Their Shifter Princess

by May Dawson

  But, the only way out was through it. At least Nick had help as he learned to shift. I’d been alone.

  “Do you think they’re all bad?” he mused. He sat on the downed tree, resting his elbows on his knees. “Or just the ones in that coven?”

  “Don’t know,” I said. “Maybe I’ll be more curious about the rest of them after we’ve destroyed this coven.”

  Nick rubbed his hand across his face. “I just—”

  Whatever Nick was just was lost as Piper cried out. He jumped forward, already rushing the treeline, and I grabbed his arm to yank him back. I flashed him a warning look. We had to be smart to help Piper. But as soon as he paused, nodding that he was under control, I signaled to indicate we should move to the edge of the house. The two of us loped quickly across the wide-open lawn to the corner of the house.

  Inside, Piper’s voice rose in something between a scream and a cry. My heart lurched, then anger swept over me. The first frantic rush of fear was replaced with the cold desire to hurt someone. I signaled Nick to wait, while I paused at the big dining room bay window. Sometimes the only way out was through, and sometimes, the only way in was through. I didn’t want him cutting himself on the glass. I’d go in first.

  Piper fell quiet. I ran back across the grass and turned, steeling myself for the running jump that would carry me through.

  Piper screamed, one last time, and there was a thud like a trunk being slammed shut. A car engine started, and the garage door began to rumble.

  “Fuck!” As I ran for the garage, I whipped the words over my shoulder. “Call Callum, we need backup. Now.”

  Nick stood rooted to the spot, wide-eyed. I glanced him out of my peripheral vision and turned, snarling at him to call.

  He stared down at his hands, hands which were beginning to twist and deform, claws cracking open his bleeding fingertips.

  “Get it together,” I hissed. He shouldn’t change here. Wolves streaking through the neighborhood would definitely draw attention.

  It was up to me to call Callum, and I dialed frantically as Nick fell to his knees. There was a savage tearing sound as his joints reversed, and he made a frantic sound of pain.

  “Yeah?” Callum answered the phone.

  “Piper’s father is taking her somewhere.”

  “Follow them.”

  I didn’t have the car. I’d fucked this up royally. And Piper was the one who’d pay for all my mistakes.

  “I’m going to have to go as a wolf,” I said, my voice low and sure. It was the only way I could keep up.

  “No,” Callum said.

  “We lose her otherwise,” I said, already tossing the phone into the grass alongside Nick’s twisted body. Whatever Callum shouted through the phone, I managed not to hear.

  Nick snarled, bouncing up to all four paws. Whatever the price we paid in pain, the adrenaline that came after was worth it.

  “Wait for me.” My voice came out as a ragged groan that I tried desperately to swallow as my muscles swelled and my clothes burst away from my body.

  The world faded, and then it came back brighter, more vibrant, more clear than it ever was in human form.

  The Lexus was pulling down the street. I raced behind the car and to one side, trying to stay far enough out of sight. Nick matched me, staying by my side as our paws ate up the ground between us and our girl.

  Maybe if someone saw us racing through their yards, they would take us for a pair of Siberian Huskies that had jumped their fence, although we were bigger than any huskies. We turned back down that main road, once again, and now there were woods lining the road that we could streak through. If I could get through to Nick, he could turn off and get the car, but he was snarling, all animal. He was too far out of reason right now. And I couldn’t go myself because someone had to be in control, following Piper.

  Then the car took the on ramp for the highway. We stood there, trembling with energy, for a second at the edge of the pavement. There was no way we would go unnoticed if we ran along the side of the cement highway. And it was dangerous and terrifying—the loud noises, the terrible smells, humanity everywhere. But if we didn’t, we might lose the car.

  I growled to Nick, trying to tell him to go through the woods. Hopefully he could scent them.

  Then I ran after the car. I heard brakes slam on in panic, near me, cars coming so close that it raised my fur on edge. The cement bit into my paws, but I raced on. The cars were going 65, 70 miles per hour, and the Lexus kept gaining on me. I pushed myself to the limit, as my heart beat frantic in my chest, my breathing coming so short that I tasted the sting of iron at the back of my throat.

  And I lost them anyway.

  Furious with myself, I stopped and tried to catch Piper’s scent, but I only breathed in exhaust fumes.

  Callum’s truck stopped beside me. Josh jumped out, making a show of talking to me, glancing down the road as if he hoped someone was watching. He let down the tailgate and jumped up himself, patting his leg. “Come on, boy. Get in the car.”

  I jumped into the metal bed of the pickup truck and Josh slammed it shut. Then the three of us took after, speeding fast toward wherever Nick was. I hoped he’d kept the trail.

  “It’s all right,” Josh said. “You did your best.”

  He touched my paws, which were torn and bleeding. “Going to stay in form?”

  I growled. I didn’t want to be human now. I wanted to rip Piper’s father from limb to limb.

  “We’ll find her,” he promised. “Somehow.”

  Chapter 24

  Piper

  I’d expected to be alone for a long time, so I was surprised by the sound of feet on the floor ahead. Could it be Nick and Josh and Kai and Callum?

