Shape-Shifter's Promise

Chapter 21

We woke up the next morning and cleaned up the room. It had gotten slightly dusty, and I really disliked sneezing. When everything was clean I tied up the canopy and made the red roses bloom and we made the bed. I opened the window and it was unusually chilly outside so I put the fur blanket on the bed and returned to the window to close it. Seth had gone downstairs to light the fire, so I went up to the open platform on the top of the tree. As I stood in the center of it I enjoyed the breeze that cooled the shade of the huge branches even more. I inhaled deeply as another breeze came through and smelled the scent of autumn. It should be a few months from now but my mind changed as I held my arms out and an orange leaf landed in my hand. I climbed the tree and in the thick, smaller branches were a lot of orange and yellow and brown leaves. I grabbed a handful of leaves from around me and saw the same colors splashed in all the trees around me. Autumn had come early.

“Well this is odd.” I said to myself when I got down.

“What is?” Seth said and I jumped.

“Autumn is early.” I told him and showed him the leaves.

He took it and sniffed the breeze.

“So it is. Maybe we should tell Mora and Fren.”

“I agree, let's go.”

We headed to their palace and Fren welcomed us at the door.

“Hello children. What brings you here?” He asked.

“We must speak to our Goddess, Mora. There is something wrong with the seasons.” I said.

“Of course, right this way.”

As we entered the palace we shifted into our Ancient form but kept our hair. She was sitting on a couch with a large book on her lap. She closed her book and smiled when she saw us.

“Hello dear, what are you doing here?” She asked me.

“Autumn is early.” I told her.

“Impossible, my seasons never go off schedule. How would you know?”

“It is unusually cold outside and I caught this.” I said and held out the leaves.

Her eyes grew wide with shock as she took the leaves from me.

“Where did you get these?” She asked.

“From the branches of our home and these exact colors were splashed here and there in the branches of all the trees around it of course, but there were gaps in the leaves. The leaves are falling now.”

“My seasons must have been thrown out of whack when the war happened a few days ago. I must have messed up while I was fixing everything up for you and your family. Oh well, I guess we'll let fall come and go while I fix the schedule. It is August after all.” she said.

With that she began to fix her schedule and we left, shifting back to human as Fren closed the door behind us. When we got home I felt the stomach pain again and groaned.

“What is it?”

“I feel sick. It was similar yesterday.”

“Huh. Maybe you should check the cabinets from our bedroom's bathroom for something.”

“Okay.”

When we got home Seth started making some type of drink to relax me while I checked the bathroom. I saw some headache medicine, flu medicine, and many other types. When I moved some of them around I noticed a little box with some colorful paper and a note from the Great Mother.

Mercy,

If you ever want children just open this and use one to see if you have suceeded. These are one hundred percent accurate. Trust me, I made sure with a bit of magic. Just wait about few minutes for the magic to work.

Yours truly,

Mora

“I wonder...” I said to myself and opened the box of pregnancy tests.

I used one and waited for it to process, pacing around the bathroom rubbing by forehead. When the few minutes I had to wait were up I looked at the little stick and saw the plus sign and got very happy. Every female wolf's dream is to have children, no matter how many. I ran down the stairs and basically tackled Seth as I rushed to tell him the good news.

“What is it?” He asked laughing.

“Look!” I told him and pushed the little stick at him.

One look and his eyes grew huge, accompanied by an excited grin. I wrapped my arms around his neck and he hugged me and picked me up, spinning around as he kissed me.

“Wow. Is that why you felt sick?” He asked.

“I guess. Maybe we should talk to Mora.”

“I agree, we have no experience with Shape-Shifter babies.”

We left the house and saw the Great Mother not far from the house inspecting the leaves of a maple.

“Great Mother!” I called and she turned.

“Yes?”

“We have a question with a lot of implied questions to follow.” Seth told her.

“Proceed.” she said and I handed her the test.

“We need some tips on Shape-Shifter babies.” I said.

“Ah, that's easy. They grow faster than normal children when they are still in their mother's belly. It will be born in about two months. The child then will need normal care but will stop their fast paced growing when they are the size of a three year old. That's when they can usually learn to shift. They also learn faster than human's so if you shift in front of them they might try. They are what they are until they are old enough to hold a form. If they get mad enough they will shift into what the parents natural form is. Seth you were born a human and Mercy a wolf, but since you became a Shape-Shifter your natural form is now a wolf because a wolf created you and she wanted you to be a wolf. So if it gets angry it will become a wolf.”

“Okay, thank you!” I said and we headed home.

Seth and I set up the guest room with a changing table and bed-rails for the big bed in the room. We didn't want to remove the bed because the room would be too big with out it. We also stocked the room with supplies and toys. When we were done Seth went back to the kitchen and remade the drink to relax me. He came over to the couch and handed me a coffee mug. The drink smelled very good.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Hot chocolate with a little bit of peppermint. The hot chocolate's heat should relax your muscles while the flavor of the chocolate and the peppermint mixed together should relax your mind. My mother used to give it to me when I felt bad, but usually around this time of year only. It's my favorite.”

I tried it and sighed happily, I shivered as my muscles relaxed.

“Like it?” Seth asked.

“Oh yeah.”

After we finished I went to take a shower. While I was drying my hair I looked at my stomach, it was slightly swollen. I was curious as to what it would be but I also wanted it to be a surprise. I really was excited.