Saving Autumn

by Marissa Farrar

  The shifters all skidded to a halt, claws skidding in the mud, crunching dried pine needles beneath their paws.

  Facing them was a line of soldiers, each holding a weapon pointed directly at them. The men created a perimeter, wide enough to disappear into the trees.

  Stood in their midst was a man Chogan barely recognized. He had removed his balaclava and helmet to reveal a ridge of five scars down the side of his face, a horrific injury that must have happened recently. Chogan sensed Peter tense at the sight of the man, a low cat-like growl of warning emitting from the mountain lion’s throat. And he didn’t think it was just because the man had hold of Autumn, his arm wrapped around her neck. In his other hand, he held a pistol of some kind, the muzzle pressed against her temple.

  Chogan growled. They stood no chance of attacking the man to get Autumn back like this. Numerous guns were trained upon them, and then there was the gun pressed to her head. If they tried to attack like this, someone—either them or Autumn—would get shot.

  The man made no move except to smile triumphantly. He looked like he wanted to talk.

  Chogan struggled with the decision, but he had no choice. He needed to find out what the man wanted, what he planned on doing with Autumn. He couldn’t converse with him in wolf form.

  He closed his eyes briefly and willed his wolf away. Pain encompassed his whole body as the change came. His bones shattered like glass, only to reform in different shapes. His skin stretched in places and shrank in others. His fur melted into his skin. Chogan bit down hard, grinding his rapidly blunting teeth to stop the howl of agony bursting from his mouth. He would show them no weakness.

  Beside him, