by Jana Leigh
Her parents. Adele and Timothy Treed had introduced themselves earlier. The twins had been impressed by the way the witches welcomed them into their home. Shawn wondered if they were going to be so nice when they told them their daughter was their mate.
“Dad, I think I need to go to the hospital.” Lacy said weakly.
Her dad looked at them and nodded. She had several large cuts on her arm and she was losing blood, a lot of blood. “Yep, sweetie, you did a number on yourself this time. I think a visit to the ER is in order. Do you think they have your old bed available?” Lacy laughed and turned her head. Right next to her were two of the most gorgeous men she had ever seen. They were obviously twins but she could see the slight differences in them. “Who are you?” She whispered.
“I am Sevi Trueblood, and this is my brother Shawn. Can we help you?” Sevi said softly.
“My name is Lacy Treed, and I would really appreciate your help.” She said and groaned when she moved her arm to try and get up. The twins moved closer and she felt a tingle run down her spine.
Lacy frowned and looked back and forth between the two of them. Her gift was telling her something. She felt a pull, a bond begin to form and before her eyes the familiar thin string of energy began to develop between them. All three of them. Really? Two men were her destined husbands? They had to be shifters. Just then the strings attached and pulled them all closer.
“Do you know who I am?” She whispered and looked at them in the eyes.
“Yes.” Shawn said and pulled her injured arm across her chest and rested it lightly on her stomach. “Now stay still, we will get you to the hospital.” Sevi nodded and stood up. He watched while his brother took their mate in his arms and stood up. Lacy"s parents hurried out to the car they had driven in, but Shawn was not going to let her go. He waited while Sevi opened the passenger door and slid in with Lacy gently, keeping her on his lap. Running around to the other side of the truck, Sevi slid in and waved to her parents, letting them know they would follow.
Lacy made a small noise and Shawn tightened the hold on her. “I"m sorry, sweetheart; I am trying to keep from moving you too much.” He said and kissed her on the top of the head.
It felt so natural, so right that they were together. “Thank you, Shawn, its okay.” Sevi looked over quickly and smiled. “You can tell us apart?”
“Of course, you look totally different. Why?” She said softly.
“Because even our mother has a hard time telling us apart.” Shawn said softly.
Lacy grunted unladylike and smiled. “Well I can.” Shawn and Sevi looked at each other and smiled. She was the one for them. They felt the pull; Shawn had a hard time with her sitting on his lap, wiggling around not claiming her. She was a hot little bundle.
“So, tell me about yourself.” She said hoping to take his mind off her ass.
“We were born in New Mexico; our parents are bear shifters, so are we. When we were little, Blaine, our brother, was adopted. He"s a wolf. Our parents wanted him to know his own kind, and so we moved to the only open shifter community that welcomes all types of shifters. Milliken, Colorado is beautiful. We have a nice house along a river, built it ourselves. Our father opened a supply store with a friend and we work there running the place. Recently, we found out our brother was one of the Chosen. Do you know what that is?” Shawn asked.
Lacy nodded and looked out the window. “Yep, I have studied history of all shifters.”
“Good, anyway, Milliken is under attack from the Rogues, and we were sent here by the Alpha female to get help. The attack is coming from witches. Our brother and the Chosen that have been found are all at the Pack compound, they are protecting the families of the Pack. Basically, it"s a mess. Your mom is the coven leader; we came to seek her help with what"s going on.” Shawn said as they pulled up to the ER.
Sevi jumped out of the car and then he ran around as Shawn opened the door and handed Lacy to him. Her parents were close behind when they rushed into the ER.
Shawn briskly demanded that Lacy be seen. It was kinda humorous to watch all the nurses" jump and run around.
She was taken to the back while her parents and the twins filled out the paperwork. She winced when the nurse cleaned off the blood so the doctor could see the wound. Trying to remain strong, she looked at her arm, and knew she was going to have a lot of stitches this time.
