I let out a sigh, relieved she went to the pro’s. “And?”
She snatches a book off the table, tapping the man on the cover who reminds me a lot of Beast from Beauty and the Beast. “I made a list of all of the things I noticed on the nights I saw you shift. Everything seemed the same at first. The moon wasn’t full. The air was cold but not rainy. Nothing weird happened. But I realized that I was wearing something from my sister, and then I thought… Maybe my sister is your scent match.” She licks her lips, excited as ever. “Your mate.”
I shake my head. “That’s crazy.”
She nods. “That was what I thought, too. But then I reread all these, and it didn’t seem so crazy anymore. And I thought, if I could just get you out here, get you near Jack, then we’d see if I was wrong.”
“And what if you had been?” Jack asks, as a rush of warmth hits me in the chest, hearing how easily he accepts me as his mate.
She smiles. “Then I would get some time with my sister, and she’d get to be part of my favorite thing ever—the Easter Eggstravaganza. No harm, no foul.” She cuts a loving glance between us, and her voice is quieter when she speaks again. “But I wasn’t wrong. You two are fated mates. But I knew you both had to see it on your own, so I faked my bum foot.”
Jack whistles. “Mastermind.”
I smile at my sister, forgiving her immediately because Jack is my mate, and I’d never have this wild romance without her big heart. Wrapping my arms around her, I stack my chin on her shoulder and rub her back, thanking her. “You’re my personal cupid.”
She beams, but when our hug breaks, Jack faces Chelsey, standing tall, his strong shoulders making my pussy clench. “Are you okay with me marrying your sister? Mating her mine?”
Chelsey nods. “Of course, and I heard you two on the way over by the way. You can’t leave. You have to stay here. Jack, this is the only place for you, and Esther, I know you feel the same way.”
Jack shakes his head. “I don’t want to leave. I love it here, and I found my love here,” he says, dipping down to kiss my cheek. His nose turns pink and Chelsey squeals, but it turns back into Jack’s nose as he steps away from me. “See? I can’t stay. They’ll find out. It’s getting harder and harder to not shift around her.”
Chelsey flips through the book in her hands. “After you mate, though, won’t your sporadic, hormonal shifting subside?”
Jack scratches the back of his head. “Yeah, once she’s mated to me, I’ll have full control over shifting.”
Chelsey taps her foot. “So why can’t you stay?”
Jack looks between us. “I guess that’s true. But the Eggstravaganza is on Easter. There’s no way I can be there to support you two and the event without shifting. That’s too much Esther. I’ll be Hopper half the time, and naked, sticky Jack the other half! There’s just no way.”
The three of us ponder quietly for a moment before Chelsey snaps her fingers, and scurries down the hall, returning with a black garment bag. “Wear this, and if you shift, no one will know.”
Slowly, she tugs the zipper down on the bag, revealing an adorable purple bunny suit. “Then you can even be part of it, and not hide in the carrot fields, watching sadly from afar.”
“You noticed me last year?” he asks.
Chelsey places the suit on the couch and braces her hands on Jack’s shoulders. “You’re going to be my bunny-in-law, so I’m gonna shoot you straight. I’ve seen you lingering in the fields for years, and I always thought you were just too sad about your family not being here. But now I know it’s because Easter makes you horny, and you were waiting for my sister to complete you.”
He places his hands on hers, smiling. “Thank you.” He reaches for the suit, adding, “I should try it on, make sure it fits since it is the only thing allowing me to be part of the big Eggstravaganza.”
I nibble my bottom lip a moment, my stomach tightening. “Maybe we should try it on at your place.”
Chelsey waves us off. “Go on, go hump like bunnies.”
“My urges are getting so strong,” Jack says, slipping out of his shoes back at his Burrow.
“Easter is tomorrow,” I beam, drawing my legs together to alleviate the mounting pressure in my core. “I can’t wait to be yours, Jack, I really can’t.”
His hands turn to paws before my eyes, knuckles sprouting thick white hair until they’re no longer visible, tips of his fingers turning into ruddy, soft pads. “I’m shifting just thinking of the mating ritual tomorrow. I’m afraid I’m going to be a mess inside that suit, knowing what’s coming that night.”
I chew my bottom lip, wondering how I can help my bunny have a hoppy Easter.
“What if we… mated… tonight? And we save the grand ritual for tomorrow? I mean, if we’re mates, it’s okay if we bang a night early, right? As long as we go through the ritual tomorrow night.”
Jack smiles. “You and your sister seem to know more about were-bunnies than I do.”
I waggle my brows. “Romance books have made me very, very smart.”
“Oh yeah?” he questions, tugging off his flannel, making a move for his belt.
