Cohen

by Emilia Hartley

  “But, I’m not.” Cohen was tempted to take the challenge just to knock some sense into the other bear shifter. Grover was weak, despite what he thought of himself. It would take nothing to knock the man around.

  He shook his head and turned away again. Grover called after him, but he ignored the call. The din of the crowd rose into a roar as they all cried out with dismay. He couldn’t hear their voices, but he knew they weren’t happy.

  Then, just as the roar rose, it died. The entire lawn grew silent.

  “I’ll take you up on that challenge, sir.”

  The voice echoed through the lawn. It was familiar and the bear inside Cohen growled. He spun to find a smirking man staring at them, hands shoved in his pockets as if this was a casual meeting on the street. Not like he’d snuck onto another Pack’s territory.

  “Leave,” Cohen demanded. The power inside him wove through his voice.

  He watched it hit the other shifters. They flinched, but Killian only grinned wider. If Cohen’s power held any sway over him, he didn’t show it. Killian waltzed forward, a swagger in his step that made Cohen want to hurt him. Hell, Cohen just wanted to hurt him. This man was the reason everything was still upside down.

  Sampson had left a vacuum of power by not ordering the challenges to take place sooner, but Killian shook the proverbial beehive with only his presence.

  “You said it yourself,” Killian began. “You aren’t an Alpha. You can’t tell me crap.”

  Cohen’s jaw tightened. As he stalked toward the man, he imagined what it would feel like to crush the jaguar’s bones with his teeth. Killian just looked up at him, the gleam of mania burning in his eyes.

  “I’ll accept the black bear’s challenge in your stead.” Killian sidestepped Cohen and threw a wink back at the man. “I’m going to steal this Pack right out from under your nose and there’s nothing you can do about it. I might even find me a new mate to cuddle at night.”

  Cohen spun toward Grover. If he could get Grover to deny the challenge, then Cohen could kill Killian once and for all. But, Grover shook his head. He wasn’t about to back down from Killian’s demand. The other bear shifter either had a death wish or something to prove because he stepped up to the jaguar shifter and grasped his hand. They shook, and Cohen could already tell the outcome of the confrontation.

  Across the lawn, Cohen found Ashe. She leaned against the shed and watched everything go down. Her lips were bruised and stained with blood. He hadn’t even realized he’d drawn blood. She looked like an ancient goddess of death, the queen of battle. Her eyes flashed as they flickered to him.

  He caught a glimpse of something metallic in them, and then it swiftly vanished. She slowly looked back toward the circle that widened in preparation for the fight. Killian saw her, too. The smile that slipped over Killian’s face was predatory and nearly brought the bear crashing out of Cohen. If Killian won and fought his way to the top of the Vancourt Pack, he would try to lay claim to Ashe.

  When Cohen looked back to her, the visage of the goddess he’d seen was gone. In it’s place was the scared teenager he’d once protected. She shrank back from Killian’s gaze. Her hair fell over her face as if that might protect her. Where was the power she’d just shown him? The strength?

  It withered and vanished under Killian’s harsh gaze.

  ***

  Grover wasn’t looking good, even for a shifter. Cohen and Gage had dragged him inside and laid him onto an old and, probably uncomfortable couch. Archer had placed himself in the doorway, preventing a very smug Killian from entering the house while Ashe worked on treating Grover.

  Honestly, there was little she could do. Her innate power did not lie in healing. She was forced to work with the remedies left over from Sampson’s room. And, even then, she was unsure of which to use. Any one of them could contain the poison that killed her old Alpha. If she used that on Grover and he died…

  She shut her eyes and tried to control the nervous tremble in her hands, but it was to no avail. She slammed the jar down onto the floor and ran into the kitchen. There had to be something there she could use. She dug through the refrigerator in search of fresh herbs or vegetables and came up with nothing more than glass bottles of beer. Frustration made her jaw tight. She moved on to the cupboards. Dried herbs often had intense flavor, but their healing properties would be muted.

