Four Days (Seven Series #4) (2 page)

Another pale leaf floated to the ground and landed on my foot
. I lifted it to my nose and drew in a deep breath. “It’s going to be cold this winter.”

“How do you know, Miss Ivy?” Maizy asked. Lexi’s human sister was one of the most inquisitive seven-year-olds I’d ever met.

“Because every living thing has a voice,” I said, pinching the stem between my fingers and twirling it. “Sometimes they whisper, so you need to pay close attention.”

“Like that leaf?”

I smiled warmly, handing it to her. “Shifters are more attuned to changes in the wild, and I’ve learned to trust my wolf’s instincts. But you don’t need to be a Shifter to learn such things. My mother taught me how to listen to the world. She said if you make too much noise, you’ll never hear it.”

“Where’s your mom?”

We held hands and walked up the grassy stretch of land in front of the Weston house. I often took little Maizy for walks so she could gather up magical rocks, which were sometimes nothing more than pebbles from the driveway. I enjoyed telling her stories passed down in my family—ancient fables that taught lessons to the young children and featured wolves.

“She died, honey.”

Worry filled her blue eyes and she rooted her feet in place. “Will my mommy die?”

I smiled and knelt down, looking up at her. “Someday we all will end this life and begin a new one. It’s nothing to be afraid of, and nothing you need to worry about, little one. Your mommy will be here for a long time. She’s healthy and happy.” I touched the ends of her blond hair and smoothed them out.

“But… wasn’t yours a Shifter? Why couldn’t she heal herself?”

A knot formed in my stomach. How could I explain death to a child in a way that wouldn’t frighten her? I certainly couldn’t tell her the truth about what had happened to my mother—that she committed suicide.

“We can’t heal forever. It was her time, and I miss her so much. But I can still hear her singing in the wind,” I said, rising to my feet. “Sometimes when the sun warms my skin, I feel her love. She’s a part of everything now, so she’s always with me.”

“I like that,” Maizy said decidedly. “When I die, I want to be a cloud. That way I can see everything going on, and if someone’s bad, I’ll rain on their head.”

I burst out laughing and she giggled, pleased with my reaction. “I think we better get you inside. It’s a little chilly today. Let’s see if Austin will build a fire.”

Maizy loved it when we had a fire going because she’d never lived in a house with a fireplace before. It was too early in the season, so Austin hadn’t lit one yet. Last winter, Maizy had snuggled next to the fireplace on several occasions. Sometimes her mother was already in bed and Denver would drape a blanket over her and sleep on the sofa to keep watch. I sat with him one evening and he jumped whenever the wood snapped, afraid an ember might land on her clothes and set her on fire. I laughed and told him he was being overprotective, but Denver didn’t see it quite the same way.

“Mr. Austin won’t make one because he always thinks it’s too hot.”

“That’s because lava flows in his veins.”

Her eyes widened. “Nuh-uh!”

I restrained my urge to laugh. Maizy didn’t like people teasing her. “It’s an old saying in my family that an alpha has the resilience and fire of a volcano, and that’s why many seem impervious to the cold.”

“What’s im…impervies?”

“It just means they’re tougher than the rest of us. Like the rocks in your pocket are much stronger than… candy.”

Maizy giggled. “You’re so silly.”

Austin Cole was our Packmaster and a good mate to Lexi. Good fortune had placed me with the Weston pack. My father had wanted to trade me off for a long time, and fate sent Austin to ask him a favor. My father had seized the opportunity and sent me packing. Young women usually left their pack to mate. Those who didn’t find a mate simply switched packs when they were old enough; safety existed in numbers. It was problematic to remain in the same house with your parents and the men you grew up with. Men were also traded when they came of age in order to keep new blood in the pack. Each Packmaster would hand-select personalities that fit with their family. If I had entered Austin’s pack and wanted to leave, I could put in a request for another to take me in. The choice was mine.

But I loved and respected the Weston pack. I couldn’t imagine feeling content anywhere else.

“Well, if Mr. Austin doesn’t light a fire tonight, then he’ll certainly be lighting one before the week’s end.”

“Yay!” She went bounding toward our enormous house in such a hurry that one of her hairclips came loose and fell in the grass.

