True Nature (13 page)

“It’s not over, Nana, you can still travel and enjoy yourself.”

“Maybe after a while. I’m thinking about going back to Scotland. Your great aunt Agnes lives in Giffnock. I’m going to stay with her for a while. She’s in our family’s big old home, so there’s plenty of room. It’ll be nice to be with family and visit old friends.”

She wiped the tears off her face with her hands.

Hunter’s chest tightened. It would be like losing both grandparents with his grandmother living so far away. “Are you sure you want to leave the house where you lived with Grandda?”

“It holds nothing but loneliness for me now.” Her words were whispered. “The staff will stay on at the house and maintain it. It’ll be here whenever you’re ready for it. Your grandfather made arrangements to provide everything for them, and for you. He wanted you to have this estate. It’s never been important to your father.”

“Why is that? Why do you think Father is so different from me and Grandda? It’s not just the shifting. Father and I are nothing alike.”

She put her hand on his cheeks. “He’s very much like my own father, reserved and ambitious. When he visited my parents in Scotland, your father would go to town and sit for hours in my father’s office at the bank. He was obviously a very observant child. He has used all he learned at my father’s knee. They don’t think like we do. For them it is all about what you possess, how you appear to the world.”

“He does know how to make money,” Hunter said without affection.

“As did your Grandda,” Isobel said, her voice stern. “And it’s not a bad thing. You resent it because it’s not as important to you, but so many people envy what you’ve always had. Appreciate it and use it wisely. Emulate your grandfather, Hunter. Use what you’ve been given to help others and make Fraser proud.”

She stepped back and nodded at the urn resting on the porch step. “It’s time.”

Hunter was afraid he would give into tears if he tried to talk now. He picked up the urn containing his beloved grandfather’s earthly remains and followed his grandmother to a spot just south of the cabin. The winter sun was beginning to dip in the sky, but it was still strong enough to warm the shadows here.

Isobel took the urn from Hunter, lifted the lid and turned in a slow circle. Fraser’s ashes poured out in a silvery stream. After several moments, his grandmother stopped, bowed her head, and her lips moved soundlessly. She looked up, smiled, peaceful as she handed the urn to Hunter.

He took it, not knowing what he should do or say. But once the container was in his hands, he felt his grandfather. He could feel Fraser’s essence merging with the land he had loved so much.

As the last of the ashes scattered, the emotions Hunter had been holding at bay took over. He dropped the urn to the ground and sobbed.

Isobel enveloped him in a rose-scented hug and let him weep on her shoulder. “It takes a strong man to cry, my grandson. It is good that you loved your grandfather so much.”

Hunter eventually backed away, pulling a white linen handkerchief out of his pocket. His initials were embroidered in the corner. Having a clean handkerchief was something his grandfather had taught him. The older man told Hunter that girls liked it, especially if they cried during a movie and needed it.

When he had composed himself, Isobel put her arm through his, and leaned her head against his shoulder. “We always knew this day would come, Hunter. We Scots are nothing if not practical.”

Her voice became almost businesslike. “Your grandfather’s attorneys know what to do. The estate is set up to provide for you and me and to give Stirling his share, which I’m sure he will continue to invest wisely and increase accordingly. I believe Meagan shares his talent for financial wizardry.”

She pulled back to study him. “You’re the one I’m worried about. You’ve inherited your grandfather’s mantle, his blessing and his curse.”

“The shifting. And the family enemy.” Hunter returned her steady gaze. “You promised you would tell me what I need to know.”

She nodded and stepped away. “I know you don’t realize this, but you’re the only thing Fraser and I truly disagreed about.”

“About me? Why?”

“He wanted you to be carefree as long as you could. He wasn’t able to do that, you see. He had to take up the reins of the family honor.” She looked hard at Hunter. “He had to fight.”

Hunter frowned, not quite following her. “As in physically fight?”

“Sometimes. Leading the MacRaes is a big job. You’re the one who has to continue the line.”

