Delivered to My Elves (Mail-Order Matings #18)

Chapter Seventeen

Misty

Breakfast did nothing but prove my “freezerian” status, unfortunately. I had good luck with toast, usually, and if I’d stuck with that, it would have been a light but fully edible breakfast. At least the guys couldn’t say they weren’t warned. And as they pointed out, they hadn’t joined the app to get a cook…or something like that.

But, to their credit, they ate far more of my disastrous attempt than was probably good for their stomachs and then insisted on doing the whole cleanup while I rested and “entertained” them. I wasn’t sure what that meant exactly, but if they were hoping for more than anecdotes from my childhood, they were likely disappointed.

You’d never know it, though, because they laughed and asked questions and appeared genuinely interested in my far-less-than exciting life. And by the time they finished putting away the dishes and tossing the last of the food into the trash—they were kind but not insane enough to save any—I’d managed to share more of my life than I’d have done if I’d been paying attention, having grown comfortable while their attention was not laser focused on me.

But I wanted to know a lot more about them, so when they suggested we take an after-breakfast stroll, I was all in. Running to grab a jacket, I came back to meet Callon and Aerin on the front porch and set out to spend time getting to know one another. A cool breeze whipped a few last fall leaves around our feet. “It’s going to snow tonight,” Callon remarked. “I hope you don’t hate the cold.”

“If it’s too chilly, I can just curl up by the fire with a good book.” The idea made me feel so cozy inside. “But my polar bear loves the snow.”

“What is it like to shift from one type of being to another?” Callon asked, pausing to pick up a vibrant maroon leaf. He handed it to me.

“Nature is marvelous, isn’t she?” I smoothed the leaf between my hands. “All the beauty and sometimes the oddness.”

“And which do you feel shape shifting to be?” Aerin asked, surprising me.

“That’s an excellent question.” I walked along between them, enjoying the coolness of the day and the company. “Most people would never ask that. In fact, it’s both. Sometimes I feel like the smoothest part of nature, shifting back and forth between two perfect forms and blending in to the world but then other times, mostly when I’m around a lot of humans, I realize that my wolf might terrify them. All the fairy tales about bears eating children and everything. Or they might hunt me out of fear or even for my coat.”

“Not something we have to deal with,” Callon said, linking his hand with mine. “But bears are very rare in the US these days, aren’t they?”

“Especially bears that are appreciably larger than the mundane type.” I reached for Aerin’s hand as well, craving contact with them both. “And then, imagine if they saw me shift? Shifters are not accepted as real by many, and my parents always warned that the government would love to get their hands on one of us to study. In a cage. Far from everyone we know and love.”

“We would never let that happen to you.” Aerin squeezed my fingers so hard I squeaked. “Sorry. I just… We would die before we allowed someone to take you prisoner or hurt you in any way.”

Callon stroked the back of my hand with his thumb. “No one shall ever harm you.” Were they also thinking of our children who might very well be bears? Our genetics were strong.

“Would you like me to shift now?” We were in the forest, nobody close enough to see. “My bear wants very much to meet you both and show you her form.”

They both stopped walking, bringing me to a halt as well. “We would be so honored,” Callon murmured. “If you’re sure.”

“We both are.” I released their hands and stepped away a few feet. “I have to undress first.

They turned away and I was warmed by their consideration. I didn’t have much experience with sex—all right, none—but I did have some with being naked around other shifters, so I was not very shy about that. Elves, shifters…close enough I hadn’t worried, but now that I thought of it, I kind of wanted to show off a little. My body in either form was something to be proud of. Still, it was such a sweet gesture. My bear was nudging me to shift, and I did so before she pushed the issue and did it on her own. Not something to be encouraged at all.

I growled, and they turned, facing me with expressions of such awe, my bear preened. She stood still, head high and legs in what I always thought of as “show position” as they approached us.

“Oh, Misty, you’re just as beautiful in this form as in the other.” Callon reached out a tentative hand. “May I stroke you?”

I bumped him with my head, hoping he understood that to be a yes, and felt his palm run down my back, fingers rubbing my fur.

Mate.

Then Aerin also touched me and she changed it to, Mates .