by Kallie Frost
“Be careful,” I said.
“I will. Welcome home.”
“Thanks.”
Kessel waved and headed out of the room.
“Rumors of a what?” Louis asked as the warden left.
“Feral bear. Feral is the term we use for a shifter who has started breaking our laws. In this case, it’s a bear.”
“Feral sounds pretty… intense. What laws?” Louis asked.
“Probably turning people. More than one, that is. Obviously without permission from the Alpha Parliament, and most likely without the permission of the humans he’s turning too.” I shook my head sadly. “Unfortunately, there are some shifters out there who are just bad people, no different than humans.”
“Awful. I hope he hasn’t turned or hurt too many people yet.”
“Me too. I’m sure the wardens will take care of it.” I went over to the pantry and was pleased to see my large assortment of ingredients were all right where I left them. I grabbed a couple of flavored syrups and my eyes landed on a little container of chai tea. Inspiration struck and I grabbed it.
I poured a serving of coffee into a mug and stirred in a shot of hazelnut, a shot of vanilla, and then swirled in a bag of chai tea. While it steeped, I went to work mixing up some of my signature summer iced coffees. When they were done, I tossed the tea bag, sprinkled ginger on top, and set the mug down in front of my mate.
“Here you go.”
Louis laughed. “Thank you,” he said, flashing me the same old grin, that said he was pretty sure this was yet another only-okay cup of coffee, but that he did appreciate my efforts. And that little bit of a wince that told me he felt bad every time it wasn't the perfect drink.
He picked up the coffee and took a cautious sniff. “Smells good.” He took a sip. His eyes widened. And he took another sip, a longer one this time. And then another. His eyes widened even further, and he looked up at me. “It's good,” he said, almost as if he didn't believe it. “Cambry, this is…” Louis laughed and drank more. “This is really good!”
I grinned. “Ha. I told you I'd find one.”
“What's in it?”
I shrugged. “A little bit of this, little bit of that.” I arched an eyebrow at him. “Chai, hazelnut, vanilla, and a dash of ginger.”
Louis laughed. “Seriously, what’s in it?”
My grin stayed steady.
“You… is that actually what you mixed in?!”
“I had a feeling you’d like it.”
“I think, I might love it,” Louis said. “I know I love you.”
He drew me close and kissed me. He tasted of his usual salty sea, with a hint of something fruity. I wondered if I could capture that in a drink, not that it could ever compare. This time, it was blended with the various flavors of the coffee.
“Why don't you head out there?” I said. “Unless you’ll feel like I'm throwing you to the wolves.” We both chuckled at the joke. “I'll be out with some coffee in a minute.”
“I can help.”
“No need, I'll put you to work soon enough. For now, why don't you go get to know my family?”
“Will do.” He gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and then headed outside.
Once he was gone, I splayed my hands out on the counter and just stood there. I felt better than I had in a long, long time. Brooks came in from the foyer.
“Making coffee already?” he said in surprise.
I shrugged. “It's what I do.”
Brooks chuckled. “I'm glad you're back. Are you just in for the party or are you going to finish out your year away here?”
“I don't know,” I confessed. “Louis has a coffee shop of his own that hasn't been doing too well. So, we're going to get things together and have a big grand reopening next spring. I’m not sure how long we’ll be here.”
“In Maine?”
I nodded.
He was quiet for a few moments, then said, “It was different without you here.” He leaned against the counter near me. “Carrick was different. He missed you.”
“I know.”
“No,” he said. I looked at him, surprised by the vehemence in his voice. “You don't know. Do you remember what we talked about the night I was changed?”
I did. Brooks came to me with cold feet about being turned. The annoyingly easy to talk to man had drawn out some of my doubts about being a part of this family. In addition to being a good listener, I was willing to open up to him, because he gave me the impression that if I told him life as a shifter was picture perfect, he might not agree to turn. So, I dished out all my lonely orphan alpha baggage, and well… I don't know if it worked or not, seeing as he was shot, but here he was, and here I was.
“I remember,” I said, simply.
Brooks nodded. “Well, now that I've seen everyone in action with and without you, I think everyone feels you're very much a part of this family.” He arched an eyebrow at me. “Except for you.”
I snorted and bowed my head. He wasn't wrong.
“I hope that you're not going to…” He shrugged a shoulder. “Be like Sladin or something and just vanish on everybody. I know you never really felt like you fit in here, but I don't want you to take a true mate, and your beautiful twins, and just… I don't know. I don’t want you to convince yourself they're your only family or something, and go back up to Maine and forget everyone here. They missed you. They need you. I'm not trying to talk you out of going back to Maine, of course. But I hope you'll come back a lot to visit. You know, every morning after a full moon, the first thing anyone said when they got back to the house was to ask if anyone's heard from Cambry.”
