“How do you make this climb in your wolf form?” Jackie asked.
“I don’t. On four legs I can go straight to the bottom by leaving the trail a ways back. On two legs, that’s not possible.”
When they made it to the pool at the base of the falls without incident, Jackie regained her happy demeanor. Carter, on the other hand, didn’t. Mooney Falls brought back far too many memories and, despite his best efforts, they flooded him now.
He’d been seventeen years old when he met Gina. He’d left his village shortly after sunset so he could let his wolf out for a run. It was his favorite thing to do. Contrary to popular literature, Carter’s wolf was a part of him—not a mindless beast he turned into. His body shifted, yet his consciousness remained intact. In his animal form the darkness wasn’t an issue, so he ran full speed along the creek and over the rocks.
As he neared the large pool at Mooney Falls he heard someone singing. Although hikers were warned against being out there after dark, it wasn’t unheard of for them to ignore the advice. Carter’s wolf slowed until his movements were silent. His curiosity about the outside world drew him toward the voice. But when he got close, he saw that it wasn’t an outsider who was singing. It was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. She had long black hair with a small white flower tucked above her ear. She looked so fragile against the backdrop of the rock walls.
Ducking behind a tree, he’d changed back to his human form and put on the clothes he always kept strapped to his back. It was a habit he’d insisted on since being caught naked by some less-than-discrete classmates when he was thirteen. When he emerged from behind the tree the girl was gone, her beautiful voice no longer wafting to the heavens. His level of disappointment surprised him.
“Hi.”
Carter jumped at the unexpected sound, chastising himself for not being cooler. When she giggled at his reaction, his embarrassment grew to epic teenage proportion.
“Were you spying on me?”
“Uh, no. Of course not. I was just out for a walk and you happened to be in the same place. That’s all. Nothing weird.” Carter could hear himself sounding like the idiot that he was but couldn’t seem to stop himself. “What about you? Maybe you were spying on me.”
Her smile grew and lit up her entire face as she reached her hand out to him. “My name’s Gina. What’s yours?”
“Carter. It’s nice to meet you, Gina.”
Carter’s trip down memory lane was interrupted by Jackie’s exclamation, “Oh my God! This place is spectacular. I’ve never seen anything more beautiful.”
Carter looked around and realized they’d already arrived at Beaver Falls. He’d been on autopilot while thinking about Gina and hadn’t even noticed the time passing. “It is pretty cool.”
All of the falls were incredible, but this one was something special. It was like someone had carved an enormous staircase in the narrow space between the canyon walls. The water cascading over each step was such a bright blue that it seemed almost unnatural. Carter had been there more times than he could count, but the beauty and power of the place never failed to amaze him. “The chief will be down there.” He pointed to a spot about halfway up the second level, then led the way there.
Hidden behind bushes and rocks, the small cave was difficult to see. The chief believed its location had been successfully hidden from everyone. He was wrong. It was considered the worst kept secret of the canyon. Every local knew where it was, but out of respect for the chief they pretended they didn’t.
Carter entered first, holding back the branches for Jackie to follow. When he let them go before Han got through, he was rewarded with a few carefully chosen curse words. “Love you too, buddy.”
The temperature inside was about twenty degrees cooler and Carter enjoyed the relief as much as his companions seemed to. But his enjoyment was short-lived.
“Who’s there?” The voice was soft but still succeeded in sending a shiver down Carter’s spine.
“It’s Carter. I’m with some friends and we need to talk to you.”
There was a brief moment of silence. “Come in, then.”
When they rounded the bend, they found the chief sitting cross-legged with a bowl of fragrant flowers in front of him. He turned his piercing gaze on Carter. “How did you find this place?”
“Lucky guess. Look, we really need to ask you some questions.”
“I see living in the outside world hasn’t helped your manners. Introduce your friends.”
Carter’s jaw clenched at the condescending tone, but he grudgingly obeyed. “This is Han Li and Jackie Barns,” He gestured to each in turn before continuing. “And this is Chief Mockta, my father.”
