AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“In the beginning, I was willing to use any force necessary to bring you home. But after I met you, I changed my mind. My daughter ran away from home because she did not wish to marry the match we had found for her. Even after we promised to let her live her own life, she refused to come home. About ten years ago, we lost all trace of her. I’d do anything to see her again.
“Then I met you. You look different in photos, but your mannerisms and temperament are the same. You did not say much, but you meant every word. I knew I’d never be able to force you to do anything against your will. That is why I offered you a choice instead.”
Lilian nodded. “I see. This is a lot to take in, but I appreciate you telling me. And thank you for coming back to help.”
“I understand that I was not in your life when you were growing up, and you cannot think of me as family. But I hope this is the first step of us forging a new relationship, whatever it may be. And…gargoyle?” Dr. Shen held out a hand to me, and I shook it. “You are…not so bad. But donotlose my granddaughter again.”
With one last nod, he turned and left, disappearing into the trees before the EA could ask him for his statement. Smart man.
“Come on,” I said, getting up and gathering my Kitten into my arms. “Let’s follow your grandfather’s lead and disappear before they start asking for details. I’ll write up a full report for them later.”
“Wait. I need to say thank you.”
Lillian went around to her new shifter friends. I had to stop myself from charging in and making a scene when she wrapped her arms around the lion for a big hug. She was just being friendly, though I had no doubt by the way the lion looked at her that he’d gladly snatch her up and steal her away if I hadn’t already made it exceptionally clear that she was my mate, and that I wouldn’t hesitate to pummel anyone who dared to challenge me for her.
“All right,” Lillian said, limping back to me. “Take me home.”
“Wait!” a shrill female voice cried out. “We haven’t taken your—”
But I already had my beautiful wife in my arms. Then I leaped into the air and was airborne.
Chapter 34
Lillian
Iscrolleddownmynew website with an ear-to-ear smile so wide it threatened to split my face. Tiger Lily’s Tropicals was officially open for business! I couldn’t believe I’d put all of this together myself. I’d thought I’d need to hire a designer, but Shelby had shown me how she used a popular website builder service to create the page for her dress shop, and it had turned out to be so much easier than I’d thought it would be. Also, doing it myself meant I could put up new listings whenever I wanted.
The orders had started rolling in even before the website was completely live. The lady who’d bought that first cutting had raved about it on the forum, both in terms of price and quality. A bunch of established sellers immediately got mad and took action, claiming I was a fraud and conniving with the other member to steal the plant community’s hard-earned money.
Whatever. To be honest, I wasn’t particularly surprised. I’d seen this happen to others before. I had, after all, gotten my rare plants from somewhere. I already had an idea of how the industry worked.
But, just like with any community, the online plant scene wasn’t just assholes. There were some good guys too. The sudden, undeserved backlash had the unintentional consequence of giving me a lot of publicity. Any publicity is good publicity, right? Some people ended up ordering, just to see if the rumors were true.
I’d packed up a few cuttings and had sent them out just this morning. Having received plants by mail before, I knew how to pack them up to prevent damage. A tiny, teeny drop of magic in each package also helped keep the plants happy until they made it to their new homes. I was still nervous. What if the courier decided to play football with them?
I twisted the rings on my finger. I’d gotten them back yesterday after Gunnar visited Arthur and Avalon in lockup as they waited for their family to bail them out. I wasn’t holding my breath that the two would get a heavy sentence; there was obviously someone very powerful protecting them. But at least this time, they were going to get a lot more than a slap on the wrist.
I wasn’t going to lose sleep over it though, since there was nothing I could do. The important thing was we got all the shifters out.
I’d updated Mom and Dad with what had happened, including the fact that Dr.Shen was actually my biological grandfather. I made sure they understood that they were the only parents I’d ever have, and I loved them to bits and pieces.
As for my surprise-granddad and The White Claws, they started a new forum to which they invited all the snow leopards they knew, even the ones that were only of mixed blood or couldn’t shift. It was still in our nature to hide and stay quiet, always working in the shadows. But it was a place for people to connect and learn about their history.
The goal was to not only connect everyone, but also to draw anyone who might have been hiding out of the woodwork. There was some talk on there too on how to keep the gene pool alive and save the species, including cross-breeding with other large cats.
I found Aleksandr on there—or, rather, he found me. He was the Russian snow leopard shifter I’d met while locked up. Kevin was on there as well. No signs of my half siblings though. It was strange to go from having just my parents to having an online family of hundreds. Kevin had actually been one of my first clients, requesting avariegated Monsterabe sent to his New York home as part of a gift for his new fiancée. It turned out Sofiya was a plant mama too, since her busy schedule on the fashion runway made it difficult for her to get a pet.
And now I was worrying about today’s shipments again.
Gunnar’s tail, which had been wrapped around my ankle, slid lovingly up my leg. “Still thinking about the shipments, Kitten?”
“Yes. I know there’s nothing I can do about it at this point. But that doesn’t stop me from worrying. They’re like my babies! I’m sure after the first few shipments arrive in good condition and I get some more good reviews, I’ll relax a bit.”
“I’m so proud of you, Lillian. This is huge, and you did it yourself.” He stood, walked behind my chair, and started rubbing my shoulders.
“Thanks, Gunnar.”
I closed my eyes and sighed contentedly as my mate worked his talented fingers into the knots in my neck and shoulders. I couldn’t believe this all started with a very drunk proposal to someone who was practically a stranger, who ended up being the love of my life. He didn’t give a rat’s ass whether I could shift or not. To him, I was perfect just the way I was.
