by Sammie Joyce
“Still a cat,” Jackal grumbled but a small smirk formed on his lips. “But Nia’s problem.”
I chuckled mirthlessly.
“I don’t want to be a fly on the wall when that confrontation takes place.”
Jackal paused, his eyes pensive as he stared at me.
“If there’s one shifter working with them, do you suppose there are others?”
“I’d say that’s a safe assumption,” I agreed.
“We need to get the Council together and tell them all this, Amity.”
I knew he was right but the idea of coming clean, knowing what was at stake, was too much to bear.
“Tomorrow?” I asked quietly. “I have something I need to do tonight.”
Jackal’s face softened as he realized what was on my mind.
“You need to end things with this human, don’t you?”
I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat and looked away. I didn’t want to admit that was what was on my mind because I wasn’t sure I could honestly do it when faced with Wes.
“Tomorrow?” I asked again, deliberately avoiding the question.
“Tomorrow,” he agreed. “Now go deal with your human before you lose your nerve.”
* * *
The night was black, an overtaking of clouds limiting the dull light of the moon. It was a perfect cloak for cover and for a long while, I stood at the property line, debating my next move.
I needed to talk to Wes, if only to tell him I was okay, but would I be able to end it with him?
I had a terrible feeling I couldn’t do it.
To my surprise, the front door opened and Wes padded onto the patio in only a pair of jeans, shirtless. I couldn’t help but admire him from the distance but as my gleaming silver eyes took in his face, I read the intense worry there.
He’s worried about me.
The thought was enough to shift me into my human form and in seconds, I was striding toward him.
“Amity!”
The relief in his voice almost knocked me over and he raced to embrace me with open arms.
“Thank God you’re okay!”
I allowed myself to sink into his hug, relishing the smell of his body, his pheromones overtaking me in such a wave, I wanted to sob.
“I’m sorry you were worried,” I murmured, stepping back to look at him. His eyes were huge.
“I heard everything on the call,” he told me. It hadn’t occurred to me that he might have but it made sense when he said it.
“I got out,” I assured him. “It was Anticlaw.”
“I know.” A grimness took over his tone. “And I’m sorry.”
I eyed him curiously.
“Why are you sorry?” I asked. “It’s not your fault. Some woman named Veronica told them who I was and where to find me.”
“I know that too. It’s all my fault.”
A knot of dread formed in my gut.
“What do you mean?” I asked slowly. Wes hung his head in shame.
“Veronica and I were dating,” he explained. “I broke it off with her and she retaliated.”
I gaped at him, shock and anger overtaking me.
“Y-you told her who I was? What I am?” I gasped, putting more space between us. Could I have been that wrong about him? Would he have endangered me after all?
Maybe the Council is right. Humans are terrible creatures.
“I didn’t tell her anything about you,” Wes said. I read the sincerity in his face but I didn’t understand how else this Veronica could have learned the truth.
“Somehow, she figured it out on her own,” Wes continued as I eyed him uncertainly. “But…”
My eyebrows shot up.
“But what?”
Wes exhaled.
“But this made me realize that you’ll never be safe as long as we’re together, Amity. There will always be people like Veronica trying to drive a wedge between us.”
I opened my mouth to protest, to tell him that I could handle whatever humans threw at me, but the arguments all died there.
He’s right. I shouldn’t be displaced and running from my home. I shouldn’t have to hide the fact that we’re together. This is just the start of our relationship. How is it going be in six months? A year?
Slowly, I closed my lips, regret and sadness welling up inside me.
“It’s hard to accept,” Wes murmured, again drawing me into his arms, but this time I resisted. I didn’t want to sink back against him, to inhale his manly scent. I didn’t want to do it, knowing it was the last time we’d ever be together.
“Amity…” he murmured when I pulled myself away.
“It’s okay,” I told him, swallowing the emotion bubbling in my throat. “You’re right. It’s better and safer this way.”
“Amity, come inside,” he pleaded but I had already turned and morphed back into my panther body, determined to run far and fast before he could see the tears flowing from my eyes. For as tough and ferocious as shifters could be, we still hurt just as deeply as the softest human, a fact I never wanted anyone to know, especially not the man I was sure was my mate.
17
Amity
This time, the attack wasn’t kept out of any of the news outlets.
Two dozen had been wounded, according to the last media report, four dead and half a dozen unaccounted for. That didn’t include the shifters.
We had three wounded, one dead, and a mass panic around the bonfire.
“What the hell is going on?” Lorna roared. “There’s literal bloodshed in the streets now!”
“Anticlaw attacked a street festival!” Dalton barked back, the Protector so tense, his neck seemed extended from his head. His two counterparts were in their animal form, pacing relentlessly around the bonfire. No one was able to sit still, the aftermath of this latest assault still chilling us.
“You know anything about this?” Nia hissed at me. I glared at her, annoyed that she was picking such a moment to start with me.
“How the hell would I know anything about it?” I bit back.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Nia retorted sarcastically. “Maybe because you were in the middle of the last one.”
