The Fox’s Tale

Brunch was served buffet style and I couldn’t help but notice that Ellery’s blood relations didn’t take any of the meat dishes. She caught my eye and whispered, “the Seelie don’t typically eat meat, seafood being the notable exception. Even then they’re very picky about it. It’s one of the points of contention between the two realms.”

“So their Others aren’t Fae?” I asked sotto voce.

“No, Sabrina and Aurelia are both different types of Shifters, Billy is partially Fae but is considered a sorcerer, and Mary is a Shadow Walker.”

I froze in the middle of serving myself some bacon. “I didn’t think those were real.”

Ellery plucked one of the strips of bacon off my plate and began to eat it. “They are; they’re just incredibly rare and secretive. Mary actually isn’t even her real name, just the one we’re allowed to use. Which reminds me, don’t tell anyone in the Unseelie realm your name.”

I went back to piling bacon on my plate. “Okay, but why? Won’t they already know it?”

She snagged another piece of bacon off my plate. “Yes, but if you give it to them directly it will grant them a certain degree of power over you. If someone asks you say ‘you may call me the future Duke of Thorns,’ or if I trust them ‘you may call me Xander.’”

“Gotcha.” She reached to steal a third piece of bacon and I used the tongs to put some on her plate directly. “Stop stealing my bacon, you minx.” She snickered and we found our seats at the table.

After Trey made a little speech about welcoming me into the family everyone tucked into their food. Conversation mostly ceased as we enjoyed the glories of the Sinclair chefs. I, for one, was glad for the extra boost to my metabolism that being a Shifter provided. I would weigh two tons before the weekend was over without it.

I began to relax as the meal went on. No one tried to embarrass us; no one put us on the spot. It was a warm, welcoming meal, until, inevitably, the subject of us being mate bonded came up. Naturally, it was my mother’s fault. She should never have been served the third mimosa.

“I have to confess that Max and I were not surprised to receive the phone call that he’d found his mate. He’d been running around at night in his shifted form for months. I was terribly shocked to discover his mate was you though.

“I don’t know why, but I’ve always thought of you as being years younger than Xander. It’s probably because your father always referred to you as his little girl.”

Ellery looked up at Trey with a disgruntled expression. “Papa!”

Trey spread his hands in an apologetic motion. “I’m sorry, sweetheart.”

My mother chuckled. “At any rate, we couldn’t be more pleased. My goodness, some of the girls that Xander dated over the years, I shudder to think.”

“Mom! Could you not bring up other girls?” I grumbled through clenched teeth.

“Well, really, Xander, it’s not as if they expected you to live the life of a monk beforehand.”

I felt Ellery grow tense beside me. “Yeah, but if I had known I had Ellery waiting for me I would never have done what I did. Please change the subject. You are upsetting my mate.”

“Oh! I’m terribly sorry, dear.”

“It’s okay, really.” Ellery tried to brush it off.

“No, it’s not,” I insisted. “Seriously Mom, I won’t stand for you upsetting her, even unintentionally.” I flinched and put my hand behind my right ear. When I pulled it away my fingertips were smeared with blood. “What the hell?” I sputtered.

Ellery was on her feet and pressing a napkin to the spot before I’d even finished my sentence. She pulled the napkin away and said “Sabrina.”

Sabrina pushed away from the table and hurried behind me. She gasped out “Mary.” Mary joined them and swore.

“Billy, Jones.” Mary gestured for them to join everyone staring at the back of my ear.

“What’s going on? Are we doing a weird roll call? I’ll go next. Fitz, Elliott-”

“Shut up, Fitz,” ordered Ethan. Jones was now sitting in the chair Ellery had vacated.

“It’s the same.” Mary’s voice was somber.

“What’s the same?” I asked.

“Not now,” muttered Jones, before turning around. “Are you sure, Mary?”

“Yes. I wish I wasn’t, but it does give us some answers.”

“Mr. and Mrs. Vos, do you happen to know how Xander got this scar behind his ear?” Coach Murphy asked.

“That old thing is what’s worrying you? He got that when he was about seven years old. We were at a family reunion and a Goblin scratched him.”

“A who did what now?” I asked.

“A Goblin scratched you. We were worried even though it wasn’t very big or deep, but you shifted just fine at the age of ten. The only side effect seems to be bouts of absentmindedness from time to time.”

"Katya, where was this family reunion?” Trey asked and then took a sip of his mimosa.

“Let me think. We had to use a different location that year because there had been some disaster that kept us from using our normal location. What was it again, Max?”

“There had been a fire.” Dad wiped his mouth with his napkin. “A big, raging wildfire.”

“That’s right. How could I have forgotten? The fire burned through Highland Park, so we relocated to Belle Fleur.”

Trey shot his eyes to Ethan who stood up. “If you’ll excuse me,” he said before slipping out of the dining room.

Liz captured my parents’ attention. “I remember when that happened. It all started from a lightning strike and we’d had an unusually dry spring. We were all so happy that the royal gardeners were able to restore it. Was it a reunion for your side of the family or Max’s?”

“Mine, I’m one of ten children.”

“So many! And here I thought Trey and I had a brood.”

“Max and I had hoped to have at least three, but Xander’s birth caused a lot of complications and the doctor’s advised us to not have any more. I hope that he and Ellery will be able to have as many children as they want.”

“Mom!” I admonished, fully prepared to take her to task for speculating about grandchildren again when Ellery and I were still in high school, but Ellery laid her hand on my shoulder stilling me.

“I think I will go and check in on the children.” Sabrina kissed Jones on the cheek. “Esther was in such a pout that she wasn’t allowed to join us. Excuse me.”

Elliott’s phone buzzed and after checking it he said “My apologies, this is for work. I will just be a moment.”

All around us Ellery’s family members gave various excuses to flit in and out of the dining room while our mothers talked about childbirth and babies. Emerson struck up a conversation with my father and soon neither of my parents were paying us a bit of attention.

Trey rose from the table and gestured for the rest of us to follow him. Once Ellery, Jones, Coach Murphy, Mary, and I were settled in his office his calm demeanor vanished.