Wolf's Wager (Northbane Shifters)

by Isabella Hunt

  Xander’s jaw was set, and his eyes were blazing. I knew he was worried about the Barrowmen getting so close to Winfyre—they should have been forced to wait at the edges of our territory. But I also got the sense I was missing something.

  “It’s the Rotted,” Xander muttered. “They have some foul ability to dodge me.” His fists clenched. “If I can’t at least protect Winfyre, then what the hell am I good for?”

  “Xander,” I said in a low voice, and he shook his head.

  “I’ve been in contact with other shifter territories, as you know,” he said, and I nodded, a little baffled. This was months-old news. “The Greyclaw and the Burnfur have agreed to an alliance.”

  "Any reason you're bringing this up out of nowhere?”

  “Turns out we got in contact just in time. There’ve been raids, Luke.” My stomach clenched. “That’s the message you got at Belrush. It was from the Greyclaw. They said that Baranof Island of the Frostof was hit two months ago. Rotted slipping in and making off with shifters. Some children.”

  A painful knot lodged in my throat. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “You had enough to deal with,” Xander said. “But I have a feeling these Barrowmen are about to warn us that the same is going to start happening here unless we agree to some kind of deal. I know it won’t be pleasant, but please keep your cool. I want to hear what they have to say.”

  “What?” I growled.

  “Luke.”

  “Fine. How do you know all this?” I asked.

  Xander stopped and looked at me. “Before the raids started happening, three Barrowmen came to the Frostof Gate." His voice was low and cold. "With a warning: the Rotted were coming."

  I nodded and clamped my jaw shut. Now I understood his crackling tension.

  Probably not the best time to mention that Reagan’s younger sister is missing.

  The air grew colder as we continued walking. Finally, we reached an area where shifters were lined up, some perched in the trees, with Olenna standing at the front, her arms folded. How or why she was here, I didn’t know, but I was glad she was. Her presence had a palliative effect in situations like these. Xander nodded at her.

  “Please fall back,” he said.

  Shadows rose as we stepped forward. Xander held out a hand. Kal, Rett, and I stopped. The forest was as dark and silent as though it were midnight.

  “You’re trespassing,” Xander said, staring at the dark hollow between two trees.

  Nothing moved in the wood, not bird, leaf, or even bug. It was denuded of life.

  The air rippled, and three figures appeared, almost twice the size of Xander. They were dressed in heavy, strange, and ancient armor. The metal was a lightless black, made of jagged edges burned together, and covered their entire bodies. No skin could be seen, from their helmets and faceplates to their gauntlets and boots. Tattered cloaks hung from their shoulders, and skeletal horses stamped their feet behind them. A faint scent of decay and something foul hung on them, like water gone stagnant.

  Some evil lost to another time, dragged back to ours.

  "In days of old, we collected tolls on the territories, to keep out the night and its frights," one said, rasping and blowing out a breath through his faceplate notched with three slits. It was an old voice, cracked and hungry. "If you don't pay it, you risk your people, Alexander Bane, of fire and wings."

  “What is your toll, Barrowmen?” he asked.

  “A child or a young maiden, every month,” another replied. “That should suffice.”

  My fists clenched, and I almost took a step forward, but I refrained. Suddenly, the Barrowmen lifted their heads and looked at me. I sensed their eyes moving over me, and one sniffed.

  “Impossible,” he muttered.

  “Think, that must be why the vryke haunts these woods.”

  “Of course. There is a nascent Bloodtamer in your midst.” The tallest of the Barrowmen leveled a metal finger at me. “Her scent is all over you.”

  Reagan, I thought. Is that what she is?

  “Give us the Bloodtamer, and we’ll leave you in peace.”

  My blood went cold as Xander sucked in a sharp breath, and his broad shoulders tensed.

  “Bloodtamer?” he asked. “I know nothing of them. What is she to you?”

  One of the Barrowmen let out a hiss. “You lie. You know well what power the Bloodtamer holds. In the past, they were rare and coveted. A tribute like that would last millennia.”

  “Perhaps not,” murmured another Barrowman. “Perhaps those names are still Lost.”

