Slade (24 page)

She would have been lost to her grief long before now if she hadn’t had him to lean on. She needed him. And wanted him in her life forever. Not just for today.

Kate straightened up, putting space between them as she wiped at her eyes. She had to get control over her wayward emotions.

“Sorry,” she whispered, not looking at Slade. “I never fall apart like this.”

“You’re entitled.” He was so kind, though she bet he didn’t often have weeping women slobbering all over him. Most men ran from the sight of women’s tears. “You’ve had a rough couple of days.”

“So have you,” she countered. “And you’re not crying.”

“I’m crying on the inside,” he answered, shocking her gaze up to meet his. There was only a small twinkle in his hypnotic blue eyes. He was serious. At least in part.
He made her smile, even through her tears.

“You’re a heck of a guy, Slade.” She had to marvel at his resilience, his strength, his magic. Which reminded her… “And a snow leopard? But I saw your black leopard form and it looked different. Is that even possible?”

“We call them snowcats and my great-grandmother is one. The other side of my heritage is the black leopard you saw first, but in me, something is a little different than in most mixed-heritage shifters. I have both the snowcat and the leopard in my soul. Somehow, they get along. But I don’t let the snowcat out often. Other shifters tend to react strangely to it.”

“Snowcats are holy men, I’ve heard. Tibetan mystics. They’re revered among shifters, aren’t they?” She was feeling steadier as their conversation helped distract her from her grief. She loved learning about shifters—especially Slade, in particular.

“Yeah,” he sighed. “It can get a little difficult sometimes. They seem to expect me to know all the secrets of the universe and I’m more a man of action than contemplation.”

“
The snowcat must be part of you for a reason,” she insisted, not quite knowing where the wisdom was coming from, but it felt right. Sometimes it happened that way. She knew things without knowing how she knew them.

“If you say so. Personally, I think it’s the magic that attracted it. I was born with more magic than most of my family, though a few of them are snowcats too. The snowcat tends to
show up a few times in each generation of my family, but there’s more than one like me—with both snowcat and leopard. We’re a little different than most shifters.”

“You can say that again.” She smiled as she rested her head lightly on his shoulder. They were still in each other’s arms, sitting on the grass, the night wind blowing softly against her cheek. “You’re a very special man, Slade.”

“I hope you mean that.” Suddenly there was a new intensity in his voice that made her look up into his eyes, so close to her own.

“Why?” Her voice was the breath of a whisper in the stillness of the night. It was as if the whole world paused to watch what might happen in the next few moments.

“I love you, Kate. I want you to be with me always. You are my mate.”

Kate didn’t hear much beyond his first three words. So simple. So life-altering. A smile blossomed out from within and tears started forming behind her eyes again.
Happy tears this time.

“I love you too.”

The intense blue of his eyes flared even higher as her softly spoken words seemed to penetrate.

“You do? So soon? I thought it took longer for humans to decide such things.”

“Maybe it does, but I think I fell in love with you the moment we met,” she admitted shyly.

“Me too,” he agreed with both enthusiasm and joyful laughter. “I thought that only happened to shifters.
I know I’ve never felt this way before. And I never will feel like this about any other female. You’re the only one for me, Kate, if you’ll have me.”

“If? Oh, Slade, there’s no question. I’m yours if you want me.”

“No
ifs
on my side either, my dearest love.” His arms tightened around her as his head lowered. “I love you for all time,” he breathed, his lips against hers before he claimed her in the first kiss of the rest of their lives.

Kate wasn’t sure how they got back to her place. She remembered holding hands as they walked to the curb and then a short drive and then…delicious chaos as Slade lifted her off her feet and carried her not only into her home, but up the stairs and straight into her bedroom.

He looked around approvingly before placing her on the queen sized bed. “I like the décor in here better.”

“What? You don’t enjoy grandma flowers for everyday living?” She laughed with him as they both began to take off their clothes.

“While
my
grandma—and
great
-grandma—will love it, I’m sure, I prefer something a little more modern. I like what you’ve done here. It looks green and growing. Feminine but not overpoweringly so.”

She was surprised and pleased by his comments. She’d chosen the dark green design out of all the ones she’d seen at the store because the green vines with the occasional small blue flower
s attracted her eye from the first moment she’d seen it. The print coordinated with dark, forest green sheets and blue accent pillows and furniture. The walls were a neutral cream color, trimmed with dashes of periwinkle and deeper blue here and there.

She loved the way the room had come out and enjoyed her personal sanctuary. It made her happy to think Slade liked it too.

“Wait. Did you say your great-grandmother?”

“Yep.” Slade shrugged out of his shirt and came over to sit on the bed beside her, drawing her close. “She taught me everything I learned about magic before I was twelve. I know she’ll come running the moment she learns I’ve finally found my mate.
Be prepared. The entire Clan will descend upon us if I don’t take you home for a visit at the earliest opportunity.”

“Really?” Kate felt her heart fill with both hope and fear. She’d never had a family before. The prospect was both amazing and daunting. “Do you think they’ll like me? I mean, I’m not a shifter.”

Slade lowered his head to kiss her lips once, very gently. “They will love you because you’re the only woman in the world who can complete me. They will love your kind heart and gentle ways. Your fierce courage and Goddess-given magic. How could they not, when I love you with all my being? They’ll see what I see when I look at you.” He kissed her again, this time with more passion. “They will see a bright and loving future for not only us, but for the Clan. Great-grandmother will especially love the fact that you are a priestess.”

“I hope you’re right.” She bit her lip nervously, but Slade kissed her again, taking her lip between his own teeth for a quick, painless nip before letting her go again.

