True Nature

by Jae

  “How often did you get suspended when you went to school?” Kelsey asked.

  “What does that have to do with—”

  Kelsey ducked her head. “I just had an idea and want to see if I’m right.”

  “Once, okay? I only got suspended once, and it wasn’t even my fault. I wasn’t about to stand by and let a bunch of bullies harass my sister.” Griffin bared her teeth and snarled.

  “What did you do?” Jorie asked.

  “Oh, nothing much. I just beat them up a little.”

  The glint in Griffin’s eyes made Kelsey think those bullies had ended up in the hospital. “Did you get kicked out of school?”

  “Almost, but my mother talked the principal into letting me stay.”

  “How old were you when that happened?” Kelsey asked.

  “Hmm. About thirteen or fourteen, I think.”

  Jorie leaned against the kitchen counter. “That’s when Wrasa typically go through that Awakening thing, right?”

  “Yes,” Griffin said. “And that’s why so many Wrasa teenagers get in trouble in school. Their human teachers just don’t understand why their behavior changes so dramatically.”

  “And that happens every time?” Jorie asked. She looked at Kelsey. “You got suspended from school too?”

  Griffin shook her head. “She’s nederi—a submissive. I bet she fit in just fine.”

  Kelsey winced. Why do alphas always make it sound like being nederi is such a bad thing? She gave herself a mental nudge. Focus on the boy. “It’s usually the more dominant Wrasa who get in trouble as teenagers,” Kelsey said. “My brother was suspended two times for fighting and almost got expelled. What if the boy from your dream is the same way? What if he didn’t have parents who talked the principal into letting him stay?”

  “Good idea.” Griffin gave her a pat on the shoulder that surprised Kelsey. “We should extend our search to include former students.” Without another word, she strode back toward the living room.

  * * *

  “Stop!” Jorie shouted.

  Griffin’s fingers froze on the laptop keyboard.

  “That’s him! That’s the boy from my dream!”

  Kelsey leaned forward and squinted at the laptop. Griffin had changed it to fit human eyesight, so she needed a few seconds to see the boy’s picture clearly.

  Thick black hair fell rebelliously into his boyish face. Pale skin and a full bottom lip made him look vulnerable, but the intensity of his gaze told her that he was no helpless victim. If a human tried to hurt him, he’d put up a fight. Maybe that’s what had enraged the woman so much that she tried to choke him.

  “His name is Daniel Harding,” Griffin said. “According to the school’s records, he’s fourteen now. He got kicked out of the Syracuse School for the Deaf two years ago.” The keyboard rattled under Griffin’s powerful fingers. “After that, he was enrolled in a program for the deaf at a public school in North Carolina.”

  “He’s still alive,” Jorie whispered. “I’m not too late.”

  Griffin clicked on another screen and typed in rapid succession. “He lives with his adoptive mother,” she finally said. “Some rich entrepreneur in the furniture business. Her name is Rue Harding.” A few more clicks and keystrokes. “Hmm. She’s not in our database either. Seems the whole family is flying under the Saru’s radar.” Griffin brought up the website of Harding Furniture and clicked through it until the picture of a woman appeared on the screen.

  Before Kelsey could take a glance, Griffin turned the laptop so that Jorie could see the screen.

  From her standing position, Jorie bent over the back of the couch. Then she froze. “That’s his mother? Are you sure?”

  Griffin glanced at the screen, then back at Jorie. “Yes, I’m sure. Why?”

  Jorie pointed a trembling finger at the screen. “In my dream, she’s the one who tries to kill the boy.”

  Chapter 4

  “A human raising a Wrasa… I still wonder how it’s possible,” Griffin said after swallowing the last bite of her breakfast.

  Jorie pointed at the laptop. “According to the adoptive records you found, she adopted him.”

  A frown wrinkled Griffin’s brow. “Wrasa don’t give their children up for adoption—and certainly not to a human. If for some reason parents can’t raise their cub, the whole pride acts as substitute parents.”

  Kelsey nodded. It was the same for wolf-shifters. She couldn’t imagine how a human had gotten her paws on the boy.

