Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
Cassidy
C assidy sat on his porch swing, his booted foot rested on the porch railing for leverage as he swung back and forth. This time of the day was his favorite, when he could sit and watch the sun dip behind the rugged mountains, leaving an array of oranges painting the sky and the peaks as the sounds on the ranch serenaded him.
Several of his chicks sat on his lap and Bubba sat on a cushion next to him, lying on his back with his little legs pointed skyward. Luna sat on his rounded belly. The evening was pretty perfect if Cassidy didn’t think about what, or rather who, was missing.
He didn’t sigh at the misfortune of having a mate who owned a bar, cause it was how they had met. Mated for a whole three weeks and Cassidy already hated the empty feeling that came when he was away from Trey. When he didn’t wake up with Trey playing starfish over the top of him, his day didn’t start right. Trey’s insistence that he not spend his evenings at the bar stung despite the genuine concern he felt coming from Trey for his wellbeing.
This time a sigh escaped, and Lila clucked at him.
He stroked a gentle finger down her back. “I’m fine.”
She clucked again and gave him a nip, making him chuckle at how she told him off. “Alright, I’m not. But I can’t see no ways to change it.”
His gaze strayed back to the sky as he rocked gently, hoping to ease a little of the tension that came from the separation from Trey. In the daytime, when he was working, things weren’t as noticeable. The ache was manageable, but when he had nothing else to occupy his time, the loss he felt at not being able to see or touch Trey became a ball of dread in his stomach. It was so bad that he’d gotten sick in the mornings these past few days.
He wanted to shake off the worry that what he was feeling would get worse with each day he kept his thoughts to himself, for fear of chasing off his mate with clingy behavior. It didn’t matter he was no longer heading into the bar at night, Cassidy was sleeping for shit and struggled to wake up for work. To find the energy to do what they needed him to do on the ranch. So much so Ethan had taken him aside to have a word about it.
He had said nothing to Trey, but he suspected his mate hadn’t missed that there was a problem when he was the one to stop Cassidy coming into the bar at night.
Fuck, he missed him. Seeing him for an hour or two in the day was not the same. The last few days, he’d hardly seen Trey at all.
Is he growing tired of me already?
What nonsense. Are you listening to yourself? Trey is our mate.
Yes, he is, but he’s distracted.
He’s a busy wolf. That doesn't mean that he’s fed up with us. And can I just say this isn’t like you.
I don’t feel like myself.
It’s the pups, that’s all.
Cassidy got distracted at the plume of dust coming up the dirt road leading to the cabins when he recognized Trey’s truck. His mood instantly improved as he kept swaying, Bubba having squealed when he stopped. “You’re spoiled, ya know that?”
Bubba ignored him to settle against his cushion.
His smile was wide and welcoming when Trey came to a stop and got out of his truck, looking sexy in a band T-shirt tucked in his Wranglers. His belt buckle glinted as he strode towards Cassidy, looking like someone who had come with a purpose. An odd tension radiated from him.
Ruffled dark hair framed the attractive face that never failed to make Cassidy’s heart skip a beat, but it wasn’t the only thing making his pulse increase. Trey ran a shaking hand through his hair.
When his gaze swept over Cassidy, he came up the steps, grinning. “What’s this? Ya havin’ a party and didn’t invite me?”
“I was feelin’ lonesome,” Cassidy admitted in a moment of weakness. “My girls and Bubba were happy to come keep me company on such a nice night.”
Cassidy didn’t miss the pause as Trey came to sit on the other side of Bubba, who gave a disgruntled squeal at the disturbed sway of the seat. “I can see that.” His gaze when to Lilly and his brows arched. “Is your chick wearin’ a knitted top?”
The blush washed over his cheeks as he met Trey’s gaze. “My girls like to feel pretty.”
They had never talked about his quirks.
“That so?” Trey’s grin remained, yet Cassidy witnessed the tension in Trey’s stiff upper body.
“It is. I knit.” He held Trey’s gaze, searching for the look that crossed some folks' faces at his idiosyncrasies. “It’s like a hobby. My girls, they like the attention.”
Trey chuckled and carefully picked up Lilly and brought her up to his face. Lilly didn’t squawk, but she gave Trey a brief peck on his finger. Then she rested her neck on his finger and closed her eyes. “I think she likes me,” he murmured, looking so pleased that Cassidy couldn’t help but chuckle.
“She does. She can scent that you’re mine.”
“Good to know.”
“What brings you out here? I thought you were workin’ late tonight?”
Trey placed his booted foot on the railing and took over rocking. Cassidy sensed Trey was giving himself time to figure out what to say, so he stayed silent. Even though they hadn’t spent lots of time together since the mating, Cassidy had watched Trey and figured he knew him better than some. Content just to be close, he went back to watching the sun sink behind the mountains.
“Did you hear ole man Granger is selling his small holding down on the Hudson?”
“Nope.” He glanced back at Trey. “I did hear he had a nasty fall and went to stay with his daughter. She buys eggs from the ranch,” he said, by way of explaining how he knew.
