The Wolf's Mate Book 3: Callie & The Cats (27 page)

They were going to stay in the guest room on
the first floor of Rhett and Lisa’s home until the barn was ready.
For them, it couldn’t happen fast enough. Callie was a little
sensitive about how noisy they all were when they made love and he
didn’t want to dampen their love life because they had to share a
house with their aunt and uncle.

When they stopped for the night in Akron,
Ohio, they made love and were laying together on the bed, a tangle
of arms and legs. He kissed her bellybutton. “So you think maybe
you’re three weeks?”

“Something like that.” She yawned. “That
first time we made love I’m pretty sure I was feeling so needy
because of the heat.”

He looked up at her, “Are you sorry?”

She looked startled, “No, of course not. I
mean I wouldn’t have gotten pregnant on purpose right now, but
we’re mates and I’m not going anywhere and you’re not going
anywhere, and this baby is going to the first ever lion-wolf
hybrid. Special beyond words. And well loved, too.”

She stared at him for a few quiet moments and
then said, “Unless you’re going to do something fun down there, I’m
ready for bed.”

“Now how can I resist such a tempting offer
like my sweet kitten’s pussy?” He laughed and settled down between
her legs to eat her like his favorite dessert. Which she was.

**Eryx**

The barn was huge. It was more than big
enough for them and a half dozen cubs, which made his head spin
with anticipation. They walked around the interior, talking to
Rhett about replacing windows and adding insulation to the walls,
fixing the floors and where the two most important rooms of the
house would be: the kitchen and the master bedroom.

They’d done a great job of clearing the barn
out which they’d used for storage for years, and Rhett had friends
that would help with the construction so they could get started
right away.

The days flew by. The contractors their uncle
recommended were happy to have the work and with Callie's help,
they designed the downstairs and the master bedroom on the second
floor. She only had a few requests: her own walk-in closet, a
Jacuzzi tub big enough to play in, and a glass enclosed shower
large enough for three. Downstairs, she only wanted a fireplace
with a hearth and mantel big enough to hang lots of stockings from.
Ethan designed the kitchen because he cooked more than any of them,
and Eryx handled the additional room designs for the first floor,
which included a half bath and an office. He wanted to make a
formal dining room for holidays, but what she wanted instead was a
bigger kitchen so they could all be where the most love and warmth
in the home was. They both thought it was a great idea.

Neither he nor Ethan wanted her working in
the barn with them, with all the dust and debris, but she was very
insistent on doing her fair share and it hadn't been an argument
she was going to let them win. They kept her busy with easy but
time consuming jobs away from the contractors and their loud noises
and occasional bawdy language. Eryx knew the cub didn't have ears
yet, but still, he didn't want Callie exposed to all that crass
language either. Not his sweet little angel.

Living with Rhett and Lisa took some getting
used to, but they were wonderful and accommodating, and just happy
to have them there. The barn was far enough away from the main
house that you couldn't see it through the tree line but close
enough for a leisurely ten minute walk. The bed they were sleeping
on in the guest room had a frame that was so creaky that Callie
refused to make love to them that first night. They quickly solved
that problem the next day by dismantling the bed and sleeping on
the mattress and box spring on the floor instead. Although Callie
was the noisiest in bed of the three, purposely keeping their
sounds of pleasure down to almost mute proved more difficult than
Eryx would have guessed. But they weren't about to let Callie get
away with saying they had to wait until they were in their own home
before they made love again. Not a chance.

Ashland, Indiana was a tiny farming town. One
school for up to eighth grade, and then the high schoolers went to
the next town over. One greasy spoon called Cherie’s, one bank, one
gas station and garage, one grocery, one pharmacy, a feed store and
a hardware store, and the city hall building. Population-wise, it
was half the size of King, and he and Ethan had taken turns
carefully scouting the area at night and found no trace of any
other shifters. At least within the town limits. They discussed the
full moon, which would come up in a few weeks, and Rhett had
suggested she just stay on the farm property. Although it was
winter, there were several stands of trees and there were abundant
deer and small game. Callie said that she thought this would be the
last time she shifted until several months after the cub was born,
and he was okay with that. Even staying on the five hundred acre
farm didn't mean that a hunter couldn't wander by. They'd planned
to have one of them shift to run with her and one to stay human for
a look-out. He reasoned that they may never be comfortable with her
out on her own, but she didn't seem to mind the company.

