by Meg Ripley
“Well, Vanessa, she was hired by the government to distribute the ticks here in Acadia, but once I was infected with the virus, she created an antidote for it,” Ramon said.
“You were infected?” The older silver haired woman was concerned.
“Yes, Priscilla. Up until about an hour ago when Min here gave me the antidote.” Ramon smiled at me and I returned the expression. I was happy he was doing all the talking, because to be honest, the conclave scared me. They seemed so intimidating. And to top it off, they wouldn’t even address me as anything other than a human.
“I see,” Jeremy nodded.
“Cassidy is also behind the rogue shifters from the last trial here in Acadia. When you came to judge Shawn, Harris, Kevin and Jamie, they were infected with the virus; it just hadn’t advanced to the more serious stages yet. Cassidy informed us that the government dealt with the three who managed to escape the park,” Knox continued.
“I think we have enough information to understand her guilt,” Nathan said. “There is no need to deliberate. She has already admitted her guilt and there is more than enough evidence against her.”
“Why did you do it?” Vanessa turned to Cassidy.
“I didn’t want to die.”
“You have made quite a mess. You could have died with your clan, but instead, you will die alone in shame.”
Cassidy didn’t respond.
“I would like to ask for my mate and I to be excused from witnessing the execution. I don’t think she needs to see this.” Ramon stepped in front of me.
“Granted. You may be excused. We only need two people as witnesses to the trial, so Trent and Knox are enough.”
With that, Jeremy waved us away. Ramon grabbed my hand and we headed back to my car.
“What are we going to do about the government? The people who hired me and Cassidy?”
“Well, we could have Hannah or Blanca call them using Cassidy’s phone and pretend to be her? She could tell them that the ticks were located by the clan and destroyed before you could distribute them. She could also tell them that she no longer wants to partner with them and would rather take on the government with her clan than be their guinea pig.” Ramon shrugged.
I nodded. That actually sounded like a great plan.
“Alright, then. I’ll have Knox grab Cassidy’s phone after the execution.”
“Thank you, Ramon.” I smiled and kissed him. He pulled me in and deepened the kiss, catching me slightly off guard.
But he was kissing me, and he was alive, and I couldn’t have been more grateful.
11
Ramon
EPILOGUE
I awoke to light kisses being planted on along my neck. The kisses moved to my chest and I smiled.
“Buenos días, mi amor,” I whispered. I opened my eyes to see my beautiful mate looking up at me seductively.
“Good morning. The baby’s finally asleep.” Min had moved down to my boxers and was reaching inside; I hadn’t realized they looked like a tent. “Looks like someone is awake...”
She pulled my shaft out and started to stroke it slowly. I moaned; if I hadn’t been awake before, I certainly was at that moment.
“Are you sure you’re ready for that?” I asked.
“Please. It’s been two months since I gave birth, and as good as your tongue is, I want this, too…” She stopped stroking me to pull her long T shirt over her head, and her bare, full breasts bounced before me.
“Oh, my tongue is good huh?” I joked.
“So good…” She said coming up to kiss me. I used my tongue to part her lips and explore her mouth and she moaned, grinding against my member. I could feel her nether lips folding around my manhood through her panties.
I felt her reach down and I moaned as I suddenly felt her warm, velvety walls fully encase my length.
“Wait, I thought you were wearing panties?” I asked between kisses.
“I just pulled them to the side; stop talking.”
Min’s lips pressed firmly against mine as she started riding me. She moved up and down along my length and I grabbed her hips, guiding them. She started off in a slow grind, but she quickly picked up her speed. Before I knew it, I was slamming her hips down, loving the sound of her loud moans. She began to quiver and I thrusted upward, making sure to bury myself as deep as I could inside her. She screamed as she hit her peak, trembling as she rode out her orgasm, her nails digging into my shoulders.
When I felt her calm, I flipped our positions so that she was lying down.
“My turn,” I growled.
