“What about you, Liza?” Michael flipped the script on me. “Anything new in the wide world of catering? You still trying to give Gordon Ramsay a run for his money?” I’d kicked him out of the kitchen once when I was in college because he kept sticking his fingers in the sauce. I’d never managed to live it down.
I wiped my mouth with the fancy linen napkins Mom brought out for the very special occasions we calledfamily dinner. “Really well, actually. Word of mouth is the only type of advertising I depend on, and most of the well-to-do families now depend on me for their events. Some of them even hire me to prepare dinner for their families during the week.”
“That’s wonderful.” Michael clapped his hands together.
I smiled, feeling proud of my accomplishments. “It is.”
We enjoyed the rest of the meal, the conversation, and each other’s company. It was nice to be together, and I felt a sense of peace knowing that no matter how much time passed, our bond was unbreakable.
I sat back and observed the smiling faces as I listened to the warm conversation. It made me happy that we were all doing well in our lives and our professions, and judging by the glimmer of light in my parent’s eyes, they were beyond proud of their children.
“All right, I have to mention the elephant in the room. Or the alpha, rather.” Mason leaned on the table and squinted at me. “Are you going to fill us in or what?”
Before I could answer, Michael spoke up. “I remember playing football with your future husband.” I was about to interrupt but he kept talking. “I wonder why we didn’t know sooner that you two were fated mates.”
“Maybe because she never came to any of our games.” Michael shot me a smug smile.
I shook my head. “I doubt it, considering that I was still a minor and you’re not supposed to have the ability to sense a bond until you’re of legal age.”
“Yeah, so even if they’d been around each other back then, they wouldn’t have sensed anything.” Mom folded her hands neatly on the table.
I could tell she was a little uncomfortable with the shift in topic. Mom was still trying to come to terms with the fact that I had been matched with the future alpha. All she wanted was for me to be happy, and she had her reservations about me mixing with pack royalty.
“How are things progressing?” Mason cocked his head to the side. “When’s the big day?”
I rolled my eyes. Ty and I hadn’t talked about our future yet. “We’ve only been on one official date, jackass.”
He held his hands in the air. “Whoa. There’s no need for name calling.”
We all laughed until Dad spoke up. “Maybe it would be a good idea for us to formally meet Ty. We are his future in-laws, after all.”
Oh no.I shook my head as my stomach dropped. I wasn’t ready for that. “It’s too soon.”
“Are you blushing?” Mason pointed at my face with one hand and nudged Michael with the other. “You must really like Ty.”
“Well, yes, I do like him. That’s not the question.” I like him too much to risk our relationship moving too quickly. “I promiseI’ll let you know when the time feels right for you all to meet him.”
“We need to have a little chat with Ty.” Mason postured, puffing his chest out and turning to Michael for backup.
“Yeah, we need to make sure his intentions are on the up and up.” He sat up as tall as possible, his voice lowering an octave. “He’ll have to go through us before he can marry you.” They posed like bodybuilders, switching poses, energy bouncing off energy. It was so very much their way.
I groaned. “Both of you need to bug off.”
“Listen, you could be forty and we’re still going to interrogate your boyfriends.” Mason smiled and slumped back down in his seat.
“Agreed.” Michael crossed his arms. “You’ll always be our little sister.”
I shook my head, but a content warmth spread through my chest. They loved me so much.
After we’d helped Mom clear the table, Michael suggested we shift together. “Come on, Liza. It’ll be fun. When was the last time we went for a run together?”
“It’s been at least a year,” Mason pointed out.
I tilted my head and tapped my chin with my finger as if thinking it over. Truth was, I didn’t need to think about it. “All right, you’ve convinced me.” I followed them into the woods where we quickly shifted and bolted through the dense trees.
I stayed back a bit as Mason and Michael eyed one another, deciding to take off in a race. They were the most competitive boys in all the land, at least out of the men I knew. We’d played this game hundreds of times as kids. They would split up and run off to some remote location, leaving me to hunt them down.
My instincts kicked in as I sniffed the ground, following their scent deeper and deeper into the forest. As soon as I lost track of one brother, I picked up on the scent of the other.
