by Terry Spear
When they met Everett in the lobby, he said to Candice, “I hope you don’t have to turn your uncle, should the situation get out of hand.”
“I agree. I just don’t see any other way around it.”
“If you have to shift and your uncle learns of it, just talk to him about it. Maybe he can accept us for what we are, like Rowdy does,” Owen said.
“Do you think Rowdy has a hidden agenda?”
“I suspect anyone who’s not one of us has an agenda, but in a different case, the man seems to be fine,” Everett said as they reached his car in the parking tower.
Candice frowned. “There are more who know about us?”
“One other man we know of. He works for a zoo in Portland, Oregon. He’s been quiet about it, so we’re good. But we still worry when anyone knows anything about us.”
“I feel the same way,” Candice said. Owen agreed.
They climbed into the car, and Everett headed out to the country.
“Rowdy just texted me and asked if he should come earlier. I told him no. That if we have trouble, we’ll have to deal with it the way we see fit.” Owen settled into the backseat.
“Have you ever been out to your uncle’s place?” Everett asked Candice.
“No. I’m really interested to see the kind of place he has. My parents’ home was pretty extravagant, though much more modest when I was younger.”
“I’ve never been to a mansion before,” Owen said.
Everett shook his head. “Me neither. What’s the deal with the impostor then? Is she coming at the same time? Or closer to the time of the signing?”
“I don’t know. I thought from what Rowdy said, they planned to arrest them at the house. It sounds to me like they’re not going to meet him at the signing. Or go there even,” Owen said. “Which would be the best for all concerned.”
“Sounds good. I would think it would confuse the issue if you both showed up to sign for the money and properties.” Everett turned off the highway and headed onto another.
“I agree. And I think my uncle would prefer to keep this in the family, not make frontline news if he can help it. At least I would think so.” Candice couldn’t believe how nervous she was about seeing her uncle. It wasn’t about proving who she was to him, but feeling guilty all over again about not being there for her mother and father when they needed her most. She wondered if her uncle had gone to see them when she couldn’t.
Forty minutes later, they entered the gated property, started down the long drive, and finally saw the four-story home in the distance, a round tower on each corner making it look like a medieval manor. It was a palatial, ivory brick mansion, way out of the city and surrounded by forests. It was beautiful, and Candice thought that if it wasn’t for her wolf shifting problems, she would have liked to have visited him here, just to see the estate, if nothing more.
She was already thinking of a billionaire wolf story set here as they drove up the long drive to the mansion. It had a large circle drive in front of it and a six-car unattached garage off the side—with the doors all shut, which made her wonder if he really had that many vehicles. A large pond sat off to one side of the property, with a rock waterfall built into a man-made hill and a fountain spouting water in the center. A gazebo was perched above, overlooking the picturesque pond where a couple of black swans were swimming. She wondered if koi were swimming in it too.
“Can we stop over there for a moment?” Candice asked, wanting to see for herself.
Everett parked the Suburban.
“Setting for a story,” Owen said, guessing.
“My story. Not yours.”
Everett laughed. “You’re writing a book too?”
“New writer,” Owen quickly said. “But yeah, Candice thinks it has possibility. And she’s more the expert than me.”
“More than possibility. It’s great. I think I’m the heroine in the story. No faults at all.”
Everett laughed.
“Does she need to have faults? I can add some.”
Smiling, Candice shook her head and pulled out her phone, capturing shots of the gazebo, the fountain, the colorful orange-and-gold koi, and the swans for future reference.
Once she was done, they got back into the car and headed the rest of the way to the house. She felt a little better, having taken the time to stop for a few minutes. She hoped the guys didn’t think she was nuts for wanting to take pictures and see the fish. But it was more than that. She’d wanted to breathe in the fresh air for a second and fortify herself before she had to face what came next.
It wasn’t that she was afraid of her uncle or what he might say or do, but about what might happen in the time they had to stay there if she or Owen—or horrors, both of them—had to shift.
The place was so big that she couldn’t imagine her uncle living in the house all by himself. He probably had gala social events though. Maybe visiting guests a lot of the time. She hoped he didn’t invite her and Owen and Everett to stay for any longer than this. They’d have to decline.
Everett parked the car next to the brick walkway that led to the front door of the mansion, two giant bronze lion statues guarding the entrance.
With her stomach flip-flopping all over the place, Candice climbed out of the Suburban. She wondered if her uncle was watching them get out of the car.
She’d barely rung the doorbell when a man answered. He was blond-haired and green-eyed, wearing cargo pants, a sporty blue shirt, and cowboy boots. What she didn’t expect was for him to look over her shoulder at Everett and say, “Son-of-a-gun, Everett Anderson…” But then he switched his attention back to Candice and Owen. “What the hell.”
Which was just what she was thinking as she caught his scent. He smelled like a jaguar.
Chapter 17
Candice couldn’t believe her uncle would have a jaguar shifter working for him. The man must have been born as one and had control over his shifting. “How do you hide what you are?” she whispered. “Don’t you ever have the urge to shift?”
The man smiled. “Your uncle is also a jaguar. All the staff is. I’m Jim, by the way.”