  “Ah.” There was a chuckle, and one creaked forward. “And her gifts sleep. It is just as well—you will not know what you lost.”

  “Give us to her, or we will take her,” said the last one.

  With that, they vanished, and sunlight filtered back into the clearing. Xander was standing there, staring at the spot where they had left and clenching his fists.

  “Xander,” I said and started forward, but a hand caught me. It was Kal, who shook his head, and he dragged me back. “He wouldn’t—”

  “No, of course not,” Rett said, in the least convincing voice I’d ever heard.

  “This is great,” I muttered. “Barrowmen, the SB, and Cassidy is missing.”

  “Cassidy’s what?” Rett asked.

  “I need to get back to the barracks,” I said and shifted, darting off through the woods.

  My heart was pounding through my body, my brain in turmoil, and I barely noticed where I was going. When my paws splashed through a cold stream, it jolted me awake, and I stopped. I’d gone past the barracks and was standing deep in the woods. The stream rushed underneath me, the light sharply slanting through the trees and the sky a distant blue.

  Closing my eyes, I could sense the turmoil in the earth, the connection I had to my brothers and to Reagan, to the people of Winfyre.

  And I thought of my dad, of the fear that had propelled some flunky of the SB to kill him in cold blood. It was strange to think that the SB and the Excris existed in the same world. Although I had a feeling that that wouldn’t last much longer. With every day, more of what was once known fell away, and this new power took over, warping and changing things.

  Suddenly, I thought of Ayani and Lazu. I’d never thought about it before, but it wasn’t until after my father had passed that they’d appeared.

  I shifted back and straightened, watching as the wind whipped through the trees overhead, and the air hummed. Lazu appeared on the rock above me, with Ayani at the base.

  “You’re not ordinary wolves,” I said. “You’re spirit guides.”

  You could call us that, Lazu said. We’ve long guarded this land.

  And this is not the first time it will be in peril, nor the last.

  “Three Barrowmen came to the gate,” I said. “They want Reagan, said she was a Bloodtamer. Is that what she is? Please, we’re running out of time. I need to know.”

  Lazu rolled his shoulders, and the wind picked up. Those of the dark energies would call her a tamer. Those of the light would call her an amplifier. A kinetic.

  She manipulates life energy. Blood is a part of that, Ayani said.

  “If you knew, why didn’t you say anything?” I demanded. “All these foolish games.”

  She needed to learn, to discover and come to her gifts on her own. If we were to tell her she could dampen the power of the Excris and give the shifters tenfold power, it could have crippled her.

  “Now everyone wants her,” I said and dragged my hands through my hair. “How am I supposed to protect her? How am I supposed to protect Winfyre? Do I have to choose?”

  What do you think? Do you think Reagan came to Winfyre only to be handed over to the humans who try to manipulate this energy to their own demise—or the demons who knock at the door? Or did she arrive as a boon, to keep our home safe? Lazu asked.

  I thought of Reagan standing and looking over the bay at sunset, or, this morning, poring over the manifests, double-checking the
greenhouses, and making sure our people were safe.

  Your world has shifted, as you have, Luke Swiftlore, Lazu said. The time of myth, monster, and magic has returned.

  “You’re saying there was a lost time when people had these abilities?” I asked.

  The wolves glanced at each other. Something like that. And the Barrowmen are only the beginning, Lazu said. More will come.

  But today is a crucial test. If the scales are tipped, Winfyre could be lost. Ayani’s eyes burned.

  “Today?” I echoed.

  Today. And it is not the last test this home will face. You five were not here by chance when the Rift occurred. You were meant to be here. The rightful Alphas of the Northbane territory.

  “How can I help Reagan?” I asked. “How can I save Winfyre?”

  Wake her up, Ayani said.

  Find her, Lazu said. And help her find that power inside of her.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Reagan

  Marching down to Osko’s Point, my shoes in one hand and my anger spiking by the second, I had several satisfying daydreams where I threw my shoes at Will Doherty’s head. Or beat him with them. Or sicced Luke on him.

  Speaking of Luke… I glanced uneasily over my shoulder at the empty road. I hoped he wouldn’t be too furious with me for taking off. I’d no idea how long the gate thing would take, and I had to find Cassidy before she eloped with this idiot. During my engagement party.

