“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised you drive around in a snazzy car,” Jarvis murmured as Cinda pulled out of the shelter’s parking lot and headed onto the freeway. “You always were a magpie.”

She snorted. “Shiny, pretty things weren’t always my main goal.”

“No? I guess it seemed that way from an outsider.”

“Jesus, well, that hurts.” She shot him a look. “This isn’t a free for all, you know? We don’t have to make Cinda feel shit all day.”

He snorted. “It wasn’t my intention to make you feel shit. You have to know you always came across a certain way to me. I’ve known you for years, but I’ve not really known the real you at all, have I?”

He trained his attention on her rather than the road. He knew this path like the back of his hand so it held no interest to him. Cinda, on the other hand, did.

Goddess, nothing else mattered but her. What she represented.

“I guess you’re right.”

“No guessing about it. Mundo told me about the Pulitzers, you know?”

Her mouth quirked up to the side. “He did? He always did have a big mouth.”

“Well, if it wasn’t Mundo, it would have been Annette. You guys never stayed in touch, did you?” Annette, Mars’s First Lady and mate, had been a journalist once upon a time and had worked at the same paper with Cinda.

It was how Mars had met her.

Back in the day when Mars had been VP and not Prez, he’d been the whistle-blower when the MC had started helping human traffickers. Mundo and Mars had contacted Cinda who’d put them in touch with Annette.

That first meeting between Prez and First Lady was going to go down in the record books. Everyone knew how hardcore that had been. Mars and Annette had nearly started fucking at the local diner, had barely made it home to the clubhouse to Claim one another, and then when they’d gone inside and hit Mars’s bedroom, the cartel still giving the MC grief to this day, had sprayed the clubhouse with bullets. Annette had been hit and Mars had had to save her through a blood bond.

Goddess, those had been some fucked up times.

“Annette and I were never all that close even when we worked at the paper,” Cinda was saying, breaking into his memories. “She was a pain in the ass, if I’m being honest.”

He grunted at that. “Still is one. Just don’t tell her or Mars that.” When she shot him a surprised look, he grinned. “Don’t get me wrong, I love my Prez and First Lady, but they’re both irritating from time to time.”

“I thought you and Mundo and the rest of the bros all had some kind of wiring fault where you could never speak badly of your leaders. Like Data from Star Trek Next Gen, or some shit like that.”

He gawked at her. “You watched Star Trek?”

She pursed her lips, then after she’d pulled onto the main highway, shot him a look. “What? And you didn’t?”

“I never professed to be too cool for fucking school.”

“When did I?” she shot back. “Anyway, Riker was cute.”

“Trust you to like him,” Jarvis scoffed.

“I was young and dopy at the time,” she teased. “Who was your fave then? Come on.”

“Picard. Had to be. Kick ass captain. Best of the bunch. No matter how many remakes or new series they try to create, he’ll always be the king.”

She wriggled her head from side to side for a second, then nodded. “I agree. He was fantastic.”

“Is, my dear. Is,” he said in his best English accent which had her chuckling and grinning widely at him.

“Keep your day job, Jarvis.”

“Acting is a love of mine, I’ll have you know.”

“Yeah? Since when?”

“Since… I wanted to wind you up.”

She snorted. “That sounds about right. Although, out of curiosity, what is your day job?”

“Don’t have one,” he replied. “Not much of one, anyway. I’m on the Council now. We all have our duties. I guess they’d be considered the day job but I don’t think of them that way. Plus, Mars oversees, but he’s not like a boss. I spend most of my time at the shelter sorting shit out there. Trying to expand, make it bigger better, that kind of thing.”

“I meant it when I said I wanted to help, you know?”

“I do.” The smile he shot her was tender. “I appreciate that.”

“Do you think if we did like a ball or something, you know, where people had to buy a seat at a table…?”

“Why would we do that?”

“To raise more money,” she explained simply. “I was talking to Leah while you and Toni were with Harry.”

“Leah’s Harry?” Jarvis asked, astonishment lacing his tone.

“Yeah. Unless he has two,” she teased.

“Dear Goddess, she spoke to you?” When Cinda nodded, he demanded, “What did she say? Did she mention the baby?”