He had to give his friends credit. Although their shock at his revelation of being the chief’s son was evident, they held their tongues and simply nodded their greetings.
“We need to know what’s been going on with the Yavapai. Have you heard anything … unusual?”
A sneer curled the chief’s lips. “Of course that’s the first thing you want to ask about. I should have known when they returned you would follow. Have you still not learned your lesson? They cannot be trusted. You should understand that more than anyone.”
“That’s not why I’m here, Father. There have been—”
“I am not your father! You stopped being my son the day you left,” the chief growled.
Carter clenched his fists at his side to keep from lashing out. When he regained enough control to speak, his words were laced with as much venom as his father’s. “Yes, I did. You made sure of that. I am not here as your son or a member of your tribe. I’m here as an Omega Group agent. You can keep playing this game or you can tell me what I need to know so I can do my job and get out of here.”
The chief stared at him, allowing every bit of his anger and resentment to show. “Speak to the healer. He has what you need.” Carter nodded his head and turned to leave, but the chief wasn’t finished. “Do not tell anyone where you found me. This is my sacred chamber and it must remain a secret.”
Carter snorted at his father’s arrogance. You old fool. When he turned to leave he saw the looks of pity on his friends’ faces. He glared at them until they dropped their gazes. They had a long hike back to the village and he didn’t want them using the time to question him. Better to shut them out now.
God, I am such an asshole.
Chapter 5
By the time they reached the village it was well past dinnertime and, if the rumblings of their stomachs were to be believed, everyone was hungry. Their first stop was the lodge. It was far too late to consider making the hike back to the hilltop, and they needed rooms for the night.
The same woman was working the reception desk and, although still appearing friendly, she was more than happy to charge them double for the rooms. “Will there be anything else you need, Mr. Mockta?” A smile was plastered on her face but it didn’t reach her eyes.
“No.” Carter grabbed the keys off the counter and led the way to their rooms.
“So, I’m getting the sense that you’re not real popular here. Are you sure you want to spend the night?” Jackie’s concern succeeded in lightening Carter’s mood.
“It wouldn’t be my first choice, but it’s the only one we have right now.” A cheeky grin crossed his face. “And you guys will give me hugs if it gets too rough, right?”
Han laughed out loud. “Ha! Hardly. Especially the way you smell right now.”
Jackie chimed in her agreement. “Yeah. I think we could all use a shower. Meet you guys in the lobby in twenty minutes?”
Half an hour later they were seated at a small table in the closest thing the village had to a restaurant. The café was functional with a limited menu, but it lacked even the semblance of style or comfort. The lone waitress took her time getting to their table and showed her utter lack of interest in serving them once there. Although Carter initially assumed her attitude was due to his presence, he soon noticed that she offered the sam
e quality of service to everyone.
“Nice place,” Jackie said.
“Yeah, well, when there’s no competition, you can’t really expect much.” Carter had almost forgotten how bad the food was at the café, but they were so hungry from the day’s exertion they eagerly cleaned their plates.
Sipping from a cup of gas-station-quality coffee, Carter tensed when a hand grabbed his shoulder. Readying himself to accept whatever verbal abuse was about to be thrown his way, he turned his gaze upward.
“Carter Mockta. Is that you?” The voice of the smiling old man held no malice, and Carter felt relief wash over him.
“Bidzil,” Carter said with a smile as he stood to shake the man’s hand. “It’s good to see you.”
The man looked at Carter’s outstretched hand, shook his head, and pulled him into a friendly embrace. “It has been far too long, my friend. What brings you home?”
“Actually, that’s something we wanted to talk to you about.” Carter made the introductions. “These are my friends, Han Li and Jackie Barns. Guys, this is the tribe’s healer, Bidzil.”
Pulling up a chair from a nearby table, Bidzil signaled to the waitress to bring more coffee and slowly sat down. “If the Omega Group has sent the three of you here, things must be worse than I thought. Tell me what I can do to help.”
