“Everyone’s on their best behavior what with—” Rhodry bit back what he’d been about to say, glancing over Amanda’s shoulder where Elise was sitting, probably listening to every word while pretending not to. “The fires,” he finished instead. “Report came in while I was there, says the rain is doing its job, so everyone’s breathing a sigh of relief.”
“They’ll no doubt be at each other’s throats again by morning,” Cullen agreed.
“Not if I—” Rhodry started to comment, but Elise was tired of being ignored.
“Rhodry,” she drawled. “How lovely to see you.”
It was her mother’s way of saying they were being rude, mostly aimed at Rhodry. But it took more than that to get a rise out of him. He corralled an entire Guild of alpha male shifters every damn day, and when he wasn’t doing that, he was wrestling with unhappy clansmen who weren’t exactly known for their willingness to compromise. One unhappy mother-in-law was a piece of cake.
“Elise,” he said easily, strolling over to kiss her raised cheek. “It’s great to see you. Amanda’s glad you’re here.”
“But you’re not?” she responded perceptively.
“Whatever makes Amanda happy. Where’s the Vice?” He’d taken to using Amanda’s nickname for Vice-Admiral Leveque.
“Upstairs,” Elise said, using fleet parlance for in orbit. “He’ll be down soon. In fact, Amanda, darling, maybe you should hold off on your big secret until he’s here?”
That got a rise out of Rhodry. He turned his head sharply to regard Amanda, his eyes wide in a question.
“I knew you’d be home soon, so figured I’d get the preliminaries out of the way.”
Elise had been listening to every word and now tipped her head thoughtfully. “Telepathy?” she guessed. “Is that it?”
Amanda smiled nervously. “Not quite.” They were going to have to demonstrate. She could talk science and historical necessity until she was blue in the face, but in the final analysis, someone was going to have to shift. Rhodry had insisted that he be the one. These were his children, and Amanda was his wife. And he didn’t care what Elise approved of.
Of course he doesn’t, Amanda thought fondly. His alpha male perfection wasn’t limited to physical beauty. He had all the confidence and arrogance to go with it. He only cared that Elise’s reaction not hurt any of the people he loved, which meant he had to control the scene. He had to be the one shifting.
Amanda wasn’t quite as sanguine about it. Elise still resented the fact that her only child had chosen to remain behind on Harp instead of continuing with the fleet and life among the stars. And she blamed Rhodry for Amanda’s decision. A lot of that blame was just Elise projecting her own preferences onto Amanda, with a little bit of personal history thrown in for good measure. Amanda’s father had chosen his planet over Elise, way back when. He was perhaps the only man in her life whom she hadn’t been able to charm into doing what she wanted, and she still held a grudge, even though she admitted she’d once loved him. Or maybe it was because she’d loved him. Either way, the parallel between Amanda’s father leaving and Rhodry taking Amanda away from her to remain on Harp was just too obvious. So was Elise’s transfer of blame, but her mother couldn’t see that part of the equation.
For her part, Amanda was worried about Rhodry being Elise’s first exposure to Harp’s shifters. He was spectacular, even when compared to a shifter population filled with gorgeous masculine specimens. He was beautiful in either form, but his cat form was also huge and threatening. And Amanda didn’t want to give her mom another excuse not to like him.
She looked up at Rhodry and found him watching her. “You ready?” she asked.
The look he gave her was full of his usual love, but also confidence that they were doing the right thing. “Aren’t I always?” He gave her a roguish wink.
Amanda smiled, unable to do anything else when he looked at her like that. She drew a deep breath and turned to face Elise. “Okay, Mom. We can discuss the science later, at least what little anyone knows, but it’s easier just to show you.”
Elise rolled her eyes but patted the cushion next to her and held Amanda’s hand once she lowered herself to the couch. “Cullen, you want to join us here for the show?” she asked cheerfully.
“I’m good here, Elise,” he responded from where he was leaning against the wall, watching Rhodry with an unreadable smile on his face.
