We continued for some time, with no sounds to be heard other than our breath, the knocking of wood as the staffs connected and the rumble of the sea. I was beginning to feel my muscles tingle with pleasure at the exercise and a faint sheen of sweat graced both our foreheads, when he suddenly grinned and threw away his staff, pulling off his t-shirt and sweats. I took a step back and watched, ready.
He bowed his head and tensed, beginning his shift. It amazed me every time how an 80 kilogram man could become such a huge animal. Where did the extra weight come from? Shifters didn’t transform into normal looking animals – even the smaller weres, the rodents and such-like, became larger than their human forms. And again, most definitely not for the first time, I wished I had my own shift.
Tom’s bones creaked and his skull elongated outwards. His muscles rippled and the hair follicles around his chest and legs extended till he was shaking out his coat on all fours, with fangs bared and yellow eyes gleaming. Tom was a wolf. Generic, I know, but he had both speed and strength and wasn’t afraid to hold back.
He leapt at me without any further warning and I rolled to the side on the soft sand just in time, springing back onto my feet and turning to face him again. His haunches tensed and he tried to feint left but the tension in his body had given him away. This time I used the staff to snag him under his belly and twist him onto his back. He whined slightly before staggering back to his feet. I paused for a second, just to check, but his tail gave a brief wag. Good, I wasn’t ready to go home just yet; the fire in my blood was only just starting to flicker.
He manoeuvred around so that I ended up with my back to the ocean. Clever boy, now he had the high ground. He rose up on his hind legs and snapped at my face so I was forced to take a step back. Then, without warning, he barrelled into my midsection and knocked me off my feet, landing on top of me on the sand. I could swear I saw a glint in his eye.
“Tom, if this is when you decide to shift back to a naked man, I will not be happy,” I mockingly warned. He was a friend, but most definitely without those kind of benefits.
He licked my cheek and went for my throat. His canines scraped the skin on my neck before I managed to twist and pull out my knife whilst using the staff to knock him to the sand and pin him down. I smiled.
Tom blinked slowly, a sign of defeat, so I let him go. He shook himself out and shifted back to speak. “One day, I’m going to beat you at this, Mack.”
“I have no doubt,” I murmured turning my head slightly to give his some privacy to get dressed. “You need to watch your left side before you shift though. You keep leaving yourself open and you need to work on your body tension. I know what move you’re going to pull five minutes before you do it.”
“Are you using mind tricks again?”
“I don’t need to, your body does all the talking.”
“I’ll practise in the gym when we get back.” He had an almost deranged glint in his eye.
“Tom, about the Brethren.”
“Don’t. I know you’re going to try to talk me out of it, but don’t you see I have to try? John is gone, there’s no reason to stay.”
“It’s because John is gone that you have to stay,” I snapped. “We need shifters who can guard against whatever got him.”
“Mack, if you couldn’t track it and John couldn’t survive it, I don’t think I’ll do much good.”
“And what good do you think you’ll do you in London, then? You’re my friend, I need you here,” I said softly.
He jerked. “I asked you not to try to change my mind. Not everything in this world can be done to suit you, Mack. I want to go and if they’ll take me then I’m leaving.” He walked off away up the dunes.
I frowned after him. Well, that could have gone better. I probably shouldn’t have tried to guilt him with the whole ‘I’m your friend, don’t leave me’ part - that wasn’t fair. I just didn’t want to lose him to the big bad because I wasn’t sure that he’d be able to hold his own. Perhaps I was just being patronising and over-protective, but he probably was my closest friend. If I wasn’t going to look after his best interests, then who would?
I sighed and picked up the other discarded staff. As I stood back up I felt a prickle on the back of my neck, as if someone was watching. Tensing, I searched the line of trees. Way Directive 3: All shifter activity must be kept hidden. The locals never bothered coming out this far, especially at this time of night, but it would be just my luck that a stray tourist out for a midnight stroll would decide to head my way. I tried to pierce the night gloom, searching for a hint of anything sentient, but came up with nothing out of the ordinary and eventually shrugged at my own paranoia. The tension of having the Brethren here was clearly playing tricks with my mind.
