by Lucy Kelly
Mara had been using her own gifts as she watched the older woman. Her own intuition combined with the non-standard shifter Frieda had changed into, was convincing and Mara decided to trust her. While they waited for Laura to return, Mara related to Frieda everything from Laura’s arrival up until Frieda’s. She mentioned many of the things Lola had already told her but from a different point of view.
Frieda remained quiet, sitting still and listening to the story. While Mara was talking Lola came in and brought a tray of food for Frieda and a pot of tea.
*****
Down the hall Laura sobbed into the embrace of her teddy bear. When she’d been two the bear was as large as she was. Now she held her old friend in her lap. When the storm of tears ceased, she went into the bathroom to wash her face in cold water and let herself dream a little. She poked her legs with her fingers to remind herself it was just a dream and nothing else.
Today, she let the sun warm her skin for the first time in her memory. It was enough for now. She tried hard to stay practical, believing she would be in her wheelchair for her lifetime. As she looked into the mirror, she couldn’t help but think— What if it were true?
On her way back to the living room Laura chose to stop by her office and send another email to her family. She missed them. It would be selfish to let them think she didn’t.
To: Dad; Aaron; Steven; David; Benji; Josh; Evan; Uncle Matt; Aunt Carrie
From: Laura
Subject: Missing you guys
Hello everyone, just wanted to let you know I’m okay. I was missing you today so I thought I’d let you know. I’m all moved in, got the last box unpacked. My decorator did a great job setting up everything. I have a suite of rooms prepared for all of you for when you visit so you can have your own privacy (and hopefully stay longer). I’m planning on Thanksgiving.
Got some great news today, I can’t wait to share it with you. You’ll have to wait though—nothing like building up the suspense!
Just a short note, so that’s all for now. I love you all!
Laura J xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo (hugs and kisses for everyone)
After she sent the email she waited until it had left the account outbox and hit the server. Then she deleted the email account. The email server was anonymous and in another country, but she didn’t underestimate her family’s talents.
Feeling better, she headed back to the living room. Now that she’d finished crying a few tears on Big Bear’s shoulder and sent an email to her family, she was ready to pull up her big girl panties and act like an adult. As she rolled down the hallway she remembered she didn’t have very many pairs of panties left. Unless the ones she and Mara ordered online came today, she’d be washing out delicates in the bathroom sink.
When she entered the living room, Marshall was back. He was talking to Mara and Frieda. They stopped and turned to her as she rolled back into her spot by the end table. She remembered something Frieda had asked her before she left.
“Frieda, there’s plenty of room here for you to stay. I’d like to make sure it’s okay with Marshall though. I’m kind of on probation still,” she said.
“Probation? What nonsense is this? You are a changeling. You don’t need guards to watch you like a prisoner,” she said, giving Marshall a look that dared him to contradict her. “However, you are extremely valuable to the shifter community as a whole so you will need guards to protect you. I will train you how to use your gifts. And since you’ve so nicely offered, I will stay here with you. Mara, when my things arrive at your house, please have them sent over. The shifters are right about one thing though. We need to find your mate. Mara? Was it your idea to send out Laura’s scent?” she asked and Mara nodded. “It was a good idea. If I had been here, I would only have stipulated strong alphas were to sniff them though. Changelings always mate the strongest males. I was surprised she wasn’t your mate, Alpha Marshall,” she said.
“Her scent is wonderful and alluring but she’s not my mate,” he said.
“Well, we’ll have to wait and see. Her mate will be drawn to her so he should arrive soon. If any more scoundrels show up, I trust you can see to that. My things should arrive over the next few days. While we can start your lessons tomorrow, you won’t have your full power until you’re mated. Even then it will grow over the years. Let’s not worry about that now. Mara has been telling me all about your other talents. I’m so proud of you, child. You’ve overcome great obstacles. You’ve been tested over and over and done well again and again.” she said and Laura blushed again at the praise.
“I don’t feel any different. Well, I can go in the sun now. I couldn’t before without making myself really sick,” Laura admitted.
“It’s different for every bloodline. There were twelve changeling queens. Each of them had sons who were the first shifters. Those bloodlines remain here in this realm. Unfortunately the female line was lost in the struggle with the Shayatin. They were the first to target the children of changelings. They were humans who discovered they could steal magic by enslaving and sacrificing shifters. Did Mara explain this to you, Laura?” she asked.
“She said the myth was about three changeling queens not twelve. But she also explained about the shifter history being passed down orally and not written. I’d like to hear your version too. I knew the Shayatin were an enemy. I don’t know the origins of either of the groups that know about and persecute shifters,” said Laura.
“All of that and more I will teach you. It is your heritage just as much as it is theirs,” Frieda explained.
“How did the changelings become lost?” Marshall asked.
Before Frieda could answer, Tom came to the door. “Lola says dinner is ready and to come eat now. She says she made a dinner in celebration of Miss Frieda’s arrival,” he told them before ducking back out of the room.
