Chapter 20
Kylian
“Are you nervous, babygirl?” Erick flexes his fingers on my thigh.
“I’m excited.” I say as he makes a right off of the highway onto the only road into Fortune Falls.
“And this is how you want to do it?”
“Do you think it’s a bad idea?”
“Not at all.” Erick pulls into the trading post parking lot, stopping in the back along the trees.
I strip off my top and kick off my boots while Erick exits the driver's seat and comes around the hood to the passenger door. He opens it as I’m pulling off my leggings and piling them on top of the rest of my clothes.
He growls, sliding his hands up my naked thighs while leaning forward to claim my lips. “You are so fucking sexy, babygirl. Once we’re done, you and I are spending a week in bed. I need to worship my mate like I should’ve done our first time.”
“I don’t regret our first time, but a week in bed sounds amazing too.”
“Remember what I said. Put your feet on the running board. See, feel, and connect with your bear. Then jump.”
I nod and smile. “I’m ready.”
After we packed our stuff, we hiked down and checked the ravine to ensure there were no bodies to be stumbled upon later.
According to Cricket, they clocked eight intruders—three shifters and five human males, all college age except for James.
Doralee grazed one kid’s shoulder with her perfectly placed bullet at the same time Cricket charged in as his cougar, which was enough to make the humans’ turn and run for their cars.
One kid remained, but it wasn’t Marcus. He stripped and shifted, and then he and Cricket tussled for a bit before Doralee took him down with a shot to the head.
When Erick asked her why she didn’t let Cricket finish him, she said, “I didn’t have time for him to fuck around. He was playing with the kid, and I needed us to get back to the cave.”
Cricket shrugged and said, “We’ll fight about it later.”
The smile on Doralee’s face told me the real reason she did what she did. That and I’m betting she wouldn’t risk her mate when she could protect him. I understand the protective instinct now more than ever.
Erick and I stayed behind after they left, and my mate guided me into shifting again, and then again, until it felt natural.
He steps out of the way and I jump forward, my paws hitting the ground. I turned to look at my mate, who nods and smiles. “Absolutely beautiful, babygirl. I’ll meet you at the house. See you in a few.”
Erick will bring my brothers outside, where I will emerge from the trees as my bear.
I don’t know why I want to do it this way, but I think it’s because of a reoccurring dream I’ve had where our mother emerged from the trees and walked towards the house, shifting back into her human form before she hit the front steps.
I run through the trees, happily in tune with my bear, and pass the diner and a few houses before reaching our field. Erick stands in the backyard with his hands in his pockets, as Karter and Kade walk out of the kitchen with their mates following behind them.
“What are we looking at?” Kade asks.
“Where’s Kylian?” Karter asks.
I push through the trees, catching Karter’s attention before Kade’s.
Both of my brother’s tense and push their mates behind them.
“Go inside.” I hear Kade tell Dinah, my supersonic shifter hearing working perfectly.
“Please,” Karter tells Valery, pushing her toward the backdoor.
I feel their tension as they walk toward me, Kade unbuttoning his shirt. “Mom?”
Mom? I think back to the first time I saw my bear in my mind’s eye, remembering how much I like our mother.
I probably should have thought of that. Shaking my head, I try projecting to them, unsure if it will work.
Erick said I might only be able to do it with him, or it might take time before I can do it with everyone.
Like many things, it takes time and training.
“Not mom.” I say and continue to approach them, inwardly grinning as Karter’s mouth drops open.
“Kylian?”
“You can hear me!” Giggling, I bound forward and eat up the space between us.
Kade reaches out and rubs my snout while Karter runs his fingers through my fur near my ear. “Look at you, baby sis.”
“You got your bear.”
“I got my bear.”
The boys come out of their gym, glancing at us before projecting, “Who the hell is this?”
I’m not surprised they don’t confuse me for our mother. They were way too young to remember what she looks like as her bear, and probably would only recognize her in her human form because of the few pictures we have in the house.
“Use your noses and figure it out,” I sass them, giggling as their eyes grow wide.
“No fucking way!” Kit yells and immediately strips off his clothes, shifting into his bear. Kason is right behind him, the two charging and tackling me.
“Careful with my mate!” Erick runs forward, roaring in our heads.
