by Anna Edwards
He walked past several wolf shifters who were growling impatiently for food. They eyed him as though he were a delicious little snack. He allowed only his head to transform into a more significant predator: a lion. The King of the Jungle always trumps everything else. He roared, and they shrank back. He changed his head back again and shook it.
“Inhuman,” he uttered and stomped through the rest of the mold-ridden, rat-infested dungeon toward the prisoner he’d come to see. He rattled the bars and stepped up close.
“I know you’re in there. Show your face.”
“Go away,” came a grumpy voice from one of the corners.
“Not happening. We need to talk.”
A low rumbling sounded from the shadows.
“You know not to piss me off.” An elderly bearded man stepped out of the shadows. Ethern watched as the man’s eyes flicked between human and lizard. No, not lizard, something extremely powerful, his body struggling to contain the potency within it. The man’s body was muscular but showed signs of its age. Being stuck down here didn’t help, and it had been a long time, ever since the Vietnam war. It was necessary, though. Much happened back then, which had threatened to plunge the future of multi-shifters into chaos. He’d agreed to his incarceration, for his own safety.
“You know it’s not my intention to annoy you. I wouldn’t come unless I had to.”
The man placed his hands on the bars of the cage, which separated him from freedom.
“Answer me something, first?” he asked.
“What?” Ethern replied, a little worried as to what it would be.
“Is she safe?”
“Molly?”
“Yes.” His voice was full of affection when he spoke.
“She’s with Kas. He’ll protect her with his life, as part of the pack.” Molly was a lynx on Kas’ lands. She’d lost a leg and now spent most of her time as an animal because it was easier to get around. She lived high up in the mountains where it was safer for her to be. Ethern knew the old man had great affection for her and promised him that she’d always be kept safe.
“It feels like forever since I last saw her.”
“It has been.” Ethern sighed, knowing the emotion going through the head of the shifter in front of him. “Selene is pregnant with a multi-shifter baby.” Selene was another member of the Glacial Blood pack. She was created not long ago by the multi-shifters to save the life of a baby who was destined to die. She had fallen in love and mated with the beta of Glacial Blood, Brayden Dillon.
The old man dropped his head against the bars. Ethern hadn’t meant to blurt it out like that, but he needed to tell his friend.
“You’ve seen it for yourself.”
“Yes. I tested her. The baby is powerful already. I’ve advised her against turning into a witch. It didn’t like me examining her when she did.”
“We knew this could happen when we messed with the natural order of things. It was inevitable. Now, we just have to prepare for what will happen next.”
“Do you think she’ll have the strength to survive it?”
“I hope so. I hope you all do. It’s the most difficult thing I’ve ever done.”
“You’re going to prepare yourself?” Ethern questioned.
“Yes. I’ll lead you all there in a few weeks. I need time first.”
Ethern lowered his head and nodded.
“It’s different out there now. There will be many things you won’t recognize.”
“I’ve tried to keep up as best as I can, but I know it’ll be a world I barely recognize. I see the sights and hear the noises on a daily basis. They’re all strange and unusual to me. Technology has advanced. Computers, mobile phones, the internet, they’re all things I’ve never experienced. My head knows what they are, but my mind has yet to learn their function in the world that I’ll have to live in when I leave here.”
“It’s not just that. The people, they’re different. Tolerance is fading.”
The man snorted a laugh of derision.
“I lived through many wars. Tolerance has never been a strong point for humans, or shifters. We’re not so unalike. We both seek to destroy what does not fit with our beliefs. I’ve seen the methods currently employed to instill belief. They’re not so different from when I was free the last time. I died the third time in a bombing campaign, remember.”
The fact his friend was immortal was always something he forgot because he aged like everybody else. Ethern had always thought of him as normal, if there was such a word for their species. It was only when it was time for him to die in his current life that he was returned to his youth and started again. He hadn’t always been this way, for he was a multi-shifter just like them. But the power, which surged through his veins, left him incapable of ever truly dying.
