Change (The Shape Shifter Series) (6 page)

Sofia backed away.
“I thought we might have a rather different welcoming committee,” she said coldly. “What is this?” She gestured around her. “If I had known things are like this here I would’ve stayed the hell away.”

Her mother stood straight, weighing her up with her eyes
, but remained silent.

Sofia lifted her chin defiantly. “I think it was a huge mistake to come here.” Her mother didn’t move and Sofia turned to Tiamhaidh. “We should leave.”

“Don't,” the woman said quickly.

Sofia stopped and turned slowly. Her mother looked around her and raised her voice. “This is my daughter,” she said and pointed at Sofia. “And this…” A soft smile played on her lips. “…
is my granddaughter.” She looked at Marie for a moment. “They are my flesh and blood, and I expect you to treat them as such. If you raise up against them, you raise up against me. Is that clear?”

The crowd muttered quietly and no one dared meet their alpha’s eyes.

“Is that clear, I asked!” Her voice held a threat and Sofia could see people slowly starting to nod around them and the wall of hatred beginning to crack. Her mother bowed her head, pleased, and turned back to Sofia.

Sofia stared at her demandingly and her mother smiled at her, turning her palms towards her as a peace offering. Sofia crinkled her nose and turned her head away.

Her mother sighed deeply. “I'm sorry, child. This is not what I expected either, and believe me when I say I wanted to come and meet you at the airport, but something came up and I couldn’t.” She looked as if she wanted to say more but decided not to, and before Sofia had a chance to say anything, she touched her arm and whispered slowly, “Can you forgive me?”

Sofia stared at her and wanted to be angry, but she couldn't. Her mom had never been evil, and whatever happened earlier today couldn't be her fault. If she said she couldn't come, there must have been something really urgent and important that required her attention. After all, she was one of the leaders. She nodded slowly and her mother stepped closer. She touched Sofia's face and hair as Sofia stood stiffly, but slowly Sofia's heart started to melt and she felt all the knots around it
opening. She sniffed quietly and let her mom pull her into her warm arms.

Marie stared at her mom and the graceful-looking older woman who was embracing her tightly. That was her grandmother, she thought with pride. She didn't think of all those years her grandmother had decided to stay out of her life. She didn't remember the moments she had needed her. No, she only lived in this moment and let her eyes rest on the woman's brown hair, which gleamed in the sun. She looked so fragile, and yet Marie could see that there was strength in her. Her voice was as soft as the wind and yet it was full of steel.
Her eyes were like warm, delicious chocolate, with an edge, so sharp and bright. Marie knew her grandmother could sense her watching, but she didn't turn to look at her and didn't seem bothered about her gaze.

A slow smile spread across Marie's face and she leaned on Tiamhaidh.
“Look at them,” she whispered. “Don't they look wonderful together?”

Tiamhaidh nodded absentmindedly and looked quickly at Marie.
She looked more like herself than she had for a long time. He
looked at her again and knelt next to her wheelchair. “Are you all right, mo gaol?”

She nodded. “I think so.”

“You’re not feeling strange or something? Like a seizure coming?”

She shook her head slowly and smiled. How could she explain the way she was feeling? Sure, she’d felt the suffocating hate around her and heard the mumbled protests, but somehow the presence of so many shape shifters had managed to lift the mist-veil in her head and she felt better than she had in months. Actually, she was pretty sure that if she tried she could reach his mind again.
Maybe not fully, but at least partly, and after weeks of isolation even a little would be enough. However, Tiamhaidh was looking at her with such concern that she didn’t want to shock him or herself, in case their mind connection wouldn’t work after all.

Tiamhaidh looked at Sofia strangely, and their eyes met. Slowly, she broke away from her mother's arms and looked at Marie. At first she didn't notice anything different,
but when she took a closer look she noticed that the lost look in her eyes had disappeared. They looked clear and observant. Healthy, Sofia thought. Had the healing already started? Was it this place or these people who made it happen? She smiled brightly. Marie's forest-green eyes gleamed slightly yellow, and Sofia blessed Adam in her mind. He was the first to notice the strange color in Marie's eyes. It was his thought that she might change a bit every time a seizure hit her. But Marie was fine now. Even though her eyes were not completely human. She wasn't convulsing and there were no signs of a seizure. Maybe she is like me after all, Sofia thought. Maybe she is a shape shifter and belongs here. Her children were the first ever to be born out of an alliance between a human and a shape shifter, so no one knew what they were or what they could become. Clarissa had become a shape shifter, so why couldn't Marie? Even now as Marie was surrounded by hostile shape shifters, she looked like she belonged. A fragile young girl in a wheelchair whose hands were trembling in excitement and whose slightly wolfish eyes glanced around expectantly.

Sofia took a step towards her, but Tiamhaidh shook his head slightly. Sofia was confused. But when Tiamhaidh nodded in Marie's direction, she stopped. Marie was looking around with wondering eyes like she had never seen the world before. Tiamhaidh was right. This was her moment. Sofia would have plenty of time later to introduce her world to Marie.

Marie hadn't expected that a meeting of two completely different worlds would be easy, but as it was her only chance to survive, she was ready to face anything if it could help her. She couldn't get why she felt such a strong bond with this place. She had missed this.
These people and this place. Even if she hadn't known them before, she had missed this. Erag and Isabel had started things the wrong way, but Marie didn't mind. They were probably just protecting their own. She was a mystery. A human that wasn't completely human. Maybe not a shape shifter, but something strange. So no wonder they hated her. She could sense fear under their hate and she felt compassion for them. She had intruded on their territory. Yes, she had been invited there, but that didn't mean she was accepted.

