19 Walter Of Water (2/2)

”You look lovely tonight,” Bob compliments Margie.

Margie is confused, ”I don't understand. When we make love, it's so beautiful. I thought… I thought you were serious about me.”

”I am,” Bob responds sincerely, ”very serious. But I am also very serious about Otter. I love her,” admits Bob. ”I've asked her to have my baby and she's said yes.”

”Did you know about this Richy,” asks Margie.

Richy nods affirmatively, ”Uncle Bob's been good for Otter just like he's been good for you.”

”I just don't get it,” says Margie feeling betrayed.

Richy shares, ”Uncle Bob asked me about what I thought about him having strong feelings for both you and Otter. I compared it to having children. You love them all equally but value them each for their individuality. Your heart has enough room for more than one child, you love both of your parents, and your heart has the capacity to love more than one person.”

”I have four mates,” shares Amazonia. ”My love for each of my men is unique but equal.”

Margie doesn't know what to say in response to Amazonia, but to Richy she says, ”Children are one thing, sharing a lover is another. You would be singing a different tune if you had to share Talia.”

Talia takes a deep breath, straightens her shoulders and stands tall as she admits, ”I have three mates.” Then she watches her uncle's face for his reaction.

Uncle Bob retains Margie's hand as he leans back in his chair. Otter rests her hands on his shoulders as he looks at Talia. After a moment of shock, he asks, ”When and who?”

”Richy of course,” answers Talia, ”and Cougar and Wildcat. It wasn't intentional. It was an accident, but it is so.”

”How do you accidentally have sex with somebody,” asks Margie sarcastically.

”Talia hasn't had sex with anyone but me,” responds Richy irritated. ”I asked Cougar to wait for his divorce from Sheila to be final.”

”And my third mate is hanging out at the edge of my territory,” adds Talia. ”He's kind of avoiding me right now.”

”Uncle Bob,” Cougar asks him, ”do you remember when that unpleasant man, Fjord, came by Richy's while Tali was still healin'?”

”Of course,” answers Uncle Bob with a nod. ”It's just fine with me if I never see him again and he better keep his hands off of Otter.”

”Well that day,” Cougar continues, ”Talia accidentally made me and my dad her mates along with Richy.”

”How,” asks Margie.

Amazonia can see Richy, Talia and Cougar aren't sure how to explain. So she explains, ”I know you and Bob both know how some free folks are extra special.” She chooses her words carefully because she doesn't know how much Richy's grandfather knows about free people. He may have a Water Tribe tattoo, but the Water Tribe has never been thick with guardians so he still may not know about guardians. ”The special males are able to scent mark their mates. But in the Amazon Tribe, some females are also able to scent mark their mates. It just never happens intentionally when a female does it. It only happens when the special female is under stress of danger in order to protect herself.

Fjord is a very dangerous special male who showed up to make off with Talia while she was wounded. To protect herself, Talia chose protectors by scent marking them as her mates: Richy, Cougar and our father, Wildcat, all excellent choices.”

”I knew male guardians could scent mark their mates,” comments Walter absently. ”But I hadn't been aware female guardians could. Even if it's just a defense mechanism, that's still quite fascinating.”

Talia, Richy, Cougar and Zenith are all smiling amused. So much for Amazonia's carefully chosen words and Amazonia smiles amused too.

”I don't know,” responds Margie shaking her head. ”I don't know if I can handle this… And how are you really gonna feel Richy when Cougar's divorce is final and you have to start sharing Talia with Cougar completely.”

”It's final,” Bob informs Margie, ”as of today Cougar's divorce is final.”

Cougar laces his fingers with Talia's and the love they have in their eyes for each other is obvious. And when Richy laces his fingers with Talia's other hand, they look at each other the same way.

”So that's why you became so over joyed when I told you your divorce is final,” Uncle Bob says to Cougar.

”Yeah,” admits Cougar looking sheepish and giving Talia's arm a playful little swing, ”but it's their wedding night, so I guess I'll wait a few more days.”

”That's not necessary,” Richy tells Cougar, ”It's our wedding night, the three of us. You planned this wedding with me. And you can't say you weren't taking the vows with me. I know how much you love Talia. And I know how long you have been in love with her. It's our wedding night and you've waited long enough. Besides, you go into work tomorrow and I'll have Tali to myself for three and a half days.”

