The Mating Season: A Paranormal Shifter Romance (17 page)

The girls smirked and giggled, knowing Kim had both Tony and Keith to choose from. It wasn’t any kind of secret, after all.

“Now, when a non-shifter gets exposed to the pheromones of a shifter, he or she starts to form a pair bond. It gets stronger when the two have sex.” The two girls were blushing and giggling even harder at the mention of the word sex.

“Stop it, you two,” Betty snapped. “You’re both mature enough for this conversation. Give it up. As I was saying, once the two have sex, the bonding process begins. It can be broken at this point, but if the woman gets pregnant, the two are considered mated for life. The ceremony would just be for public recognition at that point,” Betty stated.

Kim sat up, alert. She was pregnant. “What if ... ”

Betty grinned slyly. “What if you had been with two? Well, the father of the child is the one you are mated to, dear.” Betty had a feeling Kim was pregnant, and this confirmed her suspicions.

“Like, not that I
am
or anything,” Kim lamely deflected, “but just, what if?”

“Well, usually there’s no way for one to know who the father is until the baby is born. Sometimes that uncertainty makes things...complicated.” Betty stared pointedly at Kim, knowing full well she had until the Autumn Equinox to choose either Tony or Keith, but she had to know who the father of her child was before then, to make sure the right man was mated to her in the ceremony. “But there are ways if one really needs to know in a hurry,” she finished.

Kim gulped down some sweet iced tea and looked around the room. The two girls were looking bored, since they already knew about all of this, and Betty was giving Kim an indecipherable look which made her decidedly uncomfortable.

“The mating ceremony is a rather quick affair; there is plenty of celebration afterwards, at least.” Betty had a sip of her iced tea. “The man and the woman walk up to the shaman, that’s my Rusty right now, and they repeat the vows he says before them. Then there is a leather thong that is tied around their hands, binding them together. Then they walk around the circle three times to seal their union and they sit down. It’s rather straightforward.

“They aren’t allowed to cut the knot either. To sever the knot is to sever their connection and doom them to their animal forms for the rest of their lives. The great mountain lion spirit has made it so the bond between mates is absolute. In the wild they don’t mate for life, but in his wisdom, he knew that it was important for his people to form a strong community. Concrete pair bonding was his answer.”

Betty’s wizened eyes took in the girls around her. She noticed the younger two were starting to lose interest since they’ve been taught this since day one, but Kim, she noticed, stared down at her hands nervously while taking in the information.

“After the ceremony, there is a feast and then the two steal off for a newlywed’s night,” Betty said with a wink. “It’s all similar to a traditional marriage, except it’s done in a group setting. Not the sex part, of course, but the tying of the knot.

“However, many couples need to go up and get it done, and they do it on that day. It’s usually on the autumn equinox, because the earth is aligned just right and the night and day are of equal length. We also have one on the spring equinox if there are enough couples, but usually there aren’t. We just have the autumn one and that’s it.”

“What’s so special about the autumn one?” Kim asked.

“Well, the long winter after the equinox gives the couple a good chance to get to know one another and adjust to the mated life. They have no choice but to cooperate and get along during the harsh winter. Some days, we are literally snowed into our houses, unable to even open the doors to get out. Because of this, the couple experiences a type of honeymoon period.”

Kim nodded silently. Being snowed in with either Keith or Tony wouldn’t be that bad, she thought to herself. She really wasn’t looking forward to the winter due to the amount of snow there would be because of the high altitude of the community, but it was better than being dead at the hands of Smiley.

“Anyway, I think that covers it,” Betty said while standing up. “You girls can head on home. Kim, can you stay here and help me tidy up? Rusty won’t be back for a little bit, but it’s getting late and I’m not as young as I used to be.”

Kim nodded as the two girls shuffled out the front door. They seemed a bit nervous about the upcoming ceremony, for good reason.

“Look, I won’t play games with you,” Betty said. “I know you’re pregnant, it’s not really a secret. We don’t have those around these parts anyway.”

Kim blushed furiously as she looked at her feet in shame.

“Now dear, there’s nothing to be ashamed of.” The old woman soothed her as she put a wrinkled hand on the young woman’s shoulder. “It happens. You have sex, you’re bound to fall pregnant after a little bit if you’re able to. Looks like you’re able to.”

“But...I don’t want to be.”

“That’s a lie and you know it. You’re actually pretty damn happy to be pregnant, or you would be, if it weren’t for that damn stalker of yours lurking around every corner.”

“Yeah, you have that right,” Kim said. “If it weren’t for him wanting to kill me, and everyone around me, I’d probably feel a bit better about this whole situation.”

“Exactly. So do you know who the father could be?”

Kim shook her head sadly. “Nope, it’s either Keith or Tony. Those are the only ones I slept with since moving here.”

Betty paused thoughtfully as she put the pitcher of iced tea in the fridge. “You know, my husband could probably divine who the father is, before you have the baby. You’re due sometime in early spring, and that’s after the time you need to tie the knot with one of the men. The choice has been made for you, my dear, now we just find out who the lucky man is,” she said with a smile.

“Yeah...” Kim said as she put some plastic wrap over the veggie tray. “It does make it a little easier doesn’t it?”

“True, but if your heart lies with the other one, it won’t be an easy road. You could grow to love the man you mate; love is a choice, you know. We teach that from the cradle here. You choose to love the person you’re with. Falling in love and choosing to stay in it are two different things entirely. Remember that.” The old lady said as she put the vegetables in the fridge.

Kim didn’t answer the elder as she placed the lid on the dip container. She had no idea what to think at this particular point in time.

“We can get Rusty to divine the baby’s father after the shifting ceremony. He needs to be on his game for that and a divination can throw him off for days, depending on how difficult it is, and finding out who a baby’s father is, is one of the hardest ones.”

