Page 19

“ D o Bulls moo?”

Avery asks this with the kind of innocence only a woman with a toddler and a baby on board can get away with, as we load the dishwasher in Penny’s aggressively adorable farmhouse kitchen.

I blink. “What?”

She doesn’t flinch. “You know, do Bulls moo? Like, when they’re feeling any particular kind of way?”

Her cheeks go bright red.

I stare.

“Okay, first of all, how the heck would I even know that? I haven’t seen him as a boy Cow, er , Bull. And second, what are you talking about?!”

Because honestly, I’m still recovering from finding out that Shifters are real, that they have mates, and that I apparently got claimed by one after a night of wild, sleep-depriving, sheet-tangling boinking.

Okay. Focus.

Penny, all glowing and violently pregnant, lets out a dramatic gasp. “Oh my gawd, Avery. You’ve turned into such a horn dog with this baby!”

I whirl around to Jezebel, who seems the most normal out of the trio, and she lets out a ladylike snort before dissolving into giggles so delicate they should be illegal, considering the madness happening around us.

I am definitely missing something.

I feel like I just boarded the crazy train and someone greased the damn tracks.

But the thing is, I like it. Them .

I’m having a good time with them.

These three women— Penny, Jez, and Avery —they’re not what I expected.

They’re like me.

Or at least, they were.

Before the fated mates stuff.

Before the fur and fangs and hormonal maelstrom.

Penny? She runs her own bakery, and from what I’ve heard, the woman could sweet talk sugar into jumping into her baked goods.

Devil’s Food Bakery is one of my favorite places in town. And the little goodies she sells during the rodeo?

To die for .

Penny is just so bold and beautiful. A total badass who, fun fact, sneezed and turned bright red like a human-sized cardinal right in front of me.

Not joking.

Apparently, she’s no longer entirely human thanks to Max’s little “love nibble.”

Now she shifts into a red furred, winged female version of the Jersey Devil, but she can still make muffins that could bring a grown man to tears.

So, has mating the Alpha of a Motley Crew of Shifters changed her? Yes.

But does she look happy? Also yes.

A big, glowing, bright red yes.

Now, Jezebel’s story is slightly different.

She owns a drive-in movie theater and is as cool as they come. She’s got this soft-spoken vibe, but don’t be fooled.

She also happens to be psychic and one of her “gifts” is she can communicate with ghosts.

Like actual spirits.

Which sounds awesome in theory. Until you realize those spirits have opinions and are invasive as hell. Turns out Jez has to wrangle them like spectral toddlers on Halloween.

Lucky her though, her mate is part Hellhound who actually does a fine ass job of protecting his mate and policing the wraiths who constantly bug her.

And Avery?

She’s the most human of them all.

No shifting.

No tail and wings.

No spectral tagalongs.

But she’s raising Rosie—a teeny tiny little Bear Shifter. Avery’s baby is Dante’s daughter in every way that matters, even if she’s not his by blood.

After watching that kid shift from a cub to her human self and back again, I have to tell you, I’m in awe.

Avery didn’t know her baby was a Shifter. But lucky for her, Dante was there to lend a hand, er, claw.

Anyway, the woman runs her very own teddy bear ER right next to the bakery in town. And cool as that is, it’s how she handles all this so easily that she has me wanting to wear a pin with her name on it.

Go Av, go!

She just handles all this stuff like she was born to be in this world.

I know it might seem really superficial, but the thing is, their mates? The men who make up the Motley Crewd Ranch?

Well, they’re all supermodel hot.

I mean, to me, no one can compare to Kian. He is exactly what my dreams are made of. Big and broad with whiskey eyes and a crooked smile that melts my panties right off.

The man is like a gift made special for me.

So, what stuns me most about this trio of amazing women is gonna seem dumb.

But, well , they’re all curvy .

Like, real-deal, full-bodied, gorgeous women who flaunt it, own it, and never shrink to make room for anyone else.

And their men? They worship them. Every single one of these women has a look of supreme happiness on their faces.

Wow. It feels like I’ve finally stepped into a room where I’m not the odd one out.

No one’s comparing pant sizes or cutting me off mid-sentence to talk about their keto smoothies.

