The Snow Leopard's Love

by Raines, Harmony

  If that’s what Ivan wants, we’ll do what we can, Rift confirmed. He needed to talk with Ivan as soon as possible. He’d been so wrapped up in his problems that he hadn’t been there for his brother.

  Ivan understands, his snow leopard said.

  “Hey, how are you guys doing?” Belle waved and ran toward the children as they played on the rocks surrounding the cave entrance.

  “Mommy!” Rosie had a towel tied around her neck like a cape and as she jumped off the rocks and landed on the soft sand, her eyes shone bright with happiness.

  This is how childhood should be, Rift’s snow leopard said. Filled with happiness and adventures on the beach, just like our childhood.

  There was so much they both wanted to share with the children. So many sights to see and memories to make.

  “Hey there. You look as if you’re having fun!” Belle caught her daughter in her arms and swung her around.

  “We’re looking for treasure!” Jack brandished a long stick like a sword.

  “Did you find any?” Belle went to the children, while Rift headed into the mouth of the cave where Penny was seated on a blanket, a book lying next to her.

  “Hi, you.” Penny patted the blanket next to her. “Are you hungry?”

  “Always.” Rift helped himself to the chicken salad sandwiches Penny offered him.

  “Whatever it is, the answer is yes.” She eyed him curiously as he bit into the sandwich.

  He chewed quickly and then swallowed. “Am I that transparent?”

  “I figured you want me to look after the kids while you leave town.” Her jaw clenched as she watched him. “You need to figure this all out so your mate will be safe and that’s not going to happen here, is it?”

  “No, it’s not.” He took another bite of his sandwich while watching Belle as she picked up a stick and pretended to fight with Jack. “Are you sure you don’t mind?”

  “We’ll manage between us. You know we’ll all pitch in. Helena will love to have the three of them over to her house. Call it a trial run for when she has her own brood of children. Although, it might be a baptism by fire.” She chuckled. “But they’re good kids.”

  “This whole thing seems to be a baptism by fire.” He finished his sandwich and drew his knees up to his chest. “You’d think one of us might get it easy when we meet our mate.”

  “Perhaps it’ll be Ivan.” She glanced sideways at him. “How is he doing?”

  “He’s been better. It’s like there’s this other side of him that none of us knew about.” Rift wrapped his arms around his knees as Belle dropped to the ground, feigning a mortal wound.

  “It’s like when you find your mate. Things shift in your head. It’s like being thrown into the ocean and forced to learn how to swim. The waves wash over you and you have to fight to take a breath.” She sucked in the salty sea air. “At least that’s how it felt to me.”

  “You’re right.” He stared out to sea for a long moment. “I’m scared that now that Ivan has a taste of his treasure, he might not be able to come back to us, come back to how he used to be unless he finds the rest of it.”

  “Logan is worried, too. I suspect we’ll all need to be there for Ivan. We’ll all need to support him through this in the same way he’s supported us through everything.” She touched Rift’s arm. “He’ll always be your brother, that will never change.”

  Rift turned to face Penny. “I’ll do whatever it takes to help him find his treasure. But I don’t want it to consume him. I don’t want this hunger to take control of him.”

  “It won’t. Not while he has his family by his side, and we are always going to be by his side.” Penny laughed as Jack and Milo ran along the beach yelling in victory while Rosie knelt down and kissed her mom’s cheek. “I am in love with that little girl.”

  “Me, too,” Rift admitted.

  “You’ll make a wonderful father, Rift. Milo loves you so much. You’re the fun uncle. He loves playing with you. They’re incredibly lucky.” Penny patted his back.

  He turned to look at her and rested his head on his knee. “I’m the lucky one. This is more than I could ever have wished for.”

  “Then maybe you need to make bigger wishes. You deserve it.”

  Rift watched as Belle and Rosie came toward them. At that moment, he was the happiest man alive.

  He wished that moment would last forever. But that wish was too big for anyone. Happiness couldn’t last forever. No matter how many wish stones he threw in the ocean.