”Thanks Richy,” says Cougar looking lovingly at Talia. Talia gives Cougar's hand a playful tug and he leans over and gives her a deep kiss. Then Talia automatically turns and Richy gives her a deep kiss.”

”I would be so torn,” admits Margie not understanding. ”Why aren't you torn Talia?”

”Because I don't have to choose,” Talia shrugs. ”If I had to choose then I would be torn. I would be devastated.” Her grip tightens on both men's hands and they both crowd her protectively.

”So how is this supposed to work,” Margie asks Bob. ”And exactly who all would I be sharing you with?”

”Just Otter for the most part,” answers Bob.

”Well,” says Zenith raising her hand and Amazonia raises her hand too.

”Don't tell me you're in love with them too,” Margie tells Bob.

Zenith and Amazonia both laugh. Zenith tells Margie, ”No, but we are good friends, and Amazonia and I like to get together with him occasionally. That's all.”

”Oh, that's all,” repeats Margie rolling her eyes and shaking her head.

”Their friends with benefits,” explains Walter. ”It's very common in wild society. It's part of socializing, part of daily life, like people getting together for drinks with friends.”

Margie takes her hand away from Bob's and clasps her hands between her knees. ”I was brought up one woman to one man, one man to one woman.”

”That sounds good in theory,” responds Amazonia, ”but sometimes women outnumber men or vice versa. If we practiced this, some people would be left without a mate. They would be alone. No one should have to spend their life alone… Cougar has loved Talia his whole life. Trying to live without her caused him to drink too much and he ended up married to that dangerous woman.

If Richy refused to share her, Cougar would continue to suffer. And Talia would suffer too. She has loved Cougar her whole life. She needs them both and Wildcat. And all three of them need her.

If there was one perfect one for all of us and we were guaranteed to meet him or her, then what you believe, one-to-one, would be fine. But it just isn't like that in reality.”

”I don't know,” says Margie standing up, ”I just don't know… I need to be alone. I need time to think. I've gotta go.”

”I'll walk you to your car,” says Bob following her.

Margie walks fast avoiding making eye contact with Bob. Bob is just a step or two behind her. Otter follows at a distance. Otter waits by the front doors as Bob follows Margie to her car. Otter watches a brief exchange of words between Bob and Margie. Bob takes Margie's face in his hands and kisses her tenderly. Margie pulls away from Bob, gets into her car and pulls away.

When Bob gets back to the front doors, Otter throws her arms around Bob's neck and he hugs her tightly. He kisses her. Then he guides her back inside where they're showing the domestic guests to rooms for the night.

Richy shows Judge Cyril Suzuki to a room for the night. He shares with Richy, ”I've known Walter a long time. I knew him back when he was with Ibis. This is the happiest I have seen him since then.”

”I'm really not sure how I feel about it,” admits Richy. ”I like Walter. I don't like Lance… My mother never knew him…” Richy shrugs.

”You're his grandson,” Cyril tells Richy, ”and while he loves all his grandchildren, he actually likes you. And you've married one of his favorite people on the face of the earth. One of my favorites too…

He would have spent his life with Ibis if his father and grandfather hadn't interfered. You're his second chance, a chance to make things right. He's going to make sure the whole world knows you're his, his grandchild from the child he had with the woman he truly loved, and that he's finally snagged Talia Devonshire as an in-law.”

”Sounds like a pain in the ass to me,” says Richy. ”He'll have media hounds snooping all around my town.”

Cyril shrugs, ”I saw how you did with the paparazzi at the charity ball. You'll handle things just fine. Goodnight, Richard.”

”Goodnight, Cyril,” and Richy joins Cougar and they rejoin with Talia.

”I think everyone that needed a room for the night has one,” Talia tells them. ”I guess we need to join the cleaning crew.”

”They can manage without us,” says Richy.

Talia steps up to Roar and aunt Seal, ”Do you need us to pitch in?”

”No,” answers Roar, ”We're fine.”

”We've got things covered,” adds Seal.

”Get lost for the night,” insist Amazonia. ”We'll see y'all in the morning.”

Talia shrugs and takes a hand of each man, ”Okay, but we offered to help.” Then she leads Richy and Cougar to her guest house.

