Cooking was in my blood, passed down not just from my old man, who was passionate about crafting fresh seafood creations and the most scrumptious, melt-in-your-mouth, tender, flaky-crusted pies I’ve ever tasted, but also from my grandmother, who used to pull the high stool up to the counter while she cooked, so I had a first-class view of her lovingly putting meals together. The kitchen was the center of her home, just as it wasthe center of the home I’d grown up in. Goddess and my mates willing, it would be the center of our cubs' home someday.
Relief flooded me when my father answered on the fourth ring, bustling noises and a few faint voices in the background clueing me in to the fact that he wasn’t in the thick of things. I just hoped that meant he was finished with his shopping, rather than at the start of it.
“Hey, didn’t expect to hear from you already. Is everything okay?” My father asked in lieu of a proper hello.
“Yeah, I, umm, do you have time to talk?”
“I can make time. I haven’t even made it to the icehouse yet to fill the wagon. What’s going on?”
“Oh, shit, I don't want to keep you from getting your ingredients.”
“Ingredients can wait; now spill it. I know that tone; something’s weighing heavily on your mind. The sooner you tell me, the sooner we can work out ways to fix it.”
It was exactly what I’d needed him to say. Leaning against the railing, I kicked back the last of my energy drink before unburdening myself.
“So, uh, it turns out all the cabins up here were accidentally double booked,” I explained, deciding to start at the beginning rather than burying the lead and launching into the story in the middle without letting him know exactly how we’d come to meet Leo in the first place.
“Does that mean you guys don’t have a place to stay?” he asked.
“No, we have the cabin, and it’s pretty damned amazing too—rustic, cozy, just like on the website,” I explained. “It also came complete with a human roommate named Leo—how ironic is that?—who showed up not long after us. He, uh, he’s our mate. As in mine and Maverick’s, we got our bond marks last night.”
I could still hear the faint rustling of others moving around in the background while someone called outfresh clams,while another announced, “We’vegot lobsters—lobsters over here!”But absolutely nothing from my dad, who’d fallen silent. I hoped that just meant that he was taking a moment to process what I said.
“How did your human take it?” he finally asked.
“Well, when he came in, he found Mav and I curled up asleep in the middle of the bed, in our fur, and kind of fainted when we shifted, but after he came to and we had the chance to talk, he chose to stay and share the cabin with us. We had a good night too—food, movies, and lounging around the living room with the fireplace going. Good vibes. Completely chill. He was drawing, Mav was working on a new recipe, and the energy was completely relaxed and easy. Then last night, when he came out of the shower, he was a bit freaked because there was a tattoo where a tattoo wasn’t supposed to be. By then, Mav had already spotted my bondmark, and I’d seen his, and when we asked Leo if it matched the mystery tattoo, he confirmed it did, and yeah, we all wound up falling asleep in the bed together, with Mav and I shifted into our fur, but I’m kinda worried that he’s going to wake up this morning and have second thoughts about sticking around and getting to know us.”
More silence. Dad did silence like no other. They were long pauses, without a huff or a grumble, which meant I never knew exactly how he was taking the conversation, or in this case, the major bombshell I’d just dropped on him.
“I don’t know what to say, son, other than I’m sorry that I pushed so hard for you to create distance in the personal side of your relationship with Maverick. You always swore that he was meant to be your mate. I should have trusted in your instincts and in your belief that you were meant for one another. With how rare trios are, I never gave it any consideration. As much asit’s galled me over the years that you refused to listen, I’m proud of you for standing strong and sticking to your guns. I couldn’t be happier for you knowing that your dream has finally come true.”
Relief poured through me just hearing his apology and knowing I had him on my side. “I get it, Dad, and it’s all good. I know you were just worried about me rejecting my mate when they came along because of my feelings for Maverick. I never considered that we’d find a mate to share either. Mav panicked when he saw my bond mark, because we’d just been, well, fooling around against the bedroom door while waiting for Leo to finish his shower.”
“Is he okay now?”
“Was still cuddled up in Leo’s arms when I slipped out of bed this morning,” I explained. “Leo thought we were life-sized stuffed animals when he first saw us on the bed and apparently intended to leave us there so he could sleep with us. He booped me on the snoot and everything, so of course, I woke up and booped back. Poor guy is already pale, so there is no descriptor for how he looked when what little color he had drained from his face.”
Dad chuckled at that. “I still can’t get over the way a pair of snow leopards wound up with a mate named Leo. How perfect is that? When the Goddess delivers, she truly delivers, son; you make sure you leave an offering out as soon as you get the chance.”
“We will. Mav’s been polishing his new snowball cookies. As soon as he nails a batch, we will place some at the edge of the woods in thanks for the absolute best blessing either of us could have ever imagined.”
“You just make sure that the two of you take the time to explain and include your mate in that blessing and anything else you get up to,” Dad, ever the voice of reason and wisdom,reminded me. “With the closeness that already exists between the two of you, you’ll want to take great pains to ensure that you forge the same sort of relationship with Leo so he knows that he’s just as loved and desired.”
“Leo is amazing. He’s an artist, and we’ve already discovered that he loves many of the same movies as we do,” I explained. “He’s an outdoors guy too; he brought a pair of snowshoes up with him so he could head into the woods and take photos. He draws both cartoons and realistic nature pieces, and he’s a total animal lover. He told us that capturing pictures of the critters in the woods was his favorite part of going hiking. He was kind of bummed when he found out that being our mate didn’t mean he was going to turn furry and have a snow leopard form of his own.”
“Then, son, you have absolutely nothing to worry about. He’s not going to wake up and take off. Especially not if he’s curled up in bed using Maverick as his personal stuffed animal. You just remember what I said about making sure he knows just how important mates are in a shifter’s life, and everything will turn out the way that it’s meant to. When you’re ready to bring him home, you let me know and we’ll get everything put together for a presentation party to introduce him to the rest of the family, and if you need more time away, take it. Your customers will be there when you return, and you know that they’ll all be thrilled to learn that you and Mav have found your fated mate and have started a new chapter in your lives with him.”
“Thanks, Dad. I think I just needed to hear you tell me that I was getting all spun out with what-ifs and that everything would be okay when they woke up. In fact, I think I hear a bit of stirring in the kitchen.”
“The get your ass in there and say good morning to your mates and give them each a big hug from me. I’ll apologize to Maverick in person when you guys get back home. I know I’vehurt his feelings a time or two over the years, and he deserves to hear from me just how happy I am to finally be able to welcome him to the family. If you can glean any sort of lesson from my mistakes, it’s to trust your cubs and back them when they are as passionate about something as you’ve always been when insisting that Maverick was yours. He’s always been a sweet and loving soul. I was genuinely disappointed when your bondmark’s to one another didn’t appear when you reached maturity. I’ll be sure to let him know that too.”
“I know he’ll appreciate hearing it.”
“Alright kiddo, get moving; I’ve got some lobsters to see to. If I can get enough of them, there will be lobster rolls on the menu this afternoon.”
“Ohhh, you just solved the issue of lunch this afternoon. I have claws and tails on ice that I picked up before we left town yesterday. I hate that they aren’t fresh enough to still be crawling around, but they will be the perfect fare for a picnic, along with those lemon cheesecake bites you dropped off for us.”
“There you go. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to reach out the way you did this morning, and I’ll help in any way I know how.”
