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  "My eyes are still up here, NBB," he said, clearly amused by my dumbfoundedness.

  I cleared my throat, and glanced up at his face. "Yeah, but so is your rude-ass mouth."

  He didn't stop smiling, and I kinda thought about reaching out, and flicking him right in the head of the penis, but I was a little too afraid to touch it. I was sure once I got my hand that close, I was going to latch on until that thing was buried down my throat.

  "Damn, NBB. What were you just thinking?" He cleared his throat, and shook his head, making his dick bob enticingly in front of my face.

  "About flickin' you in the penis," I answered somewhat honestly.

  Narrowing his eyes when I glanced back up at his face, he bent slightly forward, getting his face a little closer to mine. "That do it for you, NBB? You like a little pain."

  Waving a dismissive hand in his face's direction, I rolled my eyes. "Why are ya strippin' naked in my brother's livin' room, anyway? Weren't ya going to prove to me that ya can turn into a fox, and have millions of people speculate what exactly it is that ya say?"

  "Damn it, B," my brother said a short moment later. "I'm gonna have that song stuck in my head now! Like it wasn't bad enough when it was actually popular."

  Foster smirked at me, rolling his eyes. "Just remember. I know everything that is going on when I'm in my fox form. You don't need to be afraid of me, okay."

  Shrugging, I sank back into the couch, thinking if he didn't turn out to have the ability to turn into a fox, at least I could watch him stand around my brother's living room naked.

  For science.

  But something happened. It was like a ripple moved through his body. I felt something like a pulse against my skin, and then he started turning a burnt orange color. No. He wasn't changing colors. At least not his skin. He was sprouting fur. And shrinking.

  My eyes widened, as his face started to shift and change. It looked painful.

  After a few moments, there was a slightly bigger than normal fox sitting at my feet, tail curled against his legs and sharp, intelligent eyes staring intently at me.

  "Uh––" Words failed me. All I could do was let out a long drawn out sound of confusion and blink.

  The fox jumped up on the couch next to me, and slowly moved closer, looking at me like I was the wild animal. He nudged his nose against my arm, and I giggled, finally closing my mouth.

  "Can I pet ya?"

  He nodded. The fox nodded.

  "Did that hurt?" I asked, reaching my hand out and gingerly placing it on the animals back. The fur was coarse with the first stroke, but once I let my fingers sink in, I was amazed at how soft and plush it was.

  The fox shook his head, and I couldn't help but laugh a little. I was talking to a fox. And he was answering me. Again, I had to question my sanity.

  I wonder if I'm actually lying in a bed in a mental institution.

  The couch on the other side of me dipped, and I glanced over into my brother's beautiful, almond shaped, green eyes.

  "Are you okay?" He asked on a whisper

  "I think so."

  Ronny smiled as he sat down on the armrest next to Sutton. "Grady was a shifter too, but it sounds like something might have been a bit wrong with him. I think he might have thought you were his mate.

  "Shifters can usually tell these things by smell, but if you were using the delphinium infused fabric softener that Sutton was sending you, he shouldn't have been able to smell you at all."

  I'd turned back to the fox that was now sitting next to me on the couch, watching my face intently. Maybe he thought I was going to lose it at any moment.

  I sighed. "I'm not going to freak out, dumbass. I'm just tryna process all this new information."

  I swear that motherfucker smirked at me.

  Bouncing up, he licked a big stripe up the side of my face, and then bounded off the couch, grabbing the sweats in the floor on his way by, and disappearing around the corner.

  "You dick!" I yelled, wiping the moisture from my cheek.

  Sutton snorted, shaking his head. "Why did I never see this before? It's like pullin' fuckin' pigtails."

  I opened my mouth to sass something at my ridiculous brother, but Foster walked back around the corner from where he had run into the kitchen, still wearing nothing but those fucking sweats, and I couldn't stop my stupid eyes from moving over him.

  Until I got to that overly handsome, smirking face.

