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CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
I t took far longer to get out the warehouse than Xav liked.
He wanted to stay buried in his kiss with Lindsay and then run out of there with her to his place—or maybe to the back of an SUV on the side of the road if they couldn’t make it that far—but Shifters surged around them, full of congratulations or more teasing.
When Xav and Lindsay finally broke apart, Cassidy stepped behind Lindsay and draped the shirt and pants Lindsay must have shed to shift over her shoulders. “You’ll need these,” she said in amusement. “At least until you get to Xav’s.”
Lindsay flushed as she caught the clothes and slid them on in swift movements. “Thanks, Cass. Always looking out for me.”
Once she was dressed, Lindsay turned and opened her arms for her mother. Leah gathered her in, Martin joining them, the three sharing a silent, tight embrace.
They didn’t need to speak, Xav realized. They’d been through so much together that they could convey their love and relief without words.
When they finally parted, Lindsay wiped her eyes. Leah didn’t bother, tears trickling unashamedly down her cheeks. The usually quiet Martin beamed, his face wet.
“I found the cutest stuff in there.” Lindsay gestured to the warehouse as she drew a shaky breath. “Sweet T-shirts and the most adorable shoes. Think anyone would mind if we took them? Who do they belong to?”
Of course, Lindsay wouldn’t let anything like life-and-death situations or accepting a mate-claim keep her from shopping.
“No one,” Neal told her. “This warehouse was abandoned by a start-up and foreclosed on, and the goods inside are scheduled to be destroyed, if anyone can be bothered. Your buddy Dean was negotiating to buy it through a shell company.”
So he wouldn’t be reported as a squatter, Xav mused. Dean might run an illegal business out it, but he couldn’t be arrested for simply hanging out on his own property.
“Cool.” Lindsay said, her usual verve returning. She paused to kiss Xav again, tearing herself from him before it could heat up. “Coming, ladies? We won’t be long,” she confided to Xav and Diego.
With another promising smile at Xav, Lindsay laced her arms through Cassidy’s and her mother’s and drew them back into the building.
“Sure, they won’t.” Diego heaved a resigned sigh. “Well, it gives us time to get all these guys trussed up and into our vans. You all right, Xav?”
“Yeah,” Xav said in surprise. “I feel great.” He’d been tranqued, hauled for miles to a cold warehouse, kept under threat without food or water, and threatened with his life. And yet, he knew he could run a marathon, or at least a half, or do more skiing up on the mountain, without any trouble at all.
“Touch of a mate,” Tiger rumbled.
“Agreed,” Diego said with a nod. “The touch of a true mate can heal a lot of hurting. Welcome to the club, bro.”
Then Diego, his straitlaced, by-the-rules older brother, swiftly caught Xav in a hard hug.
“Thanks for coming to my rescue.” Xav thumped Diego on the back as they eased apart. “One more time.”
“Always.” The warmth in Diego’s eyes told Xav all he needed to know.
Diego had been watching out for Xav since Xav could remember, not because of obligation, Xav had realized as they’d grown older, but out of love. Diego could have decided not to bother with Xav at all, but he’d done everything in his power to make sure his troublesome little brother made it into the light and had a good life.
It beat the hell out of the toxic relationship of AC and Dean.
When Diego turned away to help his men and the Shifters shove Dean, AC, and his unconscious thugs into the waiting SUVs, Leah slipped from inside the warehouse to catch Xav in an embrace. She held on tight, her residual tears wetting Xav’s shirt.
“I’m so happy for you both,” she said tremulously. “Lindsay needs you, Xavier. She’s always so much stronger when she’s with you.”
Lindsay was plenty strong on her own, but Xav understood. “I’m stronger with her .”
Two halves. Make them whole.
Tiger’s words rang in Xav’s head. Well, Xav intended to do just that, in all ways.
“The mate bond knows,” Leah said with confidence. “Martin will be glad for a reason to finish that suite he’s been building in the basement. It will be perfect for you and Lindsay, and of course, cubs.”
She turned away before Xav could open his mouth to say a word, hurrying back inside to be with her daughter, whose laughter poured out to him.
“I have a house,” Xav said to no one.
It stood to reason, though, that Xav would move in with Lindsay. She couldn’t legally live outside of Shiftertown, nor would she want to be far from her family.
Xav found, upon consideration, that he didn’t mind. He was already close to his in-laws-to-be, and it felt weird to live too much apart from Diego anyway. Now Xav and Diego would be backdoor neighbors.
He could hang onto the house he’d worked so hard to buy, and either rent it out, or use it for private getaways for himself and Lindsay. Shifters liked to be in everybody’s business.
But … “Cubs?” Was it too soon to be thinking about having them?
“Lindsay is already carrying one,” Tiger informed him as he lumbered by.
“What?” Xav stared at him, but Tiger continued into the warehouse without pausing. Xav hurried after him. “Tiger, what did you say?”
