The Snow Leopard's Home (Glacier Leopards Book 3)

by Zoe Chant

  To her surprise, Zach nodded without any suggestion of concern. But then he explained, “Shifters heal faster and better than normal humans do. Even if Joel had gotten hurt, if he’s up and walking around, he’ll be fine. And we try to stay away from anywhere we might get medical attention, just in case someone notices something odd about our bodies.”

  Teri sobered, remembering Zach’s story about his parents. Not having easy access to hospitals could be a problem. “Is it worth it, to be secret from the world?” she wondered.

  Zach hesitated for a long moment. “I don’t know,” he said finally. “After my mom died, I would’ve said no way. If we could’ve gone to a hospital, if there were shifter doctors everywhere just like normal doctors...but now, I think about all the trouble that could happen if everyone knew about us. Even in this town, people don’t like shifters, think they’re dangerous. Imagine if the whole country thought we were dangerous.”

  Teri thought about that, and shivered.

  “Besides,” Zach said, “even if there had been a state-of-the-art shifter hospital down the street, they might not have been able to do anything for my mom. Shifters are lucky, but we’re not immortal.”

  Teri thought about that as Cal ordered them all into the rangers' Jeep and they headed back down to the rangers' headquarters. Shifters were lucky...but in a lot of ways, they were unlucky, too. They had to hide who they were or risk running into a situation like poor Joel's attack by those teenagers. If they did live somewhere shifters were known, they had to deal with people like Teri's family who were prejudiced against them. And apparently they could have troubles with other groups of shifters as well, like Zach and Joel's parents had.

  It was a lot of struggles, a lot of difficulties.

  But the idea of being able to turn into a snow leopard...to run and jump like Zach had, to pad away into the mountains and vanish as though you'd never been, like that leopard she'd seen in the Park so many years ago. It seemed worth it. It even filled her with a sense of yearning.

  Stop it, she told herself. She couldn't be in a serious, long-term—permanent—relationship with Zach if she were envious of what he was. That was no way to make a marriage last.

  And after all, Zach had said it: she was Teri, and that was enough.

  When they got back, Zach had to go back to work, and Joel was called into Cal's office to give a full report of what had happened last night.

  "I wish I could drive you somewhere," Zach told her. "But I really have to get back to it. We short-staffed ourselves going after Joel, and there's a ton of stuff to do."

  "I understand," Teri assured him. "It's no problem. I can catch the bus, really."

  She would've honestly preferred to stay in the Park and just hang around until Zach got off work, but...well, she was starting to get hungry, and she didn't have any money, so if she wanted to eat she was going to have to go back home.

  She knew if she'd mentioned it to Zach, he would have bought her something, but it was embarrassing. And he didn't have time to sit down to eat with her, he was heading back to work.

  It probably wasn't the best idea to hang around her boyfriend's job waiting wistfully for him to get off and take her out to dinner, anyway. Mates or not, Teri needed to be at least a little self-sufficient; it wouldn't be fair to expect Zach to do everything for her.

  Still, she waited for a little bit, sitting just outside the visitor's center on a park bench and drinking from the water bottle she'd...accidentally stolen from the Morrisons. Oops. She'd wash it out in the bathroom and leave it at the front desk on her way out with instructions to give it back, she decided.

  It was nice to sit in the spring sun, drink water, and rest for a bit. The last twenty-four hours had been more active than any day since her accident—she blushed as she remembered the passionate lovemaking of the night before. Topped off with a dramatic rescue in the mountains, it made for a hell of a day, and her muscles were protesting all of the unexpected activity. It would be so nice to just sit in the sun for a while, and then maybe go take a relaxing hot bath and a nap. Those were acceptable activities for her convalescing self, so maybe her mother wouldn't even get too angry.

  No, Teri knew. She'd walked right out after being screamed at for walking out the night before. She wasn't going to get a relaxing anything.

  She was trying to steel herself to get up and go be screamed at again when Joel came out of the rangers' building and saw her sitting on the bench.

