by Lisa Oliver
“Whew,” Simon said as he flicked through the papers. “He’s trying to regulate everything except her next dump which is a shame because I’ve just changed one very smelly diaper.”
“What do the papers mean for me and Annabelle?” Seth asked.
“In a nutshell, for Princess to become Brach’s legal heir, you have to agree to all of his conditions which come into effect the moment you sign the papers,” Simon said, throwing a glare over his shoulder at Joran. “Brach will agree to her living here with you until the age of five, after which time she will be expected to attend the boarding school he’s enrolled her in. From then on, her life won’t be her own. Oh, and the proviso about her living here now is on the understanding that she won’t be unduly influenced by any non-fae individuals, namely her brothers, her parents or anyone else she might socialize with. Hence the need for a nanny, who will be provided and paid for by Brach’s company.”
“And if she doesn’t become Brach’s legal heir. Are there any consequences we need to worry about?” Ra asked cautiously.
“You can’t seriously be thinking of turning down the President’s offer?” Joran sounded shocked, but then Ra guessed when you’ve lived in an isolated world of the elite for so long, having someone say no once in a while would be a shock. Ra had come across similar people when he started selling his art.
“There are no consequences if you don’t sign,” Simon said. “No one can be forced into signing a contract under human or paranormal law, so if you don’t sign, Princess just doesn’t get to be a bigshot in the fae world.”
“Good, that’s simple then,” Seth peered around Simon’s torso. “Tell your boss I’m not signing. My little girl is very happy right where she is.”
“You can’t say no,” Joran’s eyes almost popped out of his head. “What’s the President going to do about an heir? Annabelle is his great-grandchild. With his son dead, there’s no chance of him having any more.”
“Michael and Sage are related to him too,” Seth said, stepping past Simon. “But then I was his grandkid and I wasn’t important at all until I gave birth. A birth that almost killed me thanks to my father’s interventions with my magic. Brach clearly sees children as a commodity to be trained and traded to further his own business empire. Well, I have news for you and Brach, we don’t see our children that way.”
“President Brach is a very important man. If he gets upset about this it could mean serious repercussions for you, your family and this town.”
“Oh really,” Ra said, stepping forward and laying his arm across Seth’s shoulder. “Brach works with humans, doesn’t he? I don’t have his sort of influence, but most of the people that buy my art are human too. I wonder what a quick call to my agent would do? He has contacts with all the major media outlets. I can see it now. Pictures of my beautiful Seth being forced out of the life of his only daughter by a harsh businessman. That same businessman who knew about Seth being abandoned at birth and did nothing about it because he can shift.”
“You wouldn’t air that sort of dirty linen in public, surely?”
“Wouldn’t I? Do I look like a person who gives a crap about public opinion?” Ra glared at Joran. “What if I throw in tell-all interviews, about how the great Brach’s interference almost cost Seth his life? What if I mention how the beautiful Annabelle has two brothers that Brach won’t acknowledge because they’re not full fae? Add in the bit about how Brach’s son, who I am sure is mourned as a great man, was married when he knocked up Seth’s mother and was so appalled at being left to care for a baby, he dumped him under a tree. A newborn left in the woods alone; you can’t tell me Brach didn’t know about that.”
Joran flushed and Ra growled. “Ice the whole deal with the threats to our family and this little town, which never causes any trouble for anyone and you tell me what sort of a media shitstorm I can cause. How many people are going to be up in arms when they know the almighty Brach with the power of the Concordance Group behind him is threatening to steal a child from a tiny lop-eared rabbit? He’d be ruined in a month.”
“He simply wants the chance to be a decent grandfather,” Joran said stiffly.
“Great-grandfather,” Seth reminded him. “As an adult, I don’t want anything to do with him or his money. If he wants a relationship with Annabelle, then he would do what any other normal great-grandparent would do.”
“What’s that?” Joran said clicking his fingers causing a tablet to appear. “I am sure the President will be open to any contract negotiations as this is very important to him.”
“Take this down, it’s not a long list,” Seth said, grinning up at Ra. Ra wondered what his sweet mate was up to, but he knew whatever Seth said wasn’t going to be something a man like Brach would want to hear. “One, he visits personally and doesn’t send his PA to do family business.” Joran looked up from his tablet and Seth shook his head. “Write this down, I don’t want any misunderstanding.”
