Ember
If anyone had told Ember that shifter families were just like a typical family, she would not have believed it. She was half expecting their family lives to be more—animalistic. Especially after the explanation Kai had given her about his role as the pride’s leader, or alpha as he had called it.
As it turns out, the Masons were just as loud and as loving as the Bradys.
The only difference was the children. Silvester and Sophie were tiny humans, but they had more energy than Ember would have ever thought possible. She hadn’t spent time with any kids since she had been one herself. Her sisters were as far away from having kids as she was. Sparx was too busy with her grueling filming schedule, and Cinder was too busy building a makeup empire.
Ember didn’t have nieces or nephews of her own to gauge how to behave around Silvester, who was a bullet of energy, bouncing off the walls. Sophie was calmer, but only because her chubby little legs didn’t move fast enough for her. She was continuously stumbling as she tried to keep up with her big brother. The girl didn’t shed one tear as she fell again and again. Her delicate toddler features would pull into a frown of utter determination as she pulled herself back up and tried again. It was adorable.
It also made Ember’s uterus perk right up. What would her own kids with Kai be like? Would their little girl have the same determination as Sophie? Probably. Only, her child would be even more stubborn if the kid inherited her personality. If they had a little girl with Kai’s brown eyes, Ember would probably die of pure bliss.
“It’s so wonderful to meet you,” Joan, Kai’s mother, said as she enveloped Ember in a hug. “We’re so excited that Kai has finally met his mate.”
“Joan,” Carmen, the very pregnant sister-in-law, chided. “Leave the poor girl alone. We don’t know the mate thing for sure.”
Peter, who was most definitely Kai’s father, chuckled. “Why else would he bring you here if you weren’t his mate, Ember, right?” He added a wink.
“Seriously, Carmen, dear. You should probably sit down and rest.” Lee raced off to the couch, fluffed a few pillows, and helped his wife sit. He fussed over her, and it was probably the sweetest thing Ember had ever seen. It was the third time Carmen was pregnant, but it was clear Lee was always a doting father and husband. It made her wonder if Kai would be the same.
Probably.
Most definitely.
Only instead of fluffing pillows, he was likelier to take her clear off the floor and set her into the couch with a warning that she shouldn’t move a muscle.
That would be sweet, too, in a very Kai way.
“I’m late,” Carmen grumbled. “Or rather, this baby is late. It’s in no rush to get the hell out.”
“Hell, hell, hell,” Silvester chanted as he raced by, Sophie not-so-hot on his heels.
“Ell,” the tiny girl squeaked in an imitation of her brother.
Carmen rolled her eyes heavenward. “Every time I open my da—” she stopped, eyed her children, “dang mouth, they repeat it. This third kid is going to come out swearing like a sailor.”
Lee chuckled. “We will love him no matter what.”
“If he ever comes out,” Carmen groaned.
“You just need some of my cayenne tea. Flushes stubborn Mason babies right out,” Joan announced from the kitchen.
“If that’s true, better stock up on cayenne, Ma.” Kai was staring right at Ember as he spoke, a glimmer in his eyes and a smirk on his lips. “If our litter’s anything like Ember, they’ll need a triple dose of cayenne.”
Ember tried to suppress a smile. He was thinking about their babies! It wasn’t just her! He was doing it too, and talking about it openly in front of his family! “Well, you’re just as stubborn,” she argued.
“You’re in for it,” Carmen warned. “I’m still terrified of Silvester’s first shift. That child is wilder than an actual lion cub.”
“He’ll calm down when he comes into his animal,” Lee assured his wife. “Don’t scare her. She’s new here.” Lee winked at her, just like Peter had. These shifter men sure knew how to put the people around them at ease.
Kai clapped his hands together, gathering up the adults’ attention. Silvester and Sophie kept running everywhere, still shouting hell at the tops of their tiny lungs.
“Okay, now that Ember is safe here, surrounded by shifters, I’ll take off. I shouldn’t be gone too long. I just need to go follow up on a few leads and then go to the Police Station. You need to stay here, where it’s safe.” Kai cupped her face and kissed her softly. “Behave,” he added with a grin, swatting her ass playfully.
“I make you no promises.”
Kai grumbled something under his breath before kissing her again. “I’ll be back in a few hours.”
After another kiss, Kai left Ember with his family. Peter and Joan went to the kitchen to prepare lunch while Lee tried to wrangle his kids into calm. It wasn’t working so well for him. Ember sat opposite Carmen in a leather armchair, watching in fascination. This was her life now.
It wasn’t so bad. Not bad at all.
“Welcome to the hectic life of shifters,” Carmen said, rubbing at her stomach with a pinched expression. She looked highly uncomfortable.
“It’s a bit intimidating.”
“You’ll get used to it. There aren’t any better people out there. They take care of their own, you know? Speaking of which, I should tell you, I’m not a shifter. But I’ll warn you. Shifters run in families. My sister and I were both single. She met a guy, and he was a shifter. Next thing I knew? A few months later? I met a shifter too. Do you have siblings?”
“Two sisters,” Ember answered.
“Then you better warn them that they probably have a shifter mate on the way.” Carmen winced, her fingers digging into her side with a puff of staggered breath.
Ember blanched at the thought of telling her sisters that her new boyfriend could transform into a lion whenever he felt like it. They would probably think she had been sniffing too much icing sugar.
“Good to know. Hey, are you okay?”
Carmen nodded, but it wasn’t at all convincing.
“Can I get you anything?”
“Oh, ow.” Carmen stilled. Her face turned ashen and then went red. “Shit.” She tried to move from the couch, but her huge baby bump hindered her movements. “Joan! My water broke all over your couch.”
“You didn’t even tell me you had started your contractions,” Lee was pale as he spoke. He was a flurry of activity, grabbing a bag from beside the couch. “It’s hospital time. Come on.” He helped Carmen off the sofa, and immediately, Silvester wrapped himself around her legs. “Buddy, you have to let Mommy go. The baby is coming.”
“I don’t want another baby,” the boy whined, sniffling some seriously faked tears.
Ember knelt beside him. “Want to play a game? How about you go hide, and in a few minutes, I’ll come to find you?”
“Fine. But only if you promise to hide the baby forever too.”
“Umm — sure. We can do that.”
Free from her son, Carmen waddled away, helped by Lee. Peter and Joan helped them to the car, promising to keep Silvester and Sophie busy. It was in this flurry of activity, as Silvester zoomed from one hiding spot to the next, Sophie stumbling behind him, that Ember’s phone rang. Seeing the caller ID, she had no choice but to answer.