Page 29 of Cats and Dogs

Redirecting his attention towards the door, Hunter was surprised to find Rye standing there with Vi and Rain; surprised, because his sense of smell had always alerted him of new arrivals. But Christine was all sorts of distracting.

"Chris? Ian's looking for you. Something about wondering where his favorite knife is."

The woman stared at Rye pointedly but went in, nonetheless.

This was where he was going to get a warning about touching their females. He could stay and break bread with them, but Rye had an issue with him poaching Christine. Or, worse yet, he was wondering whether Hunter was doing it with nefarious intentions.

"Vi, Rain, a minute."

Dismissed, the other females left them to it.

"I'm not Chris' keeper, and she's already going to give me grief for saying anything at all, but let me warn you. If you're sniffing around her because she's hot, no problem. Can't blame a guy for noticing. If you're trying to cozy up to her because you think she's the weakest link in the pride, expect to have your balls cut off. Not by me, not even by Ace. Christine will take you apart piece by piece and laugh while doing it."

He said every word seriously. Like he thought the girl could actually gain the upper hand over him.

Hunter said, "I just like her, man. That's all there is to it. Two adult shifters playing. No ball cutting necessary. But, hey, if I mess up, I'll let her knee me in the junk, promise."

Rye smiled like he knew something Hunter didn't.

"Right. Come in. You're in for a treat. Ian cooked tonight."

Everything people said about wolves eating like it was their last meal was true; he could devour enough to feed four grown regulars, but Ian's cooking transformed his stomach into a bottomless pit. After they'd finished every single bit of lasagna, Ace came out of the kitchen with dozens of cupcakes filled with cream and topped with ganache.

"Are the others on patrol?" he asked, noticing the absence of three pack members.

"Yeah. Ian hid some food for them, wouldn't tell us where, so we can't eat it, too." Daunte sounded distraught at the idea of having to leave some of the lasagna to the others and Hunter's stomach concurred.

From what they all said, he figured than Ian didn't cook often, and that while they generally had sweets every day, from the bakery owned by their Alpha female, Ace didn't often bake at home, either. They'd made tonight special for them, Hunter and Mike.

Once they'd eaten and drunk everything on the table, Ian and Daunte went to put the kids to bed.

Lola didn't like that plan much. She escaped Ian's arms and rushed to Christine, calling a clear, heart-breaking, "Mama!"

Hunter felt like a bolt of lightning had struck him as he watched the little girl jump in Christine’s arms and bury her head in her torso. “Mama puts me to bed.”

"Chris is on vacation for the week, Lola bear."

"That's okay, Ian. You guys do the others; I'll put her to bed."

Hunter's brain was working overtime when Clari interrupted his train of thought. "It must be a little sad for you, considering her mother is your sister, but Lola calls us all that."

Funny, but being upset that someone else had taken his sister's place hadn't even crossed his mind.

"I'm not pissed. I'm glad Lola has a good home. That's what Gwen would have wanted."

"Tell us about Gwen," Ace asked.

Strange. He never spoke about her because no one wanted to hear it. She was a disgrace to their father for having mated a feline; Arthur hadn't so much as said her name in three years.

"She was badass. Could take any female in the pack. But she was also kind. There was a seven-year gap between us, but she always had time for her little punk of a brother, even when she joined the enforcers. She became Head Enforcer very young, the year I left for college. Then we lost touch, because I started to realize that the pack was three centuries backward, and I couldn't stand what they did, what they believed in. I called once a year, maybe. We exchanged platitudes. I didn't even know she'd left the pack until she turned up in Japan."

There was an awkward silence around the table.

"I can't be the only one with a family sob story. Come on, someone else take the mic."

Turned out, everyone had their story; Jas had an evil twin - that, he'd known - Clari, an evil mom; Daunte, an evil sister who promptly whacked him on the head with a toy when he said that. He made light of it, but Hunter read between the lines. Just like there hadn't really been a place for him, from the moment he'd been born, it must have been hard for Daunte to grow up in the shadow of his legendary sibling and his equally notorious father, The Butcher. Even Rye had a pain-in-the-ass brother, Colter.

The only difference was that all their siblings were alive and kicking.

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