“I remember,” Ethern stated. “You’ve seen enough to give you an eternity of unwanted memories. We hid you away when we should and could have learned from you.”
“You hid me away because I’m more dangerous than anyone can imagine. That’s why. But the danger has shifted now, and I must prepare myself.”
The man’s eyes flicked again to a lizard-like appearance. Ethern’s own body tensed and relaxed alternately as he felt the power emanating from the man in front of him. He stepped back from the bars.
“Until it’s time,” Ethern affirmed as his skin turned green, and he began to disappear into thin air. Behind him, he heard the cries of agony when a giant fireball engulfed the dungeons, killing the shifters who suffered there. All except one, for just before he finally vanished, the sky darkened, he felt the air chill around him, and Ethern knew his friend had escaped and flown away.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Nuka Lincoln shifted his arm into that of a polar bear, turned off the television, and threw the remote across the room in a fit of fury. Ciaran Dunaid, his beta, walked into the room and looked at the shattered remnants at his feet. With a flick of his hand in the air, the buttons repaired themselves, and the remote settled onto a table by the leather couch.
“You didn’t enjoy the program then?” the druid asked. Nuka turned and glared at him.
“Senator Ross infuriates me. He thinks he knows everything about us. His wild accusations are destroying any hope we have of walking this earth freely as we are.”
Ciaran raised an eyebrow before settling himself in an armchair.
“I didn’t think you wanted to take a 'pied de terre' with a human. I thought you preferred to chase them down and eat them for your dinner. Isn’t the senator correct on that particular point?”
“You may be magical, Ciaran, but it doesn’t mean I can’t hurt you if I decide to shift and play catch with you for sport. I wouldn’t wind me up any more than I am already, at the moment.”
“Apologies. You seem a little stressed this evening. Let me rectify that.”
Ciaran clicked his fingers, and their little maid, Lily, appeared in the middle of the room. She was naked, apart from a towel wrapped around her, with wet hair dripping down her back having, apparently, just stepped out of the shower.
“Our alpha needs your services,” the druid informed the shocked bear. She dropped the towel to give them a view of her ample assets and sashayed her hips over to him. Nuka watched her perfect breasts jiggle hypnotically. Lily leaned forward and presented them to him.
“What do you want?”
He leaned forward and kissed the rosebud peak.
“Right now, I want your warmth. Sit on my lap and allow me to hold you.”
“That’s all?”
“I have to talk with Ciaran a bit longer. When I’m finished with him, you and I will go to bed, and I’ll take what else I need, then.”
“Yes, Sir.” She licked her lips and settled on him. Instantly, he felt calmed. His body relaxed; his little bear always soothed the tension in him.
“How did things go with Samuel today?” Nuka asked his beta.
“Good, he gets stronger every day. I don’t think it’ll be long,
and we’ll be ready for the change.”
“You may need to hurry it up a bit.”
“Why?” his beta asked and reached for a book, which was beside him on the table. It was a book of spells that the druid always kept close by him. It was in a language, which Nuka would never understand, and he was glad his friend could read it.
“Selene is pregnant; I learned today from a reliable source. She’s been advised not to change into a witch.”
The druid dropped the book into his lap.
“That can mean only one thing.”
“Yes, the baby is not a standard snow leopard. It’s something more interesting.”
“A multi-shifter.” Ciaran sat forward in his chair almost rubbing his hands in glee. Lily had shut her eyes and was rubbing her head up and down Nuka’s chest.
“Given there was an explosion in the Reichstag dungeons with several inmates charred beyond recognition, and all accounted for bar one, I’d say so.”
“It’s starting, just as your grandfather predicted. The war is coming. We’ll rise victorious.”
“Don’t get too excited, yet, my friend.” Nuka chuckled. “No, there’s much to be done before we’ll be free.”
