Fated to Be Family(25)

“Emmett?” Rebecca asked again.

“They won’t leave me alone,” he said quietly.

“Who?” She lowered her voice to a whisper.

“The Blue-Haired Lady Brigade,” he said, wincing.

Ashby and Nic hid smiles and Kate turned around. Sure enough there were no less than six little old ladies sitting at the table near the shelves where Emmett had been working. One was high-fiving another.

Oh dear, Kate thought.

“What is the Blue-Haired Lady Brigade?” Rebecca asked.

“Them,” Emmett said, pointing to the small group of senior citizens.

“That is Ms. Tully and her book club. They are harmless,” Rebecca said.

“They are evil old shifter females who haven’t died since Satan doesn’t want them!” Emmett protested.

Rebecca’s eyes widened. She had never heard any of the Arkadion men speak about a woman that way. She glanced over to the old women with curiosity.

“Rebecca, have you ever heard of the term ‘cougar’?” Kate asked, trying to clear this up.

Rebecca nodded and Kate continued. “Cougar usually refers to women in their forties, women in their fifties are considered ‘jaguars’ and these ladies… I guess they would be like pumas,” Kate said and then pointed to Emmett. “Emmett is perfect prey for them.”

Rebecca’s mouth became an O.

“Oh, Emmett, I’m sorry. Ummm, can you work on the shelves in the archives instead?” Rebecca asked, patting his arm.

He gave a quick nod turned to scowl at the “book club” then hurried down the stairs. Kate noticed the death grip Rebecca had on Ashby’s hand. Once they heard the basement door shut, Rebecca erupted into helpless giggles.

“You are absolutely wrong,” Nicholas said.

“How come you two aren’t prime prey?” Rebecca asked wiping her eyes.

“I think it’s because they know we’re gay,” Ashby said and Nicholas nodded.

“They heave great big ol’ sighs around us and say ‘damn shame’ a lot,” Nic added.

Kate smiled and jumped when her phone buzzed.

Hey gurl - ur men are at B&T getting ur fav choco, C looks like his dog died, go easy on him -lurves R

Kate jumped up and waved her phone in front of Rebecca.

“Look! Look! He’s not mad! He’s actually sorry and is buying my favorite chocolate!” Kate exclaimed.

“See! I told you he was a good guy,” Rebecca said. They all jumped when the phone buzzed again.

Headin ur way now!

Kate stared down at her phone as a rush of excitement flooded her body. She had the best friends in the whole world.

“Kate, they’re here,” Rebecca said, pointing to the door a couple minutes later.

Kate turned and watched as her two men walked toward her. One dark, reminding her of cool, long nights and the other auburn with red-tinted hues reminding her of the sun’s warmth. She never felt more thankful in her life. She watched as they walked right up to her and then surprisingly, both men dropped to their knees.

“Kate, I am so sorry for what I said to you at the diner,” Caleb said, his voice shaking in spots

“I never meant to hurt you or insinuate that I didn’t want you to be the boys’ mother. I was just afraid that the boys would forget Renee and I didn’t want that to happen. You are the most beautiful and amazingly caring woman I have ever met. I couldn’t beg God for a better mate and mother for my children. Will you please accept this as our way of asking you to be ours?” His hand trembled as he held up a small white box.

Kate reached forward and felt tears drip off her cheeks and run down her neck. She took the box and opened it. She closed her eyes as her chest shook in silent sobs. Caleb and Bran stood. Caleb took the box out of her hands.

“See, it’s an adjustable chain. It can be smaller when you’re human and if you have to shift in a hurry, the chain will slide and become larger to accommodate your wolf’s neck. I got three charms. They’re birthstones, mine and the boys’, so we’ll always be with you.” Caleb took the chain out of the box, sliding on the three charms and handing it to Kate.

“I got you something too, Katie Belle. I took for granted how we came together and I never took the time to show you how much I thank Fate every night for sending you to me, even though I know I’m not good enough. You make me remember how to smile and laugh. Without you, I’m empty.” Bran reached into his pocket and pulled out another charm. It matched the white-gold charms holding birthstones that Caleb had given her. He took the chain from her shaking hands.

“It’s my birthstone. And later, when we have more children, we can add theirs to the chain as well.” He added his charm onto the chain and passed it back to her. “Where’s my birthstone?” she asked, looking at Caleb then Bran, tears in her eyes.