Mate Claimed

Iona got up and walked around the desk, forcing herself to pay attention. “Doesn’t matter. For your wedding, you should have what you love.”

The shoes were gorgeous, high-heeled white Mary Jane’s with tiny pink rosettes across the straps, the exact color of the flowers Nicole had chosen. Nicole held up one shoe, cradling it in her hands.

Any other time, Iona would be all over them, but worry about Eric was distracting her. “Nice,” she said.

Nicole’s face fell. “You don’t like them. I knew I should have bought the satin ones—I don’t know what I was thinking. I’ll take them back…”

“Nicole. Nikki.” Iona stepped in front of her sister and rubbed her shoulders. “Stop it. I love the shoes. Really. They’re great.”

“That’s not what your face said.” Nicole dropped the bag and the shoe. “Iona, I’m so scared I’m going to screw something up. This is supposed to be the happiest time of my life, and I keep changing my mind about everything and wanting to break down and cry every five minutes.”

“Nicole, you’re getting married and planning a big wedding. Give yourself a break.”

“I run a business with you and mom, a man’s business. I know all about stress. Why am I getting so crazy?”

“Come here.” Iona opened her arms and pulled her sister close. Nicole rested her head on Iona’s shoulder, letting out a little sigh.

Iona had always found great comfort in embracing her mother and sister. The calming power of the hug, she’d always said. Whenever Eric hugged her, though, Iona found herself torn between drinking in the comfort and wanting to jump his bones.

Eric had nudged Iona’s Shifter sense of smell awake this afternoon. She hadn’t been able to shut it off since, and so as she hugged Nicole, she scented, loud and clear, that Nicole hadn’t only gone shopping on her lunch hour. Her very long lunch hour.

Iona smelled Tyler, Nicole’s fiancé, along with the sticky sweet smell that came with sex. She wanted to smile. Nicole and Tyler had met for a nooner.

She also scented something else. She didn’t exactly recognize it, but the panther instinctively knew what it was. Maybe she sensed a shift in Nicole’s hormones, maybe she could already scent the second life inside her sister, or maybe this came from Iona’s mating instincts ready to come out and play.

Whatever it was, Iona knew that her sister’s urge to cry came from more than stress.

“Nicole,” she said carefully. “Maybe you should have a checkup before the wedding.”

Nicole’s head popped off Iona’s shoulder. “Why? You think there’s something wrong with me?”

“No, no,” Iona said quickly. “But I think you should.”

Nicole took a step back. “What’s wrong? Your eyes have gone all…Shifter.”

Iona blinked, trying to make her eyes behave. Any trigger of adrenaline and her pupils would become catlike, slits of black in light blue irises.

“Nothing’s wrong,” she said. “I promise. Everything’s right.”

“Iona, when you get weird like this, you scare me. Tell me what’s wrong.”

Her sister’s distress poured off her in waves. She cried out for reassurance, the scent of that stirring Iona’s protective instincts even more.

Iona put her hands on Nicole’s shoulders again. “You’re pregnant.”

Nicole stared in shock. “What are you talking about? I am not.”

“Yes, you are. Don’t ask me how I know. I just…know.”

“You have to be wrong. Tyler and I agreed to wait to have kids.”

Iona grinned. “Well, the kid didn’t wait to have you. Go get a checkup. If I’m wrong, I’m wrong.” But Iona wasn’t. She knew it in her bones.

“How can you possibly tell?” Now Nicole looked angry.

“I told you, don’t ask me. But kids are what happens when you have sex. It’s kind of the whole reason sex was invented.”

“But we’re being so careful…” Nicole nearly wailed.

Iona hugged her sister again. “Tell Tyler to check his condoms for holes. Don’t be so upset. This is a wonderful thing.”

“I still think you’re wrong.”

“Doesn’t matter what I think. Go have the damn checkup.”

Nicole burst out laughing. She picked up the shoe she’d dropped and put it back into the bag. “Okay, I’ll call my doctor. I think you have no idea what you’re talking about, but you’re right. Better to make sure before I drink all that champagne at the wedding.”

“Not to mention the shots at your bachelorette party.”

“Good point.” Nicole picked up the shopping bag and peered again at Iona. “You’d better go home if you can’t keep your eyes under control.”

“I’ll think about it. I have a lot of work to do.”

“I’ll do the work. Get out of here.”

Iona saw that her sister wasn’t going to budge. Protect Iona had been the watchwords in the family since she could remember.

No one in the world had known about Iona’s Shifter side but Penny, Nicole, and Howard, Iona’s stepfather. They’d understood why they needed to keep the secret, and they’d done it. But keeping the secret sometimes entailed making sure Iona was out of sight.

“Fine. Want me to take the shoes and drop them off at your house?”