8. Poe
8
POE
W e pull up to the Wolfsbane family home—compound, really—overlooking Oak Harbor, and I turn to Thorin. “Are you sure that we shouldn’t have called first?” I ask as I open the door.
He gets out on his side and gives me his most wolfish grin over the roof of our rental car. “For the hundredth time, yes, I'm sure, my love. If you think my reaction to being treated like shit by my ex was bad, you should’ve seen theirs. My mother, the kindest soul on the planet, wanted to rip her throat out. They need to meet you and to know that this is different.”
“Thorin?”
My eyes widen as Celia Wolfsbane, Thorin’s stunning, silver-haired mother, sprints down the front porch steps to us. “What are you doing here?” she asks, delighted as tears stream down her face. “I thought you wouldn’t be here until the holidays.”
Thorin’s smile is soft and so full of love as he gathers her up in a big hug. “I couldn’t wait until then. There’s someone I need you to meet.”
His mother turns her glowing eyes to me. She’s a wolf-shifter, there’s no doubt of it, and her hair shines iridescent in the afternoon sun.
“You have the most stunning hair I’ve ever seen,” I gasp, unable to stop staring. “Is this what Thorin’s hair will look like as he gets older?”
“Uh, yes,” she says, probably weirded out that I’m looking at her like she’s a goddess. Because hello, she is. “And who are you?”
I grimace at the growl in her tone and look to Thorin for help. He laughs and lets go of his mother, pulling me into his arms. “Mom, this Poe Ravenswood.”
“Son,” she says, concern lowering her voice, “another avian? So soon? I thought…”
Her words drift off, and I ruffle my fingers through my hair, awkward.
“Yes,” Thorin answers proudly. “Poe is a raven shifter. More importantly, though, he’s my… mate.”
A line appears between his mother’s brows, and she shakes her head. Shit. Will she not accept us?
“Wait, what?” she asks, still confused.
“Poe is my fated mate.”
Understanding lights her eyes, and she comes at me so quickly that I barely have time to throw my hands up. “It’s not what you?—”
“A fated mate?” She pulls me into a bracing hug. “My stars, what a blessing!”
After several life-flashing-before-my-eyes seconds of being crushed by a powerful wolf shifter, Thorin clears his throat.
“Mom. Let him breathe.”
She immediately lets me go, then takes my face in both hands as I suck in air. “I’m so sorry, dear. I’m just… shocked. Amazed. Stunned, really.”
“That was your son’s response as well, Mrs. Wolfsbane.”
She snorts. “Mrs. Wolfsbane is my mother-in-law, deary. You can call me Celia. And tell me—how badly did my son freak out when you discovered this… compatibility?”
I caw, ignoring Thorin's affronted look. “He did not take it well at all. Threw a proper fit and ran away,” I say, glossing over all the fucking we did in and around his freak out.
She laughs, slapping her thigh before bringing me in for a softer, less bone-crushing hug. “Oh my . You, Poe, are a miracle. And you should know that his dad and I share the blame for his lack of preparedness. We haven’t had a fated mate in generations.”
“No worries, Celia. I brought him up to speed.”
Thorin flushes a violent red as he makes the quit it gesture at his neck. “ Poe .”
Celia laughs even harder. “I love it! Do you know how hard it is to make my son blush?”
I share a look with Thorin. We got a little experimental just before the trip, and it had been eye-opening, to say the least. As it turned out, my big, bad wolf rather enjoyed the electric stim nipple suckers and had no complaints when I found his prostate with my cock .
“Poe,” he wheezes. “I beg you.”
Just as I am about to put him out of his misery, another shifter appears on the front porch, his hair pure white.
“Thorin? Son? Is that you?”
Thorin got his build and bone structure from his dad and his good looks from his mom, that much is obvious. As his dad ambles down the steps, Celia runs up to him and points me out.
“He’s been fated, Cannon. Our son has a fated mate.”
Cannon Wolfsbane stops and stares at me for a solid minute, absolutely speechless. “Son…” he finally says, his voice cracking as his eyes find Thorin’s.
Thorin goes to his father, and they bear hug each other as the elder shifter practically sobs at the news, just like my dad did. Tears streak down my face, and Celia wraps her arm around me.
When father and son finally release each other, Cannon rushes over to greet me, and this time I don’t act like I’m about to be attacked.
“Goddess, what a blessing,” he says, pulling me into a standard, non-life-threatening hug. “And a raven, too. Natural ally to the wolf.”
“My favorite kind of shifter,” Celia says, rubbing her husband’s shoulder.
I finally let out a breath and turn to Thorin. “I can see why you’d want to surprise them with the news.”
Celia and Cannon laugh, and we join them.
Thorin rescues me from his parents’ embrace, pulling me to his side. “Poe’s family are fated, and his parents have many lovely ways of welcoming new bond mates. So, whatever we don’t know, I’m sure they’ll happily share their knowledge.”
Celia claps her hands in delight. “Maybe we should invite them for the holidays? Or, perhaps we can join you in Texas?” she asks, looking at me.
I hold up my hands. “I’m certain my parents will insist on inviting you down to their lake house for the holiday. Honestly, I’m surprised they didn’t stow away in my bags to come up and meet you in person.”
Thorin thins his lips and looks away.
“They already insisted on coming, didn’t they?”
He grins, flashing his canines. “What can I say?” He pulls me into a kiss, ignoring his mom’s wolf whistle. “I can hardly resist you. How am I supposed to resist an entire conspiracy of Ravenswoods?”
We kiss, and I know without a doubt that I am the luckiest shifter on the planet.