Shadows and Stars

by Becca Fanning

  “Husband was a no good son of a bitch, I believe?”

  “I’m afraid not. He beat her something terrible. He was a Shifter too, but Trent says he must have been sick because she wasn’t his true mate.” The man visibly flinched. Heather shook it off and figured it was his reaction to the guy living without his mate. Apparently, that was a huge deal to Shifters.

  “Maybe so. I think her name was MaryAnn. Her husband’s brother lives just down the block here. if you’d like, I could walk you over and give you an introduction.”

  Heather chewed her lip while she considered. The guy seemed nice enough even if he did initially give her the creeps. Everything was making her jumpy today though, so it probably wasn’t his fault. If she could talk to the husband’s brother, she may be able to put the whole thing to rest.

  “Yes, I would like that. Thank you.”

  She turned to tell Cage or Melanie where she was headed off to, but they were tied up speaking with Buzz. She hesitated but then decided to leave well enough alone. The elderly lady had told her that Shifters would fiercely protect her so she should be perfectly safe in a Shifter community.

  “After you,” he said as he motioned down the street.

  They walked for what seemed like forever when he stated that they were just a few feet away. Heather was about to ask him how he knew so much about the family when he grabbed her arm tight. She immediately knew something was wrong, but when she looked around for the threat, there was none. Then she looked him dead in the eyes and saw what Jimmy and Hannah had been talking about. His eyes glowed like Trent’s, but it was like looking into the devil’s soul. She screamed bloody murder and immediately started to fight.

  “Why are you doing this?” She screamed until her throat felt raw.

  He never answered as he dragged her into the woods. She tried to dig her heels into the ground to slow him down, but he was too strong. His speed never altered as he continued on his path. Heather continued to scream knowing Shifters all around would hear her. She prayed that their instinct to help a healing spirit or whatever she was would kick in, and somebody would swoop in any minute and save her.

  He paused briefly and seemed to be listening to something. How he could hear anything over her screams. Whatever, or whoever, it was had put a sense of urgency about him, and he sped off even faster than before. All of her attempts to fight him off were futile. She refused to give up, though. At this point, he was basically dragging her through the woods, so she tried to reach out and grab hold of anything as she sped past.

  Pain ripped through her as she was dragged viciously over rocks, branches, and downed trees without mercy. Her throat felt raw from all the screaming, and she wasn’t even sure she was making noise anymore. She prayed that Trent was the reason the man had started to run faster.

  A roar filled her ears and she knew instantly it was Trent. He sounded close, but she could have been hallucinating by now, too. They were in a clearing of sorts now, and her captor flung her behind him as he crouched low, ready for a fight. Trent burst into the clearing minutes later. His eyes scanned over her briefly before landing on her captor.

  She didn’t want there to bloodshed over her, but she knew Trent would kill anybody who even breathed on her wrong. This man had not only captured her; he had gone after Trent and his family by killing innocent people. There was no hope for this man, and he surely knew it.

  “Ray, I believe you have a problem with me.”

  Heather snapped to attention at the name. Surely he didn’t mean Ray, like from her journal Ray. Maybe that was how he knew about MaryAnn. Oh Lord and she just walked off down the street with him like it was nothing. Trent would probably throttle her after he was done with Ray.

  “Trent Cipher, you owe me your mate. You took mine. Your arrogance and carelessness killed her. Now you’ll watch as I kill your mate.”

  “MaryAnn was not your mate. She was a human that you trapped into being with you so you could use her to satisfy your urges. Your jaguar has been trying to take over for a long time. Did you ever find your actual mate? Is that why you’re so angry?”

  Ray shook his body out and growled with anger. He seemed close to losing it. A thought crossed Heather’s mind that with her close, by his migraine pain would be eased. She started to scoot back from him. She had no idea how far away she needed to be, but any distance would surely help.