“Yeah. She did. What’s so surprising about her talking to me?”

“She doesn’t talk to anyone above the age of fucking sixteen. Or at least, that’s how it feels. As soon as an adult approaches, she clams up.”

Cinda’s shoulder dropped in surprise. “Well, I’ll be damned.”

“That’s why Harry had to come and talk to us today. She never would. He wanted Toni to talk to her, to try to make her see sense, but we all knew Leah would just sit there and listen. There’d be no way in hell she’d actually talk back.”

Cinda frowned. “I wonder why she spoke to me.”

“I have no idea. Maybe because she saw us together and knew you were technically safe?”

“She saw you and Toni together, and Toni’s been working at the shelter for a while, I’d assume?”

“Yeah. Nearly as long as the shelter’s been going.”

“Well, then, why confide in me and not her?”

“I don’t know. What did she say?”

“That she wanted to keep the baby.”

Jarvis blew out a breath. “Shit.”

“She might consider adoption,” Cinda started, then sighing, confessed, “I kind of discussed it a lot. Might have overplayed it but she was so excited about the baby and didn’t seem to be taking into consideration just how much work a kid is.” She wriggled her shoulders uneasily. “Maybe that’s why she spoke to me. She trusted me when I basically told her I was shit scared of becoming a mom.”

Jarvis stilled at that. “You weren’t lying?”

“I never lie.” Before he could scoff, she quickly stated, “I withhold the truth. I evade. I don’t lie.”

He huffed out a breath instead. “That’s some comfort to my Bear and I.”

She grimaced. “I know. It’s just how I work. Getting a story from people can be hard going if you lie. So I tell the truth, but will use it to my own advantage as well. Plus, it doesn’t help that I’m a shit liar. I get away with nothing.”

“Glad to hear it.” He tapped his fingers against his knee as he settled back into the plush seat. Her Porsche was a fancy ride, and, truth be told, suited her down to a T. “You don’t want cubs?”

She shrugged. “Don’t have much say in it, do I?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Cinda shot him a look. “It will happen when the Goddesses will it.”

“We can prevent it.”

“You’d use contraception?” she asked, eyes widening before she quickly focused on the road.

“Of course,” he gritted out. Fuck, what the hell did she think of him? “Having cubs is a major decision. It’s something we should both be prepared for.”

She laughed a little. “According to Leah’s mom, you’re never prepared. That was one of the major arguments we had to discuss. She was using that mind set to convince herself Harry and she could cope. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying she’ll head down the adoption route, but she was interested. She wants to be a good mom, even if that means not having the baby with her.”

“I’m glad to hear that you got her to open her horizons. The last thing either of them need is to be having a kid at their age. Not only that, but their circumstances are so far from ideal it’s a joke.” He sighed. “I wish there was more I could do, but sometimes, my hands are tied.”

“I’d imagine it’s more than sometimes,” she corrected softly. “And you’re only one person. There’s only so much you can do. Now we’re together, we can approach it differently. I have friends who will be willing to help too, to make donations and the like. Not just with money but with equipment and time.”

He frowned at her. “Why would they do that?”

“Because I’ll vouch for you.” She wrinkled her nose. “When I was in Phoenix, I did an article on the homeless there. I focused mostly on PTSD victims, veterans, and the like.”

“That’s the one you won a Pulitzer for, isn’t it?” he asked softly. “I read it. It was a beautiful piece.”

“Thank you.” The smile she shot him was soft, sad. “It killed me to write it. I really researched that one too well.”

“It came through. I read how it affected you.”

She blew out a breath. “Still does. Wherever I go, I look into the scene now and try to do my bit. That’s how I came across you.”

“What do you mean look into the scene?”

“I try to help and volunteer my time. Offer to write something, entice donations out of people for the cause. Shit like that.”

It pained him to admit that he’d always considered Cinda to be a selfish bitch. He’d believed her vain and spoiled. It always seemed to be the side of herself she had on display whenever he was around.

To hear this from her was more than just enlightening, it came as a relief.

“Jarvis? We’re nearly there.”

He blinked, peered out onto the road and said, “Can we go to the clubhouse first? I need to speak with Mars.”

She grimaced. “Do we have to?”

