Soul Mates: Scent (The Soul Mates Series) (8 page)

“Very sure dad.”

“Okay. I guess I can accept that. I want you to be happy son.” He put his hand on my shoulder and looked at me.

“I know dad.” I smiled up at him.

Dad shook his head and sat back down. “Sorry about that Anna. Guess I was being a bit rude. So where did you say you were living? Did your parents transfer here?”

“Oui, mon père is here with me. We own a house near the old mines. Mon père is an artiste. He likes the quiet and the wildlife is an inspiration for his work.”

I
guess
I
never
really
asked
about
your
family,
but
it
seemed
as
though
…
well
I
got
the
feeling
that
you
were
here
alone
…
I looked at her and smiled as I squeezed her fingers.

I am here alone, Max. I have been traveling for a long time to find you. When I finally did, I let my father know. He came down to visit me and bring me news from home.

Good news, I hope?

“Oh your father is an artist? Would I know any of his work? What is his name? What does he paint? Does he paint?”

Later,
my
love.
I heard in my mind, but she sounded worried and that made me nervous. Whatever news her father had brought her wasn’t good. I could feel it in my bones. Anna was afraid of something and I was determined to find out what. I studied her as she spoke to my father.

“He works with all mediums, oil is his favorite. He favors scenic views and wildlife when he paints, but occasionally he will do a portrait. He has several pieces hanging in the Museum of Fine Art in Indianapolis as well as several others in Museums around the country and Europe. His name is David Felidae.”

“Can’t say I recognize his name, but it is nice he has done so well for your family. Do you have a big family? A lot of brothers and sisters? Olivia didn’t mention whether you have siblings in school too. Did you meet any others today Max?”

I shook my head no as Anna answered.

“Oui, I have deux… brothers and une sister.” She held up two fingers and then one as she spoke. “We are close in mon coeur, my heart, but not so much in the age. My sister, Loren is nine years younger then moi. My brother Kevin is seven years younger, and Davey is five years younger. They all stayed in Quebec with ma mère. They do not enjoy the traveling like I do."  

“Ah, so you travel a lot? So are you staying here for a while or do you plan to move on again soon?”

Anna smiled. “Well, since I have met Max, I do not see myself traveling anywhere anytime soon. I am finding that I rather like it here in Indiana. And mon père is content for me to stay here for as long as I wish.”

I stayed quiet through most of the conversation. I knew she only mentioned her father for my dad’s benefit. He would freak out if he knew Anna was living on her own, let alone traveling on her own. If he only knew!

Your
thoughts,
Max,
my
sweet,
guide
me.
That
is
how
I
knew
to
mention
mon
père.
Her sweet lilting laugh filled my head again and I sighed. I would never get tired of hearing that laugh.

“Now dear, why don’t we let Max and Anna go out on the patio, I’m sure you want to get back to your game,” Mom said coming back into the room with Abbey in her pajamas.

“Oh, sorry son. Why don’t you take Anna out back and show her your mother’s garden. I bet Anna has a real appreciation for that sort of thing.”

“I would love to see the garden Max, I am sure it is as lovely as it smells. The honeysuckle is particularly fragrant this time of year.”

“Honeysuckle is one of Olivia’s favorite plants. It’s everywhere out there.”

“All right, tell me what you are so worried about?” I asked, wrapping my arms around her and holding her close.

“It is nothing for you to worry about, mon amour. At least not yet,” Anna said, turning in my arms.

“Anna, I can feel it, you’re scared. Tell me what news your father brought you. Let me help you,” I said softly into her hair.

“My father came to let me know that Frederick is getting close to finding you, finding me. If he does…”

“Who is Frederick and what does it matter if he finds me?”

Anna hid her face in my sweatshirt.

“Anna, what is it? What aren’t you telling me?”

“Frederick is the one the Council of Elders wishes me to marry. If he finds you, then he will kill you Max. He knows that if he marries me, he becomes a Council leader. He takes mon père’s place. I do not wish to marry Frederick, I hate him. He is a mean and selfish pig. The only way to avoid the Council’s edict is to marry my soul mate. The one meant for me. That is you Max. That is why I have been searching for you.

Mon père talked the Council into giving me until your eighteenth birthday to find you, Max. I was so afraid that I would not. How was I to know if you had turned eighteen or not? Then I felt the pull of you in Colorado… it did not feel as though you were more than fourteen, but as time wore on and I could not find you…” Anna shook her head; the look of fear on her face told me more than her words. “If you do not shift before then…”

“I know, my mom told me.” I kissed the top of her head and smoothed her hair. “I know what happens if I don’t shift, but mom didn’t know what I needed to do to make the shift happen.”

“I can teach you, mon coeur,” Anna smiled. “It will take some time to learn and it will be a strange feeling for you. And there is the bareness…” Anna said wickedly.

I laughed. “Mine or yours?” I asked raising an eyebrow teasingly.

Anna laughed and smacked my chest. “Max!”

I thought about what she had said, about Frederick, about the Council and I understood her fear. “So this Frederick is out to kill me?”

“If he finds you mon amour, oui.”

“Then I had better be prepared for him. What does he look like?” I asked, wondering whom I should be looking out for.

“Max, he will not come at you in human form, mais non. He is Lion. He will attack in lion form. He is a very good hunter when he knows his prey. He will study you, mon amour and then when you are the most vulnerable, he will attack. That is why you must learn to shift, and shift fast. Once you can shift we can work on fighting skills. Right now we have the advantage. We can practice.”

“Now? Tonight?”

“It is best to do so at night, there is less chance of us being seen. But not until midnight, the moon will be brighter then. You will meet me here at midnight, won’t you, mon amour?”

“Of course, Anna.”

