10 Lovey-Dovey Gushy Muppies

10: Lovey-Dovey Gushy Muppies

Posy

The heat ended Wednesday at lunch time. Lark and her daddies had just collapsed on the bed with the rest of her wolves in a pile of sticky, exhausted bodies when it went away as suddenly as it came.

"Thank the Goddess that"s over!" she and I moaned in sync.

The mating part we enjoyed. Immensely.

The crippling pain, the out-of-character aggression, and feeling out of control? Not so much.

Her mates and mine chuckled at us, then we all passed out. I didn"t wake up again until the clock read 6:15 p.m., and I poked at Mason and Cole until they released me from their heavy arms so I could run to the restroom.

After that, I gulped down the last two bottles of water I found in the bedroom, then took a long, hot, relaxing shower. The bathroom was stocked with my favorite shampoo, exfoliating body wash, and a cute sponge puff that looked like a rose. I put it all to good use, thankful that I had mates who would think of such things.

By the time I"d dried off and dressed, the boys were awake. They kept their word, as I knew they would, and we headed down to the beach to play after a hearty dinner. We scavenged more beach glass and shells because Wyatt said we were going to use it in an art project. I was so excited about it, I ran up and tackled him to the sand.

Okay, okay. He let me tackle him to the sand.

"Haven"t had enough of me yet, baby?" he smirked as I sprawled on top of him. "I can strip you out of this bikini and take you right here and now under the sun."

Despite everything we"d done together, I still blushed bright red, and he threw his head back and laughed. With a pout, I sat up on his stomach and was about to attack him with tickles when Ash scooped me up and carried me into the ocean until he was waist-deep.

That was really deep for me! If I were standing, it would be up to my shoulders, and I had a sudden idea about what he was up to.

"Looks like our little red tomato needs to cool off!" he crowed, confirming my suspicion.

He tossed me into the water before I could even attempt to escape, not that I had much of a chance, anyway. Not only was he incredibly strong, the boy was as tall as a giraffe"s neck. Me? Well, the broom in our kitchen was level with the top of my head.

"Ash!" I shrieked once I swam to the surface. "I just washed my hair!"

"You can wash it again. I"ll even help." He grinned as he reached for me, but I dodged his long arms and swam away.

Oh, it"s on now!

Of course, he caught up to me quickly with his beanstalk legs.

Sounfair, I grumbled, then ducked under the water before he could grab me, super thankful Mason had taught me to swim in our pool at home.

I couldn"t hear anything other than the rush of the ocean, and I wasn"t brave enough to open my eyes in the saltwater, so I was surprised when I successfully found Ash"s feet. I grabbed his ginormous big toe and yanked it as hard as I could. He tried to jerk away, but that only lifted his foot from the ocean floor, which was what I wanted. As I held his toe in a death grip, the fingers of my free hand tickled his sole mercilessly, holding on despite him flailing his leg, until I was almost out of breath and couldn"t fight the giggles any longer.

I let him go and swam underwater toward the shore, but the ocean caught me somehow, a huge, invisible force I didn"t understand, and it rolled me around and pushed me down until I had no idea where I was.

I didn"t want to, but I made myself open my eyes and winced as they burned. The water was so deep and dark around me that I couldn"t see anything, not even the light from the sun to see the way up, and I knew I was further away from the shore than when I"d started swimming.

I didn"t know which way to go!

A little frantic now, I pushed myself in what I thought was the right direction, but didn"t seem to be getting anywhere. All I could see was walls of greenish-brown water around me.

Sweetness, are you alright?

Come up now, honey!

Where are you?

Are you hurt?

Posy?

My chest burned and my growing fear made my heart race, which didn"t help the straining lung situation. I went into survival mode and kicked and clawed in the water, trying to find the surface, but I was so muddled, I must have gone down instead of up because I whacked my forehead on the sandy bottom.

I need to breathe, I linked them back, wincing as the scrape burned in the saltwater, and I can"t tell which way is up!

They all started shouting until Mason bellowed at them to shut up.

Posy, he said calmly and slowly. Relax your body. Let it float. It will go up all by itself.

Okay, I whimpered and did what he said.

And it worked!

Just when I thought my lungs were going to burst, my face broke out of the water, and I inhaled as much air as I could, gasping noisily until my breathing was normal again.

Swiping the hair out of my face, I looked for my mates, but they were nowhere in sight. I turned to the left, completely disoriented now, and saw nothing. Swiveling to the right, I sighed in relief when I saw them far in the distance, splashing around in the water as they searched for me.

"I"m here! Look to your right!" I both shouted and linked while waving one arm, and their heads all instantly swiveled in my direction.

