The Baby Shift- Maryland Read online

  The Baby Shift: Maryland

  Shifter Babies Of America 35

  Becca Fanning

  Copyright © 2019 by Becca Fanning

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  1. Lisa

  2. Lucas

  3. Lisa

  4. Lucas

  5. Lisa

  6. Lucas

  7. Lisa

  8. Lucas

  9. Lisa

  10. Lucas

  Also by Becca Fanning

  Lisa

  Lisa knew that raspberry jelly was a silly thing to cry over, but she was still crying all the same.

  At the dusty old table in her parents’ summer home (legally, now, her own home), she cried softly as she spread her mother’s signature raspberry jelly over a slice of toast. Nearly two years since the car accident, Lisa remembered vividly helping her mother jar this jelly while visiting the summer house. She used to love getting away from the city to visit her parents here.

  The city and her parents were fading memories in the back of her mind. Still, she cried. She cried because she could remember her mother’s sweet face. They had no idea it would be their last time together in this house. Her house. She wiped away her tears with a nearby napkin and rubbed her arms. The toast sat abandoned on her plate. She realized the coffee machine stopped dripping and went over to pour herself a cup. From her vantage point, she could see outside the gorgeous bay windows. The early morning light struck the water of Deep Creek Lake, a glorious glimmering thing.

  How her parents used to tease her. You’re always looking dreamily out a window. Is that what writers do? When Lisa’s first book came out, her parents were ecstatic. They bought three copies each and passed them out to friends. That was seven years ago. Lisa’s cheeks burned, and she let out a happy laugh, returning to her breakfast.

  “Hey!” a voice shouted in the distance. No doubt a hiker. They often were shouting for their friends that they lost through the woods.

  She’d come back to the lake house for the quiet. Her latest novel was taking a real toll on her creative energy. She bit into her toast. The sweet taste of jelly filled her mouth. Outside, birds chirped as she munched on breakfast. She leaned back into her chair and took a deep breath. Breakfast and then work, she told herself.

  After toast and coffee, she cleaned up. She poured a second cup of coffee for herself before going into her office. Her office was actually her mother’s old crafting nook. Lisa had traded out the spools of thread and well-organized sewing boxes for reference books and her journals.

  As her hands hovered above her laptop, a streak of silver came to her mind. She shivered. Three days since she’d been here. On the first night, she’d seen him.

  “Hellllooooo?” The lost hiker must be getting closer to his friends. She pushed him away.

  A coat of silver fur, powerful limbs were moving through the trees. The wolf. He was beautiful. Her breath caught in her throat at the memory. There was a small rocky extension near her lake house, and beneath the light of the moon, she saw him. He posed himself, his head thrown into the air as he surveyed the area. She was inside her house with bated breath. He’d gone as soon as he’d come. She hoped that he would come again another night.

  The word document on her laptop stared at her. She was on a deadline. Her editor wanted this draft in by the end of the summer. She placed her chin in her hand, sighing. The mirror above her desk reflected a young woman with a stylishly shaggy medium haircut and dark circles under her eyes. She frowned, playing with the ends of her brown hair. How boring she felt in the lake house. In the city, it was so easy to put on makeup to go drinking with friends and vent about their lives. People thought Lisa was interesting in the city, thought that it was so cool to be a writer.

  She glared at her reflection. Who was she to complain?

  “Hey!” A heavy knock sounded at her door, and she nearly jumped out of her skin. The mysterious hiker hadn’t been looking for friends. He’d been calling her house. She ran a hand through her hair and headed towards the door, wrapping her housecoat around her like a shield.

  She could see a towering figure through the blurry glass. As she approached, an image of her wolf came into her mind. She opened the door.

  Handsome.

  Devilishly handsome.

  Her breath caught in her throat as the man’s eyes met her own. He was a gorgeous specimen of a man. His dark wavy hair brushed his broad shoulders. He was clad in a fitted heather gray V-neck shirt and wicked tapered black jeans. Tan skin. Rugged facial hair. A gorgeous man holding something to his chest.