They laugh.

Loudly.

Candidly.

About love and sex and supernatural mating rituals like it’s just the same old same old.

And me?

I want in.

I want this.

This sisterhood.

This found family.

This place where being too much is just enough.

“What’s up, Buttercup? You’re lookin’ uber serious over there,” Penny drawls, arching one perfect brow.

I fidget, fingers twitching near my throat. “Um, I have to ask something. Personal.”

“Okay, shoot.”

“Well, you guys talked about your mates and how they claimed you.”

I whisper claimed like it’s a dirty word and immediately want to launch myself out the nearest window.

Penny doesn’t miss a beat.

“Yeah, during sex. Most supernaturals seal the deal with a love bite. Right at the height of the Big-O.”

She gives me a very graphic eyebrow wiggle that makes Jez blush and Avery burst out laughing.

I sigh. Might as well own it.

I push my hair aside, turn my neck, and reveal the faint scar from the bite mark Kian left behind.

“He bit her!” Penny crows like she just won the lottery. “Told you! Pay up!”

Avery and Jez both groan and hand over quarters.

Twenty-five cents. Each.

My jaw drops.

“You had a bet going?!”

“Hell yes, we did.” Penny beams. “I mean, Kian’s a Bull. Bulls aren’t predators like the rest of our mates, so we didn’t know if he’d bite or, like, headbutt you into love or something.”

What?!

My brain stalls somewhere between what the fuck and do Bulls even do that ?

Jezebel, ever the translator, steps in. “What she means is that most Shifters are predators, hunters. You know, like Wolves, Bears, or Dragons. They mark their mates with a bite. But Bulls? There aren’t a lot of them. We weren’t sure how that worked.”

“But seriously, does he moo ?” Avery asks again with a straight face, and I nearly choke on my own spit as I bang my head against the countertop.

“Girls, please! Let’s be a little sensitive, yeah? Arliss is still learning.” Jez says, finally reining them in.

“You’re right. Sorry, Ar.” Penny sobers a little. “Now, tell us. What do you need to know? You’ve been banged and claimed. But did that bullheaded Bull forget to tell you what it means?”

I breathe out, my voice soft and trembling. “He kind of told me. I mean, he was all possessive when we, um, did the deed. But then I overheard him with the Crew.”

The words slip from me like blood from a wound.

“Heard him?” Jez asks, and she’s frowning.

“They were talking, and I heard them say something about the Rut .”

Their faces go still.

Confused, maybe.

Even Penny.

“And, well.” My voice drops, thick with fear. “He said he might, that is, if the Rut takes him, he’ll need to be with other women. To stop it from, I don’t know, taking over or something.”

“What?”

“Yeah. He said the Rut can make a Shifter turn into their animals permanently. Like forever. So, he might not ever come back from it.”

I whisper the last part because saying it out loud makes it feel too real. Too final.

And it’s breaking me.

Because last night— God, was it just last night —I didn’t just give Kian my body.

I gave him my heart.

And now I don’t know if I can survive watching him give any part of himself to someone else.

They all go dead still, every one of them.

Three powerful women, supernatural mates of men who could rip trees out of the ground without breaking a sweat, and yet, in this moment , they’re looking at me like I just lobbed a grenade into the middle of their kitchen.

The silence stretches, and the ache inside my chest grows tighter.

I bite my lip, nerves fraying at the edges, heart thundering in my ears.

“Maybe I should go?—”

“No! Absolutely not.”

Penny’s voice slices through the air like a whip, sharp and immediate.

She plants her hands on the table and hauls her heavily pregnant body upright like a queen rising to rally her army.

Jez and Avery track her as she begins to pace, murmuring under her breath like she’s half baking, half plotting murder.

“Okay,” she says abruptly, spinning to face us so fast I nearly topple out of my chair.

“This is imbecilic. Ludicrous. Bullshit with a capital B. No pun intended!”

Her eyes lock on mine, intense and fiery.

“Did he claim you?”

“Y-yes,” I stammer.

“And do you feel connected to him?”

I blink. “What do you?—”

“No. Enough dancing around. No more polite small talk. No more faking like this is normal.”

She slaps the table with her palm. “Look inside your damn heart, Arliss. Is Kian the one?”

