9 Be My Valentine

CAMP PENDLETON, CALIFORNIA

It was Saturday and Valentine’s Day. Celeste lay on the couch in her friends’ living room. The rising sun shone through the sliding glass door leading out to the patio. Listening to the bed of the happily married couple creaking upstairs, she considered going out for coffee.

Did she stay and listen to Gunny and Sammy going at it upstairs? Or did she go home and listen to her roommates, Jack and Jill, go at it down the hall? She was certain that there would be no coffee here. But it could be picked up on the way home.

Just as she decided coffee was needed, her phone chirped. Picking it up off the floor, there was a vague memory of tossing it towards the coffee table, obviously she missed. She grinned at the message that appeared on the screen.

HEY GIRLFRIEND!

It immediately chirped again and her best friend and roommate, Jill, asked her a question.

Guess what came in the mail.

They had called the large black werecat Jill for so long, Celeste often forgot that he actually had a male name. Even Gunnery Sergeant Williams upstairs had a first name. But just as he and his wife were simply Gunny and Sammy, also an acquired nickname, Jackson and Matthew were Jack and Jill. And somewhere, probably a drunken night when Celeste was too hard to say, she herself became Sles.

Replying, she told her best friend that she was on her way home. Rolling her eyes at the loud moan that came from the bedroom above her head, Celeste grabbed her wallet and keys from the coffee table. The next text was the coffee order for himself and Jack. Celeste considered saying that she wasn’t going to stop for coffee. No one would believe that. Sending off a quick text to the couple upstairs that she was leaving, she used the downstairs powder room, she then left the duplex and headed out towards her pickup, followed by her K9 partner, Rory.

Looking at the phone as it chirped, she smirked as she walked out the door. A single word from Jack in the Roommates group text.

HYDRATE!

Locking the door, she gave Rory time to do her business.

The military K9s were usually kept at the base kennel. But the base commander was a Were himself and agreed that they needed to spend as much time with their handlers as possible. The time together helped them build a bond that needed to be nurtured and tended if the team was to work seamlessly. Especially the teams that deployed frequently.

Just shy of an hour later, Celeste pulled into her parking spot at the apartment complex near the base. She grabbed the tray of coffee, bag of breakfast food, and her keys. She and Rory were not even halfway up the stairs when Jill flung open the door to their shared apartment.

“Hurry up, girlfriend! I want to see what we got!”

Jill’s family could never accept the fact that he was gay. They would rather that he be with a she-wolf than another man. Because of this, they encouraged him to pursue Celeste and for years referred to her as his girlfriend. Eventually, it stuck and became a joke between the two of them.

“We?” Celeste teased walking through the door.

“You know that I’m getting something from in there.” He replied, snagging a disposable cup from the cardboard tray. “I hope there’s some of those German chocolate things I like.”

“There are two certainties about Valentine’s Day. Sles always gets something from her Wonder Pup. And chocolate is half price tomorrow.” the redheaded Jack laughed from his spot on the couch.

“I like chocolate.” The tall, muscular, black man declared as he followed Celeste towards the dining room table.

Celeste shook her head as she slid her knife through the tape along the sides of the top. The return address was Sirius and Laura’s house, as always. But the post mark was from the Philippines. The other reason that she knew it was not from her family was that she could not smell them. The overwhelming smell was of him.

Mate! Is that not the best smell EVER!?!

Angel yipped in her mind.

Was that a question or a statement?

Celeste asked her wolf. There would be no response because Angel was too busy getting lost in the scent.

Inside the box was a small Styrofoam cooler that she handed over to Jill. If there was any chocolate, it would be in there. Jill took the cooler, his coffee, and a breakfast burrito to the couch. Soon there was a squeal as he found the chocolate.

Rolling her eyes, Celeste went back to the box. There were a few plain white t-shirts, some tennis balls, a chew toy and a stuffed wolf. There was also a card, but as always, she ignored it. She threw two of the tennis balls and Rory and Liberty, Jill’s K-9, both took off down the hall after them. Making sure that her roommates weren’t looking, Celeste buried her face in one of the t-shirts and breathed deeply.

Angel was right. It was the best scent ever.

“When you’re done acting like you’re not inhaling that shirt, come look at what Wonder Pup sent my cat.” Jack called from the couch.

“Bite me.” Celeste teased as she went to her chair with her coffee and breakfast sandwich.

The well trained Malinois dogs dropped the balls into Jack’s lap. “Yeah, yeah.” He replied, throwing the balls back down the hall.

“Here.” Jill handed her a piece of plain white paper with writing on it. “Makes you think of the constitution and shit, don’t it?”

Looking back at the masculine yet old-fashioned cursive writing, she realized that it did indeed look like the writing on the constitution.

Jill,

I have been told that you get almost all the chocolate that I send to my mate. This time, I'm sending you some of your own. In return, I only ask that you keep my mate safe. It is nearly time for me to go home and take over the family business.

You are always welcome in my home.

Sincerely, AW

“I say we keep him.” Jill said, popping a piece of chocolate in his mouth.

“You only want to keep getting chocolate.” Jack teased as he tried to get a piece and had his hand slapped. “Ouch.”

“Wonder Pup sent the candy to me. Tell Sles to get another man to send you candy.” Jill hugged the candy to his chest protectively.

“I don’t want another one.” Celeste argued. “Hell, I don’t even want this asshole.”

“So that wasn’t you that had her face buried in a t-shirt for five minutes?” Jill asked as Jack grabbed a piece of candy then focused his attention on their friend. Jill gave him a side eye glance before rolling his eyes and shaking his head.

“Angel wants him, ” she answered and ignored the beast inside telling her she was a horrible liar.

“Uh-huh.” Jill grinned.

“Shut up, you damn cat. Don’t make me get the laser pointer,” she taunted.

“Okay, you two.” Jack warned as the two dogs fought over a toy.

“You talking to us or the dogs?” Celeste joked as she went for her second coffee.

“Both.” Jack replied. “Are you excited to go see your sister?”

“Nice change of subject.” Jill grinned over at his mate.

Jack gave him a quick kiss and snagged another piece of candy. “Thanks. I try.”

Celeste made a fake gagging sound while grinning at her friends. “Yes, I am. The last time I saw Sky; she was terrified of her mate. And now they have pups.”