SWNOVELS Chapter Chapter Eight: Cubs, Cubs, Cubs, & More Cubs
Tate stood in front of the dining room windows, grinning at Shar. “When you’re right, you’re right,” he said, a wicked look in his eyes.
“What do you need, Tate?” Dustin asked, amused that his friend found his mate amusing.
Tate nodded to Sharissa. “Well, I definitely didn’t come to be insulted.”
Shar snorted. “Can’t insult the permanently insulted.”
Tate raised an eyebrow, and Shar shrugged her shoulders, knowing she’d said something idiotic. “Flow with it,” she said.
Tate laughed. “I came to tell you that another Fated Mate has popped up on the radar.”
“Really?” Shar asked, her eyes open wide. “So soon?”
Tate nodded.
“Do you know who he or she is?” Daryl asked.
Tate shook his head. “Only know that her glow is shining, and she’s headed for you all. So, pucker up, Daryl, Dylan, Drezden. Because this next one is coming for the Kraftman brothers again.”
“That is so odd,” Daryl said, his face puckered. “Why are the Goddesses targeting us?”
“Don’t knock it, brother,” Dylan said with a shove. “We’re getting our mates; that’s a good thing.”
Daryl nodded. “I know. And I’m not knocking it. I’m just curious as to why us.”
“For one.” Tate moved closer to the table. “You five were born for this. Remember, the Goddesses separated the souls; they know who belongs to whom. And second, you’re a very tight family. And you’re already strong shifters in body and spirit. The Goddesses wouldn’t choose a puny asshole shifter, like a hyena.”
“True.” Dominic nodded.
“Tate,” Shar whispered.
“Yes, little mama?”
“Who’s the next couple?”
Tate shrugged. “I wasn’t told. But it’s soon. Don’t know when. But soon.”
“I can’t wait for mine to walk into my life,” Dylan said wistfully.
His brothers laughed at him, but they all felt the same.
“Isn’t Lyvia due soon?” Tate asked.
Everyone nodded.
“Just a few more days,” Shar said with a smile.
“Raj moved Lyvia to the hospital the other day. Because it will be hard to get her moving with how big she is now,” Dustin said.
“Just remember,” Tate said as he backed away. “Every one of your children is important to our future,” he said.
Tate looked at Josie, then disappeared.
“Did he mean me?” Josie asked, her eyes open wide.
Dominic pulled her closer. “I won’t push you,” he promised. “When you’re ready, we’ll start our family.”
She nodded, but her eyes were still large.
“How about we go visit Lyvia,” Shar said as she got to her feet.
“Good idea,” Dustin said as he followed her.
“You’re going to love her, and she is going to adore you,” Shar said, smiling at Josie.
~🍺~
Josie wasn’t sure what she thought she’d find when she met her fellow Fated Mate, but it wasn’t this.
“Josie!” Lyvia hollered when they walked into the room. “Wow, you’re as beautiful as Shar said you are.”
Josie smiled a shy smile. “Uhm, thank you.”
She couldn’t help but look at Lyvia’s large stomach. She looked like she’d swallowed a wrecking ball.
Lyvia grinned, placing her hand on her large stomach. “Can you believe that very soon I’m going to give birth to four cubs?”
Josie looked up into Lyvia’s elated face and giggled. She couldn’t help it. Everything that has happened to her in the past few days has been completely nuts.
Lyvia smiled at her with the sweetest smile, and Shar placed her hand on Josie’s shoulder.
“I’m sorry,” Josie said, still giggling.
“It’s okay,” Shar whispered as she placed her arm around her shoulders.
“Everything that has happened in the last few days is just….” Josie shook her head. “I feel like I should be placed in a looney bin.”
Shar and Lyvia chuckled.
“Understandable.” Lyvia nodded as she wiped the tears from her eyes. “Look at me. I wanted to give my mate a cub so bad I went through a depression, and now… Now I’m having four of his cubs,” she said, then burst into serious laughter.
