Page 17 of Slay All Day

Demi clapped her hands together, bouncing on the balls of her feet. “Plus, you’ll want to have a spare bedroom for when we come to visit our grandbabies.”

“Uh-huh.” Denica looped her arm around mine. “See how she was all worried about seeing me right up until you started talking about babies, and then her priorities changed?”

“Speaking of babies,” Dean drawled, heading over to the front cab of the truck to reach inside and grab a soft-sided carrier off the middle of the bench seat. “We brought yours.”

Denica rushed over to unzip the side. She pulled out a fluffy tabby and rubbed her cheek against its face. “Hey, Cara. Did you miss your mommy?”

My fierce dragoness looked so fucking adorable cuddled up to her cat. I had a huge grin on my face when she carried her pet over to me. “I’m going to get so much shit from the guys for having a fluffy cat.”

“Be glad she isn’t a dog, or they’d give you a lot more.” She didn’t seem worried about the potential slights against me as she pressed the cat against my chest so I’d hold her.

“Fuck yeah, they would.” Cara stiffened, her nails extending as she let out a little hiss. My tiger pushed close to the surface, and a low growl rumbled up my chest. I stared into her eyes as my animal flashed in mine, and she settled down, letting me cradle her in my arms as I scratched her belly. “But I bet this sweetie will wrap all of them around her little paw, so they won’t be able to say too much to me about her.”

“She does have a habit of doing that,” Dean confirmed.

Demi nodded. “She’s also an escape artist. You should probably put her in a room we’re not going to be going in and out of while we’re unloading the truck.”

“I’ll put her in the master bathroom.” Denica snagged the cat and headed inside the house before we got down to work. It took almost all day, but with some help from Jake and Owen, we were able to switch out a bunch of my furniture for her stuff, unpack all the boxes she wanted opened, and store everything we didn’t need in an empty barn on the outskirts of town.

We were all sweaty and tired as we pulled up in front of the house in the now-empty truck, and there was a big guy sitting on the porch. It took me a moment to recognize him, but Denica didn’t have the same problem. She flung the passenger side door open and jumped off my lap while I was still trying to place him. “Damien! I wasn’t expecting to see you so soon.”

Denica had shared with me the reason why her brother hadn’t been available to come to help us with our vampire problem, so I was as surprised to see him as she was. Finding his mate was his top priority ever since he’d first caught a trace of her scent, and rightly so. After his mom and dad greeted him—and his dad gave him shit for arriving right after all the work was done—Denica and her parents headed into the house, leaving just Damien and me on the porch. He clamped his hand on my shoulder, his lips curving up in what was probably supposed to be a smile but looked more like a grimace. “I like you for my sister, Trey.”

I hadn’t been sure what kind of reception I would get from Denica’s brother when he found out we were mates, but I hadn’t expected a warm welcome from the council’s head enforcer. He wasn’t exactly known for being friendly. “Thanks.”

His hold on me tightened to the point of pain. “But if you ever hurt her, I’ll fucking kill you.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less.” I pounded my fist against my chest, over my heart. “She’s everything to me, man. And I hope to fuck you’ll soon understand how much I mean that when you find your mate.”

15

Denica

It had been amazing to have my mate, brother, and parents under the same roof last night. We’d had dinner together and stayed up late while they shared all sorts of embarrassing stories from my childhood with my mate. Even better was that since my family was here, Trey had made arrangements with Connor to have our claiming ceremony today. With both Trey’s alpha and my father—who was the alpha of our hold—present, we were including a mixture of tiger and dragon shifter traditions.

Trey and I stood facing each other as he wrapped a brown leather cord around our wrists. Bronze charms had been attached to each end—a tiger on one side and a dragon on the other. My family and most of Trey’s streak stood a few feet away from us on our left. Connor was on our right as he placed his palm on top of Trey’s hands, which were wrapped around mine. “Trey and Denica, you’ve joined hands today as a symbol of your mating. These are the hands of the person who was destined to be yours. Their hands will provide strength when you need it. They will hold your cubs, encouraging them as they grow. And they will hold you tight when times get tough.”

I felt his words deep in my soul, and a tear dripped down my cheek. Trey lifted his hand to brush it away, taking mine and Connor’s with him. When the alpha chuckled, my mate sent him a quelling look before turning back to me and murmuring, “My hands will always be there to wipe the tears from your eyes.”

The women in the crowd sighed in appreciation, and my mom cooed, “Aww, that was sweet. Fate was so good to my daughter.”

I giggled as Trey lowered our hands again. Shaking his head, Connor continued, “As the alpha of your streak, I bless these hands. May they always be held by one another.”

After Connor took several steps back, I called upon my dragon’s magic and sent a stream of fire out to light the candles that had been placed on the ground in a circle around us. “Forever and beyond.”

My dad moved close and pressed his palms against our shoulders as Trey and I stared into each other’s eyes. “From this day forward, may you bask in the beauty of your mating. May its light give you courage in the darkness and warmth through all of your days together. May the brightness of its flame shine forever and beyond.”

The glow from the candles extended into the air until the flames circled over our heads before racing higher to form the shape of a dragon. When it burst into sparks that lit the sky, I felt a rush of power surge through my body.

The claiming was complete—twice over—and the bond between Trey and me was cemented in place. My sexy mate unwrapped the cord holding our hands together and wrapped it around the back of my neck to pull me closer. Bending down, he captured my mouth in a deep kiss, our tongues tangling together as I gripped his shoulders. It felt as though the world had narrowed to just the two of us until our loved ones interrupted.

When everyone rushed forward to offer their congratulations, Trey nipped my bottom lip before ripping his mouth from mine. My mom and dad hugged me while several members of Trey’s streak clapped him on the back. Once that was all done, my parents led us over to a buffet spread that had been set up on the back porch. They’d gone all out with grilled steaks and about a dozen side dishes ranging from sauteed mushrooms to potatoes au gratin—something I could never resist whenever my mom made them.

Food was apparently a big part of tiger shifter claimings, but not so much for dragons. That hadn’t stopped my mom from wholeheartedly jumping into the tradition, though. She’d been cooking up a storm since the wee hours of the morning, and all of her hard work had paid off. Everyone lingered after the claiming ceremony to enjoy the big feast, which allowed me to get to know more members of the streak I was joining while Trey spent time talking to my family.

Several hours later, I finally had the chance to approach Connor because the crowd had finally started to thin out. “Thanks for setting this up for us so quickly. I really wanted Damien here for the claiming, but he needs to get going soon.”

Connor glanced over to where my brother and mate were standing side by side. “Is he still having trouble with whatever he was taking care of on the West Coast when we called the council for help with the vampires?”

---