I laugh, rolling with them on the ground, the two of them a lot heavier than they were when they were six and I’d wrestle with them in the living room. “I’m okay, mate.”
“Mate?” Kason snorts. “You’re mated, Ky?”
“To this guy?” Kit scoffs.
“You really do have a fucking death wish, boy.” Kade chuckles and rubs his hand down his face.
“Yes to me, fuck face. Do you want me to kick your ass?” Erick narrows his eyes, but his lips curve into a smile.
“That depends, are you faster or slower than Karter?” Kit challenges.
“No one is slower than Karter,” Kason says.
“Fuck you,” Karter grumbles.
Kit chuckles. “That’s true, bro. Kade then. Are you faster or slower than Kade?”
“I guess we’ll have to race to find out,” I interject. “Well Kade? Karter? What are you waiting for? I’ve been waiting eight years to run with my brothers.”
Kade and Karter strip out of their shirts when the backdoor opens and Kash and my father walk out, both bundled in heated blankets. Tears fill my father’s eyes, and I worry he thinks I’m his missing mate.
“Tell him I’m not mom!” I bark, not wanting to see the disappointment on my father’s face when he realizes I’m not her.
“Dad—” Kade tries to stop our father as he walks between him and Karter to place his hands around my snout.
“Oh, Kylian. Your bear is beautiful.”
“How did you know it was her?” Karter asks.
“I know my daughter.” My father smiles and steps forward, wrapping his arms around my neck. “You look so much like your mother, Kylian. Absolutely regal, like I always knew you would be.”
I let out a content sigh and melt into his embrace.
Letting me go, he takes a step back and wipes away his tears. Then he turns to Erick. “I suppose you’re my new son-in-law?”
Erick shoves his hands in his pockets. “Yes, sir.”
My father nods. “I expect you to give her everything she’s ever wanted and then some.”
“As every mate should, sir.”
“Yes—” my father smiles “—as every mate should.”
“Hey Killer. You look good.” Kash projects, a sweet smile on his face. He looks better than he did on Saturday, which I hope means his recovery will be quick.
“Thanks, bro,” I project back.
“Come on! Let’s go!” Kit and Kason jump around, bouncing off each other and subsequently trying to take the other down. They roll across the ground as Koran gathers up their clothes, handing them to our father before shedding his own.
Once he’s shifted, he approaches me with his head bowed. I do the same, the two of us leaning the tops of our heads against each other. “Are you happy, Ky?”
“Very.”
“Good. That’s all we want.”
“Go on,” my father tells Kade and Karter. “Kash and I are more than capable of watching over your mates for an hour.”
Both of my mated brothers look over their shoulders at the house where their mates stand on the back patio watching us. Then Valery, to my surprise, waves over her head. “Hi Kylian!”
“How did she know?” I ask, but nobody answers me.
Kade calls back, “We’re going for a run with our sister. Be back in a bit, Honeysuckle.”
“Have fun.” Dinah waves with a big smile.
Kade and Karter finish shedding their clothes, shifting and shaking out their fur. My brothers are much bigger than me with dark brown fur and fewer distinguishing marks.
“Are we ready?” I ask, noting that Erick is still in his human form. I walk over to him, arching my neck to look him in the eye. “Aren’t you coming?”
He runs his hand through my fur and whispers in my ear, “I’ll catch up with you, babygirl. I want you to have this moment with your brothers, plus I need to talk to your father since I never did before claiming you as mine.”
“Don’t be too long, mate. After I beat my brothers, I’m going to send them home so you and I can frolic in the woods. And by frolic, I mean—”
“Ah, my ears! My ears!” Kit moans and flops on the ground while Kason barrels over him.
“There’s no whispering when we speak telepathically, is there?”
“No, babygirl. There’s merely line of sight and maybe fifty yards of range. You’ll get the hang of it.”
“Or the boys will learn how to either tune out or deal with the dirty talk,” Kash points out, clutching his blanket tighter around him as he walks back to the house.
I turn around and line up on a paw dragged line in the snow with my brothers.
Exchanging a look with them, I shake my head and let out a roar, and they respond with the same, my abandoned heart swelling with love and acceptance.
I never thought I’d be here, enthusiastically included to play with them, and my gratitude to my mate is ready to burst out of me.
“Are we ready?” I say again.
“Yep!” Karter roars. “Ready, set, go!”