by Amelia Jade
“Are you okay?” Aksel asked, but she could see him looking at their clasped hands as well, and wondered if he’d felt the same thing.
“Just fine,” she forced out, looking at his eyes, their color hidden even now in the gloom, though she suspected they were a deep mysterious brown. “Who are you people?” she asked, looking around as the initial burst subsided and her body returned itself to her control.
“We’re from Cadia,” Aksel explained as his team formed a circle around the pair, while they moved deeper into Cloud Lake. “We’re here to liberate Cloud Lake.”
“Just the twelve of you?” she asked once more.
“No. There are many more, spread across the city. We’re here in force, and we’re not taking no for an answer,” he growled, determination flooding his voice.
Nina looked at the set of his jaw, and she knew. It was an invasion.
“Thank God,” she said. “These shifters from Fenris. They are nothing like the others who were here before. Plus they’re so overt about who they are and what they do. Before, it was rare to see one of you. Now these thugs run the joint.”
Aksel grimaced, and she saw other members of the team roll their shoulders, and several hands clenched into fists.
“We know. We’re sorry it took us so long.”
“Why did it?” she asked, walking next to him as they moved down the center of the street.
“It’s a long story,” he said. “Let’s just say that some changes needed to happen from the top down, to balance the scales in Cadia. That’s happened, and things are golden now. Fenris is about to be dealt its first defeat of the war.”
“War?” she asked in disbelief. “The two strongholds are actually at war?!”
“They haven’t organized a full invasion yet, but they attacked our Base Camp a few weeks back in force. So yes, we’re at war,” Aksel responded. “It caught us off guard, truth be told. But things are changing now. Cadia is mobilizing.”
Nina wasn’t sure she wanted to know anything else about what would happen when the two strongholds went to war with each other. She just knew she didn’t want to be caught between the two sides.
“Thank you for rescuing me,” she said, “But I should be going now.”
Aksel looked unhappy.
“What?” she asked, a sinking sensation in her stomach.
“I can’t let you go just yet,” he said. “Those shifters wanted you for a reason, and until things are secured, you’re still in danger. So you’ll have to come with us, until that time.”
She stared at him. “So what you’re saying is you’re going to drag me along while you fight and kill the other shifters, because it would be safer for me to do that than go hide?”
Aksel wouldn’t meet her eyes. She could tell he was torn.
Maybe he did know she wasn’t telling him the entire truth. But she couldn’t. She’d been sworn to secrecy about it, and she barely even knew him! The whole thing could be a ruse just to get her to open up to him, for all she knew. If she told anyone, then they would—
Nina clamped down on that thought, not wanting to remember what they’d promised to do to her, and her family.
She needed to keep her mouth shut if she wanted everything to be okay. She had no choice.
“Yes. Once I’ve located the command post, I’ll send you there. Until then, you stay with us. We’ll protect you with our lives, that I promise,” he said, his head swinging around so that she could read the truth in him.
Around her, the rest of his team muttered their agreement.
She wasn’t sure what to make of that, but it seemed there was no choice.
Nina went with Aksel.
***
Aksel
He hated himself.
Aksel didn’t like lying, and he didn’t like to play games. At the same time, however, it was clear that the Fenris shifters had been after her, and for a reason. He didn’t know what that was, and he didn’t particularly care. Whoever Nina was, whatever she knew, he could tell she meant no harm to him, or his team.
She just wanted to go home, to leave this all behind. It wasn’t an unreasonable request either. Coming with his team would be dangerous.
His mind was drawn back to the message he’d received about an entire squad from Second Company being wiped out. If it could happen to them, it could feasibly happen to him and his team as well. His men were good, and Aksel doubted they would get drawn into such an ambush that they couldn’t get out of, but harm could conceivably come to her.
And that was why he hated himself. He had his orders, and he would obey them, but with Nina, he found he didn’t want to. He wanted to let her go, to ensure she was safe. Whatever it took.
“What’s your last name?” he asked, glancing over at her.
“Palerno,” she replied. “Nina Palerno.”
“Pleasure to meet you. Aksel Muller.”
“I suppose I should thank you for rescuing me,” she said, reaching up to fix her hair.
Some of her hair had come free of the messy ponytail and was now hanging down to her shoulder blades, swaying freely as she walked. The motion drew his attention, but not for long. He kept focusing back on her eyes. They were a deep blue, though they were hidden behind the thick-rimmed glasses that she wore.
He marveled at the fact she hadn’t lost them while being carried by the shifters who’d taken her. That was a feat in and of itself.
But the more he discovered about this woman, the more Aksel was realizing that he probably shouldn’t be so surprised. She might be human, but she was quite formidable in her own right. Sharp of mind and unwilling to let her fear get the best of her.
It was no secret that she was afraid; anyone could see that. But it didn’t paralyze her like it would have most other humans who suddenly found themselves in the midst of a shifter-on-shifter combat zone.
“No thanks are necessary,” he replied, eyes glancing over her small breasts, high and perky above her slightly rounded stomach.
