Born Cheetah (6 page)

He blinked at her, and he realised she was serious. He started to laugh and held her tight. “It was a start.”

She squeaked and he eased off. “It was definitely a start. Later, I was focussed on your strength, your shoulders and the way your head tilted when you looked at me.”

“I loved the way your hair tumbled over your shoulders, the way you tutored Augusta when she was failing science class, volunteering at the local kids’ club and your determination to learn how to swim against all your instincts.”

A tear ran down her cheek. “Well, that settles that.”

He brushed the tear away. “Why are you crying?”

“You were paying attention. While we may have thought we were thwarted in getting together, I think we were kept apart until we were ready. We are ready now.”

He kissed her, and they cuddled together until they slept. Tomorrow was going to be one hell of a day.

Teal smiled, “And so you are registered mates by the authority of all the Shifters’ Councils.”

Rayna was holding tight to Gregory’s hand.

Tony grinned at them. “So, where would you like to return to?”

Rayna swallowed, “My place. It will be easier to just face Augusta and my Aunt Reggie.”

Gregory nodded. “We worked the logistics out this morning.”

Teal hugged Rayna and handed her a copy of the registration. Gregory got his own copy. The Crossroads would keep a copy, and the Shifters’ Archive would have another. Because Rayna had no family or clan registration, she would keep her own copy. Gregory would provide his herd master with the copy when he returned home.

“Right then, Rayna’s home it is. Right in the living room.” Teal led them to a raised stone in the centre of the Zen garden, and she and Tony faced each other across the stone with the couple between them.

The guardians of the Crossroads sent them home.

Rayna gave him a tour of her home, and he walked slowly through it, taking in all the little touches she had added to the large expanse. “Your house is...large.”

She shrugged. “It is as large as it needed to be. I can’t always go for a run outside, so the track on the roof stands in for a sprint through the wild.”

“You have a running track...on the roof?”

“Yup. Come and have a look. This was what my mother left to me. After I paid off the Samuels’ house, I had a lot left over, so I designed a home over a shop. I had no idea it would turn into this.” She waved her arms out at her sides, gesturing to the five thousand square feet on the floor around them.

He shook his head. “Is it all paid for?”

“It is. There is enough remaining in the trust to pay my expenses until I am one hundred and twelve. I really don’t have a lot of expenses aside from my underwear collection.”

His smile lit up her home. “I look forward to seeing it in its entirety.”

Rayna laughed, “I think it might be a little overwhelming, but my home is your home now.”

He dropped his bag in her bedroom, and he began to poke around in her drawers.

“The chest of drawers on your right. Bras to the right, panties to the left.” Rayna put her dirty clothing in her laundry hamper and wandered into the shower, leaving a trail of clothing behind her.

He got her invitation without her saying a word.

Her shower hadn’t specifically been built for sex, but the steel bars that helped her when she shaved her legs came in very handy as he pressed her against the wall and thrust into her.

It was funny, slippery and the low guttural groan that Gregory announced his climax with echoed in the chamber. He reached between them, and his fingers circled her clit until she arched and squeaked like a kitten.

Gregory laughed. “Now, we just need to do that in every room of your house and I will feel right at home.”

She let her legs slide down his thighs. “That sounds both fun and exhausting. There are a total of twelve rooms in this house, eighteen if you count the closets.”

He hummed happily and nuzzled at her neck. “That sounds like a fun week.”

She burst out laughing. “On that note. I should make some calls.”

A voice from the doorway made her clutch at Gregory. “I already know, Rayna. You and your mate need to get out here.”

“That is Aunt Reggie.”

He turned and took up a defensive posture.

Rayna slid her hand down his spine and patted his back. “Let’s grab some towels. If she is here, something is up.”

He nodded, but his body was vibrating with tension. Rayna sensed that if Reggie made the wrong move, she would be stomped into the floor.

They left the shower and wrapped themselves in towels. Rayna left the bathroom first. Reggie had tidied all the discarded clothing. Her mentor was perched on the edge of the dressing table.

“You are going to have a visitor, Rayna.”

