Flame

by Ophelia Sexton

  "Seriously? Uh, was I here?"

  Mark shook his head. "Nope, you were already working down in Denver. But that's pretty much all we talked about at Thanksgiving two years ago…remember?"

  Thor shook his head. Another blank in his memory. "Sorry."

  "If you really don't remember anything about the sabertooth incident, then why did you lie to me about Cassie being a cougar shifter?" Mom's voice was sharp, and the glare from her hazel eyes was even sharper.

  For a moment, Thor felt ten years old again. Then he squared his shoulders.

  "It didn't have anything to do with this." He gestured around at the living room. "Cassie is keeping quiet about her true lineage. Not many sabertooth shifters outside of New Mexico and Texas, so she feels like she'd stand out like a sore thumb if word got around."

  "Yeah, no one likes those bastards," Mark said acidly.

  "Which brings me back to my point," Thor said, glaring at his older brother. "Whatever happened here between you and that New Mexico sabertooth pride…Cassie wasn't part of it. She's my mate now, and I expect you to treat her like a Swanson."

  Mark glared back and crossed his arms over his chest. "But—"

  "If you can't play nicely, then screw you and forget about dinner," Thor snarled. "I'll take Cassie away from where she's not welcome, and we'll rent a nice honeymoon suite over at the Bearpaw Springs Resort."

  "Thor's right," Caitlyn said, unexpectedly. She came up to them and put her hand on Mark's arm. "We should give Cassie a chance."

  Thor's sister-in-law was an Ordinary, a pretty blonde woman with sharp, intelligent eyes and the kind of curvy body that appealed to bear shifter males. Mark's expression softened at her touch, and he slid his arm protectively around her.

  "Are you sure that having one of them here won't upset you?"

  Thor bristled at Mark's tone, but Caitlyn just rolled her eyes at her overprotective mate. "I think I can handle it, sweetheart. I mean, it's not like she was involved in Jake and Jen's kidnapping or anything."

  But Mark had the characteristic Swanson stubbornness.

  "I don't know, especially since the kids are here," he said, glancing in the direction of the living room doorway, where Thor could hear the excited shrieks of the children he'd seen earlier.

  "What, you think my mate is going to eat them or something?" Thor asked sarcastically. "You need to stop reading all those fairy tales, Mark."

  Then Mom stepped in with unexpected support.

  "Thor's right," she said, looking around at her gathered family. "If Cassie is really his mate, then we owe her the courtesy due a new family member."

  Thor breathed a sigh of relief as Mark's body language relaxed.

  Elle pinned Thor with a stern look. "Now, let's not leave the poor woman standing out in the front yard like a stranger."

  He instantly felt guilty and had to remind himself that he wasn’t the reason that Cassie had been hesitant to attend dinner, no matter how Mom was trying to spin the situation now.

  Being a mature adult, though, he contented himself with a "Thanks, Mom" and a final warning glance around the room at his brothers before going back outside to fetch Cassie.

  Chapter 16 – Wedding Plans

  When Thor led Cassie inside the impeccably restored Victorian house to introduce her to his family, she was sure that dinner with the Swansons was going to turn out to be every bit as uncomfortable as she'd feared.

  While waiting in the garden, she'd overheard enough of their conversation to know that his family had a grudge against sabertooth shifters, thanks to that stupid Philippe Bertrand and his equally stupid Sandia Mountain Pride.

  She knew about the incident that had resulted in the pride's dissolution, of course. Everyone in the sabertooth community did.

  Half of her fellow shifters had shared her opinion that Bertrand had willfully and blindly led his pride to disgrace and imprisonment when he killed an Albuquerque police officer, then tried to silence the journalists investigating the murder.

  The other half of the sabertooth community, including most of the high-ranking shifters in Cassie's own New Braunfels Pride, considered Bertrand a hero for what he'd done. His style of fearless leadership and guts had been the essence of a Pride First, they declared, conveniently omitting the fact that he'd gotten himself killed and most of his pride enforcers sent to prison for a laundry list of crimes that included kidnapping, assault, attempted murder, and conspiracy charges.

  Officially, the Sandia Mountain Pride still existed, but it now consisted of those pride members who had been considered too low-ranking for Bertrand to involve in his schemes. Daddy had told her that he expected it would only be a matter of time before a dominant shifter moved in to take over the weakened pride.

