by T. S. Ryder
"Christianson. Are these the two that attacked you?"
The hunter smiled and nodded. "They don’t look it, but those two are dangerous Shifters. I've been tracking them all across BC. It's been quite a hunt, I tell you. And they've been claiming that I've attacked their little Shifter community. They slipped away from me a few times because of it."
Stephen's heart sank. Of course, he gave a preemptive strike against the truth. Would the two cops that drove them out here even believe them, should they tell the truth? How would he protect Iduna now? He found her hands with his, still cuffed behind their backs. She clung to him like he was her last lifeline.
"Are you sure you want to take it from here?" one of the cops asked, glancing backward at them.
"Yeah. I can handle them."
"That's not legal!" Iduna shouted. "You can't just hand us over to him. There are rules and paperwork!"
The cops only laughed as they gave Christianson the keys to the cruiser and headed to his car. Iduna kicked the seats, screaming in frustration, but Stephen was silent. Maybe the whole barrel wasn't rotten, but these cops certainly were.
He had failed. He had failed his mate and their baby. He should never have insisted on staying at the hotel overnight. If he hadn't, they wouldn't be arrested now, they wouldn't be back in the hands of a hunter that had already tried to kill them once. Or would that have made a difference? Would they have been arrested in Victoria just as much as here?
"This isn't legal." Iduna slumped against him, hiding her face in his shoulder. "This isn't legal."
Christianson ignored them as he got into the cruiser. He pulled away from the others, waving with a friendly smile as he headed back towards the mountains. Stephen trembled, fighting against the cuffs that held him bound. He tried to shift, but to his frustration, he couldn't. His Wolf was there and fighting to get free. His body simply refused to change.
"I can hear you growling back there," Christenson said pleasantly. "There's a reason your hands were cuffed behind your back. We've found that in that position you can't change. Don't know why, but I don't care."
"Arm sockets." Iduna sniffed. "Human arm sockets have a three-sixty rotation, other animals don't. If a Shifter tried to change while their arms were secured behind their backs, they would dislocate at best—"
"What are you babbling on about?" Christianson glanced in the rearview mirror. "You know, you two have given me a lot of problems. I wasn't expecting to see a Wolf that day in the Bear community. Don't you hate each other? But when you were in the truck, fighting against me… well, I knew I had to kill you. An eye witness is just too dangerous."
"I have money," Stephen blurted. "If you let Iduna go, I'll give you everything I have."
"Didn't you just hear what I said about eye witnesses? Besides, this will make a far better story. Two dangerous, Shifter criminals escape custody, the man kills his young, pregnant girlfriend before being taken out by our hero, the human police officer. You filthy animals need to be put back in your place. Your communities disbarred, a registration put into place. Hell, maybe even an annual hunt to keep your numbers down."
"We're not animals."
"Tell that to the humans who are mauled to death by your kind every year."
Iduna shook her head. "Out of the fifteen Shifters been proven to have killed a human in the past year, thirteen of those were clear cases of self-defense and the other two were provoked by humans—"
"So it's our fault you beasts are killing us?" Christianson's face twisted in disgust. "That's just like you Shifters. Turn your crimes around and play the victim. And because of all the bleeding hearts we have in the capital these days, they don't just lock you up like you deserve."
Stephen growled. "So you're saying that if I had killed you when you were shooting at Shifters and burning their houses, I would be the one at fault? It wouldn't be a case of self-defense?"
"What I was doing was self-defense. We need to get rid of you before you steal our jobs and rape our women."
There was no reasoning with a man as full of baseless hate as this man was. Stephen growled, rubbing his wrists raw as he fought to free himself from his restraints. But he didn't try to talk to the cop anymore. The trees got taller and thicker as they continued up the mountain. After about half an hour they turned onto an ill-paved road. A couple of hours after that, they turned onto a dirt road. Then a logging road. They were heading deep into the bush.
