by J. K Harper
Marisa Tully was a warrior, and she wanted to live. She had everything to live for now, and she would never let it be taken away from her again.
Whipping around, she hissed and growled, daring any other enemy to come forth. Another outcast, this one a large wolf, obliged by plunging toward her, his muzzle already covered in blood. Shoving down the fear that he’d injured Riley or one of her other new friends, she focused on the battle.
You’ve got this, she encouraged herself. You are strong, you are quick, you want to live. That was the voice she would listen to from now on. She would never let the ugly voices from her childhood rule her again.
Another lunge, and she and the wolf met in midair, slamming together with huge force. Snarling, clawing, biting, and scratching, shrieking with each victorious swipe, every cell in Marisa’s body was on fire with thirsty, savage elation at this battle. She’d never in her life thought of herself as a fighter, but her cat was a brawler through and through. And it wasn’t uncontrolled. It wasn’t something she would not remember later.
Marisa’s cat was a brawler, a fighter, willing to stick up for all that was important to her, because deep down, Marisa always had been a fighter too. She simply hadn’t realized it until Riley had helped blossom that truth within her.
Long moments later, she had another triumphant win. She didn’t have to kill the wolf, though. Battered and bleeding, he finally gave up, turning to drag himself off, limping into the woods and fleeing the scene entirely. Fine. She wasn’t sure what exactly the rules were with escaping outcasts, so she didn’t follow him. She needed to stay here and help defend her friends.
She also needed to find Nefarious and take him out for good. Where was that bastard? Could he be such a coward that he had fled? She’d definitely scented him when she arrived with the other shifters. He was here somewhere.
A sudden triumphant cat shriek snagged her attention. Derek?
Snapping her head around, she searched for the source of the sound. Yes. Her brother, the only other rock in her life until she’d met Riley. There he was, standing victorious over the body of another mountain lion, shrieking his fierce rage at the world, at taking on the enemies who had for so long subjugated him just as they had her. She howled joyfully in return, answering him, drawing his attention to her. He turned to look at her, and she pounded toward him, needing to reassure herself he was all right. As she dove toward him, brawling shifters on all sides howled and battled and shrieked.
She’d almost reached Derek when off to the side the unexpected movement of a human shape snagged her attention. Nefarious. Confused, she stumbled. Why was he still human? He slowly moved toward her, rage in his eyes.
She let her lip curl, letting rage drip from the snarls that rattled out of her throat. She would show him rage. She didn’t care if he was stupid enough to come to a shifter fight in human form. She knew he could shift at any moment, so she felt no compunction about facing him down like this.
She slowly prowled toward him, aware from her peripheral vision that Derek did the same. Nefarious waited for them with the most unholy grin on his face. She knew he’d also been a turned human, although he always said he’d wanted to be turned. That was how he’d held onto sanity far longer than any of the others. It was the only way he’d been able to maintain control over the group, although he was the one who had turned most of them so he would also always have that control.
As she prowled toward him, deadly intent in her every step, she wondered in the back of her mind why he wasn’t shifting. Maybe he had finally snapped as well?
It didn’t matter. He was a monster through and through, and she was finally taking her vengeance on him.
Behind her, there was a sudden shocked roar that boomed over all the fighting shifters with such horror and strength that for a split second everyone paused. Riley. A roar of such rage that the terrible sound of it sent more shock shivering through Marisa’s entire body from whiskers to tail. His roars sounded again and again, coming closer.
She couldn’t look at him, though. She had to keep her eyes on Nefarious. His nasty grin had spread over his whole face, his flat, dead eyes gleaming with some sort of excitement she couldn’t understand.
Nearing him, still aware that Derek did the same, Marisa crouched lower to the ground. Ready to spring.
Her heart almost burst out of her chest when Riley’s human voice suddenly sounded from behind her.
“You. How is this possible?” Shaking fury shuddered through his words.
