Lords of the Were by Bianca D'Arc Page B

pride and concern in Ryan and Jilly’s eyes as they looked at their oldest, but she wondered if learning how to shift weren’t more dangerous than it appeared. Yet another thing she’d have to ask Rafe and Tim when she had a chance.
    Suddenly the list of things she needed to learn seemed very long.
    Rafe collapsed onto the couch next to her and wrapped one big arm around her shoulders, drawing Allie against his side. Rafe and Tim had volunteered to load the dishwasher after dinner while Allie visited with her aunt and uncle and their cubs.
    “The Cougar Clan allows their cubs to shift beginning at thirteen.
    Some of the other tribes, packs and clans set different ages, but most coincide with the onset of puberty.” Rafe’s deep voice sounded low in her ear as he explained.
    “How did you know?”
    Rafe kissed the tip of her nose before moving back. “Sweetheart, the questions in your eyes were plain to see.” Allie looked over at her family, only to intercept a knowing nod between her aunt and uncle. She thought she knew them, and their senses of humor, well enough by now to call them on it.
    “Now what was that for?” she challenged the older couple.
    Jilly laughed while Ryan winked at her. “It’s just good to see our Rafe mated, that’s all. Some thought this day would never come—especially all
    his ex-girlfriends.” Ryan laughed outright at that and Allie turned mildly accusing eyes to Rafe.
    “Are you a playboy, Rafe? And how in the world do they know if we’re mated or not?”
    Jilly leaned forward with a conspiratorial grin. “As to the first, yes, Rafe has broken many a wolf bitch’s heart. And as for the latter, their scent is all over you, as is yours on them. Add to that the way he can practically read your mind already, and well, I’ve seen enough true matings in my time to know when I’m in the presence of the real thing.
    You three were meant to be, and I couldn’t be happier for you.” Jilly grabbed her hands and squeezed, her enthusiasm spilling over even as Allie blushed fiercely.
    Allie sniffed at her hands when Jilly released her, inviting them to giggle at her antics. “What I want to know is, if I’m half were cat, how come I don’t have such sharp senses?”
    “Ah,” Tim sat down on her other side and grabbed her hand, bringing it to his lips for a smacking kiss, “but your mother was a priestess. You may not have all that much of the cougar in you—which is a good thing when you consider you’re mated to wolves—but you more than make up for it in other ways, sweetheart.”
    Jillian rose and plunked the two-year-old down on Allie’s unsuspecting lap. “Hold Janice for a minute while I take a potty break, okay?”
    Without waiting for an answer, Jilly took off down the hall, leaving Allie with a squirming baby on her lap and three grown men smirking at her. Allie hadn’t been around a lot of little kids in her time and was a little afraid of the tiny, rambunctious thing crawling around on her lap.
    She put her arms out reflexively when the baby tipped back to smile up at her and nearly toppled off her knees.
    Rafe and Tim were there too—one of each of their big hands moving like lightning to bracket hers and save the oblivious baby girl from a tumble.
    “She’s a handful,” Allie commented to Ryan, though the baby’s father seemed occupied in chasing down the seven-year-old, an energetic little boy named Harry.
    “You’re doing fine,” Rafe crooned near her ear, letting the baby grab one of his big fingers as she cooed up at him. She was a charmer, there was no doubt of that, with her happy golden eyes and wispy blonde curls.
    “I’m not used to babies.”
    “Yeah,” Rafe chuckled near her ear, “I sort of figured that out. Don’t worry, you’re a natural.”
    Baby Janice decided to travel, crawling haphazardly across Allie’s lap to pin herself to Tim’s chest. Allie laughed, thinking Tim wouldn’t know how to handle the little girl, but he amazed