Page 72 of Claiming Her Cougar
Liam: Okay…
Me: You’ll see.
Liam: Pulling up now.
“They’re here,” I say to my brothers and walk to the front door to see Liam and Logan emerging from Logan’s Jeep.
“Hi,” I say to them, “come on in.”
“Wow, this is some house,” Logan says, looking around.“Daphne asked to move in yet?”
Liam follows him, but he doesn’t glance around the entry or anything else.I’m the focus of his attention.I hope Valerie is too deep into her wineglass to notice.
“You know Trevor and Ethan, obviously.This is our sister, Valerie.Valerie, this is Logan and Liam.”Logan moves next to Daphne and slips his hand around her waist, and Liam just stands there awkwardly.In gray sweatpants.Damn it!The man is wearing gray sweatpants, and I’m not supposed to want to jump his bones?Promises to my sister and the need for secrecy be damned.
“Nice to meet you,” Valerie slurs, waving her wine glass.
How much has she had to drink that she’s this drunk?Wolf shifters metabolize alcohol quickly.It takes something like Nana’s special eggnog to knock us on our asses.It’s essentially jet fuel with a touch of nutmeg.A glance in the sink shows a glass with the dregs of eggnog.So the wine is the chaser to the eggnog?This isn’t good.
Trevor follows my gaze and must realize the same thing.
“Ready to go?”he asks the rest of the guys.
Logan nods.
Liam reaches into his pocket and pulls out his wallet and phone.“I forgot to leave these in the car.Okay to leave them here?”He holds them out to me.
“Sure.”I take them from him and put them on the counter.
Daphne and I follow the guys out the French doors in the breakfast room and across the patio.I’ve seen my brothers shift countless times, but I’m dying to see Liam in his cougar form.I’ll never understand the magic that makes shifting with your clothes on possible, but I’m grateful for it.Well, usually.No one wants to see their entire family naked, but I quite enjoy Liam in the buff.
The guys walk across the back lawn and, with a slight cosmic vibration that never fails to cause the hair on my arms to stand on end, shift.
Logan is regal as his golden eagle form takes flight, his massive wingspan casting shadows as he circles above.I shift my gaze to Liam.
“Oh.”I can’t help the sigh that escapes as I take in the tawny form of Liam as a cougar.He’s all sleek feline grace with his muscles rippling as he stalks away on his massive paws.My brothers are big men, and their wolves are huge, but Liam eclipses them both.Wowzers.
Before they enter the tree line, Liam looks back at me.His eyes are the same blue as always but even more vibrant with the black fur rimming them.He gives a wink and a happy kitty chuff, then follows my brothers into the woods.I look up and see Logan flying high above the treetops, soaring in lazy circles.Occasionally, he gives his massive wings a flap, and I swear I hear the leaves rustle from the draft they create.
With the guys off on their adventure, Daphne and I reenter the kitchen.Valerie is still sitting there, but gone is my morose wine-guzzling sister of a few minutes ago.In her place is a furious woman, appearing stone-cold sober, glaring at me.Daphne steps behind me.
“You lied to me,” Valerie spits out.
“What?”I ask.
“You’re sleeping with him.”
“Who?”
“Liam.”
“Okay.I never said I wasn’t.”I keep my voice calm and modulated in hopes it calms Valerie down as well.
“You work together!”she screeches, flinging something at me as I approach the counter.
It’s Liam’s business card.I look around and see Liam’s wallet in front of Valerie.I scoop it up.
“You went through his wallet?What the fuck is wrong with you?”I slam my palm on the counter as my scream tears through the kitchen.Valerie should be grateful for the counter between us because if I could reach her, I’d be yanking out fistfuls of hair.
