Lyric & The Cats (The Wolf's Mate Generations Book 1) Read online

  Elliott nodded. He and Evan had discussed the situation last night. They weren’t going to push her about the physical aspects of their relationship, because the last thing she needed was to feel pressure from them. She’d get enough of that from her parents. He wanted her to stick around Ashland and spend time with them, but if she needed to go home to Allen then they wouldn’t try to guilt her into staying.

  He just fucking hoped she wanted them to come with her. He wasn’t sure what he’d do if he had to watch her leave Ashland and couldn’t go too.

  Her footsteps on the stairs alerted him that she was ready. “Ready, sweetheart?”

  “Yep,” she said.

  “Good luck,” Callie said, and Ethan echoed.

  “Thank you. Keep all your fingers crossed for me.”

  “We will,” Ethan said.

  Elliott walked her outside, grabbed her car door and opened it for her.

  “You’ll be great.”

  “You sound more confident than I feel,” she said, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.

  “Because I believe in you. You said last night that you felt like you were supposed to come here, and Evan and I believe that too. Whether you get the job or not, he and I want to be with you. It would be great if you got the job, and I honestly believe you will, but if you don’t, nothing about the situation between the three of us has to change.”

  “Except my home is in Allen.”

  “My grandpa says home is where you make it.”

  “I like that.” She pursed her lips for a moment and then said, “When I’m done with the interview, I’ll call you and let you know how it went.”

  “I’d love that. I’ll keep a good thought for you. Send ya all the positive vibes.”

  She went onto her toes and kissed him. “Thank you for everything. Talk to you soon.”

  When she was seated behind the wheel, he shut the door. She started the engine and waved at him, then backed away and turned toward the street. He waved and then watched until he couldn’t see her anymore.

  He turned back to the house to help with the dishes, his thoughts turning wishful.

  I fucking hope she gets the job.

  Chapter Ten

  Lyric nearly skipped out of the school after the interview. She felt like it went even better than she’d hoped it would. The principal interviewed her, then gave her a tour of school, and she had a chance to meet the office workers and a few teachers who were already getting their classrooms set up. When Principal Carmine stopped in front of a dark classroom, she turned to her and said, “This is the third-grade classroom that needs a teacher. If you get the job, you’ll be able to come in and set the room up at any point, but we ask that the rooms be fully set up by the Monday before school starts. We do a tour of the school for new students, which happens the Thursday before school, so we want to be sure the classrooms are all ready to go. Do you have any questions?”

  “No. It’s really a wonderful school. It reminds me of my school in Allen.”

  She clapped her hands together with a smile. “Excellent. We’ve got a couple other candidates coming in for interviews today, then I’ll be discussing things with the superintendent, and we’ll make a final decision. You’ll hear from me Monday morning before noon if you get the job. If you don’t hear from me, then you weren’t chosen for the job, but we’ll keep your resume on file for ninety days in case something else comes up. After that time, you can feel free to apply for any future job openings.”

  She walked her to the glass double doors at the front of the school and extended her hand. “Thanks for making the drive.”

  “It was my pleasure. Thank you very much for taking the time to meet with me.”

  She pushed open one of the doors, and then said, “Oh! Someone didn’t call for a cop, did they?”

  Lyric looked past the principal and saw Elliott and Evan standing with bouquets of flowers on the top step. Elliott was in street clothes, but Evan was wearing his uniform, and his squad car was parked in front of the school.

  “No, not at all,” Evan said. “We came to see Lyric.”

  The principal looked between the two males and her and then chuckled. “I guess you have a double reason for wanting to be in Ashland.”

  “Two very good reasons, on top of how much I want to find a full-time teaching job, and how great I think the Ashland Elementary School is.”

  “Have a great weekend, Lyric. It was really nice to meet you.”

  “You too, Principal Carmine.” She walked through the door and met her mates at the top of the stairs.

  She realized they were both holding two bouquets of flowers. Each one held a bouquet of wildflowers and a bouquet of roses.

  “Wow, they’re lovely,” she said as she accepted the huge bundle of flowers and cheek kisses from them.

  “I stopped at the police station to tell Evan I thought we should surprise you after your interview, and I brought him a bouquet of flowers to give to you,” Elliott said.

  “And I was about to leave to go get him and tell him the same thing, and I’d also picked up flowers for us both.”

  She laughed. “Great minds, I guess.”

  “Indeed,” Evan said.

  They walked her to her car and Elliott opened the passenger door so she could set the flowers on the seat. They were so pretty, and she was really blown away by how sweet the guys were. She closed the door and joined them on the driver’s side.

  “I’m so glad you’re both here,” she said.

  “How did it go?” Evan asked.

  “Really good. She said she’ll call on Monday before noon if I have the job.” That meant there were some stressful days ahead.

  “I’m sure she’ll call,” Elliott said. “How could she not? You’re amazing.”

  “One hundred percent,” Evan said.

  She grinned. They were so sweet.

  Glancing at Evan’s uniform—which he looked amazing in—she said, “You probably have to go back to work?”

  He looked at his watch. “I’ve got thirty minutes. I took my lunch break early. Why?”

