"I shift into a wolf not a snake," he said and crossed his arms. He leaned across to me and said conspiratorially, "You just wait until you shift. You"ll be hungry all the time. And you"ll have an affinity for rare meat."
"Really? Because I was starting to think that was just an excuse for you boys to eat all the time," I said. "I mean Charlotte and Chris eat normal, human-sized, portions."
"Ugh, you found me out," he said with a grin.
I finished my cake and then grabbed Caeden"s plate. I washed them both and placed them in the drying rack.
My phone rang in my pocket. I pulled it out and saw that it was my dad. As soon as I said h.e.l.lo he and my mom started singing happy birthday. It was just as bad if not worse than Gram and Caeden"s version.
"We miss you," said my dad.
"I miss you guys too," I said into the phone.
"It"s been far too long since I"ve seen my baby girl. Now you"re eighteen, having your first shift, and you"ve met your mate. You"re a woman now," he said getting choked up.
"Don"t worry dad, I"ll always be your baby girl," I said with a smile.
"I sure hope so," he said. I heard some shuffling and then, "Sophie, I love you. Your mother is demanding control of the phone now."
"Love you too, dad," I said but I wasn"t sure if he heard me because suddenly my mom was on the phone.
"Sophie, tonight is your first shift," she said.
"Thank you captain obvious," I said with my usual sarcasm.
"Sophie, don"t be smart with me. Now listen here, it"s going to hurt. It"s going to be the most painful experience of your life. Worse than childbirth and I would know since your head was the size of Pluto."
"Thank you mom for comparing my head to a planet. I appreciate that," I said.
She continued on as if I hadn"t said anything. "But when you go through it with a mate it can also be a wondrous experience. You"ll become even more connected than you are now. Have you decided if you"re going to perform the bonding ceremony?"
"Yeah mom," I said. "We are. I"m ready so don"t even try and talk me out of it."
"I wasn"t going to do that. I was just going to say be careful. Being mates already connects you but the bonding ceremony brings you together in ways you can"t possibly imagine. But I"m going to let you both discover that on your own. Just please be careful."
"What are you implying?" I asked.
She hesitated and I prepared myself for what I knew was going to become a very uncomfortable conversation. "The bonding ceremony can lead to s.e.x. Please don"t let that happen, Sophie. Shifters get pregnant the same way that regular humans do you know? How do you think you came into this world? When your dad and I bonded those feelings were so overwhelming and what do you know? Nine months later you were here."
"Oh my G.o.d are you trying to have the s.e.x talk with me?" I asked completely stunned.
Caeden had been taking a sip of water when I said this and spewed droplets of water all across the table.
"Well," my mom said and I could tell she was completely fl.u.s.tered, "yes. Shifters can"t shift with clothes. So, you"ll already be naked and the temptation might become too great."
"Mom," I said with flaming red cheeks, "let me stop you right there. I"m not ready for that. You have absolutely nothing to worry about."
"Oh thank you Jesus," she said upon hearing my complete sincerity. "I"ve been worrying myself sick."
"You have nothing to worry about," I said.
"Good, good," she repeated. "Well, now that I have thoroughly embarra.s.sed myself I"ll let you go. You have a lot to prepare for tonight. Happy Birthday."
"I love you, mommy," I said.
"I love you, Sophie. I miss you so much. But your father and I made the right choice by sending you there. Even if..." she hesitated. "Even if my family did take you it was still the right choice."
"Bye mom," I said and hung up the phone before the waterworks started.
I looked over at Caeden, who was wiping up his water mess, with red cheeks that matched my own. "What was that about?" he asked.
"You don"t want to know," I said.
"Probably not," he conceded. "Let"s go before I make an even bigger mess," he said tossing the rag into the sink.
"Agreed," I said taking his hand.
"Bye Gram," I called.
She came out of her bedroom and pulled me into her arms and away from Caeden. "Oh Sophie," she said, "so much is going to change after tonight. I"m so proud to call you my granddaughter. I couldn"t have gotten luckier with you. You"re so special and you"re going to make an amazing shifter. You just wait and see. Good luck sweetie. I"ll see you tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" I questioned.
"Yes tomorrow," she said.
She herded us through the door and then stopped Caeden with a hand on his arm. "If you"re going to be sleeping in Sophie"s bed at night I"d prefer you used the door and not the window."
Both of our cheeks flamed a brilliant shade of crimson once again. "Yes ma"am," he said hoa.r.s.ely.
"Now that that"s settled, enjoy your day."
"I can"t believe she knew," I hissed once we were safely ensconced in the Jeep and backing out of the driveway.
He chuckled, "It was silly of me to think otherwise. I mean she is a shifter after all. Given her age and her status on the council her hearing and sense of smell has to be far superior than most. But I guess she let it slide until now because she knows I"m not going to sneak in and steal your virtue."
I scoffed. "What is it with people and my virtue today?" I asked rhetorically. "And what do you mean her "status" on the council?"
"Lucinda is the head of the council of elders. She was married to a Beaumont which means she"s like shifter royalty and you are too." He cleared his throat.
"Good to know," I mumbled. "But what if I don"t want to be shifter royalty? What if I just want to be plain, old, regular Sophie?"
"Sorry but you can"t pick your parents and your dad is a Beaumont which means you are too. You can"t run from your name."
"I don"t even know what that means," I said.
"I know," he said.
"Well, are you going to tell me?" I asked.
He started down the lane that led to his house. He ran his hand roughly through his hair and stopped in front of the gate. A moment later the gate swung open. By this time I had given up on an answer but finally he said, "Yes, but later. Let"s have some fun first."
"Deal," I said as he pulled into the garage. I noticed that his mom and Bryce"s cars were gone. Bryce I, of course, knew was at school. But I had no idea where his mom could be. "Where"s your mom?" I voiced as he came around to get my door.
