She started to stick her tongue out at him but let out a burp instead. Startled, Glory reared back, her eyes crossing as she glared suspiciously at her tongue.
Jim’s brows rose. “That’s attractive.”
Ryan’s head hit the table, his shoulders shaking as he laughed his ass off.
“Okay, so we need to talk to Max. Got it.” Jim leaned in, keeping his voice down. Ryan was still busy laughing, so he’d have to rely on Glory to make sure Ryan understood what he was saying. “I need to figure out a way to up my security without making Chloe worry too much.”
“Barney might have some ideas.” Ryan lifted his head off the table and wiped a tear from his eye. “Ah, geez, I needed that laugh.”
“You’re welcome.” Glory bit into her sandwich with a disgruntled look.
“You’re going to have to explain to Spencer what’s going on as well.” Ryan finally got his laughter under control. “He’ll need to understand why we’re all worried about Chloe.”
Glory nodded and swallowed. “There’s also the chance that they’ll go after him in order to get to her.”
“Or you.” Ryan pointed his finger at Jim. “So keep your ears perked for anything, and I mean anything, out of the ordinary.”
“Alex and Tabby are busy getting ready for the birth, so you’re going to have to rely more on Ryan and me, and probably Eric.” Glory patted his hand, and this time she was careful of her strength. “Cyn and Julian will also be available whenever you want.”
“We can watch your place the way we did Glory’s.” Ryan’s sapphire eyes had specks of deep brown in them, the memory of the pain his mate had gone through bringing out his Bear. “We’ll talk to Uncle Will and get a schedule set up amongst us, and the girls will work something out between them.”
“We can keep Chloe here when she’s not with doctors or therapists.” Glory bit her lip. “In fact, why don’t you bring Spencer here too? We can introduce him to the family and see what he thinks about shifters.”
“He knows about shifters, it’s just a matter of whether or not to change him.”
Ryan froze, and Glory grimaced.
Jim glanced back and forth between them. “I’m going to go with I did something wrong.”
“Not exactly.” Ryan set his sandwich down. “But now it’s not so much a matter of will he be changed as what he’ll be changed into.”
Glory was looking at Ryan with a pained expression. “We’ll give him the choice, but now that he knows about us he’ll have to be changed.”
Ryan shot him a look full of sympathy. “And I hate to say this, but it will be painful. A non-claiming bite always is.”
Damn it. The last thing Jim wanted to do was inflict the kind of pain Jim had gone through on Spencer. His brother had been through more than enough already. But if it was the only way, then Spencer would at least get a choice about what shifter he’d become. “I’ll talk to him, then. He might have a preference.”
“Bring him here first and let him meet the Bears and Foxes. He might not want to be part of a Pack or Pride, but since he’s lost all his family except you—”
“And you’re a Wolf,” Ryan interjected.
“Exactly. He might crave that closer connection.” Glory hitched her thumb toward the curtain. “Tabby knows more about that than even you.”
“So bring him here tomorrow. Chloe might also have a few things to say.”
“Hmm.” Jim stared at the curtain as if he could see through it to his mate. “I need to talk to her about working for me again as well. My partner suggested she become a vet tech and work labs for us.”
The excited, distinctly canine yip told him his mate could hear more than he’d thought of the conversation he was having with Ryan. A few moments later, Chloe barreled through the curtain and threw herself at him, nearly toppling them both over. “You mean it?”
He laughed and nodded. “Get certified and you’ve got a job.”
The sloppy kiss she laid on him in thanks wasn’t the most expert kiss he’d ever gotten, but it had to be the best one he’d ever been privileged to receive.
Chapter Twelve
“One little, two little, three little koozies, four little, five little, six little koozies…”
Chloe giggled as Tabby tossed can koozies one after the other into a cardboard box. She hadn’t realized how many of the foam can coolers she’d stuffed into that drawer until Tabby started emptying it.
“How many goddamn koozies does one person need?” Tabby shook her head. “Half of them are for different lawn products, and this one…” She shuddered. “This one has foam boobies on it.”
“That one belongs to Ryan.” Chloe wasn’t going to take the fall for that one, no matter how hard Ryan shook his head no. “He hid it here when he mated Glory.”
“Oh, really?” Glory glared at Ryan, who tried his best to look innocent.
He failed miserably. “It’s for breast cancer?”
Glory put her hands on her hips. “Why was that phrased as a question?”
“Because he’s in jeopardy!” Chloe crowed, ducking when Ryan took a swing at her.
“Traitor.” Ryan stuck his tongue out at her before turning back to his mate. “Now, Glory, you know I only touch your koozies these days.”
“Ass. Hole.” Glory picked up the boobie koozie and threw it at Ryan.
Alex strode out of Chloe’s bedroom, a huge box in his arms. “Where do you want this?”
“What’s in bit?” Chloe tilted her head, trying to read Alex’s chicken scrawl.
“Girl stuff.” He shrugged as if the box weighed nothing.
“Ah. Put it by the door.” It was more than likely stuff she’d need sooner rather than later. If Jim had his way she’d already be living under his roof, but she had years of living in this apartment to pack away. There was no way it was going to take less than a week to pack everything up.
Hell, if her family had their way she’d have been at Jim’s before the end of last weekend. They wanted to know the Wolf was guarding her door night and day and that Jim was with her when they couldn’t be. While that hadn’t happened so far, even her parents were pushing her to move in with her mate.