Stray Cats [High-Country Shifters 2] (6 page)

She brushed off some snow on a rock and sat down. She wasn’t tired since she spent much of her life running around the forest, but she wanted to be comfortable when she spoke with the men.

Will took off his backpack. “Anyone up for some lunch?”

She smiled. “I am hungry.” Eating would take the edge off of what she had to tell them. Gage removed his pack and pulled out a large piece of silver foil from a very small package. “What is that?”

“It’s an emergency blanket. I always carry one. If you’re cold, it will keep you warm. It also doubles as a picnic blanket.”

“Cool.” Or perhaps she should have said
warm
. Lara always used
awesome
and
cool
as her two expressions.

Will handed her a carton. She waited to see what the men would do with theirs. They opened the container and pulled out a sandwich. Sella did the same. While pre-packaged food wasn’t something they had on Anterra, she decided it would be best to keep that information to herself.

She unwrapped her sandwich and ate a bite. While it wasn’t really fresh, it was better than she expected. After she washed the food down with water, she figured it was time to tell them her plan.

“You might wonder why I wanted to come out here.”

Will shrugged. “I figure it was to give us a chance to get to know each other better.”

“Yes, but there’s more. Please hear me out. I wasn’t lying about the fact that you two are different than other humans.” They glanced at each other, but thankfully didn’t question her. “I am from a place called Anterra, which isn’t far from here.” This was going to be more difficult than she thought. “I’m not sure where to begin.”

“Wherever you want,” Will said. “We’ll fill in the gaps.”

She doubted that. “In Anterra, people are different. The females are the same as your females, but the men all possess a gene that we females don’t have.”

Will grinned. “It’s called the Y-chromosome, sugar. It’s what makes us so compatible to you.”

She had to laugh at his good humor. “Yes, but I’m talking about another gene. All men in Anterra possess it. It’s called the shifter gene.”

Gage had been about to take another bite of his sandwich but stopped with his mouth open. He sealed his lips and inhaled. “And you think we have that gene?” He shook his head, sending a stab of depression straight to her belly. “Hate to break it to you, but my father has never been to Anterra, so I couldn’t have inherited it from him.”

She’d expected his comment. “That may be so, but we go back as far as your civilization. In fact, we formed when humans formed. At some point in our history, our reality broke off from yours. Sometimes, the Anterran men want a different life and jump into Earth’s reality.”

Gage leaned back on his elbows, and his jaw hardened. “I’m trying to play nice here, so I’ll go along with this crazy notion. If my family comes from shifters, how come we’ve never known about it?”

This was the second question she expected. “Because when you get too far from this
jumping
point, which we call the alignment point, the ability to shift lessens. I’ve been told that if you leave Spirit, you can’t shift at all.”

Will elbowed Gage. “See? It could be true.”

Gage shook his head. “If one of our relatives had been able to shift, you think he could have kept it quiet?”

Will shrugged. “Maybe. Hell, even if he mentioned it, do you think anyone would have believed him, especially since he couldn’t prove it?”

Go, Will.

She figured Gage would have a retort and decided to interject. “Gage, how many people do you know who want to be different? I’m not completely sure about the people from Earth, but on Anterra every one of us works hard to fit in. Doesn’t everyone want to be part of a group?”

“Sure, but—”

“There is no
but
. Let’s say your great-grandfather left Anterra to settle in the new world. The last thing he would do is announce he could shift. First of all, he couldn’t prove it if he moved away from Spirit. Why would he subject himself to ridicule? Besides, he left for a reason. He wanted to get away from the shifters.”

“Is Anterra that terrible?” Will sat up straighter.

“No, but there are dangers. There’s been an ongoing battle between the lions and the wolves. In fact, my two brothers are in charge of Anterran security. When the wolves come into lion territory, the lion shifters have to shift in order to fight these wolves.”

Will leaned forward. “I wouldn’t think a wolf would go up against a lion.”

“Not unless there are at least three wolves against one lion. In that case, unless the lion is highly trained, the fight would end in a draw. When it’s four against one, I’m afraid the lion might lose or at the best come away with some serious wounds.” Malik, and possibly Taryn, were the only two lions she knew who had handled four wolves and lived to tell about it.

Will slapped his thighs. “I say we give it a try. What do we need to do?”

Excitement sped through her veins. She glanced over at Gage, whose pinched brows implied he didn’t believe a word of it. Perhaps if Will could successfully shift, Gage would get on board.

She wiped her sweaty palms down her pants. “Mind you, I’ve never shifted, so I’ll tell you how my brothers explained it. The atmosphere in Anterra is a little different. It has a lot more psychic energy in it. My sister-in-law, who’s from Denver, said she can’t tell the difference between the two environments, but that’s because she isn’t as tuned in as they are. Anyway, all you have to do is concentrate real hard.”

Gage got up. “This is ridiculous. Just concentrate? That’s all you have to say?”

Will jetted to his feet and placed himself between the two of them. “Hold it, man. Give her a break.” He whispered something she couldn’t hear.

Gage stormed off but stopped at a large tree and leaned against it. He waved a hand and shot his gaze to the sky. “Go for it. You go ahead and look like the fool.”

Will grinned, flapped his arms on his shoulders, and broadened his stance. “Here goes.” He closed his eyes and inhaled.

After a long minute, Will’s shoulders sagged. “I got nothing.” His lips thinned. “I’m so sorry.”

Sella sank back. “Maybe you should walk down the path a little way. I forgot to mention that the alignment point moves all the time.”

Gage still hadn’t moved. “Where is it now? Can
you
see it?”