How did I get all the way down here? I wondered.

Then they were running, pushing each other and scrambling in the breaking waves, and I was half-tempted to dive back in the water and hide from what I knew was coming.

You scared them enough, Lark said as she quickly healed the scrape on my forehead. My wolves, too. They all thought you swept out to sea. They ... upset.

Oh, I knew that; their "upset" was flooding the mate bond like a tidal wave.

Deciding to face the music with dignity, I swam the rest of the way in and had made it knee-deep before the octopuses latched onto me and caught me up in their tentacles and carried me back to the beach.

I"m sorry, I linked them as four of them dropped to their knees in a circle around me and held on tight. I don"t know what happened.

Scared us, sweetness. You were underwater for so long.

Goddess, I thought the worst, princess!

Don"t do that again, cutie. My heart can"t take it.

Little flower. My little flower.

And Cole was so worked up, he didn"t join our group hug. Instead, he stood off to the side with clenched fists, the muscles in his arms and neck corded and taut. His eyes were closed and I could see his lips moving. After a few seconds, I realized he was counting to calm himself down.

At the same time they were squeezing me, I heard their wolves gently fussing at Lark. While she was basking in their worry, I felt terrible that my boys had been so frightened.

"I was tickling Ash"s foot and when I swam away, the ocean grabbed me," I murmured. "It pushed me down and I couldn"t get away. Then I hit my head on the bottom when I thought I was swimming to the top. I"m so sorry. I didn"t mean for this to happen."

"We know you didn"t. We know we"re over-reacting, too," Jayden murmured against my shoulder. "We can"t help it, though. We thought we lost you."

"It sounds like you got caught in an undercurrent," Mason said. "That"s probably how you ended up all the way down here."

"We didn"t know what to do, cutie. We"ll fight anything for you, but we can"t win against the ocean."

I kissed the top of Wyatt"s head, who had his face buried in my boobs, then turned to one side and kissed Jayden"s forehead before turning to the other side and kissing Mason"s. I twisted my neck and dropped a kiss on Ash"s cheek, which was as far as I could reach with him hugging me from behind.

"I"m sorry, Posy," Ash whispered in a ragged voice.

"It wasn"t your fault," I told him. "It was an accident. Don"t feel bad."

"I was so scared!"

"Me, too," I admitted. "All I could think about was getting oxygen, but all I saw was water."

"The ocean can be dangerous," Mason murmured. "Let"s stay in the shallows from now on, okay?"

"Definitely. I have no desire to do that again."

Once they calmed down and released me, I took a step toward Cole while knotting my fingers together.

"Are you mad at me?" I whispered, staring at his knees.

"No, honey. I— I was afraid Ash had drowned you."

"Dude!" Ash yelped. "I wouldn"t do that!"

"Not on purpose, idiot!" Cole barked. Then he slid his hands in my armpits and lifted me up until we were face-to-face. "Look at me, Posy."

Taking a deep breath, I did as he asked and winced to see the sheen of tears in his fern-green eyes.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, I"m okay," I assured him. "Just got a good scare and scraped my forehead. The sand is rough! But Lark already healed it."

"Thank the Goddess," he breathed and closed his eyes.

I cupped his face in my hands and kissed his soft lips over and over until I felt his big body relax against mine. Then I wrapped my legs around his torso and my arms around his neck and squeezed him as hard as I could.

"And here we find a baby koala in its native habitat," Wyatt said in a deep, slow voice with a funny accent that made me smile. "See how she clings to her tree for safety. What an adorable sight."

"Oh! Oooh! Wait a sec!" Ash scampered off and came back seconds later with a clump of long, greenish-brown leaves that still dripped water. "Put this in your mouth, cupcake! It"ll look like you"re eating a eucalyptus leaf!"

"Are you insane?!" Cole covered the back of my head protectively with one arm and tried to push my face in the crook of his neck, but I wanted to see what Ash was holding. "Get that crap away from her!"

"Ash, why are you the way you are?" Mason sighed.

And Jayden and Wyatt cracked up.

"What is it, anyway?" I asked.

"Seaweed. You can eat it!" he chirped. "It"s uber healthy!"

"It looks disgusting." Cole took another step away from Ash as he shook the seaweed at me. "I know you like rabbit food, honey, but I"m not sure it"s safe to eat kelp right out of the ocean."

"It is so!" Ash argued with a scowl. "I"ll prove it to you when we go inside. I can show you on the internet. I wouldn"t give it to her if I wasn"t sure it was safe and healthy!"

"Um, I"m not really hungry right now, Ash," I murmured to avoid a fight. And I was not eating that. "I"m still full from dinner."