While she waited, Lacy thought back on what happened. She had forgotten to mention the man at the door. She wasn"t sure who she was supposed to tell. What if he had been right and her parents had been lying to her? What were they lying about? She never questioned anything that her parents did.
She thought back and then began to question the little things her parents did when she was young. Like the time that they went to Florida on vacation. They had been having a great time, until her mother felt something in a crowd. She had been hustled back to hotel and they left the next morning. She didn"t question her mom"s feelings.
The nurse came back in and gave her a shot for pain, then told her the doctor would be in soon. Her mother and father came in, with the twins trailing behind a little looking around the ER. They looked like they were checking security. Lacy giggled a little. She hated it when they gave her pain meds, they always made her loopy, and right now, she did not want to be loopy.
“Lacy, how are you feeling honey?” Her mom asked pushing her hair behind her ear.
“Moooom, stop. I"m not a baby.” Lacy slurred out. Damn drugs were working already.
“You are my baby.” Her dad said and sat down in the chair on the other side of her and smiled.
“Am I?” She said looking at her parents.
“Why would you even say that?” Her mother asked.
“Cause that man said you lied to me. Would you do that, mom, would you lie to me?” Lacy said and rolled her head to look at her father. “What about you? Would you lie to me?”
“Lacy, stop, we will talk at home.” Her father said quietly.
Lacy fought through the haze of the drugs and frowned at her father. He did not deny that they lied to her. What the hell was going on?
Sevi and Shawn came into the room, stood at the foot of her bed, and smiled gently at her. She looked at them, and thought they were the only ones who she could trust right now, they had never lied to her. Before she could say it out loud though, the doctor came in and said that they would have to wait in the family waiting room.
Thirty five stitches later and another shot of morphine and she was on her way. Shawn once again carried her to the truck. The pain meds had proven to give her loose lips.
“Such a pretty man. I can"t believe you are all mine. Twin Gods. Shawn, I love the way you smell.” She sang and then sniffed his neck.
Shawn groaned and looked at his brother and laughed. “We may not make it back to her parent"s house.”
Sevi smiled and got them settled again and then crawled into the driver"s seat in enough time to see Lacy grab Shawn by the back of the head and kiss him.
Shawn looked like someone hit him with a truck. Lacy aggressively kissed him, moving her tongue seductively across his lips. He couldn"t stop himself from opening his mouth and allowing her access. He moaned when she explored his mouth.
Sevi could feel his brother"s passion rising and shifted uncomfortably, he had a hard on already, and he hadn"t even kissed her.
Lacy broke the kiss and giggled, then leaned back until her head was in front of Sevi.
With her good hand, she reached up and grabbed his head and kissed him the same way.
Shawn sat trying to catch his breath and watched their little vixen kiss the hell out of his twin.
She finally released Sevi, sat back up, arranged herself on Shawn"s lap, leaned her head against his shoulder, and sighed. “Wow, you guys are great kissers. I can"t wait to see what else you"re good at.”
“Sweetheart, you are in no condition to see what we"re good at. I promise you though, once you are healed, we will show you.” Sevi s
aid gruffly and started the car.
“Tease.” She laughed and began kissing Shawn"s neck.
“Sweetie, you can"t do that. I"m so close to making Sevi stop the truck and fucking you senseless.” Shawn gritted out and leaned back a little.
“Party Pooper.” She pouted.
“No, I just want you to remember when we take you for the first time.” Shawn said and kissed her nose.
They followed her parents through the winding streets of New Orleans until they pulled up to a gated community. Well, at least they had security here; Sevi thought and followed through the gate.
Lacy was singing with the radio at the top of her lungs. If it wouldn"t have been so funny, they would have winced. She was really off tune. Country music would never be the same.
They pulled in front of a large house that her parents had parked in front of. Sevi opened his door and then looked around for a minute before going to help Shawn.
Together they made their way to the front door of Lacy"s parent"s house. Before they arrived, the door swung open and her father stood there smiling at them.
“Singing was she?” He said and they laughed.
