As Love Shifts (4 page)

“That is a very good vision. If you can assure me that we will not be met with shotguns again, I will have my crew out there tomorrow.”

“I will make arrangement for guards to be in place until I have had a chance to talk with the two remaining landholders. Considering the weather, we may have to put off further action until next week when things have calmed down.”

“I agree. I will send out a crew to cap off the two tunnels and then I will give you a call on Sunday night, depending on what happens on Saturday, okay?”

“Perfect. Thank you so much, Bob. I feel so bad about what happened.”

“Okay. Talk to you on Sunday then.” Bob hung up the phone and Ever sighed. At least one of the end caps were on their property. Their bunker was actually about a ten-minute drive, placed between their land and the Equirums. The second bunker on the southwest was connected to theirs and the exterior was finished. With the north bunker it would have created a pentagon that would have spanned the entire center of the clan’s property, but without it, the result would be a lopsided quadrilateral. She supposed that they could always put the connecting tubes in with the thought of a future addition, but that might cost more money in the long run. They would have to avoid using the Parth’s land completely. The other option was to simply put surface exit tubes in the west and east bunkers and forgo the tunnel completely. That would save money, but still allow for a North bunker in the future.

Kris hung up the phone as she was thinking. He sighed wearily. “They are calling
the inquisition
for 6:00 a.m. tomorrow. I guess Bruce was just about to call me. I explained to him what happened, but they want proof that you have the ability to pass memories. The question is, can you do it with a nonfamily member?”

“I don’t know. I did it with Seren. Of course if he had magic that helps. I could try it on Daisy, but she isn’t home. We always figured that the ability was just residual from when I was a spirit, but maybe not.”

They wandered into the living room and looked to Demetri for an opinion. He shrugged. “Anything is possible. The only way you are going to find out is to try it tomorrow and see what happens. Any idea when Daisy will be back? Liam and I want to go and we can’t take the babies.”

Ever shrugged. “I don’t know. I do know that I have two other calls to make.” She wandered back into the kitchen, first calling the Masters family and then the Bantams to notify them that the crews would be out. Both families were very understanding, and she apologized for not coming personally. They had both been informed of the upcoming storm and the inquisition, and assured her that they understood. Mitchell Bantam even wished her well. He said that he knew the Parth family and he had no doubt that it was not Ever’s fault. With a firm
thank you
, Ever had hung up the phone. She had been up since six with the babies and she was weary to the core. Ever went to make herself a cup of coffee. She did not want to go to sleep with visions of Liam’s spanking and three hard cocks dancing in her head.

Ever groaned as Avia ran into the living room sobbing hysterically. She threw herself into her mother’s sleepy arms and Ever instinctively wrapped them around her. “What’s wrong, baby?”

“The wind, Mommy.”

“What wind?”

“Big scary wind. Too much water. The trees fell on our house. It squished it. The wind squished everything.”

Ever had to presume that Avia was talking about the upcoming storm. The child had already been in bed when Ever turned on the news, so how did Avia know? “Was this a bad dream, baby?”

“Yes. No. Too real.”

Too real dreams were often premonitions. Considering what Seren had said earlier, this was a very bad thing. “I guess we will have to try out the new bunkers where we will be safe, okay? That will be fun, right?”

Avia snuggled tighter into her mother’s chest. “But our house, all the houses will be gone.”

All the houses, huh? Was this Armageddon? Probably not for the whole world, but maybe for the Northeast. What happened to the warning that she was supposed to have? Maybe this was the warning, via her daughter. Of course, they had always assumed that the prophecy referred to all weres worldwide. Ever had no idea. She glanced at the living room clock. It was 4:00 a.m. She had been sitting between Liam and Kris, talking as they drank their coffee. She had a vague memory of Liam’s hand falling slack on her thigh, but he was currently snuggled up to her side with his head on her shoulder. Kris was in the same position on the opposite side and Demetri was fast asleep in the recliner. So much for sex.