She giggled as I pulled her to the edge of the bed, lifting one of her legs. I entered her once again, slamming into her in one thrust. She gasped, and I didn’t give her time to breathe as I started pumping into her wildly. I reveled in the feeling of my length moving within and her walls tightened around me. Her facial expressions were so incredibly hot when she looked up at me, it just fueled my fire, which was rising quickly. I could feel her body begin to quake beneath me again, and I smiled inwardly. She was ready for round two.
I focused on the burning within me and it spread throughout my whole body, wrapping around me like a blanket until I thought I would explode from the heat. And I did, my seed spilling into her with each thrust.
“Ramon!” She called my name loudly as I watched her orgasm rip through her. She was shaking again, and I smirked as I slammed my length back into her one last time, just to hear her scream again.
“Ramon…” she whimpered when I pulled out.
“Oh, you want more?” I joked.
“Maybe…” She licked her lips.
“You can go more than twice?”
“I can go as long as you want.” And now she was biting her lip.
Mierda… She was so unbelievably hot sometimes, I just couldn’t handle it. She knew just what to do, just what to say to drive me crazy. And I loved every minute of it.
Just when I went to climb on top of her again, I heard the faint cry of our baby.
“Looks like all your screaming woke our son,” I laughed.
“Shut up!” Min slapped my shoulder and got up, pulling her long T shirt back over her head and fixing her panties.
“Awww…I liked you like that.” I made a pout at her and she rolled her eyes.
“Yeah, well your son doesn’t need to see his mom like that,” she laughed.
“I suppose you’re right.”
“Do you want to come with me, now that you’re awake?”
“I don’t know…I’m feeling pretty tired again after all that exercise,” I joked. Min picked up a pillow and threw it at me before she disappeared into the baby’s room.
“I’ll be right there,” I laughed as I rolled out of bed. I walked into the next room and there was Min, holding our son, his lips suckling her left breast. She was facing me, and when I entered the room, she looked up and smiled.
“Look sweetie, it’s daddy!”
“Hey, Jorge. How’s my little man?” I said, walking up to them both. Jorge unlatched from his mother’s breast at the sight of me and reached his arms up towards me.
“He always wants his daddy. Even my milk isn’t enough to keep him away from you,” Min chuckled, passing him over to me, and I held him securely.
I thought Min was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, until she had Jorge. He was a gorgeous baby; he had to be, because he was hers. He had eyes and hair just like Min’s, but in his complexion and other features, I saw myself. Thank God we were able to have the antidote administered to him while he was still in the womb, and he responded to it like a champ. Now there he was, the most precious creature on Earth, strong, thriving and full of life.
“Are we still going to Trent and Blanca’s barbeque?” Min asked.
“We already promised we would,” I said, giving her behind a tender squeeze.
“Alright, well I’m going to get in the shower. Here, you can watch him until I get back.” Min started towards the door.
; “Can’t I just come with you?” I wiggled my eyebrows at her and she laughed.
“Only if you can get him preoccupied,” she said as she drifted into the hallway.
I watched her ass sway from side to side as she left the room. After having our child, she had put on a little more weight in all the right areas. Her hips were wider, her bottom was larger and more firm, and her breasts had filled out. Her stomach somehow shrunk right back to normal—the doctor said breastfeeding would help in that department—but even if her belly was still soft, I would still find it sexy. Thick or skinny, she was gorgeous, and I couldn’t imagine being with another woman.
Thinking about her body reminded me about showering with her and I put Jorge back in his crib.
“Listen, Jorge. Daddy wants to spend some quality time with mommy; it won’t take long. You think you could watch this and behave until we come back?” I started the wildlife animal mobile above his crib and he cooed as he smiled widely. “That’s my man.”
* * *
“Min, Ramon; it’s so good to see you! Thanks for coming.” Blanca gave us each a hug and kissed us both on our cheeks. “And look at little Jorge here; what a cutie! He couldn’t possibly have merged you both more perfectly.”
Blanca bent down and spoke to Jorge.
“Hi, little Jorge. How are you, buddy?” Blanca gave him a bright smile and Trent walked up to me.
“You still want to go through with this?” he whispered in my ear.
