The Shifter's Salvation

by R. A. Boyd

  Zeke sat up and started to speak.

  “No,” Samael said, raising his hand to quiet Zeke. “They will never be angels again. But a part of them has been missing. Their mates return it to them and that makes them whole again. Whole in spirit. Whole in existence.”

  And Audra deserved that more than anyone he knew. He’d only just met her, but he knew with that first touch that she was his. And he was hers. Whether he screamed it from the hilltops right this second or waited twenty-five years, they belonged together.

  Was this what it was like for shifters to find their mates? Or was he only experiencing a fraction of what they sensed when they found the one? He wasn’t shifter but he could sure as hell feel something pulling him to her.

  As soon as he touched her, it was as if a bond had formed an invisible line that ran from her to him. Thoughts of her were like a movie playing in his head. She was the star and he was the enthralled watcher.

  He would go to her. He would stop fighting it. His heart and his soul were no longer giving him a choice. He knew it as soon as he laid eyes on that charm.

  Looking at Samael he said, “I like being a witch. I don’t want to be a shifter. Can I still help even if I don’t want to be turned? Can I restore her beast even if she doesn’t claim me as a shifter does with a mate? I don’t want her to bite me.”

  A lazy smile pulled at the corners of Samael’s mouth. “She doesn’t have to.”

  Chapter 4

  All was quiet now. She’d already dismissed her brothers and sisters, telling them she needed time alone. Even Beastie was quiet. The bitch. She’d done her damage and now she was peacefully sitting somewhere, still feeding enough rage into Audra’s mind to start a war.

  Now, she laid on the bed and listened to her own breathing. She would meditate to the Creator, apologizing for ever thinking of hurting her family. Sitting on the bed with her legs crisscross applesauce, Audra closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Cool air filtered in through her nose and filled her lungs. Holding it for a few heartbeats, she tried to gather up the heartache and ire swirling inside of her. She blew the air out through her nose and quieted her mind. And then she did it again.

  Nope. Still pissed.

  “I’m so fucking tired,” she murmured, and then followed up with a pathetic sounding growl.

  “When was the last time you slept?”

  Audra screamed and slammed herself backward against the wall. Her teeth clacked together and her head bounced off the concrete behind her, giving her a good brain rattling. Her eyes darted side to side as she took in her small cell.

  Her gaze settled on the sexy site standing across from her. “Zeke?” she said, her voice high and cracking as if she’d awoken from an unintentional nap. “How did you get in here?”

  Had she really and truly lost not just her mind but her sense of self? She could hear a fish fart from two miles away if she concentrated. How the heck did he make it down the stairs and into her cell without her noticing?

  “I’m not here. Not really.” A sly grin pulled at the corners of his lips and his brown eyes shown brilliantly in the light. “Astral projection. Physically I’m still in your house. My consciousness, my soul, my mind or whatever you want to call it is here with you. One of my gifts.”

  He leaned with his back flat on the wall, arms crossed over his wide chest. He was like her favorite wet dream in human form.

  Audra pulled herself up from the bed and walked toward Zeke. She reached out to touch him but her hand went straight through him. “Freaky. In a good way.” She ran her tongue along her top front teeth and nodded. “Are you afraid of me? Is that why you’re projecting yourself to me instead of coming here.”

  Scoffing, he pushed away from the wall and stepped closer to her. Even though he wasn’t really in the cell with her she could feel the heat of his body as he came closer. “Not afraid. Just curious.” Zeke pointed to his neck and Audra realized he was wearing the charm she’d bought for him. “When did you get this?”

  He’d taken off a few of the runes that had been on his leather necklace and replaced it with the charm. Joy filled her heart at the thought that he’d actually liked her gift.

  “Umm, 1806 I think. Me and Aiden traveled to Mexico and someone at a marketplace was selling little trinkets. It was the only one like it and it just made me think of my mate. I don’t know why. It just did.” She pushed herself up on her tiptoes to get a better look at it against the copper-colored skin of his throat. It sat perfectly between the notches of his clavicles, right above his sternum. “Do you like it?”

