Forty-Two

Ember

Talking with the others made me feel better, and after a few minutes, we climbed out of bed. Only, now that the conversation was over and we weren't half covered beneath the sheets, I noticed something I hadn't before.

"Kai, is that…" I pointed to his chest, and he glanced down, eyes widening when he saw the four-pointed star on the center of his chest, all four points equally dark.

Cam and Micah had followed my gaze, and Cam grinned, then glanced at his own hip. "Oh! Mine's all colored in too!" Then he glanced at Micah, and even I could see the darker mark on his shoulder. "So is yours!"

Then all eyes turned on me, and I glanced down at myself, smiling when I found a mirroring mark on my right thigh. Last night, I'd been too out of it to notice. Had it appeared when we had sex? Or when Kai told us he loved us? I hadn't been awake by then, but the others hadn't realized either.

We shared a few kisses to celebrate the completion of our bond, but before it could go any further, I pulled away. We needed sustenance, so I slipped into my clothes from last night, and decided to make breakfast while the other three freshened up. I could shower once they were done.

While the bathroom in the master bedroom was big enough that all four of us could probably fit comfortably, we hadn't tried it yet. Maybe someday, I mused as I made my way downstairs after kissing my mates.

In the kitchen, I quickly whipped up a filling breakfast of fresh fruit, pancakes, scrambled eggs, and bacon.

Kai showed up when I was mixing the pancake batter, and with his help, I finished faster than I would've alone, and he took over stirring the eggs as Cam and Micah arrived, shooing me off so I could freshen up.

When I returned, they'd cleared the dining table and set it for breakfast, and I took the empty chair beside Micah as Cam hopped up to serve everyone, batting my hand off when I tried to help.

Conversation flowed over breakfast as we tried to settle on what we'd do today, words moving seamlessly between the mental link and voice as we ate.

While I'd made many friends over my long lifetime, some human, some who I was still in contact with, I'd never felt so at ease and so able to be myself around anyone else.

My mates didn't expect me to act a certain way, or give me weird looks when I didn't. They didn't mind that I'd basically taken over the house and all the duties it entailed, or how I could be extremely particular about some things. They just accepted me as I was, and I'd never had that before.

"Okay, so hiking it is!" I jolted at Cam's words, giving him a wide-eyed look.

"What?"

Cam snickered. "I thought that would get your attention. Don't worry—I'm not planning to torture you."

I slumped into my chair, shaking my head at the troublemaker. I was not a fan of physically taxing activities—except sex, of course—especially when I was close to the end of my cycle, and Cam knew that very well.

Once we'd cleared up the breakfast mess and Micah helped me load up the dishwasher, we headed to the living room, where Cam, Kai, and Jodi had already taken up most of the couch.

"Jodi, why don't you go lie down on your bed?" I asked, and my faithful companion looked at me, then looked at Cam—whose lap she'd laid her head in as he petted her—and rested her head in his lap once more, ignoring me completely.

Sighing, I settled on the armchair, then pulled Micah to me when he started to lower himself to the ground, settling him in my lap.

"There. That's more comfy than the floor," I murmured, and Micah made a strangled sound before sinking back into my chest.

The click of a camera shutter caught my attention, and I looked up to find Cam grinning widely as he took another picture of us with his phone. "You two look so cute together."

Smiling at him, I wrapped my arms around Micah's waist because I had a feeling he'd try to escape. I liked holding him in my lap, liked the way every breath carried his scent with him.

Once Cam was satisfied with taking pictures of us, he scrolled through his phone for a bit before letting out an excited "Oh!"

I knew Cam well enough by now to know that word had a 50/50 chance of leading into something crazy, so I braced myself as Kai leaned closer to him, asking him what it was as he tried to peer at Cam's phone.

"I just realized I forgot something important," Cam said, eyes moving between Kai and me. "It's time to officially initiate you into the Mistvale clan."

I remembered him mentioning that a week or so after we met, but then Kai arrived and everything got hectic, and afterward, we'd all forgotten about it.

"I'm scared to ask. Will I have to promise my firstborn or something?" Kai joked, making Cam laugh.

"Well, since your firstborn will also be my firstborn, no," Cam said, apparently not noticing the stunned look on Kai's face as he continued. "The final step will be a welcome party at the packland where you'll get to meet all the clan members, but before that is a very important step."

Knowing Cam, it could be literally anything, so we both waited warily while Micah enjoyed the show. Surely, if it was something really crazy, Micah would've reacted, right?

"Where's your phone?" Cam asked Kai, and he made a face as he tried to remember.

"Uh...in the bedroom, I think?"

We'd gotten Kai a phone when we'd first gone clothes shopping for him, but he'd merely set it aside until Cam had discovered the phone being used as a paperweight and set it up for Kai.

Since Kai didn't really have anyone he needed or wanted to contact and he could talk to us through the mental link whenever he wanted, his phone was usually lying in some corner, forgotten.

"Okay, we'll get it later. But for now..." Cam trailed off dramatically as he started typing on his phone, and a few moments later, mine buzzed in my pocket.

