The Awakened World Boxed Set

by William Stacey

  He should have been leading.

  Birds took wing, fleeing the monsters. Erin’s lungs worked like bellows, but her breathing was easy, and she wasn’t even remotely tired. The wind shifted, bringing with it the smell of pine, the rot of decomposing leaves, fresh animal scat—and the heady musk of their prey. They were almost on it.

  Their prey knew the pack was coming for it, and it fled, trying in vain to escape them. But it wasn’t used to fleeing and did so poorly. For so long, it had ruled the woods, at the top of the cycle of life, but that had been before Erin and her brothers had arrived. Now, new predators ruled the wilderness.

  She splashed across a mountain stream, the water cold on her paws, and paused to sniff the air. Casey howled, a drawn-out cry of joy. Jay took up the howl, and then so did Rowan. Erin threw her head back and howled as well. It was good to be alive, good to run through the woods, good to hunt. And soon, it would be good to eat.

  She bolted forward once more, her anticipation growing. They were so close now she could smell their prey’s fear.

  Death was coming.

  When she broke through a screen of pine trees, she saw their prey for the first time, still running from them—a gigantic California grizzly bear, easily eight feet tall and probably weighing two thousand pounds. The grizzly ran on all fours, impossibly fast. Its fur was a dark brown, a large distinctive hump on its powerful shoulders. Its curved front claws were at least four inches long and could rip bark from trees. It would run until it accepted there was no longer a point, and then the fight would begin. With those claws, those teeth, it was a match for her, maybe a match for any one of the others. But never for the pack. All its long life, it had ruled this mountain, secure in the knowledge that nothing could challenge its dominance. That was why Erin had chosen it tonight.

  Because all things change.

  Erin sprinted forward, closing the distance. The bear, casting a quick glance over its shoulder, saw her, its large eyes filled with fear for perhaps the very first time. She felt no pity, no regret, only hunger, only the need to kill and feed, a response as natural as breathing. The bear, propelled by terror, barreled through the underbrush, snapping small trees in its wake. She increased her pace, leaving her siblings behind. The boys were always too slow, but she didn’t care. Nothing mattered but the kill. She leaped the final distance, her claws extended, and caught the bear. Both bear and werewolf roared in rage as they rolled along the ground, biting and ripping at one another. The grizzly wasn't going to die without a fight.

  But it was going to die.

  Blood flowed from their wounds as they broke apart, reassessed one another, and then came on again. The bear was far larger and stronger, but she was faster. She slipped beneath its claws and ripped at its belly, but it moved faster than she would have thought possible and hammered at her head with enough force to shatter trees. Had she been in her human form, it would have broken her neck. The impact staggered her and sent her reeling back, and the bear came rushing in, its jaws open wide in its massive dish-faced head.

  And then Casey slammed into it, knocking it away from her. Jay, both arms now healed, came from behind, landing atop the bear's back and burying his teeth in its powerful shoulders. The bear roared in pain and fury and threw Jay off, but in the distraction, Casey ripped long furrows in its chest, chunks of fur and blood splattering through the air.

  Yet Rowan stood back, watching in his werewolf form—watching her.

  She ignored her anger, rushing in to help Casey and Jay. Her strike was true, and she buried her teeth in the bear’s throat, ripping it out with a savage bite and tasting hot blood. The bear fell, its movements growing weaker as Casey and Jay ripped at it.

  And it died.

  Now Rowan approached. Casey and Jay snarled at him, as did Erin, but Rowan growled in anger, and her brothers drew back, giving over the prey to him, the leader of the pack. Erin growled, still unwilling to share her kill. And it had been her kill. They faced one another, growling and snarling, their eyes shining green. Then she demurred, lowering her head and backing away.

  Rowan approached the dead bear, sniffed it, and then moved back, giving her the honor of feeding first.

  Rowan was so weird.

  Ravenous, she ate, as did the others.