Talia reaches for the door and Cougar tugs her back away from the door. He tells her, ”This is the part where Richy carries you over the threshold.”

”I don't even know what that silly tradition is about,” responds Talia.

”You carry her over the threshold,” Richy tells Cougar. ”I can carry her over the threshold at my house when we get home tomorrow.”

Wildcat sees the exchange of words between Talia, Richy and Cougar, but he can't hear them. He watches Cougar scoop Talia up into his arms as Richy opens the front door of Talia's guest house. Cougar gives Talia a devouring kiss. Then he steps through the doorway with Talia in his arms and Richy steps in behind them closing the door behind himself.

Richy let Cougar carry Talia over the threshold. Wildcat doesn't care much about domestic traditions, but this he understands. Taking possession of one's woman, he understands. Richy is sharing Talia with Cougar. He's sharing Talia and when he goes to claim his rights to Talia, he won't be taking her against her will or against Richy's wishes. But he'll give them a little more time to settle in together before he goes to her and claims his rights to her as her mate too. He wishes Roar, Zenith and Amazonia would stop being so tight lipped with him and stop telling him he needs to talk with her. He knows he needs to go to her, but he doesn't want to be an animal about it. He doesn't want it to be all demanding animal instincts and hormones. He wants to be able to touch Talia with the love, honor and reverence she deserves.

Richy and Cougar had decided on wedding robes for the wedding party instead of tuxes and gowns. Inside the modest guest house there's candle light from scented candles, and the wedding robes are sliding to the bedroom floor.

”Richy, was all this jewelry really necessary,” asks Talia.

”Yes,” answers Richy even though the answers is technically no. But he could see it on her when he and Cougar picked it out and it's every bit as spectacular on her as they both imagined.

”Well let's get it off of me and put it up,” says Talia concerned about the expensive jewelry.

Both men shake their heads no and say, ”Nah.”

Cougar turns Talia to face the full length mirrors on the closet doors and tells her, ”Look at you.”

Talia frowns, ”I'ld rather look at the two of you. I like it when you're naked.”

”Well, we like it when you're naked,” Cougar tells her running a hand down her arm. ”Look at how the gold and platinum look against your naturally tan skin. It's priceless. You can't buy beautiful like that… Look at how this necklace lays across your breasts.” He cups a breast and the elaborate necklace shifts slightly. His other hand slides into her black triangle of curls. ”You're beautiful, every inch of you. And you deserve to be covered in the best jewels money can buy.”

Cougar's mouth covers the sensitive spot on Talia's neck, and she rest her head back against him. Both he and Richy guide her to the bed. Richy slides onto the bed first and they place her leaning back against Richy. Cougar spreads her legs wide and Richy holds her feminine lips open for him as he tastes Talia sending the first orgasm rippling through her body as she grips Richy's arms.

Cougar moves over Talia, taking an extra dark chocolate nipple into his mouth. The head of his cock pushes into her. She's tight and he has to work to get all of his cock inside her. Then he's finally making love with Talia, and the sounds of her mouth and the movements of her body are for him.

Richy's not feeling any jealousy as he touches and kisses Talia. He's in awe as he caresses a breast, a breast that will feed their future children. Then there's her tummy that will soon be swelling as their unborn child grows in her womb. Finally, there's her remarkable feminine channel Cougar is currently thrusting into. That channel will bring forth their children.

Talia's purr kicks in, but it's not the same purr she has for Richy. This purr is different because it's for Cougar. It's more serene than her purr for Richy, more content. Richy hears the difference, but he's not jealous. He takes comfort in knowing that if anything happened to him, Cougar would be there for Talia. He and Cougar both have jobs that can be very dangerous where men and women sometimes die in the line of duty. And if something happened to both of them, then there was still Wildcat who is still technically avoiding Talia. Richy and Cougar were both concerned that he didn't attend the wedding. And even though Talia only mentioned it once, he knows she's really missing Wildcat and she's hurt that he didn't come to the wedding.

