by Jade White
“As sure as I am that your laws are antiquated and have no place in today’s world. You will not threaten her. If she refuses to marry me immediately, I will speak with her in private. If you make her feel like she has no choice, she will fight you even harder.” Aldrich nodded, having noticed that very thing about Olivia during their sporadic encounters over the years. “I will deal with Olivia, you worry about your own affairs.
Sable looked pointedly at Laskin, whose stomach dropped. “I would be concerned with why your surveillance detail felt it appropriate to leave his duty for almost an entire day. Had he been where he was supposed to be, Olivia’s pregnancy might not have been a surprise.”
Aldrich shot Laskin a glance that made his blood run cold. Laskin’s expression told Aldrich all he needed to know.
“I will deal with him later. For now, I’d like to speak with Olivia and see if we can settle this like reasonable adults.”
Sable nodded, leading the way to the family room. He held his breath as he rounded the corner, a slight smile tugging the corner of his lips as his eyes fell on the hastily thrown blanket lying on the floor. The room was empty.
Aldrich rounded the corner and exclaimed angrily, “Where is she?” His voice echoed throughout the house, reverberating off the walls as the group stood in disbelief at the empty room. He turned on Sable, face contorted with rage.
“You will find her and you will bring her to us before the month is over or you shall both be executed. Do I make myself clear?”
“As mud.” Sable bowed deeply, hiding his face as he fought the urge to laugh. Good job, little brother. Sable had never been more proud.
**
Egan pulled into the ranger’s station, the pouring rain making it hard for Olivia to see the man Egan spoke to. Egan provided a fake driver’s license and signed the rental agreement for the cabin overnight. He’d stopped at a retail store hours ago that was conveniently placed between several major highways, buying food and a change of clothes for both of them, as well as some other things Olivia wasn’t sure they needed. From there, they had gone west. If anyone was following them, they would have six highways within a five mile radius to choose from. Once on the road again, he had called and reserved a cabin in a nearby nature preserve.
“Why a cabin?” Olivia had asked.
“They’ll be expecting us to stick with hotels and motels on the highway. This way, they won’t be able to find us. And if they do, we have somewhere to run.”
Olivia nodded her understanding. She was tired and ready for bed. They had stopped a few times for food, with Egan running in to get their orders from the counter, rather than risk being caught on the drive-thru camera. Now that she was fed, she wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed and sleep for days.
The ranger handed Egan back his license and the key to a cabin without looking into their car. Even if he had, the rain was so heavy that Olivia doubted he could see into the car at all.
Egan slid the vehicle into gear and headed down the gravel drive toward the cabin closest to the woods. He unlocked the door and waved to Olivia. She got out of the car and ran into the cabin, hood pulled up to protect her from the driving rain.
“I’ll unload what we need from the car, and you rest or shower; whatever you want to do to relax. We have at least a day before they realize we’re not just hiding out in town and start looking for us, so I’m sure we’re safe tonight.”
Olivia nodded, shivering a little as the rain trickled down her neck and under her shirt. Egan ran back out to the car, first retrieving the backpack and a bag of toiletries that he handed to Olivia before heading out into the rain again. He wouldn’t unload the entire car, but he’d explained to Olivia that the backpack had to go with them everywhere. It had all the cash and supplies they needed if they were found and had to abandon the car in order to get away. If they lost the backpack, they would be in trouble.
Olivia took the bag of toiletries and headed for the shower. The cabin was rustic, but charmingly so, with modern shower fixtures and plush towels stocked in the linen closet. Two thick robes hung on the back of the door. Olivia pulled one off the hook and set it on the chair beside the spacious shower.
She stepped into the spray, delighting in the heat as it eased her sore muscles. Sitting in the car all day had been rough on her, and her back and neck spasmed as they stretched out in the warm water. Olivia startled when she felt gentle fluttering in her stomach. She put her hand on her slightly swollen belly and the baby pushed against her hand. She moved her hand over a few inches and was delighted when the baby pushed against her again. She hummed lightly in the shower, giggling as the baby followed her soapy hands across her belly before she moved on to soap the rest of her weary body.
Egan stepped into the bathroom, his eyes on the floor as he brought another bag into the room.
“I forgot to give you the hair dye. Your hair stands out.”
Olivia groaned but he was right. Her hair was still dry, so she stuck her hand out the curtain. He put the premixed bottle in her hand and left the room, pausing at the door before he left.
“There are color contacts as well. Brown to hide those emerald eyes of yours.”
Olivia groaned. Brown hair, brown eyes and freckles. She wasn’t sure how dying her red hair and covering up her green eyes was going to hide who she was, but she would do whatever it took to keep herself and her baby safe.
“Thank you, Egan, for everything.”
Egan closed the door quietly behind him and Olivia began pouring the wash-in color into her hair, piling it on top of her head to sit for a few minutes while she reveled in the feel of the hot water running down her body.
Egan would take them wherever they were going and Sable would find them. And this would all be over soon. Or you could just stop being a fool and marry him. Olivia scoffed at herself. The day she was forced into a marriage she didn’t agree to was the day that she would die.
