by M. D. Grimm
Blind Devotion
The Shifter Chronicles 3
Beginnings Book Three
M.D. Grimm
Blind Devotion
The Shifter Chronicles 3
Beginnings Book Three
By M.D. Grimm
Cover Art by Catt Ford
Copyright 2021 M.D. Grimm
Smashwords Edition
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Epilogue
About This Book
About M.D. Grimm
Other Titles by M.D. Grimm
Connect with M.D. Grimm
Chapter One
Yet what a gap in the world, the missing white frost face
of that slim yellow mountain lion!
~D.H. Lawrence, Mountain Lion
Travis charged forward blindly, his body sore and aching. Fuck, he was starving. He had no clue where he was going, and he didn’t care. Scents of life—humanity, trash, food, exhaust—bombarded him, disorienting him after so long stuck in an antiseptic nightmare. A nightmare seared into his mind. He had no way to carve out the horrific sights, the memories. He was blind. Those monsters had blinded him. Experimented on him. Experimented on his family.
Now he was alone.
An agonized scream came out of his throat, his cougar form unable to sob the misery that ripped through his heart and soul. He ran into bodies, walls, heard the screams and honking of horns. He didn’t stop. He couldn’t stop. Keeping going, keep going, they’re behind you!
The last sight burned into his memory was his family’s mutilated bodies, carved and sliced open on slabs like frogs in a high school biology class. They were experimented on, tortured, just as he had been. His father, mother, his sisters and brothers, all treated like lab rats. No, worse than lab rats. He’d noticed a sick delight in his captors as they cut and prodded, many times without any anesthesia for their victims.
He snarled again, rage, fear, pain, all of it clouding his mind, spiking his adrenaline. At least he had enough sense to stay away from the honking horns, knowing that cars were close by. But that forced him to plow through people on the sidewalk, and they didn’t like that much. He stumbled and staggered, unable to run anymore despite his urgent need. He gasped for breath, lungs ragged. By the spirits, when would it all stop?
His only consolation, small though it was, was that he’d managed to slice the face of one of the monsters in the lab. The one to tie him down had grown sloppy, and Travis had seized his chance to escape. Now where would he go? Doesn’t matter, not right now. Just keep gaining distance. Keep moving.
He got a strong whiff of trash and turned, stumbling away from the loud noises, the screams and the car exhaust. His paws grew damp with sludge, and the rank scent of unwashed bodies assured him that he’d turned into an alleyway. Good, he needed to stop. He needed to eat something, and he didn’t care if it was out of a Dumpster. The monsters not only kept him separated from his family but on the brink of starvation and dehydration. He tripped over a few things, seeing nothing but black. Despite sniffing intently, he bumped his head against the Dumpster, sounding with a thunk. He pressed his shoulder against the cool metal and followed the length of it to the other side. He sensed and heard those nearby start to scramble away.
Good. Leave me alone.
Travis curled up in a dark, cool corner and sucked air into his sore lungs. Half of him wished he’d died back there, with his family. He didn’t want to be alone. But he was also relieved that he was alive. He simply wished he could have ripped out the throats of the monsters. Whoever they were.
He closed his useless eyes, unable to forget the burning, the excruciating pain of whatever they’d poured on his face. He didn’t know the time, the day, or even the month. The year. He didn’t care.
Between one breath and the next, he fell into an exhausted sleep.
“Careful, careful! Get the pole. Quiet.”
Travis slowly came back to awareness. What was going on? Were the monsters coming to get him again? He opened his eyes, suddenly remembering everything. No, he’d escaped, and opening his eyes made no difference. He sniffed. Humans.
“He’s waking up. Easy.”
It was strange to hear voices that weren’t tinged with hate or manic glee or cool detachment. These people were nervous, tense. As they should be. Travis was only sixteen but he was large for his age, and they probably thought he was a fully grown cougar.
He hissed and growled as he forced himself to uncurl. His body ached and protested.
“Slowly. Slowly.”
Three. There were three people around him. He hissed again.
“Jesus, Ben, is he blind? What happened to his eyes?”
“Steady.”
A slight pulse of air brushed over his face and something cool nudged his ears. Then soft metal tightened around his neck. He snarled and lashed out. Fight. You have to fight.
“Get the sedative! We don’t want him hurting himself.”
“Or us!”
Something pricked his ass and he jerked around, his body loudly protesting. He managed to lash out and catch something with his claws.
“Fuck! He nailed me.”
Travis tried to stay on his feet, to fight his captors but the sedative worked fast, and he swayed before collapsing. He kept snarling, baring his teeth.
“Easy fella. We won’t hurt you.”
Two people picked him up and carried him a short distance to a vehicle. They shoved him in a cage—he’d had enough of fucking cages—and it wasn’t long before they drove away.
