Rebirth (Rogues Shifter Series)

by Gayle Parness

  I nuzzled him gently toward the tree and was happy to see him sit, leaning his back against it and closing his eyes. I ran to the pack that the first wolf had carried and brought it to Garrett, hoping that it contained something that could help him. There was a water bottle which he opened and used to wash off his hands and face, and an extra pair of sweatpants, which Garrett put on. I was grateful to see that he no longer looked so fierce and I rubbed up against him to let him know that I was worried about him.

  He stood slowly and said, “We’ll have to walk back. I can pull in some power from the lines but I need to feed. Hunting in shifter form is great for my cheetah but when I transition back, my vampire is still hungry.” I chirred at him with concern. “I’ll be fine; I just need to get home so I can call one of my donors.” His wound had stopped bleeding but he’d lost quite a lot of blood, making him weak. “You’ll be safer if you stay in cheetah form until we get out of the woods. There could be more weres roaming around since tonight’s the full moon. You’ll be able to outrun them.”

  I jumped up on him and pushed him to the ground, which only worked because I’d startled him. I lay across his legs and bared my neck to him, trying to make it obvious that I wanted him to feed from me. I was feeling strong and healthy, but I couldn’t protect us from weres. If he fed from me and I became weak, he could carry me to the car using his incredible vamp speed. If we did run into any other weres he could take care of them. It all made perfect sense to me.

  “Jackie, I won’t feed from you, I promised.” I hissed at him and bit his hand just enough to hurt. My green eyes pleaded with his blue ones and I sent to him mentally, “Feed now”.

  He sighed and nodded, “It makes sense. You’re right. I can protect us.” I licked his face. ”I won’t hurt you. I’m not taking blood. You’ll just fall asleep. I'll keep you safe, I promise.” He buried his face in my back and hugged me, then sat up and rested both of his hands on my neck. My body vibrated with the first stirrings of ley line magic.

  The sensation of energy being sucked out of me mentally was not unpleasant. I floated as my diamond walls crumbled and washed away. Then came an uncomfortable feeling as my skin stretched and bones twisted, shifting back to human form. I was too tired and feeling too euphoric to care. As I was drifting away into sleep, I thought I heard him chuckle. My mind opened to him fully, all barriers dissolved.

  Chapter Twenty-one

  When I woke up, Garrett was driving back down the road we’d originally traveled. I was feeling kind of fuzzy and tired but not too weak. I was dressed in his button down shirt which had been buttoned crookedly and fit me like a short dress covering all the necessary bits. Also it smelled strongly of him which made me smile to myself. He was dressed only in his jeans, so I enjoyed the view for a few minutes until he noticed that I was awake.

  “I’m sorry about the shirt, but it was the fastest option.” He was grinning impishly and it finally occurred to me that he’d carried me back to the car completely naked. I must have turned four shades of red. “Thank you for what you did. It was a smart strategic move. And try not to feel embarrassed. I’m 234 years old. I’ve carried a naked woman before.”

  Well, that comment didn’t really make me feel any better. I wondered who it was and if she'd been very beautiful. A tear trailed down my cheek as we pulled into the driveway of the house, and I wasn’t sure if it was from jealousy or embarrassment. Garrett parked and was instantly on my side of the car opening my door. He noticed the tear which had made it to my chin, pulling me up and kissing it away. “You’re the most beautiful naked woman I’ve ever carried. Tres belle,“ he said softly, kissing me on my right cheek. “You were very brave when the wolves came.” He kissed me on my left cheek. “And hunting with you was brilliant, little cheetah.” He kissed my lips and I melted against him, my embarrassment forgotten.

  The door of the cabin opened and Ethan stood there with Rob behind him. I pulled away from Garrett and smiled at them, but their expressions caused me to quickly glance down at my scantily clad body. I felt my face grow hot so I grabbed up my clothes from the car’s backseat and headed into the house, avoiding their eyes.

  Not embarrassed in the least, Garrett had no problem switching into business mode. “I’d appreciate it if one of you could come with me. We have to cleanup a few dead weres who were stupid enough to attack us. One of you should stay with Jackie; she’s had a rough night.”

