18.

S TASSI

“How was work today, my love?”

I rolled over onto my stomach to give Aksel better access to my back and sighed when he ran his fingers over the spot between my shoulder blades that had been itching like fire for the last few hours. “Right there! Scratch right . . . oh, that’s perfect.”

“Are you sure you’re not a cat shifter?” Aksel asked with a laugh when I shifted my upper body to make sure he scratched in the right place.

“Bears need scratches too,” I whined. I took a deep breath and then blew it out before, in a different tone of voice, I said, “I need to tell you what happened at Clarisse’s before I tell you about my work day.”

“Does she know what’s wrong with you?”

“Well, I went to the clinic and had them draw some blood for testing, but Clarisse and Sin think I might be going through menopause.”

“Like a human? Can we do that?”

“Obviously, you can’t do that, but I’m a test subject, Aksel. No one knows what I can do.”

Aksel’s hand trailed down over my lower back until his hand was cupping my ass before he said, “I know what you can do.”

“Not down for any more fun stuff tonight, sweetheart. I’m exhausted and a little bit grumpy, so if you start a fight to get me all revved up, I very well might make you cry or rip your head off. Or both. That seems like a viable option.” Aksel’s hand slowly drifted back up toward my shoulders, and I laughed softly. “The next time I seem convinced that you’re a total dumbass, remind me of this moment.”

“According to you, my dumbassery knows no bounds, so I’m sure that will come up sooner rather than later.”

“I have been a little meaner lately, haven’t I?”

“I didn’t want to say anything but possibly. The last time we encountered each other, you weren’t nearly so easy to rile.”

“Encountered each other?” I scoffed. “What an elegant way to say we ran into each other at a baseball game and ended up banging one out in the VIP box.” I thought about it for a second and said, “I never asked at the time because I wanted to strangle . . .”

“My dick with your sweet . . .”

“Finish that sentence,” I interrupted threateningly. I took a cleansing breath and then tried again, “What were you doing at a San Francisco Giants game anyway? I thought you hated baseball.”

“I do, but I knew you’d be attending, so I found some tickets.”

“To the owner’s box? They don’t sell tickets to that.”

“I persuaded him to have me as a guest and uninvite everyone else,” Aksel hedged.

“All so we could have hate-sex in my favorite place. As fucked up as that is, I think it’s kind of romantic.”

“Now you do, but at the time you blamed me for their losing streak.”

“No. I blamed you for getting me banned from the ballpark.” I thought about it for a second and then said, “But now that I think about it, you might have had something to do with them losing the game.”

“But I got the ban lifted, and that’s what we should focus on now.”

“Of course. Even better than that, you got me a box of my own for which I will be eternally grateful . . . plus we can bang one out there anytime we want.”

“We won’t be able to do that if the kids are with us.”

“Your sons like baseball?”

“Our children, Stassi.”

“Well, honey, I’m not sure how to break this to you, but vampires can’t make children.”

“No, but they can adopt them.”

“You want to adopt children with me?” I managed to choke out through the tears clogging my throat.

“Not just any children, Stassi, but three unique children, two of which are a lot like you.”

“Kiera, Jana, and Emorett?”

“Yes. They’ve been raised as family with your niece and nephew, and if they live here with us, they’ll stay that way since your brother has decided to make Mereu his home.”

I rolled over so I could face him and didn’t even try to hide the tears on my cheeks. “You want to raise a family with me?”

“As crazy as it sounds, yes, I do.”

“Aksel, you’re making it very hard to dislike you.”

“Good. That’s what I’ve been trying so hard to do.”

“However, you make it very easy to love you . . . sometimes.”

Aksel’s loud laughter shook the bed, and I took the opportunity to get even closer to him, all thoughts of sleep forgotten now.

“I love you, too, Anastacia.”

“Good because you’re stuck with me.”

“Life with you is a roller coaster, that’s for sure.”

“Honey, my mood playlist has been on shuffle for a while now, and you seem to be handling it very well.”

“If I say I can fuck you out of them, will that get me killed?”

“Definitely.”

“Well, then it’s a good thing I’m not dumb enough to do that, isn’t it?”

◆◆◆

I meandered up the path toward Blair’s and was shocked to find four small bear cubs napping together in a pile beneath the shade tree at the edge of the porch. I walked over and sniffed each of them and instantly knew which bear form belonged to each child. I looked around for the adult that should be watching them.

