by Amelia Jade
“Okay,” he replied, and his arm darted forward to pinch her rear.
Allix cried out in surprise, her face turning bright red, while the three new shifters guffawed loudly.
Chapter Three
Luther
His back had been to the newcomers the entire time, but he saw the hand reach out and assault Allix, touching her against her will.
A red fog seemed to descend over his eyes, bathing the whole room in a sort of ocher mist as he easily swung up from his seat and spun at the same time.
“Oh, look here boys, her little white knight comes to the rescue,” one of them chortled.
Luther’s gaze hammered into the shifter who had spoken, the one on the right. The shifter was big, but still about an inch or so shorter than he was, and a good twenty pounds lighter too. The unknown shifter quieted down, though he didn’t back away either.
Not the leader, not the most dangerous.
His mind was already working as it had been trained, evaluating threats, planning his attack, and trying to utilize the setting around him to neutralize the three-against-one advantage.
Behind him, he heard the bench creak as Aksel stood, and a moment later the presence of his newfound friend at his side was felt.
Three against two, he decided, quickly readjusting the odds in his head, as well as his plan of attack.
“Easy,” Aksel said, a thick hand landing on his shoulder. “Remember where we are.”
Luther frowned, though his gaze was now locked with the shifter on the left. Whoever he was, he had more of a spine than his comrade. But after a few more seconds, his brown eyes looked away. The message was clear.
He isn’t scared of me with the numbers in his favor, but he knows better than to test me one-on-one. Which means…
Luther’s eyes swung to the man in the middle, even as he tried to decipher what Aksel’s message had meant. He was positive the other shifter was trying to tell him something, without making it obvious to the three newcomers. But what?
They were in Cloud Lake. So what? That wasn’t a big deal; he had received a pass to be there. He wasn’t supposed to be fighting, but just then he didn’t really give a shit about the rules. They were made up by the same assholes who had kicked him out of the only job he’d ever wanted. Besides, he wasn’t starting the fight, he was protecting an innocent human from assault by other shifters. That was a noble cause, right?
Then it clued in. He was protecting a human. She was standing between the two groups of shifters at the moment, looking mighty terrified as the gigantic shifters flexed and stared at each other.
Luther cursed himself. He should have given Allix a chance to settle things herself, to deal with these punks. If he’d done that before he’d intervened, she could have extricated herself from the situation. Now he’d gone and made it worse. Like the rest of his evening, everything seemed to be fucked to hell and back when he tried to do the right thing.
“So, what’s it going to be?” the leader asked, his voice taunting the pair of Cadian shifters, even as his ice-blue eyes locked onto Luther.
He felt his shoulders bunch, and the urge to leap forward and throttle the unknown shifter was extremely strong.
“You should leave,” he said, biting the words off. “We don’t want any trouble.”
The other shifter regarded him for a moment. “Leave?” he asked in surprise. “Why would I leave? I think you should leave.”
Luther growled, the sound echoing through the rest of the bar. Anyone who hadn’t already been paying attention to the growing conflagration turned to stare as the five massive brutes and one little human woman stood facing each other.
“Listen,” Allix said, speaking up. “We don’t want any trouble here. How about you leave, and I won’t report your actions back to your superiors? I know ya’ll are under strict orders when you come to Cloud Lake—to behave, among other things. Do that, and we’ll call it a deal.”
She crossed her arms and, to Luther’s surprise, stared down the three unknowns with what appeared to be very little fear. He admired her strength and gusto, but he wished he could reach out and tell her that now was not the time to be blustery and threatening. The three shifters, whoever they were, were not from Cadia. Which meant they likely weren’t operating under the same strict rules he and Aksel were supposed to adhere to.
His fears were confirmed when all three of them began to laugh loudly.
“You won’t report us? Oh, how kind of you!”
Allix swayed back slightly at the sheer amount of vitriol directed her way. Luther watched, curious as to what her response would be. Would she break and run away? Or—
“I should have known by your lack of manners that you weren’t from Cadia,” she snapped at them. “At least those shifters know how to behave. Which means you must be from…” she trailed off, inviting them to reply.
Luther smiled as the three assholes all stopped laughing at once, caught off guard by the little human woman’s acerbic reply.
“You better watch your tongue, human,” the leader threatened, his voice dropping as he spoke. “Because we’re the only ones you’re going to be dealing with for the future.”
Internally Luther’s bear went ballistic. Nobody threatened his Allix. His temper exploded so quickly it didn’t even occur to him that he’d thought of her as his. Muscles flexed and he took a slight step forward.
The three shifters tensed, and for a moment it looked like all hell was going to break loose.
“Enough,” Allix said, her voice firm and commanding.
Once more Luther felt himself admiring her. She wasn’t afraid of anything, it seemed. All five of them dwarfed her in size and could snap her in half by accident if they weren’t careful. And yet there she was in the middle of the two parties, barking at anyone who acted out of turn.
“There’s plenty of empty tables for both of you. Why don’t I show you three gentlemen to one of our nicer booths?” she offered, gesturing to the far side of the bar.
