Shifter Origins (Series-Starter Shifter Variety Packs Book 1)

by Aimee Easterling

  There are so many implications, Finn thought carefully and Tezcatlipoca felt like a proud papa. Who knew the innocent shifter could learn so quickly to bargain with the gods? Then the were-jaguar continued: Perhaps you can give me a clue about which implication you're referring to?

  It's simple, really, Tezcatlipoca replied. Mirabelle asked his prey if he had family, a sister. Ring any bells?

  This time, the shifter stopped dead in his tracks and the wind god smiled more broadly. His fish had been hooked and it was nearly time to reel him in.

  The stolen power, you might have realized, was only an afterthought, Tez elaborated. Mirabelle is looking for a female were-jaguar. To be a concubine, mate, sex slave—who knows what he'd do with her. But your foe is still searching for his preferred prey, so maybe he hasn't decided his end game yet either. Maybe he'll wind up killing her just like he did that boy....

  A heinous situation, I admit, Finn thought clearly. But nothing to do with me, right?

  The wind god could tell that his pet shifter didn't really feel so divorced from the situation. Instead, Tez was confident that Finn would go out of his way to save both male and female were-jaguars alike from Mirabelle's nonexistent mercies.

  But the shifter's altruistic tendencies weren't going to be enough to force Finn's hand in the direction Tezcatlipoca wanted it to fall. So the god finally played his trump card.

  What does it have to do with you? Well, I don't know, named-yourself-Finn-after-an-Irish-hero-who-spent-seven-years-hunting-the-fish-of-knowledge. Perhaps ignorance is bliss. Are you really sure you want to know the truth?

  His pet shifter was silent for so long that Tezcatlipoca began to think that perhaps he'd cast too soon and was going to lose his catch after all. But then Finn's resentful voice entered his mind.

  Okay, Tezzie, you win. Why is Mirabelle's nefarious plot relevant to me?

  Because of your sister, of course, Tez replied, and his heart filled with glee at the pit of despair he was sure was growing within Finn's stomach. After all, your twin is the only female were-jaguar currently in existence.

  Chapter 32

  The boy whom Ixchel had added to her retinue while rushing out of the village presumably understood both Spanish and English. After all, he'd nodded enthusiastically when she asked, "¿Sabes cómo encontrar la abuelita de los bosques?"

  "¡Sí! ¡Sí!" the boy answered, his eyes trained on the bills clutched in Ixchel's left fist. Then, in imperfect English: "I take you there. Go now?"

  The kid couldn't have been more than ten years old, and Ixchel didn't really want to worry his family with an extended absence. But she also didn't want Antonio to catch up with her while she chatted in the street. So she shrugged off her mother-hen tendencies, gave the boy a single bill with the promise of more to come, and followed him down a path that wound between small houses and large gardens before dipping into the trees at last.

  Since then, they'd walked in silence for what felt like hours. Her guide had stopped only once, the pause necessitated by his urge to pluck bananas no longer than her hand from a tree that was certainly located within some farmer's private field. Despite being averse to theft, Ixchel had accepted her fruit gladly and had been blown away by the intensity of the sweet flavor that tasted nothing like the bananas she passed over as bland at the supermarket.

  "What's your name?" she'd asked once, shortly after the banana incident. When the boy simply kept walking without any sign that he'd heard her speak, she raised her voice and tried again in Spanish. "¿Como te llamas?" This time the kid deigned to shrug but gave no other response, so the vet rolled her eyes and continued following in his footsteps.

  Soon enough, they began to climb, and Ixchel decided to save her breath for more important matters—like keeping herself upright. The lowland forests eventually gave way to tall but sparse stands of pine. And when the vet thought her feet would carry her no further, the boy led them over the crest of a ridge and began picking his way down the hill along an unmarked path.

  Her knees were nearly at their limit when the sound of running water rose up to meet them. And when the boulder-lined banks of a river came into view, her guide finally opted to speak. "You go," he said at last, his face much more solemn than a ten-year-old's should be, leading Ixchel to assume that he was afraid of la abuelita. Or maybe he was just sick and tired of ferrying a tourist around through the woods.

