“Yeah.I know he’s not a fox, but I don’t think Jerome will care, right?He doesn’t care that you’re with Jasper.”Maybe that was because Jasper was an alpha.Would Jerome have something to say about Mackenzie’s relationship with a normal bobcat shifter?How would that work, anyway?Would Mackenzie have to move eventually?Or would Nico move here?
He looked around the house.He liked it, and he liked that it was his, but he wasn’t overly attached to it yet.He’d just moved in.He hadn’t even unpacked most of his stuff yet.
Not that he and Nico were talking about moving in together yet.It was way too soon, and Mackenzie liked their relationship the way it was now.It was bound to change, but it didn’t have to be quickly.
“I think you should talk to Nico,” Dean eventually said.
Mackenzie frowned.“Well, of course I’m going to talk to him.We’re together.”
“He makes you happy?”
“Yeah.I didn’t even realize how much I wanted this until we got together.”
“Then everything will be okay.It’s not like you’re the first human-shifter relationship in the forest, right?”
“And we aren’t exactly human,” Mackenzie said, pointedly looking at Dean's stomach.
Dean rolled his eyes.“Well,youcan’t get pregnant, so I guess you’re more human than me.The fact that you’re related to Jerome might help, but it might also make things more complicated.This is really something you need to talk to Nico about.”
“I will.Now, can we talk about how the baby is?I want to know more about my niece or nephew.”
Dean rolled his eyes.“I told you, they’re perfectly fine.You don’t have to worry about them.”
“I always will.”
“You and Jasper should start a club.I swear, you worry more than Mom and Dad.”
Mackenzie didn’t think Dean cared.Now that they were on the same page about Dean not leaving the forest, things were more relaxed between them.Mackenzie wasn’t about to do anything that would compromise that.
Dean was staying, as was Mackenzie.They’d have each other’s backs, just like they always did, and they wouldn’t be alone this time around.Dean had Jasper, and Mackenzie had Nico.
Chapter Seven
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“NICO, WE’RE GOING OUT,” Nico’s father said as he strode out of his office.
Nico had no idea what was happening.He’d left the office to grab coffee, and he’d stayed in the kitchen for a few minutes to talk to his mother, and now his father was suddenly leaving the house.
Nico scrambled to keep up.“Has something happened?”he asked, putting down the two coffees on the closest table and rushing to follow.
“I was on a call, and we decided that this would be easier to do face-to-face, so you and I are headed out.”
At least no one had gotten hurt.“Who were you talking to?”
“Jerome, the fox alpha.”
Nico’s stomach dropped.“We’re going to fox territory?”
“We are.The alphas really need to start meeting in person more and working together.I’ve had enough of Silas hiding in the forest and threatening everything we’ve been working toward.”
It sounded like his father had a plan, but Nico didn’t care what that plan was right now.No, he cared that he and his father were headed out to fox territory, where Mackenzie lived.
There was a good chance they wouldn’t see each other.Mackenzie lived there, but he didn’t spend a lot of time with Jerome, right?They were family, but Jerome was as busy as Nico and his father.
Or at least, that was what Nico was trying to convince himself of.He couldn’t think about the fact that Mackenzie might be at Jerome’s house when he and his father got there.There was no way he would be so unlucky.
Except that he already felt unlucky as he climbed into the car after following his father out of the house.He bounced his knee, trying to think of a good way to do this.Should he warn Mackenzie that he was coming?He could text him, but he’d also have to explain what was going on, and he couldn’t tell Mackenzie that he was an alpha’s son via text.He also didn’t want Mackenzie to find out about it by walking in on Nico and his father working with Jerome, though.He wouldn’t even know what to say.
