Chapter Seventy-Two
Catherine waited for the attack, seeing it coming from a mile away. She ducked her shoulder, locked her hand around the attacker’s wrist, shoved up with a grunt and sent them to the mat behind her. Catherine turned around, her hands on her hips.
“Stop going easy on me,” Catherine chastised, barely out of breath.
“I’m not, you bitch!” Natalie yelled, shoving herself up off the mat. She bent backwards until there was a pop, a sign of fatigue Catherine had picked up on in the last week of working with her. Natalie rotated her arms and held her fists out again. “If you want to train with your boy toy in the evenings, that’s fine. Just give me a heads up so I can do the same.”
Natalie slipped forward and left. Catherine knew she would shift right before Natalie attempted it. Catherine felt it. Like an electrical line stripped of all its protective coating, the static crackled in the air around her. Catherine lifted her hand to block the right uppercut then brought her knee up to deflect Natlie’s left hand. Catherine ducked and slid to avoid the sudden appearance of Natalie’s trusty ankle knife.
Catherine ebbed and flowed around the field of energy, dodging with perfect accuracy until she found the opening: Natalie broke her root to the ground. Catherine dropped, spun her feet and knocked Natalie’s feet from under her. Natalie grunted as she hit the mat face-first.
Catherine stood up and laughed down at her friend who was shaking her head into the mat in anger. “To answer your question, Graham refuses to spar with me,” Catherine said. She held her hand down and helped Natalie onto her feet. The door behind them slammed shut.
“She’s not there yet,” Graham confirmed. Catherine rolled her eyes towards Natalie. “First she has to get past you, then Theo, then Lucas, then Lucas and Theo…” As he talked, Catherine moved her mouth to the words. Graham’s hands enveloped her waist. He turned her to face him and she gave him an innocent smile that his dark eyes saw straight through. He took her chin between his fingers and tilted her face up. “Then me.”
“You sure are a cocky one,” Catherine chuckled. She ran her hands up his chest.
“After watching you beat up a much more practiced warrior than yourself for the past twenty minutes?” Graham cupped her hand and moved it down to the front of his pants causing her cheeks to catch fire. “Yes, very cocky indeed.”
“You two are gross!” Natalie groaned. She tried to cover her ears as she picked up her belongings scattered around the gym. “It’s only gotten worse since you’ve marked each other. You don’t care about being private anymore.”
“Payback, Sister,” Graham mocked.
“Theo and I are never as bad as you two are.”
Catherine scoffed. “Oh, really? Does this sound familiar…” Catherine covered Graham’s ears. “I’ve been stuck in the woods dreaming of your dripping pussy.’ ‘You’re in luck, I’ve been stuck here practicing riding your desperate cock.””
Graham clearly heard every word. His dark eyes stared daggers at his sister who squirmed beneath his gaze.
“I’m going to make you pay for that. Sooner than you think catty Catherine,” Natalie warned.
She balled her dirty clothes, purse and towel haphazardly in her arms and stalked from the gym. Graham’s dark glare followed his sister out the door. When he looked back at her, his gaze softened and his thumbs rubbed against her bare skin.
“You’re picking things up quickly,” he said with pride.
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“I’m glad you approve,” she joked.
“I think I can get you started with Theo next week.”
“Will you be watching me then?”
“Like a hawk,” he agreed. Catherine laughed as he gave her a quick kiss. He glanced down at his phone. His eyebrows drew together as he responded to a text.
“Everything okay?” she asked.
Graham nodded as he finished responding. He shoved his phone back in his pocket and gave her a breathtaking smile. “Everything’s great, Baby. Only going to get better. You ready?”
Catherine nodded and allowed Graham to lead her out to the motorcycle. She sat up slightly and rested her chin on his shoulder as he drove them home. They were having a date-night. Tomorrow was Catherine’s first day off in a week and so they were going out to dinner. Graham refused to tell her anything else he had planned though he promised she would love it.
Everything had been perfect in the last week. Catherine managed to compartmentalize all of her problems and instead basked in the glow of being newly mated. She loved the thrill of showing off her mate’s mark. She loved how much more sensitive she felt to the world and everything it encompassed. She loved how her power continued to manifest more and more each day as if slowly allowing her to get accustomed to its presence. Most of all, she loved her mate, who strove to make each and every day better than the last.
Catherine pulled her helmet off and handed it to Graham. When he set it down, Catherine grabbed his jacket and hauled him to her. He grunted as their lips clashed. His body immediately enveloped hers. Sweeping her up against his chest, he moved them into the house. He sat her down in the bedroom but instead of helping her out of her clothes, like he normally did, he gave her one last lingering kiss and told her to get ready.