“Trust me, I wouldn’t go unless I needed to.” He shot her a look, one she happened to catch because she was glowering at him. “I want to explore the bond as much as you do but this is important. It involves a situation that the MC’s been involved in for a while.”

She frowned. “What kind of situation?”

“I can’t discuss it with you. Yet,” he amended when her lips turned down in irritation. “It’s one of the topics I need to discuss with Mars.”

She seemed to accept that. “Okay.”

“You remember the way to the clubhouse?” When she took the next exit, he grinned. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

“Uh huh. Are you in danger? I know you can’t tell me anything yet, but are you?”

“Not personally. The club is in hot water at the minute. Not with the law, but with an old partner. We’re working to defuse the situation.”

“I’m glad to hear it. One thing that reassured me it was the right time to return was the fact the MC has gone national now. I saw the beer up in Vermont, for Christ’s sake. I knew to be impressed then.”

He snorted. “Yeah. The IPA is doing well. The brewery is under my umbrella actually. I oversee that particular facet of the business.”

“How many facets are there?”

“You’d be surprised. We have a garage chain, which is Mundo’s baby, the brewers is mine, some real estate and stocks, but that’s mostly Justiss and Mars’s territory. Kiko handles the Clan side of things with Mars’s backing. Graver deals with the brand. He’s the youngest so he knows more about that shit than we do. All the publicity is his scene. Then Major deals with another aspect of the home front, Clan welfare. His mate’s a healer and so’s he. The MC has grown. We’ve got more residences under our watch than ever before. It’s a lot of work for two people, but it keeps him and Pip busy. Chris, he’s mated to Ava, Mars’s daughter, he’s diversifying at the minute. He worked a lot with Mundo and Graver, but we’re trying to get into the food scene. We have a line of bars but we want to get into restaurants now.”

“All the Council seems busy,” she remarked.

“Yeah. We are. Most of the brothers work for some part of the chain.” 

“You’ve got a whole cottage industry going on, haven’t you?”

He chuckled. “Not sure it could be considered cottage if I’m honest. It’s too big for that.”

“What caused the change?”

“I can explain that once I’ve spoken to Mars.”

She eyed him. “Such secrecy.”

“Mundo probably blabbed about it a long time ago, but I’d prefer Mars to know what I’m telling you.”

“That’s because he doesn’t like me.”

Her assessment wasn’t wrong. Jarvis shifted in his seat. “You’re an acquired taste.”

She laughed at that. “Well, it’s as you say. I went out of my way to avoid most of you. And I probably did present the worst side of myself. It was easier that way.”

“Would have been easier to accept the Claiming,” he said on a low growl.

“For you, maybe. But I had things I wanted to do. And,” she said on a deep exhalation, “I’ll admit I had no idea you’d be so fluid when it came time to talk of cubs. I’ve never been all that maternal. That isn’t to say I don’t want them eventually, but I don’t know when. When I realized what you were to me, all I thought was you’d make me have cubs.”

“Goddess,” he hissed. “I’ve bitched at you about presenting a poor show of yourself, but I mustn’t have done much better. You’ve really thought some shit about me, haven’t you?”

She grimaced. “It’s not like that. I was young and scared. I saw things differently. And then, when I went out of my way to avoid you, only hearing things about you from second-hand accounts, I guess I just built up a picture in my head. It was never going to be accurate.”

He conceded that because Cinda had left Texas a long time ago, and yet, his opinions on her revolved around the time when she’d lived here before. That was impossibly unfair. Still, he didn’t have much else to work on.

With time they’d address that particular problem.

“I think we’re both going to have to relearn each other. Maybe, it’s not even that. Maybe we have to go back to the beginning. Start from there.”

She bit her lip. “I think that’s probably smart.”

“So, we can agree on something then? ” When she cast him a look, he teased, “That’s because I’m smart.” When her grin widened, his Bear rumbled its contentment with the situation.

This morning when he’d awoken, neither man nor beast had expected to end the day with their mate at their side. And though the Bear was displeased at his constant delays in Claiming Cinda, at the same time the man could control those urges.

One, because he was still a little confused about the entire damn situation which had exploded out of nowhere.