  Whatever the reason, the boy's feet now seemed to be firmly planted on the ground, and Ixchel realized that her guide wasn't going to travel a step further. Instead, he pointed downstream, from which direction the vet could just barely catch a hint of wood smoke wafting up the valley.

  "You'll wait here for me?" she asked, yanking out more bills to wave in front of the boy's nose. This was worse than riding a taxi into a bad neighborhood and hoping the vehicle would still be there when you came back out of a shop....

  "¡Sí! ¡Sí!" the nameless boy responded, and Ixchel shrugged off her uneasiness. Either he'd wait for her or he wouldn't. The vet wasn't going to abandon her quest just because she might have trouble finding her way home afterwards, so she might as well stop worrying and start walking...again.

  After giving the kid one last glance, Ixchel turned to follow the river downhill. Soon, a little trail emerged before her, and then a squat adobe house thatched with pine needles became visible between the trees. In front of the house, a wizened woman sat on the bare dirt, tending a cooking fire in the residence's swept-earth yard.

  The woman couldn't possibly see many visitors since she was located so far away from any village, but she didn't seem surprised by Ixchel's presence. Instead, the granny of the wood simply greeted her guest in the old tongue, the rusty words creaking out across the clearing. "Oy ko mintë."

  "Tac meep," Ixchel replied, wishing she knew a more formal greeting. This ancient denizen of the forest obviously deserved more respect than this phrase, which someone might use when meeting up with another member of her own family. But the vet's vocabulary was limited by her foggy memories of childhood, so she simply shrugged and launched into an outline of her request.

  At first, the old woman seemed dubious. But as soon as the vet spoke the name Ixchel, la abuelita's features and voice both underwent a subtle but obvious transformation. And this time when she replied, it was with Ixxie looking out of the eyes of the granny of the wood.

  "Ixxie, you're safe!" the vet exclaimed, and found herself springing forward to give the goddess a hug every bit as heartfelt as the one Aunt Maria had provided her wayward niece the night before. Then Ixchel stepped back, ashamed of herself for daring to embrace a god. Good job, she berated herself. Way to show some respect.

  "I am indeed safe, and it's good to see you are as well, my child," Ixxie answered in English, breaking down the language barrier that had made Ixchel's previous conversation so stilted. "And now that you're technically speaking to one of my followers instead of to me, I can finally tell you the words you'd use to become my priestess."

  Priestess. The word sent a shiver down Ixchel's spine. But this was why she'd followed a strange boy into an unknown Mexican forest, wasn't it? Her only goal for the last twenty-four hours had been to protect Ixxie from Tezcatlipoca's trap, while also giving the kind goddess whatever she needed to reenter the human world. With the bigger picture in mind, the implications of the oath on Ixchel's own life weren't relevant.

  Right?

  The time for cold feet is long past, Ixchel reminded herself. Then she nodded at the goddess and said, "Yes, I need the words my mother couldn't remember well enough to tell me."

  "Well, the words are simple." Ixxie sounded as gentle as always, and her priestess-to-be reminded herself that the goddess would make a good boss. It wouldn't be like having Tezzie hanging over her shoulder at every turn. No, Ixxie didn't tease or pry. She didn't manipulate or manage. Instead, the so-called jaguar grandmother lived up to her name—she was protective and considerate and being her priestess would come as an honor.


  "The exact words don't even matter, actually," Ixxie continued. "You could've even made them up. It's not what you say so much as your intention while saying it that counts. So, if you simply hold your charm in one hand and tell the world that you vow to become my priestess—and really mean it—then you will be mine from now until the day you die.

  "The question," the goddess continued, "is: do you really want to commit to such a life-long task?"

  Chapter 33

  I don't believe you, Finn broadcast toward the pesky deity twelve hours after they'd last spoken.

  The shifter had given his god the silent treatment all night and for most of the morning, but not because he didn't believe Tezcatlipoca's startling pronouncement. The trouble was that Finn wanted too much to believe, so he didn't trust himself not to be twisted around the god's little finger through pure wishful thinking.