  "Take a picture. It'll last longer. "

  "And it would probably have a higher IQ and better social skills as well." I pointedly ignored the dick swinging a few inches from my face, through the incredibly thin material, wanting to scream, when a glance at his expression, revealed that his cocky smile had only grown.

  Why did he have to be so fucking sexy when he smiled like that? How can something make you horny and piss you off at the same time?

  When he continued to stand there with his dick in my face, my brother made a gagging sound, throwing his hands over his eyes, and leaning into his boyfriend's side. "I'm fuckin' traumatized."

  Laughing, he resumed his position from earlier, on the coffee table directly in front of me.

  Chapter Two

  Gawd, my mate was sassy. And beautiful. If I'd thought he was beautiful over video chat, seeing him in real life, rubbing his eyes and then stretching that sweet compact body until his shirt rose, revealing a two inch strip of velvet looking skin, almost literally made me fall in the floor.

  And the moan he'd let out. Straight up pornographic.

  But seeing that mark on his neck. I still felt sick that someone had tried to force a mating on him. I was never more grateful to my best friend, for giving in, and sending Burke that pepper spray.

  It hadn't been easy convincing Sutton. We'd argued about that for and entire hour one day. He'd thought I was being an ass, and making fun of his brother. And, because of everything I'd done to the cutie up until that point, I couldn't even give a believable argument.

  "I can what, now? No. Have you seen my hips? These are not child bearin' hips!"

  "I don't want children, anyway," I said, not really thinking. I wasn't really ready for him to know we were mates yet."

  "Well, nobody asked you to. They're askin' me to," Burke said, petulantly, folding his arms across his chest and leaning against the back of the couch.

  "No, he means––"

  "Not yet, Sutt." I looked over at my friend, shaking my head slightly.

  "Oh. Okay." Sutton watched me through narrow eyes for a minute before turning back to his brother. "You don't have to have babies, B. You just can."

  "Well, I'm not. And I don't know if I want to live that long either! I'm barely mentally survivin' this life." Then his eyes narrowed on me, for some reason making it nearly impossible to keep my hands to myself. "What the fuck are you grinnin' at, Foster?"

  "I like when you're all cranky and mean. You're cute."

  He frowned, looking around the room like he was waiting for something more, then he sighed, "The fuck is wrong with him?" He finally asked his brother, motioning to me with his head.

  Sutton watched me for a moment, clearly debating with himself how he was going to answer the question. Finally, he rolled his eyes and shrugged. "I don't know, B. I think he's been working to hard lately. Probably needs to take a few days off."

  We both knew I was taking advantage of Sutton's sweet nature. If things had been the other way around, I'd probably have outted him. Hell, I all but did when he'd met Ronny.

  I mouthed "thank you" at my friend when Burke looked down and got a middle finger in return.

  "So, does this chosen thing guarantee me a mate? And what if I don't like 'im." Burke's head snapped up, making me jump a little. "What if it's a girl?"

  Smiling, Sutton looked over at Ronny. "Trust me, B. You're mate is the other half of your soul. The part ya don't realize is missin' until you meet 'em."

  Clearing his throat, Burke asked, "how will I know who they are? Will I get some
kind of sign or something'?"

  "Well, you know how it went for me. I watched Ronny every chance I got. I was drawn to 'im even before I actually met 'im. But when we met," Sutton sighed, making me snicker a bit. "I honestly don't think I could have been separated from him that first night."

  "Oh." Burke glanced at me quickly. Barely let his eyes land on me before the skittered away again. Then he frowned down at his crossed arms and pursed his lips, clearly thinking hard on something. "What if they don't end up feelin' the same way? What if my mate is attracted to me, but doesn't care much for my sassy attitude or tendency to get so lost in my studying, that I forget to take care of myself, more-less take care of someone else's needs."

  "A good mate will enjoy what a sassy little shit you are," I said, smiling at all the almost mean things he'd said to me over the years. "Will take pleasure in the things you say and do. And he will sit on you and force-feed you when you forget to eat. And scoop you up and throw you in the shower when you start to stink from lack of bathing. And kidnap you from time to time to make sure that you're not working yourself too much. A good mate wants whatever makes you happy."