Two, because he had duties to his Clan. As facile as the Bear could be at times, as primitive, it understood that the Clan was everything. Without it, his world would destabilize, and now he had a mate, that was the last thing he needed.

Mates needed protection. They needed that above all else. The Bear responded to that realization and wasn’t kicking up too much of a fuss about having to wait to make Cinda his.

As she pulled into Channelview, within a few moments they were driving down the long dusty road that led to the clubhouse.

In the harsh light of day, the drive to his home wasn’t appealing. The road was rough and ready, and they’d never asphalted it mostly as a deterrent. Land either side of the road was filled with wild brush, messy and unkempt. As they approached the clubhouse, it looked cold and hard. Not a place to bring a mate, he reasoned, even though all of the Council had brought their females here and the majority still lived within those walls.

Somehow, he couldn’t see Mundo and Cinda living together peacefully again.

It just wasn’t going to happen.

Even though the MC had become the largest Clan around, back in the days before it had existed, most of the Bears had kept to themselves and lived isolated lives. He knew Mundo and Cinda’s father had preferred that kind of lifestyle, which meant she’d been raised to not appreciate being a part of a group.

A fact he knew to be true considering she’d led such a nomadic existence. Spending more time with humans than with Shifters.

As they approached the gate, he winced at the barbed wire that ran along the fences either side of the opening, and the prospect at the sight of him in the Porsche, gawked at the car.

Jarvis opened the window and leaned out to holler, “What the hell are you gawking at, Erick? Open the damn gate?”

Erick peered at him through the bars, squinting. “Sir? Is that you?”

“Yeah, of course it is.”

“That’s a pretty dumb question,” Cinda commented

“It’s the Porsche. It’s blinded him,” Jarvis teased.

When she chuckled and revved the engine, Erick leaped into action and opened up the gate. With a roar, the beast of a car rumbled into the clubhouse’s front courtyard and pulled to a halt behind ten or so bikes which were parked out front.

As she braked, men flooded from the garage; Sammy and Spyder as well as Mundo. Spyder was Mundo’s new son-in-law, and Sammy was Spyder’s brother.

Mundo was wiping his hands on a dirty rag as he studied the car, eying it up like a man might eye up a fine woman. He whistled as he looked it over, then, as he caught sight of the driver, stopped studying and gawked.

“Cinda?”

His astonishment would have been amusing if Jarvis hadn’t been filled with satisfaction. Cinda had come to him first.

Mundo had had no idea she was here, which meant her first priority was the mate bond.

Perhaps that made him a selfish prick, but fuck, he’d been pushed on the back burner for decades. It was nice to know he registered on her list of priorities somewhere.

Cinda shot him a grimace, which had him frowning before she climbed out the car. Jarvis joined her within seconds and was privy to the awkward welcome between brother and sister.

“It’s good to see you, Mundo,” she said, folding her arms across her chest.

Mundo, stacking his hands on his hips, replied, “And you, Cinda. What are you doing here? In a Porsche?” He shot a look at Jarvis, reared back and demanded, “And with Jarvis?” He shook his head, not in denial, but like he needed to clear the wool form between his eyes. “What the fuck’s going on? Since when could you afford a Porsche?”

“Since I wrote a couple of books and won some big awards, dumbass,” Cinda retorted with a snap. Jarvis, sensing all was not well—not that it took a genius to figure that out—moved beside her and wrapped an arm over her shoulder.

“The car doesn’t matter, Mundo. Dear Goddess, aren’t you glad to see your sis?”

Mundo pulled a face. Cinda wasn’t offended though because she didn’t stiffen, and also because she was busy pulling a face back.

Spyder snickered and Sammy frowned. “They’re not like us, huh?”

Cinda’s head tilted to the side at the kid’s voice. “Who are you?”

Mundo pointed to Spyder. “That’s Jessie’s mate. Sammy’s his kid brother.”

“Less of the kid,” Sammy replied, but Jarvis knew it was a long drawn out argument.

In comparison to the Council who were geriatric in human years, Sammy, Spyder, Ava, Jessie, and the rest of the cubs, be they mature humans or not, were all kids. A fact of endless irritation to the lot of them, but it was touch shit.

