Free Brink Of Passion (Alpine Woods Shifters) by Sondrae Bennett Page A

into with you as a mate,” Julie teased.
    “No kidding,” Laurie said, then pulled the group to a halt. “No one tell him.”
    “Too late now. He already mated you.” Her mother’s eyes smiled into hers, but she caught the glaze of tears covering them.
    Laurie let go of Julie and squeezed her mother’s hand. It had been hard enough for her mother when Julie had gone out of state to college, and she had come back four years later. Laurie was moving half way across the country with no plans to return.
    “I love you, Mom.”
    Her mom nodded and wiped at a stray tear.
    “In all seriousness, the man is damn lucky to have you.” Samantha hugged her from behind. Laurie laughed at the feel of the baby bump pressed against her back. A tapping pressed against her. “Apparently the baby thinks so, too.”
    Her smile was bittersweet. Of all the things she’d miss, the birth of her brother’s baby hit her the hardest. Max had assured her she could fly back home once the baby was born, but the baby rested low and the doctors worried about premature labor. Both mom and baby were healthy, but it was doubtful Samantha would carry to full term. Pinning down a delivery date was out of the question, even though the doctors promised they could keep the baby cooking for a couple more months until the due date was closer.
    “Think Martha would deliver diner food and we could cut straight to early happy hour? I need a drink.” Martha was the waitress at the diner located just a few doors down from her bookstore.
    “Worst case scenario, I’ll go pick up take-out,” Julie said as she pulled out her keys. The bookstore was half Julie’s, having taken both their inheritance to start up, but Laurie had gotten it up and running while Julie had left for college. She supposed Julie would put her own flare into the place once Laurie left.
    “Why do I have a bad feeling about this idea?” Gwen asked, following them into the store.
    *****
    In retrospect, happy hour without lunch might not have been the smartest idea. It had served its purpose and relaxed her. Maybe too much. Her brain felt hazy, but at least the room wasn’t spinning anymore.
    “Chicken fingers, mozzarella sticks, two hamburgers, a patty melt, a ham and cheese omelet, a fish and chips platter, and two whole large take out containers of French fries.”
    Perhaps they had ordered too much, but Laurie hadn’t wanted to choose between all her favorite diner foods.
    “Thanks, Martha.” Julie took the bag and reached for her purse.
    “On the house.” The other woman’s gaze held tenderness as she looked at Laurie. “We’re going to miss you, girl.”
    “I’m going to miss everyone, too.”
    Martha laughed. “Those cats aren’t going to know what hit them.”
    Everyone else soon joined in the laughter.
    “Why does that seem to be a running theme? I’m not liking these implications that I am difficult to deal with.” Laurie exaggerated a deep frown.
    The other women took one look at her before laughing harder than before.
    “I’m not that bad.” Laurie grumbled.
    “Remember when she lined Trey Rogers’ mouth guard with hot sauce right before every wrestling match?” Martha asked her mother.
    Julie giggled with her hand over her mouth.
    “That was payback for stealing my bra during gym class and parading it around the boys’ locker room.” Neither the coach nor the principal had been amused about that one once they’d discovered she’d been the perpetrator, but she maintained he had it coming. It hadn’t helped that he had dumped her on Valentine’s Day the year before. What kind of an asshole dumped a girl on Valentine’s Day?
    “Or when she rubbed poison ivy in the football team’s jock straps?” her mother added with a frown in her direction.
    “I won’t apologize for that. They deserved it.” She would have done worse if she could have.
    “What could they possibly have done to warrant that?” Samantha asked.
    Martha, her mother, and Julie