"Well, I'll be damned," Eric chortled then sat back. "Who would have thought?"
Pam glanced at Kris who looked worse than confused, she looked petrified. Sitting beside her on the blanket, she gently pushed Kris's head on her thigh, lovingly brushing her hair aside. She paid Eric no mind, though she knew he would be listening. "Sweetheart, I had no idea about Shifters on your maternal side. I'm not really sure what we're dealing with now that you're also vampire."
Kris stared straight ahead at nothing in particular before she tilted her head up and pointed to her throat. "Oh, sorry. You may speak now."
She rested her head and closed her eyes, calming down from Pam's light strokes. "What all did that guy say?"
"Males first change in their early teens, but some, especially females, can change after adolescence, around 21, which you're one year shy of. He wasn't told of his Shifter heritage either, so his change was traumatic for him. With you also being vampire I have no idea what'll happen when you do change for the first time."
"So, I'm a Shifire?" she chuckled. "Vampter?"
Although Pam didn't find her situation humorous, she couldn't help but smile. "It seems so. Since you haven't changed into your feline form yet we won't know if you will at all."
"Pam, how did you figure out I was … different?"
"When you fed from Lucas you purred, and your posture and your eyes outside with Eric, not to mention you preening just now."
"Hmm, yeah. Sounds about right."
"And you're purring right now, Kris," Eric pointed out.
She briefly looked up at him before she realized she really was purring. Her chest vibrated and her throat was constantly rumbling. Clearing her throat, she asked, "So, the guy said he doesn't know of any of us half-breeds?"
"No. We might have to pay Sam a visit to find out—"
"That wouldn't be wise," Eric stated, his voice apprehensive.
"Mr. Northman, may I remind you she is my child, not yours. You have no choice in the matter."
"No, no, Pam. You don't understand." He got up and sat down at Pam's feet, keeping some distance from Kris. "Just follow me for a second. Sam knows of no Shifter vampires, but we know she's feline. What if, and I'm pulling this out of my ass here, but what if she's saber-tooth? We have to know more about that side of her before she can be on her own."
Kris sat up and burst out laughing. "You're kidding me, right?!"
"Kris, hear him out."
"In that case, please proceed, oh, mighty one," Kris spat. With Pam's snicker, he gave both females a nasty look.
"Tigers went extinct ten thousand years ago, give or take, but what was their most prominent feature?" He already knew the answer. He wanted to know if they figured it out.
"Their saber teeth, duh," Kris answered.
"And how long were their teeth?" he asked her. "Longer than a normal modern feline, weren't they, smart ass?"
"Eric," Pam warned, but he only smirked at her. "Kris, what's he's suggesting, and god help me but I'm kind of agreeing with him, is the saber-tooth tigers were in fact half vampire and half Shifter."
There was movement from the bed in the corner of the room where Lucas had been sleeping on. Apparently he was no longer asleep. "Om Kris inte längre behöver mig, kan du ta mig tillbaka hem?"
"Kris, are you still hungry? I have to take Lucas home," Pam asked her.
"After that revelation, no, I'm not hungry."
"I would have been surprised if you were," Pam replied.
Eric said, "Pam, glamour him, take everything he's heard here tonight. We can't let—"
"Eric! I'm aware of the severity of the situation." She walked toward Lucas, muttering under her breath.
"Yes, Pam, I know I fucked up," Eric huffed. "I am trying to—"
"God, you guys!" Kris said as she stood up. "Enough already! Either deal with your personal issues and talk it out or fuck each other, I don't care! Just stop the bickering!"
Pam stopped dead in her tracks and Eric looked at her amused. "I'm so glad you're not my child," he spat.
"Go fuck yourself, Eric!" Kris replied and headed for the front door.
Pam rushed to her, grabbed her roughly, dragged her to the bed and threw her down. "KrisLyn Beaufort, you will stay on this bed until I return. You are not to step off of this bed, nor are you permitted to talk to Eric. Do you understand me?" She tentatively nodded.
"It's about time you got control of your child, Pam."
"As my child said, go fuck yourself," she replied then she and Lucas left.
An hour later, Pam returned to the cabin and sat on Kris's bed. "Where's Eric?" Kris simply shrugged her shoulders because she didn't know if she could speak or not. "You can talk to me, honey."
"He left right after you did. He didn't tell me anything." Her voice was like that of a disciplined child.
"Kris, I am not mad at you. You know that, right?" Again she shrugged her shoulders. "Well, I wasn't. I know Eric and I aren't … the most pleasant to be around, but we will get to the bottom of it tonight. I don't blame you for calling us out. As far as your situation, we'll deal with it. We won't be able to leave here until we know what's going on."