“That works,” Kim replied softly. “I don’t know who to hope for.”

“How about this. Let the Universe decide. Don’t hope for a certain one. If you do, you’re bound to be disappointed. Just let the chips fall where they may, so to speak. You care for both, right?”

“Yeah,” Kim said sullenly.

“Now you should be getting on home. It’s getting late and you need to get some sleep. You have some pretty busy days ahead of you.”

Kim nodded and grabbed her cell phone from her pocket to text Tony to come walk her home. Betty placed her wizened hand on Kim’s to stop her. “Let Junior walk you home. The men are still at their meeting and there’s no reason to interrupt them.”

Junior stepped out of the hallway and into the kitchen, bending over slightly to get through the doorframe. He waved shyly at Kim as he made eye contact with her.

“Junior,” Betty said slowly and deliberately, “you are to walk Kim back to her house and keep her safe.” Each word Betty said to her disabled son was drawn out and exaggerated. “Do you understand?” She nodded her head for emphasis.

Junior looked at Kim with a sarcastic expression and nodded his head, indicating he understood the task that was given to him.

“Good! You have Junior here to keep you safe from that psycho while you walk home. He might not be good for much, but he’s pretty decent at being a big sack of muscle when you need it,” Betty said. “Now both of you get on your way. We’ll talk again later.”

*

Junior opened the front door for Kim. She smiled warmly at the large man and stepped through into the cool mountain night. They strolled down the street signing away at each other.

“You know,” Junior said, “Mom and Dad just want to help you. They don’t mean to embarrass you or anything.”

“Yeah, I know. I just find it crazy that they know everything that goes on around here.”

“Yeah, they’ve been around for a very long time. I don’t remember a time they were as young as you,” he signed back.

“You mean...”

“Yeah, they were super old when I was born. I have no idea how old they really are. Those two are timeless.”

The crickets chirped in the night as they strolled through the dark streets, the crisp night air invigorated their senses. There was a thin mist clinging to the postage stamp front lawns of the modest houses of the reservation.

“See, Mom and Dad, they’ve been here since the beginning,” Junior explained. “Almost everyone in the village is descended directly from them.”

Kim looked a little queasy at the thought of the incestuous implication of Junior’s revelation.

“No, no, it’s not like that. There are those descended from my parents, and then there are some outsiders, like yourself, and there are some descended from the rest of the original settlers that aren’t Mom and Dad, so there is no brother-sister or first cousin thing going on up here, it’s just that there is pretty close blood. Sometimes things go wrong.” The pain in his eyes cut Kim to her very soul.

“Junior, you didn’t go wrong,” she assured him while placing her small hand on his large one. “You were born with a disability and weren’t given the chance to grow. That’s all. You found your own way to communicate, and taught yourself everything you wanted and needed to know.”

“It’s not enough. No one in this village respects me. They all think I’m a moron, even Mom and Dad. Just because I can’t hear or talk doesn’t mean I’m stupid. I can read their lips; I know exactly what they say about me.”

The large man’s fury and sorrow were apparent. “Not only that, but because I couldn’t hear the drums, only feel the vibrations, I almost got stuck during my first transformation.” He looked at her with panic in his dark brown eyes. The breeze took a strand of his long black hair out of its elastic and played with it in the light of the waxing moon. “It’s terrifying. If I didn’t remember to feel for the vibrations through my paws, I might be out in the woods with everyone else...”

Kim looked up at the giant man with empathy in her eyes. She felt awful for Junior. Living in such a small town with the type of disability he had must have been heart wrenching.

“You know,” he continued signing, “some days I wish I had gotten stuck. Some days I wish I would shift, and get stuck and just go out and never come back. I wouldn’t last long out there with my coloration, but still, it would be better than being trapped here for my entire life, being made fun of, treated like a retard...”

Junior wrung his hands in distress. Kim was the first and only person to accept him and understand him. He needed to unload his emotional burden on someone because after all these years of silence, he had a friend.

Kim reached up and gave the shaking man a warm hug. He heaved silent sobs into her shoulder as he finally managed to say what he had wanted to say ever since he could remember. The poor man just wanted to be treated like a human being for once in his life. He had found a valuable asset in Kim.

“I promise I’ll speak up when someone starts treating you like that again. I just didn’t know what to say tonight...now I do,” Kim whispered into Junior’s ear as he sobbed.

Junior stood up and wiped his nose on his sleeve, gratitude shining in his dark eyes. “Thank you,” he signed. “That’s all I ask. You can be my voice because you can understand me. No one else wants to.”

Kim smiled at the man. “You know. Maybe you’ll find a mate someday. Someone who really wants to learn to communicate with you. Who knows?”

Junior laughed a silent laugh. “I doubt it. Mom and Dad never let me go to the city to meet anyone. They’re ashamed of me.”

“Well, maybe one day you and I can go to the city. Take you out to the mall, let you see the sights and take in the pretty ladies. Who knows, you might find someone special as well?”

Junior looked at Kim forlornly. He knew it was dangerous for him to fall for her so he kept his emotions strictly in check. He knew she had to pick between Keith and Tony and didn’t want to add the burden of adding himself to the choice as well. “Yeah, maybe,” he signed lamely. He didn’t want to get his hopes up.

They continued on their walk to Kim’s house. The lights were still on inside and she saw a tall lanky figure silhouetted against the blinds.

Kim stopped cold and reached for her cell phone. She sent Tony a hurried text asking if he was the one in her house. She watched the shadow reach into its pocket and pull something out. A few seconds later, she felt her phone buzz in her hand. It was Tony waiting for her in her home. She sighed a sigh of relief and continued on towards her house. She looked up at Junior and smiled as he walked next to her. He still was somewhat troubled, but his emotions were clearing up and he began to cheer up.