Page 88 of Secret Shifters Next Door

Not only could I hear his thoughts in my own head, but they sounded more sincere. Not that he didn’t mean it when he spoke, but through the mind, things were purer. I nuzzled against his neck and sighed.

THIRTY-NINE

TATE

The girls decided he needed a half-year party the summer after Tory was born. The idea of giving a kid a six-month birthday party seemed pretty strange. If I was totally honest, I thought it was stupid, but everyone else in my home thought it was an important milestone, so I was outvoted.

We did the whole bit, cake and all. After the lunch of burgers and dessert, Mariah scooped up her brother and walked around with him. The older girl made baby noises and talked to him. Even from here, I could see the way he stared at her, like she had hung the moon herself. I’d never seen a baby look at someone with so much love like Tory looked at his sisters. He loved them, and they loved him. It filled my heart with joy. For the hundredth or so time, I wondered how I’d gotten so lucky. So blessed.

Jordyn followed Mariah out to the front yard where a blanket was set up. They lay Tory down and played with him while Harley and I sat on the porch, watching them. They were far enough away that they wouldn’t hear us speaking.

I leaned over. “We’ll need to tell them soon. About me, and Tory. About you.”

Harley looked at me, and the anxious look she always got when we talked about this reappeared. She sighed and fidgeted with her hands.

After several seconds, she said, “I’m worried they’ll be afraid of me.”

Glancing out at Jordyn and Mariah, I knew the answer to that. “They are smart and strong young ladies. They’ll take it in stride. They know that you would die for them. They won’t fear you. At the end of the day, no matter what, you are their mom. Mother is the first and most precious of words children learn. Simply because they get older doesn’t mean that changes.”

“You’re right. We’ll figure out a time,” Harley said, a serene smile on her face.

Taking her hand, I played with her wedding rings with my thumb. After all these months, it was still surprising how some simple jewelry could make me so happy. The rings on Harley’s hand were a symbol of what I had. Of happiness.

Once dusk came, I called Steff over to watch over the girls and Tory, then took Harley back to my clearing. Our clearing now. The evening was clear and warm, the sky that beautiful purple that comes right as the sun goes down. My heart was at peace, but down the line, danger would return. The hunters wouldn’t be deterred forever. It was part of why I tried to get Harley out here as much as possible. To learn how to use her dragon to its full power.

I had no intention of letting her be in the final battle, whenever that came, but by God, I’d make sure she was ready to defend herself and our children if it came down to it. That was what we usually did when we came out here, but tonight was different. As we shifted and took flight, we simply flew together. This night was for us. To swoop and dive, to enjoy the breeze under our wings. Here with my mate, my wife, we could just fly. So we did.

FORTY

STEFF

Baseball, man, freaking baseball. Summer was my favorite time of the year. It was when I could get back to the thing I loved most. The world’s greatest game. I coached the Lilly Valley city pee-wee team every year. I loved it. If I’d wanted it, I could probably get a job coaching older kids pretty easily, but there was something about the little ones. Teaching them the love of the game so young felt sacred, so I stayed where I was.

Today was when all the new kids arrived for the first practice. With all the issues of the last few months—babies, gangsters, hunters—it had slipped my mind to go over my roster. Today was the first chance I had. Thankfully, the volunteer assistant coach had taken care of things while I handled all the personal stuff.

I’d been at the field watching warm-ups. The assistant coach was already there. I waved and made my way over to him.

“How’s our new team looking?” I asked. I’d coached the team to pee-wee league champions over the last five years, so I had a lot to live up to.

Coach nodded toward the field. “The two over there doing grounding drills were in the lower level last year, so they’vealready got a jump start. Should have several who can handle the game pretty well.”

As he spoke, my eye caught a kid running laps around the bases. His hair caught the light of the sun and reflected the same bright coppery red of my own. The same copper red every man in my family had had for as many generations as I could remember. Watching him run, my thoughts went somewhere else for a second before I returned to the conversation. The kid turned a corner, and I saw the last name printed on the back of his jersey.Knight.

My stomach seemed to drop out from under me.

There was something about that kid that was familiar. I held a hand out. “Can I see that roster?”

He handed it to me, and I glanced down at the list of names until I found him. Short stop, Aiden Knight. A quivery feeling hit me in the guts, but I handed the clipboard back and told the coach to go ahead and get a couple of innings of practice game started.

I watched the kids play, keeping a keen eye on the Knight kid. He was only nine years old, like most of the kids, but he was talented as all hell. Looked like me at that age, diving for grounders, good swing, great arm. We’d have another damned good season if the practice was any indication.

After practice was over, I stood near the dugout as the parents came up to collect their kids. Greeting the parents at the end of practice was my little ritual. It made it easier to coach a kid if you knew who was in the stands watching them. The next ten minutes were spent shaking hands, laughing, and discussing the season with parents. Then, out of the corner of my eye, Aiden bolted toward the parking lot. Glancing over, I saw who he was running to, and my heart nearly stopped.

The boy jumped up into the arms of a beautiful woman. She was the woman who had been my entire world. Once upon atime, anyway. I glanced from her smiling face to Aiden, and back to her again. The math did itself in my mind and came up with an answer that made me dizzy. I might have been sick right then, but I had to keep up appearances.

Her name was April. She’d been the love of my life. I’d lost her a long time ago. Roughly nine years ago to be exact. The timing was right. If I allowed myself to dwell on the fact, it became much more possible. Could it be? Dear God, could it actually be?

Continue readingfor Steff and April’s story inBear Ex Next Door

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