Elise noticed the smile and frowned. A moment later, she was too busy staring in disbelief to worry about Cullen. Because Rhodry didn’t wait, didn’t give any indication that something was about to happen. He’d already slipped off his shifter-style soft boots, and now he simply pulled off his shirt and shifted.
With a soft growl, he prowled over to Amanda’s side, rested his big head right up against the swell of her stomach, and started to purr. She stroked her fingers through his soft, black fur, tears spilling down her cheeks—damn hormones—when she felt the gentle hum that was her babies purring back for the first time ever.
And then she remembered her mother.
She turned, not knowing what to expect, but Elise was just staring, her mouth open in a silent “oh” of surprise.
“He’s a shapeshifter,” Amanda explained unnecessarily. “Or just a shifter. That’s what they’re called here on Harp.”
“How…” Elise breathed, and then paused to stare some more.
“I told you, the records were lost. We don’t know—”
“No, no. Not that. How many of them are there?”
Amanda blew out a breath. “Well, there’s Cullen.”
Elise’s head spun to where Cullen had straightened from the wall, hands spread wide as he shrugged. “Are you all…? Good God,” she said, “I don’t even know what question to ask first. I need to contact my assistant—”
“No,” Amanda said instantly, even as Rhodry’s head came off her lap to aim a golden stare at Elise. “Remember, Mom, I told you. You can’t tell anyone. Not even Leveque.”
“But, Amanda, this is remarkable. It would be worth a fortune to…” Her words trailed off as she suddenly understood. No one had ever accused Elise Sumner of being slow-witted. “They’d never leave you alone. Even worse, they’d try to claim you’re less than human in order to assert control, deny your basic rights. It won’t even matter what the genetic reality is, they’d tie you up in the courts for centuries, while they… You’re right, Amanda. No one can know of this. Can you shift back as easily?” she asked Rhodry, her expression grim.
Amanda felt the shift the moment it began. She lifted her hand, and when she put it down again, it was Rhodry sitting on the floor next to her, not his cat. Cullen shot a pair of pants over their heads, which Rhodry donned quickly in deference to Elise. He then stood, lifted Amanda as if she weighed nothing, and sat down again with her on his lap.
Elise watched the whole thing, and Amanda knew her mother didn’t miss the ease with which he’d lifted her. Or the ease of his second shift, either.
“The twins?” her mother asked simply.
“Our sons will all be shifters,” Rhodry explained. “Our daughters will be strong and beautiful, like their mother. But not shifters.”
Amanda rested her head on his shoulder, feeling all squishy at his casual reference to their sons and daughters.
“The gene is sex-linked. Of course,” Elise murmured. “What about development? How much control do infants and children have over their form?”
“They’ll appear human enough at birth,” Rhodry answered. “But they’ll have little control over the shift for the first six months. In fact, most shifter babies prefer their cat. It’s easier. After that, it’s more a question of whether they want to control it or not. Their cat develops much faster physically, which gives them much greater mobility at a younger age.”
“I wouldn’t look for much cooperation from the twins on that front, Elise,” Cullen chimed in. “Rhodry’s mother still has tales of his harrowing escapes as a babe. Him and Aidan, bo
th.”
Amanda could have hugged Cullen for injecting that much needed note of humor. It made even Elise smile.
“Aidan?” Elise asked Rhodry. “You have a brother?”
“As close as, but Aidan’s a cousin by blood. We were born minutes apart and raised together. We’re brothers in every way that counts.”
“I see. I’ll want to consult with your physician here on Harp, Amanda. I assume you’ve spoken with them, so they know I’m—”
“They know you by reputation, know you’ve been Chief Medical Officer with the fleet for several years, and have read everything you’ve written. They’re excited to work with you.”
“Well, it seems I’ll be working with them, rather than the other way around. Hold on to those babies for another few weeks, if you please, so I can get up to speed.” She paused, thinking. “I’ll tell Randy I’m staying on-planet for a bit. He won’t question it. He knows how I feel about you—” Her mouth tightened on whatever she’d been about to say. “How I feel about you,” she said finally. “He has other business he needs to handle, anyway.”
