Page 82 of Wedding the Werepanther

“Then I’m happy for you, my son.” She offers me a soft smile. “It will be good for more of our people to find their fated mates. I’m glad you’re the first.”

I fold her into my arms. “So am I.”

I finally convince Victoria to release me and Kayla from house arrest by promising I won’t take her to Faerie again untilthe marriage contract concludes. We also promise not to leave the property until after tomorrow’s wedding.

We picnic in the backyard for lunch, making sandwiches for the adults, a fruit bowl for Dewdrop, and chopped fresh meat for the kits. They gulp down their food and play a game of tag with the dragonet, racing in large circles around Victoria.

I sprawl backwards on my elbows, striking a pose recommended in one of the thirst-trap videos. When no one else is looking, I grin suggestively at Kayla and tease a fang with my tongue.

She mouths “stop it” and smacks my jean-clad ankle, but her eyes flick along my body, and her cheeks turn pink. She takes a long drink of lemonade, the ice tinkling in the glass, and lets out a sigh. “This is nice.”

“It is,” I murmur.

The sun beats down with a languid heat perfectly offset by a refreshing breeze. Bees buzz around the wisteria, pollen-covered legs a fluffy yellow. If not for the happy sounds of the kits, growing steadily louder as they finish another lap, I could almost fall asleep.

Mist pops another grape into her mouth with a satisfied crunch, and Mother dozes, eyes narrowed to green slits. I love seeing her here in my new home, able to relax. She doesn’t get to do enough of it back at the den.

In fact… I roll to my feet and lope forward to intercept the little ones as they round the corner of the house, chasing them back into the front yard. I pretend they’re too fast for me, making leaps that land short and zigging when I should have zagged.

Dewdrop gets into the fun of it, flying overhead for a bird’s-eye view. He calls out a constant stream of advice to the kits to help them win, and I pretend I don’t hear any of it. “Left, Wisp!” Dewdrop calls out. “Go left!”

“Rawr!” The tiny kit tackles my legs, and I pretend it makes me stagger and drop to the ground, letting all three pounce on me.

“I got you!” “No,Idid!” “Me too!”

“You are all fierce hunters,” I say.

They leap away with excited giggles and start zooming around me again, but only a few minutes later, they come to a sudden halt. As with all kits, they go from running flat out to sleepy piles of fluff in under ten seconds.

I gather them into my arms and turn toward the house to find Kayla watching me from the front stoop. Dewdrop gives a happy chirp and lands on her shoulder, and Victoria opens the front door so we can come inside.

We settle on the couch in the living room, and Kayla leans close to whisper, “You’re good with them.”

“Adults take turns playing with the kits. When they’re this young, we keep things fun, allowing them to build stamina and learn fine motor control. As they get older, the play turns into hunter and warrior training.”

“But you always remember how to play.”

“What can I say?” I grin at her. “We’re cats. Weneverlose the desire to play.”

Dewdrop hops onto Kayla’s lap and sprawls on his back so she can rub his belly. He’s so light that lying on his wings doesn’t bother him, and he purrs as happily as any cat when she rubs circles across his lavender stomach.

A half hour later, the kits wake as quickly as they went to sleep, bouncing up and demanding more play.

“Okay, but how about a different kind of play?” I say. “Kayla’s a very special person. She makes games.”

They let out a chorus of ohs as they turn wide eyes on her. “Show us!” “I want to see special games!” “Please?”

She picks up her controller and turns on the TV. As the first cheerful tune fills the room, she leans over to whisper, “They’re not going to be able to play video games without hands.”

“Exactly.” I smirk at her.

Realization breaks across her face, and she smiles back, smart enough to realize I’m trying to make shifting more tempting for the kits. And what better way to entice a cat than to offer them a new game?

We spend the next hour playing video games with an avid audience. The kits are thrilled every time we win a power-up or find a stack of gold coins, eyes glued to the screen.

“You know,” I finally say, leaving all sense of subtlety behind. “If you could shift, you could play as well.”

“Yeah, I have a kid’s controller in my office,” Kayla says. “It’s the perfect size for little hands.”