“I can hear you in my head!”
Brady’s voice says, “Welcome to the world of mating. Don’t say anything yet and let my mother squirm a bit.”
I almost snort and choke on my coffee instead.
Donna says, “Heavens! Are you all right, dear?”
I hold up my hand and nod.
Donna sets her silverware down on her plate and pushes it away. “We have a serious matter to discuss.” She takes a moment to wipe her mouth with her napkin as if to brace us all for what she’s about to say. “The Veilleux Clan is acting up, and I’m afraid they’re getting ready to make a serious play for power.”
Brady bristles, and his voice seems to get deeper when he says, “Right, I’ve got Laurent and his men patrolling the perimeter, and perhaps we should call a meeting of the council to reinforce our peaceful relationships.” My sexy bear becomes a dangerous one when he growls, and I suspect yesterday the noise would have made me cower in fear. “Maybe we can head them off by answering their requests.”
Donna says, “Maybe. But it will be just a bandage for the real problem. That Victor is a power-hungry bastard. I think he’s caught wind of our plan for children. It’s only a matter of time before his father dies and he takes over.” She snarls in a way that would terrify the meanest of human men. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Victor makes that happen sooner. And when he does, we can expect all hell to break loose.”
She looks at me. “Carly, Annie tells me you know about the curse and how we called shifter descendants to come mate.”
I nod.
“We have a serious weakness without men and women under the age of twenty-five. We need to keep that gap as small as possible.”
I nod again, understanding she’s telling me to get pregnant. I’m tempted to make a joke about more sex to Brady in my head, but given the severity of the situation, I refrain.
Donna continues. “As the alpha’s mate, you’re going to have to get involved in the politics and do what’s best for the clan. Are you prepared for that?”
“I’m not sure how prepared I am, but I do understand acting in the best interest of the clan, and I’ll do my best.”
“The first order of business is to have a wedding. The kingdom needs to know their new prime has a prima.”
I must have a look of shock on my face because Donna says, “Don’t you worry about a thing, Carly. Annie and I will take care of the details. For now your focus is to get pregnant and give me some grandchildren.”
I smile with relief because planning a party is not in my arsenal. The sharp odor of bear I’m beginning to associate with high emotions has faded, and I think it’s okay to send Brady a message now. “Your mother thinks we should have more sex. Busy later?” I wink at her and say, “I’ll see what I can do about that.”
Brady’s hand moves up my thigh, dangerously close to my crotch, and his voice in my head says, “She’ll be gone in a half hour, meet me upstairs.”
26
Chapter 13
Carly
Exercise has never been my thing. I don’t mind a long walk on the beach, but anything that requires a raised heart rate and sweating is not my idea of fun. Well, except for sex with Brady. I squirm a bit, thinking about what we did in that big bed of his after breakfast.
Annie gushes on about how much fun running is going to be. We’re behind a garden shed on their property. Stripping off our clothes, we hang them on hooks designed for this purpose. My skin prickles with goose bumps in the cold spring air.
Annie asks, “All right, besides getting pissed at Brady, what else makes you shift?”
“Anxiety and—” “Good God, my world revolves around sex these days.” Brady’s voice chuckles in my head.
I communicate back to him. “Aren’t you supposed to be at work? Turn off our inner phone and go away.”
Annie figures out what I didn’t say. “Right, think about the physical signs of those emotions and try to recreate them. The idea is to find what you can use to shift into a bear the way you use deep breathing to keep yourself from shifting.”
“Is that what you do?”
“Kind of. I’ve been doing it so long I just know how to do it. But I had to get mad to make it happen when I first changed.” She smiles. “Brady was my focus back then. Using your litter mates is pretty common among teen werebear.”
“How do I stay shifted?”
“Once you shift, you stay until you decide to shift back. You’ll trigger it by the deep breathing and imagining your human skin sucking up the bear.”