  Later, their stomachs full, they fell asleep together, lying next to one another to share heat. Casey, as always, farted in his sleep.

  The sun woke Erin, and she bolted upright beneath a tree, staring about herself in momentary confusion. She was naked and covered in blood and filth. Erin groaned, remembering snatches of the previous night. Casey and Jay were there with her, also naked and covered in gore, both soundly sleeping. Casey grunted, scratched his balls, rolled over onto his back, and began to snore. Erin ignored his early-morning hard-on.

  Sometimes it was hard being the only sister in a family of brothers.

  She smelled the remains of the grizzly before she saw the mess, the grass soaked in blood, the bones of the bear's ribs sticking out from the bloody fur. The air hummed with flies, the stench making her want to gag. It was always like this. As wonderful as the kill was, the morning after was horrific. And they had two more days of this. She rose on shaky legs, stepping away from her brothers. She missed Angie and realized at some point she had grown accustomed to female company. What is she doing now?

  It was warm already but would become much hotter in a few hours. When she had grown up in Montana, they had snow in the winter. Some of the older people said they remembered snow in the mountains here as well, but these days, it never got that cold in Southern California, no matter the elevation. Would there be snow when they went east? She'd like to see snow again, having loved it as a child, and Jay, a natural athlete, had been into snowboarding. He had been superb at it and had just started teaching her before ... She ran her fingers through her hair but found it matted with gore. Life had been so much easier back then, when it had just been her and Jay and their parents.

  But after A-Day and the first full moon, it had been just her and Jay.

  Erin smelled the stream from a hundred meters away and made her way toward it, ignoring the stones and branches she stepped on with her bare feet. The soles of her feet were surprisingly tough. If she wanted to, she could have walked for days barefoot. Besides, even if she did hurt herself, when she changed tonight, she'd heal. The change healed any injury, could even regrow lost limbs.

  But not death. She thought of her mother, and her throat tightened.

  The gurgling stream was wide and flanked by broken rocks as it wound its way down the mountainside. Ignoring the cold, she walked into it, shivering with delight. The deepest part of the stream came only to her shins, but she knelt and cupped her hands, pouring ice-cold handfuls of water over her head, letting the blood rinse away, turning the waters pink until the current swept them clean. Her long red hair was knotted and tangled, with bits of leaves, dirt, and parts of grizzly in it. She untangled the worst of the knots with her fingers and rinsed away the rest as well as she could. Tomorrow morning there’d be a new kill, and she’d be just as filthy again, but she’d do what she could now.

  A small part of her regretted killing the grizzly, but better an animal than a person. In their werewolf forms, they had no impulse control and could just as easily have hunted people. There were still people living in the wilderness, tribes of humans called Ferals, cannibals, but still people. Everything eats something else, she told herself.

  "You just wake up?" Rowan asked from behind.

  Still kneeling, she glanced over her shoulder to see him step naked from the trees. His body was already clean, still dripping from the stream, his skin puckered from the cold. His chest hairs were gray now, much more so than she remembered. Once she might have been embarrassed by seeing him nude, mortified by the prospect of him seeing her nude, but those days were long past.

  "Any idea where we are?"

  "You tell me," he said, crouching and watching her.

  Sh
e forced down her irritation. He was doing this shit again, testing her. She wouldn't let him push her buttons. Instead, she rose and turned in place, her gaze sweeping the trees and surrounding terrain. The land was steep and hilly, covered in pine forests and scrub, not the bushes of the desert.

  "We're still on the mountain."

  "That'd be my guess. Which way to the bunker?"

  They had left their clothing at the bunker atop Mount Laguna.

  She sniffed the air. There was a mild southern current pushing down from the mountain, carrying with it a strong pine smell. She placed her hands on the small of her back and arched it, her muscles stiff from sleeping on the ground. The terrain rose to the northeast. "That way. Probably a few hours’ hike. If we hurry, we can shower and relax before..."

  "Yes," he agreed. "Maybe we can even start preparing the vehicles. I'd like to get underway after the last full moon."