  Rob looked at Ethan’s tightly wound face and said, “I’ll come with you. Ethan, make sure Jackie’s alright and then get some sleep.” To Garrett he said, laughingly, “Can’t wait to hear this story!” They climbed into the Saab and drove off down the gravel driveway, Rob laughing even more loudly as they drove away.

  When I got out of the shower I threw on pajamas and walked into the bedroom to face Ethan. He was sitting up on his side of the bed, wearing PJ bottoms and a tee shirt, trying to look nonchalant. He pretended to be reading another mystery, but I could see tension in the way his jaw was clenched. I sat on the bed and said, “Ok, let’s get this over with,” not really knowing what to expect.

  He lowered the book and asked in a soft voice. ”Did he hurt you? Did he force you to do something you didn’t want to do? I’ll kill him if he did, vampire or no vampire.” His woodsy scent was strong and reassuring. There was anger and concern, but no jealousy in his words or body language.

  “Garrett and I were hunting together in the woods when we met three werewolves who attacked us. He killed them but he was bleeding badly from a neck wound, so I let him feed off of me so we could make it back to the car and get home again. I fell asleep and transitioned back to human and he dressed me in his shirt while I was sleeping. That’s all.”

  He shook his head. “I saw you kissing him. There’s definitely more.”

  I looked down at my hands. “Well, on the drive to the forest, I told him about my dream and that I’d told you about my extra ability. Then we talked about how we—how we felt about each other and he claimed me as his mate. He doesn’t think he’s good for me but…”

  I looked back up and Ethan’s incredulous expression stopped my explanation in its tracks. “He-is-a-vampire! What don’t you understand about that? He’s not good for you. He’s dangerous and violent, plus he has some ruthless enemies. Claiming you could put your life in danger.”

  “He’s not a typical vampire. He doesn’t kill when he feeds. He cares about our team and our safety. Anyway, I’m pretty sure I love him, so you’re too late with the advice.” I smiled at him sheepishly.

  “How does he feel about you?."

  I giggled. "Oh, you know Garrett. He said he's drawn to me. But he doesn't go in for casual relationships, so claiming me is a big deal to him. Me too." I couldn't stop grinning.

  Ethan narrowed his eyes in thought. "I meant what I said about him hurting you. But If he’s really good to you and you love him, then I’m happy for you, Speedy."

  I hit him with my pillow and we both laughed. “We're safe with him. Thanks, for being such a good friend.” I turned off the light and closed my eyes, both of us drifting off to sleep like a couple of big kittens.

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Around noon Carly arrived with homemade fried chicken, mashed potatoes, string beans, corn and biscuits. We were in culinary heaven. This time she didn’t stay more than thirty minutes and she didn’t bring Samson.

  Ethan and I ate lightly and then worked out together. We sparred and Ethan took it easy on me, then went for a run and I set a pace that he could match without too much trouble. After showering we watched the old horror movie, “The Wolf Man” with Lon Chaney, Jr., and laughed our asses off. We attacked Carly’s chicken one more time, managing to devour every delicious scrap. When Sinc arrived with Kyle, we were ready for whatever Rob or Garrett threw at us.

  Rob walked in around 6:00 PM, his face sober. “Garrett is meeting with some of his were allies. There was some flak about what happened last night so he’ll try to join us as soon as he ca
n.”

  “His cousin Aaron?” I asked. “Is his pack like the weres we met last night?”

  “Werewolves are as different as people. Those three were from the Pine Ridge Pack. That pack and the Brownlow Pack are causing all kinds of problems for the shifters in our area. Both pack lands are located near Gasquet which isn’t far from here. There’s always tension between the races, but these particular packs are out for shifter blood. They feel we don’t show them the proper respect. In other words, we don’t pay them off or send them our young women or treat them like they’re the lords of the manor and we’re the peasants.

  "Garrett’s cousin Aaron is the pack leader of the Greenway Pack from southern Oregon. Plus he has close ties to Tony, the pack leader of the Danielson Pack from the Sacramento area. Those two packs help us out when we need them. We’ve reciprocated a few times too.”