“I’m so glad you have Lola,” Frieda said to Laura as they got up to leave the room. “Kobold are from my part of the world. She’ll treat me to a taste of my old home from time to time,” she said with a twinkle.
It took a few minutes for everyone to settle down and serve themselves. After they did and Frieda had made a fuss over Lola, she remembered Marshall’s question.
“You asked me how the changelings were lost. It’s simple really and the same reason why you had Laura here on probation. Shifters forgot changelings were human until their magic was awakened. When they were threatened, shifters pulled away from humans and became insular. If a changeling married a human, her children carried the bloodline, but they couldn’t shift. It became easy to let them drift away. What shifters didn’t realize is any human of the bloodline regains their magic when they mate with a shifter.”
“But you said my magic already woke and I’m not mated yet. So blood works too, right?” Laura said.
“Yes, dear, and in ancient times there were blood rituals to help changelings and their offspring bring their magic to life. But now, they are all lost. Laura is the first to find her way. We must all pray she is the first of many. The prophecy calls for three, they are the leaders. I believe there will be more,” said Frieda.
“That’s quite a conversational bomb to drop into the room. What prophecy are you talking about?” asked Marshall.
Frieda wiped her mouth with her napkin and took a drink of wine. She seemed nervous. “I shouldn’t have said anything. Now is not the time for the prophecy to be revealed. To be sure, I’ll need to see certain signs first,” she said and wouldn’t speak of it again.
Marshall glowered but he forced himself to accept her words. Ever since Laura’s arrival he felt as if events were rolling out of his control. His people were on a course that seemed full of danger and he couldn’t do anything. His alpha nature rankled at not knowing all the facts and making all the decisions. He was supposed to drive the train.
“I can’t make decisions for the welfare of my people without all the facts,” he growled.
Unperturbed by his show of dominance, Frieda calmly went back to her me
al. Laura watched with interest, but she didn’t feel threatened in any way. She also noticed Mara, Tom, and Ben had all stopped eating and were carefully watching Marshall.
“Frieda, I’m not afraid of Marshall. I haven’t been from the first. I don’t feel submissive to him either. Is that because I’m changeling or because I have six older brothers,” she asked.
Frieda laughed, “Six! Oh my. Probably both, dear, your brothers may not have their shifting abilities but I’m certain they’re all alphas.”
Laura nodded as if she’d had something confirmed.
Chapter Sixteen
Alex Marasov didn’t sleep very well on Friday night. His dreams were disturbing. Different dreams all with the same theme. Someone needed him and he was too late to help them. Around four a.m. he gave up and got out of bed. As he sat in his kitchen waiting for the coffeemaker to finish brewing, he reviewed everything he currently had on his plate. George came over for a scratch, and to remind Alex to feed him and let him out. Alex considered his options as he took care of his morning routine.
He needed to get out to Montana. All his work for the last three days was to free up time for him to leave town on an extended trip. Now he felt as if time were more critical. He got up and poured his coffee then sat back down and reached for his phone. It looked like he wouldn’t be the only one losing sleep.
After waking up his pilot he went to shower, dress, and pack. He reminded himself that rank had its privileges. He was going to dump the rest of his workload on his team. All of them were alphas also and very capable. However, normally he was too much of a control freak to delegate. With last night’s dreams still lurking in his subconscious he wanted to get going so he woke a few more people who were surprised, but happy to help, including dog sitting.
By five-thirty, he was lifting off at the airfield. He would be in Montana in a few hours.
*****
Aaron Donahue woke early Saturday morning and went down to the kitchen for coffee. He knew his father would also be up, another early riser. He had some questions for him. Doug Donahue was sitting in the kitchen, already having brewed the coffee and made some food. “Morning, Aaron, there’s coffee in the pot and scrambled eggs in the pan on the stove. I didn’t make extra toast though, it’s really lousy when it’s cold,” he said.
Aaron poured some coffee first. After taking a sip he went to put a couple of slices of bread in the toaster. “Is there any bacon left?”
“No, you all are the same bottomless pits as you’ve always been. The ham’s all gone too and that’s the last of the eggs. We’ll have to go shopping today.”
Aaron grunted, his brothers would be out of luck. “I wanted to talk to you. Laura’s doing well, she’s contacting us regularly. There’s more going on here than you’re telling us, why you so determined to find Laura. I want to know what’s going on.”
Doug looked up at his eldest son. If Aaron was asking questions, soon his brothers would be too. Sighing, he put down his fork. “I was hoping to find her quickly. You know she writes those video games. What you don’t know is in the last year she’s done some consulting for the NSA. She’s brilliant when it comes to analysis of data. She’s been gone for nearly a month. She’s always worked at home and never taken a vacation so we have time to find her. When it becomes known that she left, questions will be asked. She has a lot of sensitive material in her head,” he said.
“How could you let that happen? Why would she ever need to be exposed to the work we do? Damn, this changes everything. What if she didn’t leave voluntarily, did you think of that? This entire situation could be a cover job. You really should have told us from the first, Dad,” said Aaron.