Mundo just rolled his eyes, and said, “As you can tell. They’re both humans.”

“Why’s Sammy here?” Cinda asked, more curious than anything else.

“Because this is home. He’s wicked with engines, so I hired him to work for the MC.”

Sammy whistled as he eyed the Porsche. “Forgive me, Miss Cinda, if I say that you’re driving a beauty.”

She grinned. “I know. It was a gift from my publisher.”

Even Jarvis jolted at that. “A gift?”

She nodded. “My last book did well.”

Mundo cleared his throat. “I didn’t even know you were writing books. Thought you were still getting in trouble with articles.”

“I’ve written two. Still mostly working on articles and editorials though. They’re my passion. Just like engines and bikes were always yours.”

Mundo gnawed at the inside of his cheek. “It’s good to see you, Cinda.”

“Great to see you too, Mundo.”

“How long’s it been?”

She shrugged. “I last saw Jessie when she was about eighteen? It’s only been a couple of years. I can’t believe she’s mated.” To Spyder, she narrowed her eyes. “I’ve heard all about you, of course. You hurt her, I’ll hurt you.”

The low threat of violence in her tone had Jarvis’s Bear rumbling with pleasure. Spyder didn’t have a similar reaction. He backed up, eyes wide. “Yes, ma’am. I have no desire to hurt Jessie.”

“That’s what I like to hear,” she almost purred.

“How come you knew she’s mated?”

To her brother, Cinda grunted, “Just because I don’t talk to you doesn’t mean I don’t talk to Christie, Jessie, and the boys.”

Mundo frowned. “What the fuck’s wrong with me?”

“You stink, buddy,” Jarvis retorted, making Spyder and Sammy chuckle. Mundo just glowered at him.

“No, seriously. Why didn’t you keep in touch with me?”

“Because we’ve never gotten along,” Cinda said simply. “Distance and time never changed that, but it didn’t mean I didn’t want to be close to my nieces and nephews. Are they all here?”

Jarvis shook his head. “The twins are doing something for Mars still. Jessie is, though.”

“She’s in the clubhouse,” Spyder offered.

Cinda nodded. “I’ll go and find her while you talk to Mars, Jarvis.”

“Sure. I’ll find you when I’m done.”

“Okay.” She reached up to grab the hand he’d rested on her shoulder. Squeezing his fingers in a gentle farewell, she maneuvered out of his hold and headed for the clubhouse entrance.

As she went, Mundo and the boys watched her leave. Hell, so did Jarvis. Damn she had a fine ass.

Mundo shook his head in confusion. “I’ll never understand her.”

“She’ll probably never understand you,” Jarvis tried to console.

“You’re not close, are you?” Spyder murmured softly, his gaze flashing over to his father-in-law.

“No, we never were, and like she said, time and distance hasn’t improved on that.” He rubbed his chin, uncaring that the gesture spread oil all over his jaw.

“She’ll be sticking around if you want to change that,” Jarvis told him carefully.

“Why will she?”

“She’s my mate.”

Mundo gawked at him. “Cinda?”

He nodded.

“My sister, Cinda, is your mate?”

Another nod.

“You only just figured it out?” Mundo scowled at him, then shook his head. “Something’s not right. How come it’s taken you so long to realize she’s your mate? Is she messing with your head? She can do that. She should have been a Cat Shifter, not a Bear.”

Jarvis sighed. “She used birth control to suppress the hormones. She hid in plain sight.”

Mundo gawked at him harder. His mouth falling agape after he murmured, “Bro, I hereby give you permission to spank her ass for that.”

Jarvis grinned. “It will be my pleasure.”

“And that’s the last I want to hear about my sister’s sex life.” Mundo shuddered. “Dear Goddess, man. I don’t know whether to congratulate you or commiserate with you. She’s a piece of work.”

“Yeah. I know.” Goddess, did he. But she was his, and bizarrely enough, to both man and beast that was all that counted. He clapped Mundo on the shoulder. “I need to speak with Mars before I do anything.”

“You still haven’t Claimed her?” Mundo asked, astonished.

“No. Not yet. I need to speak to Mars. Is he in the Council room?”

