Panther's Passion

by Zoe Chant

  Eva gave him a measuring look. “Okay,” she said. “I guess you want to talk to me about the whole mates thing.”

  Nate laughed. “I was trying to be subtle, but I guess that doesn’t fly, huh? Okay. Yeah, I want to talk to you about the whole mates thing. Are you game?”

  Eva nodded. “Ready when you are.”

  So Nate stole one last sweet kiss from Stella, and went with Eva out to his rental car. She hauled herself into the seat without any trouble, and told him where her coffee shop was.

  “We could go to Oliver’s for breakfast, though,” she said. “There’s plenty of time. Normally I walk to work, and it takes like half an hour.”

  “Oliver’s it is,” Nate said, and put the car into gear.

  Eva studied him as they drove, but didn’t move to start any conversation, so Nate waited until they were at the diner, and Eva had ordered an enormous spread of pancakes, bacon, eggs, and hashbrowns. Nate approved.

  “So,” she said at least, crossing her arms on the table and leaning forward. “The whole mates thing.”

  “Well,” Nate said, “first of all, I’m with your mother for good. That means that I’m committed to making her happy, and taking care of her and you as much as you need me to. Or want me to. I’d like to get to know you, too, although I get it if you’d rather I butt out of your life, since you just met me a couple days ago.”

  Eva regarded him with a considering look. “Huh,” she said. “That’s different.”

  Nate frowned. “What is?”

  “Usually my mom’s boyfriends either ignore me totally, or try real hard to be a dad-like...thing. One of them tried extra-hard when Mom was around and then ignored me when she wasn’t, but I told her about that, and he didn’t last very long.”

  She sounded like she was thinking aloud, so Nate stayed quiet and appreciated the fact that she seemed to trust him enough to do so.

  “They don’t usually ask me what I want,” she said musingly. “Huh.”

  “So,” Nate offered, “what do you want?”

  Eva frowned thoughtfully. “I don’t want an instant dad. That’d be weird.”

  “Agreed. I don’t have any dad experience, anyway, so I’d need some time to learn how.”

  “I don’t mind having a guy around,” she continued, still thinking. “Ken’s pretty cool. Mom’s super...feminine, you know?”

  Nate thought about Stella’s flowing skirts and graceful movements. “She is.”

  “Which is fine!” Eva said hastily. “Nothing against it. Just...one thing I always liked about Aunt Lynn was having someone who was less girly. Because I’m not super girly, even if Mom is.”

  Eva tended to wear jeans or cargo pants and a hoodie, not dresses like her mother. She was dressed for work, now, but all that seemed to entail was a button-down shirt instead of the sweatshirt. She didn’t have any makeup on. Nate hoped that that wasn’t...a problem for her at school, or anything. Weren’t teenage girls famously judgmental of clothes and stuff?

  “You should be as girly as you want to be,” he said firmly. “No more, no less.”

  Eva gave him a scathing look. “I know that. That’s why I’m saying it’s nice to have different examples around.”

  Well, that showed him. Nate was really enjoying how much Eva was simultaneously very adult and incredibly teenage.

  “Anyway,” she continued, “let’s keep it cool for now. You’re not my dad. But we can talk and stuff.”

  “Sounds great.” We can talk and stuff. Well...it was probably better to ease into the responsibility of parenting a teenager, especially when she had an experienced mother and aunt already in place. He’d step up wherever he was needed, and if Eva ever wanted to call him her dad, he’d be there with bells on, no matter how terrifying it sounded right now.

  “And I want to promise you something,” he added. “I’m not going to make you move, and I’m not going to take your mom away from you. I live in Chicago right now, but that doesn’t mean I can’t move, or we can’t work something out long-distance until you leave for college.”

  The idea of living a thousand miles or more from his mate made his chest ache. But he couldn’t separate her from her daughter.

  Whether he could separate himself from his job, at least geographically, was something he still needed to work on.

  “Thanks,” Eva said quietly. “I know you could convince her. She doesn’t like waitressing here. And I know it’s kind of a crappy job, and she’s doing it to make money so she can help me pay for college.” Now Eva looked guilty.