  He hesitated, and Teri wondered if he was just going to walk past her or turn around and go the other way. But instead, he came over and sat down. "Hi." He sounded tentative but friendly.

  "Hi," Teri said. "Everything go okay with Cal?"

  "Just fine," Joel said. There was a long pause. "Listen, I probably came across as a little unfriendly earlier."

  "It's okay," Teri assured him. "You weren't expecting some random woman to suddenly appear and be part of your family."

  "Well," Joel said, "that is supposed to be how it works for shifters. But you're right. I wasn't expecting it."

  "I promise I'm not going to move in tomorrow or anything," Teri said. "Don't let Zach try to convince you I should."

  Joel rubbed his eyes, looking a little exasperated. "Zach wants to help people. Does he think it'll help you to move in?"

  "He does. But I don't think it'll help you, and surely that's just as important."

  Joel laughed a little, although it didn't sound funny. "I like you, Teri."

  Teri wasn't sure where this was going, but it warmed her a little to hear it. "I like you, too."

  "I don't like the idea of mates," Joel explained. "That's the problem. I've never liked being made to do something, so the whole concept of being forced into a relationship seems wrong. And our parents..."

  "Zach told me about them," Teri said softly. "They seem like a perfect example of the ways mating can go wrong." Star-crossed lovers, fleeing their families, no one to help them when they were all alone, one following the other one into death...

  Joel blew out a breath. "Yeah. Well. I don't want any of that for Zach. Or for me, for that matter."

  "So..." Teri said.

  "So there's nothing I can do," Joel said with finality. "You're already here, he's not going to leave you, you're not going to leave him, and probably if you did it would be worse than if you stayed."

  "Thanks," Teri said dryly.

  "Nothing against you personally," Joel said, waving a hand. "Just...the whole mates thing sucks. It really sucks."

  Teri breathed slowly, thinking about everything he’d said. "I can't agree," she said finally. "I never knew about shifter mates until I met Zach, and I've hardly had the chance to experience it so far, but even if there's an awful tragedy waiting in our future...it's worth it. Being with him will have been worth it. I've never felt like this in my life. Like I belong to someone, and we're meant to be together. I wouldn't give it up for anything."

  Joel nodded. "Yeah. I figured."

  "So where does that leave us?" Teri asked tentatively.

  "Don't worry about it. I'll get over it, I guess. Get used to it. And maybe there won't be any of the problems our parents had. And honestly, Teri, I really do like you. It's just the situation I don't like."

  "Great. I'm moving in tomorrow, then," Teri said, teasing.

  Joel laughed, shaking his head. "Don't even joke about it. Zach'll make it happen."

  "Not if you don't want him to, surely."

  Joel shrugged. "Honestly, I don't mind what happens. I spend more time outside than I do in the house, and it's empty half the time anyway because Zach and I work different schedules. Don't stay away on my account."

  It wasn't quite a “Welcome home, come on in!” But it was much better than Teri had expected, given how Joel had been acting before.

  "Anyway, sorry I was a dick earlier. I was surprised and I could've reacted better. I'm off work now and I'm starving, how about I buy you a late lunch to make up for it?"

  Te
ri blinked, surprised. Maybe she should say no, if Joel still wasn't happy with the situation? But really, it would make the most sense to get to know him well, so that they could be friends, and Teri-the-person would outweigh Teri-the-fated-mate.

  "I'd love that," she said finally. "I'm starving too."

  "Great, let's go." Joel jumped up from the bench. He was full of way more energy than Teri would've been after a night in a frozen crevasse with a frightened child, but she was getting the sense that this might just be how Joel was.

  She stood up more slowly, but he waited for her, and they headed down the path together. Teri smiled to herself. Maybe this would work out after all.

  ***

  Lunch was surprisingly pleasant. Teri asked Joel what it was like working at the Park, and it turned out that talking about work was where Joel really shined. He loved Glacier, it was very clear, and was happy to go on and on about his favorite places, what he thought was the toughest hike, where was the most dangerous, where was best to shift and run without anyone seeing.

