Page 54 of Secret Shifters Next Door

She shook her head. “My opinion? By how the spell feels? I think a fate spell has been cast on the town, on you four specifically.”

Steff had gone pale, and his voice had a nervous lilt when he spoke. “Fate? Explain that?”

“I can see faint red threads in the spell. The red thread of fate. If it’s what I think it is, a witch has cast a fate spell that will force a mating bond. Bending your will to the whims of the witch and the spell.” She shrugged and shook her head. “I’m sure there’s more to the spell, but without either being there at its conjuring or speaking to the witch herself, I can’t tell you more. This is like nothing I’ve ever encountered. I can’t tell you the pros or cons ofthe spell, either. All I can tell you is that it has connected you all to your fated pairings. Whether you want pairings or not.”

Miles pointed at me. “Tate is the only one with a mate so far, but she’s a human. How can a shifter be mated to a human? That’s nothing I’ve ever heard of, have you?”

“No, not in all the history of your species. All I can imagine is that the spell was so strong that it somehow defied our natural, and supernatural, laws. It’s allowed a pairing that has never happened before.”

The next question had to be asked, so I went for it before I lost my courage. “My mate. The human woman down the hall. She’s carrying my child. A baby, that is mine, one-hundred percent. Could this spell have caused that pregnancy, too?”

Siobhan had looked so calm and composed since she entered the office, that the look of shock on her face now was almost comical. She leaned forward, her mouth open in surprise, and looked me dead in the eyes.

“A human is carrying a shifter baby? You’re sure?”

“Yes.”

“Well, if such a thing truly has happened, then there is no doubt the spell is involved. Quite a powerful spell indeed,” she said to herself.

A spike of fear and dread shot through me. What if the spell had done more than force a pairing? If it was powerful enough to create a human and shifter child, it could do other things, too. Things that were too scary to think about.

“What about the feelings we have for each other? Did the spell create that, too?”

Siobhan seemed to come out of deep thought. Her face creased into a smile. “My boy, unlike folk and fairy tales, there is no such thing as a love spell. Nor a love potion. Yes, the spell perhaps forced you to meet or come together. Any feelings youfelt after that are entirely yours. You and the woman. Love is love,” she said, smiling even more broadly.

I sat back, breath shuddering out of me in relief. That relief was quickly overcome by the questions. There were so many. There was only one way to get the answers to those questions. I glanced at Miles, then Steff, and Blayne. They each looked back at me with the same determined look. They knew as well as I did what had to be done. To get our answers, we had to capture Emily. We would find out her motives, why she killed those shifters, and why she’d cast a spell on us. But how did one capture a witch?

TWENTY-TWO

HARLEY

Tate’s meeting had ended sooner than he said it would, but it seemed like it hadn’t gone well. When he’d come to get me, he was tense and introspective. He spoke in short one-word answers when I tried to talk to him. He wasn’t angry, I could see that. It seemed more like he was worried or confused about something really important.

The drive home was a little tense. He was so damned edgy. I didn’t bother even trying to talk to him as we drove home. Tate stared out the windshield, silently chewing his lower lip and scowling. His free hand was patting his knee nervously.

It finally got to be too much, “Are you okay?”

He jerked as if I’d startled him. The truck swerved to the wrong lane for a half second before he righted it. Once he had the vehicle stable, he gave me an apologetic smile.

“Sorry, you scared me there.”

“Did you forget I was sitting here?” I asked, only half joking.

He shook his head. “I’m sorry. I have a lot on my mind.”

His face softened, becoming more like his usual self. Tate took my hand and brought it to his lips, kissing my knuckles. “I’m okay. I promise. Let’s stop and get lunch before we head home. Good idea?”

The thought of food made my stomach rumble. The little person growing inside me had increased my appetite threefold. Ignoring the hunger would only cause me to binge on ice cream and chips later. Better to eat now and have some control over what I put into my body.

“That sounds great.”

We stopped at a small restaurant. The smell of food inside didn’t do anything to quell my hunger, and I patted my stomach. In my head, I said,Easy little one. Soon.Tate was closer to normal by the time we sat and had our menus.

Glancing over his own menu, he asked, “Harley, what do you want for the future?”

I nearly dropped the menu. The question caught me off guard. All I’d been thinking about was whether I wanted a cheeseburger or a salad—the cheeseburger was in the lead. The deep, somewhat existential question threw me off. Trying to maintain my mental balance, I thought quickly, and came up with what I thought was a good answer. It was the first thing to come to mind, and it made me smile.

I shrugged. “I want my daughters to be happy. To enjoy their lives, and grow up to be good women.”

---