Daddy Shifter

by Juniper Hart

  Everly could not understand why the words hurt her as much as they did, but she could not stop tears from welling up in her eyes.

  “I see,” she whispered. “I don’t suppose you were going to tell me about that to alleviate my guilt.”

  “I’m telling you now that I know where you are!” he snapped.

  Everly flopped against the wall, her back sliding down the beige barrier until her butt hit the floor.

  “How did you know where to find me? Was it Sydney?” she breathed, the betrayal striking her worse than anything she had ever felt in her life.

  Dad, Mom, Sydney… no one has ever been on my side. Not even Michael. He was more concerned about the fictitious lawsuit than how I felt.

  At once, all the feelings of hurt she had managed to sweep aside came flooding through her like a thousand stab wounds.

  “I found Sydney,” Michael explained. “After persuading her I wanted what was best for you, she told me where to find you.”

  “Oh…” Everly said, not knowing how else to respond. She couldn’t decide if she was upset with her friend or grateful.

  “Everly, she told me about the baby,” Michael said quietly. “I want you to come home now. Everything will be much different. Life will be better for you now.”

  Fury shocked through her. “Better for me how?” she demanded. “Better when people are making fun of me for sleeping with you? Better being a single mom in a town where everyone hates me? The pack has already turned on me for leaving. No matter what you say as pack leader, there will always be the animosity they harbor. I’m not coming back, not ever!”

  She resisted the urge to hang up the phone because she knew he still had a say in the custody of their child, but she did not want to hear another word about going home.

  Ogden wasn’t home. It had never really been.

  “Everly, please, I will ensure that you are protected and cared for here,” Michael told her softly. “I want to be near my child. You can’t stay there. Our child should be with his pack. It isn’t fair.”

  “What about what’s fair to me?!” Everly screamed at the top of her lungs. “What about what I want or what I need?”

  Michael inhaled, obviously ready to say something, but Everly was not done.

  “My whole life I’ve tried to be good enough for everyone else! My dad, my professors, and then you. I’m done being the good girl who suffers in silence. I will not be a laughingstock because I fell in love. I want my own life away from judgement and ridicule. I deserve it, and my baby deserves it, too!”

  “Are you in love with me?” Michael asked, and Everly snorted with derision.

  “Is that what you gleaned from what I just said, Michael?” she yelled. “Of course I’m in love with you! Why do you think this is so hard?”

  She chomped down on her lower lip to keep from bawling, tasting blood as she did.

  “I’m in love with you, too,” he told her softly. “Can you come to the front door, so I can tell you in person?”

  She tensed, turning her head to look down the hallway toward the front door.

  “You’re in Austin?” she gasped. “When… Why… How long have you been here?”

  There was a solid knock on the door, and Everly ambled to her feet to answer it, the cordless phone still at her ear.

  Tears flowed freely the minute she saw Michael, every emotion she had tried to stifle overcoming her at once.

  She threw the phone onto the hardwood floor and threw herself into his arms, savoring the feeling of his arms around her waist.

  “Oh, my God, I’ve missed you!” she sobbed. “I can’t believe you’re here.”

  “I’ve missed you, too,” he told her quietly, pausing to set her back.

  Their lips met, and the familiar electricity between them lit through Everly, igniting her heart again.

  “I can’t let you go again,” Michael said gruffly. “I just can’t.”

  Everly gulped back the lump in her windpipe and nodded, lowering her head.

  “I know how it feels right now,” she whispered. “But I’m not coming back to Utah. I can’t do it, not today, and not after the baby is born. I’m sorry.”

  He shook his dark hair and stared into her eyes intensely. “Everything you said is true. You have been bowing down for far too long, and you shouldn’t have to do it anymore. I don’t want you to come back if it’s not what you want.”

  She cocked her head to the side and blinked back her tears, trying to smile.

  “It’s for the best this way,” she told him, her voice cracking. “We’ll stay in touch. I’ll send you updates about the baby, I promise—”

  “No,” he interrupted. “You won’t.”

  Confusion and exasperation began to overwhelm her.

  “You just want to make a clean break then?” she offered, her pulse racing, and Michael drew her into his arms.

  “No. I told you, I am not letting you go again. If you won’t come home, I’m coming here to be with you.”

  Everly yanked herself back and began to laugh, but her chuckle died when she saw the expression on his face.

  “What?” she gasped. “How will that work? You have a business, and the pack, and…”

  She trailed off, wondering if he had lost his mind.

  “I’m ready to abdicate my position as pack leader. My nephew Carter is next in line. He thinks he knows everything, anyway. I want to see him chase his own tail for a while. My sister Gemma will oversee his progress. Say the word, and I’m ready to give it up.”

  Everly could not believe it was as simple as that.

  “And… that’s it?” she demanded, unable to wrap her mind around such a concept.

  “If that’s what you want, yes. I may have to go back to Ogden from time to time and iron out some kinks, but I’ll be free to come and go.”

  “And what about the company?”

