Forever Our Ever (11 page)

She closed her eyes, trying to envision them, and then heard a baby’s cry. Ever snapped her lids open, looking around in desperation. She was in a house that she didn’t recognize. A woman held two infants to her breasts and Liam sat beside her, stroking one of the child’s backs. Why was Liam with another woman?

Snow walked in and smiled at them. “I see she is doing well. Liam, your brother just called.”

“Really, what’s up?” he sounded so nonchalant with his simple question. The baby beside him was changing, growing fur, become a were—no, becoming a wolf, the tiny body altering as the hands and feet became struggling paws. It pushed against the woman’s chest, flipping backward in the air. The child was falling toward the wooden floor and for a second Ever was mortified. Deftly, Liam scooped her out of midair and set her on his lap. “What are you doing, Avia? That’s a good way to hurt yourself.”

Avia. It was a girl. Liam said he would name his daughter Avia and his son Meta. She had really hated the name Meta. Avia was struggling in his arms, a tiny pup thrashing to change her position against her powerful father’s handhold. She turned her head, staring directly at Ever with the most beautiful light-blue eyes. They were eyes filled with knowledge and recognition. Avia lifted her snout into the air and released a howl so loud and mournful that tears instantly began to leak down Ever’s cheeks.

The child could see her, she was sure of it. Ever suddenly understood that she was a ghost and in rejecting Carmen’s offer, she had doomed herself to walk the earth, caught between life and what lies after it.

Her tears blurred the world and it faded out around her, becoming a cold, dark place where there was nothing but the feel of her sorrow.

* * * *

Liam frowned as he stroked Avia’s head. “What the hell was that about?”

Avia slowly morphed back into a human baby, but when he went to hand her back to be nursed, she began to scream. There was no soothing the child and she refused to latch back onto the nipple. Avia was completely uninterested in feeding as she struggled and began to shift again, snapping her teeth in fury. Liam grabbed her and she bit into his hand.

“Damn!” he exclaimed as he held the child into eyes’ view. “Now listen to me, little one. It is wrong to bite Daddy, or anyone else for that matter.”

Avia seemed to calm and he set her back into his lap, looking up at Snow. “Any clue what that was about?”

“None. I have never seen a five-day-old child do that before. Her howl was positively eerie.”

“Yeah, no shit. What did my brother say?”

“He wants you to bring the babies home. He says that Ever has milk.”

Liam didn’t know whether to laugh or get up and do a dance. “She’s okay? She woke up?”

“I don’t think so. He was kind of vague.” Liam’s heart immediately sank. “I guess it’s good that she has milk and can feed them now. Can you help me pack up our things?”

“Yes. Daisy is taking care of the boys and will be meeting us at the truck.”

“Great.” He turned to Marian. “I don’t know how to thank you for this. As soon as things settle down, we will be sending a crew to fix your roof.”

“You don’t have to do that. It was an honor to help the alpha and his mate. I’m just sorry to see Avia go. She is such a sweet little one. Will you bring her back to see me?”

“Of course. Once she gets a bit older. Thank you so much.” Liam went to pack up his things as Snow took care of Avia’s. His daughter had accumulated a sizable wardrobe via well-wishers bearing gifts.

Liam really wanted to know what had caused her little outburst, but until the child could learn to talk, he might never know.

* * * *

Liam walked into the house with Snow and Daisy. The house was empty, not a noise or even a sense to indicate that anyone was there. He turned to Snow. “Any idea where they are?”

She grimaced, her face contorting as she was thinking. “I think Mick said something about the gathering field. Maybe they are there?”

“Why would they be there?”

“I don’t know.”

He nodded, knowing that she didn’t know much of anything. Snow had told him that Mick’s conversation was short and to the point. Of course, she had forgotten to mention the field, so there might be something else. “Can you get the babies settled? I will go see if they are there and find out what the hell is going on.”

He leaned and kissed each child on the head, then raced out the door. Liam wanted to know what was happening. Was Ever okay? Had she woken up? He certainly hoped so. He was miserable without her. He wanted to be living in the home that he helped build. He longed to be back with Ever, holding her in his arms, watching her shows with her. It seemed like forever since they had talked or kissed. It was forever since he had the pleasure of her soft body.

Liam slowed, releasing a soft breath. He really needed to get himself together to handle whatever was ahead. Taking a minute to compose himself, he walked into the field. Kris and Mick were sitting at the podium and it looked as if Ever was lying between them. She had a quilt thrown over her body, but she didn’t appear to be moving. Liam approached cautiously.

Mick looked up at him and smiled. “Hey, welcome back.”

“Yeah. How’s Ever?”

“Alive. More alive than she was earlier. Kris gave her his saliva and it seems to have helped physically. Her incision has healed, as well as the bite on her throat from Kris. Her skin is gaining noticeable coloration.”

He walked closer, sitting down at her feet. Liam pulled up the blanket and frowned. “Why is she shackled?”

“We don’t know what her mentality is going to be like when she wakes up. We figured it was safer if she was chained. We are going to leave her this way until morning.”

“Our children need to be fed. Avia had a meltdown earlier and now she is really hungry.”

“What do you mean
a meltdown
?” asked Kris.

“I’m not really sure. She was feeding and then she shifted into a wolf pup, flinging herself into the air. I caught her and then she latched her eyes on something, lifted her head and released the saddest howl I have ever heard. It was really strange. Then when we tried to get her back to nursing, she shifted back into a wolf and bit me.”

“She bit you? Holy shit. Something really upset her. I guess we could bring the babies here or bring Ever back to the house. Do we have anything there to shackle her with? I honestly don’t think the bed will hold her if she isn’t right in the head.”