Nobody to call for help. Nobody to witness what really would happen.
"Iduna isn’t a Shifter." If he could somehow save her life, somehow get Christianson to spare her… maybe dying wouldn't be such a terrible thing. "She was adopted by Shifter parents. And they abused her, that will help your position, won't it? She's not a Shifter, you don’t have to kill her!"
Christianson shook his head. "If that's true, she can be the martyr. But you animals lie about everything, why should I believe you now?"
"Please. Please don't hurt her. She has done nothing wrong. Please! She doesn't deserve to die!" Stephen felt every last bit of hope breaking down. Maybe he would have a chance to attack before Christianson killed them. Maybe. There might be a chance that he could get Iduna out… but it was slim to none.
Iduna let out a short scream. His Wolf tensed. He whipped around, heart in his throat. Iduna's eyes were huge as she stared at him. "My water broke!"
Christianson let out a string of curse words. "Are you kidding me?"
She began to sob. Christianson pulled the car to the side of the road, continuing to swear. He stared ahead for a long moment before he shook his head. "Fine. If you want the plans to change, they'll change."
He got out of the car and dragged Iduna out. He tucked the keys to the handcuffs into her pocket and then pulled Stephen out. He drew his gun and Stephen's heart stopped.
"I have a couple of friends coming. They'll be here in two hours." The human gave them a vicious smile. "I'd start running if I were you."
Chapter Nine – Iduna
It was impossible to tell how close together her contractions were coming now. Time just didn't seem to have any meaning anymore. It hadn't been until Christianson had shot his gun into the air that Iduna really understood that he meant for them to start running right away. She could tell Stephen wanted to stay and fight, but that would have just played into the corrupt human's hands.
Shooting somebody in the chest as they came at you, especially if you were a cop, was far easier to explain than bullets in the back. And so she had begun running, knowing that Stephen would follow. As soon as Christianson was out of sight, they stopped and fished the keys from her pocket, unlocking their handcuffs. With hot, pink water still gushing down Iduna's legs, soaking her pants, Stephen shifted into his Wolf and carried her through the trees.
The contractions hadn't stopped since then. They were getting stronger and more frequent. She couldn’t stop herself from crying out regularly. It felt like she was being torn in two. The baby was dropping between her pelvic bones, the pressure almost as bad as the pain of the contractions. Tears flowed freely down her face.
She had wanted a baby so badly. And now she was going to give birth, only for that monster to murder her baby. And that was only if she actually gave birth before Christianson found them. Otherwise, her little one would never even be born.
Her Bear roared, beating hard against her chest but she held it back. During the birthing process was the most dangerous time to attempt to Shift. The baby wasn't as connected to the mother, and wouldn't shift with her. It could get stuck in the birthing canal, or the mother's immune system could attack the infant before it was born, killing it.
She closed her eyes and buried her face in Stephen's coarse fur, clinging to him as he ran.
Stephen leaped over a log as the most powerful contraction yet hit. Iduna screamed in pain, losing her grip on her mate. She felt herself tumbling off him, but was unable to stop herself from falling. Her hands flew out, scraping themselves on bark and bushes.
She fell heavily on her side. Sticks stabbed into her arms, making her cry out again.
She lay there, panting. Shivers ran down her spine as the cold wind soaked her through. Sweat beaded on her forehead and neck. When Stephen came back to her, whining, she grasped a handful of his fur and shook her head.
"I can't run. The baby is coming right now. You have to help me or this baby is going to die as it's born. We need a place that is sheltered against the wind. We have some time. Christianson was going to give us a two-hour head start, and even if he didn't give us that full time, your running will have put a buffer between us. But I can't keep going. The baby is coming."
One of her hands rested on her stomach. She could feel it shrinking under her hand before the pain from the contraction hit. The scream tore out of her mouth even as she tried to suppress it. If Christianson or his 'friends' heard her screaming, it would bring him right to her. She shoved her fist into her mouth to muffle her cries.
