but that was how Shifters aged. Not everyone found a mate young. My parents had waited decades before getting together. Maybe that was one reason I’d never felt any desire to rush into a relationship.
As I followed behind her and neared the back door, I noticed Koi’s mother sitting alone. A pang of guilt swept over me. Was my mating ceremony going to make a mockery of her son’s death?
Lowering my eyes, I tried to pass her, but she captured my wrist.
“Come. Sit by me,” she said.
I backed up a few steps and knelt in the grass before her. She was an older Shifter who looked to be in her late forties, which meant she was very old.
Her eyes fixed on the trees, and she began. “I never believed I would have children. My life mate was mated once before, and his first love died unexpectedly. Kaota was theirs, but he was already a grown man by the time I fell deeply in love with his father. Sometimes all a woman wants is a child she can hold in her arms and call her own. Centuries went by and nothing. We accepted our fate until one morning, I fell sick. Who could have guessed the spirits would bless me with a child at my age? Especially after so many years of trying. Koi was such a happy baby, always smiling and making people laugh. His spirit was unique, and I knew he was going to be a great family man someday. It’s a shame his father never lived to see him grow as I did.”
I sat back on my heels, unable to do anything but listen.
“I knew Koi was seeing one of the young girls from town, and I kept quiet about it. If the fates brought him into this world, maybe it was to bring people together. Koi could see things in people that others couldn’t. ‘Let him be young and in love,’ I said to myself. When his spirit was taken, my first thought was that I had done something to anger the spirits—that I was being punished. But those were selfish thoughts. Koi was not a gift to me; he was a gift to the world.” Her voice quavered, and she wiped a falling tear. “I am sorry that I cannot come to your ceremony.”
Tears welled in my eyes. “No… it’s okay. I understand.”
She took my hand in hers. “But I have a gift, and it is my advice. You’re a young woman with your life ahead of you, and you have no idea how hard your journey will be. A widow’s loss is inconsolable, but a mother’s loss is immeasurable. The greatest thing you can do in this life is give. Give life, give your love, your compassion, and even forgiveness. When you begin taking more than you give, your life will fall out of balance. Remember that.”
The woman could have spat in my face and cursed my presence. She could have hated my kind or blamed me for the death of her son. But instead, she offered compassion and acceptance.
Humbled, I stood up and bowed. “Thank you for your wisdom. I’ll take everything you’ve said to heart.”
She forged a smile before turning her gaze toward the trees.
I finally understood why Hope was such a levelheaded woman. You couldn’t help but absorb tribal wisdom, and her parents were very adamant about teaching her their ways. Meanwhile, my parents had taught me things like how to tune a guitar and why I should never bend over in a Shifter bar.
Koi’s mother reminded me that I needed to get ready for the mating ceremony. Since Shikoba had invited me to stay inside the main house earlier, I decided to sneak off to a bathroom and wash my feet, which were dirty after traipsing through the woods. Not to mention I’d worked up a sweat.
When I couldn’t find a bathroom downstairs, I tiptoed up a curved staircase and turned down the first hall on the right. All the doors were closed, and I wasn’t about to walk in on someone’s nooky time. A short, round woman emerged from a door on the right and waved me over, gesturing for me to go in. Once inside, she shut me in.
My jaw dropped.
This bathroom made mine look like a dump. The floors were made from small tiles of different sizes and shades of gold, and the way the candlelight reflected off them was absolutely sumptuous. Candles were everywhere. I stepped onto