By the next day, the mountain had settled into repose, but Jezza was still ensconced in the caldera chamber, overseeing things. Some of the wolf soldiers had brought him supplies, artfully dodging the human geologists who were swarming all over the mountain trying to figure out what had happened seismically.
Joe had spent some time talking to the jaguar about what had happened. Joe gave Bob the basics of the story to report back to his Clan when they returned to Nevada and the bobcat leadership had been returned to their homes, still under guard. John and Jezza would sort them out once things had calmed down completely. It looked like Jezza was going to be a permanent resident of the area from now on—at least as long as he had a direct connection to the immense power of the volcano.
John had spoken to Lewis—the man he had sent with the rest of the Pack to eastern Oregon—by phone, and the Pack was reported in good shape in the half-built housing development. Some of the werewolves had even hired on to work with the Redstone Construction crews while they were there, pitching in—with pay—to complete the homes they were living in temporarily.
John left it up to each werewolf family to decide what they wanted to do. Their previous homes in the mountains were mostly destroyed or in need of major repair. Things were safer now that the Venifucus plot in the region had been foiled, but everything was still a bit unsettled. The wolves could choose to go home and rebuild, stay where they were, or come to the bobcat section of the mountain range and help with the clean up. John was very clear on one point—the bobcats would no longer be in sole possession of the northern part of the Cascade mountain range. Wolves would roam anywhere they wanted now that the core of evil had been rooted out of the bobcat Clan.
The two older bobcats, Jeremiah and his mate, Betty, returned the next day, and Bob and Serena made a point to tell them what had happened and how they had used their home in the emergency. Bob insisted on paying for the food the soldiers had foraged from the old couple’s pantry and then some. Jeremiah tried to refuse at first, but it was clear the older couple didn’t have a lot of money and could use the funds. Bob added a little extra without saying a word.
Jeremiah got an excited twinkle in his eye when Joe told him how useful his map and the keys had come in. The old bobcat spent an hour talking about how he’d always planned to use the mine as an escape route, if necessary, which was why he had bought this particular house in the first place. Jeremiah was glad someone had finally gotten to use the secret access to the mine as he’d always intended.
Joe and his platoon did a bit of work around the old couple’s homestead, making repairs that Jeremiah couldn’t manage on his own. Jeremiah gratefully accepted the help which Joe and his men insisted was their way of paying the couple back for allowing them to use their house during the op. Jeremiah beamed with all the young people around and Betty cooked for all of them, enjoying being a sort of honorary Pack mother for the werewolf men who were making the old house and barn shine again.
Serena spent time with Betty and talked over a lot of the incidents that had taken place over the years. She was coming to terms with her past and was finally able to put most of it behind her. This adventure had helped her do that and while she doubted she would ever want to return to the Cascades, she was able to leave with a peaceful heart.
Bob drove them into Nevada a couple of days later. After leaving the wolves, they kept on the move, staying away from possible trouble. They kept checking in with Bob’s brothers every six hours, as before.
The Venifucus attacks around the world had died down for the most part since they had defeated Lizzy and her crew in the caldera chamber, but now the shifter community worldwide was more aware of the ongoing threat. Everybody finally had a much clearer idea of the scope of the danger, and it was bigger than anyone had guessed.
When the mages at Mount Baker had been defeated, the Venifucus besieging the Lords’ mountain fell back. Apparently the siege had been solely to keep the Lords from sending anyone up to the volcano, which wasn’t really that far from their territory. The consensus opinion was that the Venifucus would try something again, now that their many-tentacled plan had been exposed, but nobody knew exactly where they would strike next. The only good thing to come out of this was that almost everyone was now fully aware of the Venifucus threat. The world had changed drastically in just a few short days.
Serena had changed on a fundamental level as well. Finding her mate had made her stronger. While Bob completed her, he also gave her wings. He was the perfect man for her, willing to let her lean on him if necessary, but he also propped her up, helping her be more than she had ever been before.
