It was freeing to be able to run with him and not hold back. I felt as if I didn’t need to hide who or what I was in front of him. Thus far, he had completely respected my privacy and had secretly admired my uniqueness without question.
Borus’s tracks were not the only ones I spotted as we ran. Even at our amplified speed, I knew Ceyn’s tracks anywhere. They had a unique shape that only he and his brothers possessed.
I shrugged it off and hoped the situation with Xena would prove to not be as big a deal as we feared. When we got her to safety, I could double back and find him. My two objectives at the time were to find Xena and keep Xander cool enough so that things didn’t escalate without us getting his sister to safety.
I actually blew past Xander for fun. We were faced with a serious situation, but there was still that competitive bone in my body that wanted to be the best at what we were doing.
I could hear the sound of men’s voices before we came up on them. Whether Xander’s hearing was anywhere as good as mine was still a mystery to me. My thundering feet slowed to a less than a jog, and I put a hand up to signal to Xander to stop running.
I tapped my ears and pointed forward. I spun my finger around to tell him that we should stay low and go around, separating so we could approach them from two different angles.
Chapter 15
Slowly, we stalked the men from opposing sides. I spotted Borus first. Three other men accompanied him, all wearing nearly the same attire. The only variation seemed to be the color of vest and the print on their shirts.
“Your brother thought he was slick, threatening me. He doesn’t want me to have you, and I don’t want you, so where does that leave us?”
His words cut through me worse than any blade could.
Watching my step, I quietly got into a position where I could take my best shot.
Before I could take out my bow, Xander’s black fur charged across the clearing, head first into the man closest to him.
“What the hell!” Borus turned, his eyes red hot with blood lust.
Xander had knocked his target onto his feet, but before he could turn to assess the other men, they were already beginning to shift. Their clothing shredding off around them, their bodies grew.
I ran to get myself into a better angle. Borus would have to wait. He was the farthest away and the least threat since Xander had three other men to fight off first.
Sliding the bow from behind me, I positioned my arms to prepare for the first arrow. I could shoot fast, at least ten arrows per minute if I needed to if I had the trajectory to hit my target.
Just as my arm pulled back the arrow to hit the light brown bear raising his claw to Xander’s back, I heard a moaning sound coming from the other side of the clearing.
From the corner of my eye, I watched as Xena’s blonde hair spread out on a bed of dried leaves and dirt. Her pain shot through me as if I had been the one on the receiving end of my bow.
Xander needed me, but Xena needed me more. Something was wrong. Her babies were in danger. I couldn’t ignore her suffering.
With my bow in one hand and the arrow in the other, I took off into a sprint across the opening. Borus and Xena were farther than I’d anticipated. Even at my speed, I wasn’t fast enough to get to her before he did.
Borus grabbed Xena by the hair and started to lift her off the ground.
“No!” she cried as she doubled forward with her hands clutching her belly.
“There is one very simple way to deal with the likes of you and the vermin you carry in your fat, disgusting belly. I can’t believe I actually fucked your grotesque ass.” Borus pulled a hunting knife from a small leather case attached to his belt.
Tears streamed down Xena’s scrunched up face as it filled with a fear I had never seen before. Sheer panic for the safety of her unborn children more so than for her own life. Her feet kicked at the dirt as her body lifted.
“Hey, Xander! You think you are a tough guy, huh? How about now? You dumb piece of shit. Have fun being ripped to shreds by my crew.” He laughed. “Don’t worry, they will keep you alive long enough to watch me cut your sister and her spawn to bits.”
His threats distracted Xander. The loss of concentration allowed one of the bears to kick his leg. The force of it took him down to his knees. A large clenched paw came crashing down from the other direction, and it slammed into Xander’s jaw, knocking him back into a sway.
Bruno cried out with a maniacal laugh.
“Get off me!” Xena screamed.
“Shut up, bitch.” Before he even finished yelling at her, the handle of the knife thudded into her face.
I watched as her eyes rolled back and her body went limp, hanging by her hair in his hand.
His chin notched upward. “Now it’s time to get to cutting.”
“Oh hell no, it’s not!” I shouted and raised my bow and arrow. It had been a long time since I needed to shoot and run at the same time.
With my bow raised in my left hand, I notched my arrow, drew my right thumb across the edge of my lip, and slid it against my cheek.
There was no way I could close one eye this time. Luck or fate would have to be on my side while I took aim. Brunos wasn’t the only target I had.
I released the arrow, aiming at the hand Brunos used to grip the knife. He’d had it angled and ready to cut into Xena’s belly. The smug look on his face flashed white, and his eyes went wide as my arrow shot right through his wrist. He dropped the blade and Xena.
It wouldn’t be enough to keep Brunos down, but Xander was having trouble defending his position. I knew he could take on those bears, but he needed an advantage and two seconds to get back to his feet.
Without losing my stride, I released six more arrows into various parts of the three villainous bears. The wounds would slow them down, and that had to be enough. I had to get to Xena before it was too late.