"Oh." He dropped his hand with a little pout.

"Maybe tomorrow." I smiled at him, which made him brighten up again. "Have you eaten it before?"

"Nope! I don"t eat green food!" he stated proudly and tossed the seaweed over his shoulder. "Well, unless you force me to. But only you. I won"t do it even for Mom and Mama."

"You hypocrite!" Cole snarled. "You"re there telling her it"s so healthy and good, and you"ve never even tried it? Grr!"

Setting me down on my feet, he looked like he was about to throat-punch Ash, so I grabbed his hand and threaded my fingers through his.

"Will you help me build a sandcastle now?" I asked, rubbing my thumb over the back of his hand.

"Of course, honey. Anything you want. Just ... don"t leave our sight for a while."

"Let"s head back to the cabana," Mason suggested. "That"s where I left the bag of sandcastle supplies."

"I"ll go get it!" Ash volunteered and ran off before anyone could object.

"He didn"t have to go. I could have—" I started to say, but Jayden interrupted me.

"He needed to, sweetness. He needed to burn off some of the adrenaline. We can start walking, but we probably won"t get halfway before he"s back."

How Ash had any extra oomph was a mystery to me. Even after my six-hour nap, I didn"t feel fully up to speed.

Well, he not the one getting mated for hours and hours and hours, was he? Lark teased. He got to swap out and rest while his brothers beat your puss—

That"s enough! I scolded with a frown.

Ignoring her and her little smirk, I linked my other hand with Jayden"s, and we walked along the shoreline with Wyatt and Mason flanking us on either side.

"I"m excited to build my first sandcastle!" I said as I swung their hands back and forth.

"Me, too, sweetness."

"And me, cutie!"

"Mason, Cole, have you ever built a sandcastle?" I asked, turning to look at first one, then the other.

"Nope," Cole said, and Mason shook his head. "We were at the beach two years ago, but that was a work trip for the king and there wasn"t time to play or explore. Besides, can you see the two of us randomly building a sandcastle together?"

"No," I giggled as I tried to picture it. "So you never went to the beach as children?"

I was very careful to frame it that way, rather than ask if their parents had ever taken them. I didn"t want to make anyone sad; there"d been enough unintentional drama already today.

"No, we always went to the cabin for vacation," Wyatt explained. "Once school let out, we picked one of our families and spent the whole summer at their house. Then, the last two weeks before school started, we went to the cabin, and our families joined us there for vacation."

"Are you talking about—" I caught myself before I said Pippi"s Place, sensitive to Jayden"s grief. "Where Cole took me on our date?"

"Yep," Mason confirmed, then his voice turned wistful. "Soon as school let out, one of the parents or grandparents gathered up all the kids and took us up the mountain. I haven"t been there in years."

"I told Cole I"d like us to go back there. It was so beautiful. If you all would have been with us, I never would have wanted to leave," I said, watching Jayden"s face out of the corner of my eye. "Can we go back in the winter? I bet it"s so lovely when it snows, and Cole said the pond freezes over in the winter and we could go ice skating!"

"Sure, cutie. We love the cabin!" Wyatt chirped.

"I"m glad you liked it there." Jayden raised our joined hands and kissed my knuckles. "My grandfather built it for my grandmother. She loved that place. I always wondered if we might live there someday. After we retire, of course, and hand the pack off to our pups."

"I"d like that. Very much."

And his happy smile warmed my heart.

#

Before I knew it, our vacation at the beach came to an end. We threw everything into our bags and loaded Ash"s SUV again - and I watched as Jayden found a safe place to pack the wind chime Wyatt and I had made from a piece of driftwood, wire, and my beach finds. I couldn"t wait to hang it in my special room!

Then we were off to Crystal Caverns for the Swift family reunion.

I knew I had a grandfather named William, but my grandma had died in the sickness. So had all three of their children, which were my two uncles and my mom. One of my uncles had two children before he and his wife died: My cousins Liam, who was now the pack"s alpha, and Camille, who was a year older than me and in college studying something called software programming.

When I asked, Jayden told me it had to do with computers, and I stopped him from going into more detail. Computers were still a mystery to me. I had figured out how to surf the web, text, and play games on my phone. That was good enough for me. At least for now.

Before we left the Royal Pack, Mason had done what he said he"d do and called my cousin to let him know the Everleighs were coming and to make arrangements for who was staying where. My grandfather, William, lived in his own house with Camille. We would stay with them because they had a finished basement that we could fill up with mattresses and use as a bedroom. The Everleighs, on the other hand, would stay at the alpha house with Liam, his wife, and their baby boy.

