by R. E. Butler
“No clue, though if she’s like other shifters, probably a few hours.”
Zelda turned to Ehrin. “Do you want to go home with Henry?”
She nodded.
“Okay.” Zelda handed Ehrin’s phone to Henry. “Julie used this to call me.”
“Thanks.”
To Ehrin she said, “Call me tomorrow.” Then she turned her attention to Henry. “Her car keys are in her purse. It’s a white two-door parked on the far side of the parking lot. You can use the remote to find it. Take good care of my friend.”
“On my life.”
Julie and Zelda said goodbye, and Henry stared at the closed door for a long moment then said, “You’ve got some great friends there. I’m sorry you had problems with your people before, but I’m not sorry that you’re here. Whatever road brought you to Ashland is a very good thing.”
She wholeheartedly agreed.
* * *
Ninety minutes later, Dom opened the door to the nurse’s office and said, “No lady yet?”
Henry laughed. “Still me and our pretty bird.”
“Well, let’s get home.”
“Dad stopped by with James and picked up the patrol car. Ehrin’s car is in the parking lot, so I’ll drive that.”
“Okay,” Dom said.
Henry opened her purse and poked around until he found her keys. Then he gathered her clothes and patted his shoulder. “I feel really strange asking you to ride my shoulder, but I don’t think you should fly through the school.”
She turned to face him and eyed his shoulder, then flapped her wings and rose slowly into the air. She hadn’t tried flying at all because the room was so small, and the temptation to zoom around a few times was hard to ignore. She landed on his shoulder and promptly slid right off, landing on the cot with a squawk.
“Shit, sorry,” Henry said, offering her his arm. She climbed onto it, and then he tucked his arm against his chest so she could lean on him and still see where they were going as they left the school.
“I promise not to make any pirate jokes,” Domino told them.
“Arr,” Henry said.
The crisp evening breeze rustled her feathers, and she tilted her head to look at the sky. It was a clear night and the stars were bright.
“You can go for a fly when we get home if you want,” Dom said. “There are plenty of trees and lots of land in our territory. I don’t know what it’s like to be a bird, but I suspect you like trees, too.”
Henry pressed the Unlock button on her car remote several times until he saw the car with flashing lights. He opened the door and she hopped down onto the seat. Shutting the door, he waved at Dom, then got in behind the wheel.
A few minutes later, Henry parked next to Dom’s truck in front of a large house.
“We call this the boarding house,” Henry said. “When the pride decided to move here, they rented the house. The home was built in the early 1900s by a wealthy family who settled in the area. When the depression hit, the husband left for a job several states away, and his wife opened the home to boarders to make ends meet. There are two floors of rooms, and Dom and I are on the third floor. Our dads and mom are on the second floor. Most of the pride lives here, from our cousins to a few members who came from where we used to live in Pennsylvania.”
Dom opened her door and placed his hand on the seat, and she walked carefully up his arm and out of the car. He shut the door and headed toward the trees that surrounded the large house.
Henry joined them and ran his hand lightly over her head with a smile. “I can’t wait to talk to you for real.”
Dom nodded. “We’ve got a lot to talk about.”
She didn’t miss the heat in both of their gazes, and wished she could tell them that she felt the same way. She wanted to get to know them in every way possible. It was crazy to think that she’d left her nest only a day earlier, and now she had what she’d hoped she might someday find – her mate. And not just one, but two very different and totally sexy males.
Cat shifters with a bird for a mate.
The universe sure had an interesting sense of humor.
Stretching out her wings, she lifted into the air, circling over their heads several times before moving higher to take in her surroundings. She flew above the house and investigated the backyard, noting several picnic tables to one side, and a stone path that led from the house to a fire pit surrounded by chairs. Lights were on in the house, and she could faintly hear the murmur of voices from inside. Below, watching with bemused smiles, her mates leaned against the truck, their gazes riveted on her as she experimented with using her wings. Fortunately she’d instinctively known how to fly, but she realized she didn’t know how to shift back into her human form.
As if just the thought of changing into a human was enough to change her back, her body began to shift, and she squawked in surprise as she floundered in the air. She changed completely back to a human midair, her body carrying her none too gracefully toward the ground at an alarming rate. She flung her hands out and managed to grab a tree branch, but her grip gave out and she fell once more.
“Shit!” she screamed as her body shook when she grasped another branch and jolted to a stop. She clutched the branch tightly and inhaled a deep, gasping breath.
“Are you okay?” Dom asked.
“What happened?” Henry demanded.
“I don’t know! I…damn it, I’m naked!” She looked down, mortified, as her mates stared up at her. They seemed worried at first, and then they smiled tightly as if they were afraid to laugh at her situation. “It’s not funny.”
“Sorry, sweetheart,” Dom said. “We’re just glad you grabbed that branch.”
“If you let go, we’ll catch you.”
“I’m naked!” she reminded them.
“I can’t throw your clothes up there,” Henry said, “so you have to come down and get them.”
Rolling her eyes skyward, she inwardly cursed the bird who’d shown up so strangely and then disappeared the same way. “Is this going to happen a lot?”
“You being naked in a tree?” Dom asked.
