Devon was up early, coffee in hand, and debating on what to do for the day. The previous day, when Ben had come over, the family decided to stay in and relax. He’d wanted Carolline to get to know his family too. Let the kids get more comfortable with her. See how well she blended with them all.

And she did. It was seamless the way she fit in. She looked right at home sitting in the living room, his family surrounding her. Seb spent most of his day leaned up against her side, where she ran her hand through his thick dark hair. Tabitha had bounced between Carolline and Kacie. Talking almost non-stop about school and her friends. Kacie, of course, talked to Carolline like they were long lost friends. Gabbing about the Sweet Confections crew and how they were all doing.

A small smile tilted his lips as he took a sip of his coffee. He turned to take a seat at the table when movement out back caught his eye.

Carolline stood out there in a pair of form-fitting pink yoga pants and a thin T-shirt with a sport bra. She stood in a pose with her arms stretched over her head, her back elegantly bowed. Tabitha and Sebastian were next to her, mimicking her and giggling the entire time. Each time they tipped over, Carolline would help them back up with gentle hands.

“I like her,” his brother said, startling him.

He shot a glance at him over his shoulder. “Me too,” Devon grunted.

“I would hope so,” Dallas snorted. “You’ve marked her and brought her into the house. She’s the first woman you’ve let near the kids since Sasha died.”

Devon shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal when it undeniably was. “She’s my mate. This is where she belongs. Maybe, if I’m lucky, your kid will have a cousin the same age.”

“Seriously?”

“I don’t know. She’s brought up some good points about hybrids and our lack of knowledge about them. Since she’s a tigon, and not yet thirty, there might be a possibility.”

“Interesting,” their father murmured, startling the guys. “We need to clear up what’s going on with the kidnapping, and who put that article in the paper. I don’t want to see anyone else in this family get hurt. I’m going to get hold of the Guild and see if they can help. As a Founding Family, we have full access to all their resources. I also want to see if there are any Purist sympathizers living in town that we need to be aware of.”

“Sounds like a good idea. You can work out of my home office if you’d like,” Devon offered. It wasn’t like he used the room for what it was intended to be anyway.

The back door slid open and the kids came running in. “Uncle Dallas, come do yoga. Carolline taught us everything,” Tabitha squealed, full of excitement.

“Sure thing, squirt. Let me take some orange juice up to Aunt Kacie, and I’ll be right back.” Dallas ruffled Tabitha’s hair.

“We’ll come with you to make sure you come back downstairs. Sometimes you get lost,” Tabitha said, holding onto Sebastian’s hand.

Carolline came in, closing the door behind her. Her cheeks were a delightful shade of pink, and she practically glowed. “They’re quick learners,” she remarked, moving to pull down a glass. She poured some juice before settling next to Devon, where he’d leaned up against the counter. “A little giggly, but I think they had fun.”

A sense of rightness filled him, having her body next to his. He slid his arm around her waist, pleased when she snuggled closer. His tiger purred in contentment, resulting in a purr rumbling from his chest.

She chuckled and kissed him on the cheek. “I need to get cleaned up, then see what I have for work tomorrow. I have a feeling I’ll need to head back to my place at some point.”

“You aren’t moving back,” Devon snapped.

She turned to face him, while stepping away. “You never asked me to move in. I no longer feel any pain, so I’m able to defend myself if need be. And besides, nothing has happened in the last couple of days to warrant me staying here.”

Devon snorted in disbelief. “Something has happened. We mated. And, as my mate, you are not staying somewhere else. I won’t stand for it.”

Carolline’s eyes narrowed, and a sense of foreboding tripped over him. “You won’t stand for it? What kind of chauvinistic crap is that? You don’t own me, Devon, and I have a life that doesn’t revolve around you.”

“Carolline,” he warned. His tiger stopped purring and started stalking back and forth. He could feel his mate getting upset, and wondered what the hell the human had done to piss her off.

A loud sigh came from the kitchen entrance. “Ask her to stay here, Devon. Good lord, you’d think I didn’t teach you boys how to talk to a woman.” Devon’s mother strolled into the kitchen, and dropped a kiss on her husband’s cheek. “They get their Neanderthal tendencies from you, Russell, dear.”

Devon’s dad chuckled. “I would imagine so, but their stubbornness comes from you.”

Carolline snorted and started to walk away. “I’ll be upstairs if you want to talk, Devon, but I do need to see what I have to wear for work, and sit down with my work planner. I have a packed schedule, since I had to cancel all of my appointments the week I was out.”

Devon scrubbed his hands over his face in frustration.

A small, soft hand landed on his arm. He dropped his hands, and saw his mom standing in front of him.

“Talk to her, Devon. She isn’t like Sasha. She won’t do what you say just because you deem it so. She’s been making decisions about her life without your help for quite a while now.”

Devon grunted and kissed his mom on the cheek. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“Don’t see, son – do,” his father stated.

Marching upstairs, Devon found Carolline standing with her hands balled on her hips, staring at the clothes covering the bed.

