Fated, page 14
“Me.” I bumped him back and purred louder.
He licked my cheek and I licked him back with my rougher cat tongue. If Remington wasn’t carrying Starry in his jaws, I’m sure he would’ve groaned in exasperation at our PDA.
“Fascinating that you two are different species, yet you can still be mates,” Nishiki remarked. His breathing was quickened, since he had to keep pace with the rest of us on four legs, but I was surprised to see he managed quite well. He was a fit young alpha, no matter what form he took. “There’s obviously a lot I have to learn.”
“You’ll get the hang of it,” Sage promised.
It was evening by the time we reached town, giving us the stealth advantage. As usual, we rounded back around Remington’s manor, which loomed at the very edge of the town.
“I want to check inside, just in case he’s still here,” Remington said out of the corners of his mouth. He sounded so silly speaking from around kitten scruff that Sage giggled. “What?”
“Nothing.”
Remington took the lead, so he handed Starry to me. She hung adorably in my jaws and didn’t make a peep, almost as if she enjoyed being carried around. After listening for any sign of life, Remington slipped into the side door. Or at least, it used to be a door. It had been shattered to splinters. Remington gave me a look.
“Sorry,” I mumbled. “It was the heat of the moment.”
Now it was Sage’s turn to giggle at my funny-sounding voice instead.
Remington sighed and stepped inside, careful not to get a splinter in his paws. Sage bounded in beside him and took a moment to scent the air.
“I can still smell Nero,” Sage announced. “I don’t think it’s recent, but I definitely recognize it.”
“But that was months ago,” Nishiki said, surprised. “You can still sense it?”
Sage nodded and gestured to the floor. “His sweat is still here, dried in the floorboards. It had a distinct fear-scent. I didn’t notice it at the time since I was busy struggling with my heat.”
I winced. I probably hadn’t noticed it because I was distracted by it as well. Sage’s heat scent smothered everything else and turned my brain to mush.
“That’s kind of gross, but indeed helpful,” Nishiki remarked.
Sage pawed at the floor, as if trying to unearth more notes. “Hm… There’s nothing recent. I’m guessing he left after he woke up from you knocking him out, Xander.”
Nishiki shot me a glance and I winced again.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
He sighed, thankfully sounding more amused than angry. “It’s all right. It wouldn’t be the first time he’s gotten into trouble.”
“There is a scent trail that leads outside,” Sage said. “Two, actually. One that goes into town and the other going out of it. The first must be when Xander carried Nero outside.”
“I smell them, too. I’ll go follow the one leading outside,” Remington suggested. “You guys check the one in town.”
We agreed and split up. As we approached the town, I stuck close to Sage. I didn’t expect much trouble, and certainly nothing we couldn’t easily deal with, but my instinct to protect him flared up. Maybe it was being reminded of the night we met. I rested my tail over his back as we walked to let him know I was there for him.
“I can’t believe your friend Remington is the rumored werewolf,” Nishiki murmured. “Mother was right after all.”
Sage chuckled. “Yup. She’s right about a lot of things. He’s actually the one who introduced us to her, so it’s because of Remington that we know Dr. Pine at all.”
“I’ll have to thank him for that later,” Nishiki said with a smile.
As if on cue, a heavily breathing Remington caught up with us. He’d obviously run back as fast as he could.
“Nero’s scent trail stopped at the river behind the manor,” Remington told us, panting. “It’s a clean loop, there and back.”
“The river was a dead end, huh?” Sage stopped suddenly. “Wait. I smell…something.”
We paused in silence as Sage scented the air. The air was cool and the humans were huddled in their dens for the night, with only a few streetlamps lighting the path.
Sage abruptly darted to the left. We followed closely, trying to keep quiet as Sage led us around the back of a small human home. There was a large tree in the yard with a large pond at its base. I narrowed my eyes. There was an odd metal grate on top of the pond.
I quickly glanced to the home. All the lights were off, indicating the household was asleep. The only light was the stars and moon above us.
