Carroll: Morgan’s Leap – Leopards Shapeshifter Romance

by Kathi S. Barton

  She didn’t answer him. Not that he expected her to have an answer to that. It would, he supposed, depend on a great many factors if they were both dead. First and foremost, how did they pass away? After looking over his notes and making sure he knew what he was doing, he kissed his mom on the cheek and left her to her bread.

  They really did have everything they needed here on the land. Not only did they have their own water source, but thanks to Mom making sure no chemicals were used on the fields, nothing leaked into the water. There were standing cattle, as well as sheep and pigs, that were used for consumption for them, as well as any of the animals that called this place home. So long as they only took what they needed and left the rest for the next animals, everyone got enough of the slaughter of them to feed their families.

  Fruit was abundant year-round, thanks to the faeries. Milk was gathered from the cattle, which made their cheeses as well as anything else dairy. The freezers were all well stocked year-round, and it would be a good thing to have when a winter was especially hard on some of the townspeople. He would bet their family had fed all the townspeople a few times or very close to it.

  Carroll found Button just where his mom said he was, in the large field behind their home, helping the injured or exhausted small creatures to set themselves up in whatever they needed. Their land had not only become a sanctuary but also a place to come and relax. He enjoyed watching the little people work the gardens. They could pick a patch of strawberries clean in less than ten minutes.

  “My lord. It is a glorious day, is it not?” He told Button he thought so too. “I’m sure your mother spoke to you about your own faeries. I should beg you, but that’ll only make you dig your feet in deeper. You’re a great deal like her when it comes to that sort of thing. I’m going to pick one for each of you if you—”

  “Excellent idea. You know us as well as our own mom. Since you were picked for Mom, it’s only fitting that you pick for us.” Button blustered. “Come on, buddy. You know we’d take them all if we could. They’re so wonderful to be around, and their magic makes ours stronger. If you pick them for us, we’ll each have the perfect one for us, and then we’ll have one less thing to worry about.”

  “I can do that. In fact, I have the perfect couple for you right now. They can both get to know you before your mate comes to be with you.” He asked why there were two. “Your mate will take the male when she comes along, and you will have the female the way it should be. It will good that you can have a mate that will already understand you. Also, he’ll be able to learn your habits and know how to answer your mate’s question if she has any.”

  “Perhaps I shouldn’t allow you to pick me one then. That means I’ll have a mate.” He was only joking, but Button had no sense of humor at best. When you joked about things such as mates and the like, he didn’t care for it. “I’m kidding you. Please. Go ahead and find each of us a pair of faeries.”

  Marking it off his list, he went in search of Marley. Finding him was harder than he’d thought it should have been. Once he told him what he wanted, Carroll asked him to go to the neighboring land. Carroll knew why his mom didn’t want to go. She hated death more than she did anything. To her, all things should live forever. But that wasn’t to be. They were perhaps a mile from the neighbor’s house when he heard back from their guys at the FDA, so they turned around to head back to the house.

  ~*~

  “I don’t understand why we’re here.” Morgan told the young woman, Hanna March, that she didn’t either, but they were more than welcome to inspect anything they wished. “You don’t sell the things from here, correct? I mean, you could sell them at a stand, but you don’t do that either, do you?”

  “No. When we have enough for ourselves, we donate what is left over to anyone that wants it. We’ve been taking fruit for the children at the school for the last few years. They like taking it home to their little brothers and sisters that aren’t yet old enough to come to get it themselves.” Morgan watched the woman, wondering as she had since she arrived if she had any idea that most of the people she worked with were shifters. “We grow all of our own food here. And meat is still standing until we need it. There are no chemicals to speak of around. We don’t even use poison to rid the barn of mice.”

  Not that a mouse would come within a hundred miles of this place. Snakes wouldn’t either, for that matter. There were too many large game animals here that would take them out. Morgan followed her to the orchard. The faeries had been warned not to show themselves, as they had company. She smiled when she thought of Button. Right now, he was sitting on her shoulder like a pin she might have put upon herself this morning.

  “This is beautiful. I mean, I’ve been to a great many orchards before, but this one looks like it was planned out from day one. The lines are all straight. I love the way you’ve put grapes between the trees so they can hold up the branches. Oh, and look—you have honey too!” She told her if she reminded her, she could take some home with her. “I’m not allowed to take anything with me when I leave a place. But oh, how I would love some to put in my tea in the morning. What flavor do you get, if I might ask?”

  “Mostly it’s apple, but on occasion, we get a hint of grape too. In the arbors that are beyond here, we have peaches as well as other trees that the bees pollinate for us too.” She could have told her they also had bananas, as well as oranges, but since she’d more than likely not believe her, she left it at apples and peaches. “We do sell the honey. There is an inspector that goes through our plant once a year. That’s the way we have it set up. I don’t want anyone getting sick from that.”

  “I’ve read a great deal about this place. I’ve wanted to come out here since I was a child. You never gave tours of the place, which saddened me greatly. I would have worked here daily had I been able to watch how this was taken care of.” She laughed, and Morgan joined her. “My mother, she used to tell me there are a great many animals here that fertilize the lands to the richness that it is. Is that true?”

