Moonburn

by Alisa Sheckley

  And then the front door slammed open, letting in wind, snow, and the full fury of an enraged Magda. “All right,” she snarled, “what the hell is going on here?”

  TWENTY-ONE

  “What does it look like? My boyfriend is trying to eat your boyfriend’s face off. Now shut up and help,” I snapped, trying to pull Red’s head back by his fur.

  “Don’t tell me what to do,” Magda countered, punching Red hard on his snout. I winced, thinking of the pain to his sensitive canine nose, but Magda’s technique was effective: Red yelped and released Hunter, who clutched his face and yowled in pain.

  “Are you okay? Come on,” I coaxed Hunter, trying to pull his hands away from his face. “Let me see.”

  “He fucking tried to bite my nose off!” At first glance, it appeared as though he might have succeeded. Bloody tissue was gushing in thick streams from both nostrils, there were bite marks all along the bridge, and Hunter’s nose had already swollen up like a lopsided yam.

  “I don’t think he did any lasting damage, but I need to check the cartilage.”

  “Don’t be such a baby,” said Red, looking at me with clever, calculating coyote eyes as the fur rolled back from his skin and he reverted to his human form. “All I did was nip you on the nose.” His feet, I noticed, were a fine healthy color again. Nothing like shifting to speed up cell renewal.

  “Nip me!” Hunter pointed at his bloody face, indignant. “You nearly bit it off!”

  “Well, I might’ve gotten a little carried away by the moment. Let me see.”

  Red had barely taken one step when Hunter scooted himself back along the floor. “He’s fucking mad! Don’t let him near me!”

  “And here I thought you kind of liked the first part,” said Red, a sly look on his narrow face.

  “I’m not gay, you little prick!” It was hard to tell, but I thought the kissing might have upset Hunter more than the biting.

  “Well, you know, maybe you liked it but just didn’t want to admit it,” Red drawled. A surprised laugh burst out of me; Red was quoting Hunter’s words back at him.

  Hunter glared at Red out of eyes that were already sporting darkening half moons. “I’ll show you how much I liked it, you son of a bitch …”

  “Stop this, all of you.” Magda sounded peeved that we had been ignoring her. Like my mother, she was used to being the center of attention, and there was something theatrical about the way she had placed herself in the center of the room, in a long sable coat that gleamed like a night river and stank like a wet dog. Stalking across the floor, she knelt beside Hunter, revealing red ski pants and a pair of tall, embroidered black sheepskin boots with fringes.

  “Red is right, you are being a baby,” she said, taking Hunter’s chin in her gloved hand. “It is not serious,” she said. “You will heal when you shift again.”

  “You sound disappointed,” Hunter muttered grumpily.

  “Here,” I said, taking a clean washcloth from the linen closet. “Let me see what’s under all that blood.”

  “Give me that,” snapped Magda, taking the cloth from my hand.

  “Ouch. Not so hard,” Hunter complained as she scrubbed at his face. When we’d been together, he’d never made such a fuss about physical discomfort, but then, I’d been the nurturing type. Maybe he thought he had to turn up the volume to get some kind of sympathetic response out of Magda.

  It wasn’t working.

  “If you had not been sniffing around where you do not belong, you would not be in this pathetic state,” Magda retorted. “What are you, a dog, to follow your nose to any available bitch?” She straightened up, presumably so she could tower over Hunter, who was still on the floor.

  “Speaking of dogs,” said Red, “you might want to tell your man there that wolves don’t share.” The red-tailed hawk gave a little squawk as Red opened a cabinet, and he absently caressed her head with one finger as he removed a bottle of Jack Daniel’s and a glass. “Dogs might not mind taking turns, but a wolf doesn’t take too kindly to another male going after his mate.”

  I felt a little leap in my pulse, and Red threw back the whiskey and gave me a look so carnal that I had to glance away. His mate. For some reason, the words gave me a primitive sense of satisfaction.

  Magda’s amused bark of laughter caught me by surprise. “Ah, so she’s your mate now.” She moved closer to me, making me conscious of something I should have noticed from the moment she walked into the cabin. I wasn’t the only one emitting a scent. Like me, Magda was in estrus. And it wasn’t improving her temper any. “I should have made you leave last year.”

