Guardian's Mate

by Jennifer Ashley

  Dylan Morrissey and the Austin Shifters arrived shortly after Zander’s party did, brought in by one of Marlo’s pilot friends. Dylan was a Feline Shifter with a lot of black-maned lion in him. In the past, he’d been leader of the Austin Shiftertown, but he’d “retired” in favor of his son, Liam. Humans believed Dylan retired anyway, but Dylan considered himself now free to dominate the entire territory of South Texas. He put other Shiftertown leaders in place and kept his eye on everything that went on in the area. He also was in thick with Shiftertown leaders and Guardians throughout the country, moving like a liaison between them.

  While Dylan was loyal to his sons, Liam and Sean, he was an alpha over other alphas, and not many Shifters could oppose him. He had resources that made Zander’s network look puny—Zander had become one of Dylan’s resources, whatever Broderick might think, not the other way around.

  Then there was Tiger. He stood on the isolated beach as the others gathered, his back to them while he stared out to sea. Green cliffs rose around the cove, covered with thick tall trees. The wind blowing off the surf was cold, in spite of the rising summer sun.

  Tiger was motionless, sunlight glinting on his orange and black hair. Tiger was as big as Zander when they were both in human form, and the Bengal tiger he became was massive.

  Zander broke from the group to approach Tiger quietly, though he made sure the man knew he was coming. Sneaking up on Tiger was always a bad idea.

  “Hey, big guy,” Zander said.

  Tiger didn’t turn. He continued to gaze at the ocean, the surf pounding and curling to run up on the empty beach. Waves slid along the pale sand then eased back out to meet up with the churning water again.

  “What are you looking at?” Zander asked. He shaded his eyes but saw nothing on the waves. No boats, planes in the sky, nothing.

  “I have never seen the ocean before,” Tiger said.

  Zander started to ask, “What, never?” But he stopped himself. Tiger had spent the first decades of his life in a cage, never even let out of a basement. From what Zander had heard, he’d taken a long time to adjust to simply being outside. Dylan now kept a close eye on him, though from what Zander had seen, Tiger did pretty much what he wanted. He helped Dylan out of gratitude, not submission.

  “It’s beautiful,” Zander said. “There’s nothing like the Pacific.”

  Tiger gave him a look that said he didn’t have any idea what Zander meant by that but was too polite to say so.

  “I will bring Carly here,” Tiger said, turning back to the water. “And Seth. They will like it.”

  Carly was Tiger’s diminutive Texas-girl mate who could do anything she wanted with him. Seth was Tiger’s cub, born not long ago. Tiger’s granite hard face and fierce yellow eyes softened a long way when he said Seth’s name.

  “So how’s fatherhood treating you?” Zander asked him. “How is the little guy?”

  Some Shifters found it intrusive for another Shifter to ask after a cub, especially one as newborn as Tiger’s. The protectiveness that kept cubs alive and away from volatile Shifters was strong.

  Tiger, however, only let his mouth twitch into a hint of a smile. “He is robust.” Pride rang in his voice. “He keeps us awake all the time, yells louder than anyone in the house. He will be a strong Shifter.”

  Tiger’s eyes were alight. If he’d been human, he’d have brought out a smartphone with a boatload of pictures on it and started showing Zander every one of them. But Tiger and devices didn’t go together, and a man with perfect recall didn’t need photos.

  “Congratulations,” Zander said with sincerity. “You deserve this.”

  Again, Tiger looked slightly nonplussed by his words, but as usual, he didn’t worry too much about it. To Tiger, other Shifters were the crazy ones, not him.

  “Cubs are wonderful things,” Tiger said “You should have one. Or many.” He glanced behind Zander and Zander knew exactly who he was looking at.

  Rae tripped across the sand toward them, the sword on her back catching the light. Zander had known she was coming before he turned around—her step, scent, and the lightness in the air when she was near was embedded on his senses.

  “I’m working on it,” Zander said, giving Tiger a meaningful look. “Please keep your cryptic hints to yourself.”

