Chapter Thirteen

Once Thia was tucked in bed in the room that would be hers—well it was hers, but it had a long way to go before it was princess-suitable—we settled on the sofa in the living room of the owner's unit and let out a collective sigh.

"This is going to be a major endeavor," I said, looking around at outdated wallpaper and vertical blinds from probably the 1980s. "And I mean just this room. But I can see the potential in it all."

"I can't always." Fyn screwed his face up. "But with three of us to divide and conquer, I really believe we can do it. So, any of you ever taken off wallpaper?"

"I did once when we…when I moved into my house back in the fluffle." We. They didn't want to hear about my mate, about the past. Not when we were just discovering one another.

"Don't do that to yourself." Ripley, who sat in the middle, took my hand and laced our fingers together. "You had a mate who died. He was half responsible for Thia and, if I'm not mistaken, someone you loved very much."

"Yes, I did." My voice sounded very small to me.

"I don't think it's a bad thing to have loved greatly." Fyn reached for my other hand. "I read somewhere that those who had successful matings in the past are most likely to do so in the future. And anyone who loved you, who loved the princess, is very high on my list."

My eyes blurred with tears at the kindness of these two. Many would be jealous that someone from the past still had a place in my heart. "I will always love him. But I already feel a bond with the two of you."

"Of course." Ripley snuggled against my shoulder and rubbed his cheek on my shirt. "I can see that it would be hard to move forward when you have really loved someone. The fact that you are open to us is amazing."

"I never would have been if I hadn't been pressured by our fluffle alpha to mate with someone I disliked."

"That's horrible. I'm so glad you didn't stay there for that." Fyn squeezed my fingers tight with his words. "But you're here now. And while my animal is very secure in the fact that you belong with us, you are not here of anything but your own free will. If you wake up tomorrow and decide you want to move on, nobody will try to stop you."

"Freedom?" I chuckled. "That's refreshing. Our fluffle was a lot better before the current alpha stepped in. He is far more controlling than any previous, at least in my memory." I turned toward Ripley to say something but before I could, he cupped my cheek and leaned in. My breath caught when his lips brushed mine and my eyelids fluttered closed. We kissed for a long time, and I floated in the moment, aware of Fyn at my back, his warmth adding to the feeling of safety and pleasure from Ripley's firm, searching kisses. I hadn't kissed anyone except my daughter on the forehead or cheek since my mate died, and I'd never even wanted to. Not that my libido had died, but I'd had all my yearnings of all kinds tied up in someone who no longer could have anything to do with them.

Finally, Ripley leaned back and turned me toward Fyn, whose lips were on mine before I really even got a full breath. But breathing was highly overrated. Especially when there was an option to have a kiss from the omega who had captured my attention the moment I set eyes on him. My bunny was purring. It wasn't something that had happened often and only when he was at his very most content. Like when Thia was born.

We went back and forth, kissing like teenagers, but our desires were those of full-grown shifter males, and at the rate we were going, things would be getting out of hand and soon. My daughter was sleeping only a dozen yards or so away, and did I want her to walk out here and find her daddy involved in what was sure to be a steamy encounter?

That image was enough for me to untangle myself from the others and push to my feet. "We can't."

They looked up at me, eyes glazed, lips swollen, and so were the front of their pants. Yep, cut that off just in time. "What's wrong?" Ripley asked. His hair was so delectably mussed. "Don't you want to…"

"Oh, I want to." I braced myself not to tumble back down among them and let Fate take its course. "But"—I pointed down the hallway—"we need to have discretion in the living room at all times, and before we take this to where we all want it to go, we need to be sure Thia understands and is good with our choice."

They both looked stricken and sat up, adjusting their clothes and running fingers through their hair. Completely adorable, both of them. "I'm so sorry." Fyn was on his feet, out of breath, but no longer looking so lost. Was it awful that I loved him looking a little lost about our make-out session. "I'm not used to having a child in the house, but there's no excuse."

"I'm sorry, too." Ripley still sat on the couch, a soft smile on his lips. "But I can't help but think it's a good thing that we were driven past using logic. Well, good and bad. Fair rules though. How about nothing but casual kisses anywhere but our bedroom? And nothing at all until Thia knows what is between us and seems okay with it."

"Agreed." Fyn gave a firm nod. "We need to start out on the right foot if we're going to be a happy family."

Wow. Family. Amazing how Fate worked. Humans dated for months and years before committing or deciding another person was their person…or so I'd heard. But shifters? When we met, we knew. In most cases. That explained the attraction I'd felt on the train. I did believe I'd had one fated already, but the kindness of giving me not one but two more? Gratitude suffused my every cell.