  I glanced over at Red to see if he was going to offer any support, but he seemed content to lean against the counter, drinking his bourbon and observing the action. I understood why he wasn’t offering Hunter and Magda a drink, but I could have used a little Dutch courage.

  “Listen, Magda,” I said slowly, “you can’t blame me for my hormones. And I didn’t exactly encourage him. In fact, I tried to throw him out. If you’re going to pick on someone, pick on him.”

  “You have a point,” Magda conceded, turning back to Hunter, who was wincing as he examined his nose in a mirror by the sink. “Well? What do you have to say for yourself?”

  “Hey, she came on to me,” Hunter said. “I was out walking and I saw something outside the cabin—some kind of bear man thing—and just wanted to make sure that Abra was safe. He attacked me, Abra brought me inside—I guess when my shirt came off, she couldn’t stop herself.”

  “You are so full of crap,” I said, clenching my fists until my nails dug into my palms.

  “Oh, come on, Abra, we all know you’re in heat. I’m sure everyone understands that you’re not in control of yourself.” Turning back to Magda, Hunter said, “I didn’t even intend to come inside, but she pulled me in and began tearing my clothes off.”

  I made an inarticulate sound of rage and launched myself at Hunter.

  Hunter held me off with one long arm. “God, look, she’s at me again. Red, pull your woman off of me.”

  Red wrapped his arms around me and whispered mockingly in my ear, “I can barely keep my hands off him myself. Maybe we should take turns.”

  I choked on a surprised laugh, and felt Red’s arms tighten around my waist. I hadn’t noticed it before, but he was exuding some faint, wonderful fragrance of smoke and woods and wild herbs.

  Magda raised one imperious hand, as if cutting off an orchestra. “What is this bear man? Another kind of therian?”

  “It’s a Liminal critter,” said Red, releasing me and retrieving his drink from the counter. “The biggest, but not the only one. They’re called manitous, and I’ve been tracking them, and I know where they are.” A moment ago, when he’d been holding me, I had felt sure that we were on the same team. My mate. But the moment he’d stepped away from me, it had felt as though a steel door had slammed shut between us. I had been with this man for over a year, but I was beginning to suspect that I had only seen the part of him that he’d allowed me to see. “I also know where they’re not. No sign of one around this cabin.” Red finished his bourbon and wiped his mouth on the back of his arm.

  “Maybe you missed one,” said Hunter, taking the bottle and helping himself to a glass.

  “That’s not the kind of thing I miss,” said Red, lifting the glass out of Hunter’s hand before he could drink it.

  “Thank you.” I intercepted the glass, raising it to Red in a mock toast. “It’s been a rough day.” I’d had enough of changeable men. This time, nobody was going to play me. I threw the drink back, the tough dame who gave as good as she got. The bourbon hit the back of my throat and I began to choke.

  Someone slapped me hard between the shoulder blades and I looked up, my eyes streaming with tears. Magda was smiling at me, amused. “Thanks,” I said sarcastically, my voice still hoarse.

  “My pleasure.” Magda paused, her nostrils flaring. “That scent …” She turned, moving closer to Red, her black eyes unreadable
. When she stood a foot from him, her nostrils flared. “It is not just her,” she said, sounding surprised. “You are in heat as well. I have never heard of such a thing … in wolves. Coyotes, of course, are different.”

  “A woman keeps riding a man about something, it makes the man start to wonder.” Red pushed his face up to hers. “You trying to get a rise out of me, Miss Maggie?”

  Magda laughed, a low and husky sound. I had the feeling it was mostly for Hunter’s benefit, but something in me stiffened when she curled her big hands around Red’s biceps. “I must admit, I am tempted. You seem different, somehow. Stronger.” She squeezed his muscle. “Harder.”

  I waited for Red to tell her off, but he just raised one eyebrow. “You testing me for firmness, or looking for a rotten spot?”

  “That depends,” Magda began, but Hunter cut her off.