No! He needed to shift back into his bear. He wasn’t safe in this battle as a human. Marisa snarled in warning, never taking her eyes off Nefarious. Protective growls falling ceaselessly from her throat, she moved in front of Riley, shielding him from Nefarious, from all the shifted ones still fighting all around them.
Then Nefarious spoke in the oily tones she’d grown to hate over the year that she’d known him. “Well, well, well. Finally drew out the shadow that’s been hunting me all these years. Guess you’re a little angry with me still, huh?”
Marisa shook herself, confused. Derek had stopped on the other side of her, controlled snarls still falling out of his mouth too. He was taking the lead, but she could see the struggle in him. He wanted to leap right at Nefarious, tear him apart. She looked at him. Stay with me, Derek, she thought to herself hard, sending him that thought with her body language. Imperceptibly, she saw him nod. He was doing his best to hang onto his sanity.
Riley pushed up next to her, standing at her shoulder, his entire body rigid with a horrified rage she still did not understand.
Until he spoke, and her blood chilled at his words.
“You’re the one calling yourself Nefarious? How can you be a shifter? I don’t understand.” Riley’s voice was colder than the mountains, colder than the air, icier than the streams that ran through the forest. “How can a shifter also be a shifter hunter who murders his own kind for gain?”
Riley’s voice rattled with growls, with shock, with horror. With pure rage. “You took my cubs’ mother from them. You took my former mate from me.”
Marisa’s entire body felt suddenly drenched in frozen shock. Horrified snarls bled out of her throat, again and again.
No. She’d known Nefarious had been turned from being human, but he never once mentioned he'd been a shifter hunter in his previous life.
Nefarious was the shifter hunter who had murdered Riley’s first mate.
Marisa howl-shrieked with rage as the realization tore through her, but she still managed to keep herself utterly still.
This was Riley’s personal battle now. He had come to support her. Now, she had to support him.
The grin that crawled onto Nefarious’s face was pure, cold evil. “You know, after I brought in enough shifters, I realized that becoming a shifter actually would be pretty damn fun. And since I knew how shifter hunters work, I knew I could always avoid them. And hell, it was never the money that turned me on so much as the thrill of the chase.”
His grin became bigger, more wild, more insane. “Humans are weak and wimpy compared to shifters. I sometimes talked to the shifters I pulled in, got to understand more from the government agencies I turned them in to. I came to understand how shifters could be turned. How you can make a band of crazy turned shifters.” His eyes gleamed with madness, but one that was still controlled. “How you can have a fuck ton of fun tearing shit up in this world when you’re a shifter yourself.”
His gaze slipped to Marisa. “Looks like pretty kitty found herself a new group, huh?” He looked back at Riley. “That’s why I had to take out your old mate.”
His casual shrug almost made Marisa leap at him to tear out his ugly throat.
“I just got lucky one day, happened to see her and your little kids go out in the woods. She couldn’t move too fast since they were so little. But she was clever, that woman of yours, oo-eee.” His ugly cackle scraped the air. “She realized I was following her. She hid them kids and made me follow her. I ne
ver wanted them. Those little brats couldn’t have helped me. I wanted her for one reason.”
A calculating look slipped into his face now. Now completely mad. “I wanted her to turn me into a shifter.”
Marisa choked on her own cry, hearing Derek’s snarls pitch upward to a volume that almost rose above the din of the continued fighting around them. Beside her, Riley didn’t make a sound, didn’t move an inch, his entire body so tense she thought he might explode.
Nefarious's expression turned into an outraged glare. “That fucking bitch. When I asked her to turn me into a bear like her, she flat out said no. Bitch said I’d make a shitty shifter.” He shrugged again, casually. “So I shot her. She weren’t of no use to me.”
The sheer casualness of how he said that almost crushed Marisa’s heart. No. She didn’t want Riley to hear this. She was done with this bastard. She would end him now.
She lowered herself, tail quivering, ready to spring. Even if Nefarious shifted at the last second, she could still be on him before he was fully turned into his mountain lion.
Then everything changed.
Nefarious drew a gun from inside his jacket so quickly Marisa fell over her own paws making herself stop. Derek screeched in rage just as Riley blasted out, “You fucking coward.”
