Torrent felt nervous. Ever since meeting the human female. Since bringing her into his life and falling hard for her, he’d experienced a range of new emotions.

Jealousy. Blinding fear. Fierce love. A need to protect like nothing before and then there was nervousness. He didn’t like this new emotion at all.

His mouth felt dry. His hands clammy.

“Do I look okay?” Candy turned to him. Her eyes were wide and her skin pale. Too pale.

“You look amazing.”

“You’re not just saying that?”

He gave her the once over. Candy was dressed in a navy blue dress. It was… what had she called it, a knitted fabric or something. It had a conservative neckline and ended just above her knee but somehow it still made her look sexy as fuck. Maybe because it fit her perfectly, accentuating her curves perfectly. “I swear.” His voice had turned a bit growly. “It’s perfect.”

She played with the string of pearls around her neck. He had some of the males fetch her things the day before. “I guess I’m a bit nervous about meeting your family.”

“They’ll love you.” The pearls added to the appeal. The way they lay between her breasts. Drawing the eye. Shit! Eyes up. Friends. They were friends. Just friends. At least for now.

“I broke off our engagement… our mating thingy. They might be upset with me.”

He stepped towards her. He clasped her elbow. “I was the one that lied. I’m the one taking the flack for it. It’s not your fault. I was very clear about that.”

Her eyes looked clouded in thought and maybe with a tad of concern. She nodded. “Will the dogs be okay?”

“It’s dinner.” He tilted her chin up. “We’ll only be gone for a couple of hours at most. They’ll be just fine. Look at them.” The furry pup lay on his back, legs in the air. He was snoring softly. Candy the Second lay with her head resting on her paws. There was a knocking sound as she wagged her tail when she caught him looking her way. The wagging was quickly followed by a soft growl.

“Still wary of you.”

“Mmmm.” He allowed his gaze to move to her lips for a moment. “It looks like it.”

She gave him a nervous half smile and thread her fingers through his. “Let’s do this.” Then she held back. “Do you know who I’m most nervous about meeting?”

His stomach felt like it contained a lump of lead. “My grandmother.”

She nodded her head. “I think your brothers will be okay. I already feel like I know Lake because of everything Sky has told me about him. I already met Tide and your youngest brother. Tide at the rescue and Storm was the guy who dropped me off when…” She let the sentence die.