“You’re lucky you’re down there or I’d give you such a kick in the knee!”
He laughed. “Feisty.”
“I mean my bird disappearing.”
“You just need to learn to control her,” Henry said. “We’ll help.”
She turned her head to the side, walking her hands across the branch to where it met the trunk and gradually taking herself down the tree, branch by branch, until she was as close to the ground as she was going to get. She was still a good eight feet in the air, but it was a better fall than where she’d originally been.
“Promise to catch me?”
“As if we’d let you get hurt,” Henry said.
Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and let go, barely holding in the squeal of fear that caught in her throat.
She landed in Henry’s arms, grateful to be out of the tree. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she smiled. “Thanks.”
“It’s my first tree-based rescue. How’d I do?”
“Really great.”
“Not to ruin this idyllic moment,” Dom said, “but you’re naked, and there’s an audience.”
Henry turned so he was facing away from the house and her body was covered, but it allowed her to see that several people were watching from one of the front windows. “Oh gosh,” she said.
“It’s okay. Nudity isn’t too big a deal with shifters, but you were upset that you were naked in the tree, so I figured you didn’t want to be naked on the ground either,” Dom said, giving her a wink.
Henry put her on the ground and Dom handed over her clothes. She dressed swiftly, her cheeks flushed.
“Why are you blushing?” Henry asked.
“You’re seeing me naked and we didn’t really even meet each other. Nakedness should come after we introduce ourselves, not before.”
She put on her boots and looked at her mates. They’d un
abashedly watched her get dressed, and part of her was pleased because they looked happy. If they’d been scowling or staring at her in horror while she changed, then she’d be a little miffed.
Domino and Henry reached for her at the same time, linking both their hands with hers. “I’m Domino.”
“I’m Henry.”
“I’m Ehrin.”
“Why did you say you weren’t able to shift?” Dom asked.
“Because I wasn’t until I met you. I felt kind of strange when we got to the school, and it got worse when I walked into the cafeteria.”
“How do you feel now?” Henry asked.
“Good. Better than good, because I met you both.”
“We’ve got a lot to talk about,” Henry said, then glanced at Dom before looking back at her. “Would you like us to take you to your friend’s house?”
“Why?” she asked.
“Because we don’t want to assume that you want to spend the night with us,” Dom explained. “We just met, and by met, I mean we just spent time with your shift and not actually talking to you.”
She chewed on her bottom lip, enjoying the feel of their hands in hers. She felt connected to them on a cellular level, as if she’d been created for them alone and her life up to that point was just a journey to her heart’s destiny.
“I’d like to stay, if you think it would be okay with your pride.”
“Of course,” Henry said.
“But I’d like to just maybe sleep, not…other stuff.”
Her cheeks heated, and Dom smiled sweetly. “That would be perfect.”
“We need to ask you properly to be our mate anyway,” Henry said. “We kind of skipped a step when you suddenly shifted.”
“First, let’s get the meet-and-greet with the pride done, and then we can get something to eat if you’re hungry.”
Henry touched her scarred cheek. “What happened?”
“The alpha did it before I was exiled.” She kissed his palm. “I’ll tell you about it later.”
He nodded, and the three of them headed into the boarding house. The pride was big, and the need for a large home was evident in the bustle in the kitchen.
She was introduced to Dom’s mom, plus Henry’s dad and uncle. It was hard not to miss that Rue had the same white hair as Dom.
“It’s so nice to meet you,” Ehrin said.
“You, too.” Rue smiled. “I’m sure you’re overwhelmed. Henry said it was the first time you shifted.”
She squeezed Henry’s and Dom’s hands reflexively. “It was.”
“Are you hungry?” John asked.
“Not right now. I’m more tired than anything.”
There was a rush of footsteps and a young female raced through the kitchen with a happy squeal. She wore a tank top, and wings the brightest shades of blue and pink that Ehrin had ever seen flapped rapidly.
“Treasure, you better give me back my phone!” a young male shouted with a laugh as he followed her.
“No!” she said, laughing. “I’m changing your background photo to not be me. That’s weird!”
He caught her around the waist with a hearty laugh and kissed her cheek, extracting the phone from her grip. “You’re wrong. It has to be you.”
John cleared his throat and the two looked at them in surprise, as if they hadn’t even realized there were people in the kitchen. “Having fun, guys?”
“Sorry, Uncle John.”
“Sorry,” the female said.
“This is my nephew, Kevin, and his mate, Treasure,” John said.
Ehrin’s brows rose. “Mates? You’re so young.”
Kevin narrowed his eyes. “We are mates.”
Henry gave a short growl, which sounded like a reprimand. “She wasn’t suggesting that you aren’t.”
Treasure put her hand on Kevin’s shoulder. “We hear a lot of cowshit about how young we are.”
“Cowshit?” Ehrin asked.
“She means bullshit,” Kevin said.
“Isn’t that the same thing? Bulls are cows, right?” Treasure asked.
“Yes, they are, but the curse is ‘bull,’ not ‘cow,’” Kevin explained.
“I heard growling,” another young male said as he came rushing into the kitchen. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Really.” Treasure rolled her eyes. “You guys are so protective.”
