Page 86 of Shattered

He palmed her ass and gave a squeeze. “Later, I plan on running with you.”

She shivered. “Promise?”

“Definitely.”

“So, you guys just walked in the door on your father and his mate?” Rapier laughed. “Fuck, this family.”

Charisma scowled. “It wasn’t like I was prepared for it.”

“To her defense, I wasn’t sure if it was possible to, you know,” Jefferson stumbled. His cheeks were beet-red and Jochi appeared contrite by his side. “Knot my mate.”

“And you,” Rapier turned his attention to Mackenzie. “You, old fart. You went and ended up getting a mate since I kicked your ass off the site.”

Mackenzie flipped him off. “I could still take your feline ass any day of the week.”

“Pervert,” Rapier said, placing his hand to his chest. “My ass only belongs to my loving kitten. Right?”

“Yes, Daddy,” Jasmine answered.

Rapier growled. “Bad kitten, getting me all kinds of hard while in front of our friends and family.”

Kalkin snorted. “Stop being a modest fucker—”

“Language,” Keeley chided.

Mackenzie glanced at Aurora who was grinning like a fool. He relaxed. Everyone was in rare form. He hoped they didn’t scare her off, but watching her, he could see she was enjoying herself. “Aren’t we all a little old for the language talk?”

Keeley waggled her finger at him. “Mackenzie Raferty, there are still babies in this family.”

“We know, you’re carrying one right now,” Mackenzie quipped.

Keeley’s mouth fell open. “Kalkin Raferty, you asshole! W—”

“Language,” Mackenzie and Rapier said at the same time.

“I’ll deal with both of you later.” Keeley turned her ire on her mate. “We were going to wait until we figured out what was happening to Hayden.”

Kalkin gave her a blank look. “I’m sorry?”

“No, you’re not,” Keeley snapped.

“Well, if it’s all the same,” Hayden said. “We’re okay. We have our two beautiful children, and now that we know what the issue is, we’re good.”

“Fine,” Melody said, standing. “Rashid and I are expecting, too.”

The room exploded in cheers and congratulations as Rashid kissed her. Putting Hayden and Nico’s unique situation aside, fertility in shifters wasn’t an issue, unless there was a horrible trauma, like in the case of Danielle or even Mackenzie. Melody, however, had been through a lot as a young coyote including being used for years as a bait toy for a pack of pit bulls. When Rashid met her, she’d only been free a couple of years.

“I can’t thank you enough, Danielle,” Melody said. “You were so dedicated to helping us.”

“You’re welcome,” she said. “I’m happy it worked out for you.”

“Have you told Shelby?” Hayden asked.

Melody nodded. “We did this morning.”

“Well, shit, we’re going to be a regular menagerie here,” Christoph piped up. “Between our cub and yours,” he motioned to Keeley and Melody, “we’ll have our hands full.”

Mackenzie took Aurora’s hand in his. A lightness filled him. It’d been close to thirty years since he’d felt the sensation, and he knew the biggest reason he sat there with his family was because of her. When she looked up at him, he winked. Her cheeks turned a pretty shade of pink, and he grinned. Damn, it was good to feel like he finally belonged.

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