Forever Our Ever (25 page)

“Fuck,” he growled. “You feel amazing.”

So did he. Her shoulders rolled backward into his chest and with a dramatic shift of his body, he filled her aching cunt, making it grab and pulse around him. Kris bared his teeth, a long, deep growl escaping his throat as Ever cried out in pleasure. She was wracked with shivers, panting, unable to breathe as her entire body tightened and released. It was incredible, breathtaking in the true sense of the word. Her head lolled back onto his shoulder and he turned it with his chin, kissing her in loving aftermath. Ever had missed this so much.

The reservoir was before them, the sun shimmering like earthbound stars upon the water in the distance. They had been running, and walking, tormenting Ever with nips and licks to her ears and body. Kris had completely lost track of time, considering how far they had traveled. It didn’t really matter. They had the day to themselves and the goal had been to enjoy it. If anything happened, he had his cell phone strapped into the packs at his sides. His only problem was that he needed to change back into a man to check his phone, but he had to remove the pack first or snap the straps when he turned back.

He looked at Liam and then turned his head, gesturing to his back with his nose. Liam nodded and swiftly turned back into a man. As he was unclipping the buckle, Ever sat back on her haunches and turned. Demetri followed her lead. He hadn’t really intended all of them to shift into human form, but they had. Kris shrugged the pack off and turned himself.

He picked up the two-sided pack that was meant for a dog to carry and took out the two bottles of water. He handed one to Liam and the other to Ever. She drank half and handed the rest to Demetri as he hit the button to wake up his phone. Nothing happened. “Shit!” Kris held the button in, but it remained black. He hadn’t plugged his phone in the night before and it must be dead. Looking up, he assessed the position of the sun. If he figured correctly, it was somewhere around three. They had been gone since eleven and still had a long hike to get back home. He couldn’t even call anyone for a ride because he had no phone to call with.

His biggest worry was that Ever would panic when she found out. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

“I had my phone shut off. No biggie. No texts. It is, however, getting late and I think that we should head home.” Kris was sure that everything was fine. The house was well guarded and Snow and Daisy were also skilled fighters if it came down to it. They would defend the children with their lives.

“I want to try something first,” said Ever. “Can two of you lift me into a standing position?”

Liam and Demetri immediately lifted her up, holding her tightly as they lowered her feet to the ground. Kris was impatient to leave, but he smiled, despite his growing anxiety. Ever giggled. “Look, I can wiggle my toes.” Her toes moved and she was grinning from ear to ear. “I need a bit more pressure to see if I can stand.”

Both men took a slight bit of pressure off her arms and Ever remained standing. She took a wobbly step forward and shouted with glee. Obviously, the long run had prompted her legs back into action. It was a wonderful turn of events, but he was fighting an urge to tell her to change back so they could leave. Ever took a few more steps, Liam and Demetri not releasing her, but simply moving at her sides. “I can walk again. My legs feel a bit stressed, but I can move them. This is amazing.”

Her stomach growled loudly. “I guess I’m also starving. Let’s go home. I want to walk and play with the babies and fuck with renewed vigor. All things I need my legs to do.” Without waiting for a reply, she dropped and shifted back into a wolf. Liam handed Kris the half-empty bottle and he drank it before stuffing the empty ones back into the pack. He put his phone back, taking note that Demetri had turned and was walking slightly ahead with Ever. He leaned toward Liam, whispering directly into his ear. “Try to keep them at a good pace. My phone is dead, so if something happened at home, they had no way to contact me. I’m not sure why, but I’m really worried.”

Liam stared at him with terror flashing in his eyes. His brother felt it, too. That internal sense that something was wrong. “We need to get home.”

“Yeah, no shit.” Kris turned back into a wolf.

* * * *

Ever was getting really tired. Kris and Liam had been pushing them all the way back and she had to wonder what was going on. They had been running almost constantly, an action that she normally enjoyed, but it was getting overwhelming. She slowed to a jog, her muscles tingling heatedly as she watched the others run past her.