“Yeah. I saw him go in there an hour ago,” Sammy piped up, but he looked as curious as the other two. Sammy might only have been a human male but he was coming to learn a lot about Shifter behavior.

It was common knowledge that once a male recognized a female as his mate, that was it. Boom. The Claiming had to happen there and then.

Jarvis’s Bear was in complete agreement, however when Cinda’s safety was at risk, the Bear completely understood this little detour.

“I’ll see you guys later,” he said as he headed along the same path Cinda had taken moments before.

Nodding at familiar faces, greeting a few, he headed up the main staircase and stopped at the second floor. Striding toward the Council room, he knocked on the door, and when Kiko called out, “Come in,” opened it and stepped inside.

“Jarvis? I didn’t expect you back until later.”

Jarvis eyed the Prez who was rocking back in his seat. Annette was perched on his lap. Kiko was to his right, and they had a pile of papers on the table which were obviously under discussing.

It wasn’t his business unless they made it so at the next Council meeting, so he ignored the unusualness of Annette’s presence in here, and said, “I have news.”

Annette scrambled off her mate’s lap. “That’s my cue to get out of here before you dump something else on my to do list.”

“There’s no need to go because of me,” he told her easily, watching with a wry smile as Mars grabbed her butt.

She shook her head. “I’ve things to do and no time to have my ass spanked.” She shot him a wink then bent down to kiss Mars. The Prez pouted but laughed when she whispered something in his ear.

After she’d left the Council room, Mars cocked a brow at him. “What kind of news?”

“The cops came today to take away the amnesty box.”

Mars’s eyes flared wide with interest. “Seriously?”

“Yeah.” A few months back, Jarvis had managed to twist a few arms, and legs, at the precinct closest to the shelter. He’d made arrangements for a box to stand in the reception area. It was locked and alarmed so it couldn’t be tampered with, but the kids with weapons they’d found or wanted to dump could put them in the box without fear of reprisal.

Jarvis and the MC had taken advantage of that box when an old enemy, the head of the Cartel who’d used Sammy and Spyder to try to trigger a war between them, had offloaded some guns on their doorstep.

Those guns had committed only the Goddess knew what crimes, and if they were found in MC hands, the police would sure as shit throw the book at them.

“You’re sure none of this can fall back on us?”

Jarvis shrugged. “As sure as I can be. The police agreed to the amnesty. There’s been a wave of knife crime in the neighborhood, and I think they were hoping that they could look for trace evidence on whatever was dumped there.”

“Which kind of goes against the term ‘amnesty’, doesn’t it?” Kiko pointed out gruffly.

Jarvis shrugged. “I guess. We can only ask for so much though, right? I’d hope that the kids have seen enough CSI-type shows to figure out they needed to clean the damn knives and guns of fingerprints and the like.” Jarvis took a seat opposite Mars at the head of the table. “Not much else I can do for them. At least those weapons are off the street.”

Mars nodded. “And those guns, in particular, are out of our hair.”

“Even better.”

Jarvis nodded at Kiko’s satisfied statement, then turned to look at Mars. “Cinda’s back.”

Mars’s eyes widened, but Kiko snorted. “Trouble this way comes,” the VP stated with a chuckle as he rubbed his jaw. “Cinda, I always did like her.”

“That’s because you were the only one idiot enough to like She Devils.” Mars rolled his eyes. “Jarvis, do you remember that bunny he used to love? The one who set fire to his underwear drawer?”

Jarvis chuckled. “Harlow. Back in the nineties. Goddess, she was a psycho.”

“And this psycho here nearly fell for the nutcase.” Mars grunted. “Your taste in women always was shit. I guess it’s a good job the Goddess decides on who our mates would be, otherwise you’d have the fucking lunatic in my clubhouse.”

“Mischa’s a hot head,” Jarvis countered. “Don’t underestimate her fire.”

Kiko shot them both a smug smirk. “Oh, I don’t. In fact, I live and breathe that fire every day.”

Mars grunted. “I don’t need to know any more about your sex life, thank you very much.”

Mischa and Kiko were caught, at least once a week, getting down and dirty in some part of the clubhouse. It was as common as seeing a brother with a bottle of beer in their hands.

Most of the brothers just rolled their eyes and strode on, letting the couple get to it. That only changed if one of their kids were the unfortunate ones to fall upon the rutting couple.

