Every Blissful Moment (Hyena Heat Book 4) (13 page)

Chapter 10

Bliss answered the door and signed for an overnight envelope.  The return address was Kentucky, and she knew it was Brierley’s paperwork.  She’d never known anyone who had to change their identity, and was surprised when Rome said that Nyte’s cousins knew someone who specialized in helping people start their lives over.

The paperwork was everything Brierley would need for a new beginning.  Although her first name would remain the same, her last name had been changed from Pine to Woods, which was a nod to her old life.  Inside the envelope were forged documents that would pass muster in any scenario – a driver’s license, a birth certificate with falsified parent names and a new birthdate, and a social security card.  Brierley didn’t know how to drive, but she could learn.  Bliss was certain that Ally or her husbands, or someone else in their
baro
would be happy to teach her.

She carried the envelope into the den and said, “I’ll call Angel and Brierley and have them come over and pick it up.”

“How’d you like to go out to dinner tonight?”  Memphis asked.

“Really?  I thought the whole den-thing meant we weren’t supposed to leave.”

He shrugged and stood from where he’d been sitting at a desk in the corner of the family room.  Her heart sped up as he closed the distance between them.  He was just so sexy.  All of her mates were.  Just being in their presence made her body heat up, and no matter the situation, she always had sexy thoughts running through her mind whenever she saw them.

He slid his arms around her and pulled her close.  “It’s been a stressful week.  We thought it would be nice to get dressed up and go to dinner.  We can take the envelope to them first and then go out.”

She hummed in her throat and leaned against him, tossing the envelope to the counter.  “Thank you.”

He hugged her closer.  “For what?”

“For supporting me.  I know you haven’t been happy to have Brierley here, but you put up with it for me.  I wasn’t sure if I’d ever said thank you, but it means the world to me that you reached out to the other
baro
on her behalf.”

He sighed.  “I’d do anything for you, Bliss.  If it’s important to you, then it’s important to all of us.”

She tipped her head back and looked at him.  She couldn’t believe how lucky she was to have a mate who loved her that much.

“I love you,” she said.

He smiled, heat filling his eyes.  In a heartbeat, Rome and Lincoln joined them, their hands tugging gently on her clothes.  The envelope could wait.

* * * * *

Bliss and her mates stopped at Angel’s and found the apartment in disarray.  Boxes were opened on every flat surface, and Angel, Whisper, and Brierley were packing.

“What’s going on?”  Bliss asked.

“I got fired,” she said.  Angel worked as a receptionist at a veterinary clinic in town.

“Why?”

Angel shut the door with a loud sigh.  “I asked for a week off to take Brierley to Grand Hope, and they said that if I took the time off I wouldn’t have a job when I came back.  I told them that it was important that I take her to the campground myself, and they didn’t care.”

“You’re packing,” Bliss said, feeling confused.

“I can’t afford this place without a job, and I can’t look for a job until I come back to Beyton.  My mom said I could put my things in the spare bedroom at her and my step-dad’s place, and I can stay there until I find a job and get back on my feet.”

Brierley looked up from where she was tucking books into a large box.  “I told her I could go on my own, but she insisted on coming.”

Bliss knew that she couldn’t offer to take Brierley there in Angel’s place.  Her mates didn’t want anything more to do with the she-owl than they already had, and she didn’t blame them.  If it weren’t for Brierley asking for help, Bliss would never have been the reason they had sex in front of strangers.  The only good thing that came from the experience was the baby she was carrying.

“When are you leaving?”  Bliss asked.

“Tomorrow.  Mack said we need to be gone by the full moon, so we’re packing up today and then we’ll take off in the morning.  It’s not a long drive, and Ally and her husbands said that I could stay in one of the cabins through the weekend and help Brierley get set up before coming back.  A little mini vacation is just what I need to figure out my life.”

“What do you need to figure out?”  Worry streaked through Bliss.  Before Whisper got married, Angel had been thinking about leaving Beyton, but Bliss and Whisper had talked her into staying.  “You’re not thinking of taking off in a permanent way, are you?”

Angel tucked a lock of blonde hair behind her ear and looked around her apartment.  “I know I said I’d stay in town, but ever since I met Brierley, I’ve been feeling like there’s something more out there for me.  Not here in Beyton, but someplace else.”

Bliss wanted to cry.  She’d had no idea when she brought Brierley to Beyton that she’d be the reason her bestie was going to leave.  Rome put his arm around Bliss’s shoulder and she gripped his shirt with one hand, anchoring herself to him.  “I don’t want you to go,” she said simply.

Angel smiled sadly.  “We all have to make our own way, B.  Who knows, maybe I’ll meet a guy on the trip and come home and live here forever.  There’s always a chance my Prince Charming is hanging out in the woods in Pennsylvania.”

Bliss could tell by the way she spoke that Angel didn’t really believe that, but Bliss appreciated her trying to lighten the mood.

Memphis said, “Why don’t you girls go out to dinner?  Rome and I will pack while you’re gone.”

Bliss looked at him in surprise.  “We’re supposed to go out tonight, though.”

