by Marla Monroe
Or, maybe Gaston was right and her friend had thawed their hearts. It was possible. Love conquered all and made fools out of many. Maybe the vampire was in love with Erin, and because she wouldn’t like all the fighting that was going on, they agreed to step back from it for her. That would be wonderful. It would also mean that she and Erin, at least, would still be able to visit with each other on occasion. They could meet for beignets and coffee or sit at one of the parks and just talk.
She would hold on to that possibility with both hands. As much as she loved her mates, losing her friends would be hard. To be able to keep even one of them gave her hope and a feeling that everything would be perfect if that were true. Now all she had to do was wait until that night to learn what everyone’s future would hold. Inviting them all to the club where the preternatural went to relax meant that all of them would know about their world. Would the others allow humans to leave with that knowledge? Maybe there was some sort of spell that would clear the night from their memories.
While Gaston and Beau cleaned up in the kitchen, Shayla sat on the couch in the living room and thought about it. How would she feel knowing they wouldn’t remember anything and return home to not know where she was or what had happened to her? She supposed it was better than them leaving without her getting to see them at all.
It sucked no matter what she thought. When her mates walked into the room seconds later, Shayla decided it didn’t matter in the long run. She would take her mates over anything and everything in the end. They were her present as well as her future. Everything else would work itself out one way or another.
Chapter Fifteen
Precisely at nine that night, Shayla found herself standing between her mates outside the door to the warehouse that looked more abandoned than anything. Gaston knocked on the large door, a small window slid open, and a beady eyeball stared out at them.
“Evening, Argette. We’re expected,” he said.
The window closed with a snip, and the sound of locks being disengaged filtered through just before the door swung open for them to enter. Shayla had felt the slight tug at her of what she now knew was a deterrent spell to keep humans away when they’d stepped out of the car in the parking lot. It had made her a bit sick at her stomach so that she wanted to leave, but as soon as they made it to the door, the feeling had dissipated. Now, as they stepped inside the club proper, a heaviness settled over her shoulders that made moving and walking difficult until she got used to it. That had to be the spell or ward that prevented the club guests from starting trouble.
As they walked deeper into the room, Shayla felt a tug inside of her to look to the left. And there they were. Erin sat at a table with two large, strangely handsome men at her back. Erin was talking to Dani, who looked as if she’d just arrived with two of her own men at her back. This made her pause in the middle of the room. Gaston and Beau both stopped with her and surrounded her as if they thought something was threatening her.
“What is it, cher?” Gaston rubbed up and down her back as he looked around them.
“Nothing. I just realized that there are two men with Erin and two with Dani. I think there must be some sort of pattern here,” she said, looking from Beau to Gaston. “What do you think?”
“I think they are wondering if we’re going to walk over or turn and leave. Which shall it be, mate?” Beau asked.
“I want to see them. I was just shocked is all.” She nodded toward the two men with Erin. “Are those vampires?”
“Yes, they are the leaders of the vampire community here. I think it is safe to say that your friend has them truly caught in her own web. They are enthralled with her, not the other way around,” Gaston said with a chuckle.
Shayla slowly approached the table about the same time Heidi and, predictably, her two men joined them. As if a bubble had burst, the women began hugging each other and talking all at once. When she looked over Erin’s shoulder, it was to see the men all eyeing each other with a measure of respect but something else, as well. Maybe it was the knowledge that they all had more to lose than mere territory now and that maybe they should relax their staunch rules and beliefs to make way for a new order.
She felt Gaston squeeze her shoulder as she returned to her chair. Looking around, she realized they were all there now. The men encircled them, making an impenetrable cushion around them. She doubted that anyone would dare to try to get through them. She wasn’t naïve, though. There were plenty of enemies out there waiting for a chance to get to them. Maybe they couldn’t touch them in the club, but there was always outside the club’s protective circle, and time was on their side.