“We need information. I know some weird things have been happening and I know the Yavapai are back, but I need details.”
The healer nodded as the waitress brought fresh coffee, but waited until she was gone before answering. “These are strange times, indeed. Our first tribe member went missing almost four months ago. Since then, four more boys have disappeared. We have found no trace of them.”
Jackie was the first to find her voice. “Why weren’t we told that there were five missing people in this case?”
“My father,” Carter said. “He doesn’t believe in asking for outside help. We probably wouldn’t know that anything was going on here at all if it weren’t for the park ranger reporting it. Bidzil, what do you know about the Yavapai?”
“Not much, I’m afraid. They arrived during early spring and have been staying on the southwest tip of the Navajo reservation. At first, we didn’t see or hear from them, but in the last couple of months there have been several attacks.”
“Is it possible that they succeeded in obtaining shape-shifter abilities?” Carter asked.
The confusion on Bidzil’s face gave him his answer before he voiced it. “What makes you think that?”
“We had a run-in at the airport when we landed. Someone, a native, took a few shots at us. When we caught up to him, he shifted into a bear and disappeared into the woods.”
Bidzil was silent. When he finally spoke, his fear was evident. “I’m sorry, but I must go speak with your father. If what you say is true, we are all in grave danger.”
“We’re staying at the lodge tonight. If you come across anything else that might help us, let me know. And please, Bidzil, don’t let my father try to deal with this on his own.”
“You have my word.” After a quick goodbye, Bidzil was gone.
Carter threw cash on the table to cover their bill and a meager tip the waitress really didn’t deserve. When they reached their rooms at the lodge he turned to Jackie. “Can you call Myrine to give her an update? There’s someone I need to find who might give us some answers.”
“No problem. Take Han with you.”
“No can do. Where I’m going, you need four legs.”
Chapter 6
Carter’s wolf ran through the darkness of the valley at full speed, his pack of clothing bouncing against his back with every stride. The tension created by the day’s events was washed away by the utter freedom he felt when leaving behind the world of man.
Thoughts of Gina bombarded him as he neared Mooney Falls. Their first meeting and, of course, their last, replayed over and over in his mind.
For the almost three years they’d been together, they’d managed to keep their relationship a secret. Gina was Yavapai, and their tribes would never have allowed them to continue seeing one another. So they kept it under wraps, meeting after dark whenever possible, often spending the entire night together.
In the beginning, Carter convinced himself that what they had would be enough. The clandestine nature of their affair added a level of urgency to every meeting and the excitement was intoxicating. It wasn’t long, though, before he realized he needed more. He’d fallen in love.
When, on Carter’s twentieth birthday, his father announced that it was time he took a wife, he knew he had to make a choice. There were only two roads available to him. Either he fulfilled his duty as the chief’s son and married the woman his father chose for him, or he brought his relationship with Gina out of the shadows.
Of course, his heart ended up making that decision for him. He’d chosen Gina. If only she’d chosen me, too.
When he reached the base of the falls, he looked for her. Although he had no reason to believe she’d be there, he found himself feeling disappointed at her absence. He needed to know if it was Gina he’d seen from the helicopter earlier that day.
Why do I care?
Gina had betrayed him. She’d captured his heart and used it to further her own selfish ambition. Gina was Yavapai, and he’d known better than to trust her. But he’d ignored his instincts and chosen to see what he wanted to see. Because of that, he’d lost everything. But, no matter how much he hated her for what she did, he also hated himself for allowing it to happen.
So, why am I here again?
A pebble skipped off the rock to Carter’s right, landing at his paws. Then another and another. He backed away into a shadow created by the moonlight, his jet-black fur allowing him to become invisible. The pebbles were falling from high above him but he couldn’t see who—or what—was there. The noise from the falls made it impossible to hear anything other than the drone of cascading water.
Keeping an ever-watchful eye on the space above him, Carter moved further from the water. The horseshoe-shaped canyon that housed the narrow falls had a natural incline up one side, and Carter used it to reach the plateau at its top. It was a popular place for tourists as the view was spectacular, but not at this time of night. Darkness made that plateau even more dangerous than it was beautiful. If someone was up there, they were either lost, stupid, or up to no good.
