Spotted Her First Page 20

  Piper didn’t look away from Caleb but she nodded. When he released her she felt a bit lightheaded from their attentions, but had enough sense to turn to Jess. “Thank you for everything,” she told her. “No offense, but I hope I never see you again.”

  The demon hunter just grinned. “None taken, but I might pop in to the next West Coast Pride barbecue over the Fourth of July. Good luck, Piper Leigh Kostopoulos.” Jess winked and then popped out of existence.

  Piper blinked as she realized Jessica James could teleport. She didn’t want to know why the hunter chose to ride around on a motorcycle. So she smiled at Eisheth – a demon, but a friend as well. He’d come through for her when she’d needed it most. “Thank you for getting them here.”

  The demon actually blushed as he slipped his hands in his pockets and shrugged. “It was nothing. Also, Cat Solo is at the pride’s estate, safe and sound. You ready to get out of Florida, my little queen? It’s awfully muggy here. It’s doing some pretty terrible things to your hair.”

  Piper smiled and nodded. “Yeah, let’s go home.” And when she said it, she meant Crescent City. Because her apartment would be empty without these three guys. Wherever they were was going to be her home now.

  Eisheth reached out and popped them out.

  When she could breathe again she was on a wraparound porch with a killer view in a place she’d never been before.

  Then Eisheth was gone and back with Caleb in the blink of an eye. He shook his head and reached for her. “I really don’t like that.” He pulled her in for another hug like he couldn’t stop touching her.

  Next it was Niko and then Xavier. Eisheth came and gave Piper a peck on her cheek. “I’ll come back for a visit, I promise.”

  She pulled him in for a hug before he could teleport. “Thank you again, for everything. Caleb may not like it, but you’re welcome here any time. After all,” Piper said, smiling back at the scowling alpha. “I’m queen of this pride now.”

  “That you are, sweetie.” Eisheth winked and then disappeared as well.

  Then it was just the four of them and Piper stared down at the city below them happily. They were all alive. The alpha who wanted to curse their pride was dead, and her father would be joining her soon so they could start their new life.

  “Where’s Cat Solo?” she asked.

  “I’ll go get him,” Niko said. “Just stay here for a minute. I don’t want you to come inside until I make sure it’s been cleaned.”

  Xavier chuckled and brushed his shoulder against hers as they leaned against the balcony looking out at the ocean. Caleb joined them on her other side. “Do you like it?” he asked.

  “The water is breathtaking,” she admitted. “It’s quiet, and I like that. It suits me.”

  “It does,” Caleb agreed.

  “Okay, here’s Cat Solo,” Niko said. “I think we’ve come to some kind of understanding.”

  Piper was so nervous her baby wasn’t going to like her anymore now that she was a leopard, but he snuggled right into her arms just like he always did and purred like mad. Then she saw something sparkly dangling from his collar. “What’s this?” she asked, adjusting the leather so she could see it better.

  “Well,” Niko said, shifting awkwardly. “It’s the ring we picked out for you.”

  Then she realized it was a big fat engagement ring. “All three of you picked this out?”

  “We did,” Caleb said, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind. “While you stayed home and we went out to run errands. I picked out a few and then the other two came and picked from those…but we all decided this worked the best, including your father.”

  It had a huge diamond in the center but on either side were lapis lazuli stones, just like in the necklace she still wore. Piper felt tears prick her eyes as she fumbled with the string. “Is this why you didn’t want me to go inside?” she asked. “How long has Solo been wearing this?”

  Xavier laughed and gently took the cat from her arms. “About a day now, we figured we’d wait until you noticed, but you never did.”

  She laughed through her tears. “I can’t believe he didn’t lose it or try to eat it.”

  “We kept an eye on him,” Niko told her. “We wanted it to be a surprise, but I think this worked out better.”

  Finally they got the ring off the cat and Piper slipped it on. The yellow gold looked perfect against her tan skin and she smiled. “Yes.”

  “Yes?” Caleb asked, lightly smacking her ass. “Yes to what?”

  “Yes to whatever you want,” she said. “Mate, wife…yes.”

  Then they were kissing her again and she was laughing and Solo was meowing in protest at being squished.

  “All right, all right, let’s go show our mate her new house before this damn cat runs off,” Xavier said.

  “Are you ready?” Caleb asked, holding out a hand for her.

  Xavier went into the house and held the door open for her, waiting patiently. Niko smiled and watched as she took Caleb’s hand. “Yes, I’m ready.”

  Yes, Piper wanted to see the house. But she was ready for what came next too. As long as these three were there – she’d be ready for anything.

  Epilogue

  Piper

  “Are you sure you have to go to work?” Niko muttered, pulling her in closer.

  Piper laughed and tried to extricate herself from their arms, but Xavier and Caleb tightened their grip and she was officially stuck. “Guys, I can’t be late for my first day at work.”

  “I still think you should just take some time off and focus on your thesis,” Caleb muttered. “You shouldn’t be working so hard anyway.” He pressed his hand against her belly gently and gave it a little pat.

  “Working isn’t going to hurt the babies,” she told him. But Piper let herself enjoy the way they surrounded her in the giant bed Caleb had specially commissioned after she moved to Crescent City.

  Apparently getting claimed and shifting into a leopard pretty much destroyed IUDs to Piper’s dismay. She probably wouldn’t have noticed except she’d been moody over the last few weeks and the guys swore she smelled weird. None of them had been around a pregnant female so they had no idea what was wrong with her.

