DANTEBack in Alicia’s kitchen, the three of us bantered and there was a lot of “accidental” touching, brushing against one another, and flicking with dishcloths as we put the groceries away and planned our dinner.Alicia and I told Clarissa in Barcombe that we’d prepare the main meal because my Beta mate didn’t want to be confronted with chili. And Clarissa had responded with, “I’ll make dessert.”Alicia was convinced he’d be given a chili coated in melted chocolate which Clarissa said was a thing, but our snow leopard mate insisted that wasn’t what he was preparing. “You’ll love it.”“I can always skip dessert,” Alicia whispered as Clarissa had scoured the supermarket aisles in Barcombe.“I heard that.”“Damn.” Alicia stomped his feet as we left the grocery store. “Snow leopard shifters must have better hearing than bears.”As the kitchen was small, Alicia and I sat at the table and waited for Clarissa to prepare his dish as it had to go in the oven, whereas ours was cooked on the s
“Dante is a good stirrer,” Alicia noted.“You say that because you hate doing it.” If I didn’t have to stand at the stove, I would have chased him around the kitchen until I caught him and planted a kiss on his lips. But my job was to ladle stock and stir until it was absorbed.“My turn to ask you questions.” Clarissa leaned on his elbows while Alicia chopped coriander and grated parmesan cheese. “Can you give me details about your life before Aspen became Alpha?”My stirring hand froze and Alicia edged closer to me. “I’ll sum it up by saying our lives were the complete opposite of what they are now.” What I didn’t say was that Clarissa might not have liked who Alicia and I were before Aspen took over.“Maybe another time,” my Beta mate muttered as he checked the seafood and peas had defrosted.“Sorry, that was thoughtless of me,” Clarissa said and changed the subject.While I resumed stirring, we chatted about our favorite food and colors, though when Clarissa asked us to name our fa
ALICIAI didn’t want to go to work and leave our mate. It felt wrong, the two of us going off together and leaving him alone. Except his work was done alone and mine was with Dante. It took a lot to adjust to all the newness in our lives.But not all. My love for Dante wasn’t new. Letting each other know and freely expressing it was, but the feelings had been there for so long. And now that we could be open about them… that love grew.“Are you sure you don’t need anything before we go?” I asked Clarissa, who was attempting to work.“I have to get this done, so you leaving is what I need.” Clarissa rolled his eyes. “This bid could be big monies.”I didn’t fully understand what he did for work, but what I understood had me in awe. He put visuals to people’s dreams. That was pretty amazing.“See you after work.” I bent down and gave him a kiss. “Love you.”He pulled my head closer and kissed me deeper, mumbling, “Love you, too,” against my lips as the kiss broke.“We ready?” Dante came o
But now that curtain was pulled away. We were more than I ever dared dream—we were mates, and we had the most amazing omega. We could do everything I longed to do and more. He was mine… at last.“I love the idea of us completing my checklist.” I rolled onto my side to look at him. “I had one, you know. Most were silly stuff like climbing trees and watching the sun rise. But some were more than serious, you know?”“Like what we have with Clarissa?” Dante filled in for me.“Yes. I guess. But also no. Like the two of us being together. I want that to be special but also I want that with Clarissa, too, and I hope that you do as well. Do I make any sense at all?” Because it didn’t feel like I did.He rolled onto his side to face me full on. We were both out here, naked, inches apart, and yet this wasn’t sexual at all. It was just as intense and intimate, just in a very different way.He reached over and cupped my cheek. “You want to have this beautiful connection between us with Clarissa,
CLARISSAI wasn’t sure how a bear den worked yet, not the nuances anyway. But being asked to visit the Alpha as soon as my mates were back didn’t sound ideal. Not once had I heard anyone say, “And then the Alpha called me to the Alpha house and threw me a huge surprise party.” Or something equally fun.No, there was an ominous feeling to it. And the worst part was, I had to wait—wait until my mates got back from their errand to the feed store, which left me pacing back and forth.He didn’t say it was about my kind. But it was. That was the only thing it could be. And his inability to tell me what it was without my mates present told me it was bad—potentially awful. Not that I asked him to tell me what it was about. Nope. I just stood there, words escaping me as I nodded like a little bobble doll.“Maybe I should be productive.” Operation distraction it was. I could work on one of my design projects. That would distract me.Or so I thought.Instead, I found myself staring at my compute
“Yes and no. They understand that fated mates cannot be separated and even if something were to happen to you two, the odds of Clarissa following you to the goddess were great, and even if he didn’t, the chances he’d take another as his mate were slim to none.” And they would be right on both accounts. “They also understand that matings often result in babies and they want control over how the young are raised.”“Problem solved.” Dante slammed both hands on the table, shaking it. “We won’t have babies. Done. If they don’t want you raising snow leopards with non-snow leopards, then we won’t have any.”I leaned into his side. “What if that’s not what we want.” My eyes were starting to fill with tears. I could and would fight the council to my death, but giving up a huge part of what I wanted in my life—to start a family—that was going to break me.“Let’s not make any rash decisions. I still have a meeting with the council to get through. Right now, they just say that the snow leopard wo
DANTE“Everybody up. Rise and shine.”Light flooded into the bedroom. Alicia put a pillow over his head and mumbled, “Go away. It’s my day off.”“From work maybe, but not from having fun.” Clarissa’s bubbly voice reminded me of champagne in a movie he’d streamed for us. That was one of many new experiences he’d brought into our lives.I agreed with my Beta mate. “There’s no fun to be had this early when we don’t have to work.” Maybe because snow leopard shifters didn’t have a den or a pride, they searched for ways to amuse themselves when not at their job.“I’ve planned a special date. Not a night or an afternoon but a whole day,” Clarissa told us as he yanked the bedding on the floor.“Can we do it while we’re in bed?” I opened one eye and closed it again. Clarissa’s bright-orange shirt had palm trees plastered on it and his wide, cheesy smile was too much this early in the day.“Nope. Get up or we’ll be late.”Folding my pillow against the headboard, I sat up and studied him, bleary
Alicia’s eyes were closed. “Tell me when we get there.”My palms were sweating buckets and I almost jumped up and shouted, “I want to get off.”Help, my bear squeaked.Clarissa’s idea of a date was not what I’d imagined. I gulped and leaned forward over the bag as a loud clunking had me copying Alicia and closing my eyes.Clarissa was talking softly, explaining what was happening, and I concentrated on his calming voice, or tried to. As the plane lifted off, it left my stomach behind on Earth as I begged the universe to spare our lives.There was an announcement, something about a cruising altitude, whatever that was, and I looked up as people got out of their seats and there were lots of little dingings.“Look.” Clarissa pointed out the window beside Alicia. We were far above the ground and he pointed out Bruin Ridge in the distance. The farmlands crisscrossed one another, intersected by the river that ran through our land.Never having seen the Earth or our home from above, I unbuck