Knight Shift (62 page)

When the baby began to kick, demanding her full attention, she rubbed her stomach tenderly and said, “No one can ever doubt the power of the love we share as it has grown so strong that it couldn’t be contained. Now that love has taken physical form and grows inside me.” When the baby punched her palm hard, Penny winced and then she gave the baby what he wanted. She pressed Jax’s palm on what appeared to be a baby’s hand.

Jax knelt in front of Penny and, while caressing the tiny fingers, he leaned closer and said, “Shhh.” As he always did, the baby instantly calmed.

Penny moaned in gratitude and said, “And that little blessing of ours is anxious to meet his father and the world that’s waiting to greet him.” Now that the baby was relaxed, Jax stood back up and Penny said, “I don’t know what our future holds but, with you and our family at our side, I know that we’ll face each day with our shoulders back and our faces held high. I’ll love you forever.”

When Ben took the rings from Sam and Charlie, he held them clutched in his hand and said to Penny, “Although your Human family is with us tonight in spirit, we wanted a physical part of them to be here as well.” He held out his palm and displayed two braided silver bands and said, “As a wedding gift from all of us, we wanted to give you the ‘something old’. These rings were made from your parent’s wedding bands so that you can carry them with you as you travel your journey with Jax at your side.” When Penny reached out and touched the silver with a shaking finger, Ben said, “I hope it was okay.”

Penny looked up at Ben with tears welling in her eyes and said, “It’s perfect.”

Jax picked up Penny’s band and then took her left hand in his. After sliding on the ring he stood tall and proud and said so that all could hear loud and clear, “With this ring I, Jax, tell the world that you, Penny, are now my wife. I promise that I’ll cherish only you from this day forward until death do us part.”

Penny picked up Jax’s band and then took his left hand in hers. While sliding on the ring she said with her voice full of emotion, “With this ring, I, Penny, tell the world that you, Jax, are my husband. I promise that I’ll cherish only you from this day forward until death do us part.”

Ben looked between the two that stood in front of him and said, “I’m overjoyed to announce to the world that the two of you are husband and wife, now and forever. Just like the circle of the bands you wear, the love you obviously share is eternal and will burn brightly beyond the end of time.” He looked pointedly at Jax and said, “Not that you need any encouragement, but you may now kiss that bride of yours.”

As the couple embraced, Ben leaned in and said, “Jax, you may want to pace yourself. I’ve seen what Penny has planned for you later. Do you want to know where she has the ‘something blue’ hidden?”

Penny yelled, “Ben!” and whacked him in the chest to shut him up.

Penny then took her flowers back from Charlie and, after the couple turned to their audience, Ben called to those watching, “Before you stands the one we know as Penny, Peanut, Snack, sister, friend, artist, Human. And standing proudly at her side is Jax, Ice, Casper, brother, protector, hunter, Changeling. Whatever you happen to call them, from this day forward they have new names to add to their lists...that of husband and wife. Let today be the first of many wonderful years together and may we all be lucky enough to find a love as strong as what these two share.”

Those assembled offered a cheer in agreement.

Once they quieted again, Ben added warningly, “And let no one come between what the universe has brought together or you’ll have to face the wrath of my big brother.”

When Ben patted Jax on the back, Jax decided to play along. He put his arm around Penny protectively and, after he shifted, he let out a growl so low and deep that it made the trees around the clearing tremble. While Penny swooned and wrapped her arms around Ice affectionately, everyone else rubbed their arms, feeling their skin prick at the intensity in his projected protective nature.

When Ben first met Jax, his rescuer had told him that he should be grateful to be freed from Humans, because their mere presence would wrench the life out of him and make him weak. But watching Jax holding his bride, Ben knew that their love for each other had given him strength beyond measure.

Ben chuckled, leaned toward Jax, and whispered with a smirk, “Show off.”

After Ice laughed at everyone’s reaction, he shifted back to Jax. His expression became more serious and he said, “I want to thank all of you for making the hike up here to share this special evening with Penny and I. It means more to us than words can say. Now, if you’ll excuse me I need to perform my first role as her husband.” He scooped up his bride and added, “My wife needs to get off her feet for a little while.”

