“I’m not,” she told Caelum without turning around, but he didn’t believe her. She had a wild, stubborn streak that came out when she got protective. It was one of the things he loved about her. “And who the hell would give him a reward? And for what?”
Caelum heard a vehicle pull up to the gravel driveway in front of the house and turned his head to listen as someone got out of the car and shut the door. He expected a knock on the door, but instead he watched as Evangeline came around the side of the house. She was dressed in a tight black dress and wore heels so high he wondered how she could even stand up.
“Aunt Eva?” Hannah called to her, the confusion plain all over her face when Caelum looked back at her and caught her reflection in the window in front of them.
I don’t like this. Ippy’s words were loud in his mind.
Caelum shook his head. He agreed with Ippy. From what he could tell, Evangeline had come alone. And Isaac put his arm up to lean against the window, looking completely relaxed and like he wasn’t bothered at all about her being there.
“We should go out there and help her,” Hannah whispered.
Caelum put his arm quickly around Hannah’s middle, holding her close, and Ippy moved closer beside her. Together they’d boxed her in. “Nope. You’re staying right here where you’re safe.”
She struggled a bit and Caelum put his other arm around her. “Let me go. Guys! C’mon. I gotta go out there. What if he’s an ass to her?”
Caelum could tell by the way Isaac scowled at them that he’d been able to hear Hannah. He let go of her briefly to flip the werewolf off which only made his expression darken, but he could hear Ippy chuckling in his mind.
“Hello, Isaac,” Evangeline said when she got close, then stopped nearby.
“You from Pine Hollow?” He straightened up.
Evangeline nodded. “I am. Name’s Evangeline. I’m sure you’ve met my brother, Samson.”
Isaac shrugged. “Briefly, maybe. The guy on the phone said there would be a reward for keeping an eye on the werewolf.”
“Phillip.”
“What?” Isaac asked her.
Evangeline shook out her hair. “Phillip. The boy’s name is Phillip. Or, if you’re lucky enough to call him a friend, he also goes by Ippy. But I’m thinking he’d tell you his name is kiss my ass.”
Isaac growled at her and Caelum stiffened, not sure what he was supposed to do. Like Hannah, part of him wanted to run out there and defend Evangeline. But he knew he’d never stand up to Isaac. Caelum wasn’t small himself, but he wasn’t nearly as big and bulky as the werewolf on the other side of a thin pane of glass.
“You’ve got some mouth on you.”
Evangeline giggled. “Yeah. That’s what they all say. So…let’s get down to it. These kids just wanted to come live here, on this freezing little island, and make a life for themselves. And you, and your pack, had to upset them. See, most kids I don’t really care about. They’re not my thing. They’re not very fun and you have to be responsible for them and you can’t take them drinking or to R rated movies or anything enjoyable like that. But these kids, they’re decent. Sure, one of them can see my wolf and one doesn’t talk much and the other can hold his breath under water longer than anyone has a right to be able to. Despite all of that though, they’re my kids. And you upset them, which is an issue for me.”
“So?” Isaac demanded, but he didn’t sound as sure of himself now, at least from where Caelum was standing.
Evangleine shook her head and started kicking off her heels. “So, darling, you messed up. There’s no reward. There’s no pat on the back for screwing with my babies. There’s you, and then there’s me. And I haven’t had coffee in ten hours and my chocolate melted on the plane. So I’m a bit pissy at the moment.”
Isaac laughed at her and Hannah moved forward to put her hands on the glass in front of her. “Aunt Eva! Be careful! He’s mean and—”
“Baby girl, he’s just a little yappy dog compared to me,” Evangeline shot back to her with a wide grin.
Caelum wasn’t so sure, but he didn’t want to get on Evangeline’s bad side by doubting her in case he was wrong. Which, when it came to Pine Hollow’s second in command, he usually was. She was a pretty woman in a dress, but she was much more than that, too, and he knew not to test her.
“You’re making some pretty big threats there,” Isaac said, taunting her.
Evangeline shrugged and crouched down. “Kids, mind closing your eyes for a moment?”
