Laura's Secret
Authors: Lucy Kelly
Laura's Secret
The Changelings [1]
Lucy Kelly
JK Publishing, Inc. (2014)
Tags: Erotic, Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance
Warning: For Mature Adult Audiences.
Contains wording and language some may deem offensive.
MF.
In book one of the Changelings:
Laura Donahue believes she's as human as everyone around her.
When she discovers shifters aren't just myths and fables but really exist in the world, she sets out to meet them.
Laura discovers their enemy, the Shayatin, evil humans who steal magic from shifters have targeted large shifter communities.
The last thing she expects when she brings them valuable intelligence, was running into shifter law.
A law that states, if a human finds out about shifters, they are either killed or must find a shifter mate—fast.
The method her new friends use to find her a mate has her blushing.
Will one be found in time or will her new friends have to follow the laws and end her life?
Laura's Secret
The Changelings
Book One
by Lucy Kelly
© Copyright July 2014 JK Publishing, Inc.
ISBN#
All cover art and logo © Copyright July 2014 by JK Publishing, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Edited by ML Hill
Artwork by Jess Buffett
Published by JK Publishing, Inc.
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Dedication
To my readers: I hope you enjoy this book as much as I had fun writing it.
Table of Contents
Prologue
“Come on, Luce, one more big push and you’ll get to meet your baby,” said Dr. John Daly as he sat between her legs. The baby had crowned and a wild mop of dark blonde hair was visible. Douglas Donahue leaned over and kissed his wife on the forehead.
“I know, I’m a complete jerk and this is all my fault. But I love you so eventually you’ll forgive me. Let’s see what we made this time, honey, one more big push,” he coaxed her.
Luce Donahue took a deep breath and then strained to make another try to bring this newest life into the world. After birthing six sons, she knew she’d most likely give birth to another nine pound strapping boy. Their youngest, Evan, was six now and they both thought they were done in the baby making department. But some antibiotics had nullified her birth control and one broken condom later, Luce and Doug Donahue found themselves contemplating diapers one more time.
She grabbed onto her husband’s hand with a crushing grip as he supported her. She groaned her way through another long push, the baby’s head emerged. The doctor quickly checked that the cord wasn’t wrapped around the baby’s neck and then cleared out the mouth and nasal passages. Barely a moment later, as the doctor turned the infant to clear the shoulders the baby let out a wail.
“He’s got a fine set of lungs on him,” Doug whispered in his wife’s ear. He couldn’t help giving her another kiss on her temple. He’d missed the birth of his first boy and made a point of being there for Luce for every birth after that. Each of his children was a miracle to him and he was constantly surprised at the depth of love that squeezed his heart each time he saw his wife work so hard to bring them into the world.
The rest of the baby emerged quickly and Dr. Daly laughed, “Well, Doug, you’re right about the lungs but you got the pronoun wrong. He’s a she.”
“A girl, we made a girl?” he kissed his wife again as the baby was placed on her stomach. His hand was shaking, so he let the doctor cut the umbilical cord. Luce looked down at her newest child. Unbelievably, it appeared the baby was looking back at her. “She’s beautiful, Doug. But this is the last one, we’ve got our girl, our family is complete.”
“Okay, honey, I hear ya, I’ll get snipped. No more babies for us,” said Doug. He’d do anything for her and he didn’t want her taking birth control anymore. She’d gone through enough pain for their children, it was his turn to do his part. “Besides, we’ve got seven wonderful children and with this beauty, who needs any more?”
An hour later, Luce was resting comfortably in her room. Once again she’d gone into labor in the middle of the night. They both knew the drill well, she’d be released the next afternoon so she was getting her rest now while there were helping hands. As she slept in the wee hours of the morning, Doug called his oldest son, Aaron. At sixteen he was old enough to stay home and make sure his younger brothers didn’t get into trouble while mom and dad were at the hospital.
“Hello,” he answered the phone in a sleepy voice. “Dad, how much did he weigh, I’ve got a bet going with Benji.”
Doug laughed, “Well, the final was eight pounds, six ounces and nineteen inches, but it’s not a boy son. You have a little sister.”
Aaron was about to make a crack about the runt of the litter when his dad’s words sunk into his brain. A baby sister. He sat up straight in the bed and thought about what that meant. A feeling of protectiveness swept through him, no one was going to pick on his baby sister! If anyone called her a runt he’d clock ‘em. Never mind what he’d been thinking only moments before, this was different. “A sister! Is she all right? Do you need us to come down to the hospital?”
Aaron was already reaching for his jeans when his father began talking again.
“That won’t be necessary. However, I think you and your brothers are going to be spending the morning re-painting the nursery. I have a sneaking suspicion your mom’s going to want to redecorate. She finally got her girl, my guess is she’s going to want to go all out. It’s three in the morning, get some sleep, tomorrow is going to be a busy day. Don’t wake your brothers, you can tell them in the morning. I’m going to stay here with your mom, okay?”
“Sure thing, Dad, don’t worry about anything, I’ve got it covered. You stay with mom and the baby. Hey, did you decide on a name?”