They talked about getting married and decided
to first find someone to officiate the ceremony that would be
willing to marry both of them to her. While only one would be
official, they wanted to have the ceremony to encompass both of
them. Callie eventually saw the light of working on the wedding
details with Lisa, so after she finished the last project they had
given her to do, she gave up the work in the barn and stayed with
Lisa. It was easy to see, within just a day or two of spending time
together, that Lisa was just what Callie needed - a female friend.
They wanted to be enough for her, and in some ways they were, but
just like he needed Ethan to talk to sometimes, she needed a female
companion and Lisa was desperate for a woman to talk to also. He
knew all about being lonely, and Lisa was one lonely woman.

They'd only been in town a few weeks when
they were approached at the local diner by the mayor, Frank
Jeffries. He was a big man, with a barrel chest and weathered hands
that said he'd spent a good portion of his life working hard.

He asked if he could join them, and they said
yes. They were sitting in the circular booth in the corner, Callie
wedged tightly between them and both of their hands possessively on
her thighs. They hadn't spent much time in town visiting with
anyone, because they were too busy. Except for trips to the grocery
and the hardware store, most of their time was spent in the barn.
Their father and two of their three uncles were due to hit town in
two more weeks. With Rhett's help, they had already rented a large
home near the farmhouse that had at one time been a boarding house.
It was a three story monstrosity that sat empty for years, big
enough that all the kids could have their own rooms if they wanted,
and all the males, too, with a dozen acres of land for the kids to
run around on. When Alek, John and Henry came, there would be
plenty of room for them, too.

"I'm Mayor Jeffries, ya'll can call me Frank,
though. I'm not one for putting on airs or anything. I was chatting
with your Uncle Rhett the other day, and he mentioned that ya'll
boys were policemen back in your hometown."

"That's right," he answered, smoothing his
fingers up Callie's jean clad thigh. She shifted slightly at the
motion. It hadn't escaped their notice that the further she got in
her pregnancy, the more sensitive she became to their touch.

"Well, we've got no police force to speak of.
A few of the older farmers volunteer to answer a cell phone in
emergencies and the police in the next town over help out, but
lately we've had an increase in petty vandalism. Teenagers, you
know, young'uns that don't have anything better to do. Without
anyone to patrol, there's no real consequences unless they get
caught in the act. We can't pay a whole lot, but the benefits are
provided by the county and I heard that your wife is pregnant."

Frank smiled at Callie and Eryx felt a little
shiver of tension shift through her. So far, they'd gotten only
curious glances when the three of them had been together in town,
but it was only a matter of time before people were comfortable
enough with them to ask questions. Ethan's voice was mild but
stiff, "Yes, our wife is pregnant." Emphasis on "our".

The mayor's brows lifted. "I heard you were
in a, what's that called? Polygamous marriage?"

Eryx snorted. "We're not human, Frank.
However, when we do get married officially in the spring, Callie
will only legally be married to one of us, but she is our mate
already, our wife, because we are were-lions. There isn't anything
illegal about our private relationship."

He put up his hands, "No, no, I wasn't saying
anything to disparage anything you have. A good friend of mine is a
were-bear. In fact, he's the fire chief in Bracks about ten miles
north. People will talk, you know, because this is a pretty small
town, but they're willing to look past anything they don't
understand in order to have a police force."

Somehow, Eryx doubted that. Ethan said,
"We're in the middle of remodeling our home, Frank, and we do have
a child on the way. I can't see how we could possibly start a job
anytime soon."