Egan moved around the room, arranging the beds so that he slept between Olivia and the door. He wasn’t completely honest with her, though he was sure they really were safe tonight. But he wouldn’t sleep soundly until they met up with Sable and the brothers could take shifts keeping watch until they figured out what to do. Until then, Egan wouldn’t sleep soundly.
He made her bed for her, pulling the sheets and the single quilt neatly across the bed and folding it back so that she could slip into bed as soon as she finished her shower. Most cabins didn’t have bedding and this was no exception, so he’d bought an inexpensive set for her, and a throw that rolled into a tight bundle for himself. He would sleep in his clothes and use the smaller blanket, but he wanted Olivia to be as comfortable as possible. Sable had shared his dreams with Egan, retelling both in great detail as his brother listened in rapt attention.
Egan agreed with Sable that the dreams were important, but there was something Sable didn’t know: Egan had been having similar dreams since the night after he’d fled the house into the woods. His dreams were almost exactly the same as Sable’s except that, in Egan’s dream, he witnessed the birth of his brother’s baby, and he had seen the face of the enemy.
Olivia padded into the room in her bare feet, her now brown hair damp and hanging down her back. She was wearing the contacts and the effect was startling. She still looked a little like Olivia, but her vibrant hair and eyes were no longer visible. She looked like a hundred other women that Egan had seen.
“How do I look?”
“Boring and average.”
Olivia giggled. “I guess that’s exactly what we were going for, right?”
Egan nodded, gesturing towards the bed.
“You said I had some explaining to do. I can’t tell you the entire story, but I can tell you what I know.”
Olivia crawled beneath the covers and wrapped the blanket around her shoulders.
“I’ll try to stay awake for the entire thing, but don’t be offended if I fall asleep. Growing a shifter baby takes a lot out of you.”
Egan smiled. “I’m sure it does.” He shifted on the bed, unsure of how to begin the story.
“I guess I’ll start by telling you that my parents didn’t die in a car accident. They were murdered.”
Olivia listened with rapt attention, her fatigue all but forgotten, as Egan recounted what his brother had told him. Their parents had been part of a small group of shifters that were fighting the old regime, namely the treatment of humans who were involved with shifters.
“More than a few were murdered in the name of preserving the species, and my parents were appalled. They were fighting for fair laws, and the right of humans to make their own choices. Because of my parents’ work, the humans and shifters got together to relax the laws so that humans who were impregnated by shifters weren’t automatically killed. The elders couldn’t accept that humans could be trusted to raise their half-shifter offspring correctly, so they created the laws we have now, forcing the marriage of a human to a shifter if their relationship results in a child being born.”
Egan paused to clear his throat, the pain of his loss etched on his young face as he continued. “My parents and the rest of the small group they led protested this law as well, because it really was no better than the old law. My parents believed that everyone had a right to choose, and that marriage didn’t guarantee anything. Not long after they came out publicly against the councilmen and the humans that were involved in making the new laws, they were killed in an accident. The report claimed that they were speeding, but my dad was a patient and calm man who never drove anywhere near the speed limit, let alone above it. And the other thing that Sable knew from the beginning proved that it was no accident was the fact that my mother was found dead in the driver’s seat. She never learned to drive a car.”
Olivia listened in horror as he spoke, realizing that their current plight was more than just their personal struggle; it was the culmination of all the efforts of the council and a few shifters that were against human interaction entirely and wished to see all humans eradicated.
“Sable knew that he couldn’t risk letting anyone know about the murder, so he played it off like he believed the accident story. He had no idea who was involved, but until he figured it out, it was best if everyone believed that we bought the story we were given. So Sable raised me and did normal things until the councilmen were content that we had no idea what had happened to our parents.”
Olivia yawned, trying to force herself to stay awake.
“I’m almost done with this part, and then we rest.”
She nodded, grateful that he understood her need to sleep.
“The entire time, Sable would tell me stories about a secret passage, and a safe behind an old troll bridge. One day, I was walking into my father’s old office when I realized that there was a troll under a bridge in the painting in the office. I moved the painting and found the safe. Typing in the numbers from a nursery rhyme that Sable had taught me, I was surprised that it opened. It was then I knew that Sable was preparing me for something, but I don’t think either of us knew what. It didn’t think about it again until I started having dreams that mirrored Sable’s. And then I saw his face.”
“Whose face?”
“Laskin. Olivia, he’s going to change everything to the way it once was and destroy anyone who gets in his way.”
“The weasel with the tablet? Are you sure?”
“Make no mistake, he’s a danger to anyone who crosses him. Even Aldrich isn’t safe. He’s poised and ready to send his people on a rampage, and they will kill everyone that stands in their way.”
“Won’t the elders stop him?”
“No. They’re too arrogant to even consider that Laskin would go against them.”
Olivia struggled to stay awake, but she was quickly losing the battle.
“I just have one more question and then I have to sleep, I’m sorry.”
“What is that?”
“What did you write on the note that you left in the safe for Sable.”
“I wrote ‘our last family vacation’ so he would know where we are going.”
“And where is that?”