  “Apparently, it didn’t happen this time.” Jorie looked from Kelsey to Griffin. “But if he lived among humans all these years, why didn’t anyone discover that he’s not human? Wouldn’t a simple checkup at the doctor’s office give him away?”

  “If the checkup is really thorough, yes,” Griffin said. “But a human doctor wouldn’t know what to look for, and before puberty, Wrasa and human physiology is much more alike than in adulthood.”

  “Yeah, your physiology is clearly different from mine.” Jorie looked from Griffin’s empty plate to Kelsey’s quickly disappearing breakfast. “It never ceases to amaze me how much you eat. I’m stuffed. Anyone want the rest of my eggs and sausages?” Without waiting for a reply, she cut her breakfast sausage in two and deposited half of it on Griffin’s plate, then pierced the other half with her fork and was about to put it on Kelsey’s plate.

  Kelsey quickly pulled her plate away, out of Jorie’s reach. “Oh, no, thank you.”

  Jorie sent her a puzzled smile. “Don’t tell me you aren’t hungry? Normally, you eat like a starving pack of wolves.”

  A growl from her stomach answered for Kelsey. She blushed and pressed one hand against her traitorous stomach, not daring to look at Jorie or the piece of sausage. “I am hungry, but I can’t take your food.”

  “Unless,” Griffin reached out one long arm to pat Jorie’s shoulder, “you want to start your own harem.”

  Kelsey slouched in her chair, her cheeks burning.

  “Harem?” Jorie looked from Griffin to Kelsey. “What’s going on? Did I miss another point of Wrasa social etiquette?”

  Griffin laughed and trailed her hand down Jorie’s arm. “Sharing food is a Wrasa courtship ritual. If Kelsey ate food from your plate, she would accept more than just breakfast.”

  The fork with the piece of sausage clattered back onto Jorie’s plate. “Oh.”

  “Yeah. Oh.” Griffin took the remaining sausage from Jorie’s plate and swallowed it in one big bite. Finally, with all food gone, she leaned back and patted her stomach.

  “I’m sorry, Kelsey,” Jorie said. “I didn’t mean to embarrass you or get you into the...um...doghouse with Griffin.”

  “It’s okay. It was a misunderstanding.” And Kelsey knew she hadn’t done enough to avoid such misunderstandings. She had never sat down with Jorie and told her what to do and what to avoid when she was around Wrasa. Jorie was the Wrasa’s only dream seer, a sacred person, so Kelsey was the one who had to adjust to Jorie’s needs and wants, not the other way around. As Jorie’s subordinate, she felt it wasn’t her place to impose rules on the maharsi.

  Jorie reached over and pinched Griffin, making her hiss. “You should have told me.”

  “Sorry.” Griffin rubbed her thigh. “I thought you knew. We talked about Leigh and Rhonda sharing food, remember?”

  “Yes, but I thought it was a cute little thing those two do, not an official tradition.”

  “Sorry,” Griffin said again. She tried one of her charming cat grins on her partner. “You adjusted to living with a Wrasa so well that sometimes, I take too much for granted. I’ll try to do better.”

  Kelsey looked away as her alpha pair exchanged a kiss. She gathered the empty plates and carried them to the kitchen while Griffin and Jorie returned to the living room. With her Wrasa hearing, Kelsey could still overhear their conversation.

  “We need to move fast to rescue the boy,” Griffin said. “We need a cover story that allows us to sneak into the Hardings’ lives.”<
br />
  “Maybe there are vacancies in Rue Harding’s furniture company,” Jorie said.

  In the living room, the laptop’s keyboard rattled under impatient fingers.

  Kelsey rinsed the plates and put them in the dishwasher while she listened to Griffin mutter and curse.

  “No vacancies,” Griffin said. More typing on the keyboard. “There!” Griffin let out a triumphant growl. “I got something better. Someone in Clearfield, North Carolina, is looking for a private tutor, preferably a woman who knows ASL. It’s got to be Rue Harding. There can’t be too many deaf boys in need of a private tutor in Clearfield.”

  “A woman who knows ASL,” Jorie repeated. “Does that sound like someone we know?”

  Kelsey froze, hands clenched around the frying pan. In the sudden silence, her heartbeat drummed in her ears. Me? She wants to send me? No, no, no! This is not a good idea. They needed to send a more experienced Saru, someone who’d been on undercover missions before and could handle herself with more confidence than Kelsey had. After all, the life of a young Wrasa depended on the mission’s success.