"I understand that. I was just hoping we
could talk about it, in my office perhaps next week? It would take
a few weeks to get things rolling anyway, but I'd like you to think
about it. We could be flexible with the hours, and you'd have the
ability to hire deputies, and Callie, if you were looking for some
work, too, you could always work the call desk. It's pretty boring,
though." He winked at her and Eryx wanted to punch his teeth
in.

"Thank you, Frank." She said with the
saccharine sweet voice that he knew meant she didn't much care for
him winking at her either.

"We'll drop in next week to chat." Ethan
said, extending his hand. Eryx shook his hand also and Callie just
smiled at him. When he got up from the chair he'd pulled over and
walked out, Callie said with a low voice, "If you both don't stop
squeezing my thighs I'm going to lose all feeling in my toes."

They both released what were apparently tight
grips on her legs and he massaged the area gently and kissed her
cheek. "Sorry, angel."

Ethan apologized, too, and they finished
their desserts and got ready to head back to the farm. And then
they had their first real argument. Fortunately it was a short
one.

She started the conversation innocently
enough, when they went to look at the barn and see how the new
hardwood floor looked. "I think I'd like to take the mayor up on
his offer."

Ethan said what Eryx was thinking, "No wife
of ours is going to work when she's pregnant. Forget it."

She bristled and narrowed her eyes at them.
With a quick look he knew she could tell they were on the same side
and that wasn't
her
side. "This isn't the stone ages, I'm
allowed to work."

"There's no point. What good would it do to
take the job for a few weeks just to quit?" He tried to soften what
Ethan had said but he felt no less strongly about it.

She protested, "I'm only six weeks, it
wouldn't just be a few weeks."

"Callie, sweetheart, a police station is no
place for you. Even in a small town, there's stuff you don't need
to be exposed to. And considering that the police force is
non-existent, you'd be alone in the station when we were on
patrol." He pointed out. "We can't allow that. The town hasn't
learned about us yet, and you said the further along you get in
your pregnancy, the less you'll be able to draw on your strengths.
We'd worry too much."

She folded her arms, "So you'd rather me just
be stuck here all day alone? I'll go cuckoo-bananas."

Ethan took a step towards her and she stopped
him dead with a hard look. He swallowed a growl and said,
"Sweetheart, please. Try to look at it from our point of view. Do
you think we could do our jobs if we thought you were sitting alone
in the police station?"

"But we could use the money."

They both adamantly shook their heads. "We're
fine. We will be fine even once the barn is done, too. Don't you
think by the time we get married and then finish the house that
you'll be too far along to even give a job a thought? You're busy
aren't you?"

She chewed on her bottom lip. Ethan said,
"Besides, I don't think we'd both go work for the police department
anyway."

"Why not?"

"Well, Rhett could use a foreman. We've
already talked to him about it, and if one of us goes to work for
the force then you'll be covered medically and the other one can
work on the farm."

"So one of you would just give up what you've
been doing for the last six years because of me?" She looked angry
again. Why?

"What are you talking about love?" Eryx
didn't let her shoot down his need to comfort her with that icy
glare. He folded her into his chest and hugged her tightly. "One of
us gets a job with decent pay and benefits, the other works the
farm with Rhett. As long as we're providing for you, then we're
happy. We told you that we'd do anything to see you safe and happy
and well taken care of. This is it for us."

"But you won't let me work." Her voice came
out muffled against his shirt.

Ethan ducked his head down far enough to
catch her eyes. "What kind of men would let their pregnant
sweetheart work when they can provide for her? This is what we
want, honey. Don't you want us to be happy, too?"

Eryx felt her tense and knew she was pissed
again. "Don't do that." She ground out.

"Do what?" Ethan asked.

"Don't try to make me feel guilty. I can't
not contribute to our family. This isn't the sixties; I'm not Donna
Reed wearing an apron waiting for you at the front door.”