  Chapter Twenty-Three – Belle

  “I can’t thank Penny enough for agreeing to look after Rosie and Jack.” Belle took one last look at the children as they climbed into Penny’s car and waved goodbye.

  “One day we can return the favor.” Rift grinned as he waved before getting into Belle’s car. It touched her heart that Rosie and Jack already responded to him. “Not that they’d expect it. They know how tough it is when you have kids. I watched Milo a lot when they were getting the candy store ready for opening.”

  “You do like children, don’t you?” Belle drove away from the beach, they were heading back to the hotel where they would pick up Katrina. The plan was for them to go home and hopefully lure the bad guys out.

  What happened then was still undecided. Rift couldn’t take them all on alone, and Belle hated to ask his brothers to get involved.

  “I do. Maybe because I’m still one myself.” He grinned, he sure did have a boyish charm. One that made her heart melt and her stomach flip. If this wasn’t love, she didn’t know what it was.

  “It’s good that you’re still in touch with that part of yourself. Having kids makes me look at things differently. It’s like learning about life and the world around us all over again.” She drove the car into the hotel parking lot and switched off the engine.

  “Ivan.” His expression sobered as the dragon shifter strode out of the hotel to meet them.

  “Does he usually look that intense?” Belle asked.

  “I’m not sure what Ivan’s usual is anymore.” Rift got out of the car and kept his body language neutral, even though his desire to protect his mate was overwhelming. And by Ivan’s expression, protecting his mate against his brother might be exactly what Rift needed to do.

  “I’ve been waiting for you to get back.” Ivan stopped a few feet away from the car as if sensing Rift’s unease.

  “We went to the beach to check on the children and ask Penny if she could watch them while we’re away. Did Valerie update you on the situation?” Rift went around the car and stood by Belle’s side.

  “She did. Which is why I was waiting for you.” He took a couple of steps closer, his expression pained as he held out his hand. “I want you to take this.”

  The tiara sparkled as the sunlight hit it. Ivan must have spent hours cleaning it and restoring the luster to the gems. Belle’s fingers grazed Rift’s as she leaned closer to him, her heart hammering in her chest. As she glanced sideways at Rift, his confusion matched hers.

  “Take it?” Rift didn’t move, unsure of what Ivan meant.

  “Yes. This is what those guys are looking for. I want you to take it and give it to them.” His fingers clenched the tiara for a second before he reached for Rift’s free hand. Inhumanly fast, Ivan shoved the tiara into his brother’s hand and then took a few steps back.

  “Ivan, this is yours. It might be the only family treasure you ever have. It’s too important to you,” Rift took a step forward, his hand outstretched.

  Ivan put his hand up. “No!” He licked his lips. “I’m sorry I overreacted when I first sensed the treasure.” He swallowed hard, his eyes lingering on the tiara before he raised his eyes to look at Belle. “Now I understand that it’s just an object. It’s not a person. It’s not a mate. Or family. If this is what it takes to make sure you and your family safe, then I give it to you.”

  “Ivan, I don’t know what to say.” Belle covered her mouth with her hand.

  “You don’t have to say anything
,” he assured her. “I’d give all of my treasure if it meant keeping my family safe. And you are part of my family now.”

  “Ivan.” Rift passed the tiara to Belle and then opened his arms to hug his brother. “I can’t tell you how much this means to me.”

  “I know how much you all mean to me, so I have some idea.” He clamped his arms around Rift and held him tightly. “I don’t want you to go alone.”

  “We’ll be okay,” Rift assured him.

  “I want to come with you. I’ve asked Elise and she’s agreed to run the hotel restaurant for a few days. She’s done it before while I visited Fiona and her family.” He licked his lips again as he pulled away. “I’d also like to check out the house Reggie rented to see if there’s any more treasure hidden there.”

  “That’s a great idea,” Rift agreed. “You would be able to sense it.”

  “It sure beats us trying to dig up the whole backyard,” Belle added.

  “Whatever I can do to help, I’ll do it,” Ivan said. “Afterward, I might go stay with Fiona for a while. I need to get some idea of what treasure means to a dragon and how to control these turbulent emotions. But first, I want to help you.”