I turned to face the sea and gazed out at its expanse, emptying my mind for a brief moment. The gentle swish of the waves rhythmically beat against the beach and I closed my eyes for a second, breathing deeply. Then I turned back towards the heavy dunes and headed for home.
Chapter Six
It was late by the time I got back and the keep was quiet. Some floorboards on the third floor where the Brethren were housed creaked, but everyone else seemed to be asleep. I slipped into the dorm and lay down on my bed. I figured I’d go for a shower in a minute before I remembered that I wasn’t allowed to. Ick. Soft snores came from several of the other pack girls - I was pretty certain that with all of the heartache and worry of the last few days I personally wasn’t going to get any sleep any time soon. Although shifters would stay awake for the entire full moon period, reveling in the extra power it gave them, they tended to keep a fairly normal sleep pattern the rest of the time. Usually it suited me perfectly because I truly loved my narrow bed, unfortunately right now it was just irritating that everyone else was in dreamland. Yup, tossing and turning would be the best I could hope for.
I closed my eyes and almost immediately slept a dreamless sleep.
Seven hours later the sun was streaming into the dorm room and hitting my face. I moaned and turned over, sticking the pillow over my head. I could hear the voices of the other girls chattering. It was a blessed relief to hear some normality after the hushed tones of the last twenty-four hours.
“Is he single?” Lynda wanted to know.
Ally giggled. “He’d better be! Oooh, that body, wouldn’t you just love to feel it wrapped around you.”
One of them threw a stuffed cow at me. Shifter girls might be tougher than most human ones but they definitely loved their cuddly toys. “Mack, what do you think of the alpha?” It was Betsy. Whatever I said to her would be round the pack before I’d brushed my teeth. I didn’t answer and kept the pillow firmly closed over my head.
“Mack, apparently he’s not the one who was talking last night – that was Staines, the Brethren’s Head of Strategic Deployment or something. The Lord Alpha is the gorgeous one with the black hair.” Ally laughed again.
“Did you clock those muscles?” One of the others loudly shrieked. I winced at the noise.
“I heard that when he took over as Lord Alpha, he had sixteen challenges to the leadership, and that he beat each one without even breaking a sweat. And that he’s really shaking things up in London – wants to stop a lot of the old traditional ways and bring the Brethren into the twenty-first century.”
I may not have known a lot about our de facto leaders but I was pretty sure that the old guard wouldn’t be too keen on that.
“Well, Alexander said that apparently even the vamps are afraid of what he’s going to do next. That when one of their Masters went round to welcome him as the new Lord Alpha, he didn’t even bother to answer the door.”
Ally piped up again. “I read last night on the Othernet that he has dozens of girls just gagging to be with him, not just because he’s in charge now, but because he’s very, very skilled in pleasure as well as pain.” She almost purred this last comment. I snorted aloud, which was a mistake, because it drew their attention back to me.
“Mack! What do you think of him?” Betsy repeated; clearly she wasn’t going to let me get away from this.
“Obviously I need to stay away from him as much as possible,” I said, finally pushing my pillow out of the way and turning over. I sat up and tried to eyeball her into submission.
“Oh yeah,” she answered, somewhat deflated, before pausing briefly to give me a funny look and asking, “Why are you rolling your eyes like that?”
I scowled.
“Do you think they’ll really kill us all for breaking the Way and letting you stay?” asked Lynda tremulously.
“It’s not as if we had a choice,” said Betsy, firmly. “That witch made us take her. And she was only a little kid, we couldn’t have turned her away.”
That ‘witch’ was my mother. I bit my tongue hard. And I wasn’t a little kid who needed protecting any more.
Ally spoke up. “Well, it was John who made us not say a word to anyone. We couldn’t go against our alpha, could we?”
“Yes, but John’s dead, isn’t he?” stated Betsy with a grim face. “We’re not under any real compulsion now.”