Micah leaned to the side so I could pull it out, and it continued to buzz as I did, making me wonder if Cam had called me. Why he would do that when he was sitting right in front of me was anyone's guess.

But no, it wasn't a call. It was a dozen or so—and rapidly growing—texts, and I realized Cam had added me in a group called The Mistvale Clan.

I scrolled through the messages, brows raising at Cam's introduction text.

Cam : Hey Clanners! Come meet our wonderful mates, Ember and Kai. Ember is the big teddy phoenix, and Kai is the sweet sexy selkie. Kai also has a tendency to misplace his phone, so if he doesn't reply, don't take it personally.

Below the message was a picture he'd taken of us when we were making breakfast earlier. I hadn't even noticed him lurking around.

After Cam's text, everyone had hopped on to welcome me and Kai into the clan, and while I didn't have most of the numbers saved, they'd introduced themselves, and some names sounded familiar while others didn't.

"Oh, you might have to put the group on silent. It's never quiet for long," Micah said, and Cam shot him a betrayed look.

"Is that why you rarely reply in the group texts?"

Micah shrugged, and I chuckled as Cam started listing all the reasons why the clan group should never be ignored.

Kai

Using a phone still didn't come naturally to me, but Micah and Ember were always happy to help me learn, while Cam had a tendency of taking over whenever it took me too long to get the hang of something, like he'd done a while ago to save all the numbers of the clan group members in my phone, even though I had no idea who half of the people were. I didn't mind because I knew it was just Cam's impatience and he didn't do it to be mean.

Looking through the messages the Mistvale clan members had sent made me feel all warm inside, and I found myself smiling as I scrolled through the many, many texts.

Dean : Does this mean you're finally going to stop moping around?

Cam : How dare you! I do not mope.

Amelia : You do, though.

Cam : Sister! Why would you betray me so?

Amelia : :P

Raphael : When do we get to meet them both? Is it time for another clan get-together?

Noel : Oooh yes please! It's been forever since the last one.

Devon : We had one when Cam and Micah came back from their trip, remember?

Noel : Like I said, it's been FOREVER

Oliver : It's party time, Devon. Don't be grumpy

Devon : I'm not grumpy

Caleb : You're a little grumpy, dude

Firey : What's happening? My phone's going crazy

Noel : We're planning a party for Cam and Micah and their sexy new mates

"Um..." I mumbled as I scrolled and scrolled, realizing there were a LOT of texts. And that was just in the hour since Cam made the announcement. I'd known theoretically that the clan was big, but looking at these texts made me think that it would be bigger than whatever I'd imagined. I really might need that notebook if I wanted to keep track of everyone. "There's a lot of people in the clan, huh?"

Cam snickered at whatever look I was sporting, and Micah patted my arm comfortingly. We'd changed seats from before, and Micah was now beside me since Cam had demanded 'his turn' on Ember's lap.

"There are. I guess it doesn't feel like that to us because Cam and I have been here since practically the beginning."

"Yeah. When DD and Dad got together, it was just us, Micah's dads, Raphael and Jai, and Aeron and Niall. Oh, and Rebba, the alpha of the shifter pack, and Caleb and Noel. Then Caleb's best friend moved here, and he found his mate, and it snowballed from there," Cam explained, and I hummed, trying to memorize all the names.

"You know, you should make a family tree or something for the clans," I said, my eyes flicking between Cam and Micah. "So you can easily explain all the connections to any future members."

Cam's eyes brightened as Micah hummed. "That's not a bad idea."

"Oh, I know this app we can use to make it. Then we can print a giant poster and put it up in the gathering hall," Cam said, then clarified, "The gathering hall is a cabin in the packland where we get together for important meetings and stuff."

"That's a great idea," I said, and Cam beamed at me, clearly pleased with the praise, wriggling happily.

Of course, that made Ember groan since Cam was still very much in his lap, and the look on Cam's face told me it'd been very much intentional.

"What's wrong, Ember? You okay?" he said, voice taking a teasing edge, and Ember narrowed his eyes.

"Yes, I'm fine."

"If you say so." Cam shrugged, then turned to face us once more, shifting on Ember's lap yet again.

Cam ... Micah warned through the mental link, and Cam raised a brow at him in challenge.

"What? I'm just sitting here in Ember's super cozy lap. I didn't do anything."

Ember grabbed Cam's hips as if he was going to push him off, but then instead he pulled him back, and Cam moaned.

"Oh fuck, Ember. Did I make you hard?"

Ember threw his head back with a groan, glaring up at the ceiling as if it had answers, and his fingers flexed against Cam's hips as if he was barely resisting the urge to rut up into Cam.

The sight of the two of them teasing each other was turning me on, and a glance at Micah told me he was equally affected.

Since the first time we had sex, we'd been fucking like bunnies. I didn't know if it was the mate bond at work making sure ours became the strongest it could be, or if it was just the fact that my mates were sexy as fuck, but I couldn't keep my hands off them.

As Micah cupped my cheek and pulled me into a kiss, I realized I didn't even want to try. Why would I, when the alternative was so much better?