Nuka brought his hand up on top of Lily’s head and tilted it up to capture her mouth in a kiss. There was no affection behind the caress. It was purely to demonstrate that he was in control. His plans needed the small girl sitting in his lap if they were to come to fruition.
“I think we need to hurry things along a little bit, though. What do you say?”
“What’s your idea?” Ciaran inquired.
“Humans are vile creatures. They want to capture us and treat us as their pets.”
Nuka felt Lily freeze at the word pet. Her whole body clenching and then shuddering in fear of the terrible memories that plagued her daily.
“They want to put us on leads and parade us around in front of other humans. Make us perform tricks for them, like actors on a stage, for all to see.”
Ciaran had obviously realized why he was speaking this way because the druid placed his book back on the table and dropped to the floor in front of them. Ciaran put his hand on Lily’s leg, and the bear wrapped her fingers tightly around it.
“My brother’s pack thinks we should be friends with them. That they won’t hurt us. I think we need to show them differently, don’t you? Show them how the humans will hurt, trap, and degrade us if we give them half a chance. I think the only way we can do that is if his pack is exposed to some. What do you think, Ciaran?”
“What do you mean?” The druid smirked.
Nuka looked at the TV, which was paused on Senator Ross.
“He’s looking for a shifter; I say we show him one.”
“But wouldn’t it be dangerous? I mean what if they capture the person who is exposed?”
Nuka chuckled.
“Silly, Ciaran. I wouldn’t put one of us in danger. No, I protect my pack. No, there’s a dangerous shifter out there now. Her pregnancy means she’s volatile. We just need someone to help bring the volatility out. I wonder who would do it. I couldn’t. They know me too well. I wouldn’t be able to get close enough.”
Ciaran feigned a gasp.
“Nor I. Maybe, Jackson?”
Nuka shook his head. Out of the corner of his eye, he was watching Lily. He didn’t know the full details of the bear shifter’s past because, frankly, as long as she allowed him to fuck her, he wasn’t interested. But he did know that the word ‘pet’ was significant in relation to whatever torment she’d suffered, and in the shifter world as a whole, it was a word of a derogatory nature.
“I’ll do it,” Lily spoke up.
“What?” Nuka pretended to be shocked.
“No human will treat any shifter again as a pet. If we need to be exposed to get the Glacial Blood pack to help us, then I’ll do it. They can’t be allowed to hurt us anymore.
“It’ll be dangerous.” Ciaran was playing his part superbly.
“I can do it. I promise.” Lily sat up.
“You know I won’t be able to protect you while you do?”
Lily nodded. “I know. I’m going into this to help others. If something happens, I understand.”
Nuka leaned forward and kissed her on the lips. He put a bit of affection into it this time, just to keep her happy.
“Go upstairs. I think you deserve a big reward for your sacrifice.”
Lily got up and left them.
Ciaran shook his head and smirked.
“Like a lamb to the slaughter.”
“Did you doubt me?”
“Never.”
Nuka sat back in the chair. He’d go upstairs in a moment. He picked up the remote and allowed the frozen Senator Ross to speak again. The drivel coming out of his mouth was mundane, for the most part, except for the fact shifters were real. That was true, and very soon, the senator would have the proof.
CHAPTER NINE
“I’m nervous.” Isobel tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. It was the errant bit that always refused to do as it was told when she had her hair pulled back. For what seemed like the hundredth time, she checked the outfit she was wearing: a long skirt and blouse, which was neat and tidy. She hadn’t felt this nervous in a long time. Zain picked her up shortly after her father had dropped her at work. She hadn’t told the senator she’d taken the day off to be with her boyfriend because, well, she didn’t want him to know she was seeing Zain again. Not yet, there’d be too many questions, and she wasn’t in a position to answer them, yet, without trembling and probably falling apart with nerves. “Remind me: there's Kas – polar bear, Brayden – snow leopard, Emma and Scott – lions, Tyler – wolf, Teagan – wild dog, Katia – half lion and half tiger, Jane – human, Jessica – witch, and Selene – who can transform into any animal she’s touched before. Am I right?”