  Trent must have realized what she was doing because he started to step backward. Ray stayed right with him and moved forward. It didn’t take long before Ray grabbed his temples and tried to steady himself. He seemed physically ill he was in so much pain. Heather felt the need to move closer to him, but forced herself to stay back.

  “MaryAnn was my mate. I decide my fate, and everybody else’s. I chose her to be with me. If I beat her, it was our own business. You didn’t have to kill her!”

  “Ray, I did not kill MaryAnn. Yes, I was walking up Kidder Hill that night, but she drove straight off the cliff. There were no black marks or any sign that showed she tried to stop. The police ruled it a suicide.”

  “NO!” Ray bellowed his answer as he clutched his temples harder.

  “She killed herself because of you. You are the reason she drove over that hill that night. You weren’t worthy of her, and she knew it.” Trent continued to push him.

  Trent’s family had shown up by now as well. They circled around Trent. Ray was outnumbered, and his mental illness was making him physically ill.

  “She was mine, and you took her from me. All of you Ciphers sitting up there on your hilltop looking down on the rest of us.”

  “Ray, you need put down. You’ve killed innocent people. Your judgment day has come.”

  “You think you can kill me? I’m decades older than you. You can’t kill me!” Ray roared the last part of his sentence as he tried to lunge towards Trent.

  Heather scrambled to stand up, unsure if her legs would even hold her. She wanted to move towards Michelle, who was closest to her, if Trent and Ray started to fight. Her movement must have caught Ray’s attention because where he stood one minute, he was now on all fours. He was a gigantic jaguar, pitch black in color with those dead, golden eyes. The people he chased must have suffered such terror in their final moments. Rage surged through Heather’s body. She wished she was a Shifter herself so she could take him out.

  As he lunged towards Heather, and she dove out of the way. He flipped around and just when Heather thought he would land on top of her, a black bear tackled him to the ground. The blood battle had begun. Heather scrambled to get her footing again. This time Michelle came in to help steady her.

  Michelle was soon flung back to the ground. Heather watched as Trent tried to right himself after a blow from Ray. Heather started to walk backward knowing full well she was trapped. She would never be able to outrun Ray no matter how bad his head hurt. Michelle recovered first, and lunged, shifting in the air. Ray was quick, though, and he dodged then sunk his teeth into Michelle’s side. Michelle groaned in pain and then went limp. Heather screamed and ran towards Michelle.

  Trent’s bear form stopped her. He was in between Heather and Ray, but Ray was circling, getting ready to lunge. Trent’s breathing was labored. A black bear was robust and powerful, but a jaguar was agile and just as powerful. Heather realized that the battle was pretty well matched, even with Trent’s family as back up. She wondered why they weren’t all swarming Ray. Heather placed her hand on Trent’s back not sure if her healing stuff would work without her knowing what to do. Trent took a deep breath and then lunged towards Ray again. Ray moved to the side quickly, and then knocked Heather onto his back, and ran. Heather had no choice but to hold on for dear life as Ray sped through the woods. She had no idea where he was taking her, but she prayed Trent was close behind.

  THIRTY-EIGHT

  THEY RAN for what seemed like hours. Heather’s body felt like it couldn’t take much more of the abuse from riding on Ray’s back. When he finally stopped, Heather tried to l
ook around, but his growl held her in place. She strained to listen, praying she’d hear Trent’s pursuit.

  Ray finally shrugged Heather off his back. Her eyes adjusted as she stretched her body, and she realized they were on a rock ledge that dropped down into the same ravine her and MaryAnn’s car laid in.

  “Ray, I know you’re upset about MaryAnn, but Trent didn’t do this.”

  He pawed at the dirt and let out another growl. Heather took a deep breath and tried to reason with him. Any time he let her keep talking was time not spent being pushed over the cliff.

  “Please, don’t do this. MaryAnn wouldn’t want you to hurt people. She believed the best in you. I know, I found her diary. She knew you were a good man.”

  Heather didn’t feel like she was very convincing, but he hadn’t killed her yet, either. She decided to keep going on.

