“Are we done, then?” Aries asks. “I’d like to get moving. There’s a lot of land to cover.”
“Yes, of course,” I respond. “I’m sorry about that.”
He walks over and puts his arm around my shoulders. “I’m not angry at what you did. You’re a woman who stood her ground and challenged someone touching her mate. Plus, you did it in a way that resonated with her. She understands your reasoning for doing things. You might have made a new friend. After seeing all you have, no one would be able to say no to you.”
I dip my head as a blush spreads up my neck to my cheeks. I’ve never shared my memories with anyone but Wake, up until now, and that was accidental. Well, anyone outside of Rion. When we fully bonded, he got all of me. And Ford. He has full access to my mind.
Aries gives me a gentle squeeze before walking to the front of the group to start the trek around the property.
Rion takes his place at my side, his fingers threading into mine. He leans down to whisper, “It was kind of hot watching you stake your claim on me.”
Peering up at him, I say, “I’ll challenge anyone who comes near you.”
“She was only doing it to push your buttons.”
“Oh, I know why she did it. She regrets it now, though.”
His lips tip up on one side. “That she does.”
The poor woman is walking about ten feet in front of us with her shoulders slouched. Those memories are my nightmares. What happened will never be forgotten. It fuels my rage every day, knowing the man responsible for killing others is still walking around as if none of it happened.
There is no governing body for paranormals. No one to keep Travis in check, outside of others of this world, and he needs to be held accountable for his actions. In a way, I don’t mind that there’s no law. No one’s going to lock me up when I kill him or others in his pack. But maybe if there were someone, they would have put a stop to him a long time ago. People would still be alive, and he’d be locked away somewhere, unable to hurt anyone else.
When I first met him, I was a weak girl. Not physically, but emotionally. Javen killing Cace caught me off guard. For some reason, I thought going into Travis’ home would help things, not make them worse. I was naïve. If that would have happened with the mindset and knowledge I have now, I would have tried to end him right then and there. Some alpha he is, sending others to do his dirty work. Any other alpha worth their weight would protect their pack, do whatever they could to keep them safe. Not Travis. Oh, no. He’s after the Avynwood land and everything that comes with it. I wonder if he’d get rid of the rest of his pack, if it came down to it. Maybe not all of them. He still needs some of them to carry out his dirty deeds.
We walk for a while as Aries shows the fae, shifters, and vampires around the property. He points out some areas that might be good, if the shifters need time to heal. We walk past enormous bear traps. The kind that clamp down with sharp teeth on a bear’s foot and hold it there. I’d think the bear shifters would be smarter than that, but Aries explained in the heat of battle, they won’t be looking at where they’re stepping. They will be too busy battling or chasing their prey. Those traps could also take down others.
Walking some more, Aries continues to point everything out. So many spots to watch out for. The safer area is in the center of the clearing. There’s no place to set up a hidden trap there, but they’re within the forest. There’s even small traps for the foxes. Ones hiding under fallen leaves, waiting for someone to step on them.
Poor Aries is going to have to go over this again when the other shifters arrive. He said he could have waited, but if things start earlier than expected, he wants us as prepared as possible.
At the center of the clearing, Aries stops to speak again. “This is where we think most of the fighting will happen. Both of our dream watchers had premonitions about this spot. Ari, would you like to tell us more?”
I nod and join him in the center, my heart beating wildly, thanks to my nerves. There are a lot of people in front of us. Many who are depending on what I’m going to say to help them in the battle. What if something I say isn’t accurate or it happens differently than I saw? Then again, I didn’t see much. I was always running for my life.
“I know what some of you are thinking,” I start. “I’m not a wolf, so how can I be a dream watcher? Your guess is as good as mine. In fact, the first dream I had, I didn’t know I was in a premonition. That if I got hurt or died, I’d be hurt or dead in real life. I learned a lot in the short time I’ve known about the world of paranormals. One thing’s for certain, Travis and his pack will attack us. They will be here. And his goal is to kill as many as possible and take the land. He wants to control the state. This is where it will happen,” I point to the grass at my feet. “Every premonition, I’m here or running through the area surrounding it.”