  No, not a man.

  “Shifter,” she whispered, looking upon his eyes. They were golden, metallic, and…brimming with frustration. Not the kind of sexy frustration either.

  “The name’s Lucas,” he said. Her eyes fell. He was holding something. A bundled blanket in his arms. “And I believe you’ve lost a baby.”

  She blinked. “A baby?”

  He lifted the bundle in his arms. The baby in his arms gave a soft cry. She stared at it with an open mouth.

  “I said a baby, didn’t I?” he asked. His voice was gruff and dark, matching his handsome face. She shook her head wildly, her hair flying, her housecoat suddenly feeling woefully foolish in front of this Shifter man.

  His eyes narrowed. “What’s your name?”

  “Lisa,” she muttered. “Lisa Blackbird.”

  “Well, Lisa Blackbird,” he said and lifted the baby as if to push it towards her, “I believe you left this outside.”

  She put her hands up defensively. The baby was awake but drowsy. Her eyelids were heavy with sleep. “What are you talking about? This isn’t my baby.”

  “You’re the closet home,” he said with a scowl. “And it smells of humans.”

  “It’s not my baby,” she said firmly. What kind of trick was this Shifter trying to pull? She crossed her arms. “You need to call the police.”

  “No way,” he said crossly. The baby girl was beginning to cry.

  “You’re upsetting her,” she fired back. “You need to call the police.”

  He scowled. “I have a better idea, Blackbird.”

  Lucas

  “Brother Lucas Thunder, you bring forth a charge that a woman has left this baby in the forest?” a booming voice called out.

  Lucas stiffened as the human woman beside him, this Lisa Blackbird character, crossed her arms. “Your last name is Thunder?” Her voice was teeming with humor. He held back a tired groan. The baby was enough trouble. The human woman was an added headache, as far as he was considered.

  He ignored her. “Yes, High Chief.” He raised the baby in his hands, still bundled up in the blanket.

  * * *

  They were in the Thunder Clan’s Meeting Hall, a long wooden building filled with all the trappings of a luxurious lodge. Intricate wooden statues of wolves flanked either side of the head of the hall. The Elders sat in their wooden chairs, cloaked in their red robes, and stared down at the party from their slightly raised platform. Lucas’ own father, silver-haired and stone-faced, sat on the throne, which was the most intricate and largest of the wooden chairs. There was a glimmer of amusement in his old man’s eyes. Lucas frowned and insisted, “The child is human. Who else could have left her?”

  “Look at me,” Lisa shouted. The other elders, men and women Shifters of varying ages, raised their eyebrows as they turned their attention towards the human woman
. “Do I look like I just gave birth?” She’d taken her coat, a funny looking sort of ceremonial robe Lucas thought, and opened it to showcase a fitted t-shirt that cleared showed a relatively flat stomach. “I have no idea who this guy is—” she jerked her thumb towards him— “I have no idea who you guys even are. Is this a social club for Shifters?”

  Lucas’ father, Dante Thunder, let out a sudden chuckle that echoed throughout the hall with impressive volume. “We are not a social club. Our Shifter clan has lived many centuries, hundreds of generations near the Lake. Your parents knew of us, young woman. Your mother would bring by the jarred preserves once a year as a peace-keeping gift.

  Lucas watched Lisa’s cheeks pinken. “I didn’t know…they’ve passed on.” A sad sort of look came over his face, and he felt guilty over finding her so annoying in the moment.

  Dante gave a sad nod of mourning. “Lucas, my son, I do not believe the human woman is lying.” He was about to say something else when the doors burst open. Minerva, their shivering white-haired seer, launched herself between the two parties.

  “It is the Great Wolf’s doing!” she cried. Lucas could barely help from rolling his eyes. Lisa leaned towards him.

  “Who is this woman?”