“Hell yeah, amigo. Is everything set for it?”
“We’re all set, just grab it from Knox and you’re good to go.”
“Are you guys hungry?” Blanca winked at me.
“Starving!” Min exclaimed. “It seems like I always am these days. Breastfeeding will do that to you.”
“Well, Knox is over there with the food. Please, everyone, help yourselves.”
“I’ll get our food, mi amor. Why don’t you go sit over there?” I pointed to an empty chair in the middle of where everyone had congregated. We had told the group to leave this seat empty for her.
“Okay, hun. Make sure to pile on some extra potato salad.” Min didn’t seem suspicious of anything and headed toward the chair. I waited until she was seated with the baby next to her and then I made my way over to Knox.
“Aye, hombre, is it ready?” I asked.
“It is,” he said, handing me a warm churro. We’d been practicing making them recently and I thought that one looked pretty authentic.
“This looks great!”
“Yeah, I actually had a lot of fun making these. Hannah loves them, so I’ll probably be making them for her now, too. You think it’s skinny enough?”
“Si, amigo. It’s perfect!” Knox laughed. “Hey man, were you able to get Hannah to handle that Cassidy thing?”
“With the government? Yeah. If Cassidy was alive, it wouldn’t have gone well for her. They were not very forgiving of her backing out of their deal. They threatened to find her and kill her and the rest of us.”
“Well, they’ll need a lot of luck finding her,” I laughed. “I guess we can expect someone else from the government to show up soon.”
“Yeah, they canceled Min’s room in Bar Harbor and said they’ll be sending someone for her car, so I’d imagine that person will ask to speak to Cassidy.”
“You don’t think she got fired, do you?” I was slight worried by the government’s response.
“Well, she said it was a sub department of hers, so I doubt they have the power to fire her. I’m sure they also don’t want her to spout off about what they did. She wouldn’t even have to reveal us; she could just say they tried to eradicate a whole group of people and show the proof. I’m sure they would get in quite a bit of trouble.”
“Yeah, I think you’re right.”
“Alright, it’s all you. Good luck, man!”
I pressed a small object into the tip of the churro and slowly walked toward Min.
“Here you go, mi amor. Something sweet for someone sweet.” I smiled as I got down on one knee in front of her.
“They made churros?” She smiled as she broke in half, and as she raised the sugary confection to her lips to take a bite, a glimmer caught her eye. “Wait—what? What’s this? Oh my god!” Min’s eyes widened, and she covered her mouth with both hands.
“Min Dupont, you are the love of my life. Will you marry me?” I asked, grinning wide. Everyone surrounded us and Min looked around with tears in her eyes.
“Yes! A million times, yes!” she shouted, throwing her arms around my neck.
“I hope those are happy tears,” I whispered into her ear, holding her tightly, trying not to get sugar from the churro in her hair.
“Of course they are,” Min laughed, pulling away and wiping her eyes. I pulled the ring off the end of the churro and dusted the sugar off of it. She extended her left hand to me, beaming as I placed the ring on her finger and smiled back at her brightly. Pulling me up to meet her face, she kissed me, and I smiled against her lips.
I almost forgot it wasn’t just the two of us until I heard the enormous round of applause around us. People were cheering and clapping, shouting our names. I decided to kiss her like no one was there; I wanted her to know how overcome with joy I was that she had agreed to become my wife.
I was going to marry the mother of my child.
I heard whistling and figured that she got the idea.
“Wow,” she breathed when I pulled away. “Tell me how you really feel!”
I laughed. She was perfect; always a wise ass, just like me.
I felt two slaps on my back and Trent and Knox were on either side of me.
“Congrats, man! I knew she would say yes.” Trent wore a wide grin on his face.
“There wasn’t a doubt in my mind.” Knox shook my hand. “Congrats!”
I watched as Hannah and Blanca surrounded Min, inspecting her ring. I had gotten her an eighteen-carat white gold band, fully-set with diamonds with a large, square-cut diamond set in the middle. I wanted a ring men could see from a mile away. I want them to know she was mine before they even had the thought to walk up to her.
