Cougar Bait Read online

  “It’s for herbivore Shifters—that’s why you don’t like it,” Keller said, coming to sit beside her.

  They were all having drinks in his bar, the Cougar’s Den, in the little Shifter town of Cougarville, North Carolina. The Den, which had previously been something of a literal den of iniquity, had become more of a family friendly place now that Samantha and Sadie came to visit and “drink,” although everything they ordered was nonalcoholic.

  “Keller’s right.” Mathis took a swig from his bottle of imported ale—a new brand Keller was trying at the bar. “Just ask Fiona—she’ll set you up for whatever’s right for a carnivore Shifter,” he said.

  “Never thought I’d hear you agreeing with me so much,” Keller murmured, grinning at the other male. “I think being mated is making you soft, Blackwell.”

  “Look who’s talkin’ about going soft.” Mathis grinned back. “But hell, I’ll agree with anything you say as long as you keep the beer flowing. This new ale is pretty good.”

  “Another agreement.” Keller got up and tossed him another bottle, which the Buck Shifter caught one handed with ease. “That one’s on the house, but the next one goes on your tab.”

  “Right, because I know you need that five dollars really bad,” Mathis said dryly, but he was grinning as he used the opener on the table to pop the new bottle.

  “Of course I do—I’m semiretired from Keller Biotech now, getting ready for the baby.” Keller couldn’t keep the pride out of his voice or the love out of his eyes when he exchanged a glance with Samantha.

  “Yup, Keller actually wants to be Mr. Mom. Which frees me up to keep cutting on people,” Samantha remarked.

  “That sounds really wrong, you know.” Sadie giggled and took another sip of tea.

  “But it feels really right,” Keller pointed out. “Sammie’s career is important to her. And as the new head of trauma at Asheville VA Medical, she has to stay on her toes.”

  “Not that I’m leaving all the baby watching and child rearing to Keller.” Samantha sighed contentedly. “But it is nice to feel supported and know I can have my cake and eat it too.”

  “Speaking of cake, I’m hungry.” Sadie put down her mug of tea. “What do you have on the menu today, Keller?” She looked at him hopefully. “Anything with wheatgrass in it?”

  “Ugh.” Samantha made a face. “Herbivore Shifter cravings are the weirdest.”

  “Not as weird as wanting a raw-meat milkshake,” Sadie pointed out.

  Samantha turned an offended look on Keller. “You told on me!”

  “Blackwell wanted to know if you were having cravings the way your sister was, that’s all.” Keller put up his hands in a “don’t shoot” gesture.

  “It’s all right, Sammie.” Sadie patted her sister’s arm comfortingly. “That’s just the Shifter way—when you’re pregnant, you crave for your animal half too—not just your human half.”

  “That must be why I’m craving one of the Den’s really good bacon cheeseburgers,” Samantha announced. “Extra rare.”

  “I’ll take one too,” Sadie remarked. “Extra lettuce on mine.”

  “I’ll put in the order,” Keller said dryly. He spoke briefly to the kitchen and came back, smiling. “Guess what, sister-in-law? We do have some wheatgrass on hand. Want a shake to go with that burger?”

  “Yum!” Sadie’s eyes lit up. “Yes, please! And thank you, Keller.”

  “My pleasure.” Keller grinned around the table, feeling happier than he could ever remember. Who would have ever guessed that he and Blackwell would be not just friends but family? Or that their children would be cousins? If anyone had told him it would be so, even a few months ago, he would have laughed in their face. But he was finding that settling down with a mate changed a male—in his case, he believed it was for the better.

  “Well, aren’t the four of you looking cozy?” Reese Cooper, the owner of Fox’s Autobody and one of Keller’s few close friends strolled into the Den.

  “Cooper.” Mathis nodded at him warily. Though he and Keller were good friends now, the herbivore Shifter had yet to warm up completely to the other carnivores in town.

  Reese Cooper—or Coop, as almost everyone in Cougarville called him—was a Fox Shifter. Like most Shifters he was big—well over six foot six, with brown, slightly curly hair, and large brown eyes fringed thickly with black lashes. He had an easygoing sense of humor that made him one of the most well-liked males in town. Though Keller, who had known the Fox Shifter since they were kids, was aware Coop’s sharp wit could turn sarcastic if he felt cornered.

  “Hey, Blackwell. Keller. Pregnant ladies.” Cooper nodded at Samantha and Sadie. “Nice to see you.”

  “Hi, Coop.” Sadie smiled at the mechanic. She’d had a soft spot for him ever since he’d changed all four of her tires after someone had slashed them back when she was a Juvie. “Come have a seat—we were just about to eat lunch.”

  “Well, these two were anyway,” Mathis said, pointing a thumb at his mate and her sister. “They’re eating for two.”

  “Three, actually.” Fiona ShadowTree came sweeping into the bar, her deep maroon caftan set off by a long rope of pearls too large and gaudy to be anything but real.

  “Excuse me?” Samantha stared at her uncertainly. “Did you say one of us is going to have twins?”

  “No, my dear—of course not.” Fiona smiled gently at her.

  “Oh, whew!” Samantha mimed wiping sweat from her brow. “Because I don’t know how I would handle that.”

  “I didn’t say one of you was having twins,” Fiona said. “I was saying that both of you are going to have twins.”

  “What?” Keller stared at her in stunned disbelief. “But that’s impossible. I only feel one bond when I reach out to the baby.” He put a hand protectively over his mate’s gently rounded belly.

  “That’s what I feel too—just one,” Mathis growled.

  “That’s because both Sadie and Samantha are carrying identical twins,” Fiona said crisply. “Their bonding signatures are also identical, which leads them to appear as only one bond.”

  “But . . . but I . . .” Mathis looked stunned but happy. “Two?” he managed at last.

  “Well, twins do run in our family,” Sadie remarked philosophically. “I’ve done them once before. It’s not easy but it is doable—as long as you have help.”

  Samantha arched an eyebrow playfully at Keller.

  “You still eager to be Mr. Mom, big guy?”

  “Bring it on.” Keller felt a deep welling of joy. Doubly blessed. After the baby he had lost when Rachel got rid of his first child and left him, this felt like a blessing . . . an abundance too great to contemplate.

  “I didn’t actually come to talk about your twins,” Fiona told them. “That’s incidental—you would have found out at your ultrasounds anyway.”

  “Why did you come then?” Samantha wanted to know.

  Fiona turned her large, dark eyes on Keller’s mate. “Because, my dear, I’ve had a dream that’s very troubling to me. Nothing about your babies,” she said quickly, seeing Samantha’s worried face. “They’re perfectly healthy. But I need to know what the Hyena Shifter said to you just before he died.”

  “What?” Samantha frowned at her uncertainly. Keller knew she hadn’t told anyone but Sadie about their last fight with Lounds and what he’d tried to do to her and the baby—no, babies plural—he amended to himself, when the Hyena Shifter had overpowered her at TGH.

  “I need to know what he said,” Fiona said patiently. “Please, dear—it’s important.”

  “Well . . .” Samantha bit her lip.

  “He looked at Sammie and told her she wasn’t the last,” Keller said, answering for his mate because he sensed she was reluctant to relive the awful memory. “He said there would be more like her.”

  “More like her . . . hmm. . . .” Fiona had a troubled look in her large, dark eyes. “What do you think he meant by that?”

  “I don’t know, exactly,