  By the time I was done, Burke's arms had gone slack, sliding down so that his hands were resting in his lap. His lips were parted and his beautiful blue eyes were dark.

  Leaning forward, I put my face within of foot of his. "Does that sound like something you would want, NBB?"

  Licking his lips and swallowing, Burke nodded. And then shook his head. "That sounds a bit like a fantasy. Do you really think that's likely to be the case?"

  "Did ya really just say that it's your fantasy to have someone sit on ya and force-feed ya?" Sutton asked, chuckling. "That seriously doesn't sound like a fantasy to me, B."

  Shrugging, Burke turned to his brother. "Do ya really want me to start telling ya my fantasies, big brother?"

  "Good point. Go ahead and keep those to yourself, if you don't mind."

  "Your mate is your perfect other half," Ronny said, running a finger down Sutton's cheek. "They fulfill needs you didn't even realize you had. They are exactly what you need in your life."

  "It would be nice to not always fill alone." The whispered words from my mate echoed my own thoughts and broke my heart at the same time.

  "Yeah," I whispered back. "It would."

  Burke's eyes widened and his eyebrows shot up. I'd clearly surprised him.

  ***

  I was going to explode from the dick up. What had I been thinking?

  I'd wanted Burke to get used to our world and maybe start liking me on his own without the mate subject sitting on his shoulder, making him feel pressured to be with me, when all we'd ever done up until this point was argue and snipe at each other. But being around him constantly over the last three days and not touching him in all the ways I wanted to touch him, was threatening to make a eunuch out of me.

  I couldn't even begin to count the amount of times I'd reached out to run my finger down his soft cheek, or his plush lower lip. Or lifted my arm to draw him to my side. I always managed to pull back before I did anything that would make him uncomfortable, but I was going insane.

  I hadn't touched my mate since that first morning, and the tension was starting to show in the way I was seconds away from killing a teasing, but far from funny Bennett, who'd offered to introduce Burke to all the single men of the leap.

  Waiting until my mate turned his back, I reached out and smacked the jackass in the back of the head. When Thompsyn growled at me, I snapped my teeth at the both of them.

  "Cut it out, Bennett," Ronny said, gaining all of our attention. "You're going to start something you'll feel bad about later."

  "Not that bad," Bennett mumbled around a smile.

  "Benny!" Ridley's voice coming from around the side of the house had Bennett, Thompsyn, Ronny and I jumping into action, already moving toward the alpha-mate before our chairs settled from our hurried exit.

  "Ridley! What's wrong?" The blond leopard asked, getting to his best friend first.

  "Where's Flynn?" Ronny immediately started looking around the back yard for some kind of threat, while I moved behind Ridley, unsheathing my claws and looking around the corner of the house.

  Thompsyn stood at Ridley's back, taking up a position of defense between his mate, where he tried to pry information out of the alpha-mate, and whatever was causing Ridley's distress.

  A dark figure, silhouetted by the bright light of the moon was coming toward us from around the front of the house. Not moving at a pace that said he was chasing after the alpha-mate, but definitely a pace of purpose.

  I moved quickly, milliseconds away from taking out the figure's throat before the man even noticed my existence. I pulled up fast, recognizing the alpha's scent right before he noticed me there.

  "Foster?!" I heard the distressed sound of my mate's voice, just as the porch light revealed Alpha Flynn's face.

  He was looking at me with surprise and a bit of respect, probably realizing I had been close to taking his life, before he even realized I was there, but I didn't have time to appreciate the admiration, because I needed to check on my mate.

  I raced to the porch, taking in Burke's rigid posture and the way he clutched his hands in front of him in obvious distress. When a look around proved that there was nothing in the immediate vicinity that could possibly harm him, I scooped the precious man into my arms and held him to my chest.

  "What's wrong, baby? Are you okay?" Pulling back, I took his face in my hands, looking down into his beautiful blue eyes.

  He blinked at me, clearly shocked by my behavior. "I…uh…I thought…you went around the corner. I…was…worried."