Carolline heard Devon’s heavy tread coming down the hall, sending her heart racing. It was funny how easy it was to get over his bullish behavior. She knew he wanted to keep her close because of the mating. Hell, she wanted to stay close too. Her tigon refused to entertain thoughts about going anywhere without him. She wasn’t telling him she wanted to move back to her place, only that she needed to get her stuff. Of course, he didn’t take it that way. He jumped to conclusions and reacted by being an ass. Did he even realize his mistake was not asking her to move in with them? If he had, they wouldn’t have argued. She’d already dove head first into the relationship. There was no reason to back out now. Not without good reason and a fight with her animal side.

She shouldn’t be surprised by his attitude. That didn’t stop it from happening, though. He was used to people jumping when he snapped his fingers. Sadly, for him, she would not be one of the adoring masses to jump at his command. The idea of letting her mate run roughshod over her left a bad taste in her mouth. Enough to where she refused to let it happen.

Counting down the seconds, she knew the exact moment he stepped into the room. The warm scent of his musk drifted to her, rippling over her body. She repressed the shiver wanting to take hold. The door shut, lock clicking in place. Focus on work. Let him bring up moving in.

“I’m not sure I have one good work outfit in this mess. What in the hell were you thinking when you grabbed this stuff?” She spun and faced him, her breath catching in her throat.

His dark hair looked as though he’d run his fingers through it time and time again, giving him a just rolled out of bed look. His brown eyes glowed a radiant amber. The faded rock band shirt he wore stretched tight across his chest, and his sweats hung loose around his tapered waist. It was a good thing this was the first chance she’d had to really give him a thorough once over. With the kids hovering around them, then his dad, his mother, his brother and his brother’s girlfriend, she’d focused on them and not him.

“I was thinking that I wanted to get you home as fast as possible,” he huffed out, taking a step toward her. “Listen, Carolline. I don’t want you going back to your place. I want you here.”

She sighed at the idiot. When he’d said ‘home’, her heart skipped a beat. He didn’t call it his place or the house. He said home. To her it meant family, caring, and comfort. Something she’d wanted pretty much forever. He was right too. This giant house filled with his family felt like home. Even with the pictures of Sasha still scattered about. “Devon, I never said I didn’t want to be here, only that you never asked. I need my stuff. My clothes and shoes, the few personal items I’ve had since I was a child.”

“Oh,” he said, sounding surprised. He closed the distance between them, pulling her flush against his strong body. “Will you stay here with us? Move in?”

“All you had to do was ask.”

His lips quickly descended onto hers, stealing her breath as the words left her mouth. He tumbled her onto the piles of clothes, ravishing her as they went down. Before anything more could happen, a knock sounded at the door, followed by a small voice.

“Dad, Pop-Pop wants to know if we’re grilling out today. He said he’d run to the store if we are.”

Devon groaned and placed one more kiss on her lips. He pulled away with reluctance before moving toward the door.

Carolline leaned up on her elbows when he opened it up. Marcus stood on the other side. The rosy hint of embarrassment painted across his cheeks. Carolline smiled and got up to survey the pile of clothes they’d rumpled.

“Tell him yes, but that I’ll go. Carolline needs to pick up more things from her house, and we can go to the store after we’re done there.”

Marcus hesitated a moment, and when she turned around to look at the pair, his gazed skittered to her. “Does that mean she’s moving in?”

Devon nodded. “Is that okay?”

Marcus tilted his head and studied her with narrowed eyes for a moment. When a small smile titled his lips, much like it did Devon’s, he nodded. “Yeah. I’m okay with that. Just,” he paused and blushed furiously. “I’m not calling her Mom.”

Devon opened his mouth. Carolline jumped in before he could say anything. “I’m okay with that. No one can ever replace her, and I would never want to. She will always be your mom.”

Forty minutes later, Carolline was stepping out of the shower, Devon right behind her. Marcus’s interruption might have cooled their ardor, but she still needed a shower. Devon merely decided to conserve water and joined her.

“Don’t even think about trying to talk me out of going to my place,” she said, tucking the towel around her body.

Devon wrapped his arms around her, his semi-hard erection brushing against her rear. Did the man ever need a break? Feathering kisses along her neck, he made his way to his mark. His rough tongue glided over the spot, sending a shiver rolling down her spine. “There isn’t anything we brought that you can wear?”

She snorted and turned her head to capture his lips before breaking away. Strolling into the bedroom, she looked at the clothes still strewn about the bed. “Maybe one acceptable outfit.”

He came up behind her, grinning. “There you go then.”

She sighed at his male logic. “I would have to stop by my place after work then to pick up the rest of my stuff. I don’t have an issue with it though. I think it might take maybe a couple hours to pack everything.”

“No,” he barked.

“You know you’re grouchy as a bear when you don’t like what I say.” She grabbed a pair of jeans and t-shirt off the bed. Walking around to the other side, she snatched a pair of panties and a bra.

“You win. We’ll head over now. I don’t want you there alone.” Devon dug through his dresser and got dressed as well. He pulled dark blue jeans on and went into his closet. The jeans hung low, and she was sad to see him emerge tugging a shirt over his head. Before he could comment on her glazed-over look, she got dressed, then found her socks and shoes.

“I’ll need my car too.”

“I can have Dallas grab it. He needs to run out anyway, if you don’t mind him driving your car.”

As much as Carolline wanted to argue with him, it made sense. “Sounds good.” They left the room and moved downstairs to be with the rest of the family. The tasks for the day ready to be set in motion.