  But in all of the versions of the story that she'd heard, no one had ever mentioned the fact that the Swansons had been the ones to take down Bertrand and his accomplices.

  Now here she was, in the heart of the Swanson stronghold, and everyone was staring at her with varying degrees of hostility, dislike, and open curiosity as she walked into the living room.

  At least Thor was sticking close to her side, his big, callused hand wrapped around hers reassuringly.

  After an uncomfortable moment of silence, Elle stepped forward with a determined smile. "Hello, Cassandra. Welcome to my house."

  She put her hands on Cassie's shoulders in a not-quite-hug and air-kissed her cheek. "Can I get you something to drink, dear? We have wine, beer, and pop."

  "I'd like some wine, please," Cassie said.

  A quick glance at a side table holding an impressive display of bottles and cans had revealed that they didn't have any Dr. Pepper, the official state beverage of Texas.

  She felt relieved that Thor's mother appeared to want to play nice, even if she still seemed a little stiff. After their first meeting, Cassie hadn't been sure of her reception.

  "Of course," Elle replied and turned to fetch Cassie's drink from the side table.

  A vivacious-looking blonde woman pushed her way through the crowded living room and headed straight for Cassie.

  Smiling broadly, she came to a halt in front of Cassie and stuck out her hand. "Hi there, Cassandra! I'm Thor's sister-in-law, Caitlyn. I'm very pleased to meet you."

  Cassie caught a whiff of the other woman's scent and realized that she was both sincerely friendly and an Ordinary.

  The tension level in the room seemed to drop a notch or two as Cassie took Caitlyn's hand and shook it. "Please call me Cassie. I'm only ever Cassandra when I'm on jury duty…or in trouble with my dad."

  Caitlyn laughed. "Yeah, those are the only times I ever hear my middle name said out loud."

  She turned to Thor and went up on tiptoes to kiss his bearded cheek. Cassie felt an odd pang at the sight. She couldn't possibly be jealous, could she?

  "Hey, Thor! Heard you broke one of your wings."

  He grinned down at his sister-in-law. "And my leg, too. I'm an overachiever, what can I say?"

  Her eyes widened in mock dismay. "Please tell me that the story behind your accident doesn't start with, Hey, y'all, hold my beer and watch this!"

  And that was when Cassie knew that she liked Caitlyn.

  "It's even worse than that," Cassie ventured dryly to Thor's assembled relatives. "He got himself a job that requires him to jump out of airplanes and into forest fires."

  "That's because my baby brother never learned how to drive the big fire engine," said the big Swanson that Cassie immediately identified as Thor's oldest brother Dane.

  Dane looked bigger and more intimidating than his website photo, but his smile was genuinely friendly as he met Cassie's gaze.

  Caitlyn turned to the tall, stern-faced man hovering behind her like a Mafia bodyguard. He had the Swanson dark hair and hazel eyes, so Cassie guessed that he must be another one of Thor's brothers. From what she could see, all the Swanson brothers were big, intimidating shifter males…and that was in human form.

  If Thor
was anything to go by, they'd be downright terrifying in their bear-shapes. No wonder Bertrand and his enforcers hadn't stood a chance!

  Her guess was confirmed when Caitlyn said, "Mark, love, come say hello to your new sister-in-law Cassie."

  He looked taken aback. "They're not married yet, are they?"

  Cassie shook her head.

  Thor, who was standing at her shoulder, immediately said, "But we're mate-bonded."

  Mark hesitated, and Cassie heard Thor mutter, too softly for Mark's Ordinary mate to overhear, "C'mon, bro, don't be more of an asshole than you usually are."

  Cassie saw Mark's nostril's flare slightly, as if evaluating her scent. At the same time, he studied her with a piercing gaze disconcertingly like his brother's.

  "Yeah," he said finally. "You're mate-bonded, all right. It's all over your scent." He didn't sound happy about it.

  Caitlyn poked Mark in the ribs. "Mark, love. Don't be rude. If they're mated, then she's your new sister-in-law."

  He hesitated a moment longer, as if still thinking it over, then appeared to come to a decision.

