Nathair studied himself in the mirror, like he often ended up doing. And, as always, he was busy looking for signs of his true nature. He knew he shouldn’t have a human form, he’d known for years, but that didn’t change the facts. He was essentially a shifter now, though not even his father knew just how closely related to them he was. It worried him a little, particularly with all the talk of true mates that had seemed to be going around recently. At first, he’d thought nothing of it. Women weren’t exactly the first thing on his mind as a boy. But, as time passed, they began to catch his attention more.

When his brother had returned home from a day at work, talking of how he’d sensed the mating bond between two paranormals, Nathair’s interest had been piqued and he’d wanted to know more. Without letting on that’s what he was concerned about. His parents would be devastated to learn he wasn’t completely content with his life.

They’d been so good to him over the years, and he still wasn’t quite sure why. But they’d treated him the same as they had Austen, their true biological son. Just as Austen had treated him like a brother all through the years. He still did now, even though they were both acutely aware of their differences. Nathair lacked the ability to disappear into a puff of coloured smoke for a start. Equally, Austen couldn’t turn into a snake at will.

Actually, that wasn’t true. Austen could do that, but it wouldn’t look like a real snake, and the magic would be more than evident to anyone watching. It wasn’t often that one saw a snake made out of orange smoke. It was one of the first spells Austen had asked to be taught, and Nathair loved him for it. He held his brother in high esteem, and would do anything for him. Even die for him if he needed. Though he doubted easy going Austen would need anyone to take a bullet for him any time soon.

Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he moved away from the mirror. It was time for him to get to work anyway, the gardens in the richer part of town weren’t going to clean themselves.

While it might not be the most glamorous of jobs, he enjoyed being outdoors, probably something to do with his roots. He also knew that he didn’t need to work it. He could just accept his parents’ offer to pay for him to get through college, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to do that. It was something he pondered each and every day.

This one was no exception. As he walked through the shaded leaves, that already seemed to be on the turn, despite it being summer still, he tried to figure out what he actually wanted to do with his life. If he was honest with himself, that was probably the main thing holding him back from going off. He didn’t know what to spend the money on studying, and while he wasn’t keen on his parents spending even more money on him as it was, he was even less keen on them spending it on something he wasn’t certain of.

That was how he’d gotten here. Well, not the physical location here. That was actually a large mansion that had to be far too big for the family that lived there. These really were people with more money than sense, but they paid him on time, and far more than they had to, so he wasn’t going to complain. They also didn’t ask too many questions about him. Or any questions really. He’d not had much to do with them at all other than the initial meeting with the lady of the house.

He set about tidying up the sides of the stream next to the surprisingly young willow tree that looked completely out of place in the rest of the garden. Most of the trees were old, and had that sturdy worn bark look about them. But not this one. It couldn’t be more than a couple of decades old. Though that was just his non-expert opinion. What did he know really? He was a snake hiding inside a human body. And an actual snake at that, not just a shifter with a personality disorder.

A soft humming filled the air, causing Nathair to jump and drop the shears he was holding. Smooth, he knew, but he wasn’t used to anyone else being in the garden with him, and it’d taken him somewhat off guard. He turned slightly, surprised to see a young woman touching a hand to the bark of the willow tree’s trunk.

He watched for a few moments, transfixed by whatever she was doing, but not quite being able to work out what it was. If only there was a way for him to get closer and find out. Maybe that was an invasion of her privacy, but she wasn’t exactly hiding what she was doing. It was then he realised he did have a way to get closer, and that he was lucky Austen had long ago spelled his clothes to shift with him. An advantage many true born shifters certainly didn’t have.

He focused on his true form, and painlessly shifted into the small patterned snake he truly was. He’d never grown to any great size in this form, but he didn’t mind. It made it all the easier to sneak around and listen in on private conversations. Not that he did that often. Just at this moment in time apparently.

He slithered through the grass, feeling the short blades tickling his scales as he did. He was suddenly particularly grateful for not having cut it yet, or it’d be hampering his movements now.

Only problem was, he wouldn’t be able to see the woman from this angle, and something deep within him was demanding that he did.

