“If you were family, I’d have seen you before. Who are you really?”
“Tabitha Stone,” five voices said in unison.
“My mate,” Major added over Tabby’s shoulder. “Isn’t she gorgeous?”
“You don’t have a mate. I don’t know where youfound this tramp, but—”
Tabitha surged forward, gripping Fallon by the throat, lifting her until her toes barely touched the floor. Fallon grabbed at Tabitha’s hand, but it was no use. Even though Fallon was a Gryphon, Tabitha was stronger being a Goyle who was mated to a Gryphon. Tabby growled again, getting in Fallon’s face. “Major and I exchanged mate bites this week. Unless you’re stupid, you know what that means.” Tabitha released the other female, and Fallon landed on her ass. Tabitha turned her back and pointed to her beer. Marshall handed it to her but not before holding out his fist. She dapped it with a smirk.
Fallon climbed to her feet, dusting off the seat of her jeans. She started to say something, proving she wasn’t that bright, when Nahla slapped the bar. “Run along. We have family business to discuss.” Nadya made a shooing motion with her fingertips. Major worried Fallon was either going to have a heart attack or shift in the middle of the bar.
“I’ll be waiting, Major.” Fallon looked Tabitha up and down. “You think someone like her is going to ride on the back of your bike?”
“No. I think she’s going to ride her own Harley. She’s a badass that way and so many more.”
Fallon scoffed. “Right."
Kayden stood, stretching to his full height. “Did you not hear him say that Tabitha is his mate? Did you forget our last conversation?”
Fallon’s eyes widened, and she shook her head. After retrieving her purse from the other end of the bar, she pushed her way through the crowd who had been watching the show. Once she cleared the door, theyturned and cheered. Major studied their faces, recognizing most everyone as a shifter. He wouldn’t put it past the twins to have texted their friends. Since there were humans present, Major had Nahla lower the volume on the music so he could voice them into forgetting the scuffle.
Kayden gestured to his stool. “Please, have a seat.”
Tabitha inclined her head. “Thank you, Kayden.” She downed the rest of her beer and slid the empty across the bar to where the twins were staring at her. “Hi. Let’s see. You’re Nahla, and you’re Nadya, right?”
The demons looked at one another before grinning at Tabby. “How can you tell?” Nahla asked.
“Major described you to me. I have my own twin, so I get the subtle differences.”
“Can we keep her, Maymay?” Nadya asked. “We need a sister.”
“Since we’re mates, then yeah. We’re keeping her.”
They both held out their hands for a high-five, and Tabitha obliged. “Tequila Sunrise, please.”
“Coming right up.” Nadya turned to mix the drink while Nahla moved down the bar to help other customers.
Marshall retook his stool and faced Tabitha. “Welcome to the mayhem.”
Tabitha grinned. “I see what you did there. Cute.”
“She thinks I’m cute,” Marshall whispered to Major, wiggling his eyebrows. Major gently shoved his twin. If that were anyone else, he’d take offense, but Major knew his twin was joking.
Major pinched Marshall’s cheek. “So cute.”
Over the next few hours, every Hound in the place came over to meet Tabitha. Several bought her a drink. If she didn’t have shifter metabolism, Major’s mate would have been sloshed. Anders offered to clear a table for them, but Tabitha waved him off. “I appreciate it, butI’d rather sit here so I can talk to the demons,” she said, adopting Major’s name for the girls. Upon hearing her, the twins let out a whoop in unison and did a complicated handshake.
While he was standing close, Marshall asked Anders when the twins could have a night off to go visit their mom.
“How about Saturday? Is that too soon? Nahla’s already off, and I can cover Nadya’s shift.”
Nadya passed Major another beer. “We don’t have a present for her.”
“Actually, Major took care of that.” Tabitha opened her phone and showed them a photo of the picture Connor had painted.
“Holy Zeus, does that say Rico Di at the bottom?” Nahla gushed.
“It sure does. And I can have him ship it to us so it’ll be here in time to go see your mom.”
