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WILDER

Today was our grand opening, and even though we didn’t have anybody checking in until three, we were up earlier than normal, getting ready. More than once, I tried to send my mate back to bed—he was in the exhausted stage of pregnancy. But I understood his excitement… I understood why he wanted to be part of all of this and not take the chance of missing something.

That didn’t mean I liked it.

All the beds had been made with fresh linens. All the towels were in place. The deck had been swept off. We had maps of the property in multiple spots. Keys were on their proper hooks. Reservations printed out for easy access. Snacks ready to lay out. Activities, including tours by me, arranged.

We had this.

And even though it was our official opening day, it was more of a soft launch. It had been Thorn’s idea, citing that keeping it from being a huge deal might prevent the piling on of too much pressure. Not that it stopped us from feeling the pressure. We did, but it was self-imposed and not increased due to the local paper being here or random people stopping by to gawk.

The first people to arrive were my cousin and his friends. It was interesting to me how focused they were on this place. Like maybe it told a bigger story than them just loving the city. Maybe their beasts realized they needed both. And realizing that had me scratching down a few ideas for marketing. Maybe that was our target demographic, aside from local families. City shifters were a growing population, and if we could tap into that, we might manage to turn this place into the place to be.

“Are we working or playing?” Paul asked. “We’re up for both. We just want to know ahead of time.”

“It’s both? Is that okay?” Thorn was allowing help, and I was thrilled by it.

“Wouldn’t have asked if it wasn’t,” Peter said. My guess was that they’d discussed it on the way over.

“Maybe you could help show people to their rooms and carry their luggage? I’d planned for that to be us, but… I’m kind of tired.”

“You’re kind of pregnant,” Frank said—then closed his mouth with a snap.

Thorn looked at me. I shrugged. I had no idea how Frank knew. We had planned on telling them… just hadn’t gotten around to it yet.

“I’m a koala shifter. We notice earlier than most—your skin changes.”

“I want to pretend I didn’t hear you say that,” my mate mumbled, patting his cheeks and chin like he was trying to decipher what those changes were. “Wanna pretend I still look just as good as always?”

“You look better.” I pulled him into my side. It wasn’t me being nice, either. My mate was hotter each and every day, and now that Frank had mentioned it, his skin was different. He was glowing.

“Agreed,” Frank said. “But also—congratulations. I didn’t mean to spill the beans.”

“We are glad you know.” Thorn was beyond gracious.

There were hugs, congratulatory wishes, and then each of them started making a case for why their names should be bestowed upon our young—male or female. Not that I could see any of those names being good little girl names.

The first actual couple arrived shortly after, and then a family, and then another and another, and we became too busy to chat. This was happening. The resort was coming alive with activity and the excitement that came with families being on vacation.

Over the course of the afternoon as it turned into evening, I helped check people in. My mate showed them where everything was in the main building. The guys helped carry luggage and led them to their rooms. And we did that on repeat until everyone was settled in.

Only one couple was left to check in when the sun began to set, and they wouldn’t be here for another couple of hours. Something about their plane being delayed.

That was wild to me—people came from such a distance that they needed a plane and a car rental to get here.

Apparently, Gertrude had a lot to do with our popularity. Her kids had told all their friends—and then bragged on social media about how they were going to spend the summer here. It brought us a lot of calls. She told us we could repay her by coming to the library more. I wasn’t sure how the two were connected, but I promised we would.

“We’re gonna go swimming and maybe cook up some s’mores or something,” Paul said, and then asked if we wanted to come.

I did not. I wanted to stay here, with my mate, who looked like he needed to sleep. But he was stubborn. Resting would have to do.

“We’re gonna pass. But maybe… Could you do us a favor?” I looked at Frank.

“Oh, don’t worry—I’m not going to swim shifted. There are kids here.”

I hated to ask him and was glad he understood. I could see it now—first day, everybody’s screaming, not realizing it was a koala coming out of the water. With the sky turning dark, it would look like a scene from a horror movie. No one needed that on opening day, or any other day for that matter.

I felt bad for him—going from cutie-fluffiness to full-on night terrors with a bucket of water—but he seemed amused by it, so it worked.

The three of them left, and after much encouragement, I got my mate to take a seat on the couch. I sat beside him, my arm around him as he snuggled in close.

“I can take care of the last check-in.” I kissed the top of his head. “Why don’t I bring you to bed? You need the sleep.”

“I hate being this tired.” He yawned. “I knew that I might puke during this stage, but no one told me I’d be this tired.”

“To be fair, you’re growing an entire human being. That takes work.” I wished I could help in that department, but other than making sure he didn’t have too much on his plate, there was nothing I could do.

When he first started having trouble staying awake, I spent far too much time on the internet looking for possible reasons. I should’ve known better. The medical side of the internet was terrifying. Thankfully, most of the first page of results basically said it was normal and would go away soon enough.

“Hey. You don’t know that. I could be growing a cougar.”

“…Yeah. I suppose that’s true too.”

“Do you mind?” He got suddenly serious. “If our baby is human?”

“If our baby is healthy, I’m the happiest cougar there is.” I kissed his shoulder.

“If our baby is just like you—I’m the happiest cougar there is.” I kissed his cheek.

“If our baby is like me—I’m the happiest cougar there is.” I kissed his lips.

“If the baby is like Stiles… maybe I’m less happy.” This time I made a face. “He is a bit grumpy.”

He chuckled. “But you know, I’m glad we met him. And I like that he’s slowly becoming part of our lives. My uncle might not be here to dote on the little one… but I have a feeling Stiles will be that for them.”

“You know, I think so too. And I bet your uncle would’ve liked that—a lot.”

I waited for him to respond.

He did a few seconds later, with a soft snore.

My mate had been so tired, he fell asleep mid-conversation, and I was glad. Because he needed the sleep.

Once I knew he was fully out, I scooped him up and carried him to our room, setting him gently in bed. He tried, half-heartedly, to argue as I took his shoes off, but in the end, he just curled up and snuggled under the covers. I longed to climb into bed beside him and hold him close, but if I did, I wouldn’t want to leave, and we still had one last couple to check in.

I went downstairs and waited for them to arrive. They were the sweetest older couple, one who said they used to come here with their family as kids. We weren’t connecting with only new visitors, we were also bringing back past ones. Today had gone better than my wildest dreams.

We’d done it.

We made this place better than it had been in my memory.

And we’d done it together.

This was only the first day, and I’d be foolish to think we weren’t going to find mistakes we’d made along the way, but that was to be expected. And when they did, the two of us would figure it out… together. I couldn’t wait to make years of memories, not only for our guests, but also for us. Because this place and these people were now a part of our lives, and I was here for it.