I decide to imagine people finding me naked right now. I pace thinking about strangers staring at my breasts, and for some reason Ray pops into my mind. The memory of the day he pissed me off enough to tattoo myself is making me agitated, and I feel my skin prickle and the familiar ache in my hands as I begin to shift.
Amazingly it’s pain free, and when I’m done, I look over and see Annie has shifted too. She’s beautiful with her black fur and shimmering onyx eyes. I wish I could tell her. She nods her head and starts to run. I follow. The sensation of my four paws pounding in a rhythm is amazing, and I wonder how it is my body knows what to do.
Annie picks up the pace, and I urge my muscles on to keep up. We moving faster than I thought possible, and air is flowing through my fur. Muscles from my hips down to my feet surge with power, and I let out a roar. She roars back as we crash through the woods. “This is amazing.”
Annie stops short. Her voice is in my head. “Can you hear me?”
I reply. “Yes.”
“Holy shit! Only the alpha and your mate can speak in your head. You’re not my mate, so you must have alpha abilities. Wait until Brady finds out.”
“Um, does that mean you’ll hear what Brady and I talk about?”
If a bear could frown, she would. “No, only when you want me to. Brady can control it, or else hundreds of people would hear his thoughts.”
“I’ll have to work on that.” I don’t think bears can blush, but I want to cringe wondering if I’m sharing my thoughts with people when Brady and I have sex.
Annie nods. “Ready for a swim? I know where the fish are.”
She doesn’t wait for an answer and takes off. We run to a ledge that drops to a roaring stream. Annie jumps off and dives in. I don’t think about it and do the same. Water surrounds me when I land, but it isn’t cold. I hardly feel wet, and it must be because my fur is coated with oil. The water seems to bead up and roll off instead of penetrating through.
I’m amazed that swimming as a large animal feels so graceful, and I paddle through with powerful strokes. A current this strong would probably drown the human me, but as a bear, I’m moving effortlessly.
Annie takes me to a shallow section by a small waterfall. Standing on two legs, she swipes at the water and pulls out fish. When she throws me one, I open my mouth and catch it. With a quick chew I swallow it down. The flavor is fishy, but my bear self finds it as appealing as the bacon this morning, and I swish my paw through the water to find my own.
My reflexes are so fast I barely realize I’ve caught one on my second try. I would squeal, but a roar comes out instead. “You were right, this is so much fun.”
“You’re good at fishing. It’s going to be fun to have a playmate like you.” We both stop and look at each other. I throw her the fish I just caught, and she catches it in her mouth.
“I’m glad you’re my sister-in-law. I didn’t have brothers or sisters, and I think I’m going to like this.”
“Me too, I always wanted a sister, and now I have one.”
After a few more fish we venture back into the stream and swim some more. It’s almost noon, and the sun is high in the sky. Annie climbs onto a big rock and lies down. I lie next to her and let heat from the granite seep into my body.
Voices carry down to us, and I spy people on a ledge. A young girl says, “Momma, look at the pretty bears.”
Her mother replies, “They are beautiful, but remember we do
n’t get anywhere near them, okay?”
I think about being beautiful to people in a completely different way. One that has nothing to do with my body shape and everything to do with the attractiveness of the kind of animal I am.
I look over at Annie, my new sister and friend. “I’m sorry you can’t have children. That must have been hard to find out.”
“It was, but then my mate died, and I’m not sure I would have wanted to have to raise them alone.”
Something about talking in our heads makes me braver than usual. “How did it happen?”
She growls. “He and my father were killed by hunters. They say it was humans, but I think it was Victor.”
A powerful urge to strike out tingles in my muscles. “I’m so sorry, Annie.”
She reaches over and pats me. “So see, you have to hurry up and get pregnant so I can help raise your babies, okay?”
“I’m counting on it.”
Annie stands. “We should head back.” She dives off the rock, and I watch her powerful strokes as she swims away.
When we get home, I find shifting back is easier. Even after all the fish we consumed, my stomach growls. Annie can hear it, and we make our way to the kitchen. She makes us huge tuna and cheese panini sandwiches, and we sit at the island to eat.