  He reached up and touched the charm and a wave of sadness filled her. It was coming from him. He was uneasy about it. Did he know that she sense his emotions? Only true mates could feel what the other was feeling.

  Audra raised her hand as if to caress the little silver gift but then put her hand back to her side. “You don’t like it. It brings you pain.” She dropped her eyes and looked at the rise and fall of her chest. She needed a better bra. Her nipples were damn near poking through and pointing at Zeke.

  Pushing the silly pointy nipple thoughts out of her mind, she thought again of how uncomfortable he had seemed at the mention of the charm. No. No, no, no. How could she be the one to bring her mate pain? He was already unsure about how safe she was, as he should be, and now she’d done something to hurt him.

  “It’s perfect,” he whispered. “It means something to me, something I haven’t spoken of in a long time. Thank you.”

  Audra watched as his took his hand and lifted it to her. He ran the knuckle of his finger from the base of her throat to her chin, as if urging her to look at him.

  The heat of his skin was warm against her flesh. Just barely, but she could feel him there with her.

  “I’m broken, Audra. I’m dangerous, and you need balance. What if I bring you more pain?” Zeke’s nostrils flared as he took a slow breath. “I don’t deserve what you want to give me. You’re special. And lovely. And… You are so many things that I don’t even understand.”

  Ask me anything you want, she had started to say, but he disappeared with a soft audible pop as the air rushed back into the space his form had just occupied.

  This wasn’t what finding a mate was supposed to be like. It was special and uncomplicated when her brothers had found the ones made especially for them. Kind of. Her and Zeke’s meeting was filled with hesitance, violence, and confusion.

  Trepidation crashed into her gut as she tried to figure out what to do next. Sit and wait until the angel witches came to take her away? Maybe she’d ask for another po-tuna-chip sandwich? The last thing she wanted to do was sleep, but right now that was all she wanted; to lie down on that bed and close her eyes to all the chaos her life had become.

  She clacked her teeth together and dismissed that idea. She was about to sleep for the next few decades. The last thing on her mind was taking a fucking nap.

  With her eyes and chest feeling heavy from the roller-coaster ride of emotions the day had brought, she went and sat down on the floor to meditate again.

  Before she could take in her first breath she heard a thumping noise getting closer and closer to the building. Someone was running. Zeke. She heard a car door slam and she worried that he was jumping in his vehicle and hightailing it away from her. That would make sense.

  That notion was completely tossed away as she heard the footsteps getting closer to her. The ceiling made a thudding noise as he walked through the common hall, to the back of the kitchen, and down the stairs that led to the basement. The heavy clang of keys being dragged from the metal clip on the wall clinked in her ears, and she looked on in awe as Zeke stood in front of her cell and began to unlock it.

  “Are you a flight risk?” he asked, testing the different keys to find which one fit. “Is that why you locked yourself in?”

  Audra looked up at him while she sat on the floor and shook her head. “No. Worse.” She didn’t want to share that secret with him just yet.

&
nbsp; “Will you hurt me or anyone else?”

  She shrugged and pursed her lips, seriously trying to figure out if she would indeed hurt someone. After a few heartbeats she said, “I think I’m good. I’ll let you know if shit goes sideways.”

  He finally unlocked the door. Moving toward her, he kept his gaze locked on hers. “You promise you’ll let me know if you get the urge to do whatever the hell it was that made you lock yourself in here?” he asked, reaching out his hand.

  She looked at his fingers and nodded once. Any uncertainty that had been in his eyes earlier was now gone. It was replaced by something she couldn’t put a name to. Determination? Humor? She’d have to figure it out later. “I promise.”

  “Promise me something else.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her up from the floor with ease. “Stop breaking your arm. I know why you do it and I understand, but I need you to stop. No hurting yourself, okay?”

  “Okay,” she whispered as she stood in front of him, her eyes roaming over his body as she reveled in his scent.