Tiger lifted an inert man over his shoulder with ease. “I said Lindsay is already carrying a cub.” He pointed to his own golden eyes. “I can see.”
“Crap. How do you …?” Xav broke off. Tiger had unusual abilities that no one, even Tiger, understood. “Are you sure?”
Tiger gave him a grave nod. “I’m always sure.” He walked away from Xav and out to deposit his load in the SUV.
Vehicles began to start up. “Xav!” Diego’s shout came.
It meant he was ready to go and not wanting to wait. Like Lindsay and her parents, Xav and Diego didn’t always need a lot of words to understand each other.
“Linds,” Xav called into the recesses of the warehouse. “We’re going.”
Did she answer right away? Pull Cassidy and her mom out with her to hurry to their mates?
Nope. Xav paced while he waited, and Diego leaned on the horn.
At long last, Cassidy and Lindsay strolled out from one of the aisles, arms full of clothing, shoes hanging from fingers. Leah followed with a more modest bundle, which she carried past Xav and out of the building.
Lindsay dropped half the shoes she carried. “We should grab one of these empty crates,” she suggested.
“Good idea.” Cassidy made for one. She and Lindsay piled their stuff inside, then they both looked hopefully at Xav.
“You are kidding me,” Xav said. He should be annoyed they wanted to use him as a pack animal, but the merriment on Lindsay’s face made him want to laugh.
Thinking about what Tiger had just told him sent Xav to the crate. He peered inside at the folded shirts, skirts, and dresses, and small pairs of shoes arranged in neat rows. The shoes were for children, not full-grown Shifter adults.
“You’ll never fit into those,” Xav joked. “I remember you agreeing to AC’s job because you said you needed more shoes. And asked Dean to let you go hunting for them.”
“I did.” Lindsay’s eyes sparkled as she pushed her hair from her face. “I didn’t say the shoes were for me .”
Cassidy grinned at Xav. “They’re for Jinx’s cubs.”
“All the littler ones are still growing,” Lindsay said. “They go through shoes like you wouldn’t believe.”
Xav gaped at her until he realized he was, and snapped his mouth shut. Lindsay was confirming what Xav had known all along—that she could act frivolous and empty-headed, but she did so to hide a kind heart and keen understanding.
Xav would have to show her she didn’t have to hide anymore.
Lindsay nodded at the crate. “Ready to go. Though … wait a sec, Cass. There was that blue satin sheath you were debating about?—”
“No.” Xav cut her off. He hefted the crate in his arms, trying not to stagger under its weight. “Let’s roll, before Diego wears out that horn.”
Cassidy laughed. “You’d think living with Shifters would teach him patience. Coming, love.” She hurried out the door, waving at Diego as she went.
“Let me help you with that.” Lindsay caught a sagging side of the crate, balancing it between them. “The two of us can do anything together. Right?”
Xav lifted the crate out of her grasp. “You keep saving my ass,” he said. “Now, let me save yours.”
“I’m plenty capable of balancing a box , Escobar,” Lindsay said hotly. “You should have seen me leaping around those shelves.”
Xav grimaced. “I’m glad I didn’t. Especially after what Tiger told me.”
“What did he tell you?” Lindsay asked in sudden curiosity. “Tiger’s always full of surprises.”
“He said we’re having a cub.” Xav began carrying the crate to the outer doors. “Who will apparently live with us in your parent’s basement.”
He heard Lindsay’s sharp intake of breath and then the quick pattering of her bare feet to catch up with him. “Are you serious?”
“Yep,” Xav said without stopping. “I bet Leah is talking to Martin about the construction details even now.”
“No, you aggravating male. About the cub.”
Xav halted and set down the crate to face her. Diego could wait a minute. “Tiger seems to think it’s true.”
Lindsay’s eyes were wide. “Carly says he always knows. Shit, Xav. A cub. That’s wonderful. And terrifying.”
Xav stepped to her. “Like you said, we can do anything together.”
Lindsay regarded him in almost pure fear. “Can we?”
“Yes.” Xav’s uncertainty fled as love for this untamed and beautiful woman surged through him. He cupped her shoulders and pulled her close. “We can. The mate bond knows so.”
Lindsay leaned into him, her warmth like an embrace. “Our cub will be awesome.”
“And a serious handful. But we can do this.”
Lindsay’s smile trembled. “Yeah. We can. Try and let anyone stop us.”
Xav grinned at her. “They can try.”
“But they never will.” Lindsay pulled him down to her for a brief, hot kiss.
Xav gathered her in before she could let go, what he now knew was the mate bond flowing through them. With it came the mating frenzy that had been building in him for some time, the need to constantly be with his mate, their bodies entwined, no matter what.
The rapid beating of a horn outside was accompanied by two wolf cubs racing around them, yipping at the tops of their voices.
Lindsay and Xav broke apart, laughing, but the yearning hadn’t receded.
Xav took Lindsay by the hand and led his mate out after the careening cubs to the waiting Shifters and his loving family.