Wake strides forward to join us. His brown hair is mussed, his glasses unable to conceal the dark circles under his eyes. It’s not from lack of sleep but from the constant premonitions. He’s had many more than me. I’ve seen them in his mind. And his are much more traumatic. It’s his turn to add what he knows.
“Ari only gets part of the picture with her premonitions. Reason being, Travis is gunning for her. The history between Ari’s family and Travis goes back many, many years. He might not have gotten his hands dirty yet, but he will when it comes to her. In her dreams, she’s almost always being chased. It starts here and has her running from multiple wolves. But the part she hasn’t seen is those wolves are chasing her toward Travis. They’re driving her right into his clutches.
“Travis could also be manipulating my premonitions to give us a false idea of what’s going to happen. He’s a dream watcher, too. He could be telling the wolves to do one thing when in real life they’ll do another. This isn’t a surprise to Ari, so don’t think she’s unaware. Ari has free rein to my thoughts. She needs to know what could be coming in order to be prepared. Rion and Ford, too. Where Ari goes, they will follow. That’s certain.”
All the shifters from both packs, the fae, and the vampires who are here, watch Wake and me with their hard gazes and clenched fists. They know what’s coming, but some have never spoken to either of us before, so this is the first they hear about the details of our premonitions.
I pick up where Wake leaves off. “Together, our premonitions form a rough idea of what could happen. Now, we all know they can change. Nothing about our premonitions are certain; however, they give us an idea to work around. What we need your help with is fighting all those who Travis brings with him. There will be powerful vampires, shifters, mages, and fae. Who knows what else he has up his sleeve?
“But Travis is ours. He’s taken my father, one of the Avynwood males, and Orion’s parents. Maybe not directly with his hands, but Travis issued the orders for them to be killed. And last night, his pack slaughtered members of Merrick’s—human and wolf.” Angry rumbles of voices are heard throughout the group. Even if a human is aware of paranormals, it’s never okay to murder them. They’re defenseless to paranormals.
Aries claps Wake on the shoulder, facing those gathered. “We’re counting on all of you to help us win this. In return, should any of you ever need us for any reason, my pack will be there.”
“And mine as well,” Merrick says in a gruff voice.
“We have a chance to make a real change here,” Aries adds. “To make North Carolina a safe state for all paranormals, and not just the refuge in the Avynwood Forest. No one should fear for their lives for simply crossing into a state. But if Travis wins, he could be coming for your state next. There will be no stopping him if he secures our land. More and more will join him. We can’t let that happen.”
10
Back at the mansion, we eat, talk strategy, and basically wait. The other shifters arrive. I spend some time getting to know them, as well as other members of the fae group who came. Then, as if the house isn’t full enough, ten vampires show up on our doorstep wanting to join our
fight. I do remember Ford saying there were other vampires who would battle on our side, but each day blends anymore, and I can’t remember half of what I’m told.
The day is long, and my head is left spinning. There are too many paranormals in the house. I’m happy about one thing, though. My claim has been staked on Rion. There’s a cat shifter who has had her eyes on him since she walked in the door. She’s from Lealla’s pack. Rion reassured me he’d never met her before and not to worry, but I keep catching her looking his way and licking her lips—her very red lips. It’s taking everything in me not to throttle her every time her tongue snakes out.
I’ve never seen someone get so dolled up to go to war. Seriously. Her jet-black hair is styled in smooth waves over her shoulders. Each brush of makeup is expertly applied. Her eyes are more catlike than the others, thanks to her skills. She actually resembles a cat, though everyone else looks like an average human. And the jeans she’s wearing may as well be painted on for how tight they are. I can’t figure out how she’s able to walk without looking like she’s got a stick up her butt. Everything about her is making me angry.
Rion and I are sitting on the bottom step of one of the columns of stairs when she sashays over. Hand to fate, she purrs when she stops in front of him.