Catherine chalked his dismissive behavior up to wanting to get ready in time to make it to the reservation. She took a quick shower, applied some makeup and put on her black spaghetti strap cocktail dress. She was strapping on some heels when there was a knock on the door.
“Graham? Was that the door?” Catherine yelled.
“Huh?” Graham called from the kitchen.
The knocking sounded again.
“I think there’s someone at the door, can you get it?” she asked.
“I can’t hear you? Is that the door? Can you get it?”
Catherine shook her head and smiled. Refusing to keep yelling, she limped on one heel toward the front door. As she got closer she heard several female voices talking all at once. The knocking came again. Someone shushed someone else. The voices picked up again. Catherine opened the door and her mouth fell open.
“Surprise!!”
Natalie, Heather, Annabelle, Mable, and Betty all cheered and laughed at Catherine’s shocked expression. Then they parted, revealing a sixth person: Juno. Catherine squealed and jumped into her friend’s arms. They hugged each other tightly which resulted in the other five girls joining them in one large group hug.
Catherine managed to extricate herself and find her breath again. “What… What are you guys doing here?!”
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Chapter Seventy-Two
“It’s your marking party!” the MacTavish girls declared.
“Marking party?” Catherine asked, still trying to process what was happening.
“It’s like a bachelorette party,” Juno explained.
“Yeah, you know how it is. Most of us jump our mate’s bones the moment we recognize each other so it’s easier to celebrate after,” Natalie said as she walked by them carrying several bags that clinked. Catherine’s eyes followed Natalie and landed on Graham waiting inside the door with a pleased smile on his face.
“Did you do this?” Catherine asked, stepping up closer to him.
He took her hand and kissed the back of it. “I thought you might want a girls’ night.”
“I love you,” Catherine whispered before placing a gentle kiss to his lips. The other women bustled past them carrying bags of candy, board games, blankets, pajamas and more. Catherine’s excitement grew with each new item she saw. She looked up at Graham. He was staring down at his phone again. His thumbs moved over the screen.”What about you? Do guys have marking parties?”
Graham put his phone away and hugged her. His smile seemed content. He brushed some hair behind her ear. “Yeah, the guys want to take me out,” he said, gesturing with his chin to the road.
Catherine glanced to the road to see a black SUV pull up. Theo stuck his head out the driver-side window and waved. Natalie skipped over to say goodbye as the other men piled out to stretch. She recognized Geoffrey and Leo. Lucas was getting a few things out of his jeep.
“Who’s he?” Catherine asked, gesturing toward a man she recognized as one of Jensen’s guards.
“That’s Mark. He’s a good guy. He was there when I saw you the first time. Remember?”
“I remember you walking away from me,” she pointed out.
“Ouch.”
“I agree! What are you going to do? No strip clubs,” Catherine said as she jabbed a finger in his chest.
He caught her finger and kissed the tip. “Never.” He shrugged. “We might get drinks and dinner. Maybe get a tattoo.” Graham started to pull away from her.
“Oh yeah, got to memorialize your rise to beta, huh?” she guessed.
Graham looked upward and shrugged his shoulders to his ears. He ducked down, trapped her face between his hands and kissed her. “Have fun tonight, Baby.”
“Thank you. You too,” she whispered.
Catherine watched Graham stride off. She shook her head as the guys enveloped him in a grand display of back pats and shoulder shakes. Lucas looked up toward the house and gave a flirtatious wave.
“Bye, June Bug. I’ll be seeing you,” Lucas said in a sing-song voice.
Juno walked up beside Catherine and wrapped her arms around Catherine’s shoulders. She sighed and shook her head as they watched the men file into the SUV. Lucas got in last and blew Juno a kiss before slamming the door shut.
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Chapter Seventy-Two
I see you met Lucas?” Catherine observed.
“He gave me a ride into town,” Juno explained. “That boy is trouble.”
“Understatement. He’s quite the man-slut,” Catherine informed her.
“That’s okay, I’m quite the woman-slut,” Juno said.
The two held hands as they walked back into the house to see what the MacTavish sisters had in mind for the night.
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Chapter Seventy-Three
“So, the game goes like this…” Natalie began. “I read these cards that everyone turned in. If you’ve done them, take a shot.”
“Ohhh so it’s like ‘never have I ever,”” Betty said.
“No, I swear I came up with this years before ‘never have I ever’ got popular,” Natalie said.
Heather laughed. She leaned in toward Betty. “It’s exactly like ‘never have I ever.””
