by Terry Spear
He was throwing on a pair of jeans when he heard Travis call out, “Just me. Travis. Everyone else is out searching the area just in case Hellion had recruited someone else. By the way, Leyton finally reached Mrs. Adkins and asked her if she knew a Homer Adkins. She said that was her nephew, but that Bishop never got along with his cousin.”
“He must have at some point.”
“We thought you’d stay in the house until we arrived here. You can’t imagine our shock to see not only you out there facing down Hellion, but that Dottie was outside too.”
“Which is why I went out there. I suspect she was tired of worrying they could hurt her family when Hellion fired at the window and nearly hit me, and she wanted to take care of them once and for all.”
“Well, considering how far along she is with the triplets, she’s a hell of a team player,” Travis said.
“Yeah.” If she’d taken the team with her. Jack nearly had a heart attack when he realized she’d run outside without him. Still, he understood her concern.
After an hour, the others reported back. The vehicle belonging to Hellion was parked on the road. No sign of anyone else. The paramedics picked up the bodies and though several of the men offered to stay there just in case, Jack declined their offer.
“We’re good this time.” He was certain. Though they’d need to replace the kitchen window. But he wanted the time alone with his mate.
They all said good night and Jack returned to the bedroom. He stripped off his jeans and joined his mate in bed. Instead of turning into a human, she curled up half on top of him as a cougar, and he smiled and stroked her head, figuring she felt more comfortable that way for now.
Or maybe she thought if they had any more unwelcome guests she would be ready to take care of them to protect her family. He realized then her protective mother cougar instinct had come to bear.
“Did you jump out the bathroom window, and then shift back, close it, shift, and go after the men?” Jack asked, having to know how she had gotten outside.
She nodded.
“I should have been the one out there.”
She nipped at his chest and he smiled at her, and closed his eyes.
At least for now, Yuma Town was again safe. And everyone was counting the days before Dottie had the babies—to see if Kate was right, this time.
Epilogue
Three and a Half Months Later, Yuma Town
Dottie’s water broke late in the morning, and Jack was one distracted and panicked daddy. Jack’s family and Aunt Emily were already there, waiting for the babies to be born. Everyone close to Dottie had been on high alert. Shannon took the twins home to watch over them while the delivery took place, as Jack rushed Dottie to the clinic with a police escort. He was thankful both Dan and Stryker had come to the rescue.
As soon as Dan got a wheelchair for Dottie at the clinic, Jack was ready to push it.
Stryker said, “Here, let me. You hold her hand.”
The whole family had come in three days earlier for the big day, not sure when it would occur exactly. But they hadn’t wanted to miss the big event for anything, especially when Dottie would need all the help she could get. Jack’s dad and his sister were sitting in the waiting room talking to Tracey and Hal, who were there for a baby checkup for their quadruplets. Aunt Emily and Jack’s mother were in the birthing room with Dottie, the nurse, and Kate, while Jack rubbed Dottie’s back and coached her through the pain. Like Tracey, Dottie opted to shift to have an easier time of it, so she was in her cougar coat right now. She didn’t look really happy with him, and he understood completely.
Once she had the first cub, Jack smiled to see she was a little girl. He leaned over and kissed Dottie’s cheek. “You did a beautiful job.”
The next cub was a boy and he scrambled to join his sister for a meal. The last cub was another female, and Aunt Emily rubbed Dottie’s head. “They’re beautiful.”
They’d picked out four names, just in case, so with three, they had enough names for all of them: Mari, Dylan, and Michele.
In the meantime, Jack’s mother was taking pictures of the happy family.
“I’ve changed my mind,” Aunt Emily suddenly said out of the blue.
“About what?” Jack asked.
“I’m moving out here. You’ll need lots of help. Oh, I know you have a whole town of cougars to watch out for you and the kids. I couldn’t bear to think of all the fun I’m going to miss out on while living in Missouri while the two of you are here with the kids.”
“Same with us,” Lisa said, shocking Jack. “As soon as we learned Dottie was having more of our grandchildren, Jack’s dad and I discussed it and had decided the same thing. We’d miss out on all the grand-parenting again, and we don’t want to miss out on any more. We’ll help with whatever we can.”
“What about Dad’s job?”
“He’s retiring. He already put in his notice a couple of weeks ago.”
“And Roberta?” Jack couldn’t imagine them leaving his sister behind.
“This is cougar territory. If Roberta’s going to find a husband, what better place than this?”
Jack hugged his mom. “We couldn’t have hoped for any better news, for both families.”
Dottie nodded. The family would all be together, and she had found the perfect father and mate for her and the kids. It would be rough dealing with all the babies and two four-year-old twins. With family close by and all their cougar friends, who were every bit as much family, it would be a piece of cake. She hoped.
“Let’s let our mom rest a bit. Jack, we have an appointment to keep,” Kate reminded him.
“What? Right now? Dottie needs me.”
Katie winked at Dottie, took hold of Jack’s arm, and he leaned over and kissed Dottie’s cheek again. Then he went with Kate to take care of a little matter and that would be the end of problem condoms.
Yep. One big happy family.
A week later, he and Dottie had settled into a routine of sorts. They were glad that his parents, Roberta, and Aunt Emily were here to help out so they wouldn’t have to call on everyone else. Of course, his family and Aunt Emily still had to actually move here, and that was another big chore. But Hal said he could spare his two ranch hands to help out when they needed him to. And then Dottie reminded them, they could afford to pack up both families with the money they had stored in the bank.