  “It is. Most of them come and go as they please. We don’t have anyone killing them for their skins or meat, so they can be safe here. We’ve had more animals born here than several of the zoos combined. On occasion, we’ll go and help one of them out when they have a problem birth. As you can imagine, we have a great deal of experience with that sort of thing.” Hanna never once pulled out her kit to test any of the soil or the bark of trees. She didn’t take samples of the water that ran between the lines of trees, keeping the roots well-watered. “While here, I can give you a tour of any part of the farm you wish. There is a great deal going on today, but I’ve cleared my calendar for you. Also, one of my sons will be joining us.”

  She had no idea where Carroll was. When she’d told him the inspector was here, he told her he was on his way. That had been over an hour ago. When they turned toward the barn where they kept the equipment they used, she saw him coming toward her as his cat. Before she could figure out what his intentions were, he knocked them both to the ground just as a shot was fired over their heads. As soon as the shot was fired, Carroll shifted back to himself and helped her up.

  “Are you all right, Mom?” She told him she was, then looked over at Hanna. “I can smell blood. If it’s not you, then she’s been hurt.”

  Hanna had hit her head, and she would have a ferocious headache when she woke. But she would be all right. Picking her up, Carroll looked at her for several moments before putting her in the wagon to take her to the house. Since they had no use for gasoline, they’d been using the same buggies they had used for decades.

  She was put on the couch in the house as soon as they got there. Carroll put his hand over her head, and it healed the wound. The meaning of what he’d done hit Morgan about the time the girl was coming around. Morgan wanted to ask if this was his mate—one of the sure signs was that only he could heal her—but Hanna was awake.

  “Did you see that?”
Good at evading questions she didn’t want to answer, she helped the girl sit up on the couch. “That was a leopard. A frigging leopard. He attacked us both. Didn’t you see him?”

  “No. I didn’t see anyone attacking us.” She looked at her, then at Carroll. “I think I’ll go and make you a cup of tea, Hanna. With honey. I just happen to have some peachy honey from yesterday.”

  Making her way to the kitchen, Morgan couldn’t stop herself from smiling. Even putting her hand over her mouth didn’t help. Carroll had a mate. The first of many, she hoped, that would come and take her boys away. Sitting down in the chair, she realized she would indeed do that. Hanna would take her son from her, and soon so would the others. Then she’d be all alone.

  Morgan didn’t know where her thoughts kept coming from about being alone. It had been in her mind a great deal in the past few months. She would be happy as a lark, then suddenly she’d be so depressed she’d take to her bed. Things today just set in concrete what her heart had been warning her about for some time. She would be of no use to the kings and queens of the land, and they’d take away the magic that kept her alive.

  “You could have called to me.” She looked at Tellus and asked her if she wished for some tea. “Nay, I wish for you to tell me why you are so depressed about the boys getting mates. I would have thought you’d be thrilled. You’ll be a grandma soon, I’m betting.”

  “They’ll leave me.” She asked her where she thought they’d be going. “To their own homes. Lands far from here. I won’t have them close at hand when I need them.”

  “I see. And again, why did you not call to ask this of me? Morgan, I think you make trouble for yourself, so I can have a cup of tea with you. Why is it you think we gave you so much land? So it would wither and die when this supposed leaving of you happened? Nay. It’s here so your sons can live here, with the land between them and you, and be happy. You don’t really think I’d allow them to leave you here, do you?” She told her she didn’t know what to think anymore. “Lack of sleep. That’s your problem. I have told you I can help you with that. Oh, look, you’ve made my favorite cookies too. I’m going to have to call David now. He’ll be so jealous if I don’t tell him you have cookies.”

  “He has no favorite but eats them all.” Tellus told her that was true. Just in case they all showed up, Morgan used her magic to make the tin refill when it was empty. “I don’t know what is wrong with me. I feel so out of sorts. Much more of late, too.”

  “You need to get laid.” That startled her so much she choked on her cookie. “I’ve also been pointing that out to you. Getting laid is a very good relaxant. You need someone in your bed warming your body.”

  “What a thing to say to me.” Tellus shrugged, and David, King of the Underearth, as well as Joel, appeared in the room. “If you wish to speak like that, I shall never bake you cookies again.”

  “What did you tell her? That she needs a good man to fuck her? She does.” Joel, King of the Trees, got his hand slapped when he reached into the tin. “What? It’s true. You’ll see a side of the world you’ve not seen before with a little sex. Or a lot. I think you need a great deal, Morgan. You have been celibate for a long time.”

  “I will have you know that I’ve been working for the lot of you. Fat lot of good it does me. You’ve made fun of me at every turn. Why, I ask you?” They all three told her it was because they loved her. “Be that as it may, I am not going to justify anything you say about my bed partners or the lack of them. Why are you three here? Don’t you have work to do?”

  “We do. It’s why we’re here.” They finished off the cookies three times before they got down to business. “Morgan, what if we were to tell you that we believe you have been too helpful for us.”