  She slammed the cupboard shut and fought back a growl. What could she do? A monster had infiltrated her Pack, worse than any other she’d faced before. The way Killian had looked at her, like a piece of meat he would be more than happy to eat raw, had terrified her. She was a mouse caught in a corner. She would be eaten by the cat or find herself in a fire made by her own family. No matter what she did, she was powerless.

  Ashe dropped to her knees. Tears burned her eyes. She was useless.

  “Want to help me kill him?” Cohen’s voice asked.

  “Don’t ask me things like that,” she grumbled from between her fingers. “You’ll make the Pack hate me even more.”

  “How about I promise to keep them from hurting you? Will you help me kill Killian then?”

  “What can I even do? I’m useless. I can’t even heal Grover. At this rate, it will take days for him to fully heal and there will be scars.”

  “Good. Let him learn from his mistakes. He isn’t as strong as he likes to think he is, and the scars will remind him of his place every time he looks in the mirror. Maybe then he will stop making stupid decisions.”

  She laughed; it was a choked sound through her tears. It was mean, but it was the truth of the matter. Grover hadn’t even been prepared to challenge Cohen like he had. Who did he even think he was? Now, because of Grover’s stupidity, Killian was Pack.

  She glanced out the door past Archer to see the feline shifter lounging in a lawn chair, as if he had no worry in the world. His head turned toward her and when their eyes met, a small smile slipped over his lips.

  The force inside her rose with indignation. It looked down on Killian.

  Good for you, she told the force. Too bad you’re completely useless.

  She had no idea what kind of animal lived inside her. Shifters inherited their animal from their parents, but her mother’s witchcraft had muddled something inside Ashe. It left her unable to shift, to be like those around her. She cursed the weak creature over and over. Because of it’s weakness, she had suffered.

  Cohen, despite the number of shifters still walking through the house, knelt and sat on the floor beside her. As an Alpha, even of his small pack, he should have felt the need to stand in the presence of those lower than him. She watched the way he looked at those passing by. He knew he was stronger than anything else in this house. He didn’t need to stand to show it.

  Her mind drifted back to the shed and what they’d done in the darkness. She’d felt alive and powerful, even if only for a moment. It had been electric, unlike anything she’d ever imagined. There were surely bruises on her ass from where Cohen had held her, and she found a small bit of pride in them.

  But the truth of the matter was that she could not be the person she needed to be to survive when she was with him. The walls she erected, the mousy visage she wanted the Pack to see, would come crashing down and they would see her for what she was.

  For the truth even she wanted to ignore.

  She wouldn’t be like her mother. She refused to follow in that woman’s footsteps, but she knew the same kind of power slumbered inside her. It was a curled beast, sleeping until it found it’s chance to strike. But it couldn’t strike if the walls remained standing.

  “I can’t help you,” Ashe said, finally. “I’ll do what you originally wanted, but this mission is on you.”

  His presence was warm beside her. She wanted to lean into it and feel his arm wrap around her, but she couldn’t risk it. Whatever laid between them would remain in the dark.

  A low growling caught her attention. She looked up to find Cohen staring out the door. Killian had approached the
doorway and Archer. While Archer stood with his arms crossed over his chest, Killian found windows between the bear shifter and the doorframe to cast suggestive looks at her.

  Cohen’s fingers curled against the floor, his nails digging into the wood beneath them. Despite his fear of himself, he was a protective man. If he fought Killian, it would pull him into the Vancourt Pack. It would eventually place him at the top and he would have the same problem all over again. Cohen would be the Alpha of a Pack he didn’t want to lead.

  She rested her head against the nearest cupboard and looked back to Killian. He winked and made a kissing face at her.

  Faster than her eyes could follow, Cohen shot up from the floor. His hand was around Killian’s throat, Archer dazed as he staggered back. Cohen growled, lifting Killian from the ground. Archer shouted, but his words fell on deaf ears.

  Ashe was frozen. Her mind reeled. Had Cohen done that… for her? No, it couldn’t be. He was just done with Killian’s posturing. That explained it. Killian was an arrogant piece of horsedung and Cohen’s patience had worn thin.

