Chapter Eighteen
Cassian
It sounded so perfect, eating the same meal together as the first time Red and I had dinner in my living room, but I’d clearly forgotten how much food Jeremy could devour, seemingly without needing oxygen, too.
If I hadn’t already found him ridiculously attractive, this might’ve steered me in the other direction.
Except now that I was fully invested in being his mate, and for life it seemed, I found him… cute.
The juice from the chicken was leaking down Jeremy’s chin as he bit into one of the drumsticks.
I wanted to lean over and lick it off… then I scoffed at myself.
Why had that thought popped into my mind?
Like what the fuck, brain? It was bad enough that I couldn’t decide who I wanted to cuddle with tonight, Red or Jeremy.
Red was cuddly and warm, Jeremy was hot… and also warm. Decisions, decisions.
“What are you thinking about?” Jeremy asked, having finally finished his second chicken.
“If I want to sleep with you or Red tonight,” I answered honestly, then tasted the mashed potatoes Jeremy had ordered. The sauce that came with it was delicious for dipping chicken in.
“Oh, you’ll sleep with Red.” He seemed casual when he said it. Here I’d thought he would be disappointed if we didn’t spend the night all sweaty and glued together.
Damn, now I wanted that.
“Why Red?” I asked, trying to forget the mental image of what Jeremy could do to me while naked.
“He needs time with you, too,” he said, sounding so damn adorable that I leaned into his side.
“Aww, he misses me?”
“Very much,” Jeremy agreed, then kissed my cheek. “You told me you wanted to be my mate, so I’m itching to shift and scent mark you. It’s an instinct thing. It calms me knowing you smell like me.”
Hot damn.
Chicken forgotten, I climbed into his lap, startling him enough that he dropped his drumstick on the floor, then I tilted his head and kissed him.
We both moaned and deepened the kiss. The need to be devoured by him took over and I savored his hands on my hips, his lips on mine, his tongue licking my own. It was so fucking hot. My groin pushed into his, meeting his growing length and making me shiver with anticipation.
This. This was what I wanted most in life.
He broke the kiss, panting for air, his pupils dilated and filled with so much fire, I felt it ignite me.
“If we continue,” he gasped, tightening his hold on me, “then I will claim you right here.”
“I don’t see any problem with that,” I whispered, leaning down to capture his lips again. He allowed me a few blissful seconds of kissing, before he pulled back again.
“I can’t bite you before our claiming ceremony, baby.”
“Claiming ceremony? Please don’t tell me we need to have sex in front of everyone and that it’s totally normal for shifters. I will throw a fit if that’s the case.”
Startled, he laughed. “Oh, my perfect mate. Please don’t ever change.
” He let out a happy sigh. “A claiming ceremony is just where I welcome you into our pack, claiming you as my mate in front of them. It’s a formal way of inviting you in.
Then, afterwards, we’ll go back home and I’ll bite you and truly claim you.
In the privacy of our bedroom, I promise. ”
“Thank God,” I sighed in relief. “I wasn’t about to fight everyone who saw your goods. No matter how delicious they might be, they’re mine now.”
He laughed again. “I do sometimes flash the others; such is the life of a shifter. But you, my darling Cass, are the only one who’s allowed to touch.”
“Ugh, fiiiine. Let them watch, but if anyone looks too hard, I’ll fight them.” Surprisingly, I meant those words. I just prayed they would be fighting me in their human form.
“Deal,” he grinned, then pecked my lips. “I better shift, don’t want to rile ourselves up any more tonight.”
“Maybe a good idea. When are we gonna do the claiming thing, then?”
Ideally it would be tomorrow.
In the morning.
At dusk.
Please and thank you.
“I’ll need to inform the pack of it tomorrow, but maybe three days from now? I’ll ask my dad what he thinks first.”
“Then you better shift now,” I warned playfully.
Jeremy winked as I reluctantly climbed off his lap, then he shifted into Red.
“Damn,” I chuckled, petting his adorable head. “I really missed you.”
I got a lick across my face in return.
“So, is this normal, or?” I asked Ria, who was one of the shifter parents.
“Oh, yes,” Kamille, another mother, said, smiling widely at Red and seven wolf cubs running around playing. “It helps build their bond with the pack, spending time like this with the Alpha.”
