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Week Four

T illy has been skittish and quiet as a mouse since she returned from her ‘walk’.

She was bored as hell listening to us talk about sports, and I love that she’s independent enough to amuse herself. Most of the women in the Hollow would have thrown a tantrum until we fawned over them, but not our girl. Jolene might have been slightly miffed to feel left out of the conversation, but she didn’t act like a toddler.

However, her jumpiness is directly correlated to what happened on her stroll through town, and if she had the slightest clue about our true natures, she wouldn’t be so nervous. The moment she walked up to the table with the companions in tow, every nose caught the scent wafting off of her like a musky perfume. Prez and the pup looked at each other, then at me, and it took everything inside of me not to comment. Wolfie had to cover his mouth to keep from chuckling. The cheeky bastard.

My drugar went for a quiet walk and came back with the smell of another supe covering her from head to toe. Her red face and rumpled clothes might have clued in a human, but the three of us have far more delicate senses than a mere mortal. It’s damned near impossible not to say something, but Hamilton convinced us to let her spill the beans at her own speed when she headed for the restroom.

The hound is practically bouncing off the bars of its cage knowing she’s picked up that Irish jackass.

Wolfie has been trying to lead the conversation to a safe place so she’ll fess up, but Tilly’s lips are sealed tightly. She’s probably feeling the ingrained guilt humans seem to prefer instilling in their children to keep them monogamous, but I can’t figure out why her parents would have done such a thing. The file I requested after she blew into town says her father, Andrew, was human, but her mother was not. Eloise was a witch, and an agent for many years before and after they adopted Jolene. I can’t imagine why they’d raise her as if she would never emerge and take her place in supe society.

It was almost like a self-fulfilling prophecy.

This town’s puritanical attachment to human ways probably didn’t help. Most of the families here are descended from the original humans who lived and ran this town, and after the Takeover, they began adopting lost ones to keep their standing. After a few decades the blood mixed enough that most of the population here has both species in their lines, but they still stubbornly cling to the sociological constructs that were in place before that happened. I assume that’s why Mayor Nelia keeps her spouses away from the limelight, and why Tilly is bound to get some harsh criticism once our little harem becomes public knowledge.

But we told her we could share. That’s why I’m resisting my possessive nature—well, that and Hamilton seems to think she’s going to have more than three mates somehow.

That part is strange. Supes are frequently sexually fluid and polyamorous, but more than three fated mates? It’s unheard of. Although, everything about our girl seems to be triggering that response, so who the fuck knows what’s going to happen next? Adding Haggerty to her roster is going to make for interesting situations, that’s for certain. That bastard thrives on chaos and mischief, and he’ll push every boundary he can for a chuckle.

I’m going to invest in several cases of bourbon now.

“Edgar?”

Her soft question brings me out of my head and I turn to look at the woman I’ve crushed on since elementary school. “Yes, drugar ?”

“Are you worried about what all the people are going to say when they find out?”

I shrug. “Not really. People are going to talk no matter what; it’s how they alleviate the insufferable boredom of being ‘normal’ folks.”

She chews her lip for a moment and I think she might spit it out. “What if they say bad things about us that aren’t true? Even if they think it’s true or someone convinced them it is, it’s going to hurt our reputation. I really want the gallery to do well and I like working at the school. I don’t care what they say about me personally, but I’m worried they’re going to destroy everything I’ve worked for out of sheer pettiness.”

The sadness in her voice rouses all three of my inner beasts, and I have to grip the steering wheel tightly to keep them all at bay. I can’t lie to her and say the self-centered twats in this town won’t do exactly what she fears—even to their own detriment—but I also can’t tell her that if they do, they will be sorry. The wrath of supes as powerful as Tilly’s men will be difficult for any of the gossipy assholes in the Hollow to deal with. Perhaps Haggerty wasn’t such a bad addition after all. That motherfucker will set the whole damned city on fire if he’s feeling inclined.

Jesus Christ, did I just include that dick in our circle? Fuck.

“Tilly, I’m not going to lie to you.” Her lips curve into an adorable pout, but I know it’s because I’m prefacing something she doesn’t want to hear. “Folks in this town don’t always behave like mature adults, and you, more than anyone I know, are aware of that. They think money and influence allow them to treat people they classify as ‘below’ them poorly, and the worst of the lot aren’t even in the highest social tier. You’ve already experienced their idea of a warm welcome home, so I know you’re aware of what they’re capable of.”

“We’re not in high school anymore, Teddy. Why haven’t they grown up?” she grumbles.

Chuckling, I maneuver the car onto the road leading to her house. “Some people never learn, drugar , and some are incapable of taking accountability for their own behavior. You can’t fix them—only set your boundaries and push back when they’ve been crossed.”

Huffing, she crosses her arms over her chest and stares out her window. “I don’t understand how they have time to run around spreading rumors. I barely have time to get my own shit done. And I know it’s going to get worse once they figure out our… family arrangement.”

“You’re probably right, Tilly. They’ll come after you in any way they can because they’re small and trying to hurt you makes them feel big.” I sigh, feeling like I have to admit my own shortcomings. “It’s something I didn’t learn until long after I got out of high school. College and the rest of my schooling eventually took me places I’d never been, and once I saw the world outside of the bubble that is the Hollow, I re-evaluated myself. Unfortunately, a lot of the people in town have never taken that step.”