Marie looked at her mom and her grandma again.
How similar they looked. Both were protecting their own territory and Marie bet that they didn't even realize their signs were copies of one another. Mom's body language told everyone to stay back. She was protecting her pack with her own energy and grandmother was protecting the shape shifters around them. Marie smiled ruefully. Did she really look like she was a threat to anyone? She glanced at the man behind her grandmother and he smiled cautiously at her. He looked frightening, but his dark eyes looked at her gently. She smiled back. She had no idea that this man rarely smiled, and maybe because of it she let go of Tiamhaidh and got up from her wheelchair. She took a hesitant step towards the man and staggered. He leaped towards her instantly and she looked at him apologetically.

“Oops.”

He steadied her, and his big hands looked huge on her narrow shoulders. Their eyes locked and she saw astonishment in his. He looked at her as if he had never seen anything so amazing, and that made her blush. When he was sure she’d manage to stand on her own he let go of her, slowly, and touched her cheek.

She swallowed. “Grandpa?”

He nodded and blinked away tears. She reached for him and wiped a tear from his weather-beaten face. That was too much for him. He groaned and gathered her fragile body into his bear-like arms. She pressed her head against his warm chest and he held her tighter. This was her grandfather, she thought and sniffed, and she was his legacy.

“Beag eun,” he whispered into her hair, his eyes challenging the other shape shifters.
             

The others bowed their heads slightly. No one was brave enough to take on his challenge. The leader of the elders had accepted his half-blooded grandchild without question, so the others had to accept her, too. One by one they turned their eyes from Marie and moved away from her.

Sofia had watched their meeting, mesmerized. She felt guilty seeing them together. I should’ve come sooner, she thought. But it was too late to cry about it now. She braced herself and prepared to face her father. Forgetting her mother completely, she took a step closer and tugged at her father's sleeve. “Father.”

He turned his dark golden-brown eyes on her. She grinned wickedly. He flashed his teeth and gently let go of Marie. Sofia backed away but kept her gleaming eyes on his. He approached her with a dangerous look in his eyes. She yelped.             

“You,” he said slowly. “I should be spanking your bottom for running away from home.”

Her lips twitched and she shrugged.

“No father should have as bad a girl as you've been.” His eyes narrowed and he grabbed her hands.

She screamed as he clutched her in his arms. He spun her around the parking lot and she giggled like a little girl.

Finally, he stopped and kissed her golden-brown hair. “I've missed you so much, mo nighean.”

“Athair,” Sofia sighed. “I've missed you, too.” God, how she had missed her father. He was her father, no matter what form he was in, and in his arms she could truly believe that Marie could heal. He would do anything to make her happy. She knew that he had wanted her to come home earlier and yet he didn't blame her in any way. The day Gunward had gone mad and started to kill little children she should've come home instead of running. Her place was with her family; she got it now. But on the other hand, if she had stayed, she wouldn't have met David.

The second David's name popped into Sofia's mind, her father turned and stared curiously at the tall blond man who stood next to Tiamhaidh. The man stared back without blinking, his back straight. Sofia felt her father moving away from her.

“Baz,” he said and held his hand out to David.

“David.”

Everyone was now looking at them. If they were waiting for a fight, it never came. They looked at each other in good spirits. They were nearly the same height and both were more sinewy than muscular. Narrow hips widening into strong shoulders. Their postures were almost military and everything about them showed excellent body control. The younger man's blue eyes looked warily at the older man's golden-brown ones, which twinkled in amusement. Baz knew that David expected him to dislike him. After all, he was just a mortal human. But David didn't know how much he loved and respected his daughter. If Sofia had chosen this human to be her partner, he would accept him as well.

“You could've chosen worse,” Baz grunted eventually and turned to grab Marie's hand. He gestured to his wife and she turned
, smiling.

With one leap she was next to Marie and was touching her hair and face gently. “Mo leanabh, my sweet child,” she murmured quietly.

Baz smiled. “Marie, this is Faol, your grandmother.”

“Faol.” Marie tasted the word in her mouth. It felt right and she smiled carefully at her.

Faol breathed, pleased, and kissed her hair. Her eyes met Baz’s and flashed approvingly. He took Marie’s hand and started to lead her away from the others. She had no choice but to follow her grandparents and hope that the others would follow them, too. Her feet felt wobbly. She glanced at her wheelchair longingly. No one noticed it. It was like she had never been in a wheelchair. Everyone expected her to walk and to be strong. After all, she was Sofia's daughter and her grandparents were the leaders of the elders. Still, at least Tiamhaidh should've said something.

Baz looked at her and smiled encouragingly. Marie sighed.
What the heck. She would try. Hopefully, someone would carry her if she failed.

Baz led her to a tiny mountain path that headed straight up to a place where a small forest hid a couple of dark timber houses. Her first thought was that they could never fit into those houses. Not all of them. Then she realized that most of the people she had seen hadn't followed. How stupid of her! They probably lived in the mountains and usually walked on four legs. They had shifted into their human forms just because of her. She didn't know why they had done it. They didn't like her and if they had appeared in front of her as wolves they could've scared her more.

“Welcome to our home,” Faol said, interrupting her thoughts.

They had stopped in front of one of the houses and she held the door open for her, but Marie hesitated. She glanced behind and Sofia nodded at her encouragingly. 

“Thanks,” she muttered and stepped in.

The house was amazing. The huge windows that reached from the top to bottom created the illusion of the sky and the soil uniting together, opening to the unbelievably amazing view of a crystal-clear lake. The mountains bordering the lake seemed to embrace it, and when Marie looked at the view from the other windows she became dizzy. Every single window offered a view of the lake and the mountains, or the forest and the mountains, so she really felt she was part of nature.