  Teri enjoyed it immensely, not least because she was able to come back with her own opinions. Joel had done harder hikes and gone further into dangerous climbing territory, both because of his job and because he was able to shift, but Teri had grown up by Glacier and so had had years and years to explore, when Joel had only had months.

  They got into several good-natured arguments about details of terrain and opinions on hiking, and by the end of the meal, they were both having a good time.

  "So," Joel said finally, polishing off his Coke, "do you need a ride anywhere? If you don't have your car, I can run you home or wherever. I should get back at some point to grab a shower and some sleep."

  "Do you have to work tonight again?" Teri asked.

  Joel shook his head. "I got the day off for being a hero." His voice was ironic, like he was making fun of himself.

  "You were a hero," Teri pointed out. "You saved Andy Morrison's life."

  Joel shrugged briefly. "It wasn't that big of a deal."

  He was obviously uncomfortable with the idea, so Teri left off it and just said, "No, I'd rather not go home. I'll probably just stick around here for a while."

  Joel raised his eyebrows. "Waiting for Zach, huh?"

  "No!" Teri protested. "Well—all right, yes." Somehow her determination not to be the girlfriend who hung around her boyfriend’s work had faded. Joel was wearing a self-satisfied look, and Teri qualified, "But really, if he's tired or just wants to head home or something, I'll go back home on my own. I'd just...rather be here."

  "I can understand that for sure," Joel said. "Is today your day off, or did you have to take off work to come keep Zach company while I was missing?"

  He made it sound like a joke. Teri wondered if he had a hard time expressing strong emotions. If so, she was impressed that he'd managed to honestly explain to her why he had a problem with the idea of mates earlier.

  And that meant that she owed him the same courtesy. "No," she said. "I'm out of work right now. I was in a car accident." She explained, as briefly as possible, her situation.

  "So I'm happier to spend time here than at home, that's all," she finished. "It's nice to finally be able to get out."

  "No wonder." Joel sat back in his chair, looking overwhelmed. "You weren't kidding about Zach wanting you to move in, were you?"

  Teri hesitated, and then admitted, “No, I wasn’t. But I still don't want to if you don't want me there!" she insisted quickly. "That would be worse than living at home."

  "I just didn't realize, that's all. It's too bad you aren't a shifter," he said thoughtfully. "A car accident like that wouldn't have been fun for one of us, but we wouldn't have had to spend months recovering."

  Teri didn't know quite what to say to that. "Well, I was born into the wrong family, I guess."

  "Sure. It’s just too bad you didn’t meet Zach a few months earlier.”

  Teri frowned. “How would that have made a difference?”

  “He could’ve turned you. I mean, maybe he wouldn’t have, maybe you wouldn’t want to, but if he had, you would’ve recovered much more quickly. Maybe not even gotten into the accident in the first place—shifter reflexes are better than humans’.”

  “Turned me?” Joel couldn’t mean what it sounded like he meant, could he?

  Now it was Joel’s turn to frown. “You and Zach haven’t talked about this?”

  Teri was too fixated on the hope dawning in her chest to answer. “Are you saying,” she said, slowly and deliberately, so there could be no possibility of misunderstanding, “that there’s a way for a shifter to make a human into a shifter?”

  She’d heard of the idea, of course, but only in the context of shifters being dangerous and violent. They were animals, and if they bit you, they’d make you into an animal too. She’d dismissed the idea as part of the overall paranoia and prejudice against shifters. But could it be true?

  Apparently so, because Joel was nodding. "With a bite. If a shifter bites you when they're shifted, they'll turn you too." He hesitated. "Maybe I should let Zach talk to you about this."

  "Maybe so." Teri thought about it. Why hadn't Zach mentioned the possibility to her?

  Maybe, she reminded herself, because they'd gone on their first date literally the night before, and only realized they were mated this morning.

  She couldn't believe it had been so short a time. It seemed like forever—both because of the emergency with Joel, and because she felt like she'd known Zach her entire life.

