Shifter Nanny Agency

by Celeste Raye

  “Yes, and we have to find a way to take out the Jackie witch. She is the one that I’m going to have to worry about. We’re going to have to find a witch stronger. A coven. Hell, I don’t know. We have some meetings coming up about it. We will find a way to finally take her out.”

  “I like that you’re being so optimistic about it.”

  “We have to be. There is no other way. We can’t give up.”

  He leaned over and kissed her before they heard some noises from the twins. As much as he wanted to continue the kiss, he pulled away.

  “Hey, guys. I didn’t know that you were going to be up so early.”

  “We thought we heard Mona.”

  They both gave her a hug and sat on the porch steps, asking how her trip was. Mona told them that it was good, but there was a lot that she wasn’t thinking of.

  Happy to have everyone home, Jack made sure that they spent the day together and nothing else was said about the Organization. There was more security than ever and Jack knew that it would be amped up even more now.

  When they went to bed that night, there was still no more talk of their murky past. Jack made sure that his thoughts were only on Mona. He wanted to give her all of his attention.

  “You at least have to tell me where we are going, Jack. This is not fair.”

  “I don't know why you hate surprises so much.”

  “Because surprises always turn out bad. There are never any good surprises, are there?”

  “Well, finding out that you were carrying twins was a bit of a surprise. Don't you think? That is a good one.”

  She looked away and then smiled down at the bump of her stomach, rubbing it with a hand. The pregnancy was going a lot faster than she would have anticipated, but that was because shifters were just different. Soon she would have two little babies to bring into the world and all she could think about was trying to keep them safe.

  The car stopped, and he finally took a moment to let her see out.

  “I don't get it; where are we?”

  They were deep in the woods, and there were several houses put together. She recognized a couple of the people of that were coming out of their houses to greet them. It was part of his pack, but what were they doing way out here?

  “I don't get it, Jack. What's going on here?”

  “Let's just say that this is our new home.”

  “I thought you didn't want to live in the woods like all the rest of the shifters?”

  “It has come to my attention that there is a good reason to be out here. For what we have planned, we are going to need to have some massive meetings. That means that we're going to have to accommodate a lot of people and we're going to need to be able to fly in and out or come and go as we want to. No humans will see us, and hopefully it'll keep us off the radar of the Franklin Organization. At the moment, they know where we live, and even though they haven't done anything yet, it doesn't mean that I don't feel like we have to look over our shoulder every day. You know?”

  “Yes, I do. I think it's beautiful.”

  The house looked like it was made from the natural surroundings and everything blended in so well. Jack had been quite surprised at how quickly everything came together, not to mention how well it had been done. He had had a lot of help, and with enough money, anything could be done.

  “It will also be good when we have the ceremony. There will be people coming from all over the world to see us get married.”

  “What, married? Ceremony? What are you talking about?”

  Jack kind of smiled at her and then got down on his knees. She knew instantly what he was going to do, and she covered her mouth like she didn't trust herself not to scream.

  “There is something that I’ve been meaning to ask you, Mona.”

  She started to cry, and Jack smiled at her. Mona was always so emotional, even though when they first met, she had been hard to read. Now she didn't try to hide anything.

  “Mona, will you marry me? I know that we met in a weird way, but I wouldn't change any of it. It brought me to you, and that is all that matters.”

  She was overwhelmed with it all and all she could do was nod her head. It was a good enough answer for Jack, and he stood and lifted her into his arms, spinning her around. There was a little bit of applause from the people around them because they had already known about it. Jack had not been able to keep it to himself because he wanted his pack to accept her, which they had.

  “This is a good surprise, right?”

  Mona nodded her head. “I can't think of a better surprise than this.”

  That was all that Jack needed to hear.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  “I really wish that we didn't have to do this today.”

  “It is the perfect day to do this, Jack. Everyone is going to be here for the ceremony, so we might as well get a big meeting in at the same time. This is the best way to do it.”

  “But this is our wedding day. I don't want it to be marred with talk about the Franklin Organization.”

  “We need to talk about it, and now we have four reasons to make sure that we can all be safe. The boys, and now, the girls, all need to be kept safe. We can’t do that when the Organization is still around. It’s just biding our time. It would be the greatest wedding gift you could give me: peace of mind.”

  While Jack was still unsure what was going to happen, Mona already knew. She had been thinking about it a lot and the only way that they were going to be able to take down something as large and far-reaching as the Franklin Organization was to all come together.

  It wouldn't be the first time that the race had come together against a common enemy. It happened several times before. Shifters might not be able to take on witches by themselves, but together, they had already proven what giant feats they could achieve.

  He pulled her to him and gave her a kiss. She was already in her wedding dress, and her hair was done, her makeup as well. It was against tradition, but neither one of them saw it that way. Jack was just happy to have her say yes and for the wedding to finally be there.

