Page 44 of Can't Be Love

“What? Ruby,” her mother scolded.

Zach looked away and tried to change the subject quickly as his daughters all stared at him. He cleared his throat. “Congratulations, son.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” I interrupted. “What’s the bet up to, and what were the rules?”

“Lily,” Maddie started to threaten, but I shushed her because I really wanted to know.

“I think it’s over five hundred dollars, and the bets are on when you’d seal the deal,” Shelby said as Cora quickly began apologizing to me on behalf of her children.

“Hold up now, seal the deal, as in seal our bond, or just sex?” I asked.

“Oh sweet Lord, what is happening to this family?” Cora said dramatically.

Lizzy choked on a drink and shot water through her nose. Ruby and Shelby just laughed, as Maddie tried to smooth things over.

“Seal the bond,” Clara finally spoke up. “The pool has date and time.”

My shoulders sagged and I shook my head. “Give them back their money, Ruby,” I said, turning my neck to show there was no mark there. Several people groaned.

“Yes,” Zach said. “I’m still in it.”

“Zachary Collier.” Cora turned to him with her finger wagging in his face, but he just snagged her around the waist and planted a kiss on her lips. Her cheeks were pink, but she was radiating with happiness from her mate’s attention. I wondered if that’s what I looked like to them.

“I was so sure it was going to happen today. What went wrong?” Ruby whined.

“Ask him to explain it. Was not my decision,” I confessed.

“Lily,” Thomas and Liam both warned in unison.

“What? I thought we came for a nice family dinner. You guys are the ones that bombarded us, not the other way around.”

“Lily Ann, we really need to work on getting you a filter,” Maddie said, laughing and hugging me. “I’m so happy we’re going to be sisters again, though.”

I rolled my eyes. “Me mating Thomas does not make us any more sisters than we already are.”

Shelby joined in and hugged us both, and so did Peyton. “Maybe not, but it does for the rest of us,” Shelby said.

“You guys are really okay with this?” I asked, feeling overwhelmed.

“Look,” Ruby said. “Someday we’ll have five more brothers added to this family, but we’ll only ever have one last sister. You and Maddie have been practically inseparable since you were just little pups. We all watched you grow up. You’ve always been family. When Maddie was gone, we clung to you every chance we got, holding on to just a small part of her. I think I can speak for all us when I say that there is no one else on this planet that we would rather see Thomas officially bring into this family. No one.”

The girls all hugged me, and I was teary eyed by the time Thomas’s strong arms wrapped around me. He kissed the top of my head, but quickly tried to diffuse the situation.

“I’m really happy you guys are happy, and I promise we’ll make it official soon, but right now, I’m starving, and I know Lily is, too. Can we please just eat dinner?”

“Amen to that, brother,” Liam said, giving Thomas a fist bump.

We all settled down to dinner. There was more light bantering and it turned out to be a fun evening. I felt right at home with the Colliers. I always had, but this time it felt even more right if that was possible.

The evening ended much too soon. We said goodbye to Patrick shortly after dinner. Lizzy and Ruby drove him to the airport while the other girls left to head to the bar in town shortly after. They invited me and Thomas to tag along, but we declined, not quite ready for such a public appearance. Maddie and Liam said goodnight when Sara was ready for her final feeding. Oscar had already crashed on the couch, and I watched as my brother carried his son to bed.

My head rested on Thomas’s shoulder as we sat on the couch talking to his parents.

“I’m glad the others took off early, son. I needed to discuss something with the two of you,” Zach said when it was just the four of us. “Tulok called and said he could use a little help for a few days and was wondering if you were available. He’s having a bit of trouble with something, but didn’t go into details. I had to explain about your situation, but he assured me that Amka would be most thrilled to meet your new mate. I would be surprised if you didn’t already know Tulok and Amka of the Alaskan Pack, Lily.”

“Yes, of course. It’s been a few years since I last saw them, but I have fond memories of the both of them.”

“Would you mind taking a trip up and seeing what we can do to help?” Thomas asked, and it warmed me that he was considerate enough to ask me before making a decision for the two of us.

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