Catherine glanced around the room at the girls who’d become her friends. Everyone was in their pajamas. They’d found every comfortable piece of furniture in the house and put them all in a circle in the living room. RomComs were on a constant loop in the background. Chinese take-out containers were placed around the room within easy reaching distance. Bowls of candy, chips, cookies and various sweet treats were on window sills and atop the fireplace mantel where a small fire crackled. Filling in the nooks and crannies were bottles of alcohol all at varying levels of fullness.
Tequila sloshed onto the wooden coffee table. Betty and Mable squealed while pushing everyone’s glasses under the flow of liquor. Annabelle waved them off before putting the bottle down, her face red from the laughter she couldn’t get to stop.
“Okay… Okay…” Annabelle wheezed. She wiped her eyes and then swiped her hand in front of her face trying to make it serious. “Go. Let’s hear the first one.”
“Okay,” Natalie started. “Shhh. Okay.” She cleared her throat and held the card up to read. “Never have I ever… Wait.”
Everyone in the room doubled over in laughter. Someone knocked on the front door. Juno stumbled as she got up to check who it was. The girls continued to laugh while Natalie tried to get their attention back. Juno reentered the room looking far more sober than she had a moment earlier.
“Catherine, it’s for you,” Juno said.
Catherine raised a brow at Juno’s unreadable expression. She crawled over the couch and landed with a thud on the rug behind it. Mable poked her head over and started to laugh anew. On unsteady legs, Catherine walked to the front door. She opened the door and immediately understood Juno’s unease: Chloe.
At least Chloe looked as uncertain as Catherine felt. Chloe had been largely MIA since the mind walk. Graham told her she’d been preoccupied with some business in Sterling but he didn’t know anything for certain. Juno stood closely behind Catherine, lending silent support.
“Hey,” Chloe started first.
“Hi, it’s good to see you. What’s up? Graham’s not here.”
Chloe smiled. “No, I know. I heard you two finally got around Jensen’s command and I just wanted to say ‘Congratulations,” Chloe said, holding out a present Catherine hadn’t noticed her holding.
“Oh, wow, thanks!” Catherine said, taking the bag from her.
Juno held her hands out, allowing Catherine to use them like a table. She dug through the bag and found a small copper bowl, a vile of water and a gray stone. Catherine recognized the bowl and water from the mind walk ceremony. The stone, however, was new. It was smooth and fit in the palm of her hand. One side was rounded while the other had a divot. She held out the stone and raised a brow curiously at Chloe.
“It’s an energy stone… I know, the name is so generic it sounds fake. But they’re really cool and easy to hide.” Chloe held her hand
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out and Catherine gave it to her. “As your power strengthens, the stone will help you keep it at a manageable level. Hold it in your fingers like this and rub your thumb in the divot. You don’t even need to focus on it, just the action will help level you out.”
“Thank you, Chloe. That is very thoughtful. So far, it doesn’t feel like much, fortunately,” Catherine said. She took the stone back and put it in the bag with the other two items.
Chloe observed Catherine for a moment. “I understand. Right now it may seem that way. I can feel the magic radiating off you though, Catherine. Soon it may not seem so easy and when it becomes too much it’ll already be too…”
“Catherine! Juno! Where are you? We want to play the game!”
“No we don’t!”
Chloe’s eyes flicked toward the living room. “I better head out.”
“Did you… want to come inside? Graham’s sisters are throwing me a ‘marking party.””
Juno poked her in the side but Chloe smiled. “I appreciate the invite but I have somewhere to be. If you need anything, Catherine… anything… give me a call.”
“Of course, thank you again, Chloe,” Catherine said.
“What is wrong with you?” Juno asked as they walked back to the living room.
“Who was that?” Annabelle asked.
“It was just Chloe,” Catherine said, setting her present down by the others she hadn’t opened yet.
“Did the stripper service give her the wrong address for the boy’s party?” Annabelle asked.
“Annabelle!” Heather admonished with a slap to her shoulder.
“She invited her to stay!” Juno yelled.
“What?!” several of them squealed.
“Never invite the ex to any mating celebration! That’s rule number one,” Betty agreed.
“Whatever, she just wanted to give me a few things to help with my… thing,” Catherine sighed. She flopped back on the couch. Mable handed her a shot and Catherine downed it.
“Your voodoo magic?” Natalie asked.
“How’s that going?” Juno asked.
“Meh, we’re kind of ignoring it for the time being.”
“Healthy,” Annabelle said, nodding her head.