“Here!” Sage called quietly.
The four of us gathered around the grated pond. As soon as I gazed into the water, I gasped.
Swimming below the metal grate was a small gray shark.
“What the hell?” I muttered.
“This is where the scent trail leads,” Sage said in confusion. “Does that mean…?”
“That can’t be Nero,” Nishiki said, shaking his head.
Starry, who had been placed on the ground, watched with great interest as the shark swam in angry circles. While the rest of us weren’t paying attention, she reached her paw down to touch the surface of the water.
Sage gasped. “Starry, no—”
Our daughter, ever the curious kitten, slapped the water with her paw. The sudden disruption startled the shark and it leapt into the air, hitting the grate.
“Ow!”
All of us froze. That was definitely a man’s voice coming from the shark.
“Nero?” Nishiki demanded. He grabbed the grate but wasn’t strong enough to remove it himself. I shifted to help him, and with both our strength, the grate flew off.
The shark—Nero—raised his head above the surface, just enough that his gills were still inside the water.
“Nishiki!” Nero gasped. I couldn’t read his fishy expression, but from the sound of his voice, he sounded deeply relieved. “You changed back!”
“And you—became a shark? For some reason?” His brother sighed. “Why is this happening to us?”
“I can’t change back!” Nero exclaimed.
I looked at Remington. It wasn’t fun, but maybe we could help Nero the same way we helped Nishiki.
“We know how to change you back to human form,” I said. “But it might be uncomfortable. We’re going to take you out of the water.”
“I don’t care, do anything, please!” Nero cried.
“Nishiki, can you help me?” I asked.
Together we reached down to pull Nero from the water. He wriggled a bit on land, his skin rough on my hands, then his gills began to flare. He made a wet gasping sound before—
He shifted into a man, soaking wet.
The same man we’d run into at the manor that fateful night.
“Yay! We did it!” Sage called. As soon as Sage cheered, the light in the house went on, followed by confused human voices. “Oh, crap.”
Nishiki helped his twin to his feet and we took off running, not stopping until we hit the river behind the manor. All of us took a break to catch our breath. As soon as they caught theirs, Nishiki and Nero gave each other a brotherly hug.
“I was so worried!” Nishiki cried. “I had no idea where you were, or what happened to you!”
“Me too,” Nero said, not bothering to wipe the water trickling down his face. “When you suddenly changed into a fish, I had no idea what to do. I panicked and put you in this river, and that was the last time I saw you.” Water rimmed his eyes, but it wasn’t from the pond—they were tears. “I thought I’d lost you the same way we lost mom…”
“Oh, please don’t cry. I’m here now. And it’s all thanks to them! These are the people who saved me,” Nishiki told him, gesturing to us.
Nero glanced over, then paused. He scented the air. I suddenly realized that with his shift into a shark, his overall sense of smell must’ve increased tenfold.
“Wait a second,” he muttered. “I know you.”
I had no defense, and I didn’t want one. I owed Nero an apology. I bowed my head, then shifted into my mountain lion form to confirm his suspicion. “Yes. You do.”
Nero backed up, but his brother caught him.
“No, no, it’s okay,” Nishiki reassured him. “Xander’s not dangerous.”
“Um, this damn mountain lion knocked me the hell out months ago!”
“He did do that,” Sage agreed with a sympathetic nod. He shifted to human form, just as he’d been in that night, so Nero could see his human form, and when he did, recognition flickered in his confused eyes.
“You… you’re the omega, right?” Nero asked quietly.
“Yup!”
I changed back to become a man so as not to be rude while speaking to him. “I’m sorry, Nero. What happened that night was a huge misunderstanding on my part. I was rash and overly aggressive when I didn’t need to be.”
Nero blinked at me. To say he was confused was an understatement. “Um, I don’t really get it, but thanks, I guess? By the way, why are you sometimes a cat?”
Sage laughed. “The same reason you’re sometimes a shark! You’re a shifter, just like Nishiki, and all of us.” He pulled Starry into his lap so Nero knew our daughter was included as well.