Everyone took turns revealing what had happened to them over the last week. She found out some things about her friends that she hadn’t known. They had all ended up in or around the war that had been going on in the cemetery but hadn’t seen each other in all of the fighting. It was funny to Shayla that they’d somehow ended up with the men they were supposed to be with and avoided the dangers. As she listened, she realized that maybe Beau had been right that the first attack back in Tennessee when she’d been walking to her house had been a demon attack, and it had aimed at keeping her safe. The demon had passed something on to her that she hadn’t understood at the time. It had kept her under the radar and awakened some dormant abilities that she hadn’t known she’d possessed. Evidently her finding her mates had triggered the latent shifting abilities. Gaston hadn’t been able to find anyone old enough that might know what was going on with her. All she knew was that the attack had helped her instead of hurting her as she’d believed.
“So tell us, what happened to you, Shayla?” Erin asked.
“Well, just like all of you, I ended up lost in the cemetery and tumbled down a rabbit hole,” she began.
By the time she’d finished her story, they were all smiling and nodding their heads. It was clear that everyone was going to remain in New Orleans with their men. Shayla was so happy that she wouldn’t be losing them after all. The one thing that seemed to have tied them all together was the preternatural world. Something from all the different supernatural areas had influenced each of them at some point in their lives, and Lissette’s friendship had cemented it in place.
They laughed and drank for hours, their men talking, though a bit stiffly, behind them. Shayla was forever grateful for her friends and the need to make amends for her perceived part in Lissette’s death. Had it not been for her trip to New Orleans, she’d never have met her mates and continued her miserable life the way it was until she died.
“I can feel a sadness in your heart, cher. Do we need to leave? Is this upsetting you to see your friends like this?” Gaston asked in a soft whisper next to her ear.
“No. I’m not sad. I was just thinking that without my friends, and this trip, I never would have met you and Beau and would have ended up living like a hermit the rest of my life. I’m so grateful that we made that stupid trip to the cemetery.” She turned her head and smiled up at Gaston.
He smiled. “Me, too. I have never been this happy in my life, and with you as our mate, our futures will be much brighter. The futures of all preternatural creatures will be more secure than it has been in hundreds of years.”
Beau kissed the top of her head. “You and your friends brought the miracle that was needed to stop the wars and start the process of acceptance. We may never all be friends, but we will no longer be enemies either.”
Erin stood up, her men coming to attention behind her, hands hovering near her in case she needed them. She smiled at them all and lifted her glass.
“A toast.”
They all stood and lifted their glasses with hers. “A toast.”
“In memory of Lissette. She is not gone and will never be forgotten. She will remain a part of us forever and always.” Erin smiled and lifted the glass to her lips to drink.
They all followed suit. She took a sip and held out her glass again. “And to us and the beginning of a new life in a new place, with
new love. May we be friends forever and never forget who brought us all together.”
“Here, here!” they all shouted out.
* * * *
Gaston and Beau held her as they looked out at the waning moon. Its beauty shined down on them as they stood on the back deck. She loved the sound of the night. The night birds had already settled, but the morning birds were beginning to stir. In the swampy area of Louisiana, there was always something awake and alive out there no matter what time of day or night it was. It was never completely quiet, and that comforted her.
“What are you thinking, cher?” Gaston asked.
“Just that I can’t imagine anything more perfect than standing here between the two of you listening to the music around us.”
“You can hear it, too, boo?” Beau asked with a slightly shocked expression.
“Yes. I can hear it. It’s beautiful and sad all at the same time. It speaks of new life and the end of an old life. I don’t mourn my old life at all, but some will mourn theirs. Some won’t like all the changes in the pride.” Shayla sighed and leaned into the arms of her lovers.
“Change is inevitable, Shayla,” Gaston said. “Everyone has to adjust or life goes on without them. Our pride is strong and used to change. You’ll see. They will embrace it just as they will embrace you.”
“The wolves, though,” Beau began with a chuckle. “They will still want their occasional fights. It is the way of cats and dogs. We tolerate each other, sometimes share when necessary, but there is always an instinctual animosity that leads us to mix it up sometimes.”