As Talia's orgasms grow in their intensity, her eyes turn black and her claws extend from beneath her nails. Cougar can hardly believe that Talia is beneath him, that he is inside her. He can't kiss her enough. And with her eyes gone black and her claws extended, he just finds that hot as hell. Then as a maximum orgasm sweeps over Talia, she rakes her claws down Cougar's back, physically marking him as hers just as she did with Richy. Cougar's back arches as he cums inside her. He felt a stinging sensation as her claws raked his back, but there's so much sexual adrenalin he didn't experience any true pain.

Cougar lies over Talia. They're both breathing heavily. Her eyes are wet with happy tears as she pulls her fingers through Cougar's golden curls as they catch their breath. Cougar lifts his head and rest his forehead to Talia's forehead.

”I love you,” Talia tells Cougar. Cougar's eyes well up with tears too. ”I love you too, always have, always will,” and he kisses her again.

Talia turns to Richy and tells him gratefully, ”Thank you.”

Richy sees the same thank you in Cougar's eyes and tells them, ”You're both welcome.” Then he leans over and kisses Talia. Cougar slides out of his way and Richy slides over Talia.

”I don't know if there isn't anything I wouldn't do to make you happy,” Richy tells her as he positions himself between her legs. He finds that Cougar having gone first has made things a little easier for him. Talia doesn't get much sleep, but she isn't complaining.

Cougar wakes her shortly after dawn. She hears Richy in the shower as they make love. And as she and Cougar have a shower, Richy makes breakfast. They eat breakfast together, the three of them talking, laughing and joking. Then they go to see off the rest of the domesticated guest that spent the night at the estate.

Aunt Seal, Otter, Zenith, Squirrel, Angel, Hyena, Amazonia and a few other women made sure the overnight guests all got a good breakfast before they left. The only domesticated people left are Uncle Bob, Walter and Lance Drumpt. It has been decades since Walter has slept that well, and it wasn't the extra soft queen sized bed. He slept surrounded by children that all wanted to be near Grey-pa and his daughter Seal slept across the foot of the bed to be near him. Cold little feet, bony little elbows and knobby little knees jarring him throughout the night just made him feel loved. And he hadn't felt loved in a very long time. Hyena's two children and Roar's two boys have adopted him as their grey-pa too.

Lance wishes his grandfather would put on a shirt, and he didn't know the man owned a pair of jeans. And when his cousin Richy and the best man, Cougar walk in with Talia, Lance suddenly feels like an ugly duckling. Both men are dressed only in jeans, tall, broad shoulders and ripped abs. And both are obviously in love with Talia, who's wearing a white tank top with a pair of jeans that hug her curves nicely. But Lance not knowing anything about mate sharing wonders how long before Richy's friend makes a move that will ruin their friendship. To Lance's dismay, his grandfather lights up at the sight of the three of them. Not that the man wasn't already more sunshiny happy than Lance had ever seen him before.

”Good morning Walter,” greets Talia hugging him. ”Did you sleep well?”

”Wonderfully,” answers Walter cheerfully, ”but you're family now. You should call me grandpa or poppa like Seal. No more Mr. Drumpt or Walter, okay?” He kisses Talia's forehead.

”We got it Grey-pa,” Cougar answers for Talia grinning happily.

”And how about you Richy,” asks Walter. ”Or would you prefer I call you Mist?”

Richy shrugs as he sits on a stool and pulls Talia between his legs and hugs her, ”Which ever you're most comfortable with is fine. But you're gonna have to be patient with me Walter. Sometimes I'm slow to warm up to new people. And I'm still absorbing the news that you're my grandfather.”

Walter nods, ”Understood.”

Roar brings a tray of herbal tea over to the happy trio and ask, ”Did y'all have breakfast yet?”

”Yep,” answers Talia, ”Richy made us breakfast.”

”Well, there are some fruit and cream cheese pastries left,” Seal informs them.

”Oh, I'll have one,” says Talia smiling.

”Me too,” adds Cougar.

Lance leaves to go to the restroom as Greywolf pauses just outside the open kitchen doors holding a leather leash with a cream colored dog at the end of it. He breeds the Animalistic Tribe's dogs. They come in two colors, cream and black. He'll be setting up a roadside stand for the summer with other tribe members to do trading with domestic folks. Domestic folks who want a good strong healthy intelligent dog that will be good with their children and/or make a good watch or guard dog will come and trade for one. The smart folks will trade for nearly adult dogs that are already house broken and trained. The not so smart folks will give in to the kids and trade for a puppy that will need to be housebroken etc.