“I have a headache,” Nero said with a groan. “After you knocked me out, I don’t remember anything except waking up in that pond. Which was disgusting, by the way.”
“Since Nishiki’s first shift happened earlier, yours must have followed soon after. Someone in town must have found you shifted as a shark and decided to keep you as a pet,” Remington mused. “Which is ironic, since you would’ve just changed back if they kept you out of the water.”
Nero sighed. “None of this makes any sense to me, but I’m sure it will once my head’s not pounding…”
“Then you’re not mad at us?” Sage asked hopefully.
“Not really, but…” Nero raised a brow at me. “Why did you attack me, anyway?”
Shame made me hang my head. “I thought you were going to hurt my fated mate. I’m sorry.”
“Fated…?” Nero shook his head, deciding not to think about it too hard right now. “Anyway, I wasn’t. I was looking for information on changing into animals, or werewolves, or anything like that.”
“So that’s why you were in the library,” Remington said.
Nero nodded. “That was right after I had to put Nishiki, who randomly became a fish, in the river. So I was panicking. I didn’t know what to do. And then this naked man shows up out of nowhere, and he smelled… good? For some reason? It was like someone cranked my scent sense up to 100.”
I put my arm proudly around Sage, who chuckled at my overly alpha-ish behavior.
“These people can explain all that to you,” Nishiki told his brother. He was nearly bursting with excitement from what he wanted to say next. “But that’s not everything. Nero, they found her!”
“Mom?” Nero asked quietly, like he couldn’t believe it.
“Yup! We all know her,” Sage said with a grin. “We can take you straight there, if you want!”
Emotion filled Nero’s eyes. I felt so much regret, in hindsight, for misunderstanding him. He was just a man searching for his family, the same as I’d been doing my whole life. Perhaps we were more similar than I’d thought.
“I want to go now, but…” Nero glanced at Starry, who was nodding off in Sage’s lap. The night’s excitement had finally caught up to her. “Your kitten, um, seems to be tired.”
Nishiki leaned in and said, “Er, the kitten is actually their daughter. Long story.”
“O…kay.”
“But I’m tired, too, if I’m being honest. Keeping up with all you four-legged shifters was a struggle.” Nishiki yawned. “I’m fine spending the night here first.”
It was settled. Nishiki and Nero, reunited after months, went off in their own little corner. Sage and I found a small alcove nearby to rest with Starry, while Remington found a space in the middle.
Sage nestled up into me as a wolf, with Starry curled up at his belly. I spooned him from behind as a man, a position we both enjoyed.
“Tonight was wild,” Sage murmured.
“It was.”
“But y’know, Xander, I’m really proud of you.”
I blushed. “Why?”
“’cause the Xander I first met never would’ve apologized like that. You would’ve been like grr, I’m gonna bite your head off instead.”
“I was not that bad.”
“You totally were.”
Starry mewled.
“See?” Sage said, grinning. “Even our baby agrees with me.”
I snorted a laugh. “She didn’t know me back then. She doesn’t get a vote.”
With a big smile, Sage licked my cheek. “Well, I’m glad you’re the alpha she deserves.”
I was glad about that, too.
19
Sage
After Remington fetched Nero a pair of clothes—what was with these used-to-be-humans and hating to be naked?—we set off on our epic quest. Starry must’ve been feeding off my excited energy because she kept meowing at everything we saw.
When we reached the edge of the canyon, Nero and Nishiki went silent.
“Mother… lives here?” Nishiki asked.
Nero snorted, then smirked affectionately. “Are you really that surprised? I’m not. She was always batty.”
“True,” Nishiki admitted with a sigh. “By the way, if either of us suddenly shift…”
“You’ll be fine,” Remington told him. “Remember what happened before? If you’re in fish form and out of water, your body automatically shifts to save you.”
