Dreaming of the Shifter (Shifter World - Book Five) (Series of 13 Short Stories)

Dominic jumped onto the computer and looked the woman up. “Holy shit,” he mumbled.

“What?” Daryl asked as he moved to stand behind Dominic. “Fuck.” He chuckled.

“What’s up?” Dustin asked as he joined his brothers. “Wow.” He grinned. “Seems your mate’s sister is a star.”

Dominic snorted. “If I didn’t know that wasn’t my mate, I’d think Josie was fooling us all.”

The others chuckled.

“They’re identical, all right.” Daryl nodded.

“Right down to their curves,” Dominic whispered.

“This is perfect,” Drezden said from behind them. They turned to him, and he pointed to the screen. “Think about it. Shar and Lyvia take care of all the business end of things. Shit, Shar even takes care of some of the crap here. And Josie takes care of all our advertising. Now, her sister will be joining us, and she’ll be able to take care of anything we need done through the world wide web. Look at that; she’s a genius, just like Josie, only they went in different directions.”

The others grinned at their quietest brother, who was also the smartest of the five Kraftman brothers.

“Seems like the Fated Mates were trained in different ways to help with our cause,” Dylan said, moving closer to his brothers.

“Of course, they were.” Pearl smiled. “Did you think the Goddesses would leave you to fend for yourselves?”

“And what’s yours?” Daryl asked, turning to Pearl.

Pearl laughed. “Really? You have to ask that?” She shook her head. “I’m a witch, Kraftman. I bring magic and power to the group. And bonding with your brother gives me an added strength.” She said with a smile for her mate.

“Duh.” Dylan slapped his brother on the back.

Daryl grunted, then turned back to the computer. “So, where are they?”

Pearl shrugged. “Not totally sure. But I know how we can find them.”

“I’m going with you,” Dylan said as he moved back to her.

She smiled at him. “Wouldn’t leave without you, love.”

~🧹~

“Pearl!” Lyvia shouted when she saw the witch enter her house.

“Hey, Lyvia.” Pearl smiled.

Lyvia jumped at her friend. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell us you’re a Fated Mate, too.”

Pearl smiled. “You know I can’t tell you everything.”

Lyvia nodded. “Right. And I hear you know where more are?”

Pearl looked across the room at Shar and Josie. “We’re going after them now. I wanted to tell Josie myself.”

Josie stepped forward. “You found her?”

Pearl smiled. “Yes, Josie. We’ll be bringing your sister home.”

Josie collapsed as tears ran down her cheeks. “All this time….”

“She’s a Fated Mate like you, and she found her mate at the same time you found yours.” Pearl smiled.

Josie laughed. “Figures.”

“Josie, where is your necklace?” Pearl asked.

Josie looked up at her. “My… my necklace?”

“The one your birth parents gave you.”

“Oh,” Josie whispered. “Uhm… OH!” She jumped to her feet and ran to her purse on one of the chairs in the kitchen. She riffled through it; it was one of the few things that survived with her in the crash. She found the small box, pulled it from her purse, and then turned to Pearl. “Here.” She held it out to the witch. “How did you know about it?”

Pearl smiled as she reached for the box. “I gave them to your guardian to give to your parents and told her to tell them to never allow either of you to take them off. I never foresaw their death, or I would have stopped it.” She frowned as she opened the box. “Your sister is wearing hers,” she whispered as she pulled the necklace from the box.

“Our guardian?” Josie asked, her left eyebrow-raising.

Pearl smiled. “You’ll meet her soon. Now come here.” She held the necklace out toward Josie.

Josie stepped forward and let Pearl clasp the necklace around her neck, then pulled her hair out from under the chain and let it fall down her back.

The star let off a white glow, and they stared at it.

Pearl smiled. “Now we can find your sister, Tia.” She watched the young woman. “Tara.”

Josie looked at Pearl. “No one has called me Tara since I was three.”

Pearl nodded. “Ready to find your sister?”

“Oh, yes,” Josie said with a wide grin. “Who’s coming with?”

“Dustin is staying to help Shar run the bar, but the other brothers are coming. And I think it will be smart to take Tate with us. Always good to have a vampire along.”

“Yeah.” Shar laughed. “Never know when you may need one to throw off the cops.”

“I heard that, Sharissa Kraftman.”

Shar grinned. “I know you did, Tate Umber.”

Tate snorted as he moved around Shar and stared at the four women. “Okay, so what am I needed for now?”

Pearl explained what was going on, and he nodded, then looked at Shar.

“You’ll need to be the bouncer for a few days.”

Shar snorted. “I can probably do the job better than you.”

Tate pulled her against his side and squeezed. “Probably, but I think maybe Dustin should do it. Who knows what you’ll do to the next shifter who touches you.”

The others chuckled as Shar scowled. “Well, if they tapped my arm or called my name, I wouldn’t punch them in the nose when they grabbed my ass.”

Tate laughed. “Advantages of being the owner’s wife. You don’t have to worry about getting fired for punching a customer.”

Lyvia laughed. “No, just have to worry about said husband killing the shifter for touching his mate.”

“So true.” Tate shook his head.

“Hey,” Shar said, pulling away from Tate. “I told him not to touch me like that, and he did it anyway. And you all know if I’d told Dustin instead of just taking care of it myself, that man would have no legs to stand on.”

They all laughed. Because they know if Dustin had come out from the back—where he’d been talking to one of the guys working on their new kitchen—the shifter wouldn’t have gotten a bloody nose; he would have bloody stubs where his legs used to be.

