As Love Shifts (19 page)

“I’m stunned.” It was the complete truth, but probably not in a way that Kris interpreted it. Was she really going to agree to marry Chirrot? She didn’t know him that well. Had he agreed to marry her?

She was not going to have this day remembered as Ever the muddy bride, and she turned, giving Kris a kiss. “Thank you. All four of you. Let me go get cleaned up so we can enjoy this.”

All four men gave her a nod and Ever hurried into the bedroom. She sat down on the bed, completely overwhelmed. They had surprised her all right. Not only had the wedding plans happened without her, but what they were proposing was insanity. She had spent probably twenty hours with Chirrot since his family had moved onto the property. They had always chatted and she had found him enticing, but was she really ready to make a commitment to him?

Someone knocked on the door and Ever went to open it. It was Charity. “May I come in?”

Even nodded and went to sit back on the bed. Charity smiled and sat down beside her. She handed Ever a shopping bag. “I thought you might like this. It has been in my family for years and I made a point to store it safely in the upper caves. I was glad that we had plenty of warning about the flooding and winds.”

Ever pulled the bag open and looked into it. Inside was a beautiful beaded satin fabric done in a brilliant shade of green. She stood, pulling it out of the bag. It was a dress.

“It is called a nature gown and it is what a shifter woman usually uses for her wedding. The color signifies the connection between nature and love. I can understand why you are hesitant to involve my son, but Chirrot has been in love with you all along. He told me so after your first meeting. He has a strong and noble heart despite his often aloof attitude.”

“That’s nice to know. I just found out that he was invited to come try a relationship with us, now I’m supposed to marry him?”

“Women in the past have married with far less information about their mate. They have also married for far less noble reasons.”

“What noble reasons?”

“Chirrot loves you. It would also seal the Shifters and weres together. It would undo a wrong that was committed so long ago. We are related to them.”

“To who?”

“Rolla and Lunar.”

“The two lovers in the story of why weres and shifters have been enemies?”

“Yes. I am related to Lunar by my great aunt. You are related to Rolla by Carmen.”

“But Carmen was an Amar.”

“Carmen used the name Amar as a status symbol. It was his mother’s name. His father was the great, great grandson of Rolla. If you marry Chirrot, it would end the saga and make things right again.”

The comment made her even more curious. She hadn’t really given much thought to what relationship Charity had with Carmen, but now she wanted to know. “Exactly how well did you know Carmen?”

She sighed. “My parents arranged for me to be given to Carmen in cooperation with his parents. The goal was to seal weres and shifters back together. We were both young and although we became friends, there was no chemistry between us. Carmen did what any headstrong teenager would have done when faced with being forced to marry a woman that he didn’t love. He bolted, disappeared from the face of the earth. I didn’t mind, but the only other option was for me to marry his much older brother. I refused. He was older and he had a mean personality. The wedding was called off and the feud between the two clans continued. When the Amars were slaughtered, any hope of reconciling seemed lost.

“I hadn’t seen Carmen in years. I thought he was dead until he called me. He was afraid. He had turned you, but he was out walking the next morning and he had a sense that he was being watched. He lost them, but then he was afraid to go back to his apartment. I was halfway across the country, and he didn’t want to leave you. At the same time, he was afraid to be near you. He didn’t know if he was putting your life in danger. I packed up my camper and drove back across country, but by the time he got here, he was dead. That’s when my family and I started to check up on you.”

Ever had no idea about any of this. It was before her time with Carmen, and he had never said anything. Of course, his family was already dead by then. “But I’m not really Amar anymore since Kris bit me. Now I’m Sten.”

“No alpha’s bite, not matter how strong, will ever kill all of another were’s genes. What you are is simply a cooperation of two different gene codes, or differing cells living in harmony rather than choosing to die. You are still Amar and now Sten. You can be the one who ends this, once and for all. Accept Chirrot into your life. It will complete the bond and end the war between our kinds. He can teach you things that even Demetri doesn’t know. I have taught my children in the ways of all things, not just shifter. He loves you. Can you love him?”