"Oh, crap. I wanted to go to Fiji."
2:30 a.m.
"I am not going to do that dance, KrisLyn!" Pam hollered to Kris over the loud music as they danced.
"Oh, come on! Miley does it!" Kris protested, showing her aunt the moves again.
"I don't care if Mother Theresa does the twerk. I am not doing it! Whatever happened to Victorian dances?"
"Get that booty going!"
Suddenly twirling snow with a burst of cold air came into the room and Eric sauntered in, taking out a manila folder from under his sweater. Simultaneously Pam turned the music off. Without a word Eric sat down on the couch, put the folder on the coffee table and opened it. "I've been doing some research. Would you two ladies like to hear what I found?"
Based on Eric's tone both Pam and Kris knew he was at least was doing something to help. Again Kris sat in front of the fire and Pam sat in the chair.
"The mythology of the saber tooth being vampire has been highly debated among paleontologists for the past two hundred years, in secret, of course. There have been cave drawings of the beast in Africa, Western Europe and elsewhere with humans at their feet either being eaten or already dead. Here." He laid some drawings on the table.
Pam looked at them because she seemed more interested than Kris. "It doesn't look like they're being eaten, more like being fed from."
"Exactly," Eric confirmed. "Archeological digs have also found bones in the digestive tracks of sabers, but they can't confirm whether they are human. But what cannot be denied is the fact that the DNA from full skeletal bones of humans has been found in the sabers' stomachs and also in their DNA, ruling out the theory of being eaten but actually fed on."
It was quiet for a moment. "But what I don't understand is how the hell do I have the saber tooth DNA if they are extinct?" Kris asked.
"That's the last question to be answered. Kris, did …" He looked at Pam first for permission to speak to her; she nodded. "… Has your mother or anyone else in your family shown any signs of changing?"
"My parents are both gone, no aunts or uncles, either. I was too young for Mom to say anything to me. But from what I remember no one really acted weird. But there have been some that were, uh, mentally unstable. That might explain something."
"Eric, has there been any recent sightings of sabers anywhere in the world?" Pam asked.
"Yes, in higher elevations like Nepal, China and Pakistan."
Kris laughed. "Al Queda is saber tooths." Neither Eric nor Pam did, though. "Sorry, I'm getting punchy. Okay, so, tell me this, if you can, and I don't mean that snotty, how do sabers change to their form if they're vampire?"
"There is one documented case." He pulled out a report and showed it to Kris. "Mt. Logan, Yukon, 1702. That drawing was apparently first-hand eyewitness."
Kris picked it up and looked it over thoroughly. It was a saber, its shoulder blades at least four feet high, but it was hard to tell; its head was huge; its legs were long and muscular; and its teeth were at least half a foot long. That was based solely on the height of the human on the ground, one tooth hooked in his neck. Another man was lying bloody and lifeless about ten feet away.
"Okay, so their teeth could have gotten smaller over time. But he's already changed," Kris pointed out.
"No, well yes. But look at this." He handed her another drawing. That one was a drawing of two men standing by fallen trees. A man was in the background crouched in the same pose Kris had done outside, and the iris of his eyes were black.
"That doesn't prove anything. And the sun is up. It can't be a vampire," Kris protested.
"Kris, honey, your eyes were the same when Eric came from the trees and startled you. That man is the saber, and when he is one he can be in the sun," Pam said, pointing to the first photo of the saber attacking the human. "Look at the clothing, they're the same."
"It's before and after, but what happens during the change?"
"That's what we're going to help you determine," Eric said. Both females shot their eyes on him, and he put his hands up defensively. "Before you two throw anything at me, hear me out. I also called Sam, and basically what he told me was when he changes all he does is envision himself as whatever he wants to change into. Granted it took him months, but all he suggested was to practice. And Kris, I think your emotions help you change, but it's just a theory."
"With you around I'm sure it'll be easy," Kris said, but she made sure she gave him a hint of a grin.
"Why? What's in it for you, Eric?" Pam asked tersely.
He looked directly at Kris. "Kris, I understand you are young and had a future ahead of you which I did take from you. I do. But you have to understand and know that wasn't me that attacked you. I am truly sorry. You fed me while I mended. I have no other hidden agenda than to return the favor."
She was surprised at his admission and a little angry she could no longer us that to fight with him. But she was still guarded. "I kinda understand now, Eric, now that I have fed. But I'll need time. And I still don't like you very much."
"Time is something we have plenty of now." He turned to Pam. "Pamela Swynford de Beaufort, what I want from you is only answers."
"No apologies?"
"My apologies to you will take much longer."