by Kimber White
“Sight for sore eye,” Dan joked. It was good to see him.
We shot the breeze for a bit. I told him what I needed.
“How far you going?” Dan asked. Like with Stella, I decided it was better not to say.
“Heading south,” I lied. “With everything tightening up along the lake, I figured I’d try my luck somewhere else.”
Dan shook his head. “Damn shame. They already took away all our hunting lands. Squeezed us into these little pockets. Damn Ring is gonna starve us out. Pretty soon, guys like you and me will be extinct. You know that’s the master plan, right?”
“Maybe so,” I said. “But, we’re not dead yet.”
“Come on,” Dan said. He led me to the back of the garage. He slapped the hood of an old, black Lincoln Continental. The thing was bigger than a damn tank.
“Not the most inconspicuous thing, Dan,” I said.
“It runs,” he said. “That’s the important thing. And it’ll get you where you’re going faster than if you run on four legs, my friend. Too damn dangerous to try that these days, anyway. You know, I heard they’re recruiting more shifter patrols. Can you believe that shit? Traitors to their own kind.”
“Yeah,” I said. “I had heard that.”
Dan popped the hood, and I peered inside. He’d rebuilt the engine himself. Dan started it up. The thing hummed. If I was lucky, I’d make it to Luna Point with Cassia in half a day. If we kept to the main highway, the chances of being stopped would lessen considerably. But if we broke down…
“Relax,” Dan said, slapping me on the back. “You’ll get your girl outta here.”
My fangs dropped. “My girl?”
I’d told him nothing about Cassia. I gripped the side of the car and let out a growl.
“You son of a bitch!”
I turned on Dan. His black badger eyes glistened. He raised his razor-sharp claws and swiped downward. So, the rumors about his shifting abilities had been exaggerated. But he was no match for me. I shifted, going straight for his throat.
Dan was the easy part. His blood tasted like gunmetal. The real danger came from the shadows. I’d never scented a thing, which meant there was more than just shifter magic at play. I’d been right. There were witches on my tail too. Four bear shifters barreled down on me. The first one plowed into my side, cracking my ribs.
I killed him with one murderous bite through his jugular vein. His companions were on me. My back exploded in pain as one of them tore through me.
A black paw the size of a dinner plate slammed down, smashing my face. Then everything went cold and black.
Chapter 9
Cassia
“So, you knew about them,” Stella said. “I mean…before.”
It was the question everyone asked of each other. A standard default introduction or small talk, almost like commenting on the weather. Where were you when you found out shifters were real?
Stella and I sat at her kitchen table sipping cocoa she’d made in a smaller pot she kept simmering right next to the chili.
“Yes,” I said, blowing gently over my mug to cool the rich, dark liquid. “My family were friends with many shifters before the attacks.”
Stella nodded. “It was the same with mine. My great-great granny on my mother’s side was married to a bear shifter. They had all girls though, so by the time it came to me, it had already been bred out. Where were you when it happened?”
The other question everyone asked of each other. In other generations, I knew it was like asking where they were during 9/11 or the Kennedy assassination.
I stuck to the truth but left out all the major details. “My family was originally from Chicago,” I said. “We had businesses there. My uncles’ office building was one of the ones destroyed in the first wave of bombings. Governor Merrick was standing about twenty feet from the ruins of it when he was assassinated.”
Stella’s expression darkened. “Shew. Ground zero for the second wave, then. So many lost,” she said. “My neighbors were rounded up by the police after that first wave. I had cousins who lived up in Oodena.”
I knew of Oodena, Michigan. It was a small town populated by the Odawa. They were closely aligned with a few northern Michigan wolf packs, and many of them had been hauled in for interrogation in those first chaotic days.
“At the time,” Stella said. “We thought the Ring was there to help. We greeted them with open arms and relief. It’s one of my biggest regrets now. If I’d have had my eyes more open, I might have seen them for the war profiteers they were.”