  Rob’s cell phone rang, so he excused himself and walked outside to take the call privately. Of course our hearing is exceptional so we all perked up, listening to Rob’s side of the conversation.

  “Hey Aaron, what’s up? He should have been there an hour ago…no I watched him get in the car and drive off. .. I really have no idea…I think we have to…Okay, we’ll work on that from this end. Call you in thirty.” He shut his phone and turned to us looking worried. “Garrett never made it to the meeting. We’re tracking him from his start off point so get your stuff together; we’re leaving in five minutes.”

  I ran into the bedroom and threw on loose sweats. Rob might want me to shift to track Garrett. The shirt Garrett had dressed me in was in my top drawer, so I pulled it out and buried my nose in it, hoping that his scent would give me a jolt of courage. I stuffed it in my backpack along with two water bottles. Ethan knocked and opened the door.

  “We’ll find him. He’s a big bad vampire, he’ll be fine. Top of the food chain, remember?” I nodded and looked at him gratefully. Ethan and I piled into Rob’s SUV while Kyle and Sinc followed in Sinc’s convertible. We drove to a lovely home nestled among maple trees and wildflower gardens. This was Garrett’s house. This was where he spent his days, resting, and his nights when he wasn’t with us. As we headed off from there, Rob told me that the property had been owned by Garrett’s shifter family and that he’d had this house built on it.

  We drove the road he would have taken to Aaron’s meeting. While Rob and Ethan kept their eyes on the side of the road looking for clues, I reached down and tapped into the lines, then stretched my mental fingers and tried to touch his mind. As we passed a narrow turnoff, I felt a distant twitch, so I directed Rob to follow that road, not letting on that I was connecting to Garrett mentally. Finally we found the Saab on a small dirt side road almost hidden from the secondary road by thick brush.

  I jumped out of Rob’s SUV while it was coming to a stop and ran to the car. Rob immediately got on the phone to alert Aaron that we’d found the Saab. Sinc was searching her phone’s data base for nearby security cameras that may have caught something on video. Ethan was working with Kyle, pulling weapons out of two duffel bags that had been thrown into the trunk.

  I opened the driver’s side door and saw that there was blood on the seat and the steering wheel, not a lot but enough to scare the crap out of me. I stumbled to the other side of the car and got into the passenger’s seat sucking in a few short breaths. The tang of Garrett’s blood was sharp and there were other scents—weres and maybe something else. Yes, definitely something else. I felt a residual warmth which I indentified as coming from using the ley lines, and the smell of magic was strong, although it had a sour, spoiled scent. Most disturbing was the scent of burned flesh. I gagged and got out of the car in a hurry.

  Rob poked his head in the window to look around then turned to me with a questioning glance as I leaned back against the hood. "I smell burned skin and Garrett's blood and definitely ley line magic." I couldn't stop myself from shuddering. “If they wanted to kill him, how would they do it?” I wanted to be prepared for the worst, even though I knew that he was still alive. How I knew I couldn’t say, but in my heart I felt that if he was truly dead, I would know that too.

  Rob walked around the car to stand next to me. “Beheading is the surest way. The sun would take a couple of hours to kill him because he’s over 200 years old. Fire is a sure but horrible death

  “I smell a metal. Silver?”

  “Silver is used to restrain vampires, weres and shifters. It burns our skin and can poison our blood, but even a silver bullet to the brain wouldn't kill him, unless he was in a horribly weakened state. A wooden stake through the heart is a Hollywood myth. Their hearts no longer beat and the wood has no effect. Neither does holy water. Vampires have souls just like the rest of us. Tell me what else you smell.”

  “There were werewolves, like the ones who attacked us before. They smelled like they never washed, and there was another scent, something or someone who used the ley lines, I think. Their magic smelled kind of rotten.”

  “A black witch or a sorcerer, probably using blood magic.” He sighed and his shoulders slumped.

  I reached out and touched his hand, whispering, “I know that he’s still alive, I can tell.” He looked up quickly and after a few seconds, nodded.

  “Are you connected to each other?” Rob sounded hopeful.