For now, the family would hang around for a while and continue to help out. Jack was going to assist them with moving also. However, his parents told him in no uncertain terms, he was staying home with the family.
And he was happy to. He was working on cases requiring online investigations for now. He couldn’t appreciate the CSF any more than he already did for making that happen. With the twins snuggling up to him and Dottie on the couch, the babies sound asleep in bassinets nearby, he was one happy dad. “Love you, Dottie,” he said, his arm wrapped around her as they watched an animated movie.
She smiled up at him and he leaned down to kiss her. “I love you too, Jack. Thank you for coming home to me…to us…for good.”
“I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.” Jack knew he had the best job in the world, right here with his family in Yuma Town.
Acknowledgments
Thanks so much to Donna Fournier who helps me so much on brainstorming and keeping me straight on cougar bible matters! And to Dottie Jones and Donna Fournier for making the book even better!
Also by Terry Spear
Heart of the Cougar Series: Cougar’s Mate, Book 1
Call of the Cougar, Book 2
Taming the Wild Cougar, Book 3
Covert Cougar Christmas (Novella)
Double Cougar Trouble, Book 4
Heart of the Bear Series
Loving the White Bear, Book 1
The Highlanders Series: Winning the Highlander's Heart, The Accidental Highland Hero, Highland Rake, Taming the Wild Highlander, The Highlander, Her Highland Hero, The Viking’s Highland Lass, His Wild
Highland Lass (novella)
Other historical romances: Lady Caroline & the Egotistical Earl, A Ghost of a Chance at Love
Heart of the Wolf Series: Heart of the Wolf, Destiny of the Wolf, To Tempt the Wolf, Legend of the White Wolf, Seduced by the Wolf, Wolf Fever, Heart of the Highland Wolf, Dreaming of the Wolf, A SEAL in Wolf's Clothing, A Howl for a Highlander, A Highland Werewolf Wedding, A SEAL Wolf Christmas, Silence of the Wolf, Hero of a Highland Wolf, A Highland Wolf Christmas, A SEAL Wolf Hunting; A Silver Wolf Christmas, A SEAL Wolf in Too Deep, Alpha Wolf Need Not Apply, Billionaire in Wolf’s Clothing, Between a Rock and a Hard Place (2017), Dreaming of a White Wolf Christmas (2017), SEAL Wolf Undercover (2017)
SEAL Wolves: To Tempt the Wolf, A SEAL in Wolf's Clothing, A SEAL Wolf Christmas, A SEAL Wolf Hunting, A SEAL Wolf in Too Deep, SEAL Wolf Undercover (2017)
Silver Bros Wolves: Destiny of the Wolf, Wolf Fever, Dreaming of the Wolf, Silence of the Wolf, A Silver Wolf Christmas, Alpha Wolf Need Not Apply, Between a Rock and a Hard Place (2017)
White Wolves: Legend of the White Wolf, Dreaming of a White Wolf Christmas (2017)
Billionaire Wolves: Billionaire in Wolf’s Clothing, Billionaire Wolf Christmas (2018)
Highland Wolves: Heart of the Highland Wolf, A Howl for a Highlander, A Highland Werewolf Wedding, Hero of a Highland Wolf, A Highland Wolf Christmas
Heart of the Jaguar Series: Savage Hunger, Jaguar Fever, Jaguar Hunt, Jaguar Pride, A Very Jaguar Christmas
Romantic Suspense: Deadly Fortunes, In the Dead of the Night, Relative Danger, Bound by Danger
Vampire romances: Killing the Bloodlust, Deadly Liaisons, Huntress for Hire, Forbidden Love
Vampire Novellas: Vampiric Calling, Siren’s Lure, Seducing the Huntress
Other Romance: Exchanging Grooms, Marriage, Las Vegas Style
Teen/Young Adult/Fantasy Books
The World of Fae:
The Dark Fae, Book 1
The Deadly Fae, Book 2
The Winged Fae, Book 3
The Ancient Fae, Book 4
Dragon Fae, Book 5
Hawk Fae, Book 6
Phantom Fae, Book 7
Golden Fae, Book 8
Falcon Fae, Book 9 (TBD)
The World of Elf:
The Shadow Elf
The Darkland Elf (TBA)
Blood Moon Series:
Kiss of the Vampire
The Vampire…In My Dreams
Demon Guardian Series:
The Trouble with Demons
Demon Trouble, Too
Demon Hunter (TBA)
Non-Series for Now:
Ghostly Liaisons
The Beast Within
Courtly Masquerade
Deidre's Secret
The Magic of Inherian:
The Scepter of Salvation
The Mage of Monrovia
Emerald Isle of Mists (TBA)
About the Author
Bestselling and award-winning author Terry Spear has written over sixty paranormal romance novels and four medieval Highland historical romances. Her first werewolf romance, Heart of the Wolf, was named a 2008 Publishers Weekly’s Best Book of the Year, and her subsequent titles have garnered high praise and hit the USA Today bestseller list. A retired officer of the U.S. Army Reserves, Terry lives in Spring, Texas, where she is working on her next werewolf romance, throwing jaguars into the mix, and delving into some earlier wolf packs who are begging for attention. For more information, please visit www.terryspear.com, or follow her on Twitter, @TerrySpear. She is also on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/terry.spear.
