The Touch of Snow

by Anna Edwards

  "I don't see why I have to be kept in the dark." All he ever found was frustrating answers when it came to his father’s death.

  "It is safer that way. Kas may control these lands, but he is still governed by the Council." She paused. "Let's go to my cave. I have an excellent venison stew cooking. I'll share it with you. And you can tell me why you are hiding away up here."

  "You caught a deer?"

  "No, Tyler brought it for me yesterday. He's such a good boy."

  "I'm sorry Miss Molly." He waved off her hand and stood. "I've neglected my duty."

  "No you haven't, you found your mate and needed to help her."

  "And on that, I've failed."

  "What you see is different from what I see."

  "What do you mean?"

  "Food first."

  Molly's cave was not really what one would expect. There were no damp walls and cold rock formations. No, the inside was like a palace. When she'd told Kas that she wanted to stay high up in the mountain, he’d had them all turn her dwelling into a proper home. The inside was divided into rooms with as many modern conveniences as one could have. Electricity was provided by an ongoing spell Jessica had put in place.

  Molly may be eccentric, but she lived like a queen. The, now in human form, puma grabbed a bowl and ladled a spoonful of the stew into it.

  "Here get that inside you. It's my great-grandmother's recipe, handed down from generation to generation. This is older than Queen Victoria herself, I'll have you know."

  He sat at her carved oak table. The Ming dynasty china bowl and silver spoon felt really delicate in his big hands. One wrong move and everything would end up smashed or bent.

  "Stop staring at it and eat. Then you can tell me about your girl."

  He took a mouthful, and it was delicious. Warmth slid down his throat in a mix of herbs and sauce. He purred his response.

  "That good?" She laughed at him.

  "You're a great cook, Miss Molly."

  He quickly scooped more spoonfuls until the bowl was empty. It was just what he'd needed to bring back some level of rational thought.

  "Did you ever want to take a mate, Miss Molly?" He wasn’t sure where that thought had come from but he really wanted to know. It was said that she was alone up here.

  "I thought about it once. There was a human, but then the war in Vietnam started, and he had to ship out. He saw things he couldn't live with. It changed him and destroyed us. As a shifter I would never know peace. I walked away from him and never saw him again. I heard he married a human female and had two children. I just hope that he was happy."

  "Did you have a normal relationship up until he left for the war?"

  "Do you mean was he aware of my abilities? Or intimacy?"

  "I guess a bit of both."

  "He accepted what I could be and even helped out in the pack. Kas' grandfather liked him but was obviously worried when we split. Albert assured him that the secret of our existence would die with him. He owed it to the love he still had for me. As for intimacy, we had a healthy relationship. It is important for both human and shifter to have that."

  "It's important for a shifter and super shifter as well," he huffed out.

  "I feared this when I saw the girl for the first time. She is not controlling her powers?"

  Brayden shook his head.

  "Worse than that. Jessica bound them, and it worked for everyone bar me. When she touches me, she still shifts. That is why I'm up here. I ran away. How can I find my mate and have this happen? What kind of cruel twist of fate is it?"

  "I don't know about the twist of fate, but she is younger than any super shifter I've ever seen before. All have been male as well."

  "You've met them? Even Jessica hasn't done that, and she's been researching them for a month." He sat up a bit straighter in his chair.

  "Miss Molly has met a lot of people in her life Brayden."

  "Where? When? How? I've so many questions."

  "The first one I met in the summer of nineteen fifty-five, I was a girl of only six, so I don't remember it entirely. Hayden came to visit with my parents. He and my father had been roommates during the Second World War. I just have these visions of him changing into all these different animals in our back garden. I was so excited and clapping all the time, screaming out an animal for him to be. I think he even managed a dragon at one point, although not a unicorn. I was most disappointed at that." As she spoke, Molly ladled out another bowl of the stew for him, and he happily started to eat.

  "A dragon? How? I thought their bodies learned from touching animals? And as far as we know dragons are extinct."