  “Sometimes we are. I'm learning to use the lines. I’m going to find him.” I walked away and mumbled more to myself than Rob. “Those shits are all going to pay.”

  I heard a car drive up and three people got out. The driver, Aaron, looked a lot like his cousin with the same lovely eyes and warm smile. His body was stockier and more muscular and he was probably an inch or two taller, making him Rob’s height. He was dressed casually in jeans, sneakers and a tee shirt. Sandy blond hair poked out of his baseball cap with a stray lock blowing over his forehead in the steady breeze. Rob only introduced him to Ethan and me, since Kyle and Sinc had worked with him in the past, apparently. He held out his hand and said, “We’ll find him. I'm always bailing Garrett out of these kinds of messes.” He chuckled and I managed to smile, appreciating his attempt to cheer us up.

  To his right stood a taller dark-skinned man, his muscles bulging unnaturally; maybe the result of lifting heavy weights for many years. His dark eyes glared at us, his mouth turned down in a frown. Aaron introduced him as Franklin, his second in the pack, his beta, and explained that Garrett had saved his life and the lives of his entire family long ago and so Franklin was extremely protective of ‘young Garrett'.

  The last wolf was a petite woman, slim yet curvy, with thick dark red hair falling past her shoulders. Her green eyes, lighter than mine, looked me over as she strolled past us to put a possessive arm around Aaron’s waist. He introduced her as his mate, Catherine. She smiled and nodded like a queen greeting her subjects.

  I told them what I’d come up with, omitting my ability to pull up magic. Sinc showed us a video on her laptop from a gas station security camera of a green van following closely behind Garrett’s car, and also some data tracking Garrett’s cell phone signal north of us. Ethan and Rob had already discussed my changing to cheetah to track more efficiently, so I transitioned and headed off ahead of everyone. They’d wanted to send Ethan or Kyle with me but I’d convinced them that they would just slow me down. I’d mark the trail with scratches so they could follow as quickly as possible.

  My keen eyesight allowed me to make out the tire tracks left in the dirt by the van way ahead of where I was, so I was able to race down the path, much faster than the others could have run. I kept to the side road for about two miles until I came across a clearing. The van was parked here, leafy tree branches piled on top of it in a hasty attempt at camouflage. The smell of unwashed werewolf was overpowering but I could also smell Garrett and the other magic user. I crept forward hesitantly to find that the van was empty and there was more of Garrett’s blood in the back where the seats had been removed. There was also that disturbing burned flesh scent and I remembered what Rob
had said about the effects of being restrained with silver.

  I paced and tried to decide what to do. I could wait for the others, who were still a distance away, or head off on my own. I sensed that I was near him and didn’t know how weak he was or if he could feel my presence at all. My wall was up for protection, but I could still feel the energy of the lines buzzing through my body. I toyed with the idea of reaching out to him mentally.

  To be honest, I was terribly afraid. Afraid of being overpowered by the lines if I tried to use them untrained. Afraid of what the violent weres who’d kidnapped Garrett had done to him or may do to me if they caught me. Mostly I was afraid that I might fail him when he needed me. I decided I wouldn’t wait.

  I sat on the ground and forced myself to recall my song, beginning to breathe in and out the way Garrett had taught me. I thinned out my mental wall rather than tearing it down, allowing only the smallest chink to appear near my heart and abruptly opened myself to more of the magic than I ever had before, having reasoned it out that larger amounts of power would be necessary. It cut into me sharply at first, like many small daggers, causing me to hiss in pain, but as I slowly regained my balance, the way he'd taught me, the pain eased up. My senses extended out like a web, tendrils spreading, searching for Garrett’s unique mind.

  Suddenly he was there, connected to me so strongly that I could feel his intense agony. I worried that it would be impossible for me to communicate with him since I was in cheetah form and he wasn’t, but I tried anyway, sending him a picture of the team and our wolf allies coming to get him. I asked him “Where?” and I felt his answer.

  “Old park lodge basement” seeing also a picture of a beat-up sign welcoming visitors to Redwood State Park. “Blood magic. Dark witch. Can't use lines.” he was cut off abruptly. I knew he was unconscious when I couldn’t get through to him again.