Did they work for the monsters? Oh fuck. He needed to escape. But he was so tired! His body simply wouldn’t cooperate. He squeezed his eyes shut and whined. If there was any mercy in the world, he would die. He was nothing but a hollow pit of misery and despair. He faded in and out several times before the car stopped. Doors slammed, the vehicle rocked. Then voices, more carrying. He barely heard them. He just wanted to fade away permanently. Scrambling, jostling, then they placed him on a table. The metal collar was removed. Gloved hands touched his face.
He snarled. He was back. He was back in their hands. Phoenix help him!
But why would he think the ancient firebird deity of shifters would help him now? She hadn’t before.
Then those same gloved hands stroked his head. He smelled a light perfume over the antiseptic. Then warm breath brushed his ear.
“You’re safe, sweetheart. Please relax. My name is Trixie. I will protect you.”
He opened his eyes, still seeing nothing but black. He sniffed inquisitively, and Trixie pressed her hand against
his nose. He took a deep breath.
Wait.
Could it be?
Fox. He smelled fox. She was a fellow shapeshifter. He nuzzled her hand as she continued to stroke him.
“I have you now, my darling. I have you.”
Travis submitted to her gladly, clinging to her words. After the others left, she spoke to him, examining him gently.
“I’m a veterinarian. You’re in a small town, just outside Cheyenne. We don’t often see cougars this far southeast but I doubt you came here for a vacation, right?”
He continued to purr, flipping the tip of his tail. The sedative was slowly wearing off, and he kept still, almost delirious with shock and happiness that he might actually be safe. For now, at least. Would the monsters be looking for him? How far away did he manage to get? It felt like he’d been roaming for days. Endless days and nights, and every time he thought about stopping, he would see his parents, his siblings, and what those monsters did to them.
Trixie scratched his head, his ears, and the affection calmed both his spirits. He’d forgotten what kindness was, what tender and gentle meant. She reminded him. He lifted his paw and lightly laid it on her wrist, careful of his claws. She kissed his head.
“I’m going to check your eyes. I’m going to be as careful as I can. Just hold steady, all right?”
He flinched at first, then did as she asked. Her touch was soft and patient as she pushed back his lids to get a closer look. His eyes were tender but not painful.
“What son of a bitch did this to you?”
He snarled.
“I’m so sorry, sweetheart. It must have been an acid of some sort. The skin around your eyes was burned as well, and I doubt your fur will regrow. It looks recent. I… I don’t think there’s anything we can do about your sight.” She paused and stroked his head again. “You escaped from them, didn’t you? Good boy.”
He pushed into her hand despite his stomach dropping. He wasn’t aware that he’d retained any hope about regaining his sight until she dashed it.
“Do you have family I can contact?”
He flinched again and made a sound of pain before laying his paw over his eyes.
“Oh, honey.” She cupped his face and nuzzled him the way many mothers did their cubs. He accepted her maternal gestures, his heart bleeding. He didn’t think he’d ever be capable of love ever again but in that moment, he loved Trixie. She was his lifeline and he clung to her, hoping and praying to Phoenix that she wouldn’t be harmed because she helped him.
Trixie finished the exam and helped him off the table. The sedative was fully out of his system and any other wild animal would have mauled her. Instead, he and his cougar were in accord in their affection for the fox. He pressed against her legs, rubbing, purring. She continued to pet and scratch his head.
“Let’s give you a bath, hmm? Then we’ll figure out what to do next. I don’t think Fish and Wildlife will want to release you into the wild since you’re blind. They might look into a wildlife preserve. I’ll see what I can do to release you, even if I have to pull a caper.”
He pressed his head into her stomach, purring louder.
She chuckled. “I promise I’ll take care of you.”
He got a bath, which felt fantastic, and then she led him into a small enclosure. He knew it was small because she told him. Then the scent of raw, delicious meat met his noise, and he snarled in need.
“Eat up!”
Plop. Travis bit into the meat—beef—and gobbled it down. He also heard the swish of water and once he was done inhaling the beef, he turned and lapped up water from a large dish. Trixie was wise to stay away while he ate. Yes, he and his cougar loved her but he was also a starving predator and being one herself, she knew when to keep her distance. She threw him more meat and poured him more water. They were relatively small pieces but he knew that he’d get sick if he ate too much at one time after starving for so long.
After he finished everything, he was exhausted again and needed to pee. Without a shred of modesty, he walked over to a corner of the enclosure and relieved himself. Then he walked back. Trixie took him to an even smaller enclosure for him to rest in peace. At least it wasn’t a cage.
“Get some rest, you earned it,” she said with a last stroke to his head. “I need to write up my report and talk to some people. I think I’ll try to get them to release you to a preserve, and then I can have some friends make sure you don’t arrive. Don’t worry about a thing.”
