When we arrived back at my grandfather’s ranch, I was relieved to see my dads sitting on the edge of the porch. Connor was driving our car because Sammy was too upset, and I was too busy consoling Charlie to focus on driving right now.

I nudged Charlie and pointed toward my dad who was already up and rushing toward the car. “That’s your older brother, Ansh. As soon as I told him about you, my dad dropped everything to come here. See? I told you that he’d want you in his life.”

Before I could even open the door, my dad was pulling it open and climbing over me to get to Charlie. I laughed and slid out of the car. “All you had to do was say move your arse, Dad. You didn’t have to climb over me like I was a piece of furniture.” Dad just waved me off as he hugged Charlie, rocking his little brother from side to side with the force of his hug.

“Kent called us while we were in the air. He saw a vision of your grandfather’s death and you kids battling undead creatures. I’m assuming that’s where you’ve just come from, considering the fact that the lot of you are naked and coated with dirt?” My father, Cody, shook his head with a rueful grin and pulled me into a hug—naked and filthy or not.

I hugged him then stepped away to accept a pair of sweats from my papa, Kontar. “Sorry I didn’t greet you the moment you stepped out of the car, son. But I saw the naked bodies and figured that perhaps you’d all be grateful for some clothes?” He winked and held up a stack of sweatpants for whoever needed them to come grab a pair as everyone exited the cars.

The nice thing about being shifters was that everybody was used to nudity and random stacks of sweats were always readily at hand. I didn’t even bother to ask if he’d had these in the bonnet of his car or if he’d found them in the house, I just gratefully pulled them on.

My dad was still hugging Charlie in the back seat of my car while Connor and Phoenix removed my grandfather’s body from the back of the car they’d been in. I was grateful when Papa passed me the sweats and walked over to help them figure out what to do with it; I really didn’t want to be involved in that one and my papa was good at organization.

“Hey, Cody.” Sammy came over to give my father a hug. “I would say that I’m surprised you guys got here so quickly, but we’d both know that I was lying. Not because I had a vision, but because I can’t imagine the three of you doing anything else the moment you learned about Charlie’s existence.”

“Is somebody going to get in touch with our grandmother?” Jude quietly asked as he came over to give our father a hug of his own.

Father shook his head, lowering his voice as he spoke with a grim face. “Your dad searched the house when we arrived. He wanted to know what else his father was hiding. He focused his gift and saw the image of an urn on his father’s dresser.”

I sucked in a breath. “No…”

Father nodded gravely. “There’s a brass plate on the front with your grandmother’s name and the dates of her birth and death. Surprisingly enough, she was older than even your dad knew. We’ll have to do some research to find out what happened, but she’s been gone for eight years. He took custody of Charlie after her death, when the boy was just six years old.”

Sammy’s eyes filled with tears. “Ansh’s mother died and nobody thought to tell him? And what about Charlie? How did he happen to be born? Did the parents get back together at some point or something?”

“From what we’ve put together, Ansh says that his parents used to hook up every few years when one or the other was lonely. Even though they weren’t fated mates, once your grandfather exchanged claiming bites with a legacy descendent, their souls were tied together, as you know. They had no choice but to go to each other to fill their needs or assuage their loneliness; their inner animals would never have accepted another. Your dad’s best guess is that one of their hookups led to his little brother’s birth.”

I shook my head with disgust. “Be that as it may, one or the other of them could have told Dad that he had a little brother. That’s just rotten. My grandfather was a mean old bastard. I don’t get it. He had all the money in the world and a long lifetime to look forward to, and yet he was just miserable. I’m pretty sure that his only joy was in making everyone around him as unhappy as he was.”

Sammy slid in behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist as he rested his chin on my shoulder. “I think that’s just the thing. Your grandmother didn’t tell him about being a legacy descendent until it was too late. He found himself bound forever to a woman he couldn’t stand and doomed to live a double life span with her. I’m not defending him, especially the way he treated his sons, but I can see why he was so unhappy. They were just an awful couple, if you ask me.”

“You’re not wrong,” my dad said quietly. We turned to see him standing there with his arm around Charlie’s shoulders.

“I’m so sorry, Ansh! That was a horrible thing for me to say.” Sammy stared at my dad with a stricken look on his face.

Dad smiled gently at my mate. “You have nothing to apologize for, my dear. My mother was a selfish woman who trapped my father into a life he didn’t want. She wanted to travel the world and have fame and wealth, while all he wanted to do was run his little ranch here in the mountains and live a simple life. That’s why he never spent any money. All the piles of money he has in trust for our family? He’s never touched a dime of it. He only ever spent the money that he earned with the sweat of his own brow.” Dad looked around the ranch, sniffing with amused disgust. “Such a waste, all the way around.”

My father held his arm out for my dad to come tuck up against his side while Charlie got pulled into another hug from Jude. I slid my arm around Sammy and pulled him close while I looked at my dad. “So what are going to do now, Dad?”

“Now? Well, first we are going to bury my father here on the ranch that he loved so much. Then we’re going to take my mother’s ashes far away and scatter them. After that? I’m taking my little brother home with me to let him finish growing up in a happy home. And in about six weeks’ time, I’ll be eagerly anticipating the births of my new grandchildren. Is there anything I missed?” He looked up at my father curiously.

My father grinned. “There was that one question you wanted to ask Kyle about putting our newly adopted grandsons on catnip-coated leashes.”

Everyone started laughing while Charlie looked confused.

“Yessss… right there, honey! I’m so close,” Sammy whimpered, his entire body vibrating as he purred. “Fuck, it’s been so long.”

