Page 10 of Prayers for the Prickly

“Eleven,” I said. “My youngest sister was born three months after Olly.”

I watched the confusion play across his face and appreciated him not asking any questions.

“Pops actually had the nerve to ask Mom if she wanted to try for an even dozen and let’s just say that didn’t go well for him,” I said.

August sputtered, snorted, then slapped his knee as he started laughing hard enough to chase away the gulls. “Dude pretty much has his own basketball team.”

“Just about, not that any of us play, but yeah, we’d have enough players if it came down to it.”

“Whoa, okay, so you’re right in the middle then.”

“Yup, which is nice, ‘cause that means Mom has a bunch of other kids to badger about babies before she gets around to me,” I said.

The sober look that suddenly crossed August’s face threw me for a loop, as I tried to backtrack through the conversation to see what I’d said to change the vibe.

“Not ready to be shackled with a mate and family?” August asked.

Oh.

Ohhhh.

Shit.

Well, that explained it then.

Time for some serious backpedaling and a bit of an expanded explanation, too.

“More like not ready to be badgered and browbeaten because I haven’t found mine yet,” I explained. “Though that may no longer be the case.”

“Oh, you think so, do you?”

“I think you smell like I could spend a lifetime licking you and never get tired of the taste.”

Yup, another blurted admission.

I just could not shut up around August.

And there was that feeling in the pit of my stomach again, the one that kept warning me that August was important to me and that I needed to spend time with him and get to know him better.

Mate?

The snarly wolverine voice in the back of my head kept hissing it, but no one in my family was mated to a prey animal, and I was certain that August, with his sweet scent and upbeat disposition, was in fact some sort of critter my kind would feast on if we were all beast, with no humanity to rein us in.

Shifters weren’t supposed to eat one another, or at the very least, they weren’t supposed to make it known that they did. It was frowned upon within the community and a serious faux pas to engage in that sort of behavior when we were supposed to be living in harmony. Old grievances still popped up from time to time, and grudges sometimes took a while to lay to rest when fueled by prejudices. All in all, our little seaside village had always been welcoming to those who wished to live in peace with their neighbors, but there were many families, like mine, who leaned toward similar species.

In my line, they were mostly grizzled looking American wolverines, with a line of Eurasians married in generations back. Several honey badgers clung to the family tree as did other badgers and a Marten that took attitude to a whole other level. How they would take things if I were to try to bring someone as bright and cheerful as August into the midst was something I was still trying to sus out. We were assholes, even if we got along with one another pretty well and enjoyed spending time in each other’s company to the point where I had an old ’92 Sportster in my garage I needed to finish working on so I could get back to riding with Wolverines on Wheels. No, we hadn’t named ourselves that, my oldest nephew had. He had my sister Irene’s temper and my brother-in-law Oden’s snarky attitude. He’d be a teenager next year and goddess help the world once that happened because he was already getting into shit.

“If you seriously think that way about me, then why don’t we grab something for breakfast and get to know each other a little better?” August suggested. “I’ve got questions, and I bet you do, too.”

“I could eat.”

“Good, ‘cause I’m starving.”

My belly took the opportunity to rumble loudly, prompting a little giggle from August.

“Yeah, you and me both, apparently,” I muttered, though the moment August turned and started heading back up the beach, I got a good look at the hip-hugging jeans he was wearing and suddenly found myself wondering if it was food, or August, that I truly wanted to sink my teeth in.

Chapter 4

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