  One trip to the shifter doctor later and they found out they were having twins. It had been a complete shock and Piper had a hard time figuring out how she was going to get everything done…but, there were fifteen males in the pride who constantly asked her if she would let them watch the babies.

  It wasn’t something she was used to. Piper only had her father for most of her life. Then these three insanely hot shifters barreled into her life and demanded she make room for them. Luckily they were rather convincing. She couldn’t imagine her life without them even though it hadn’t been very long.

  The most irritating thing about the whole thing was she had to drive to Sacramento now instead of having Eisheth pop her there and back like he was. But he promised once the babies were there he would take her to Egypt to make up for it. And with a demon best friend and an entire pride to look after the kittens, Piper wouldn’t be losing out on anything.

  She had her new family, her dad, and her career. There really wasn’t anything else she could possibly want out of life.

  “Piper! Get your butt down here or you’re going to be late!”

  She laughed and kicked at the bodies surrounding her. “My dad probably wants me to eat something again.”

  “Good, you should,” Xavier mumbled. “If you don’t mind we’re going to stay here and sleep some more.”

  Piper stood and grabbed her robe. When she looked back at her mates all three of them were asleep again. She smiled. Sometimes it was hard to believe they were hers. After all they were gorgeous, driven, dedicated, insanely good at sex, and one hundred percent supportive of her. She never thought there would be a guy out there like that, let alone three.

  It had only taken a week to get everything settled. Her father had opted to live in the house with them since
it was massive. Piper loved being so close to him again, and she’d enjoyed the time off, but she was ready for her first day at the Northern Coastal College library.

  Piper quickly got dressed and went downstairs to join her father in the kitchen. He was wearing his new officer’s uniform as well and had made sure his schedule matched hers like always.

  “I cooked you eggs with lots of onions,” her dad said, piling a plate high. “There’s sausage and decaf coffee. And no sneaking caffeine at work! It’s not good for the babies.”

  She smiled and sipped the decaf coffee. Her father was so excited to be a grandfather and it was frickin’ adorable. “Of course, Dad. I wouldn’t dream of it.”

  “Thanks Papa Smurf!” Eisheth popped in and snatched a sausage off her plate and earned a smack on the hand with the spatula. She loved that her father just put another sausage on her plate. “So it’s your first day, nervous?” Eisheth asked.

  Piper shook her head and ate. The demon liked to pop in and out randomly to keep her updated on things with the Council and the crocs. After what happened with Forneus and Circe he was extremely invested in shifter affairs, or so he said. With her mates and Eisheth Piper had no doubts they’d find a way to end the blood feud.

  “I get to be the demon-father to my niece and nephew, right?” Of course when the demon heard the news he’d made a huge thing out of telling her the sex of the babies like he was some kind of strange, fairy godfather—fairy demonfather?

  Her dad choked on his sausage and blustered, but Piper just patted Eisheth’s hand. “Of course you can be the demon-father. We’re not religious anymore, and the twins will have an entire pride of godfathers so it’s totally fine, right Dad?”

  Richard Kostopoulos said some very not-nice things in Greek and then Eisheth returned the favor. “I’m getting ready to go, I’ll drive you,” her dad said, ignoring the demon completely.

  When her father left the kitchen with his thermos of coffee she poked Eisheth with her fork. “You really don’t need to be so ornery.”

  “Well, we’re all known for something aren’t we?” Eisheth adjusted the lapels of his perfect suit and then kissed her on the cheek. “Call me if you need anything. I just wanted to wish you good luck on your first day.” And with a little ‘pop’ he disappeared.

  The sound of Xavier roaring made her jump and Piper looked up to see Niko in his leopard form carrying Charlotte in his mouth as a kitten. The little girl didn’t even look a little sorry.

  “Did she bite X’s tail again?” Piper asked.

  Niko growled and she took that as a ‘yes.’ Piper smiled as she grabbed her purse. Niko was going to be an amazing father. She slid off the stool and narrowly avoided Xavier who was being followed by Cat Solo. “Sorry about your tail X.”

  He sat next to the front door and snorted at her. Solo kept trying to get his tail as it moved back and forth impatiently.

  “Yeah, yeah, I’m going to be late,” she muttered.

  But before she could leave Caleb grabbed her hand and pulled her in for a kiss. “Keep me updated,” he murmured. Then he kissed her again, taking his sweet time until her father honked his horn. “I love you.”

  “I love you too,” she said with a smile. Caleb smacked her ass. It made her laugh and she gave Xavier a pat as she walked by which she knew he didn’t like, but tolerated for her. Surprisingly Caleb was the one who enjoyed pets in his cat form.

  Piper got into her father’s cop car and waved goodbye to the other leopards and Niko who still held Charlotte in his mouth. Then she saw one of the Lego droids in her father’s cup holders. It made Piper grin as she tucked it into her purse to return to the Falcon later.

  There was absolutely nothing she would change about her life.

  Don’t miss For Fox Sake

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  The Wolfegang Series

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  Riding on Whispers

  When Elements Collide

  Far From Safe

  Give Me Chaos

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  About the Author

  Emma Dean lives and works in California with her husband and son. She loves romance but needed something different so Draga Court was born. With too many stories to write the schedule has been filled through 2018.

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