Page 12 of Fearless as an Eagle

“That’s two questions,” he teases her with a smirk. “His name’s Owen. He’s a redbone coonhound.”

“Aww, a doggo. I bet that was fun growing up. Did you ever have him shift into his dog and play fetch?” She giggles as she asks and I know, although technically that makes three questions, there’s no way he doesn’t answer.

“Of course, I did. But it wasn’t like I was mean or anything. It was a game we played. He had more fun than I did, I guarantee it.”

The smile that lights up her face at the image makes me wonder if she’d like to play with us in our animal form. I am one hundred percent okay with curling up in her lap as my bunny and letting her pet me. Maybe after this game.

“I’m an only child. Why have more kids when they had the perfect child the first time around?” I interject before she asks Mason more questions.

“Of course,” she agrees. “That’s why my parents had me. They had Alex and thought,Oh no. We can do better.And wouldn’t ya know it, they did.”

“And I’m so glad they did,” I murmur under my breath.

Mia must hear me though, because she smiles at me before turning to Bennett. “What about you, grumpy bear?”

“I come from a long line of bear shifters. My mother, father, and back, as far as anyone can remember, all bears. So it wasn’t surprising when my mom had triplets on the first go. After having me and my two sisters, she decided she couldn’t handle more. We were a bit of a handful.” He shrugs.

“Wow. I bet. I don’t know what I would do if I had multiples my first pregnancy. That’s a lot to throw at a first-time mom.”

“Do you want kids?” Mason asks her.

“Oh… Uhhh… Yeah. I’ve always wanted kids.” She chews on her nails and refuses to look at any of us when she answers.

“Me too,” Mason and I say as one. Bennett remains quiet, but I already know he wants kids. I think he’s scared to open up too much because he doesn’t know if she’s going to reject him or not.

Chapter 10

Mia

Idon’tknowwhyI thought we’d be able to just joke around and ask silly questions. I should have known it wouldn’t be long before they broke out the big guns.Do I want kids?What a tough question. Obviously, if I do, there’s no real reason for me to turn down my fated mates, right? Damn it, Mason. Okay, let’s see if I can get this back on track. Time to steer the conversation away from me and my problems.

“How’d you guys meet?” I know it’s lame, but I’m hoping for a detailed story I can get lost in for just a few minutes. Though I won’t hold my breath.

“We met freshman year of college. Bennett and I were roommates, and Mason and Alex were roommates,” Riley explains. “One night I couldn’t sleep because Bennett was snoring so freaking loud I was going crazy. Won’t lie… I seriously thought about suffocating him with my pillow. But instead, I went for a walk. I was hoping I could just wear myself out until I was so exhausted I wouldn’t even notice him sawing logs on the other side of the room.

“I ended up shifting to my bunny and exploring the woods behind the school. It was dark, and I didn’t notice the trap hidden under a pile of leaves. The teeth of the trap nearly cut my paw off. I squealed so loud I thought I might burst my eardrums. That’s how I met Alex and Mason. They were in the woods and heard me...,” he trails off, lost in the horrible memory.

“Oh my God!” I gasp, covering my open mouth with my hand.

“We rushed him to the hospital that was about five minutes away. It was the longest drive of my life. I didn’t even know who this injured bunny was, but it tore me up to see him in so much pain. Luckily, it wasn’t as bad as it looked,” Mason takes over. “It broke his ankle, and he needed a cast for six weeks, but we were all just happy he didn’t lose his foot.”

“Mason decided I needed someone to look after me and Alex and he were inseparable, so both of them followed me around and helped me get to class. By the time I had the cast removed, they had ingrained themselves in my life and there was no going back,” Riley says, smiling fondly at Mason.

“It’s not like you were a scared little bunny all alone. I was there too,” Bennett grumbles. “But somehow, despite our less-than-friendly introduction, they wormed their way into my heart like a couple of parasites.”

“Wow. I feel the love, man,” Mason chuckles.

“Hey. You know how much I hated you the first few months.” He just shrugs in response.

“You’ve obviously grown on him, Mason,” I say, patting him on the knee.

“Yeah, like a fungus I can’t get rid of,” Bennett mutters.

“Don’t let him fool you. He’s really a lot nicer than he lets on,” Riley tells me conspiratorially.

“I’m sure he is,” I agree, biting my lips together to hold back my grin.

“My turn again. Why don’t you want a mate?”And here I thought Mason was pulling out the big guns, asking me about kids. When really it was Riley I needed to worry about.

---