Egan smiled at her. “You’ll see soon enough. You need your rest. Go to sleep and I’ll wake you up when the car is loaded and we’re ready to move. Sweet dreams, Olivia.”
Olivia smiled at him. “Thank you for saving my life.” She placed her hand on her belly. “I mean our lives.”
Egan nodded. “It’s what I was put on this earth to do. As long as I live, you will always be safe.”
Olivia nodded and rolled over to sleep. Egan watched her until her breathing steadied before he laid down on his own bed. They had a long day of driving ahead of them tomorrow. He needed to rest.
CHAPTER SIX
Laskin hurried through the darkness, glancing over his shoulder every few minutes to make sure he wasn’t being followed. He had to get a message to the brotherhood before Aldrich caught up with him. Infuriated, Aldrich had told Laskin that he was as good as fired, and to turn over any property of the council before he left.
Stalling so that he could get away before Aldrich and the others realized the depth of his betrayal, he had bowed low, muttering his shame at having failed the council. He claimed embarrassment that he had mistakenly followed Sable that fateful day, noting that he had been told to follow Sable and not the human. So when they split up for the first time in weeks, Laskin did what he was told. He kept his eyes low, his voice heavy as he apologized for his regrettable choice.
Aldrich took pity on Laskin.
“Laskin. You have been my right hand for the better part of a decade. I should know that you only do as you’re told.” Aldrich chuckled to himself. “That’s all you’ve ever been capable of doing.”
It took everything he had to remain bowed as Aldrich insulted him throughout his apology. Aldrich would see soon enough what Laskin was capable of.
Aldrich continued, oblivious to Laskin’s barely concealed rage. “I was rash in my decision, old friend. You’re not fired, and there will be no punishment for following Sable that day instead of Olivia. None of us could have known what was going to transpire that day, and I will not lay blame on you for the actions of others.”
“Thank you, Aldrich. Your kindness is more than I deserve.”
With that, Aldrich left the room in search of Sable. Laskin snuck out of the house while Aldrich stormed through halls of Sable’s massive home, looking for the free-spirited man.
Still checking over his shoulder, Laskin stopped briefly, shifting to tiger form so he could cover more ground. His white coat gleamed silver in the moonlight, stretching across his slender muscles he broke into a fast clip in the forest.
Within minutes, he came to the once-abandoned cabin deep in the woods. Laskin slowed, circling the cabin several times to make sure that there was no one lying in wait for him in the bushes surrounding it. Satisfied that he was safe, he shifted back to his human form, walking into the cabin and greeting the small group of about twenty men waiting there.
Laskin addressed the men. “Brothers. What we feared has become reality. A shifter has mated with a human, and will be forced to marry the shifter by the end of the month or face death.”
The small crowd murmured to each other, enraged by the injustice forced upon a human by the shifters. Laskin raised his hand, silencing the angry men.
“She’s been kidnapped, taken to who knows where to be forced to give birth to an abomination! I ask you now, brothers, who is willing to stand with me and fight for the human right to be free from the tyranny of the shifters and their oppressive laws? Who here will stand and say, ‘We will not live in fear of shifters any longer! We will stand up and fight for humankind and our right to live as nature intended!’ Who here will join me in the fight for our rights, and our freedom?”
The men roared, coming to their feet to applaud Laskin and his bravery. Laskin surveyed the small group, a smug smile tugging at his lips that resembled pride. Each of th
ese men represented a group of anti-shifters working quietly to end the oppression of humans by shifters. Laskin had brought them together long ago, convincing them that they would be stronger together, when the time was right.
“The time has finally come to stand up and say that we will not tolerate them bringing their laws to our world. We will not stand by while they kidnap and torture our women to propagate their species. It’s time we took back what’s ours and fought for our rights, as humans.”
Laskin pulled the tablet off of the fireplace mantle and pulled up pictures of Egan, Sable, and Olivia.
“This is the woman that you’re saving. And these are her kidnappers. Make no mistake, they have brainwashed this poor woman into believing that they are a family. They are hiding out together, but they could be anywhere by now.” As Laskin spoke, the men passed the tablet around, each taking out his cell phone to take pictures of the woman and her captors.
“Send these photographs to your families and friends. The more people that have their pictures, the better. If we use our resources, we can find her before it’s too late.”
The men applauded again, quickly passing the tablet around until they’d each taken a picture of the group. A bearded man handed Laskin back the tablet, shaking his hand and patting him on the back. Laskin fought the urge to wipe the human stench from his hand as he smiled at the man and thanked him for his bravery.
The group flowed out of the cabin, eagerly heading towards their respective homes to begin the process of plastering the photos all over social media. By this time tomorrow, someone would spot Olivia and Egan. And when they did, Laskin would take care of Olivia and the brothers once and for all. Her murder, at the hands of her own kind, would set in motion a series of events that would tear down everything Aldrich and the council had foolishly worked so hard on for decades. They could go back to the days where humans feared shifters, and Laskin wouldn’t have to pretend to be one of these vile humans any longer. These men were about to serve his purpose, and lose their lives fighting against their own cause.
