Free Savage Nature by Christine Feehan Page A

would look elsewhere for employment.” Saria hadn’t looked back at him. He knew, because he watched her all the way to the boat. She hadn’t so much as glanced over her shoulder.
    Pauline nodded. “As a rule that’s true, although most of us return when we’r older. There’s something about this place that calls us back. Saria comes from one of the seven oldest families in the area. They almost never leave the swamp even if they work away from it. Remy, her oldest brother, works as a detective in New Orleans. All of her brothers served in the military and most work on the river, but they always come home.” She looked at him directly, imparting the knowledge as a warning. “She has five brothers.”
    “Big families around here,” he commented, showing confidence. “Is it unusual for the children to come back to the swamp after they go to school?” Drake asked as he followed her, committing the layout of the large house to memory.
    “I think most young people think there’s something better for them. Certainly they want more,” Pauline said. “Life in the swamp can be hard. They all get educations and move away, like I said.”
    “With the exception of families like Saria’s?” He kept his voice casually interested.
    Pauline frowned a little as she thought about it. “The seven families that live closest together seem to always come home,” she admitted. “As far back as I can remember, they’ve done that—gone away to school and come back. The children take over their parents’ businesses and lifestyle right here in the swamp. My sister, Iris, married into the Mercier family, and her children, Armande and Charisse, both went to college and returned. I never had children so my nephew and niece are very special to me—as is Saria. Charisse is extremely talented.” Her voice tinged with pride. “She and her brother own the perfume shop in New Orleans together, but Charisse actually makes the perfume and sends it all over the world. The shop has become a tremendous success because of her talent. Still, they live in the Mercier family home rather than town.”
    “Instead of living in New Orleans itself?”
    Pauline nodded. “Remy, Saria’s brother, is a detective with the police force and he always stays in their family home. I was so surprised by them. Charisse in particular used to say she couldn’t wait to get out of here to a city. The families are very close, but as I said, it’s a difficult way of life.”
    “I can imagine,” Drake said, infusing admiration in his voice. He had grown up in the rain forest and understood the need to stay in the wild. The Louisiana swamp was as wild as the local leopards could find. “Seven families? Are you part of one of those families?” She wasn’t leopard. He would have known. At her age, her leopard would have emerged already, but it was a way to keep her talking.
    Pauline opened the door to the dining room with its gleaming floors and polished table. “Oh, no, but I’ve certainly known them all for years. They’re very tight-knit. They participate in the get-togethers, but as a rule they stay to themselves. They’re pretty isolated.”
    That made sense. Leopards, animal or shifter, as a rule were elusive and very secretive. Seven families would make this a large lair for such a small area.
    “Which seven families?” Curiosity edged his voice, a deliberate attempt to lure her into talking more. “Names are so intriguing here.”
    “Let’s see. Boudreaux of course. Lanoux, Jeanmard, Mercier, Mouton, Tregre, and the Pinet family. I think they all date back to the first settlers here.”
    Drake took the punch in his gand breathed his way through it without showing a reaction. Tregre? He knew that name. He knew a woman from his own lair who had married a man with that last name. She’d come home a widow, with her son, Joshua. The same Joshua who was now employed on the Bannaconni ranch as a bodyguard to Jake’s wife, Emma.
    Joshua had never