“It seems I already have one, Aunt Reggie. Gregory, this is Regina Narcoat. Regina this is—“

“Yes, yes. Gregory Daywell. I recognise him from your descriptions over the years.” She waved at them. “Get dressed. They are coming.”

“Who is coming?”

Regina blinked in surprise. “Your grandparents, of course. All of them.”

“I have grandparents?” Reyna felt faint.

“Of course you do. Now, get dressed. They just passed the county line.”

Gregory put his hands on her shoulders and steered her toward her underwear drawers.

She would have laughed if her mind hadn’t been stuck. She had grandparents.

They sat in the living room and waited. Regina had made a pot of tea and one of coffee. They were ready for anything.

Gregory was holding Rayna’s hand, and he asked, “You really didn’t know you had grandparents?”

“No. I mean, I grew up a Baker in the Samuels household but that was the only difference until I shifted for the first time. I don’t even know what my mother’s maiden name was.”

Regina quirked her lips. “You will find out soon enough.”

The doorbell rang, and Rayna jumped to her feet. Gregory held her back and walked with her to the door.

They were both dressed and squeaky clean. The two couples outside the door were standing a foot away from each other, but other than that, it was obvious that they were solid mates in their own relationships.

“Hello.” A polite greeting seemed the best way to start things off. “Please come in.”

The two sets of powerful feline shifters entered her house, and Regina greeted one couple with a hunching of her shoulders and a small bow. “Aunty, Uncle. I am glad you have arrived.”

The woman smiled slightly, and her arm lashed out, striking Regina and sending her to the floor.

Rayna was moving an instant later; she dodged the older male and grabbed the female that had struck her mentor. She pinned the woman to the wall with one hand while her other formed claws and drew back to strike.

A hand gripped her wrist and stopped her claws from landing. “Back up, Rayna. Regina had it coming.”

“No one strikes a guest in my house. Are we clear?” Her voice was rough, her teeth had extended.

“Yes, little one. We are clear, now introductions are in order. I am Raymond Baker, your grandfather. That lovely blonde there is my wife, Avedis. My son, Niko, was your father.”

She dropped her other grandmother to the floor and turned to shake his hand with her own human form restored. “I am pleased to meet you, Raymond. I am guessing that I was named after you and your wife.”

He smiled wistfully. “You were. Unfortunately, in the misjudgement of youth, my family and theirs refused to acknowledge what the rest of the world took as a solid match. Niko and Martha left their roots and created their own tree. That makes you a little nut.”

She barked a small laugh. Her other grandmother was getting up with her mate’s help.

Her grandfather moved carefully and extended his hand. “I am Matthew Harcourt, this is my wife Ystine. Your mother, Martha, was our daughter, and she hid you from us when you were born.”

She shook his hand, clasped Ystine’s hand with an absent nod and then turned to help Regina to her feet. “Come on, Aunt Reggie. Let’s get some ice on that lip.”

She settled her mentor on a chair with an ice pack and turned to the collection of shifters in her kitchen.

Gregory was standing nearby, but he merely watched. She smiled at him. “Gregory, these are my father’s parents, Raymond and Avedis Baker, and my mother’s parents, Matthew and Ystine Harcourt. Everyone, this is my mate, Gregory Daywell.”

Ystine actually hissed, but Matthew jerked her arm and she quieted.

“We just got back from the Crossroads today. Isn’t it lovely?”

Avedis teared up and walked toward her, giving her a hug that was as careful as it was genuine. “Good reflexes, Rayna. Your mother and father would be so proud.”

When they parted, Rayna cleared her throat. “Now, everyone to the living room. Who would like coffee, and who would like tea?”

She took the orders, lifted the trays and quickly brought them in, thankful that she had opted for four love seats instead of couches. She set everyone up with their beverage of choice and settled back, next to Gregory.

“Not to be rude, but why are you here after all these years? It has to be at least twenty-six years since you saw my parents, possibly more.”

Regina winced and kept the ice pack to her face.

Ystine muttered, “They hid you from us.”

