Cougar

by Cougar (lit)

  Jackal's brow arched. "Do you know anything about Akita and Demon?"

  "No. Why?"

  Jackal ran a palm over his shaved head like he wanted to rake his fingers through his hair. "Kitten, I found them fucking the other day."

  What? I opened my mouth. But nothing came out.

  "Kitten?"

  "No. Akita gave no indication she was after Demon." I could feel my brow wrinkle with a furrow. "You have to understand. The sisterhood makes rebellious sisters enforcers. Akita has a mind of her own. But she's powerful. And when she wants something, she just takes it. But I had no idea that her interests had turned to Demon."

  He just stared at me in disbelief.

  "I swear, Jackal. Enforcers can have sex whenever they want with whomever they chose. I was but a year from being given the designation. I know what she can and can't do. But I don't understand why she'd want Demon. He lives in The Wild. He's destined to take over the clan for his sire." I couldn't even begin to grasp the breadth of Akita and Demon. "Are you certain Akita told Demon she was his? Did he mark her?"

  "I don't know."

  "Listen, we can't control what they do. We have to live for ourselves. You have to stop worrying about Demon."

  He snorted. And scrubbed a hand down his face. "I know, Kitten. Whatever he does is his problem. I swear he's fucking up on purpose because he doesn't want to lead the clan."

  There could be other reasons. "Have you ever thought he just isn't interested in mating any of the local females? And maybe your finding me has given him reason to seek a mate elsewhere. Just think about it. Akita has always tempted men."

  He descended onto the squeaking bed and patted my shoulder. "You're right. Tornado can worry about Demon."

  * * * *

  My mate is nesting. Sierra smiled internally. Or Jackal was failing at hiding his fears of my impending rendezvous with childbirth. But I couldn't scold him for wasting bucks on gathering baby items. I fingered the soft red crocheted shoes he had sat on the table. "These are the cutest pair of booties I think I've ever seen."

  At least my chair didn't squawk at me for encouraging Jackal's attempt to provide, whether the purchases were warranted or not. Albeit, the chair squawked often these past months as my belly expanded with the child's final weeks of growth. Not as much as Tornado groaned and growled. But the clan leader had grown to accept Demon's departure over with the arrival of spring's warmer weather, still ruthlessly cold in Oregon, and sunshine.

  Warm wetness gushed into the seat of my chair.

  What was that? Oh crap. My water broke. I waited for Jackal to slide his gaze from my fingers pinching the booties to my gaze.

  "What's wrong, Kitten?"

  "Get Sue. My water broke." The Gods know I can't panic. Jackal is a total mess. Yet, I've never done this before.

  The door banged a few times before stilling in an open position.

  Cold winter air whistled into the room, freezing my crotch and ass where I sat in the puddle, forcing me to rise, secure the door, and pull on a dry buckskin tent dress. By the time I'd settled down with my back to the lodge's wall on the mattress, Jackal burst back through the door.

  "She's coming," he said and dropped onto his knees at my side.

  His worried expression would be the death of me. "Don't be such a pessimist, Jackal. I'll certainly get through this. If only to chew you out for spending all that money on frivolous baby toys, clothes, and pink things for me."

  His mouth stretched into a wide smile. "I love you, Kitten."

  "You won't be saying that when you're changing diapers and I go back to work teaching at the school." Although I'd had to put my teacher duties on hold a month ago, just in case I was pregnant before I met Jackal and his brother's child was coming a month sooner than when Jackal's would have arrived. The month without something to engage my mind almost killed me. Or the problem lay in Jackal's doting. I don't know. But I would be returning to the school to help teach the children a few hours each day while the baby nursed.

  Of course, Sue announced she'd be around to help Jackal. She loved babies. And Jackal was like one of her sons. So, Jackal didn't wince when I warned him about diaper duty. He had been so thrilled when Ann approached me with the villagers' change of heart. Apparently, they'd taken my choice to stay and my Cougar's presence as a sign my heart belonged to Jackal. So, I returned to the enthusiastic children and proceeded to teach them all the science I could manage to cram into their days. "And don't worry. This childbirth is going to break you of your fear of my dying. Because we need to have as many Shifter babies as possible to drive the aliens off the planet."

  His mask transformed from fear to petulance.

  "Go ahead and sulk. You can't argue your way out of your duty to humanity today. Of all days!" I threw my head back and laughed.

  The door creaked. A bitter gust of wind produced Sue.

  "How are you feeling, Sierra?" she asked.

  "Wet. Icky. Not so thrilled to gaze upon my sulking mate."

  Jackal smacked his lips.

  Speechless. He couldn't complain today!

  "Any pain?" Sue crossed the room to stand before me.

  "Not at all."

  "Well, no telling how long this could take. You're not even in labor yet." Sue patted Jackal's shoulder. "I'll stay though. Just to keep you from losing your last wit."

  * * * *

  Two days later, little Celia popped into the world. I'd never wanted to cry more in my life about the joy my love for Jackal had brought to me. I looked at my mate holding the tiny bundle of his Cougar baby and couldn't fight back the stinging tears. I finally had a family.

  "I've never seen a woman's first child be born so easily," Sue crowed and smiled at Jackal. "Sierra's labor came upon her so fast and ended so abruptly that I swear she's made for having babies." She patted his shoulder for the thousandth time over the past two days. "I see lots of babies in your future."

  He grinned at Sue and me, only to focus on the tiny blue eyes of his daughter. "Yes. Celia needs a few brothers to teach her how to fight."

  Well he buckled easily to my decision to have more children. "Don't go shrugging off your fatherly duties, sire. You won't be turning her into a Daddy's girl." But it just dawned on me how his little habit of buying gifts would turn our children into a pack of Sessilys.

  He shot me an evil smirk.

  "Need I utter the name Sessily?"

  He winced. "No." He rose to claim a seat on the bed's edge and brushed the knuckles of a finger across my cheek. "I'm going to buy her a horse though."

  Who can afford to keep a pet? "This is The Wild, Jackal. You and I are servants to wealthy families. Horses eat more than big brawly Shifters like you. So, forget it. But I love you just the same and won't hold your weakness against you. Now, I need you to go see Toby about getting me a few more pairs of wool socks."

  A wicked smile split his face.

  Something told me he would return with pink lingerie, fragrance oils, milled soaps, and chocolate. And throw in some hair ribbons now that he knew the baby was a girl. I guess things could be far worse in The Wild. I had a loving adoring mate. A baby. And a family. The sisterhood could try to recruit me for some alleged power I harbored or some melding of female minds they had planned. But I was staying with Jackal to build my own little army. And I'd bet everything we had that all my children were going to be spoiled little Cougars.

  The End