He slithered up to one of the drooping branches, studying it first to make sure it was sturdy enough to hold his weight. When he thought it was, he twirled himself around it, using his firm muscular body to cling tightly to the wood. He climbed until he was about at his human height, and looked on at the woman who was still stood there touching the wood of the tree.

She was beautiful. And not at all what he expected. The way she was beautiful, was far more than physical though. Her face was probably a tiny bit too long to be counted as classically beautiful, but he could have sworn her skin was glowing. And that said nothing about the way she was caressing the tree. She was almost reverent in the way she touched the bark, and his head swayed from side to side as he watched, hypnotised by her movements, and picturing what it would be like if her hand was pressed against the scales of his head.

“I should have known you’d be here,” a male voice broke through the calm and Nathair’s head swivelled around to study the tall man walking towards the tree. He had the same dark hair as the woman, thought Nathair’s sharp eyes could make out a slight greying at his temples. Her father most likely then. Or he hoped so. Otherwise he was going to end up feeling a little jealous.

“I needed somewhere calm,” the woman replied, her voice low and husky. It called to him in a way he’d never experienced before. All he wanted in that moment was to hear more of it.

“The house is calm,” the older man replied.

“Hardly,” the woman muttered under her breath, but his enhanced hearing could pick up on it.

“Autumn, you need to stop this.” He almost seemed to stamp his foot, which was ridiculous, why would a grown man want to do that? And not just a grown man either, but one with a grown daughter.

Or Nathair hoped she was grown, if not he was having some very inappropriate thoughts about her. Autumn, he thought, enjoying the sound of her name in his head. He couldn’t wait to say it aloud, though he knew he had to wait, it was difficult to say aloud with a snake’s tongue.

“Stop what, Dad?” She turned to look her father in the eye as relief travelled through Nathair. She wasn’t with this man then. She was free to be his.

“The sulking.”

“Then have them take the spells off the gate. Or Rylan to stop following me. I know he’s there, I’m not a fool.”

“He...”

“Is following me, Dad. I know you asked him to, so get him to stop. I don’t like being watched all the time.”

Nathair flickered his tongue, trying to taste in the air where this Rylan was hiding. He wasn’t an unobservant person, so why hadn’t he noticed there was another person about? And why was he even following Autumn anyway? That just seemed odd.

“He’s...”

“Stop it Dad,” she demanded. “I know you’ve put him on me so I don’t disappear off again.”

“It’s more than that.”

Nathair watched as Autumn raised a questioning eyebrow, glad his vision was strong enough to pick it up.

“I want you to marry him.”

“WHAT?” Autumn’s voice rose several octaves as she questioned him. He didn’t blame her, he was already hissing in protest. The idea of Autumn marrying someone else wasn’t sitting very well with him.

“Marry, Autumn. It will give you some structure in your life, as well as someone who can keep an eye one you...”

Nathair could tell, even before the man had finished speaking that Autumn wasn’t going to like that. She didn’t exactly seem like the wilting flower needing protecting and sheltering time.

“No.”

“Something has to change, Autumn,” he told his daughter. Nathair hissed in response, completely involuntarily. He wasn’t sure what was up with him. He’d need to get himself in check before he filled Austen in about events, otherwise he’d almost instantly figure out that something was wrong. Maybe not wrong even, but that something was on his mind, and he wasn’t ready to share this with his brother yet.

“Fine, but not by me getting married to Rylan,” she insisted.

“If not him, then someone else,” he father responded, a stern look on his face.

“I’m not getting married to anyone,” she threw back at him.

“You will, Autumn, and that’s final. I’ll make the announcement tomorrow!”

Nathair’s heart skipped a beat. If the announcement was that she’d just marry someone, then he had a chance of winning her hand. As archaic as that sounded.

Autumn grunted and kicked the tree, before instantly smoothing her hand over the bark. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it,” she whispered to the tree, leaning in even closer.

Nathair found himself following her actions, and he leaned further outwards, almost losing his grip on the branch he was wrapped around. He probably would have done if not for the tight coils of his muscular body. Luckily, spending most of his time as a human hadn’t seemed to inhibit his skills as a snake shifter. He was grateful for that, it was making this situation a lot easier to deal with.

He watched the woman for a few moments more, before realising she wasn’t going to do much more than stare at the tree. If he was going to win her, then he needed a better plan than staring from afar.