“Good. We’re moved in and mostly unpacked. We’ve got furniture that needs to be delivered. Fox hasn’t decided on a design for his greenhouse yet, but we’re not looking to break ground on it until early March.”
“Will you be able to get anything planted for next season?”
Winter shrugged. “Probably. Right now, he’s got this crazy idea that he wants to landscape all of our yard himself using deadly plants.” Winter shoved a hand through his thick hair. “I have no idea what that even means, but it scares me.”
Aiden grinned. “Yeah, definitely sounds scary. And the tunnel?”
Winter brightened, his smile returning. “Fully operational. We’ve used it several times during the day to travel back and forth.” Winter paused, a strange smirk forming on his lips.
“What?” Aiden prodded.
“Fox and River like swapping food and recipes. Fox has recently come to the painful realization that he does not have the metabolism of a shifter.”
“Gained some weight?” Aiden said, struggling not to laugh.
“Just a little, but it has required him to go up a size in pants. For a guy who never gains weight, it was a harsh reality check. I think he’s perfect, but he’s not happy. He’s been sending healthy food and recipes to River, and the wolf isn’t amused.”
“Wyatt’s and Bel’s responses?”
“Laughing their damn asses off at River.”
Winter shook his head, and Aiden finally let out the laugh that he’d been trying to hold in. “Poor Fox. Trapped between vampires who don’t eat and wolves who burn off everything they eat almost instantly. We’re screwing with his sense of normal.”
“True. I’m keeping an eye on him. I don’t want him to swing to the other extreme of not eating. I want my Fox to stay healthy for as long as possible.” Winter’s expression immediately became dark, his brows meeting over his nose and his lips turning down in a frown. There was no asking what new thought clouded Winter’s face. Fox’s mortality. It was a thought that troubled Bel here and there.
As vampires, they didn’t age. Existence would stretch on and on for them. Werewolves aged at a much slower rate, but they did age. Werewolves could be changed into vampires, but it was a very tricky and dangerous process. They also lost their ability to shift.
Fox’s lifespan as a witch, assuming he didn’t die in a car accident or vampire assassination attempt, was unknown. Zelda was hundreds of years old, but she was also incredibly powerful. Fox had no interest in becoming a powerful witch like Zelda, which meant that he was aging and would one day, far too soon, die.
“Have you talked to him about it?” Aiden asked. There was no need to clarify. His son would know.
Winter sighed heavily. “Fox has had a couple of conversations with Zelda and confirmed that a witch can be turned into a vampire. It’s only been done a few times that she knows of, but she doesn’t know of any cases where a witch retained their ability to use magic.”
“He’s against being turned?”
“No, but he obviously wants to wait. He wants to learn some more magic, play with it a bit. I’ve told him that my love isn’t contingent upon him being young. I’ll love him no matter how he looks—old, young, fat, skinny. Doesn’t matter to me.”
“But you want him safe, and humans are fragile.”
“Yes!” Winter snapped, clenching both of his fists in front of him. They shook for a moment and Aiden could easily imagine Winter wanting to shake some sense into his mate. He released a loud breath and dropped his hands back to his lap. “But he’s at least willing to discuss it. He wants to talk to Marcus about it.”
“Marcus?”
A low groan left Winter. “He thinks Marcus will be more logical about it. That they can draw up some kind of guidelines about when he would want to be turned if he’s not conscious or able to relay his desires. As if I can’t be trusted with something like that.”
“Can you be trusted?”
“No, of course not!” Winter said, throwing his arms up in the air. “He’s my mate. If he gets a paper cut, I want to turn him. I want him safe. I want him with me forever.”
Aiden smiled at his son. “Mates can be a conundrum, but I’m sure you and Fox will figure this out.”
Winter’s frown eased a little as his eyes moved to the window where snow flurries were dancing lightly in the darkness. “Any chance you’d be willing to talk about your current conundrum?”
New tension hummed through Aiden’s frame, and it was hard to hold on to his smile. He wanted to redirect it to concerns about the European Ministry or the fact that members of the old MacPherson clan were in town causing problems, but he knew that wasn’t what Winter was referring to.