Scent of the Heart

by Parker Williams

  “We don’t have many large shifters. The Protector is by far the most powerful. We have a few bears and elk shifters, but beyond that, most of our people are small animals. And why do you want me to tell you something you already know?”

  “Because I like the sound of your voice.” They lay quietly for a moment before Casey broke the silence. “How did your family end up in the enclave?”

  ***

  Sev had not thought about the tales his parents had told in years, but knowing that his mate wanted to hear them, to know them better, warmed Sev, despite the bitter cold.

  “My great-great-grandparents left Russia in 1864 during the reign of Alexander II. The story was that he was a good man in many ways, but one of my kin, a man called Vitaly, could not control his shifting ability as he aged. My family was terrified of being found out, so they fled. They lived as gypsies for many years, never staying in one place for long, lest Vitaly give them away.

  “By chance, they found another shifter, a porcine, who told them of a wondrous place where shifters lived with humans in peace. He offered to lead them there for their worldly goods. By this time, Vitaly was a skunk more than man, and they felt for his safety there was no choice. They agreed.”

  “And of course the man betrayed them.”

  “No. He was good to his word. He led them for months, trying to avoid populated areas, traveling over treacherous terrain, until they were near what we know as the enclave. Unfortunately, Vitaly’s mind had given up, and he was now wholly skunk. He fled from his family and went to a township one day, likely in search of food, and caused a disturbance. They hunted him down and were about to kill him, when Piotr, the porcine shifter, saved him. Sadly he was struck down as he attempted to run away.

  “My family found him and encouraged him to shift, hoping to ease his wounds, but he was old and the shift did not heal him as hoped. He told them of the pass to the enclave, bade them good travels, then died. My family shifted to their skunk form and using their claws on the frozen ground, buried him before they continued on their way.

  “They made it to the safety of the enclave and settled there. There were sixteen people they left with, but only seven made it. They were welcomed to live with the others and raised a family.”

  He heard Casey’s light snoring and smiled. His mate was exhausted and needed his rest. There would be time later to tell the story again. He pressed his lips to Casey’s neck, then shifted to his skunk form. This close to the fire, wrapped around Casey, they both drifted to sleep.

  ***

  First light brought Sev awake. The fire had burned down to ash, though thankfully the temperatures had risen slightly. It was still cold, but the bitterness had lessened. He went out, hoping to scavenge a bit of food to share, but the earth was frozen solid, and even with his claws, he wouldn’t be able to dig deep enough to find anything. He could probably try to kill something so that Casey could eat, but he wasn’t really built for it. He never realized how much living in the enclave meant to him. A temperate climate, food from the garden, shelter. All things he took for granted.

  Casey was still fast asleep when Sev returned and a lump formed in his stomach. His mate was playing a dangerous game, and Sev was afraid. Casey’s skin had an unhealthy pallor, nearly white as the snow and, for a brief moment, Sev wanted to force Casey to break the spell, but he grudgingly admitted that Jake would track them down, and he and Casey would be the losers. As much as he hated the idea, he pushed it to the farthest recesses of his mind.

  “We have to go,” Sev whispered, tugging Casey’s ear.

  “Five more minutes, Mom. Just five more.”

  “If you wake up now, I’ll give you a kiss.”

  Casey pulled a face. “I don’t want to kiss my mom. Especially when she’s got morning breath.” Casey reached out and grabbed Sev by the arms, pulling him close. “But if Mom won’t mind mine, I guess I won’t mind hers.”

  “That is so wrong.”

  “Yep, but you love me.”

  They shared a brief kiss, then Casey sat up. “What are you doing without your clothes? You’ll freeze to death.”

  “The temperature went up overnight. I’m actually okay.”

  “Oh yeah? These tell a different story.” Casey slid his hands over Sev’s chest, touching the goose bumps that were obvious.

  “You make your sacrifice, I’ll make mine. We have to go now. It’s still a ways to where Elizar climbed into the mountains.”

  “I’m guessing breakfast is out of the question?”

  Guilt hammered at Sev. “I couldn’t find anything.”