Seal sets warm fruit and cream cheese pastries in front of Talia, Cougar and Richy. Talia waves at Greywolf and motions him inside.

”Thank you for coming to our wedding,” Talia says to Greywolf smiling.

Greywolf smiles shyly at Talia glancing at her shyly with his truly grey eyes through long black lashes as he tells her, ”Glad to attend. Thanks for having me. Don't get to be part of something like that every day. I was honored to be there… I know y'all don't expect any gifts, but this is one of my best. He's eight months old, housebroken and stuff.” He holds the leash out for Talia to take.

Talia accepts the leash, ”Thank you, Greywolf. He's beautiful.” She kneels down and puts her hands into the dog's lush creamy fur. ”What's his name?”

Greywolf shakes his head, ”I don't name them. No sense in naming 'em when I'm not gonna keep them. But he's really smart. He'll learn whatever you decide to call him real quick.”

”Thank you, he's wonderful,” Talia smiling brightly truly pleased with the dog. ”Eight months, he's so big already and he's got four more months of growing. He's gonna be huge…

Who's a big boy,” Talia asks the dog. ”Maybe we should call him Big Boy.”

Richy and Cougar both shake their heads. Cougar says, ”Not tough enough.”

Talia pouts out her bottom lip, ”Why does it have to be tough? I think Big Boy's a cute name.”

”How about Big Dawg,” suggest Cougar. ”That's cute and tough.”

Talia's face is still pouty as she says, ”But I like Big Boy.”

”Then call him that,” Greywolf tells Talia. He pokes one of the fresh claw marks down Cougar's back with a dual purpose. First because it hurt like hell and he's dying to be one of the men at Talia's side. He's always hated the fact that Cougar has always had an advantage with Talia. Plus, he's still mad that Cougar bloodied his nose once when they were kids. It took him forever to get up the courage to ask Talia to play mates with him and Cougar ruined it. Next, to tell Cougar to shut up and let Talia call the dog whatever she wants. The dog's a gift for Talia he's spent months getting ready for her.

Greywolf never shunned Talia. But he's always been painfully shy. Talking to women is difficult for him. But luckily, he's a beautiful man. His skin's a beautiful shade of deep tan. He's not as tall as Richy or Cougar yet he's still tall and just as broad shouldered with a slightly better muscle tone because he lives free. His true black hair hangs in curls down his back. And of course his most spectacular feature are his truly grey eyes. So women approach him frequently. He doesn't have to try to talk to them and he has four children by four different women and is a good father.

And when it comes to the Animalistic tribe's dogs, Greywolf is an expert. He chose this dog for Talia six months ago intending to give him to her as an ice breaker, but he waited too long and Talia now has three mates. Greywolf is a guardian and out ranks both Richy and Cougar because they are technically just ghost, and until Wildcat actually claims his rights to Talia as her mate, Greywolf could take advantage of the situation. Except he respects Talia, Roar and Wildcat and would never do anything that would hurt his relationship with Roar or Wildcat and especially Talia. So he's simply presenting the dog as a wedding present.

Cougar endures the pain of the hard deep slow poke without making a sound. He gets the message, shut up and let Talia call the dog whatever she wants.

Richy gets the message too and tells Talia, ”Big Boy's fine,” which causes Talia's face to light up happily. She stands back up to drink her tea.

As Lance is returning from the bathroom, he sees Cougar's bareback and asks in a shout, ”What the hell attacked you!?!”

Talia chokes on her tea and both Richy and Cougar grab one of her arms and lifts it over her head. Talia manages to choke out, ”I'm okay.”

”Crap, that looks like it hurts,” Lance says to Cougar. ”What happened?”

Greywolf knows it was Talia who clawed Cougar's back and says amused, ”Looks like some female got carried away.” He nods his salutation to the two men with a smile, ”Cougar… Mist…”

”Mmm,” says Roar knowingly, ”Same female got Richy too. Check out the scars on his back.”

”A woman did this,” asks Lance. ”You have to point her out to me so I stay the hell away from her.”

”Don't worry,” Talia informs Lance, ”you're not her type.”

