Page 73 of Tossed into the Mob

Our daughter would know where she belonged, and it was right here. I wished Treyton’s folks lived nearby, but they’d made the decision to live their life away from La Luna Noir, and I respected that. We’d visit a few times a year, and they’d been here twice since Lua was born.

Dad lived here part-time. But he liked being at home because he and his neighbor were getting along well. He said he’d never fall in love again but was enjoying their close friendship. I didn’t ask how close, but he had an almost permanent smile on his face.

“Time to clean up.” Odell and the others wouldn’t let me and Treyton help, so even the kids were brought in to carry plates into the kitchen.

They said their goodbyes. Dad was staying at the apartment in town, so it was just us three in the house. Lua yawned. Her face and hands were dirty, but Treyton and I agreed she’d had two baths today, so we’d wipe them with a cloth. She fell asleep while I was reading to her, and after kissing her good night, I collapsed on the bed beside my mate.

“How will our life be different with me being a shifter?” I asked for the hundredth time sincethatday as I snuggled into him.

“Let’s see. I won’t be able to pretend that I hear Lua crying just so I can go in and cuddle her. And I can’t sneak up on you and do this.” He smothered my face with kisses.

“Oh, I stopped those sneaky habits, huh.” I flung a leg over his hip. “But I’m serious. Is it different being mated to a shifter compared to a human?”

He leaned back and studied me. “You make it sound as though I was mated twice.”

I shrugged. Maybe he was.

“You’re my one and only, my happy ever after. You, Brock. Sure, as a shifter you can run fast and hear a car approaching when it’s a mile away, but you’re still you. You just have another dimension. You on the outside and the other you inside.”

He held out his hand, palm side up, and I placed mine on his.

I'd approached the world as human; it was how I met Treyton and became pregnant. But whether human or the shifter I'd become, my mate and baby were my forever.