I raised a brow. “War profiteers? That’s being kind.” The Ring had stepped into the breach after the shifter attacks and helped restore order, at least in the eyes of the government. Little by little, they had taken more power until the shifters who hadn’t been rounded up were pushed into the few Oasis Territories or remained in limbo, here in the Neutral Zone. The worst of it was, so many of the Ring’s operatives were shifters and magic users themselves. It was the Big Lie. By the time the general public figured it out, it was far too late.
“I lost my husband David in the aftermath. This place? We turned it into a safe house. At one time we had dozens of shifters hiding here. When the Ring found out, they made an example of us.”
I dropped my head and shuddered. Stella didn’t have to explain more. In those first few years, anyone caught helping or hiding shifters was dealt with in the most barbaric ways. It was what my parents had fought against. Now, it was what may have taken them from me.
“I’m sorry that happened to you,” I said, reaching to put my hand over hers.
She pursed her lips. “We do what we can.”
“And you’re still out here taking risks,” I said. “Still helping where you can.”
She sipped her cocoa. “Less than before. And only for a select few. Most of them have disappeared, anyway. I like to tell myself it’s because they made it to an Oasis.”
“I appreciate you considering me one of those select few,” I said.
Stella’s eyes narrowed for an instant, then her sad smile came back. She may have had a shifter relation way back in her bloodline, but she was purely human. She couldn’t sense any magic about me the way a witch or a shifter could.
“I’d do just about anything for that boy,” she said.
Boy. It made me smile. It was hard to think of someone like Colm as ever being a boy. I knew so little about him. As I sat across from Stella, my thirst to know more grew.
“How did you meet?” I asked.
Stella regarded me. We were both working out how far we could trust each other. Colm was the only strand connecting us. Clearly, Stella thought a lot of him. He’d vouched for her to me. We were both taking so much on faith.
“I knew his parents,” she said. “His mother and I went way back. Good woman. It broke her heart when Colm wanted to go off by himself. He was just a kid. Fourteen, fifteen maybe? Chafing at being a part of his father’s pack. Strong-willed. He never realized how much he was like his father. His mother saw it. She tried to be the buffer between them, but you just can’t get in the middle of two strong Alpha wolves like that and not get hurt. So, she did the only thing she could and let him go.”
“He’s been on his own since he was fourteen?”
Stella nodded. “He was fixing to challenge his father’s leadership. Pack law’s complicated. Shit. I suppose it’s simple if you really look at it. Anyway, I don’t know what set it off in the end. If Colm had followed through on his challenge, his daddy would have had no choice but to kill him. Colm was young, stubborn, prideful. So, instead of licking his wounds and admitting he messed up, he took off and left the pack. He’s not the first young wolf who ever let his balls write a check his fangs couldn’t cash. But, by the time he was ready to come home, the attacks happened. The borders closed. He got stuck out here in the NZ. There was no way for him to get back. Word got out. Somebody decided the Wild Lake packs were vulnerable. There was a skirmish. A few of his father’s pac
k died during it. Colm blames himself for that. Thinks if he hadn’t left or had fought by his daddy’s side, things would have turned out different. Maybe he’s right. I don’t know. I just think we’ve all had to do whatever we needed to survive. Anyway, I promised his mother I’d keep an eye on him. And I have.”
Colm’s story was like so many other shifters’. So many unsaid words. Deeds you couldn’t take back.
“Are you still in contact with them?” I asked. “Colm’s parents?”
Stella’s face froze. She recovered quickly and rose from her seat. She collected my empty coffee mug and carried it to the sink, leaving my question hanging in the air, unanswered.
“It’s getting late,” she said. “I’m going to turn in.”
I straightened in my chair. We’d talked so long I could see the first pink bands of sunlight streaking across the horizon. Humming to herself, Stella disappeared down the hallway.
My pulse skipped. It had been hours since Colm left. Though Stella seemed unconcerned, he should have been back by now.