“Yeah, I bet Toby Keith has no idea he has competition.” Shawn said and they went into the living room and sat Lacy on the plush couch.
Her mother bustled and fussed around Lacy, covering her with a blanket and getting a pillow for her arm to rest on. Sevi felt the nervous energy in the room and watched as her parents made a tray of drinks and snacks.
Finally, her parents settled in while Sevi and Shawn took a seat on either side of Lacy.
The medication had begun to affect her and she was drooping on Sevi"s shoulder, while she held onto Shawn"s hand.
They waited silently for her parents to start talking. “Well, the rest of the coven will be here in the morning. I called them when we were at the hospital. There are some things we need to discuss before they get here though. Lacy has no idea who she is.” The twins frowned and looked at Lacy and then back to her parents. “What do you mean? She has no idea she"s a witch?”
“No, she knows that, and she has accepted her powers, that"s not what I"m talking about.” Her mother said and looked at the men.
Her father frowned and said, “I think we should make sure Lacy is awake for this.” Her mother sighed and went to the kitchen and returned with a cup of tea. “Have her drink this.”
The twins nodded and shook Lacy a little until she took small sips of the tea. Slowly she began to wake up. They discussed menial things in the meantime. Lacy slowly joining in on the conversation as she woke up.
She finished the tea and Sevi sniffed the cup before setting it on the table. He could smell different herbs and assumed they helped get the medication out of her system.
She winced and shifted, trying to get comfortable. She had to be in pain. It sucked that she couldn"t just sleep for a few hours, but it looked like her parents had something serious to talk about.
“Lacy, honey, you with us?” Her father said.
“Yeah, thanks for that. I hate it when you take me out of the medication haze. Last time you did it, I cried for hours.” Lacy grumbled.
“We know, honey, but magic and drugs don"t work. You could inadvertently hurt someone. Besides, we need to talk.” Her mother said briskly.
“Okay, well for the record, it sucks. So, what"s so important?” She replied looking at her parents who were looking very uncomfortable.
Her mother looked at her father and nodded. “When you were born, we did not live in the United States. We lived in Europe. Our coven was from England. At the time, we socialized with the Council of Shifter in Europe and worked with them to keep their existence a secret. Our destinies were intertwined with theirs. People always suspected witches, although most of the people they blamed were not witches at all. Humans don"t understand the power that witches have. They think a potion or a lucky rock is all there is to it. We let them think that. But we also used our powers to help shield the shifters.
At the time, humans would never have been able to accept us.” Her father said. “I know you think that I"m a human. We thought it was best for you to think that. I do have powers, I chose to bind them and hide the fact that I was a witch also. It made it harder for people to identify us. Everyone knew of my power and your mother"s power. We would have been easy to find.”
Her mother watched her closely and then said, “Darling, do you understand what we are saying so far?”
“Yeah, dad has powers that he was hiding, blah, blah, blah.” Lacy said slowly.
“We had to do it that way. The Council asked us to help them when their Seer told them of a Prophesy. We traveled to the Council House and Oliver showed us the Prophesy. I was pregnant with you at the time, and I knew you were going to be special. I just never knew how much.” Her mother said.
The twins frowned and thought back to what they knew about the Prophesy. Their brother and parents had explained it all to them again recently. They assumed, in fact the New Council assumed, everyone on the Council was shifters. Sevi and Shawn were getting the impression that they were about to be surprised.
“Oliver studied that Prophesy for weeks, then the Alphas were born, and we were called back to the Council House. By the time we got there, Oliver"s daughter was born. He was so happy. His child being one of the Chosen. We celebrated and then Oliver called us into his office. He said the Prophesy was confusing in some parts. He was not sure what some of it meant. He asked me to read it. So, I took it with me and we returned home. By then I was showing and traveling was not too comfortable. When we got home and I read the Prophesy, I knew what it meant. Yes, a child would be born under each month, but it did not say they would be a shifter. It was what they all presumed.