“Two,” Seth continued as Joran tapped on his tablet screen. “He brings gifts for his three great-grandchildren; Michael, Sage, and Annabelle. Age appropriate, remember they are less than a week old. Three, Ra and I will make the decisions regarding our children’s upbringing, including schooling, who they make friends with, where they live and anything they might like to do outside of school, and four, see I told you this would be easy, he scraps any idea of betrothing any of my children to further his business deals. My children will grow up like normal children, attend the local school here in Arrowtown, will make friends with the children around here and when the time comes, all three of my children will make their own choices regarding their future partners. Is that clear?”
“The President isn’t going to like this,” Joran grumbled as he tapped the screen a few more times and then magicked his tablet away.
“We don’t care,” Ra said firmly. “Maybe if your precious President had spent less time on his business and more time raising his son, instead of pushing him into a life he couldn’t cope with, then he’d have a true family instead of trying to negotiate with one. Our children will be loved and encouraged to choose their own paths in life and no one, and especially not you and Brach, will be allowed to interfere with that.”
“You shifters have no appreciation of wealth,” Joran sneered. “You’re throwing away billions of dollars.”
“Billions that will mean nothing to our children if they aren’t raised with a family that loves them.” Ra cocked his head as a faint cry was heard. “Now, if you’ll excuse us one of our babies needs us, and unlike Brach, we listen and respond when children cry. Simon can see you out.”
Leaving a stuttering Joran who did not respond well to being grabbed and frog-marched out of the room, Ra and Seth headed upstairs. Liam, Lucien, and Mal were feeding contented babies. Ra grinned, proud at how his band of friends adapted so readily to tibits in the house. “Got things under control, boys? Only I did promise Seth a run.”
“Go be your furry selves,” Liam said dismissively. “We’re going to teach these babies the alphabet song, and we all know you can’t hold a tune to save yourself.”
“They’re only five days old,” Seth noted.
“Bah, these kids are geniuses, and everyone knows shifter children develop faster than other paranormals,” Mal said. “Go. Run. Be furry. Leave the educating side of things to us. Now, boys, are you ready?”
Ra and Seth left the boys to it, the soft sounds of the A, B, C song mingling with Seth’s laughter as they headed outside.
Epilogue
The small white rabbit sniffed under the bushes. The strong scent of wolf urine hit his nose and his nose twitched before he sneezed. Damn Rocky marking everywhere, Seth thought as he hopped over to another bush and found similar results. Those wolves are so freaking territorial, peeing on every piece of vegetation in existence. He hopped down to the water’s edge. Most of it was running too fast for him to get near, but there were sprinkles of water splashed on some tasty looking dandelion leaves. S
eth settled in for a snack.
The sun warm on his back, Seth’s ears flickered constantly, listening for intruders or sudden noises. Being so much smaller than his human frame, the world looked different when he was on four legs. Bushes and trees seemed to loom over him. The leaves he was nibbling on were longer than his legs, and yet in human form, he wouldn’t have noticed them. He sniggered at the idea of walking along as a human, suddenly face down on the ground munching on dandelions. I wonder if they’d still taste the same?
He was still pondering and nibbling when his fur stood up and his ears went back. Predator. His instincts screamed at him to run and hide, but Seth kept on chewing. He wasn’t going to let a nosy cat ruin his meal. Seconds later, Ra hovered over him, his brilliant orange fur gleaming in the sun, his eyes curious rather than hostile. Seth tilted his face up, half a dandelion hanging from his mouth. He got a sandpaper tongue over his whiskers for his trouble; the dandelion now covered in tiger slobber.
Scrunching his eyes shut, Seth submitted to a rough grooming. Ra was on his belly, his front paws providing a safe haven for a little bunny. Rumbles came from deep in the tiger’s chest as he licked down Seth’s back, knocking him over at one point. The “oops” look on Ra’s face was classic. Seth would have laughed if rabbits did such a thing. As it was, he chattered crossly, Ra’s head tilted to one side as he listened, nodding occasionally although he wouldn’t have understood anything Seth was saying.
Ra finally seemed satisfied he was clean enough and smelling enough of tiger to soothe his animal soul. He rested his head on one paw and closed his eyes. Seth wriggled and kicked until his face was free of tiger whiskers and settled down for a nap, cradled by the other paw.
It was comforting knowing no one would disturb them. After all, that was the point in living in Arrowtown – a shifter town where everyone could be themselves – totally at ease in fur or skin with no worries about being eaten by a neighbor or shot by hunters. His mind playing movie reels of his wonderful life and how much it’d changed for the better, Seth fell asleep, confident his tiger would keep him safe. It seemed the good guy did get the hero after all.
