Page 5 of Claiming Her Cougar (Shifting Pines #2)

LIAM

We hold Thanksgiving at my Uncle Mike and Aunt Holly’s house, and I can tell by the full driveway that my parents and both sets of grandparents have already arrived.

I don’t see my Logan’s Jeep, so I’m assuming their eventual arrival at his parents’ home will still be a surprise—I didn’t tell anyone I picked them up from the airport the other night.

I park at the curb in front of their large brick colonial and walk up the path to the front door.

Aunt Holly has a display of pumpkins and hay bales on the porch and a wooden turkey holding up a sign that reads Gobble ’Til Ya Wobble .

On impulse, I snap a picture of the display and text it to Mallory with a “Happy Thanksgiving” caption.

When I enter, I receive greetings and hugs from my family—blood related and chosen. We’re lucky to be part of a family that believes there is plenty of love to go around.

When Logan and Daphne arrive, there’s another flurry of excited greetings.

Everyone’s shocked Logan came home for the holiday, since he rarely does.

He announces his plan to travel less frequently and focus more on expanding his photography business closer to home, and you’d think he just cured cancer or something.

I understand that everyone is happy he’ll be home more often, but I’m here for almost every holiday, and no one welcomes me with tears and cries of joy like he’s getting.

I’m being ridiculous. I know that. But sometimes it feels like I’m taken for granted, like everyone assumes I’m always going to be here.

My cousin Andy is in the family room next to the kitchen. He’s a senior at a university in Pennsylvania and captain of the baseball team. He introduces me to the guys playing a card game with him, all teammates who didn’t go home for the holiday weekend.

“Kennie here yet?” I ask Andy. When they’re both home, they’re joined at the hip. I’m six and a half years older than my sister. We’re close, but since she and Andy are both twenty-one, they relate to each other in ways that she and I don’t. Logan and I have a similar relationship and friendship.

“Not yet. She stayed after the football game to talk to some of the cheerleaders,” Andy replies. Kennie was a competitive cheerleader for years, so I’m not surprised. She probably knows a bunch of them from the cheer gym where she works when she’s home.

As we grab sandwiches, chips, and drinks from the spread set out for lunch—we are shifters, and eating is an all-day event—the front door opens, and Kennie walks in with a couple I haven’t met before. They’re probably the friends from school she brought home with her.

“Daphne!” Kennie calls out, giving her a big hug.

I rescue Daphne’s plate before she drops it.

She wasn’t expecting the Kendall tsunami to come her way first. My sister is barely five feet tall and looks delicate, but she’s solid muscle.

Daphne stumbles back a step when Kennie hugs her.

Logan accepts his hug and the barrage of questions.

I wonder if everyone’s surprise that he’s here and their expectation that he wouldn’t be makes him feel guilty for the years that he chose not to come home.

“Meet my friends.” Kennie gestures to a guy a little taller than me with short, dark auburn hair and bright blue eyes. He’s muscular without being bulky. “Trevor.”

Trevor smiles and reaches out for a handshake. He has a strong, sure grip.

“And Randi.” Kennie gestures to the lovely girl at Trevor’s side. “Guys, this is my cousin Logan and his girlfriend Daphne.” She puts her arm through mine. “This is my big brother, Liam.”

“Do you attend school together?” Daphne asks.

“We do,” Randi answers. “Kennie and I are roommates, and Trev is my teammate.”

Kennie adds, “Randi and Trev are on the cheerleading squad at school. They’re stunt partners and are so good. We stayed after the game to help some of the high school squad with their stunts.”

After everyone eats, I play a game of soccer with my cousins and guests. Andy and his teammates are one team, while I play with the girls, Logan, and Trevor. Our team wins.

As we sit down for dinner later in the afternoon, I look around at everyone gathered and give my own private thanks for having my family and our friends to share the day with.

I’m blessed. Someday, I want to have these times with my own family.

I wonder if Mallory’s having a good day with her family.

I hope so. Unbidden, I imagine future holidays with her here.

Stop it, Liam. Team first. It’s going to be a few years before I can start thinking about anything more than a hockey team and remodeling old piers.

I need to get back some of what I lost in the accident first. Then I can think about stuff like relationships and feelings. And Mallory.

We’ve finished the savory portion of the meal and cleared the tables to make room for the desserts when Trevor excuses himself to take a phone call out on the patio.

The sun is still slanting through the trees, and I figure it must be a FaceTime call because he’s looking at the screen and talking.

Probably his family. It ’s nice that they’re connecting today. Family is so important.

Kennie and Randi go out to join him, and they all gather around the phone, laughing and waving. I guess he’s introducing them to whoever he’s talking to.

“Liam, can you let the kids know we’re going to start dessert, please?” Aunt Holly asks as she and Mom pull things from the butler’s pantry and freezer to set up a dessert buffet on the breakfast bar.

I stick my head out the patio door to tell the threesome huddled around Trevor’s phone about dessert when I hear a feminine voice over the speaker.

I can’t hear what she’s saying, but something’s familiar.

I can’t put my finger on it though. The hairs on the back of my neck prickle.

All thoughts about the voice on Trevor’s phone disappear when my phone buzzes.

I pull it from my pocket and see Mallory’s sent a selfie.

She’s wearing mouse ears, and there’s a theme park in the background.

Me: I thought you were afraid of mice?

Trevor comes back in with my sister and Randi.