“He can’t manage the fifty or so acres he owns, or the cabin he built for his family some years back. It’s a nice place.”
Cassidy couldn’t quite catch his breath, unsure why he got a case of flutters in his belly. “I’m sure it is. His place is right on the river and the land down there, I hear, is good for rearin’ animals.”
“Yep. The place could be ideal for someone who might want their own”—he shrugged—“place to raise their chicks.”
Cassidy’s jaw dropped when what Trey was saying registered. He attempted to speak, coughed, then swallowed hard enough to make his Adam’s apple bob madly.
“Chicks?” he squeaked, blushing hard as Trey got up and placed Lilly on the cushion next to Bubba. All his animals were watching Trey as he crouched in front of Cassidy.
“Yep, though you can raise whatever suits. I don’t have no preferences.” His gaze dropped to Cassidy’s middle and several things registered at once, making his mouth water.
Pups.
Pups.
What did you mean by pups?
Really? You couldn’t figure out we’re pregnant. How?
“I am?” he bellowed, unsettling all the chicks in his lap. They very loudly let him know they weren’t happy as they flapped and jumped off him, squawking up at him from both sides. Bubba grunted and snorted, rolling off the cushion, making Luna hop off or get squashed.
“I am?” Trey asked, sounding confused.
And so he should be, when all Cassidy could do was stare at him with everything slotting into place. “Pregnant!” Cassidy exclaimed, uncaring that others were in their cabins and might hear him.
Trey placed a hand on top of his T-shirt and offered him a warm smile. It filled Cassidy up so much he felt he was brimming with… love. “My wolf, he left me know for sure last week?—”
“Last week!” Back was the squeak. “Why didn’t you say anythin’?”
Trey gave him a pleading look. “I was gonna. Then you didn’t mention it, so I thought I’d wait till you were ready. Except I had this idea ‘bout doin’ this properly.”
“Doin’ what?” It was Cassidy’s turn to be confused. He somehow or other had gotten lost, and he’d be having words with his animal half as soon as he caught his breath!
Trey shifted. One knee went to the porch as he dug a hand into the back pocket of his jeans. “Proposin’.”
Cassidy couldn’t get his lungs to work. “We’re mates,” he gasped past the ball of emotion waiting to tumble out of control, along with the tears making his eyes ache.
“Don’t mean that I don’t wanna marry ya.” Trey held a tiny black pouch. “We may have gone ‘bout this in reverse. Sex then datin’, not that we’ve done much of that, but I’m hopin’ to change that.” He tipped the pouch, and a ring tumbled out. Cassidy could see it was not a traditional metal. “When you walked into my bar, you changed me in ways I wasn’t expectin’. Changed what I wanted from life. I hired someone to help Kendrick manage the bar, to free up my evenin’s. And the last piece, I wanted a place, a home for us. For our family.”
Cassidy’s breath shuddered out of him at having things he’d never thought possible. Secret wishes he tucked in his heart unfurled in front of him like the gift the wolf on his knee was to him.
“I bought land and a home today, cause I want a life with you. One where we go to bed together and wake every mornin’ wrapped in each other’s arms.”
“More like star fishin’ me,” Cassidy choked out past the ball of emotions attempting to steal his ability to breathe.
“That too,” Trey chuckled. He plucked the ring out of his palm, holding Cassidy’s stare. “This is a wolf totem. It’s made of several crystals, carved and melded together for a mate's protection. When you wear this, you’ll truly be mine in every way.”
Cassidy’s sniff was undignified, because he had no control over it or the next one as Trey took hold of his hand. The warmth of the skin touching his made it real even before the words.
“Be mine.”
There were words inside Cassidy, he knew there were, but he had no clue where and he couldn’t get his lips to cooperate. In the end, he gave up and nodded.
“I need words, my little chick.”
Cassidy swallowed to wet his mouth, tears streamed down his cheeks. “Yes,” he croaked in a hoarse whisper. Then louder, “Yes.”
Trey slipped the ring on and it fit perfectly. The weight and feel of it pressing against his skin left Cassidy unable to stop the sob as he heard cabin doors open and the sounds of voices.
Trey rose and scooped him off the seat, seemingly uncaring of the audience they now had. He didn’t take his gaze off Cassidy as he called out, “Someone take care of Cass’s family for him, we’re gonna be busy for a while.”
Cassidy buried his face in Trey’s neck, overwhelmed, and not from just the proposal, but that Trey would understand that the chicks and Bubba were his family. And that he would make sure someone looked after them.
As Trey carried him into the cabin, Cassidy heard Sunny say, “Don’t worry, Cass, I got you covered.”
Then, as Trey booted the door shut, he heard Zippy call out, “Where do I find a mate like that?”
“Darling Ranch,” someone else replied, laughing, “if you look hard enough.”
“No,” Cassidy murmured as they stopped in his bedroom, “Ranch-Down is where I found mine.”
“Darn straight.” Trey’s nose rubbed against the side of his neck, down to the claiming bite. “Best thing that bar ever gave me.”
Cassidy couldn’t argue with that.