  Michael grinned, shrugging disarmingly. “As you know, the business has been expanding. I didn’t think you’d come back to Ogden, and I wanted to be prepared for that. So, before I came to you, I made sure I had everything in order so you couldn’t refuse me. I bought some property in Austin, in fact. I will be setting up headquarters here. I think you would be perfect to run things from the ground.”

  She looked at him with a questioning gaze.

  “Isn’t that kind of how we got ourselves into this mess in the first place?” she asked, folding her arms across her chest.

  “The circumstances will be a little bit different here,” he assured her. “For one, I am hiring you first before anyone else. You will have seniority right off the bat.”

  Michael paused and cleared his throat. “And also because…”

  He dropped to one knee on the stoop, pulling a ring box from his breast pocket.

  “Because if you marry me, the company will be half yours, anyway, and there can be no ridicule of the boss, right?”

  Everly peered into his face, and she was certain she had never seen such genuine love from anyone else in her life.

  “What do you say? Everly Castle, will you be my wife, the mother of my children, and my fated mate for the rest of our lives?”

  Her vision was blurry as she nodded, reaching down to pepper his face with kisses before accepting the two-carat ring on her finger.

  It seemed so stunningly obvious; he had always been her protector, her guardian. He was willing to uproot his entire life for her and not the other way around.

  I’m going to have the love I’ve always yearned for in Michael’s arms and in my child’s eyes.

  Epilogue

  The night air was still, almost tangible as dawn struggled to crack through.

  Everly sat on the back terrace, gazing up at the moon, noting its fullness.

  One more night, she realized. And we’ll know about Seaver.

  As if hearing her thoughts, a shrill cry rang out, and she ambled to her feet to attend to the six-month-old in the bassinet at her side.

  His bright
blue eyes peered up at her as he wailed, and Everly scooped him to her bosom, exposing her breast for him to drink as she took her seat on the Adirondack chair once again.

  Hungrily, he accepted the offering, his crying ceasing instantly, and she rocked her son against her body.

  She hummed softly, lulling him back to sleep, and Michael appeared on the back step, staring lovingly at them.

  “I think he is readying himself for the full moon tomorrow,” he said confidently, but Everly was not so sure. Seaver had so few Lycan qualities that she could distinguish, his nature exceedingly sweet.

  “He may be a dormant,” she commented in a hushed voice.

  Michael chuckled and joined her, sitting in the chair beside her, eyeing the sleepy child with affection.

  “Whatever he is, he is perfect.”

  Everly nodded in agreement, but she was studying her handsome husband through her peripheral vision.

  The last year had been the best of her life.

  Michael had fulfilled his promise to her in every way, packing up his life in Ogden and uprooting himself to Austin despite the turmoil it had caused.

  She didn’t need him to tell her that his absence had stirred a great upset. It was unheard of for a perfectly virile, young wolf to bequeath leadership, especially when his successor was so inexperienced.

  In fact, Michael never spoke of Utah, even when he went back to tend to business or anything else he’d left behind.

  Sometimes, Everly longed to ask him about her parents or their mutual friends, but she could never bring herself to speak the words aloud.

  To her knowledge, her parents didn’t know about Seaver’s birth, nor did they know about her marriage to Michael. Maybe someday she would forgive her father, but she wasn’t ready yet.

  It’s for the best, Everly often told herself. We needed a clean break and a fresh start.

  But while she could see that Michael was happy for the most part, she would be naïve to believe that he didn’t miss the power he had commanded in Ogden.

  He gave up so much for me and our son.

  Suddenly, Michael bolted up, his nose sniffing at the air around them.

  “Who’s there?” he growled, rising to his feet. A familiar glow overtook his eyes, and Everly put her hand on his leg to calm him.

  Everly could sense a presence, too, and she instinctively pulled her baby closer to her bosom as she stood beside her husband.

  They peered around the dark backyard when two shadows appeared near the kidney-shaped swimming pool.

  Everly and Michael emitted the same guttural sound as the shapes grew nearer.

  They were wolves. A dark gray wolf, and a smaller wolf with light brown fur.

  “What are you doing here?” Michael demanded as Everly stepped back toward the house, baring her incisors.

  We’re not here to harm you, the gray wolf communicated silently.

  The couple exchanged a worried glance.

  They had not seen a Lycan in Austin since their arrival. The unexpected visit could only mean bad news.

  Are they going to chase us out of here? Everly asked Michael silently, but he did not answer, stepping forward to block her body with his.

  “What are you doing here?” he snarled again, falling onto all fours, and shifting into his wolf form.

  Everly watched as the wolves shifted into human form. They were both young, not older than twenty-five, with similar brown hair and dark eyes.

  “We have every right to be here,” the once grey wolf explained. “This is our territory and you are on it.”

  Michael shifted back to human form and growled again. “We have been here for over a year. Why are you coming to us now?”

  The speaker smiled, and it was a lopsided expression that Everly would have found charming if not for the fear coursing through her veins.

  “I’m Skylar. This is Devon.”

  Michael did not move as he glared at them. “What do you want?”

  Skylar bowed slightly. “We wanted to ask you to join us tomorrow on the full moon for our hunt.”

  Everly was taken aback, and she glanced at her husband in surprise.

