Page 34 of Her Shifter Babe

I followed after him and sat in the black leather armchair, throwing the rest of my whiskey back and hissing at the sting. “Yeah, me too. That would have been a hell of a lot easier than all of this.”

We sat there for a moment in a quiet state of tentative peace. But I had to know what had happened between Stacey and David. Even though it made no sense for me to continue to feel jealous... I’d already not only had sex with Stacey, but gotten her pregnant to boot, so if David had sealed the deal tonight, so to speak, how could I even dare complain?

I want us to be a throuple, don’t I?

“I didn’t mate with her tonight,” David said suddenly as if reading my mind. “I wanted to, but I didn’t.”

Well, he’d evidently done something with her, that much was obvious. But now, the “what” wasn’t the question I wanted to ask anymore. What I really needed to know was— “Why not?” I asked, my brow furrowed.

David sighed deeply and leaned back against the couch cushions. “Because it felt wrong. We’re meant to be a family, Tommy, and you might not have known she was our mate when you met her, but I do now. She’s mine, she’s yours, she’s ours. And that should be celebrated, together. We need to do this right for our girls and for our future moving forward.”

I smiled as I leaned forward and grabbed the bottle he was nursing, sloshing more amber liquid into our glasses. “I couldn’t have said it better myself, brother.”

David stared at me for a long, intense minute. “We found her, Tommy. We’ve got her. Finally. Now. Already, and I... can’t believe it. We’ve been wanting this woman our whole lives and suddenly, she’s just here.” He shook his head in wonder.

I couldn’t help but smile. It was a truly astounding time in our lives.

We continued to drink in silence for a while, enjoying the comfort of knowing that we’d found the woman we’d waited decades for. That needed to be celebrated. My brother was right. Hell, if I had my way I’d shout it from the rooftops. But there was more to deal with here than just the normal mating rituals. We had a baby on the way, and that would create a whole new dynamic and set of obstacles to overcome.

“I want to buy a bigger house,” I said, needing to voice my concerns for the future. “Closer to Mom and Dad, maybe?”

Though, I didn’t want to be too close to them. Everywhere in town was practically ten minutes away from everything else, anyway, so we didn’t need to be living on their doorstep, but a bit closer for the sake of support and babysitting assistance would be amazing.

David nodded slowly, the cogs of his mind starting to spin, and he thought of something. “You know, I noticed there’s one for sale a few doors down from Wade and Tanner’s new place,” he suggested casually.

I grinned. “Not too close to Mom and Dad then.”

David grinned, an amused glint in his dark eyes. “But close enough for babysitting, huh?”

I groaned. “Yeah, God. Babysitting. We’re going to need it. I can’t believe I’m going to be a father.”

David made a wounded sound upon hearing my words.

It had me instantly regretting my turn of phrase. “Shit. Sorry, man. I didn’t mean...”

“Yes, you did,” he corrected. “I get it. And I don’t want you to think that I’m trying to steal your thunder or anything, but if we’re going to try and make this family thing work...”

“Then Stacey’s baby is ours,” I said, feeling more resolute in my words now. “That’s how it is with perfect pairs. It has to be or there are going to be issues.”

David nodded, his jaw tight. “I’m not saying I won’t be jealous that this baby’s genetically yours, but if you and Stacey still want me to join the family...?”

“We do!” I said. “Well, I know I do. And from what you’ve said, Stacey wants you too.” I was damn certain that David and I wouldn’t even be having this discussion if he wasn’t more solid about Stacey’s feelings than a maybe.

David nodded. “Yeah, she doesn’t quite understand it yet, and we still haven’t told her that we’re shifters, and that’s a bridge we’re going to have to cross at some point—but I believe she wants me too.”

I stared at him for a moment, then shook my head as my eyes widened. “Fuck. I didn’t even think of that.”

He coughed out half a laugh. “That’s because we don’t view it as weird. It’s just our life. But humans do. Tanner told me some time ago that Nancy freaked out when she finally found out.”

Damn... more potential unrest. Crap.

“Well, we have to tell her. She’s going to see us shift or something soon enough.”

“Yep, she is. And our relationship will be better without us keeping secrets from her,” David said, refilling our glasses again.

I was beginning to feel the warm and fuzzy feeling you got when alcohol began to saturate your veins. It was relaxing after such a tumultuous start to our throuple relationship. “So, what’s the plan, then? Get a house, tell her we’re wolves, then fuck her brains out until we’re well and truly mated, so she never wants to leave us?”

David held up his glass in a silent toast. “Not necessarily in that order, but yes,” he agreed heartily.

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