Wow. That’s the first thing I thought when he said that. I just put my arm around Max while my mom proceeded to let this man in front of us know that he is no better than Dahlia for treating him this way. She added, “To be honest, what you are doing is worse. At least she wanted him… even if it was only for his magic. You want nothing to do with him.” I told Max, “Well, at least you know you have a place to go. You can live with us.” He nodded as a tear fell from his eyes, “I’m happy I have my big sister. It just doesn’t make what he said hurt less.” I sympathized, “I know, but it will get easier. I promise. Let me take care of all the paperwork.”
I approached his father and asked, “Since you no longer want him, would you mind signing over your parental rights to me and signing a custody agreement? There will be nothing required of you except your signature.” He replied, “That’s fine.” I asked if we could get his things, and he agreed. Max led me to his room, and I smiled, “
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The ride to Taylor’s parents’ house was quiet and tense. We were all slightly terrified of telling them the truth, but it needed to be done if they were going to accept Taylor for who, and what, she is. Originally, Taylor wanted us to lie to them, but I explained why we needed to tell them the truth, and she agreed. I told her that I would do all the talking, but she needed to stand beside me when I tell them about it. She agreed completely. When we pulled into the driveway, I asked Elliot to stay in the car with Max and Linden. After I promised to let him know if I need him, Taylor and I got out of the car, and we walked up to the door. Her mother opened the door and pulled Taylor in for the biggest mother-daughter hug ever. Her mother was crying and yelling, “MARCUS! SHE’S HOME!” I was smiling as a small man pulled Taylor in for a father-daughter hug. When Taylor pulled back from the hug, she had a single tear falling down her cheek. She wiped away her tear and tur
I looked behind me and saw my mom standing there next to Taylor’s parents, who were obviously taken aback. I chuckled as I walked to her and hugged her. I introduced her to Taylor’s parents and she smiled, “It’s so good to meet you. You did a great job at raising Taylor. She’s a real pleasure to be around.” Taylor’s mom, Mary, replied, “Apparently, we didn’t do a good enough job, or we would have known she is a witch.” Mom shook her head and hugged Mary, “There is no way any human would draw that conclusion. Humans think of us as something that exists only in story books. They can be very hard-headed in that respect. I’m impressed that you two aren’t freaking out right now.” Mary chuckled, “We aren’t really the freaking out types. That’s how we managed to survive Taylor’s disappearance.” I smiled, “Mom, why don’t you and Bill join us all for dinner this evening? We can continue this conversation then.” She agreed and we all left. Taylor rode with her parents on the way to ou
The next morning, I woke up to Elliot’s arm pulling me as close to him as possible. As I tried to get out of bed, I could hear my siblings outside the bedroom door, then I started feeling Elliot’s body shake, as if he were silently laughing. I turned my head toward him, and he whispered, “Sounds like they’re up to something.” I nodded, “It does seem that way. Should I go out there?” He chuckled, “Let them have their fun. We have a baby to try for.” I laugh, “After all the positions you put me in last night, I wouldn’t be surprised if we’ve already succeeded.” He growled with his face buried in my neck, and I damn near lost it. I was about to give in to him when a loud knock sounded. “Well,” I chuckled, “looks like the day is going to start whether we want it to or not.” Elliot smiled, “Cock blocked by the in-laws. No fun.” I laughed, “Think of it as practice for when we start having kids of our own.” He growled, “I can’t wait.” I got out of bed and put on my robe to answer t