I wasn’t surprised to find a large hawk sitting on a tree branch just a few feet away, watching me as if I was going to be his or her next meal. I lifted a paw and waved before I loped off across the grass toward the deck. By the time I got there, Blair was waiting for me on the top step. The second I shifted, she said, “Aksel called me this morning, and I wondered how long it would take you to come visit me.”

“I’ve been wandering through the trees for a while and did some thinking over breakfast.”

“What did you have?” Blair asked.

I put my hand on my stomach and let my eyes close in bliss as I remembered my delicious catch of the morning. “I enjoyed a Kokanee salmon that was at least a five-pounder. Maybe even six.”

“I guess it’s not just human fishermen that embellish their catch weight, huh?”

“Okay, you caught me. It was probably more like three, but it was delish.”

Blair laughed as she waved her hand and invited me up the stairs. “Come inside, and let’s chat before the kids wake up. They’ve been napping for over an hour, and I’m not sure what their schedule is like.”

“Would Anna know? She might be the best source of information.”

“No one has heard from Ivan or Anna since we got home the other day,” Blair informed me with a grin. “I would assume they’ll be preoccupied for a few more days at least.”

I jogged up the stairs and followed Blair into her home, a gorgeous house set up on the mountain just like Aksel’s, although Blair’s was much more modern and filled with toys and items young people would enjoy. I knew that she was prepared for any age group and kept a stash of toys and clothing just in case a foster came with nothing, so she had plenty to entertain the children, even Kiera.

“Where is Kiera?” I thought to ask as I looked around at the toys scattered around the living room and kitchen. “I guess the young ones have made themselves at home, haven’t they?”

“They have,” Blair said as she hit the button on her coffee machine to make me a fresh cup. As the cup filled, she said, “Younger children are much more resilient when it comes to change.”

“What about kids Kiera’s age?”

“Not as resilient, but she’s a pistol. I’ve got no doubt that if there’s a problem, she’ll tell me all about it.”

“It’s like that, huh?”

“I’ll go ahead and let you know that it might take some time and effort for Kiera to realize that she’s just a child and not the caregiver of the younger four children.”

“But she has been for a while, hasn’t she?”

“I believe she has, and I have to say that she’s done a fine job. However, it’s her turn to be a child, and I’m encouraging her in that direction with Nicholas’ help.”

Blair slid my mug of coffee across the table and then went to the refrigerator for creamer before she got a spoon for me and picked up her own mug.

“I was going to ask about him next.”

“He’s looking for a job in town and has already hired a sitter for the children. Rather than leave them abruptly, he’s going to let them acclimate to the sitter by having her watch them in short stints like today while he’s out running errands.”

“He has a lot of errands to run?”

“Not really, but he’s going stir-crazy in the house, tap dancing on my last nerve, so I’ve been finding things for him to do for me,” Blair admitted with a chuckle as she sat down across from me. “Right now, he and Kiera are shopping in Springblood for a VR headset before they go to the pharmacy for some medication I need and then the market to pick up some things for dinner.”

I pondered what she’d said for a moment and asked, “Since when do you need medication?”

Blair burst out laughing and asked, “Did you miss the part where I said he was stir-crazy and it was driving me nuts?”

“How long do you think they’ll be out?”

“I hope for another hour, at least,” Blair admitted before she took a sip of her tea. “It’s been a while since I had so many toddlers running around the house. I love all the noise and excitement, but it’s exhausting.”

“I can’t imagine.”

“If things go the way I hope they will, you’ll understand that feeling soon.”

“I’m worried that Aksel and I are moving too quickly and if we aren’t on solid ground when we take in the children and add the stress of parenting to our relationship, it will crumble.”

“Can I be honest with you, Stassi?”

“Please. I’ve never known you to hold back before, so don’t start now!”

“I’ve known for years that Aksel was head over heels for you, but both of you are so stubborn that there was no way anything could come of it until one of you finally came to your senses and broke the cycle you started all those years ago.”

“He did that when he asked to take me to dinner at Cas and Nikki’s.”

“Did he tell you what he did that afternoon when he left you at work?”

“No.”

“He came straight to my house and asked for my advice - in front of Rose and Hadley, and you know how the three of us can get when we’re together.”

“No holds barred,” I said with a grin.