  "Apparently, it works with bones as well. It's a cool thing to have up your sleeve. A fabulous display of fiery breath as well." He let his spoon rest on the edge of his bowl. He could see Selene as a dragon. She would be a beautiful white one with chocolate eyes. With her mischievous sense of humor as well he was sure that she would try to scare him, to get him back for Death Valley.

  "What happened to him? Do you know where he his? Maybe we can meet him and get some answers for Selene."

  "I wish that was possible. He died shortly after the visit."

  "How?"

  "Nobody knows; everybody suspects, but no one can find the truth. All we know is that he was mortally wounded by an animal. My father was devastated. He was never quite the same afterward. I think they had developed a bond akin to brothers."

  "I'm sorry. Selene would be as well. Anyone who has the abilities that she does would be family to her."

  Molly stood, using the furniture and a stick, to hop over to a comfortable armchair.

  "You carry on eating. Those chairs are hard on my old bones. I prefer the softer one." She pulled a blanket over herself. He wanted to tuck it around her to ensure she was warm. She wouldn't like the fuss, though.

  "You said that you had met more than one."

  "Yes, Ethern. He is on the Council although I think he is more of a silent member now. I met him just after he was elected. When I was injured, he was the one who rescued me. Brought me back to Kas. He tried to multiply Jessica's powers so that my leg could be saved, but it didn't work. It was too badly damaged."

  "I need to get Selene in to see him." There was hope after all, maybe this Ethern could help them.

  "That will not happen."

  "Why?" The flames of hope were rapidly doused.

  "He is a recluse. When he found me it was after the fight in which Kas' grandfather died. He became disgusted with what he saw and knew what was happening with the Council. That is why he joined it, to bring stability. He brought about the end of the fighting in negotiating the deal with Kas."

  "If Kas knows him, then surely we can try and meet him. I wonder why he hasn't sent Jessica to see him? She was in Berlin recently." He needed to get back down the mountain and question Kas. Why was the polar bear dragging his heels on something that could help Selene?

  "I don't know. Kas has his own rules that none of us really understand. He does what is best for his pack, but it may not always seem the most logical decision. There will be a reason. Again, you must trust him."

  "This is all I seem to hear at the moment." He got to his feet and put his bowl into the sink. "Trust Kas, he knows what he is doing," he said sarcastically. The china clattered down and smashed. "Damn it!" He thumped the side of the cave.

  "You really love her, don't you?"

  "I do. I have visions of us running around with cubs like a proper family, I want to be with her all the time. To know that she is at my side and protected. I want to stroke her face and know that she feels my touch of love, not a touch that transforms her body." He slumped against the wall, a figure of defeat. "I can't even taste her lips because the second our mouths meet she turns. Her scent is driving me crazy, I can smell it all over me. I need her to be my mate in every sense of the word but it's not happening. It won't ever happen. Even if she gets control over her powers will she be able to touch me? They bound her abilities to ev
eryone but me."

  "It is mother nature's way Brayden. You have to understand that. She has put you both in this position for a reason. I know not what it is. I wish I could stand here and tell you, but I can't. All I know is that you have your father's strength and determination. You have his ability to love Selene as Heath loved Jane. Everyone sees it, we can all feel it when you walk into a room. You have a power about you. You've been destined for your father's life for so long, I think you've forgotten who you are. Find that. It will give you the answers you seek."

  He strode forward and knelt before Miss Molly, his head bowed, hands in her lap.

  "Thank you."

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  This used to be Selene’s favorite burger, but it just tasted like cardboard now. Her appetite had gone, replaced with only a nauseated feeling that seemed like it would never leave. Kas had brought her back to California to be with Jane.

  "Selene, please, you have to eat something." Jane's reassuring voice urged her on. She took another bite. Part of her wished Kas had just left her alone in her room to wallow after Brayden disappeared, but when he said he would bring her to see Jane she jumped at the chance to get away. Jane touched her hand, and Selene didn't flinch away. The spell was still in place so nothing would be felt.