  “I agree with her. I’m a healing spirit, and I can see that you’re suffering. I can help you. Please, let’s just go somewhere else, and I can try to relieve your pain.”

  The jaguar paced in front of her and seemed to be shaking his head. Heather knew without a doubt that he was waiting for Trent to show up. He could have killed her at any point, but he had kept her alive and brought her to the ravine. He wanted Trent to watch. She looked behind her to see if there was any way she might survive the fall. It didn’t look promising.

  She was torn between wanting Trent to hurry up, and not wanting him to show up at all. If he showed, Ray wouldn’t hesitate to push her to her death. She tried to make her way to the side by the guardrail, but he was quick to nudge her back to the edge. With her around, his migraines wouldn’t be as devastating.

  “Ray, I really want to help. I’ve grown to feel like I know MaryAnn while reading her diary. The one thing she was passionate about was you, and helping you. No matter what happened, she was adamant about her love for you.”

  He sat down on his haunches as if he was listening. Heather knew from Trent that MaryAnn hadn’t been Ray’s mate, but Ray obviously had strong feelings for her. For once he wasn’t growling at her either, so she tried to continue.

  “She had a lot of entries where she talked about how sweet you were. She said you would bring her home chocolates and flowers randomly. That was her favorite when you did something that was a surprise.”

  Heather didn’t really have much more happy times from the diary to use. It seemed to be keeping him appeased so she decided to just make stuff up.

  “She knew you were a Shifter. You know she followed you that night, but she wasn’t afraid. She thought you were beautiful. MaryAnn was sad that you hadn’t told her yourself. She knew there was something special about you.”

  Trent always liked when Heather remarked about his bear. Or maybe it was his bear that liked to be noticed. Either way, she hoped one male Shifter was similar to another, and petting his ego would keep him happy.

  She was about to launch into another fake story when Ray’s ears perked up, and he turned to the woods. Heather took advantage of the distraction and moved as much as possible towards the guardrail side of the cliff. Ray was too caught up in anticipation of Trent to notice her.

  Trent finally came crashing through the woods with Michelle hot on his heels. Heather breathed a sigh of relief to see Michelle alive. Apparently her wound hadn’t been as bad as it looked. Heather was sure the rest of his family was somewhere behind them. She still wished they would just swarm Ray so this could all be over with. Trent’s eyes found hers for a brief second and then focused back on Ray. Ray turned to her then and growled. He obviously didn’t like her new position, but at this point, Heather figured she didn’t have much to lose.

  Trent roared to bring Ray’s attention back to him. Ray shifted suddenly, surprising everybody.

  “Trent Cipher, I’ve brought you and your mate on this cliff today for justice. You may call it revenge but it's justice. My mate died crashing to her death in this ravine. Your mate deserves that same death. I didn’t get to say goodbye. I’m allowing you this chance now. See how accommodating I can be. I should have pushed her over the edge when we first got here. Then you would know how I felt to find out later.”

  Heather fought back the tears. She knew Trent would never let harm come her way, but it seemed hopeless now. She looked back over the ravine. Her body was shaking all over and her hands were sweaty. She wasn’t sure she had the courage to do what she needed to do.

  “Say goodbye!” Ray roared. Heather figured it was better to placate him than make him angrier. It had bought her time this far.

  “Trent, I love you. This isn’t goodbye, though. I’ll see you soon my love, my mate.”

  With that Heather jumped.

  THIRTY-NINE

  TRENT HAD HEARD HEATHER ASKING people all day about the woman from the journal. Trent felt bad because he had promised her several times that he would have Buzz do some digging. The truth was they had been doing some digging, but mostly on the man from the journal.

  From the very beginning, Trent had felt that there was a connection between whoever was killing people and that journal. The Ray that was described in that journal sounded like a Shifter that needed put down. The extreme mood swings, and the fact that he’d leave and be gone all night. Shifters don’t deal well without their mates, and to have someone fill the roll can make it worse. Ray had been trying to get by with MaryAnn, but her presence would have just enraged his jaguar.