  Nate pounced on that immediately. “This is something else I wanted to talk to you about. I don’t want to make you or your mom uncomfortable. I don’t want you to feel obligated or unhappy. But I do have some money saved. I’m not doing anything with it right now. A college fund seems like the perfect place to put it.”

  Eva’s eyes went wide, and their food arrived. Nate busied himself with being pleasant to the waitress—Pauline, her nametag said—to give Eva time to get herself together.

  “You’re Stella’s new guy, aren’t you?” Pauline said. “Keeping that Todd asshole away from her?”

  Nate reflected that one nice little side benefit of the mate thing was that he wouldn’t be trying to protest that he wasn’t Stella’s new boyfriend anymore. “That’s me. He’s not going to get away with bothering her any longer.”

  Pauline nodded thoughtfully, giving him an assessing eye. Then she glanced at Eva. “Drew should be in here later, if you’re sticking around.”

  Eva bit her lip. “I have to go to work. He could come by the shop, if he wants.”

  “I’ll let him know. Enjoy your breakfast.” Pauline walked off.

  Nate thought about asking Eva who Drew was, but that might come off a touch...paternal.

  Besides, there was something else on the table right now. Besides breakfast, which smelled delicious. “Well?” he asked her quietly.

  Eva sat up straight. “That’s a very kind offer,” she said in a polite and grown-up voice. “But I couldn’t possibly accept so much money from you.”

  “If your mother and I got married, it would be her money, too,” Nate tried.

  Eva gave him a pointed glance. “Then when you get married, we can talk about it again.”

  Nate had to smile. “Fair enough.”

  He wondered if Stella would want to get married. Would it conflict with her free-as-a-bird life? Surely being mated was the same thing.

  Although the mate-bond was more...natural. Inward.

  “Besides,” Eva was saying, “I’m going to apply for every possible financial aid that there is. Maybe...if you wanted...” She hesitated. “If I get a scholarship somewhere, or enough grants or loans or something to cover tuition, maybe you could help with living expenses. I was going to ask Mom if she could help some with that, anyway, and I know that she doesn’t make enough here for it to be easy. Maybe you could help with that.”

  “That sounds like a fair deal,” Nate said solemnly. “I’ll talk it over with your mother and see if she agrees.”

  Eva nodded. “Okay. Thank you.”

  “My pleasure,” he said, with absolute sincerity. “Now let’s eat. This looks delicious.”

  They tucked in, and Nate was right: it was delicious.

  Eva stayed quiet during the meal, inhaling her food. Nate approved; it seemed like too many teenage girls were starving themselves these days.

  It was only after she’d soaked up the last bit of maple syrup with the last bite of pancake that she spoke again. “Has my mom showed you any of her drawings yet?”

  “Her drawings?” Sensing something important here, Nate leaned forward.

  Eva bit her lip. “Whoops. Probably shouldn’t have said anything.” But her eyes were conspiratorial.

  “Well,” Nate said thoughtfully, “cat’s out of the bag now, so...”

  She grinned. “Mom draws. She’s really, really good. She used to paint, sometimes, but we moved too much and Todd and
Barry—the guy before Todd—both didn’t want art stuff cluttering up their houses. So mostly she just draws now.”

  “And she’s really good.” Nate could imagine it. Stella’s careful, graceful hand, sketching out a landscape or a person’s face... “What sort of things does she draw?”

  Eva shrugged. “All sorts of stuff. Real stuff, not abstract or anything. She’s been drawing the Park a lot since we came back here. You should get her to show you.”

  “I’ll try.” Would Stella be shy? Sometimes she was so bold, so brave, that it took his breath away, but sometimes hesitation took over her, and she’d drop her eyes and blush and fidget a little, and Nate would be overwhelmed by the desire to take her in her arms and say that she didn’t have to worry about anything.

  “But also, I told her she should go talk to Mavis about it,” Eva continued, and Nate made himself refocus.

  “Mavis?” The name was familiar.

  “Nina’s mom. Or, uh, you don’t know Nina. Oh, Mavis’s mate is Colonel Hanes—did you serve under him like Ken did?”