  "You need to keep up your strength. Brayden likes a bit of meat on his women."

  The burger stuck in her throat and tears started to fall from her eyes.

  "Oh, honey. I didn't mean to upset you. I can't imagine what you are feeling, but it will be alright. You'll find a way. Everyone is working on it: reading, researching, talking to contacts."

  She looked down at her hand. Every time, she saw it shift to snow leopard skin. It wasn't, of course, because she was nowhere near Brayden. He'd run off and left her. She sighed heavily and swallowed the choking bite.

  "I know it is so hard. When you love someone so much, you just want to be with them all the time." Memories of past times were reflected in Jane’s words.

  "Is that what you felt for Brayden's father?" Selene asked.

  "Heath and I loved each other a great deal. He was my first and only lover. We were so young, so optimistic of a future filled with a large family and so much joy."

  "You only had Brayden?"

  "I was very young when I had him. There were complications, and I couldn’t have any more children. We probably spoiled my son far too much as a result. We catered to his moods. Snow leopards are solitary animals, even though Brayden is half human he still has that side in him. Heath did, there were times when he just had to get away; he would disappear for days, weeks. I always knew he was safe. It was just what he needed. Molly said that he was thinking. I don't doubt that. He will be hunting, climbing and thinking. He will be trying to find as many ways as possible that he can touch you and you won’t change. Although, thinking of my son that way is a bit yucky." Jane screwed up her nose. Selene couldn't help let out a small laugh. "That’s the girl I know, with such a lovely smile. You have to have hope. If you don't have that, you have nothing."

  "Was it easy living with a shifter?"

  "Apart from the fur balls and the spraying all over the furniture, it was good. Seriously, have a broom handy for when they do the marking thing. A quick swipe and they soon leave with a growl."

  "I did notice a lot of rubbing on the furniture when I was in Montana." She perked up.

  "Did you see the big scratching post that they had as well?"

  "I did. I admit they had to explain it to me first. I didn't really believe what they were saying. I had a go, though. Shifted my hands and had a good scratch. It was actually very therapeutic."

  Jane leaned forward and looked around. Kas was at the counter eating a burger specially prepared for him. They both knew the bear had super hearing and would be listening in to every word they said. "I had a go as well. Broke a bloody nail, but it was so worth it."

  They both laughed. When Kas chuckled, Selene had the proof she needed that he was using his abilities. In a matter of minutes, Jane had turned Selene's mood around. She wasn't sure how her surrogate mother had done it, but her heart and head felt lighter.

  "You have to remember with Brayden, as I had to with Heath, it will never just be the two of you. They are part of a pack, blood, though not defined by DNA, brought together by a need for companionship. That was the thing I found the hardest at the start. When you marry, you think, ok, I'll be living alone with this man, but I wasn't. I was living with him and a whole lot of others. I didn't even give birth to Brayden in a hospital. It was in the room that is now his at the house, surrounded by the females of the pack, each of them helping out. I was terrified but felt so at home at the same time. I'll never forget the roars and barks of celebration when I safely delivered and recovered from the complications."

  "Is that why you came here when Heath died? Surely you could have stayed with the pack." It was a question of genuine interest to Selene. In the short time, she’d been with the pack she’d felt loved and wanted.

  "I could have; they didn’t want me to leave. A part of me didn’t want to go either, but I needed something for myself. Brayden was old enough to live with Kas. I knew he would be protected and cared for. That was his home. He was already outgrowing the need for his mother. That is a male cat's way. I shut my eyes and stuck a pin in a map of America, and it landed in Death Valley. It could have been anywhere. Even down the road from Glacial Park but fate gave me here. Of course, I told Brayden that it was because I wanted some sunshine, so he didn't think it was as random as it was. I like it here, though, and I know that if I need my family, they will be there for me."

  "Would you ever move back?"