“So, how will this get us to my sister?” Josie asked, looking at the still glowing necklace.

Pearl frowned. “The necklaces were given to you two to strengthen your bond. And I have a feeling your parent’s accident wasn’t an accident.”

“I see.” Tate looked at the glowing star around Josie’s neck. “Someone wanted their bond to break.”

Pearl nodded. “Someone with knowledge of what the twins were meant to become.”

“Right,” Tate said with a deep frown.

“What were we meant to become?” Josie asked.

Pearl sighed. “It’s moot now. You’ve been apart too long. But your bond is still strong enough to keep you two close enough that your children will be powerful, and that’s good enough.” Pearl smiled. “Next-generation….”

“Children?” Josie asked, her eyebrows lifting to her hairline.

“She doesn’t know yet?” Tate asked, watching Josie.

Pearl shrugged. “Guess not.”

“Know what?” Josie asked, looking back and forth between them.

“Josie!” Shar said excitedly as she looked between the vampire and the witch.

“How far along?” Lyvia asked once she caught on.

Josie stared at them. “How far along what? You guys are confusing me.”

Tate laughed. “About a week, give or take.”

“Josie!” Shar screeched as she pulled her sister into her arms. “You’re going to have Dominic’s cub!”

Josie choked on a sob. “Really?”

“Cubs,” Tate said.

All three women looked at him.

Josie stared at the vampire with wide eyes. “C.. cubs?”

Tate nodded. “Twins.”

“Oh my God!” Lyvia shrieked.

“Your sister should be pregnant too.” Pearl smiled.

Josie blinked as she looked at the witch. “How do you know?”

“Because the bond between you is still there, just not what it should be. What happens to you will happen to her, and vice versa.”

“So, if I die, she dies?” Josie asked. She wasn’t very comforted by that.

Pearl shook her head. “No, nothing that dramatic.”

“When you found your mate, she found hers, remember,” Shar said.

Josie nodded. “So, when I got pregnant, so did she?”

Pearl nodded as she smiled at Josie. “Yep. And you are probably both carrying twins.”

“Identical.” Tate nodded.

“Would you like to know the sex?” Pearl asked.

Josie shook her head. “No. Not until I tell Dominic. Oh my God. He’s going to be so happy.”

The women hugged Josie, and she wiped away her tears as they stood in a group hug.

“I’m going to find the men and get away from this touchy-feely crap,” Tate said, turning from them.

Shar laughed as she looked at Tate. “Just wait till you find your mate.”

Tate snorted. “Not going to happen, sweetheart. And besides, vampires can’t get anyone but their own kind pregnant, and only if they’re Fated Mates,” he said, then he was gone.

Josie chuckled. “What a sour puss.”

Shar grinned. “Yeah, but he’s our sourpuss.”

“I think we should have a celebration lunch before you all head out,” Lyvia said as they moved back from the hug.

“Yeah, sounds good.” Josie nodded.

A cry could be heard from the hall, then another and another.

“First.” Lyvia laughed. “We have five cubs to tend to.”

Shar nodded, and the four women headed down the hall toward the nursery.

~🧹~

“So, what’s the celebration lunch for?” Dustin asked as the men settled at the table with the women.

“Other than finding your sister, that is,” Dominic said as he gently kissed his mate.

Josie smiled up into her mate’s eyes. “I’m with cub,” she whispered.

Dominic blinked, pulled back, and looked down at her stomach. “Please tell me you just said what I think you said.”

The women at the table chuckled.

“Well, actually, I’m with cubs.”

“I thought only a shifter can be an Omega,” Daryl said, watching them, a smile on his face.

Josie chuckled. “Yes, well, even though I’m not an Omega, I can still have twins; after all, I am one myself.”

Dominic grinned. “Twins?”

She nodded. “Identical.”

“Who told you?” Dylan asked, looking at Pearl.

Pearl chuckled as she raised her hands in the air. “Don’t look at me. It was Tate.”

“Yeah, you can trust his instincts.” Dustin laughed. “Twins.”

“Are you okay?” Josie asked, studying Dominic.

Dominic nodded with a wide grin. “Oh yeah, Mafilia, I am just fine.”

“Are twins okay?” she asked, her eyebrows furrowed.

He kissed her gently. “Twins are just fine, Josie.”

She smiled. “My sister is pregnant with twins, too.”

The men looked at her as if she’d sprouted wings.

Shar laughed at the look on their faces. “Turns out,” she said, getting their attention. “Josie and her twin are deeply connected. When Dominic and Josie found each other, Maddy found her mate. When Josie got pregnant, Maddy got pregnant.”

“So, everything is happening as it was meant to happen.” Daryl smiled. “Everyone is having the children who are meant to save the Supernaturals.”

“Most everything is coming together as it should.” Pearl nodded.

Dylan looked at her. “What hasn’t happened as it should?”

Pearl smiled at her mate, then looked around the table and told them about Josie and Maddy’s parents, how they weren’t supposed to die, and the girls weren’t supposed to be separated.

“Well, that’s fucked,” Dylan said with a frown.

“Everything is still going to happen as it should,” Pearl assured them. “Just changed a bit. And not as soon.”

“Their twins will take their places,” Drezden said from his end of the table.

Everyone looked at him. Always the quietest, always the one to catch on before everyone else.

“That makes sense.” Dustin nodded.

“Let’s finish lunch so we can look for Josie’s twin.” Dominic grinned at his mate.

She smiled back at him and started eating her lunch.