Her smile is shy when she finally responds, “I’m very glad you did, Edgar Olivier Boone III.”

“Me, too,” I murmur as I reach over and thread our hands on the shifter. “Me, too.”

She didn’t tell me about Doyle, but I’ll take that confession any day.

* * *

“ Holy feck, ye bloody fools !”

Keeping my eyes pressed shut, I shift and bury my face in Tilly’s neck. I know that voice and the thundering sound of paws slapping on the hardwoods that preceded it. The Guardian is back, and the answer to who let the dogs out is her . I consider murdering the purple haired troublemaker until I remember what supes she’s packing.

I’m brave, but not stupid.

“ Seer ! What in the hell are you doing and when did you get back?”

That’s my girl, hiss-whispering as she tries to avoid waking all of us up. The Doc is curled around her other side, and the pup is under the covers with his head on her stomach. I’m fairly certain Tilly’s aware of all of the other things waking up even as she’s trying to keep her bestie from disturbing everyone’s slumber… again.

“I got back last night, and I came over to play with the kiddos. No one was up, so I did food and exercise, but they were so hyped up when we came inside that I lost control!”

Bullshit.

“We don’t have a kitchen full of strangers, do we?”

“No, Peanut. Julia and the guys are at my place. I don’t think we’re comfortable enough as a pair of polycules to wake up in the same space.”

Pair of… Hades, give me strength.

Luckily, I’m saved by Tilly’s groaning at her words and Wolfie popping his head out from under the covers. “If you’re going to make her sound like that, we’ll need an hour before we join you. And you, pumpkin, will need to evacuate the premises.”

I’m really starting to enjoy how our girl’s sass is rubbing off on him.

The three of them banter back and forth for a few minutes until I feel a wave of insecurity and fear hit me. It takes me a minute to realize that it’s coming from Tilly—one of the first parts of our unfinished mate bond to appear. I don’t want to interrupt, so I nip her earlobe lightly, hoping it will distract her. She shifts her hip into my morning erection and I swallow the groan threatening to escape.

“Well, I suppose we are pretty fucking cool,” Jolene mutters.

Hamilton decides to make himself known by sliding his arm across our pile, tugging everyone closer. That asshole is trying to start a dick chain, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to let him with the Irish lass as an audience. I open my mouth to snark at him, but my drugar sighs happily and my ire goes out the window. I’d give her anything she asked for when she makes soft sounds like that.

“Ahem!”

I lift my head and prop my face in my hand as I glare at the intruder. “O’Flanagan, I’m going to count to five and if you aren’t gone by the time I finish, you’d better be okay with my bare ass. I have to piss, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to hold it while you act like a five-year-old.”

That should get rid of her.

“Oooh, scary man. I’ll have you know I’ve got plenty of arse of me own at the moment, and though I’m disinclined to acquiesce to your command, I ate this morning. It’d be a pity to have brekkie all over the lovely hardwoods.”

My eyes narrow as Presley buries his face in Tilly’s shoulder, snorting at her threat. The pup ducks back under the covers and my drugar bats her lashes at me, pretending to be all innocent. Well, they’ve picked the wrong dog in this fight. If they think I’m letting the Lucky Charm get a leg up on me this morning, they’re dead wrong.

“That’s it!” I throw the covers off everyone, roll to my feet and head for the bathroom. I put a little shake in my ass just to prove my point, grinning to myself as I hear the shrieks and complaints.

If you can’t run with the big dogs, stay on the porch.

* * *

By the time I get out of the shower, I smell like the bergamot and peppery scented shit the pup always wears. I’m certain the full line up of men’s toiletries in Tilly’s en suite is his doing, and I shake my head as fondness fills my veins. Wolfie is a true submissive, through and through; he enjoys taking care of the people he loves as much as he does being taken care of. It’s growing on me, and I have no idea how to feel about it.

Forgoing the towel, I head straight for the closet, only to find Tilly and the pup standing in the middle of it. She looks absolutely miserable, staring at her feet like she’s failed a test. I realize she must have told him about Haggerty, thinking we were all going to cut and run on her. I’d like to kick her dead parents, but instead I decide to make light of the situation so she understands that none of us are upset with her.

“When you finish telling the pup that you let the Irish knob dive through your pot of gold, I’ve a mind to grab some pizza.” I flash them a brilliant grin as I pull some sweats and a tee off the hangar.

Tilly’s head turns slowly, almost like she’s going to pull a Linda Blair, and I worry that I chose the wrong time to be playful. She manages to squawk a few times and I wink at her as I step into my boxers. Wolfie gives her a sheepish look, and the expressions on her face changes to a furious glare. “If you knew, you should have said something when we got home last night. I worried myself to sleep and I was just contemplating what I’d look like in the town stocks with a big red A on my ass!”

“Tilly, you wouldn’t have worried if you’d just told us,” I reply as I pull on the sweats. “We promised you we were in this for the long run, even if it means an irksome idiot is going to tag along. You didn’t do anything wrong. People like all of us…”

Presley shouts about my phone buzzing from the other room, and I sigh. I don’t know which of my vocations is looking for me, but not answering is never an option.

“Come on, sugarplum. We’ll all get dressed and you can be pissed at us while we eat,” the pup coaxes.

Jolene rolls her eyes at us both, grabbing clothes off the racks with a growl. “Fine. But I get to drive.”

Only if we all want to die.