Stella set up a room for me on the first floor. I went to it. It was simple, clean, with a twin-sized bed in one corner and a tall dresser. One window opened to the boardwalk. A cool lake breeze wafted in. In the distance, I could hear waves lapping against the shore. Stella’s bed and breakfast was just a two-block walk to the pier.
New Buffalo was quiet. From what I’d seen, only a few locals populated the downtown area. Though most people had cleared out, the town’s infrastructure remained largely untouched by the aftermath of the shifter attacks and the Ring moving in. That said, since they were mostly abandoned, the once quaint boardwalk shops were dingy and dilapidated now.
He told me to wait. He swore he’d be back with a plan to get us across the state. As the dawn broke into full morning, I knew something was very, very wrong.
I closed my eyes and listened. My pulse beat steadily. I could hear the blood rushing through my veins.
My eyes snapped open.
Chapter 10
Cassia
“Colm,” I whispered.
I barely remember doing it, but I ran from that front bedroom and out the door. Careful not to draw attention to myself, I stayed off the boardwalk and headed toward the water’s edge, running at top speed.
In the shadow of the taller buildings, I almost didn’t see him. But, as I got closer, instinct drew me to him.
Colm lay on his side, panting, naked from the waist up. His shirt had been torn away. One leg of his jeans was tattered and shredded.
Bears.
I could smell them. And I could smell Colm’s blood. He’d lost a lot of it. He’d ended up partially shifted, with his claws out, ears pointed and a hint of fang biting into his lower lip.
He groaned as I got his head into my lap. That’s when I saw the deep, ugly claw marks digging through his chest.
My God. He was bleeding to death. Another set of claw marks gauged his shoulder. A third set raked across his back.
This hadn’t been just one bear. He’d been mauled by at least three. It was a miracle he’d survived this long at all.
Shifters can heal from almost anything. But his had been a sustained, savage, systematic attack.
“Colm,” I shouted. “Stay with me.”
He needed help. A healer. But I knew of no shifter doctors anywhere in the Neutral Zone. Much of the time that had been the driving force behind my father’s activities. He would smuggle pregnant shifter’s mates into Canada for medical care there by someone with the requisite skill set.
There was no chance Colm could survive that long a journey if I even had the means to complete it.
“They know,” he said, choking up blood. “More coming. You should have left me.”
With fresh horror, I knew what he’d done. With her contacts, Stella might know how to get help for Colm. But he’d stayed away. Whoever did this to him was still out there. He was willing to crawl off and die rather than lead them right back to Stella and me.
He might heal. I’d seen wolf shifters like him heal from wounds as bad as this. But it would likely take days or weeks. If the bears who did this came back for him, he’d be in no position to fight them off.
“Who did this?” I whispered.
Colm’s eyelids fluttered. His chest heaved, and I had the presence of mind to roll him to his side as he coughed up blood.
“Colm,” I said. “You need help. I need to get you back inside. Let me get Stella.”
“No!” he rallied enough to shout it. Then, Colm grabbed my wrist, holding on in a death grip.
“No,” he said, his voice falling to a whisper. “Can’t trust…”
“We can’t trust Stella? You think she’s the one who sent whoever this was to you?”
My heart tripped. I looked back down the street. Stella’s house looked quiet still. There was no one around.
“Go home,” he said.
I blinked. “Home?”
Colm whispered, but I couldn’t make out what he was saying. His skin turned even more gray.
“Don’t you die on me,” I said. “Colm! Wake up!”
His eyelids fluttered. His skin was covered with sweat and blood. I had to find a way to get him to safety. There was no way I’d be strong enough to carry him.
I was alone. I couldn’t trust Stella. Colm had to have been worried enough about being followed that he’d rather die alone in an alley than risk coming back to warn me. Though I couldn’t sense anyone approaching or watching, I knew we were running out of time. If Colm couldn’t move under his own power and quickly, it might be the end of both of us.
