Chapter Twelve

Idris

A notification sounded as I was drying my washed hands for the three hundredth time.

Leaning against the counter, I plucked my phone from my pocket and checked it. "What's Mail-Order Matings?" I asked no one specific, mainly my phone, since the email detailed having a match for a service I never signed up for.

"Why are you asking?" Hale looked over at me. He sterilized the tools, taking them from the machine, but something changed his scent slightly.

Lachlan walked in at that moment and cocked his head. "What did you say?"

"Some app called Mail-Order Matings. It says we have a match? Who is we? This must be bullshit. I didn't sign up for any…" Before I could finish my sentence, Hale bolted across the work area and grabbed the phone from my hand.

"We have a match!" he exclaimed.

I watched his lips move as he read through the whole email. "Who is we and what kind of… Oh, Hale, you didn't."

Our best friend paled as he nodded. "I did. It wasn't a decision I made lightly. I…I had to try. Just so we would know. I…" Hale trailed off, once again distracted by the email.

"I knew it was you." Lachlan shook his head and laughed.

"You knew?" Hale and I both asked at the same time.

"I got the email too. Earlier today. I already sent Audrey a message." Lachlan shrugged and arched an eyebrow, looking pleased with himself.

"You did? She's gorgeous, right?" Hale bounced on his toes. "I didn't want to message until I told both of you…"

Irritation flooded my system. I snatched my phone out of Hale's hand and grunted. "Everyone stop. I have questions and accusations and aggravations."

Lachlan chuckled while Hale put his hands up, palms out, and backed up a few steps.

"What the fuck is this app?" I asked, whispering because Edie would admonish us with a waggling finger and a fist on her hip if she heard us cuss. But in this circumstance, the cursing was warranted.

Hale hesitated but then answered, "It's the app I was telling you about. The one where Eugene found his two wives. I talked about this. A little."

Lachlan let out a long sigh and sat down on a stool. "Yeah, but mentioning something offhand is one thing and signing us up for an app that is going to find us a mate, a shared mate, is a big deal. You should've told us."

Hale nodded. "I know. But I had a feeling. I…we share everything, and we do it well. Think about this, guys. One wife for all of us. We would be able to give her the time and attention she needs since there are three of us. It's a better solution than trying to take good care of a wife each, especially with our schedules. We've never been jealous of each other a day in our lives. It's not so far out of range to consider, right?"

I shook my head, not believing what I was about to admit out loud. "I thought about it after hearing Eugene's situation. After you told us about it." I put my hands on my hips after tucking my phone back in my pocket. "You still had no right, Hale. I understand we're all wanting a wife—badly—but you could've discussed it with us. We talk about everything."

Hale sat down on a stool near Lachlan. "I know it was wrong but I won't apologize. We have a match, and she's beautiful and smart and works for herself. I can't believe you sent her a message without telling me. I haven't opened the app since seeing her because I hadn't told you."

Lachlan's eyebrows bunched over his nose. He was the most chill of all of us. "So? I was waiting for you to fess up. Besides, she hasn't answered yet."

"She did." I held my phone up. "The email I got was telling me she replied to your message."

"What did she say?" Hale asked, nearly falling off the stool.

The sounds of a bustling office became louder. I heard the door open and close. Edie telling someone to please wait while we were busy. The only thing I could focus on, however, was the potential that our wife was right there, messaging us, and all we had to do was reply.

"Not so fast," I said. "Let's sit together and look at her profile. Get on the same page for once."

We closed the door to the lab/sterilizing/cleaning room and huddled together. Lachlan commented on Audrey's beauty, while Hale was impressed with her job as a content creator for others who was building her own at the same time. She had a link to her content, and I wanted to check it out, but I was more interested in something else. "She's a shifter," I whispered. "Never knew there were domestic cat shifters."

"Neither did I," Lachlan and Hale resounded.

They were both right, of course. Audrey was stunning, and all kinds of things in my body reacted to the pictures of her. She worked for herself, and I respected someone with a high work ethic.

The cat shifter thing…that was a bonus. I bet she enjoyed being pampered and treated like the queen she was.

"So what's the verdict?" Hale asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Answer her. Let's all chat with her and see if she likes us as much as…"

Lachlan cleared his throat. "Yeah, I like her, too, Idris. We all like her."