The living room felt smaller than usual tonight. Miko sat curled against my left side on the couch, one ear flicking every time Akira's voice rose. Akira paced in front of the coffee table, tail lashing hard enough to stir the air. The twins were in their playpen a few feet away—Caz on his back, kicking at a dangling toy; Ava on her belly, chewing on the ear of a stuffed mouse—but something about the way they moved kept tugging at the edge of my attention. I couldn't put my finger on it, so I let it slide. Kids were weird.
"We are not doing this," I said for the third time, voice low but final. "Lilly made her choice. She left. We have a wedding to plan, two babies who still wake up screaming at 3 a.m., and a life we built together. I'm not dragging all of that into whatever mess she's in."
Miko's hand slid over mine, claws lightly pricking the back of my wrist in quiet agreement. "She's right, Akira. Mom… Lilly… she ran for a reason. If we go looking, we're painting a target on Caz and Ava's backs. On ours. I won't risk them."
Akira stopped pacing. Her ears were flat, eyes bright with the same stubborn fire I'd seen in Miko the night we met. "She's our mother. Both of ours. And she's out there alone while people—hunters, collectors, whoever the hell is chasing her—are closing in. You're telling me to just sit here and plan centerpieces while she might be—"
"While she might be exactly where she wants to be," Miko cut in, softer now. "She left us with Dad's clan. She left us safe. That was her call."
I watched Caz roll over and grab the playpen bars with both tiny paws. He rattled them once, twice, then glanced at Ava and made a low, frustrated chirp. Ava answered with a grumpy huff and swatted at his tail. Normal twin nonsense. I turned back to Akira.
"We stay," I said. "We raise our kids. We get married. End of discussion."
Akira's shoulders dropped. She stared at the floor for a long moment, jaw tight. "Fine," she muttered. "But I'm still pissed about it."
Miko exhaled, the tension bleeding out of her frame. She leaned over and pressed a kiss to my temple. "I'll put the monsters to bed."
She scooped both twins up with the easy grace of someone who'd done it a thousand times. Caz fussed, reaching back toward the playpen; Ava buried her face in Miko's shoulder and grumbled. I watched them disappear down the hall, then looked at Akira.
"You okay?"
She shrugged, ears still half-flat. "I will be. Eventually." She gave me a crooked, salty little smile. "Just… don't expect me to smile about it tonight."
I nodded. Fair enough.
Twenty minutes later the bedroom door clicked open. Miko stepped in wearing nothing but one of my old shirts, the hem barely covering the curve of her ass. The scent of her—warm fur, milk, and that faint vanilla she always carried—hit me like a drug. She locked the door, then crawled onto the bed and straddled my hips without a word.
Her hands pushed my shirt up. "I need you," she whispered, voice husky. "Need to feel us. Right now."
I sat up, catching her mouth in a slow, deep kiss while she ground down against the growing bulge in my sweats. She reached between us, freed me, and sank down in one smooth motion. The heat of her was insane—tight, slick, perfect. A low growl rumbled out of her chest as she started to ride, hips rolling in that lazy, filthy rhythm she knew drove me crazy. Her tail curled around my thigh, the soft fur brushing my skin with every downward stroke.
I let her set the pace for a while, hands on her waist, thumbs stroking the soft stripe of fur that ran down her belly. When her breathing turned ragged I flipped us, putting her on all fours. She arched instantly, presenting, claws digging into the sheets. I slid back into her from behind, deep and hard, the angle making her moan into the pillow. One hand fisted her tail at the base—gentle, possessive—and I fucked her until her thighs shook.
Then I pulled out, rolled her onto her side, and spooned up behind her. She hooked her top leg over mine, and I pushed back in, slow and grinding. My hand slipped between her legs, fingers circling her clit while I rocked into her. She came first, clenching around me with a broken little cry, ears pinned flat. I followed seconds later, burying my face in the crook of her neck as I spilled deep.
We stayed locked together, panting, her tail lazily curling around my calf.
"Love you," she murmured, already half-asleep.
"Love you more."
**Caz's POV**
The crib bars were stupidly tall.
I'd been trying to climb them for what felt like forever—paws gripping, back legs scrabbling, little grunts escaping every time I slipped. Ava was being a baby about it. She sat in the corner with her arms crossed (well, as crossed as a toddler's could get) and kept making these loud, whiny chirps that probably meant "we're gonna get caught, dummy."
I ignored her and tried again. One paw over the top rail, tail lashing for balance—
Ava grabbed my tail and yanked.
I tumbled back onto the padded bottom with a soft thump. She pointed at the door, ears flat, and made a bunch of angry little noises that sounded suspiciously like "Mommy and Daddy are right there, you idiot."
I huffed, sat up, and grabbed her tail right back. I pointed at the door too, then at the hallway, then made the same "shhh" gesture I'd seen Dad use when we were supposed to be sleeping. She blinked, then grumbled and flopped onto her belly, tail still in my paw.
Twenty minutes. I counted every second. I tried the bars again, tried boosting off Ava's back (she bit my ear for that one), tried stacking the stuffed animals into a wobbly tower. Nothing worked. My arms were jelly and my claws kept slipping on the smooth wood.
Finally I gave up, flopping down beside Ava in a grumpy heap. She immediately crawled over and curled against my side, still muttering baby complaints under her breath.
I stared at the ceiling, heart still racing.
I needed to know more about Lilly.
Mommy and Auntie Akira had been talking about her again. The way their voices got tight and low… something big was happening. And if the grown-ups weren't going to do anything, then somebody had to.
I was small. But I wasn't stupid.
I'd figure it out. Somehow.
For now, I wrapped my tail around Ava's and closed my eyes.
Tomorrow was another day.