New In The Territories (Book 1) COMPLETED

Chapter 75 Sam

I jumped on Mason's back with no fear he would not catch me. "Hey handsome," giving him a kiss, and then said, "Hey gorgeous," turning to Matt, I leaned over to kiss him as well. That earned me a genuine smile and I was very happy to see it.

"You guys enjoying yourselves?" I asked the three lions I had never met before. Two of them said, "Yes, thank you," but the other one had a scowl on his face. 

"As much as we can with the dogs," this guy could fight, I could tell just by looking at him, never mind the feel of his agitation and power caressing my skin.

His eyes never stopped moving scoping out the others, always knowing what was going on around him. Muscles contracting, the vein in his throat throbbing; he was looking for a fight. Maybe not start one, but would sure like to finish it.

My smartass mouth to the rescue! "They all bathed," smelling Mason's neck sending a shiver down his spine, "And they all have flea collars on so what's the problem?" That got the tiniest smile out of him. "I have something for you, hold on. It might help." I slid off Mason's back, feeling the tension run through his shoulders even though I earned a chuckle out of him with the flee caller remark. Running smack into a very tense Braydon, his power to seem to be more intense. "You too," I said patting Braydon's chest seeing the strain in his eyes.

Finding my stash under the closest picnic table, I headed back to the uptight group to hopefully defuse some of the tension. "Mason," I called throwing him a tennis ball. "Will you take Braydon out to play fetch to get rid of some of that excess energy he has." Turning to the edgy lion, "This is for you," handing him a ball on a string, "Go pat that around for a while. It has catnip in it," I added with a smile.

For a moment, I contemplated that I may have gone too far. The area around them went silent and the other background noise seemed to fade into nothing but the soft breeze blowing the leaves on the trees. Edgy lion's smile grew then roared into laughter. The others followed and the tension was gone just like that. My work done. Then I noticed Sydney walk around back of the house. "You boys play nice, or I will have to bring out the big guns," I said walking away to greet Sydney. Their laughter followed me and put a smile on my face and eased the muscles in my back.

Sydney looked amazing and happy. The first time I met Jack's granddaughter, she was sitting by herself away from all the kids her age; a 16 year old trapped in a 12 year olds body, wearing an oversized shirt, baggy pants, and hair in pigtails. Right away I connected with her and helped with a tiny makeover. Since I had arrived and the first time I met Sydney, we had only seen each other a couple of times. Between me trying my best to spend equal amounts of time with Dmitri and Nickoli also time with my friends, it pretty much took up all of my time. By the looks of things, Sydney too has had her plate full; with new friends and what may be a boyfriend.

Sydney looked like a totally different person, outgoing, energetic, and positively glowing. Playing a quick game of catch up and lucky enough to hire a couple of her friends to cut her lawn once a week, I was off again.

I was so not the social type and always tried to avoid big crowds, but this time with the barbeque being my idea, but it helped that I felt comfortable around these people. I played the good little hostess and continued to socialize with everyone. Worried about everyone else I had ignored my friends more than I realized. They seemed to be Ok with that, but I wanted to take a little time for myself and do just that and spend a few minutes with them.

I sat with the men I loved, my best friends Mady and Mason, the leaders of the Pride and Pack, and along with Nate, Mady's husband and a few others all just shooting the shit while they ate. Everything was going smoothly, besides that tense moment with the edgy lion that I diffused swiftly with my charm, more like my smart-ass wit. More and more of the wolves and lions started to mingle amongst each other. I could not have asked for a better turn out.