There was some splashing behind him, and Cameron’s ba emerged from the pool and gathered up his clothes. He waved to Emory before following his mate inside.
Emory waited until they both disappeared and Cameron and Shay were underwater before he peeled off his sopping wet boxers and shifted. He circled the blanket a few times before finding the perfect square of sunlight to settle into.
Time passed, and he was lulled by the warm rays and the soothing noise of splashing water. He must have fallen asleep because the next thing he knew, a warm body was pressing against his flank.
He opened one large eye to see Cameron in his human form, wearing just his panties, curled up against his side. Emory licked Cameron’s cheek and got a mouthful of salt. It was a bit too much for his lion, and he shook his head, pawing at his nose in discomfort. Cameron jumped up and ran into the house, returning with a water bottle and a bowl. He set the bowl in front of Emory and filled it with fresh water. Emory lapped at it until the salt was fully gone, and then he allowed Cameron to take it away.
His mate quickly returned to the curve of Emory’s body, fitting himself perfectly against Emory’s broad chest. He was tempted to go back to sleep, but the distinct lack of splashing had his lion curious. He looked around until he spotted a fully dressed Shay adjusting her hair.
Their eyes met, and Shay beamed at him, wandering over to join them in their square of setting sun. “It’s lovely to meet your lion, Emory,” Shay said, her voice full of reverence and respect.
Emory’s lion didn’t know what to do with those emotions. When she extended her hand, Emory smelled her fingers before pressing his head into her hand.
Shay let out an excited squeal and began parsing her hands through his mane. She dropped to her knees in front of Emory, stroking his head and rubbing his snout.
Cameron laughed and threw an arm around her shoulders. With only a bit of scuffling and shifting, both Shay and Cameron curled up against his chest.
He purred happily and wrapped his tail around Cameron’s calf. The siblings talked quietly, and Emory marveled that for two people who weren’t related by blood, they had nearlyidentical cadences when speaking. It made their voices meld into a soft harmony that lulled his lion back to sleep.
The smell of food was what roused him a second time. Cameron’s parents were carrying plates piled high with sandwiches, salad, and chips out onto the patio. Emory didn’t like cooked or prepared food when he was a lion. Since he didn’t often keep raw fish and meat lying around, he usually didn’t eat in his lion form.
He waited for Shay to get up and help their parents set the table before shifting. Cameron handed him his clothes, and they got dressed to join the rest of the family.
The remainder of the weekend went smoothly, filled with more tea and cookies than Emory had consumed in his life. When it was time for them to leave, Emory was telling the complete truth when he said he couldn’t wait to visit them again.
Shay promised to come visit them in their new—or at least Cameron’s new—apartment soon.
On the plane ride home, Cameron was glued to Emory’s side, and the second they stepped off the elevator into their home, Cameron pulled him towards their bedroom. Emory followed along, stripping off his dirty airplane clothes before they even made it into the bedroom.
After a surprising triple round of orgasms for them both, they curled around each other, settling into the peaceful quiet of their apartment. While he’d loved the chatter and constant activity at Cameron’s parents' house, it was so good to be home.
Emory couldn’t help but feel like this was the official start of their life together. They were going to go on trips together and return home to fall into bed just like this. They would fill their days with hangouts with Ronan and Christopher, and dinners with Jo and some of the other family members. They would go to the shifter park, and Cameron would teach Emory to be a better swimmer, and Emory’s lion would run around with Ronan. Hewas still going to be busy at work, and he probably always would be to some degree, but it would be nothing like it had been before.
Emory had always pictured his life turning out sort of like this, but the details had been fuzzy around his mate and how they would fit in with his family and friends. Emory’s aunts and mother loved Cameron almost as much as Emory did, and sometimes, he wondered if his friends loved Cameron even more than Emory.
He knew there would be more challenges for them to overcome and adventures to face, but they would do it all together.
Epilogue
Cameron
One year later
“Whose bright idea was it to put the two of you in my bridal party?” Cameron grumbled as he struggled to apply eyeliner for the second time that morning.
“Who else would you have gone with?” Shay asked, as she tossed what Cameron was pretty sure was a decorative paperweight across the room to Ronan.
Where they had managed to find one of those, he had no idea, and he didn’t dare ask.
“I don’t know, maybe Jo, who couldactually help me right now?” Cameron asked, his voice rising to a rather impressive pitch by the end.
It wasn’t their fault that neither Shay nor Ronan knew the first thing about makeup. While Ronan didn’t care for it, Shay had “too much natural beauty” to have to worry about it. Despite the sarcastic way Cameron was currently saying it in his head, that was true.
Jo, on the other hand, knew how to rock eyeliner, mascara, and lipstick like it was their job.
Jo’s actual job today was to ensure Emory didn’t go anywhere near his work phone. Technically, Emory was still Jo’s boss, as Jo continued to reestablish themself as part of the family and part of the company. For the sake of Cameron’s wedding, though, he had deputized Jo as Emory’s boss and demanded Emory get two weeks off for their combined mating anniversary, wedding, and honeymoon shebang.
Christopher, the other member of Emory’s wedding party, had been very grateful not to be tasked with monitoring Emory’s work habits. Instead, he was responsible for getting all the aunts and uncles nice and drunk, as they were a lot easier to deal with that way.