"How old is the baby?" I asked Mason as he opened my car door. "I"ve never held a baby younger than Winnie."

"I don"t know. We"ll find out." He chortled. "I hope they don"t mind sharing him, though. Neither Ash nor Sid will be able to leave him alone."

I grinned at that. Ash always said it was Sid who loved pups so much, but we knew that he was just as smitten with babies and children.

"Why didn"t they put us or Dad"s family in a guest house?" I asked as I scrambled to climb into my seat.

"Maybe they don"t have one, or it"s under construction or something." He shrugged and gave me a boost. "Or maybe because you"re family. He didn"t say, and I didn"t ask."

"Do you think they"ll be okay with the Everleighs? Grandma was worried because they"re omegas, and because she"s afraid they"ll blame my dad for not protecting my mom better." I fiddled with my seat belt, trying to get it to stop strangling me.

"One, they all understand who the real monster and villain is in this tragedy, and it"s not Logan Everleigh. Two, Alpha Liam welcomes your family with open arms. He was four or five when he met your dad and brothers and vaguely remembers them and your cousin Ethan. The Swifts have no prejudice against them, or omegas in general. Besides, bias against omegas is against the law. They are to be afforded the same rights and privileges as any other member of a pack."

"Just because it"s a law doesn"t mean people obey it," I reminded him, then threw my hands up in the air with a huff of frustration. "Ugh! I hate seat belts!"

With a frown, he reached over me, flipped open the front seat console, grabbed a funny-shaped piece of plastic, and clipped it in place. The seat belt sat where it was supposed to now and wasn"t cutting into my neck.

"Better?"

"Much. Thank you! I didn"t even know there was a thing that did that!" I flashed him a dimpled smile.

"Ash bought it a while ago, thinking it might help you, but out of sight is out of mind for him."

"Were you waiting to see if he remembered?" I grinned and tapped him on the nose.

"Yeah, but I can"t stand seeing you get garroted by a seat belt any longer," he murmured with a straight face, but his gray eyes twinkled. "Trials of being a shortcake, I guess."

"It is a trial," I sighed dramatically and laid the back of my hand on my forehead. "Thank you for acknowledging my daily struggle and providing what relief you can."

He snorted as the rest of my mates piled in the SUV, Ash making the whole vehicle rock as he jumped in the driver"s seat.

"What are you laughing at?" Cole turned around from the front seat to stare at us.

"Nothing," Mason told him. "You peed, right?"

"Yes, I peed, although it"s none of your business!" Cole snapped.

"I meant Posy, not you, moron." Mason rolled his eyes.

"I peed, too!" I chirped. "Is that question going to be a standard protocol now before we go on a long drive somewhere?"

"Of course, baby." He grinned and dropped a kiss on my cheek, then stepped back. "Cuts down on the stops we have to make."

I gave him The Look, but he only chuckled as he closed my door.

#

Crystal Caverns Pack was located in a lovely area, nestled amid mountains, rivers, and thick forests. Jayden told me several caves on the territory were full of interesting rock formations, including one "room" full of beautiful white crystals, hence the name of the pack. He promised we could go explore them; if we didn"t have time during this trip, we"d come again when we did.

I was really looking forward to that, as well as meeting my mom"s family, although that part kind of scared me.

"Cutie, why are you getting all worked up?"

As usual, Wyatt had finagled his way to sit next to me, and he pulled my twisting fingers apart to hold my hands in his.

"What if they don"t like me?" I whispered.

"Then they lose out on getting to know an amazing woman." He shrugged. "But whether they like you or not, they will respect you as the luna of Five Fangs. We have an alliance with them and treating you any other way would result in a termination of terms. To be frank, they can"t afford that."

"I remember Jayden saying he went to help their pack in the spring." I tilted my head in question. Was it finally the right time to ask about Everett Breckenridge?

"A group of hunters turned a dozen hellhounds loose in the heart of the pack as a distraction while they took hostages," Jayden said before Wyatt could. "Alpha Liam asked for our assistance as he and his warriors had their hands full with the "hounds. I took Beta Everett Breckenridge and we led a small team to find and free the hostages."

"And kill the hunters," Ash added.

"And kill the hunters."

"Why did they want hostages?" I asked, confused.

Even I knew that hunters usually only wanted to destroy every shifter they encountered. When enough of them got together, you had incidents like the one Jayden was describing - and like the one that nearly wiped out Dark Woods.

"I left two hunters alive for interrogation," Jayden said calmly. "According to them, they didn"t have enough strength to take on the whole pack, so they planned to use the hostages as leverage and negotiate a deal with Alpha Liam. They wanted the pack lands to turn the caves into a commercial venture for tourists. A get-rich-quick scheme. Stupid reason for so many wolves to die."

