CHAPTER ELEVEN #2
We heard the party before we ever reached Barry and Xenos’s home.
Yuletide music pounded cheerily from the walls and a few shifters sat on the porch drinking what smelled to me like spiked eggnog.
We wouldn’t be drinking tonight because Preston planned on it being the first night the baby was back home with us.
Besides, with my mate around, I didn’t need to get drunk to have fun.
Xenos had dressed Baby Andy and his own little toddler, older but still as cute as Andy, like little winter helpers in green outfits with pointed little hats.
Andy was already trying to eat his when we arrived and he nearly bowled over someone I didn’t know by crashing through their legs to get to Preston and then proceeded to shift into his bear cub form to climb his carrier like a tree.
Preston kissed his baby all over his furry face before we made our way further into the party.
“Not that way!” he said, grabbing my arm. “The tree’s in there but he’ll have laid all the ornaments out too and if you break them… Well, he won’t be happy.”
I didn’t say I was probably more graceful than most of the alphas here, but Preston heard it in my thoughts over our mating link anyway.
He laughed and gently elbowed me. Lero and Mori sat on the sofa and Lero kept glancing out the window again.
Mori had dreamt of his almost-encounter with his true-mate recently.
One of their younger, but still adult brothers would meet his true-mate on a cruise this summer, and Xenos was thinking about how much he wanted a few days alone with Barry.
I shook my head. I usually didn’t encounter this many people at one time.
So, all the knowledge flooding into me at once was a bit overwhelming.
I buzzed with energy and the cold started to seep from my pores.
I shook my head. Not everyone had my level of cold tolerance.
Preston probably did. Probably with the horns and all.
The baby… I wasn’t so sure. And no one else had any reason to have my protections from it.
I shook my head again and took Preston’s hand in mine.
The cold wouldn’t help anyone but my breaths still came out in icy puffs.
“Wess! Come help me in the kitchen!” Xenos called out to me, and I was grateful for the excuse to be around a few less people even if being in the same house was enough to pick up more ‘visions’ on the way to the kitchen.
Xenos wasn’t alone in his cooking but there were definitely less people in the kitchen than the rest of the house.
He pointed with a big wooden spoon to a spot at the table and I sat down looking for something to do but nothing stood out.
Had he called me in here for a time out?
Had my magic reached him before the others even had an inkling of what was going on?
“Clear out, you guys,” Xenos said. “Go enjoy the party. Not you,” he looked at me. “You need to take a load off.”
Slowly, the kitchen cleared out until I was left alone with my carrier-in-law.
He poured two big glasses of apple cider and slid one in front of me as he took his normal seat at the table.
He flashed me a sad smile and nodded for me to drink.
I hated to be that asshole, but I sniffed it first. I wanted to trust my new family, but I’d seen how hunters and farmers used poisons to get rid of animals they thought were nuisances and let’s face it, I was never the most trusting guy in the room.
The apple cider smelled delicious. Xenos and Barry stayed up late one night to peel the apples and start the whole process. I let out a long, slow breath and took a sip. It tasted even better than it smelled as it slid across my tongue.
“So, is it the visions, the peopling, or the spirits of the dead you see now that has you over stimulated?” Xenos asked, cutting to the chase.
“Yeah, I know about that. Have always known about that. It’s the reason I worry more about Preston than his twin.
Mori’s loud about what he does but Preston, he keeps to himself. ”
“Uh… Were some of those dead people?” I whispered, leaning over the table in hopes that made my question less likely to be overheard by other party guests.
“Yeah. Some of them. Some of our ancestors have moved on. Others like to show up to parties.”
“Uh…. I want to say stuff but don’t want to be interrogated about what I say,” I said.
“Well, lucky for you, I’ve grounded Barry from launching any investigations until after New Years,” he chuckled.
“So many of your kids are going to meet their true-mates within the next few years. One is going to meet his on a—”
“Cruise,” Xenos filled in the blank before I could and shrugged.