”I'm glad of that,” responds Lance. Then he turns to his grandfather, ”Grandpa, everyone's gone except Mr. Devonshire and he's obviously hanging around for the wild punony. Nice piece of ass by the way Mr. Devonshire, but we really should get going.”

”You're free to go Lance,” Walter tells him, ”Go on home. But I'm going to hang out for a while, live wild for a while.”

”Come on, Grandpa,” Lance reluctant to leave behind his grandfather. ”What if you got hurt or killed out there?”

”If I got hurt, my tribe would nurse me back to health,” says Walter confidently. ”If I die, I'll be with my Ibis. Out there near my Ibis is where I want to die. I don't want to be put in some cold impersonal cemetery or mausoleum. I don't want my ashes sitting in some urn on a fireplace mantle gathering dust. I want my body out there returning to nature, returning to my Ibis. I'm staying.”

Lance looks skeptical, but he's anxious to get out of here. He feels like a fish out of water. There are plenty of beautiful women around, but he doesn't know how to approach one. Besides, part of him is hoping Talia's marriage will fail and he doesn't want her throwing in his face that he boned some friend of hers. So he finally tells his grandfather, ”Fine.” He tells Talia and Richy ”Good luck,” and heads for his car.

After eating their pastries and drinking their tea, Talia, Richy and Cougar go outside to play with their new dog and the children. Walter watches them content and happy to be away from the chaos and constraints of being a Drumpt, free to be himself. Free to be Ibis's Walter, because despite how many years it's been that's still who he still is in his heart.

After about an hour of playing, Cougar whispers in Talia's ear and she giggles. Then he calls, ”Richy, Talia's gonna help me pack up for work.”

Richy knows Cougar is already packed for work because he and Talia helped Cougar pack for work after they ate breakfast. Cougar just doesn't want to shout out in front of everyone he wants to be alone with their woman. The average free person wouldn't understand Cougar wanting to be alone with Talia.

Cougar tosses Talia over his shoulder and gives her bottom a light swat. He dodges a few kids. Big Boy thinks it's a new game. But Big Boy finds himself shut out of the guest house and lays down by the door to wait for Talia. He understands that his trainer gave him to the woman.

Inside the guest house, Cougar flips Talia from his shoulder to his arms for a devouring kiss. It never bothered him to leave Sheila to go to work for three and a half days. But leaving Talia for three and half days which equals being away from her for eighty-four hours or five thousand fourty-five minutes or three hundred two thousand four hundred seconds none of which includes travel time, is bothering him. She's pregnant and he doesn't want to miss a second of it. And when he brings his child home to her, Talia will be the only mother it knows. But for now, before he has to leave for work, all he wants to do is bury himself deep inside her. He can't tell her enough that he loves her.

Walter motions for Richy to come over and sit with him and he does.

”How long have you know Cougar,” Walter asks Richy.

”Since Kindergarten,” answer Richy. ”We've been best friends since kindergarten. Our parents were good friends too. But mine died in an air shuttle crash a little over a decade ago. Cougar's mom died from lung cancer. She'd been a chain smoker through her twenties and thirties. She passed about seven years ago… We were worried about Wildcat for a while after she died. Free folks seldom suffer from depression, but when they do it's serious. It's the only time a free person may become suicidal. When he started mating again, we knew he was okay. After the loss of a mate, if a free person doesn't start mating again, it's a bad sign.”

Walter nods sadly, ”That's what happened to my Ibis… Forgive me if I keep going back to that. Somehow, I was still hoping to find her again, to come back to her if she would have me…

So is it everything you hoped and dreamed it would be son?”

Richy smiles and laughs, ”Hell no! ... In some ways, it's better than I imagined. I stupidly thought that when I met the one, everything would just fall into place effortlessly. Silly me.”

Walter sighs, ”Well anything worth having requires effort. Lance doesn't understand that. He thinks money can buy him everything, including love. But there are some things that no amount of money can ever buy: love, self-respect, dignity, pride, honor… Won't find those on a store shelf anywhere…

Please forgive my next question if it's too personal or none of my business. But what are you feeling right now? Aren't you the least bit jealous or concerned?”