“We have other nights.  Angel’s leaving tomorrow, and it’s going to be a busy day for us.  Take tonight and say goodbye.  Link will drive you, so go wherever you want.”

“Are you sure?”  Bliss asked.  She wanted the time with Angel, but she wanted to go out with her mates, too.

Memphis smiled, and it wasn’t the forced smile he used when he was being outwardly nice but inwardly pissed off.  He genuinely wanted her to go.  “I’m sure.”  He leaned down and kissed her ear and then whispered, “You can make it up to us
after
dinner.”

Her stomach twisted in anticipation.

“I heard that,” Whisper admonished.

Bliss’s cheeks heated and she laughed.  “You’re just jealous ‘cause your mates are working.”

“Bitch,” Whisper shot back.

Angel shook her head and walked over to the bookshelf and picked up a stack of paperbacks.  “I need to get a mate.  All this lovey-dovey nonsense is driving me batty.”

Bliss hugged her mates.  “Thank you.”

Lincoln nuzzled her throat with a soft growl.  “Anytime, sweet thing.”

Although Bliss, Angel, and Whisper invited Brierley to go out to eat with them, she opted to stay and continue packing rather than intrude on their girls’ night out.  Bliss and her besties climbed into the second row of the SUV, and Lincoln started the engine.  “Where to, ladies?”

“It’s your night, Angel,” Bliss said.

“You guys make it sound like I’m dying!  I’m just leaving for a little while.  No matter what happens, I’ll be back to get my stuff,” Angel said.

Whisper said, “I declare no more bummed-out talking tonight.  Let’s stuff our faces and have fun.”

Bliss wasn’t sure she could have fun knowing that she was part of the reason that Angel had lost her job, but she was sure going to put on her best smile.

“Let’s go to Cavanaugh’s.  We haven’t been there in forever, and they have great seafood.”

Lincoln backed out of the parking spot and headed toward Cavanaugh’s.  Bliss listened to Whisper and Angel discuss the campground.  Bliss had enjoyed being at the
gathering
, and she knew that Brierley would be happy and safe there, but she was going to miss Angel.  No matter Angel’s good intentions to come back home, Bliss had a feeling that she wouldn’t be back to stay.

* * * * *

“Okay, so tell the truth.  Did you sleep with Patrick Flattery senior year or not?”  Angel asked before taking a drink of her strawberry margarita.

Bliss used her best look of indignation.  “As if.”

“She’s totally lying, look at her face!”  Whisper said, giggling loudly.

That only served to make Bliss’s cheeks flame hotter.  She refused to look toward where Lincoln was sitting in the booth behind them.  Sure, she wasn’t a virgin when she met her mates, but that didn’t mean she wanted her love life shoved in his face.  Or her lack of love life.

Bliss threw a sugar packet at Whisper, hitting her in the nose.

“Ouch!  Hey, stop that.”

“Don’t make me talk about Gregor.”

Whisper’s face screwed up in disgust.  Gregor had been trying to scam his way into Whisper’s bed for years, and it had always made Bliss and Angel feel bad for their bestie.  It never stopped them from teasing her mercilessly, though.

Whisper looked chagrined.  “Fine.  Let’s not talk about the past, let’s talk about that bun in your oven.  When’s your due date?”

“October seventh.”

“Ha ha, you’ll have to go through the hot, humid summer preggo.”

Bliss threw a handful of sugar packets at Whisper, who managed to avoid a few of the paper projectiles.

“Enough baby talk.  Tell me what’s up with the campground.  Are you staying with Ally and her husbands?”  Bliss asked.

“No, Ally offered me and Brierley a two-bedroom cabin.  She said that if Brierley decides to take the job, they’ll just let her have the cabin and give her a small salary for food and necessities.  I’ve talked to Ally a few times since Whisper made the introductions.”

“Is Brierley excited?”  Bliss asked.

“I think she’s a mix of excited and nervous.  She hasn’t spent much time away from her nest.  This is the longest she’s been away from them, and now she’s going to meet new people.  She feels more comfortable in her owl form.  The other day I came home from work and she was sitting on top of the lamp in the family room.  Scared the hell out of me.”

Bliss giggled.  “I’d flip out if there was an owl in my house, too.”

“She’s afraid to shift outside.  She’s been told her whole life that wolves like to eat owls.  I promised her she’d be safe, but so far she hasn’t done it.  At the campgrounds, there are only hyenas, and she seems to feel like they’ll be less likely to eat an owl than a wolf, although I have no idea why she’d think that.”

Whisper shook her head. “I don’t think wolves eat birds that much in general.  There are too many feathers, too many bones, and not enough meat.  Maybe if a wolf was really starving and a bird was on the ground or low-flying, but otherwise predators go for the animals on the ground.”

“I told her that, but I’m human and she doesn’t trust my knowledge of shifters.  Not that I blame her; my knowledge is limited to you two and my step-dad.”

“I’m bummed she has to leave, but I hope she’ll be happy there,” Bliss said.

What she left unsaid for the moment was that she was more upset about Angel leaving. She hadn’t known Brierley that long, but she’d been best friends with Angel for years.  She felt like her sister was leaving.