As Love Shifts (21 page)

“No. I married you because I love you. The more I consider it, I think I fell in love with you before I even met you. My mother liked to talk about how brave and selfless you were. From the first time I heard the story about you going after the children, I knew you were special. I dreamed of what it would be like to be with a woman like that. I’m a creature of deep emotion and I needed my mate to be the same. Then I met you and I knew that I was in love with you. Everything about you touches me in one way or another.”

Ever was stunned by the intensity of his words. The Chirrot she had grown accustomed to was a joker, a man who always smiled and had a wisecrack to make. She had never pictured him as being this intense.

“So why did you agree?”

“Because I wanted to. I have liked you since the first time I met you. When I asked myself if I loved you, I’m thinking that the answer is yes. I have to be out of my mind, but I married you anyway.”

His smile was radiant. “Why are you out of your mind?”

“I just married the four most charismatic men on the clan’s property. There is only one of me.”

His mouth formed an
O
and then he grinned again. “I see what you mean. Wanna fuck?”

She really did, but couldn’t quite decide if it was prudent. It was her wedding night. Shouldn’t they all be involved? Was it wrong to give Chirrot special treatment? “Yes, but no. I know my men and they would be slighted by me making love to you right now. I don’t want to start this off with everyone pissed at us. Hopefully you won’t get mad at me.”

“Of course not. I’m just turned on from sharing your power. Let’s get back so no one gets their nose out of joint.”

He draped his arm over her shoulder and pulled her tight to his side. It felt really good to be touching him. Ever slipped her hand around his back, enjoying the taut feel of his muscles against her palm. “Can you teach me how to turn into an eagle?”

“I can try. Just not right now.”

“I didn’t mean right now. I just wanted to know if you could. What else can you teach me?”

“I don’t know. We will have to take that as it comes to me. I’m not exactly sure what you know already or can do by instinct.”

Ever felt good walking at his side. It had been a wise choice to marry Chirrot. Now the only remaining question was what Charity had meant by her comment.

The children were asleep in their beds and Chirrot wandered back into the main room with Ever and the others. He enjoyed the children and hoped that someday, he would have some of his own. It was not a question that he wanted to explore at the moment.

Ever had mentioned something about Demetri, and he was curious about that. “So why exactly are you going to have Demetri’s child?”

“Avia said that I should. She is good on predictions, but not good on the information that should go with them. She couldn’t give me a reason why.”

“Oh. So when can you?”

“When can I what? Get pregnant?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t know exactly. The last time was around the end of December.” Ever frowned. “I think that I have lost track of when I had my period last, is it possible that it was before the babies were conceived? If that’s the case then it has been almost fifteen months. It’s March huh?”

Kris nodded. “It is possible that you skipped a cycle because the babies are still young. Your body just isn’t ready to have more children yet.”

“Can I have more children?”

“Avia seems to think so. You will find out when the time comes. Please don’t get stressed out tonight worrying about it.”

“I’m not going to. I was just asking.”

Kris’s phone howled and all five of them jumped. He started to laugh as he walked across the room and snatched it off the charger. He frowned and swiped it open. “I’m going to put you on speaker. Where the hell are you, Mick?”

“I was down in Florida when the storm hit up North. I have been worried sick about you all. Are you okay?”

“Yeah. We’re fine. Cut off from the outside world, but okay. We had no signal down in the bunker.”

“You were in a bunker?” asked Mick.

“Yeah, it’s kind of a long story. The rain covered our escape hatches and it has finally dried out enough for us to be outside. Are you still down in Florida?”

“No. I lucked out and started to head home five days ago. The southern states got hit with a mega hurricane that is supposed to have wiped out most of them. It hit so fast that people didn’t have time to evacuate. Most of the southern coast all the way over to Texas is underwater. I made it up to Virginia and couldn’t go any further North. I have a friend who lives in the upper section of Kentucky and decided to head there. I’m leaving tomorrow because they have a storm moving in that is supposed to produce record snowfalls and arctic temperatures. I was hoping that I could come home.”