  “Just as well. I need to lose some weight. I was getting a bit of a paunch.”

  The note of humor in Casey’s voice did nothing to assuage the gnawing in Sev’s stomach. Though skunks in the wild tended to be solitary animals, Sev wanted to care for his mate, and his skunk found the fact they weren’t to be very distasteful. The beast tried to claw its way out, wanting to take Casey to a den where they would be curled up for the winter. It was only through force of personality that Sev held it at bay, even if he felt the same way.

  They traveled in silence. Each giving heed to only his own thoughts. Sev kept an arm around Casey as they went. His concern ratcheted up as Casey leaned heavier on him. With his shifter strength, it wasn’t a burden on his body, but it played havoc with his heart.

  “Stop fussing,” Casey hissed.

  “You’re right. Let me not care that my mate is bleeding to death and won’t stop it. How foolish of me.”

  “I don’t want to fight with you.”

  “I don’t either, but I need you to let the spell drop.”

  “I told you, Jake—”

  “Will be freed when you die. So he’s still going to come after me. I think the two of us have a better chance of fighting him than I do alone. You don’t understand how much I need you, do you? Not just for this, but for everything. If you die, half my heart goes with you.”

  Casey paused, then reached into his bag and withdrew a small, round thorny cluster. “If I do this, we may have to kill Jake. You know that, right? Because I have nothing else to use. He might be less in control since Elizar has him, but he’s still the Protector, and I’m not as powerful as he is.”

  Sev swallowed hard. “Like you said, he would give his life for the enclave. There was talk of his guilt over killing someone. If you died, do you think he’d forgive himself for that?”

  A silence hung between them before Casey crushed the thorn. “He’s free. And we need to move.”

  Sev lifted Casey’s shirt and watched as the puckered wound closed and the bleeding ceased.

  “How do you feel?”

  “Nervous. Agitated. Jake and I had our share of fights growing up, but there was never any that we couldn’t come back from. I’m afraid one of us will die. And knowing Jake, it’s gonna be me.”

  Sev hissed. “He won’t kill you. It’s still your friend in there.”

  A sad shake of the head and Casey turned from Sev. “It’s not. That’s Elizar. Unless we can get him out, Jake’s just a meat puppet.”

  The shudder that went through Casey couldn’t be mistaken for the cold. Sev’s mate was heartbroken. The pain radiated off him. Even without their link, Sev would know.

  “If I get Jake back, we’re going to the spirit realm and I’m going to rip Elizar’s soul apart. I don’t care what tradition says or that he might be doomed to wander forever. There’s always the chance that he’ll find a way to get back, and I won’t have it. Even if it costs me everything, I swear you and the enclave are going to be safe.”

  The sheer venom in Casey’s words forced Sev to pull him closer. He wouldn’t say anything, because he understood. He fully intended on joining Casey, even if it was in the next life.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Knowing that Jake was probably stalking them again, Casey wanted to push Sev away. Force him to leave so he’d be safe. He understood now how Jake must feel when Zak waltzed into dangerou
s situations. The pit that formed in his stomach, watching as his mate entered a potential shitstorm. Trying to ignore the fact Sev would be at risk sent shudders through Casey. The urge to tie Sev down hammered at him, but he quelled it. He wasn’t Jake. And Sev wasn’t the Alpha.

  “Stop glowering,” Sev grumbled. “It won’t do any good. I’m going with you.”

  For a moment, Casey thought Sev had read his thoughts as Jake and Zak were able to do, but then he realized Sev was picking up the strong emotions.

  “I wasn’t going to say anything.”

  “You’re a bad liar.”

  Sev pointed at the side of the mountains as they approached. The peak was shrouded in a dense layer of clouds, and snow had begun falling.

  “Do you see the base where the tree line ends? Elizar climbed there. I know there’s a path that leads up, but after a time, it becomes a sheer wall. I didn’t have a way to follow.”

  There was a pause before Casey cracked his knuckles. “It just so happens, I climb. I went a few times with Jake, but normally I ended up alone. It’s not difficult, and if you’re careful and do exactly what I say, we’ll head up together.”