“Okay, that’s enough,” Jackal snapped, stepping protectively between me and Nia as though he was worried I might lunge for her jugular. “Amity told you the truth about that so that we can move forward, not have it thrown in her face at every turn.”
“Witnesses are talking this time,” Cronin offered and all eyes moved toward the massive bear. He was the only bear protector and like Jackal and me, didn’t add much to the conversation as a general rule. That night, however, he was every bit as animated as the rest of us. There was a charge in the air, one which made breathing difficult. Something was going to happen that night. I could feel it as well as everyone else.
“Well?” Nia yelled at him. “What are they saying?”
“That depends on who you ask,” Anthony volunteered. “The humans are claiming the shifters started it and vice versa.”
“Right,” Fernando said bitingly. “The shifters just bonded together and decided to attack Anticlaw in public. Why aren’t you doing your jobs?”
He was asking the Protectors but it wasn’t a fair question.
“We are doing our jobs!” Tybalt snapped back. I gave my panther a warning look but he either didn’t see it or didn’t heed it. “There are more Anticlaw vigilantes than there are Protectors.”
“I mean, why haven’t you been keeping the humans and shifters separate!” Fernando roared at him. I was irked that he was taking his frustrations out on my Protector and stepped forward but Jackal held me back.
“What you’re asking is impossible,” Dalton said flatly. “Our worlds aren’t structured to be independent. The shifters need to eat and pay their bills just like the humans. You couldn’t segregate us for long.”
“This would have never happened if you’d just kept the shifters away!” Fernando insisted. “Anticlaw would have nowhere to go but into our
communities if we were all kept apart and they’re not that stupid. This could have been avoided!”
I grunted.
It had been two excruciating weeks since the order had come down to keep us apart but as it always did, the rule fell apart and life returned to normal. I had gone back to work and I knew the Protectors had too. In my case, however, I needed to not for money but because being alone with my own thoughts was proving to be too much. Every time I closed my eyes, I could see Wes there. I caught whiffs of him everywhere and often thought I saw him.
He had sent me a few texts but I had willfully ignored them, knowing that I was only going to make matters worse by communicating with him. I had hoped that over time, the pain of the loss would diminish, but it only seemed to grow, like the hole in my heart was widening, not healing.
“What are you grunting at?” Bula barked at me. I hadn’t realized I’d made a sound but I didn’t falter at her question.
“I’m grunting because this is futile and endless,” I retorted. “Haven’t we proven time and again that segregation doesn’t work?”
“It won’t work if we don’t stay on the course,” Jack interjected, shaking his head.
“It doesn’t work because it doesn’t bloody work!” Jackal shot back. I gave him an appreciative look. I knew it wasn’t easy for him to go against the Council but it wasn’t just us against them. We had the backing of the Protectors too.
“They’re right,” Marcel volunteered, shifting into his human body. “What we’re doing is the very definition of insanity—the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Anticlaw keeps blindsiding us, leaving us no choice but to defend ourselves.”
A peculiar sensation crept down my neck as I heard his argument and my eyes grew wide.
“Whose fault is that?” Fernando growled.
“All of ours,” I said softly, an idea taking hold inside my head.
“It’s easy to throw blame around,” Homer sighed. “But I’m not hearing a lot in terms of solutions.”
“Anticlaw has shifters working with them,” I murmured. “That’s where they’re getting their intel and surprise attacking us.”
“Who says?”
“I say,” I barked at Fernando. “I saw Gavin Boyle at the Galley with my own eyes, heard his name called by other Anticlaw members. He’s helping them and you can bet your asses that there are other shifters.”
“Boyle has been dealt with,” Nia interrupted, paling at the mention of the rogue leopard.
“Be that as it may, you know what they say about rats…” I said.
“You have no proof that there are others!” Bula cried, sounding offended that I would suggest something like that.
I grimaced.
“Why don’t you put the arguments down for a minute and let me speak my piece. You want a solution. Let me give you one.”
I felt all stares turn to me and I inhaled. I closed my eyes for a moment, knowing how my next words were going to be received by half the meeting.
“Well?” Lorna snapped. “Are you praying or are you speaking?”
I opened my eyes.
“We need to recruit humans onto our side. We need to make an anti-Anticlaw movement.”
The silence I expected fell heavy and pregnant over all of us. Then chaos ensued.
“…lost your mind?”
“…been saying that all along!”
“…stupidest idea I’ve ever heard!”
All the voices meshed together until Homer unleashed an unholy roar in his bear body, causing everyone to shut up and calm down.
“Why don’t you try to explain what the hell you mean, Amity?” Homer said quietly, his eyes boring into me. He wasn’t the only one looking at me with sheer malice but I didn’t care.
“If shifters are willing to side against us and I know that there are humans willing to help us, we need to think outside everything we’ve been doing all along and try something else.”
“Ridiculous!” Nia spat. “Absolutely not!”
“Hear her out!” It was Marcel who spoke again, his voice tinged with excitement. I gave him a wan smile. It was no surprise to me that most of the Protectors were on board with my notion but that might not be enough.
“I’m thinking like a human Protector team,” I ventured on. “Honestly, I haven’t given it a lot of thought but something like that could work.”