As he rounded the curve, Carter heard the voices.
“I don’t care if they do find out. Everyone else got to go except us. It’s not fair.”
“That’s crap and you know it. No one under sixteen was allowed to go. It’s the rules.”
“Screw the rules! I’m going. You wanna act like a baby, go ahead.”
Carter listened as the obviously young boys continued to argue. It was an age-old disagreement presumably experienced by every pair of siblings in the world. One wants to break the rules while the other doesn’t. Normally, Carter would have simply left the two to their argument, allowing them to work it out. In this case, though, he couldn’t. Those kids could get hurt, or worse, if he left them up there alone.
Shifting to his human form, Carter pulled on the clothes from his pack and walked toward them. Although his eyesight was nowhere near as keen in this form, the moonlight made it easy enough for him to find them. They were still in the throes of their argument and failed to even notice they were no longer alone. Carter couldn’t help but smile at their adolescent behavior.
“If you tell Mom, I’ll kill you!”
“I’m not gonna say nothing, Ben. I promise. It’s just that we’re not supposed to be anywhere near here. You know what’ll happen if we get caught.”
“Nothing’s gonna happen, Lou. Geez, you are such a baby sometimes. I’m not gonna join the fight or anything. I just want to see them kick some Havasupai ass, that’s all.”
The smile immediately left Carter’s face as realization dawned on him. A raiding party was being sent to the village.
When he
stepped back, his right foot landed on a small rock and his ankle twisted painfully. Carter chastised himself for being so careless.
“Who the hell are you?” The older boy, Ben, he thought, puffed up his chest in a feeble effort to look tough.
“I’m Carter, and you’re gonna tell me when the raiding party is planning to hit my village.” Carter limped forward, in no mood to deal with some snot-nosed kid’s attitude.
“Like hell I will.”
The younger one, Lou, grabbed his brother’s shoulder. “We should go, Ben. Now.”
“No way. This guy can’t even walk right. We can kick a little Havasupai ass of our own.”
“Come on, Ben. Don’t be stupid.” Lou was now tugging on his older brother’s shoulder.
Carter stared the boys down. “Listen to your brother, Ben. He’s obviously the smart one.”
Ben’s testosterone must’ve been in full swing because, instead of backing down, he raised it up a notch. “It’s happening now, you moron.”
Shit. I’m out here nursing a broken heart while the village is being attacked. Carter turned his back on the little turd and his brother and moved as quickly as his ankle would allow off the plateau. He had to get back before it was too late. He’d only made it a few steps when he heard the struggle behind him escalate. He looked over his shoulder in time to see Ben shove his little brother away and charge toward him.
Carter’s eyes widened in fear. Not at the boy about to attack him, but at the boy who’d just been pushed over the cliff. He made his choice in an instant. Although he knew his village—and his friends—needed him, that boy needed him more.
Forgetting the pain in his ankle, Carter pushed Ben aside and sprinted to where the boy went over. He felt a rush of relief as he saw the boy clinging to the rock wall less than five feet down. His fingertips had found a crevice, but his feet were flailing as they tried to find purchase of their own. “Kid,” Carter yelled. “Stop swinging your feet. You’ll lose your grip.”
To Carter’s surprise, the boy immediately stilled. The fear in his eyes was evident, but he was dealing with it well. “Don’t worry. I’ll get you up.” Carter turned around to find Ben muttering to himself and pacing back and forth. “Ben, get over here. I need your help.” The boy didn’t respond so Carter walked over, grabbed him by the shirt collar, and leaned down until they were nose to nose. “Ben, your brother can’t hold on for much longer. I can’t reach him by myself. I need you to help me.” The boy’s gaze finally met Carter’s and he nodded his understanding. “Are you wearing a leather belt?”
Rogue (Book 2) (The Omega Group) Page 3