  “I did.” Colonel Hanes’ mate. Right. Because Colonel Hanes lived here now. Nate had to stifle the urge to sit up a bit straighter, check the entrances, in case the Colonel was about to walk in and see him out of uniform, slouched in a diner booth.

  “Yeah, so, his mate Mavis is a financial counselor for small businesses? And she helped Aunt Lynn start really making money with her guide business, instead of just scraping by. I want Mom to go talk to her about trying to really get going with her art. And she said she would, but I think she’s going to chicken out.”

  Nate choked on a laugh, and Eva nodded firmly. “So you have to make sure she goes, okay?”

  “Why now?” Nate asked. “Does this have something to do with me?”

  Eva bit her lip, looking guilty. “Um...”

  “So it does have something to do with me.”

  “Well—I just—maybe Mom won’t have to work as many hours as a waitress as she did before?” Eva said hopefully. “And maybe she’ll be able to take some time to see if she can make some money off of her drawing, instead of having to worry about getting money fast?”

  Ah. Eva had absolutely refused to take any significant sum of Nate’s money for herself, but she was hoping that Stella might be able to benefit. It was more selfless than Nate would have expected from a teenager.

  “That’s very thoughtful,” he said after a second. “Thinking about your mom’s happiness like that.”

  Eva shrugged, looking uncomfortable. “I mean, it’s all the same, right? If one of us isn’t happy, the whole family is sad for them. It’s not like some crazy altruistic thing.”

  If one of us isn’t happy, the whole family is sad for them.

  The words struck Nate much more deeply than he could’ve expected.

  The whole family.

  Meaning Stella, Lynn, Ken, and Eva.

  And now Nate.

  Nate was part of this family now.

  It wasn’t just being Stella’s mate, and Eva’s...not-dad. It was more than that.

  “Sorry,” Eva said. “I didn’t meant to assume that you’d be, like, paying for everything for my mom or anything like that. That’s not what she’s like, anyway. She’s had a lot of boyfriends, and sometimes we lived at their place, but she always worked too, she didn’t just...lie around and do nothing.”

  Eva looked anxious. “Don’t worry,” Nate assured her. “I never thought that. It’s obvious your mom’s a hard worker.”

  “Good,” Eva said, relieved. She checked her phone. “Speaking of work, I gotta get there soon.”

  Nate nodded and caught Pauline’s eye, paying the check quickly.

  On their way out, a boy about Eva’s age came in. He looked agitated. “Hey, Eva!” he said, and then cast a fearful look at Nate.

  That look was a little suspicious. Nate backed off, out of normal hearing range. But his shifter ears picked up most of what the kid was saying to Eva in a low voice.

  “...going to kick me out if I don’t...not sure what we’re gonna...the little kids can’t...”

  That was all, though. Eva gave the kid a hug, and then Pauline the waitress came over. “Hey, Drew,” she said. “Let’s get you some breakfast, okay?”

  She led him away, while Eva watched with wide, worried eyes.

  “Everything okay?” Nate asked gently.

  She jumped. “Fine!” she said, too quickly. “That’s just my friend from school. Come on, I gotta get to work.”

  Something more was going on there, but Nate left it alone for now. It looked like Pauline had a clue, at least.

  He drove Eva to work, dropped her off, and came back to the house, automatically scanning the perimeter for any sign of Todd. Nothing was evident, so he went inside.

  “Hey.” Stella was waiting for him with a smile and a kiss, and as he inhaled her scent, Nate wondered dazedly what it would be like to have this kind of welcome every time he came home.

  “Hey,” he said, kissing her back. Once. Twice—then he made himself break away. “So Eva says I should be asking you about your drawings.”

  Stella’s mouth dropped open. “Why, that little—she thinks she’s sneaky.”

  “She’s right,” Nate said with a grin. “I’m just not interested in sneaking with her, so I’m coming right out and asking. Can I see one?”

  “One...of my drawings?”

  Nate nodded. “Are they private?”

  “Well...no...” Stella seemed to be having a hard time deciding whether no was really the right answer.