She felt like he had changed as well from when they’d first met. He was happier, a lot calmer, more balanced and surer than he had been. The cougar she had first met by the little stream behind the cabin had been forever changed by finding his mate. She could see it, feel it, knew it in her heart of hearts.
They were both stronger for having discovered each other. And now he was taking her home to meet his family. She was nervous as hell, but she was also secure in the relationship that had been forged in fire and hardened by danger. She and Bob were a team now. They would grow old together, if the Mother of All willed it. The thought made her smile. She’d love to grow old alongside her handsome cougar.
The only doubts she still had were about how his family—a family filled with powerful cougar Alphas and very magical women—would accept a bobcat among them. The fact that two of the brothers weren’t mated to shifters at all gave her hope, but bobcats and cougars weren’t quite the same. They were both cats at heart, so they did have some things in common, but they weren’t exactly the same. She was a little afraid that she’d have to fight for acceptance among the cougar Clan.
Bob said not to worry, but she couldn’t help herself. Her last Clan had been a nightmare. The only experience she had with an accepting group of shifters had been at the Lords’ mountain, but she knew that was an exceptional place with exceptional people.
They drove into a gorgeous housing development on the very outskirts of Las Vegas, bordered by desert and lots of wild land. Serena recognized it from the descriptions Bob had given her of his family’s home. He’d told her that Redstone Construction had built this housing development a few years ago when they moved the headquarters of the company and the Clan to Las Vegas. It was specifically designed for shifters, though humans wouldn’t realize it. Only members of the Redstone Clan lived within its confines.
Each of his brothers had built his own place, but the family home was at the center of the community and remained the home of the Alpha pair—the eldest brother, Grif, and his mate, Lindsey. That was their first stop. Bob said he wanted to introduce Serena to the Alpha first, which was only polite, and good protocol when bringing someone new into the Clan’s territory. He wanted his brothers to meet her right away, he’d said. His exact words had been that he wanted to show her off to them, which was a kind way of putting it. He kept promising her that they were all going to love her as much as he did, but she had her doubts.
She tried to keep her worries to herself, but Bob must’ve picked up on her mood because he reached across to take her hand, squeezing lightly as they pulled up in front of a lovely, large house. She felt his excitement in the strength of his grip, but she was still anxious.
“We’re here.” He parked the SUV and shut off the engine. “Come on. You’ll see. They’re going to love you, I promise.”
She sucked in a breath for courage. “If you say so.”
He leaned over and kissed her quickly, then let go and climbed out of the SUV. He came around to her side, reaching for her hand again as they walked up to the big house.
The door flew open before they hit the doorstep and a young girl came out, running straight for Bob. He caught her as she launched herself into his arms and swung her around, kissing her cheek.
“Damn, Belinda, you’ve grown at least two inches since I left.” He set her down and Serena realized the youngster was only a half foot shorter than she was and growing fast. “Sweetheart, I want you to meet Serena. She’s my mate.” Bob turned the younger woman to face Serena.
The girl reached out hesitantly and Serena moved forward to hug her. She understood Belinda’s hesitation and her inner bobcat wanted to soothe the younger cat that seemed so unsure of itself. The bobcat wanted to mother the kitten it sensed still inside the girl. Serena had never felt such motherly instincts before, but she trusted her cat’s instincts and it seemed to be the right thing to do when Belinda squeezed her tight, accepting her hug of reassurance and welcome.
“Bob’s told me all about you, Belinda,” Serena said as she let go of the girl. “I think we’re going to be like sisters. You and I have a lot in common.” Their common points were sad ones, but Serena wouldn’t mention it now. In time, she would get to know the girl better and maybe they would be able to talk through some of the traumas in their pasts. This one member of the family, at least, Serena felt immediately comfortable with.
And then she looked up to realize the rest of the family had come out to greet them. Bob was being hugged by three men that had to be his older brothers. One by one, they thumped him on the back, tousled his hair and punched his shoulder, speaking words of welcome and praise for his work up north.
