Page 39

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

emma

Before the Hunter’s Moon Conclave

T he beat-up old Jeep, which had been parked at the edge of a county road, halted in an uneven parking area, and Jasper turned off the engine, clearly not caring that the vehicle’s nose dipped toward one of the many creeks running through this part of Louisiana, the front bumper nearly touching a Cypress tree.

We might all be shifters, but the orange safety cones marking corners of the large parking area marked us as at least somewhat civilized.

He patted the steering wheel. “We made it in plenty of time.”

“Where are we?”

“We’re near the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area in the Pointe Coupee Parish.”

“We’ve gone farther south.” It was the smartest comment I had. “It’s barely even noon,” I said, watching a small group of shifters stroll across the far end of the grassy area. “What time is the meeting?”

“Everybody shows up throughout the day, with the alphas usually arriving around evening mealtime.”

“I have over six hours to kill?”

“I’m sure they’ll all want to meet ye.”

“Who knows about me?”

“Secrets don’t stay secret for long, ye know.”

I didn’t know how to respond to the thought of already having to overcome all the expectations and preconceived notions, so I decided to mention something I’d been stewing about since we popped out of the Red Tail territory the back way.

“You could have at least told me you had an escape vehicle parked on the county road.”

“Instead of letting ye believe we had to hike fifty miles?”

“Yeah,” I grunted.

Jasper must have believed I had an endless supply of goodwill he had earned by working me over during training. What I wouldn’t give to go back to my veterinary practice…

“What fun would that have been? I got to put up with fifteen minutes of yer crankiness.”

My eyes widened. “Well, it would have helped my hiking mood if you had at least let me know you weren’t trying to march me into the ground.”

“But ye was adorable.” He didn’t bother hiding his sarcasm.

“You’re ridiculous,” I snapped, not really meaning it .

He winked, tugged the car door handle, and stuck a leg out through the gap. “Ye ready?”

“Would you stop asking me that?”

Shit. My hands trembled, and I clutched them in my lap to hide the tremor.

He snickered. “What are ye talking about?”

“Every few minutes, you’re asking me if I’m ready, and I don’t think there’s actually any way I can be ready for any of this. College did not include a class on what to do if you wake up to discover you’re a fantasy creature.”

Or how to tell my mother… If the meeting didn’t kill me, my mother still might. Convincing her this was all a good thing wouldn’t be easy. Hell, I wasn’t convinced any of it was good.

“Let’s go,” I grumbled.

“Leave your phone in here.”

“Sure thing.”

When I stepped out of the car, the humidity wrapped around me. Sweltering didn’t begin to describe it, and I suspected the tension and strain of the last few weeks made the temperature worse. It felt hotter than it should be for October, even for Louisiana.

Jasper escorted me from the vehicle up a slight incline.

“Ye don’t get to hide behind clothes,” he said. “Only yer sweat.”

“You’re shitting me.” I wasn’t sure I could convince my brain that my sweat sheen was actually clothing.

“Ye can undress if ye like.”

“As opposed to what? ”

“Shifting out of yer clothes. That’s what most of them do.

That’s what I’ll do in an hour or two.” A group of naked women strolled by, and one of them waved at Jasper, who leered at her, wagging his eyebrows.

“Many of them show up without clothes.” He sighed as though he’d just had a tall glass of water on a hot day. “Which I do appreciate.”

I sniffed and rolled my eyes. “Do you ever quit? I thought you had a thing for Olivia.”

“Appreciation is required when someone should be appreciated,” he said. “Now, before I can march you in there, ye have to shed yer clothes, lass.”

“My nerves are bad enough without being naked,” I whisper-yelled at him. “I’m the multimorph, so I can veto, right?”

“The offense is bigger than ye care for. No multimorph would dare enter the Conclave clothed, not even lacy panties.”

“Dammit. Dammit. Dammit,” I muttered to myself as I climbed out of my clothing and tossed it to the side. “I selected that on purpose, you know.”

He nodded toward my feet. “Shoes too.”

When I wore nothing but my skin, Jasper offered his elbow. “Now ye won’t have to picture them in their underwear,” he said. “No need to be nervous.”