She wedged herself from between the two men, standing up and holding Avia tightly. The child was clinging to her as if the storm was already raging outside. She carried her back to bed and laid her down. “Avia, what you had was a dream about a storm that may hit us in a few days. Hopefully it will go out to sea. First thing in the morning we all have to go speak to the council about what happened earlier. I really need you to stay with Daisy and behave for her. Help her keep your brothers in line, please.”

Avia nodded. “I do that.”

The complete conviction in her daughter’s voice was almost amusing. Ever had known that she influenced her brothers, but with the new information, she realized that it was more than just a strong personality. Avia was a witch and she had just proven herself to be a witch who dreamed about the future. What a scary thing for a tiny little girl to deal with.

* * * *

Kris and Liam each had an arm around her with a hand shoved into her back pockets. She had considered dressing in something nicer for the inquisition, but had feared that she would come off as trying to be fashionable. Fashion was not a big issue on the clan property and it was best not to stand out. Demetri was walking beside Kris, which showed his place as low man in the pack. Liam outranked him only because he was Kris’s brother, but the unspoken arrangement had no real meaning when they were at home. They held an equal place in her life and Ever verified this with her words and actions.

She was tired, having been unable to go back to sleep after Avia’s dream. The children had still been sleeping when they left, but Daisy was there and she would look after them. As they walked into the clearing, Ever cringed at the amount of people gathered. If she was figuring correctly, over a quarter of those who lived on the property were sitting on blankets before the podium.

Charity waved to her and Ever was ensnared in the gaze of her son Chirrot. Chirrot had made no bones about the fact that he desired her, and Ever had had a few uncomfortable dreams about him. The boy was blond and downright hunky. From what she had learned after their occasional chats, he was also intelligent, well spoken, and brazenly funny.

All conversation seemed to cease as they walked through the open path down the center. A chair had been placed sideways to the council and her chair that normally stood beside Kris’s had been removed. For this particular event, and she now thought of it as an event, there were two chairs for Demetri and Liam, but they had been placed on the ground.

Kris slid his hand from her pocket and offered his hand in a gentlemanly gesture as he stepped up onto the platform. Ever took her seat and he took his. “I believe that we all know why we are here. My mate, Ever Wilson, has been accused of attacking the elder Willis Parth.” Kris stopped to look around at those gathered for a reaction. “A little known fact about my mate is that she has the ability to allow us, her mates, to see events directly from her mind. Unlike the Parth family, my family considers a woman to be an equal part in a relationship with the same rights as her men. The event as Ever showed it to us last night was quite different than what was described to me by Nothan Parth.”

Helezon, the head of the council, stood and nodded in respect to Ever. “I have heard your version through Kris on the phone last night. I would prefer it if you could rise and tell everyone here what happened in your own words. I’m also quite interested to see if you can make me see this event myself, if you would be so kind as to try?”

Ever stood and walked over to him. She held her hands out slowly and put them softly to Helezon’s cheeks, closing her eyes. When she had first tried to do this with her men, it had given them a headache and she was careful to monitor her power push
as she allowed the memory to flow through her mind. Helezon tensed against her palms and she immediately pulled back. He was staring wide eyed at her. “That was truly amazing.”

Ever gave him a worried smile. “Just to let you know, I block any input from your mind, so you don’t have to worry that I now know your darkest secrets.”

“I hadn’t even thought about that, but thank you for the information. I’m sure that I will sleep better tonight for it. Can you please now speak what you showed me to those gathered?”

Ever turned and faced the people on the ground. A sea of blank faces stared back at her and she had to wonder why none of them had something better to do. She concentrated on sending out feelings of trust and belief as she told her side of the story. It wouldn’t affect their thinking if they truly thought she was lying, but she figured it couldn’t hurt. Once she had finished, Helezon called Nothan and Willis Parth to the podium. The two men approached, glaring at Ever as if she was the devil herself.