  “I’m down here!” My voice came out hoarse, and I tried again. “I’m here!”

  The feet paused, and then there was a creaking sound as the trap door was opened.

  My father came down the ladder. “I know, Piper.” His voice was amused. “You’re right where I left you, aren’t you?”

  “What are you doing here?”

  “You’re not happy to see me? Soon you’ll be glad for any company.” He had a leather backpack over his shoulder, and he threw it onto the table. “I have to get that collar off you. That’s the only reason I’m here, Piper.”

  He always said my name so snidely. God, Callum would be able to answer so many questions for me, now that I knew who I was. Well, I didn’t know who I was.

  I knew I was theirs. The pack’s. And they were mine.

  “You hid me,” I said quietly. “Just in case, didn’t you? Piper’s never been my name.”

  “Don’t ask me what it is,” he said. “You weren’t talking when I plucked you out of your mother’s arms and stepped over your father’s body.”

  A twinkle shone in his eye. I’d known him to be cruel, but not so casually. He’d always been angry before, self-righteous. Now he was amused as I went quiet, just for a second. I had so many questions, but my brain was spinning too fast to form clever questions, questions that wouldn’t give away Callum and Josh and Nick and Kai. Instead, I kept imagining things that might have happened, that were suddenly so strong they felt almost like memories: being carried in my mother’s arms, my mom whispering sh, sh to me as my father transformed outside the door, the shining eyes of a wolf looking over me.

  Lucky me, he filled the silence. “I did a good job hiding you, just in case,” he said. “There were no birth records for you—you’d been born at home, in the pack house—and so I stole your friend Misty’s records. And I put some badly forged records in Misty’s name. That way if another pack came looking for you, they’d see just the ordinary, pathetic little girl I’ve always known.”

  “And then you stole Maddie,” I said. “She would have been four or five? She would have had memories…”

  “Not anymore,” he said.

  “Are they gone forever? Or could her memories come back?”

  “Look at you. Always scheming. You
’re like a determined little rat.”

  I guessed there were worse things to be than a rat, such as a human who would destroy countless lives and tear apart families for a chance at more power.

  “So this it?” I asked him. “You stole my magic so you could own a factory and some luxury cars? You don’t want to run for president or do something…”

  “I’ve had to share the magic with those who helped me gain it,” he said. “But I understand why Alan would try to seize all the power for himself. Your power could be harnessed by just one person for bigger, better things. It’s amazing we’ve lived this long in harmony, dominating Blissford and the state of Virginia.” He shook his head, as if he was surprised by their virtue.

  As he spoke, he was setting up a bowl on the countertop, building a small fire in it, sprinkling in herbs. I didn’t dare ask if he had blood to break the spell; I had to keep the guys a secret so they would be safe. And hopefully, eventually, they would find me, if I didn’t save myself first.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  “A spell to remove that necklace,” he said. “I would hate for Alan to find you while you were still bound to his allegiance.”

  “It doesn’t seem like the worst thing from my perspective,” I said drily.

  “Turn around and back up to the bars,” he instructed me. He pulled a cardboard box with holes in it out of his backpack, and I shuddered when I realized there was something alive in there.

  “What are you doing?”

  “True magic requires blood,” he said as he drew a small brown mouse out of the box. “So many people don’t have the stomach to reach out and take the power available to them.”

  God, he was such a self-satisfied prick.

  “You don’t want to watch this,” he said. “Put your back against the bars, like I told you.”

  I was never going to willingly turn my back on him, and instead I pressed my spine against the rough plywood wall. But I did close my eyes, though it did little to help. Between the small desperate sounds and my own imagination, I saw more than I ever wanted to.

  “Up against the bars,” he said impatiently. “I need contact to get this necklace off you.”

  “Is it going to hurt?”

  “Yes,” he said, without hesitation. “But so will being shot in the knee. Last warning, Piper. Time’s a wasting.”

  He still carried the gun in the holster on his hip. Reluctantly, I came to the bars. As soon as I was close enough, he grabbed me by the collar and yanked me closer. My face slammed into the metal bar, and pain exploded above my eye. Something cool ran down my forehead.

  Then those sensations were lost to blinding pain.

  I let my legs crumble beneath me—not that I had much choice—and at this awkward angle, he couldn’t hold me. He swore as he lost his grip and I tumbled to the floor. I hit hard but I made sure I landed with my head and shoulders out of his reach.

  Then I played dead.

  He stared at me for a long minute. My breathing felt frantic and I tried desperately to look helpless and out of it as the waves of pain radiating from my neck through my head and arms faded into an uncomfortable tingling.

  “Piper,” he said. “I’ve got half a mind to shoot you and see what happens. If you’re faking, best get up now.”

  I groaned in response, slurring my words, trying to tell him I couldn’t stand.

  Then, reluctantly, he drew his gun and unlocked the cell door. He held it on me as he knelt beside me, reaching out to grab the necklace. I made myself wait as he leaned over my body, as his fingers neared my throat.

  And I exploded into life.

  I slammed myself into him. The gun, get the gun. Nothing else mattered but knocking that barrel toward the ceiling. His finger wasn’t in the trigger well and the gun flew toward the far wall. The two of us scrambled to our feet, pushing against each other as we raced for the gun on the other side of the cell.