“I’m Jasmine.” Her name seductively rolls off her tongue.
“I’m not interested,” Rion replies. He’s been hearing my thoughts about her clear as day.
“I know who you are. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Congratulations. Now go.”
“I’d listen to him,” comes a melodic voice that belongs to one auburn-haired fae. “You don’t want to tangle with his mate.”
“I’m not afraid of her,” she responds, looking me over. It’s then I notice she has no mark of a mate on her wrist. Not that I necessarily thought she would. She’s openly coming on to my mate. If she had someone of her own, she wouldn’t be doing this.
“You should be.”
The cat shifter huffs and leaves, giving up. For about five minutes.
I excuse myself to the bathroom, and when I return, she’s trying to press herself to Rion’s side. Seriously, this shifter, though.
“Can we go somewhere and talk?” She’s purring again. Legit, catlike purr.
“No.” He moves abruptly as she tries to get even closer. That’s enough of this.
“Get going, fleabag,” I say as I stride over. “No one has time for this. We’re on the brink of war, in case you’ve forgotten. Stop rubbing up on what’s mine.”
She spins. Her eyes blaze sapphire at me as her cat comes to the surface. If I wasn’t so angry, I’d marvel at the gorgeous color of her eyes. I love how each shifter species has a different color when their animal emerges.
She prowls in a circle around Rion before slinking an arm around his waist. He immediately pushes her to the side. Not hard enough to hurt her, unfortunately.
Something in me snaps. A rage like I’ve never known courses through my body. How dare this cat try to stake claim on who’s mine? We’re mated. That means her hands are never to touch him like she did. I asked her to leave, told her to knock it off, and she persisted. All these paranormals coming to the mansion, and this is the second one who has challenged me. I will fight every one of them who thinks they are better than me. It’s game on now. I’m going to kill her.
When I step forward to throttle her, something happens. It’s a ripple that begins at my feet and courses through my entire body to the top of my head and the tips of my fingers. Before I know it, I’m on all fours on the ground, and I become a spectator in my own body. A spectator with eyesight so sharp I can pick out that her designer shoes are nothing but imposters, and that she has the tiniest chip on the nail polish of her big toe as it peeks through the open front of her shoes. The scents all around hit me at once, making me sneeze.
Low murmurs surround me. I try to turn to see what’s going on, but my body won’t let me. I’ve lost all control. My attention is solely on the cat in front of me.
“Ari, are you okay?” Rion asks in my head.
“I’m not sure. What’s going on? I can’t move. Everything feels weird.”
“You’re a wolf.”
“Say what now?”
“I’m serious. You shifted into a beautiful, dark grey wolf.” That can’t be right. No way am I a shifter. I would have known it before this. I would have shifted earlier in life. There was zero possibility of me being a shifter. He’s just screwing with me.
“Prove it. Take a picture.” There’s no way I’m believing this until I see it with my own eyes.
He groans and pulls out his phone to do as I ask. My wolf, or whatever I am now, snaps at him, its teeth mashing together. What the…? Rion turns the phone so I can see it. Holy mother of all that is good. I’m a freaking wolf.
My wolf turns back to the cat as the wolf ignores my pleas to shift back into a human. I try talking to the wolf, err, the other part of me. Not quite sure what to call her, but she won’t listen. No matter what I do or say, I’m not in charge here. Her eyes are set on the cat who touched my—our—mate. She needs to make her understand who he belongs to.
Jasmine’s eyes narrow a second before she shifts into a tall cheetah. She’s all legs and lean muscle, built for speed, though she doesn’t appear to want to run from me. No, her head lowers as her lips peel back to show off sharp teeth. Please. My wolf isn’t having any of it. She snarls at the cat.
“Ari, stop,” Rion pleads in my head.
“Don’t you think I would if I could? I have zero control here!”
“I don’t think you would. You were determined to go after her before you shifted. Now your wolf is in control, feeding off your desire to not let anyone lay a hand on me.”
