Little Prick Read Free Page A

her shoulder. “Your father was shocked. He knew you were his child; there was no doubt. There had even been blood tests after your birth just to check on your health. There was a definite match to the Medeela bloodline.”
    “My mom was amused?”
    “She thought wolves having to raise a porcupine was hilarious. You are the one creature that they would not screw with, and therefore, you had a chance to make your own place in the family. You don’t fall within pack protocols, but they can’t intimidate you, so you have a solid family. Bethanne figured out all the rules before she died and wrote them down for Karl. Every time he pretended to lose the list, I materialized another one. It drove him nuts.”
    “Were you here more often when she was sick?”
    “I was. I was with her every day.” Keelie swallowed. “I helped her with you while she was getting near the end. I even wear the scars that you left on me. You were a little nibbly.”
    “What happened after she died?”
    “Her will kicked in, and the fae take being a godparent very seriously. Your father wanted me to leave and not return, but my position meant you would see me each and every birthday.”
    “Yikes. Did he really try and keep you away from me?”
    “Yes, but he couldn’t. Your mother had made sure of it. I am bound to this land.”
    That was news to Pansy. “What?”
    “I am bound to the magic of this land. That means you. The wild magic that protects you binds us together, and today is a very special day.”
    Pansy blinked. “What is it aside from my birthday?”
    “Today, you go from being a member of your father’s family, to being a member of mine. He only had you for the first twenty-five years.”
    Pansy was stunned.
    Keelie grinned, “You might be getting the hint, but when your mother made the agreement, she gave you to me beginning with your twenty-fifth year. She knew your father would keep you close. I am here today to send you to the shifter’s Crossroads. I have a transporter meeting us at midnight. Shall we get started on that walk?”
    Blinking as she absorbed the information that she had not been the direct cause of her mother’s death, Pansy took Keelie’s hand and went for a walk. What else was she going to do?

Chapter Three
     
     
    Pansy didn’t know what to think. She had to ask, “So, Mom knew that she would have a better-than-average chance of dying of breast cancer.”
    “She did. It was the topic of one of our first conversations, and she hadn’t even had the eldest of your brothers yet.”
    “When Dad told me, I did research and had myself tested. I don’t have the cancer marker that my mother and her sisters had. I always wondered why that was. It would be one thing if I was adopted, but my father assured me that I was my mother’s blood, and so, it was a mystery that I couldn’t solve.”
    “Yeah, Karl was not pleased when it became obvious that you were a porcupine. He demanded to know how it was possible, so Bethanne left it to me to explain. She wasn’t up for the confrontation, so I faced him down, and he banished me from his territory the moment that Bethanne was gone. It was only on your birthday that I would be allowed back and only because of the contract with your mother.”
    “So, I am yours now?” Pansy thought that the idea of being adopted at age twenty-five was amusing.
    “You are. If you were more amenable, I would set you up with a fae, but I think your father would explode, and you are attached to this area, so the fae would have to move here. It would be complicated.”
    Pansy snorted. “You think? You mean that there are fae out there who would mate with me?”
    “With your power signature? Oh my, yes, there would be a line around the block.” Keelie grinned.
    “Is that what the fae are after?”
    “We are attracted to magic. It sings in our blood and hums in our brains. Power is literally an aphrodisiac for us.”
    “Do you have a family?”
    “You are my family,