Brother’s Best Friends Are My Mates novel Chapter 71

Lia

The thought had been on my mind for a while. After seeing what happened to Michael and Gabi, I realized that life was short. At any moment I could be kidnapped by a coven obsessed with this blood oath they wanted fulfilled.

Yes, the chances of it happening again were slim to none but it didn’t change the fact that anything could happen. I could blink and something could happen to one of us. It proved life was short. Before the five of us went through with our mating ceremony something could kill one of us.

It was something I didn’t want to happen. The best way to prevent it was to have the full mating ceremony now.

I had thought about it on my own for a while. For days, I went through and weighed the pos and cons, trying to figure out what I should do. If I said the word all my mates would agree to have the full mating ceremony in a heartbeat.

But was I ready to take that step?

That was the big question.

When I first found out I had four mates, I thought my life was over. But fast forward and now I realized that my life wasn’t over at all. It was the beginning.

The four of them were who I wanted to spend my life with. College would come and go-I had money from my parents estate to take care of us all until I figured out what I wanted to do.

Now I knew what I wanted to do. I was going to have the full mating ceremony-provided all my future mates were good with that. We were going to have it sooner rather than later.

As soon as Gabi was found, that is.

I couldn’t have a ceremony without my brother’s mate and future pup in attendance. It would be a mockery if she wasn’t involved.

One day, when we were gathered all around the table, I decided it was time to drop the bomb or the news so to speak.

I took a deep breath, glancing around at the four men before me. “I want to have the full mating ceremony. Now. As soon as possible.”

Colby let out a low whistle. “Damn, Lia. Straight to the point, huh?”

Matt crossed his arms. “Are you sure? This isn’t something you have to rush.”

“Do we have time to wait?” I shot back. “After everything we’ve been through-the threats, the fights, almost losing each other-I don’t want to wait. I want this. I want us.”

Rain smirked. “I love it when you get all bossies.”

I tried to stifle a laugh and not smile, but it was hard when Rain was looking at me with that goofy smirk of his. He made it so easy to smile and laugh, which was why I loved him so much. Well, one of the reasons I did.

Jesse rolled his eyes. “You think everything Lia does is hot.”

“Not everything,” Rain said with a grin. “Just most things.”

Colby leaned forward, his smirk fading. “You’re sure about this? No second thoughts?”

I met his gaze without hesitation. “No doubts. I love you all, and I don’t see the point in waiting.”

Matt exhaled, rubbing a hand over his jaw. “Well, when you put it like that…”

Jesse nodded. “We’ve been waiting for you to be ready. We’re in, Lia.”

Rain grinned. “Yeah, let’s do this.”

Colby stepped closer, his green eyes searching mine. “Then it’s settled. We’ll have the full mating ceremony. No holding back.

Warmth spread through me as they all agreed, my heart swelling with relief and excitement. This was happening. This was real.

“All right,” I said, my voice steady despite the butterflies in my stomach. “We need to start planning. A ceremony like this requires the proper setting.”

“The pack’s sacred clearing,” Matt suggested. “It’s traditional.”

Colby nodded. “We’ll need an elder to officiate. Michael’s got connections.”

Rain grinned. “And a party after, right? No way we’re doing this without celebrating.”

Jesse, still watching me carefully, finally spoke. “This means everything changes, Lia. Are you ready for that?”

I stepped forward, placing my hand on his. “I know. And I’m ready. I want all of you, fully and completely. I don’t want to live in fear anymore.”

Matt sighed, shaking his head with a small smile. “Guess there’s no talking you out of this. Not that I’d want to.”

“Damn right,” I said, smirking. “So, we do this together.”

Rain whooped. “All right then! Let’s get mated!”

Colby groaned. “Please don’t ever say that again.”

We all laughed, but the weight of the moment settled over us. This was the next step in our journey, and I was more than ready to take it.

“We should let the pack know,” I continued. “They’ll need to prepare. This won’t just be for us—it’s a bonding ceremony for everyone.”

“I’ll handle that,” Colby said. “We’ll need to get the word out fast.”

“It’s called sarcasm Rain,” Colby pointed out, barely holding back his laughter.

Meanwhile, Jesse was watching this scene play out with an impassive look on his face.

I glanced at Jesse, lifting a brow.

“Are you just going to sit there in silence or say something?”

Jesse blinked. “About what; Lia or Rain attempting to hilariously pinch you in his even more hilarious interpretation of your words?”

“Lia, Jesse.”

“I knew it was going to happen,” he said confidently. “It was only a matter of time before Lia started to realize we were all in this for the long haul and had no intention of hurting her. We just had to be patient.”

Sometimes Jesse’s cockiness got to me. How could he possibly think that it was going to all work out when none of us had evidence it was going to?

I huffed. “Okay, well, you could’ve shared that with us, Rain. Do you have any idea how freaked out we were during all of this, trying to figure out if Lia was ever going to want to go through with the mating ceremony?”

Rain coughed. “I wasn’t worried. My problem was I didn’t know how long it was going to take.”

“And what about you Colby?” I demanded. “Were you convinced of it too?”

He shrugged. “I was more in the middle. Unlike you Matt.”

Unlike my friends, I hadn’t been convinced. My past negative feelings were coming into play, making me think that something was going to eliminate all the progress we had made over the past few months.

But it was nothing more than my own struggles.

I should’ve expected that Lia would come around. It was just a matter of time.

“All of you need to shut the fuck up,” I grumbled, glaring at each of them.

Rain squirmed in his seat, the thought of having to shut up unbearable to him. I rolled my eyes, but didn’t say anything because I wasn’t in the mood to listen to any more of my friends chatter.

No matter how I thought about it, the fact was Lia had decided that it was time to push forward with the full-mating ceremony. I couldn’t be happier that we’d be fully mated, and registered with the state and werewolf association.

My only fear was that I would do something to fuck it up, but once again those were my personal feelings I had to work through and not Lia.