about what her favorite color was. “Thank you, sweetie,” Calliope said as she pulled a bottle of polish out of her purse and shook it. “I’m glad you like it because I bought some to do your nails tonight.”
“Yippee!” Alena shrieked, jumping up and down while clapping.
Even with as loud as she was being, Zeke and Talon still didn’t move. “What in the world are they doing?” I asked.
Alena sighed and rolled her eyes. “They’re in a staring contest. It must be a boy thing because I don’t understand.”
A deep growl tumbled up Zeke’s chest, and Calliope picked up her daughter. “A man thing, sweetie. Our beta is definitely not a boy, even if it might seem like it because he’s trying to stare down a six-year-old.”
“Seriously?” Allegra murmured as she crossed the room to set her hand on her mate’s shoulder.
Without looking away from my son, Zeke pressed his hand against hers. “I’m not going to back down from a challenge, even if it comes from a pup whose balls have barely dropped.”
“Zeke,” Allegra gasped, yanking her hand out from under his to slap him upside the head.
“Aha! You blinked, so I win,” Talon boasted as he jumped off the couch to race around the living room, waving his arms around in celebration of his victory.
“Only because my mate made me blink,” Zeke grumbled.
My son didn’t seem deterred by Zeke’s reason for losing. “It doesn’t matter because I win!”
As Talon ran past me, I snagged the back of his shirt to pull him against me. “Remember what Daddy and I said about how important it is to be gracious when you win?”
“Yeah, I’m not supposed to be a sore winner,” he muttered, rubbing the sole of his shoe against the floor. “Sorry.”
“Ahem.” Allegra nudged Zeke. “Now would be a great time to demonstrate to all the kids how not to be a sore loser.”
“Fine,” he huffed as he got to his feet and walked over to stand in front of Talon and me. Holding his hand out, he added, “Good job, Talon. You listened to your wolf just like your dad taught you.”
“Thanks, Uncle Zeke.” Talon grinned while they shook hands. “I thought we were just joking around at first, but my wolf said I couldn’t look away because it would be a sign of weakness.”
Zeke ruffled Talon’s hair and smiled back. “Keep paying attention to your instincts, and you’ll make a fine alpha some day.”
“Just like my daddy.” There wasn’t a hint of doubt in my son’s voice. He was a born alpha, just like Zeke. His level of dominance had caused a few problems when the kids had started kindergarten, but the school had been understanding of the situation because the teachers were used to dealing with young shifters. Most of them were part of our pack and adored their alpha’s son.
“Speaking of your daddy, let’s head home and see how he’s doing with Kyla and Brea,” I suggested.
“Okay,” Talon agreed with a grin as he ran toward the door.
“Thanks for taking care of the kids while we got our girl time in.”
Zeke waved off my gratitude. “Watching the kids for a couple of hours was nothing compared to what I’d do to put a smile on my mate’s beautiful face.”
“So true,” I murmured, following my son outside. My best friends and I had really lucked out when we’d decided to head off to college. We’d found men who loved us beyond reason and were building the happiest of families.
Her Tiger
Calliope Taft has wanted a hunky shifter of her own ever since her best friends let her in on the secret of their existence. Just when she started to give up hope, a sexy tiger shifter claimed her as his own.
Tane Ruslan hadn’t expected to find his fated mate right across the street when he returned home to Timber Ridge. Now that Calliope was where she belonged—with him—Tane intended to make all her dreams come true...and keep her safe from the bad guys who came looking for her.
1
Calliope
“Life is so unfair,” I sighed, shaking my head at Allegra while she unashamedly ogled her man’s butt as he walked out of the kitchen. As happy as I was that my best friends had found happiness with incredible guys—who just happened to be able to shift into wolves—spending my holiday break from school with Allegra, Zeke, Larissa, and Kace had left me feeling lonely.
I’d always felt a little bit like the odd man out in our trio, and being