  He looked almost comical in his astonishment. “You aren’t seriously considering letting that … redneck coyote touch you?”

  Magda toyed with a strand of Red’s hair, and even I could feel the pull. She was a great strapping Amazon, intimidating and compelling, and if she didn’t snap Red in two, she’d probably give him the ride of his life. “I’ve never been with a male in heat,” she said in a low, seductive voice. “Perhaps it would add to my chances of conceiving. And he is a shaman, too—yes, perhaps I have not been investigating all my options.”

  I think Magda was angling for a challenge, but Hunter just shook his head in disbelief. “So you want to screw this miserable runt?”

  Magda smiled, her eyes locked on Red’s, her body pressed up against his. “It appears he’s rather larger than I suspected.”

  A low growl emerged from my throat. If my horn-dog ex wasn’t going to raise a fuss, then it was down to me.

  “I think the missus is objecting,” Red said, and I was still human enough to catch the crooked smile playing about the corners of his mouth, and the look of quiet satisfaction in his eyes.

  “You,” I said, jabbing my finger at Magda, “paws off my man.”

  “Don’t be stupid, woman. I am bigger, stronger, and most important, smarter.”

  “Excuse me? You are not smarter.”

  “Please. You give vaccinations to lapdogs and house-cats. I research genetic mutations and their effect on behavior in the wild.” Magda’s lip curled. “And Hunter told me you had no real intellectual interests, which was a disappointment to him.”

  All right, that did it. Grabbing the glass of bourbon from the counter, I threw the contents in her face. There wasn’t much left, but hell, it was a nice gesture.

  Spluttering and cursing in Romanian, Magda wiped her eyes. She was furious now, hair bristling. “You must want to die very badly,” she said. There was cold fury in her face, but for some reason, the adrenaline coursing through my veins wasn’t telling me to run like hell. It was telling me to take her down.

  “At the moment, anything that shuts you up sounds like a good plan to me.”

  “The last time we fought, you were not so eager.”

  “The last time we fought, I had just changed for the first time.”

  We stood there for a moment, frozen, and I caught another wave of scent from Red, earthy and aroused. The prospect of my fighting Magda was turning him on. I was trying to process how I felt about this when I caught a flash of movement out of the corner of my eye as Magda launched herself at me.

  My arm came up to block her and I rolled with the movement, taking us both down to the floor. I was back on my feet a moment before her; I smiled a little, feeling superior, and Magda slammed into me in a tackle that knocked the air out of my lungs. Christ, she’s strong, I thought, as her big hands wrapped around my neck and the room dimmed and began to flash with red bursts of light. Wonder why she didn’t want us to shift before fighting, I thought, trying to kick my legs up so I could get her in a scissors hold. There was some clue there, something I could use. All I had to do was figure it out before I ran out of time, and air.

  I didn’t figure it out. The room went dark and soft around the edges, and then it went away.

  TWENTY-TWO

  “I’ve released her. See? She’s breathing. Now will you please remove the knife?”

  I took a shaky breath and opened my eyes. The room was still dark, the flame from the oil lamps oddly blurred, and I felt confused and disoriented. Magda was still on top of me, but now there was a big knife jammed up against her throat. I blinked, trying to clear my eyes and my head, because I couldn’t see who was holding the knife. I took another shaky breath. I swallowed, realizing how badly my throat hurt.

  “Get up off her first.” Red’s voice was calm, and I realized that he was standing behind Magda, holding the knife pressed up against her jugular.

  I watched as Magda carefully swung one long leg around. She was moving as carefully as a dancer, so as not to move her neck and effectively cut her own throat. I took another painful breath and drew myself upright, trying to take stock of the situation. My glasses had been knocked off. I felt around and located them on the floor behind my left elbow, mercifully unbroken.

  Putting the glasses back on my face, I looked around the room. Hunter was lying apparently unconscious near the door. There was a dark mark, presumably a bruise, on his temple. I looked up and saw that Red had retrieved his long rifle, which was resting up over his shoulder, while his free hand held the knife to Magda’s throat. Apparently, Red had used the rifle stock as a club. I had for gotten about the knife he always carried in his back pocket—it was more of a backwoods utensil than a weapon.