“Fish,” Nero muttered. “I can’t believe we shift into fish, of all things…”
When we got inside the canyon and it was safe, I put Starry down to explore. With her accelerated shifter growth, she was strong enough on her feet to walk on her own for a while. Xander watched her prowl around on her big baby paws with a smile.
“Hope there’s no wildebeest stampede down here, huh?” Nero said.
Nishiki elbowed him hard and hissed, “Nero!”
“What? I’m joking!”
Oblivious, Xander and I shrugged at each other while Remington let out a groan. We didn’t ask.
After a while of silent travel, I broke the quiet. “Are you guys excited? Ooh, on a scale of one to ten, how stoked are you?”
“Quite!” Nishiki said.
Nero stayed quiet, chewing his lip. He seemed deeper in thought than his brother. I noticed Xander straying towards him and I eavesdropped on them.
“It’s hard, searching for your family,” Xander said softly. “And… I know what it’s like to have an absent parent. I’m sorry that happened to you.”
The corner of Nero’s mouth quirked. “Thanks. You don’t need to feel bad for me, though. I’m not as sensitive about it as my brother.” He rolled his eyes playfully. “I guess I am like a shark, after all. Whatever happens to me, I just keep moving forward.”
Xander chuckled. “That’s a good way of looking at it.”
“Still… It’s weird that I have this ability at all.” Nero glanced at his hands. “And why a shark? Nishiki is a koi, isn’t he?”
“That’s not uncommon. My parents were a wolf and a mountain lion shifter.” Xander smiled. “Me and my mate, too. He gave birth to a mountain lion shifter, but it could’ve been a wolf as well. And in our pack, there are two fraternal twins—one wolf, one hare.”
I smiled as I listened to them talk.
Nero’s brows raised. “Wow. Guess all that wacky stuff mom was always going on about was true after all…”
When we finally approached the cavern up in the canyon wall, excitement overtook me. I ran ahead. “Guys, come on!”
Starry, tumbling after me, yowled in agreement. Xander sighed with a smile and scooped her up so she didn’t accidentally fall off the steps leading up to the cavern.
“Ready?” I asked the brothers.
They both nodded.
I went first with Xander close behind me. As I entered the darkness of the cavern, my eyes adjusted. Nishiki and Nero followed us slowly, taking in their surroundings with quiet awe. Remington rounded out the group.
Dr. Pine wasn’t here.
I frowned and tried looking around again, but the cavern wasn’t very large. Just like last time, she didn’t seem to be present, but I knew from experience that she might still be lurking somewhere.
“Unless mom shifted into a rock, I don’t see her,” Nero muttered.
Starry struggled in Xander’s grip hard enough that he placed her on the floor. She growled in her tiny voice and took off in the opposite direction.
“Star, wait!” I called.
Immediately worried, we ran after her as she exited the cavern.
“Why is she so fast?” I asked, bewildered.
I was aware of the others following us, their steps pounding against the hard-packed earth and stone. I looked down at the canyon floor. For a moment I was worried she’d fallen, but I didn’t see her anywhere.
“What the…?” I muttered.
“Sage, up there!” Xander called.
I frowned and followed his gesture. In my hurry to reach Dr. Pine, I hadn’t noticed it before, but there was now a new second set of steps leading up past her cavern to the top of the canyon. Starry was clambering up the final steps. She disappeared over the ridge.
Xander and I acted instinctively. We shifted like lightning and ran up the steps behind her.
As soon as we got to the flat surface at the very top of the canyon, we skidded to a halt. There were two small pools of water in front of us. Starry was drinking from one of them.
“Starry, you little troublemaker—”
I stopped when I saw Dr. Pine behind her. My face exploded into a huge grin.
She gently ushered Starry from one pool to the other. “Ah, the little one is thirsty, is she? Oh, dear, don’t drink from that one, the water’s salty. Try this one instead.”
“Doctor!” Xander called.
Dr. Pine didn’t seem surprised to see us at all. She gave a little wave. I noticed she’d replaced her usual wooden cane with a shovel. Did she dig out these pools of water all on her own?
