10. Chapter 10

I loved being with my mate. I didn't think there would ever come a time where I was bored of his company. We didn't even need to speak, although I was usually chattering away. Just being close by each other was enough. Mating was nothing like I expected it to be—it was a bazillion times better.

And to have our family coming for a visit made me love my life here even more. I couldn't wait to show off all of Apollo's hard work that he'd put into our home. Nothing was done without thought. He was so careful with every little detail. It was a masterpiece that rivaled my best work. He didn't see it as I did. He had brushed off my praise.

To think that his family had never seen this amazing paradise he had put together, that he saved it for me. That was something I would always treasure.

They arrived as a group, since Apollo had only given directions to Terran, and I was pretty sure that the directions were a bit convoluted and may have taken them on a less-than-direct route based on how long it took them to arrive. My mate was Apollo, after all, and he enjoyed his seclusion, so it made sense.

Of course, once his brothers learned of his location, they would be able to map out paths for themselves and make their way back here anytime. But first, Apollo was going to make them work for it. And really, with all the secrecy, they probably wanted it to be a bit out of the way.

I stood at the gate, Apollo with me in his centaur form. His long black hair whipped in the wind. I'd never been a long hair kind of person, but with Apollo, I couldn't imagine him in anything else. And there was no denying that he was sexy as heck. I leaned up and kissed him on the cheek and stroked a hand over one of his horns. He shivered.

"You know what that does to me, mate?"

"Oh, I know," I said and gave him a wink. I couldn't resist the temptation.

Ever since I had learned what a sensitive spot his horns were, I had a hard time keeping my hands off them. I loved the way he responded to my touch. The only reason I didn't do it once more was the rustling of leaves in the distance. They were almost here, and if I kept giving my mate the attention we both adored, we were going to be too busy to entertain our first guests.

"Welcome, everyone," I said when the group stepped into view. The whole family was there, and Tomas, of course. He was quickly becoming family to us all. It was going to be difficult when he had to leave.

They looked at my home, eyes wide. Yeah, even with me telling them about the place, they were in shock. They truly believed he was living in a hovel. Silly family.

"Come on inside." I indicated the gate they could walk through.

None of them moved, all of them looking around in wonder at our home. They were still taking it all in, and I found myself puffing out in pride. I wasn't someone who wanted fancy and expensive things. Money didn't impress me. This wasn't about that. It was about the thought and care my mate put into preparing my home. That was priceless.

"Your house is massive, Brother. How did you manage a second story all on your own?" Terran asked. He held his child in his arms. The boy was more interested in reaching for his father's hair than looking at his uncle's impressive home.

"It took many years," Apollo said as if it were the complete answer.

"We could have helped." Luan's jaw tensed and there was hurt in his eyes.

"Of course," Apollo said, looking at his brother. "Not wanting to ask for help was never the concern. You know that, right?"

The brothers nodded in understanding. I loved how close he was to his family.

I looked at my two brothers-in-law and their children. Whatever child I had would also grow up close to their family like this in our forest. The children would romp and play in whatever form they could take. If I understood correctly, the children shifted to their centaur form quite quickly after being born. It was hard to imagine such a thing, though I supposed it wouldn't be imagination much longer. Soon enough I would witness it.

"Tell us everything," Marcus said, looping his arm through mine. His baby was strapped on his back with some sort of contraption. I would have to get me one of those handy things when the time came.

"Well, this is the house," I said, and I took them up to the porch. "It took Apollo almost a decade to carve all of those spindles. He would work on them in his free time. There are over three hundred of them throughout the whole house." I pointed to the spindles that were on the railing that wrapped around the porch. That was just one of the many impressive, intricate designs my mate had created.

"Holy shit. That's dedication. I can't even stick to doing the daily crossword," Marcus exclaimed, and I was pretty sure he wasn't kidding. The man was always busy, hopping from one thing to the next.

"He has a huge basin upstairs for a bath, and he can heat the water with his hand," I said.

"Wait. He can heat things with his own body? He should teach that trick to Terran. My back got so sore while I was pregnant. I just wanted a heating pad for my lower back."

"Can the brothers share their powers between them?" I still didn't understand how their magic worked. Perhaps I never would. It was old magic, designed by a corrupt witch. Their "mother's" plan backfired when her creation—the three centaurs—turned out to be good men with high morals. They refused to do her evil work.

They were better than her. Full stop.

The two nodded, sort of taken aback. "Apollo's power to move the earth will never be as strong as Terran's, though. In turn, Terran's power to heat things would never be as strong as Apollo's, but they can share," Marcus said.

"Wow." That wasn't something I had considered.

"Right? There's so much to learn about them," Maddox said.

Everybody came inside. We all stood in the foyer area. The layout of the ground floor was quite open, the ceiling high.

I laced my fingers into Apollo's. "You're quite amazing, mate."

"The house is something I am proud of. There is no doubt about that. But I did spend over a hundred years building it, and perhaps closer to three hundred planning it. When you put it in that scope of time, I don't think it's overly impressive." Just the fact that he was so intentional about every tiny detail was impressive, and here he was being Mr. Humble.

I smacked his chest playfully. "Please, you are one man. One centaur. I think it's amazing. And really, the only opinion that matters is mine, right?"

He grinned at me. "That is true."

My brothers-in-law shifted to their human form and grabbed some sweats we had left out for them, and we all sat down at the table. Yesterday, Apollo had gone out and hunted a wild boar, and that was what we were having for our feast. My beast had never been able to down a boar, and I was excited to try out a new recipe with the meat it provided us.

Terran and Maddox had brought fresh greens from their garden for the salad. I had whipped up a vinegar dressing, and since I knew the three of us non-forest dwellers were missing a bit of the "real" world, I'd made cream cookies with pudding for dessert. Simple, delicious, and the kids would love it.

Before we dug into the food, Apollo stood up. "Thank you all for coming. Welcome to my home. Now that you have all been here—"

"You're going to abandon the house and move to another location," Luan joked.

We all laughed.

"No, in fact, you all have a standing invitation to return. After a thousand years, I suppose it's time that my family be allowed to visit. However, this does not change who I am. Please call first. Don't visit more than two days in a row. Unless there's a dire emergency."

I was sure there were a lot more rules he had in mind, but we cut him off with a toast, raising our glasses.

"To Apollo and Walker!" Maddox, said and the others joined in.

Lunch was delicious, everyone eating their fill. But the meal wasn't what made today special. Having my family here in my home, laughing, eating, sharing our lives together—this was better than anything.

I'd thought leaving my pack was going to be harshest on my beast. Human me understood we were in danger and it was our only choice. But my animal, he missed being part of a pack. Little did I realize that my pack had never been one. Not in the way I needed them to be. But here in this forest, with these people? This was what pack life was meant to be, and somehow it was mine now.