no, and a reason why she’d been kissing Stuart if not.
Stuart put an end to the question. “Yes,” he said. “We are.”
Peigi started, rising from comforting Donny. “It doesn’t quite work that way.” Her voice trembled as much as Donny’s had, and she too tried to hide it.
“I know. I’ve been around Shifters long enough, and seen my share of mating ceremonies.” Stuart’s heart felt light, the rightness of what he was about to do filling him.
“Peigi of the Las Vegas Shiftertown, under the Mother Goddess and in front of a witness, I claim you as mate.”
He still didn’t understand, Peigi thought the next morning as they went to Eric’s for what Stuart called a debriefing.
Stuart hadn’t taken back the mate claim as they’d walked Donny inside, or discussed it, or even mentioned it. Stuart had put an excited Donny to bed, reassuring him and the other boys that he was there for them, then he’d given Peigi a smile, retreated to his own bedroom, and closed the door.
In the morning, their time had been filled with feeding the cubs and calling Shane again to babysit. Donny had of course told the other cubs about the mate claim, and they were ecstatic, asking questions about when the sun and moon ceremony would be and so forth.
Stuart and Peigi had put them off with evasions. Peigi hadn’t accepted yet—how could she, when she hadn’t had a chance to get a word in edgewise?
They couldn’t discuss it on the walk to Eric’s house, because Nell joined them immediately, saying she refused to let Eric interrogate Peigi without her present.
Once they’d settled in Eric’s living room, Stuart told the entire story from the time they’d departed on Marlo’s plane to Ben’s act of dragging them out of Faerie via the ley line in Kurt’s basement. Ben still hadn’t resurfaced, and Peigi was getting worried about him.
Present for the tale were Eric and Iona, Cassidy, Diego, and Nell, of course. Today Eric directed his questions at Stuart, but Peigi appreciated Nell being there as a buffer for her. Peigi added confirmations and more thorough explanations while the story unfolded, as Stuart’s answers could be laconic.
“So what we have,” Eric concluded after Stuart and Peigi had finished, “Is the dokk alfar in danger of a hoch alfar invasion. The hoch alfar have an advantage because they used an agent—you suspect a Shifter, but don’t know for certain—to steal the magic talisman. Cian hopes he can locate and return this talisman, but believes he can do it only with your help.”
“That’s the gist,” Stuart said.
Eric, in worn jeans and sweatshirt, lounged back on the sofa, crossing his legs and pulling his bare feet under him. He rarely looked like the leader he was but more like a man ready to nap in front of the television with a beer at his side.
“In other words, the dokk alfar want to send one of my best trackers on a seriously dangerous mission inside Faerie,” Eric said. “I’ll have to think about that.”
“And one of my best employees.” Diego folded his arms over his black shirt with DX Security emblazoned above the pocket.
Stuart nodded silently at them both, as though he agreed with their reasoning.
Peigi grew impatient with the stoic male thing. “It’s Stuart’s choice. You can’t force him to stay and work for you.”
Eric gazed at her in mild surprise. “I never said I would. Reid is a free man. I’m just assessing the situation.”
His mate, Iona, a beautiful woman with black hair and blue eyes, rested on the arm of the sofa. “Eric likes to assess.”
Cassidy laughed her agreement, and Nell rolled her eyes.
“Everyone’s a critic.” Eric grinned up at Iona, the love on his face evident.
“There’s more to consider,” Stuart broke in. “I’m of course very worried about what will happen to the dokk alfar if the karmsyern is not returned. But things have changed for me. Earlier in my life, I would have rushed at the chance to throw myself in front of a thousand attacking hoch alfar, but I have a lot more to lose now. You should all know that I made the mate claim to Peigi.”
He tossed out the last words casually, as though his audience would be less than interested in his personal life, but the effect was electric.
Eric came up off the couch, no longer the lazing leopard. Nell whooped, eyes alight, and sprang at Peigi, catching her in an enthusiastic embrace. Cassidy and Iona gathered around her, no less