Laurie reached into his head.
“Don’t say anything. Please. Let her keep her privacy. Maybe she has a secret lover she meets on side roads in the night or something. There’s no need to embarrass her. You can’t possibly know she was up to no good out there that night.”
Zach cleared his throat. “Nothing. I think my cousin has the same model.”
“Oh. Well, it’s a good choice. It’s kept me safe for four years now.” She made a half grin, waved, and walked away.
Corbin came up behind them. “What was that all about?”
“Nothing,” they both said at once.
“Right.”
Zach turned around and faced his male mate. “What are you going to do about Pete Sandhouse?”
“Nothing.” Corbin repeated the word his mates had just used on him.
“What? Why not?” Laurie asked.
Corbin grinned. “It will be much more fun to nail his ass to the wall for something another day. I’ll talk to my boss, of course, but I’d rather see him stew over something bigger than a brick to the window. If he’s a big enough asshole to instigate a group of people to harass us, he’s got more stunts up his sleeve than that. Game on.”
Zach grinned at Corbin.
Laurie laughed. “Can we please go home now?”
Zach took her hand and led her toward the car. As soon as the three of them were inside, he turned around to face her in the back seat. “You do realize you saved a lot of lives this morning.”
She shrugged and lowered her gaze, fidgeting her fingers in her lap.
Corbin twisted his neck to stare at her too. “Babe. That was huge. Don’t act like it was nothing. If you hadn’t been there… If you hadn’t come back to town yesterday…”
Zach watched as Corbin shuddered. He knew what his mate said was true. Laurie had not only saved his own hide by hurrying up the mountain as fast as she had after the avalanche, but countless others fifteen minutes earlier by following her gut instinct. “You still think the spirits want you to leave town?”
She lifted her face and rolled her eyes. “No.”
“Good. Let’s not repeat that performance.” He adjusted his cock in his jeans. “My dick wouldn’t survive a rerun.”
She slowly smiled. “I’ll think about it.”
“Sawyer Hamilton. Stop arguing with me and get your ass here.” Laurie paced in the living room of her new home, aggravated with her older brother, but not surprised he still wouldn’t come visit her. “She’s your niece. And she was born almost a week ago. You need to come visit, and drag Cooper with you.”
Neither of her brothers had been to Montana since their visit with her to see Melinda over nine months ago. In fact, they’d moved to Spokane, Washington, to get farther away. Now they were about five hours from her.
“Now isn’t a good time,” Sawyer complained.
“For what? To visit your sister and your niece?”
“You know what I mean.”
“I do. And you need to stop screwing around and face your destiny. If you’re meant to mate with one of the Masters, then you should let it happen.” She lifted her gaze to find Corbin strolling into the room with a wiggly pink bundle in his arms.
Laurie smiled. She leaned over the squirming baby and kissed her sweet head, inhaling her baby scent. “She’s adorable, Sawyer. You can’t keep this up. We’ve always been so close. I need you. I haven’t seen you in over nine months.”
“Is that how long it takes to make a baby these days?” Sawyer teased. “I mean did you not realize what causes those little munchkins?”
Laurie rolled her eyes. “You want to blame someone for my quick pregnancy, you’ll have to take that up with my mates—the ones you haven’t met.” She tossed a glare at Corbin.
“I’ll meet them. Someday.”
“Nope. You’ll meet them
now
. Come. This weekend. What are you even doing in Spokane? Cooper says the fire department hasn’t hired you on yet.” Sawyer had been a firefighter in their hometown, but since he’d moved to Spokane, he’d been unable to secure work. “I need you here,” she repeated.
It wasn’t true of course. She
wanted
him there. And she knew in her soul he was destined to mate with either Logan and another woman or Sharon. Cooper too. She could feel it in her blood. She wouldn’t tell him that outright since it would cause him to leave the country, but there was a stir in the air again. It had been nine months since she came to town, and things had calmed down considerably. Lately, she could feel the unrest coming from Nature again.
It was time for Sawyer to face his destiny.