“Exactly. And Aksel pinned a target on his chest and waded in to get advice.”

“I had no idea.”

“If he hadn’t had deep feelings for you, he wouldn’t have even considered sitting through what had to be a very uncomfortable conversation.”

“I’m sure it was.”

“He didn’t like it, and there were a few times when I thought he might bolt, but he stuck around and actually listened to what we had to say.”

“I’m impressed.”

“We were, too, and I thought I should tell you about that day so you could understand just how much Aksel wanted for your relationship to change to something more than just occasional rendezvous peppered with barbed insults and angry exchanges.”

“We’re learning to keep the fights a little cleaner, and that’s actually making everything else even more intense.”

“It’s about damn time.”

“I want to take the children and become a family with Aksel.”

“Good. I’ve already started the paperwork process, and there’s a home visit scheduled for next Tuesday.”

“I remember what those are like, so I’m glad I’ll have a few days to gather everything we’ll need and get the required safety measures installed in Aksel’s house.”

“You can’t start a family in Aksel’s house, Stassi. You have to make it your home, too, before you bring the children into the mix. Can you do that in the next week?” Blair asked.

“Once I shut my mouth and actually listened to my heart, I realized that Aksel is my home, Blair. All the rest is empty space.”

“I’m happy for you, my friend.”

“Not nearly as happy as I am.”

◆◆◆

“I came across a recipe the other day and it reminded me that you said you like to preserve food,” I said to one of our regular customers, a middle-aged woman who always came to shop with her grandson in tow. “Have you ever heard of watermelon preserves?”

Her eyebrows rose, and she glanced at the watermelon in her basket before she said, “I haven’t.”

I pulled my phone out and started scrolling through my recent searches as I said, “I saved this just for you. If you’ll give me your number, I’ll send the . . .”

“All available employees, please come to the front checkout,” Margie’s harried voice announced over the sound system. “Stassi, please come to register five.”

“That’s me,” I said just as I found the page I was looking for. “I better hurry! Give me your number, and I’ll text this to you.”

The customer rattled off her phone number and thanked me as I started to walk off, but I waved my hand and said, “The only thanks I’m willing to accept is a jar of preserves!”

“I’ll make sure to bring you a jar,” she promised.

“Have a great day!” I called over my shoulder as I rushed toward the front of the store.

We were busier than usual for some reason, and I tried to remember if there was a holiday coming up, but the last few weeks had been so hectic that I wasn’t even sure of the date. I laughed softly to myself when I realized I didn’t know which day of the week it was either.

“Stassi!” Margie said breathlessly before she bent over and pulled two gallons of milk off the bottom rack of the grocery cart in front of her. “Is someone coming in to cover for Aleta?”

“Aleta should have clocked in almost an hour ago.”

“There’s been no sign of her,” Margie said as she started scanning the groceries and sliding them down the rollers toward the sacking area. I began sacking the groceries as she asked, “She didn’t call in?”

“No. I haven’t heard from her, but it’s not like her to be this late. I wonder if something is wrong.”

“With her, there’s no telling,” Margie mumbled before she smiled brightly at the customer and then told her the total. As she took the money and made change, I finished bagging the groceries and then motioned for one of the other sackers to come escort the woman to her car and load these for her.

As Margie started checking out the next customer, I walked across the store checking on the other cashiers and making sure that everyone was happy. When I saw that there wasn’t really much I could do, I went to my office and pulled out Aleta’s file to call her house. There could have been a misunderstanding about her schedule or some kind of an emergency. Either way, I thought I should at least call to check on her even though I knew that just talking to her on the phone would probably irritate the hell out of me.

Once I found her number, I called and let it ring for what seemed like forever, waiting for her voicemail to pick up, before I remembered that Aleta didn’t carry a cell phone and I was calling a landline. I vaguely recalled her mentioning that they were instruments of the devil or something and then smiled when I recalled my retort of, “I thought you were a fiddle player, but I guess you lost that in Georgia, huh?”

Sadly, she didn’t get the reference, but I thought it was hilarious.

I decided to leave it alone, even though I felt that if it was any of the other employees here, I would likely try a little harder to make sure they were okay. But since this was Aleta, I hoped that she might have found another job even though I’d promised Sin I’d keep an eye on her.