I thrust harder, letting him feel every inch of my cock as I hammered it home. His back was to my chest, riding me as I knelt on the bed. This was the only position other than spooning that he found comfortable. Although he still had about three weeks left in the pregnancy, he was larger than most single-birth carriers at full term, given the fact that he was carrying triplets.

Sliding my hand over his baby mound, I grazed my fingers lightly over his sweaty chest to tweak his nipples while I rocked harder and faster, my knotting vortex already nearly fully engaged. Nipping his neck, I slowly grazed my teeth over his claiming mark. A possessive pride swelled in my chest when he shivered with desire. “That’s right, baby. That’s my mark you wear.” I growled and bent forward to scrape my teeth over it again, putting just enough pressure behind it to send his already vibrating body over the edge.

I watched as he sprayed cum over the bed in front of us and clenched my teeth when that vibrobutt of his made me shoot my own load. He purred louder as my seed filled his channel. Sammy’s head flopped limply against my shoulder as he turned to nuzzle my neck with a light giggle.

“I can’t believe that only lasted ten minutes.” He yawned loudly and absently scratched his belly. “Why don’t you help us ease down onto the bed so we can spoon and get some sleep, honey? It was a long day, and I’m sure my dads will be here first thing in the morning with the cubs.”

After I got us settled, I said a quick mental thank you to past me for having turned off the lights before we’d begun. Now we were locked together and ready to pass out. “A long day? More like a long few weeks. I can’t believe our quick trip to Nepal kept us there so long. At least we finally found a distant cousin of my grandfather’s who wanted to take over the ranch so it could stay in the family.”

“It couldn’t be helped, honey. Besides, the cousin might be better with that new community of monks your dad found to take over the old G.o.D. compound. You know what, though? I’m just glad we stayed to help your dad clean out your grandfather’s house. Especially when we found that hidden box of pictures in the attic yesterday. Those will be treasured by your dad and Charlie in the years to come. Well, the rest of us too, but especially them. Your grandparents looked like they were actually happy at one time, and their wedding picture was beautiful.”

“Yeah, they were definitely an interesting couple. I can’t help but wonder how much happier they might have been had they married other people. But then I wouldn’t have my dad and mini-Uncle Charlie.” My brain was too tired to think about that trail of what-ifs.

Sammy laughed quietly. “Are you planning to keep calling Charlie your mini-uncle?”

“Definitely.” I chuckled. “It’s what he is, isn’t it?”

Sammy yawned again, then wriggled his back as he tried to snuggle closer to my chest. “I keep thinking about how interesting it is that our quest was about finding a heart, and it was us who all ended up with full hearts of our own. You and I found our cubs and your dad found a brother he didn’t know he had. I don’t see how anybody could help but believe in fate or destiny.”

“I don’t know.” I kissed his neck as I wrapped my arm over the shelf of his belly. “It’s easy for us to believe in the goddess and her plans when we’ve literally seen miracles. Hell, we’ve lived them, you know? I’d imagine for the average person, it’s harder to just take things on faith.”

“That’s a fair point.” Sammy’s voice was getting deeper the drowsier he got. “Good night, honey. My brother might have taken custody of the ruby heartstone to lock in his safe, but I’ve got everything I need right here with you. Or I will, when my arms are filled with those rascally cubs in the morning. Goddess, but I’ve missed our boys.”

“Me too,” I agreed softly as my eyes slid shut and I gave into the siren call of sleep.

It felt like we’d only been asleep for a few minutes when my eyes fluttered open as sharp little claws dug into my back. I turned to see Xander climbing over my shoulder, big topaz eyes meeting mine as he dug his claws into my bare skin to lever himself up.

“Hello, little one,” I chuckled as he lurched forward to swipe his rough tongue over my cheek. I pulled him over and snuggled him against my chest as I took a deep, appreciative sniff of his fuzzy fur that somehow always managed to smell like sunshine and little boy. I peppered kisses over the back of his head and neck, kissing each little black dot that stood in stark relief within his tawny, cheetah fluff.

“We’re under attack,” Sammy laughed. I looked over to see Zane standing with his back legs planted in the middle of Sammy’s chest and his front paws resting on each of Sammy’s cheeks as he lapped at his daddy’s forehead.

Lifting up onto my elbow, I kept Xander tucked against me as I reached over to scritch between Zane’s ears. “Did you guys miss us? We sure missed you,” I cooed as I lifted Xander in the air and zoomed him around like a little rocket then lowered him to kiss the top of his head before setting him down on Sammy and stealing Zane for a quick snuggle.

Sammy tilted his head to the side with a soft smile. “I can hear my dads rattling around in the kitchen, they’re trying to surprise us with breakfast.”

“So that’s how these little rascals got in.” I grinned as I lifted Zane up and down on my hand, bouncing him in the air.

“Well they didn’t let themselves in, I know that much,” Sammy said with a laugh. “Okay, guys. Can you run out to the kitchen and wait with your granddads while we get dressed? I promise we’ll be right out.”

Xander made a chirping noise at Zane. The two of them gave us each one more lick on the cheek and then went racing over the bed, jumping to the floor and flying out the open door before barreling down the hallway. Sammy watched them fondly until they turned the corner and disappeared from view, then looked over at me and shrugged. “See? They really do understand us—when they choose to, anyway.”

I laughed as I threw the covers back and sat up. “We’d better get dressed and get out there before they come back looking for us.”

“Right there with you.” Sammy strained to get up and flopped back onto the bed. “Or I will be, as soon as you help me up.”

Goddess, but it was good to be home.