“You don’t need me, sis. You
want
me. But you don’t
need
me.”
“Fine. I want you. Come visit. If it makes you feel better, I’ll have the Masters stay away while you’re here.” She had no intention of doing that, but if it got her brother to visit, she would say anything.
“I don’t have anything against the Masters, and you know it. Hell, I’ve met Griffen and Trace. They were awesome. I’m sure Zachary is too. I simply don’t want to get tied down right now to one of the others. Who’s left?”
“You know good and well who’s left. Logan and Sharon.”
“Is she hot?”
Laurie chuckled. “If she’s meant to be your mate, you’ll think she hangs the moon.”
“And that would probably be fine, but mating with another man doesn’t make me feel all warm and fuzzy, sis. You know that. I’m not good at sharing.”
She giggled now. “Trust me. It works out splendidly.”
“Ha. For you. Of course you would think so. You have two men doting on you all the time. I feel nauseous thinking about sharing a woman with another man.”
“Well, you can’t help it. So, get your ass here. If you aren’t here by the weekend, I’m going to be pissed.”
“What does Mom say?”
Laurie’s parents had moved to the area in April, five months ago, at the same time Sawyer and Cooper had moved farther away to Spokane.
Laurie loved having her mom and dad nearby, especially with the new baby. Corbin would go back to work at the sheriff’s office next week. Zach had managed to take three weeks off from helping his parents during the off-season, but when he went back to leading hikers through the mountains, she would appreciate her parents even more. “She says it’s time for you to get your ass here,” she lied.
“Laurie, stop harassing your brother,” Zach said as he took the baby from Corbin, lifted his brows, and pointed at her chest. “She’s hungry,” he mouthed.
Laurie followed Zach to the rocking chair in the living room and got situated with the phone tucked under her ear. She squealed when Zach took the phone and traded her for the baby. He spoke to Sawyer. “Don’t listen to your sister. She’s fine. She has plenty of help. If you aren’t ready to mate, don’t come.”
“
Zach
,” she yelled. “I want him to come. Cooper too. Tell them to get their asses here. You aren’t helping.” She unbuttoned her shirt and tucked her sweet daughter into her side, helping her get latched on.
Zach kneeled at her side and kissed her forehead. He kept talking. “Yep… No, she’s fine… Ten fingers. Ten toes… Cutest baby ever…” Zach chuckled. “Yes, I might be biased.” He stood, keeping his hand on Miriam’s tiny leg and stroking her soft skin absentmindedly. There was a long pause, and then Zach spoke again. “Really? You did? Sneaky… I’m sure you’re right.”
Laurie lifted her gaze to find Zach smiling. “Laurie will be so pleased. Yes. I’ll tell Logan and Sharon to keep their distance.” He chuckled. “Great… I’ll let her know… Awesome… Bye.” He ended the call and set the phone on the coffee table.
“He’s coming?”
“Yep. This weekend.”
“How did you convince him?”
“I did nothing. I think he finally caved at the visual of his niece growing every day without him ever holding her.”
“Liar.” She narrowed her gaze at Zach. “You’re keeping something from me.”
He shrugged. “Maybe. Guess you’ll find out for yourself on Friday.”
“Well, whatever works.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him down for a kiss. “I love you. Thank you.”
Corbin stepped back into the room from the kitchen. “I still can’t get used to finding everything in this house.”
Zach laughed. “We used almost the same floor plan as Griffen. You’ve been to their house dozens of times. I don’t know why it’s so much trouble.”
Corbin leaned over and kissed Laurie from the other side of her rocking chair. “It’s not the floor plan I have trouble with, dolt. It’s the dishes. I can’t find a glass or a plate to save my soul.”
“I keep moving them while you sleep,” Laurie teased. They had moved into the house a month ago after building it at a breakneck pace when they found out she was pregnant. It was on the land her grandfather had left his grandchildren. The man had only known about Miles and Melinda, but the two half-siblings had graciously divided it among the other three also. Cooper and Sawyer would eventually come around and claim their sections. They had to. It was Fated. She could feel it in her bones.