He acted like she believed she was some holy shaman who saw things they didn’t. That talent belonged to the bear shifters. “No. Only when one is in shifter form can he feel the heat emanating from the point.”

His shoulders stiffened, acting like he wanted to do battle. “How are you going to get back to your precious Anterra if you don’t know where the
alignment
point
is?” He crooked his fingers around those words, clearly not believing anything she’d told him. In truth, she couldn’t blame him.

“When Malik and Cavon want to go back, I’ll follow them.”

“Convenient.”

Keep quiet
. From all her years around her brothers and her dad, when they got into one of their stubborn moods, it was best to say nothing. “Go ahead, Will. Walk down the path.” At least one of the brothers was cooperative.

Will took the trail and eventually disappeared. She inhaled, hoping that if he got close enough to the point, he could shift. She faced a still scowling Gage. “What are you afraid of?”

As expected, he straightened. “I’m not afraid of anything.”

“What would you do if Will does shift?”

He laughed, but the sound held no cheer. “I’ll play your little game. If he did shift, I’d tell him to shift back, and we’d get the hell away from here.”

“I repeat, what are you afraid of?”

“It’s not a matter of being afraid. It’s called being practical.” He held up a palm as if he were willing to stay for a moment longer. “Suppose we are lion shifters, which I’m not saying we are, but just suppose.”

“Good. Go on.”

“Do you realize what that would do to our lives?”

From the way his voice shook, he had given this some thought, and this new paradigm shift was scaring him senseless. “It would upset your life for sure, but you could always go over to Anterra and take your rightful place with your other lion brothers.”

His eyes shot to the sky again as if he’d find some inspiration in the trees or clouds above. “Suppose I give you the benefit of the doubt and say we are shifters. Uprooting what we know wouldn’t be easy. Our lives are in Miami, and that’s where we’re happy.” He pressed his lips together, clearly implying he wasn’t willing to discuss it anymore.

Her stomach ached. They were shifters. She knew it. Malik and Cavon knew it. She wished she knew how to convince Gage and Will about their heritage.

Leaves crunched as Will returned. “Nope. No luck.”

Gage pushed off from the tree. “We need to head on back. If we hurry, we might be able to get in a few runs.”

So that was it? They said they’d spend time with her. “I get it. I said I could do something for you, and when I fail, you want to move on.” Sure, her comment might have been harsh, but her pride was bruised. An Anterran man never would have been so dismissive.

“I’m sorry, Sella, I wasn’t able to do it, but I’ll keep trying.” Will glared at his brother. That little action endeared him to her even more.

Her chin wobbled, damn it. “Thank you, Will, for believing me.”

“Hell, if I could be a lion whenever I wanted to, how cool would that be?”

She glanced at Gage and lifted her chin. Someday he’d be sorry that he didn’t give it a try.

The walk back was done mostly in silence. Even if Will asked her questions, she really wasn’t in the mood to discuss her life. That would result in censure from Gage. Failure, however, was not in her vocabulary. She would find a way for them to realize their potential.

When they got off the ski lift at the bottom of the hill, Gage said he wanted to rent some skis. “Can you find your way back to the hotel?”

His comment was meant to cement the distance between them. “Sure.” Hadn’t they told her just yesterday that a woman shouldn’t go back by herself? Where had his chivalry gone?

Will wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “I’ll walk you back.” He faced his brother. “Go ahead. I’ll catch up when you finish your run.”

Gage’s rebuff stung, but she tried not to let it get her down. When they were far enough away from Gage she leaned her head toward Will. “What’s wrong with him? It’s not like I tried to harm you.”

Will laughed. “Don’t mind him. If everything doesn’t come in a neat little package, he’s not interested. Gage is the type to plan everything out. If we had shifted, that would have messed up his life.”

So he’d said. Maybe Will could give her a different perspective. “Why?”

“We’re born protectors.”

She stopped and faced him. “See? That verifies what I’ve known all along. Shifters are the kings of protection.”

“Sugar, I don’t think it’s the same thing. We’re not bodyguards, but we do make sure nothing happens to our clients or their possessions. We put in alarms and set up systems to make sure nothing bad happens.”

She saw no use in arguing. When they arrived back at the hotel, he walked her in, and she faced him. “Thanks for the escort. Go ahead and make sure Gage doesn’t do something daring.”

“Gage? Never going to happen.” He leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Thanks for everything. It was an awesome morning. We’ll be in touch, I promise.”

She smiled, knowing he was just being nice. Once in her room, she dialed Malik and Cavon’s room.

“Hello?” It was Cavon.

From the tentative way he answered, it was as if no one had ever dialed his room before. Lara had shown her the iPhone, and while she couldn’t dial out from Anterra, she had explained how it worked. This phone had raised buttons on it, but it worked the same.

“I have a problem.”

“What’s wrong?”

He sounded so concerned.
That’s the way a real man should act, not all standoffish like Gage
. She told him about her failed attempt to teach the men to shift. “Do you have any suggestions?”

“Why don’t you come to our room? I feel funny talking on this instrument.”

That made her smile. “I’ll be right there.”

Amy had put Cavon and Malik down the hall. A moment later, Sella knocked on their door.

Cavon answered. “Come on in. I’ve been thinking about your problem. It’s possible they need some guidance. Do you think you could get them to go out to the woods again?”

“Not likely.” A wave of depression settled in her bones.

“Do you want me to talk to them?”

She could just picture it. Cavon probably would go to their room and shift right in front of them just to prove that shifters existed. “I doubt it would do any good.”

“I could send them a telepathic message. I bet that would get their attention.”