Authors: Josie Walker
CHAPTER ELEVEN
M
ichelle had been planning on feigning illness in order to avoid whatever festivities Sophia had planned for the day, but she was about to discover that she’d been outmaneuvered once again.
“Knock Knock,” Sophia called out in a loud sing-songy voice. Michelle groaned and pulled the blanket back up over her head. “I heard that,” Sophia sang.
“Stupid shifters and their stupid super hearing,” Michelle muttered as she dragged herself out of bed and stomped over to the door like a petulant child. She didn’t invite the woman in, but Sophia pushed her way inside just the same. Michelle crawled back under the covers and turned so that her back was facing “Miss Chipper Sunshine.” None of this deterred Sophia for a moment. She just kept yammering away, even though it was obvious that her audience was less than captivated.
“So this morning at breakfast I held a lottery… which means we already know who your next date is! His name is Eugene and he’ll be here in exactly fifteen minutes so you need to get those sexy buns of yours out of bed and dressed.”
“I’m not going anywhere. I don’t feel well,” she lied lamely.
“Oh, you poor thing. I guess I’ll just have to go fetch my brother so that he can spend the day nursing you back to health, alone…. in your room,” Sophia finished pointedly.
“You don’t play fair,” Michelle complained.
“Sorry, the stakes are too high for me to be nice.” Sophia leaned in close and whispered conspiratorially. “I have a date with one of the single shifters, and my dad’s been too busy breaking up fights and trying to keep all the men from tearing apart his house to notice what I’m up to.”
Michelle sighed and pushed back the covers. “Who am I to stand in the way of you finding true love? One of us should get to be happy, and it obviously isn’t going to be me. Fine,” she muttered. “I’ll go on this stupid date so that you can sneak out on your top secret romantic escapade. Did this EUGENE say where he was taking me?” Michelle asked as she ran a brush through her long hair.
“He’s taking you out on the lake with his canoe.”
“Is this the lake that Grayslake was named for?” she asked betraying the first hint of interest.
“It is indeed. It’s hot out so I’d recommend you keep it simple today.”
“Booty shorts it is then,” Michelle said, stepping into the bathroom to change and brush her teeth. When she stepped out her friend whistled appreciatively.
“You look incredible in those,” Sophia gushed enthusiastically.
“You don’t have to lie to me. I know I have a huge caboose,” Michelle joked good naturedly.
“In case you haven’t noticed, bears tend to like a little junk in the trunk. You are going to make their inner animals go crazy with desire… which means my dad is going to have a busy day breaking up fights. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” She hopped up and down excitedly and then she noticed what time it was. “Oh, I have to go get ready. Knock ‘em dead today.”
Like a flash Sophia darted out of the room, closing the door softly behind her. As she applied her makeup she tried to process the mass of thoughts rolling about through her head. As she did every morning she wondered if Grace was ok, and wished that someone would let her near a freaking phone already so that she could call her friend. She wondered if Eugene would have his phone with him today when they went canoeing, and if he might let her use it.
The lake sounded like a nice quiet, private type of place, which meant that no one would be around to stop her assuming her date said yes. Anticipation drummed in her heart. She was so excited by the prospect of checking in with her friend that she actually smiled warmly at Eugene when he knocked on her door to pick her up for their date.
“So what kind of animal are you?” she asked conversationally.
“I’m a sheep shifter,” he admitted shyly, and she couldn’t believe it when she saw a blush staining all the way out to the tips of his ears.
“That sounds… nice,” she said graciously.
“Oh it is,” he murmured excitedly.
She tried to smile and sound interested as he led her out of the house. She saw several jaws drop when the other candidates caught sight of her booty shorts, and more than a few of them howled, grunted, or whistled in order to express their appreciation. She supposed she should have been expecting it when Parker stomped over angrily and grabbed her arm.
“You can’t wear that. It isn’t decent,” he growled.
“For your information your mother thought they were adorable. And more importantly YOU AREN’T THE BOSS OF ME!” she shrieked indignantly. The Itan was making his way over to them and she called out loudly in his direction. “Itan, do I still get to choose who I mate or is this all a farce?” she asked loudly.
“You sure do,” Ty replied with a growl.
“Then could you please tell your SON to keep his paws off of me?” she demanded shrilly.
“Stand down Parker,” Ty ordered cooly.
