16. Anders

Chapter 16

Anders

"Anyone else we should invite?" I showed Brett the names I'd typed out.

He added two colleagues from work who both happened to be shifters. While my mate was friends with humans at work, this was an occasion for our shifter friends to get to know Brett and for his colleagues to meet our community.

Despite my mate not eating meat, he insisted he could cook a mean steak and his sausages would sizzle to perfection, having been brought up with wolves.

"Right, so you're manning the barbecue."

Choccie, as we'd nicknamed our puppy, whined until Brett picked him up and sat him on the sofa. He was too little to jump up, and we spoiled him rotten. He'd already torn to shreds his first and second lot of toys and had dug up the new plants I'd put in the garden. He was more work than a baby, not that I'd brought up any babies.

"Will there be enough food for the vegetarians and vegans?" I studied my list. Our friends were bringing desserts and salads, and I was crossing my fingers they all didn't bring one and not the other. I had considered polling them but decided against it. That felt more like work and this was supposed to be a fun event. I wanted them to enjoy themselves and not feel pressured about what they were making.

"Yeah, I have a recipe for vegan burgers if anyone wants one."

My snow leopard rolled his eyes at that, and I told him to stop being disrespectful, thankful neither my mate nor his unicorn could see my beast. I got up and removed the dog carrier I'd bought from a drawer.

Brett raised a brow. But if we locked Choccie in a room, he'd bark and destroy the place, and if we let him out, he'd be underfoot and near the grill. On my back, he'd be with me and not crying, and I could give him doggie snacks if he got irritated.

"He's family."

The weather report said the next day would be fine, and it didn't lie. It dawned sunny with a hint of a breeze. I worked from a list, completing one task and checking it off before going on to the next, while Brett whipped up some of his vegan burgers, dip, and salad dressing made with cashews.

Jonah and Kyle and their kids were the first ones through the door. We'd set up an arts and craft station, and there'd be a scavenger hunt in the garden when all the kids had arrived.

Kyle had met my mate before I did, and I introduced him to Jonah. Dylan and Truman and their girls arrived, and Brett and Truman were in a corner of the garden chatting. Having beasts that didn't exist in the wild but were part of human mythology might create a bond, and I hoped they'd be friends.

When Brett's colleagues arrived, he introduced them to everyone and one tech suggested he'd like to move to Snowford. They shared how good Brett was at his job. "He's so empathetic with the patients, he never hurries them, and listens to their hopes and fears. But he always has our back too. We can really depend on him in an emergency."

I kissed Brett ‘cause I was so proud of him. I fixed people's toilets, leaky faucets, and flooded basements, but he changed people's lives.

Isabella, Andrew, and their passel of kids arrived and the noise level rose. Cecily came and finally Alpha Waylon and Daxon walked in with their family. The Alpha Omega and my mate had something in common; being brought up in a pack which their beast was not part of.

Brett was at the barbecue, swaying his hips as he seared and flipped the meat, lightly toasted the buns, and skewered meat and vegetables for kebabs. My playlist was on blast, and Choccie, having run himself ragged whenever more children arrived, was asleep on my back.

And Isabella, being as organized as she was, had polled everyone coming, making sure there was a balance of desserts and salads.

Some of the kids wanted to see Truman fly, so he arranged a night when we'd congregate outside Oakheart and he'd take his wings and fly. I tensed, thinking they'd want to see my mate's unicorn. While dragons had a reputation for being temperamental—uncalled for, in my opinion—they may not be aware of Brett's beast's reaction to being with people. Had most of them met a unicorn shifter previously? Andrew, the former Alpha, had mentioned meeting one years ago.

"This is delicious." Cecily was munching on her vegan burger with the special spicy sauce Brett had made. "You must give me the recipe."

I hid a smile, thinking back to the night my mate had ruined three courses.

"Should I make a speech or something?" I whispered to Brett.

"Only if you want to." We'd both circulated and chatted to all the guests, and everyone had welcomed Brett to the sizzle, even though technically he wasn't a member because we hadn't marked one another.

I tapped a glass and Choccie woke up, but I handed him a snack over my shoulder and he quietened.

After thanking everyone for coming, I added, "I apologize to my friends for moaning about not being mated when everyone else was." Our friends laughed, and Jonah nodded.

"But maybe putting my complaints into the universe was what brought Brett and me together." I raised my glass. "To people who complain and get what they deserve." People clapped, I took Brett in my arms, and we clinked glasses.

"I deserve a mention too," Edgar piped up. "If I hadn't hurt myself, you wouldn't have been at the hospital."

"You're a hundred percent correct. Another toast, everyone. To Edgar."

"To Edgar," they echoed.

Isabella and Andrew supervised the scavenger hunt, as it had been her idea, knowing how her kids needed lots of stimulation, while Brett and I sat in loungers and surveyed our friends and colleagues, celebrating our soon-to-be mating.

"Thank you for today. It's so nice to meet your family," Waylon said as he and his mate and kids were leaving. For a moment, I didn't know how to respond. My family? Was he saying my mate was pregnant?

"I didn't…" I gulped, "… didn't… Brett didn't tell me."

Waylon's eyes clouded in confusion, but my mate put a hand under my elbow. "Choccie is our darling boy, and life would be very different without him."

Right, the little boy on my back. I nodded, not having the words to recover from the misunderstanding.

Awkward . My beast, the master of understatement.

After everyone had departed and many of them issued invitations to us for dinners, brunch, and weekends away, we surveyed the back garden and the mess.

"You take the food inside, and I'll get garbage bags and scoop up all the trash." The dishwasher wasn't big enough to hold all the dirty dishes, and we'd have to run it multiple times.

"Remind me next time we have a group of people here not to have them here. Maybe a picnic in the park where everyone brings their own food." Brett was putting away leftovers when I came in from dumping the garbage.

He paused, his hand on the fridge. "Have you forgotten something?"

I craned my neck and checked outside. "Don't think so." I yawned. "Can we rinse the rest of the dishes and wash them in the morning?"

"First, it's only 5 p.m. Were you thinking of going to bed? And second, you have forgotten our furry son who's in the carrier on your back."

"Choccie, awww, our little boy." He'd been petted and kissed and given too much food, most of which wasn't suitable for puppies. I hoped his tummy wouldn't react and we'd be up all night, racing him outside. Oh, the joys of being a dad.

"Your community is so welcoming, considering we're not actually mated yet."

We were, and it was because we'd all been alone for much of our lives, not having a pack or a den. And my mate had been alone too, though surrounded by shifters, but not shifters who accepted him for who he was.

"It's the first time in my life I feel as though I belong."

"If the sizzle didn't accept you, I would have left. A place where you weren't welcome, would be somewhere I wouldn't want to be."

Choccie scratched at the door, and I let him out. We both stood and stared at our little boy while he did his business and then sniffed around the outdoor table, probably hoping to pick up a bit of sausage.

"It might only be late afternoon, but I say we go to bed here. Don't go home. Maybe we stay in bed for the night or just a nap." I was pooped. Being sociable was exhausting.

"I like the way you think."

But Choccie bounded into the house, a ball in his mouth, a hopeful expression on his little face. We looked at one another and got our coats. Our fur baby needed a walk.