  Grinning, because my mate had been worried about me, I gave in and rubbed a thumb across his sexy bottom lip. "Did you think I was in danger, NBB?"

  Narrowing his eyes, Burke took one of the hands that were holding on to my forearm and smacked me in the chest. "Not a chance, asshole. I was worried with all these damn mates running around, that I was going to get left high and dry when shit hit the fan."

  Chuckling, because I didn't believe him at all, I tucked him under my arm and steered him toward the excited crowd that was gathered around Ridley and Flynn.

  "When are you due?" Bennett asked excitedly, where he was holding the taller man off the ground and bouncing him up and down.

  "Put me down, you dumbass!" The redhead yelled, his voice breaking with every bounce.

  Sighing, Flynn ignored the two, and gave his attention to the other men all looking on with excited expressions on their faces. "He's due around Christmas. The command elder said he is about a month and a half along."

  I couldn't help but smile for the alpha, whose eyes were wide with awe and excitement. I honestly wasn't sure if I wanted children, and Burke had said something similar, but the alpha-couple seemed ecstatic, and that was something to celebrate.

  "I want to be happy for them," Burke mumbled, leaning a little closer so only I could hear. "But all I can think about is something the size of a baby's head coming out of my asshole."

  Snorting, I looked around just in time to see Ronny frowning in our direction. Clearly, Burke hadn't been as quiet as he'd hoped.

  He blinked innocently at the second, and I pressed my lips together, not wanting to disrespect the alpha, but struggling with my mirth.

  "His body will start to ready itself about two days before the baby comes. That's one of the first signs. It helps the parents start to prepare." I glanced down at my mate and then around at all the people who were suddenly paying us quite a bit of attention.

  "How do you know so much about all of this baby business?" Bennett asked, finally setting Ridley down.

  Shrugging, I looked at the blond and then his mate. "I was around the last time."

  Mouth falling open, before snapping closed, Bennett blinked at me. "You mean you were around two hundred seventy-five years ago? No fucking way. Syn's old, but that would make you really old."

  Thompsyn sig
hed, rolling his eyes. "Thanks again, Ben, for always pointing out how old I am."

  "Not my fault you have hang-ups about being an old grumpy bear."

  "I was still fairly young, when it all started, but yeah. I'm two hundred, eighty four years old." I wasn't sure why everyone was staring at me like that. Surely they all knew it was a possibility. Hell, the command elder that Ridley and Flynn had spoken to earlier that day was probably pushing a thousand.

  "But you seem so normal for an old man," Bennett said, earning a disgruntled grunt from his mate.

  "What's that supposed to mean?" Thompsyn asked, frowning at the idiot.

  "We both know you are a grumpy old bastard who doesn't like people." Bennett patted his man's chest, before turning and snuggling back into it.

  Thompsyn just rolled his eyes and wrapped his giant arms around the man.

  "I'll admit, I already knew you were pretty old, I had Green do some digging on you. I wanted to know where you came from." Ronny was unapologetic and I smirked at the man.

  "I know. I was alerted as soon as you guys started." I raised my eyebrows. "FBI, remember?"

  Shrugging, Ronny smiled back. "I kinda thought you might be."

  "Ridley's havin' a baby and you're a billion," Burke mumbled, shaking his head. "This whole situation is doin' nothin' to dispel my worries about my need for a mental institution."

  "Don't worry, NBB. It doesn't mean you have daddy issues if you want my body. I don't look my age."

  Bennett and Thompsyn snorted as Sutton and Ridley sighed. Flynn and Ronny only raised their eyebrows, a definite sign that they were just done.

  "I'm goin' back to Georgia."

  Chapter Three

  After three fucking days of not touching me, at all, now Foster wouldn't stop. And he kept calling me "baby."

  We were sitting around Sutton's living room, discussing birthing options and grilling Foster on all things ancient. I was sitting on the couch, watching everyone in the room and wondering when I was going to wake up and find myself sitting all alone in a padded room, rocking while mumbling incoherent things.