  Slowly, she stood and approached Cohen. The same brilliant gold she’d seen glowing in his eyes the night before had returned. The bear had taken over. She glanced to Archer. Did he see what she did? Archer just kept telling his brother to put the man down, reminding him to kill the man with a formal challenge.

  Realization struck her like a slap across the face. Archer didn’t see what was going on. Cohen’s brothers didn’t realize just how fragile the barrier between Cohen and his bear truly was. She touched his arm. He snarled until he saw it was her.

  Her heart thundered inside her chest. Someday, he would try to hurt her. She should have feared that fact, but the force inside her rose and pushed toward Cohen’s beast. A soft cooing sound echoed through her mind. Cohen’s grip on Killian loosened and the man’s feet hit the ground. The bear regarded her with softness, almost as if in apology.

  Then, Cohen reeled back. Killian struck him off guard. Cohen spun and snarled at the laughing man. Fear lashed through her. The bear would kill Killian, putting Cohen in a position for the Pack to hurt him. Before he could lunge at Killian, Ashe reached out. The power inside her uncurled and latched onto Cohen.

  Archer didn’t see what happened as he placed himself between Killian and Cohen, his back to them. Her heart shuddered in her throat. She could already feel bile rising, disgusted with herself. Cohen was caught, mid-motion. Her power slithered through his limbs, holding him in place before he could destroy himself. His golden eyes slid toward her, hurt and with confusion in them, before they faded into Cohen’s dark shadows. He glowered at her.

  What she’d done was unforgivable.

  She snatched her hand back as if she’d touched fire. Betrayal was a knife in her chest, all the worse since she knew it was she who’d betrayed her friend. Her hold over him dropped and he spun toward her. Unable to bear what she’d done, Ashe ran. She darted out the front door, fumbling in her pocket for her keys.

  Joanna called out behind her. Kaylee appeared, reaching for her arm, but Ashe dodged them both. She didn’t belong here. She wasn’t part of the Pack. She needed to go back to her apartment and hide.

  It was only a matter of time before Cohen told the Pack what she’d just done. It had been an accident, a moment of desperation, but they weren’t going to understand. Ashe needed to run before someone grabbed her. Before…

  She yanked the car door open and threw herself inside. Just as the engine ignited, she saw Cohen standing in the doorway. There was no way she could apologize for what she’d done.

  Chapter Seven

  Fury rolled over Cohen in waves. The beast had retreated after Ashe’s interference, but there was still a fire burning inside him. The loss of self, between his beast and the witch, sparked a raging fury within. His body had not been his own. It’d been taken from him twice over and bent by the hands of the witch. Her power had been strong and all consuming.

  Before he knew it, Gage and Kaylee had come to flank him. They lingered nearby, like therapy dogs. Soon, their presence had helped calm some of the emotions roiling through him. He could think straight again. In a matter of seconds, so much had happened.

  He’d nearly murdered Killian just for making a kissy face at Ashe. No, not Cohen. His beast. The switch between the two of them had been instantaneous. Not even Cohen had seen it coming.

  With his packmates on either side of him, he wondered what that meant. What was it about the witch that twisted him so? Was it her manipulation? There had to be some kind of spell she’d woven over him. He was an easy target, unsuspecting at best. She could take control of him and use him as a kind of protection against the world.

  Yet, the longer he was caught in his own thoughts, the more he realized it was different. Watching her leave had struck him. Part of him was furious at what she’d done, and perhaps a little afraid. Yet, another part of him ached as he watched her leave.

  If it wasn’t a spell, then what was it?

  He needed to know before he left. He needed to uncover what it was that laid between him and the young witch, because if it was more… Cohen looked to his youngest brother and his mate. They leaned against the nearest wall together, their bodies mimicking one another with their arms crossed over their chests.

  The two were an inseparable duo, pitted against the worst odds. He glanced at Archer and Joanna, arguing over wedding details while Archer still served as door guard against Killian. Cohen’s heart thumped inside his chest.

  Could it be?

