Her Warriors (22 page)

Geir moved forward to lead the class with
satisfaction running through his being. He put them all through
their paces before splitting the group up into pairs for
kumite
—hand to hand sparring practice.

Geir watched and made corrections or
suggestions to each group, eventually facing off with Beau in a
match that taught him even more about the man who had somehow
become part of his family. Beau was a quiet, thoughtful fighter. He
was sly and silent, using the smallest opening to every advantage.
Geir had known the skill behind Beau’s movements all along, but to
have it out in the open was both a challenge and a relief. Beau had
been somewhat secretive up to this point, never really displaying
his full set of skills publicly, unless in the heat of battle.

Geir was relieved that Beau was willing to
expose his many strengths—and a few weaknesses as well—in front of
the class. It meant that Beau was willing to become a full part of
this Clan and he would be a welcome ally in helping keep Jacki
safe.

Geir was challenged by Beau’s unique
fighting style, which was a tiny bit stealthier than Geir’s own. He
adapted well, though. It became clear to Geir, now that they
weren’t trying to pummel each other into dust, that if Beau ever
wanted to compete for Geir’s spot as Master of the Royal Guard, he
would have a good shot at it.

Knowing that would keep Geir on his toes.
Healthy competition was always a good thing. And a good
second-in-command was an even better one. Yes, things would shape
up nicely—if Geir had any say in the matter.

When the class ended and everyone went in
their separate directions to start their days, Geir and Beau headed
back to the house. Jacki met them at the kitchen door, the aroma of
breakfast being cooked wafting toward them.

“Give us a minute to clean up and we’ll help
you with breakfast,” Geir immediately volunteered, pausing only a
moment to give Jacki a kiss on the cheek.

He was sweaty and in need of a shower, but
that wouldn’t take long. He high-tailed it down the hall to his
room. Beau was right behind him, heading for his own room and
attached bath. Even as he hopped into the shower, Geir thought
about ways to modify the house so that they each had their own
space, including two—possibly three—full bathrooms in their master
suite.

He had never been so domestic before. He’d
never had the luxury of owning a place he could change to suit his
needs. Geir was putting down roots here in a big way, and he
couldn’t wait to talk over his ideas with his new family at
breakfast. The day had only just begun, and it was already one of
the best days of his life.

Geir had a feeling that every day with Jacki
was going to feel this way. This was…happiness. Geir hadn’t had
much experience with that emotion in the past, but he felt like
maybe he might just become an expert on the subject given enough
time with Jacki as his mate. A lifetime ought to do it.

Chapter
Thirteen

After their showers, Beau and Geir helped
Jacki finish making breakfast. The rest of the big house’s current
residents joined them—including a much-improved Tom. The big
kitchen table was full this morning, with Mandy, Tad, and their
little daughter, plus Tom, Harper, Ben and Bettina.

Conversation was loud and friendly, and huge
amounts of food were consumed. Beau felt at home for possibly the
first time since his parents’ deaths. This big, open place was
nothing he ever could have imagined, but everything he wanted in
life. His mate. A home of their own. A place to use his talents for
kicking ass.

It was a good life he could see unfolding
before him. A really good life. Like nothing he ever could have
imagined would come to him. Beau had half-figured he would die in
battle someday, unsung and easily forgotten. Instead, here he was
with the woman of his dreams, a fighting partner who was beginning
to recognize that Beau had skills to offer in the dojo, and a
mission he could get behind. Keeping the Nyx safe was something he
could really
do
.

Beau had never really considered becoming a
Royal Guard for any of the shifter monarchy. For one thing, until
very recently, the tiger ruler had been a rat bastard, not worthy
of the title. For another, Beau had chosen the mercenary road long
before he truly understood the workings of the spiritual world, and
the deep connection the true shifter monarchy had to the Lady and
the Light.

Being older and wiser now, Beau almost
regretted some of the things he had gotten himself into over the
years, but he had to chalk it all up to experience. He had needed
to do those things in those places to be ready for all that was
presented before him now. He was the sum of his life experiences
and all those questionable decisions had ultimately led him to the
right place, so he figured he couldn’t complain too much.