“Of course you can, but you will need a boat to get here. As of this morning the only high ground is the central part of the clan’s property. Ever said that she stood up on a fallen tree and we are still surrounded like an island in the middle of a lake. I have no idea what the rest of the area looks like. Right now the temperatures are reasonable, but it was frigid.”

“It is supposed to get that way again as that storm heads across the nation. The weather channel isn’t even sure of how cold it’s going to be or how much snow it will produce, but it will slowly be moving east. I’m going to try to get home to you. Where the hell are you?”

“If you follow the road from our house toward where the Equirium’s home used to be, you will find us. Look for the trees.”

“What trees?”

“The one that Ever helped to grow.”

“Ever helped do what?” asked Mick.

“It’s kind of a long and intense story that started after you left. I’m so sorry that we lost touch.”

“Yeah, me also. It was stupid of me to leave. Everything I left for is now gone, including most of my patients. The death tolls up that way have been unbelievably high. The last prediction that I heard is that over three quarters of the population of the northeastern states could possibly be dead. They aren’t really sure, because everything was still underwater. Anyone who migrated south didn’t fare much better. The world is going to shit around us. The radio is preaching that Armageddon is upon us. How many of the clan did we lose?”

Kris grimaced. “We lost eleven of the Parth family, but that wasn’t from the storm. Another long story.”

“Are the children okay?”

“Yup. We just got them settled into bed.”

Mick hesitated and then asked, “Is Ever okay?”

“Yes, she’s fine. Wanna say hi?”

There was silence on the line for a moment. “I’m sorry, Ever. I betrayed you and walked away from your love. It was wrong of me to do that. Can you ever forgive me?”

“There was nothing to forgive, Mick. I understood. You got me through the pregnancy and the birth. I will always be thankful to you for that.”

He chuckled softly. “You always were the understanding type. I have never stopped loving you. I want you to know that if I can’t get home. Kris, Liam, I love the two of you. I always have and I was so wrong for shutting you out of my life. Please tell Daddy that I miss him.”

“I will. We love you, too, Mick. Be safe.”

“I have to go look for a boat. Hopefully I will see you in a couple of days. I gotta go. My battery is low and I don’t want to lose my phone.”

“Okay.” The phone clicked and Kris set it back onto the charging unit.

Chirrot silently hoped that Mick wouldn’t make it home, but he kept it to himself. He had a bad feeling about the lost brother, but was also worried about his own. Hopefully Daniel and Nicky had gotten out of Georgia in time. Kris walked back over and slid between him and Ever on the sofa. He leaned his head on her shoulder. “I have been wondering about Mick since before the storm. Now I have my answer, but his news of the world is extremely bad. Isn’t ignorance supposed to be bliss?”

“It was bliss. It’s reality that sucks in this case. Holy shit, what the hell is going on?”

“What do you mean?”

“Is the world being cleansed via natural causes? Has nature turned against us?”

“It sure as hell seems that way, doesn’t it?”

Ever nodded. “It sure as hell does.”

Chirrot could agree with them, but didn’t do so out loud. His mother had made a prediction of her own. Ever was right. Nature was fighting back in the only way it knew how. It was killing off the race that was so hell bent on destroying the Earth. The time had come to clean house, destroying all the manmade creations of destruction. The world was overpopulated and too many of those alive turned a blind eye to the things going on around them. Now was the time for the tree huggers, and the survivalists. They would be the ones to survive to start over and hopefully, they wouldn’t repeat the actions of their ancestors. Hopefully, they would have more respect for the world they lived in. Chirrot was prepared to be a part a part of the new world. It was a world that his mother had made a point to be a part of, by making friends with a woman who had the power to keep them alive. They would start over, together, and their family would raise respectful children.

His biggest desire now was to be with Ever, but he feared that Mick’s call had spoiled the mood. He wasn’t heartless to the fact that he was Kris and Liam’s brother or that he had once been Ever’s mate. However, Mick would not have a place in Ever’s life now. Her mates were established and there wasn’t room for any more.