  "Yeah," he said in a resigned tone. "Yeah, I guess she’s part of the family now. Welcome…Cassie."

  Wow, that's some genuine enthusiasm right there, Cassie thought.

  "Thanks," she managed before she found herself enveloped in what could only be described as a bear hug. "Oof."

  Apparently Mark Swanson didn't believe in doing the sorta-hug and air kiss thing.

  He actually cracked a tiny smile when he released her and stepped back. She saw that like Thor, Mark had a dimple in his cheek under his close-trimmed beard.

  Dane was the next to greet her. He opted for a hearty handshake rather than a hug, but then again, he didn't seem like the hugging type.

  His mate, the red-headed Annabeth, was a hugger, and she enveloped Cassie in a pleasant cloud of yeast, baking bread, cinnamon, and vanilla.

  "Don't let the boys scare you off," she whispered. "Their bark is worse than their bite."

  "I heard that," growled Dane, but the twinkle in his eye suggested that he was enjoying the banter.

  Elle returned with the promised glass of wine, then, alerted by a shriek of toddler rage from the hallway, dashed away again to check on the chaos level.

  Ash, the youngest Swanson brother, was the next to introduce himself. Unlike his brothers, he was dressed like a software engineer rather than a cowboy, with a Batman T-shirt, sneakers, and worn, baggy jeans.

  At least he seemed genuinely friendly as he shook her hand. "So you're from Texas?" he asked. "What part?"

  "I grew up halfway between San Antonio and Austin, but I went to college in Austin," she told him.

  "You wouldn't happen to be a computer science major, would you?" he asked hopefully. "I have a successful gaming company, and I'm looking to expand my product development staff."

  Cassie shook her head regretfully. "Nope, sorry. I was working on my masters in cellular biology when I had to, uh, take a leave of absence from graduate school. I'm hoping to go back and finish my master's program and then get my doctorate someday."

  "That's too bad," he said. "About having to drop out, I mean. Though I'm bummed about not having another programmer in the family. Steffi—have you met Steffi? No?" He looked around and waved over a brown-haired woman standing near the bay window. "Steffi's Evan's wife. He's off chasing lynx around the Canadian border right now, so she's working as my product marketing manager."

  Cassie blinked at the rapid recitation as the newcomer made her way over to them. "Uh, chasing lynx? Is that a euphemism for something?"

  Steffi was close enough to overhear this. She threw her head back and laughed. "No, but it sure sounds like it oughta be a code phrase for something really dirty, doesn't it?"

  Like Annabeth, Steffi turned out to be a hugger. From her scent, she was a dog owner, Cassie noticed wistfully.

  She'd always wanted a dog, but dogs usually didn't do well in a cat shifter household. Too much cognitive dissonance for a canine to handle, Cassie guessed.

  "No, but seriously," Steffi continued, "my husband Evan works for Idaho Fish and Game. He spends most of the summer tromping around the wilderness, gathering data for a big multi-agency lynx conservation study. I try to keep myself busy while he's gone."

  "Thor told me the same thing," Cassie said, "about having to spend his summers working away from home. I'm thinking of trying to get back into graduate school once we return to Denver."

  "You mean you guys won't be moving back here?" Ash asked. "Uh-oh. Mom's not gonna be happy about that."

  Cassie realized she'd stepped into a minefield. "Well, we haven't made any real plans yet," she temporized. "It's just, with Thor working for the Rocky Mountain Hot Shots, I assumed we'd be based in Colorado."

  Before she could dig herself in deeper, Elle stuck her head into the living room. "Dinner's served, so start making your way to the dining room."

  "That's my cue," Ash said, brightly. "See ya on the other side!"

  He headed out of the living room.

  "I'd offer to show you the way," Steffi said good-humoredly. "But it looks like you've already got yourself a native guide."

  "I even own a compass," Thor joked, bending to give his sister-in-law a kiss. "Hey, Steffi. So I see that Evan still hasn't managed to sell you on the joy of camping under the stars?"

  Steffi gave an exaggerated shudder as the three of them began to follow the others out of the living room.

  "My idea of roughing it is staying at a hotel without room service," she quipped as they walked down the narrow hall towards the source of the delicious food smells. "But sleeping on the ground? Bathing in freezing streams? Cooking over an open fire? No thanks. I'll leave that to my favorite bear, who's convinced he's got the best job in the world because it involves all those things. Shifters!" she finished on a note of mock exasperation.

