Kelly

“Here, keep the change,” she said, paying the taxi driver and getting out of the vehicle.

It would be a long walk up the driveway, but it wasn’t that she couldn’t handle, even in her current condition. Closing the door behind her, she adjusted the stretchy pants she was wearing, the movement of her swollen stomach pushing them down some more.

God she hated pants. Even before she’d gotten pregnant she’d disliked them. Now they were basically her worst enemy. She’d walk around in underwear or nothing if she had her way. Apparently that was considered taboo, however, much to her dismay.

Heading up the driveway, she wondered not for the first time what was going on. Her best friend Erika had called her and said she needed to come over. That they were having a celebration, and she needed to be a part of it.

Translation: Erika wanted some more help setting up for it.

Kelly Crouche grinned as the curving driveway emerged from the forest designed to conceal it from the road and revealed to her a tableau of a party setup in progress.

“I should have known that you wanted me here to help, not be a guest,” she called out to her friend, watching Erika waddle back and forth. She was a full month and change further along in her pregnancy than Kelly, and it showed. Any week now, and she would have her baby.

Kelly smiled. She was happy for her friend, and her mate Harden. The two of them were the perfect match, a couple so in love and head over heels for each other that you could only wish them good luck. Kelly hoped to find such a love herself one day, but for now, she was focused on the child growing within her and providing it with the best life that she could.

“Oh, come on now,” Erika said with a roll of her eyes. “You get to participate too. Now, be a doll and take these over to those tables,” she said, tossing several tablecloths into Kelly’s arms and pointing behind her.

“You got it, boss,” she said with a grin and proceeded to lay out the red and white striped cloths onto the tables.

No sooner was she done that than a little van pulled up, strikingly similar to those the postal workers used to deliver mail. Only this one was decorated with images of various food items.

“Ah, just in time,” Erika said with a clap of her hands.

Kelly watched as her friend moved like a whirling dervish, directing the two workers and two other volunteers on where she wanted the food. A moment later Kelly found herself caught up in the flow, putting this tray there, that dish here, and those things over there.

“You know, Erika,” she commented, “I think maybe you should alter some of your life plans.”

“What do you mean?” she asked, glancing over at her.

“You should open up your own party-planning business or something. I’ve never seen you so organized.”

Erika brushed it off.

“No, I’m serious. You have a knack for this. I bet you could serve a niche here in town that people don’t even know they need.”

Her friend paused, considering her words. “Maybe,” she admitted. “This is kinda fun.”

Kelly smiled. “Can I find out what it’s for yet then? All you told me was a celebration.”

“Exactly,” Erika said, with a level of mysteriousness to her tone that set off all sorts of alarm bells in Kelly’s head.

“What’s that supposed to mean?!” she shouted, but her friend had thrown herself back into the mix. Another crew had shown up with tables and chairs, and she was busy directing them as well.

It wasn’t going to be a large celebration, she noted. No more than perhaps two dozen people. Three rectangular folding tables with four chairs on each side were quickly set up and then covered with cloths of a black and white swirl. White seat covers went on to the chairs, making them appear fancier than they were.

Kelly took a break, not wanting to work herself too hard. During that time she regarded the volunteers. They were all members of the same family, plus Harden, Erika’s mate.

“How’s it going today, Kel?” one of them asked as he walked by, casually carrying an entire barbecue and tank in one hand as if it were just a bunch of feathers.

“Good, Gavin,” she said, addressing the middle Koche brother. “She roped all of you into this as well?”

“Sort of,” he grumbled. “She talked to the women. After that, it was game over as far as us trying to avoid helping,” the big shifter complained, but there was a large smile on his face, indicating he wasn’t really bothered by having to help.

Kelly laughed. Lena, his mate, was a lovely woman, and she definitely would have been all over him to help, ensuring he had no way out.

“Where is she now?”

“Inside, somewhere, with the others. Doing something important I’m sure,” he said, his tone indicating he thought otherwise.”

“Maybe I’ll have to find my way in there as well,” she joked.

Gavin just shook his head and moved off.

Kelly smiled. Erika moved up next to her, breathing heavily and trying to calm herself down.

“Take it easy,” she urged. “You don’t want to go into labor early.”

“I know,” Erika said, hands on her hips as she surveyed the grounds.

Kelly saw her head turn out of the corner of her eye, watching her now instead of the work going on.

“Things sure have changed since we first arrived in Cloud Lake, haven’t they?” Erika asked thoughtfully.

“Just a bit,” Kelly said with a laugh. “We came here two hopeless pregnant women, victims of a scam that resulted in us getting knocked up. Now you’ve found a mate, he’s building you this gorgeous house, and you’ve made some good friends too,” she said, referring to the Koche brothers, five shifters who had taken Erika and Harden under their wing and helped them set up a life outside of what Cadia wanted.

“True. I have to admit, it feels good not to be under the control of Cadia anymore,” Erika said.