Avedis spoke, “There was a contention as to which family had precedence. Your parents circumvented that with an order filed with the Shifter Council. Neither family would get you in case of death or accident. You would be given to a third party and raised as a neutral shifter. No alliances, no political crap from either side until you turned twenty-six.”

“Why was that even a possibility?”

Regina answered, “Because the Harcourts are in charge of all cheetahs on this continent. As you were never registered with the clan, you never fell under their jurisdiction. They would have chosen a mate for you when you were a child, and you would have formalized the union as soon as you turned eighteen.”

She looked to her maternal grandparents. “Is that what happened to my mother?”

Matthew cleared his throat. “Your mother left home when she was sixteen. She disappeared, and it wasn’t until ten years later that she returned from the Crossroads wed to a
lion
and we heard from her.”

“Niko couldn’t believe his luck, but he knew what he was getting with Martha. She hadn’t hidden anything from him. He was a police officer in good standing, so he sought out a position here, and they settled in.” Raymond put his arm around his wife. “We knew about the will registration with the Shifters’ Council, and it seemed the best thing for them to do, considering Niko’s occupation. We never thought that it would be enacted. It was just a means to peace of mind.”

Rayna held Gregory’s hand tight. “Well, that explains what happened two weeks ago when I was contacted by a transporter. With my birthday coming up next week, she wanted to give me a fighting chance at normal. Well, as normal as we get.”

Her mate spoke, “So, you are here because the restriction on contact with her is about to be lifted?”

Matthew sniffed. “We are here because we are filing an objection to her mating with a
horse
.”

Rayna looked at the snobs that must have made her mother miserable, and she cocked her head. “Your objections are groundless. If I have to, I will pull the guild and clan card.”

They stiffened up. “What?”

“Well, I was raised outside of the cheetah clan, and no lion clan calls me member. I was raised with otters and have attended every guild meeting they held since I was ten. On paper, since I was legally adopted in all but name, I am an otter. Also, now that I am mated to Gregory, I have been absorbed into his clan, so now, I answer to the herd master. Which one of those facts do you want to gloss over to file your objection?”

She could see Gregory smiling out of the corner of her eye. The Bakers were grinning; Avedis was showing a bit of fang. Even Regina was amused but still wary of the Harcourts.

Ystine sniffed, “You received cheetah training and that puts you under our purview.”

“I received a mentor at the request of an otter. Mentors are even issued to
randoms
when they begin to exhibit specific characteristics. As I was half lion, half cheetah, there was never a guarantee that my shifts would not alter to another species as I grew.”

Raymond had his hand over his mouth to cover his wide grin.

She got to her feet and stood in front of them. “I am not going to be a good cheetah and toe the line. I am going to be loud, obnoxious and I am going to screw my husband at every opportunity until I get pregnant. I am going to give birth to little spotted horses, and you will never see a shifter as fast as the ones I am going to bring into this world...and not one of them will ever know your names. You can go now.”

Ystine and Matthew went from shocked to indignant. They got to their feet and left her house.

Regina winced. “That is going to cost me, you know.”

“I am willing to testify in front of the feline council if you are. You did nothing more than act as a guardian and make me do shifting drills. The rest I did on my own.”

Regina sat up and smiled slowly. “You are absolutely correct. You were a quick study, but I didn’t have to show you much. Just coach you a little. At no time did I act as disciplinarian, which is the criterion for acting as ersatz parent. I wouldn’t mind being a loose cat.”

Gregory spoke in the silence. “Is this the incorrect time for making a wild pussy joke?”

The tension was broken, and Rayna returned to his side.

Avedis asked, “Are you really going for kids right away?”

Rayna grinned, “Why not? I have the money, I have the space and Gregory is already setup in his occupation. Did it bother you, I mean, having a cheetah in the family?”

Avedis smiled, “The way you refused to back down, you have so much of your father in you. Your quick tongue...that is all your mother.”

“And you two don’t mind me being mated to a horse?”

Raymond shrugged. “Your mother once said that she knew it was love when she saw Niko run. I imagine it was the same for you.”