"Out. She thought she"d give us the day to ourselves," he said, taking my hand and leading me towards the civil war era house.
"That was nice of her," I said.
He smiled and opened the side door that led into a mudroom. "She figured you"d already be stressed enough today about your shift without her hovering."
"Thanks for bringing that up," I said.
He took his boots off and I slipped off my sneakers. He gave me a sheepish grin. "Sorry, but we will have to talk about it sometime today."
"Well sometime will have to wait," I said.
He pulled me into the family room and onto the plush leather couch. He kissed the top of my head as I reclined against his chest. "I"m sorry I don"t have anything special planned," he said.
I turned in his arms to get a clear view of his face. "This is special," I argued. "I"m getting to spend it with you. This is perfect," I said.
He smiled and said, "I love you, more and more every day."
"I love you too," I said. He cleared his throat and wiggled a bit in his spot. "What is it?" I asked.
He gave me a sheepish smile and his adorable dimple peaked out. Caeden was all man but that one little dimple always managed to make him look a cute little precocious boy. I would never tire of seeing it. "Well..." he started. He wiggled again and cleared his throat.
"Spit it out, Caeden," I said.
"It"s nothing bad," he said. "But I think that come spring break we should go see your parents. There"s more we can learn about being mates and maybe they can help us understand why "them" and why "us"."
"That"s a great idea," I said. "Why were you so scared to ask me?"
He cleared his throat. "As soon as I came up with the idea I got the insane fear of being on an airplane. I"ve never been afraid of flying before so I a.s.sume it"s coming from you. Are you afraid of flying?"
I gulped. "Yes." In my excitement of seeing my parents I had completely forgotten their location. Germany. No car could get me across the ocean and boats were just as bad as planes. When I was younger we went on a particularly bad flight that I still had nightmares about. I never quite got over it and so my parents started avoiding planes as much as they could for my sake. "You know... it"s kind of weird you knowing stuff about me that I haven"t even told you."
He chuckled. "You can do it too you know? I mean, we did already test this theory."
"So what are you afraid of?" I asked.
"Just think for a moment it"ll come to you," he said.
I closed my eyes and just thought for a moment. What could Caeden possibly be afraid of?
"Snakes? Really?" I said.
"Flying? Really?" he mimicked and we both laughed. He rubbed my arm soothingly and rubbed his nose against my neck. "Don"t worry. I"ll be right beside you on the plane. I"ll talk you through it. Distract you," he whispered with a brush of his lips against mine. "You won"t remember a thing," he said, his fingers rubbing my neck.
"Hmm," I said relaxing against his touch. "I have no doubt that you will be able to sufficiently distract me."
"Good," he said. "Since, that"s settled I"ll be sure to book our tickets."
I groaned.
"You won"t remember a thing," he said rubbing my arm.
I let out a breath. "I certainly hope so or you"re in for it, mister."
He chuckled and the motion shook both of us.
A few minutes of comfortable silence pa.s.sed. I loved the fact that Caeden and I could sit and neither of us felt the need to fill the silence with endless chatter. There are very few people you can be that comfortable with. It was a rare thing to find and I was thankful for it. His long fingers stroked my hair and rubbed my scalp. I felt my eyes getting heavy from the relaxing motion. I wasn"t even sleepy but for some reason, even as a child, someone rubbing my head always put me to sleep. I liked to be petted; maybe it was a sign of the wolf in me. Did wolves like to be petted? No, they were wild. Oh well, I just enjoyed it.
I cracked my eyes open as Caeden continued to ma.s.sage my scalp. "Are we going to just sit here all day?" I asked even though I was pretty sure I already knew the answer.
He sighed. "Yes, we both, but especially you, have to conserve our energy for tonight. It"s going to be extremely draining. The more energy you have the easier it will be to shift and then to shift back to your human form. Trust me, I"ve been through this."
I sighed. "I"m not ready. Maybe next year," I whined.
He chuckled and kissed the top of my head. "Sorry babe but the moon doesn"t wait for you."
"I"m scared," I admitted.
"You"d be an idiot not to be," he said. "It"s normal to be scared," he rubbed my arm. "But I"ll be there. Everything will be fine. I wouldn"t tell you so if I didn"t think that."
"What did you mean earlier when you said that I"m part of shifter royalty?"
He sighed and mused his hair. "It"s hard to explain but whenever the first shift occurred it was by a Beaumont. Therefore the Beaumont"s are shifter royalty. Not just among wolves but among all shifters. Beaumont"s are more powerful stronger, faster, quicker. You"re the best of the best."
"What if I can"t live up to that?" I asked. "What if I suck at being a shifter? What if I"m not cut out for this?"
"Whoa, slow down," he said. "Of course you"ll be all that. You already possess some of your potential, I"ve seen it. It"ll reach its peak once you shift."
"Caeden," I said quietly.
"Yes?" he prompted.
"Who was the second wolf to shift?" I asked.
He swallowed and I could see his Adam"s apple bobbing. "A Williams," he said quietly.
"I figured," I said. "Is that why at Thanksgiving everyone looked at us like we were a King and Queen?"
"Yeah," he sighed. "They"re convinced that we"re the answer to their prayers."
"Why?" I asked sitting up.
"The shifter community has become very disconnected. We used to all mingle together. Panthers, wolves, eagles, tigers. It didn"t matter. Now, we all separate and stay within our clan. But there"s even strife among communities of the same species. I mean look at us and the Grimm"s. We can"t stand each other. I think the council and the other members of the pack are hoping that we can unite us all again. They also hope that if we are regaining mates then the others will too. That was the cause of a lot of the strife. But even once the idea of mates became nothing more than a legend it didn"t change things."