  The pack wants to adopt us. That is almost unheard of. Why?

  “Why?” Michael challenged. “And why now?”

  Skylar grinned again and lowered his eyes. “Because of your son,” he answered truthfully. “He has the blood of an alpha warrior. We have been able to smell it every full moon since you arrived. The last alpha in our lineage died last year, so we’ve been without an alpha for a while. We’ve researched you, and we want to welcome your family into our pack. We need someone with strong alpha blood to lead.”

  Uncertainly, Everly stepped forward. “You want my son?” she gasped. “You can’t have him!”

  The wolves laughed, shaking their heads. “We want all three of you. Your son won’t survive without the guidance of his warrior parents. If we take you out of the equation, he is useless to our pack.”

  Everly stared down at the now sleeping mass in her arms and then looked at Michael. They looked at each other for a long moment, and Everly saw genuine excitement in his eyes.

  He wanted to be part of a pack again, and they wanted him to lead. It was the only thing missing from his life.

  “Of course we will run with you,” Everly told them, and the two of them grinned.

  “Excellent!” Skylar declared. “We will leave you in peace now. Until tomorrow night.”

  They switched forms and slunk back into the night, leaving Michael and Everly to watch after them.

  “We have been invited into another fold,” he whispered, awe in his voice. “I didn’t think we would ever be accepted in any pack again.”

  Everly nuzzled into him and smiled. “A lot of things have happened this year that I never thought would, but now I’m learning never to say never.”

  Michael kissed the top of her head, pulling her and Seaver into a tender hug, and in that minute, Everly was sure she had everything she had ever wanted.

  ***

  THE END

  Keep reading to discover the origin of the Birch Mountain Alphas. Also, bonus stories are included!

  Discover the Origin of the Birch Mountain Alphas!

  Legend of the Birch Mountain Alphas

  As the legend goes, in the North Hungarian Mountains, Abel Toth and his bride Mariska were struggling to survive the unforgiving cold of 1432. Their land was barren, and they were at the mercy of a tyrant landlord who worked the couple without rest.

  With food scarce and Mariska, who was pregnant and sickly, about to perish, Abel knew he must find a way to keep his family alive.

  He stole off into the woods one night, determined to find a rabbit on which to feast, but soon found himself lost and empty-handed.

  He encountered a small cabin nestled in the groves of the mountainside, surrounded by birch trees, and he approached it with low hopes. People were starving all over Hungary and unwilling to embrace strangers while they sank into their own despair.

  Near death, Abel knocked upon the door, begging the old woman inside for assistance. He promised her anything if she would only give him a morsel to eat so he could return to his ailing wife.

  She sneered at him, proclaiming that he did not have anything worthwhile for which to trade his life, and she recommended he allow himself to die.

  His fierce European pride refused to let him give up—not when his beloved was waiting. He told the old woman that God would not allow for him to die, and he turned to leave. The old woman, impressed with his resolve, called him back.

  “I will grant you your wish on one condition,” she told him.

  “Anything,” he agreed gratefully. “I will do anything to return to my Mariska again.”

  The old woman’s eyes glittered with something Abel could not identify, but he was far too bedraggled to decipher her expression.

  “I will appear to you one day and you must grant me whatever I desire from your land,” she explained
to him.

  Abel thought of the dying farm and could think of nothing worthwhile the witch would want. He immediately agreed to the terms, and suddenly his arms were laden with a sack filled with meats, cheese, vegetables, and breads. The food was enough to save his wife and feed his tiny family for a month.

  He looked up to thank the old woman with tears in his eyes, but he was already standing before his once ruined shack. It had been restored to a secure cottage, without the concaved roof and drafty holes in the mud walls.

  Abel rushed to his wife’s side, finding her well and with color in her cheeks for the first time in her life.

  He dropped to his knees and prayed to God, thanking Him for sending the witch to his aid.

  Years passed, and the farm became fruitful. Abel and Mariska were blessed with three healthy children. Then the old tyrant landlord died, leaving the farm to his kindly daughter, who oversaw the peasants with a velvet glove.

  Abel had all but forgotten the reason for his family’s turn in fortune when the decrepit witch appeared at his cottage one day.

  Abel, an old man himself by this time, was shocked to see she was still alive, but welcomed her happily into his home.

  “You have returned!” he announced, waving his arms about as if to show her how well he was doing.

  “I have come to collect on my debt,” the ancient woman crooned, and Abel nodded eagerly. When he had made his deal with her, he had thought he wouldn’t have anything to offer her. Now he could appropriately repay her for what she had done to help him.

  “As you can see, I have much to give. What would you like? A horse? A cow? Eggs? Milk? Cheese? Anything you desire shall be yours.”

  The old woman smiled a toothless, mirthless grin that made Abel uneasy.

  “I wish for your firstborn,” she declared, looking toward the field and setting her eyes upon Attila, Abel and Mariska’s firstborn and a strapping lad. Abel laughed, believing her to be jesting, but then he could see that she was not.

  “I will not give you my son!” he decried, and the old woman’s face immediately contorted in fury.