Page 32 of Claiming Her Cougar (Shifting Pines #2)

LIAM

We spread out around the family room watching the game.

Logan and I have claimed the loveseat, and Uncle Mike has his recliner, leaving Dad and Mr. Carter, um…

Robert, on the couch. I chose the loveseat because it gives me a clear view of Mallory in the breakfast area between the family room and the kitchen.

Her discomfort is clear in the tense set of her shoulders.

I don’t know if it’s being here with my family or if it’s because of her parents or something else.

All I know is I want to make it better. I wish I could go over and massage the stiffness in her shoulders, press kisses against her neck, nibble her earlobe until she giggles.

I’m willing to do anything to make her comfortable.

Having her parents hanging out with my family is probably awkward as hell for her.

I don’t love it either. I don’t know if they know for sure it was me naked in the shower with their daughter yesterday afternoon, but I’m assuming they do, based on the comment from Robert about me being familiar.

“So, Logan, what do you do?” Robert asks my cousin.

Logan lifts a finger to show he’ll answer when he finishes chewing his bite of pizza. When he swallows, he says, “I’m a travel photographer.”

Robert furrows his brow. “You just travel around and take pictures? You can make a living at that?”

Mike and Will exchange glances, but Logan only smiles.

“Yep. I travel around and take pictures. I make a decent enough living at it. I’ve been published in several magazines and sell the images on different media.

I’m also going to do photo tours, taking people to locations and helping them learn how to take quality images. ”

“Oh,” Robert says, turning to Dad. “At least your son works in the family business.”

Logan shakes with silent laughter next to me. Uncle Mike looks ready to shift into his golden eagle and peck out some Lycan eyeballs, but when he sees how unconcerned Logan is with Robert’s ignorant comments, he relaxes.

Dad’s wearing his CEO smile. The one that looks polite but really means he’s going to eviscerate you. “I enjoy working with Liam. He’s an asset to the company.”

Robert nods. “My youngest is in law school. It’s nice that at least one of my children is following me into the legal field.”

What the hell?

“Mallory’s in the legal field,” I say.

“She’s not an attorney. She’s just a secretary.”

Just a secretary? There’s not a damn thing wrong with being a secretary, but Mallory isn’t one, and it’s ridiculous her father can so casually dismiss her. Dad stares at me, silently commanding me to hold my temper. Aunt Holly would be pissed if we got blood on her furniture.

I glance toward the kitchen to see if the ladies have noticed our conversation. Mallory’s cheeks are flushed, and by the quick glance she shoots our way, she’s either heard the conversation or experienced this kind of bullshit often enough to know what’s going on.

Uncle Mike, the diplomat of our group, diffuses the situation. “Mallory is an excellent paralegal. She’s a key component of our legal team. You must be very proud of her.”

Robert must realize he can’t say anything more on the subject without making it obvious he’s not proud of Mallory and her career, so he shuts up.

Good. What an asshole. He keeps his mouth shut for the rest of the first half except for discussing football.

At halftime, we go back into the kitchen to grab more food and refresh our drinks.

The ladies are chatting and working on their ornaments.

Logan whispers something in Daphne’s ear that makes her blush.

Mallory’s seemingly focused on spreading glue on a piece of felt.

More focus than the task entails. I tune into the conversation in time to hear her mother take her turn being an asshole.

“My eldest has two little boys. They should start shifting in a few years, thank goodness.” She makes the sign of the cross either in gratitude to a higher power or to ward off the curse of being a non-shifter. Maybe both.

“Both of your kids shift, Holly?” Beth asks.

“Yeah. Logan is a golden eagle shifter like Mike, and Andy is a cougar shifter like me,” Aunt Molly answers.

“And Liam and Kendall are both cougar shifters, Faith?”

What’s with all the shifter talk?

“Yeah, they take after Will,” Mom answers.

“You don’t shift?” Beth asks.

“Nope,” Mom says, popping the P. She’s getting annoyed.

“Neither does Mallory, the only one of our kids not to. She’s not prey-driven like them. That’s probably why she isn’t that ambitious.” Beth takes another sip of wine. She must be drunk. Please let her be drunk and not like this all the time.

I look around the room. Everyone’s gobsmacked. Robert’s filling his plate, oblivious to the bullshit his wife is spouting. They’re perfect for each other.

“She’s always been the runt of the litter,” Beth says with a giggle. “If she ever gets married and has kids, if they shift, she won’t understand. How did you handle it, Faith?”