  Rift nodded. “I’d like you to join us.” He glanced at Belle, who nodded. “I was worried I might not be able to keep Belle and Katrina safe on my own and I don’t want to ask the others.” He glanced toward the hotel. “I know they’d come in a heartbeat, but I don’t want them to risk their lives or their mates.”

  Ivan held out his arms and forced a grin on his face. “That’s why you can take me. I am mate-free.”

  “That doesn’t make you dispensable,” Rift reminded him.

  “More dispensable than you.” Ivan arched his eyebrow, the color had returned to his cheeks and he looked more like his old self even though his gaze kept dropping to the tiara in Belle’s hand.

  “Okay.” Rift nodded. “We can take my car and Belle and Katrina can go in theirs.”

  “Oscar is coming, too.” Ivan’s news was met with curiosity. “He’s arranging backup. He said it would be easier to keep us all up to date if we travel together.” Ivan shrugged. “He’s the expert on these things, I’m just going along with it.”

  “He does have contacts in the police force,” Rift said. “I guess it would be easier for him to call in backup if we need it.”

  “He likes your mom.” Ivan leaned to the side and looked past Rift. “I can see it in his eyes and hear it in his voice when he talks to her.”

  Rift chuckled. “I had picked up on that, too.”

  Belle’s hand fluttered to her mouth and she hid a smile. “I thought it was just me.” She shook her head and approached them cautiously. “Please, don’t say anything or make fun.”

  Ivan frowned and shook his head. “We wouldn’t. If there’s one thing you can bank on, it’s that a shifter will do anything to ensure the course of true love runs smooth.”

  “I like shifters more and more.” Belle grinned but kept the tiara out of sight of Ivan. She wasn’t ready to completely trust the dragon shifter yet. Not when it came to his treasure.

  “Come on. We should get going.” Ivan patted Rift on the shoulder and pointed to the tiara. “Keep that in your car. If we get split up or if anything happens, just hand it over to those guys.”

  Belle nodded. “Thank you, Ivan. I know how hard this must be for you.”

  Ivan nodded. “I’m not saying that I won’t hunt them down and get it back. But I’m working on my anger issues in that department. I was totally unprepared when I sensed the tiara. It was as if someone had taken a part of me.”

  “And if you don’t get it back?” Belle asked.

  Ivan shrugged. “I lived without it before, I can again.”

  Belle twisted the tiara around in her hand, but she kept it hidden behind her back. “I don’t want you to condemn yourself to a life of misery over this. We will find another way.”

  Ivan shook his head. “No.” He placed his hand on his chest. “That isn’t who I want to be. I don’t want to be held prisoner by a piece of gold and jewels.”

  Belle laughed softly. “You don’t have to be a dragon shifter with treasure to be held prisoner by an expensive piece of jewelry.”

  “I’ve made up my mind,” Ivan insisted. “But I appreciate your concern.”

  “Of course, you’re family now.” She leveled her gaze at him.

  “We are,” he agreed. “And this family needs to get on the road.”

  “We do.” Belle nodded toward the hotel. “Do you know if my mom is ready?”

  “She’s been waiting for a while. She’s talking to Valerie and Oscar.” He stepped toward the hotel. “Come on, I’ve already loaded my pack into Oscar’s car.”

  “He’s driving?” Rift followed Ivan into the hotel and Belle followed. He preferred to keep between them just in case the need to grab his treasure overwhelmed Ivan.

  Relax, he does have it under control, Rift’s snow leopard assured him.

  I don’t want to take any chances, Rift replied, but he was certain Ivan was on his way back to his normal self. And, above all else, he was certain that Ivan would never do anything to hurt Belle or anyone else he cared about.

  They headed around the back of the hotel and entered Valerie’s apartment. Katrina and Oscar were seated in the living room, while Valerie was in the kitchen.

  “Ah, there you are.” Katrina jumped out of her seat as if she’d been caught misbehaving. “Did Penny agree to watch the children?”

