Page 41 of Tempest

Cash shrugged and looked away, but Ore’s sharp eyes could detect the faint blush on Cash’s cheeks. He was so adorable. Reaching over, he ran the back of his fingers down his stubbly cheek and the side of his neck. Scent wasn’t as important to birds, but he knew felines and canines craved the close bonds that could be formed by scenting one another.

A soft purr filled the cab of the truck. A shiver ran down his spine as he grinned, full of happiness, and turned away to look out the window and give Cash a break. “Do you guys have a school here? Or do you have to send the kids to a human school in another town?”

“Most homeschool, actually, but there are a handful that get bused over to the next town. We’d talked about building our own school a couple of years ago when Liam first got here,” Cash added, a thoughtful look on his face. “But Liam put the project on hold when he realized?—”

When he didn’t finish what he was going to say, Ore looked over at him, brows furrowed. “When he realized what?”

Cash sighed. “When he realized the pack wasn’t growing as much as it should be under a strong alpha. Sure, there were some new pregnancies once Liam took over, but otherwise, things haven’t gotten much better.”

“That seems strange. Liam is obviously a competent and strong leader. Why isn’t the pack growing, do you think?”

Silenced filled the truck, and Ore figured he wasn’t going to answer. His eyes caught on a For Sale sign in the window of a building on the corner across from Ginny’s bookstore. It looked cute from the outside, the brick façade well taken care of, the windows big and clear of any clouding, and two huge flowerpots on either side of the entrance. The flowers inside were overgrown and needed some serious TLC, but that wouldn’t be hard to fix.

Without meaning to, he pictured the place as a daycare center, something that would help the pack in the short and long term. If Liam could get more people to join—maybe even some non-cat shifters to freshen things up—Silver Oak would probably explode. The location was in the heart of town, secure with the rest of the pack all around it.

“They won’t let it,” Cash said softly, drawing Ore’s attention back to him.

“Who? The pack?”

Cash nodded. “They’re so stuck in their ways… A pack’s strength comes from its alpha, but an alpha’s strength comes from their pack. If they aren’t fully bonded and in sync, the connection can wither and die.”

He gripped Cash’s forearm. “You all won’t let that happen.”

Everything he had seen and heard about Alpha Amato led him to believe that Cash was absolutely right: he was a strong alpha who would help his pack grow… if they let him.

“I’ll fight like hell to stop it from happening.” His voice was so serious and growly Ore couldn’t help but grin at him.

“I know, baby.”

As they finally crossed the intersection—the place was so dead that time of day no one had come up behind them or driven past—Ore’s gaze was drawn back to the empty storefront. A warm feeling grew in the pit of his stomach, the hair on his arms standing up. He had the strangest sensation that if he wereallowed to stay, that new daycare center would be his. It would be his way of giving back to the pack. He and his soft-hearted mate—who loved cubs so much—would provide care for the youngest and most vulnerable members of the pack.

He didn’t say anything, though he suspected his longing was spewing all over the inside of Cash’s truck based on the weird glances he was getting from him. He forced a serene smile and focused on the water coming into view up ahead of them.

“This is the perfect weather for a day at the lake,” he said cheerfully.

“It is. We’ll probably have to drag the cubs away once it’s time to head home. They never want to quit playing.”

“Of course not,” Ore said, smiling at him gently. “When do kids ever want to stop playing? Especially when they have someone who will play with them and give them his full, undivided attention. As I’m sure you do.”

Cash shrugged, looking a little awkward, and muttered, “I guess.”

Ore bit his lip to hide his smile as Cash steered the truck up down a two-track lane that ran down the left side of Alpha Amato’s house where it sat at the end of the cul-de-sac. They drove right past the house and found a large clearing between the rear and the lake that was half-full of vehicles.

He looked around curiously, spotting what appeared to be several parents lingering with their small children. All of the kids recognized Cash’s truck, some of them beginning to pull off their T-shirts as soon as they saw him, their parents’ hands the only things holding them back from running straight into the water.

Ore laughed and unbuckled. “They definitely seem ready to get wet. Kind of strange for a pack full of cats.”

Cash shot him a look, eyebrows raised. “Most big cats love the water.”

“I was just teasing.” Ore smiled at him sweetly.

Cash huffed as he pushed open his door and stepped down, surrounded within seconds by cubs demanding his attention and wanting to know where he’d been the week before and who was the guy who smelled funny in his truck.

Ore wasn’t bothered by Cash’s reaction to his joke. His panther could be so serious. Ore decided to make it his mission for the day to get him to lighten up and have real fun with the cubs.

He needn’t have worried.

Ore stood on the shore of the lake, his skin drying from his last trip into the water, and he watched Cash swim around the cubs in his shifted form as they shrieked and splashed like they’d been doing for nearly two hours nonstop. The entire time, Cash had been in the water with them, herding them back if they went too far, propping them up if they started to sink, pretending to be a monster as they played pirates.

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