Liam considered the assortment of building supplies that were in the shed. “I’m sure we can figure out something. I think it would be better to bring her home. Are you sure that she has milk?”

“Yup, and last time I checked, it was oozing from her nipples as if she had heard her child crying,” replied Kris.

“Really? That’s interesting.” Could there be some connection between what happened with Avia and Ever’s body? He couldn’t quite figure out exactly what the connection was, but…“We need to get her home.”

Ever was so lonely. She pushed herself to her feet, wondering how long she had been crying, and how long she had been dead. The babies were old enough to lift their heads on their own and to shift into wolves. Exactly how old that was, she didn’t know. If she was figuring correctly from what she read, it took about a month, if not two, for a baby to gain some head control. Was it possible that they were already two months old? Had she been dreaming about Carmen for so long that she lost total cognizance of time? She needed to see the children again and try to get a better idea of how old they were.

What about the others? Were the other three babies that Kris insisted were boys alive and doing well? What about Kris and Mick, for that matter? Had Liam replaced her with the woman that had been feeding her daughter? Had Kris and Mick found other mates in her absence? With each consecutive thought, Ever became more depressed. It had taken her forever to calm the thoughts in her mind to stop the initial bout of crying, and she was quickly returning to that state.

No! She would not let it happen again. She needed to find her children and see them. She needed to hang back and analyze their movement and behaviors. Maybe in that way, she could figure out how old they were. Ever closed her eyes and focused her mind. She wanted to be with her children and she kept her thoughts on that singular subject.

She heard a sound, soft and almost imperceptible, but enough to get her attention. The sight before her brought tears of happiness to her already-burning eyes. Kris lay to the right of her body and Mick on her left. Her body lay between them, naked from her rib cage up. Two small infants were feeding from her nipples, suckling and making loud smacking sounds with their lips. It was a sight to behold, the love in the air tangible.

Liam walked in holding Avia in his arms. She was laughing, her face bubbled up and red with the emotion. Liam made another funny sound and then lifted her up, blowing a raspberry on her tummy. Avia giggled for a moment and then stopped, turning her head and gazing around the room. Her eyes locked with Ever’s and she began to turn. Her small body shifted and morphed just as it had before. Fur sprouted from beneath her clothing and then her flesh twisted and elongated, the cotton sleeper offering little resistance, as she became a wolf pup again.

Avia lifted her head in Ever’s direction and released a long and mournful howl. Liam and Mick both sat upright on the bed, staring at her. The two children who were taking her milk stopped, following their sister’s lead as they turned. They both wiggled around on her chest and looked directly at her. They then joined their sister in the sorrowful song.

Ever wanted to stop them, make them understand that she was not dead. She was a ghost, but not a ghost, because her body was still living. Somehow, her spirit had just become disconnected from her flesh. She moved toward Avia, putting her hand to the child’s furry cheek. Avia instantly quieted and purred for a moment before closing her eyes and going limp in Liam’s hands.

Had she hurt her somehow? Ever backed up in horror, slamming into the wall of the house and passing through it. The world around her was going gray again and she needed to stop it. She wanted to stay with the living, with her men, with her children. She walked back through the bedroom wall and into the house, thankful that she had gotten into the room before she was drawn back into the abyss. It was a cold, lonely place and it was so much nicer to be with the people that she loved.

Liam laid Avia in her cradle and then lifted another child. She had to assume that her daughter was fine. The touch had simply soothed her into sleep. She moved closer to the bed, staring at the two small pups who were sitting on her ribs. They were watching her, their heads tilting to one side and then the other.

“What are you two looking at?” asked Kris. He followed their line of vision, but looked through her. Kris couldn’t see her as the babies did.

I need to ask them if they have any idea of how to get back into my own body. How the hell am I going to do that if they can’t see me?

Ever glided back across the room and sank into a chair. The two on the bed continued to watch her and then she noticed that the fourth child who was in Liam’s arms had also turned and was staring intently at her. “You guys can see me, huh? Too bad you can’t talk. I wonder what they named you?”

“I have no idea what they are looking at,” said Kris, as a deep frown creased his face. Ever thought that he looked haggard, as if he hadn’t been sleeping well.

Liam sat down on the bed, putting the pup next to the others. She examined them and realized that all three of them were boys. Kris had been right. One of them had black, brown, and silver fur like his father. He was the alpha child. To her, it didn’t matter which was alpha. They were adorable, her little men and her beautiful little girl. Just like their fathers, they had stunning blue eyes and handsome faces. How could a baby be handsome? They were supposed to be cute, but nothing more.

Liam stared straight through her and then looked down at the babies. “Is Mommy here? Seren, if she is here, make noise.”

Seren yipped briefly. “Holy shit. Errant, do what you brother just did if you see Mommy.”

Errant made the same sound and then so did the third pup.

“You see her, too, don’t you, Lash?”

Mick rolled his eyes. “Really, Liam? They aren’t old enough to understand what you are saying. They are simply making wolf sounds in response to your voice.”

“I don’t think,” replied Kris. “I have never heard of an infant were turning into a pup and howling like that before. Something disturbed them and caused them to change. They are seeing something on the other side of the room that we can’t see. What if it is Ever?”

“Ever is lying on the bed in a state of unconsciousness. How could it be Ever?”

Kris looked truly perturbed by the comment. “Thank you, Mick. I am well aware of where her body is. I’m not talking about her body. I’m talking about her spirit. What if the violence of the war between my genes and Carmen’s drove it from her flesh? What if she found her way back here, but can’t figure out how to take her body back?”

“You need to get some sleep, Kris. You are losing your mind.”

Ever walked over to Kris and knelt before him. “You are not losing your mind. I’m here. How do I make you hear me? Don’t let Mick talk you out of this. There has to be someone here who can help. Please find that person.”