“No!” Natalie screamed, jumping up from her chair. She paced around the furniture with her hands behind her back, moving from couch cushion to cushion to recliner to ottoman, like a war general giving his final orders. Everyone laughed as they tried to keep their feet out of her way. “This is moving into dangerous stress-inducing conversation. Tonight is about having fun, getting drunk, gaining five pounds in sugar alone and comparing our mates dick sizes.” Natalie stopped her pacing. “Except for you, Catherine.
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We, she said gesturing between herself and the other two MacTavish sisters. “Don’t want to hear about that.”
Catherine dropped her jaw in mock insult. “This is my party. I want to talk in great detail about my mate’s dick and unparalleled technique.”
“Yeah, I disagree. I would love to hear about Graham’s giant dick,” Juno said, clinking her shot glass to Catherine’s.
“Me too,” said Mable.
“I’ll listen,” added Betty.
“Three to three,” Juno said.
“Ha! Tie means no one talks about it,” Natalie said triumphantly.
11
*Nuh, uh, not so fast,” Catherine said. Everyone’s eyes shot to her. “Four to three. Now Graham’s dick is about…” Catherine held out her two pointer fingers and started pulling them outward. Natalie and Annabelle jumped from their armchairs to pile on the couch, silencing Catherine with a hand to her mouth and fingers in her sides that made her giggle. “Okay, okay! Truce!!”
Annabelle and Natalie reluctantly let Catherine go and returned to their drinks. “Good,” Natalie panted. “Good, we can get back to
the fun stuff. Presents next!”
“Goody!” Betty screamed.
“I’ll start!” Mable demanded. She hopped up and ran across the room to grab the present she’d brought.
Catherine made quick work of the girls’ presents and a few from other women in the pack. Mable retrieved the last present as the other girls each played with the ones already opened. Several lingerie sets, two dildos, a few books, a personalized bracelet and some perfume were passed around to each girl to ogle over. Mable handed her the last gift: a large basket filled with multiple gifts. The basket had lotion, ice packs, aloe, a peri bottle, gatorade, granola bars, and a box of condoms.
“Is that your famous Heat-Care Basket?” Annabelle asked with a roll of her eyes.
“What?” Heather asked, looking defensive. “Everyone wants to give cute little socks at the baby shower, but what the mother-to-be really needs is numbing gel and something to shoot up her hooha when toilet paper is too painful.”
“Babies? Who’s talking babies?” Juno asked, eyes wide. Her gaze snapped to Catherine. “Are you…”
Catherine opened her mouth but Natalie answered, “Of course she isn’t. She can’t be.”
The girls nodded in understanding, everyone but Juno and Catherine. “What am I missing? Juno asked, saving Catherine from asking
the same.
“Lycans can’t go into heat until they’ve been marked,” Betty explained. “It’s not like us where we start going into heat once we start shifting. Female lycans need the male venom to activate that ability. They also can only get pregnant while in heat, hence the intensity.”
Juno glared in Catherine’s direction. “You’ve never been in heat before?”
Catherine shrugged, not thinking she could get any redder if she tried. “Um, no…”
“Bitch,” Juno cursed, grabbing a shot of vodka before slumping back on the couch.
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Chapter Seventy-Three
Right? Betty agreed with a glare of her own.
“Please, we wish our heat was as tame as yours. That’s why you have the basket. After Graham is done with you, you’re going to need everything in there. It’s going to knock you on your ass,” Heather explained.
“Yeah and use the condoms. Not ones at the gas station, these. Our heat is no joke. If you don’t want babies, you need them. Don’t let him tell you otherwise,” Annabelle added.
Juno leaned over toward Catherine. “Use them, Kitty. You can’t get pregnant until I do.”
“If you insist,” Catherine whispered conspiratorially, secretly pondering how her heat could be more intense than what they felt during the full moon.
“I don’t know,” Natalie began, looking wistful. “Theo and I like to roll the dice at least once. No protection feels soooo good.”
“You’re telling me,” Heather said, running her hand down her expanding belly.
“I remember my first heat,” Annabelle said wistfully.
“Yeah, I do too. I was downstairs listening to it all,” Heather groaned.
“No you weren’t!”
“Yes, I was! I banged on the ceiling with a broom!”
“That was you?! All these years we thought an intruder was breaking in!”
“You mean like the raccoon that broke into the pantry two weeks ago?” Natalie supplied.
“Natalie!” Catherine squealed.
“What raccoon in the pantry?” Juno asked, clearly picking up on Catherine’s unease.
“Don’t,” Catherine warned Natalie.
“Well, you see my dear Juno, your darling Kitty got up to no good one late evening…” Natalie began.
“I love a good bedtime story,” Mable sighed, burrowing into her blanket with a dreamy smile on her face.
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Surrendering to Destiny
