“We are all shifters. Not all wolves, not all bears, but shifters just the same. Different animals, same biological urges, for the most part.” She winked. “Unless you are a Lord mated to a fae queen.”
I blushed.
“But you, Evie, are different from everyone. You are not a shifter by definition of the word, nor are you a true fae as we know them to be. Your power is unknown, stranger than anything we’d ever seen before. Some of us will be fearful.” She cupped my chin. “But that is why you have to show them your heart. Show us who you are. Shifters have too much love not to want to share it. We already love you because we love Rowan. We love you because you have given us the gift of children. Butwe want to love you because we know your heart. Show it to us, Evie, and your life will never be the same.”
My lower lip trembled. “Rowan is my heart.”
A soft smile but Hope shook her head. “No. Rowan is in your heart. Show us what your heart is made of.” She pressed a kiss to my cheek and clinked our glasses together. “Also, we love your mother. We would like her to move into the Keep. Tell her we will build her a brewery to rival the gods as long as she keeps producing whatever this deliciousness is.” She raised her glass. “To Cliona!”
The shifters around the table roared. “TO CLIONA!”
I lifted my glass and cheered with them.
Chapter
Twenty-Six
ROWAN
Ethan standing on Keep grounds bitching about my mate’s best friend was not on this year’s bingo card. His rant was very un-Ethan-like, and I struggled not to laugh.
So far, he had yet to point out anything Moira had done that might have made him this annoyed, other than her presence on Thorvin’s property without permission. Thorvin hadn’t said a word about it, and if he didn’t make a claim, the point, as far as I was concerned, was moot.
Ethan sounded a lot like…
I went still.
Ethan sounded like Caelan when he first met Evie.
I had to remember Ethan was not Caelan, not even close. The Lord standing next to me had always been difficult to get to know, which was why I found it so surprising he asked for permission to come into my territory. We weren’t friends and never had been.
I wasn’t sure Ethan had friends, to be frank. After everything with Evie, I wasn’t his biggest fan, but he had pulled back on his vitriol the last few months. Whether he realized Evie wasn’t the one in the wrong or had gotten a deeper look at Caelan’sbehavior, Ethan had toned himself down and pulled back on his demands concerning my Floromancer.
He’d been downright decent lately, something I was nervous about.
But listening to him bitch about Moira lent me more of an insight into his personality.
Ethan, the usually unflappable Lord, was completely bothered by Moira’s complete disregard for authority or rules or pretty much anything. But he wasn’t bothered by her in the same way he was bothered by Evie.
This was different.
Andveryinteresting.
Ethan had always been smart, and I could tell the moment he realized he’d said too much. He cleared his throat and stopped talking.
“Well, fuck,” he muttered, surprising me into a laugh. He sat on the edge of the porch, long legs dangling over the edge. “This is the first time I’ve had any dealings with Moira. Is she always like this?”
I chuckled. “No.”
When he nodded and let out a sigh of relief, I added the rest.
“Usually, she’s worse.”
Ethan snapped his attention to me. “Worse?”
“Yup.” I didn’t plan to tell him who’d fucked up Thorvin’s pipes or any of the other mischief she’d gotten into because it could get her and Evie into trouble, but I felt bad for the bastard and had to give him something. “She and Evie are thick as thieves, and Moira is loyal to the point of her own detriment. If you do something to someone she loves, she will retaliate swiftly and viciously. Moira has her own sense of justice, and it might not agree with the mainstream. She’s difficult to read and unpredictable.”
Ethan slowly nodded. “Do you like her?”
