The Merry Moose’s Mates (Male-Order Mates #16)

Chapter Nine

Austin

I wanted to go outside, to be part of the conversation, but I wasn’t sure I would be welcome. After all, they would assume I’d gone to bed upstairs and nobody had suggested I come back down after tucking Alice in. So, instead, I hovered, just on the other side of the door, trying to make sense of what I could hear. Eavesdropping. Poorly, since I was only getting about one of every three words clearly enough to discern. And what I did hear seemed to relate to wildlife. Were they hunters maybe? I didn’t get that impression but it would make sense for someone living out here, I supposed. It had never been an interest of mine.

Ear to the wooden panel, I leapt back, stumbling over my big feet when the knob turned and the door opened inward. The two men I felt such an attraction to came in after stomping the snow from their boots on the porch and shaking off their jackets.

“Oh, Austin. I thought you’d gone to sleep.” Briar’s expression was again hard to decipher. What big secret did he have, and did he share it with Shay? My protective instincts rose —could I have been lured here for some nefarious purpose, and they were both in on it?

“No, and I was really considering leaving tonight after all. I just don’t feel right about staying when you were not expecting us.”

They shared a glance, and my hackles went up, but just as I was about to ask them what the heck, Briar shook his head. “Even if I wanted you to leave like this at night with your sweet daughter, the roads are closed. Really, you are very welcome. Please don’t think different. My brother made a move without my permission, true, but that doesn’t mean you need to go out into the storm.”

Now I was looking back and forth between them, seeking some sort of nefarious plot, but they were watching me with what I could only describe as kindness and a bit of anxiety. “Okay, so we’re staying until the storm lets up. But something is going on here. What’s the big secret that you don’t want me to know?”

“You’d better sit down.” Shay waved toward the couch.

“Okay, so now I’m much more worried.” I shrugged off the offer to sit. “What is going on here?”

“We should show him.” Briar walked back to the door and opened it. “Grab your coat and come outside with us.”

“After you.” Because I was not leaving Alice inside unless I was there until I learned their secret.

They filed out onto the porch and paused at the top of the stairs. “Stay here, and try not to be too shocked.” Briar descended and, at the bottom, proceeded to take off his clothes. Shay followed him and did the same. The snow was blowing around them, making it hard to see what was going on, but my mind flew in every direction. Were they some kind of polar bear club and were going to roll in the snow? But that was about swimming right?

It would help if they weren’t so incredibly handsome. I was going to be leaving as soon as the weather permitted, and, presumably so was Shay. So what was the point? Was this all a sex thing because they could count me out. A responsible father did not engage in one-night stands with his daughter in the same house. Or, in my mind, at all. I had too much going on to consider such things no matter how appealing. Confusion grew and grew.

“I’m not —”

“Just watch.” Briar took a few steps away and then the snow blurred his outline and he disappeared. A moose stepped into view.

“Be careful!” I started down the steps, worried about both of the men who were down there with no clothes on or way to protect themselves. But when I stepped out into the yard, neither of the men were in sight. No doubt they’d fled the animals and trusted I’d just return indoors. Unfortunately, I hadn’t. And the bear was blocking the way.

My heartbeat sped up, visions of my beautiful Alice having to get by without any parents at all giving me the courage to try to get past the huge animal. I dodged to the left, but he reached out a huge paw and I squeezed my eyes closed, trying to protect them from the long, sharp claws.

“Austin?” What closed around my arm was definitely not a bear paw but a

firm hand. “Austin, it’s okay. It’s me. Shay.”

Slowly, I peeked through my lashes to see him standing in front of me, still nude, still gorgeous, and not at all mauled. “You’re okay. Did you chase the bear away? Where is Briar?”

“Here.” He laid his hand on my other arm, and the second he did a charge ran right through my body like a circuit completed or something. “And we didn’t chase them, no. We are them.”

They explained that they were something called shifters, people who had two forms and could change back and forth at will. I didn’t know whether to believe them, but I’d read a few books with such folks in them. It just never occurred to me that it was a real thing.

“How about we do it again, and you can get a better look. Touch us if you want.” Shay studied me carefully. “Unless you don’t want us to.”

“No, I do.” They hadn’t let go of me the whole time, and I didn’t really want them to, but when they moved away, I was transfixed. The snow was still blowing fiercely, and they must have been so cold when we were talking. But not anymore. Their fur protected them far better than my silly padded jacket ever could.

I walked around them, keeping my distance at first, then moving closer to run my hand over the moose’s muzzle and down to his broad chest. Long legs made him taller than me and, I was fairly sure, any regular moose. Not that I’d ever been this close to one. I ran my hand over his coat, bringing away a bunch of hairs before remembering how late in the year it was, and he had not shed his antlers like a natural moose would. Interesting.

The bear stood patiently on his hind legs nearby, and his coarse fur was oddly soft at the same time. Was that usual for the regular kind of bears? I didn’t know, but it tickled my palm as I explored and stroked him, evoking a pleasant rumble. After a while, I felt self-conscious about the whole thing and stepped away.

When we got inside, I sat on the couch with the two men who had shifted and dressed before joining me. And I explained about my ex because, “There need be no secrets, and you shared yours with me…”

I filled them in on the whole thing about being a side piece without knowing it. About the accident and losing everything. It felt good to get it out in the open, even if I did still feel foolish. “I walked away with what’s in my car.”

“You have his child. You didn’t try to contest the will?” Shay asked.

“We were named as getting nothing.” Because of course I’d asked and the attorney had shown me the documents. “In the will. But most everything was in a trust that his other alpha was on as well. I even consulted my own attorney, and they told me not to bother. It used some money I couldn’t afford easily too. But the only reason I cared was for Alice’s future. She’s everything.”

“But you ended up with her.” Briar patted my hand.

“And she’s the best, isn’t she?” Shay added.

“The absolute best.”

“Then I’d say you won.” Briar gave a quick, sharp nod.

I certainly did better than my late ex, in the end, but I was too touched by their support to say so.