Kelly smiled tightly, since she couldn’t say the same. She understood though. Harden Archer, Erika’s mate, was from another shifter territory, one called Kronum. It had been destroyed by the ruthless human corporation known colloquially as The Institute. He and several others had been the only survivors, rescued by the Koche brothers from an Institute facility in the nick of time.

The five survivors—the last known Kronum shifters—had been brought to Cadia for recovery, and to be allowed to live out their lives there, as they no longer had a home to go to. Politics had changed, however, and Harden had soon found himself under assault, simply because of where he’d come from. There were others who still supported his cause, but they were unable to help.

Together with Andrew, the Cadian envoy to Cloud Lake, the Koche brothers had secreted Erika and Harden away to a little community they were building on the far side of the human town, away from prying eyes. Where they could be safe. Hence the winding driveway that obscured the property from the street. The Koche brothers weren’t supposed to be here either, so secrecy was their best friend.

“Your turn will come,” Erika said, sensing Kelly’s thoughts. “You just have to open yourself up to the possibility.

“I know,” she said. They’d been over this territory many times before. “I’m just not interested at the moment. I want to focus on my child, to ensure that he or she gets the best out of me, out of life. That they have an upbringing I didn’t.”

She looked away, unwilling to let even her best friend see the look that haunted her face as she said those words. Erika knew a lot about her, but she didn’t know everything.

“When is this party for things I’m not allowed to know about supposed to go down?” she asked, letting her curiosity overwhelm the other, more negative emotions that were swirling through her.

“Should be shortly,” Erika confessed. “Hence the rushing around and such. I don’t have an exact timetable; it’s kind of a mess that way, unfortunately. If all went well though, within the next half hour.”

Kelly’s eyes narrowed. “If what all went well?”

“Things,” Erika said with a grin as the others all came outside, the Koche brothers and their mates.

“They’ll be here shortly,” one of them called over to Erika.

“Thank you, Maximus!” she said with a wave, then turned to her friend. “Come on, time to do one last check of everything. Have to make sure it’s perfect.”

Kelly shook her head, but allowed herself to be dragged from table to table, admiring the assortment of food and drink that was set out for them. Cheese dips with a dozen types of crackers, slices of cheese and meats as well. Several platters of various seafood things. Kelly hated seafood, and besides shrimp, would have been hard-pressed to tell anyone what was there. But they all smelled disgusting, so she knew it was seafood. There were breads and butters as well, along with an entire table dedicated to various types of sandwiches.

It was a feast, plain and simple. Which was only normal considering the way shifters ate. Although Erika had moved out here, Kelly had still spent plenty of time with her friend, and she’d learned to appreciate just how much intake a shifter needed to keep their body going with all its supernatural powers and the like. It was…impressive.

The drink table was no less awe-inspiring. The table itself had several bottles of various wines and a bucket of ice with coolers in it for the women who weren’t pregnant, along with all sorts of tasty and sugar-filled non-alcoholic drinks. Plus there were tubs of beer at the foot of the table for the shifters themselves. They were big tubs.

“You certainly know how to throw a party, my dear,” she said, wrapping one of her arms through Erika’s.

The sound of tires rumbling on asphalt reached her ears, and the two of them turned as a white passenger van rumbled up to the top of the driveway, stopping just short of the area that had been set aside for the celebration. Kelly watched as the driver killed the engine and the side door opened.

Four men she’d never seen before spilled out, looking around the crowd. A tall, athletically muscular male with buzzed hair approached them, arms out wide.

“He’s been looking forward to this ever since Andrew announced the mission,” Erika said, clutching Kelly’s left arm tight to her. “I’m not even sure he slept last night, to be honest with you.”

“Oh,” Kelly said, realizing who it was emerging from the van. “Those are his friends from Kronum?”

Erika nodded. “Yeah, the rescue mission was sent for them last night. It just got back now.”

Kelly’s tongue worked against the inside of her lips. “Now I understand why you wouldn’t tell me what this was all about,” she said, irritated.

“What are you talking about?” Erika asked, trying to sound innocent.

“Don’t play that game with me,” she said as the five men all exchanged hugs and back slaps before Harden started calling the Koche brothers forward and performing what looked like introductions. “I know who was sent to rescue them, Erika. How many times have I told you, I’m not interested!”

The driver’s door to the van opened, and a tall man emerged, his bright blue eyes surveying the gathering, a smile on his face. A smile that froze the instant he locked gazes with Kelly. He stopped all motion, only halfway done dismounting from the van, his attention fixated purely on her. The smile grew larger, radiating a genuine warmth that seemed to cross the distance between them with ease.

He was attractive, she had to admit. His looks had never been the issue. Hell, neither had his personality. The problem didn’t lie with him. It was within her. Because every time Kelly saw Gray, she was overcome with an instinctive urge to flee. Just like she was now.

Slipping her arm from Erika’s, she turned to run back into the house.