The other two women followed her into laughter.
“Look at this. You leave women alone for two minutes, and they fall into fits of laughter,” Dominic said with a smile as he and his brothers entered the room.
“It usually means they’re plotting,” Dylan said with a grin.
The girls started laughing louder and harder when the guys joined them.
“So, what’s so funny?” Dustin asked, watching thethree Fated Mates.
The women shook their heads.
“Just thinking about how crazy life can be,” Josie said with a bright smile.
“You can say that again.” Lyvia smiled as she rubbed her stomach.
“It’s Fated Mate stuff.” Shar leaned up and kissed her mate’s cheek when he stopped beside her.
“Yeah,” Lyvia said with a bright smile.
“Holy shit, look at you,” Dylan said, his eyes wide as he took Lyvia’s stomach in.
“Not polite to stare,” Daryl said, punching his brother’s arm.
“Sorry,” Dylan said, lowering his head.
Lyvia snickered. “It’s okay. I know how huge I am.”
“Wow, everyone came for a visit?” Raj asked as he entered the room.
“Hey, Raj,” Dustin said, turning to greet him.
Raj smiled. “Nice to see you guys,” he said as he walked over to the bed and kissed his mate.
“Are you sure the doctors know what to do for an Omega Shifter?” Shar asked, watching Raj and Lyvia.
Raj nodded. “I’ve talked to them several times. It’s no different than a human giving birth to more than one or two. Except with Lyvia, she’ll heal faster.”
“Hey, what about that salve….” Josie started to say, then stopped when everyone looked at her.
“Oh, you’re brilliant!” Shar said excitedly. She walked over to her best friend and whispered about the salve Pearl had brought when Josie and Dominic had been torn apart.
Lyvia’s eyes opened wide as she looked at her mate.
“It would mean you two won’t have to wait the week it would take for her to heal. You could start that same day if you wanted.” Shar chuckled as she looked at Raj. “But if you fuck her the same day she gives birth to those cubs, I’ll knock your head into next week.”
Raj chuckled and leaned forward, kissing Shar on the cheek. “I love it when you’re feisty.”
Shar smiled. “I’ll have Dominic bring the salve by tomorrow.”
Lyvia nodded enthusiastically. “Please.” She looked at Josie and Dominic—who had placed his arm over his mate’s shoulders. “I heard what happened to you two after your first….” She wiped a tear from her eye. “I’m so sorry you had to go through that. The first time is the most magical. Because it’s when you realize you’ve found what you never knew you’ve always been looking for.”
Josie looked up at Dominic with a smile. “We may have been torn apart for that moment, but we were able to pick ourselves back up, and I know what I’ve found. The man I want to spend my life with.”
Dominic looked down at her and smiled. “Really?”
She nodded. “Really.”
He leaned down and kissed her.
Lyvia beamed at the new Fated Couple.
If only the Goddesses would tell them how many couples they split and are now bringing back together. And who they are. She sighed as her eyes traveled to her own mate. Tate and Pearl said that the new Fated Mates would find themselves coming here on their own. So far, most of them have been from here, anyway. She giggled to herself.
She wondered which Kraftman brother was next.
~🍺~
Two days later, Shar got a phone call while they were shopping. Josie stared at her new friend and watched as her face went from shocked to elated within a millisecond. Then she screamed joyfully, making everyone in the mall stare at them. Shar hung up the phone and looked at Josie.
“Lyvia had the cubs!”
Josie smiled. “Let’s get out of here, then. We have little ones to meet.”
Shar nodded, and they dashed out of the mall and headed straight to Shar’s car. They made it to the hospital at the same time as their mates.
“Shar!” Dustin shouted as he made his way to his wife, their daughter, in his arms.
Shar took her daughter from her husband, and they walked into the hospital together.
Dominic moved over to Josie and took her hand, a brilliant smile on his face. When they joined their friends in the waiting room, two other men were there, one Josie didn’t recognize.