“But Dad…”
“This is my territory which means I’m in charge. Let the woman go on her date with the sheep…. errr um, I mean Eugene.”
Parker stormed off and it was all Michelle could do to keep from clicking her heels together as she gloated blissfully all the way down to the lake. At last she’d found a way to outsmart him. She should have called in the big guns days ago. She wondered what she could make him do if she got his “mommy” on her side.
***
Eugene had brought a huge picnic lunch with him, which would have been sweet if it weren’t for the fact that he’d brought nothing but a bunch of vegetables with him.
“I thought all you shifters were big meat eaters,” she said disappointedly.
“Oh no,” the sheep shifter replied. “I’m a strict vegetarian. Would you like some more hummus?” he asked excitedly.
“Gee, I think I’m full already,” Michelle fibbed in order to spare his feelings. “I had a big breakfast,” she lied again. She only hoped that her stomach wouldn’t rumble too loudly and give her away because she had yet to eat today. Either Eugene wasn’t a very good shifter, or he was too much of a pansy to call her on it, because he didn’t call her out on her lies.
She supposed she had no business being so picky about what she ate, especially given how she’d been about to starve to death before Parker had stumbled onto her. But there was no point in trying to rationalize with her tastebuds. They wanted a burger and that was all they had to say on the matter.
“I’ve never been on a canoe before,” Michelle admitted nervously in an attempt to change the subject. She only hoped the sheep knew what he was doing, because she didn’t know how to swim. She supposed she could have just refused to get on the boat, but she was willing to risk a little water if it got her access to that phone! She waited until he’d rowed them out to the middle of the lake before she popped her question. The man really was trying to be romantic, which would have been cute if he hadn’t been so darned pathetic.
“Do you know what time it is?” she asked innocently.
Eugene tugged a phone out of his front right pants pocket and she was so glad that she’d been right and that it wasn’t a wallet. She knew she wasn’t likely to get a better opportunity. This was her only chance to call Grace. So she popped the question right after he told her the time and before he’d had a chance to put the phone away.
“Do you mind if I use your phone for a second?” she asked, batting her eyelashes in what she hoped was an attractive manner. She’d never really tried to flirt before, so this was all new to her.
“Uhh hmmmm, sure I guess,” he stammered awkwardly as he handed over the device.
She raced to dial Grace’s number and pressed the plastic screen anxiously up to her ear. Then, unexpectedly the boat started rocking. When the canoe tipped over she started to scream, which was how she wound up with a lungful of lake water. She kicked out helplessly with her hands and feet, but almost instantly she began to sink to the bottom of the lake. The phone drifted uselessly out of her hands.
Even if the call had managed to transmit past all the water, the circuits would have been fried by now. As she drowned she felt almost peaceful as the fight left her body. Although, as she began to lose consciousness she couldn’t help but think about how unfair it was that no one had ever taken the time to teach her how to swim.
Wasn’t that the type of thing that real parents did? But she’d never had anyone to care for her but a long line of disinterested foster families. She’d never experienced the unconditional love of a mother and father. So now she was going to die because she didn’t know how to swim.
CHAPTER TWELVE
P
arker’s heart sank right down to the bottom of the lake with her when he realized that Michelle was drowning. He’d have loved to sit around and beat on himself for what he’d just done, but first he had to rescue his mate. His bear was thundering to be released, but Parker knew he couldn’t let that happen. There was no denying the fact that his bear was the stronger swimmer, but he couldn’t risk scratching her or crushing her when his bear tried to snatch her up out of the water.
He was afraid to even blink as he continued to kick and swim his way down to her. He wanted to cry out in horror when he saw her feet get tangled up in an old discarded fish net, but that would have been inadvisable given the fact that he was underwater. When he finally reached her he tried to tug her free, but the gnarled old net wrapped around her might as well have been a pair of handcuffs, because it refused to budge an inch.
Focusing his inner beast on the fingers of his right hand, he called forth just enough of his animal to sharpen his blunt fingertips into a wick bear claw. He sliced through the net easily and pulled her into his arms. By this point his lungs were beginning to burn, but he knew on a primal level that he had a lot of work to do before he earned his next breath. Trying to swim with her in his arms proved difficult and he knew he was losing precious time. Just when he began to see white spots at the edge of his vision he managed to break through the surface of the lake.