Stephen shifted smoothly back to human form. He grasped Iduna's shoulders. "We can't stop."
"I can't keep running. I'm sorry. I can't. I can't."
Her mate pulled her into his embrace. "Okay. Okay, then I will find a good hiding spot. Hold on. I love you."
He pressed a swift kiss to her forehead. Iduna closed her eyes, wanting the feeling of his lips against her skin to linger. She wasn't sure how long she was there, feeling lost and alone before he came back and scooped her into his arms. The pressure between her legs was increasing. Was the baby crowning already?
"I found a thicket against the wall of a cliff. It's sheltered from the wind at least."
Iduna nodded. She buried her face into Stephen's shoulder, concentrating on her breathing. She had read about childbirth for years before she got pregnant. Now it was just a matter of putting her knowledge into practice. They didn't have the warmth or hot water or towels she wanted for the baby. But that was okay, they would improvise. Shifter babies were more robust than humans.
Her Bear settled down in her chest, no longer furious. It made gentle tongue clicks of encouragement. Iduna sucked in a deep breath and let her fear go. It wouldn’t do any good in this situation. The focus was on the baby.
When they got to the thicket, she directed Stephen to help her undress. The cold air made her shiver but she ignored it. Her pants were soaked through and the baby needed skin-to-skin contact. She braced herself against a Sitka spruce, squatting.
"Gravity helps to pull the baby out," she explained. "And squatting helps to widen the pelvic bones. At least I think it does. You'll have to catch the baby as it comes out. You can use my shirt to clea—"
She threw her head back, biting her tongue to stop herself from screaming. There was no talking after that. The pain was terrible, so bad she thought she might pass out. If time didn't have meaning before, now it simply didn't exist. Everything was in the now. There was no future, no past, just Stephen's voice telling her she was doing great and the pain and pressure pushing through her legs.
And suddenly that pressure was gone and a baby's cry filled the air. Iduna collapsed as Stephen wrapped the baby in the shirt.
"A girl," he said, eyes wide.
Iduna held her arms out. "Give her to me."
She was small and covered in amniotic fluid. Her skin wrinkled, her head completely bald. Iduna hugged her against her chest, buffering the baby from the chill mountain air with her own body heat and the dry clothing they had left. She was beautiful. She was perfect.
"You have to palpitate my stomach to deliver the placenta. And tie off the cord with a shoelace, but that should wait…" They didn't have time to wait. "Tie off the cord. You'll have to bite through it. We need to be able to get going as quickly as possible."
Stephen nodded. He kissed her. "She's beautiful, just like you. But there isn't running with a newborn. I'll fight. I'll fight."
"The cord." Iduna's heart beat against her chest, each thump in unison with her Bear, getting more and more agitated. "Take care of the cord first. That way I can run if I need to."
Stephen did as she said. Her mate pressed one last kiss to her mouth, and then he was gone. The baby continued to cry, no matter how much Iduna wrapped her up and held her against her chest. The Bear knew it was natural, but if the baby didn't stop crying, she would bring Christianson or his friends right to where they were hiding.
She never understood before how mothers could smother their babies when trying to hide. Now she did. It was so tempting just to cover the baby's mouth, just to muffle her cries. But doing so would far too easily prevent her from breathing altogether. So Iduna huddled there, clutching her crying baby, crying with despair as the sound of gunfire rang through the air. Twice she heard a Wolf's howl, then silence.
That was when Christianson found her. He didn't bother hiding his approach and smirked at the sight of her.
"Where's your boyfriend, then? He abandon you here? Never mind that. My friends will take care of him."
Her Bear growled as Christianson stepped forward.
"Not that it matters to you. Don't worry. I won't kill the brat. I'll just take it, maybe even take it as my own. It'll just be more proof that Shifters won't take care of their own, while men like me—"
His smile widened, but he had already made his fatal mistake. The rage of a mother Bear could not be underestimated, and that was exactly what Christianson had done. Iduna's Bear surged forward, fury beating her pulse. She set the baby safely in the bushes before launching herself forward. Christianson rose his gun, but Iduna's jaws were already around his head.