Silence filled the room. I had wondered when they’d start realising that. In fact I was surprised that Anton and his cronies hadn’t made more of it yet. Perhaps I’d misjudged them and they’d keep their mouths shut after all. I checked my watch. 56 hours to go – hardly any time at all for twenty-four shapeshifters to have to keep their mouths shut. I looked back at Betsy and glared at her again. She gazed back at me innocently before sending me a grin and a wink.
Ally padded over to my bed and bent down, hugging me unexpectedly. “We love you really, Mack, and not just because of your snappy dress sense.”
“Yeah,” added Betsy, grin still in place. “Even if the Lord Alpha himself got on his knees and pleaded to us with that weak at the knees face, that flowing hair that you’d just love to run your fingers through, those bulging biceps that would wrap themselves around…”
I threw the stuffed cow back at her. Betsy neatly dodged it, without moving her feet, and laughed warmly. “Even then, Mack, even then we wouldn’t betray you. You’re as much a part of the pack as the rest of us.”
I tried to appear tough by growling, “Yeah, well, that’s just what I’d expect.” The effect was somewhat ruined when a single tear traitorously escaped and ran down my cheek. Bloody girls.
There was a sharp knock at the door then Julia came in, dressed unexpectedly in a navy business suit. She sent me a warning look which I tried and failed to interpret. “The Brethren have set appointments for each of you to be evaluated and then interviewed. There are sheets posted up downstairs. You need to check your times and, for God’s sake, don’t be late.”
Lynda giggled again, her earlier trepidation seemingly forgotten. “Are the interviews private ones with the alpha?”
“No,” Julia said. “He’ll oversee all the evaluations but only some of us are lucky enough to have that privilege with the interview.” She looked meaningfully at me. Shit.
“I don’t want to go to London, and I don’t want to be alpha,” interjected Julie, “Can I skip the evaluations?” Bless her.
“It’s their prerogative to test every pack member. I imagine they’re curious as to why we’ve sustained so few serious injuries over the years.”
Betsy looked at me. “I guess our resident human is good for something.”
I pulled back the duvet and swung my legs out of bed. “Just remember that when I go down at the first punch this morning.”
*
After re-applying the shifter scented lotion and getting dressed, I headed down to the hall. The evaluation schedule was stuck on the noticeboard, next to an old ragged poster advertising the spring social. I checked for my name and noted that I was down to fight Theresa, a weresquirrel, at 10.30am. Tom was listed against Anton fifteen minutes later. I breathed a sigh of relief - he had no hope against that canny bastard. The interviews were scheduled for the afternoon. No problem. At all. Honest.
I headed for the canteen and took my place in the short queue for breakfast. Johannes, who had come to us from the pack up in Berwick about five years ago when his alpha had dropped dead of an early heart attack, had clearly been at work. I dolloped burnt bacon, scrambled eggs and some slightly charred toast on my plate. Someone came up next to me and started to do the same. I glanced sideways and realised it was one of the Brethren. I tried not to hold my breath.
“Mmmm, crispy bacon,” she said.
I was about to retort something in Johannes’ defense when I realised that she was being genuine. Odd – even those who normally liked their bacon crispy found Johannes’ offerings hard to handle.
She piled several pieces on her plate and smiled at me from under a dark fringe. “I’m Lucy.” And then added, just in case I wasn’t sure, “I’m with the Brethren.”
“Mack. Cornwall pack.”
“Woman of few poetic words there, Mack. We don’t bite, you know.” She laughed suddenly, “Well, not this early in the morning anyway.”
I’d withhold judgement on that one till they left without discovering my true nature. “I’m sure you’re all very cuddly.”
Lucy snickered again. “Relax. We’re just curious about you. We visit the countryside packs whenever they need help with a particularly vicious otherworlder or arbitration with an in-pack dispute. We’ve never had to come here before and you’ve never needed us. It’s….unusual.”
She was trying to be friendly, not combative. I took a deep breath and tried to match her relaxed attitude. “Not much happens around here. Not like London, I guess.”