Those babies were ready to join this world, and she needed to be conscious to push them out. If I couldn’t bring her to, she and the babies would likely perish from the stress. If I had to, I would cut them from her.
“You bitch!” Bruno yelled, his eyes dark and pinned on me. His kill switch was officially turned on, and I was his target.
Bruno’s head turned and twisted from side to side. His shift slow and grotesque shift far from pretty. He may have possessed a dark and mysterious handsomeness in his human form, but his bear was mangy and overgrown.
It was obvious by the patches of fur loss that he had been through something pretty rough. Street fights, childhood abuse, another animal attack—I couldn’t be sure, but it didn’t matter to me how he’d gotten that way.
It was my job and my time to finish him off. I wanted the power of Zeus. If I could have had such a thing, I would have extinguished Brunos on the spot.
My gifts were of healing, communication with nature, and being in tuned with the power of femininity. My bow and my hands were my only weapons, but hey had never done me wrong. I had never missed what I hunted.
Although I had recently learned to respect the bear on a whole new level, this one was rabid, and it was time to put him down.
He charged at me. I charged back. Estimating the distance between us and the velocity of our speed, I had enough time for one more shot. I lifted my bow and drew an arrow from the quiver. With the speed and accuracy of my godly arms and sight, I released the arrow and aimed straight for his heart.
“Bulls eye!” I cheered. I’d shot him dead in the center of where his heart should have been.
He didn’t go down as he should have. His body flinched back, and he continued to run at me.
There was no way I’d missed. Did the arrow not penetrate deep enough?
He came at me with a wide swing of his giant claws. I ducked, came up with a bounce, and landed an elbow on the center of his nose.
His head jerked back as he growled.
Before I could dodge left, a force hit the center of my chest, knocking me to my back.
Bruno pulled the arrow out of his chest and grumbled and hissed at me.
Rolling to my right, I got on my hands and knees. Just as he lifted a leg to kick me, I pushed off and dashed through his legs. I slid through the dirt and grabbed the blade he’d dropped.
With my speed, I accessed the power in my thighs and darted back before he even had a chance to spin on me. I lunged and pounced onto his back. My arms wrapped around his neck. With one fast slash, I pressed the blade against his throat and cut him as deep as I could.
Blood sprayed out in front of him. He dropped to his knees and attempted to grab at his throat. His paws or hands would not be enough to save him from the rapid blood loss.
By the time his knees collided with the dirt, he was done. His arms went lax, and he fell forward. The sound of his body thudding on the ground was enough to stop the others in their tracks.
Taking full advantage of it, Xander swiped his leg under one bear while back kicking another.
Two stayed behind in combat with Xander while the other ran at me. My bow was back in my hand again. I wouldn’t make the same mistake again. Instead, I aimed for his eye socket. There would not be the same kind of resistance as his rib cage may have provided.
With a quick pull of the elbow, my arrow dislodged from my weapon. It moved with unparalleled speed, but as I watched, it seemed to go in slow motion. The tip landed at the center of his iris, making a wet, squeaking noise that had me scrunching up my nose. His head, along with the rest of him, fell as his back slammed into the earth where he belonged.
I was surprised that neither he nor Bruno had reverted to their human form. Xander had found himself stuck between shifts when my arrow punctured his leg. If they chose to act like a beast, then I guessed they would die as a beast.
Xander still had two bears to decimate, and by the looks of his fighting skills, he was doing just fine. He had one pinned by the chest under his foot while he held the other in a choke hold.
“Go to her!” he yelled.
His words woke me from my moment of reflection, and I ran to Xena. My heart sunk as I approached her lifeless body.
Chapter 16
At the core of my body, I could feel Xena’s and her cubs’ vitality still pulsing with life. Hope was not lost, even though we were holding on by a thin line of rope.
Normally, I would have put my bow back, but this time I laid it to rest by my side as I kneeled down next to Xena. I took her head and cradled it in my lap.
“Sweet girl, it is time for you to wake,” I whispered into her ear before pressing my lips against hers. The air in my lugs channeled through me as I blew my life essence into her, giving her the strength she would need to get out of the woods before it was too late.
I heard the snapping of one neck and then the another. I didn’t waste any time turning to see what had happened. In my heart, I knew Xander had walked away victorious. When I felt a presence behind me, I had confidence it was him coming to help me with his sister.
A giant and gentle paw pressed against my shoulder. I looked up to meet Xander's gaze. His eyes darted back and forth between me and Xena.
“We need to get her out of here as soon as possible. She already started to labor, most likely before we even arrived.”
He nodded in understanding and waved his arm in front of him.
“Crap.” I exclaimed. “You need pants, don’t you?”
He nodded his head again. It would have been nice if he could speak in his bear form.
“Why don’t you get a head start back to where you left your clothes? I can carry her if I need to. Once you get dressed, If I have not arrived, just come back to us.”
I hoped what I was saying made sense. It came out a little weird, but we didn’t have time for me to repeat myself.
With the back of his paw, he nudged the side of Xena’s face and looked back to me. Even in that form, I could see the concern in his blank eyes.