“No.” The leader spoke the single word like a command, and Luther immediately tensed, waiting for the explosion.
“No?” Aksel asked, stepping up beside Luther at last, committing himself to whatever happened next.
“No. There’s not enough room for all of us here.”
“Sure there is,” Luther said. “Look at all the empty tables. Hell, there’s probably some around the far side, so we don’t even have to look at you for the rest of the night.”
“I wasn’t referring to the bar, you moron. I was talking about Cloud Lake. You see, it’s now under Fenris jurisdiction. You are no longer welcome here.”
Luther snorted. “Please. Cloud Lake has been Cadian territory for two centuries. You think the three of you can just walk in here and kick us out?” He bit off a laugh.
The opposing shifter leaned in, his voice softer, almost consoling. “There’s three of us in here. But trust me, there are far more of us in Cloud Lake right now, dealing with all of you Cadian scum.”
Luther felt his blood run cold as he heard the sting of truth in the other man’s words. He wasn’t lying. Whatever was going on, it was big. Even if he and Aksel could take the three of them, they would be up against more. The real question was, how many. More than a squad, he reckoned. A dozen bear shifters wouldn’t be enough.
Although the shifters kept to themselves and prevented humans from entering Cadia, the sheer logistics of living in such close proximity and the volume of trade that went on between the two cities meant that at any given time there were several dozen Cadian shifters in Cloud Lake. Including Palin Morenus, the gryphon shifter overseer of Cloud Lake.
He was one mean son of a bitch, responsible for dealing with all incidents of Cadian shifters misbehaving or breaking the rules, as well as for dealing with the human government when one of their own was caught trying to enter Cadia. He could take four or five bear shifters on his own.
Which meant that there was likely at least a full company
of thirty-six shifters here, if not more. And that was more than he and Aksel had any right to fight. It seemed they were being given the chance to leave peacefully, instead of simply hunted down and slaughtered where they stood.
Luther suspected that would change once they left the bar, but they would have to deal with that then, instead of now.
“Let’s go, Luther,” Aksel said, speaking the words Luther knew needed to be said.
“Yeah,” he grumbled. But he couldn’t resist one last thing. “Be nice to the humans,” he rumbled, his voice so deep it sounded like tectonic plates grinding against each other as it came out.
The leader of the trio simply snorted.
Luther waited until Allix backed away behind the bar. He caught her gaze and mouthed I’m sorry to her. He didn’t want to leave, but it was better this way. They might be rude to her, but that was nothing compared to what a full-blown shifter fight would do to the bar.
His teeth ground together as they walked around the trio. Luther hated backing down from a fight. Especially when he thought he and Aksel could win this one. They were both Green Bearets, the elite bear shifters of Cadia, trained for just this sort of thing. Their training was the best in the shifter world.
But he had to keep not only Allix, but all of the humans in the bar in mind. If five shifters threw down in the middle of that, someone would get hurt, if not killed. He needed to be more responsible than that.
He could, however, alert the human authorities to the potential issue, and hope they arrived in time to prevent anything from happening. All of the authorities in Cloud Lake were armed with a special tranquilizer that would work on most shifter types, including bears, wolves, tigers, etcetera. They also had heavy response teams armed with serious weaponry that could kill a shifter if need be. Most handguns and smaller rifles would either not puncture a shifter’s tough skin, or simply wouldn’t do anywhere enough damage.
But the big ones, the really big ones, could kill a shifter just as well as a human. Luther knew these idiots wouldn’t mess around with the humans too much. This was a turf war, not a full out invasion.
The more chilling fact, he realized as they headed for the exit, was what this meant.
Fenris had just declared war.
***
Allix
She watched the two shifters walk away, then returned her gaze to the three newcomers.
Something had just happened. Something big, but she wasn’t sure exactly what it all meant yet. At least one thing was clear though: she was in for a rough night. She suspected the three unknowns would make the actions of the one Cadian shifter pale in comparison.
Luther, his friend had called him. She ran that name over her tongue. It was a strong name, suitable to the man it described. Allix found herself wishing that he hadn’t had to leave.
Stop it. He tried to buy you.
That would likely be the worst of her worries, she realized, as one of the shifters crooked a finger at her, summoning her over.
Allix’s lip curled back involuntarily, but she took a deep breath and sucked up her fears. She could do this. She would do this.
Her steps carried her over to them, and she raised a hand before one of them could speak. The look of amused surprise on his face wasn’t exactly what she’d been going for, but they didn’t speak, so she decided to roll with it.
“Got any proof that you’re going to pay your bills?” she asked without preamble.
The leader arched an eyebrow at her.
“I won’t hesitate to call the police,” she said bluntly. “They’re trained to deal with you. Whatever little scuffle y’all are having between yourselves has nothing to do with the rest of us. So, if you think you’re drinking for free, beat it. Otherwise, cough up some cash.”
She waited, eyeing the leader calmly. This wasn’t her first time dealing with rowdy people, though it was the first time they were shifters. Allix could take the groping; she was forced to deal with it on a daily basis, one of the “perks” of working where she did. It was degrading and humiliating, but she never let it go anywhere and was quick with the back of her hand if necessary. And despite the dingy atmosphere, she made good money.