I had just decided to try calling Aleta’s son to check on her when I was paged to the front again. I shut her employee folder and slipped it into the middle drawer of my desk in case I needed it later and then got back to work.

After a busy day, made worse by being one employee short, I had just pulled up in the driveway when Aksel rushed out of the house and started jogging down the steps. Before I had a chance to put the car in Park, he jumped into the passenger seat and said, “We need to go to Clarisse’s and get some information about a problem going on in the protected lands.”

The woods around Mereu were considered protected lands because of a deal Clarisse and the town council had made with the government years ago to give the shifters a place to go without the worry of hunters or hikers. Luckily, and probably because they were terrified of the repercussions, the government had ensured that outsiders rarely ever made their way inside by saying it was a conservation effort and getting environmentalists involved to protect the wildlife there.

Little did they know that even though there was plenty of wildlife living in their natural habitat, there were also animals roaming around in that area that wouldn’t be found in nature anywhere nearby. The last time I shifted there to get a little exercise and calm my mind, I ran into a Siberian tiger, a polar bear, and three white wolves - none of which were native to this area because they were all shifters prowling around and enjoying their time in nature.

“What’s going on?” I asked as I backed out of the driveway.

“Your employee has gone rogue. She took a group of men to help her kidnap her daughters and take them away, but the kids were able to escape into the forest, and now they’re being hunted like animals.”

“Oh, hell no,” I muttered as I pulled out onto the road to get to Clarisse’s on the other side of town.

Years ago, Clarisse had built a little park at the edge of the tree line that had changing rooms, lockers for your belongings, and even a snack machine for shifters who needed a little junk food or a drink before or after their time in the forest. After Aksel and I rushed across town and then made our way across Clarisse’s property to the meeting place, we found several other shifters and even a few vampires there to join the search party.

“The girls should be easy to spot - they have long blonde hair and are probably wearing bright colors. They have no camping or survival experience, but the woman with them could probably be considered an expert. Some of you might remember her from years ago when she was held captive in the forest by my ex-husband.” I watched Aksel’s brow furrow before he took a deep breath and slowly nodded, but what confused me was the knowing smiles on a few faces, wolf shifters that I’d met but didn’t know well. “There is a large group of men hunting for the girls, and they will most likely kill or injure the woman to get to them.”

“Why are they hunting children?” Anton, a Siberian tiger shifter, asked angrily.

“They belong to a cult that finds no problem with child brides and . . .”

“Enough said,” one of the Tulok triplets - bear shifters who lived and worked in Mereu - said furiously.

“At least one of my brothers will be coming into the forest from the other side along with two of my boys, Sway and Sobie, so please watch out for them,” Sin pleaded. “We need to find the children and Elizabeth, the woman who is trying to protect them. These men were sent here for the specific purpose of taking these children back to marry their prophet.”

“That is disgusting,” one of the Tuloks ranted.

“And what do we do with the men who are hunting them?” a jaguar shifter named Gus asked.

Sin’s smile was downright scary when she said, “Enjoy yourself.”

Since the woman and girls were already in the forest along with the men hunting them, all of us shifted immediately and took off into the forest. I could feel Aksel nearby, and at one point, I saw a blur that told me he was running ahead of me and had probably scented either the mortals who were hiding or the monsters who were chasing them.

I heard movement near the stream and stopped to look around before I came out of the cover of trees. I sensed someone else nearby and looked across the stream to find glowing golden eyes watching the two men who were looking for signs of their prey.

Without any communication, I crashed through the trees at the same time as the jaguar and took down one of the men. Since killing wasn’t a sport to me, I dispatched him quickly but not before he gave a loud shout of pain. Within just a few seconds, the attack was over, and I nodded at Gus before he and I parted ways, on the hunt for more men but, more importantly, the woman and children who needed our help.

I found her, terrified and harried. I waited calmly nearby in the hopes that she’d understand I wasn’t there to harm her but to protect her from danger until more help arrived. Before long, I felt Aksel getting closer to the hollow tree log where Elizabeth was hiding, and since he’d recently opened his mind to allow me to communicate with him, I let him know that I had found the woman. When he responded that the girls were safe, I was so relieved that I wanted to shift so I could tell the woman but understood that there were many things about the protected forest she could never know about.