  “You lead, I’ll follow.”

  “I’m serious. The wall seems to start off at a soft angle, before it would get treacherous, so climbing it wouldn’t be too bad, but there are a lot of things that could go wrong. I don’t have the equipment here that I used back at college, so this will take a lot of concentration. And the weather isn’t helping either.”

  “I’ll follow your directions to the letter. I promise.”

  Good to his word, Sev did everything exactly as Casey instructed. They made an interesting pair. Sev climbing naked, with the exception of some covering on his feet and hands that Casey made from the small satchel he had. He ditched the remainder of his supplies in order to help Sev as much as possible. The climb was every bit as treacherous as Casey feared. These weren’t the hills back at the college, with their challenging grade, but thought to be safe for even beginner climbers. This was a mountain. Harsh and unforgiving of mistakes.

  Though he tried to be patient, Casey’s nerves were jangled. Taking an unskilled climber was bad enough, but this was his mate whose life was in peril, and that wasn’t even taking into account the big, ferocious cat that was probably barreling down on them right now. The good part would be the fact that Jake wasn’t the climber Casey was, but with Elizar in control, he probably knew a quicker route to his destination.

  “I’m an idiot,” Casey mumbled.

  “And I’m starting to freeze, so can we hurry this along?”

  “Jake’s coming. We both know he is. What if we let him lead the way instead of us trying to find it?”

  A knowing grin crossed Sev’s face. “That’s a bit of brilliance. No idiocy involved at all.”

  Without the blood thorn draining him, Casey had enough power to move minute bits of snow, in essence creating what appeared to be a path up the sides of the mountain, in the spots that seemed most likely to conceal the best way to go. By the time he’d finished, though, he was panting heavily, the worry in Sev’s expression reminding Casey how exhausting all this was. When he’d done everything he could, they found a windbreak and huddled together there, Casey providing what little warmth he could.

  “What happens if he doesn’t come? Maybe Elizar called him back.”

  Casey tightened his grip, pulling Sev closer to him. “He knows where we’re going, I’m certain. Even if the item isn’t here, he won’t want us going any farther in the search. We’re the only two we know of that he hasn’t been able to control. He’s going to want to stop us.”

  “And Jake?”

  “I’ve known Jake as far back as I can remember. His mantra was always ‘do what you have to for the good of the team.’ He willingly waded into a group of kids who were taunting me because of my long hair, my big mouth, and being what they thought of as less than a man. He pushed his way in, throwing other guys off me. Jake has always been big, and I don’t think he was in any danger, but it meant something to me. He put himself at risk for me and kept me from being hurt.”

  “I don’t understand. That story tells me that you owe him, and that you should be willing to do what’s needed to save him.”

  “No, that story means Jake knows I will follow his example and do what I need to so that we’re safe. I don’t want him to die. I know that Zak would probably understand, but I wouldn’t get over it. If it has to be done to save everyone else? I’ll do it. If I can.”

  ***

  Sev listened to Casey’s words but knew the weight that went with them. His mate wasn’t a violent man, and the price something like this would exact from him would haunt him forever.

  The sound of strained breath caught their attention. The Protector had caught up with them. He raised his head, sniffing at the wind, and Sev felt a shiver ripple through them both as Jake padded around the area. Sev shifted, knowing that if Jake attacked them, he would need every spare moment. He turned his gaze to Casey, hoping for some direction, but those blue depths were closed to him as Casey mouthed words.

  With a sonorous roar, Jake leapt. His muscles quickly covered the distance between them, and Sev struggled against Casey’s grip. His skunk was about to bite his mate, desperate to be released, until he realized that Jake’s path took him beyond where they lay hidden. He bounded to an area nestled in the rocks, then slipped beneath an outcropping, from which he didn’t reemerge.

  They lay there for another twenty minutes before Casey hesitantly scooted forward. “Let’s go.”

  Sev regained his human form, regretting it as the wind whipped over his naked skin. “What did you do? How could he miss us?”