Two women came out from behind the guys and headed straight for Serena and Belinda. A pretty blonde stepped forward, her hand outstretched in welcome and a smile on her face.
“I’m Lindsey, Grif’s wife. And you’re Serena, right? Excuse the boys,” she looked over at the men fondly, then back at Serena. “They’ve been eager to see their little brother back in one piece.”
They shook hands and Serena smiled. “I’m glad he’s in one piece too. I wasn’t sure we were going to get out of there at all, at a few points along our journey.”
Lindsey turned to the second woman and introduced her. “This is Trisha, Steve’s wife.”
Serena shook hands with the other woman, noting how Lindsey used the human term wife instead of the more accurate shifter term, mate. She remembered what Bob had told her about Lindsey being a shifter, but having come to it only recently when she had been changed by the Goddess’s magic. And Trisha had been raised human, but had some kind of elemental power over water, according to Bob.
“Is it true you’re a bobcat?” Belinda asked with a giant smile on her face.
“Yes. My cat form is a lot smaller than yours, I bet.” Serena wanted to get that out in the open. She wouldn’t be ashamed of who she was. Not with these people. If they didn’t like her cat, then Bob had promised her they could go somewhere else, but he’d also been adamant in his belief that they would love her just the way she was. Serena had yet to know for sure.
“Not mine. I’m still little,” Belinda answered with an easy grin. “I just think it’s funny that my brother ended up with a bobcat mate since we call him Bobcat sometimes. It’s like it was meant to be.”
Serena was surprised by Belinda’s statement. It seemed as if Bob had been right and they didn’t mind what kind of shifter she was. Time would tell, but there might be hope yet for this place, and these people.
The women moved toward the group of men and Bob turned, grinning at her. He came over and took her hand, moving to introduce her to his brothers.
Grif was first, as the Alpha, and she lowered her gaze, showing submission, as the bobcat Alpha had always demanded. Grif surprised the heck out of her when he reached out and gave her a hug—the greeting of family, or established Clan. When he let her go from the quick embrace, he smiled at her.
“Thank you for everything you’ve done for my little brother and our side in this battle. From what I hear, you’re one courageous little bobcat and I’m proud to welcome you to the family, Serena.”
Stymied by such glowing praise, Serena didn’t know what to say as the next brother came forward. The moment he spoke, she recognized his voice from the other end of those many phone calls from the road.
“Welcome to the Clan, Serena,” Steve said simply, giving her a quick hug before moving back with a teasing wink.
“I’m Mag,” said the third brother, stepping forward to give her a light squeeze. “Sorry my mate couldn’t be here, but she’s eager to meet you and will see you tonight.” This was the brother who was mated to a vampiress. She almost hadn’t quite believed it, but she guessed she had to start believing it now—and believing that maybe Bob had been right about the welcome she would receive from his family. It was all a little overwhelming. She felt tears start behind her eyes and did her best to fight them back. She didn’t want to appear weak.
“It’s so nice to meet you all,” she said politely, doing her best to keep her voice even and strong, but she thought maybe Bob realized it was a big act. He put his arm around her waist and stood by her side.
“We want to hear all about your adventure,” Belinda said eagerly and though Grif frowned at his little sister, he nodded.
“We’re going to have to do a debrief,” the Alpha said in serious tones, “but that can wait a bit. For now, we’ve got food in the kitchen and time for you to relax a bit from your trip. Serena only just got here, munchkin,” Grif directed his words toward Belinda. “Give her a few minutes to get her bearings.”
The women surrounded them again as they walked into the large house. It was a mansion really, by Serena’s standards. She had never seen anything as big or as beautiful…or as welcoming.
Finally, she thought with a fond squeeze of Bob’s hand, she might just have found a forever home. Not this house, per se, but among these people—her mate’s family. And then she boiled it down to the crux of the matter. Wherever Bob was…that was home.
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