The trees sparkled too. The earth was alive with the dance of sunlight on frozen water, melting, changing, ever transforming. The Goddess in her guise as the Crone. The not-so-barren Lady Winter. The Snow Queen.
And Gina was the princess.
Mitch felt the tug of magic leading him on. He moved off into the woods, following a trail that existed only in the magical energy swirling around and through him. An energy he’d only felt fleeting bits of before now.
He followed where it led, trusting his instincts and the call of the Goddess. He could hear her rhythms in the earth under his paws, in the rivulets of water melting off the trees, the ice chiming as wind blew frozen branches into one another. It was a symphony of light and sound of the most magical variety. A blessing from the Earth Mother. A call to Her service.
Mitch could no more deny Her than he could deny his true nature. The nature that had led him into service to the Royals rather than to found his own Pride. He was Alpha enough that he could have easily done so, but he’d felt the need to serve and protect even stronger. It was who he was. Who he was born to be.
He felt Gina pacing along beside him as he followed his senses through the unfamiliar woods. He’d never prowled here before, but something about this place spoke to him. It was completely foreign, yet at the same time welcoming and familiar. He liked the pines and the bare trees that had lost their coat of leaves for winter. He enjoyed the scent of damp earth under the melting snow and the crisp bite of the cool air ruffling his fur like a caress.
He didn’t know how he knew where to go, but when he arrived at his destination, it was completely obvious. He broke through the dense forest into…a sacred circle of standing stones.
Of course. He should have known.
There was a joyous hum in the air as he stepped into the circle of stones on the top of a small hill. The cabin was far behind and below him and he had the sense of the surrounding area. He somehow knew there was a bigger house on the other side of the hill they were on. The main house where the Tig’Ra and his queen lived.
Gina’s parents. Gina herself stepped into the circle behind him and came to sit on her haunches at his side. For a moment, they just sat there, facing the direction of the main house until finally, he realized why he’d been drawn here.
Two people stepped into the circle. A man and a woman, both in their human forms, but Mitch knew who they were. Their magic spoke for itself. As did their commanding presence. These were Gina’s parents.
He’d met her dad before, of course, but he’d never even seen her mother. Gina had her mother’s kind eyes and gentle smile, but she’d inherited her father’s stubborn chin and determined jaw, it seemed.
The tiger king looked Mitch over and sighed heavily as Mitch bowed his head. Mitch kept his eyes raised to the king in a show of respect. It was their way to not dismiss a warrior’s power. Averting the eyes meant disrespect in the shifter world.
“I should have known this would happen when Gina talked about your fur sprouting white. In fact, I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time but was almost afraid to hope it was near. Be welcome to the tigre blanche, Mitch Thorburn, formerly of the tigre d’or.”
As the words were spoken, a shaft of bright sun broke through a momentary cloud, illuminating the circle and all within. For a moment, the light almost blinded Mitch, making him wince, but then something happened. The sun felt like it was focusing on him, bathing him in its warmth.
And then he realized it wasn’t really sun. It was magic. A sparkling, magical beam carried on the sunlight, sent by the Goddess.
In that moment, his heart opened and his soul became one with the cat whose nature had changed, just a little. The change had been enough to make him feel odd when he first shifted, but now, with the Lady’s intervention, the oddness had gone. It was replaced by a surety that he had never experienced. Mitch finally knew his purpose in this world—to serve and protect as before—but his duties had been expanded to include not just the royalty, but every tiger everywhere.
Starting here and now. Mitch basked in the magical beam of sunlight a moment more, and then it was gone, dissipating in a shower of rainbow-colored motes of light. Dazzling and enchanting. By far the most magical thing Mitch had ever experienced. He was left standing in front of the Tig’Ra and his lady, who were both still in human form, and Gina wearing her fur at his side.
“Go back to the cabin for now,” the king of all tigers said in a kind, yet gruff voice. “You’re still on the mend and we have a lot to discuss. I’ll be down shortly.”
Mitch bowed his head in respect and then, conscious of the fatigue now weighing him down, he made his way out of the stone circle with Gina still at his side. She had stuck by him through all of it, a silent witness to the life-changing events of the past few minutes. He wondered if she’d sensed what had happened, or was it something only Mitch had have been aware of? He wasn’t entirely sure.