  Jane looked over to Kas, the bear's eyes shut.

  "I don't know. That is my honest answer. When you and Brayden have children, because it is a when not an if, I want to be near them, but I'm not sure if I want to live in a house full of people anymore. I like my independence now."

  "I'm sure Kas will let you open a little café in the park. Especially if you cook him seal burgers all the time."

  There was that growl of a polar bear licking his lips at the thought again. She winked at him.

  "Stop teasing him." Jane gave Kas a warm smile.

  "I know, I'm sorry Kas." She spoke into the air but knew the message would be heard.

  "Selene, all I'm trying to say is: at the moment things look bad, but it will work out. I have been in a dark place. The days after Heath died I thought that my life was over, but I found my strength. Everything happens for a reason. Isn't that what you believe?"

  "I was put here for a reason and I exist because I was created."

  "You exist because you were given to those that need help." Jane’s words resonated through her. "I should go check on the kitchen. Do you think you can eat now?"

  "I do. I'm going to eat and then go back to Montana. Brayden and I need to talk."

  "Good girl. Give him a big hug from his mother and yours." Jane smiled.

  "You know I will."

  She took another bite of the burger, and it tasted good. Suddenly the world didn't feel like too bad a place. They would find a way.

  "Well, look who decided to come back. Have you been off practicing your prick teasing elsewhere?" A voice that she had hoped never to hear again interrupted her meal.

  "Stuart. I would say I've missed you, but I would be lying. How are the balls? Swelling gone down yet?"

  "I warned you that you would pay for that." He sneered callously.

  "Yes, you did. Maybe we should take this outside. I would hate for you to be embarrassed in front of your friends." Their voices were quiet so nobody would hear them. All except Kas--he rolled his eyes. He knew what she would be doing next.

  She pushed the table out to get up. It was only a subtle boost, but she stopped it just before it hit Stuart on the other side. She smiled sweetly and then slammed the table directly into his legs. He yelled out in pain such was her force. She liked this new-found stren
gth thing and was glad the spell hadn't affected that. Although she did secretly wish she could hear Stuart's thoughts right now.

  "Bitch." He jumped over the table and went to pull her hair, but she was quick enough to sidestep him, catch him by the arm, and rammed him headfirst into the booth. She heard his nose crack, and blood splattered everywhere.

  "I hope daddy can afford another nose for you," she quipped snidely.

  He lifted his head quickly and went to slam it into hers. She was able to move at the last minute, but he caught her shoulder which sent pain through it. That was quickly shaken off when Stuart came for her again and punched her in the face. Pain crashed through her body, and she was grateful she'd become so accustomed to getting hit by Emma that it didn't knock her out. She sensed Kas behind her.

  "No." She held her hand up. "This fight is mine."

  "Who the fuck is he?" Stuart looked up at Kas.

  "Someone who is welcome here, unlike you." Jane stepped forward. "How dare you come into my restaurant and hit a woman."

  "She hit me first. Everyone saw."

  He lunged at her again, but she twisted her body so that she was able to kick out and send him flying to the floor in a heap. He was dazed and tried to stand but couldn't. She put the heel of her boot into the arch of his back and applied a little pressure. He screamed.

  "A month ago, I went on a date with this man." The restaurant was full, and people from outside must have heard the commotion because they were appearing at the door. "He took me to a lookout point and tried to have his way with me. I said no. That’s when he tried to rape me. Thankfully, Mrs. Dillon's son was around to rescue me." She pushed her foot down harder. She looked around at some of the girls in the room, who’d gone pale. "I suspect that I'm not the only one that he’s forced into giving up a part of themselves to feed his over-inflated ego." One of the girls stood up.

  "He made me give him my virginity, he said he loved me but never spoke to me again." A young blonde stood and stepped forward.

  "He did the same to my sister, got her pregnant as well. His daddy forced her to have an abortion." An angry looking brunette called out from the back of restaurant.