“I got those type of eyes too. I see wider but I think you see deeper since most of your visions focus on true-mates. I’m not telling you what to do but unless you want people showing up at your door all hours of the night and day, I’d not tell any of them what you see about them. ”
“I didn’t plan on it,” I admitted.
“Smart man,” Xenos nodded and took a long swig of his apple cider.
“And just so you know, I did tell Barry he shouldn’t have tested you like that.
Between us, Venal got off easy being turned into an ice sculpture.
I know Preston thinks he has the right to be the ‘missing dad’ but I don’t know that I feel the same.
Make a baby, contribute to the baby is how I see it.
Plus, well, they tried to save him from his mother but he doesn’t want to be saved.
So, thank you for saving me that trouble.
So, what’s the plan for when Sharon Claudis shows back up? ”
I looked around the kitchen to see who was watching us. We were alone. No people. No animals. No spirits of either. He wasn’t putting on a show for someone, but it felt as if he was picking up in the middle of a conversation that I hadn’t been privy to the first half of.
“Don’t tell me you haven’t thought it through, because you have.
I know your type. You know sooner or later, she’s going to show up.
Mori seems to think it’ll be later despite Venal’s little unplanned visit, but I don’t think you’re that na?ve.
Mori is na?ve still because he believes Dern.
Preston believes his twin – sort of. You’ve probably found at least one of his weapons by now.
They can’t help it. They want to believe the world is a good place and that the bad guys can become good guys and some of them are good guys. Don’t tell me you believe that crap?”
“Uh…. I thought everyone could be redeemed,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck.
“And you expected me to be a pacifist or something?” he asked.
“I’m more practical than that. I’ve seen what people do to each other and at the end of the day, shaman or not, I’m a bear and Preston is my cub.
Andy is my cub by proxy. I have posted a bounty for Sharon’s head on several well-known boards.
If she’s out there and hits the wrong place, our problems are over but we’re not the na?ve type, are we? ”
“To be honest, I sort of feel like you’re trying to shape this situation.
I’m not sure what you mean by na?ve but if you need my help, you gotta be straight forward because your magic is dancing on my skin but it’s not getting through.
So, it’s like you’re lying or testing me or trying to magically make me see things your way and it doesn’t work on me.
I know you handle people. That’s part of running a territory but I’m not here to be handled. ”
Xenos let out a long, slow sigh and finished his apple cider. Then he grinned at me.
“Not having a solid plan is probably the best plan,” he said a few moments later. “Having a solid plan makes you less likely to improvise and battles are won and lost on split second choices. I know I come across as pushy, but I think everyone underestimates her even now.”
“She’s a bear too. So what went wrong there?” I asked him.
“I’m supposed to say she wasn’t loved enough as a kid but that’s probably not it. She wants power and anyone who wants power for the sake of power is dangerous. She sent her own kid here, knowing he’d probably die in the process. She wanted to see what our defenses were.”
“So, I shouldn’t have frozen him? Then she wouldn’t know about me?” I blinked.
“No, you did the right thing. Now she won’t know what to expect.
If she comes looking for him, we’ll get her.
One way or another, we’ll get her. But enough about Sharon.
I’m glad Preston and Andy found you. He’s been lonelier than he lets on.
Even if all this stuff wasn’t going on, he’d need someone. ”
“Can I ask you another question without being interrogated?” I asked.
“I know people badger you a lot but I’m not one of them. Unless it’s vital to someone’s safety, I won’t bug you.”
“Okay. Is Lero acting weird or is that just him?” I asked.
“Lero?” Xenos chuckled. “That’s not my mystery to solve. Not yours either.”
“What? Is it Mori’s?” I laughed.
“He’ll butt in, of course, but as far as I can tell he’s not in any real danger,” Xenos shrugged.
“It’s like with your visions. Sometimes you have to let folks figure out their own stuff.
One more Sharon thing and I’ll let you go back to the party.
If you see her, don’t wait for her to do something.
Just freeze her ass. I’ll put her on display on the front porch to let every asshole know that we are not the bears to be messed with. ”