Shifters of Silver Peak: Mate For A Month by Georgette St. Clair Read Free Book Online

and unplugged it, and the soap stopped exploding out.
    She stood up, in a sea of ankle-high suds.
    “Hey, I’m Erika!” She stuck out her hand as if nothing had happened. Eileen felt the hammering of her heart slow down a little.
    “I’m Eileen, pleased to meet you.” She looked around mournfully. “I drowned his cabin.”
    Erika looked around. “Serves him right – your new mate is kind of an asshole.”
    At that, Eileen smiled. “So. You’ve met him.”
    Erika threw back her head and let out a loud, braying laugh. Eileen could only imagine the looks of horror on the faces of her social circle back home if they were to hear a laugh like that.
    But Eileen loved it. This woman was joyously unselfconscious. She didn’t give a damn what anyone thought about her.
    “Did you break that furniture too?” Erika asked, looking at the pile of splintered wood. “Are we having a furniture-breaking party? I call dibs on the table.”
    “No, actually, Marcus did that,” Eileen said.
    The pregnant lady had set down her basket of muffins on the kitchen counter. She picked one up and began eating it.
    “Sorry, I’m starving all the time these days,” she said around a mouthful of muffin. “I’m Chelsea, Roman’s mate. You’ve met Erika, and this is my dog, Pepper.”
    Pepper let out a yawn and regarded Eileen thoughtfully.
    “Technically, Pepper is her dog, but she loves me better,” Erika said. “Welcome to the pack, by the way. Sorry about your luck. Mating with Marcus, I mean.”
    “Erika, please!” Chelsea gave her a look of annoyance. She waddled over to the Adirondack chair and Erika helped her slowly sink down into it. Then Erika fetched the basket of muffins and handed one to each of them.
    Erika gave part of hers to Pepper.
    “She’s supposed to be watching her weight!” Chelsea chided Erika. “The vet said.”
    Pepper gave Chelsea a reproachful look and let out a blast of flatulence.
    “That was your fault,” Erika informed Chelsea. “You can go ahead and starve her. I’ll give her snacks and then she’ll love me even more.”
    Chelsea waved her hand impatiently at Erika.
    “Anyway. Ignore my crazy friend here. Roman told me what happened with Marcus, that you guys are going to pretend to be mated to keep the Council off of Marcus’ back. But I wanted you to know…he also thinks that you and Marcus are a good fit,” she said.
    “He what?” Eileen was shocked. She didn’t want to insult Chelsea’s mate, but he was clearly an idiot.
    “I know, I know,” Chelsea said as Pepper pawed at her leg and looked at the muffin in her hand. “Pepper, stop that. I am not Erika. Eileen, here’s the thing. Marcus comes off as an ass when you first meet him, but he’s actually one of the best guys I know.”
    The door banged open.
    “Stop spreading lies,” Marcus growled, walking into the room. Eileen flinched. So he actually was back. What was he doing home so early?
    “You do come off as an ass,” Chelsea said calmly.
    “Not that. The second part. About me being a good guy.”
    Chelsea rolled her eyes. “He’s got a dry sense of humor,” she assured Eileen. “Anyway, I have to head back to show my darling life-mate I’m okay, because he thinks that pregnancy makes me so fragile I might fall apart if there’s a breeze. But I wanted to let you know that the cub shower is Saturday at noon, in town, at my bakery. Wintergreen’s Bakery.”
    “They don’t know if it’s a boy or a girl, so we’re sticking to neutral colors. Oof,” Erika said, helping Chelsea to her feet.
    “Oh, you mean…I can come to the shower?”
    “Of course,” Chelsea said. “You’re part of our pack now. And you have no idea how glad I am you’re here! Most of the pack are men, and only a few have chosen life-mates, so we’re a little heavy on the testosterone around here.” She shot a glance at Marcus, who shrugged.
    “Also, I’m not very girly,” Erika added. “So she doesn’t really have anyone to