  Tiger only kept staring past him at Rae, not acknowledging him. Rae reached Zander’s side, gazed at Tiger without fear, and held out her hand.

  “Are you Tiger? I’ve been wanting to meet you.”

  Tiger frowned in puzzlement at her outstretched palm then put both his hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes. “You are Guardian,” he said.

  Rae flushed. “Some people think so.”

  Tiger’s frown deepened. “No, you are Guardian. Whether only some think so doesn’t matter.”

  “We’re working on that too,” Zander told him.

  Tiger glanced at Zander, his golden eyes troubled. “You must protect her. She is of the Goddess.” Tiger leaned down, put his arms carefully around Rae, and drew her into a Shifter hug.

  Rae started, but she lifted her arms to encircle Tiger’s big body and hug him back. Tiger relaxed slightly once he had Rae in his embrace, his eyes closing almost in relief.

  If he were anyone but Tiger, Zander would be bristling and telling him that was enough touching of his mate. But Tiger was insanely in love with Carly, and flirting with someone else’s mate was a concept his brain didn’t wrap itself around. Tiger was reacting to Rae as herself, as Guardian, as Goddess-touched.

  Tiger loosened his hold but spoke into Rae’s ear before he stood up. He might think he was whispering, but Zander heard every word.

  “You must take care of Zander as well,” Tiger told her, then tried to drop his voice even lower. “He’s a little crazy.”

  * * *

  Dylan and Eoin arranged the attack with military precision. Rae couldn’t help a dart of pride as her father did what he was best at—organizing and taking care of Shifters.

  Tiger and the other trackers had gone scouting and had pinpointed the feral Shifters. They’d set up an encampment deep in the woods and they’d chosen the site well. No approach could be made without the ferals knowing about it and, in fact, they were already well aware that the other Shifters were here and gathering to strike.

  “But wait,” Zander said to Rae as Eoin turned to discuss a detail of the plan with Dylan. “There’s more. Humans have joined them.”

  Rae blinked. “Really? What humans would join Shifters?”

  Zander, who’d gone on the scouting mission with Dylan’s trackers, shook his head. “I think humans call them survivalists. People off the grid.” He chuckled with grim humor. “You can’t get more off the grid than feral Shifters.”

  Broderick put in, “They’ve built a sort-of encampment with a fence and booby traps. Like that will keep us out.”

  “It’s weird,” Zander said. “The humans seem to be running the show, but that can’t be right. Shifters don’t take orders from humans. If these Shifters are feral, they’ll tear apart any human who tries to out-dominate them. Which tells me the Shifters are using these humans, for whatever reason.”

  “Hiding,” Rae suggested. “If the local police find out about the encampment, they’ll think all inside are human survivalists, not Shifters. Any hint of Shifters hiding out here, and Shifter Bureau comes in with the army.”

  “Could be,” Zander said. “These Shifters are canny, but they can’t be that canny. I’ve evaded Shifter Bureau for twenty years without going feral, attacking innocent people, or hiding behind humans with illegal weapons.”

  “You do hide behind humans,” Rae said. “You hide in human towns, in plain sight, making friends so people will look the other way.”

  Zander’s gaze darkened. He was tense, coiled like Jake the Snake ready to strike. Rae sensed his growing need to fight, the violence that lurked inside every Shifter wanting to come out. Zander didn’t have a Collar to stop him, and his polar bea
r was ready to do damage.

  Rae couldn’t feel worry about that, or blame him. She wanted to lash out too. She sent him an understanding look then turned from him, ready to rejoin the others. “All right. Let’s do this.”

  Zander’s hand landed on her shoulder. “Is it any use for me to tell you to stay on the beach and keep out of danger?”

  Rae shot him a grin. “What do you think? I’m a wolf, sweetie. She-wolves are the most ferocious of all. Haven’t you heard?”

  The answering glint in Zander’s eyes ramped up Rae’s excitement. He gave a mock sigh. “You’re going to make my life hell, aren’t you?”

  “You better believe it, Big-Ass Bear,” Rae said, and hurried away before he could try to stop her.