It must be the part bear in me that makes me so ravenous. I get up to make another once I’m done with the first one. The griddle creaks as I open it to pull my sandwich off.
I ask, “So what else do I need to learn?”
Annie wipes her mouth on a napkin. “You need to learn to fight. It’s not nearly as fun, but it’s necessary. We have a couple of trainers for the new shifters, and I’m going to set one up to come and train you here. I’ll join in because my skills are rusty.”
My first instinct is to groan about exercise, but then I remember how powerful I feel in bear form. “Okay. I guess I’m going to get good at shifting, aren’t I?”
Annie smiles at me. “You’re already good at it. It’s as if you were made for this.”
I bite into cheesy tuna goodness, and as the flavor drowns my taste buds, I think, Maybe I was.
27
Chapter 14
Carly
Apparently weekly breakfast meetings with Donna are a thing. This time I’m ready for her and swear I won’t blush. Keith and Sierra are invited today and arrive before she does.
I haven’t seen much of Sierra the past week and am excited for girl time with my friend. I practically prance down the stairs to greet her. “You look radiant. It must be love.” I grasp her hands and look her up and down.
Her eyes widen. “My God, you’re getting cut. How did you do it so fast?”
I grin, “Werebear fitness training. You should see the things I’m learning. I run and swim in the morning and then fight with a trainer in the afternoons. And the funny thing is, I enjoy it.”
She squints at me and speaks in a low voice. “And the sex? You’re getting a lot of that too, right?” Clearly Keith hasn’t told her werebear can hear everything.
I chuckle and hear Brady’s voice in my head. “Tell her about the animal part.”
Heat rises to my cheeks, and Sierra snorts. “Jesus, don’t tell me because that red face says it all.” She winks. “Besides, I know all about that part. Keith’s dick is huge, and boy oh boy is he insatiable. He’s a dream come true.”
She giggles at her little joke while I flush even more knowing Brady, Keith, and Annie heard. I’m going to have to tell her and am about to when Keith comes around the corner.
He says, “Are you bragging about me again?” He wiggles his brows, and I want to die on the spot.
I shake my head at him knowing Sierra is going to be the one who’s embarrassed when she finds out how acute werebear ears are.
She reaches up on her tiptoes and kisses his cheek. “You know it.”
He growls a little in her ear, and I lead the way to the breakfast table.
Sierra makes a beeline for the waffles. “I’ll never get enough of real maple syrup. I think that might be the reason I’m here.”
I fill my plate with eggs, bacon, and berries. I can’t explain why, but the scent of the waffles turns my stomach this morning. “I love the stuff too, but no sugar for me in the morning. I need protein.”
Brady loads up his plate and bumps me with a hip. He talks in my head. “Is my dick a dream come true too?”
“You’re such a man!”
He growls at me and presses his hardness against my butt. I just about come undone and say, “Don’t do that in public. I can’t be responsible for my actions.”
He smirks at me, and I want to bite his lower lip. I lick mine while staring at his mouth, knowing it turns him on. I then glance at his crotch and see the erection about to rip free. “Nice, just in time for your mom.”
He winks at me. “She did tell us to get pregnant.”
“After breakfast, you’re mine. Got it?” I give him my own little growl, and Keith looks over at us. I shrug at him, and he grins. My plate clatters on the table as I set it down.
Donna walks in with a sigh. She’s wearing a flowery scent I don’t remember being so overpowering. Maybe she spilled it today.
She sniffs the air, and I suspect she has bacon on her mind. Especially when she smiles slowly and says, “Hello all! Sierra. Keith, great to have you here. Let me grab breakfast, and we’ll get started.”
She turns and cocks her head at me. “How are you feeling today, Carly?”
“I’m great, Donna, you?” Jeesh, she must have intuitive senses too. It was only a touch of queasiness over the waffles.