“Bien. Then I should go and get some rest, you should too, my sweet.” Anna kissed me then, her lips were soft and sweet on mine as she held my face between her hands. “Love you, Max. Do not forget, the woods, midnight.”

I breathed in the scent of her and smiled. “Midnight. I’ll be there.”

I watched her run toward the woods; she was just as graceful in her human form as she was as a panther. And beautiful in both forms as well.

Merci, mon amour. Sleep.

“Be careful,” I called after her.

I heard her laugh in my mind as I headed inside and up to my room.
Night
mom.
I thought, wondering if she could hear me.

“Night Max.”

Guess she could. Hmmm, I never did get Anna to tell me how to read her thoughts or how to shut mom and her out of mine. I wondered if she could read that lion’s thoughts too, and then decided she better not be able to. I was gonna rip that lion a new one, but that would have to wait until after the shifting lessons. I thought taking off my shirt.

“Be careful tonight, Max,” Mom said as she poked her head in my doorway.

“Geez, Mom. I could have been naked here!”

“Sorry, I’ll knock next time. But do be careful Max, don’t get cocky, lions are nothing to mess around with.”

“Yeah, okay,” I said flinging the shirt on the floor. “Night mom.”

“Night, oh, before I forget, wear some old shorts under your jeans, Max, Okay? Save me the thought of you running around the woods naked.”

I laughed. “Okay, mom,” I said as she shut the door.

I hadn’t really put much thought into what I wasn’t going to be wearing while I practiced shifting. The thought of being naked in front of Anna didn’t really bother me… much. I was more worried about what she would think of me naked. Maybe now was not the time to find out. Maybe mom was right, I should wear some old shorts, that way the issue wouldn’t even be brought up.

I stripped out of my jeans and climbed up into my bunk in my boxers. It wasn’t long before I fell asleep. The last thing I remembered was a curious thought that the calmness had never left me and I wondered what that meant.

I had another strange dream that night. I was a spotted jaguar again, I could tell because I could see my paws as I ran through the woods with Anna. I could feel the danger closing in; it was getting closer, circling us, studying us as we ran. I knew that we would not be able to avoid it for long. I woke close to midnight, my heart pounding furiously in my chest, as though I really had been running at top speed through the woods.

I drew my hand over my face and sat up. I didn’t want to be late meeting Anna. I quietly jumped down and slipped into a pair of old jogging shorts and my jeans. I didn’t bother with a shirt, it might have been cool outside, but if I was just going to take it off when I reached the woods, I didn’t see the point. I carried my shoes with me as I crept down the stairs, not wanting to wake mom and dad.

When I reached the kitchen I grabbed the sandwich mom had left for me on the counter and read her note. Obviously dad hadn’t been down here where she left it. I thought as I read:

Max, I love you son. Good luck tonight. Be careful and watchful. Take care of Anna. Come home in one piece. Love, Mom

Love
you
too
Mom.
I
will
be
careful
. I thought as I picked up the house key from the table and slipped out the back door, locking it behind me. I put the key in my pocket and hurried to the woods, swallowing the last of my sandwich as I ran.

I could see Anna waiting just beyond the first group of trees and I smiled. “Hey!” I called to her as she suddenly disappeared behind a tree.

Come and find me Max…After you strip out of your clothes of course…

What? You want me to strip NOW?!?

Easier that way, mon amour. Think of your dream… the good part, the jaguar part…It is part of you Max…come, find me…

I did as she asked, toed off my shoes and pulled my jeans off.
Now
what?
I asked feeling a bit like a creature in Wonderland.

Close your eyes Max, see the jaguar, look with jaguar eyes, find me…catch my scent…feel the pull of the shift and let it happen…

Once again I did as she asked. I stood still, closing my eyes and raised my face up to the moon. I could feel her calmness all around me, and then I felt a tug… a door opening in my mind. Suddenly I could see very clearly what I needed to do. I needed to get through that door… In my head I walked very slowly toward the door and pushed it open. I could feel myself heating up; I was so hot that I just wanted to feel the cool air on the other side of that door. I began to run, and suddenly I had done it… I was jaguar.

I opened my eyes and looked around. Everything looked the same, and yet different. I could see so much more! The remains of my jogging shorts were scattered across the leaf-covered ground. I took a moment to feel every powerful muscle in my new form. I wanted to run and test myself; I wanted to leap to the highest tree branch and bound after the wild life; I wanted… I caught Anna’s scent… I wanted Anna. I took off in a sudden burst of speed, with instincts I never knew I had. I avoided tree trunks and leapt over fallen trees with more grace than I’d ever had on the football field. It was exhilarating!

Anna’s scent drifted by me again and I realized she was in the trees. I sat back on my haunches and gazed up into the treetops. Usually they were so dark I couldn’t see a thing. Not tonight. Tonight I could see everything! I could see Anna’s black form about six trees away, her tail dangling in a teasing way as she watched me from her perch.

I see you…

Come
and
get
me
…
she laughed in my mind again. Man I love that laugh.

I watched her leap from her perch to another lower branch and then to the ground as she took off running through the woods.

I took off after her, catching up to her easily. We ran like that for a while, the two of us side by side racing through the moonlight. We must have run back and forth for hours because I could somehow sense the sun beginning to rise.

I stopped then and lay on the forest floor, panting.
Man,
I
could
use
some
water.
There
’
s
a
lake
about
six
acres
from
here,
wanna
go?

I too could use some water, Max. Take me to your lake.

We padded quietly through the woods to the clearing where a nice size lake stood. It was where dad had taught me to swim and fish. It was one of my favorite places. I walked up to the lake and looked in. I could see my reflection as I tilted my head from left to right. I grinned suddenly and so did the jaguar staring back at me. I could see distinctive markings on my face, circles of black spots with black dots in the middle.