Amanda leaned over and took her mother’s hand, recognizing her rambling talk for nervous energy. “It’s okay, Mom,” she said quietly. “The twins and I are healthy, and we’re going to stay that way. Women have been delivering and raising shifters for nearly as long as humans have been on Harp. And that thing I told you? About how the planet knows its own? Well, Harp loves its shifters, especially the baby ones. And we have Rhodry to take care of us, and all his cousins, too. We’re safer here than we would be anywhere else in the universe.”
Her mother drew a discreet breath and then swallowed, while squeezing Amanda’s hand hard enough to hurt. “It’s a lot to take in. The twins, of course, but also the scientific accomplishment. My God, think of the conditions they must have been working under. Genius doesn’t begin to describe it. But don’t you worry,” she hurried to say. “Those are my grandbabies in there, even if I’m not old enough to be a grandmother,” she added primly. “There is no one in this universe more important to me than them and you. No one hurts my babies. I’ll kill anyone who tries.”
Rhodry jerked a little, stunned at vehemence of Elise’s last proclamation, but Amanda wasn’t surprised. People tended to underestimate Elise. They saw the delicate beauty and never realized that it hid an iron will and a protective streak a mile wide when it came to those she loved. Rhodry took it for granted that he’d defend his family. Well, Elise did the same.
“I’ve made up the guest room,” Amanda told her mom. “You know where everything is. But if it’s all the same to you, these two wore me out this morning. I need a nap.”
“I’ll join you,” Rhodry said predictably. Amanda knew he wasn’t tired. He just wanted some alone time with her, and she’d sleep a lot better with him next to her, anyway. The twins were always quieter when he was around. The little fiends.
Rhodry stood, lifting her easily and setting her on her feet.
“I’ll see you in a bit, Mom,” she said, leaning over to kiss Elise’s cheek. “Thank you for coming.”
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Rest well. Cullen,” she said, switching her attention, “carry my bag into the guest room, would you?”
Amanda watched them go, with Cullen giving her a reassuring wink over his shoulder before disappearing down the hall after her mom. The guest quarters were at the opposite end of the house, in their own separate wing, so that everyone could have privacy.
She almost sagged against Rhodry once they were gone. He caught her automatically and held tight. “Hey,” he said in concern. “You okay?”
She nodded as she turned into him. “I’m so relieved that’s over with.”
“She took it better than I expected.”
Amanda chuckled. “Cullen said she’d be fine with it, and he was right. You think the Vice should be worried about how close Mom and Cullen are getting?”
Rhodry shuddered. “Don’t even think it. She’d eat my baby cousin alive, and then I’d have to explain to the family what happened to him.”
“She’s not that bad.”
He snorted. “She’s every bit that bad, acushla, and worse. I’m softening the truth because I love you.”
She laughed. “Do you? Come prove it then. The doctors say sex is good for me.”
“That makes me feel a bit used.”
“Poor baby, I’ll make it worth your while.”
“You make my life worthwhile. Do with me what you will.”
Chapter Seventeen
In the Green, Near Clanhome
“What does Amanda have to do with this?” she persisted, switching her gaze between Aidan and Fionn. As one, they turned to stare at her with more than a little suspicion. Seeing the distrust in Fionn’s gaze didn’t surprise her, but from Aidan… Her heart cracked just a little bit. He shouldn’t have had the ability to hurt her like that. He didn’t have that ability. She wouldn’t allow it.
Fionn gave Aidan a glance filled with meaning she didn’t understand and wasn’t meant to. And then he walked over to where Cristobal was recovering from a fast shift back to human.
She looked after him, not really wanting to hang around Aidan. “Whatever,” she said dismissively. “I need to check on Cristobal’s—”
“He’s fine,” Aidan interrupted. “With every shift, his body will heal a little more. He’ll be tired after each one, because his injuries were severe. But with enough food and some rest, he’ll be back to nearly full strength by morning. Sooner, if the situation demands it. He’s a strong shifter.”
“All right. So, I guess we’re making camp here. I’ll find a—”
“Rachel.”