“I’m going with you when you head back to
the dojo,” Jacki said toward the end of the meal. “Some of the
girls are going to work out this morning, right Mandy?” Jacki
sought backup from the tiger female seated across the table. Both
women were smiling as if they had something up their sleeves.

“Oh yeah,” Mandy agreed readily. “Wouldn’t
miss it. I’ve been cooped up in the house for a bit too long. It’ll
be nice to stretch a bit.”

Geir looked thoughtful when Beau shot him a
questioning look. “I hadn’t planned on segregated classes, but it’s
definitely something we can look into. There’s plenty of space in
the dojo at the moment—and there will be until more of our people
get here,” Geir finally said.

Beau realized Geir was being a little
careful in his choice of words because of the humans listening in.
Even though Harper and Ben seemed like good guys, the
pantera
noir
Clan was one of the most secretive of all shifter Clans.
Handing out even innocuous information easily didn’t come naturally
to someone who had been part of the Clan for so long.

“You guys are coming to the dojo too,
right?” Beau asked innocently, knowing that Jake had planned to
make an appearance this morning to check Harper out.

“Sure, why not?” Ben answered. “Looks like a
really nice facility and I’m always up for a workout. Not sure I’ll
be able to keep up with some of you guys though,” he said with a
respectful bow of his head. “I’m only human, after all.”

“I call bullshit, Ben,” Tom piped up from
the end of the table. “You’re a SEAL. Human, as may be, but you’ve
trained with my folk all along, even if you didn’t realize it.”

“Are you serious?” Harper finally asked.
“Shifters are in the Navy? Navy SEALs are really tigers?”

Tom seemed to consider how to answer for a
moment. “Some are tigers, yeah. But I’m a selkie. A seal SEAL. As I
keep saying, we like the irony.”

“No way. I thought you were all tiger
shifters,” Harper seemed really surprised.

“Did we ever say that?” Geir asked quietly,
finishing his meal. “
Most
of us are tigers, yes. But there
are a few who are Other things.” Geir looked at Bettina. “How much
should we tell him?”

Bettina just smiled. “His granny knows it
all, Geir. More than any other non-shifter I know, in fact. She’s
not just some wise woman. She’s the head honcho of all Native
American wise women in the States. She is the keeper of wisdom from
ancient times, and has held the post most of her unnaturally long
life. I’ve known her for about seventy years, and she was old even
back then.”

“She’s not really your granny, is she?” Beau
asked, suspecting something greater was at work here.

“She is my blood. There just might be a few
generations between her and me,” Harper admitted, then turned to
Bettina. “You really knew her that long ago?” He didn’t really wait
for her to answer. “Then you’re not a shifter. You’re something
more…”

“What did Sylvie say to you about her
origins?” Bettina asked instead of answering his statement.

“She said that her mother was fey. That
makes Grams half-fey and very long-lived. As the subsequent
generations mated with humans, the influence of the fey blood has
diluted. I don’t expect to live as long as Grams, but I will
probably live longer than most humans, as all my relatives have
done for hundreds of years thanks to Grams’ blood in our
lineage.”

“You are part fey,” Bettina confirmed.
“That’s the source of your very pure magic. And I am guessing that
you’re one of the most magically talented of your generation, which
is why Sylvie took you under her wing. Right?” Harper nodded, but
didn’t speak. “I also have fey blood. A bit closer to the source
than you, of course,” Bettina winked at Harper. “It’s not something
I go around admitting to people just for the fun of it, you
understand,” she went on. “The Lords know. Many others guess. But I
never really talk about it. I figured since we shared the blood of
distant realms, you deserved to know for certain, Harper. And I let
the rest of you in on my little secret—though it’s not much of a
secret at this point—because I think there’s something special
about this core group. I’m not sure what it is yet, but the more I
contemplate the makeup of this little collection of shifters and
humans, the more I think you were all brought together for a
purpose. What that purpose is, I’m not sure yet, but perhaps it
will come clear in time.” Bettina shrugged and went back to
finishing her breakfast as if she hadn’t just dropped a colossal
bomb on the entire gathering.