  "We're going to need to wait for Angie. And I'm not entirely sure Jay is down with leaving Tavi."

  "He'll forget about her. It's just a thing."

  She snorted. "No, it’s not ‘a thing.’ They’re kids in love."

  He laughed. "Kids, huh?" His eyes shone as he gave her a mocking smile.

  Her face heated, but she ignored him. Jay was four years older than she was, but in every way that mattered, she was more mature, far more dominant. Besides, she was right, not Rowan. Erin had hoped Jay would fall for Angie, but the heart wanted who the heart wanted. Jay wanted Tavi. They barely knew one another, but they were in love. I should be so lucky. She was certain about one thing: Jay was going to make trouble if they tried to go northeast without Tavi.

  "We still need to wait for Angie. She's family now."

  "She isn't. Not really."

  She glared at him, and he raised his hands. "Calm down. That's not what I mean. I love Angie like a sister, but that's not going to change the fact that she's not my sister and she's not your sister, however much you want her to be. She's brave and smart and honest and probably a much better person than I'll ever be, but she isn't a werewolf."

  "Dad didn't carry the gene, either."

  "And look how that turned out." His voice was kind, but it cut into her heart.

  "Mom didn't mean to..." She turned away, her face heating. She remembered that bloody morning as if it were yesterday. Her mother had killed herself later, after she had seen what she had done, leaving Jay and Erin alone to make their way south and find their older brothers.

  He rose and splashed through the water, placing his hands on her shoulders. "I know, sis. I know. We don't ever mean to, but we do it all the same, don't we? Mom couldn't stop herself any more than we could have let that bear go last night. It is what it is and what it always will be—a curse."

  "We ... we said she could come with us, that she'd be part of the family."

  "I know, and I meant it, too, but … things change. Now, in the cold light of day, I'm not sure it would have worked. Think about it: every month, we'd have to make sure we got far enough away from her to not kill and eat her. Could we always do that? Not if we're on the move, not if we're trekking across the wilderness. What if we're caught in a snowstorm in the mountains?"

  "That wouldn't happen."

  He laughed, but it wasn't meant to be cruel. "Now who's being a kid?"

  She pulled away from him, angry now, and put her back to him. "Rowan, I promised we’d wait for her."

  "Erin … we can try, but I think she's found the person she wants to be with. I think maybe we should respect her choice and move on. Besides, we have other matters to discuss."

  At the tone in his voice, she turned and faced him. "What matters?"

  "You know what, Erin. It's time for you to step up, to take over."

  "Bullshit!" She advanced on him, shoving him. "You're just lazy."

  He moved back a step but smirked knowingly. He needed a shave, and his beard was growing in silver, not red. Usually, she didn't notice because he shaved regularly, but Rowan was getting older. "Come on, Erin. I'm slowing down, and you know it."

  "Say that again, and I'll punch you in the balls." This time she smiled.

  "It's true, and we both know it. Been true for some time now. I'm fifty-six years old, Erin. More than twice your age. These days, I feel every single year."

  "Bullshit. You're a canny old wolf. You're at the top of your game."

  He placed his palm tenderly on her cheek. "I'm so sorry, Erin. I had always thought Lewis..."

  At the mention of their dead brother, loss and sorrow filled his eyes. Lewis, the rock of the family. Her own eyes watered. Lewis's death had changed everything. A part of her must have known that. She walked away from Rowan, climbed out of the stream. "Casey's older," she said softly, her back to Rowan.

  He laughed, and despite the fact he was laughing at her, she laughed as well. "Come on. I love Casey desperately, but he's not—and never will be—the leader this family needs. We keep Casey around to break shit and fly helicopters." He sighed, shaking his head. "And don't even think about pushing this off on Jay. That kid's a lover not a fighter."

  And he was right. Jay was far too sweet to make the hard decisions Rowan made, the decisions she knew she could make. "I don't want to be in charge," she said simply.