One of his men on the right stiffened and Aksel came to a halt, his eyes sliding past her stomach, over her hips, and taking in the eyeful of her rear before he ripped them away and locked onto his man.
The shifter was staring at the building to their right, a two-story affair that ran the length of the block. The small stores it contained were all closed down for the night, lights powered off, and most of the lights in the second story windows were off too. Aksel surmised they were probably second-floor apartments that were rented out by the shop owners, or occupied by them.
But his man was looking higher. To the roof.
“What is it?” he asked, sliding up to him, making sure Nina stayed where she was.
“Thought I heard something.”
The team paused, but after several minutes, there was nothing.
“We need to keep moving,” Aksel said, but he directed a second man on that side of the circle to watch the roofs extra carefully.
It would be tough for the Fenris shifters to move quietly on them. Those types of building roofs typically had gravel, or older materials that made a lot of noise under the bulk of a shifter. But if they were already in position, it was a fantastic ambush point.
Aksel wasn’t going to let that happen.
Moving back into the middle, he answered Nina’s questioning glance.
“Possible noise, nothing confirmed. It’s nothing.” He lied again, trying to assuage any concerns.
“I see,” she said in a voice that indicated she didn’t believe it was nothing.
Maybe he shouldn’t try to protect her through ignorance. Nina was sharp; perhaps he should just tell her the truth. She’d already been through the fire that evening. Maybe it would be better to have her on the same page as the rest of his team, just in case they needed to do something.
“We’re either being tracked, or we’re about to walk into an—”
“AMBUSH!” shouted one of his men as figures poured over the rooftops in front and behind them.<
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“Shit,” Aksel cursed. “Stay in the center, it’ll be the safest,” he told Nina. “I’ll try to stay as close to you as I can.”
He spun, taking in the building brawl as he did, eyes noting size and skills of the attackers in case any of them presented an extreme threat.
The numbers were almost even. The ambushers had two more, but they were also up against a coherent, alerted front. Aksel’s team split evenly to engage, half the squad arrayed to the front, half to the rear. So far nothing was coming at them from the sides. The attackers were just trying to use the buildings to hem his team in, it seemed.
“I’ll be right back,” he said into her ear as seven Fenris shifters rushed the five men at the back of his formation.
As much as Aksel didn’t want to leave her side or leave her vulnerable, he had a duty to his men and a job to do.
With a low, menacing growl he shot forward, blowing between two of his men and not even slowing. The oncoming men stutter-stepped, having expected him to form a line with his squad. That was the exact thing Aksel had been banking on, however, and he was among them before they had time to truly react.
He shot out an arm, stiffening it as he slammed it into one attacker’s neck, dropping the man before he could get his arms up to deflect the blow. Force rang up his arm, but Aksel was already twisting with the blow, turning it into a spinning backfist that smashed through the second man’s defenses and crushed a cheekbone. Aksel snarled in pain as his hand was split open on the broken bone and teeth, leaving a nasty gash between his second and third knuckles up almost to his wrist.
That’s going to hurt for a bit.
There was no time to think, however, as the first attacker had already launched himself to his feet and spun to engage Aksel. A quick peek behind them showed Nina alone, but unharmed and unthreatened at that point, his squad holding the ambush team at bay.
Aksel smiled. If they knew what was smart, they would have gone for the girl, forcing him to chase them. Instead, the enemy shifters closed on him.
Big mistake.
Aksel ducked low, dropping to one knee to avoid a blow. While he was there, he slammed the palm of his uninjured hand into the right leg of his closest foe. Tendons ripped, ligaments snapped, and the leg—suddenly unable to carry any weight—collapsed.
Even while the man was falling, Aksel propelled himself upward. His rising fist caught the shifter’s downward chin, and the poor bastard was thrown up and backward as teeth smashed against each other, bone shattering as he was lifted from his feet and tossed ten feet away.
One down.
A fist cracked into Aksel’s back, driving him back to his feet, but he was prepared for that as the second attacker with the broken cheek re-entered the fight. Aksel planted his hands and kicked. Hard.
The scything motion deposited his attacker on his rear, and Aksel was on him in a flash. He scrambled around to his back for positioning, snaking an arm under the chin and tightening it with a savage jerking motion.
Fingers scraped against his forearm, desperately trying to dislodge him, but it was too late. Aksel flexed and pulled his arm in deeper. He felt the man’s trachea give way, and as resistance slowed, he twisted violently, breaking bone.
Rising to his feet, he saw the battle winding down around him. Several of his men were limping or dripping blood, but they were all still on their feet, beginning to team up on the remaining enemy. It would be over in moments.
Grimacing, Aksel bent down and grabbed a handful of snow, packing it onto his lacerated hand. The blood was already clotting, but it would take several hours for the skin to be completely healed. In the meantime, the snow would help to numb it and slow any swelling, so that it wouldn’t impede him too much down the line.
“Are you okay?” Nina asked in concern as he approached, clearly holding his injured hand.
“I’ll be fine,” he assured her. “Just cautionary measures to ensure it doesn’t get any worse before I have to use it again.”
