Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Seven
Catherine couldn’t help but smile as she watched another car pull down the long gravel driveway to the cabin. Mary stepped out and then opened the back door where the triplets came bursting out. She knew Benji wouldn’t be there. He was still dealing with the grief of Leonora’s betrayal. The triplets, however, remained aloof and squealed when they saw the pond. Mary hurried after them, yelling for them not to jump in until they got their swimsuits on.
Natalie chuckled beside her while peeling potatoes for the potato salad Catherine was preparing. She and Theo had arrived early in the morning, much to Graham’s chagrin. The two men were both out on the back deck. She wasn’t sure what they were discussing but whatever it was had Graham’s forehead creased with concentration. Sensing her gaze, he looked up and his face immediately softened.
The sound of another car brought Catherine’s attention to the other window where a red Jeep came into view. Catherine dropped the bread she was kneading and rushed out of the door. Juno jumped down from the Jeep, holding a casserole dish. Catherine propelled herself into her friend’s arm.
Juno immediately dropped the dish and returned the force of Catherine’s hug. Both women started to silently cry as they held onto each other.
“Kitty, I’m so sorr…”
“Don’t!” Catherine demanded, pulling back so she could hold Juno’s face between her hands. She shook her head. “Do not apologize to me. You are still my hero. You always have been, always will be. There was nothing you or I could have done.”
Juno nodded and pulled Catherine into another hug. They separated and then Catherine gasped. She moved Juno’s hair from her shoulder to get a better look at the large mating mark displayed on her neck. Her eyes widened and Juno blushed. At that moment, Lucas came up beside them sporting a similarly fresh mark on his neck. One arm wrapped around Juno’s waist while the other held the now cracked casserole dish.
“You? You two? Really?! How? When?”
Juno blushed harder but Lucas’ grin grew wider. “Let’s just say it took a bit of luck,” Lucas explained, looking down at Juno and winking.
”
“Don’t even start,” Juno warned him with a stern pointed finger.
“Later?” he asked, lowering his lips closer to her.
Juno smacked him on the chest but stood up on her toes to give him a quick peck on the lips. “Later, you scoundrel.”
Lucas winked again, smacked Juno on the butt and walked off. Catherine continued to stare at her friend with expectant eyes.
“What?!” Juno asked, exasperated. She hooked her arm through Catherine’s and started toward the cabin. She flicked her wrist in the direction of her new chosen mate. “Just look at that ass!”
“Don’t you dare,” Graham warned from the top steps of the porch where he held little Tristan in his arms.
Catherine came up beside him and pinched Tristan’s cheek before kissing Graham’s. “Not even by accident?”
Graham answered her with a growl and she rolled her eyes before kissing him on the lips in appeasement.
A few minutes later a caravan of other cars arrived bringing Annabelle and Leo. Next was Heather and Geoffrey who not only brought their three young ones, but their newest addition, born just two days earlier. Betty, along with Mable and her mate soon joined the gathering.
Their little cabin was bursting at the seams. The women stayed in the kitchen all lending a hand to prepare the rest of the meal they were all to share. Most of the children went down to the pond to swim, supervised by the men who stood at the edge of the dock drinking and trying, but failing, to avoid discussing pack business.
As they cooked, Juno confirmed that she and Lucas would have to leave the pack soon. Catherine fought the urge to feel heartbroken. She knew Lucas would take great care of her best friend and that Juno would crack skulls in the pack of lycans. Their new pack would be on the other side of the country though and she dreaded the day they would have to say goodbye.
Just as dinner was about ready, the last expected car pulled into the drive. Catherine extricated herself from her family and ran to the porch just as Toma helped Chloe out of the passenger seat. She ran down the steps but stopped halfway when she realized she didn’t know who to hug first.
“Oh, come here, Short Stuff,” Toma said, ushering her forward.
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Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Seven
Catherine ran forward and threw her arms around him. She clasped her arms tightly around his neck and inhaled his familiar scent. “Are you okay?” she asked, her voice muffled by his shoulder.
“I’m great, Kitty,” he assured her.
