“Uh, with you being half, we’ll have to just wait and see,” Sam answered tentatively.
“Freaking awesome. I’m going to make some damn pancakes and find the tequila,” I muttered as I pulled out of Sam’s arms to head into the kitchen.
SAM
Worry for my family weighed on my spirit. Anna was here and adjusting well despite the fact that she was half human. Perhaps it was her human side that allowed her to handle absurdity? Regardless, we were a team. The way she held my hand and looked into my eyes told me that.
“Are you okay?” I asked her as my brother readied himself. I followed her gaze to him. Determination shone from his eyes. And we shared a look of concern.
“I’ll wait for you outside.” He stomped out to the porch.
“I’m worried about him and this half-sister of mine,” she said as she watched him leave.
“Marv will find her. If anything ever took you from me I would turn the cosmos inside out to find you. That is the power of our love.”
“I know.” She leaned into my hand at her cheek. “I feel a little shell-shocked. A little weird. But also really lucky. And happy?” She looked at me like she couldn’t believe it. I nodded because I understood exactly what she meant. The fathomless love I shared with her almost didn’t happen. We’d been so close to never having met. But here we were.
“You are my miracle, Anna. If I hadn’t found you . . .” Fear seized the human heart in my body. I may not have a heart but it was all hers.
“But you did. We found each other. We will handle whatever comes next.”
I held her close to me. “I cannot promise it will be easy.”
“I don’t want easy. I just want you.”
I kissed her deeply. The energy that flowed between us caused the lights to flicker. She smiled in awe around the room. “Sam, I love you.”
“I love you.” Though love was not nearly a strong enough word to convey what I felt for her. We were two parts of the same soul. We were destined to meet, to save our kind. Words could not possibly express that level of devotion, just as one could not fathom the size of the entire universe.
“So, tomorrow?” she asked me.
“We have always existed and will always continue to exist. We have been gifted the experience of our souls aligning as few are. As far as I am concerned, my life began the moment we met. And now the next generation of life begins.”
I lowered my hand to her abdomen. She stilled under my touch.
She sputtered. “I’m sorry. Say what now?”
“We mated. You are with my child now.”
Her eyes were wide but a slow smile spread across on her face. “Nice try. You were gifted in that department, don’t get me wrong, but there’s no way we could know for sure.”
I frowned at her. “Of course we know for sure. We do not fail. Yet another reason we are so dangerous and finding a partner is rare. Whenever we mate during my season, it will always produce a child.”
“I’m pregnant?” Her eyes were wide with awe as she examined her flat stomach.
“Of course you are.” It occurred to me belatedly that she may not know this as fact. “Is this troubling news for you?”
When she lifted her face back to mine, tears shone in her eyes. “I feel so happy it almost scares me. But, um, does this mean we can only have sex like that to procreate? I kinda wanted to do it again.”
Relief flooded me as I threw my head back with laughter and gathered her into my arms. “No, love, we are mated. We can be together whenever we wish. There is nothing to be scared of. We are bonded now. Together, we are unstoppable.”
She quickly wiped a tear from her cheek and squared her shoulders. “In that case, let’s go kick some bad-guy ass. Nobody messes with my family.”
Family.
I had my very own family now. It was time to get the rest of them back.
Next Year
If the Fates Allow
Marv will follow Faye to the ends of the earth and beyond.
If the fates allow…
PREORDER NOW
Coming December 17, 2021
Acknowledgments
Though this book is but tiny, we still have many awesome women to thank!
Rebecca - the beautiful angel of light who swooped in to help us at the very last minute!
Brooke - the machine behind the names.
Stella and Ellie- your loving support and zoom calls with all the laughter. You light up our lives.
Sarah - all around badass and support system
Nicole - for everything you've done for us since the very beginning. You wee angel, you.
And as we already mentioned this book would not have been possible with out the amazing readers in The Everly Afters and Pipes Peeps.
About Nora Everly
Nora Everly is a lifelong bookworm. She started reading the good stuff once she grew tall enough to sneak the romance novels off the top of her mother’s bookshelf and it has been non-stop ever since.
Once upon a time she was a substitute teacher and an educational assistant. Now she’s a writer and stay at home mom to two small humans and one fat cat.
Nora lives in the Pacific Northwest with her family and her overactive imagination.
About Piper Sheldon
Piper Sheldon writes Contemporary Romance and Paranormal Romance. Her books are a little funny, a lotta romantic, and with just a little twist of something more. She lives with her husband, toddler, and two needy dogs at home in the desert Southwest. She finds writing bios in the third person an extreme sport of awkwardness.
Also by Nora Everly
Sweetbriar Hearts
In My Heart
Heart Words
Coming Soon:
From the Heart
Heart to Heart
Available now for a limited time!
Sweetbriar Hearts Box Set: including Holiday Hearts
Smartypants Romance
Crime and Periodicals
Carpentry and Cocktails
Star Crossed Lovers
Midnight Clear
PREORDER:
If the Fates Allow
Also by Piper Sheldon
The Unseen Series
The Unseen
Coming Soon:
The Unheard
Smartypants Romance
My Bare Lady
The Treble with Men
Coming Soon:
The One That I Want
Star Crossed Lovers
Midnight Clear
PREORDER:
If the Fates Allow