Mallory: In my pants, yes. Walking upright in a theme park, also yes. LOL. But when in Rome…

Me: Having fun?

Mallory: Yeah. Flights got delayed, so we’re having family Thanksgiving tomorrow instead. My parents are theme park fanatics, and we have tickets for everything, so came here to walk around. They’ll be running in the Shifter Sprint on Saturday.

I didn’t know she was from a shifter family.

Me: Don’t want to run?

Mallory: I love to run, but not thirty miles at a time, and I’m not a shifter. My family is. Wolf shifters. But it skipped me. So I’m the babysitter. :smiley face emoji:

So she comes from a shifter family. That’s good. She knows I’m a cougar shifter.

Mallory: I don’t want to keep you. Have a great weekend.

Me: You too.

While our grandmothers and mothers are discussing their upcoming epic Black Friday shopping trip and roping in Daphne, Kennie, and Randi to shop with them, I prepare brownie sundaes alongside Logan and Trevor.

Logan looks at the ladies and, satisfied they aren’t paying attention to us, leans toward me. “Can you help me with a project at my house tomorrow?”

“Sure, what do you need?”

“I want to hang Christmas lights, and it’ll be easier with an extra set of hands. It’s a surprise for Daph. Her dad always used to hang them when she was growing up. She loves them.”

“Yeah, no problem. Do you have them already?”

“No. I’m going to run to Home Depot once they leave to go shopping in the morning.”

Trevor speaks in a low tone. “Do you guys want an extra hand? With the girls shopping, I’m just going to be hanging out at my house. I’m happy to help.”

“Your house?” I shoot him a questioning glance.

“Yeah,” he replies. “My family lives in Shifting Pines. I’m staying there this weekend so I can get in a run and do some skating drills.

My parents moved down south when I started college, but my sister still lives here.

She’s with them and my siblings for Thanksgiving, so the house is empty.

It’s only twenty minutes from your place, so I figured I’d stay there instead of imposing on your parents. ”

“For decorating, the more the merrier,” Logan says. “I’d appreciate the help. Just please don’t tell the girls. I want it to be a surprise for Daphne. Did you want to go to Home Depot with us or just meet at my house?”

“I love Home Depot. I’ll take any excuse I can find to go. With Kennie and Randi, I get dragged to Sephora more often than any man should have to suffer through. It’ll be nice to recharge my testosterone with some power tools. What time were you planning on going?”

I like this guy. He’s down-to-earth and funny. We arrange to meet at Logan’s house at nine the next morning.

“Skating drills?” I ask Trevor as we sit and enjoy our sundaes. “Do you play hockey?”

“Yeah. I started when I was younger,” he replies.

“We have a synthetic rink set up. Nothing beats real ice, but it’s good enough to do some skating and shooting drills for fun.

Mercer doesn’t have a team, and with law school, I couldn’t devote time to even a club team.

If I could find one that took shifters. So I rarely get to lace up my skates anymore. ” He shoots me a glance. “Do you play?”

“I used to when I was younger, but I can’t anymore.”

“Oh, man, I’m sorry.” Trevor looks slightly abashed.

“No worries,” I assure him. “Bad car accident. I healed up, but I can’t risk the hits.”

“Can you still skate?”

“I guess so? I haven’t tried.”

Logan looks at me. “You haven’t skated at all since the accident? You practically lived on the ice.”

I shrug. “No point if I’m not playing.”

Trevor nods. “Well, if you want to skate and shoot some pucks, come on over. You too, Logan, if you skate.”

Logan holds out his fist for Trevor to bump. “Thanks, man. Rugby was my sport, but I can stay upright well enough to not completely embarrass myself.”

* * *

The house Logan shares with Daphne isn’t that big, so even with the thousands of lights Logan used to festoon the place, it didn’t take that long to decorate.

She’s going to be shocked when she sees it lit up tonight.

So will the folks on the International Space Station.

Good thing Daphne’s grandfather was an electrician who installed a heavy-duty electrical panel.

They’re going to use every bit of it with this display.

After stringing up the lights, we head out to Trevor’s rink. It’s full-size, and if I’d had this available to me as a kid, I would’ve been thrilled. We hit the ice hard.

“How are you feeling? Getting your legs back?” Logan asks as we sit to take off our skates and guzzle some water.

“I’m doing well. I’m probably going to feel it tomorrow, but it was good to be skating again and shooting some pucks. At least when I fell, I didn’t get wet like I would have on real ice.”

We’re packing up to take Logan back home to meet Daphne and show off our work when Trevor pulls out his phone.

“Oh, let me text Lory that I’m ordering light bulbs. I see some are burned out. I’ll change them when I’m home for Christmas. She’ll wonder what the boxes are when they arrive.”

I pull out my phone to see if Mallory has texted anything else. I smile, looking at her selfie. She’s adorable.

I catch Logan looking at my phone and tilting his head in a birdlike manner. Great. I don’t need his eagle eyes seeing Mallory’s picture and bugging me. I put my phone away.

“Is your sister single?” Logan asks Trevor.

What the hell? I do not need him playing matchmaker. Anyway, Mallory’s the only woman sparking my interest now.

“Yeah, very. She’s had some bad relationships and sworn off men, especially shifters. I think she wants a nice human accountant when she settles down. Maybe a schoolteacher. Someone quiet. Not alpha. The opposite of us.” He laughs.

That clinches it. I’m definitely not his sister’s type.