Page 79 of Wedding the Werepanther

Naomi pops back into view, carrying the three kittens.

Wisp launches from the other witch’s arms. “Kayla! My human!”

Naomi grins down at the tiny scamp. “I thought I was your human?”

“You both are!” The kitten tries to climb my leg, her baby claws piercing my jeans. I grimace and lean over to pick her up as she declares: “All the humans are mine!”

“Kayla’s mine!” Dewdrop flies from the living room to land on my shoulder. “But I don’t mind sharing.”

“Whoa,” all three of the kittens chorus together. Then Slate asks, “What are you?”

“I’m Dewdrop. I’m her familiar.”

“He’s a dragonet from Dularia,” Shadow adds.

“To have such a familiar is very good.” Moonlight nods toward me. “Very powerful.”

The approval in her tone warms my chest. This is only our second meeting, and Shadow’s mother is already moresupportive of me than my parents have been in years. It’s no wonder he turned out so self-assured.

“I’ve got to get home to the husband,” Naomi says.

“Tell Wranth hello for me.” Shadow grins. “And that he owes me a visit.”

“Yeah, yeah.” She kisses him on the cheek. “You can come and see us in Faerie, too, you know.”

When she teleports away, we lead the panthers into the living room.

A door bangs shut upstairs, and Victoria writes across the room’s parchment.“You haven’t introduced me.”

“Everyone, the house we’re inside is called Victoria,” Shadow says. He strides over to tap a finger to her words. “Every room in the house has one of these translation parchments, which is how she talks.”

“Do we write on them to talk to her?” Moonlight asks.

“No!”appears on the parchment as another door slams.

“Victoria can hear and see everything you do within the house or in the yard,” I say.

“Amazing,” Moonlight says, and the mood of the room immediately shifts and grows happier.

The kittens squeal and start jumping on the couch. Dewdrop hovers over them and lets out series of excited chirps as they try to see who can bounce the highest.

When they finally calm down enough to sit, Dawn says, “I love furniture.”

“You know what makes furniture even better? Using it in your fae form!” Shadow says, infusing his tone with extra excitement. “Who wants to try shifting?”

“Me!” “I do!” “Yay!”

He shares a look with me, and I pick up the robes I left draped over the back of a chair. Then he says to the adults, “If weshift, they’ll feel how we do it. You can stop at your werepanther form, but if you want to go full fae, we have clothes.”

Shadow goes first, stopping at werepanther so his clothing doesn’t tear.

Moonlight goes next, shifting straight to her fae form in one giant pulse of power. She’s a gorgeous older woman with dramatic silver streaks at her temples and green eyes glowing with power. It’s easy to see she’s Shadow’s mother. It’s more than the pale skin and black hair that shades to silver—according to him, all cat sith look this way—it’s the shape of her eyes, the tilt of her cheekbones.

When I wrap the robe around her shoulders, she fingers the silky material. “This is nice.”

“It’s my good robe,” I blurt. “I, uh, I wanted you to be comfortable.”

“Thank you.” She pats the back of my hand. “That’s very thoughtful.”