He gasped, sucking in a desperate lungful of air and he struggled to make sure that Michelle’s head was also above the surface. Her skin felt as cold as death and her body remained lifeless and limp, as though she no longer felt the need to breathe. His bear roared from within him, demanding that he save their woman. He rushed to paddle his way to the shore, and for the first time he was grateful that there were so many male shifters around. Half a dozen strong males dove into the lake and helped pull her out of the water.
Eugene had followed behind him, standing nervously at the edge of the dock. He felt embarrassed because he’d frozen up in the moment when he should have tried to help rescue Michelle. He wanted to make sure that she was alright, but then he planned to go back home. There was no way that he stood a chance with her after a screw up like this. If he was honest with himself, he’d known from the get go that a sheep didn’t stand a chance in a fight against bears and wolves.
Parker’s Uncle Isaac waited expectantly on the dock, and he wondered if someone had called for the doctor or if the man had just sensed that he was needed. Parker allowed the other shifters to drag her out of his arms and lay her flat on the wooden planks so that Isaac could administer CPR.
If he were a wolf he would have howled out his anguish, but instead he just ground his teeth together as he watched the proceedings in wide eyed torment. He’d never expected to find love, and now because he was the world’s biggest idiot he was going to the lose the one person that meant more to him than life itself.
Michelle painfully vomited up a good gallon of lake water. After she’d finished heaving she just lay there weakly, too tired to move or speak.
“Take her back to the house and get her into dry clothes,” Isaac ordered. Parker started to lunge desperately for her, but Isaac stopped him cold. “Not you Parker.”
A couple of other shifters rushed to comply and Parker decided that he didn’t care what animal he was and he let out a mournful moan that sounded an awful lot like a howl.
***
Michelle lay weakly on the living room sofa. The women had quickly taken over and ordered the men out of the room, so thankfully it was Mia and Gigi who had stripped her down and bundled her up in a baggy pair of sweats and a t-shirt. She’d never seen the clothes before, but they smelled like Parker, which she found oddly comforting.
The women sat with her while she recovered, and when she complained hoarsely that her throat felt raw, Gigi gently coaxed a warm cup of tea with honey and lemon down her to sooth her throat. At some point she must have dozed off. She was surrounded by the faint buzzing of voices, and a louder agitated sounding voice in the distance. When she came to the next morning her female guards had been swapped out by Sophia and her Aunt Kira.
“She’s awake!” Sophia bubbled excitedly when she noticed that Michelle’s eyes were open.
Before she’d even had ten seconds to acclimate herself to the notion of being once again among the land of the living the sound of footsteps thundered in from the hallway. Parker pushed his way past the women’s feeble protests that he shouldn’t be there and dropped to the ground beside the couch. He pulled her gently into his arms, as though she were fragile porcelain and he was afraid he might break her.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t know you couldn’t swim. I just wanted to stop the phone call,” he murmured over and over again.
His eyes were bloodshot and swollen and she could tell that he probably hadn’t slept a wink the night before. For a brief moment she almost pitied him, but then she remembered who had tipped the boat in the first place.
“What the hell were you even doing in the lake? Get your hands off me… you… you… BASTARD! Not all of us had fucking picture perfect childhoods where we learned how to do things like fucking swim!” Unfortunately she’d yelled every last word, and had virtually guaranteed that everyone in the house had heard her passionate words.
“Language!” Mia chastised her as she bustled into the room. “I’m afraid that your potty mouth is going to cost you, dear.”
“Well good luck with that, because I don’t have any money,” Michelle retorted rudely.
“Oh I did away with the swear jar years ago,” Mia said breezily. “I’ve moved onto something far more satisfying than money… RESTITUTION.”
***
And that was how Michelle found herself being wheedled and pushed outside by the seemingly sweet Mia. “I need all these weeds pulled,” she said pointing down the long driveway. “I’ve been waiting weeks for someone to say something naughty enough to get it done, but over the years most of the clan has learned to watch their mouths in my house.”
Mia plopped a big floppy summer hat on Michelle’s head and then she set a bucket on the ground next to her. There was a ratty pair of gardening gloves in the bucket, but they looked dirty and gross, so she opted to go without protections. Mia kicked open a portable lawn chair and sat down to stare at her recalcitrant laborer.
“Are you going to watch over me like a hawk the whole time I’m out here pulling weeds?” she asked angrily.