Laurie loved the location, halfway between Sojourn and Cambridge with half a mile separating her from the sister and brother she’d met nine months ago.
“Are you shitting me?” Corbin lifted one brow.
“Of course. Do I look like I have the energy to pull a prank like that? I’m dead on my feet as it is.”
Both men plopped down on the couch across from her, equally exhausted.
“Who should we invite for dinner the first night Sawyer’s here?” Zach asked. “Sharon or Logan or both?”
“You wouldn’t.” Laurie gasped, but a grin spread across her face.
Corbin chuckled. “He so totally would.”
It was evil. She knew that. But then again, she also knew her brother needed to face his fate eventually. He might not be pleased with the idea of mating, but once he stepped into the room and found himself tethered to another human being, he would forget all else.
She wanted to see him happy. Settled. He’d always been too serious. It was time for him to settle down and find himself. In her heart, she knew he would find either Sharon or Logan to be his mate. She also knew the idea was unsettling to him, but Fate had a way of making everything right with the world.
Look what She had done for Laurie. It had been rocky at first as Laurie came into her powers and learned to pay attention to the spirits and the weather, but she was more in tune now.
She understood better what had been her destiny. The people of Sojourn and Cambridge weren’t perfect, by any stretch of the imagination, but they had grown accustomed to the three sets of people living together on the edge of the reservation between the two cities.
The Caucasian humans and parishioners of the Church on the Hill weren’t pleased, but no one was breaking any laws, so they settled into a sort of truce.
The Native American humans, on the other hand, seemed to be plotting and grumbling. Mary called every once in a while with some new piece of information she mysteriously managed to acquire.
Laurie didn’t know who Mary had contact with on the rez, but she suspected it had something to do with whoever she met in the middle of the night nine months ago on a dark gravel road. Hidden. Laurie respected Mary’s privacy. They’d become friends over the last months. She never asked about the dark encounter.
Laurie managed the newly established resort daycare that permitted families to leave their small children so they could ski and enjoy their vacations. Zach was almost always close by, so she felt safe.
As hard as the Church on the Hill worked to deter people from skiing at the Masters’s lodge, they had not won over many people. The resort continued without a blip on their radar.
A small contingency of shifters on the reservation were still up in arms, but since Joyce had arrived, things had calmed down. She even led a women’s group that met once a month to discuss current issues. It helped several members of the community see how absurd it was for them to hold on to deep-seated racism.
They weren’t completely out of deep water yet with regard to bigotry in either township, but things were improving. Day by day.
“I’m going to put her down for a nap,” Zach said as he took Miriam from Laurie’s arms. She’d been so deep in thought, she hadn’t noticed the baby had gone to sleep.
“And then we adults should get some sleep too. I’m exhausted,” Corbin said. He tugged Laurie out of her rocker and led her down the hall.
Perfect. That was her life.
Absolutely perfect.
Becca Jameson lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband and two kids. After years of editing, she is now a full-time author. With over 40 best-selling books written, she has dabbled in a variety of genres, ranging from paranormal to contemporary to BDSM. The voices in her head are clamoring to get out faster than she can get them onto “paper”! She loves chatting with fans, so feel free to contact her through email, Facebook, or her website.
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Amanda picked up the phone and rolled her eyes as she answered it—the third call from her sister that day. “Mary. What now?”
“You’ll be here Sunday, right?”
“Yes.” She was exasperated with the entire ordeal.
“And you’re driving, right?”
“How else would I get my stuff there? Of course.”
“Just making sure. You don’t have to get all sassy on me.”
“I’m twenty-five years old, Mary. I know Mom and Dad like to think I’m some sort of recalcitrant child, but I’m a grown woman. I can drive across the country. I have an actual license and everything.”
Mary blew out a breath.
To be honest, Amanda hated the way she was treating her sister. It was uncalled for. They’d been close growing up. They were only three years apart. But Mary had always been the “good” sister. And Amanda had been the “naughty” one. At least that’s how their parents saw it.