  “I thought we could talk for a bit.”

  “Let’s go to Cherie’s,” Elliott said. “Ev can get breakfast since he missed out on ours, and we can have coffee. Then he can take off whenever he needs to.”

  “Works for me,” Evan said.

  “Me too.”

  They parted ways and she followed them to the diner. Evan grabbed the door for her and when she walked through, with Elliott and Evan by her sides, a large woman greeted them warmly.

  “Hiya boys, who’s your pretty friend?” she asked as she grabbed menus and came around the long counter.

  “Cherie, this is our mate, Lyric. This is Cherie, she makes the best pancakes on the planet,” Elliott said.

  “It’s nice to meet you,” Lyric said.

  “You too, hon. How about the corner booth?”

  “Perfect,” Evan said.

  She scooted in first and then Evan and Elliott sat on either side of her. Cherie set menus down, took their drink orders, and hurried away.

  “I take it she’s the owner?” Lyric asked as she opened the menu. Even though she wasn’t really hungry, she was curious about the diner’s offerings.

  “Yep,” Elliott said. “Our parents have been coming here for decades. She thought her granddaughter, Lily, was going to take over, but she ended up mated to an African lion male who lives in another state. She’s friends with Cristabel, an African lioness in the pride.”

  “I’ve never met an African lion before,” she said. “Even in college, it seemed like most every shifter was a wolf.”

  “I think wolves are the largest group of shifters in the states,” Evan said, “but mountain lions aren’t too shabby either.”

  “Not at all,” she said. “So what do you usually get here?”

  They talked over their favorites, and by the time Cherie returned with coffee for everyone, Evan was ready to order.

  “Nothing for the two of you?” she asked as she took the menus.”

  “We ate earlier,” Elliott said. “Just plenty of coffee.”

  “You got it.” Cherie disappeared into the kitchen.

  The silence stretched between them for a little bit and she knew they were waiting for her to talk about whatever she wanted to. She could guess their minds were spinning trying to figure out what was on her mind.

  “I was wondering if it would be okay if I stuck around.”

  Their brows rose simultaneously, and she giggled at how very identical they were. She could easily tell them apart, though, but they were strikingly similar.

  “Of course, we’d love that,” Evan said.

  “Definitely,” Elliott said. “We didn’t want to go on our date tonight and have you leave tomorrow.”

  “I didn’t want that either,” she said, blowing out a breath. “But honestly, last night I kept thinking about how much I wanted to stay. I mean I’ll have to go back to Allen at some point, but I know that the three of us are mates and it seems like a terrible idea to leave tomorrow.”

  “That would be wonderful,” Elliott said. “I know our parents won’t mind you staying, either.”

  She cleared her throat, her nerves suddenly kicking in. “I was hoping I could stay with you.”

  They glanced at each other, doing what she’d come to think of as the “silent twin thing,” and then they both smiled at her. “That works for us, sweetheart,” Evan said.

  “Our house is your house, one hundred percent,” Elliott said.

  Some of the tension left her at their easy acceptance. “I don’t know what will happen between us. I kind of want to just...let things happen as they will, you know? Not put a clock on anything we do, or worry about how fast our rela
tionship progresses.”

  “That’s what we’d like too,” Elliott said.

  “Good. That makes me feel better knowing we’re all on the same page. I mean, I love spending time with you and I didn’t want to leave you last night at all. I slept terribly.”

  Elliott snorted. “What’s sleep?”

  With a giggle, she nudged his arm with her shoulder. “Exactly. So after our date, then whatever happens, happens, and the timing of our relationship is no one’s business but ours.”

  “Exactly,” Evan said.

  “But that being said,” she said, “I do have to call my parents and tell them that not only have I found my truemates, but you’re in Ashland.”

  Her mind spun a little as she played out a hundred different scenarios with that conversation. None of them turned out well. She wasn’t a pessimist, but she sure wasn’t feeling optimistic about the upcoming chat with her folks.

  “Here ya go, hon,” Cherie said, setting a plate of scrambled eggs, toast, and bacon in front of Evan. She topped off everyone’s coffee, dropped off the check, and hustled to another table. The woman never seemed to stop moving.

  “How do you think they’ll react?” Elliott asked.

  She leaned back in the padded booth and let out a sigh. “My whole life, my parents have preached Allen-first, pack-first to me, my brothers, and the pack as a whole. When I was little, before I shifted as a teenager, I liked the idea of staying in Allen. I love the town, the people, having my family close. But when I shifted and I knew for sure that none of the males in the pack were my truemate, the idea was less appealing. There are unmated males and females in the pack who’ve never gone looking for their truemate, they just seem content to hang out and hope they appear.”

  Evan nodded. He smeared grape jelly on a triangle of toast, and said, “Did you ever think one of the males might be your mate before you shifted?”

  She hummed. “My mom’s best friend, Karly’s son Remy, is who everyone seemed to think I’d end up with. He and I are very good friends. He’s a little older than me, and when he shifted for the first time, I thought, ‘I don’t think he’s my mate.’ And then when I shifted myself later that year, I knew for sure he wasn’t. He’ll end up leaving Allen and starting a pack of his own. The older he gets, the harder it is for him to not assert himself as an alpha.” It sure would’ve been easier if Remy was her truemate. While she thought he was attractive and she liked him, she didn’t love him and her wolf wasn’t interested in being with him in a romantic, forever kind of way.

