Southern Shifters: Purred Promises (Kindle Worlds Novella) by R. E. Butler Page A

aunt were childhood friends. I hadn’t met her before I came here, but I feel like I know her because of what Geraldine shared with me.”
    “Dillon said you were his pseudo-niece,” he said.
    She smiled. “I guess that’s one way to look at it. I wouldn’t have minded if he said I was his real niece, but I’m not.”
    “We’re making our own family here, sweetheart. You don’t have to be anyone’s pseudo-anything.”
    “Family, huh?” She grinned , and her eyes danced.
    He opened and closed his mouth, trying to find the right words. Should he tell her that he wanted to have a big family with her because he felt like he’d been robbed of his own? That he wanted to be the best dad to their kids because she’d gotten a raw deal with her own dad , and his had been non-existent?
    From what he’d learned about her in the short time they’d been together, he knew that honesty was very important to her. Linking their fingers together, he said, “I want us to have a big family.”
    “I always wished I’d had a sister or brother.”
    His beasts mourned for the briefest bit of time over the loss of their mom and brother. It wasn’t just blood that made a family, though ; it was so much more . Glancing over her shoulder, he could see Mona standing in the open door. He kissed Genesis and said, “We should go before Mona drags us out of the truck.”
    “Okay. We can finish our talk later.”
    Nodding, he kissed her once more and then got out, moving swiftly to open her door. He could hardly stand to be apart from her. His beasts wanted to plaster her to their side with glue.
    Mona greeted them, hugging Genesis tightly. “Come on in, dinner will be ready in a few minutes.”
    When Mona shut the door, Jair caught an all-too-familiar scent in the house.
    Growling, he pushed Genesis behind his back as his father appeared in the hallway. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
    “Language! There are kids in the house,” Mona chided.
    He didn’t apologize. He couldn’t think past his rage at seeing his father.
    “Jair?” Genesis said, her gentle voice helping to soothe some of the anger flooding him.
    “Why are you here?” h e asked again, pressing his mate more firmly against him. He wanted to keep her as far away from him as possible.
    “I came to talk,” Veron said.
    “I don’t have anything to say to you.”
    “Genesis, why don’t you help me in the kitchen?” Mona asked.
    The sound that came out of his mouth was from deep inside, a twisted furious roar and howl mixed together. Over his dead body would his mate leave his side right now.
    “If it’s a ll the same to you, I’ll stick around,” Genesis said. She leaned to the side and said, “I’m Genesis. Who are you?”
    Veron’s brows rose. “I’m Jair’s father.”
    She made a curious sound in her throat, and Jair wondered if she was angry. He had purposely spent the day learning about her, and avoided talking about his past. She knew he was exiled; s he knew his father was a wolf. But that was as far as her knowledge went. He had planned to tell her about Veron eventually. Not tonight. Not less than twenty-four hours after meeting her.
    Dillon stepped into the hallway and gave Mona a gentle push into the kitchen. “If you want to be angry at anyone, Jair, it can be me. I called Veron to let him know that you two were mated, and he told me that there’s a rift between you. There are a fuck lot of people in this town who would love to have a blood relative willing to talk to them. You need to give Veron a chance to tell his side of the story. Stop being an asshole and start being a good son.”
    Genesis growled, and Jair felt her claws dig into his side. “You don’t know what’s going on between them, Dillon, and frankly, neither do I, but nothing good’s going to come from you surprising him with a family meet-and- greet. When Mona invited us to dinner, I thought it was because she wanted to get to know me and Jair. You ambushed