I followed behind at a slow gait, looking up at our historical home. Lynn, Lexi’s mom, had chosen a light color for the exterior and had the men paint the house earlier that year. A long porch wrapped around the front, and a small attic window on the third floor overlooked the property. Austin kept the small attic space locked since we didn’t have enough personal items or furniture to store up there. Tall grass covered the open land on the right, and a long driveway stretched from the private road up to the left side of the house by the cars. Denver had built a horseshoe pit next to the house that got a fair amount of use. Everything about this secluded life had charm, including the flower gardens Lynn had planted.

When I reached the wooden porch, I sat down on one of the steps and admired a planter overflowing with colorful petunias. Our pack had made plans to eat lunch at a Breed restaurant in a few hours, something Austin arranged every so often. Lynn wouldn’t be able to make it because she had a project to work on for her interior-design class. Lexi had signed up for a course on decorating cupcakes to brush up on her baking skills since her new bakery wouldn’t be ready for several months. The work Lynn had put into this house was breathtaking—something many of us said she should get paid for. She didn’t like her old job, and suddenly this seemed like an opportunity to receive payment for something she loved doing, so Lexi had talked her into pursuing a new profession.

The door swung open and Izzy appeared. Her coppery hair lit up in the sunlight and she took a seat on the step beside me.

I placed my hand on her swollen belly. “How’s the baby this morning?”

She tipped her head to the side and leaned back on her elbows. “I have a feeling this one’s going to be wild like Jericho. It kept me up all night.”

I patted her stomach. “Be nice to your mother,” I said in a playful voice, scolding the baby.

“Jericho’s going to fatten me up if he keeps buying me donuts.”

“Is he still doing that?”

Her eyes sparkled when she looked at me. “If he’s not walking in with a box in his hand, he’s making me breakfast. Not that I mind, but you’ve never had Jericho’s cooking, and I don’t have the heart to tell him he’s just awful at it. He just doesn’t know what to do with himself. Sometimes in the middle of the night, he shifts in his sleep and his wolf guards my belly. I love Jericho’s wolf, but he sheds all over the sheets and keeps me awake with his low howls. I guess it’s the man’s version of nesting or something.” She lowered her voice. “Don’t mention this or he’ll know I’ve been snooping, but I don’t think he’s smoking weed anymore. I haven’t seen any in our room or in the house, and he doesn’t smell like it when he comes home from a show.”

I touched her shoulder. “Parenthood changes people.”

“Hell’s bells, I think he’s more excited than I am. The Relic said it happened the first time we had sex, and I wasn’t even in heat!”

Shifter women didn’t have the same biology as humans. Pregnancy occurred during our heat cycle, and only in rare cases did it happen outside of that. “It’s meant to be,” I said. “The little one couldn’t wait to be born and already knew who her parents would be.”

She smiled and her green eyes settled on mine as she sat up. “A girl? I told the Relic I didn’t want to know. You know how every Shifter wants their firstborn to be male because they might be an alpha. It’s driving Jericho mad. What makes you think it’s a girl?”

I shrugged. “Just a feeling. I suppose there’s a fifty-fifty chance I’m right.”

Izzy snorted and rubbed her thumb across the scars on her left wrist. She sometimes did it without thinking. Whatever cruelty her ex-lover had inflicted upon her was something only Jericho knew about, and no one ever brought it up around him. Everyone has a story, but sometimes it doesn’t need telling.

“We’re going to have a large family. Of that much I’m certain.” She winked, and we both turned our heads when Denver’s yellow truck rumbled up the driveway.

It skidded to a stop behind Austin’s black Challenger, and the hinges on his door squeaked when he got out. Denver strolled up, still wearing his sleeveless work shirt with the logo for Howlers on the left pec. He was the only blond in the Cole family and seemed comfortable in those shoes, even though it made him stand out. He yawned audibly and stopped at the foot of the steps, gazing up at us.

“You’re late,” Izzy said.

He rubbed his eye sleepily. “Yeah, well, Frank was supposed to relieve me at five and he called in. I’m going to be conked out by the time we head out to lunch. By the way, Rosie wants you to come up and see her sometime. She says you ditched her and now she knows how you
really
feel.”

Her expression fell. “She didn’t say it like
that
, did she?”