  Jack had wanted to get married immediately after asking her, but Mona had made it clear that she was not interested. She wanted to have the babies first and be able to fit into her late mother’s dress. Wearing it was something that she had decided to do a long time ago, if she ever got married. Now that she was, all of those traditions that she had kind of turned her nose up at were becoming more important. Now that she had two daughters that she was going to have to keep up the traditions for.

  Mona pulled away after a moment and smiled up at Jack.

  “You know that you're not supposed to be in here, right?”

  “I wouldn’t go that far. I mean, it’s just superstition.”

  “Well, considering all of the bad luck that we've had lately, maybe we shouldn't push it.”

  Jack was the optimistic one, it turned out. He was the one that was there to calm Mona’s racing thoughts. It had only gotten worse when she realized that she was pregnant and she was bringing two more magical creatures into the world, which the Franklin

  Organization would hate and hunt. It was hard for her not to be a realist at that point.

  “How can you say that? Look at all of the good luck that we've had. Look at the girls. Ophelia and Veronica are happy and healthy. They’re gorgeous because they look just like you. The boys are happy and healthy and have finally straightened out. Everything is going just the way it’s supposed to. Can't you feel that?”

  She wanted to feel that way, but there was still something holding Mona back from the complete feeling of relief. There was something in the back of her mind telling her that it wasn't over yet.

  “Let's just get through today and then we will have the meeting tonight. And then we can figure out what to do next, Jack. But right now, all that want to worry about is marrying you.”

  She wasn't going to fully agree with his assessment of luck in abundance, but she did know that she was happier than
she had ever been in her entire life. Mona finally felt like she was part of something. Like she was finally part of a family again.

  Jack left after she urged him to, and she had a few more minutes to collect herself. Mona looked at the reflection in the mirror, and like many times before, she did not recognize the person staring back at her.

  Sure, she had the same face, save for a couple of new wrinkles. Her hair was as red and vibrant as ever. But there was something different in her reflection. There was a smile that had never graced her lips before. It was never-ending, and Mona didn’t know if she would have been able to get rid of it. Jack had put it there. The glow was there. It wasn’t from another pregnancy, or at least she hoped not. Mona liked to think that it was from love.

  There were other changes, beyond the twinkle in her eyes. Her body had changed as well. Mona took the larger breasts and hips as just another evolution of her becoming a mother. It was something that she'd always wanted and seeing that change, in particular, made her smile a little bit brighter.

  There was a knock on the door and Cami came in. She lived in the village with them, and they had become fast friends. It was nice to have female friends to talk to again, especially ones that weren't trying to torture and bet on dying shifters. It was completely different now.

  “It's time, Mona.”

  Mona smiled to herself and stood up. She winked at the reflection and moved out. Now it was time for her to go to her destiny. Jack had been her destiny since the moment she met him. It was like it had been fate from the start, and she was finally finishing that chapter of her life, ready for the next one to begin.

  The wedding was beautiful. There were so many well-wishers, and everyone was so nice. Mona felt like her family had just multiplied by a hundred. But now, it was time for something a little more serious. She knew that the joy of the day wasn’t going to be ruined, but properly dampened, because of what came next.

  The meeting was after the service. It probably didn’t help that there had been an open bar because it took longer for the crowd to settle down. Jack was in front of everyone, saying his piece, and Mona couldn’t help but watch him. He always said the right things and made everyone feel better.

  “Evening, friends. Thank you for coming to the wedding of my love, and of course, this. We are all here for many reasons, but we can all agree that our common enemy is clearly winning. That is our fault. We should have come together sooner. Our strength as a race has always come when we are united.”

  Everyone seemed to agree with that sentiment. Mona settled in to hear the same thing Jack had practiced for days. It sounded better now, with everyone in the place, leaning forward to hear more.

  “But now we are here, and I am happy to introduce you to Mark Vega.”

  There was a hush in the audience. Mona had heard about the shifter family through Jack. He was excited to get them involved, as the family was so rare. One of their children was taken from their small pack of griffins, the only ones left of their kind.

  The large man hit the stage and shook hands with Jack. He was revered as a leader from the old wars. Everyone knew of him.

  Jack came back down to Mona. He stood beside her as the man on the stage, introduced himself.

  “Why aren’t you up there with him?”

  He shook his head. “I am right where I am supposed to be, Mona. By your side, keeping our little family safe. It’s time I pass on the buck. He is far more experienced with combat tactics than I am.”

  “I can’t say that I am too disappointed about it, Jack. You’re a family man; you should be home more.”

  She knew that he would be out running soon enough, so Mona was going to take the moment. She wanted to remember it, hold him closer, and never let him go. Because soon, Mona knew that she would have to.

  Not now, though, not just yet.

