Taken, Lane L.V. [free novels to read .TXT] 📗

and the girl pups shrink back only to surge forward again with renewed enthusiasm. More cute growling ensues as they chew on his feet. When he lays down obligingly, they launch themselves at him, making good use of their new climbing frame.

I laugh, utterly beguiled. “I’ve never seen a shifter baby before,” I say. “Do they stay like that all the time?”

“No, they change right back when they are hungry or tired,” Belle says. “I have to keep a close watch, for they can do it anywhere. A human baby is not as resilient as a pup. My poor, brave Shep has been tormented no end.” She smiles at her babies, who have made a new friend in Raglan.

My mother’s eyes suddenly narrow on my waist. “I must ask Vivian to adjust some of your dresses before you return to Hawthorn’s estate.”

“Not Vivian,” I hiss before I can caution myself, and just as Hawthorn, Bram, Silas, and Dax enter the room.

Brook chuckles. “I’m comforted that some things about the lass will never change.”

There is humor crinkling the corners of Hawthorn’s eyes as he slips an arm around my waist. He presses a kiss to the top of my head. “Not Vivian,” he agrees.

Tea arrives, and soon, the little pups grow tired, and I get the first of many baby cuddles. But all too soon, the day is over, and then, the week, and it’s time for us to return to Hawthorn’s estate.

As we ride out together, I feel like my heart has been topped up with love from my family.

One adventure is over, but a new, much more exciting adventure is about to begin.

Charmed from my first glimpse of the sprawling ivy-covered manor, I know I will love my new home. Crescent has already settled and has been introduced to a couple of the horses. Hawthorn’s parents and sisters are lovely, and make me feel very welcome.

Caden and Brook fit in seamlessly, for their mother lives in one of the three villages within the estate’s bounds. I’m curious and oddly nervous about meeting their mother for the first time. I cannot help but reflect that I did not treat the lads well in my younger years, and worry that her head might be filled with such tales.

“You don’t want to visit a pig farm,” Caden says with a wink when I ask when we will visit. “It is no place for haughty brats who cause no end of mischief.”

Of course, I insist we go and visit the very next morning.

As soon as I meet their mother, Audrey, I see my mate’s hazel eyes. In her later years, she is still a striking woman with a good-humored nature that she has passed on to her sons. She feeds me fresh scones with cream and jam, and I swear I’ve died and gone to heaven. They have two sisters. The older one has married and lives with her husband in the neighboring village, but the younger one, Daisy, is eight, with riotous blonde curls and a face full of freckles. Daisy is shy for all of a moment before she is sitting next to me, tucking into a scone and chattering away. As sweet as she is curious, Daisy wants to know all about the baby I carry, and about my new nieces who are shifter pups. When she has done with her questions, she regales me with tales of Caden and Brook’s mischief.

I don’t want the morning to end, but like all things, it must. Only I am a lady of a house now, and as is my prerogative, I invite Audrey and Daisy to join us at the manor for afternoon tea.

At first Audrey tries to refuse, but I’m insistent. She is like a second mother to me now through my bonding with her sons, and I want her to be an integral part of our future.

So they join me in the carriage, much to Daisy’s delight, and we travel back to the manor together.

Hawthorn

It has been a good number of years since I visited my family estate. Now, it will be my home. The modest manor home with rolling farmlands is supported by three small villages. The Tyne River, which is narrow enough to be crossed easily by many stone bridges this far from the sea, cuts the estate in half.

We have just been accompanied by Caden and Brook’s mother and younger sister for afternoon tea. What a strange, civilized turn of events. While my father is still the lord here, he is already talking of handing duties over to me. My parents are thrilled at the prospect of a new grandchild and want to take a more laid-back approach to life.

There is still the Blighten to contend with. Raglan, Caden, and Brook will be kept busy supporting the Wittner estate and protecting the collective territory.

But that is a worry for tomorrow. For today, I’m happy to savor where we are. The tea is over, and the ladies are taking a walk of the walled herb garden. Audrey has a keen interest in medicinal herbs, and chats to my mother about the various plants cultivated here. Audrey has been given a basket, at my mother’s insistence, and they are filling it with plants for Audrey to take back to her home. I can see the two future grandmothers are on their way to becoming friends.

The courtyard where I stand is shadowed by a row of trees. From here, I can see Priya chatting happily to my sisters, Sasha and Dawn, and little Daisy.

Dawn, the older of the two, bonded to three mates last year. My little nephew, Eric, is sleeping over her shoulder after being the center of attention. Sasha, only seventeen, will soon come of age and is blooming into a beauty.

“Priya has grown up,” Caden says.

“She has been grown up for a while,” I say, my eyes roaming over her plump tits and ass that I cannot keep my hands off.

“In ways other than age,”