The End
I mentioned on my blog that this story, my first foray into MPREG was meant to be a short, sweet book. The idea wouldn’t leave me alone and so I just had to write it. For me, it was a writing holiday – nothing heavy, just a fun write and hopefully an equally fun read.
As you can see, it’s not exactly short and in places, not so sweet either. However, I am proud of the way this story panned out and I do hope you enjoyed your introduction to Arrowtown. There will be more books in this series, but I am not sure when. My schedule of books to write is getting longer every day.
If you did enjoy this story, please consider leaving a review. Reviews help new readers decide whether or not to try a story from an author they haven’t read before. Of course, if you have questions about anything in this story, feel free to email me instead. I love hearing from my readers.
Hug the one you love
Lisa
Other Books By Lisa Oliver
Cloverleah Pack
Book 1 – The Reluctant Wolf – Kane and Shawn
Book 2 – The Runaway Cat – Griff and Diablo
Book 3 – When No Doesn’t Cut It – Damien and Scott
Book 3.5 – Never Go Back – Scott and Damien’s Trip and a free story about Malacai and Elijah
Book 4 – Calming the Enforcer – Troy and Anton
Book 5 – Getting Close to the Omega – Dean and Matthew
Book 6 – Fae for All – Jax, Aelfric and Fafnir (M/M/M)
Book 7 – Watching Out for Fangs –Josh and Vadim
Book 8 – Tangling with Bears – Tobias, Luke and Kurt (M/M/M)
Book 9 – Angel in Black Leather – Adair and Vassago
Book 9.5 – Scenes from Cloverleah – four short stories featuring the men we’ve come to love
Book 10 – On The Brink – Teilo, Raff and Nereus (M/M/M)
Book 11 – (as yet untitled) – Marius and (shush, it’s a secret) (Coming April 2017)
The God’s Made Me Do It (Cloverleah spin off series)
Get Over It – Madison and Sebastian’s story
Bound and Bonded Series
Book One – Don’t Touch – Levi and Steel
Book Two – Topping the Dom – Pearson and Dante
Book Three – Total Submission – Kyle and Teric
Book Four – Fighting Fangs – Ace and Devin
Book Five – No Mate of Mine – Roger and Cam
Book Six – Undesirable Mate – Phillip and Kellen
Stockton Wolves Series
Book One – Get off My Case – Shane and Dimitri
Book Two – Copping a Lot of Sin – Ben, Sin and Gabriel (M/M/M)
Book Three – Mace’s Awakening – Mace and Roan
Book Four – Don’t Bite – Trent and Alexi
Book Five – Truth Gets in the Way – Captain Reynolds and Nico (Coming March/April 2017)
Alpha and Omega Series
Book One – The Biker’s Omega – Marly and Trent
Book Two – Dance Around the Cop – Zander and Terry
Book 2.5 – Change of Plans - Q and Sully – short story, (Coming soon)
Book Three – The Artist and His Alpha – Caden and Sean
Book Four – Harder in Heels – Ronan and Asaph
The Portrain Pack and Coven
The Power of the Bite – Dax and Zane
The Fangs Between Us – Broz and Van – a Portrain Coven and Pack Prequel (coming soon).
Balance – Angels and Demons
The Viper’s Heart – Raziel and Botis
Passion Punched King – Anael and Zagan – coming April 2017
Also under the penname Lee Oliver
Northern States Pack Series
Book One – Ranger’s End Game – Ranger and Aiden
Book Two – Cam’s Promise – Cam and his secret – coming March/April 2017
Shifter’s Uprising Series – Lisa Oliver in conjunction with Thomas J. Oliver
Book One – Uncaged – Carlin and Lucas
Book Two – Fly Free (Coming soon)
About the Author
Lisa Oliver had been writing non-fiction books for years when visions of half dressed, buff men started invading her dreams. Unable to resist the lure of her stories, Lisa decided to switch to fiction books, and now stories about her men clamor to get out from under her fingertips.
When Lisa is not writing, she is usually reading with a cup of tea always at hand. Her grown children and grandchildren sometimes try and pry her away from the computer and have found that the best way to do it, is to promise her chocolate. Lisa will do anything for chocolate.
Lisa loves to hear from her readers and other writers. You can friend her on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/lisaoliverauthor), catch up on what’s happening at her blog (http://www.supernaturalsmut.com) or email her directly at [email protected].