Her heart pounding, Candice felt as light-headed as when she’d learned Owen was a wolf. He must have sensed it because he quickly wrapped his arm around her to support her. Tears filled her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. She quickly brushed them away, feeling overwhelmed by the news.
A million thoughts were racing through her mind. Had her parents been jaguars all along too? Had she avoided them because of her shifting problems when they would have welcomed her home even if she wasn’t a jaguar shifter, but a wolf shifter instead? She felt devastated all over again, even though she should be glad her uncle would understand now why she believed she couldn’t see her parents.
“My…my mother and father too?” she choked out.
“Oh, no,” Jim quickly assured her. “Come in. Just your uncle. He was turned years ago.”
That made Candice glad she’d kept the secret from her parents, but she wished she’d known about her uncle once she’d been turned.
“I take it that’s why you changed so much after your camping trip to White River.”
She nodded as Owen helped her into the mansion.
Owen couldn’t believe it when he realized that Jim Winchester, Strom’s assistant, was a jaguar like Everett, and so was her uncle. He was damn glad to hear it, but he could understand how shaken up Candice was. First, he popped into her life as an Arctic wolf, and now her uncle and his staff had turned out to be jaguars. Owen continued to keep her close for physical and moral support, glad he was here for her.
Everett quickly filled them in on how he knew Jim. “Jim’s a former JAG agent like me, Golden Claws, but he abandoned us with a smirk, saying he had some rich new boss who was paying him ten times what we earned with the Force. Hell, and here we all thought he was doing something super i
mportant. A butler for a billionaire?” Everett laughed.
Jim smiled at him. “That’s one of the jobs. I’m actually his assistant and personal bodyguard in case he needs one. The only reason I would work for him is because he’s a jaguar. Nice benefits. Lots of trips. First class everywhere.” Jim eyed Candice. “Man, is he going to be torqued off that a wolf turned you.” He glanced at Owen. “Better not have been you.”
Owen raised his hands in a way that said not him.
“The little boy of one of his packmates did it. It was purely by accident,” Candice said in protective mode.
“Hell. Come on in. I’m to usher you into the great room. He’ll be down in a minute, but I’ve got to let him know what’s happened. That’s why you didn’t come when you should have earlier. You’re newly turned,” Jim said, as if the whole situation was now crystal clear to him.
“Yes. The full moon is upon us. I’ve been having trouble the whole time.”
“Not to worry. You’re completely safe here.” Jim led them into a grand room furnished with oil paintings of jungle scenes, rich and opulent leather chairs and couches, Turkish tapestries, and chandeliers. “Maggie will bring some refreshments. I’ll be back in a minute.”
Candice briefly wondered why her uncle didn’t have bronze statues of jaguars out front instead of lions.
A few minutes later, a dark-haired woman came in to offer drinks. Candice surreptitiously took in a deep breath to smell if the woman was human or jaguar. She was a big-cat shifter too.
When Candice told her water would be fine, Maggie gave her a list of things they had, and Candice chose hot cherry-blossom tea. Everett and Owen asked for coffee, and then the woman left the room.
“I can’t believe my uncle is a jaguar,” Candice said.
“It’s not something we can advertise.” Everett looked out the french patio doors at the Olympic-size swimming pool and gardens. “This is big enough to run as a jaguar and never have any trouble. That pool sure looks inviting.”
“It does,” Candice said. Instead of envisioning her uncle exercising in it as a human, she could imagine him swimming as a jaguar.
“I can’t believe it either. But I’m glad they’re all shifters. Takes a bit of the stress off.” Owen pulled Candice into his arms and hugged her tight. “Are you all right?”
“Better, knowing he’s a shifter too. That everyone here is. Unless he’s really angry with me that I’m a wolf.”
“That’s my job,” Everett said. “To intervene and help resolve issues between the different shifters.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t know my uncle.”
“We don’t travel in the same circles. I’m certain he keeps his true shifter self secret from everyone else…the public, that is.”
A few minutes later, Maggie brought their drinks, along with a vegetable-and-fruit tray, chips, and dip.
They all thanked her, and once she left, Jim returned. He shook his head, looking concerned. “Well, Mr. Hart is not happy. I will say he’s glad to know why you were absent from your parents’ lives when they needed you. Really glad. He’ll be down in a little bit. He had some urgent business to take care of. Everett, do you want to take a walk with me and catch me up on what’s going on?”
He and Everett walked outside, and Everett began telling Jim about his mate and forming a new branch of the Force.
Candice and Owen waited another twenty minutes to see her uncle, though she filled the time by taking pictures, trying to keep her mind off meeting him. She hadn’t met him before, and now to learn he wasn’t even human? She hoped he was as nice as Everett was, but if not, she’d just get done what she needed to do and maybe someday they could get to know each other better. Or not. She was only adopted, after all. He might not want to have anything to do with her beyond settling her parents’ estate. That made her feel a little sad.