  “She did. And Ivan told us Oscar was coming, too.” Belle met her mom’s eyes, but Katrina looked away, suddenly finding whatever Valerie was doing in the kitchen intriguing.

  “I am.” Oscar’s gaze followed Katrina as she darted out of the room. “I’ve been in contact with the police department near where you live. I have a contact there.”

  “You have contacts everywhere,” Valerie called from the kitchen.

  “I have been in this line of work for a long time.” Oscar rolled his shoulders back. “I also managed to find someone who knew Aiden and Caleb’s father. I briefly explained this had to do with his death and they are interested in helping, too.” He arched an eyebrow. “Another shifter on the team might be useful.”

  “If he knew their dad, he must be old,” Belle said.

  “Shifters might get old, but they also get more cunning,” Rift replied.

  “I didn’t mean to be rude.” Belle’s cheeks turned pink as she added, “I just don’t want anyone to get hurt. Those guys might not have been shifters, but they knew how to handle themselves.”

  “They did. But last time we didn’t shift. If things turn ugly, we have that option this time.” Rift glanced at Ivan. “Or maybe not.”

  “Yeah, a dragon on the streets might be hard to explain.” He shrugged. “But I can improvise.”

  Valerie came into the living room with Katrina. “I also talked to Karros and Zara. They are ready to help if you need them.”

  “Karros is Elise’s brother and Zara is Caleb and Aiden’s sister,” Rift explained. “Long story, but they are mates.”

  “I don’t want to get them hurt,” Belle insisted.

  “Zara is as much a victim of all this as her brothers. She wants to help you,” Valerie insisted.

  “Even though my father was responsible for what happened to her brothers?” Belle asked then she held up her hand. “Family. I get it.”

  “You are our family, yes. You had nothing to do with what your father did.” Valerie handed a backpack to Rift. “Here, food for the trip. I’ve given a smaller pack to Katrina.”

  Ivan leaned forward and sniffed the pack. “Hmm, something smells good.”

  “That’s a great compliment coming from my son, the chef.” Valerie’s eyes brimmed with tears as she held out her arms to him. “Take care of yourself. And don’t do anything rash or stupid.”

  “Would I?” Ivan asked.

  “I’ve been your mother for long enough to know the answer
to that.” She arched her eyebrow as she let him go. “Look after each other.”

  “You sound like you did when we boys were going out on an adventure on the mountain or along the coast.” Rift hugged Valerie and dropped a kiss on her cheek. “And I’ll never get too old to hear it.”

  “I love you all.” Valerie buried her face in his shoulder. “I just want you to come back safe. We all have so much to look forward to. We have a new generation to care for, Milo, Jack, and Rosie, and the new babies on the way. I don’t want anything to cast a shadow over that.”

  “I’ll make sure they all come back safe,” Oscar promised, as if he would handle a fight better than a dragon shifter. And Belle liked the detective just a little bit more because of it.

  “Okay, enough goodbyes. You need to go.” Valerie let go of Rift and looked away for a moment as she wiped her fingers under her eyes. “I’m too old to get so emotional.”

  “I find the older I get, the more emotional I get,” Katrina confessed as she too looked misty-eyed.

  “Okay, Mom, you are with me. The guys are all in Oscar’s car. We’ll see you in a couple of hours.” Belle linked her arms with her mom and guided her out of the apartment. “We’ll see you soon, Valerie.”

  “I’ll be waiting. And don’t worry about the children, we’ll take good care of them. They’re coming here for a couple of hours tomorrow morning and I’ve found some old toys in the attic they’ll love.” Valerie didn’t follow them out of the apartment, maybe she didn’t want to cry in public.

  “Thanks.” Belle patted her mom’s hand. “We’re doing the right thing, aren’t we?”

  “Time will tell,” Katrina said gruffly as they got in the car and left the town they’d briefly come to see as their home.

  Chapter Twenty-Four – Rift

  “Do you sense anything?” They were two miles from Reggie’s house. If more of Ivan’s family treasure was there, Rift had hoped he’d be able to sense it by now.