Chapter Ten

Lachlan

The weekends were always busy but this one, well, it was damned near insane. We had the vaccine event and while I would've liked to have gone straight to sleep after that, we had some kittens brought in, one of them severely dehydrated and needing care. Feisty little things, they were.

I rolled onto the dirt road that led to our land just shy of sunrise. Hale's lights were on. Our vet tech friend was up with the sun on most days but this was early, even for him. Hale was steadier and more reliable than any clock. He did an excellent job, always had.

He could've been a vet like Idris and me, but he decided to stay a tech. While he was responsible and smart, school wasn't his thing.

I pulled up to my cabin, the one to the left, and shut off the engine, staying there for a minute to decompress. The nights were getting cooler, and the holidays would be coming soon. In my family, holidays had been a time to get together, see how our families had grown, and enjoy each other's company.

Idris, Hale, and I had skipped out on those festivities the last few years. Sure, I sent presents and video chatted with my mom and my sisters, but the clinic needed us during the holidays.

Plus, I was still alone, and the last thing I wanted to hear was how it was about time I found a wife and started my own family.

How I wished that was true.

A knock on my window scared the life out of me. I slapped my hand on my chest and forced myself to breathe normally. "What the hell, Hale?"

He laughed a bit and opened my car door. He was dressed for the day, lunch in hand, and a smile on his face. How he maintained a smile and general alertness this early in the damned morning had always been beyond me.

"Are you okay? I didn't mean to scare you." He laughed anyway.

"Yeah. I was about to get out."

I exited the car and grabbed my stuff. "Long night?" he asked.

"The longest. You're heading in?" I asked.

"I am. Anything I need to be aware of?"

I chuckled. "Not really. It all turned out okay with the kittens. We sent them home with medicine."

We parted ways, and I went into my cabin and shut the door behind me. I immediately stripped in front of the washing machine and put everything inside, adding soap and starting the wash cycle. I looked in the fridge and pulled out some eggs and some of those biscuits that came from the popping can. When I got off of a long shift, didn't matter the time of day, I wanted breakfast food. There was a really good diner in town, but I didn't think I would make the trip all the way to town and back without falling asleep behind the wheel.

Besides, there was something about a homemade breakfast that did it for me. Comforted me. Made me feel like something was stable in my life.

Sure as fuck wasn't my love life.

While I waited on the biscuits, I got a notification on my phone that caught my attention. Usually most of my personal emails were from bills or my mom or sisters, but this one said, You have a match!

A match? When I clicked on the email, I found it wanted me to download an app, a dating, mating, all things relationships and finding your fated mate app.

Mate? I knew the word. Shifters who came in often did so with their mates or spoke of their mates at home, waiting for them, worrying about them. I found shifters fascinating. I'd devoted a good amount of time to shifter romance books of all kinds, not that I told anyone. Wasn't ashamed of it, but my friends didn't need to know my personal reading preferences.

Once the app was downloaded, I realized a profile in my name had already been made. It had all my stats complete and even a recent picture.

Someone had made this profile for me and, while I had an inkling to call Hale out on it, I wouldn't. At least, not until I explored this so-called match and what it meant.

I also noticed that my account was linked to accounts for Hale and Idris. Idris would've never done this, but Hale? Yeah. He did it, but also, I wasn't mad about it.

I nearly dropped the phone when I saw who we were matched to. An auburn-haired young woman with sass in her smile and a sparkle in her eyes. My heart thrummed as I took in the pictures of her and, at the end, she even put a picture of her cat.

No.

Wait a damned minute.

Her name was Audrey, and she was a cat. A domestic cat shifter.

Gods, I'd never been so attracted to anyone in my life.

I'd thought about what Hale said, about Eugene, and how we could maybe share a wife with our harried schedules, but I'd dismissed it since it wasn't the norm. But nothing about my friendship with Idris and Hale was the norm. We never fought. Never haggled over money issues. Got along like brothers.

I wanted to share this life with them and, as I looked over Audrey's profile, I realized sharing her with the two men I cared about most in this life wouldn't be an imposition at all.

I'd never felt jealous of them, over anything.

An envelope icon popped up asking if I wanted to send Audrey a message. Hell yeah, I did.

Hello, Audrey, I'm Lachlan. I saw we were a match and wanted to see if you wanted to chat. Here or on video, whatever you're most comfortable with. I look forward to talking to you.