Of course, more than anything!”
“This is what makes me happy. I’ve been a massage therapist for years, and even though that was what I started as, my cuddle therapy has allowed me to help others in a more direct way. It’s part of who I am.”
Zane knew she was right. This wasn’t her problem, it was his. He needed to trust her and believe in her. There was no reason he shouldn’t.
“You’re right. We are who we are. Will you help me when I become a dick? I’d like to think that I won’t be an arrogant jerk. But then, it’s partly who I am too.”
“I’ll do my best to keep you in check. Now, I have big exciting plans for the evening. Nothing more than phone calls and maybe dinner.”
“Good, you can’t get into too much trouble then,” he said kissing her forehead.
“Go on, so you can come back that much sooner.”
Zane left reluctantly. He wanted to help with the fire. There could be lives at stake and it was his job as a firefighter and a bearen to protect human life.
Chapter Twenty
Poppy had done her chores, and called her patients apologizing for the delays. She’d have to think of somewhere to continue her appointments. There was one voicemail from her mom saying she was stopping by her friend’s house and that she would be in later. Since her mother wouldn’t make it in time for dinner, she’d whipped up lasagna and garlic bread. Not knowing what to feed Troy and Trent, she asked them if they wanted lasagna.
They both barked at her and she took that as a yes. Without dog dishes, which something told her they wouldn’t appreciate at all, she served up their portion on plates. Pulling out two chairs from the table, she asked if they’d like to sit with her, both wolven jumped up and waited for her. She smiled and brought her meal to the table.
They all ate, although the boys ate much faster than she did. Which meant most of her bread kept getting offered to them because they made her feel guilty with those big puppy dog eyes.
“You two get away with a lot don’t you?”
Trent gave a coughing laugh.
“That’s what I thought. Well, I won’t tell anyone your secrets.”
She gave them bowls of ice cream and they set up shop in front of the television. It had started to get dark and she’d gotten one text from Zane saying he didn’t know how long he would be or when he could text again. She replied that she understood and would see him when he was back.
There was no sense having him worried that she needed him. She wanted all of his attention on his work.
Seeing that the boys were content watching re-runs, she stood up. “I’m going to go take a long hot bath.”
Normally announcing her intentions to animals wasn’t something she would consider. But these guys would get it.
Troy raised his head at her and gave a sniff. That was a clear dismissal if she ever saw one.
She stopped by her room to pick up her clothes and took them into the bathroom. She wasn’t about to wander around in a towel like she normally did with her guests downstairs.
She turned on the faucets checking to find the right temperature, put the stopper in, and flicked the switch for the fan. The home was old and the fan was really more of a novelty since the bathroom would fog up in a matter of minutes.
Poppy added some perfumed salts and a healthy dose of bubble bath. This was a routine that she would never get rid of. Bubble time was her meditation. Though in the future she’d have to see if her new man might want to join her. Although he’d never fit in this t
ub. She wondered if they made tubs his size.
Stripping off her clothes, she made sure her towel was close at hand and went over to the mirror. It was just starting fog over when Poppy reached for a hairpin to try and start taming her hair for the bath.
Glancing up at the mirror she got the first pin in and she saw something pass over the mirror. It wasn’t behind her it was in front of her. Like the fog had suddenly gotten darker. Then it went back to the normal condensation on the mirror. She put in another pin and then the color reappeared. This time it didn’t fade away.
“Promised…” a deep sinister voice whispered to her.
Poppy felt her heart stop beating. Her breath was stuck in her throat. The shape of her shadow man was there in her mirror staring back at her. Where his eyes should have been were glowing sockets of white in a sea of black.
“I’ve been watching you, promised…” Each word had a hissing sound to it. Like he was exaggerating his speech.
Poppy found her voice. “Go away!” He was in her mirror maybe that meant he couldn’t hurt her. Or that he wasn’t really there.
“You’ve been naughty. I tried to make this easy for you. You could have gone quietly in that little shack. But you’re a fighter aren’t you?”
“Go away before I scream!” she said this even though there was no bravery in her voice. Not even a little. She was terrified and could only think of Zane.
“I wouldn’t if I were you. Mommy wouldn’t like it.”
What did he mean mommy? “I don’t understand.”
“Sorry your mother missed dinner. But she had another appointment with me. I haven’t hurt her yet. But what happens next depends on you. I want you to meet me at the abandoned house three blocks over. The one with the red picket fence. If you come, your mother goes free, no harm shall come to her. You don’t come, you alert those mongrels in your house, well then, your mother will know nothing but hell for the rest of her days.”
Poppy’s mind was racing. He had her mother, or at least he said he did. He could be lying. Or she could risk her mother’s life by assuming he was. She could call Zane, but then her mother might suffer the same fate. This was a beast that had already murdered thousands of women. What was one more?