  But I was closest to the door. How fast could I get up the ladder? Quicker than thought, moving on instinct, I gave up on the gun. I raced out the door, slamming it shut behind me. It banged shut, hard, and clicked.

  “Piper!” He screamed, and he’d already reached the gun as I got to the ladder, as I scrambled up. The metal cut into my fingers, my feet slipping on the rungs as I climbed. From the corner of my vision, from my instincts, I knew he was raising the gun, sighting in.

  He squeezed off a round, the sound so loud my eardrums popped. It hit near me, splintering plywood, but I fell onto my knees away from the blast, scrambling across the floor of the hunting cabin. I grabbed the trap door and pulled it up on its hinges, then let it go. It slammed shut as the second round went off, punching through the floor to my left.

  I ran for the door to the hunting cabin. It was locked, and in my panic, with my trembling fingers, I could barely get the deadbolt open.

  And then I was loose, tumbling onto the porch.

  The fall day was quiet and sunny. Yellow and red trees mixed with pines, surrounding the cabin as far as the eye could see. His Lexus was still parked in the driveway.

  The keys. He probably still had the keys on him.

  And he’d have the keys to the damn cage too.

  I could have screamed, but there was no time to lose. I had to check the car, as fast as I could, and then get away through the woods if the keys weren’t there.

  I launched myself across the porch, running hard for the car, then yanked the driver’s side door open. There were no keys in the ignition or in the well between the seats—my father usually drove a car with a fob and an automatic start—so I was going to have to figure out where I was and how to get to help.

  “God help me,” I muttered as I straightened from the car. Should I stick close to the dirt trail leading through the woods? Would it be faster to stay on the trail itself, worth the added danger?

  Someone grabbed my shoulder. A voice behind me said, “God’s not on your side.”

  Chapter 25

  I whirled to face Eli. He grinned at me as his fingers sunk bruisingly deep into my biceps.

  “That’s enough, Eli.” His father, Alan, said sharply. He stood behind Eli. “Let the girl go.”

  Eli squeezed a little tighter before he pushed me away at the same time as he let go. I stumbled against the side of the car before I caught myself.

  “Fine,” he said. “I don’t want the smell of dog on my clothes anyway.”

  I looked past him to Alan, who frowned at us both. When his gaze flickered to Eli, he looked disappointed.

  “Thank you,” I said to Alan, cautiously, still trying to estimate my chances of making it if I ran. I was fast, but I was exhausted and aching. I glanced down the long dirt lane that led to a gravel road. We were so isolated.

  And I wasn’t sure if I could run, or if the Kingstons could compel me to turn around and come back. What if I couldn’t hear them? What if I plugged my ears when I ran, so even if I had to obey them if I heard, I didn’t know what they wanted?

  My gaze swept around rapidly, trying to find a way out of this trap. Alan held his hand out as if he noticed, as if he was hoping to calm me.

  And that was when I realized we weren’t alone. There were others standing in the shadows of the woods. Once I found the first man standing there, I picked out others. Two men. The judge. The sheriff.

  “You’re the coven,” I said softly. “My father’s…friends.”

  “I am no friend of your father’s,” Alan said. “He’s power-hungry and dangerous, Piper. You of all people know that.”

  “I do.” He was hardly the only one to suffer from those tendencies.

  The man in front of me seemed kind enough right now.

  But it didn’t escape my attention that I was surrounded.

  That didn’t make me feel friendly.

  “We had to stop him,” Alan said. “Is he…in the house?”

  “Yes.”

  “Did you kill him?”

  There was a quickness in his s
peech that made me think he’d like it if I had.

  “No,” I said. “I didn’t…I trapped him in the cell.”

  Alan’s lips parted in a grin. “You did, huh? And here he always prides himself on being the smartest person in the room.”

  I glanced again at the figures in the shadows. “So, I’ve helped you get what you wanted, apparently.”

  There was no point now in pretending I didn’t know who they were.

  “It’s a complicated situation, Piper,” Alan said.

  I skated my fingertips over the raised edges of the necklace. Pain tingled along my throat, but it was a gentle throb as long as I didn’t press harder. Still, I could feel the cuts and bruises on my skin from where my father had yanked on this necklace as if I was in chains. “I’d like it if you took this off, please.”

  “I can’t do that,” he said gently. “But I’d like the chance to explain why to you.”

  “Are you the one who worked this spell?” I had to know, if I was going to get free.

  “It doesn’t matter.” His eyes were intent on mine as he shouldered his son aside and extended his hand to touch my forearm comfortingly. “What matters is there is more going on than you can possibly see, Piper. More than your father would ever have told you.”

  “You are the one who enchanted me,” I said, gambling on it. “And you didn’t put this on me to make sure I’d be Eli’s Stepford girlfriend. You bound me because you wanted to take the control from my father.”

  “And keep the power for the many,” he said, his voice loud. He must be making sure it carried to those in the forest. “For good causes, Piper. We’ve done the Lord’s work, though perhaps with the devil’s pride… and I’m sorry for the harm done along the way.”