Owen was trying not to show his impatience and glad Candice was occupying her time and not fretting about seeing her uncle. He understood the man could be busy with important business, but since her uncle wanted Candice here earlier, Owen wished he’d come see her. He hoped Jim was only making a bigger deal of Candice being a wolf, and Strom didn’t feel that negative about it. Then they heard footfalls and Owen moved in closer to Candice. It was an instinctive move, like a wolf protecting his mate. He didn’t want her to feel he was being overprotective, but when she took his hand and smiled up at him, he knew he’d made the right move.
Strom entered the room—tall at six foot four or thereabout, his hair dark, his face clean-shaven. He was wearing a dark suit, his expression just as dark. He gave Candice a growly look, then shifted his hard look to Owen. “You turned her? You knew who and what she was when my assistant first contacted you? And she’s been living with you all this time?”
“No, sir.” Owen explained what had happened, though Candice broke in to tell more of the details and what had happened once she had returned home after the camping trip, unable to work any longer and needing to find a safe place to live, given what she had become.
“You were living in South Dakota?” Strom asked her.
“Yes. I needed to be someplace way out, but also where there’s some snow in the winter to help hide the fact I’m running around as an Arctic wolf.”
“You’re an Arctic wolf?” He gave Owen another irritated look, as if he had anything to do with what she had become.
Owen should have realized the jaguar shifters wouldn’t have guessed they were Arctic wolves, as opposed to regular gray wolves. He explained how that had come about with him and the rest of his pack—all about the wolf pack from north of the border visiting Maine and turning them.
“Well, hell, Candice,” Strom said. “Not only are you at more of a risk because you’re a white wolf with a pack of white wolves, but they’re nearly as newly turned as you.”
Owen suspected her uncle wouldn’t want to hear they were mated either. Then again, maybe he would feel she’d be taken care of if she had a mate.
“Wait… I saw that news report of two Arctic wolves rescuing a couple of snowmobilers in South Dakota. Don’t tell me that was the two of you.”
“Yeah, that was us. We had to do something,” Candice said.
“Hell. That was damn foolishness. What if you’d been shot? What if people had thought you were trying to eat those men?”
“The thought did occur to us,” Owen said. “What would you have done in our place?”
Strom snorted.
“You would have rescued them. Or tried.” Owen was certain he would have.
“And if they’d seen you running as wolves? You think they would have let you be? Or tried chasing you down?” Strom asked.
“We can’t know the answer to that.” Candice relaxed a little. “You can’t imagine how awful it felt being cooped up in the house when I wanted to run free. How did you become a jaguar shifter?” Candice asked, getting the subject off them.
“I was turned nineteen years ago, so I know just what it felt like back then. I was lucky a few jaguars showed me the ropes. It taught me not to mess around with girls I didn’t know, even though it was too late to do anything about what I’d become. Cynthia Taylor was my first too. Both of us were sixteen. She’d invited me to a party one of her friends had at his parents’ house while they were out of town. Several of her friends took her aside and said she shouldn’t have brought me. I was popular with the kids at school, so I didn’t need their approval. I told her I was ready to go, and she said not yet. That she was going to show me something really wild.”
Candice shook her head.
“Boy, did she ever. I was feeling damn good…until she bit me and I woke to find a jaguar in the guest bed. I was terrified. Screaming. She quickly shifted into a naked girl. She’d bitten me by accident…so she said. I don’t remember much after that except for a bunch of people crowding into the room
and staring at me.”
She couldn’t imagine how horrified he must have felt. At least she hadn’t been terrified by being bitten, only with what came next.
“It’s not like with wolves, as far as I understand it. The other guys in the house said I could die, or I could keep my mouth shut and live. Neither of us were interested enough in each other to pursue anything permanent. We were way too young. And I was angry with Cynthia for wrecking my life. I ended up having to drop out of school and began taking private lessons from some of the other jaguar families. Her friends had become my friends, and no one was happy with what she had done to me. My parents weren’t happy about me quitting school, but it all worked out in the end.”
“Do you ever see her now?” Candice asked.
“No. She married a guy when she was eighteen and moved away. At the time, my brother, your dad, was thirty-six, married, and working on his first billion. I was a late-in-life baby, so we didn’t really have anything in common. After the change, we really didn’t have anything in common.”
“I can’t believe you’re a jaguar, Uncle Strom.” Candice was shocked to learn it. After all the worry about shifting, he’d been a shifter too.
“I would never have guessed you were a wolf shifter. So how did you locate her then?” Strom asked Owen.
“I learned her new name through her old workplace, and I was intrigued she was writing Arctic werewolf romances. But I didn’t know she was a wolf shifter until I went to see her in South Dakota.”
“That’s why you could only return home at certain times,” Strom said.
“Yes. When I had to leave my life behind, I wanted to tell Mom and Dad why I only returned during the waxing or waning crescent or new moon, but I couldn’t. I visited them for a week every month, allowing for travel there and home again, once I learned I either had more control over shifting or couldn’t shift at all during those times. Every time they had major health issues, it was during the full moon or too close to it, as if that had triggered all the bad things in their life, like it had in mine. They weren’t satisfied that I didn’t come home when they needed me most. I couldn’t blame them either.”