  “Basically, our village psychic,” he replied, holding the baby into his chest. The girl had let out a cry upon Minerva’s dramatic arrival. “She’s got a few screws loose.” Minerva turned in the room, her foggy eyes homing in on him.

  “I’m not mad, Lucas,” she said with a calmer voice now. “Far from it. I have received a vision from the Great Wolf. The child is your Ascending Trial.” Several gasps went throughout the room. Lucas leaned back, stunned.

  Lisa glanced at her. “Ascending Trial?”

  “He will take my place in the Clan,” Dante said with a soft smirk. “And it appears that our Ancestors have chosen him to raise the babe.”

  “I told you it wasn’t mine,” Lisa muttered. Minerva swung her wild face towards Lisa, so quickly that the young woman let out a small cry and inched backward.

  “The Great Wolf has mentioned the human woman. The lake house. Empty, save for you. You are working on your own journey. The Great Wolf says it will grant you the muse that you seek if you assist,” Minerva said. Lisa’s jaw dropped. Lucas smirked. It was a look that he found intensely amusing on the pretty human woman.

  “The muse?” Lisa breathed.

  Minerva nodded. “You are an artist?” As soon as the seer said it, she shook her white hair wildly. “No, no, a writer. The Great Wolf has said you’re writing a great book. He will look down with many blessings for its success if you assist Lucas.”

  Lucas wanted to grab the old woman and shake her by the shoulders. “Does she have to help?”

  But, Lisa was stepping forward, a strange sparkle in her eyes. “I have extra bedrooms in the house. Plenty of room.” He scowled. He’d lost her to the bribe of the Great Wolf’s creative blessings.

  Dante clapped his hands as if the matter was settled. “Excellent. We shall have a small party bring Lucas’ things to your home.” With a wry smile towards Lucas, Dante added, “We shall know some peace around the village for once. May my Son, my only child, become calmer and wiser through his Ascension.”

  “Praise to the Great Wolf,” the Elders chanted. Lucas wanted to swear loudly, but it would be no use. Lisa looked at him with a smug expression.

  “You’ll be helpful for my book,” she said. He narrowed his eyes.

  “I didn’t mention how long the Ascending Trial was for,” he said with a haughty grin. “A full year. I hope you’re ready.”

  He delighted in seeing her expression drop, but it was too late. The Elders were rising and there was fanfare.

  “Praise to the Great Wolf!”

  Lucas said nothing, only held the baby close to his chest, hoping that he would survive this trial. Nothing was going according to plan.

  Lisa

  It would have been better if he wasn’t handsome, Lisa thought as she pulled into the grocery store. Her list for her weekly stop was much longer than usual thanks to her two new guests. The Clan had provided generous amounts of cash that she could use to contribute towards the household costs and grocery bills. She glanced at the list, shaking her head. She was going to need that money if she intended to follow Lucas’ instructions on what to buy for his diet.

  She could’ve made him come with her, but the idea of a handsome grumpy Shifter and a young baby inside a supermarket gave her a headache. She grabbed a grocery cart and made her way to do the usual rounds. The baby food she had to do extensive research on. The clan had also given her some breast milk from a new mom in their Clan, insisting that it would instill the baby with strength. Was it wise to feed a human baby Shifter milk? She frowned.

  “This isn’t even my trial,” she muttered, glaring at the selection of chocolate chip sweets in front of her. A nearby soccer mom shot her a suspicious look. Lisa blushed and threw a pack of cookies into the cart. Lucas had instructed her to obtain rice, broccoli, and plenty of meat for him. She glanced at the amounts on her list and proceeded to nearly clean out the entire beef section and all the broccoli that the store had. The rice was easier since the store offered large heaping bags of it.

  The cashier chuckled while checking her out. “Big barbecue to host?”

  “Oh, you know, something like that,” Lisa answered vaguely. The total was hundreds of dollars. She paid all in cash, only a small portion being for her own groceries.