  “Masking cantrip. It’s a low level spell that the shamans used to help hunters to keep their prey from noticing them until it was too late. I wasn’t sure if it would work, because Jake isn’t exactly an animal. If he’d gotten much closer to us, there was no way he’d miss it. As it is, we won’t get lucky a second time.”

  “Do you think Jake is fighting, and that’s what kept him from noticing us?”

  “I told you, Jake isn’t there anymore. That’s all Elizar, who has no idea how to use Jake’s body properly. When Jake attacked us before, he could have killed me a dozen ways before I drew my next breath. Elizar is enjoying the fear too much to give it up.”

  “Then why doesn’t he just take Jake’s body?”

  “I have a few thoughts on that. I think he bonded to Mikhail. The only way he can be free is if we killed Mikky. If he had Jake kill the body, I don’t think it would release him, and he’d die with your brother. Sort of committing suicide.”

  “So now what do we do?”

  “Follow that kitty.”

  They crept forward, following the huge paw prints that dotted the ground for about five hundred feet, then simply vanished.

  “No way. We saw him.”

  Casey’s gaze flew to the trees, and Sev knew the frustration and panic he could feel rolling off his mate.

  “I don’t understand. He has to be here.” There was so much fear in Casey’s eyes as he continued to scan the area.

  “We’re thinking of this wrong,” Sev murmured. “We know he came this way, and neither Elizar nor the Protector has magical ability, so the answer must be physical.”

  Sev shifted, his squat form wobbling in the direction Jake had gone. Sniffing at the ground, he picked up the scent. It was the Protector’s scent, but not. A hint of Elizar was intermingled, overwriting the natural strength and dominance Sev noted from Jake. Casey followed, mumbling quietly, and Sev knew he had to find where Jake had gone, or risk having his mate questioning himself.

  He neared the area Jake had disappeared when he saw it. Too low to be seen by a human that wasn’t on hands and knees, but still large enough that a man could slip into it. Ensuring he had Casey’s attention, Sev crawled into the hole, then stared in wonder. A tunnel, carved into the living mountainside, sloped upward. He re
gained his human form, then he and Casey began doing the impossible.

  Stalking the hunter.

  ***

  The pathway was an impossibility. Years with the most sophisticated equipment couldn’t have crafted something like this. It went on for miles, sloping gradually as they rose. It almost seemed as though it was a spiral staircase covered by a mountain. The nearly three hours they spent walking along the stone pathway finally came to an end when they arrived at a massive doorway carved from the stone.

  “Okay, I didn’t expect any of this,” Casey admitted.

  “The previous shaman is the only one who could have done it, but I’ve never heard of such mastery. It would have taken lifetimes to do, and Elizar killed him when we were banished to the outer ring.”

  “It seems weird that he’d walk all this time, doesn’t it?”

  “He likely knows shortcuts or has a talisman imbued with shaman magic to speed him along.”

  Casey pushed the door open, and light spilled into the darkened corridor.

  “Oh, spirits save me,” Sev whispered.

  The roughhewn stone of the tunnel opened up into a room with smooth, almost glass-like rock walls, engraved with intricate patterns of stylized words, ornate scrollwork etched into light wood. The furniture was obviously crafted from the same type of tree, then covered in a rich brocade of deep black cloth.

  “This—” Sev’s voice cracked. “This is the style he lived in while others were starving? Predator shifters killed their prey counterparts in order to survive, then mourned the loss of their neighbors and friends. So many deaths, while Elizar could have sheltered nearly the entire enclave in here.”

  “It’s impressive, I admit. Tsvetok, welcome to my home away from home.”

  They turned as one to find Jake, draped in animal skins, standing before them.

  “This is where I wanted to bring you, so that I could introduce you to the ways of the world. If your parents had not fought me at every turn, you would have lived here. At least until I tired of you. And, Shaman, you see what marvels your abilities could bring? Imagine it; untold knowledge at your fingertips. Through Jake, I can sense the magic within you. Given time and attention, your abilities could dwarf those of any who came before you. Join with me. Not only will I spare your friends, but I will let you keep Tsvetok and his family as your pets.”