  Lion Nanny’s Savior

  Shifter Nanny Agency

  Chapter One

  Fran sighed and looked at the huddled mass of kids that came from the Franklin Organization raid. They were still stunned by how many shifters were packed into the building. The compound had been bigger than anyone would have imagined, and Fran was still just taking it all in.

  Her husband came up behind her and kissed her neck.

  “It’s going to be okay.”

  “It’s not going to be okay. Look at all of them, baby. What are we going to do?”

  He sighed, and Fran knew that it was because of the word she had used. She said we. Which meant that Fran was going to take this upon herself. It had to be done, she knew that, and Fran was never the type to pass the buck on to someone else. Fran wouldn’t be able to look in the mirror if she didn’t help.

  “What are we going to do?”

  She repeated herself, not really as a question, but more as a query to herself. How in the world was she going to be able to figure it all out?

  “I know that you’ll think of something.”

  “We don’t even know if these kids have parents. Tomorrow, I will go through and get names, talk to them and see if we can locate someone for them.”

  “And if they don’t?”

  She gave him a look and smiled. “Well, we do have all of that extra room at our place.”

  He sighed a little deeper. “I hope we can find their families, but you know that I am behind you, Fran. All you want to do is help, and I’m sure that we will get others to help you as well. It will be a good thing.”

  She agreed, but it was overwhelming. So many kids, and when she had met them earlier, their eyes had spoken of what they had seen.

  One child, in particular by the name of Shane, was worse than the others. He looked like he had been experimented on and he was kept alone, while many of the others were kept in the same room. Fran didn’t want to think about what made him special in the eyes of such a place.

  Her husband pulled her away and told her that she was going to be good to no one if she didn’t lay down.

  “I don’t want to lay down. They need my help.”

  “Fran, we got them out. You helped do that, and now, we need to rest. It’s going to be okay. I will stay up with the sleeping kids if that makes you feel better.”

  Fran disagreed. She wasn’t in the mood to be alone. She was in the mood to be held and comforted. The world was a scary place, where shifters were targeted, and their kids were kidnapped and tortured. Fran had to wonder if it had always been that way, but being around the paranormal family she had now, she was just privy to it. Either way, it was a hard pill to swallow.

  They laid down, and Fran finally closed her eyes. Her nanny business was in disarray, and she had to figure out what to do next. The attacks on her clients and their children had left a bad taste in her mouth. Now, all she was focused on was getting those kids home. At least then, she would feel like she had done something worthwhile in all of the chaos.

  Sleep finally came for Fran, and she slept through the night. She woke up in the morning, and most of the kids were restless and ready to eat. There were twenty-three of them in all. She certainly had her work cut out for her.

  Once she started talking to them, she figured out that most of them likely still had family. They were ready to go home, and after a few calls, she was down to twelve. The families were elated, having not known if they would ever see their children again.

  When Fran got to Shane, she could see that he was traumatized, and it was harder to get much out of him. He was about ten, but he barely looked at her when she tried to talk to him.

  “You know that you’re safe now, right?”

  He agreed, but it wasn’t very convincing. He was still jerking when a loud noise rang out, and his eyes would not meet hers. Fran’s heart was bleeding for the boy, and she desperately wanted to help him. His dark brown eyes were shades darker than she remembered. He fidgeted with his fingers when she tried to talk to him.

  “We are going to find your family, Shane. All you have to do is tell me what happened and where I can f
ind them. You don’t have to share anything you don’t want to, just your mom’s name.”

  “My mom was killed when they took me.”

  More sadness washed over Fran. She didn’t have to ask if the young boy had seen it himself. She didn’t want to know the answer, if she was truthful with herself.

  “I am sorry, Shane. What about your dad?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know where he is now. It’s been a long time since I saw him.”

  “How long?”

  “I don’t know. They don’t let you outside, so I have no idea how many days passed. Maybe a year or two.”

  She paused and didn’t know what to say. Most of the other kids had been gone for days or weeks, some even months, but why in the world would they have kept him so much longer? It made her nervous, but Fran didn’t want to show it to the child. He had already been through enough.

  “Well, honey, just tell me his name and what you remember, and I promise you that I will find him.”

  Fran didn’t want to promise such things, but at the same time, she knew that she was going to have to work every minute of every day until she did. She would fix this, and Fran was certain that the father would be the happiest parent of all. He most likely thought that his son was dead.

  “What if you can’t? Will I have to go back to that place again?”

  Fran had tears in her eyes, and she pulled him in for a hug. “You never have to go back to that place again. I promise. I will take you home with me until we find your dad. Okay?”

  Shane agreed, and even though Fran was all torn up, she knew that she was going to do everything in her power to make it happen. One way or another, Fran was never going to let Shane come to harm again. Ever.

  It was a vow she made silently to herself as the young boy clutched onto her for dear life.