“You’re talking about reproducing, having children—”

“I mean protecting this family. I was furious with Fraser that he hadn’t prepared you for your role as protector. Your father and I argued with him about it many times, but it was no use. He had his own timetable set in his head. He wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“Grandda called me this weekend. He said we needed to talk. I should have come straight here. If I had, he wouldn’t have been alone.”

Isobel shook her head. “He was stubborn and foolhardy at times. You need to learn a lesson from what happened to him. You have to respect Chymera’s daring and strength.”

“Respect that thing we heard screaming last night? Never.”

“You must respect your worst enemy,” his grandmother insisted. “Think about when your grandfather taught you to shift and showed you how to prowl this forest like a king. What did he tell you?”

Hunter closed his eyes, thinking back to those long months here at the cabin, when his first change had come upon him. He remembered the nights he and Fraser had roamed for miles, crossing the territories of other predators. His grandfather taught him to be confident, but to know that a false step, an unguarded moment, could give other creatures the opening they needed.

When he looked back at Isobel, she was smiling. “He taught you well, didn’t he?”

He nodded.

She gestured for him to follow her as she crossed the clearing and back to the cabin’s porch. “It’s time for you to know everything, Hunter. But first, I have a little surprise for you.”

She pulled off her coat and laid it over the wooden banister of the steps. Stretching her arms up, she closed her eyes and the air around her crackled with energy and change. Hunter stood with his mouth gaping as his grandmother became a beautiful snow leopard. Before he could say anything, the air was alive with electricity as she changed back. Seeing Hunter’s face, she burst out laughing and squeezed his arm.

“You look so amazed,” she said, her bright laughter ringing throughout the woods. “It was your grandfather’s idea to keep our secret. Fraser, and now you are the only ones I’ve ever revealed myself to. I do understand how you were trained. He trained me, as well.”

Hunter legs went weak. He rubbed his face with his hands, still not certain of what he’d just seen. “I’m…I’m astonished. How…what?” He stopped and took a deep breath. “Have you always been like this?”

“Your grandfather changed me,” she explained.

Hunter was dumbfounded.

Isobel smiled as she explained, “I became pregnant about three months after your grandfather and I married. We were so happy, so excited, and a little afraid because of his family’s genetic problem. But others in the family had gotten through it—”

“Others?” Hunter sputtered.

“There are many shifters in the MacRae family. Surely you didn’t think you were the only one.”

“But Grandda never told me. He never said—”

“The family is spread throughout the U.S. and Europe. As you know, we have enemies.”

“So we hide?”

“Of course not!” Isobel protested. “How can you say that when your grandfather became such a successful, prominent man here in the U.S?”

“But if there’s a family, isn’t there strength in numbers?”

“Our numbers are dwindling.”

“If Grandda could change you, then why not others?”

She sighed. “It’s not that simple, Hunter. What happened with Fraser and me has rarely been replicated. It happened soon after your father was born.”

She took a seat on the porch steps and gestured for him to sit beside her as she explained, “I had a wonderful pregnancy. Fraser made sure I had whatever I craved. He even sent Shamus’ father Henry into New York one night to get me a piece of the chocolate cake from Sardi’s.”

“I can’t imagine him being so indulgent,” Hunter said.

“He was a marshmallow with me, I admit it, and I shamelessly took advantage of it. When I went into labor, Dr. Connor came out to the house, of course, with his nurse, and Henry’s wife was a midwife, so I had plenty of help. My labor was long and hard, though, and when Stirling was finally born, I was torn badly, and my uterus collapsed. There was a lot of blood. I don’t remember most of it because I passed out, but I do remember the fear in the nurse’s face.

“When I woke, Fraser was connected to me, giving me a transfusion. He literally saved my life. In the next two weeks, I had to have two more transfusions and eventually a hysterectomy. It broke my heart because Fraser and I wanted lots of children. Still, I was glad to be alive.”

“I guess it helped that Dr. Connor knew our family secrets,” Hunter commented.

“Fraser brought him here because of that. And his son who is taking over the practice already knows the truth, as well.”

“Did you feel differently after the transfusions?”

“I felt stronger and much closer to Fraser, but I thought that was because we’d just had a baby and a big scare, and we were both so happy. As the months went along, however, I noticed other things. When he went out to run at night, I wanted to go with him for the first time. He laughed at me and said I was just feeling hormonal.”