Caelum was quick to shut his, even before Hannah turned around and put her hand over his face and Ippy’s. He heard growling and the noises of someone in pain before something heavy hit the window. There were whimpers and he reached blindly for Hannah. He found her hand and then Ippy’s rougher fingers covered his. The noises continued, but as much as he wanted to push her hand away and be able to see for himself what was going on, he didn’t, because he really didn’t want to see Evangeline getting hurt. He had no doubt that she would win out against Isaac, but he didn’t want to see her hurting for them either.
Hannah only dropped her hand away from their faces when the noises of pain and fighting had been replaced with silence and, a few moments later, a knock at the front door. They went to open it as one and Caelum was glad to see Evangeline standing there in the doorway with her dress in tatters and hanging loosely on her body, but he was saddened by the long cut that went from her temple to her chin.
He reached for her, but she pushed his hand away.
“You kids ready to go?” she asked them.
“Yeah,” Hannah said, sounding small as she clung to Caelum’s hand.
Evangeline gave them a smile before she turned to spit out a bit of blood in the grass beside the front walkway. “Good. Let’s get in the car before Isaac’s pack sees how badly I beat him up and decides to come after us.”
“Thank you,” Caelum said as Ippy and Hannah went to grab their things. He was only taking a duffle bag, which would be easy enough to grab after he’d said what he needed to.
“Of course. Get your stuff.” She’d said it dismissively.
Caelum shook his head. “I mean it. I get why you came to take care of Hannah and Ippy. You saw them grow up. But it means a lot that you included me when you were talking.”
Evangeline frowned at him. “Why wouldn’t I? You’re a selkie, but you’re still part of my pack. You have been since Hannah and Ippy rescued you. Being different doesn’t mean you’re not one of us. Everyone is looking forward to having you back in the states. Liam wants to take you shopping, Samson wants to get you self-defense lessons, and my guys are working out how to build a salt water pool. It’ll be good. You’ll see.”
Caelum nodded and didn’t really know what to say. So he hugged her, not too tight because he heard her make a noise of pain when he squeezed her at first, but he hugged her all the same. She hugged him back and he knew things really would be okay in Pine Hollow with his new family and the two people he loved most in this world.
Epilogue
5 Years Later
Caelum lifted himself onto the island and bit into an apple while he watched Ippy cook dinner on the stove. They’d gotten a late start to the meal, probably because they’d spent too much time hanging out in the backyard, but Ippy was busily whisking away at some sauce he’d promised would be ready before Hannah got home from work.
It’d been about a month since she’d started working for Samson, doing his budgets and organizing his files just like her dad had been doing for years. She said she liked doing it because she got to be near the kids and Samson could be fun to work for. Caelum was just glad she’d found something she wanted to do so soon after finishing college.
“How’s the sauce coming?” Caelum asked Ippy before taking another bite of his apple.
Ippy turned around and offered him a spoon to lick, which he instantly took after he’d swallowed the bit of apple in his mouth.
Goo
d? Ippy asked, his dark eyebrows going up as he waited for Caelum’s answer.
Caelum was too busy licking the spoon though to do much more than nod enthusiastically. “Sure you don’t want to have a restaurant of your own? You did go to college for it.” And Ippy was more than good enough to make it, in even that tough business.
Ippy smiled at him. I’m sure. I just like being able to cook for you two.
“And cater whenever the pack has a function,” Caelum reminded him. It was a common enough request, and Ippy was doing a wedding in just a few weeks for two women that weren’t much older than they were. Caelum had volunteered to taste test the new cupcake recipes Ippy wanted to try out. They were lucky enough to each be able to pursue the careers they wanted, Ippy with his cooking and Caelum with his painting.
Ippy gave him a little shrug and turned back to the stove. Hannah was a little late, but not by much. Caelum figured she’d probably stopped by her dads’ house before coming home. They lived on the edge of Pine Hollow in a little ranch home that was probably the cheapest house in the community, since it wasn’t grand and didn’t come with acres of land, but he liked it and was grateful to her dads for financing them. It wasn’t a free house—none of them would have taken that kind of gift, even though Liam wanted to give it to them outright, but it was at a pretty decent saving over what it could have been.