She laughed. It was obvious that Beau enjoyed those times. As long as no one was seriously hurt, she understood the need for such skirmishes. She couldn’t help but wonder why she seemed so in tune with the circle of life right then. She could almost believe she was feeling it in her blood. Like she could dig her toes into the rich earth and feel it growing and reaching for the surface.
She turned into Gaston’s arms and hugged him, savoring the sound of his heartbeat beneath her ear. She looked up and smiled. “I love you, mate of mine.”
“I love you, mate of mine,” he returned with a smile bigger than any she’d ever seen on him before. Before she could comment on it, Beau pulled her to him.
“What of me, boo? Do you love me as your mate?” he asked with an obvious pout.
She reached up, standing on her tiptoes, and kissed his chin. “I love you, mate of mine. I’ll always love you both. You make me very happy.”
“You’ve given us the sun, Shayla, and now you’re giving us the hope of new life. We will always love you, too.” Beau kissed her gently on the lips.
“With the wars over with, for the most part, the pride will flourish and grow. I don’t know how much I’ve had to do with that, but I’m happy about it,” she said.
“No, cher. You don’t understand. You’re giving us new life. You’re carrying our cubs.” Gaston covered her abdomen with one hand.
Beau took her hand in his and covered Gaston’s with theirs. She struggled for a few seconds to understand what they were saying. She was pregnant? But it had only been a week since she’d met them. How could they possibly know that for certain? She opened her mouth then closed it again.
“H–how do you know that? I can’t be more than a few days along. That’s too soon for even the best pregnancy test to pick up on.”
“Your scent changed tonight,” Beau said.
“My scent?”
“It was a rich vanilla and mint, but now it is a darker, earthier scent. We can still discern the mint and vanilla, but the vanilla is stronger now. You’re pregnant, mate. You’ve made us the happiest males in the world,” Gaston told her.
“You mean you’re pleased as cats with a bowl of milk,” she said with a snort.
“That, too,” Beau said, his face blooming into a smile.
“Can anyone tell that I’m pregnant now?” she asked, thinking about how the other females might feel about it.
“Probably not for a few more days. We’re just a little more aware of you than the others. But it won’t be long before they know,” Gaston said.
“Will they be happy, or will it upset them?” she asked, looking from one to the other.
Beau grinned even wider. “They will be ecstatic, Shayla. When the mated Leo pair are fertile, it signals all of the other females and they will become pregnant, as well. In this case, it is three of us expecting, so the pull on them to create life will be strong. It’s been a while since we’ve had young life in our pride. They will be forever grateful that you began the circle of life for them again.”
“We’re forever grateful, as well, cher. You are our everything, and now we will be complete with a family of our own, in addition to the pride. With you between us, Shayla, there is a future, and it will be glorious.” Gaston kissed her on the tip of the nose, making her smile.
“Not only have you made me happy and given me a second chance at life, but you helped me find redemption for a life I felt I’d destroyed. For that alone, I would follow you anywhere. That you have given me your love and accepted me into your hearts is much more than I ever would have dreamed possible for me before,” she told them.
“I think it’s time to go to bed,” Beau told her.
“Oddly enough, I’m not sleepy,” she said.
“Neither are we, cher. Neither are we.”
THE END
WWW.MARLAMONROE.COM
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Marla Monroe has been writing professionally for nearly eleven years. Her first book with Siren was published in January of 2011 and now has over 65 books available. She loves to write and spends every spare minute either at the keyboard or reading. She writes everything from sizzling-hot contemporary cowboys, emotionally charged BDSM, and dangerously addictive shifters, to science fiction ménages with the occasional badass biker thrown in for good measure.
Marla lives in the southern US and works full-time at a busy hospital. When not writing, she loves to travel, spend time with her cats, and read. She’s always eager to try something new and especially enjoys the research for her books. She loves to hear from readers about what they are looking for next in their reading adventures.
You can reach Marla at [email protected], or visit her website at www.marlamonroe.com
Her blog: www.themarlamonroe.blogspot.com
Twitter: @MarlaMonroe1
Facebook: www.facebook.com/marla.monroe.7
For all titles by Marla Monroe, please visit
www.bookstrand.com/marla-monroe
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