  The burden of responsibility constricted her chest. The last time a life had depended on Kelsey making the right decision, she had messed it up with her instinctive submissiveness, and she never wanted that to happen again.

  Calm down. Griffin will never agree to send you. She doesn’t trust you.

  “I still don’t know if sending Kelsey would be a good idea, Jorie,” Griffin said.

  “But sending her is the logical choice,” Jorie whispered back. “She’s fluent in ASL. We’ll just tell the other Saru she went to visit her family for a few weeks. No one will miss her.”

  Kelsey winced.

  “Uh, Jorie, remember Wrasa hearing? Kelsey can hear us from the kitchen.”

  “Shit.” Jorie rushed toward the kitchen and lingered in the doorway. “I’m sorry, Kelsey. I didn’t mean it like that. What I meant to say is—”

  “It’s okay.” Kelsey swallowed against the bitter taste in her mouth. She turned away from Jorie and pretended to wash the frying pan. “You’re right. I don’t have pack bonds, and my family lives far away in Oregon. No one will even realize I’m gone.”

  “That’s not why I want to send you,” Jorie said. “I really think you’re the best person to go on this mission.”

  Despite Kelsey’s own doubts, Jorie’s trust warmed her like a ray of sunlight in the middle of the cold Michigan winter. She let go of the frying pan and turned to face Jorie. “You do?”

  Jorie stepped closer and nodded. “I believe in you. But if you’re not sure you can do it...”

  What then? There are no alternatives. Kelsey inhaled deeply and then blew out a breath. “I’m not sure, but I promise I’ll do my best to save the boy’s life.”

  “Do you remember enough ASL to pose as a tutor?” Griffin asked. “We need to get to the boy as soon as possible, so you don’t have much time to practice.”

  A wave of unease crept up Kelsey’s spine as the pressure of Griffin’s gaze rested on her. How long had it been since she’d last used sign language? Most days, she avoided thinking about the past. Did she still know enough ASL to talk to Daniel Harding? “I think so.”

  For a few moments, no one said anything as Griffin and Jorie seemed to converse in silence. Jorie looked at Griffin, both eyebrows raised in a silent question, until Griffin nodded and turned toward Kelsey.

  Griffin studied Kelsey for so long that the tiny hairs along Kelsey’s forearms started to tingle. “All right,” Griffin finally said. “Then at least that part of the mission shouldn’t cause any problems.” She stabbed her index finger in Kelsey’s direction. “Stay just long enough to find out how the woman got her hands on the boy and if she knows about our existence, then take the boy and get out of there as fast as—”

  “Not so fast, you two,” Jorie said. “We can’t just take the boy from his mother unless we’re sure she’s out to hurt him.”

  “She’s not really his mother, Jorie,” Griffin said what Kelsey was thinking.

  Her gaze somber, Jorie looked from Kelsey to Griffin. “You mean like my mother is not really my mother?”

  Griffin flinched and slid her arms around Jorie. “I’m sorry. I know your mother couldn’t love you more if she had given birth to you. But this is different.”

  “We don’t know that,” Jorie said.

  “Yes, we do. The boy is a Wrasa about to undergo his First Change. Leaving him with a human who has no clue about shape-shifters would put both of them in danger. It’s best for the boy and the woman if we take Daniel away from her.” Over Jorie’s head, Griffin sent Kelsey a firm glance. “Are you up for it, wolf?”

  The edge of the sink dug into Kelsey’s back as she leaned heavily against it. “I promise to do my best. I won’t betray your trust in me.” After participating in the hunt that nearly got Jorie killed, this was her chance to prove herself and to save a Wrasa’s life. This time, nothing would stop her from doing the right thing.

  Chapter 5

  After being trapped on a plane for hours, Kelsey’s legs were still trembling when she headed toward the baggage claim. Her skin burned where she had scratched her forearms during the flight. As soon as she walked out the airport’s exit, she turned on her cell phone and pressed number one on her speed dial.

  Jorie picked up on the first ring. “Yes?”

  “It’s Kelsey. My plane just got in.”