How the hell did Mallory and Trevor end up so normal? This is crazy. Mom is just staring at her. Aunt Holly looks like she’s ready to shift and cut a bitch. Daphne is near tears.

Mallory laughs and holds out her wineglass for Mom to refill.

She’s obviously heard this countless times.

She’s trying to act like this isn’t affecting her, but it’s like Mallory’s getting smaller and smaller right before my eyes with each comment out of her mother’s mouth.

The words are chiseling off little chunks of her.

She’s sitting tall and proud like this doesn’t mean anything, but her shoulders are even tighter than before.

Her hand is trembling ever so slightly as she raises her glass to take a sip of the wine she has a hard time swallowing.

I want to defend her and pull her into a hug to tell her how wonderful she is, but she raises her eyes to meet mine and gives the slightest shake of her head, telling me to stand down.

I’ll do it. This time. Because she’s asked me to.

But this isn’t okay. People don’t get to treat Mallory like this and get away with it.

“Hey, Daph,” Logan cuts in, “didn’t you want to show Mallory that thing upstairs?”

Daphne nods slowly. “Yeah, I did.”

She reaches out to take Mallory’s hand. The one not holding the wine glass.

Mallory drains her glass in two gulps, puts it back on the table, and stands up to go with Daphne to see the thing.

“Coming with us, Liam?” Logan asks.

There must’ve been some silent communication happening among our parents, and we’re supposed to skedaddle. I’m good with that.

“Sure am,” I say, taking up the rear of our group going up the back stairs.

I assume we’re headed to Logan’s old room. Maybe we’re being slick and going down the front stairs and leaving out the front door? I’m all for getting the hell out of here.

Logan’s room it is. Daphne leads Mallory over to sit on the navy-blue comforter on Logan’s old bed. Logan leans against his closed door with his arms crossed over his chest. I take the chair at the desk and move it over to the bed. I need to be near Mallory.

“Are you okay?” Daph asks softly, still holding Mallory’s hand.

“I’m fine,” she assures us. “I’m used to this. Well, doing this in front of my employer is a new twist, but this is what I’ve heard all my life. It is what it is.”

“What it is, is bullshit,” I say. “What the fuck is wrong with them?”

“Liam.”

“Why do you care about their opinions so much? They don’t care about you.”

Mallory’s suddenly too-wide eyes and Daphne’s sharp intake of breath clue me in that I probably shouldn’t have said that. Too bad. It’s true. You don’t treat your own child, or anyone you care about and respect, the way they are treating her.

“Liam! They’re my parents. Of course they care about me.” Mallory’s shoulders slump as she lets out a weary sigh. “I know they aren’t like your parents, but they’re who I have.”

Mallory looks to Daphne for support, like it’s better to have those asshats as parents than to be an orphan like Daphne is.

“I don’t know what to say, Mallory. I miss my parents every day, but our relationship wasn’t like yours.”

“They are who they are. They’re old-school shifters. I just ignore them and move on.”

I reach out and take her other hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.

“You weren’t ignoring them, though. I could see you shrinking with the blow of every word she let loose.

I hated seeing you like that. You’re wonderful, and you deserve to be treated like the treasure you are.

” I press a kiss to the crown of her head as she sucks in a shuddering breath.

My heart constricts at the sound. I want to protect her from anything that hurts her or makes her sad.

I’m falling for her. I wish she was falling for me.

Daphne watches us with wide eyes. I think we just confirmed what she was hoping for. She’s going to be so disappointed when she finds out we aren’t dating. We’re just sleeping together. Well, trying to sleep together.

Mallory squeezes my hand and looks up at me. Her normally bright green eyes are more like a pine forest in fog now. It kills me to see her like this and feel powerless to make it better. Taking a deep breath, like she’s centering herself, she musters a smile and turns to Logan.

“What are we going to say you showed me up here?” Mallory asks. “Mom is probably going to be curious, and I want to have an answer handy.”

“Oh, yeah,” Logan looks around his room. He hasn’t really lived here for a couple years, although he crashed here when he was in the country between assignments. Once he and Daphne became a couple, he moved in with her full-time.

Mallory looks at the framed photos on the wall above the desk. “What’s that one?” She asks, pointing to a castle.

“It’s Inverness Castle in Scotland,” Logan says.

“Let’s go with that. I’m Scottish on Mom’s side of the family.”