They’d redone the kitchen to Ippy’s standards, bringing in modern touches and appliances while keeping the original hardwood and brick intact. Caelum had done the painting and it looked pretty good if he did say so himself. The furniture had been all Hannah and it showed in the mash up of easy, comfortable pieces, accented with bright purple pillows. Neither he or Ippy minded the color, though.
His favorite part of the house by far was the bedroom. It had taken them nearly a week to remodel just that room after a contractor in the pack had told them it was okay to tear down one of the walls to expand it. The house had one less bedroom after they were done, but what was once a small master bedroom had become something beautiful and relaxing that was able to easily accommodate the three of them with a huge bed that was big enough for them to fit comfortably, even when it got too hot in the summer to cuddle and they each needed their own space.
Caelum heard a key turn in the lock and turned his body so that he could face Hannah when she came in the door. Ippy turned off the stove and came up next to him, putting his arm over Caelum’s knee and leaning into him.
“Have you two been waiting there for me?” Hannah asked them as she came inside and shut the door behind herself. The front door opened right into the kitchen, so she wasn’t too far away.
“Only for a bit,” Caelum told her, hopping off the island and giving her a hug. He stepped back so that Ippy could get one, too, but he didn’t go far. “Hey.”
“Hey. You have sauce on your chin.” Hannah grinned at him and Caelum wiped off his face. Ippy gave her a quick kiss before taking her hand and leading her into the kitchen to try the sauce, too. “Mmm. Really good. I like the garlic in it.”
Caelum smiled at the grin Ippy gave her.
Hannah came back and took their hands, leading them to the couch where she sat down between them. “Guys, I’ve got some news.”
What’s wrong?
Caelum reached around Hannah’s shoulders to touch Ippy’s arm and hopefully give him some comfort. “Anything we can help with?”
Hannah patted their knees and gave each of them a watery smile. “You’d better. I’ll need you both. Because we’re pregnant. I stopped by the doctor’s on the way home and took the test.”
Ippy was the first to grab her in a hug, but that was just because it took Caelum a moment to process what she’d said. But then he was holding her, too, and they were both taking turns kissing her and then each other.
“A baby…” Caelum whispered, his hand splaying out over Hannah’s belly.
“Yeah…A baby.”
Our baby. Our child. Our son. Ippy met Caelum’s gaze over Hannah’s head.
She pouted. “It could be a girl. I’m already outnumbered by you boys.”
“Thank you,” Caelum told her, leaning down to place a kiss on her belly while Ippy tilted her head back to get a kiss of his own.
We’re going to be fathers, Ippy told him.
Caelum replied into his mind, Are you scared? I’m scared.
Terrified.
Caelum smiled up at him. Happy though.
Ippy nodded. So happy. It’ll be a boy. I’m sure of it.
Definitely a boy, Caelum agreed with him before giving Ippy a wink. Caelum couldn’t believe how much his life had changed since he’d first met Hannah and Ippy, but now he couldn’t imagine life without them.
Daniel Anthony Glass was born just after eight o’clock on the morning of March third. He was surrounded by his mom and two dads. Once the doctor said it was okay to have visitors he was also able to meet a whole host of other people from grandparents to the best uncles and aunt a little boy could have. He grew up well, surrounded by people who loved him. After a few years, a little sister arrived who he wanted to name Crying Pink Thing, but was overruled in favor of Savannah Jane. It took a while for Daniel to warm up to the idea of having a sister when what he’d really wanted to get for Christmas was a puppy, but he always protected her, from the first time someone tried to bully her in kindergarten.
About the Author
Caitlin was fortunate growing up to be surrounded by family and teachers that encouraged her love of reading. She has always been a voracious reader and that love of the written word easily morphed into a passion for writing. If she isn't writing, she can usually be found studying as she works toward her counseling degree. She comes from a military family and the men and women of the armed forces are close to her heart. She also enjoys gardening, hiking, and horseback riding in the Colorado Rockies where she calls home with her wonderful fiancé and their two dogs. Her belief that there is no one true path to happily ever after runs deeply through all of her stories.
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