“Again?” she asked, looking around at the carnage as his team began to drag the bodies into the closest alleyway, once again hiding them from human view until they could be removed from the city.
“Yes, again. We haven’t, to my knowledge, encountered the main body of resistance yet. I expect that there will be major trouble at the city center park just up ahead. In fact,” he said darkly, “I’m banking on it. I suspect these men were making their way there, and got cut off because of our rapid progress.”
Nina simply nodded, her eyes anywhere but on him. He followed her gaze, noting the way she stared in sick amazement at what his men were doing.
“I’m sorry you have to witness this,” he said quietly, feeling slightly ashamed at her introduction to his world. “Most of us would have preferred this to be handled privately, out of your spotlight.”
Nina snorted. “You have no idea how bad it was getting in the town. People afraid to go out at night, to walk alone. Anyone who looked at one of them wrong was at risk of having their homes burnt, or worse. There were a number of disappearances, completely unexplained. Trust me, we’re glad to have you and your men here.”
The fire in her voice helped reassure him that she was okay. Not for the first time that night he couldn’t help but admire her courage and strength. Nina was unique for a human, that was for sure.
“Let’s move out,” he called, just loud enough for his team to hear, and once more the twelve shifters and one human moved forward in a circle, eyes roaming everywhere to try and catch the next ambush.
Ahead was one of the major intersections at the heart of Cloud Lake. With the city center park just off to the right, it would be the perfect place for an ambush. The men slowed, spreading out to either side of the street, looking down the opposite sides to see if there was any danger.
The sound of boots crunching through hard snow came to his ear, and he, like the rest of his men, tensed.
“Friendlies!” one of his men said loudly, recognizing the oncoming shifters.
Aksel and his team poured out into the intersection as they met up with the other squad. He slowed, but they kept moving.
“What’s going on?” he asked the nearest man, a lance corporal if he read the ripped and torn shirt properly.
“You haven’t heard?”
“Heard what?” he asked. “Only thing I heard was that a squad from Second Company got wiped out in an ambush.”
“Shit,” the other shifter said bitterly. “Fenris managed to get their shit together. Over a company of them are in the park. The major needs reinforcements there now! Apparently they have some heavy artillery with them.”
Aksel cursed, motioning to his squad to move out. “We’ll take point,” he said, noting that there were only ten members of the squad, and several of them looked hurt. They had clearly encountered heavier fighting than his team.
“Works for me,” the lance corporal said with a grateful nod.
When he ordered his squad to slow slightly to let Aksel’s team take the lead, Aksel realized that the corporal in charge must have been one of the two who bought it earlier.
“What’s going on?” Nina asked as they moved at a rapid pace.
“Big fight up ahead. Could be nasty,” he said. “We’re over a third of the remaining forces Cadia has in Cloud Lake right now. We need to get there, and fast,” he said, urging everyone on to faster speeds as they shot down the road.
Nina just made an affirmative noise. He looked over at her. She was full-out sprinting now to maintain pace with them.
She was fighting to keep up, and he could hear her breathing far more rapidly than any of his men as her stamina flagged. Aksel thought about offering to carry her, but immediately canned that idea as he recalled how he’d first come across her. The last thing he wanted to do was have her equate the enemy shifters with him.
The sounds of fighting from up ahead became louder, and the shifters surged ahead, their unnaturally strong legs propelling them to another level.
One that Nina just couldn’t match.
“Shit. I’m sorry about this,” he said as the choice was taken from him.
“Sorry for—ah!” Nina cried out as he grabbed her up.
His strong arms held her to his chest, one hand around her legs, the other around her back in a cradle carry. Nina automatically leaned into him and wrapped her arms around his neck, her head not quite resting on his shoulder as they picked up the pace yet again.
The closeness of her to him, the press of her body to his, brought about all kinds of thoughts that he should certainly not be having about a woman he’d just met.
Even if she was stunningly gorgeous.
His bear, on the other hand, had absolutely no qualms about expressing the way it felt about her. Aksel was forced to concentrate extra hard on the upcoming fight, to ensure that he didn’t embarrass himself in front of not only Nina, but the two squads’ worth of Green Bearets.
The two slightly-below-strength squads poured into the park as they saw the battle raging up ahead. Dozens of shifters flowed back and forth in two distinct lines as they engaged and tested each other. The Cadians were in a sharp arc, while the more numerous Fenris shifters were slowly wrapping around the edges, trying to flank them.
“Stay here,” Aksel said, setting her down far enough away that he doubted she would be seen.
He motioned to one of the most injured of the other team, indicating that he should stay with Nina to guard her.
The rest of his two teams kept moving, and with a sudden roar that made Nina flinch, they slammed into the unprotected side of the Fenris line.
He turned to join his men.
“Wait!” Nina cried, grabbing his arm.
Chapter Four
Nina
What are you thinking?!
The big, muscular shifter stopped, frozen like a statue as her hand wrapped around his powerful bicep, her skin on his.
Warmth flooded her fingertips immediately, slowly working its way through her palm and up her arm as she kept it there.