  His hair was tousled in a sexy way that made her want to run her fingers through it. It looked silky and velvety. Smile lines that barely shown through the dusting of brown facial hair bracketed his full lips. A few more unshaven days and he’d have a full on beard framing his sexy as sin mouth. His wide shoulders raised and fell with each breath he took. Strong, defined pecs pressed against the fabric of his shirt, and the muscles of his six-pack were teasing her with their presence.

  “Can I touch you?” Zeke asked as he watched Audra eat him up with her eyes.

  She huffed a small laugh and whispered, “Yes please.”

  He took a step closer and slowly brought his large hands to her hips. Pulling her against him, he let go of a ragged breath that made her think he had been waiting for this moment just as she was. With gentle ease his fingers ran a comforting path from the base of her spine, up past her shoulder blades, to the bend of her neck. He cupped the sides of her face and brought her cheek to rest on the hard planes of his chest.

  Audra stood there, stunned at the comfort and peace that flooded her entire body. It was the first time in so, so long that she’d felt like this. She was happy. Joyous. Not just because a man, her man, was holding her. No. It was because for the first time in her existence she was being held by the person who was truly meant for her. The person that would bring her grace back. The one that the Creator had made, just for her.

  She wrapped her arms around his middle and pulled him closer to her, careful not to squeeze too tight. She’d learned to be careful with her sisters before they’d been turned, so she knew how to check her strength. Zeke, for all intents and purposes, was human. Immortal, but still human. Her shifter strength could hurt him if she wasn’t careful. She was just so dang happy right now. All she wanted to do was squeeze him tight and never let him go.

  He lowered his chin to the top of her head. “I’ve been waiting for you.” The raw need in his voice pierced a covering that Audra hadn’t even known was there, shielding her.

  “I’ve been waiting for you,” she replied, tears beginning to build in her eyes. She swallowed over and over, trying to hold back a sob that wanted to be heard. “For so long.”

  “Come on,” he said, pulling away and urging her toward the door. “Let’s get you home. Where are you shoes?” he asked, looking around the cell.

  She followed suit and looked around for her shoes too, but then it hit her. “They’re at my house. When the urge to… put myself in here hit me, I just walked over and locked myself in.”

  He caressed her face and pushed away a few errant hairs that had escaped her braid. “I’ll carry you.”

  Zeke reached down to pick her up but she stepped away from him. “Can I get a piggy-back ride?”

  Chapter 5

  “Watch your head,” Zeke said as they walked through the kitchen door of the common hall and into the main room. The doorway wasn’t low, but he wasn’t a short man.

  He stood just over six feet tall, and her head bobbing next to his as he walked worried him. He didn’t want her hitting her head on the door frame. She’d leaned over a few times, smile wide and eyes bright, and watched him as he carried her on his back. Her small feet dangled at his sides and he grinned when he noticed her toenails were painted brown with black tips, and there were letters on each of the nails. He made out the ‘F’ and the ‘U’ and didn’t need to go any farther.

  “Do the letters on your toenails spell out ‘Fuck U’, Audra?” he asked.

  She rubbed her nose along the nape of his neck. “Mmm-hmm. If I have to kick someone’s ass I want them to know I really mean that shit.” Her voice was level with no hint of humor. She really meant that.

  God, she was beautiful. Right down to those delicious looking toes. He’d never noticed toes before on a woman.

  The others may have attributed some of Audra’s actions to her madness, but that wasn’t quite it. Not all the time. Not that he could see. She was funny as hell and made him laugh more in the past hour than he had in years. She smiled so big and seemed so happy, he couldn’t help but smile himself. His chest and stomach had lost that muscle tension that seemed to follow him all through this life. For just a moment the smile faltered from his face at the thought of telling her the truth, but he shoved it to the side and focused on how happy she was. That was enough to fuel his happy back into overdrive.