“Yeah, beating up vampires and city-slicker daemons whilst dodging the Ministry of Mages is a whole lot of fun.” She added some black pudding to her plate whilst I winced in anticipation of her ruined tastebuds. “I’m sorry about your alpha. It seemed like he was a good guy.”
‘He was,” I replied, swallowing down the unexpected lump in my throat. “When I find out what killed him, I’ll rip its guts out.”
Lucy looked at me curiously and paused for a second before asking, “So what are you?”
I knew what she meant but I wasn’t going to go down that road unless I really needed to. The ways of actual werehamsters were a mystery to me and I didn’t want to get caught out. Deliberately misunderstanding her question, I replied, “Hungry,” and turned to sit down at a nearby table. Now I’ve covered a few niceties you can go away, I willed silently, looking down at my unappetising plate and hoping she’d get the message.
Unfortunately Lucy wasn’t going to give up that easily. She sat down opposite me and began shoveling food into her mouth. I stared in fascination, before picking up my knife and fork and gingerly taking a few bites myself.
“You know what I mean,” she said insistently between mouthfuls. “What’s your shift?”
“I don’t like to talk about it.” With any luck she’d think that I was a small weak were that I was slightly ashamed of. Like a hamster. Then I belatedly remembered that I’d said I was going to rip the guts out of whatever had slaughtered John. Oops.
“Huh.” She looked somewhat nonplussed for a second before continuing, “Well, I’m a honey badger.” That explained the voracious appetite then. I was relieved that it appeared that she wasn’t going to push me any further to reveal my own shift. “It’s a pleasure to find out so much about you, Mack ‘I don’t like to talk about it’.” She took another mouthful and began chewing hard on a piece of bacon.
“I’m sorry. I’m just nervous.” I didn’t want to play the meek and weak card, and I clearly wasn’t much good at it. Lucy seemed like a decent shifter who I’d normally get along well with, despite her Brethren affiliations. Then I thought briefly of Julia’s instructions and realised that if I was to survive this then I had no choice. “You all just look so strong and…masterful.” Oh god, kill me now. She flicked her eyes at me briefly, with a faintly amused expression on her face, before returning her attention to her plate.
>
I took a few more bites and was about to speak again when a bell sounded. Lucy immediately stood up, suddenly all business instead of focused on her food. “The evaluations are about to begin.” She looked at me assessingly. “I wonder how you’ll do?”
I coughed, staying in my seat. “I’m…er…not much of a fighter.”
“It’s not just fighting skills that we’re after.”
Yeah, you are looking for anyone who’ll help you force your control over every shifter in the country, I thought irritably. “I like it here in Cornwall.” I scratched awkwardly at my neck, then realised what I was doing and pulled my hand down to my side.
“I can understand that.” She pulled slightly at her black shirt, smoothing it down. “I think there are a few of your comrades who want to leave though. Come on, this is going to be fun.” Her eyes gleamed with a spark of gleeful anticipation.
I sighed and stood up too. Better get it out of the way, I supposed.
*
The whole pack was assembled in the gymnasium by the time I arrived with Lucy. It was utterly ridiculous that everyone was being made to participate in the evaluations, like we were some kind of performing seals here just for the Brethren’s benefit. It was equally galling to see how excited some of them were with some typical shifter tics manifesting themselves. Was that Tom actually pawing the ground? I tried to catch his eye but he didn’t look up. He must still be pissed off with me. I looked up at the gallery and noted Staines, the blonde and the Lord Alpha but didn’t see any others. They were huddled together in some kind of confab. Whatever. Lucy noted my survey and murmured that the remainder of the visiting Brethren were out investigating the area where John had been killed. As if they’d find anything, I thought. There were no tracks and no traces of anything. That didn’t mean that I wouldn’t still find out myself what it was that had ripped him apart like that. I wasn’t stupid enough to not acknowledge that the Brethren would have skills aplenty but I knew that I was simply more invested in finding his murderer than they were.
Bloodfire (Blood Destiny) Page 6