  * * *

  Zander made himself feel better about Rae coming with them by having her in his squad. Eoin gave him a look that told him Zander had better make sure she stayed in the rear and didn’t come up against any dangerous action. Zander knew that wouldn’t be easy, but his giant polar bear could knock her out of harm’s way if necessary.

  Carson was also in Zander’s squad. Eoin had tried to dissuade him from coming along, saying that fighting Shifters who were probably feral was certain death for a human, but Carson didn’t care. Zander couldn’t join in the argument—Carson was avenging his mate, and Zander would never stop the man from doing that.

  “Your mate’s still alive and needs you,” Zander reminded him. “Just remember that.”

  Carson looked white about the lips but nodded. He was armed with a pistol and a tranq rifle, the only one of them who carried weapons.

  Projectile weapons anyway. Zander had brought his samurai sword and Rae had the Sword of the Guardian, broken though it might be. Zander would make certain the samurai blade was ready for Rae’s use if she needed it.

  Tiger and the trackers had discovered that there were twenty rogue Shifters in the ferals’ encampment and about as many humans. Dylan and Eoin had brought enough Shifters between the two of them to counter that number with some left over.

  The encampment was surrounded by trip wires and wireless devices, meant to send small explosives or bullets at the unwary. Humans, no matter how careful, would have been hurt by them but the traps were useless against Shifters. Shifter sight and scent could find the mechanisms quickly. Tiger, with his strange abilities no one really understood, knew where all the booby traps were just by giving the approach a quick scan.

  Far more dangerous were the humans inside the lines of the camp. When they saw the Shifters coming, they raised shotguns and rifles and opened fire.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  No Shifter was foolish enough to be caught in the volley. The Shifter trackers who’d rushed to draw the humans’ fire dropped and fell back, letting the Shifters who were encircling the encampment attack.

  Zander led Rae at a crouching run a long way around to the back of the camp. The camp itself was a loose gathering of tents and metal shacks, some of which looked as though they’d been there a while.

  The problem feral Shifters had, Zander reflected as five of them came out of nowhere, was that they could no longer mask their scents. Bathing went out the window as soon as a Shifter started to go feral and any other Shifter could smell them a long way off. The rank odor hit Zander well before the ferals came at them, giving him time to put his plan into action.

  The ferals had taken their half-beast forms, the strongest for fighting and best for dexterity. Broderick and Mason were already in their half-wolf states and had skirted the ferals to rush them from behind. Carson, exposing himself in the open, aimed and shot at a human who was covering the ferals. Carson’s first shot knocked the rifle out of the man’s hand, the second wounded him, the man falling with a yell of pain.

  Carson’s job, Zander had told him, was to wing the humans attacking and to protect Rae. Rae didn’t know about that last part.

  Zander dumped his samurai sword next to Carson and shifted to bear. He roared as he came down on his polar bear feet and launched himself at the nearest Shifter—a large, mottled, half-beast wildcat of uncertain type.

  Zander fought against the wildcat’s teeth and claws, snarling at the beast’s fetid breath. The man’s face was half human, his eyes crazed and red. Feral. No doubt about it.

  Rae hadn’t shifted. She knew she had to guard the Sword of the Guardian, no matter her boast that she-wolves were the best fighters. Zander saw her out of the corner of his eye as she picked up the samurai sword, unsheathed it, and held it ready.

  After that, life was a blur. Zander roared as the feral sank ragged claws into him but they couldn’t penetrate much past Zander’s fur. What concept of polar bear didn’t this asshole understand?

  Zander heard the crunch of bone as the feral went limp under his hands. Zander’s rage hit coldness as the healer in him suddenly wanted to repair the damage.

  The feral was still alive. Zander laid him down but forced himself to turn away. Icy realization bit him. He’d have to heal these guys when they were done, and it would kill him. Zander had always feared the day when those so far gone would take every spark of energy he had so that he couldn’t recover. Today might be the day.

