A/N: I know most of us LOVE long chapters, but this is going to be my fun story that comes to me whenever. It obviously hasn't lately, since it's taken so long for me to update. I've been too wrapped up in REVEALED and traveling for work. That doesn't mean I'm abandoning this story. I just am working through Quinn's history in my mind as I write, so you will have to forgive me as I post short chapters here. Again, Quinn belongs to CH…all his history and everything else not mentioned in SVM I'm making up for the fun of it.
3:
I got in a fight at school when I was just a little boy. All boys do, but this fight was different than the fights the teachers were used to dealing with amongst little boys. I was only ten years old and still in elementary school. The boy that made fun of how tall I was and how my family was weird ended up in the hospital. I, just a ten year old boy, put another kid in the hospital. I barely had a scratch anywhere.
That is when my father decided he should explain our heritage and how I needed to be more careful, before I injured anyone else or exposed our true nature.
I was doubtful when he first told me that I was a tiger. Then, when if finally sunk in I thought it was the 'coolest' thing ever! Again…I was only ten years old. How would you react if your dad, your idol, told you that you and he both could turn into a tiger.
I couldn't wait until I could actually change, too! He explained that I probably wouldn't change for another several years, but he had to tell me earlier than normal because I was unusually strong for my age, and he didn't want me to injure anyone else. I made him promise to show me on the next full moon! I was so excited! Then he hit me with the bad news. I couldn't continue to play flag-football or do any other full-impact sports because I would reveal that something was odd about our family. I was really upset to give up football, but learning that I could be a tiger made up for any disappointment I felt.
My dad explained all the 'instincts' that I had been feeling which I had originally thought were just a part of my imagination. He told me to follow them and to let them guide me for they would help me to avoid bad situations now and in the future could possibly save my life. I was shocked that he was talking about my life being on the line. How big of a deal could it be any way? If there were were-tigers, there had to be other were's out there too, right? I could find friends of my own kind that understood me.
I didn't realize how rare and solitary tigers were then. I finally understood why my parents didn't have that many friends that they hung out with. Later I learned that the friends they did hang out with when I was young were other Were creatures as well. My dad's best friend was a Were-Penguin of all things!
My grandparents were very close, however, to me, and to each other. My grandparents on both sides were so proud of me, no matter what I did (including beating up a kid when I was 10). I realize now that they were so close because they were all tigers as well. They had arranged for my parents to meet, but the fact that my parents were actually able to form a relationship, much less get married and have a child was extremely unique. Tigers are extremely picky about mates and they mate for life once they do find another were-tiger they are compatible with. My grandparents were thrilled. Both of my parents had been born late in life. My maternal grandmother was 41 when she had my mom and my paternal grandmother was 43 when she had my dad. Fertility is very low amongst were-tigers I learned. That they were lucky at such an advanced age was a blessing. The downside was that by the time I was fourteen all four of my grandparents had passed away and then it was only my parents and me in our family.
I was just glad that I had those four years after I learned the truth about my nature with my grandparents so that I could learn as much as I could about being a tiger and about what they had all lived through. My dad's dad and my mom's mom were the most talkative of the four and they told me many stories about fairies, demons, vampires, and other animal shifters.
It all seemed like fairy tales when they first started telling these stories, but I learned quickly that they were actually 'fairy' tales and I should pay them heed.