I freeze.

Penny’s voice softens, and it’s like fire going warm.

“It scared the hell out of me when I met Max.”

Her eyes grow distant for a second, lips parting around the memory.

“I fell for him in seconds, and I’d been burned. Bad. So I get it. The fear. The walls. The voice that says it’s too soon, too dangerous. But I’m asking you to be brave right now. Not for us. Not even for him.” She steps closer.

“For you.” Her eyes burn holes into me, but she is relentless. “Do you love him?”

Her voice is quieter this time, but no less potent.

The world tilts.

My lungs stop working.

My throat dries.

I stall.

My eyes sting. I blink once.

Then again.

But the truth, the real truth ?

It doesn’t need to be coaxed.

It just needs to be released.

“Yes.”

One word.

One syllable.

But it feels like I just cracked open my chest and let the universe peer inside.

Penny beams.

Victorious. Triumphant. Queen of Mates and Muffins.

“Good. Then we fight.”

“What?” I whisper.

“We fight for him. And for you. Because Kian is family. He’s Crew . And now, so are you.”

Avery steps beside her and claps a hand over her mouth, tears sparkling in her eyes.

Jez nods, already pulling out a tablet from who-knows-where and opening a dozen tabs.

“We’ll research everything we can on the Rut. Old lore, modern theory, journals, even cursed Reddit threads. Hell, I’ll have the shades ask around, too. If there’s a cure or a workaround or a loophole, I promise you, we’ll find it.”

“You’re going to get your HEA, goddamn it,” Penny declares, one hand over her heart like she’s reciting a holy vow.

And then she screeches.

“Ohhhhhhh! Shiiiiit!”

Penny doubles over and clutches her belly.

“I think it’s time,” Jez says calmly as she dials her phone, already three steps ahead of the rest of us.

“Oh, just great! NOW? You want to come out now ? Just like your father!” Penny yells at her belly like she’s about to ground her unborn twins for poor timing.

Avery gasps, half-laughing, half-crying. “This is great. This is so great.”

“Yep. Great. Now get Max so I can kill him!” Penny screams, all power and pain in one terrifying roar.

The front door bursts open, and in comes the man himself, tearing through the room like the actual Devil, his face carved with panic and love and utter awe.

“Sugarplum!” Max bellows.

He sweeps Penny into his arms like she weighs nothing, even as she slaps his chest.

“You did this! Ouch, Mac, ouch!”

“Easy. It’s okay. I got you, my love. Mrs. O’Hare is here, too,” Max tells her.

“Okay. Good. Is the tub ready?”

“Yes, everything will be perfect,” he tells her, as if his own will could make it so.

I know about the at home water birth she’s planning.

Honestly, I am terrified.

And it’s like she knows I am plotting my escape, because Penny turns her head sharply toward me.

Her gaze locks onto mine, fierce and demanding.

“Don’t you dare go anywhere, Arliss.”

My breath catches. And I nod.

“I want you right here. You’re one of us now.”

She groans, curls a hand around Max’s neck, and then smirks through the pain.

“Are you sure? I mean this seems like a family thing,” I mutter as in waltzes a group of men.

Some of them are in work clothes. Most look shocked and a little petrified.

“You’re damn right, I’m sure! Now, Jez, and you too, Avery, make sure she stays. Ohmygawd! Maximillian Leeds! I swear to God you are never getting near my girly bits again—ow!” she screams.

“Easy now, Sugarplum. You don’t mean that,” Max croons to her as he whisks Penny to where Mrs. O’Hare has apparently set up the birthing tub.

“I do so mean it! Oh, Arliss?”

“Yeah?”

“Welcome to the Crew!”

I nod at Penny as another contraction hits her. Max growls and hustles her into the other room, and I turn my head in time for my gaze to collide with a familiar pair of velvety brown eyes.

“ Mo Chroí ,” Kian whispers, and I swear I see his heart in his gaze.

Just like that, in spite, or maybe because of all the excitement that comes with preparing to welcome a new life, or in this case, lives , into the world, and with chaos all around me, I look into his eyes, and I finally feel like I’m home.

He belongs to me just like I belong to him. Mate.