Before he moved, Penny yelled, “Wait!” After whispering in his ear, Jax turned her so that her back was to the crowd. She then tossed her bouquet over her head toward the audience.

The flowers ping ponged off the twins’ heads before landing in Taylor’s hands. The twins silently stared at each other, shrieked like girls, and sent the flowers flying. They were caught by a woman’s arm that stretched high in the air above all others. When she protectively pulled it tightly to her chest, Tadd called to the catcher standing at Chad’s side and said, “Nice catch, Charlie.”

As Charlie shrunk herself back down to her normal size, she glanced at a very shocked Chad and gave him a brilliant smile full of affection.

Taylor laughed and said, “You better run, Chad.”

Instead Chad, pulled Charlie into his arms and kissed her. While everyone clapped, Jax whisked his wife away to the tent where the family had setup a warm, make-shift honeymoon suite.

Once the happy couple disappeared, Tadd scanned the crowd and his eyes landed on two attractive Changeling women on the other side of the clearing who were smiling back at him. He said to his twin, “Don’t look now, but I think we’ve been targeted.”

Taylor looked at the women in question and seeing them wave, he replied, “I think it’s the wedding. I swear women of any race get infected by love overflow. It makes them nuts.”

“Should we keep our distance?” Tadd cringed when he spotted several other couples embracing and added, “Their condition seems to be contagious.”

As the twins stared and tried to decide what to do, their admirers blew them a kiss. Suddenly a gust of wind lifted a drift and sent the snow into the twins’ faces. While they shook like dogs to knock off the blanket of white that covered them, the women laughed. When the twins made eye contact with their attackers, the women motioned for them to follow, their eyes flashing with genuine interest.

As they disappeared into the trees, Taylor said, “Then again, Bro. Isn’t ‘Love thy Neighbor’ a commandment?”

“I believe you’re correct and we wouldn’t want to break the law.”

“Then there’s only one thing left to do.” While everyone else celebrated, the twins raced off into the night following a trail of giggles.

Penny caressed the silky skin on Sara Rose’s forehead as she cooed and nursed from Penny’s breast contentedly. Susi was sitting beside her, chuckling. She said, “I love the sound she makes when she eats.”

Sam was sitting on Penny’s other side and added, “Definitely better than the sounds she makes when she needs to be fed. For being so little, she had quite the lungs and is so demanding.”

Penny looked to Sam and said, “Just wait until your daughter is a toddler. You’ll have to deal with the fact that she has my blood coursing through her veins and M&M told me that I was the poster child for the ‘terrible twos’. But she’s half you, so maybe your blood will temper her moods.”

Susi replied, “Since she’s a Night Walker-Human hybrid, who knows what she’ll be like? I wouldn’t complain if your Human side came through and she grows up into a wonderful artist.” She turned to Sam and added, “Or maybe she’ll have your healing abilities and want to become a doctor like Bones.”

As Penny handed over the now sleeping baby to Susi, she said, “She’ll be whatever she’s meant to be and she’ll have the two of you at her side as her parents to guide her.”

Susi cradled the precious child in her arms and, after filling her lungs with her wonderful scent, she said, “I don’t want to sound ungrateful, because you’ve given Sam and I a gift without measure, but I so wish that my blood was in my daughter’s veins.”

“I may have carried her, but she’s your daughter now and forever. And don’t give up hope. Bones was able to use my blood to find a way for Sam to father this child. He also created a serum that lets both of you spend time in the sunlight. If he can do this, just think of the possibilities. I believe with all my heart that he’ll discover the secret that will allow you to also carry his child someday.”

Sam looked around the room and asked, “Speaking of children, where’s Hunter?”

Penny replied, “He’s in the same place he’s been for the last few hours.” She pointed across the room. “He’s standing like a statue in front of the door. He’ll stay there until his father arrives. Based on Jax’s phone call, he should be here any minute now, although I don’t need a call to tell me that.” As Hunter’s body started to flicker in and out of view, she added, “As you can see, he starts to lose his ability to stay invisible when he senses his father is near. It’s difficult to tell because he’s naturally so quiet, but he’s getting excited and losing mental focus.”