* * * *

The call from Mick couldn’t have come at a worse time. It had shattered the enjoyable atmosphere of the day and left him feeling lost and somewhat guilty. Things with their life had been so busy, he had only made the occasional call to his brother and that was unforgivable. He was the alpha and it was his job to keep the family together.

Of course, Mick had never bothered to call back and that had probably been a contributing factor. Their father had suggested that they simply allow Mick to cool down, but considering the time that had passed, that period was long gone.

Ever sighed and stood up, holding out her hands. “It has been a very long day and I’m tired. Can we go to bed?”

That was a very good question, but not as she meant it. They really should consummate their joining, but Kris wasn’t sure if he felt like it at the moment. Chirrot hopped to his feet. Didn’t the man ever get tired? Kris was weary, but he wasn’t sure how much of that was physical and how much was mental. He hadn’t felt that way when they sat down. He pushed himself to his feet as Liam and Demetri got up. The four men followed Ever into the bedroom and they all stood looking at the bed stupidly.

“I sleep in the middle, you four work out the details. I’m going to wash up.” She walked into the makeshift bathroom.

Kris looked at the other three men. “I suppose we should have brought the sofa up.”

Liam sighed heavily. “I really wanted to seal our wedding a few minutes ago. Now I feel like shit because of Mick’s call. What do you think the chances are that he might actually make it here?”

“Pretty slim. If he waits a few more days, the water might go down more, but there is going to be a ton of destruction in his way. If we get hit with a killer snowstorm in the meantime, it will make the journey all the more impossible,” said Demetri.

“I was thinking the same thing,” replied Kris. “It is really fucked up because somehow I wasn’t all that worried about him before and now I am. I also have no damn idea what we are going to do if he shows up. It’s not like…” Kris wasn’t sure how to finish the sentence. They didn’t have room for him in their relationship and in all honesty, it wasn’t fair for Ever to be expected to take Mick back. He wasn’t actually angry with his brother. He was simply disappointed. He wanted Mick to come back and live with the clan, but Mick would be unable to return to a life with them.

“I never imagined that I would have to make a choice between my brother and Ever and that choice may now be in my future. This sucks.”

“You don’t have to make this choice alone, Kris. He is my brother, too, and there are five voices in this relationship. I say that Mick can go live with Father and Sherra. That was his chosen living place before, when we needed his help with Ever.”

Kris hadn’t realized that Liam still held such a grudge.

Ever sauntered out of the bathroom in a very sexy negligee. Obviously, Charity had given her more than just a dress. “I agree. I am not going to let worry over Mick ruin my wedding night. He will make it here and he will go live with your father. Just because he claims to miss me and love me, doesn’t mean that he is welcome back into my bed. Our family clan has been established, end of subject.”

“Why do you think he will make it here?” asked Demetri.

“I was contemplating it as I washed up. I have a feeling of certainty that he will find his way home. I will welcome him, but he no longer has a cherished place in my heart as he once did. There are no words that can be spoken that will take back the knowledge that he betrayed me. I don’t have room in my life for men who have temper tantrums like little children.”

The expression on Chirrot’s face suggested that he was suddenly looking for something mystical. “What the hell happened to you in the bathroom? One Ever went in and a different one came out.”

She giggled, shaking her head. “Same Ever. I have just been forced to do way too much analytical thinking lately and I’m tired of it. I don’t want to think tonight. I want to enjoy time with the four men I just married. This is our honeymoon and hopefully a night that marks a new, fantastic beginning to our lives together. It may seem like ages ago, but this morning Kris was mad at me and I have been neglected due to our sleeping arrangements. That needs to end, tonight.”

She was so damned adorable when she made a point to be dramatic. She was also right. This was a once in a lifetime night that would never happen again. The ceremony that was supposed to mark his indoctrination as alpha had been ruined by the fact that Ever had almost died. If he allowed himself to be depressed over Mick, then this would be yet another night that life would take away from them. Granted, they could have sex some other time, but this night was supposed to be special.