Page 6 of Claiming Her Cougar (Shifting Pines #2)

MALLORY

The day after Thanksgiving…

My flight from Atlantic City to Orlando was uneventful, thank goodness.

I had a lot to think about. It turns out the department Daphne and I work in is going to close after the beginning of the year, and we’ll move upstairs with the rest of the legal department.

We’d been handling collection matters for condo associations, a holdover from the start of Morgan Development, before they changed their focus to commercial properties.

I’m excited by the move. My dream career is to be part of the development team—have input in the location of new projects, work on getting them approved, the building process, and ultimately the mix of tenants and amenities when it opens.

I want to help create something, not just manage its existence.

I’m at the airport waiting for my siblings to arrive.

The flights my brother and his family were on and my sister’s flight both ended up delayed, so they’re all arriving this morning.

We’re going to do the traditional meal today instead.

I’m betting Thanksgiving with my family won’t be as calm as my flight was.

We love each other, but we don’t understand each other.

Or they don’t understand me. Everyone is a high achiever, type A personality, and I’m…

not. At least, not to the extent they are.

My dad is a patent attorney, and my mom is a chemical engineer.

They’re so successful and ambitious, they don’t understand why I’m content being a paralegal when I could’ve gone to law school and been an attorney.

At least they recognize my choice not to go to law school and don’t think I was incapable of getting in.

In a way, I think that confuses them more—that I could be more, but am choosing not to be.

They don’t understand I have career goals, but those goals won’t get my name on the door or the letterhead.

I enjoy being behind the scenes, making plans and watching them come to fruition through the efforts of a team.

You’d think my family would understand since my parents are both in professions based on methodology and step-by-step planning, but they don’t see the similarities in my methodical nature and their own. They only see that I’m not in charge.

There’s no point in telling them my goals and dreams.

They won’t get it.

They don’t get me.

“Mallory!” I turn and see my older brother, Ethan, waving to me across the baggage claim area. He’s an architect and lives in Maryland with his wife Aurelia and their two sons.

“Hey, Ethan,” I say, giving him a hug. I don’t see anyone with him. “Where are the boys? And Aurelia?” Not that I care where his wife is. I can’t stand her, but I love Matt and EJ.

“She took an Uber to our hotel.”

“Hotel? You’re not staying at Mom and Dad’s?”

“ Oof !” Ethan lets out a grunt as our sister, Valerie, leaps on his back. Ethan is a big guy, but Valerie’s a strong wolf shifter female, and when she’s coming at speed, she packs quite a wallop. If Ethan was a regular human and not a wolf shifter as well, she probably would’ve tackled him.

“Hey, Val.” Ethan groans the greeting as Valerie slides off his back and steps around him for a hug.

“I’ve missed you guys!” she gushes as she hugs first Ethan and then me.

I’m five foot seven, not a short woman, but standing next to these two, I feel tiny.

Ethan is about six foot five, and Valerie is close to six feet tall.

Our parents joke that I’m the runt of the litter since our younger brother is as tall as Ethan.

The height disparity always made family portraits tricky, much to my mother’s annoyance.

“Where’s Aurelia and the boys?” Valerie asks, looking around the baggage claim area. With her height, it’s easy for her to see over the crowd.

“They took an Uber to the hotel,” Ethan answers.

“Hotel? You’re not staying with Mom and Dad?”

He sighs. “It’s complicated, Valerie.” Since they have their bags, we make our way to the garage.

“Complicated how?” I ask. I’ve never liked Aurelia.

She’s a bitch—literally and figuratively.

She comes from a pack in Maryland, and her people run in high society circles and dabble in government.

She’s always acted as if she’s too good for everyone except for those in her snobby circle.

I’m pretty sure the only reason she and Ethan married was because she got pregnant with EJ, and there was no way Ethan wasn’t going to raise his child.

I may not shift, but I understand the mate bond with wolves, and that’s not what they have.