Sam said, “When he started to go invisible a month ago at his third birthday party, I wasn’t sure how we were going to handle a child we couldn’t see. Thank heavens you can sense his location.”

“I may be able to sense him, but Jax and Hunter can actually see each other, even when they’re both invisible to us. We should consider getting the little tike a beeper so that the rest of you can find him if Jax and I aren’t around.”

They watched as Hunter became completely visible, lifted his arms up, and announced excitedly, “Daddy’s home.” As if on cue, the door opened and his father walked in.

Jax knew what was coming so he was prepared to catch his son as he jumped into his arms before the door was completely open. While the child gave him a bone-breaking hug and a big kiss on the cheek, Jax walked toward Penny and asked, “How long did he stand at the door this time?”

“Just over two hours. Most of the time he was invisible, but I was able to keep track of him. My radar is nothing compared to his. His connection to you is astounding and growing stronger every day.”

“While I was away, did he get any closer to shifting?”

“Whenever he plays with the twins, he does cover himself in some of the cutest little spots, but nothing else has happened yet. If he’s going to be a shifter, I’m grateful that it hasn’t kicked into full gear yet. His temper tantrums would be difficult to handle with knives for fingers.”

Just then the twins came racing into the room. After welcoming home the one they considered their big brother, Tadd asked, “Can we borrow your son for a little while? We just challenged Charlie and Chad to a little friendly hide and seek competition while remaining in our Human form. Those two are hard to beat so we could use a little invisible spy to help us.”

Jax looked to his son and asked, “Why don’t you go play so that I can spend a few minutes with your mother? I’ll be waiting for you when you’re done. Then you can tell me everything you did while I was away.” Whenever Jax returned from a trip, he always looked forward to hearing Hunter’s exceptionally detailed recap of his days. Although his son was typically very quiet, he knew that once he got him talking, the flood gates would open and he would talk nonstop for hours without taking a breath—just like his mother.

Seeing the need in Jax’s eyes, Taylor encouraged Hunter by fully shifting into his wolf form. Hunter clapped and both he and his mother let out matching giggles. He looked at his father and commanded, “I want to ride T.”

Jax placed his son on the wolf’s back and, as Hunter grabbed onto the fur, the child let out a low growl and spots began to appear on his skin. He kicked his ride in the side and, with a leap, they raced out the door.

As they watched their son play, Penny spotted a woman standing next to the Rover with Ben and said, “I see you brought someone home with you.”

“I found her hiding in a cardboard box in an alley. She has mind abilities like Ben, but can’t seem to block any of the mental noise around her. She’s a real mess and I was hoping Ben could help her. To get her here, I had to think about you. That way I projected positive thoughts so that I didn’t cause her any pain.” They watched the two mind readers staring intently at each other without saying a word before the young woman fell into Ben’s arms in tears. Jax added, “It seems that she’s now in good hands.”

“If anyone can help her, Ben can. By the way, when you called earlier, you said that there was some news you needed to share with us. I called Quinn, John, Chloe, and Razor like you asked. They’ll all be here for dinner. It sounded urgent. Do you want to tell me what’s up?”

He pulled her into his arms and said, “It can wait until everyone is here. Thinking for hours about being intertwined with you has caused certain parts of mine to scream for a few minutes alone with my wife.”

Seeing the need in his eyes, Penny turned to Sam and Susi and asked, “Can you keep an ear out for Hunter? We’ll be back in a little while. Just call if you need us.”

As Sam and Susi cuddled with their daughter, Sam waved them off and said, “Go take your time.”

Penny guided Jax to their bedroom where he had her naked seconds after he closed the door. Moments later he showed her how much he missed her and her touch. In record time, the room was filled with her moans as he made love to her until she cried out her passion. While she panted, he contentedly indulged in a deeply needed Penny snack.

That evening as everyone shared their meal, Jax sat at the head of the table. He watched as members of his extended family—both Human and Changeling—talked, laughed, and thoroughly enjoyed each other’s company.