  As far as he could tell, most of her joy was an act. From what he could read from her, Audra wanted to be happy. She knew how to feign that Fake-it-till-you-make-it happiness until it seemed real, but the energy that radiated from her was churning. She was still fighting.

  They rounded the corner to the main sitting area, laughing about the origins of a po-tuna-chip sandwich, and came face-to-face with her entire clan. He stopped walking and looked each one of them in the eye. Surprise blanketed their expressions, all except Simon. Confusion, anger, and happiness covered his face.

  With his lip drawn up in a sarcastic snarl, Simon started to talk but was halted as Zeke, Audra, and Cass all said in unison, “Shut up.”

  Simon growled and put his middle finger up, turning to give everyone the universal ‘fuck you’ sign, but he stopped short when he got to Cass.

  Zeke pulled Audra’s knees closer to his sides so she wouldn’t fall from his grasp and paused when he felt the warmth coming from the apex of her thighs through his thin shirt. He cleared his throat and pulled her closer.

  “Sorry,” she whispered as if reading his thoughts.

  “I like it,” he whispered back. He took a deep breath and fought back a grin. She wanted him. Hell. Yes. “I’m going to take Audra home,” he said, looking to the members of the Ghost clan. “She needs a good night sleep and we need to talk. Goodnight.”

  “Bye, bitches,” Audra sang over his shoulder. “I mean that in a good way. Zeke and I are going to get to know each other.”

  “Barf,” Riley said as she sat in Teague’s lap.

  As he walked toward the door with Audra’s arms wrapped so tight around his neck he had to adjust his breathing, Willow caught his attention. She sat in a recliner in the corner with a cup of something that had steam coming out of it. Her long hair blanketed one side of her face but he could see the smile pulling at her lips as clear as day.

  He nodded to her and shrugged his shoulders, knowing she probably thought he had lost his mind for agreeing to this. She was the only person in their coven who knew most of what had happened to him, and if anyone knew how much trouble they could all be in it was her.

  There was no worry on her face. Only interest.

  Zeke opened the mental link between them to thank her, but she interrupted his words with a promise. I am truly happy for you. But if you fall I promise I will lock you back in the valley of the Earth. I give you my word. You are welcome. She raised her cup to him and smiled.

  That was good enough for him.

  Audra gasped and stiffened behind him. The beat of her heart thrummed faste
r against his back. “Should I be worried?” she asked quietly in his ear as the door of the common hall closed behind them.

  Had she sensed their exchange? Mates had a kind of bond that no magic or science could explain. He’d never worried about it before, but he wasn’t ready to tell Audra everything. She didn’t need to burden herself. Not until she was better.

  “What are you hiding?” Audra’s voice was light but accusatory.

  Damn-it.

  Zeke cleared his throat and pumped his arms, pushing her higher up on his back. “Nothing.”

  She was silent as he walked the last few feet to her front door. He tried to climb the steps with her but she started wiggling until he put her down.

  Audra walked up two steps on her porch and then turned around. When she saw they weren’t yet eye to eye she backed up another step, putting her hands on his shoulders to force him to look at her.

  She sucked in her full bottom lip and took a deep breath. “Zeke. I don’t do well with liars. Never have. I will never lie to you and I expect nothing but honesty in return. You don’t want to talk about it? That’s fine. But don’t lie. Just know this.” She averted her gaze for just a second and when she looked back up at him her lovely brown eyes had gone to a glowing amber that excited and worried him. “I’m going to tell you everything. Every little thing about me. Stuff I’ve been ashamed to say out loud. You deserve to know what you’re getting in to. And tomorrow I’m going to give you a choice. You can either agree to weather this storm with me until I can be trusted, or I can be put down until I fully trust myself. But do. Not. Lie. To me.”

  He stared into her eyes and felt like absolute shit. He hated liars, and damn-it all he hadn’t meant to lie to her.

  “You are giving me a choice?” he said, voice shaking as he thought of what she would need to know. “Audra, you have no idea what I am. I will tell you everything. And then I will give you a choice.”