  “Well, Virgil? Going to kill me with that knife?” Magda tilted her head back against Red’s crotch. I felt a momentary bewilderment; I had never heard Red’s real name said out loud, although I’d seen it on official documents.

  “I’m contemplating it.”

  “Because if not, I would like to get up. Your erection is poking me in the head.”

  Red released Magda, and she gave him a measured look as she got to her feet. “I am not often mistaken in my judgments, but in your case—You are not what I expected.”

  With a flick of his wrist, Red folded the knife and tucked it into his back pocket. “It’s not for you.”

  “Pardon?’

  Red just looked at her with hooded eyes, as if his torn and faded jeans didn’t reveal exactly what he meant.

  For a moment, I thought Magda was going to attack Red, but then her gaze flicked to Hunter, who was just beginning to stir on the floor.

  “Fine,” Magda snapped, pushing Red away. “I would not want to breed mongrels, in any case.”

  “Hey, honey, I think I’m being insulted,” Red said, looking at me for the first time. “You okay?” Underneath the casual tone, I detected another, more serious note.

  I nodded, which made my thoat hurt. “Peachy.” I pointed at Hunter, who was coughing up blood. “I’m not so sure about him, though.”

  “He’s fine,” Red assured me. “Probably just swallowed a tooth.”

  He held my gaze and I drew in a shuddering breath, and there was that scent again, a drugging blend of herbs and forest and the warm musk of pheromones.

  “Come on, Hunter,” Magda said in her commandant’s voice, holding out her hand. “Let us leave them to their rutting.”

  “But I thought you didn’t want her to get pregnant,” said Hunter, allowing Magda to help him upright. He didn’t sound as disoriented as I would have expected, and it occurred to me that he’d been faking unconsciousness to avoid having to fight Red again.

  “It does not matter,” said Magda, her voice tight with restrained fury. “Even if she does manage to conceive, it won’t last.” Turning to me, she added, “Have I mentioned that my brothers are coming from Romania to join our little family? You, on the other hand, are just two.”

  With that, Magda pushed Hunter out the door, which slammed behind them.

  And then we were alone. The fire crackled behind the grate, and the windowpanes rattled from the win
d, as if to emphasize just how isolated we two were. There were no constraints now; we could couple like animals. Or Red could kill me for cheating.

  Red set down his rifle, and my heart began to race. As I watched him approach me, my nearsighted eyes played a trick on me, and I saw two images of my lover juxtaposed against each other, the one familiar and beloved, the other mysterious and unpredictable.

  I swallowed and licked my lips, trying to think of something to say as Red stood and looked down at me. The Red I knew would have made a joke, or stroked my face, dispelling my tension. But the Red I knew should not have been able to take out Hunter and Magda. He certainly hadn’t been that strong last year, which made me wonder what had changed.

  “The door’s over there.” Red’s face was unreadable. “You want to leave? Leave. I ain’t going to stop you.” And with that, he turned and went over to his rifle, which he started to clean with all the loving care he’d once lavished on me.

  “There’s a blizzard outside,” I said. “What am I supposed to do, go knock on Hunter and Magda’s door?”

  “I didn’t say I was throwing you out.” Red opened the rifle’s barrel and removed the bullets. “Stay, if you want.”

  “You’re mad at me.”

  “Yeah. But you don’t have to keep flinching. I’m not planning on doing anything about it.” Red perched himself on the back of the couch and set about dismantling the rifle. I wondered if he was just doing it to keep his hands busy, or if he felt safer confronting me without a loaded gun in the room.

  “I don’t understand, Red.”

  “I haven’t been honest with you.” Red looked up. “And you haven’t been honest with me.”

  I took a deep breath, forced myself to say it. “If you’re referring to what happened with Hunter, that wasn’t anything to do with you.”

  Red slammed his beloved twelve-gauge Browning down so hard that I flinched. “The hell it didn’t. If you were really my woman, you wouldn’t have let that bastard within two feet of you. But he got a lot closer than that, didn’t he?”