With a stroke of my fingers, I combed her hair. My breath had to be flowing through her lungs and the rest of her. I was sure all Xander needed was to see her open her eyes before he could leave her.
He would have shifted back if he needed to, but he could travel faster as a bear, and Xena had already made it clear that she had no interest in seeing her brother in the buff again.
“Mmmm.” Xena hummed into my leg before her eyes opened. Her hand flinched down around her lower belly, and she winced.
I backhanded Xander’s leg and urged him to go.
He again glided his fur against his sister so she could acknowledge his presence before tuning to run back to where he’d stashed his clothes.
“We need to get you up and out of this forest,” I explained. “Do you think you can walk with my assistance?”
“Hmm. I don’t know. What happened? Where is Brunos?” She inched closer to me as if to shield herself and her babies from harm.
“He won't be hurting you anymore. You have nothing to fear. I am here for you, and so is your brother. He just went to get some pants.” My lip curled up at the corner.
“Oh, thank goodness. Seeing him nearly nude yesterday was plenty for me.” She almost laughed.
“Selene? I think I am in labor, but I have had pains before.” This being her first pregnancy, she didn’t have anything to go by. And since she hadn’t had a midwife to assist her through her pregnancy, she had nothing to base it on.
“I do believe that you are. Hence why we need to get you back to the cabin where you can be more comfortable.”
“Bruno was going to kill us,” she said as she got to her feet.
“I know.” He may have had that intention, but he didn’t know who he was messing with. “Come on, I will help you.”
Her weight was not an issue for me, so I put my arm around the back of her ribs and lifted her to her feet. If I had to, I could carry her and run back to the truck.
“Thank you. Has anyone ever told you how strong you are?” she asked.
“Yes, actually, your brother. How about you? Anyone ever tell you how strong you are?”
She laughed. “Yup! Xander.”
“He is good to you, Xena. He loves you with all his heart.” I had never known love like that with my brother.
“Not all his heart. I think he has recently made room for one more.” She winked at me.
“You mean two more,” I corrected her since she was adding to new cubs to their lineage.
“Oh, and then there are the cubs too.”
She moved slow, and we needed to stop a few times for her to take a break and breath through contractions. We were running out of time. The babies would be making their entrance before long.
“I hope Xander gets back soon. I could use an extra set of hands to help me get back to his truck,” Xena said as she huffed through a few short breaths.
“Did someone call for an extra set of hands?”
My senses must have all been so focused on Xena that I failed to hear him approaching us. Thank goodness, we no longer had the threat of danger looming over us.
“Xander! You are here!” Xena cried. “It’s a good thing too. My water just broke.”
“What does that mean?” His eyes widened, and he rushed to her side.
“It means she is going to have those babies now whether she likes it or not,” I explained.
Chapter 17
“Wahhh!” wailed the second baby born.
Xander was already holding the first baby a little girl, and the second was another of the same sex. For the amount of times they’d referred to them as cubs, I had expected little baby bears to come out.
“With all the pain I experienced during labor, I can’t believe how easy the delivery was. And not just one but two deliveries. Even the pain on my face has subsided.” Xena commented as I placed her little girl on her chest.
Xander gave me a sideways glance as if to say he knew I’d had something to do with her lack of pain and increased healing. I had done the same for him.
The
snap, crackle, and pop of leaves and twigs rang out in my ears. In the not so far off distance, I could hear the patter of an animal running. The beast was of medium to large size, not one of the little things that scurry around the forest floor.
Xander turned and scanned our surroundings. He must have been able to hear it too. My heart warmed at the thought that I could be so lucky as to see my Ceryn one last time.
My forty- eight hours was nearly over, and I had not accomplished either of my tasks. Ceryn was still a foot, and I had never found some willing or unwilling human to fall in love with.
Elysia would be coming for me soon, and she would make me pay for my betrayal. Even though it came at an expense, I rejoiced in the love and adoration flaring in Xena and Xander’s eyes as they looked down on the two babies.
I spotted the glint of two golden horns dashing through the brush line. My heart nearly stopped as my breath caught in my throat.
“Look, Selene!” Xander whispered. “It’s your stag.”
Knowing Xena and her babies were safe, it was time for me to do what I had come for. If Elysia was going to make Ceryn suffer an eternity on this planet, I would at least use my last few minutes sending him back to his brothers for a short visit and a final goodbye.
I retrieved my bow and pulled out the special arrow made just for Ceryn. It would send him home, and I would pay the price for both of us when Elysia came to collect.
“What are you doing?” I heard Xena whisper, questioning my actions as she turned to Xander. “Why is she going to shoot her stag? I thought she wanted to return him to his home?”
“She is. I think that arrow is some kind of tranquilizer,” he explained as he rocked the baby in his oversized arms.
I fired the arrow, and it hit Ceryn at the highest part of his thigh. He turned to look at me, and gave me the closest thing he could to a smile.
The Huntress (An Olympian Fallen Shifter Novel) Page 10