  “I think we’re fortunate that our parents, or anyone in the pride, have never put any pressure on us when it comes to our truemate. Our parents started the Ashland Pride and meant for it to be a sanctuary where no one tries to tell anyone who they can or can’t be with. Do you know the history of the pride? Of mountain lions in particular?”

  She shook her head.

  “It all started with a goddess and shifters, and then everything went to hell,” Evan said.

  The goddess who created shifters—Hrixalda—loved mountain lions more than any other shifter she created. The males doted on her and the females grew jealous. They tried to get other gods and goddesses to send her back to the heavens, and when she found out about it, she cursed mountain lions.

  “The females were cursed to never want love or a family, and to not be able to recognize their own children after birth.”

  “Holy crap! Are you serious? How awful. How could she curse people she created and loved?”

  Elliott shrugged. “She was hurt that they rose up against her and accused her of trying to seduce all the males away from their mates. She cursed them and left earth to go back to her own realm.”

  “What about the males? How were they cursed?”

  “She cursed them to always crave a home, love, and family,” Elliott said.

  “That meant that males and females were always at odds,” she said. “How terrible.”

  “Yeah,” Evan said. “Our family’s pride was in King, Pennsylvania. When Mom and our dads found each other, the females tried to kill her or drive her away. So they packed up and came here to live with Uncle Rhett and Aunt Lisa. He’d left King years earlier because he was tired of the way the females treated the males.”

  “The sick part,” Elliott said, “is that the baby girls are born normal without being cursed. The females would use their claws and slowly poison the little girls until they were unemotional robots; intent on harming anyone who tried to mate with a male. Our cousin Jilly was cursed. The only way to break the curse was to be bitten by her truemates.”

  “Is the curse still active? Is the goddess around?”

  “The goddess came to the aid of a female lion named Hope. She nearly died trying to contact the goddess, and the goddess decided to spare her life. She broke the curse, so the females are as they should be and not under the curse anymore.”

  “So no more trying to kill mates or poisoning little girls?”

  “Not anymore,” Evan said. “We were little when it happened, and we never had any interaction with the females while they were still cursed. Our parents and the pride members could tell you some horror stories, though.”

  “I’m glad it’s different now. Wolves have history with interactions from gods and goddesses, but thankfully no curses. That’s really crazy.”

  “Ev and I are both lions in our shift. He’s got the classic lion colored fur, but mine is streaked with gray like wolf fur. Our brother is a lion too, but Fi is a wolf. She and mom are twins in their shifts, it’s really hard to tell them apart unless you know what to look for.”

  “I wondered what might happen with mixed matings. A lot of our mixed matings are human and wolf, and sometimes they can shift and sometimes they can’t. My mom can’t, although she’s half wolf. Me and my brothers can all shift, but my cousin Micah can, although his sister Jessamyn can’t.”

  “It seems like a crap shoot sometimes, whether a child will take more after one parent or the other,” Elliott said.

  “Shit, I’ve gotta go or Dad will have my hide,” Evan said. He finished the last piece of toast and leaned over to kiss Lyric on the cheek. “Good luck with your parents. I’ll see you after work, sweetheart.”

  “Be safe,” she said.

  He scooted out of the seat and picked up the check. “Always.”

  He paid the check on the way out. Cherie called over, “You two need a top off?”

  “You want more coffee?” Elliott asked.

  “I’m good.”

  “We’re set here, Cherie, thank you.”

  She nodded at them.

  “Do you want to go back to the house to call your parents?”

  “Yeah. Then, Fi might be up and ready to go shopping.”

  “I’m sure she’s chomping at the bit to have a new friend to shop with. She’s a clothes-horse.”

  They left the diner and she followed him back to the farm.

  * * *

  Lyric carried the bouquets of flowers into the house. There wasn’t a vase to be had in the house, so Elliott walked to his parents’ and his mom gave him a large vase.

  “Did she say how it went?” Callie asked as she walked him out.

  “She thinks it went well. I really hope she gets the job; she wants it so bad.”

  “Me too. If it’s meant to be it’ll be, right?”

  He told her that Lyric wanted to stay with them through the weekend until she got the call on Monday. “She’s going to call her parents now.”

  Callie gave him a long, quiet look. “You and Ev don’t really understand hierarchy, but her dad isn’t just her father, he’s also her boss. The pack alpha has an authority over their people that others—like your father or grandfather—don’t have with the pride. Her dad could make a male twice his size fall to his knees and show his neck in two seconds if he was inclined. Jason never abused his power, never tried to make people fear him, but he may order Lyric to come home. And she may have no choice but to obey.”

  Elliott frowned. “Would we be able to go with her?”

  “I doubt it. She may balk at an order from him, but it would be tough for her to outright ignore it. Just be supportive of her, and don’t give her a hard time if she feels like she needs to go back to Allen.”