She spent most of last night going over the list of people in the pack that Zain had told her he was a part of. It was all very confusing to her. He called them his family, now, but it seemed an alien concept to her since they were all such different species. It was also really frightening at the moment because she was standing outside the front door of the Glacial Blood pack’s home, waiting for Zain to take her in to meet them, once she had finished her delaying tactics.
“Yes, plus Zahara and Morocco, they’re Emma and Scott’s twins.” Zain leaned casually against the door frame and watched her. He knew exactly what she was doing; she could tell by the amused grin on his face.
“Zahara and Morocco. Twin lion cubs.” She paused and looked at him. “Do they look like lions or babies?”
“Babies. We can’t shift until we’re a bit older, normally at puberty. Makes it less likely they’ll turn into a cub and trot off into trouble when they shouldn’t.”
“Jane’s a human. Why is she here again?”
“She’s Brayden’s mother. Her husband was a snow leopard, but he died when Brayden was younger. Jane looks after us all as a mother, though.”
She slumped against the other side of the door.
“They’re going to hate me when they find out who I am.”
“They won’t. They’ll love you as much as I do.”
“They’ll probably chuck you out of the pack for bringing me here. I’m endangering them. I should leave. I need to forget who is who.”
Zain pushed off his side of the door frame and came over to her. He pressed a kiss to her lips as she continued to ramble on about the danger and getting people into trouble. It silenced her in an instant, and she melted into his touch.
“You're going to have to stop over-analyzing this. If I thought there was any danger to either you or the pack, then I wouldn’t bring you here. Everyone is going to be safe. We’ll sit down and have honey sandwiches.”
Isobel couldn’t help the chuckle that left her.
“Are you still obsessed with honey sandwiches?”
Zain rolled his eyes.
“You’ve no idea. Now, come on. L
et’s go in.”
Zain pushed the front door open, and they entered the house with their hands joined together.
“Kas,” he called out.
“In the lounge,” a deep voice replied in a blunt tone.
“He doesn’t sound happy,” she murmured almost silently to Zain.
“No, it’s just Kas. He always sounds like that,” Zain replied in decibels of a similar level.
“I can hear you,” came from the lounge, which was followed by the sound of feminine giggling. A growl shook the house, and the laughter silenced pretty quickly. She could understand why.
“He heard me?” she whispered again.
“Er..yeah..we have good hearing. Really good. They’ve probably all been listening to the conversation we had on the porch.”
Isobel felt her skin blush bright red.
“Now, I’m convinced they’re going to hate me.” she lamented. Zain pulled her to him.
“Trust me.” He pressed his lips against hers, and her vision blurred at the edges with the need to have him inside her again, which would have been preferable to meeting all his friends. The kiss did the job and relaxed her, though.
“Okay.” She relaxed into his arms.
“Come on, before you panic again.”
Zain guided her down the hallway and through a heavy wooden door. It led into a spectacular lounge area. She was taking in the old-fashioned décor when she noticed the group of people eagerly standing at the other end of the room. Zain pushed her forward.
“Hi, everyone. I’ve never told you much about my life.”
“You never told us a single thing, let alone not much.” A tall man, who was lounging on the couch with a baby fast asleep on his lap, spoke. The woman sitting next to him tapped his head. “What?” the man asked.
“Shush,” the lady, who was also holding a baby, told him. Isobel surmised these two were the lions, for they had the most gorgeous blonde hair she’d ever seen, especially the man.
“As I was saying…” Zain came to her side and wrapped his arm around her. “I’ve not told you much about my past, and I think all you need to know, even now, is — I was a big idiot. I thought something I shouldn’t, and I trusted an instinct that was complete shit. Thankfully, I’ve been given a second chance, and I’m going to take it. Everyone, this is Isobel Ross. My girlfriend.”