When I heard Aksel walking my way with a few other light-footed men, I walked out of Elizabeth’s line of sight and shifted before I approached my love and the three men I recognized as part of Sin’s family. I knew that she was still hiding and guessed she was afraid to come out since no one had identified themselves yet.

Aksel cleared his throat and motioned toward the hollow log and then Fain Tempest, a man I’d known since he was a child, said, “Thanks, Aksel. We owe you one.”

“No, you don't,” Aksel said firmly.

Before Fain or his nephews had a chance to argue, I said, “We’ll call and tell everyone that you’ve found her and the girls so they can quit worrying.”

“Thank you, Stassi,” Sway, one of Sin’s twin boys, said gratefully.

I smiled at him as I reached my hand out to take Aksel’s and then walked with him deeper into the forest to go back to Mereu.

When we were finally far enough away so that we wouldn’t be heard by the others, I asked, “I’m glad that we were able to help them, but that doesn’t exactly fix the problem, does it?”

“There are other ways to fix problems like that.”

“Name one,” I said testily.

“Have you ever heard about the time Mayne appeared in a psycho’s bathroom and convinced him to confess to all of his horrible crimes?”

“I have!” I said excitedly. “I’ve even seen the man a few times when I went with Genji to the buffet.”

“I have a feeling that whoever sent those men to retrieve the young women is going to have much the same visit . . . or, knowing Mayne, more than a few visits just to make sure his point is made.”

“Why does it have to be Mayne? Is there a sign-up sheet so one of us can take care of it?”

“I never thought to offer, but if you’re interested, I can let him know.”

“Thank you.”

“Consider it a wedding gift.”

“Who is getting married?”

“We are.”

“Do you have a mouse in your pocket?” I asked Aksel as he gallantly helped me over a fallen tree.

“You know I’m talking about us, Anastacia.”

“When you use my full name, it does nothing but piss me off.”

“I thought you liked it when I called out your name.”

“Different situations, different reactions,” I mumbled, remembering how he’d screamed my name early this morning when I was on my knees in front of him in the shower.

“I never imagined that you’d be a stickler for tradition.”

“Which tradition? There are many to choose from, considering how long I’ve been around, and God only knows what you’ve seen in the eons that you’ve been on earth.”

“Watch it,” Aksel growled.

“What was the engagement tradition when the dinosaurs roamed the earth? Did the cavemen just drag their intended off while they grunted monosyllabic words, or did they at least give her a bouquet of flowers first?”

“I gave Bianca’s father a cache of weapons that I forged myself when I asked for her hand in marriage.” I looked over at Aksel in shock. I knew he’d been married before and lost his wife and family when he was turned, but he’d never spoken about it quite so frankly before. While I was trying to figure out how to respond to that information, he ruined the nice moment by saying, “I suppose I could give your aunts a gift, but in reality, taking you away so they can have their house back to the calm oasis that they love so much will be a gift in itself.”

“When you say such sweet things, I’m not sure how I can resist telling you how much I want you to fuck off and exactly how far.”

Aksel burst out laughing and pulled me closer before he wrapped an arm around me and lowered his head to mine.

“Anastacia, I love you with my whole heart . . .”

I scoffed, “When did you find that?”

“And I want nothing more than to have you by my side for eternity . . .”

“If I’m stuck with you, a month will feel like eternity.”

“. . . while we raise our children together and watch them create families of their own.”

“You had to go there, didn’t you? I almost held it together but then you brought up kids,” I choked out as my eyes filled with tears. “That’s playing dirty.”

“Hurry up and say yes to my proposal, and I’ll show you dirty right here in the forest.”

“If you can catch me, then you’ll have your answer,” I challenged before I gave him a quick kiss. “Come on, old man, it’s been ages since we banged one out surrounded by nothing but trees.”

“That was what? Ten years ago? Where were we?”

“Louisiana. New Iberia, I believe.”

“Ah. I remember now. The Gumbo cookoff. Such delicious food and then an even better dessert once I got my hands on you.”

“I love you, Aksel. I think that a little part of me was in love with you even then.”

“Will you marry me?”

I gave him a kiss and then smiled as I stepped out of his arms, preparing my body for a different kind of hunt than the one we’d been on earlier.

Right before I sprinted away, I teased, “I guess we’ll see!”

I heard his laughter as he gave me a small headstart and was happy to know that I’d be hearing it again and again for the rest of my life - because once he caught me this time, I’d never let him go.