I agreed. It was a stupid reason.

"Why are humans so greedy?" I wondered out loud when he didn"t say anything else. I wasn"t getting the whole story today, but I was okay with that. I"d already pieced most of it together, anyway, and I only wanted him to tell me to get it off his chest. "Why do they think we don"t matter? That we"re so beneath them?"

"Who knows, baby?" Wyatt shrugged and kissed my fingers. "But look how they treat each other. Is it really so strange they think of another species as inferior?"

"I don"t know. I don"t have a whole lot of experience with humans. Or with any species other than shifters," I admitted. "I"m glad that"s changing, though. I"m proud that our pack has welcomed a fox and a dragon and now fairies. I can"t wait to meet them! They"re so cute in the images the betas and gammas have shared!"

"Their younger cousin, Delilah, will be at school with you this year." Cole turned around to smile at me. "That will give you a good opportunity to get to know her."

"Yay!" I beamed. "I am a little nervous about being around so many new people, but I"ll have a lot of friends there with me."

"That"s right," Ash chimed in. "And Peri"s going to introduce you to her friends who can tutor you before and after school or whatever. Yolanda Ramirez, Abraham Merriweather, and Sophie Bishop. I think you"ll like them. Yola is super smart, especially in math, and she speaks fluent Spanish. Abraham, who everyone calls Bram, is best at English and history, and Sophie, or Fifi, is good at science."

"They sound nice, and having smart friends will definitely help me." I was grateful to Peri for thinking of that; I was going to need it if I wanted to feel successful with school.

"They won't overwhelm you, at least," Mason chuckled. "They're all very quiet and shy."

"In fact, Bram's an omega," Cole pointed out. "He lives with his mom, who is not an omega, and their relationship isn"t the best. That doesn"t help his shyness."

"And Sophie is Gamma Adam's younger sister," Jayden told me. "They're a lot of like, but I don't think she's quite as shy as he is. Very sheltered, though. Her parents hardly let her go anywhere other than school."

"That's probably why she's shy," I said with a nod. "And Yo— Yo-what?"

"Yolanda, but we all call her Yola. She tutored me in math last year, and she was a grade below me!" Wyatt grinned. "Anyway, she lives with her dad, who loves her more than anything in this world."

"Aww!" I cooed. "He sounds like a good man!"

"He"s a great guy," all my mates agreed, and Jayden added, "Friendly, hard-working, and dependable. He was my dad"s delta before he retired when Mase became first alpha."

This was the second time today Jayden had freely mentioned one of his family members in casual conversation, and I squealed inside, recognizing it as progress. It was a small step - okay, more like teeny tiny one - but I"d take it.

We chatted about school and other pack members as Ash drove, and we crossed into Crystal Caverns territory before I knew it. Mason told us we were going right to my grandfather"s house, where the reunion would be held, and Alpha Liam and his family would meet us there.

I jogged my legs up and down, a mix of excitement and anxiety building in my stomach with each passing mile.

"We"re with you," Jayden said as he leaned up from the back seat and kissed the side of my neck. "Even when we"re not standing next to you, we"re always with you."

"I know, my dragon," I whispered as I looked at his dear face over my shoulder. "And it"s the same for me. I will forever support each and every one of you."

"Thank you, Posy. You don"t know how much it means to hear you say that and know we"ll always have you in our corner."

"You two are such lovey-dovey gushy mushies!" Ash giggled.

"What are you talking about?" Jayden draped his arms across my collarbones and cupped my shoulders in his hands. "What the heck"s a lovey-dovey gushy muppy?"

"Not gushy muppy! Gushy mushy! Get it right, dude!"

"Don"t be acting like it"s a real term. You just made it up."

"Did not!"

"Did too."

"Did not!"

"Did too." Jayden pressed his cheek against mine with a smug smile. "You"re just upset that you"re driving and can"t be a gushy muppy with us."

"He can"t, but I can!" Wyatt crowed, then smooshed his cheek against the other side of my face and hugged me around the waist. "See? I"m a gushy muppy, too!"

"Gushy mushy!" Ash groaned and dragged one hand down his face.

Cole snorted, Mason shook his head, and I giggled as Ash and Jayden continued to banter back and forth. Wyatt, on the other hand, happily smashed his face between my boobs for the tenth time today.

With a smile, I pressed my lips to his forehead, then turned to drop a kiss on Jayden"s cheek and realized something important.

In the end, it didn"t matter if my mom"s family liked and approved of me or not. I had everything I needed right here.