“Oh, so it’s like bonding time?” I asked, smiling at them, too.
“It also teaches them who to submit to, should the need arise for that,” Hans, a father explained. “Wolf instincts are always to follow the leader, so it’s important that they know their alpha while they’re young. They won’t follow us just because we’re their parents.”
Huh, that seemed like a lot of responsibility. No wonder Jeremy seemed so stressed by it all.
“Mine is the black one that chases Jeremy’s tail,” Denise, yet another mom gushed, pointing like I would have any doubt who she could mean. It was kind of hard not to know, considering there was one black wolf in a pile of browns.
“They’re all so cute,” I said in response, not wanting to leave any of them out. Look at me being all considerate and stuff.
“They really are,” Milo said, causing the parents to smile wider at his approach. He seemed so confident around everyone, like maybe he had been trained to become Alpha one day too. Maybe it was a thing every Alpha did with their kids? I would need to ask Jeremy about that.
“Milo!” Ria gushed. “Are you here to play with the cubs, too?” she seemed overtly excited about that possibility. Was Milo a sought-after man? He seemed so young, it was a tad icky, but who was I to shame people for who they found attractive.
“Sadly, not today,” he answered, sounding genuinely saddened by it. “I came to speak to Cass, actually. If you’ll excuse us.”
He led me over to one of the trees, still in view of Red and the wolves, but where we could talk more privately. I had no clue what he wanted with me, and from the tension between the brothers, I hoped I wouldn’t be put between them. Milo would lose that fight.
“Anything wrong?” I asked as soon as we stopped walking.
“No, not at all,” he assured me. “I just wanted to hear how you’re doing with everything.”
“Um, you mean the pack? Because I think that’s going well enough.
” And I truly meant that. We’d been here since early morning, eating breakfast with the pack.
Jeremy wanted me to see what a normal day for him looked like.
Since I was his mate, it was my job to be there with him, helping out on pack land as he called it.
Cooking, cleaning, babysitting, whatever was needed.
I liked knowing I had a purpose here, and even if the babysitting was only for Red and the small cubs, I hoped to one day join in on the fun.
“It looks like that to me, too,” he chuckled. “But I was thinking more about you and Jeremy. It can’t be easy finding out shifters exist, and that you’re fated to be with one.”
I frowned at that. I wouldn’t call it fated, but it seemed to fit well enough so I just shrugged. “Everything between me and Jeremy has been easy ever since I became his.”
And it had been. He’d been honest about things with Darius, letting me know I could fully trust him.
“So, does that mean a claiming ceremony is in order?” he teased.
“It does,” I smiled back, taking him a tad by surprise.
“Oh? When are you having it, then?”
“As soon as possible,” I replied with a wider smile than was necessary.
I had the feeling he was trying to create tension between me and Jeremy, likely believing I had no clue what a claiming ceremony was.
But Milo had underestimated my skills in picking out fake friendliness.
I’d worked under my father for too many years not to notice when someone acted sweet to cause drama for their own gain.
A fast red blur came for us and I giggled with delight as I was jumped by my lovely Red. “No licking!” I laughed, trying to dodge the face kissing. He seemed to like that much more ever since I became his mate.
He shifted back on top of me, both of us laughing. That was, until I remembered something. Flipping us both so I was on top, I hurried to sit on his groin, shielding him from view. He got way too excited though, and it made me excited in return.
“Gross!” Milo groaned, hiding his eyes behind both of his hands.
Giggling, I slid out of my denim jacket, then held it around where I sat on Jeremy, trying to hide as much of us as possible.
“You hiding away the goods?” Jeremy laughed.
“I told you those were for my eyes only,” I reminded him, ignoring Milo’s presence.
“I’m totally okay with that. You flipping us around that easily before? Hottest thing ever.”
Milo made a gagging sound. “Please stop.”
Wanting to test my theory from before, I let Jeremy know what Milo and I had discussed before Red jumped me. “Milo and I were just talking about the ceremony when you came running,” I began, smiling innocently Milo’s way.
“Oh,” Jeremy’s brows furrowed.
“And I can’t wait,” I said, leaning down to kiss him, just realizing how this would look to those innocent cubs as our lips met, but it was too late, his lips held mine with an invisible force, making it impossible for me to let go of him.
Milo let out a sigh. “I’ll leave you to it, then.”