Page 109 of The Witch’s Daughter

Regretfully, I pulled on pants.

“Are you ready?” Her fingers laced through mine as another beautiful smile lit up her face.

She gave them so freely now, but I never took one for granted.

I returned that smile with one of my own. “Lead the way.”

Sunday dinner at my mate’s childhood home in Cerberus territory was as cramped an affair as Tisiphone said it would be.

The kitchen table inside the cabin was too small to fit us all, so we were going to sit outside under the torches and strings of solar fairy lights with the stars shining overhead.

Tisiphone’s eyes filled with pride as she explained her father, Maddock, had carved the wooden picnic table that seated at least twenty shifters.

When I complimented his craftsmanship, he just grunted.

“Why don’t you make yourself useful and come help me stack wood?” he said.

“Anything you need.” I nodded.

“Don’t let him boss you around, Alpha.” Tisiphone winked as she pressed a kiss to my cheek, and then ran off to help in the kitchen.

Apparently, she was welcome in the kitchen again now that her magic had returned. Though she didn’t spend much time in our kitchen at home. Not that I minded. I enjoyed feeding my mate unburnt food.

The wood pile was higher than the cabin, with more rounds still to be split, no doubt being used to heat the house in the winter. We had more efficient ways to do this, but I understood some shifters’ reluctance about being reliant on the biodiesel my pack produced. Unlike Alpha Oscar, I didn’t press the issue.

My mate’s parents needed this to stay warm, so I had no problem helping. I started to stack, as Maddock stood watching Halley’s Comet continue to forge its path through the night sky.

I’d made a good dent in the pile, and still Maddock stood there. It wasn’t my place to comment on it. As I returned for another load, Maddock sighed and perched himself on a large stump.

“Hang on a second, son.”

I froze at the use of that word, realizing I’d never heard someone call me it before. And I hadn’t ever expected to hear it from the pack Sigma, who defied all the rules I knew of hierarchy and belonging. His strength rivaled an Alpha’s, but he didn’t ascribe to the traditional roles of pack. Tisiphone said he and his sigma daughter were much alike in this.

They both scared me.

“Nice night,” I commented as the silence stretched between us.

“It is,” Maddock grunted. “I was thanking the gods for my lucky stars.”

I nodded, not sure what else to say. I’d had enough talk about gods and goddess for a while. Not that I didn’t believe in forces greater than us, but dealing with Vincent had left a bad taste in my mouth.

“Don’t you want to ask what makes me so lucky?” Maddock scratched his salt-and-pepper colored beard.

I shrugged. “I figured you’d tell me if you wanted to.”

His jarring burst of laughter was cut short with a grin. “Don’t tell any of the other males who’ve mated into this family, but you might be my favorite so far.”

I thought of Alpha Kera and her mate Alpha Jareth, and of Sage’s younger sister, the Beta Coral and her mate Skoll. Plus, he had three daughters. Maddock was surrounded by females. Cerberus females, nonetheless… I almost felt bad for him.

Pssh. Tisiphone is an angel.

I smiled at my beast.

Maddock sat watching me. “You know, I always thought you were the one for my daughter. I’d say I hated that it took so long for her to figure it out, but I’d be lying. I liked having her here for a few extra years.”

I nodded, not having thought of it like that. We would’ve been different than we were now if we’d mated young, but so would the people and circumstances around us.

Fate works in mysterious ways.