Free Falke’s Captive by Madison Layle & Anna Leigh Keaton

whispered, “Don’t blame Axel. He’s just a little overprotective.”
    He chuckled as she pulled away. Yeah, his big brother had always been that way, worried about the safety of his siblings, and now his mate. And Kelan hadn’t made it easy on him.
    Quite frankly, he blamed himself for the whole fiasco. And he grasped the seriousness of the danger without Axel having to point it out. A scientist had captured him, tagged him, and he’d led her to his family. If Gunnar hadn’t been shifted…
    “I’ll handle this,” Kelan told them. Whatever it took, he’d do it. He wouldn’t let a mistake on his part endanger his family or his brothers’ future.
    “There’s nothing really left to handle,” Reidar said, drawing the attention of everyone else. “The microchip is out. The woman knows the cat is home with us, safe and sound. No harm, no foul. Now she can go off into the woods and find real wildlife to pester with her darts and tests. There’s no other reason for her to come around again, unless she needs camping supplies.”
    After a moment, Gunnar said, “Let’s hope you’re right about her.”
    “But there’s still one thing left to do,” Axel said.
    “And that is?” Kelan asked.
    “Someone has to tell our fathers.”
    Kelan cringed but pushed to his feet and met Axel’s unyielding gaze. Axel might be the family’s alpha now, but Kelan would rather dive head first into lava than upset his fathers. Nonetheless, he nodded.
    “I’ll go with him,” Reidar volunteered.
    Thanks, Kelan said telepathically without a glance at the brother who’d been there with him, for him, all his life. A firm hand patted his shoulder.
    Don’t worry. You can make it up to me some day.
     
    “At least I’ll have another day to figure out how to tell them,” Kelan said as he lifted the frosty mug to his lips.
    Sitting in their usual booth at the pub, Reidar nodded and shredded small pieces off a paper napkin. He preferred the “rip the bandage off fast” approach when dealing with their fathers, not putting things off as long as possible, the way Kelan always did. His brother lucked out with a reprieve from telling their fathers about his capture, when they’d found a note at home earlier that afternoon saying their dads had gone to visit an old friend in Seattle.
    “Oh, come on,” Kelan said, chuckling. “It’s not like they’re going to take a belt to our backsides.”
    Reidar cast him a narrow-eyed glance. “I didn’t do anything wrong. If anyone’s ass needs to be belted, it’s yours. What exactly were you thinking, running off on your own like that?”
    “Now you sound like Axel.” Kelan slouched in the booth across from him and folded his arms. “I was pissed and needed to cool down. I’d gone to talk to Axel about our idea, and he blew me off. Again.”
    “Oh.” Reidar reached for his beer. “At least we know why he’s being such an ass lately. Maybe after the babies are…Wow. We’re going to be uncles.” He knew the responsibility behind raising their kind. Their own mother and fathers hadn’t had it easy with six telepathic, shape shifting boys and a girl who wanted to be one of them. Childhood was bad enough, but once they reached puberty and could shift…
    “Kill me if I ever get that way around a woman.”
    Reidar laughed. “We have to find one who’ll put up with you first.”
    “You think you’re a comedian…”
    Still grinning, Reidar stared at his glass a long moment, then said, “Do you ever think about it?”
    “About what?”
    “A mate. Settling down. Having children.” He couldn’t believe he was actually bringing this up, but something changed in him when Dakota made her announcement.
    “Whoa, there. Where the hell is this coming from?” Kelan sat forward and leaned over the table. “We’re going to have kids in the family in a matter of months, and you’re thinking about getting laid?”
    “I got laid last weekend. That’s not what I mean.” Reidar sent