I hand Ethan the keys for Mom’s SUV, and we make our way to the parking lot.

When he gets there, Ethan opens the rear liftgate, and they put their bags in. “We’re separating. Our marriage has been over for years, and we’re both finally miserable enough to admit it and go our separate ways.”

This, my brother and his wife, is why I’ve got my rule, why I’m determined to avoid relationships. They rarely end well. I know that, and now so does he. Maybe, even if all Liam wants is a second night, it’s better to say no. He’s too tempting, and I won’t face that pain again.

“Wow.” It would be funny how Valerie and I both say that in unison, but there’s nothing funny about this situation.

I open the back door and climb in. Valerie will be more comfortable being up front, since her legs are so much longer than mine.

Ethan hates being a passenger, so he always drives when we’re together.

“Yeah. Wow about sums it. Aurelia doesn’t want to stay with Mom and Dad.

She doesn’t want to be here at all, but it’s important to her to keep up appearances.

Her brother is running for political office, and she doesn’t want any negative publicity to affect his campaign.

Like anyone is going to care about our marriage.

” He maneuvers out of the parking complex and starts the drive toward the condo our parents call home.

“I’m staying at the condo with the boys the first couple of nights because being with family is important, and Aurelia will enjoy some alone time in the spa at the hotel she chose.

They’ll be with her a night or two. We traveled down here together for appearances and will fly home together, but it’s a sham. ”

“Wow.” I know I’m repeating myself, but it’s all I can say. “How are the boys?”

EJ is eight and Matt is six, old enough to know something’s going on but not old enough to understand all the grown-up issues.

He sighs. “I think they’re okay. I hope they’re okay.

We don’t fight in front of them, but the house is just so…

cold.” He checks the mirrors as he switches lanes.

“Aurelia isn’t a bad mother. She takes care of the kids, but she isn’t a mom, you know?

Now that they’re older and have opinions, she’s not interested. They’re boys, so not fun to dress up.”

I can practically see Valerie vibrating with anger at his admission.

I put my hand on her tense shoulder to try to ground her.

I love my sister, but she’s scary when she’s angry.

She’s a she-wolf through and through. Matt and EJ aren’t her pups, but she loves them fiercely, and the thought of them not being loved as they deserve guts her.

I feel the same way, but I’m able to control it better.

“What the fuck is wrong with her?” Valerie grounds out through clenched teeth.

Ethan shakes his head. “I don’t think she can help it.

She wasn’t raised as we were. She didn’t have the strong pack dynamic we did.

” He glances at me in the rearview mirror.

“We’ve decided I’m going to have primary physical custody of the boys.

She’ll have ample visitation and communication, but they’ll be best with me. ”

Valerie snorts. “How on Earth did that happen? I can’t imagine her father being okay with that. Even if he has nothing to do with them, he’ll want everyone in his orbit under his control.”

“He doesn’t want the world knowing he has shifter grandsons.

” His clenched jaw is the only sign of the anger he feels.

“Aurelia’s bloodline has been diluted enough through the generations of breeding with humans that the other grandkids don’t shift.

Won’t shift. Me being a full-blooded wolf shifter threw a wrench into his plans.

Obviously, the boys are too young to shift, but the signs are there that they will when they hit puberty.

Now that shifting is no longer a secret, they won’t have to hide things like we had to.

” He glances at Valerie. No reason to look at me.

I can’t shift, so I had nothing to hide.

“Because they’re precious little wolf shifters, he’s just going to throw them aside?” Valerie’s voice cracks. “They are his grandchildren, his flesh and blood! What is wrong with him?”

“They aren’t like us, Val. Appearances matter to them, and they want to appear ‘normal,’ especially with Byron running for office.

The constituency will accept shifters in the family tree, but moving forward, that type of voter wants humans only.

It’s disgusting, and it’s scary, and frankly, I’m happy to get my boys away from that.

Why would I want them around people who think their wolf side is something to be ashamed of? ”