Donna says, “We have so much to do today. Wait until you hear about your wedding.” She piles waffles on her plate and shoves them over to make room for eggs. When she adds bacon, I feel a selfish twinge as I worry that there may not be enough left for me to get my fill. “What is wrong with me?”
Brady answers in my head. “If you were thinking about what you’re going to do to my body instead of what my mother’s saying, there’s nothing wrong with you at all.”
I send him a coy smile and shove bacon in my mouth.
Annie and Donna go over the wedding details while the rest of us try to be polite. Sierra does perk up when they get to the dresses. As my maid of honor, she’s more excited than I am.
Sierra says, “Carly, you, me, and Annie need to go get our dresses this week. You only have two weeks until the wedding.”
“I know. Shall we go Tuesday?”
Annie says, “That sounds great. We’ll have to go all the way to Portland for the best selection, but it should be a fun trip.”
Donna says, “Okay, now for the guest list. Carly, is there anyone you want to invite?” I give it a moment, but Sierra is the closest thing I have to family. I answer, “No.”
“Okay.” She ticks off a list of names and then pauses. “It’s customary to invite the prime and prima from all clans. Carly, those are the names given to the alpha and his wife. That means we should invite Marion and Robert Robichaux and Ambroise and Patricia Veilleux.”
I see Keith’s jaw get hard, and Brady bristles next to me as he says, “I hate the idea of any Veilleux being at my wedding.”
Donna says, “Yes, I do too. But it’s part of what we must do.” She folds her hands together and presses them against her mouth. We wait for what’s coming next. “It’s important they know we’re strong. This will show them.”
Brady says, “Do you think Ambroise will even come? He’s been so ill.”
Donna responds, “No, but I bet Victor will come in his place.”
Brady growls in exasperation. “I know. And my bear will spend the whole time wanting to protect Carly. It’s going to be hard not to shift.”
Donna nods as I sit a little taller and say, “Excuse me, protect?”
“Yes, protect.” Brady’s voice takes on his alpha tone, and I know enough that it should make me want to cower. But I don’t, and I can’t explain why.
I send him a message in my head. “I can take care of myself.”
He replies, “You will do what I say. It’s my job to take care of you.”
“Good luck with that, smokey.” My hands start to ache, and I’m afraid I’m about to shift. I take a deep breath.
Brady’s chair scrapes across the floor as he shoves it back to stand up. He’s definitely starting to shift, and Sierra’s eyes get wide.
Donna says, “Enough, you two. Save the fight for later. Brady, you’ll notice Carly is in control of her emotions. You’d be wise to do the same.”
Right now I wish I could talk to Donna in my head and tell her thank you. Instead I throw her a grateful smile as Brady takes a lap around the kitchen to stop his shift.
When he returns, Donna leans forward and speaks to us in a low voice. “Are we calm now?”
I nod and glimpse Brady doing the same.
Donna says, “Good. Finish your breakfast. And Carly, you’re eating for more than one now, so go get seconds.” She smiles like the Cheshire cat while the rest of us stare at her in shock.
I’m pregnant?
Donna breaks our silence. “Can’t anyone else smell it? Oh, I suppose not, since none of you would recognize it. Carly, dear, you’re pregnant. And if I’ve still got my sense of smell, I’d say three babies are in there.”
28
Chapter 15
Carly
After breakfast Brady and I go up to our room. He paces the large space in agitation. “How dare you defy a direct alpha order?”
I stand with my hands on my hips as he walks back toward me. “Oh, so you can just decide to give me an order because of your super-sized ego? I thought a good ruler made wise decisions and didn’t bark out demands on a whim.”
He towers over me and practically spits out his words. “My word is final, and there is nothing you can do about that. Get used to it.”
“Funny, but it was quite easy to deny you, fur ball. Guess you’re not so alpha when it comes to me, huh?” I’m being quite the bitch, and my anger is dangerously close to making me shift.
Summer Shifter Nights Page 69