  In fact, last night when Tezcatlipoca had dropped his verbal bomb, Finn's heart had leapt with such joy that he knew he'd give almost anything to have his sister by his side once again. Because prior to shifting into human form for the first time, the were-jaguar's mother and twin had been at the center of Finn's life. Leaving his family behind to enter the human world had been one of the hardest things he'd ever done. As a result, it would be a gift from the gods to discover that Finn's sister was a shifter, even if his sibling's first transformation must have been somehow delayed.

  But Tez didn't give gifts. And if something seems too good to be true...chances are it's neither good nor true.

  The were-jaguar had learned that truism the hard way at the same time he was teaching himself to speak and act like a human being. Now, he reminded himself that if his twin possessed the ability to change into human form, then she would have found a way to contact her only sibling much sooner. No, his sister wasn't a were-jaguar. Tezcatlipoca was merely preying on his follower's weakness in an effort to get his way.

  Believing me or disbelieving me doesn't change the facts, the god rebutted. Then Finn found himself standing two-legged for the first time in nearly a day, the god's rusty old mirror cupped in both hands. Fill this with water and I'll show you.

  "I'm not putting your statue in the bowl," Finn warned, even though he had a feeling that Tezcatlipoca could literally force his hand if it came right down to it. Still, the shifter hadn't run this far from the scene of his first mistake only to repeat the same errors. Instead, he resolved to either kick over the bowl or to toss the statue away into the trees before he once again granted Tezcatlipoca access to this mirror portal.

  But: I'm not asking you to, Tez countered, sounding offended at the very suggestion.

  Well, maybe it'll be worth giving the troublemaker what he wants...as long as I take some precautions first. Suiting actions to words, Finn took a moment to place the statue well outside arm's reach before looking around for a source of water.

  The liquid was easy to locate since it turned out he'd stopped nearly on the bank of a small stream. By chance or by the god's design? The shifter wasn't certain, but figured that he could handle Tez's manipulations either way. So he simply shot one last warning look at the statue before walking over to fill up Tezcatlipoca's bowl.

  Finally, the wind god grumbled. You almost missed the boat due to all your foot-dragging.

  Finn rolled his eyes, knowing he was being played but also unwilling to look away from the mirror created by the caught water. A light breeze brushed the contained liquid, and when the ripples cleared, an image rose up to the surface.

  This vision was blurrier than when the gods had dueled within the mirror-bowl earlier, but Finn could immediately discern the outline of a black jaguar that resembled his own feline form. Then he gasped in astonishment as he realized that this cat was smaller and sleeker than his own animal half. The feline pictured was lithe instead of bulky and the conclusion was clear—Tez had indeed tracked down a female jaguar.

  "Okay, so you found a she-jaguar somewhere." Finn forced disbelief into his voice even as his eyes remained riveted on the scene in the bowl. "That's not surprising. I hear there are about fifteen thousand jaguars left in the wild, so you've got over seven thousand females to choose from. But just because she's got four feet doesn't make her a shifter."

  Someday you'll learn not to doubt me, the god griped. But Finn wasn't paying attention. Because the jaguar whose image was cast upon the surface of his bowl was transforming into a woman before his very eyes.

  Finn had been too shocked by the gruesomeness of the scene the day before to fully take in either shift he'd been privy to at that time. And watching his own transformation in front of the mirror wasn't very satisfying since his eyes tended to blur at the crucial moment. Now, the shifter's heart was wrenched by the beauty unfolding in front of him, the jaguaress's perfect shape twisting into an equally perfect human form in the time it would have taken to blink once.

  The woman's face was cut off by the side of the bowl. But Finn could see enough to know that the shifter he watched was beautiful...

  ...and entirely naked.

  "Tezzie!" Finn exclaimed, turning away before he could take in more than a hint of the woman's body. Because it felt wrong to be voyeuristically watching this unclothed beauty from a distance. Yes, Finn was willing to steal physical objects from the wealthy, but he drew the line at stealing innocence from a woman, even one who would never be aware of his theft.