“You did good, man,” Knox said, nodding.
“The three musketeers and our three ladies. Who knew?” Trent exclaimed, wrapping his arms around me and Knox.
“I sure didn’t. I didn’t even think Knox would find someone. He’s so fucking serious all the time,” I laughed.
“What can I say? Hannah was too hot to pass up,” Knox shrugged.
“So, when are you guys going to pop the question? I was the last one to get a lady, but the first to engaged. How’d you guys let that happen?” I joked.
Trent and Knox pulled two small boxes from their pockets and opened them to show me the rings nestled inside.
“Are those for Hannah and Blanca?” I asked, surprised.
“Yeah, what do you think about a triple wedding? Are you cool with it?” Trent asked.
“That sounds incredible! I mean, we would have to ask the ladies, but look at them over there.” I pointed to the girls standing a few feet from us. They were laughing and smiling together like they’d been best friends for years. “They already get along so well. I doubt they’ll have a problem with that.”
“Well, hopefully we don’t steal your spotlight or anything!” Trent said, starting towards the girls, and Knox followed.
“Good luck!” I shouted after them. I watched as they knelt down in front of Hannah and Blanca at the same time, asking for their hands in marriage. They both squealed and looked at each other, nodding eagerly. There wasn’t a moment of doubt in my mind that they would say yes.
And just like that, we were all engaged. I watched as the girls compared rings and thought of how amazing the next year was going to be. The clan was becoming stronger the bigger it got, and we were ready for anything the world could throw at us.
* * *
Ranger Drew
Shifter Nation: Werebears Of Acadia
1
Kathleen
The National Center for Preparedness, Detection, and Control of Infectious Diseases, or the NCPD-CID, probably thought that I would be thrilled with the accommodations they’d be providing me with while traveling to Bar Harbor, Maine just because I was a poor little bottom feeder in their eyes. I was sure they figured I would be grateful for an economy class plane ticket, a shoddy room in a two-star hotel, and a car deemed the worst model to have ever come out in 2008.
And they were right.
I actually hadn’t been on a plane since I was thirteen, when I came to the United States from Ireland. I didn’t remember too much about that plane ride; surely, I had slept through most of it. I couldn’t say I’d been excited to fly all those years ago, but that day, I was over the moon. Flying sure beat hitch hiking or backpacking, which is how I had become accustomed to getting around.
I always made it a habit to travel light because I was always on the move. But America was such a vast, overwhelming country for me; before that day, I’d never traveled outside the state. West Virginia technically had everything I needed anyway, but it sure as hell wasn’t a vacation land in any way, shape or form.
The semi-comfortable seats in coach were welcomed, as were the movies and music. It was only about a five-hour flight from Atlanta, Georgia, where the NCPD-CID’s main office was located, to Bar Harbor, Maine—just enough time for me to watch Hancock and You Don’t Mess with the Zohan—so I pulled out my earbuds and plugged them into my seat’s audio jack. I didn’t get to the movies much, but I had no issues pirating or streaming movies when I had some down time—which was hardly ever.
I didn’t have proper luggage, but my backpack was roomy enough to carry my laptop and seven outfits. Lucky for me, it was July, the warmest month of the year for Bar Harbor, and I had packed mostly tank tops and shorts. The temperatures were supposed to be between sixty and eighty degrees, so I had brought one light sweater to throw over my tank tops when the temperature was on the lower side. I only brought the old, beat up navy blue sneakers that I wore on the plane ride, and a slightly nicer black pair for when I’d have to infiltrate Acadia National Park. I was told to bring at least one nice outfit, but the best piece of clothing I could find in my wardrobe was the black ruffled shirt that I usually saved for dates—which were extremely few and far between. Pair that with shorts and my black semi-decent sneakers and I had a not-so-professional outfit, but it was the best I could come up with on such short notice. I wasn’t exactly sure why I needed an outfit like that in the first place, but I’m sure if I had shown them what I had, it wouldn’t have been up to par.