Izzy had briefly worked as a waitress at Howlers, but after finding out she was pregnant, she resigned. Jake, her boss, offered to keep her position open if she changed her mind. But Izzy decided it was time for her to find a job that didn’t involve serving horny men burgers and beer. Lexi offered her a position once the new bakery opened, and that sounded like her scene. Instead of a candy shop, they planned to serve coffee and delectable pastries for those who wanted to dine in or take out. Izzy said it sounded like a swell place to hang out, and they might drum up a lot of business since they didn’t have any competition in the Breed community.

Denver trudged up the steps and patted her on the head. “Why don’t you and the little bean go up there tonight and pay Rosie a visit?”

“Stop calling it a little bean,” she said, swatting his hand.

Denver chuckled and kicked off his sneakers before going inside.

“What’s wrong?” Izzy asked.

I glanced over my right shoulder at her. “What makes you think something is wrong?”

A smile brightened her face. “Because I
know
you, Ivy. When something’s wrong, you do that rocking thing.”

I stood up and shivered. “It’s my wolf. She’s restless.”

“So let her out.”

A gust of wind rattled the leaves, and I leaned against the banister. “I don’t like letting my wolf run on a full moon.”

Her eyebrows arched. “That’s just superstition.” Izzy rose to her feet and placed her hand over the curve of her belly. “Nobody believes in that.”

“There’s always an increase in violence during the full moon—even among humans. It alters people, and who are we to say that there aren’t mystical spirits at play? Science can’t explain the magic behind Shifters, Chitahs, Vampires, and the like. My wolf will just have to wait.”

Izzy led us inside and we took off our light jackets. “Well, your wolf is going to be a pissy little thing if you don’t let her run. Mine has gone into hibernation during the pregnancy, so it’s kind of nice.”

Women didn’t shift during pregnancy. They could in the first trimester, but since the fetus would remain in human form, it’s not something they did unless it was a medical emergency and the mother needed to shift to heal. The animal within the Shifter will become docile and allow the pregnancy to go to full term without demanding to shift. Wolves would do whatever was necessary to protect the new life within them.

“I need everyone downstairs,” Austin bellowed from the living room. “Maizy, go up and change clothes. We’re going out to lunch soon, and you have dirt on your pants.”

Maizy twisted her mouth and stomped up the stairs as the men ran down. He wasn’t her father, but he had taken on a fatherly role as Packmasters did with all children.

Denver dragged himself back downstairs, his blond hair disheveled and his blue eyes half-closed. “This better be good,” he murmured, sitting down on the staircase.

“I bet you hear that a lot,” Trevor said with a chuckle.

Trevor was one of the younger pack members and had joined the house with April. He had charisma. I liked how he always dressed in button-up shirts and nice shoes, and also the way he stylishly combed his hair over his forehead. He played with Jericho’s band off and on, but had spent the last month looking for something else.

Lexi ran a brush through her glossy brown hair, watching Austin from the bottom of the stairs.

“Slight change of plans,” he began, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “I know we have a family thing planned, but I’ve invited a couple of local Packmasters. I have business to discuss with them, and it involves everyone in this pack.”

“What’s this about?” April asked worriedly, grasping Reno’s arm as if he might know.

Austin’s brows drew together. “We’ll discuss it at the restaurant. There’ll be too many questions if I give you the highlights right now, and I need to finish chopping some wood before I get my shower.”

“Can I watch?” Lexi asked flirtatiously.

He glanced over his shoulder at her with a heated gaze. “No, Ladybug, but you can help me shower when I’m done.”

She rolled her eyes. “I just blow-dried my hair; that’s not happening.”

He chuckled softly. “I want everyone to look presentable, so that’s why I called you in.”

“Sorry. My Sunday dress is at the cleaners,” Denver grumbled, his face smashed between two posts on the banister.

“You can borrow mine, sweetheart,” Wheeler said darkly. He strolled by the front door and anchored against it, a wicked smile hiding beneath a short beard.

Denver stretched back on the stairs and leaned on his elbows. “I would, but you dress like a slut.”

Austin cleared his throat. “Anyhow, just a heads-up. Next time when we do a family thing, I want everyone there. Just think of this as more of an outing with some business mixed in.”