Ever wasn’t sure. She hadn’t allowed herself to think about Chirrot in that way. If Chirrot knew magic, had he spelled her men to accept him? “What does Chirrot know? Enough to cast his wishes upon others?”

“No,” she replied as if the question was ridiculous. “He knows how to aid nature, not change other men’s opinions of him. Your men accept him because he has allowed them to do so and they want you to be happy. You already know that they will do anything for you. I should also mention that Kris is right. He is your alpha and you need three others to be complete. Chirrot will supply much needed diversity to your relationship.” A devilish grin formed on her face. “Oh and wait until you have sex with him. You will have a new meaning to the word
sensational
.”

Ever chuckled. “I already know sensational. Are you going to tell me that you had sex with Chirrot?”

“Of course not. He is my son, but I do know what happens when magic meets changeling shifter.”

Ever wasn't exactly sure what that meant, but she would find out.

Ever walked out into the main hall dressed in the brilliant maple-leaf-green gown. It came to her midcalves and was fitted as if it had been made for her. The silky inner lining felt amazing against her skin, and with each step and movement the fabric was cares
sing
her. Her hair was shimmering and there wasn’t a drop of mud left anywhere. She had looked into the mirror and had been stunned by how good she looked. The gown was slightly low cut and it did a nice job of accenting her rather small breasts and made them look sexy.

The shade of the gown accented her skin and gave it a warm glow as if she was pregnant again, without the exercise ball in her stomach. She didn’t relish having more children, although Avia said that she needed to have more with Demetri. That would happen later, when she came into heat again. Ever reminded herself how much that term bugged her, even though she was now using it. She was not a dog who went into heat. She was a woman who had a period and could then get pregnant.

The men all seemed to see her at the same moment. They got up, scrambling to be the first one to reach her. Ever giggled as they pushed one another back like rugby players trying to score a goal. Her cheeks bloomed with a smile and she shook her head. Demetri was the least likely to succeed and it became a race between Kris and Chirrot as they sprinted between those gathered. Ever was watching them, but she was concentrating on Chirrot. He needed to let Kris win, even though Chirrot was possibly more agile. She saw him notice her now-worried expression and she shot a glance at Kris. A moment later, he grinned and then appeared to trip over his own feet. Chirrot slid to the floor, cursing loudly and dramatically and Ever knew that he had done it on purpose.

The single, considerate action touched her more than anything that Charity had said. In the moment it took him to scramble to his feet, Kris was on her, lifting her into his arms. It was exactly as it should be, her alpha carrying her to the front of the room with pride on his face. “You look amazing. Who gave you the dress?”

“Charity.”

“Does she know that you are hesitating to marry her son?”

“Yes.” Should she pass the reality of Chirrot’s two-sided interest to Kris? Ever had a feeling that for now it needed to be a secret. Forbid anyone should overhear what she said and think that she was only considering Chirrot to end the feud. It was actually the farthest thing from her mind at the moment.

“So have you made a decision?”

“Tell me your opinion first. I really want to hear what you honestly think.”

“I think exactly what I told you earlier. I think the advantages of having him with us, far outweigh our resistance. I will abide by your instincts. They are always on the money.”

She glanced at Chirrot as Kris set her to the floor. He looked like a sad puppy waiting to be put out in the rain. “My intuition tells me that he belongs with us. If he is going to stay, we might as well make it official.”

“I do believe this is going to be a very interesting night.”

Ever giggled as she saw the children heading toward them. They were dressed in the nicest clothing that had been brought with them and Avia had a beautiful fabric flower in her hair. The boys bombarded her, latching onto her legs as Avia stopped before her and gestured with her finger for her mother to bend down. She did so, squatting and hugging Seren and Errant to her sides as she put her hand out to Lash. “You all look so nice. Avia, where did you get the flower?”

“Chirrot made it for me. He is really nice and you should marry him, too.”

Ever giggled. “Why, because he made you a flower?”