  “I’d say that is no fault of my own. How can I be too helpful? Unless it’s making it so you don’t have as much to do on your end. If that’s the case, then I’m happy I could help. All of you, all the kings and queens, have so much to do that I don’t know how you get half of it finished.” The three of them looked at each other. “What is it? What are you trying so very hard not to tell me? Spill it. You know how much I hate it when you give it to me in bits and pieces.”

  “We’ve heard how depressed you are.” She said she’d been depressed for some time now, and no one had bothered. “Perhaps, but we’ve figured out a way for you to have some fun. You do remember what fun is, don’t you, Morgan?”

  “I don’t like any of you today.” She sat there watching the three of them refilling their glasses with juice. Filling the tin up with things other than cookies, then dismissing it. Button came in to sit on the edge of her plate. Morgan looked at him. “I take it you’ve gotten all the boys faeries.”

  “I have, my lady.” He laughed. It was a giggle that sounded like bells one might have found on a small tree. “They’re all ready to go now, and I have to tell you, it was a great deal more fun for me after they told me to pick them. I do know them as well as you do.”

  “You do. All right. Since you have done such a wonderful job, Button, you might as well sneak into the living room and see how Carroll is doing with his mate.” Button nearly fell off the plate. “And before I forget, could you please find out who shot at us today? There was some confusion afterwards, and I simply forgot about the fact we were targets.”

  It occurred to her that she was the only one talking. Looking at her three dear friends, she asked them what she’d missed. They asked her about the shooting. Just as she was going to blow it off, as she usually did when she had this sort of trouble, Carroll and Hanna joined them in the kitchen.

  “I was making you tea.” Getting up, she moved around the kitchen in a way that Hanna couldn’t see what she was doing. The tea was made in record time, thanks to the magic, and she sat it before the young woman as the cookie tin was put there as well. “These three are friends of the family.”

  She only ever introduced them as friends. If they wanted to share more, then that was up to them. So when they told Hanna who they really were, she wasn’t the least bit surprised to see that Hanna knew a bit more about shifters than most did. But she was still going to have a great deal to learn about these shifters.

  Chapter 2

  Carroll let his brothers do most of the talking. They were shy at first but soon got over that when Hanna asked them what they did for a living. The answer usually centered around whatever job they were doing at the moment, but this time they told her some of the things they’d done over the years. Carroll had a feeling, however, that Hanna was just humoring them. She was still coming to terms with some of the things he’d told her in the living room.

  “You’re an ancient.” He nodded and said they all were. “Okay. I guess. I don’t know why you’d tell me something like that when you don’t look a day over your late twenties. But I guess we’ll get to that too, right?”

  “We could get to it sooner if you would believe me.” She shook her head. “All right. Let me tell you about the leopard you saw. That was me.”

  “Okay. It was you.” He growled at her. “Look, Buster. I’ve been around for a while now. And I know for a fact that there are shifters. However, I don’t for a second believe you’re as old as you’re implying, nor do I think you’ve been living here with your five brothers and your mom when she doesn’t look a day older than I am. Not to mention, you told me your family works for the kings and queens of the earth. What on earth do you take me for? A fruit cake? I’m not. I’m not stupid either.”

  “No, you’re far from stupid. What can I do to convince you that I’m just what I said I am?” She told him to hush for a moment. He watched her face as she looked around the room they were in. “My mom used to weave when we were younger. She made just about all the rugs in this house at some point. Also, after a while, she started to weave some heavier rugs to be put in the pens of the animals when they were giving birth.”

  “That bow and
arrow. It’s very old. Are you going to tell me that was yours too?” He said it was his mother’s. That she would use it when they were younger to teach them how to run down prey, wounding the animals with the arrow just enough the cats could figure out what they were to do to be in the wild. “That sounds cruel.”

  “No. We would eventually capture the animal and eat it. Mom has a very good ecosystem going on here. We don’t bury the dead, but allow it to go back to the earth after all the other creatures around here get whatever they want from it.” Hanna stared at him. “I’m very old, Hanna. So are the rest of us. We, my brothers and I, were the very first shifters ever made. Mom—Morgan—kept us safe after our biological mother passed away on our first birthday. She’s been our everything for a very long time.”

  “You told me you’re my mate.” He nodded. “I know what that means. And unlike most of the people I talk to, I don’t have it in my head that you’re going to order me about and make me do things I have no desire to do.”

  “My mom wouldn’t allow that to happen either. What is between us is a partnership. There will be times when you need me more than I do you, but I also know I’ll need you a great deal more than anything I’ve encountered before. That would include breathing and my heart beating.” He could tell she didn’t believe him. It was all he could do not to laugh at the skepticism on her face. “Would you like for me to shift?”

  “No. I do not want you to shift.” Carroll couldn’t help it. He did laugh then. “You’re very confusing. First, you tell me you’re my mate. Not that I’m yours, but that you belong to me. Okay. Good. Then you tell me you’re very old. That’s fine, I guess, but harder for me to swallow. You have a lot of knowledge about things that only comes with age. I can almost believe the first shifter thing about you and your brothers being the first shifters. However, believing that would make me have to believe that you’re very old, as you said. That’s the sticker, I guess. You being old. Not just old, but ancient.”