Marisa knew enough about shifter culture to know that to them, guns were considered cowardly and purely pathetic. Silver bullets didn’t kill shifters; regular guns could do that. But shifters never relied on them, instead only bringing their animal side to a fight, or their human side to the sanctioned fight rings such as the ones Slade fought in.
Then again, Nefarious wasn’t an honorable shifter. He was the worst fucking monster she’d ever known. The blending of his hideous past with Riley and herself made her almost sick to her stomach.
She couldn’t let this happen.
The oily, evil grin stretched over Nefarious’s face again. “Hmm, pretty little kitty. I know how to really fuck you up now.”
Turning his gun hand, he abruptly pointed it straight at Derek, his finger already pulling the trigger.
Marisa shrieked, instinctively launching herself to the side to throw herself in front of her brother, who was already shrieking and leaping toward Nefarious, heedless of the gun.
She heard the shattering, painful snarl as Riley finally shifted back into his bear, his rage flinging itself all over.
Riley launched at Nefarious just as Marisa launched herself in front of Derek.
The gun went off.
The gun went off, and everything exploded into a red haze.
* * *
Riley lunged, hurtling himself into Nefarious just as the gunshot went off. He knocked the bastard down, knocking the man’s gun hand off-balance.
Immediately, he slashed into the murderous bastard’s throat with his jaws, ripping it out in a gush of blood and gurgled cries. Nothing gleeful filled him as the man bled out in front of him. Just a small, cold satisfaction that it was finally over. The worthless piece of garbage was dead. Riley spat the man’s blood out of his mouth, fury and disgust and new terror filling him as he whirled to find Marisa.
Horrified cries filled the air at the sound of the gunshot. There was sudden panic, but almost immediately all of the Silvertip shifters and their friends took the advantage. Most of the outcasts had been just as startled, but they did not have the advantage of the connection and training of all the other shifters. Swiftly, the battle was over.
Riley turned and bolted the few yards to where Marisa lay sprawled beside Derek. His heart squeezed so hard he thought he might hyperventilate, old trauma threatening to rise up and consume him.
Marisa struggled to her feet, a mixture of concerned whines and encouraging little purrs spilling out of her. Riley felt his heart start again as his warrior mate rose.
Derek blinked his golden eyes, mouth opening in a faint snarl of pain.
In a split second, Marisa had shifted back to human. Kneeling beside her brother, placing one hand on his fur-covered ribs and the other hand on his shoulder where blood flowed, she chanted, “Don’t you dare give up on me, Derek. Don’t you dare, don’t you dare. Don’t let him win. Stay with me. Stay with me!”
Coming to a stop, Riley approached cautiously, gently nuzzling around Derek’s wound. He could smell the track the bullet had left, but he couldn’t smell the copper and zinc of the bullet itself. It had gone straight through, only hitting Derek in the shoulder.
He would be fine.
Huffing in relief, Riley nuzzled Marisa, licking her shoulder in reassurance. She kept firmly saying to her brother, “You’ll be fine, see? Don’t you dare give up. Don’t you dare. I came back to find you, Derek. Don’t you dare give up!”
On the ground, Derek muttered out a snarl of pain, followed by a soft cry. Golden eyes blinked again as he struggled to stay there. To stay on this side of sanity. Then, he rumbled low, his eyes clearing. He would be okay.
Marisa was okay, her brother was okay, and the fucking bastard who'd murdered Riley's first mate and almost killed his new, precious mate was finally gone forever. Vengeance had been his, and it had released him from the final pieces of rage that had dragged him and his bear down for so long.
Riley turned, threw his head back, and roared a deep cry to the world, letting his clan and friends know that they were safe. A thundering chorus of victorious howls and snarls answered him. They had won the battle. Everyone here was a warrior. Fiercely defending their home, their friends, their family. Never giving up.
Marisa leaned her bloody face into his fur and reached her hand up gently to stroke his snout while her other hand stayed on her brother’s shoulder. Between her tears, she managed to say, “It's okay. Everything's okay now. I love you, Riley. I love you.”
