Page 287 of As The Shifter World Turns

We looked it up and it appeared it would take two weeks. Poor Ivor and Ryder. More waiting. Waiting, testing and treatment was what they’d been doing for months.

“What if Kellan is a match and he doesn’t agree to be a donor?” Daire asked later that night as we lay in bed, neither of us able to sleep.

“One step at a time.” While I didn’t say anything more to him, if that happened, I’d beat Kellan up myself.

The next two weeks dragged on. While we didn’t want to upset Ivor or Ryder, the rest of us texted and whispered to one another. “Have they heard yet?”

How likely was it that the asshole who caused Ryder and Ivor so much misery would be a match? I worried that Daire’s dream had given us hope when we had no right to. But as Ivor has said, hope was all he had.

And in the end, it was Martin who gave us the news. Apparently he had been in 1A talking to Ivor about a client’s paperwork when the wolf shifter’s phone beeped. It beeped more than once and then it rang.

The first thing we heard was Martin out the front of the manor yelling, “He’s a match.”

Neil almost fell down the stairs as Daire and I tore out of our building. Archer poked his head out the window of his house on the other side of the manor. But it was Ivor who stumbled along the manor path, his body convulsing in sobs. He leaped into Daire’s arms and mumbled, “Thank you. He is, and he said yes.”

131

IT’S THE WEEKEND

Daire

We all need a break, I texted to the Sunshine Manor chat group on Friday morning.

It’d been a month since Kellan had donated bone marrow and the doctors were pleased with Ryder’s progress. It would be a while before he was back to the alpha we knew and loved but compared to how he was before the procedure, the differences were night and day.

Let’s take off to the lake house for the weekend.

It was awkward leaving Anthony out of our shifter fun but also from the chat group because he was human and unlike Neil, wasn’t aware shifters existed. But luckily he was having a fling with a guy who lived in a huge house on the other side of town, so our human friend spent each weekend there.

We deserve a couple of days where we do nothing but eat good food, shift, sleep, and enjoy one another’s company.

Micah chimed in with,And sex. Lots of sex.

Now it was Archer’s turn.Right. With two small children in tow like that’s going to happen.

I can dream,was his mate’s reply.

Everyone meet out front at five this afternoon, I instructed.

“Weird how we used to all be able to fit in the van,” Neil noted. He had Charlie by the hand while Toby and Martin had their bags.

“I remember that first Friday Night I was here and Ryder?—”

Micah cut off his mate. “Ryder was on the roof with us.” He glared at Archer whose mouth resembled a huge O, before he mouthed, “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Ryder added. “I was drunk and Kellan had just left me.” He took Ivor’s hand and kissed it. “We can say his name now.”

“Mmmm not too often, though I’ll be forever grateful to the guy.” Ivor kissed his mate’s brow.

Micah and I had put together a small trust fund for Kellan’s baby and made sure Kellan couldn’t take anything from it. We had a trustee manage it. We’d wanted to thank him for everything he did for our friend, but knowing the guy as we did, we figured he’d blow it on a fancy car or a holiday. Putting it away for his child seemed like the best approach.

Archer, Micah, and family had their own car while Ryder and co would come in the van with me and Nate. We didn’t want our stag shifter friend exerting himself. He’d been itching to get back to work, but with Archer running the app business and Martin taking care of his original company, there was no hurry.

I understood why he wanted to work. It was a sign of normalcy, something that had been missing from his, Ivor, and Dyani’s lives for a while now. Guys who went to work every day might be bored and dislike their job, but they didn’t have cancer. That was his thinking, but the doctors had warned him getting his strength back wouldn’t happen overnight.

“See you at the lake,” Neil yelled as he put Charlie in his car seat and Martin started their car.

“This is nice,” Ivor said as I maneuvered around traffic and into the countryside. “Remember last time we were here, love?”

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