Willis turned furious yellow eyes to her. “This evil half-breed bitch is a liar. She came to my house threatening my family after I refused to let her waste the clan’s money to put one of those toxic underground houses on my land. She turned first when I came down the stairs to escort her back to her car. If it hadn’t been for my sons coming outside, I’m sure that she would have tried to kill me. She wouldn’t have succeeded, but considering that she is a witch, maybe she would have gotten in a few bites before I tore her apart.”

Ever was holding her temper in check. It would do no good to react to his insinuations in front of those gathered. Willis turned to the council. “I say we settle this as it should be settled in open forum.”

Open forum? Wasn’t that where two wolves went to battle against one another? Did she really want to turn and get into a fight with him?

Helezon looked at the other members and each one took a slip of paper, writing something upon it. The slips were passed down to Helezon and he opened each one. “So be it. Open forum shall settle this and nature will decide the truth. May the just one prevail.”

Kris stood. “I will not have my mate fighting. She has four children to take care of. I will fight as her champion.”

Helezon shook his head. “That is not allowed and you know it. The two who have the issue must fight and you as our alpha will not get involved.” Helezon looked at Liam and Demetri who both appeared appalled. “That goes for all three of you. This is between Ever and Willis only. I say the same to the members of the Parth family. You will stay out of this, even if your namesake is losing.”

Ever had a suspicion that they would stay out of it, because Kris, Liam, and Demetri would make sure of it. The three men surrounded her as she stood up. “I don’t want you doing this,” said Kris.

“I don’t have any choice. If you make an issue out of it, then it will look like the alpha’s mate is too scared to fight and that will make us look bad. I need to do this.”

Liam gave her a smile. “It’s not like she doesn’t know how to fight.”

Demetri took her hand, appearing truly worried. “Have you ever had a fight as a wolf?”

“Yes. It was before the babies were born. Our home was attacked by a group of weres wanting to kill me. It was me and Kris against six of them. We won.” She needed information, and turned to Kris. “What’s the deal? Do we have to fight to the death?”

“You can, but if he surrenders then it is your choice as to let him live or not.”

Ever had a feeling that she would have to make this decision and it had to be made before she allowed the wolf to take over her mind. She supposed that given the option, she would let him live. It was easier than bringing down the wrath of the entire family. She was also terrified of what was about to happen. It could go smoothly and she would have little trouble defeating the old man. It could go badly and he would be stronger and more battle savvy than her. It could also turn into a complete melee where his entire family ended up in a war with hers. Ever leaned forward and gave first Kris, then Liam and Demetri a kiss. “I love all three of you immensely.”

“We love you, too,” replied Kris. “Take that love into battle with you and use your righteous anger to defeat him.”

“I plan to.”

With that thought in mind, Ever used the men as her shield as she stripped out of her clothing and began to turn.

Her men stepped back as her wolf body rippled, the cool breeze blowing through her long, blonde-streaked fur. The air was filled with the scent of nervous anticipation. She could feel it and smell it as a musky undesirable odor. She brushed her body against the coarse feel of Kris’s jeans. He was her alpha, the beautiful dark-furred male who had given her children.

Love. She was surrounded by the feel of it, soft and warm. It was a reason to fight, a reason to live. What promise the future could hold. As she looked into the center of the ring of her clan, she saw him. This creature who stood light furred before her wanted her to die. He wanted to take her away from her men and her children. Her heart ached for them, anger building with the emotion as she hopped down off the platform.

He was trying to stare her down, his ancient eyes showing her sickness that the man didn’t even know he possessed. He was dying, the light in his soul dimming. It would soon go out completely. Yet this day, this moment, he had nothing on his mind but her. There was fear there in his robust body. He was afraid of her so why had he challenged her? She moved closer, her legs taut and ready to pounce. Ever snarled, a low menacing sound that sent ripples of fear through the crowd around her. She needed to block out the others and make the only thing on her mind the wolf before her.