She was kneeling in front of him. He slowly leaned forward and touched his nose to her face. Then he licked her cheek. She giggled like a little girl, and the sound reminded him of his sisters. He made a sad sound and pushed his head against her shoulder.
“Hush now lovely, everything will be all right. You just trust Mama Trixie and get some sleep. I’ll take care of the rest.”
He bobbed his head before curling up and dropping his head onto his paws. He heard the cage door latch and closed his eyes. He didn’t know what would happen next but promised himself, he swore, that if those monsters came for him and tried to harm Trixie, he’d maul all of them and die protecting her.
Chapter Two
Trixie was true to her word and within a week she’d managed to smuggle him out of official custody and enclose him in her family home. He stood in a spare bedroom, about to shift. He took deep breaths, remembering the aspects of being human—walking on two legs, using his hands for grabbing, holding, and eating with utensils. The act of speaking, whistling, singing. His muted senses. His cougar was stubborn, still in survival mode. Not surprising since he’d spent months as his cougar. Travis didn’t rush things and gently talked the other half of his spirit down. As soon as he relaxed, the air pulsed and shimmered, and Travis knelt as a sixteen-year-old boy on the carpet.
He took careful breaths through human lungs and opened his eyes. He was disappointed despite knowing his blindness would affect him in both forms. He slowly stood and stretched, before pacing, regaining his bipedal balance. He touched himself, feeling his own skin, the fine hairs on his chest. He could feel his ribs and knew he was far too skinny for someone of his height. He slowly worked up to his face and hesitated before taking the plunge and brushing his fingertips over his eyes. The skin was raw and scarring over. He was partially glad that he couldn’t see his appearance. Then he ran his fingers through his hair. It was to his shoulders, way too long for his taste.
“Okay, then,” he murmured, ignoring his trembling hands. “This is me right now.”
He shuffled over to the bed and dressed in spare clothes, given by Trixie’s eldest son. Ben was older than he was but their heights matched. He’d learned the day after being brought to Trixie that Ben was one of the animal control officers to find him. He’d been too crazed to recognize the scent of fox from Ben. Besides, the other officers had been human, overpouring the subtle musk. He loved these foxes so damn much. They were so kind.
Tears burned his destroyed eyes, and Travis brushed him away. They were an indulgence he couldn’t afford. They were useless and weak. He would cry for his family later.
He pulled on house slippers and cautiously made his way across the room to the door. He fumbled a bit before finding the doorknob and turning it. Then he continued slowly down the hallway, touching the walls on either side of him.
“Trixie?” he asked, his voice strained and rusty. He cleared his throat.
“I’m here.” Quick footsteps then familiar, gentle hands touched his arm. “I’ve got you.”
He still smelled her faint perfume. A comforting scent that eased his tension. Navigating the world without sight was going to be a challenge but what choice did he have? Those monstrous bastards weren’t going to take anything else from him, let alone his determination and fortitude.
“What is your name, sweetheart?”
He smiled and it felt weird stretching his face. “Travis. I’m Travis Kuger, and you’re a wonderful person.”
Trixie chuckled and brushed hair ou
t of his face. “No, I’m just a mother.”
“Like I said. Wonderful.”
She kissed his cheek, leaning into him. He realized she was small, and when they stopped walking, he tentatively reached out and brushed her face. He moved his hand up to her head. She didn’t even reach his shoulders.
“You’re a tiny little thing.”
She laughed. “No, you’re just a giant, silly. Now, come into the living room and meet my family. Careful, the couch is in front of you. That’s it, you cleared it. Now scooch a couple steps to your right. Little more. There. Now you can sit. Take it slow. You’ll get your bearings.”
Travis sat and felt someone beside him. He turned his head and sniffed delicately. His inner cougar purred at the soft scent of a young vixen.
“Hi, I’m Ciara.” A small hand took his and shook it. She had a nice, sweet voice.
“Hi, nice to meet you.”
Then a rougher hand took his and shook. “I’m Ben. We’ve met.”
Travis smiled. “Hey Ben. Thanks for the save. Is the other guy okay? The one I swatted?”
Ben chuckled and patted Travis’s shoulder. “He’ll live. Wasn’t too deep.”
“Good.”
“Travis, next is my husband, Lenard.”
“Hi,” Travis said when another large hand took his.
“Nice to meet you at last. Trix won’t shut up about you. I think you’ve been adopted into the family.”
Travis struggled to smile but his eyes burned again, and inside his mind wailed, wanting his family back. He turned away and covered his face with his hand, humiliated and ashamed, fighting against the pain. His cougar snarled and paced, causing his skin to ripple in agitation.
“Ah, damn, I’m sorry,” Lenard said, genuinely sounding aggrieved.
Travis shook his head.
“I’m right here.” Trixie laid her arm across his shoulders, as much as she could reach, anyway. “I’m so sorry. It’s all right. You can cry. No one here will think less of you.”
