Chapter 19
Emily
Five years later
Once I had left the hospital Bafon and I had gotten to work. Slowly making our way around the world and getting each and every shifter to follow the snow leopards once again while also trying to avoid the royal council. This in it of itself took five years. I went through the entire continents of Europe and Asia, touching each statue to give Hunter a heads up on where I was. But he never caught up to me.
On the anniversary of the day I left the hospital I had finally made it home to Pennsylvania, having done everywhere else but Irwin. When we landed in Hunter's village I was greeted by Ryan. He held his arms out as I went towards him, my face remaining stoic and emotionless. He smiled and let out a laugh, pulling me into a bear hug, "Why are you always so serious little miss yowler? Lighten up a little bit." I let out a small laugh, "Well, I am on business, so I would like to get that out of the way before I goof off. Has Hunter been around?" Ryan shook his head, "No, he was banished right after you left for Russia. Only because you were his mate, our elder doesn't like mates that aren't the same cat. No one knows why though it's just the way she is." I escape his bear hug and walk towards the snow leopard statue, which already had green eyes. "How does this statue have green eyes?" Ryan shrugged, "No one knows about that either. But after you left, the eyes changed to that color, and really freaked everyone out. Do you know what it means?" I nod, "Yeah it means a royal has claimed this land as its own." Ryan looked at me to the statue and then back to me, "Well I guess that makes sense, you are daughter of the cheif's daughter. Wait no it doesn't, what are you talking about? Your royal?" I smile, "I will tell you everything after I see your elder." He stood there and pondering everything and then gave in.
He led me through the village and opened the door to a large two story cabin. But Ryan never entered, he simply opened the door and left. I walked through the heavily decorated room, stacks of books lined tables and there were book shelves everywhere. I stop suddenly when I see a mountain lion walk down the stairs clothes stretched over its muscular body, lips curled up to show me its fangs. I realize this is the elder and I stand my ground, "I just want to talk to you. That is all, I don't want any trouble." Her lips slowly fell to their normal positions, and she shifted into a beautiful woman. Snow white hair with caramel skin, everything about her barely wrinkled skin screamed beauty. She motioned for me to sit down on one of the lumpy couches that lined the room, "What is it you want to talk about Miss Evans?" I swallow a lump that formed in my throat, palms suddenly sweaty, "I came to ask you to follow me. To follow the snow leopards as we take the throne once again." She crossed one leg over the other, "And why should my village follow you? What can you show me to prove that you are going to be a strong ruler?" I pull out a necklace that had been given to me by one of the villages in Africa, "I have one of the incisors from each of the big three. The ones that I killed in order to reclaim my family's throne." She picked up the necklace and studied it for a minute, "Show me proof that you fought them."
My palms began to sweat even more, but I reluctantly lift the right side of my shirt to show the jagged scars left from the jaguar. The elder just looks at them with a stoic look to her face, and then she smiled, "Well, you certainly know how to fool someone don't you. How do I know if a cat did that or a dog? Now get out of my sight before I make you get out." I stand up and she began to push me out the door, "You may not believe that I took down the big three, but I did. And you may not want to believe it, but I am the new queen of the shifting world. All I am asking is that you follow me, but you are simply rejecting me because I am something you hate. What did I ever do to you to make you hate me?" Desperation was in my voice, and she took that into consideration. "It is nothing you did. It is something that happened before you were old enough to walk." "Tell me, I want to know why you are dismissing me like this." My voice was stern and it caught her by surprise. "It was your mother and father. They used to live here, and you were born here. I was named your godmother and when it came time for the big three to see what was going on between your mother and father, they had asked me to take you somewhere safe. So I took you to your foster mother and fathers house. When I came back, your parents were dead."