I laughed as I put my arms around my mate, “This is Evan of the Mer people. He is Taylor’s mate.” Elliot smiled, “Dude! It’s been a long time!” He fist-bumped Evan and Evan smiled, “It’s been too long! I take it Elisa is your mate?” Elliot nodded, “She is. Come in the house. I have a shirt for you.” We all went to the house. They all went in while Abel and I hung back. I turned to him and hugged him, “Thank you for everything you’ve done for me. You’ve been a life saver… literally.” He chuckled, “It’s just part of my job, but I will say that it would’ve really hurt me to see anything bad happen to you. I was at the table with Prince Elliot while you were being tortured. I wanted to go to that castle and rip her apart.” I laughed, “But you would’ve robbed me of the chance to kick her ass myself.” He laughed, “I would’ve held her still for you.” I laughed, “Come back for a visit once in a while. Will you?” He nodded, “I will. I have Prince Elliot’s number and yours if I need t
Taylor smiled at me, then I noticed tears in her eyes as her lip started quivering, “How is this going to work?” I wrapped my arms around her in a tight hug and replied, “Trust me, sis, if it couldn’t work, the Moon Goddess would not have paired you. He is the perfect mate for you. Selene is never wrong.” She sighed, “I know, but he’s from the water and I’m from the land.” I chuckled, “That’s what you’re worried about? Okay. First, he has the ability to live in both environments. He shifts just fine. He can also turn you into a mermaid to live with him, underwater. Or you two can do both, once he turns you. Take turns living on land and in the water.” Her eyes got wide as she smiled, “He can turn me into a mermaid?” I laughed, “He can, with approval from the queen. I am friends with her, so that’s not going to be an issue.” She sighed with relief, “That makes me happy. I would love to be a mermaid. Now, I just need to explain this whole mate thing to my parents.” I laughed,
The guys let out a Whoop and started rushing through their ice cream treats, giving themselves a brain freeze a couple times in the process. It was during one of those brain freezes that Taylor walked downstairs. She gave the guys a look like they had lost their minds until she saw what was in front of them. Then she started laughing and shaking her head. As soon as Max’s brain freeze was done, he chuckled, “Taylor, guess what Elisa taught us this morning?” Taylor looked at him, looked at the shake in front of him, then tapped her lip while looking up with her eyes, like she was thinking, “Let me think. Could it be conjuring food?” He gave her a sarcastic look, “Okay, smart ass, can you do it?” She smiled, held out her hand like she was holding a coffee cup and stared at her hand. A cup of coffee appeared in her hand and both of her brothers asked, “Did Elisa already show you that without showing us?” She chuckled, “No, I just applied the same concept as when I unlocked my shackles.
Training has been going very well lately. The guys have finally started taking it seriously and Taylor is learning faster than I ever expected her to. They have all mastered fire and water. Wind and earth have been quite different for them. At one point, Max stomped his foot and the earth split directly under Taylor’s feet. She saw it coming, did a back flip and landed on her feet in a different part of the yard. I laughed and Taylor shrugged, “I guess the eight years of gymnastics that my mom put me through did come in handy.” Evan, who saw the whole thing, chimed in, “They will come in handy in the very near future too.” Taylor blushed as Evan chuckled at her. Max cowered a little, “Sorry, Taylor. I didn’t mean to do that.” She laughed, “It’s all good.” Today is mine and Linden’s birthday, and Linden is so excited for his first shift and the run. Everyone is really excited to see him shift and we are all looking forward to getting to spend some time with Blaise. I went to
We all went outside, then suddenly a blood-curdling scream sounded so loud the animals of the forest scattered. Then the sound of bones breaking mixed with those screams, made more than a few of us non-werewolves more than a little queasy. We all stood back and watched as Linden’s nose and mouth elongated into a snout, he lowered to all fours and his front feet changed to paws and his back feet changed to wolf’s feet and claws protruded from the tips of each toe. He started sprouting brown fur all over his body and this made him scream even more. Finally, the screams turned into a howl, indicating the shift is complete, and the rest of the wolves echoed his howl in approval. Elliot and Alpha Damien led the group in a run. I got to ride on Elliot’s back while he ran swiftly through the forest, dodging limbs, jumping over tree roots, and even chasing the occasional rabbit. I now understood what it was like to be a werewolf. That feeling I had, during the run, was just one of p