Eventually the leader caved, and gestured to one of his subordinates. “Show the woman our payment.”
Allix frowned. There was something in his eye when he spoke. Something—
She shrieked as the contents of one of the half-drunk pitchers was emptied over her head.
“What the fuck?!” she shouted, her outburst attracting the attention of every patron in the bar.
Allix knew if the men in front of her had been human, the rest of the bar would have been rushing past her to deal with the problem. She liked the regulars that way. They had wandering hands, but they didn’t let outsiders cause trouble either.
But these shit-disturbers were shifters, and that was a whole different bag of trouble.
She turned to confront the culprit, but gasped in shock. He wasn’t there. Instead, he was being bodily hauled out of his seat by a furious Luther, who simply grabbed the back of the offending shifter’s neck and lifted him upright, before smashing him into the ground.
Allix skittered back out of the way as Luther’s arm pulled back and he drove his fist into the other man’ s face. Bone snapped and she saw blood spurt as his nose broke under the blow.
“Stop!” she shouted, darting out of the way as the second Cadian shifter came hurtling over Luther and hit the leader in the legs just as he rose from the table. The pair went down in a tangle of limbs, growling and snapping at each other.
Wood exploded as Luther picked up his victim and tossed him into the wall. The table with the remaining beers on them simply exploded into kindling as the massive body went through it and impacted upon the wall, shaking the concrete blocks behind the drywall. When the dazed shifter fell away from it, she saw the huge dent in the wall and knew the foundation was damaged.
This was not going well.
She yelped as Luther’s friend bounced and skidded backward as he was thrown free from the leader. Other patrons scrambled to get out of the way as the big man collided with their table. Glasses shattered and beer spilled everywhere, drenching the hapless shifter.
Allix watched as he rose to his feet, liquid dripping from his enraged face. The shifter blurred as he shot forward, throwing himself back into the fight. Fists thudded into skin, the meaty thwack of the impacts sending shivers down her spine.
Luther took a blow to the side as she watched, still backing away from the fight. Allix yelped as her feet hit the raised step around the bar and she went down, landing painfully on her tailbone.
The noise distracted Luther, whose massive head whipped around, blazing eyes of jade fixating on her for a moment, until he decided she was okay. But the move was all his opponent needed, and the leader hit him with a one-two combination to the head that sent Luther reeling.
“Stop it!” she shouted, getting back to her feet, but none of them were listening at this point.
All Allix, the staff, and the human patrons could do was watch as the five shifters destroyed the bar, and try to stay out of harm’s way.
There was a loud snap, and one of the shifters howled in pain. She thought for one heart-stopping moment that it was Luther, but his foe went down, holding his leg as he shrieked, the bone sticking through the skin.
But that was the weakest of the three she knew, and Luther’s friend was tough. The big buzz-cut shifter waded into the fight once more, but it was obvious they were fighting to a standstill. Luther was still in good shape, but his friend’s shoulder was hanging awkwardly, forcing him to fight with only one hand.
Something happened, and suddenly the two Cadian shifters turned and bolted for the door. Luther shot an apologetic look over his shoulder before they barreled through the door, taking it off at the hinges.
And then suddenly, it was calm once more, except for the pained cries of the injured shifter. Thankfully he passed out shor
tly thereafter. Allix called the police, who told her they were already responding to calls in the area.
Once she knew help was on the way, Allix retreated behind the bar and curled up into a ball on the floor, hit by a wave of vulnerability as her adrenaline faded. She had come this close to being pulverized by one of the shifters, just like half the tables in the bar. What was she thinking? And why had she been so worried when Luther got hurt? She didn’t even like him!
Chapter Four
Luther
He grunted as the door caved outward under his shoulder, leading the way for Aksel, whose arm was in rough shape. It would heal shortly he knew, but for the next fifteen or twenty minutes it would be weakened.
Going up, he thought as the pair flexed their legs and hurled their colossal forms to the top of the stairway, pausing just long enough to absorb the force of the impact before they took off into the middle of the street.
Luther risked a look over his shoulder. The two Fenris shifters slowed to a jog as they pursued, not really trying to keep up with him and Aksel.
“Something is wrong,” he said as they slowed, having built up a two-block lead. “Why aren’t they pursuing us?”
Aksel simply shook his head as he popped his shoulder back into the socket, so that it could begin to heal properly. “No idea. But I’m okay with it.”
In the distance, sirens were screaming, growing louder.
“Police,” he spat.
Although Luther approved of the humans being armed with anti-shifter gear, he also knew it made them far more prone to use it. On a night like this, that could result in inadvertent casualties for the humans. This was a shifter issue. Now that they were out on the streets in the extreme weather, the human casualties should be limited to none. Even Fenris knew better than to rile up the human government. Shifters simply did not have the numbers to risk that.
“We need to get far away before they get here,” Aksel said.
“Agreed. But you heard him when he said there were more of his friends here. The whole city is probably infested with them.”