However, there were indications that at least two of the Chosen were not shifters, one would be magical, but the other would be human. I studied it for a few months before even thinking about contacting Oliver. Then you were born on the 1st of July. I was so happy, but it was your father who reminded me that you were one of the Chosen. We waited, and watched, Oliver called for all the children to be brought to the Council House that had been born on the 1st. We planned on taking you, then Oliver"s child was kidnapped and we ran. We would never put you in harm"s way. No one knew you were one of the Chosen except for your father and I, and my most trusted advisors. The coven agreed that we would be stronger together, so we moved and came to the United States.” Her mother said and looked at her intently.
Lacy had no expression on her face, but when her mother paused, she looked between her mother and father, waiting for them to tell her it was a joke. Plainly, it wasn"t from the serious look on their faces.
“We decided to let you grow into your powers without the added pressure. It was bad enough when we saw what the Old Council expected of the youngsters. We wanted to spare you that. With the Prophesy gone, we thought you would just be a powerful witch.
It never occurred to us that the Alpha"s child was not dead. When these two young men came here seeking our help with the New Council, we were shocked. That is why we called you earlier today. We were going to explain.” Her father said softly.
“Do you remember what we told you about the Prophesy?” Her mother asked.
Lacy looked around the room and saw that they were all completely serious and she nodded. Of course she remembered it; it was practically a bedtime story for the amount of times her mother told her. She used to wish she were one of the Chosen so she could have more powers. That was until her mother told her about the child who died. It was tragic. Lacy remained silent and looked at the floor. She needed a few minutes to absorb all of this. The men she was sitting between seemed to realize that and they put their arms around her shoulders and leaned her back. Sevi grabbed her hands and rubbed them in between his, and Shawn pushed her head against his shoulder until her face was in the crook of his neck and she breathed deeply.
Gods, she wanted to run away. Nothing her parents said
for the last few minutes made sense. Her arm hurt and yet all she could think about was jumping these two men.
They called to her on an emotional level and a basic rip off your clothes level. She couldn"t get her head around what they were talking about.
Slowly, she replayed what her mother said to her in her head again. She was one of the Chosen. “Why now?” She whispered.
Her father leaned forward and sighed. “We just found out the group of witches who left the coven a few years ago have joined with the Rogues. They are currently attacking the New Council compound. All the Chosen who have been found are there. If we don"t help, they could all be held prisoner or worse destroyed. The Prophesy would then be lost forever. They have found the child who they thought was dead. So in other words, the Prophesy is still possible. Joining with the human world and living in the open has always been our desire. But up until now, we could not chance being the only ones.
Witches have been given a bad rap, you know. Until now, we were content knowing that we would have to live in secrecy. Now there is a chance we can live in the open, I know the rest of the coven will want to stand behind the New Council.” Her mother nodded and smiled. “I know that I have pushed you hard over the years. I realize that this is all such a shock to you, but darling, there is nothing more important to me than your safety. If you don"t want to do it, then so be it, we will stand behind you, so will your coven.”
Lacy looked up in surprise and sat with her mouth open, gaping at her mother. Never in her life had her mother said that she had a choice like this. It had always been an expectation. Granted, now she understood what was going on, but still. She knew what her answer would be before her mother had finished, she was going to help.
“Hang on; I just need to wrap my head around this.” Lacy said. “So what you are telling me is that I"m one of the Chosen. The spirits gave me special powers to do what with? I am not sure I understand what I"m supposed to do.”
“Lacy, you are the child born under the July moon. You are destined to be the protector of mates. Your gift is to see who belongs together and also to protect those who are being mistreated. It is what your calling has always been. Also, you are a witch. You will be able to help the Council with the fight that is ahead of them. You were made to do this.” Her mother said and stood up and began to pace. “The rest of the coven will be here in the morning to discuss how we will proceed from here.” Lacy nodded and then looked at the men next to her. “And you are from the Council Pack? Did you draw the small straw?” She joked.