  Plus, how much more reprehensible was Finn's spying if the woman really turned out to be his sister?

  What a prude.

  The god was laughing at him, and Finn couldn't resist glaring at the statue where the deity's physical body resided. Would Tez at least get a headache if I smashed the thing with a rock? he wondered, not bothering to shield his thoughts from the parasitic deity.

  Now, now, Tezcatlipoca broadcast, the humor still present in his voice, albeit a little less obvious than before. I've made the terrible thing that is a woman's bare breasts disappear. Although, really, you and I need to have a talk about the pursuit of pleasure....

  "Tezzie, focus!" Finn demanded. Despite himself, though, he snuck a peek at the bowl and saw that the water had indeed returned to its mundane state, the female were-jaguar gone.

  And did that absence make Finn feel relieved...or disappointed?

  He wasn't sure, but he did know that his head was spinning in the aftermath, and not because of bare breasts. So there is a were-jaguaress left in the world. Regardless of the woman's identity, Finn knew he had to protect her from Mirabelle's plotting...and that meant either finding a way to get Tezcatlipoca off his back or enlisting the god's help. While the former option seemed most enticing, the latter was more realistic.

  Which meant that it was time to reach a compromise.

  So, are you finally ready to talk terms? Tezzie asked, sensing the shift in his follower's mood and getting down to business. Because while I have all the time in the world, you—mere mortal—do not.

  "Okay," Finn gave in. "Let's talk."

  Chapter 34

  Ixchel's immediate urge was to reassure the goddess, to tell her that of course the descendant of a long line of priestesses wanted to become a priestess as well. But somehow the vet couldn't quite force the words through her lips. Instead, Ixchel found herself asking: "What would that entail? Being your priestess, I mean."

  Her question was apparently the right one. Because the goddess smiled and patted Ixchel fondly on the hand. "I do love these modern women, ready to fight for what's right...but only after they possess all the details and make up their own minds." Then, the grandmotherly god eased herself back down onto the patch of earth where her human body had been resting before Ixchel showed up. Patting the ground beside her, she added, "You might as well sit. This might take a while."

  The granny of the wood had been fixing corn tortillas when her visitor arrived, and the goddess took up the task where her follower had left off. While patting out the damp dough and carefully roasting cakes over the fire, the deity filled Ixchel
in on her potential duties.

  The assignments were many and varied, but the point standing out most clearly in the vet's mind once she heard everything was the magnitude of her future commitment. If Ixchel swore to the goddess before her, she would be excising every other component of her life. Ixxie would surely do her best to limit requests to a minimum, but a single priestess serving every human being who worshiped the goddess would be run ragged nonetheless.

  There would be no time to be a veterinarian. No time to renew her ties with Maria. No time to determine whether the bond she felt growing between herself and Finn was real or just a figment of her fevered imagination.

  "And if I decide not to become your priestess?" Ixchel ventured at last. She was almost afraid to ask. Afraid to see the disappointment in the goddess's eyes. And, despite Ixxie's apparent kindness, the vet had to admit that she was also afraid of being punished the way Tezzie would surely retaliate against a worshiper who refused to do his bidding.

  "Well, in that case, you have two choices," Ixxie began, but the vet rushed to sidetrack her.

  "No, Ixxie. I'm not asking what would happen to me. If I don't swear, what about you? Will you be trapped in this necklace like Tezzie's trapped in his statue? Will you fade away? What will happen?"

  The old woman's face crinkled up into a smile and Ixxie proved herself to be a prime handpatter, repeating the gesture she'd used to reassure her human companion earlier in their conversation. "My dear, this isn't a choice you should make for my sake. Despite Tezzie's protestations, gods don't dwindle away into nothingness and disappear. I'm not trapped in any necklace—I only came to you because your blood attracted my attention.

  "So the choice is entirely up to you," the goddess continued, still handpatting with a vengeance. "If you decide not to swear to me, all I ask is that you leave your cat charm in the possession of the granny of the wood. She'll find another priestess for me."