“—spot where I can set up. I know you all prefer privacy, so—”
“Rachel,” he repeated, taking her arms and turning her to face him. “There’s no rush to set up camp. We’ll wait until Cristobal recovers enough, and then it’s up to him.”
“What’s up to him?”
Aidan shrugged. “Some of us will probably race ahead to the city to warn the others. If Wolfrum is still at large, there’s no telling what he’ll do.”
“But you think there’s some danger to Amanda. From me. Why?”
His gaze went carefully blank, as it had before, but this time, it was just the two of them, and her reaction was more anger than hurt.
“For fuck’s sake, Aidan. I’ve read the First Contact reports. Hell, Amanda wrote some of them. It’s no secret she stayed behind, or that she resigned her commission after only a few months to remain here.”
He stared back at her with no expression, and she could practically see the shutters sliding over his eyes, concealing his thoughts, his emotions…and whatever truth he and Fionn held between them.
Her heart squeezed a little harder. “Fine. As long as we’re waiting on Cristobal, I’m going to take a break. You all might not need it, but I sure do.” She turned away without waiting for his response. Whatever it was probably wouldn’t be the truth anyway, so what did it matter?
“Rachel.”
She stopped walking and turned her head just enough that he’d know she was listening.
“Don’t go far. It’s not safe for you.”
She smiled a little. She already knew Harp wasn’t safe for her. She’d known that going in. What she hadn’t known was that the greatest danger would be to her heart.
…
Aidan tracked Rachel as she disappeared into the thick brush, even tuning in to the murmur of the trees as they responded to her presence. It wasn’t the same as the way they were with Amanda. Rachel couldn’t hear their song. But the trees didn’t react to Rachel as they did to most Earthers, either, like the fleet techs who staffed the science center in the city, for example. Or Guy Wolfrum.
“You and Rhodry marching in step again?” Fionn asked, his voice low and not meant to carry.
Aidan turned. “I don’t know what you mean.” That wasn’t true. He knew exactly what Fionn meant.
Fionn snorted dismissively. “First, Rhodry and Amanda, and now you and Rachel. You’ve both fallen for Earthers. Mind you,” he hurried to add before Aidan could protest, “I’m half in love with Amanda myself, or at least I was, before she started making little shifters. Now, I’m fully in love with her,” he added, laughing. “She’s a remarkable woman, just like that one.” He nodded in the direction Rachel had disappeared. They couldn’t see her any longer, but Fionn probably knew just as well as Aidan how far she’d gone and what was happening around her. “I wonder if they breed them that way on Earth. Do you think it’s the fleet training? Or something in the water?”
Aidan followed Fionn’s gaze. “It’s neither one. Amanda was never on Earth, and Rachel was never fleet. It’s just…them.”
“See, that’s what I thought. You’re as far gone as your cousin.”
Aidan spun to face him, deliberately turning his back on Rachel’s path. “Was there something you wanted, Fionn? Something other than fucking with me, I mean.”
Fionn chuckled. “Totally gone, my friend,” he repeated, but sobered quickly enough. “Rhodry needs to be warned that Wolfrum’s still at large.”
Aidan scanned the shifters moving around their makeshift encampment. Cristobal’s personal guard were there, all of them fully healed and functional. But they were outnumbered by clan shifters. “I’ll send word.”
Fionn tilted his head curiously. “You’re not going yourself?” The question was serious enough, but there was a light in his eyes that told Aidan the real reason for the question.
“No, you ass, I’m not going myself. But I’m sending cousins who are sworn to Rhodry by both blood and oath, and who’ll get the warning there or die trying. And in the meantime, I’m going to make sure that Rachel reaches the city alive, so she can confront Wolfrum and we can get the truth out of him. I want everyone to know him for the belly-crawling zillah he really is.”
“Wolfrum has a Harp wife. She may want to speak for him.”
“And I’m the one who was captured and caged like a fucking animal by his personal militia,” he growled viciously. “I’ll have something to say, too.”
Shifter Planet: The Return Page 27