Kiko smirked. “It will be good to see Cinda,” he said, changing the subject. “What’s she doing back in Houston? I thought she was over in Philadelphia writing something about gun crime.”

Jarvis sighed. “Philadelphia, Mississippi, Boston... where the hell hasn’t that woman been?”

Mars cocked a brow at Jarvis’s gruff tone. “You two always did get along like two wild cats shoved in a bag.”

Jarvis cocked his head to the side. “Ultimate of ironies for you then, chief, but she’s my mate.”

Kiko’s eyes widened as Mars’s jaw dropped. “You can’t be serious.”

“Sadly, I am.”

For a second, both men just sat there. Frozen. Then, it started. Jarvis flipped them both off as they both roared with laughter.

“Dear Goddess,” he complained when Mars started to turn purple. “It’s not that funny.”

“Oh Goddess, it is, it really is,” Kiko hooted, holding his belly as laughter poured from him like pancake batter from the bowl. “You? And Cinda? Goddess, this I have to see. Where is she? I need to see the two of you together?”

Mars’s laughter died down to snickering. As he carried on hiccoughing with laughter, he asked, “You’ve Claimed her?”

“No. She came into the shelter this morning.”

Kiko’s laughter died. “She came to you?”

“Yeah.” Jarvis frowned. “That mean something to you?”

“No, I just realized it’s weird as hell that you guys didn’t figure out you were mates a long time ago.”

Jarvis pursed his lips. “You know what happened with Pip and Major?”

“What? The human hormonal meds?” Mars asked.

“Yeah. Cinda realized I was her mate before I did. She took evasive action.”

Mars’s eyes widened, then as he processed that he whistled. “Goddesses.”

“Yeah. I’m still coming to terms with it,” he admitted gruffly. “Might never get to understand why she did what she did, but I have no choice but to accept it, do I? Either that or let it eat away at me and the mate bond.”

Kiko shook his head. “That’s the last thing you want or need.”

“I know. Tell me about it.” Jarvis firmed his jaw as he sank back against the seat and let the rocking motion soothe his internal rumblings. “It’ll be hard, but it’s not like I’ve got much choice, is it?”

Mars blinked. “I guess that means her coming to you was her admitting she was ready for the mate bond to settle in?”

Jarvis nodded. “She stopped taking meds a while back in preparation for today.”

“That girl’s ass always did need spanking,” Kiko said softly. “But never as badly as it does now.”

He grimaced. “I don’t want to start the mate bond off by punishing her, dammit.”

Mars frowned. “What does your Bear want?”

“He doesn’t really understand. How could he? He just wants to Claim her.”

Kiko chuckled a little. “Sometimes the Bear is so simple, isn’t he? To him that’s all that matters.”

“Yeah, but this situation matters more to the man.” Mars scrubbed a hand through his hair. “What you gonna do?”

“Nothing. Just Claim her. Be grateful she finally decided to come back to me, I guess.” He shrugged. “Not much else I can do, is there? Not without making her regret the fact she came back to me, or proving she was right to avoid me for as long as she did.”

Mars let out a long whistle. “I don’t envy you, bud.”

Jarvis pulled a face. “At the same time, I’m happy as hell that my mate’s here.”

“But what she did, spoiled it. That makes sense, man. You’re not an angel. She hurt you. She’ll have to live with that probably longer than you will,” Mars told him softly.

“I guess you’re right.”

“You didn’t need to come down to tell me about the amnesty box being recalled, Jarvis. Though I appreciate it, you need to be with your mate.” Mars studied him, no small amount of concern lining his features. “I’ll redistribute your workload onto Major and Graver. They can best deal with the brewery anyway and that will give you some time together. That’s what you need. A little space from the MC and some time to get to know one another. From the beginning, I guess.”

Mars looked a little wild-eyed at that and Jarvis well understood. The Cinda he’d known all these years, he hadn’t known at all. It wasn’t just a matter of learning everything about her, it was figuring out what was real and what wasn’t.

Still, she was his mate. The Goddess had decided they were compatible, and that was all that counted. When shit got tough, he just had to fall back on that realization.

