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When Jack scooped me up in his arms, I floundered for a moment, flustered and uncertain. But the sound of his deep, rumbling voice welcoming me to his home calmed me down, and I stayed in his hold, rocking with his long, even steps.
Before we reached the porch, the front door swung open with a bang, and a creature similar to Jack, yet shorter, rounder, and without antlers, stood in the doorway, her mouth stretched in a smile revealing a row of sharp teeth.
“I knew Ole Frost would hear my prayers!” she exclaimed, folding her arms on her ample bosom covered by an embroidered vest. “My wife-phobic son, finally married! Praise the frost and all that’s cold!”
She huffed in satisfaction and stepped out of the way when Jack climbed the porch steps, grunting but saying nothing. When I looked up, his eyes were averted, and he looked sheepish.
And no wonder since his mother just called himwife-phobic.I closed my eyes briefly, gripping the fur on his shoulder. What had I gotten myself into?
“Well, go in, go in!” Jack’s mother ushered him inside, practically bouncing on her slipper-clad feet. “It’s good fortune to carry your new wife over the threshold. Many, many grandkids!”
Jack groaned but did as she said while I winced, the thought of not just one child, butmany, making me shudder. I wasn’t fully opposed to the idea, and I knew I might get pregnant soon, but if I could choose, one would be enough.
“Well, there you go,” Jack muttered, letting me down in the entrance hall cramped with coat racks and rows of boots standing on the floor.
When I took off my coat and shoes, Jack stood on a towel in the corner and proceeded to clear snow and dirt off his bare feet with a brush embossed with the letter J. I stared for a moment, because the sight was oddly endearing, before my new mother-in-law cleared her throat right by my ear.
“Oh, um, hello,” I said, turning to her. She was a bit taller than me, covered with fur that shone silver and looked so soft, I wanted to pet it. Her expression was kind but seemed stern, her eyes orange like Jack’s. “I… Nice to meet you. My name’s Scarlett.”
Her furry face split into another toothy grin, and before I knew what was happening, I was firmly folded into a warm, fluffy embrace.
“Welcome home, my daughter,” she said in a kind, rumbling voice that trembled slightly. “I’m so happy you finally joined us.”
My throat closed up and my eyes burned as I hesitantly returned the hug, my fingers sinking into the soft fur on her arm. When was the last time my mother—or anyone, for the matter—actually hugged me? Years, if not decades. That explained why my insides suddenly turned to mush and I had to blink rapidly to keep myself from crying.
When Jack’s mom finally let me go, my eyes were wet, my throat still tight, and I didn’t dare speak, because I knew my voice would be hoarse.
“You can call me ma, mother, or mom,” she said, making me hiccup when I desperately choked down a sob. “My, my, look at you. Such a fine girl. Tall for a human, eh? And those eyes. Jack, can you imagine a Frost baby with eyes so blue? Or with fur so light?”
She caught a lock of my hair and stroked it gently with her fingers. “Beautiful, my dear. Well, we have to celebrate tonight and welcome you to the family! Good thing I had a hunch. A wild goose is baking in the oven, and I’ll send Cris to get some roasted ham, too. We have to plump you up. You’re too thin, girl!”
“I… thank you. For the dinner,” I said, cringing when my voice came out thick and throaty.
Jack’s mom patted my arm and gave me another warm look that threatened to unleash tears. “You’ll meet everyone soon. For now, let Jack show you around the house, and then come to the kitchen. You’ll tell me all about yourself over a cup of mulled wine, eh?”
She disappeared under a wide archway leading off to another room, which turned out to be the kitchen when we passed it. Jack led the way, his tail wrapping around my wrist, like he made sure I followed.
He gave me a brief tour, showing me two living rooms, one for the guests, one for the family, a dining room, a big bathroom downstairs with a huge sunken bathtub and a fireplace, and then upstairs he pointed to various doors that led to family members’ or guest bedrooms.
The house was old, rebuilt and added to over centuries, and Jack claimed the core foundations were pre-Shift. Legends of the Shift had been passed on through his clan, but like his ancestors’ language, they too became partly forgotten and twisted over the years until no one was sure what was the truth and what—fiction.
“They say the entire town, complete with the mountain it sits on, was ripped out of the earth and transported between worlds,” he said, opening a door to another room upstairs. “And the people who lived here knew at once, because the landscape changed. On a clear day, you can see for miles and miles from up here. I’ll show you another day. And this is the nursery.”
He motioned inside but didn’t go in, and I only looked from the threshold. The room was cozy but cold with the fireplace unlit, three cots standing in a row on one side, a few wooden trunks with toys on the other. There was a small fence surrounding the area in front of the fireplace.
“Ivo, my older brother, fell in the fireplace when he was six,” Jack said when he saw my eyes snag on it. “So my parents had that installed. We still climbed it when no one looked, though.”
He chuckled, and we moved back so he could close the door. “And now, my bedroom. Well… our bedroom, I suppose. At least until our house is ready.”
I stopped and he turned when his tail tugging on my wrist didn’t get me to move. “Our house? We won’t be living here?”
The prospect of leaving this warm, sprawling place full of spicy scents, roaring fires, and old memories of ancestral legends and happy childhoods gave me a pang of regret.
“Uh, yes. There is a house ready for when I get married. It’s just down the street, so we’ll visit all the time. Ruslan and Ivo, my older brothers, both have houses flanking this one. They and their kids are in and out of here all the time. You’ll see. We’ll go to see the house later, though. I still have… I should go to my workshop.”
He opened his bedroom door, showing me into a spacious, cozy room with a sloping ceiling, a huge bed with a carved headboard pressing into a light blue wall, and a matching set of furniture with beautiful, ornate carvings. A fireplace took up one wall, a big, fluffy carpet spread in front of it, though not too close to the grate. A big window let in the murky daylight. It was dusk even though it couldn’t be past three yet.
I looked up at Jack, who stood in the doorway, his tail twitching now that he’d let go of me, his eyes focused on the carpet under my feet. “Your workshop? What do you do?”