  "Hey, now," Cassie said. "I'm a shifter, and I'm 100% with you on the camping thing. My daddy used to ask me if I was really an apex predator or just faking it. I always said that I'd be willing to admit faking it if it meant hot and cold running water and an icy Dr. Pepper on demand."

  "So I'm guessing that my idea for a honeymoon camp-out in the Bitterroot wilderness is a no-go?" Thor asked innocently.

  "Thor, honey, you know you did good when you got us that suite with a spa tub and room service," Cassie retorted.

  "Spa tub? He got you a room with a spa tub? Cassie, this guy's a keeper!" Steffi exclaimed.

  "Yup," Cassie said smugly. "Ten out of ten, would mate with him again," she joked, parodying an Internet review site.

  "Was there any question about that?" Thor asked, grinning.

  "All that, and he's modest, too," Cassie retorted.

  Steffi was still laughing when they entered the dining room.

  It was large and had been lovingly restored to its nineteenth-century glory.

  A big bronze gaslight chandelier hung from the plaster ceiling, with large, tulip-shaped frosted glass shades around the light bulbs, and there was a tall antique oak sideboard standing along one wall.

  A selection of pies and cookies had been placed on trays on the sideboard as well as several loaves of artisan bread and a collection of wine bottles, along with two large silver water pitchers coated with condensation.

  A huge oval dining table dominated the room. It was covered with a damask linen tablecloth and set for ten adults, with two high chairs for Thor's three-year-old nephew Matthew and eighteen-month-old niece Elizabeth Margaret, nicknamed "Ellie," who was Mark and Caitlyn's daughter.

  As the matriarch of the clan, Elle sat at the head of the dining table. Next to her sat Steffi, then Dane and Annabeth sat on her other side with their son Matthew's high chair placed between them.

  On Cassie's side of the table, Caitlyn and Mark did the same for little Ellie's high chair, leaving Cassie seated at Thor's side and across the table from Margaret Swanson. Ash sat at the foot of the table on Cassie's other si
de, rounding out the seating arrangements.

  As the Swansons arranged themselves around the table, Elle, assisted by Thor's younger brother Ash, began bringing out bowls and platters of food.

  There were several different kinds of salads and vegetable casseroles, a big bowl heaped with golden-brown oven fries, and two huge prime rib roasts crusted with black pepper and herbs.

  It all smelled amazing, and Cassie's mouth began to water. The initial sick churn of anxiety in her gut had gradually calmed with the Swanson family’s acceptance of her, and she felt suddenly ravenously hungry.

  When the platter of meat, casserole dishes, potatoes, and baskets of sliced bread had been passed around and everyone had served themselves, it was time to eat.

  The first part of the dinner was conducted in relative silence, as all of the Swansons concentrated on the serious business of enjoying the excellent food.

  "Most everything here was either raised on the ranch or bought from one of our neighbors," Thor said, as he handed around a casserole of mixed squash in an herbed sauce.

  "It all smells wonderful," Cassie said. "Do you know how long it's been since I had a real home-cooked meal that I didn't have to make myself?"

  That won her a slight smile from Elle, who was seated at the other end of the table but who could hear everything perfectly, of course.

  The conversation got going when dishes were handed around for second and third helpings.

  "So, Thor," Dane said. "Now that we're all here together, you want to tell us how you managed to fall out of an airplane and break your arm and leg?"

  Thor cheerfully began to narrate the story of his accident and how he and Cassie had met.

  The way he told it, he'd woken up without any idea of who or where he was, laid eyes on the most attractive woman he'd ever seen, decided she was The One for him, and then talked her into driving him to Idaho so that he could have time to convince her to date him.

  "You told me you couldn't drive or take a commercial flight with a broken leg! I never realized you were just takin' advantage of my innocence and trusting nature!" Cassie said in mock indignation, and everyone laughed.

  She noticed that he hadn't said a word about Ed Baldwin's threats or the unpleasant encounter with the two pride enforcers in Utah. He clearly wanted to keep things light-hearted now. Maybe he'd tell them the unpleasant stuff later.