Page 43 of Tempest

“So you can dive down and catch it before it hits the ground and impress the person that you want to be with, show them your prowess, and then gift them the stone afterward.”

“Why don’t you do it?”

“Because, well, for one thing, it probably wouldn’t mean anything to a feline who lives only among other felines, so the gesture wouldn’t be the same.”

“It would still mean something to you,” Robbie insisted, poking him in the chest with his finger. “Cash is smart. He’s traveled a lot for pack business. He might know what it means. And if he doesn’t, you explain it to him.”

Ore shrugged and slipped the stone back into his pocket. “There’s also the fact that he’s keeping distance between us.”

“How much distance could he be keeping? You guys live together.”

“No,” Ore corrected sadly, “I’m staying with him temporarily. Once my memories are back, all bets are off, but I’m guessing it’ll be ‘sayonara, kid,’ and I’ll be shown the door.”

Robbie chewed on his lower lip, frowning out at the water, where the screaming and laughing was still going strong. “Then he’s an idiot.”

“No, he’s not,” Ore snapped. He appreciated his friend sticking up for him, but he didn’t want him bad-mouthing Cash to do it.

Robbie held up his hands in surrender, grinning. “Easy, birdie. I’m just saying, if he lets you get away, then he’s not as smart as I thought he was.”

“He might not have a choice.”

Robbie’s eyes turned sad and distant. Ore had to wonder again how someone as wonderful as Robbie felt so hopeless about love. Were the people he’d fallen for already in relationships? Maybe they were human like Robbie. Ore knew humans could be a lot more strict about sexuality—maybe they were men who identified as straight or women as gay. Or a combination.

Either way, the fact that both of them were wallowing in self-pity was dragging him out of his happy headspace that the cubs, Cash, and the lake had given him.

Robbie sucked in an excited breath and grabbed Ore’s hand, giving it a quick squeeze. “Let’s get out of here.”

“And go where?”

“Back to Cash’s. But we have to stop at the store. We need supplies.”

“What kind of supplies?” Ore was a little worried about the gleam in his friend’s eyes.

“The cookie dough kind.”

Chapter 12

Cash

Full moon runs were one of his favorite things, hands down.

In fact, there were only a handful of things—like his Pops and now Ore—that even came close to comparing. There was just something about the pull of the moon when she was at her fullest and most beautiful that called to his animal side. It was the one time he truly let himself run free, shrugging off the shackles of his responsibilities and giving himself completely over to his panther.

This month was even more special, and the little bird walking next to him and gripping his hand with both of his own was the reason.

Ever since he’d come home from the lake the other night and found cookies burning in his oven while Ore and Robbie sat on the floor up in the loft, completely oblivious, thanks to the stringent scent of nail polish and the blaring music coming from the sound system in the living room, he hadn’t been able to keep his hands off his bird.

Not because Ore had almost burned his house down but because he’d overheard what Ore had said at the lake when he’d been talking to Robbie on the shore. He hadn’t meant toeavesdrop, but his panther was so in tune with the eagle that he couldn’t have stopped himself from hearing if he’d wanted to.

Ore wanted to drop a stone for him.

He’d been confused until he’d explained to Robbie the significance, and then he’d been bursting with joy. Despite Ore being afraid that it wouldn’t mean anything to Cash, or that even if it did, it might not be enough to keep them together if the pack drove them apart, he couldn’t help but feel overwhelmingly happy.

He wasn’t sure exactly why it changed things so much for him, but it was like a switch had been flipped inside him. Before, he’d been holding himself back, not letting himself fully recognize the pull toward Ore that he’d experienced since the day he’d collapsed in the woods in front of him.

But after hearing Ore admit that he felt the same way, that he wanted the same things, Cash couldn’t hold back anymore.

He didn’t know exactly what that would mean for their future. He just knew he would do whatever it took to keep Ore in his life and to make him his completely. He just had to figure out how to talk to Liam about it, but he’d wait for another night. He planned on fully enjoying the pack run with his soon-to-be mate too much to bother stressing about the future.

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