"Parker." I point as the grey-headed guy approaches. My fight manager stops in his tracks, but Declan and Laurie keep going, almost bowling him over.
"Declan." I jab the air, pointing each one out. "Laurie Lawrence."
"It's like the three stooges," Denali murmurs as Parker turns on Declan and Laurie pretends to bash their heads together. "Only one is thin."
"And they're shifters," I agree with a sigh.
Denali sniffs the air, her eyes glinting with her lioness. "What are they?"
"Parker's a wolf. Well, mostly wolf. Laurie's a... well, you'll figure it out. He's pretty shy. I'm not sure what Declan is."
"I'm Irish," Declan offers, grinning wide, showing off crooked canines.
"I'm an owl," Laurie raises his hand with a sheepish smile. His head twitches like he's being electrocuted.
Denali sucks in a breath and the scent of cinnamon fills the air.
"Lioness." Parker eyes her with satisfaction.
A growl rumbles through me, and I move closer to Denali.
"Mom?" says a small voice around our knees. "I thought we couldn't talk about our animals."
Denali whirls, crouching to grip her son's shoulders. "That's right baby. That's safest. Go inside and play now, while momma talks to Nash's friends."
Nolan trundles back inside, but the three newcomers got a good look at him. Parker and Laurie's mouths hang wide open.
Declan makes a choking sound. "Holy fecking-"
"Stop swearing," I growl. "No foul language, no inappropriate topics. Understand?"
Laurie nods vigorously, eyes huge behind his thick glasses.
"Is that…?" Parker points and I swat his hand. The boy isn't a freak show. Nolan still watches us through the screen door, curiosity written on his face. A bunch of strange guys showing up to ogle him-this kid is gonna be traumatized.
"He looks just like you," Laurie murmurs.
I can't help whirling to see if it's true. On further study, the line of Nolan's jaw, his nose, the gold tints in his hair-he does look like me.
My organs seem to shift and rearrange inside me.
"Nash? What's going on?" Parker asks.
"This is Denali. My mate."
She shakes off my hand. "Our mating doesn't count," she tells the crew. "It happened under duress."
My lion growls again.
Parker sniffs the air, which is tinged with our mingled spice scent. No shifter can come close to Denali and not know I've marked her. "I think it still counts."
"It's complicated," I say, and Denali shoots me a grateful look.
"Understood," Declan says. "For a simple soldier, Nash is pretty complicated."
I glare at him to no effect.
"How did you all meet?" Denali asks.
"Cage fighting," Parker says. "Shifter style."
I curse at Denali's shocked look. This is not how I wanted to break the news to her.
"His lion needs to bleed someone on a regular basis. Almost nightly now, isn't it?" Declan continues blithely.
"Shut up."
"I'm Parker, ma'am," Parker extends a hand. "Manager at The Pit. I arrange Nash's fights."
"And Laurie and I bet on them," Declan says. "We're bookies, too. Your mate's made us a lot of money over the past few months."
"I see. And you're his pack?"
"He's our alpha even though he says he's not," Laurie says.
"How does that work?" Denali's brow wrinkles.
"We call him Alpha and he tells us to feck off-hey!" Declan breaks off as Laurie elbows him in the ribs.
"Don't swear," the gawky shifter reminds him.
"All right, all right, birdbrain. Jay-sus, your elbows are like daggers." Grimacing, Declan rubs his chest where Laurie jabbed him.
"Who wants dinner?" Parker rubs his hands together. "Pizza?"
I clear my throat just as Denali says "Actually-"
"Pizza, momma?" Nolan pops out from behind her. "Can I have pizza?"
Denali sighs.
"O' course, little cub," Declan declares. "Ya can have all the pizza ya want. What?" he pulls an innocent face as all but Nolan glare at him.
An hour later, we're sitting in Denali's living room, ten empty pizza boxes stacked on the porch. Shifters eat a lot. Declan and Parker fight over the last slice.
"So you two only met once before?" Laurie asks. He lounges on the floor, his long form stretched out where he's been playing with Nolan for the past twenty minutes. He isn't twitching so badly.
"Yes," Denali says. She and I share a couch, and every nerve in me is alive, wanting to scoot a few inches to the right and touch her.
"You probably want some time alone then," Parker speaks up.
"Aye, that's a grand idea," Declan says. "We can babysit-"
"No," Denali and I almost shout together.
"All right," Declan puts his hands up. "Jay-sus. Ya think I offered to feck-"
"No swearing," Laurie and Parker both admonish. Parker slaps Declan's head.
"No hitting either," Denali adds.
Muttering, Declan tromps out to the porch.
I rub my forehead. "I'm just grateful he didn't bring his hooch."
"Oh, he brought it," Laurie says. "We just wouldn't let him bring it into the house."
"Go keep an eye on him," I order. Laurie follows him.
Denali rises and reaches for Nolan. "All right baby, time for bed."
"But I'm not sleepy," the boy says with a yawn.
"I know." She herds him to the hall, pausing a moment to glance back at me, a question in her eyes.
"I'll wait for you," I say. After a moment of hesitation, she nods.
For a while I sit and listen to her getting Nolan ready for bed. His high voice protesting, her beautiful murmur. Simple, domestic sounds that should put me at ease. I rub my eyes. What the hell am I doing here?
As I head to the porch, I realize my lion is still quiet. He's been that way since I bedded Denali. For once he's relaxed, but I know it's only a matter of time before the flashbacks return. Before my lion needs to make someone bleed.
"Good mate you got there, boss," Parker says as I head over to the white Camaro. He and Declan are smoking. A flask sits by Declan.
"Gotta fight tomorrow at The Pit," the wolf adds. "You want me to move it?"