  “Good. Are you okay? You sound out of breath.”

  Rubbing a spot over her right brow, Kelsey took a calming breath. “I’m fine. Must be a bad connection.”

  “All right. Listen, don’t rent a car, okay? We sent a picture of you to one of Griffin’s cousins and his wife who live in the area. They’ll be there any minute to drop off a car for you. We don’t want a paper trail.”

  That made sense. “Okay. Did you or Griffin find out anything else I should know before I meet Rue Harding?”

  “We found out why Ms. Harding wants to hire a private tutor for Daniel,” Jorie said. “He wasn’t just expelled from the school in Syracuse. Two months ago, he was kicked out of his new school too.”

  Urgency vibrated through Kelsey. He’s the typical rebellious teenager, right in the middle of the Awakening. We need to get him out of there before his First Change. “What happened?” Kelsey asked.

  “He got caught smoking dope.”

  Kelsey frowned. “Smoking cannabis? That can’t be true. No matter what kind of shifter he is, he’d be very sensitive to all kinds of drugs. I guarantee you he wouldn’t touch them twice.” Her stomach did a slow roll when she remembered her first sorority party in college. A few fellow students talked her into trying a Long Island Iced Tea. After the second most miserable night in her life, she realized that the drink contained anything but tea. She hadn’t touched a drop of alcohol since.

  “Weird. That’s what the school’s records say, though. And that’s not the only time he’s been in trouble. Apparently, he got kicked off his baseball team because he got into his coach’s face. He also had to repeat sixth grade because his grades dropped. And he has a juvenile record. Nothing too serious—trespassing, disturbing the peace, and vandalism—but still...”

  Kelsey’s fingers tightened around the cell phone. Time to get him out of there. A Wrasa teenager needed a mentor who kept a strict, but loving eye on him, not a human woman who would end up hurting him. “Anything else?”

  “Tons of information on Rue Harding’s business,” Jorie said.

  “You said her company produces furniture, right?”

  “Yes, but it’s not just any furniture manufacturer. Remember that beautiful desk Griffin gave me for my birthday?”

  Kelsey nodded even though Jorie couldn’t see it. Sometimes, Griffin was the typical cat—she loved to spoil her mate with presents. Well, at least a desk is better than bringing home dead mice.

  “The desk was made by Harding Furniture Inc.,” Jorie said. “It’s an old family business. Ru
e Harding’s grandfather started a woodworking business in a barn behind his house in Oregon forty years ago. He built custom cabinets and barely made enough money to get by. Since Rue Harding took over as CEO ten years ago, she went from owning one small store to being one of the largest furniture manufacturers in the US, close to breaking into the Fortune 500. They have manufacturing facilities in New York, Oregon, and North Carolina with a total of four hundred employees.”

  From a small store to the Fortune 500 in just ten years. She’s probably a tough businesswoman, a corporate shark willing to do whatever it takes to get what she wants. Kelsey gnashed her teeth. She needed to get the boy away from that ruthless woman.

  “What about Rue Harding?” Kelsey asked. “Any information on her personally?”

  “Not much beyond the work-related stuff. She has an MBA from Fuqua, Duke’s business school. Graduated at the top of her class. No history of child abuse, violence, or any other criminal record, just a few speeding tickets.”

  Kelsey didn’t relax just yet. Maybe the lack of a criminal record just proved that Rue Harding was adept at getting away with whatever she was doing to Daniel. With her kind of money and power, maybe she could make things go away before charges could be brought against her.

  “Oh, and something else that might be helpful to know.” Jorie paused before she said, “She’s family.”

  Shock zapped through Kelsey. “What? She’s Wrasa? But you were so sure she’s human.”

  Jorie laughed. “No, not that kind of family. She’s a lesbian.”

  “Oh.”

  “You are a lesbian too, right?” Jorie asked.

  Kelsey blinked. She rarely talked about herself, and she was sure she hadn’t told Jorie about her sexual orientation. “Yes,” she said. “How did you know?”

  “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but the house is small, and I heard you on the phone with your parents once. You told them if you ever find a mate, it’ll probably be a woman.”

  Not that it stopped her parents from encouraging her to accept the wooing of her former alphas—her male alphas.