“Goodness no. It’ll get far too hot out here after noon. I just thought I’d keep you company for a little bit. As you know, I overheard what you said earlier and you were wrong on quite a few counts so I thought I’d do you a favor and set you straight.”
“Oooh, so I get forced manual labor and a lecture?” Michelle asked sarcastically.
“Save your sarcasm for my son. He seems to find it attractive. I don’t. As you might have noticed, the men in this family aren’t known for their fabulous communication skills. What exactly has my son told you about himself?”
“He generally just grabs my arms and yells at me like a stalker as he barks MINE!”
Mia winced visibly. “Sounds even worse than I imagined. It looks like my son and I will be having a talk today as well. That’s no way for a man to treat the woman he loves.”
“He doesn’t love m…” Michelle began to argue but Mia cut her off.
“We both know the boy’s mad about you,” she tsked. “I guarantee you he’s never acted this way about another woman, EVER. I suggest you get to work, it only gets harder the hotter it gets. Now, where to begin… First off, Parker’s not a bastard. His parents were very much married when he was born. I love my son very much, but just to be clear, he’s not my biological son.”
“What?” she struggled to absorb that bit of news. Mia didn’t respond to her outburst, but instead chose to continue with her speech.
“My husband and I have worked very hard to provide all of our children with a happy and secure environment, but Parker’s childhood didn’t start out that way. He entered my life unexpectedly when he was only four years old. His uncle had brutally murdered both of his parents and was trying to finish him off as well, because he was the only thing standing between him being the clan’s next Itan.”
“I thought your husband was the Itan?” Michelle asked, beginning to feel overwhelmed by all the details.
“Shifters have different territories, some are as small as a city or town, and some span whole states. Parker’s family had a much larger territory. His uncle was actually a distant relative of mine but I won’t bother getting into all of that now. Suffice it to say, his uncle was a very bad man who tried to kill Parker and a bunch of people I love dearly. That’s how Isaac got his scars.”
“Oh…” Michelle murmured. She’d noticed the doctor’s scars, but had tried to pretend that she didn’t see them in order to spare the older man’s feelings.
“Ty and I adopted Parker and he is our son in every possible way, except through birth. When he turned twenty-five and reached the age of majority he moved away to assume leadership of his rightful territory. He doesn’t visit much anymore, he’s too busy being Itan. He’s only here right now because I nagged him into coming to see me. I just couldn’t stand how he hadn’t settled down and found a mate and that’s exactly what I’d planned on discussing with him... but then he ran into you so it wasn’t necessary. He needed to know that as Itan it’s his responsibility to sire an heir… and more importantly, I want grandbabies. Thanks to menopause I don’t get to have any more cubs of my own,” she sighed wistfully.
“I’m surprised you only had Sophia if you like babies so much,” Michelle commented.
“Is… That...What… You… Think?” Mia gasped out a word at a time as she laughed uncontrollably.
“I don’t get it.”
“Honey, I have ten children. Why do you think this house is so big? Sophia is my only girl, but in addition to Parker I have eight more boys.”
“What the…” Michelle wisely slammed her mouth shut before she earned herself any more “restitution.” “Where exactly have you been hiding eight children? Why haven’t I seen them around the house?”
“They are currently traveling around the country with their grandparents.”
“Oh!” It was all Michelle could do to keep from grabbing her own vagina in protest. Ten kids. What on earth had the woman been thinking? Ty couldn’t possibly be THAT good in the sack. She was surprised the woman could even walk straight after all the childbearing those poor hips had endured.
“I’d settle for one or two grandbabies,” Mia said when she noted the look of horror on her face. “And marrying a shifter doesn’t mean you have to have a big family. That’s something every couple decides for themselves. Well I guess I should leave you alone with your thoughts for now. After all it’s a long way to the end of the driveway and you have your restitution to finish.”
And just like that Mia folded up her chair and walked away. Michelle was left alone by herself to yank out weeds and to try to process the giant bombshell of intel that Mia had just dropped on her. It didn’t make any sense, but the thought that Parker had his own tragic past made her able to relate to him on a deeper level. They’d had more in common than she’d realized.
Her mind inevitably retreated back to the shocking size of Mia’s family. If anyone thought they were going to knock her up ten times they were crazy! She honestly didn’t know if she would ever want to have kids. In order to do so she would have to know that she was bringing them into a safe environment, and from what she’d seen so far her world was far from secure.