I nodded slowly. “Yeah...” I was surprised in a way, and yet also not surprised. “I'll come back, I promise. And I'll call and all that.”
“Good,” Brooks said. “I hope you will. You have a family here who really loves you. It's a nice thing to have.” I nodded in silent agreement. “And I just want you to remember that you're not alone, cousin-in-law, you never have been.”
I narrowed my eyes, something about the words was familiar, and I knew he was right. I grinned at him and grabbed my first finished mug. “Tell me how this is.”
Brooks took it, seemingly satisfied that he had said his piece. He took a sip and his eyebrows lifted in surprise. “This is really good. New recipe?”
“No, old go-to.”
“Hm.” He took a large gulp and smiled. “It’s delicious. Might be your best, if you ask me.” He grabbed one, presumably for Carrick, and left with a wave.
I frowned after him and took a sip of one to see what the fuss was about. To my surprise, it indeed really good. Odd, I hadn’t done anything differently. Puzzled, I grabbed a tray and brought it out onto the porch to pass around.
“How is it?” I asked Carrick, after the tray was quickly emptied.
“Fantastic. Just like you used to make.”
“Used to?” I echoed. “It’s the same recipe.”
I felt my mate’s warm hand on my shoulder and automatically turned partway to put an arm around him.
Carrick shrugged. “Maybe you took more care this time.”
Maybe I had. Maybe because, I realized, I enjoyed making it this time – truly enjoyed it.
“Glad you like it,” I said, grinning.
A soft cry started emanating from the baby monitor in my mate’s pocket.
“Baby is up,” he said.
“Babies,” I corrected as another wail joined the first.
Hand in hand, I jogged through the house with my true mate to get the twins.
~~~***~~~***~~~
The Full Moon Mates Series
His Omega Roommate
Icing the Omega
Espresso for his Omega
The Last Alpha Dragon
An Alpha a Day
Beneath His Alpha’s Wings
If you enjoyed Espresso for His Omega please consider leaving a review or helping to spread the word! Thank you.
The Last Alpha Dragon<
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Book Four
Available to buy or borrow from Amazon
Chandler has long been resigned to the fate of his race.
He’s one of the last two dragons in the world and in spite of being immortal, he knows that someday there may be no dragons left at all. For centuries he’s been dreaming of a tropical island paradise with other dragons on it. After the dream becomes a nightmare of a hurricane ravaged island, he wonders what if the dreams are real? What if there really are more dragons? And if there are… are they in trouble?
Rask wondered if this was the end for him and his friends...
It has been centuries since Rask and his companions were shipwrecked while fleeing the dragon massacre. Life hasn’t been easy, but nothing could have prepared them for the devastation of the worst hurricane to ever strike them. Leaving the island has proved deadly in the past, but now Rask thinks it may be better than slowly dying of starvation. He dreams of returning to civilization, finding his true mate, and having children of his own. That is, if the threat of dragon slayers is truly over…
About the Authors
Harper B. Cole
Harper B. Cole is the pseudonym of three bestselling authors and best friends who lie to their mothers about how they make their money. We love telling stories in the Omegaverse, and absolutely adore reading them. We are all mothers, and we'll probably lie to our kids about the existence of our books as well.
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Kallie Frost
Kallie is the pseudonym of a USA Today Bestselling Author who normally writes young adult fantasy and dabbles in paranormal romance. She’s lucky enough to be friends with the Harper girls, who were thrilled to discover she loves mpreg. While she devoured their books, they busied themselves nagging her to start writing mpreg as well. It worked, and now Kallie is hooked on writing in the Omegaverse and is eagerly outlining tons of books.
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More Books by Kallie Frost
Dreaming of His Omega (non-shifter MPREG)
Dreaming of an Omega Christmas (non-shifter MPREG)
More Books by Harper B. Cole
The Café Om Series – M/M Non-Shifter Alpha/Omega MPREG
Maple Ridge Wolves – M/M Shifter Alpha/Omega MPREG
Wolves of White Falls – M/M Shifter Alpha/Omega MPREG
Written with Crista Crown
The Outcast Chronicles – M/M Shifter Alpha/Omega MPREG
Written with Susi Hawke
The Three Hearts Collection – M/M Non-Shifter Alpha/Omega MPREG