“Damn straight,” the male said. “You’re ours.”
James sighed. “Brian, say hello to Ehrin. She’s your cousins’ mate.”
He glanced at Ehrin for the briefest of moments. “Hey.”
Treasure looked at Brian, planted her hands on her hips, and said, “Tell Kevin I can change his background photo.”
“Heck no,” Brian said. “You already hacked my phone two times today.”
“It’s not my fault you keep using the same series of numbers for your passcode.”
“Kids,” John interrupted. “Go be obnoxious somewhere else.”
“We’re not obnoxious,” Kevin said. “We’re just young. Which you clearly don’t understand since you’re so old.”
“Ooh, snag!” Treasure said with a grin.
“Snap. You mean snap,” Kevin said.
“Right. Snap.” She rolled her eyes, then swiped the phone from Kevin. She raced out of the kitchen, her musical laughter echoing. Kevin and Brian disappeared just as fast, calling her by name and demanding the return of the phone. Ehrin stared at the empty space where they’d been, wondering what it would’ve been like to grow up with her mates.
“They’re lucky,” she said.
Henry nodded. “She had a rough time of things, but once the three of them met, it was like they’d always been together.”
“True,” James said. “I’ve never seen a trio take to each other so fast. They’re everything to each other.”
“That’s sweet,” Ehrin said.
“We’re sweeter,” Henry told her. “Even though it’s not a contest.”
She grinned. “I already know that, and if it was a contest, we’d totally win.”
“You bet,” Domino said, then nodded toward the hall. “Want to go talk?”
“Yeah. I’m ready.”
Ready to get to know her mates, and see what the future held in store for them. A day earlier, she’d thought she’d lost everything. Now she had Dom and Henry, and it felt like she had everything.
Chapter 5
Henry was in the lead as the trio walked up to the third floor. While Ehrin had been flying around, they’d agreed to stay in his bedroom since Dom did a lot of his creative work in his room, which meant there was always a project of one kind or another taking up space. Henry was thankful that he’d recently washed his sheets and had made the bed that morning. He wasn’t a messy person, but sometimes he thought bedmaking was a futile endeavor.
He opened the door and clicked on the overhead light.
The big bed beckoned him immediately, but they weren’t trying to rush things physically. Not only because he and Dom wanted Ehrin to lead the pace of their mating, but also because he was a virgin. When he and Dom had realized they were going to share a mate in the future, they’d both chosen to be abstinent. For Henry, he only ever wanted his mate. Although he and Dom had occasionally dated over the years, neither had ever let anything physical happen. They were for their mate alone, and that’s how he felt it should be.
Henry took off his belt and hung it on a rung in the closet, securing his gun in a lockbox on the shelf as Dom shut and locked the door. Ehrin stopped by the bed and stared at it, as if she were concentrating on a particular spot. Henry took the quiet moment to take his fill of his beautiful mate. She had the prettiest hair, a rich red with little highlights of gold buried in the strands. It reached the middle of her back, looking like a ruby waterfall. Her curves beckoned him, from the dip of her waist to the flare of her hips. She was shorter than him by half a foot, a petite sweetheart who shifted into an amazing hawk.
She turned slowly and inhaled, her e
yes flashing from green to gold. “You guys smell amazing.”
“So do you,” Henry said.
She sat, crossing her ankles and resting her hands on the bed. “I just want you to know that I’m homeless and kind of jobless.”
Henry’s brows rose. “What do you mean?”
He and Dom sat on either side of her, each taking a hand.
She chewed on her bottom lip for a moment, then said, “My people –well, my former people have a law that everyone has to be mated by the time he or she turns twenty-one. If a hawk hasn’t found his or her mate, the alpha will choose one. I’m…flawed, so no one wanted to mate with me, except this awful male who insisted I be sterilized before we mated so I didn’t accidentally pass on my defective shifter genes to future generations.”
Dom and Henry both growled.
“You’re not flawed or defective,” Henry said. “Not being able to shift is genetic. It’s out of your control.”
“There’s no reason to assume any children you would have would automatically be unable to shift,” Dom pointed out.
“Yeah, I know.” She sighed heavily. “My parents pushed me to take the mating. When I said no, they sided with the alpha, and he exiled me. But not before he did this to my face.” She gestured to her left cheek.
Right before she’d shifted, there had been a series of red scars on her cheek, but they were almost gone now. Just the faintest marks remained.
“Go look in the mirror,” Dom said, pointing to the mirror attached to the dresser.
“Why? Does it look really bad?” she asked.
“Just go, sweetheart,” Dom said.
She stood and moved to the mirror, tilting her head and looking at her cheek. “Oh my! It’s nearly gone!”
“Shifting must have accelerated your healing,” Dom said. “I remember what it looked like when you stumbled into the cafeteria, but I can hardly see it now.”
She turned to face them, her eyes brimming with tears. Dom and Henry rushed to her, drawing her between them as she started to cry.
“He clawed me with his talons, hard enough that it would scar. He knew I couldn’t shift, and while my healing is accelerated, it’s not as good as when someone can shift. He planned to maim me to make it known to anyone who saw me that I was exiled.”