  Which, in some way, maybe she had. She'd just been waiting to meet him in person until now.

  "I'll ask him about it," she told Joel. "For now, you probably want to go home and get some sleep."

  He nodded, and yawned. "You want a ride somewhere?"

  She shook her head. "I'll wait for Zach."

  "Cool." He seemed perfectly sanguine about it, and Teri wondered if it had really worked that quickly—if, now she was a person Joel actually knew rather than the strange figure of a mate, he would be completely okay with her.

  She hoped so.

  ***

  Zach worked the rest of the day with an impatience he didn't usually feel on the clock. Normally he was happy to be at his job, but today, he just wanted to finish out the day so that he could see Teri and Joel.

  Joel going missing like that had shaken him to the core. Zach knew, deep in his heart, that if anything happened to his little brother, it would absolutely ruin him. His entire adult life had been about taking care of Joel, making sure he was safe and happy. And he and Joel were the only family each other had left.

  Although, that wasn't true anymore. Now Zach had Teri.

  And hopefully Joel did, too. Joel hadn't liked learning that Zach had a mate, which Zach could've predicted—although Zach had always thought of their parents' deaths as the sort of tragedy that could happen to anyone, Joel blamed it on “stupid shifter customs.” He'd hated that it had seemed inevitable that their dad followed their mom into death, and he'd always sworn that if he ever discovered his mate, he'd be running the other way as fast as he could. "No one's going to tie me down like that," he'd said fiercely.

  But Joel was a natural free spirit. He wanted to run free on his own, without anything keeping him inside or in place. Zach was different. He wanted a house and a family. Just the thought of living out his days with Teri and Joel, and maybe having kids someday soon, filled him with warmth and happiness.

  Well, he'd be sure to make Joel understand that no one was forcing him into having a mate. He could just grow up and understand that even though they were as close as brothers could be, they were each living their own lives their own way, and if Joel could spend the night out up on the mountain whenever he wanted, Zach could settle down in his own home with his mate.

  Besides, he knew Joel would come around. He'd liked Teri when they'd met—was it only last night? They'd gotten along great. That wasn't going to change.

  Finally, after the longest d
ay he'd ever spent working at Glacier, quitting time rolled around. And Zach was pleasantly surprised, when he stepped out of the ranger station after getting all his end-of-day stuff done, to see Teri waiting for him.

  The sight of her, her wild hair tied back, her curves half-hidden in her sensible coat, a little muddy from the trek up and down the mountain...

  He wanted to get her out of those clothes right here in front of God and everyone, lay her down in the new spring grass and make love to her until she screamed.

  He restrained himself. But it was a close thing.

  The kiss he gave her was deeper and hotter than he normally would’ve done in public, but she just tasted so good. “Hi,” he murmured against her mouth. “You’re still here. You feel good.” He pulled her closer to him.

  "Mmm, thanks." She went up on her tiptoes to kiss him again. "So do you.” They kissed for another long minute, until she pulled back and caught her breath, her expression bright and happy. “I thought I'd wait for you, since I'm always happy to spend the day at the Park and I wanted to see you at least for a few minutes before you went home."

  "A few minutes? Is that all I get?" Zach pretended to be hurt.

  She broke into a smile. "If you want more, I'm all yours."

  "I'm glad to hear it." That came out a bit deeper and more heartfelt than he'd meant it to, but even though she looked away, the smile lingered around her mouth, and a little bit of a flush rose on her cheeks.

  He loved that surprised-happy blush she had. He thought he was probably going to be working to see it again as much as possible over the years to come.

  "Did you have a good day at the Park, then?" he asked, wanting to know how she’d spent her time. Hiking? Sitting in the sun?

  She looked up. "Yes! Actually, your brother and I spent some time talking."

  “You and Joel?” Zach let out his breath. God, that was a relief. Maybe this would work out fine after all. "Was it good talking? You look like it was good."

  "It really was. I understand a little better why he was standoffish at first. And I don't want to step on his toes if he's uncomfortable with the idea of mates—"