Page 21 of Blue Moon Mistress

“Seriously?” Thomas asks, a wry smile on his pretty face.

He still reminds me of a human golden retriever. Today, he’s in running shorts and tennis shoes. An old football championship t-shirt half way over his chest—he tugs it down as he steps fully into the room.

“Yep, since I was ten.”

“Do you want us to…” Joshua looks from me back down to the meat, almost as if it’s started to slither.

“Remember, I know what you are, and I know what you need. I’m not offended by the carnage in your fridge.”

There’s a lull as Chase grabs a cup of coffee, and Joshua starts seasoning their breakfast.

Johnny fills the void. “Mrs. Miller stopped by.”

Thomas cringes and Chase’s face sours. I don’t see Joshua’s reaction with his back to me.

“I don’t think I was a welcome sight.” I say before taking another drink of the coffee. “Think she’ll bring her priest home to exorcise me if I’m not gone before she gets back?”

“She has granddaughters of an ‘acceptable age’—her words, not mine. I think she has plans for us.” Thomas rolls his eyes as he sits at the table tucked into the corner.

“For three of us,” Chase corrects, running a hand through his blue-black hair and adding a ton of sugar to his coffee. “There’s one person living in this house she’d like to see relocated.”

Joshua doesn’t turn around when he says, “She thinks he’s gay.”

“I apparently look the part.” He flashes me a hollow smile. “Which would be fine, if she wasn’t a proponent of conversion therapy and praying the gay away.”

Leaning across the counter to him, I press a soft kiss to his lips and smile at his wide-eyed expression when I pull back. “I like how you look.”

I’d guess he didn’t fit Mrs. Miller’s definition of masculinity due to a combination of his slight build, long dark hair, and pale skin that made his eyelashes look fake. Add to that his piercings and the fact that he tended to wear weirdly colored belts…

The smallest of the pack, Chase looked like he was still in college.

But when I researched the pack to convince them to do last night’s ritual, I’d been surprised to find that he was over forty. It was a marker that he might be the one turned longest ago.

“Is there something wrong with her granddaughters?” I ask, not sure I actually want to know.

“Wouldn’t know,” Thomas says. “Never met them.”

Joshua shoots me a glare. “And I think we all need to have a long talk before any of us start talking about dating other people.”

He steps out back and I hear the screech of a barbecue opening.

Three days ago—when I’d decided to offer the part of the spell that had bound their transformation to me—I hadn’t really thought about what would happen afterward. Some part of me assumed we’d go back to the lives we’d lived before and maybe one or two of them would drop by occasionally…

Joshua comes back, warming grill fully visible through the windows. His gaze pierces me. “How did you see this going?”

“Because I, for one,” Johnny says, a little more firmly than I’ve heard before. “Would like to keep seeing you.”

I meet his eyes, and he adds. “On a consistent basis.”

“We all would.” Chase says, refilling my coffee cup. “It seems a little silly to say ‘exclusively’, but…” he shrugs, and I don’t know what we’d call it either.

“Last night was intense.” I don’t know if we should make any commitments. And being with them would only pull them into the path of my coven… Something that could put them in more danger than the full moon. But, “I’m willing to try it out. If we pump the brakes a little bit.”

“What would that mean?” Joshua’s jaw is tight.

“We can hang out, in varying numbers, and go on dates or whatever, but… I’m not your girlfriend.”

Thomas nods as though it’s perfectly acceptable, but the other three frown.

---