  The sound of the ocean got loud as I slipped down a steep path to the beach and nearly toppled into the sand. Again, I wondered how Will had found Winfyre. And why.

  Was he a shifter? Was he trying to get back with my sister?

  Over my dead body. He broke her heart.

  When I emerged out of the woods, I was on a small spit of sandy beach that curved into a calm bay. A peninsula of trees ran along the south, while the north curved towards Cobalt.

  Up ahead, I saw Cassidy perched on a rock, hugging her knees and looking out at the ocean.

  “Cassidy Grace!” I bellowed.

  Her head snapped up, and she stared at me before sliding down off the rock. She was wearing jeans and a nice tank top, her arms more defined than the last time I’d seen her bare-armed. Nor did she have that disgruntled, distant look on her face. She looked horrified.

  "Reagan, what are you—you're going to miss your party," Cassidy said and then clapped her hands over her mouth. “Oh no, I mean…”

  “Cassidy, the party started over two hours ago!” I said. “No one could find you.”

  “No,” Cassidy said and glanced up at the sky. “Shit, I lost track of time. I’m supposed to be meeting someone here, but they’re late. I should’ve…I wasn’t thinking. I’m sorry.”

  I gaped at her. “What?”

  Cassidy gave me a shy smile and rubbed her elbows as she hugged herself. “I was trying to be more like you, Reagan.” She fished out a crumpled piece of paper. “Will is here. Will Doherty.”

  “I know that,” I snapped. “I went to the barracks and saw he wanted to meet you here.”

  Cassidy frowned. “Did you read beyond that?”

  “No,” I said. “I don’t care about his excuses and how he’ll be better this time. You can’t get back with him—he didn’t treat you right, Cass. He was a horrible boyfriend.”

  “I’m not…” Cassidy suddenly laughed, and the sound was so warm, so surprising, that my heart softened. “I’m not getting back together with him. I’m with…” She looked up and flushed. “I mean, I don’t know what we are, besides good friends…” Cassidy’s words were tumbling out, and her cheeks were bright with color. “But he’s a shifter, like me, and—” She stopped abruptly. “Never mind. I’m not here to get back with Will. I’m here because he said he has information on Grandpa.”

  “What?” I asked, thrown.

  “Yeah,” Cassidy said. “I was going to talk to you and see about asking Luke, but then this came, and I thought it was a sign or something. Plus, he said he needed my help.” She straightened. “I wanted to take the initiative for once.”

  My jaw might as well have been on the sand. “Cass, I’m sorry, I completely underestimated you. I thought, well, I thought all wrong. I’m so sorry.”

  “Don’t apologize,” my sister said and took my hands. “Rea, I know with everything we’ve been through and how horrible I was, it won’t be fixed overnight—but I am sorry. I’m so, so sorry. I was scared and confused. I took it out on you.” Her head fell. “The person trying to save my life.”

  I pulled Cassidy into a hug, tears hovering in my eyelids. Suddenly, I didn’t give a damn about leaving my own party. This was the best gift this day could have given me.

  “Thank you. Cass, I forgive you. I was never mad at you—I didn’t know how to talk to you.”

  “And yet you came down here, leaving your own party and man,” Cassidy exclaimed and pulled back. Her eyes were bright. “Who does that? Luke is going to be furious. He was planning this for days.” She gave me a sly grin. “You have to give me some tips on how to drive a man wild, Rea.”

  “Cassidy,” I exclaimed and lightly slapped her. “Oh, it’s nice to see you smile,” I said and tugged on her hair. “So, that must mean things are good. Niles?”

  “Yeah,” she said. “But it’s not just him. I like healing and working with Rogda.” She looked around. “Winfyre is nice. It feels like home.” Her eyes went huge. “Oh. Will!”

  I turned and saw a tall, long-limbed figure slouching across the sand. Immediately, my blood began to hum in warning, and I grasped Cassidy’s hand.

  “Rea, what’s wrong?”

  “I don’t know,” I said. “Something doesn’t feel right.”

  Cassidy inhaled and pulled me closer. “He’s not alone. I think there are people in the woods.”

