Page 2 of Claimed for Eternity

“Their mates, eventually,”Barry cut into my thoughts again.

“Thanks, Dad,” Mori grinned at me. “We tried to get rid of him, but he was getting hot under the fur. Said he’d fight me for his house. I know technically he couldn’t touch us but last time he was here he knocked over all the bookshelves.

“Ask him about it,” Ni whispered to Mori.

“Ask me about what?” I arched a brow and wished Barry was here. I hated whenever one of the kids sprang big news on us separately. It made it so much harder to vent about later when they weren’t around because first, we had to fill each other in on the little details we missed out on over our mating link.

“UH…. They want me to go to the Appalachian Wolf Pack Territory. I’m ready to say no, of course. I’ve told everyone I don’t want to do business like that. I don’t want to be a paranormal investigator,” Mori frowned.

“Your history says otherwise, kiddo,” I chuckled. “You’re always in the middle of the ‘paranormal’ action out here. What do they want from you out there, though?”

“Some guy shot Teddy Moonscale because his dead mate told him to or something like that.”

“Teddy Moonscale? Lotus’s Teddy?” I asked.

“We’re not getting involved,”Barry chimed into my thoughts.“We are not going out there. They can solve their own problems or call Ross to do it.”

“That one,” Ni nodded. “But this guy claims he’s a fortune teller and…. Stuff. I don’t know what all he claims but there are some crazy stories coming out of there.”

“And you want to go,” I grinned at the jaguar.

“Yeah. I do. I spent way too long locked up in our territory. Besides, one day when I have to lead them, I’ll be all locked up again. So, I want to see as much of the world as I can.”

“And he thinks Teddy is hot,” Mori rolled his eyes.

“Teddy is hot,” I chuckled. “He’s too young for me to say that about but then again his sire is hot too. Though, he gets…”I stopped myself from spreading gossip that I heard from the spirits. Why would the spirits tell me that Teddy Moonscale was getting around anyway.

“OH,” I blinked.

“He gets OH?” Mori blinked at me. “Do you need a snack?” he squatted down and opened the mini fridge behind the bar. “I think your blood sugar is low or something.”

“I’m alright,” I reassured him, but he passed me a piece of cheesecake in a tiny biodegradable container anyway. They tasted vaguely like those fancy protein bars Barry still imported from that little European elven bakery. Raspberry and chocolaty goodness was a good payment for dealing with Dead Finn.

“What does Teddy get?” Ni leaned his elbows on the counter.

“Around,” I sighed.

“Then why the OH?” Mori asked.

“Nothing. Nothing at all. You should go. Both of you should go. Make a vacation out of it. Stay at that cute little bed and breakfast that’s not far from the main town. It’s close to the Warden’s farm and brewery…”

“That’s where we’re being called to more or less,” Mori explained.

“Even better. You can stay with them. I exchange letters with their matriarch a few times a year. Just be careful of the moonshine.”

“Moonshine?” Ni asked and I bit the inside of my cheek. He was so naive and sheltered in someways.

“I’ll make sure no one tricks Othoni into drinking it,” Mori sighed. “But why should we go? Did the spirits tell you something that they didn’t tell me?”

“Nope, nothing. Not one little thing,” I said and shoved the rest of the cheesecake in my mouth so that I had an excuse not to talk until the boys changed the subject.

Chapter Two

Barry

I beat Xenos home from work and that was good timing on my behalf. Otherwise, the pot roast would’ve scorched to the bottom of the pan. Preston had bought us a Moonscale ‘flash cooker’ for Yule but besides setting a few slices of bread on fire trying to make toast, neither Xenos nor I messed with it much. We had atsilv ko to set things on fire if we wanted flaming bread. So now the damned thing only got used when Preston came over and insisted on making dinner for us all. It made him happy. So, we let him get on with it.

“I think I figured something out,” Xenos announced walking into the kitchen about ten minutes later as I set up our youngest daughter in the highchair. She squashed her carrots and potatoes in her little fist before the plate was even out of my hand.

---