“What happened?”

She laughed. “You probably aren’t going to like this, but one night a couple of months later, we were making love. It was always wonderful with your grandfather, but this night was very intense.”

Hunter gritted his teeth. “Do I have to hear this part?”

She patted his arm. “Don’t worry, I’ll spare you the details. This time I felt…I don’t know, electric. I was terrified at first because my body felt on fire. I thought I was dying. Instead, I became a snow leopard. Your grandfather was so frightened that he changed without even realizing it. We stared at each other for a few moments, and then he changed back. He walked me through the process. Then we made love and went for a run together. It was beautiful.”

Her voice softened. “For the first time, I was a part of Fraser’s whole life. We were truly one, and you’re lucky enough to share that trait with us.”

“Oh, yeah,” Hunter said. “I’m the lucky one.”

“Can you imagine your life without the splendor and excitement of becoming a cat?”

Hunter paused, then admitted the truth. “No, no, I can’t.” He stood and leaned in to his grandmother. “You’ve got to tell me one thing.”

“Anything.”

“How do you shift without taking off your clothes?”

Smiling, Isobel put both on her hands on his face. “It’s just mind over matter,
ogha
.” She used the Gaelic word for grandchild. “And it’s magic, just plain magic.”

“Where does the magic come from?”

“I like to think it came from my Celtic ancestors. My great-great-great-grandmother was a white witch. Did you know that?”

“No, I didn’t,” Hunter admitted. “It seems there’s a lot about my family and my gift that I didn’t know.”

“There’s more,” Isobel said. “We have much to teach you.”

“Does that mean I’m going to meet the whole family?”

“In time.” She got to her feet. “You’ll start by listening to me and to Shamus. You’re already the MacRae clan head by birthright. Shamus will be filling in some of the gaps in your education that Fraser neglected.” She lifted a hand, and as if by magic, his grandfather’s devoted servant appeared at the edge of the woods, his rifle at the ready.

As Hunter watched, other men and women melted out of the forest. He recognized the faces. These were the people who worked on the estate and lived in the town nearby. They were old, young, and middle-aged. He had known them all of his life. Taken them for granted, really, as just part of his grandparents’ home in the mountains.

“We’re here to protect you now.” Shamus stepped forward.

Hunter looked helplessly at his grandmother and then back at the two dozen or so men and women who stood in a semi-circle. All of them were armed. Many were looking over their shoulders, obviously on alert. Surely this was a joke.

He was about to wisecrack about having his own private Secret Service. But one of the younger men caught his eye. Evan Egan was his name. He was around Hunter’s age. Hunter also recognized Evan’s older brother, Craig, who was Shamus’s second-in-command. Hunter remembered Craig and Evan from summers he had spent here when he was a child. Now, something in Evan’s gaze made Hunter bite back the witticism on his lips.

“It’s late,” Shamus said. “We need to get back to the main house.”

Hunter’s feline senses prickled to life. While he and his grandmother had talked, the afternoon’s shadows had lengthened. It wasn’t safe out here. No matter that Nana could change into a leopard capable of tearing out a man’s throat—

A cat’s scream broke into Hunter’s thoughts. It was the same horrible sound that had intruded on his family last night. He was reminded that this was no man. This was monster.

He gestured toward Evan. “Take my grandmother home. Quickly.”

But it was Craig who came forward to escort Isobel to the ATV. She murmured a word of caution to Hunter, but followed Craig without hesitation. The ATV headed off with about half of the guards as well. In moments, the engines of other vehicles came to life in the forest.

Hunter scowled at Evan. “Why didn’t you take my grandmother?”

“Evan stays by your side,” Shamus said. “As do I. You are the MacRae, and we are sworn to serve you.”

“She is part of me.”

“Part of all of us. Craig would lay down his life for her, as would the others. But for now, you want to hunt Chymera. And we’re here to help you.”

Hunter realized that the lessons his grandmother had mentioned were about to begin. He was about to take his grandfather’s place. Anticipation quickened inside him. “Let’s find the bastard. I’ll lead.”