Snow Leopard's Lady (Veteran Shifters 1)

Wilson's form seemed to shiver, and a second later, he transformed back into a human. Mavis marveled at the sight. She'd seen Nina and the other leopards change shape before, but somehow it never ceased to fill her with wonderment.

Daryl was so utterly wrong. The shifters weren't monsters. They were miracles.

"Let's go," she told Wilson. Her voice didn't want to tremble anymore. She could see Daryl's shrunken posture, the way his shoulders had curled in on themselves. He was beaten, and he knew it.

She and Wilson left him behind in the kitchen to get the last few things—a blanket Mavis had had since she first moved out of her parents' house, some more mementoes, her sewing equipment, a few other odds and ends that she found she did want to bring with her, rather than leave them here to be discarded or ignored by Daryl.

Finally, they were done, and she stepped back into the kitchen to say, "We're leaving. Remember what I said. I never want to hear directly from you again. Talk to my lawyer from now on."

Daryl nodded slowly, and together, Mavis and Wilson left the house.

Wilson quickly and efficiently loaded the boxes into their rental car, and held the door for Mavis. She slumped in the passenger's seat, suddenly exhausted.

Wilson got in the driver's seat and looked at her. Compassion filled his face. "All right?" he asked softly.

Mavis nodded. "Yes. Let's get out of here. And order room service for dinner."

"Sounds like a plan." Wilson turned the key and they left Daryl, and Mavis' old life, behind them.

***

Back at the hotel, they not only ordered a lavish meal, but also a bottle of wine. Mavis found herself relaxing for the first time since she'd gotten Daryl's message.

"May I ask you a fav

or?" Wilson said, after they'd eaten through most of the food, and the bottle of wine was almost empty.

"Of course." They were sitting on the couch together, and Mavis turned to look at him from where she'd been cuddled up to his side.

"Would you show me some of the pictures in the photo album?"

Mavis hadn't been expecting that. She blinked. "You want to see pictures of Nina as a kid?" Most people would run the other way when a proud parent mentioned photos of their child.

"I do," he said, heartfelt. "If I'm going to be a part of her life—a father figure, as much as she's willing to have me—I want to know her a little better." He smiled warmly. "And I love how you look when you talk about her. Like you're so full of love you can't contain it."

That was how it felt, Mavis thought. He'd hit the nail on the head.

"All right." She went to get the album, and came back to snuggle again, opening it up.

"Here she is right after we adopted her," she began, and Wilson's arm tightened around her as he leaned forward to look.

She’d been half-expecting him to just want to see one or two pictures, but as it turned out, he hadn’t been kidding about really wanting to hear about Nina. He kept asking questions, or turning to the next page in the album, and Mavis found herself telling story after story of tiny Nina getting into scrapes, saying something adorable, or simply being the caring, loving girl that she’d always been, at heart.

Finally, they reached the last page of the photo album. Daryl had been in a lot of the pictures, and Mavis had thought about skipping those, or apologizing for them, or something—but Daryl was a part of both Nina and Mavis’ history, and that wasn’t going to change. She wouldn’t be afraid of talking about him.

After all, he didn’t have any power over her or Nina anymore. Nothing else bad could come of it, and she already knew that Wilson didn’t judge her at all for having chosen so wrongly in her first marriage.

First marriage.

She’d been picturing Nina up at the altar, when she’d been at Cal and Lillian’s wedding. Maybe she would be up there before long, herself.

The idea made her flush with joy.

“Thank you for sharing all of that with me,” Wilson was saying. He laid a hand on the closed album, a gesture of respect or even reverence. “I hope I can be a positive figure in her life from now on.”

“You will be,” Mavis assured him.

He was frowning a bit. “I never thought I’d be a stepfather. I never planned for any kind of fatherly...activities, or advice, or anything of the sort. But now I’m looking forward to it. I just hope that I don’t overstep my bounds, or remind her of Daryl in any way.”