Michael rested his hand on James’s shoulder. “Practice for when you have some of your own?”
“Dogs or kids?” Michael teased.
“Dogs might be easier,” Daniel replied. “But kids are the greatest reward. Whether they are your blood or not.”
James swallowed. “I can’t wait to find out. If I am that lucky. Part of me wishes Jake were Doreen’s son, so I would one day be his father.”
Christopher’s voice dropped, steady and sure. “You’ll be a father someday. I’m sure of it.”
James looked up at the stars above. “If you see another shooting star, let me know, I’ll make another wish.”
“You mean you didn’t include kids in the first wish?” Michael asked.
“I’m not sure I was that specific,” James admitted.
“Oh, man, you should be. It’s all in the small print,” Michael teased.
“Give the man a break,” Christopher said. “His head is so turned around right now he probably can’t remember.”
“I’ve gotta admit, it’s hard to think straight.” James rubbed his hand over his jaw and took a deep breath.
“That’ll pass,” Michael assured him. “It gets easier.”
“I hope so. But all I keep asking myself right now is what if she’s afraid of me?” James finally voiced the fear that had been gnawing at him since he’d recognized Doreen as his mate. “Whatif I tell her about the bear, about being her mate, and she just... runs? Leaves town and never looks back?”
The words silenced his friends as they hung in the crisp mountain air, his vulnerability laid bare under the stars.
Awkward,his bear said.
Oh, yeah,James said, wishing he could take the words back.
Michael’s laughter began as a deep, unexpected rumble that grew until it shook his broad shoulders. “Been there, done that, my friend.”
“Me too,” Christopher added with a wry smile. “I think it’s something all shifters feel when they have to break the news to their mate when they don’t know about shifters. That moment of terror when you realize your happiness depends on someone accepting something they never believed was real.”
Daniel let out a soft chuckle, breath fogging in the cold. “So what you’re really telling him is… panic is normal?”
“Deeply,” Christopher said.
Daniel lifted his gaze toward the sky. “Great. Maybe I should find that shooting star you keep going on about and add a little caveat to my wish. You know… ‘Dear Santa, when my mate finally shows up, could she already know about shifters so I don’t have to deal with all this heart-attack-inducing nonsense?’”
James placed his hand on Daniel’s shoulder, squeezing gently. “Do it! Sounds like a solid plan to me.”
They all laughed, the sound carrying across the ridge, but Daniel’s smile faded as he shook his head. “Truth is… looking at you three? I don’t care how hard the reveal is. I just… want her in my life. Whoever she turns out to be.”
“It’ll happen,” James assured him, feeling a pang of guilt that Daniel was the last of them without a mate. Their tight-knit group of four had always shared everything—triumphs, losses,the hardest days. But this? Finding their mates? For the first time, they weren’t walking the same path together.
Daniel exhaled slowly, shoulders lifting and falling. “She’s going to have to be one hell of a woman to take on me and two kids.”
Michael snorted. “Oh, please. Once she tastes your bakes? She won’t care if you have two kids, twenty kids, or if you shift into a giraffe.” He elbowed him. “Actually… you’d be a majestic giraffe.”
“Thanks, man, that’s so sweet,” Daniel said dryly, before suddenly dragging Michael into a bear hug that lifted him clean off the snow.
Michael’s laughter echoed against the trees. “Put me down, you menace. Or I might be the first person to die ofaffection.”
Daniel set him down at last, both men breathless with laughter. But when Michael rested a hand on Daniel’s shoulder, he grew serious. “It’ll happen, Dan. I mean that.”
Daniel’s smile wavered. “Maybe.”