“Shut up,” I whispered at Jasper.

“We’ll move through the thick trees and the magical wardings that have been here for centuries. Ye’ll feel it slip over your skin as we move into the amphitheater.”

“What’s the warding for? ”

“For climate control,” he said, “and to keep what we say to ourselves and to keep the private ceremony private. It’s like an invisible building.”

“Unlike my privates, hmm?”

He chuckled to himself.

The parking area had been clipped to a reasonably short length. Otherwise, the thick undergrowth obscured everything from waist-level down. Other vehicles arrived about the same time we did, and the occupants studied me, their faces pinched with concerned curiosity.

We stepped between tightly spaced loblolly, white oak, live oak, and several more species I didn’t recognize. I shivered as we seemed to walk through an unseen wall. The magic caressed my bare skin, a little like slipping into the water of a warm pool.

Suddenly, the interior design came into view. The warding not only blocked out noise, it had made the football-field-sized amphitheater and the large meeting space at the back invisible from the outside.

Jasper chuckled again, as though he had heard a joke, and I glanced at him, suspicious about what he had going on in his head.

A moment later, as we moved fully into the protected clearing, surrounded by trees marked by intricate designs, I understood why he was so pleased with himself.

Most of the shifters, at least two or three hundred of them, seated around the natural amphitheater, wore clothes.

Only a handful of them were naked, and Jasper didn’t look like he was about to get dressed as he held a steaming cup of coffee, handed to him by a duo of on-the-fly baristas in the nearest corner.

One of them offered me a cup of coffee that I declined.

Shock quickly overrode my irritation. The gathering place was huge. The far end of the space had been landscaped downward into a natural amphitheater. Probably where they meant for me to address hundreds of shifters.

Yet here we were.

Jasper meant for me to make a splash by being a naked-ass multimorph. Despite my desire to shy away from the observers, I lifted my chin, meeting each gaze with an intense look.

A breeze twisted through the leafy canopy all around us, and Jasper’s head jerked toward me.

“No need to summon yer magic, lass,” he said. “Ye can get redressed if ye like. I’m sure we can find ye some clothes around.”

“What a silly, stupid prank,” I hissed, “but no, I’m not putting my clothes back on now. Logan and Olivia made such a big deal over nudity making me uncomfortable, there’s no way I’m going to show nerves like that.”

“As ye like,” he said. He turned to another shifter and struck up a conversation. While he spoke to her, I studied the space.

The entrance to the gathering space reminded me of entering the rear of a theater.

It was higher than the forward portion of the area.

The natural slope had been stair-stepped into a cavea, and the seating areas which all pointed toward the stage, or arena, area.

An abnormally huge magnolia tree grew to the right of the stage, scenting the air with the sweet fragrance, almost of roses.

“It’s the wrong time of year for magnolia blooms,” I said, catching Jasper’s arm. “Why is it blooming?”

Jasper looked uncomfortable and took a sip from his coffee. “Not sure I should tell ye.”

“Why? What’s going on with the tree?”

The shifter who had handed the java to Jasper stopped on her way by, handing me my own caffeinated joy which I gladly slurped down. I hadn’t had any this morning since we had to get off property before Marcus rolled through.

She studied me. “You know, it’s said that the magnolia blooms to remind us of the sacrifice of the last multimorph, a lovely Creole woman from long ago.

She was the one who created this protected meeting place and made it a place of peace and entreaty.

It’s there so we never forget her.” She gave me a long look as if to ask if they’d remember me, and then she returned to her task of passing out coffee.

“Umm.” I cleared my throat and stepped closer to Jasper. “Exactly why does it bloom at this time of year?”

“It blooms year-round,” he said as though it answered my question.

“But why?”

He sighed.

“Jasper,” I pressed, needing to know. “Tell me.”

His shoulders dropped. “It blooms year-round because the blood of the multimorph seeped down through the ground and soaked into the roots of the tree. Her magic brought life to the magnolia, and it’s been in bloom ever since… for centuries,” he added weakly.

“Ah.”

Fabulous.

But it wasn’t fabulous at all.

No, the wind had been knocked out of me, and I’d never get it back.