Page 3

“Leo!” Bobby growled.

“Gentlemen! Are you adults or pups that I need to cuff around the ears! Liam, Bobby, maybe you should go for a walk or something. Don’t look at me like that, Robert Hemlock-Heart! I can’t kick Leo out of his son’s house. Now, be an adult and take your mate for a walk and if anyone thinks they’re pregnant they better pee on the damn stick today. That’s all I have to say about that!” Philip said as Ox handed him off a slice of the Yule Log. “I didn’t leave my mates and kids this close to Yule to play referee to two grown shifters. You all ought to be ashamed about that. None of you boys were raised to fight like this when something went wrong. You pull together and you better start doing it or the next time I’m letting the zombies eat your ass!”

“How can you talk about zombies so casually?” Liam asked, but Bobby wrapped an arm around his shoulders and led him out.

“Because they’re double dead now,” Philip shrugged and took a bite of the Yule Log. He nodded appreciatively and closed his eyes for a second like the chocolate hit his soul in the perfect spot. “Now,” he said when he opened his eyes. “You do need to explain what happened, Pollie, in a way, as much as ya can, that Liam can understand what happened with the spirit board and the door.”

“I’ve been trying,” I sighed.

“I know. He’s mad because you didn’t call him or any of them.”

“Er… You, Canton, and Isaiah have guns,” I said. “It made sense to call you when…”

“And Philip and Canton saved the Wildlands,” my fox chimed into my thoughts. “We were told over and over growing up in every history class. It was all they talked about some semesters.”

Arken patted my shoulder and I looked up into his big brown eyes. He leaned down and kissed my forehead. His lips against my flesh soothed something deep inside me. I almost leaned up to kiss him on the mouth, but my sire was sitting right next to me. My pregnant belly ensured everyone knew that Arken and I had exchanged our claiming vows and that was one thing, but it was hard to kiss my alpha without slipping him the tongue. And that wasn’t happening in front of my sire. Thankfully, my sire was too busy eating to shoot Arken another dirty look right then and there.

“I’m not saying it didn’t make sense. Dragons would’ve burnt down the whole damn place,” Philip nodded. “I’m just saying his feelings are hurt. He’ll get over it. Your Dad will too. Plus, Liam is upset that he didn’t see the zombies when he had his vision all those years ago. So, will you try one more time before those babies come for me?”

“Yes, but only because I don’t know that many shifters who would have shown up guns blazing without questions when I said we were surrounded by zombies,” I sighed.

“And live to tell the tale,” Philip nodded and took another bite of the Yule Log. His eyes drifted shut again like it was the best thing he ever tasted.

“Two full moons have passed now,” Arken whispered over our mating link. “Last night was the second one. We can tell them the full story now.”

Chapter 2

Leopold

The Hidden Fox Village

Two Months Ago

Over the years, I’d lost count of how many Halloweens that Pox and I had made the trip to the village of my ancestors. We’d missed a few here and there because things came up, but I did my best not to miss it if it could be helped. Even now as the countryside rolled by outside of the train, I wondered if one of those missed Halloweens would’ve been THE Halloween I was waiting for. Had my alpha come and gone while the world and life kept me away?

“I don’t think so,” Pox said over our witch and familiar link. He was leaning up against the window on his little paws, watching the world go by. “Liam saw you meet him. That means it’ll happen. I don’t think you can mess up a vision like that.”

“I’m starting to wonder if it was a trick Dad and Liam played on me,” I sighed. “Maybe they knew I was eavesdropping or they saw you or something. So, they switched the subject to a lie. They know how sneaky you are.”

“Your dad would never joke like that! He’s not mean! That would be cruel! I don’t even think the ornery dragon would joke like that.”

“I know,” I sighed. “I’m just starting to feel defeated.”

“I know. That’s why we brought Liam’s spirit board with us.”

He was right. I couldn’t ask Liam about his vision without admitting to the fact Pox and I eavesdropped on him and Dad all those years ago, but I could ask my ancestors. Last year, I tried to do a summoning ritual for them that I found online. If they showed up I couldn’t see or hear them. I didn’t even feel any change in the village’s energy. This year I wasn’t taking any chances. So, while everyone was at a feast yesterday, I snagged Liam’s spirit board. It wasn’t meant to be used solo, but I wasn’t solo. Pox would be with me and that would have to be enough. He could put his little paws on the planchette and help me figure out which Halloween I needed to be there to meet my alpha before I was burnt out on this whole ordeal.

“Maybe this is why Liam and the other seers say not to chase visions,” Pox observed.

He was right. Of course, he was right, but I couldn’t stop myself. It had become a compulsion. Every Halloween I came and stayed for the day and the night. Then I went home feeling defeated. Then by Yule I was okay again and able to enjoy the festivities with my family. By May, I was already planning again. How could I do things differently? By September, I was almost brave enough to admit to the eavesdropping and ask Liam more about his vision. I never did, though. Magical eavesdropping in a public place wasn’t illegal, but it was a breach of privacy. I wouldn’t have done it at all if they hadn’t looked so damn serious when they walked into Bad Wolf Cakes 2.0.

“Don’t worry about that. The air is different this time,” Pox observed.

My familiar was right. The air was different this time. The energy of the season buzzed over my skin and bounced around my head. The world passed by in a blur of reds, yellows, and oranges. It was the best time of the year and I wasn’t just saying that because I was fated to meet my alpha on Halloween. Fall had always been my season. The world was crunchy and colorful and you could wear your summer and winter clothes in different combos depending on the day. The heat of summer gave way to the cooler warmth of autumn and I loved the chilly nights and mornings.

I allowed myself to daydream about meeting my alpha. He’d be there this time. Just waiting on me. How did he know? Maybe there was a seer in his family too. Maybe he just had a feeling. Maybe he was hurt and stumbled into the village and needed me to tend to him and save him. Maybe it didn’t matter to me as long as he was there this time. I dozed off imagining what he might say to me. How he might touch me. What our lives might look like when I brought him home to Heartville with me.

Chapter 3