Filed To Story: Their Bullied and Broken Mate by Teri Petry
Mom started to giggle and said, “You have both already forgotten? That was quick. Maddix, Loki gave her some of his blood after she had Sterling. I warned you both that this could happen. She has gotten her wolf son, she IS getting ready for her first shift. There isn’t a need to do the ritual now. Hasn’t she had any other signs before now?” she asked.
I couldn’t believe we let that slip our minds. Mom did warn us about this, and honestly, I wouldn’t complain if it happened this way. She told me to go see Luke, and he could confirm whether her DNA make-up had changed. I thanked her for her help, and apologized for forgetting. I had thanked my dad over and over, but now I had a whole other reason to thank him.
I sat next to Riley on the blanket she had spread out, and I pulled her close. “Well, the good thing is, you are definitely not crazy. The bad thing is, we forgot about dad giving you his blood after you had Sterling. He passed his wolf gene to you through his blood. We don’t have to perform the ritual. However, you will experience your first shift instead. That little voice is your wolf,” I explained.
Her head snapped towards me and I could see the fear in her eyes. “That’s right! I remember that now. I can’t believe I forgot about something that important. Holy shit!” she exclaimed. “So, I guess I need to prepare for that now. I already know it’s going to hurt like hell, but do you think if I mixed a spell in the form of a tea to help the pain, it would hurt the shift?” she asked.
I didn’t think it would, but to make sure, we went to speak to Marion. At my aunt and uncle’s cottage I heard the sweet giggles of my little girl. My aunt went to our place and kidnapped our kids. I wasn’t upset about it, because I knew they were safe, but I was still going to have to remind them that they still needed to let us know when they got them.
“Hey guys, I see you swiped our babies from the nanny,” I said with a chuckle. Marion’s face had turned blood-red, and she started to apologize. I let her know that she didn’t have to apologize. Next time, let us know before she does it, so we won’t panic. She said she understood, then asked why we were there.
“Well, we need to speak with Luke. Is he around?” I asked. She said he was in the basement working on some herbal tinctures for the upcoming fall allergy season to put in their shop. She proceeded to yell down at him, and he came up smelling like a bouquet of roses.
“Well, don’t you smell pretty?” I teased. He pretended to be offended, but said he would rather smell like a rose than a sweaty armpit any day.
I explained why I needed to speak to him, and he asked Riley and me to join him downstairs. Marion shooed us away so that she could get more baby time, and we didn’t hesitate to listen.
“Have a seat Riley, let me take a look,” Luke said as he sat Riley under a bright lamp. He stooped down to her level, and started deep in her eyes. He took his right hand, and placed it on her forehead, and his left hand went over her heart.
“Four spirits, one heartbeat,” he gasped. “Riley, you contain the spirit of your human self, your Fae self, your witch self, and you now possess a wolf spirit. A tribrid, as most don’t count your human vessel in the mix of spirits. Your assumptions are correct, instead of preparing for a ritual, we need to get you ready to shift,” Luke stated.
“Do you think a tincture to ease the pain would affect the shift?” she asked. Luke said he couldn’t fully answer that as he didn’t have a wolf to shift into to test that possibility.
He called my mom this time, and asked her opinion. After they disconnected the call, he turned to us and said, “Mel said as long as no silver or wolfsbane were involved in the tincture, you should be fine.”
I could tell that was a relief to her, and if it made her more comfortable, I was there to support whatever she did to take the edge off. Luke promised he would make a safe concoction, and Riley and I rejoined my aunt in the living room.
“Aunt Marion? How would you feel about possibly keeping the kids tomorrow night? Riley has received her wolf, and instead of the turning ritual, we will have to be ready for her shift. I don’t want to worry about the kids while this is going on. I would rather they were with family as much as possible. Plus, it gives you time to spend with them,” I asked. She was overwhelmed with happiness and immediately said yes.
We thanked her and Luke for all their help, and took the kids back to our place. I wouldn’t technically call this a pack house, but it’s the place the higher ranks from Blood Moon stayed when they were at Ruby Meadows. After the bath and feeding, Riley tucked the babies in for the night.
“Are you ready for this?” I asked her. She quickly nodded her head and reminded me that she’s wanted this since she found out we were mated.
“I’m more than ready. I can’t wait to be honest,” she whispered as she cuddled into me.
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.