”Nah,” Richy tries to explain, ”Talia and Cougar have known each other their whole lives. And when I realized he was in love with her and she loves him too, I was a little mad and jealous, but mostly I was scared of losing her. Then I learned how they had never had a chance. Talia's father didn't think Cougar was appropriate for her and Cougar had come to believe it himself. I felt bad for both of them…

Cougar's my best friend and he's spent the last fifteen years trying to drown his feelings for Talia with alcohol. He married Sheila in an attempt to move forward and have what he couldn't have with Talia.

Talia is the love of his life as much as she is the love of my life. I didn't know it was possible to love someone so much. But she's spent so much time sad and alone. She's emotionally scarred and in many ways socially crippled. I usually don't know the right thing to say or do to help her. But Cougar usually knows exactly what to do or say when she's upset or scared.

Then seeing them together, seeing Cougar sober and happy, seeing Talia smile truly happy just warms my heart. And the gratitude that they both have…

Cougar would still be my best friend if I refused to share Talia. Talia would still be my mate if I told her she couldn't be with Cougar. She wouldn't leave me. But Cougar would probably slip back into the bottle and avoid me because it would hurt too much to look at me and know I have the one woman he will always love. Talia would be so sad and I would feel like a failure as her mate to let her exist like that.”

Walter nods his understanding. He doesn't think he could have shared Ibis. But he would rather have shared Ibis than for her to have died the way she did alone with no hope. ”Sounds like it's actually to your advantage to share her with Cougar. You get a best friend who's sober and happy. And a mate who's happy too.”

”And,” adds Richy, ”I get the help I need dealing with a challenging mate.”

”So, you and Cougar have an understanding.” But Walter's still concerned, ”But Talia has a third mate, Cougar's father, Wildcat. How will that work out? I know it's not unusual for brothers or best friends to share a mate, but a father and son…”

”I know,” responds Richy, ”it's a unique situation. But we'll work things out. Besides, we need him. Here in free society, Cougar and I are just ghosts. We don't have any true rank in our tribes. And until Wildcat claims his rights to Talia as her mate, it's possible for nearly any male from any tribe to come take advantage of the situation. I'm not worried about anyone from our tribe trying anything except for our current chief, Fjord. Everyone else in our tribe respects me. I don't need to worry about Amazon males because Amazonia wouldn't allow it and all females out rank males for them. So with them a 'no' from Talia means no.”

”But Fjord and maybe some others from other tribes and even her own tribe like that Greywolf may try to take advantage of the situation.” Walter may not have a sense of smell like a free person, but he's observant.

Richy nods, ”Greywolf definitely has a thing for Talia, probably has for a long time. That dog is a gift for her, not us. But he respects Talia, Roar, Cougar and Wildcat. And even most of the other members of her tribe that really don't respect her, respect Roar, Cougar and Wildcat enough not to try anything stupid,” he hopes.

”But there are other tribes out here,” Walter understands free social dynamics very well, ”and our tribe is weak. We need to be friendly and submissive to other tribes, even when they're being jerks.”

When Cougar and Talia exit the guest house, Cougar is dressed for work with his duffle bag slung over his shoulder and his hair pulled back into a tight braid that hangs down his back. Talia is under his arm and he braided her hair into a tight braid down her back. Big Boy pops up to be at Talia's side and Richy jogs over to walk with them to Cougar's car.

Cougar gives Talia a long tight hug and a deep loving kiss. He gives Richy a hug and tells him, ”Take care of our girl.” Then he slides in behind the steering wheel.

”You know I will,” Richy tells Cougar as Talia slips under his arm.

”See y'all in three and half days,” Cougar calls as he pulls away and they wave.

”He really didn't want to go,” Talia tells Richy.

”I know, but he'll be fine,” Richy assures her.

Talia nods. ”We need to help make sure the big house is shut up properly.”

”Okay,” says Richy not excited about cleaning and organizing. At least they have plenty of help. And Richy learns Walter's not afraid to get his hands dirty. By late afternoon, the big house has been cleaned up, the motion sensors, timers and other security devices turned on. The mansion has never been broken into nor any of the guest houses, but Talia's grandfather had taught her it was better to be safe than sorry.

Richy and Talia are driving back to his house in his car. Walter has opted to stay with Seal and the others. They'll spend a few days with Roar and his tribe before they make their way back to Richy's territory and the rest of the Water Tribe, giving Richy and Talia a few days alone.