  He glanced at Rae, who stood with sword raised, balancing perfectly as he’d taught her. She was protecting Carson, like a shield-maiden with the sun dancing on her hair. He never wanted to leave her.

  Another feral struck and Zander had to bury his worries and concentrate on staying alive. Going down while he brooded wouldn’t help anyone. Screw it—if Zander had to waste himself today, he would, as long as it meant that Rae was safe.

  Broderick and Mason were fighting like the uncontrolled wolves they truly were, but they had Collars, which slowed them down. Zander fought his way over to them, throwing the next feral he was battling into the path of Carson and his tranq gun. Carson shot, and the feral howled and went still.

  Two down, three to go. Zander and the McNaughton brothers fought hard and Carson’s tranq gun went off again. Four down. Rae shouted as she swung the samurai sword at the feral who broke free. Bright blood appeared on the feral’s side and then he collapsed under Broderick’s claws. Five.

  Zander straightened up, breathing hard. They’d need to go help Eoin’s team—

  And then the woods abruptly filled with more Shifters. The stink of the ferals assaulted Zander’s bear nose and made even Carson swear. Zander lifted on his back legs, rising up and up to scan the battlefield.

  They were everywhere. Only twenty, Tiger had said, and Tiger was never wrong. Eoin’s and Dylan’s trackers, and Zander, had confirmed that number.

  “What the fuck?” Broderick snarled.

  Zander got a whiff of what the ferals’ collective stink at first masked. A faint bite of sulfur and smoke came to him, along with a cold breeze that was incongruous with the soft month of June, even in the north. The wind was icy, as though someone had opened a window to a place in which winter raged.

  Fuck.

  Zander shifted rapidly down to human. “Mason, get back to Dylan and find out what the holy shit is going on. Carson, take Rae to the beach. No, back to the plane, and tell Marlo to get the engines running.”

  Whether Rae would have argued with him or gone obediently, Zander was never to know. Human men surged out of the trees at that moment, flanking the Shifters. Zander’s band was surrounded, with no choice but to fight.

  Zander had cured a feral a few months ago, as he’d told Rae, and had nearly gone insane in the aftermath. He remembered the loss of control, the red rage in his brain, the strange hunger for something he’d never been able to identify. He’d only wanted to savage everyone around him, would have done so if Olaf, the polar bear cub, hadn’t stopped him.

  As Zander fought against odds that suddenly multiplied, he felt the feral urge come forward, blotting out anything civilized he’d forced upon himself. For all his claim that he could live un-Collared and outside Shifter hierarchy without it affecting him, Zander knew that the
untamed beast lingered inside him. He habitually pushed others away and holed up alone because that gave him time to get the beast under control before he went near anyone he could hurt.

  The other Shifters were right about Zander. He really was batshit crazy.

  He had to keep these ferals away from Rae. Zander moved back to her even as he fought, noting that Mason and Broderick joined him in forming a circle around Rae and Carson. There was no way for Mason to get away now to bring back intel—he’d never leave his brother to fight alone, in any case. As much as they blustered with each other, the McNaughton family was close.

  The fragrance of brimstone bothered Zander most of all. The back part of his brain sifted through confusion—that particular scent and cold combination meant someone had opened a gateway to Faerie, which meant this camp was on a ley line.

  But the ferals were Shifters. And the humans were human, not half Fae, not half anything. Zander would have smelled that—Tiger would have known it instantly.

  Why the hell would Shifters be popping in and out of Faerie? No wonder Carson hadn’t been able to track the ferals back when they’d attacked him and his wife. No wonder the Idaho Shiftertown leader and his trackers hadn’t found them either. The ferals hadn’t gone to ground; they’d gone to another world. Why? And why had they come back to hole up here?

  Questions to ponder later. The main issue at hand was how were Zander and friends going to survive?

  The ferals attacked, roaring their triumph. Carson took a few down with his tranq gun and also his pistol, but he would run out of ammunition soon. Mason and Broderick turned and fought hard alongside Zander but their Collars were shocking them, which would wear them down sooner or later. Then there was Rae, vulnerable, with the Sword of the Guardian to protect.