“I’m failing to see what the problem is here.” Whether it’s my wolf or me, someone needs to handle the cheetah.
“You need to talk to your wolf. Get her to calm down.”
“Someone touched you that wasn’t me. She isn’t happy. Neither am I. But I did try to get her to shift back. There’s no talking to her. I suggest you and everyone else get out of the way.”
“Female shifter fight. Very nice,” Solomon says from my left. If I weren’t busy with this cheetah, he’d be my target: fifteen-hundred-year-old vampire acting like a teenage boy.
“I heard that,” he states.
“I wasn’t trying to block my thoughts from you!” I counter.
This time he decides to reply in my mind, “I have to admit, you got sexier when you shifted. Who knew I’d be attracted to a wolf?”
“Keep it in your pants. Can’t you see I’m busy?”
“Yes, and if you don’t focus, she’s going to have an edge on you. Let your wolf have free rein, Ari. You’re holding her back. She knows what to do to take care of the task at hand.” Can I do that? Do I know how to do that? This is all new to me. I didn’t grow up knowing I was a shifter like everyone else with this life did. I have no clue what I’m doing here.
“I don’t want to kill her.” It’s the truth. Well, it is now. Before I shifted I said I was going to kill her, but those words were empty. I just wanted to severely hurt her, not end her life. Plus, I’m not sure if I can even stop things if they get to that point. I’m totally at the mercy of my wolf.
My wolf pads closer to Jasmine, growling low. No matter what I say or do to convince her there’s another way to handle this, she ignores me.
“She’s got about three hundred years on you, and you’re a pup. I’m not sure if your wolf can hold her own.”
That must incite my wolf, because she snaps her teeth at Solomon before lunging for the cheetah, needing to prove herself to Solomon—and everyone else watching—she’s not one to be messed with. Maybe she’s more like me after all.
My wolf dives in for Jasmine’s throat, but she’s quick and skates away before I can clamp down on her. Something clicks within me. Like when the mate bond was slowly forming between Rion and me,
but this time it’s different. It’s me bonding with my wolf. I get on the same page as her and remember how that cat put her hands on my mate. My wolf and I connect with the same goal in mind—to let the cat know who Rion belongs to.
With one quick movement, my wolf swings around to grab Jasmine’s back leg in her strong jaw. Shaking her furiously, Jasmine is knocked off balance, helplessly trying to regain her footing as my wolf drags her through the entryway toward the front door. This cat needs to exit the house and never come back. And apparently, I’m just the wolf to get the job done.
My cockiness gets the best of me, though. Jasmine rolls slightly while her leg is still in my wolf’s mouth and sinks her teeth into my wolf’s right flank. Pain like I’ve never known courses through me, causing my wolf to drop her leg and shake her body to toss Jasmine off. Only it doesn’t work. Her teeth sink deeper as she climbs onto my back, inciting a rage within my wolf and me. We won’t let her win. If we do, it will cause my wolf to appear inferior to the other shifters. That can’t be allowed. I’m strong and so is my wolf. We got this.
Ford steps forward, opening the front door. There’s no reason to break everything in the mansion or continue bleeding all over the beautiful marble. Outside is better.
Ambling through the door with the cheetah on my back isn’t easy, but where she has speed, I have strength. And not normal wolf strength. My vampire strength is still present, and my wolf needs to tap into it if she has any shot of besting this cat.
Kicking out her back legs, my wolf bucks hard to send the cat flying. It hurts like a mother when her teeth rip out a piece of my wolf’s flesh. I feel every ounce of pain she does. Fortunately, the skin is already knitting back together. Ah, the joys of healing rapidly, thanks to my vampire gift. I’m so glad I have this power. I’m glad I have all my powers.
Jasmine lunges for me again. We’re head-to-head this time. My wolf is ready for her. We dodge to the side, avoiding her direct hit, but immediately turn, aiming for her throat. She could stop this. She could submit. But she’s choosing not to. That’s her mistake.
The Crucial Shift (The Ariane Trilogy Book 3) Page 7