“Trust me, kitten. I know them as well as I know myself. Eventually, you will too. Snowcats live a very long time. You’ll have centuries to get used to them.”

“Centuries?” She pushed against his shoulders, needing to check that she’d heard him correctly.

Slade smiled at her. “Yeah.” He looked a little chagrinned. “It’s not widely known, but all that magic snowcats have…well, it brings with it a few perks. One of them is a longer life span for us and most of the time, for our chosen mates as well. I can already feel the way our magics are joining and twining, can’t you?”

“I—” She’d noticed the meshing of their magics, but hadn’t quite known what it could mean. The very idea of what he was suggesting boggled her mind.

“It’s okay. We have the rest of our lives to figure it out.” He kissed her again and pushed her back on the soft bed, coming over her to block out the soft glow of the light fixture on the ceiling.

He made love to her slowly. Gently demonstrating his love for her in the most sensuous way possible. He brought her to climax t
wice before joining her in bliss, then did it all over again.

Predictably, after the tumult of the night before, Slade and Kate slept in the next morning. They had just enjoyed a leisurely climax or two and were starting to make brunch in the kitchen downstairs when the doorbell rang.

Slade was flipping pancakes when Kate went to answer the door
. He could hear the surprise in her voice as she welcomed the old owl into her home. He reintroduced himself and she invited him to join them in some refreshment, guiding him into the kitchen, which was at the back of the house. Slade added more batter to the griddle and turned to say hello as they entered the room.

“Good to see you again, Johan
.” Slade held out his hand for a quick shake.

The owl’s gray eyes twinkled, taking in the domestic scene. “Likewise,” he answered shortly.

Kate invited him to sit at the kitchen table as Slade served up breakfast. They held off any serious topics of conversation until after they’d eaten the majority of the pile of pancakes and mound of bacon he’d prepared, for which Slade was grateful. He suspected whatever the strange shifter had to say, it would be significant.

“So what brings you here this morning?” Slade finally asked as he downed the last of his pancakes. Kate had finished eating long before the men, and was attentive as she sipped her coffee.

“It is a matter of solving a mystery and bringing news that I hope will be happy.” The owl was as inscrutable as his animal counterpart. “Katherine, what do you know of your birth parents?”

Kate sat up straight in her chair, clearly caught off guard by the question.

“Nothing, really. They died in an accident and I was given to a foster family to raise. It didn’t really work out. The first family was trying to adopt because they’d thought they couldn’t have children of their own, but then the woman got pregnant about two years after taking me in. I was only about three or four when I went to a second family. I stayed with them for a few years before Mr. Samuels died and his wife realized she couldn’t afford to keep me. I went to live with the Baxters next, then the Jeffersons until I turned eighteen. They were nice and we still keep in touch from time to time, but they raised about twenty different kids over the years and they don’t know anything about my religious beliefs. They are fundamentalists and I’d rather not upset them.” She looked down and away as if ashamed of her lack of any real connection to a parental figure.

Johan sighed. “I’m sorry, child. I had no idea until recently how tough you had it. To my shame, I had no idea until a few weeks ago that you
even existed. You see, my daughter, Renee, married a mage named Albert. The Clan did not like Albert and felt he had only married Renee in order to gain our knowledge. I will never be certain of the truth of that, but I do have my suspicions.” Johan’s gray eyes narrowed, then his expression softened. “Regardless, Renee loved the mage and they ran away together to America. At the time, we were living in Breda. That’s in the Netherlands.”

Kate was intrigued by his story, but didn’t really see what it had to do with her, unless…

“About five years ago, we decided to come to America and see if we could reestablish communication with Renee. I found out recently that both Renee and Albert had died in an accident more than two dozen years ago.” His expression was one of deep sorrow. “I never got to reconcile with my girl and that I will always regret.”

Kate reached out to the older man, putting one hand over his on the table, offering comfort. “You will see her again, one day, and both of your spirits will rejoice.” Of that she had no doubt.

Johan turned his hand over and clasped hers tightly. “Until that time, I would like to make peace with you, Katherine. For I have little doubt, you are the daughter of Renee and Albert. You are my granddaughter.”

Kate was floored by his declaration, but she felt the truth of it as her magic reached out and recognized his.
Their magic was alike in some ways—those subtle ways she had never been able to articulate to her priestess teachers, who had all been human.

She felt tears gather in her eyes to answer the matching wetness she saw in Johan’s gray eyes.

“I—” She had to pause to swallow her emotion. “I feel the truth of your words, but forgive me, I’m kind of astounded. I’ve never had any family before.”

“You do now, if you wish to claim us. You are a member of the Hager Clan of
hibou
shifters.” Johan spoke in softly accented English. His accent seemed to grow stronger when he was more emotional.

“So I have shifter blood after all?” Somehow that idea made her feel so much better about being with Slade. She wasn’t just a weak human with a little magic. She was part shifter too. Wouldn’t that make her more acceptable to his Clan?

But now she had a Clan of her own. Goddess be praised. This was turning out to be one of the happiest days of her life. Coming on the heels of such tragedy and one of the scariest things she’d ever participated in, this was like some huge reward—not only a life mate, but a long-lost family too?

“You are half
hibou
and half mage. You come by your magic from both sides of your heritage.”

“I can’t shift,” she stated baldly. He had to realize she wasn’t a shifter.

“That doesn’t make you any less my granddaughter. I’m sorry it took me so long to realize it. You would have been raised among your cousins and the rest of the Clan if we had known you were out there.”