“Josie, this is a good friend of ours, Sebastian,” Dominic said with a smile as he presented his mate to his friend. “Sebastian, my mate, Josie Potter.”
Sebastian smiled. “Nice to finally meet you, Josie,” he said, shaking Josie’s hand.
“The singer, right?” Josie asked with a brilliant smile.
“Right.” Sebastian grinned.
“Tate.” Dustin nodded to the vampire.
Tate smiled. “With five cubs, there’s going to be a lot of work for your mother.”
Dustin chuckled. “She’ll love it.”
“Speaking of which,” Dominic said, tapping Dustin on the shoulder.
They turned to the door to find Amirah Kraftman standing there, all grins.
“Mom,” the five Kraftman brothers said at the same time.
“Am I too late?” Amirah asked.
They shook their heads. At that moment, Raj came through the other door, all smiles.
“Are you all ready to meet the new members of our family?” Raj asked as he stopped and watched his friends—his family.
The room erupted with excitement, and Raj laughed, then led them from the room and down several halls. They stopped outside a nursery, and he pointed to the four plastic cribs on the other side of the window.
“Seth, Andrew, and Brody,” Raj said with the biggest smile on his face any of them had ever seen as he introduced them to his three sons.
“What about the girl?” Shar asked, looking through the window at the beautiful baby girl.
Raj grinned at her. “Lyvia insisted that we name her Sharlene.”
Shar’s hand covered her mouth, and a grinning Dustin took their daughter from her.
“Seriously?” Shar asked, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Raj nodded. “Sharissa, meet Sharlene.”
“Hello, baby girl,” Shar said, waving to the little bundle wrapped in pink.
“Great, more godchildren for me,” Tate said with a wide grin.
Everyone laughed. None of them had the heart to tell him that the two couples had agreed to make the other their children’s godparents. And if all four of them died, Amirah would get the kids.
But Tate will always be the funny and pain-in-the-ass uncle.
~🍺~
“They all looked so happy,” Josie whispered as she and Dominic walked into his house.
Dominic grinned. “At first, everyone was freaked that Lyvia is an Omega. But I think it’s great.”
Josie chuckled.
“So, have you decided yet?” Dominic asked, looking at her.
Josie looked at him, and her heart skipped a beat. “Uhm….”
He moved over to her. “Josie. I think it’s time you tell me what’s on your mind.”
Josie felt the tears run down her cheeks, and he wiped them away.
“Mafilia.”
She sniffled. “I….”
He pulled her into his arms and held her close. “It’s okay, Josie, I’m here. I’ll always be here.”
She nodded and took in a deep breath. “When I was three, my parents were killed in a car accident. My twin sister and I were torn apart because no one wanted to raise two lost little girls. One was enough, I guess. I never saw her again. I’ve tried looking for her, but it’s hard when your adoptive parents change your name.”
He shook his head. “They shouldn’t have separated you like that.”
She started to cry harder.
“I’ll tell you what,” he said with a smile. “We’ll look for your sister.”
She looked up at him, her eyes open wide. “But how?”
He grinned down at her. “Have you forgotten that we own a security company specializing in protecting others and finding missing people?”
She snickered as she remembered the story of how they’d met Sharissa. She nodded. Finally, she has a family that’s worth calling a family, and they’re going to help her.
“I love you, Josie,” he whispered.
Her heart swelled. “I-I love you too,” she croaked.
Dominic’s heart soared to the heavens at her words. He promised himself then and there that no matter what it took, he and his brothers would find his mate’s lost sister.
Who knows, maybe she’s a Fated Mate too.
This book may be over but their story is not.
THIS SERIES IS A LONG INTERTWINING STORY THAT IS OVER 250,000 WORDS. I DIVIDED IT INTO 13 BOOKS, SO THAT EACH FATED MATE COUPLE HAD THEIR OWN BOOK. SO THE BOOKS ARE SHORT (BUT SWEET). ENJOY!