  Trent should have been honest with Heather from the beginning, but he felt he was protecting her. She seemed so connected to the woman in the journal; he hated to tell her she was nothing but a punching bag. That Ray had every intention of using and abusing her like that for the rest of her life. The best thing MaryAnn had done for herself was drive off that cliff that night. Granted she could have maybe chosen a slightly less dramatic exit. She did run the chance of Ray hunting her down and doing much worse though.

  To make matters worse, Trent had them exhume the body and do an autopsy. They never did one before since they had enough evidence to deem it a suicide. Based on Trent’s statement and the lack of black marks on the road, there was enough to close the case. For some reason, Trent had a gut feeling that an autopsy would show what he feared had been the breaking point for MaryAnn.

  He had been right, and she had been six weeks pregnant. He got the call after he lost the killer’s trail at the Shifter town, and turned around to go back to Heather. Once he hung up the phone, he heard Heather’s scream. It was faint so he knew the killer had her, and was on the run in the opposite direction.

  It hadn’t taken him long to kick it into overdrive. Once he got to his parents, the scent had been easy to pick back up. Moving in his bear form helped him through the woods faster. He pushed himself faster and faster until he knew he was just seconds behind them.

  Trent roared in pain as he watched Heather fling herself over the cliff. He was blind to anything but getting to Heather. Why had she jumped? Didn’t she trust him to save her? Another roar filled the air, and then he turned his rage on Ray. Ray seemed just as shocked that Heather jumped. He, too, growled in rage. Obviously taken aback that Heather hadn’t given him the thrill of being the one to kill her.

  Trent lunged and wrapped Ray’s human body up and squeezed. Ray shifted in Trent’s arms, but the rage gave Trent added strength. He wasn’t letting go until he squeezed every last breath from Ray’s body. He felt Ray’s bones breaking. Ray whimpered and growled, trying to struggle. His struggles weakened and then eventually quit. Trent just kept squeezing as if it would somehow bring Heather back to him.

  Now he had Ray in his jaguar form by the throat, ensuring his pray was dead. Trent never wanted to take the life of anybody, let alone another Shifter. However, Ray was a situation where he should have been put down long ago. That was the problem with Shifters leaving communities, and staying gone for so long. The alphas don’t have a chance to make sure the ones who are losing themselves to their animals are put down.

  “Trent! H
elp me! Heather’s alive! She’s hanging onto a root and we need to get her up!”

  “I can’t hold on much longer!” Heather yelled.

  Trent threw Ray’s body on the ground and turned to find his mate. Hearing her voice had made his legs go weak with relief. His bear was anxious to make sure she was unharmed as he hurriedly wobbled to the side of the cliff. Everything had happened so fast, it didn’t seem real that it was over. Could it be that his happily ever after with Heather could finally begin? No crazed killer after him or his family, and Heather finally beginning to give in to the mate bond?

  He and Michelle worked fast making a plan. Trent stayed in his bear form while Michelle stayed in her human form. He lowered Michelle down to where Heather hung on the branch. He dug his hind legs into the ground and tried to remain steady. Finally, he felt the weight increase and knew Michelle had Heather. He pulled with the strength of ten bears and hoisted them up easily.

  “Damn, Heather, you could have given us a clue as to what you were doing. I think I had a heart attack when you flung yourself over the cliff,” Michelle cried as gripped her side on the ground.

  Trent grabbed Heather up still in his bear form and hugged her close. He breathed in her scent, even mixed with fear and woods, she smelled amazing. It helped soothe him. To know he was touching her, and smelling her alive and well. He pulled her back and looked at her again before he brought her back into his chest.

  He motioned for them to make their way back through the woods. Heather was still shaky on her feet so he motioned for her to get on his back.

  He pushed a little faster through the woods. He had shredded his clothes when he heard Heather’s scream, so he hoped he’d be able to find some clothes so he could shift back. He wanted to hold her, and tell her how much he loved her.