Chapter Eleven

James

Entering the home Peyton shares with her mate, Caine, I smell freshly brewed coffee, pancakes, and fruit. My stomach grumbles and my little mate blushes.

"Shit, I didn't even feed you."

"That happens when you find your mate. Food, work, sport, everything else falls away for a while," he says. "All you can think about is fucking like animals until your bond is set."

I smack his chest. "No sex talk!" I hiss. "You know it'll get me all worked up."

"I do."

"Well, unless you want everyone smelling my wet pussy, you better stop."

Grabbing her shoulders, I turn her to face me. "Don't say shit like that to me. You'll end up living in a cabin on a cliff where no human or shifter will ever see you."

"Are you jealous?"

"Very fucking much."

"So am I," she whispers.

"Let's hear what they want, eat their food, and go home," I suggest, making her laugh.

"Sounds like a good idea."

We walk into the kitchen, hand in hand, to find Peyton and Caine already seated at the table.

"Grab some food," Peyton says with a smile. "We can talk and eat at the same time."

I get to work on making coffee while my mate stacks two plates of food. We move around each other in a fluid dance you would think we have been doing for years. Soon enough we are seated and eating.

"I assume your mating bond has been set?" Caine asks, to which we both nod. "I'm happy for both of you. Truly. Finding your fated mate is always a reason to celebrate."

"Thank you," I reply before kissing the side of April's head.

"We do have some things to discuss," Peyton says, not making eye contact but staring over my shoulder.

"Do you want us to leave?" April blurts out. "I know it's not normal for a panther and a wolf to be mates and he's your father and all, but you said…"

Peyton is out of her seat and hugging my mate before I can say a single thing.

"You are not going anywhere!" my daughter says vehemently. "You're part of our pack and now you're basically my stepmom."

"Ew," April grumbles, slipping out of Peyton's chokehold. "I'll settle for just being pack and friend, maybe family. But don't say stepmom ever again."

"Agreed," Peyton says with a smile. "It felt unnatural."

Peyton returns to her seat, but I don't miss the look she shares with her mate.

"If you don't want us to leave, what is this about?" I ask, getting straight to the point.

"We know you're a newly mated couple and need time to yourselves, but we have a problem," Caine says, his arms crossed on his chest. "Talon, Max, and the twins went on a raid last night…"

****

April

"Are they okay?" I ask not letting him finish.

"They're fine," Caine says with a smile. "But they found something and none of us are really equipped to deal with it."

"Just spit it out, Caine," James says, grabbing my hand. "What is going on?"

"There is a litter of panthers at Sapphire's house," Peyton cuts in. "We know they're shifters because everyone can scent it, but we think they're still young and none of them have shifted back into human form yet."

"A litter," I stammer out.

"Yes," she nods quickly. "Five."

"Fuck me," James curses lowly.

"We think they were bred in the hunter compound but there was no sign of their mother," Caine says. "You're the only panther we know. There is the Zwartberg pack, but they have enough of their own problems."

"What exactly are you asking here?" I say even though I already know the answer.

"Do you want to raise them?" Peyton asks. "The chance of the two of you conceiving on your own is almost nonexistent because of your different breeds. So, this may be your chance."

"What happens to them if we say no?" James asks.

"We will figure it out," Caine replies.

James turns to me. His gaze traces my features before he smiles and turns back to his daughter. "We'll take them. But we're going to need a bigger house."

"Calum already has a team on it," Caine says with a grin. "They are also going to build a school. This pack is growing at the speed of light and we're going to need a lot of things we didn't need before."

Ten minutes later, we walk out of Peyton and Caine's home the same way we entered—hand in hand.

"Are you sure about this, James?" I ask as we walk to Sapphire's house.

"I'm sure this is what you want. And making you happy makes me happy."

"Do you think we can do this?" I ask. "I don't know the first thing about being a mother. I didn't even have one of my own."

He hugs me tightly, swaying me from side to side. "You'll be perfect. And when you don't know what you are doing, the rest of your friends—your pack—will be there to help and support you."

"I don't know if I've said this yet, but I love you."

"Daddy loves you too, little girl," he replies before kissing me until my toes curl in my shoes. "Now, let's go get our kids and start figuring out how we are going to do this."

The End