“I appreciate that, Mars,” Jarvis said gruffly. “But I had to come. I didn’t want to talk about the amnesty box over the phone. Plus I wanted permission to discuss what’s been happening with Martinez with Cinda.”

Mars nodded. “Of course. Permission granted. Just make sure she doesn’t print it in one of her articles.”

Jarvis grimaced. “That’s what I was thinking. But, I need her to know because she has to be aware there’s anger out there. She has to watch her back.”

“Naturally. I can’t imagine she’ll want to live in the clubhouse either,” Mars commented.

“Hell, we don’t want her to,” Kiko retorted. “The last time Mundo and Cinda were together for longer than an hour they nearly brought the roof down.”

“Dear Goddess, I remember that,” Mars said, clicking his fingers. “Superbowl weekend, eighty-eight. They started fighting in the yard, remember?”

Jarvis grunted. “Fuck, I do. We were half watching the game and them because we had to make sure Mundo didn’t shift.”

Mars snickered. “You’ve got a firecracker there, Jarvis. Ironic considering you’re the most chilled dude I know.”

“I doubt that will be for long,” Kiko murmured. “She always was the only one who could rile him up.”

“I probably should have known from that alone she was my mate.” He grunted as he got to his feet. “And you’re right. We’ll stay at her place.”

Mars nodded. “Might be wise. Do you want to look on the estate? See if there’s somewhere you want to build?”

The MC owned a large patch of land thanks to a wise investment on Justas’s behalf. There they’d built a gated community where a lot of the Bears with families lived. It was a huge plot, still only half-full.

“I’ll ask Cinda.” Jarvis shrugged. “You know me. I don’t care where I sleep. But women do.”

Kiko snorted. “Boy, do they. I might be joining you on the estate though if you do decide to build. Mischa’s getting sick of the clubhouse.

Mars cocked a brow. “She is?”

“Yeah. Too many new kids around. They’re driving her batshit.”

“How come?”

Kiko scrubbed his jaw. “I don’t know. It’s not like her.”

“How old’s Max now?” Jarvis asked.

Max was Kiko and Mischa’s youngest.

“Thirteen.”

“Could be she’s getting broody.”

Kiko snorted. “Yeah. I’ll raise that suggestion to her and get no sex for a month. It’s easier to build her another house.”

Mars and Jarvis hooted at that.

“You think I’m kidding,” Kiko retorted, rolling his eyes. “Anyway, it’s probably about time the older Bears moved out and left the clubhouse to the younger ones.”

“What? And let chaos reign?” Jarvis demanded, slack-jawed at the stupidity of that idea.

Kiko shook his head. “Naw, I think Mars, as Prez, will have to make the ultimate sacrifice and stay here while the rest of the Council fucks off and finds peace and quiet at the estate.”

Mars grunted. “You’re so kind with my sacrifices.”

Jarvis grinned, then, growing a little more serious, commented, “Although, it might be wise. The Clan has got a lot younger of late.”

“They need to be watched,” Mars argued.

“Yeah, but we’re getting older and have less patience. Maybe we should juggle shit around. Figure out a way we can live off site at the estate, but make sure the clubhouse doesn’t fall down about our heads at the same time.”

Mars pondered that a second, then sat back, ignoring the squeaking his desk chair made. “True. I know Annette would be happy to get out of here. She’s been chomping at the bit ever since she saw Toni’s house at the estate, and that has to be, what? Ten years ago when that build was completed?”

Jarvis nodded. “But look, Chris and Ava would probably be happy to stay here. Jessie and Spyder, too. They’re young. That’s the clubhouse’s atmosphere. They can stay and monitor shit.”

Mars blinked. “If we got some of the more middle-aged Shifters to safeguard the clubhouse too, gave them a higher ranking? Topped up their salaries, maybe, we could all move out.”

Jarvis chuckled. “Goddess, are we really that old where being around kids just fucks us off?”

Kiko grimaced. “I guess so.”

When Mars nodded, agreeing with that, all three of them pulled faces at one another.

“Fuck. We’re fuddy duddies,” Mars claimed, then reached for his beer and took a deep sip. “I’m turning into my old man.”

Jarvis just grinned. “It comes to us all.”