She felt his bones crunching beneath her jaws, heard a muffled shout of surprise and pain. Her paws slashed at him, claws tearing through flesh. Logic and reason fled. All that was left was pure primal instinct to protect her child. The taste of blood on her tongue was bitter, metallic. He screamed and writhed, but couldn't work himself free. Iduna clamped her jaws shut.
And then it was over.
Iduna backed away from Christenson's mangled body. Her Bear nodded in satisfaction and retreated, leaving her to return to her baby. She was flailing her fists, and Iduna wrapped her up tight again and settled down, waiting for Stephen to come back.
Crack.
A bullet impacted the stone wall next to her head. Shards or rock cut into her face. Iduna's heart seized as she saw a flash of a rifle. A man stood some distance away, gun in hand, aimed at her. She opened her mouth–to what? Beg for mercy? Shout for Stephen?
A howl split the air. A giant wolf flew out of the trees, ramming into the hunter. Iduna didn't watch. She held her baby close to her chest and tried to keep her warm. The hunter's screams rang through the air as Stephen mauled him.
Fifteen proven cases of Shifters killing humans. Now seventeen. Eighteen, maybe, depending on Christianson's other 'friend.' But they had brought it on themselves.
"Don't worry," she whispered to her baby. "Mommy and Daddy will always protect you. Always."
Chapter Ten – Stephen
Stephen hung up his phone, hopefully for the last time that night. He rubbed his left temple. A headache pounded through his skull. Even with the advanced healing that Shifters had, spending hours dealing with politics and the legal system took a toll on Wolves like him, who weren't and never wanted to be Alphas. He was only glad that it was Iduna and not him that was studying law to fight for Shifter rights within the courts. He'd never survive it.
He smiled as he thought of his mate. In the seven months since the birth of their daughter, she had not only begun studying to become a lawyer but had also put together a plan to protect Shifters. The attacks on her community of Bears, along with the police involvement, had been brought to national attention. It invoked a significant outcry from across the world, with many countries calling for more police accountability. All the hunters that had been involved in Christianson's scheme had been found and were awaiting imprisonment. The BC government had been quick to round up and prosecute the other hunters.
As good as
the action that the government had been taking against those directly involved, there were even more positive things happening. Stephen had returned to his community of Wolves and told them what was happening to the Bears, and they had been horrified. Now there were programs being put into place to heal the fractured relationship between Bears and Wolves. It wasn't perfect, but Stephen thought it was helping.
Still, there was a lot of work to be done going forward, and Stephen found himself in the middle of it. But he was happy to fight if it meant a better future for his daughter.
He heard Tiff gurgling and turned to see Tyson coming down the hallway, holding the baby. She burst into a grin at the sight of her father. She was just starting to grow some fuzz on her head, but with her big black eyes, exactly like her mother's, and toothless grin she was still adorable.
"Oh, Daddy needs a smile like that right now." Stephen took Tiff and kissed her. "Have you been a good girl for Grandpa?"
"She's an angel." Tyson beamed at his granddaughter. "She reminds me so much of Iduna when she was that age."
Stephen responded with a smile. Iduna's parents had finally accepted him as their daughter's mate. Carrying her miles out of the bush into a human town and not leaving her side even after they arrived had something to do with it. They got along in any case, and Stephen didn't feel unwelcome in their home.
He and Iduna were living with her parents right now, while his house back in the Wolf community was being sold, and the place they would be moving into in the Bear community was being built. There really hadn't been any question about where they were going to live. Stephen could keep in touch with friends just as easily here as there. Iduna, on the other hand, had everything here, where she had grown up. It was just natural to stay in her community.
"So did I hear some howling from Tiff last night?" Tyson asked.