Liam turned and growled at her. She needed to rest and she snarled back at him, keeping her pace the same. Kris trotted back to her, glaring into her eyes. Ever shook her head, refusing to run again. Kris gave her a snort and turned to walk beside her. The forest was starting to dim, night settling around them as the light faded behind the trees. They had to be close to home and her stomach was rumbling with hunger.

She tried to keep her mind on the experience, the leaves crackling beneath her paws. The night was warm, but not overly humid, and there was a cool breeze that was ruffling her fur. The forest was magnificent, tall trees engulfing them with brown bark and a cascade of overhead green. Smaller plants grew around their paws, some sprinkled with tiny, light-blue flowers. The flowers had a very mild scent, unlike the musky scent of the soil. It was the smell of decay and the mushrooms that sprouted here and there at the base of fallen branches.

Ever loved the forest and the feel of being a wolf. Her feet padded gently on the soil, the muscular feel of her legs far more evident than when she was a human. Her body worked in sync, her chest heaving with each breath she took. Kris walked at her right, his usual position, and Liam at her left. He occasionally sidestepped to bump her with his body and she turned to glare at him. Demetri walked by himself, a single wolf, not excluded by the pack, but having done so to himself. She turned and licked Kris’s muzzle and then caught up to Demetri. He gave her a toothy smile and moved closer to her, walking with his body flexing against her side.

She glanced up as the trees parted around them and saw, to her relief, that they were home. Turning toward the house, she broke into a run. She had no intention of shifting back with the forest full of watchers, but she really wanted to try walking as a human again. As she raced up onto the porch, Ever slowed. The front door stood open and the scent in the air was treacherous.

Kris ran past her, his body changing in midstride until he lurched through the doorway and then stopped in the alcove, a man, staring into the kitchen. Ever ran past him, acknowledging only briefly that there was blood on the kitchen floor. She raced into the bedroom, her heart stopping for a second before she heard the whimpers of the babies. Laughing in relief at the sound of their babyish noises, she walked to the crib. Ever tugged back the tiny blanket with her teeth and stared in disbelief. Seren and Lash were missing.

Ever stared into the babies’ empty bed. Demetri had taken Errant and Avia into the other room to get them away from the radiating sadness that was flowing from her. She couldn’t stop shaking, her body and mind on the verge of hysteria as she gently touched the now-vacant sheet.

Kris turned her body, wrapping her into his arms like a cocoon of calming flesh. “We will find them.”

“How?” she asked in a desperate voice. “She has been planning this all along. Tella was prepared and I’m sure that finding her was not part of her plan.”

“I don’t know. We will find them, though. We have to find them.”

Liam was a silent presence as he sat, broken with emotion, on the bed. Kris led her across the room, away from the last place her babies had been seen. From what little Daisy had been able to say, they had just been put down for their nap when the front door had crashed open.

Ever reluctantly sat down. She didn’t want to sit. She wanted to move and hunt and track her babies. Julius was handling that. He had sent out hunting parties, both on the property and off. Julius had left them with Avia and Errant to keep safe as the others in the clan had joined together to help them try to find Seren and Lash.

She now understood how the people felt in the true-life documentaries as they waited for the police to find something, anything that would give them a clue to work with. Her babies were gone and Ever felt as if a piece of her was now missing.

How was life so cruel that it would give her back her ability to walk and then steal her joy so quickly? She could finally do everything on her own, her physical body healed, but now her heart was frozen with pain. It was an agony worse than anything she had yet experienced.

She turned to Kris, leaning into his body as she began to sob against his chest. He put his arms around her, but the sensation of touch was filled with weariness. These were his children, too, and Liam’s children. Ever reached back, grasping Liam’s hand and holding it tightly. She wasn’t sure if she was looking for support or trying to give it, but the gesture was the same either way.

Liam sighed. “It is so hard to just sit here and wait. I know that there is little point in trying to join the search. Our minds are clouded with grief, and it is better to leave things to those with a clear head. I keep telling myself that the doorbell will ring, but it doesn’t. What are we going to do if they can’t be found?”

“They
will
be found,” repeated Kris. Ever heard the shift in his voice. The words were said with far less vehemence as he came to terms with the fact that they might not be found. With every moment that passed, Tella and whoever was helping her were farther away. They had already been given a wide head start.