  “Let’s hear what he has to say and make a run for it,” I said. In my mind, I thought, Luke, where are you when I need you?

  “Both Grace sisters,” Will said and stuck his hands in his pockets. He looked tired and more unkempt than the last time I’d seen him, his dark hair in his eyes, his clothing frayed. “Hello.”

  “Yes, well, I wasn’t going to come alone,” Cassidy said. “What’s going on? Why here?”

  “I wanted to talk alone. Apologize,” Will said and fidgeted. I noticed his nails were bitten, and his gaze kept flicking to the ocean. “After you left, everything got worse.”

  “Isn’t that too bad,” Cassidy said in a cool voice. “Maybe you shouldn’t have tried to sell your girlfriend for parts.”

  Will flinched, and my gaze flicked between them. Cassidy was glaring at Will, her eyes teary and bright. Then she met my gaze and nodded.

  “He was going to collect a bounty on you?” I asked, and her eyes fell. “Oh, Cass. Why didn’t you say anything?”

  “Because I was embarrassed and in denial,” Cassidy said. “I couldn’t handle it, so I convinced myself I was wrong, somehow. Until I woke up and realized how lucky I was to get here. To be free.”

  "Cassidy," I said and grabbed her hand. All that bottled-up anger, the lost look in her eyes, and the unwillingness to shift. It had been because of this. "Why did you want to go back?"

  The question popped out before I could stop it.

  “To find Grandpa.”

  “Oh, Cass,” I murmured. “He wanted to stay behind. He made that choice.”

  “Give us your information on our grandpa,” Cassidy said, and I joined her in glaring at Will. “And then get lost. Winfyre is not a place for cowards like you, Doherty.”

  “Hell yeah, Cass,” I said fervently. “You tell ’im.”

  “Um, your grandfather, right. I, uh…” He glanced over his shoulder.

  I moved in closer and grabbed his wrist. “Who are your friends, Will?”

  “Wh-what?” he asked.

  “Who are you buying time for?” I asked. “Are you still trying to capture my sister?” Will’s throat bobbed, his eyes flicking from me to Cassidy. I drew back. �
��Oh, no.”

  “What’s going on?” Cassidy asked. “Rea, no, are they—what did you do?” Her last words were a snarl. “Will, dammit, what is going on?”

  Suddenly, Will plunged his hand into his pocket, yanking out a syringe. We both drew back, watching him. His eyes were crazed, his motions erratic and wild.

  “Cassidy, run,” I whispered, and we began to edge apart. “Back to the woods.”

  “I’m-I’m sorry,” he mumbled and stared at me as though not seeing me. “They said all I had to do was knock you out.” Suddenly I tripped and fell, hard, on my ass. It was like all my training had left me. “They won’t hurt her.”

  “Rea!” Cassidy cried. “Get away from her.”

  The syringe jabbed down towards my thigh, and I winced, looking away. But a mass of warm fur slammed into me, and I rolled out of the way, no metal piercing my skin.

  Raising my head, I looked around for Luke, but it wasn’t shaggy, dark gray fur. It was smooth and black, glinting with gold in the bright sunlight.

  Something moved out of the corner of my eye, and I looked up. Will was scrambling away, horrified, and began to run. Men in dark uniforms were pouring out of the trees, and a boat edged around the peninsula. I blinked and turned back to the animal lying next to me.

  It was a panther.

  Raspy breaths exuded from its nose, and its large, gold-green eyes struggled to focus on me.

  “Cassidy.”

  The syringe was sticking out of her side. I seized and threw it.

  “No, why did you do that? Shift back, please.” She went still. “Cass? Cassidy!”

  Shouts came from down the beach. Skrors and the SB, getting closer and closer.

  I couldn’t leave her.

  I tried to call forth my stupid Rift abilities, to call for help, for anything, but it didn’t work. I was too panicked, too focused on trying to rouse my sister. Hoping Luke would come.

  But I was all alone.

  They can’t get Cassidy, I thought and placed my hands on her warm sides. Maybe I could purge the sedative like I did the poison, wake her up so she could make a run for it. I’d sacrifice my life for my sister’s. That’s what an elder sibling did.