I carried a small switchblade in my back pocket. I pulled it out. I snapped it open.
My father’s warnings thrummed through my head. Don’t draw attention to yourself. Trust no one.
I let Colm’s head fall back into my lap and held the blade over my left palm. One quick cut. Not deep. Just enough to get the blood to well. I had no idea if it would even work. If my father were here, a single drop of his pure Dragonblood would heal Colm in seconds. Was there enough of it in me to make a difference?
Taking in a sharp breath, I sliced the heel of my palm. Blood quickly came to the surface and flowed down my wrists. Biting my lip, I turned my wrist and held it over the worst of Colm’s wounds. A deep, jagged slash just above his heart.
Three drops of my blood spilled into the wound. I drew a breath, letting my magic come to the surface. Then I let it out over my hand. A short burst of fire cauterized the cut on my hand, staunching the blood flow.
I waited a moment. Colm’s breathing eased. Color rose in his cheeks. He sucked in a great gulp of air as his whole body convulsed. His wolf eyes snapped open, fixing on me in pure gold.
I slid out from under him, staying in a crouch just a few feet away. Colm rolled sideways, clutching his chest. The claw marks on his back dissolved before my eyes.
Slowly, Colm rose to his feet. The slash marks on his chest were still angry and deep, but they no longer bled. They would scar, but his strength returned with each new breath.
I slipped the knife back into my pocket. He didn’t know what I’d done. His eyes widened, still glowing with that fiery gold.
Then he was on me. Colm reached for me, pulling me up with his hands beneath my elbows. Fire raced through me. Raw need.
He was close. I wanted to be closer. I wanted to feel his skin against mine. His pulse thundered inside my own ears.
Colm tilted his head as his mind tried to make sense of what just happened. He felt me just as I felt him.
I touched his cheek. He turned slightly, his lips brushing against my palm. His eyes flickered. Though my own cut was all but healed, he sensed something. My blood still raced to the surface.
“Cassia?” he whispered. Searching. Questioning.
Then, instinct took over, and he brought his lips to mine.
I drowned in need. Colm’s fingers threaded through my hair. Fire shot through me. I grew dizzy from it. I
felt my wings struggling to rise. Colm’s tongue probed me.
Then, to the east, we both heard it. The growl ripped through me, low and threatening.
“The bears,” I gasped, breaking away.
“They’re coming,” Colm said. He took me by the hand, and we ran together back toward the woods.
Chapter 11
Colm
New strength coursed through my veins. I felt fire. I felt Cassia’s skin prickle with desire as I slid her hand in mine and moved as fast as I could.
New skin grew over the deepest wounds on my chest. It tightened and ached, but healed quickly. Far too quickly.
I should be dead.
I chanced one last look back at Stella’s boarding house, and my heart twisted with fear and anger. She might have tipped Dan off when I arrived. Only it didn’t make sense. If she had, the bears would have circled back and waited for me there. They would have tried to get to Cassia.
“Where are we going?” she yelled.
We tore through the woods, but I made a sharp turn, zigzagging back toward town. We could not move fast enough on foot. I’d hoped to get what I needed through legitimate means. Stealing risked too much attention. Only now, whoever hired those bears already knew where I was.
“Colm!” Cassia shouted. She dug in her heels and jerked her arm out of my grasp.
The edges of my vision blurred as I turned to face her. I looked at her through my wolf’s eyes. A tiny pulse beat a furious pace in her throat. Her skin flushed. I saw her heat rise as waves of infrared near her heart and racing further down. The scent of her arousal stirred me.
Want. Need. Mine.
“What did you do to me?” I asked, my voice ragged.
“I saved your life,” she said. “Tell me what happened.”
“Bears happened,” I said. “You saw that for yourself. Someone knew we were coming.”
“You could have died,” she said, gasping. “That was your plan, wasn’t it?”