She leaned into him, the soft cadence of her voice washing over him like a balm. His mate, safe. His family and friends, safe. His entire world, safe.
Nothing else mattered now except their bright future.
Epilogue
As she snuggled into Riley's arms, Marisa felt her toes tapping to the irresistible beat of the music. The smile stretching her face no longer felt weird. It was beginning to feel really normal. She felt normal. Well, as normal as a human-turned-mountain-lion-shifter ever could. Which, she had to admit, now actually felt just right.
Riley squeezed her gently, settling his chin onto her shoulder as he surveyed the happy bustle inside the barn. "Happy Valentine's Day, babe. Will you be mine?" His hand rose up and uncurled to reveal a pink candy heart nestled into his palm with those words on it.
Marisa felt laughter bubbling out of her, mingling with the purrs from her cat, everything swirling around in time to the music and the cheerful laughter of the guests of the Silvertip Lodge as well as the clan members and many friends from town. She nodded against his chest. "Any day of the week. Every day of the week. I'll be yours forever."
His kiss on her earlobe made her shiver with delight before he lifted his hand toward her mouth. She leaned down and gently grabbed the candy off it with her lips, whispering a kiss over his warm skin as she did. An appreciative groan rumbled through his entire body as her lips touched him.
Eating the sweet little treat, she looked around as she snuggled securely into Riley's embrace. It felt like a lifetime ago that she had sat here in the barn while it was being decorated for this dance. She felt completely different too. She no longer had the need to keep every doorway under her watchful eye. Nor did she feel inexplicably angry and resentful at all the happiness clearly present in here. The sense of family and camaraderie. Now all she felt was happiness. An utterly amazing joy that she got to live here after all. That this was her family too. Her new friends.
Watching them all as they danced and goofed off among the guests, she smiled so hard she thought she might never stop. Abby and Quentin, laughing as they danced in fluid synchronicity. Haley and Cortez, smiling at one another as dopily as Marisa was sure she looked at Riley pretty much every second of t
he day. Pix and Beckett, returned from their trip back east to visit her family, arms wrapped around one another and slowly swaying together despite it being a fast song, seeming like they were about to start making out right there on the dance floor. Riley's boss and human friend Joe with his wife Natalie, who Marisa had instantly liked when she met her. Slade, darkly brooding as he leaned against a stall door, frowning hard at a small, pretty woman dancing with a guy so big he might be an elephant shifter, if there were such a thing. Ooh, trouble. Marisa figured there was a backstory there, but she didn't know it. Sending a mental hug to Slade, who had grown on her, she looked around the room for the cubs. Her smile got even bigger when she saw them. Laney was in hysterics as she and her best friend Laurel performed jerky moves that made Marisa think they were imitating robots, while Finn danced more solemnly with Willow, though he had an excited if somewhat shy grin.
Contentment purred out of her even more strongly. Yes. Her true family, all here.
Then she looked for the one other person who topped her list. There. Derek, healing fast from his wound and with a less haggard appearance every day, was tucked into a corner, watchful but with a faint smile lighting up his face. Beside him, that cute waitress from Whatchu Want sat on the bench, clearly doing her best to chat him up. Derek seemed slightly nervous, but Marisa knew her brother. He was interested. Definitely.
"What kind of shifter is she?" she idly asked Riley, gesturing toward Derek and the woman. She wondered if the waitress would be able to handle Derek and the mountain lion that he too was slowly getting to know better. Marisa's sheer love for him, combined with the loving bonds of a genuinely caring family for the first time in his life, was ensuring Derek wouldn't succumb to madness. He was like her. A fighter. A warrior. He wouldn't give up. He would, however, need a really strong woman to handle him.
"Casey? Oh, you're wondering if she can take on Derek.” Riley's voice rumbled into her ear. “No worries there. She grew up in Alaska. That woman is a Kodiak brown bear. Trust me, she'll be able to handle your brother and his cat."
