Page 52 of Colton’s Mate

Colt and Remy each gave one of them the finger.

“So anyway,” Colt said, “they keep trying to take over. And not give us back our forms.”

“And they don’t like Callie,” Remy added.

Jason growled, “What’s wrong with Callie?”

“Exactly. Right?” Colt said. “Except my owl thinks fur creatures are beneath him.”

“That’s the one thing you’ve said that makes sense,” Jason said. “Wings rule.”

“What happened to ‘what’s wrong with Callie?’” Colt snapped. “No wings there. My owl is being ridiculously snotty about it.”

“And my leopard is jealous because Colt’s leopard is all obsessed with her,” Remy added.

Jason said, “So stay away from her. Problem solved.”

“Except it’s not,” Remy said. “She’s his mate.”

Chapter 21

Kitty squealed and almost dropped her cupcake. Chocolate crumbs cascaded down her chest. “Really? I knew it!” She bounced up and down on the couch. “Is she coming here to live? When?” She frowned. “We might need another bathroom.”

Oh, fuck. The last thing Colt needed was Kitty getting Callie all freaked out. He leaned past Remy and glared at her. “Stop that right now. We don’t know for sure she’s my mate.” He felt disloyal even saying that, but it had to be said. “And she’s sick and tired of being told what to do. I’m pretty sure the last thing she wants at this particular moment is a bond she doesn’t even have a choice about.”

Remy said, “Right.” He said to Kitty, “She wrote her name over his dick in permanent marker.”

Sheesh, did he have to tell everyone? Kitty started giggling uncontrollably. Brandon rolled his eyes. Even Squatch might have kind of smiled. Jason glowered.

Colt transferred his glare to Remy. “Nowhere have I ever heard that that’s a sign of true mates.”

Kitty said, “Well, when my parents bonded they cage-fought until they turned into monsters and ripped the cage apart. So, you never know what’s a sign.”

Colt sighed. “You’re not helping.”

Jason was shaking his head. “This is all total bullshit. True mates aren’t even a thing. They’re a predator shifter legend.”

Remy laughed. “Um, no. In our home crew, all our parents’ generation are true mates. Seriously magic shit happened when some of them got together. Like, our alpha being infused with dragon magic. And my dad walking through the spirit world and saving my mom from a psycho kidnapper by following their bond.”

Colt added, “And the Silverlake wolf pack has a bunch of true mates too. When the alpha bonded to his mate, he brought her back from the dead with their bonding magic. After she had her throat slit.”

Jason was staring at them. “No way. You’re just fucking with me.”

Kitty shook her head. “We could tell you stories—”

“Could we focus?” Brandon said. He turned to Colt. “So let me get this straight. You’re not sure Callie’s your mate, and you’re not sure she feels what you might feel, but actually aren’t sure about?”

“And our recessive animals don’t want her around, and so they try to take us over and make us into pod people. Don’t forget that part,” Remy said.

“Fuck,” Brandon said. He ran his hands through his hair.

At that moment, Colt’s phone buzzed with an email alert. Callie.

Oh, hell. He’d sent her that contractor bid, and now she was probably replying—at the worst possible moment.

He couldn’t concentrate. He didn’t even know what to hope for—that she’d want to try to do this thing, any of it, or not. Because it would be awesome if she did, but also a shitstorm.

“Are you going to get that?” Remy asked.