Tymber Dalton - Triple Dog Dare

He jumped up to get it. “Of course, sweetheart.”

While he was gone, she stared at the picture of her parents, then at her mom.

“Do you hate me?” Carla asked.

“No!” Elain said, and meant it. “I love you. You’re my mom.”

Carla studied her glass. “I never believed the shape-shifter stuff,” she said once again. “It didn’t make sense. I twisted it around in my mind so I didn’t have to believe it. As the years passed and you never did any of that stuff, I convinced myself it wasn’t real. That I’d dreamed it or imagined it or something. I just never thought—”

“It’s okay,” Ain gently said. “We understand.”

Carla stared at him, anger suddenly painted across her face. “No, I don’t think you do! I’d just watched my friend die! I had the responsibility of raising her baby. Her father disappeared, and I suspected he wasn’t coming back. All this crazy stuff she told and showed me, it was too much to handle.”

She tipped up her glass and drained the rest of her drink. She looked at Brodey. “I wanted to hate Liam. I’d liked him when I first met him. He seemed like a nice guy, a handsome guy, very sweet. When I knew them in Spokane, I always envied Maureen. I’d wished for a guy like that for me. Then I went through Elain’s early years afraid someone from Maureen’s family would come and try to take her away from me. I loved her as if she was my own baby. She was my baby. My daughter. My little girl. If Liam returned, I knew he wouldn’t take her away from me. At least, I wouldn’t let him have her without a fight. I was even afraid to date guys who showed too much interest in the fact that I had a daughter. I always thought in the back of my mind ‘what if.’ What if there might be something to that crazy story about the blood oath, and they were someone trying to find Elain?” She burst into tears.

Elain moved to sit next to Carla and hugged her. Cail brought Elain’s drink in and set it on the coffee table in front of her. She picked it up and downed it in a few gulps.

“What did the letter say?” Carla tentatively asked when she’d composed herself.

Ain handed it to Elain, who passed it to Carla. They all sat there, waiting for her to finish reading. When she did, Carla looked up at them. “May I have another drink?” she softly asked.

“I think I’ll take one, too, please,” Ain said. Cail got up to make them. “It’s going to be a long night,” Ain said.

Cail returned with the drinks. He handed Ain’s to him, Carla’s to her, and gave Elain another rum and Coke. Elain downed half the glass in two large gulps. They sat there, silently trying to absorb all the information Carla had given them, as well as the contents of Maureen’s letter to Elain.

Ain found his voice first. “What are the odds?” He looked around the room at everyone. “What are the odds we would find not only another shape-shifter as our mate, but that she was born to two Alpha shape-shifters, and she had no idea she was a shape-shifter?”

Brodey snorted and with his thumb pointed over his shoulder to the hall leading to Micah and Jim’s bedroom. “The same odds as two straight men becoming mates. Anyone want to go with me to buy a few hundred dollars in lotto tickets? It might be our week to hit it big.”

“We do seem to be bucking the odds,” Cail agreed. He looked at Ain. “I think we need to make a few more phone calls. It’s time to bring Daniel, Callie, and Lina and her guys into this.”

“Lina’s in Brussels with the gang on business,” Brodey said. “I’m not sure how to get in touch with them over there. I’ll try later. I think it’s the middle of the night there right now.”

Elain didn’t try to make sense of all of that. At that moment, she still felt too stunned as she tried to absorb all this new information. She took another sip of her drink. Unfortunately, she didn’t even feel a buzz yet.

“That wasn’t nearly strong enough,” she flatly told Cail.

“I’ll make you another when you finish it. I don’t want you getting sick.”

She gulped the rest, belched, and handed him the glass. “Hit me again, bartender. Please?” With a sigh, he took her glass from her and returned to the kitchen.

Elain was trying to figure out what her next question should be when they heard what sounded like multiple cars pulling into the yard. Before Brodey could reach the front door, it flew open. A very pregnant redheaded woman stormed in, her smile brightening when she spotted Brodey.

“Brod!” She threw open her arms and waddled toward him.

He looked surprised to see her, but he laughed as he picked her up and easily swung her around. He planted a kiss on her cheek. “Holy crap! We were just talking about you guys. I thought you were in Brussels.” He patted her belly. “And when did you get a bun in the oven? You look wonderful!”

“Thanks,” she said, rubbing her belly, “but they’re twins. Double your pleasure, you know.” She laughed. “And double the trouble.”

“Congratulations!”

Elain felt the instinctive growl start deep in her gut. Before Ain could grab her, she jumped off the couch and stalked toward them. Pregnant or not, no woman touched her mate like that!

She was preparing to swing when the woman spotted her. A wide, beaming grin spread across her face. “Elain!” she happily squealed, as if they were long-lost friends.

Elain didn’t know how to react when the redhead threw her arms around her and gave her the biggest bear hug she’d ever had. A sudden wave of joyful glee washed over Elain. It had to be coming from the strange woman, because she herself felt anything but joyful.

Now unsure of herself, Elain unclenched her fist and looked over the woman’s shoulder at Brodey, who stood there laughing.

“Elain, I’d like to introduce you to our friend and Seer for her flagyer , as well as part-time Goddess and honorary wolf, Lina Zaria-Alexandr.”

Two hunktacular men of identical height and build filled the doorway behind her. One blond and pale with blue eyes, the other darker with brown hair and amber eyes. “And this is Jan and Rick Alexandr, her mates,” Brodey added.

Elain immediately felt the territorialness drop from her system. She returned the woman’s hug. “Um, hi? Nice to meet you?” Elain had no clue how to react.

Lina held her at arm’s length. “You don’t know how happy I am to finally meet you after all this time!” she squealed before engulfing Elain in another hug. More waves of joy flowed through Elain.

Elain didn’t understand Lina’s slightly cryptic comment, but she hugged her back and looked at Brodey again. She remembered seeing the names on the guest list for the wedding, but beyond that, nothing.

Cail chose that moment to return with the drinks. “Oh, hey! Lina, what are you guys doing here? Holy crap, girl, look at you!”

Lina turned and received a kiss on the cheek from him without letting loose of Elain. “A Seer’s work is never done, and we all need to talk.” Then she whispered in Elain’s ear before releasing her hold on her. “Congratulations! I am so glad they finally found you!”

Elain stood there, confused. Cail eventually put the drink in Elain’s hand before getting his hug from Lina. Elain quickly emptied the glass and handed it back to him. “Hit me again, please,” she said.

Ain stood behind her and put a hand on her shoulder. “I’ll allow another because this was an additional shock,” he said. “But I don’t want you getting drunk. We still have a lot to talk about.”

She wouldn’t even fight him on that one. “Sure.”

Laughing, Cail took her glass and returned to the kitchen. Two more men walked through the door and were greeted by Brodey and Ain. Zack and Kael, both handsome and apparently a couple, were part of the new travelling circus that had just landed on their doorstep.