  No, he shook his head to dispel the wayward thought. The witch was his ticket out of the bond Gage and Kaylee had forced onto him. He would keep dealing with her and her enchantments as long as he needed to see this ended.

  But, what then? The voice crept into his mind, nagging and gnawing. What then? The Vancourt Pack was a mess, in disarray because of his father and Killian. Already, Grover had proved incapable of defeating the jaguar shifter. Would one of his brothers rise to take the challenge? Cohen knew Gage did not want the responsibility that came with it. He didn’t have the kind of power that it took to keep a Pack together.

  Archer might do what needed to be done, but that was the kind of person he’d become. He did a task and nothing more. Where would that leave the people of the Vancourt Pack? Cohen knew he had the power. Several times since he’d been home, he’d drawn upon it. The first time, it had taken him by surprise. All he’d wanted was order and the power had slipped out of him and bent the room to his will.

  Cohen had the power to command a Pack, but what would happen if he stayed. He sat, his hands on his knees as he regarded the house full of people. The two packs mingled as if they were one, brought together by Archer and Joanna’s mate bond. Cohen scratched at the scruff growing along his chin.

  It was a room of casualties, he decided. He couldn’t help but look at them and see their bodies mangled by bear claws, empty eyes staring into the sky. If he stayed, it was only a matter of time before his beast cost him everything. If anything, he’d just proven that. He could not protect the people he loved if he was what threatened them. He couldn’t protect them from himself and that scared him.

  He needed to get away.

  “You alright, Cohen?” For once, Gage called him by his given name. It was a sign of how concerned he truly was.

  “Yeah, sure. I’ll be fine.”

  He wanted some air, some space to clear his mind, but he didn’t dare leave while Killian was still prowling around the house. Instead, he stood and found Archer. Tapping his brother’s shoulder, he took his place. Cohen’s form nearly filled the doorway, taking up the windows of space Killian had seen through earlier.

  He shoved his hands in his pockets as if he didn’t need them to kick his ass and stared down the jaguar shifted. Killian avoided his gaze. It made a smile creep over Cohen’s lips. If he fought Killian, and he ached to do so, he would fight him with no one around. He would smear the earth with this bug of a threat.
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br />   “Can’t look me in the eye, kitty cat?” He wished he could think of a better name. Killian and his boys had coined the sobriquet ‘Teddy Bear’ for Archer. If he called Gage over, the youngest Vancourt would have dropped something funny and demeaning in a second. Alone, the best Cohen could think of was Kitty Cat.

  “Don’t want to,” Killian said, flopping back into a lawn chair and threading his fingers behind his head.

  Silence filled the space between them, eating up the seconds and minutes that passed. It was boring and made Cohen’s mind return to what happened earlier, replaying it over and over until he could barely make sense of what happened.

  “What keeps bringing you back?” Cohen blurted out, unable to live with his mind any longer.

  Killian didn’t open his eyes. “I pissed off the wrong people, a bear shifter bigger than your dumb ass. Big surprise there. Now, I’m just looking for a Pack to protect me.” Killian’s face bunched, and he cracked open an eye, wary now. “Why did I just tell you that?”

  Cohen had an idea, but he wasn’t about to tell Killian. He wondered if he could use the Alpha power in his voice to command the stray cat to leave, too. But, he didn’t want Killian to leave that easily. He wanted to make him pay for his sins before Cohen released him.

  Killian threw his feet to the ground. He still cast wary glances in Cohen’s direction, as if just now seeing him for the monster he was. But, just as Cohen caught it, the wariness disappeared. A cocky smile lit up his face as he stood. He yawned and stretched, baring the carved muscles of his stomach.

  Cohen didn’t have that kind of toned structure, but he knew he didn’t need it to be stronger. Pure power surrounded Cohen, while Killian was all show. It made Cohen’s spine straighten.

  “This has been fun, but I’m going to call it a night,” Killian said without turning to face Cohen. He took a step forward and paused, throwing a daring glance over his shoulder. “We’ll see if you have any fight in you at all tomorrow, Papa Bear.”