  When she drove back to the lake house, a delicious sight caught her eye in the front yard. A shirtless Lucas wiped his brow as he squinted in the sun, watching her park the car. He had an ax in one hand and a pile of wood towering on the other side of him.

  “Winter is a long ways off,” she said. She noticed the baby, Star Jasmine as Lucas had christened her after the flowery scent the baby gave off, sitting upright in her basket. The basket was covered with a shaded area that gave Star plenty of shade in the sun. She watched with interest as Lucas approached Lisa to help with groceries.

  “Best to cut when the wood is dry like this,” he told her. “I’ll store it in the shack out back.”

  She was speechless. She’d forgotten her parents had a shack in the wooded area behind the house. Hell, she didn’t even realize that her parents had owned an ax.

  “I also want to use the old fire stove,” he explained as he helped with the bags, an effortless use of his muscled arms. “I prefer to cook my meat that way. It tastes better.”

  “Just don’t set the house on fire. That’s my only request,” she said as they brought the groceries inside. “Is Star hungry?”

  “I fed her the Shifter milk,” he said with a wry grin. “She lapped it right up.”

  “Is it safe?” she asked.

  “There’s nothing but extra strength in Shifter milk,” he assured her. She sighed and pointed at all of the supplies that she’d brought for Star. “Diapers, bibs, pacifiers, baby blanket for the crib,” she listed off. He stood next to her, far too close, she considered with a spike in her pulse. She could smell the sweat coming off his chiseled body.

  “We chew on wood for our pacifiers,” he said, lifting the package of two pink binkies that she’d bought. “And I’ve brought a number of furs for Star to sleep with in her crib.”

  “Furs?”

  His eyes flashed to her. “Fallen brethren of all kinds. Bears, foxes, rabbits, wolves. We only take the fur when their mortal lives end. It’s respectful to preserve their beauty.”

  “Wow, I’d never thought about it like that,” she admitted. “I would’ve thought that would’ve been offensive or something…”

  He laughed darkly, going to the stack of meat and admiring a package, turning it over in his strong hands. “We don’t offend as easily as you humans.”

  She crossed her arms, debating whether to keep a wicked reply in her mouth or not. When he looked up at her, her breath nearly left. As infuriating as Lucas was, he was hands
ome beyond all reason. A completely ethereal being in her presence. Her high-waisted jeans and fitted blouse seemed laughably human in his presence.

  “Thank you,” he said finally. “I appreciate you doing the shopping. Allow me to do all the work around the house.”

  She raised a brow. Nobody, certainly not the ex-boyfriend that she used to live with, had ever said something like that. “As you wish,” she said. “Let me know what you need.”

  “I’ll need to go back to my clan to gather a finer collection of knives,” he informed her, jerking a thumb towards the small knife block in her kitchen. “These blades won’t do. I’ll sharpen them anyways, though.”

  She swallowed a lump in her throat. “Lovely. Well, I’ll let Star nap in her room. Let’s get her out of the heat.” Star was surprisingly happy to go down for a nap. Lisa had no other context for babies. She had an older brother, and he was busy being a professor at some liberal arts college. Their parents, when alive, had been only children. There wasn’t much family left for her.

  Her hands hovered above the keyboard. She was supposed to dive into a scene with her main character. When she first started writing books, she always wrote for adults. Now, the lucrative teen market was where her editors were pushing her. She bit her lip and stared at Star’s rolling crib.

  Nothing was coming to Lisa’s mind. Nothing but the sound of Star’s soft sleeping and the image of Lucas, glistening in the sun while he worked. Lisa shivered. The wolf from the other night flashed before her eyes. Her fingers flew over the keyboard. Yes, her young protagonist would have a mystical wolf in this book. A handsome wolf that she admired from afar, just as Lisa did.

  At dinner, she tried to be casual with Lucas, who was happily serving himself two steaks. “Your clan, how often do the Shifters travel as wolves?”