“No. Because he is important.”

“Why?”

She rolled her eyes, groaning as if the question was ridiculous. “I don’t know why. I’m just a little girl. I just know that he is important.”

It was yet another vote in Chirrot’s favor. The final decision was hers, but with so many factors all pointing to the same answer, would she really say no? “I think you are a
little
girl with a
big
attitude, miss. I have also discovered that your opinion has been valuable in the past and so…I guess I’ll marry Chirrot, too. Can you go tell him for me?”

She grinned and pushed Seren out of the way to hug Ever and give her a kiss. “I love you, Mommy.”

“I love you, too. I love all four of you, very much.”

Avia released her and skipped over to Chirrot as Ever stood, fixing Lash’s hair with her fingers. He had become far more outgoing as the weeks passed and she was no longer fearful of his potential to become explosive. He gave her one of his beautiful smiles and then shook his head to mess his hair back up. Ever was tempted to fix it again, but knew that Lash was setting himself apart. He was the boy with the forever messy hair. It just hadn’t occurred to her until this moment that he was doing it on purpose.

“I guess if Mommy and your daddies are going to get married then we had better get this show on the road.”

Errant looked around. “What road, Mommy? You will get your dress all muddy if you go up to the road.”

“It is just an old saying, Errant. It means that we should get things started.” She was tempted to explain further, but the comment would be lost on them. They had never gone anywhere on a time schedule.

“Oh,” he replied, looking somewhat mystified. “So we should go find Daisy and get out of your hair?”

She giggled. Did she want the children to stay up front with them or go sit with Daisy? “I think that is up to you four. You may stay up here with us if you choose. You just have to be quiet and listen to what is going on.”

Errant turned to his brothers and then all three of them nodded. It suddenly hit Ever that they rarely spoke out loud to each other. She squatted back down. “Did you just speak to each other?”

“Of course we did,” replied Seren. “We think this is your day and we will go sit quietly with Daisy and listen. Okay?”

“That’s fine. Can you silently talk to your sister?”

“Yes, but Avia says it’s rude.”

“I’ll have to think about that. Give Mommy a kiss.”

First Seren, then Lash and Errant gave her a kiss and with a grin, went to find Daisy. Ever stood, frowning at the four men that had now gathered around her. She focused her attention on Liam. “Did you know that the boys had that kind of ability?”

“I have never asked them, but I had a suspicion. Does it bother you?”

“No. I just feel kind of uninformed or maybe stupidly unperceptive. How long have they been doing this?”

“I don’t know. Possibly always. They have never been particularly vocal unless it was something that needed to be said out loud. I suppose that’s why Lash is so good with speech. He has been talking to his siblings all along.”

That explained so much about Lash. Ever had been stunned that he could speak and express himself so well. They had spoken to him through the glass of his room, but she had never been sure if he really understood until the spell on him was broken. He had known exactly what they were saying, he had just never answered. A pang of guilt ripped through her mind. Maybe he had answered. They had just never heard him. “Oh shit.”

“What’s wrong?” asked Demetri.

“I was just wondering if maybe Lash was less spelled than we thought. Is it possible that he could speak mentally, but not verbally while under the spell? What if he has been trying to talk to us all along and was actually getting angry because we never replied.”

She could see the men worrying her question. Chirrot walked over to the children, scooping Lash up and hanging him by his feet as the child squealed in enjoyment. He was laughing as he walked back over, judged the available space, and flipped Lash upright into his arms.

“Do it again,” howled Lash.

Chirrot chuckled. “On your return trip to Daisy. Your mother has a question that needs to be answered to soothe her mind.”

“What, Mommy?”

“Have you always been able to talk to your brothers with only your mind?”

“Yes.”

“Have you been talking to them all along?”

“Yes. The spell wouldn’t let me speak with my mouth. Whenever I tried, it would come out as a growl.”

Ever inhaled a calming breath, guilt and remorse flooding her heart. “Did you get angry and bite us because we didn’t speak back?”