  "No leader worth a damn ever does—not when they understand the price—but that's why it can only be you."

  "I ... this is too much right now."

  "Okay, we don't have to make any decisions today. Let's grab the others and make our way back to the bunker. We can think about what we're going to do after the full moon cycle."

  "What ... what do you want to do?"

  "We can give Angie a few more days, a week, no more. If she’s not here in a week, she’s not coming. We respect her choice. The pack comes first."

  "What does that even mean?"

  He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and squeezed her. "If I knew that, it'd be much easier being the boss."

  He led her back to their brothers, her thoughts consumed by worry for Jay and Tavi, and Angie and Tec … and for herself and her brothers.

  Casey stepped out of the trees, raising his muscular arms high over his head as he stretched and yawned, everything dangling in the breeze. "Hey, is there coffee?"

  Erin sighed.

  Chapter 13

  The early-morning sunlight warmed Angie as she lay with her cheek against Tec's chest, feeling it rise and fall with his breaths. She felt wonderful but a bit sore down there. It had been a long, long time since the last time, and they had both been greedy in their need. Still, it was a lovely soreness, one she didn't regret. His breathing altered, and she knew he was awake. She trailed her fingers over his chest and then kissed his nipple.

  "You can't possibly want to go again?" he asked in a husky, disbelieving voice.

  She grinned. "Do you?"

  "Give me a few minutes. I'm older than you."

  "You're older than everyone." He was so warm and felt so perfect beneath her. She had been uncharacteristically aggressive last night. She had never instigated sex before, but she didn't want to be passive with Tec. Besides, she hadn't just wanted sex but needed it. And she was certain he had as well. God only knew he had given her the best lovemaking of her life—far better than Nathan or anyone else. She could live with a bit of soreness.

  And she did want to do it again.

  She climbed up his chest and kissed him. He gripped her shoulders and crushed her against him. When he finished kissing her, long minutes later, she sighed in contentment, amazed at how turned on she was, every bit of her body charged with electricity. "Is it always like this with you?"

  "I think it's the dragon-bond."

  "You don't know?" She stared at him in surprise.

  He took her left hand, opened her fingers, and then held his own dragon-marked palm against hers. She shivered in excitement, her pulse quickening. "No one knows. We are the only two people on the planet to share this gift. Dragons are creatures of magic. Quetzal
coatl has linked us, placing part of his magic into us. At least that's what I think has happened."

  "Is that why ... is that why I was such a slut? Why I crawled naked into your bed? Are you saying it's magic?"

  He gripped her hand, squeezing her fingers together, his eyes suddenly hard. "Don't say that! Don’t ever say that. I think—and I admit I'm guessing—I think the bond intensifies emotions, emotions that were already present. I was attracted to you the moment I saw you. I've always wanted to be with you like this. But since the bond, that need is much more magnified. If you hadn't crawled into my bed, I'd have crawled into yours."

  "I tried to kiss you on the beach, but you walked away from me." She heard the hurt in her voice, felt her face heat with the admission.

  He barked in laughter, his green eyes shining with amusement. "I didn't just walk away from you. If I hadn't left, I'd have ripped your clothes from you and ravished you right there—and not given a damn who saw. Hell, I'd have fought anyone who tried to stop me, and your friends probably would have tried. That's dangerous. We're dangerous."

  She rubbed her thigh against his cock, pretending it had only been an accident. She grinned mischievously. "I like being dangerous with you. It feels good to be ravished by you." She kissed his neck, biting the skin softly.

  He groaned with need, and his erection grew hard once more. He pushed her away from him and sat up, putting his back to her. "You're killing me."

  She wrapped her arms around his neck from behind, pushed her breasts against his back, and held him, her face against the back of his neck. "I can't stay away from you. I've wanted you as well since the first time I saw you, but I don't do this sort of thing, not like this. I feel like ... like, like I'll die without you. It's crazy. I barely know you, but I'm so fucking turned on by you."