Beside them two people cleared their throats. They separated and chuckled at their mates who both stood with their arms crossed and shared a similar displeased look on their faces. Toma kept his arm around Catherine’s middle and chuckled.
“Don’t give us that look. Unlike you two, we never fucked,” Toma joked.
Graham and Chloe exchanged a look but what he said didn’t stop Chloe from narrowing her eyes at Catherine and pulling Toma away with a rough jerk on his arm.
“Ow,” he teased with a grin before giving her a deep kiss. Chloe moaned into the kiss and Catherine looked away to Graham, eyes wide with surprise.
Graham shrugged and pulled her into his arms. Once the short, yet awkward, makeout session was over, Catherine took the covered dish from Chloe’s arms. The two women walked ahead while the men followed behind.
“How are you feeling?” Catherine asked hesitantly.
Chloe smiled. “Getting better every day. It helps having…” Chloe blushed. “Having him around.”
“Yeah, he has that way about him,” Catherine agreed. Chloe sent another look of jealousy her way. She laughed. “Now you know how it feels.”
Chloe blinked and blushed harder when she realized what she’d been doing. “Sorry, it’s all very new.”
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Catherine patted her back. “It’s okay. I’d like to tell you it gets better but…” She glanced back at her own mate whose eyes seemed to be studying her ass with malicious intent. “It really doesn’t.” She looked to Chloe again. “Is it true you might be leaving us as well?”
“Nothing’s decided yet,” Toma interjected.
Chloe rolled her eyes. “It’s been decided, Babe. We’re staying with family.”
“But they’re my family not…”
Chloe stopped short and swiveled. “I beg your pardon?”
Toma blushed. “Right, you’re right. I’m sorry.” Toma walked as if to pass by them. When he was beside his mate though he lowered his head and his voice. “Punish me later?” He winked and sauntered off.
Catherine hung back as Chloe ran after her mate. Graham came up beside her and took her hand so they could walk into the house together.
While the women prepared to bring all of the dishes outside, the men set up a long enough table to accommodate everyone. Before she could grab anything herself, everyone else had taken a dish, leaving Catherine empty-handed.
She walked to the front porch and watched from the top of the steps as everyone started sitting down. Baskets were passed around the table. People joked and laughed. Mary corralled all of the children from the pond to the separate kids table. Juno looked lovingly up at Lucas who was running his knuckles over her cheek. Toma curled one of Chloe’s long blonde locks around his finger. Natalie and Theo threw dinner rolls at the other MacTavish siblings only to be stopped by the matriarch’s scolding. Everyone was smiling. Everyone was happy.
Catherine felt large, firm hands wrap around her waist and she leaned back into her mate. He dropped his mouth to her shoulder and placed a kiss there before inhaling her scent.
“Are you happy, Baby?”
Catherine opened her eyes, startled. She looked out around the table again and realization hit her like a hard slap to the face.
“I’ve seen this before,” she whispered.
Graham’s lips lifted from her neck and his hold on her tightened. “Like deja vu?”
Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Seven
She shook her head. “No, when I lost control and you were trying to get me back. I had these flashes of memories and then I saw this. This exact thing and you held me just like this and…” Catherine turned in his arms. “You even said that exact same thing. I think… I think I saw a vision of the future.”
Rather than reacting out of surprise or even fear, Graham smiled. He brushed his thumb across her cheek, leaving warmth in its wake.
“What happens next?” he asked softly, his coppery-brown eyes making her feel excited and loved all at once.
“I don’t know,” she whispered.
“Are you ready to find out?” he asked, his voice husky and hopeful.
Catherine looked deeply into the eyes of the man she loved, the man who came out of nowhere to make her whole. The one who accepted their bond, who accepted all of her, without hesitation and turned her entire world around. The man who saved her.
Catherine nodded.
He smirked, just a gentle lifting of his mouth to one side. “No, Baby, that just won’t do. Let me hear you say it,” he whispered.
Catherine gave him a smirk of her own and ran her hands up his chest. “Yes, Alpha. As long as you’re there.”
His eyes flashed black and he growled low in pleasure. “Til the very end.”
Graham lowered his mouth, tipped her chin up with his finger, and sealed the promise with a kiss.
The End