Beau said nothing but shot Geir a look. They
both shrugged and went back to eating. Within moments, everyone had
finished and the cleanup of the kitchen began. With everyone
lending a hand—except Tom, who was ordered to sit and rest—the work
went fast.

“What time is the next class, Master Geir?”
Tad asked with a twinkle in his eye that wasn’t lost on Beau. The
tiger shifter knew what was on the agenda when Jake planned to
confront Harper on the mats later this afternoon.

As far as the people in the kitchen were
concerned, Harper had already proven himself by helping save Tom.
The proof of his lineage had satisfied Bettina and went a long way
toward convincing everybody else who’d heard that phone call with
his grandmother, that he was okay. But Jake hadn’t heard the call.
And he hadn’t seen Harper in action last night, saving Tom’s life
and strengthening his spirit. Jake still needed convincing, and
they already had a plan in place for Jake to take Harper’s
measure.

Beau was looking forward to it, as were the
others who knew about it. Harper, of course, knew nothing of the
test to come, but he seemed calm and ready for just about anything.
The rest of the day promised to be amusing.

“I don’t do any physical training directly
after meals, but it’s a good time to work on tactics and less
physical skills,” Geir told Tad as they finished clearing the
plates. “I’m still working out the schedule, but I’m thinking of
doing a tactics class once or twice a week, followed by a
beginner’s class. Alternate days might have meetings or private
sessions in those time slots. For today, since we still haven’t
ironed out who’s here, who’s coming, and what they all need in the
way of classes and physical training, I’d like to do some of those
assessments, then maybe get a group together for sparring in the
dojo until lunch.”

“I’d be happy to go over the training
schedule my father worked out when the dojo was his, if that’s any
help,” Tad volunteered. “I can also show you a little more about
where things are kept in the dojo building. There are a lot of
nooks and crannies built into the space that you probably haven’t
found yet.”

And so it was, a couple of hours later, Beau
found himself sitting near the door of the old barn that had been
turned into a state of the art dojo, watching the ladies tumble and
balance their way across the beams that ran the length of the
building. The balance beams were even curved in spots, providing
practice on a whole different set of skills. Beau was truly
impressed by Mandy’s agility. She had, of course, trained in this
dojo all her life. It was clear she was quite a warrior in addition
to being a protective mama.

Mandy’s little girl was toddling along
behind her, sure-footed as any cub, doing surprisingly good little
cartwheels on the ground while her mother did back flips and shadow
strikes on the beam above the little girl’s head. Beau found
himself watching the cub, wondering if Jacki’s child would be as
active and adorable.

It sort of struck him that he was thinking
about having a family. Him. A man who hadn’t had a home in longer
than he could remember. It brought a tear to his eye that he
quickly blinked back. He didn’t want to have to try to explain the
depth of his revelation to anyone, and he was surrounded at the
moment by other spectators.

Ben had arrived with Harper a few minutes
ago. They were dressed for a workout. Likewise, Tad was ready and
waiting, coaching his daughter from the sidelines as his wife
finished her gymnastics routine. The little girl would run into her
father’s open arms every few minutes, then run back to tumble
around on the mats near her mother a little more. With the
exuberance of the very young, she did this over and over, never
seeming to tire of the game until her mother jumped off the beam
with a spinning, twisting somersault, to land elegantly on her
feet.

Mandy scooped the giggling little girl into
her arms and walked off the mats, to her waiting mate.

“They look really happy,” Ben observed with
approval clear in his voice.

“The mate bond is strong,” Beau replied with
a grin. “And their cub lights up the room with her joy.”

“Damn, man, you’re getting to be a
philosopher in your old age,” Ben joked, then sobered. “But yeah, I
see what you mean. I’ve seen it before among other shifters and
even vamps, when they find their One. It’s something to
behold.”