An amused grin tugged her lips upward as she responded, “Thank you for your invitation, wolf, but no one could keep me from my family. I will visit, but not now. There are other matters that must be fixed first.” She headed for the sleek gray car that had been purchased recently. “These things are marvelous, are they not? Thousand-pound creatures you can control with your hands and feet. Beautiful beasts. Machines, they are called.”
Conall nodded. It was his turn to be amused.
“Expensive machines,” he retorted, holding the door as she stepped into the Audi. She easily adjusted her seatbelt over her cream, long coat, smoothing away a piece of dark lint on the material.
“Are they?” Nicolette asked curiously. Conall pushed the door in. “I will see you soon, Conall. I intend to formally visit this Cedar Creek of yours within the month.” When he raised a brow, she added, “Oh, I have seen it. I was very thorough when scanning this state.” He stepped back as she turned on the engine. “Please say hello to my granddaughter for me.”
***
Her shower was long. Vivienne was certain she spent close to an hour soaking under the lukewarm spray. She’d awoken feeling better than she had in years. Even when her mother had unbound her powers, she hadn’t felt this…refreshed.
According to Zahira, who’d knocked and walked into her bedroom minutes after she’d awoken, much to Vivienne’s embarrassment as one could obviously tell the reason the room was in such disarray, Conall was at a Council meeting. The Elder had chuckled and mentioned something about Vivienne being raised human before Vivienne escaped to the bathroom.
Now, as she turned off the water and wrapped herself in a bathrobe, she wondered if Zahira was still in her room. She wasn’t, but it was obvious someone else had been there. The bedding had been replaced. Gone were the torn sheets and comforters. In its place were new ones.
Dressing quickly, Vivienne made her way downstairs. Zahira sat on one of the plush couches in the living room, flicking from channel to channel in search of something to watch. Eli sat in the La-Z-Boy, white iPod headphones in his ear as he bobbed to the beat of a song while doing his homework.
Zahira noticed her instantly. It took Eli a few more seconds. Once he did however, he looked back to Zahira, then to her, before giving them both a smile and leaving.
Vivienne took the seat he’d vacated.
“You feel wonderful, don’t you?” Zahira asked knowingly, placing the remote on the stand beside her after locating the Discovery Channel. They were doing an episode on big cats.
“Amazing,” Vivienne agreed.
The Elder chuckled. “It will last for at least two days, longer if you’re breeding.”
She knew what breeding meant, but her eyes still widened as she looked at the Elder.
“Did Conall explain anything to you?” Zahira enquired, even as her eyes narrowed as it did when she was sure of the answer. “No?”
“Some of it but it, erm, happened very quickly,” Vivienne said defensively.
Zahira lifted a brow and chuckled. “Our females experience heat primarily to procreate. It is normal for a were female, which I’m assuming you are after your change last week, to experience heat at least once a year after entering puberty—”
“This happens more than once?”
“Yes.” When Vivienne swallowed, Zahira added with a wink, “A newly mated female can go into heat as many as five times in the course of five months.”
Closing her eyes, Vivienne leaned back in the chair and murmured, “It’s like another period.”
“Much more fun,” Zahira reminded her, and Vivienne found herself grinning. She knew what Zahira meant. In a way, heat was painful. Her entire body had felt hot to the point of combustion, but when Conall had given her release, she’d felt such pleasure that it was worth it. If she went back into heat after mating Conall, she wouldn’t mind it, especially as she knew what the outcome would be.
“You mentioned…conceiving?” Vivienne asked, clearing her throat.
Zahira nodded.
“How likely is it?”
It was Zahira’s turn to grin. “The time of your heat coincides with your most fertile time in the month. Conception is very likely.”
Vivienne crossed her feet. “Hm.” That thought made her a bit giddy. She could be carrying Conall’s child. And then another thought occurred to her.
“Babies, right? Not pups?”
Zahira looked confused for a small instance before she understood. “It depends.”
“On?” Vivienne prodded, grimacing as an image of her human body giving birth to wolf pups popped into her mind. These wolves were huge. She could only imagine how big the pups were.