Penny looked over at Quinn and asked, “How’s the safe haven in Virginia coming along?”

“I flew out there last week to check and it’s doing great. I took a lot of pictures. I can’t thank you enough for giving us your parent’s home. It’s been a great staging area to bring people to our cause.”

Penny replied, “I know that my parent’s would be thrilled to know that their home is a refuge for those in need.”

Quinn pulled out his camera and, as they passed it around so that everyone could see the pictures, Boulder came into the room and walked over to Jax. He leaned down and whispered into his ear, “Sorry to interrupt you, but I wanted to let you know that the mountain is secured as you requested and everyone is in place and ready.”

Jax thanked him and, as Boulder left the room, Jax replayed in his mind their earlier phone discussion. He had called him to implement the plan they had devised in case their worst fears became a reality. The first step in that plan was now done and the entire mountain was locked tightly to all unauthorized outsiders—both Human and Changeling.

Seeing Ben’s face sadden and the growing intensity in Jax’s eyes, Sam turned to his life-long friend and said, “Jax, we’re all here. Please tell us what’s happened.” Everyone went instantly silent and waited for his response.

Jax had never lied to those in front of him and he wasn’t about to start now so he said, “The Changeling underground is officially declaring war on the Human race and everyone who opposes them. Throughout the night to come, they’ll announce their intentions by going on the offensive. And as the Humans fight back, their spies that were placed in many strategic locations will come out of hiding and undermine any attempts at retaliation.” As their faces fell, he added, “We knew that war was inevitable, but don’t underestimate what we’ve put into motion these last four years. I’ve hunted down many of their so called secret treasures and I think both sides are in for a surprise when they find that some of their most trusted allies aren’t quite so loyal to their cause anymore.”

Jax looked over at John, who was holding Hunter on his lap and said with a grin, “Combining our forces with Humans has caused our numbers to grow rapidly and we’ve successfully hidden the strength we possess. Like our enemies, we’ve also strategically placed some of our own people. Those that support the war fight with hate blocking their vision and they won’t see us coming.”

Jax turned to Bones and said, “I think it’s time to tell everyone your good news.”

It was obvious that Bones had a secret that he couldn’t wait to share and he exclaimed, “I did it! I was able to synthesize a serum from your lovely wife’s blood. It isn’t perfect but, in my initial tests, it boosted Changeling self-healing capabilities tremendously. In time, I’m convinced that we’ll find a way to use this to greatly extend the lifespan for Changelings that shift forms. Through the power of our internet communications, I have teams of chemists mass producing it right now and they’re already distributing it to medical facilities that are loyal to our cause.” He took Penny’s hand in his and said, “It won’t make us invincible, but it will give doctors like me a fighting chance to save lives instead of forcing us to sit by and watch helplessly as our people die.”

Bones’ eyes lit up further and he said, “There’s more. In my research I also did tests on both Hunter and Sara Rose. I found that they have this inner healing ability naturally.” When everyone didn’t react to the news with the level of enthusiasm he was expecting, he exclaimed, “Good God people! Don’t you know what this means? They may be the first Changelings to be able to reproduce naturally. Right at this table sits the start of a whole new hybrid race. We’re literally holding our future in our hands.”

Taylor tried to steal another piece of Hunter’s steak and teased, “This sweet little thing is our future?” The boy in question growled and, when spots appeared, he stabbed his meat protectively with a finger that looked remarkably like a dagger. Although Jax smiled with pride, Taylor yanked back his hand and said with a chuckle, “Heaven help us.”

Later that night, Penny stood at her husband’s side as he and their son stared silently into the star filled night sky. She knew that when the morning arrived, Jax and others from her family would be joining the fight. Penny caught the twinkle in the distance and smiled, noticing that it was coming from the twin bright stars of Pollux and Castor within the constellation Gemini. The sight reminded her that she and her family were being watched from above by those she loved.

A calm suddenly washed over her and, although they faced the unknown, she didn’t fear it. Together they would fight for their survival and together they would emerge from the destruction to face a new and wonderful future.

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