“It won’t!” Lorna shouted, looking at Nia for support.
Oh, that’s not good. Dividing the Council is not a good strategy.
“Why not?” I demanded, crossing my arms and staring at her meaningfully.
“Why not?” Lorna scoffed. “You just want to let in any old human? We could be bringing in Anticlaw members inadvertently!”
“We’ll vet them the same way we vet the shifter Protectors,” I replied, unperturbed by her argument.
“The best thing we can do is stay apart!” Nia shrilled. I didn’t need to respond to that. Landon and Anthony scoffed in unison.
“It doesn’t work!” they chorused. A low grumble filled my ears and I saw that the Council was tensing, ready to shift in their anger.
“Stop!” I snapped at them. “Don’t lose control. As Homer said, we need solutions, not complaints. We can’t keep taking hits from Anticlaw. They need to be stopped and they’re only growing stronger. Unless you can think of a better idea, I say we vote on this right now.”
“You’ll lose this vote!” Lorna laughed humorlessly. “It’s you against us.”
“No,” I replied quietly. “You’ve forgotten that the Protectors are here.”
“They don’t get to vote!” Nia screamed.
“The hell they don’t,” Jackal growled. “They’re the ones on the front lines every day. This affects them more than it does us.”
I exhaled in relief and made a mental note to buy Jackal a huge bottle of scotch for his support. He had let me stay at his place in the days following the attack on my property but after a while, I’d just wanted to return home to my own surroundings. If Anticlaw was coming back for me, I’d be ready. So far, they hadn’t come but I had a feeling they hadn’t forgotten about me.
“Let’s put it to a vote then,” I insisted. I didn’t want to stay there a moment longer than necessary. I’d already spent more time with the Council over the past weeks than I wanted.
Funny how a few weeks ago, I thought of them as my social life. Now I can’t wait to get the hell away from them.
Then again, a few weeks ago, I would have never believed I could have fallen in love with a human. Now, I was recruiting them to our most sacred circles. Time really could change everything.
“All opposed to recruiting humans, raise your hands,” I said, leading the vote before anyone could change their minds.
Unsurprisingly, the leopard Councilmen and wolf Councilmen raised their hands. I eyed Homer and Bula, who seemed uncomfortable as they toyed with their fingers. Abruptly, they threw their hands up last minute, totaling the opposition at six.
“All for recruiting humans?” I continued, feeling a swell of pride as I saw we’d won the vote.
As I had predicted, the eight Protectors raised their hands without hesitation, even the leopards who carefully avoided Nia’s scathing gaze. Jackal and I added our hands to the vote, bringing us to ten. We had won in a landslide, much to the fury of the others.
“This is going to backfire in your faces!” Nia hissed, whirling to storm away in her usual fashion. “And when it does, don’t come crying to us like you did last time.”
I opened my mouth to remind her that I hadn’t come crying to anyone but what was the point? Nia was only apt to see things her own way.
Jackal put a hand on my arm and smiled at me but I could read the concern in his face as the Protectors celebrated our victory with high-fives and smiles of glee.
How often do they get one up on the Council? I mused, allowing them their childish victory.
“Do you have any thoughts on who we might
recruit as our starting line of defense?” Jackal asked in a low voice as the rest of the Council stomped off, casting the panther Councilmen scathing looks.
“As I said, we’ll have to carefully vet everyone,” I replied slowly but the glint in Jackal’s eye told me that he knew something I didn’t know yet.
“Of course,” he agreed lightly. “Need a ride home?”
I shook my head. I needed a run that night more than any other. I had just won a huge victory over a very staunch group of elders. If only I had someone to share the news with.
Someone like Wes, you mean?
I morphed into my panther body and flew away into the night. Maybe I did have someone in mind for the human Protectors after all.
18
Wes
Malcolm’s beaming face should have made me happier but I was still finding it hard to muster a smile.
“I can’t believe you’ve made that much money on my portfolio already!” Mal chortled. “What are you? Some kind of financial guru?”
“I must be,” I laughed even though I wasn’t feeling it. “I’m glad you’re happy with the way things are going.”
Mal leaned closer to his web cam, his eyes shadowing slightly as he peered at my face.
“You okay there, pal? You look a little drained.”
I shrugged nonchalantly. I wasn’t going to unload my list of woes upon him. He was my client, not my friend, after all. What could I tell him? That every time I saw a shifter, I felt a wave of melancholy for the shifter that should have been mine? That I hadn’t slept through the night once since losing Amity? That I would have given anything to have her back in my life?
“I’m fine,” I lied. Mal chuckled and sat back. I could tell he didn’t believe me.
“Let me guess,” he said. “Women troubles?”
“Something like that,” I agreed, seeing that he wasn’t going to let me off the hook.
“Well, I hope it works out for you, pal. Any woman that would give you up would be making a huge mistake.”
“I don’t know if you’re hitting on me or paying me a compliment,” I joked. Mal hooted.
“Maybe a bit of both,” he replied slyly. “With all the money you’re making me, I might need to put you in a gilded cage.”