  Although he was absolutely dying to see what sort of art Stella could make, Nate made himself say, “Really, if you’d rather not show me—”

  “No, no, it’s okay.” Stella collected herself, and smiled. “Come on upstairs.”

  It was the first time Nate had seen the inside of Stella’s bedroom. Stella seemed to realize this as she was opening the door, and gave Nate a self-conscious smile. “Not much has changed since I was in high school,” she admitted.

  The room struck him at first like a little wooded glen, someplace a fairy might live. There were hangings on the walls, the sort of thin, machine-printed things a teenager might get at the mall, but they were beautiful rich colors, with big, twining trees printed on them in black. A little wire-metal tree stood on the dresser, with necklaces and bracelets hanging off of it, twinkling in the light from the window.

  The bed had a gauzy canopy. Stella caught him looking at it and blushed. “I put that up myself when I was fifteen,” she said, sounding a little defensive.

  “It’s you,” Nate said. “Don’t apologize for it.”

  It really was. He wouldn’t have chosen to decorate a room like for himself—it was feminine to the core—but it was kind of like stepping inside Stella herself, and he could feel a rush of warmth at the idea.

  “Anyway,” Stella was saying, “I have a sketchbook, it’s over here—”

  Nate’s attention was instantly drawn to the book lying on the bedside table. Stella picked it up and then stood there, holding it a little awkwardly. Then, she seemed to make a decision, and thrust it out towards Nate, abruptly sincere. “Here.”

  Nate took it with careful respect, and opened it to the beginning.

  He was struck almost immediately by how bright the picture seemed. It took him a moment to realize that the drawing was done in pencil, nothing else, and the impression of light was just a clever manipulation of shading and empty white paper.

  But he could swear that this pencil sketch of a sunrise had actual light pouring off the paper. It was astonishingly well done.

  “This is amazing,” he said honestly.

  Stella’s breath caught. “You really think so?”

  “Of course I do,” he said, flipping to another fantastically detailed landscape. The trees looked almost real. “You have to know that you’ve got a talent.”

  “Well...” Stella trailed off. Then she lifted her chin. “Yes,” she said. “I
know. I just don’t—not everyone has an appreciation for drawings like this, that’s all.”

  Nate wondered if anyone she’d dated in the past had put down her skill, and had to breathe deeply to keep from clenching his fists and wrinkling the nice paper. “Even if it’s not someone’s thing, it’s obvious that these are really good,” he said quietly. “I can’t imagine why anyone would say anything bad about them.”

  Stella smiled a little. “Thanks.”

  Nate flipped to another page, and was faced with—himself.

  It was his panther form. Stella had only seen him shift the once, but she’d somehow still managed to draw him exactly as he knew himself, with hints of the blue highlights on his sunlit coat. He had no idea how she made that so clear without any color at all, but he could see it.

  His panther form was crouched, ready to leap, and there were sleek muscles coiled under the fur. The motion was there, in potential, prepared to jump off the page. Nate looked up again, and now Stella was watching him intently, all shyness gone. She obviously wanted to know what he thought.

  So he let a smile tease at his lips as he said, “You got me exactly right.”

  And if there was a hint of smugness in his voice—well, his mate had drawn him as a beautiful, graceful, powerful creature. What wasn’t to be smug about?

  Stella’s self-consciousness was melting away. She gave him a little flirtatious smile back, and said, a little breathlessly, “I know.”

  Nate snorted a chuckle and flipped to a different page.

  This time, it was himself in human form. It was an excellent likeness—he wouldn’t have expected anything less, at this point—but what really caught him was the eyes.

  The way he was looking out of the page...he reached out before he could stop himself, brushed his fingers against the corner of one of those eyes.

  “That’s what I see when you look at me,” Stella said softly. “Tenderness, and this kind of...fierce joy. I don’t know how to describe it better than that.”

  “You don’t have to,” Nate said, still looking at the picture. “That’s what I’m feeling. That’s exactly right.”

  He set the sketchbook reverently aside, and then, once he didn’t have to worry about keeping it intact, he used that intense strength that Stella had drawn him with.