“Told us what?” said a voice from the doorway.
*****
Roland Gantry had driven for a hundred miles when he pulled over. He figured he was far enough away to be safe. He got out and got some clothes. All the way to the front door of that bitch’s house he’d tried to pass off his error as a joke his pack mates had been playing on him. The lie was the reason the alpha had let him get a few minutes ahead of him.
A few minutes was all Roland needed to get away without a beating. Luckily he had spare keys in his car and he’d left his wallet in his glove box. As a shifter, who used his animal shape to get out of trouble—a lot, like being chased by the authorities—he’d learned not to carry ID on him and wear cheap clothes.
Pulling on his last clean pair of jeans, he sniffed at a t-shirt and decided to go ahead and wear it. The downside to being a shifter, he had to do laundry more often as his sensitive nose could only take a three or four days of accumulated body odor.
As he dressed, he considered how he was going to get even with that bitch for turning him down. She had insulted him and he wasn’t going to put up with that shit from some human chick. She had magic though, it was one of the things he remembered they said she had. That gave him an idea; he had to find a phone.
He decided to call John. John was okay for a Shayatin sorcerer. At least he was okay in Roland’s book because he let Roland go. He had told Roland his aura was too muddy to be any good for his use. For some reason you needed bright clean auras to be any good for a Shayatin sorcerer to sacrifice you and steal your magic.
The bitch looked like a goody two-shoes to him. John would probably love to get his hands on her. As he got back into his truck, he wondered if John would enslave her and slowly drain her magic or sacrifice her outright. He didn’t really care, he would have his revenge, and make some money to go along with it. He also intended for his own aura to stay muddy. He preferred it that way, it kept him safe.
*****
Laura slept in late and didn’t awaken until eight. She usually only needed four or five hours of sleep a night and was surprised when she saw the clock.
“Maggie? Is everyone awake?” she asked.
“Yes, dear. I told them you were still sleeping and not to disturb you. Shall I inform them you are now awake?” said Maggie house.
“Okay. I’m going to need about an hour to wash and dress. Would you let Lola know? I’m really hungry, I’d like a big breakfast,” she said.
“Righto, my dear,” Maggie answered.
She’s sounding very British today.
Laura got herself out of bed and hurried into the bathroom. As she went through her morning routine, she wondered what this new day would bring. Hopefully no more weirdoes like the loser from yesterday. She also needed to work in a therapy appointment. Now that she didn’t need to worry about the sun exposure anymore, it would be easier to get around. Before she was trying to work out a way for the therapist to come to her, now Laura was looking forward to getting out of the house.
It was a little before nine when she rolled down the hallway to the kitchen. She was going to ask Lola if she could have breakfast upstairs, in the sunroom. After the events of yesterday, she was surprised to see Marshall with another stranger. She gave him the once over. At least this one didn’t look like a total loser; he was actually kind of hunky. She might not mind being mated to this guy. When she noticed they were about to turn she looked over at Lola.
“Lola, I wanted to ask about having breakfast in the sunroom. And I see we have guests. Perhaps they’d like coffee?” she asked before turning to Marshall.
“Laura, I’d like you to meet Alexander Marasov. He’s our National Alpha,” as he introduced Marshall.
“Hello, it’s nice to meet you. Mara said you were expected,” she said, holding out her hand.
Alex Marasov turned to look at the reason so many of his people were up in arms. He caught an elusive sent. It tickled his nose and went straight to his groin. He was hard in seconds. Before he realized what he was doing, he leaned over her, and put his face in her neck. He took a deep breath, filling his sense with the sweet aroma. Not even realizing, he licked her neck as he held on to the arms of her wheelchair to hold her in place, then started kissing his way to her mouth and dove in.
She tasted like a coo
l breeze on a spring day. She was sweet like a strawberry along with the decadence of dark chocolate with a touch of honey. He was drowning in her essence and didn’t want to come up for air.
When she turned her head away and pushed at his shoulders he felt a flash of hurt and disappointment. His mate had pulled away from him! Then he saw the blush on her face and remembered Marshall had informed him how innocent she was. She had been kissing him back; he wanted to get her alone. However, he would have to take things slowly, which was really unfortunate for his swollen cock.
*****
Laura watched as the big man leaned over her. She was taken aback when he put his face against her neck. Is he actually sniffing me? Before she had time to respond, he was holding her, and she was even more surprised to feel her nipples tightening and her skin heating. In the next instant, he was kissing her—her first kiss! She thought she should stop him and raised her hands to his shoulders. Intending to push him away, it took her brain a moment to realize she was actually pulling him closer. Shocked, she pushed him away and turned her head.
Marshall and Lola both wore big smiles. “Well… I’m going to go out on a limb here and say I guess we don’t need to look any further for her mate,” Marshall said with a laugh.
“Frieda was right, a strong alpha for my Laura. Now you two go on up to the sunroom and get acquainted. I’ll bring up your breakfast and a pot of coffee,” Lola said. Marshall looked down at the diminutive Kobold.