Why had they gone out running and left the children alone? They knew that Tella might be after the babies. They had been lulled into a false sense of security, knowing that the house was guarded. Three of those guards now lingered on the verge of death and the other two were missing. Snow was dead and her family would have to be informed. What a tragic loss it was. Snow had proven herself to be a wonderful nanny and now she was gone.

Daisy had been badly injured, and had been barely alive when they arrived back at the house. She had been able to give them some information, but not much. She said that she had been attacked by a black, faceless mass of teeth and claws. It was definitely the work of a witch with the devil on her side.

Ever wanted Tella dead, but that wouldn’t happen if they couldn’t find her. She pulled herself back together, sighing because she was too sad to simply take a breath. They needed to go out and see how Demetri was making out with Avia and Errant. At least the two remaining babies hadn’t been harmed. That was one tiny blessing in this cloud of blackness.

“I’m going to smother Avia and Errant with hugs and kisses. Do either of you care to join me?”

Kris and then Liam pushed themselves wearily to their feet. “I suppose it is better than sitting here worrying,” said Kris. “How long have we been home?”

“I would say about two hours,” replied Ever. “Why?”

Kris snatched his phone off the charger and slid it open. He pushed a button and put it to his ear. “Have you found anything?”

He listened for a short while and then nodded. “Okay. Thanks.” Kris put the phone back down. “Nothing. He is going to call if they find anything.”

She already knew that, but somehow, hearing Kris put it to words made it worse. Despite her desire to remain calm and go care for the other babies, she sank to her knees and began to sob hysterically. Kris and Liam joined her, their bodies intertwining as they mourned their children together.

They would not be found, not today or in the near future. Tella would have to make a mistake, and Ever feared that it was not going to happen.

* * * *

This day was progressing like the last six and she had reached the end of her ability to keep herself together. She sat on the bed, tears flowing down her cheeks that she no longer had the ability to stop once they started.

The hunting parties had slowly given up over the first few days. There was no trace of Tella, and even a search of her house had come up empty. The furniture had been removed and there was a “for sale” sign on the front lawn. The woman had given up everything and had taken their children with her when she moved. They had gone as far as contacting the realtor in a hope of finding a forwarding address. As they feared, there was none.

A friend of the clan who worked for the post office had risked his job to check for a change of address, but there was none on file. For all intents and purposes, Tella and Silva had disappeared into the twilight.

Ever wondered if the feeling of overwhelming grief would ever start to fade. It threatened to consume her with each waking minute, and it had become a task just to drag herself from the bed occasionally. The men seemed to be doing better than her. They were at least dealing with life outside the loss. Kris walked into the room and sat beside her. He stroked her cheek, trying to draw her from the darkness that had settled over her mind. “Avia and Errant still need you.”

“I know,” she replied with a sigh. “I keep thinking that I regained the use of my legs, only to lose the desire to walk. I wanted so badly to lift them in my arms and take them outside into the sun.”

“You can still do that with Errant and Avia. They need you. We need you.”

“I know.”

“Ever, this was in no way your fault. It was my idea to go out running. I was stupid and thought that the children were protected. How the hell was I supposed to know that Tella would show up in a delivery truck and take the children out in a cardboard box?”

“You weren’t.”

Demetri walked around the bed, scooping her upward into his arms. He walked outside with her, ignoring the evil looks that were striking his back as Kris walked after him. Demetri strode through the forest and sat her down on the podium in the gathering grounds. “This is your place, Ever. We know that you love the children. News flash, we all love them just as much as you do, and that includes me. You aren’t doing anyone any good by lying in bed crying. You aren’t helping Seren or Lash. You certainly aren’t helping Avia and Errant, who need their mother to love them. Don’t you think they are feeling the loss of their brothers? Stop mourning as if they are dead. They are not dead. They are alive and we all want them back. Maybe if you get your mind out of the blackness and let me teach you, with our joined magic we can find them. I can’t promise it, but it will never happen if it hurts me to touch you. Snap out of it, Ever!”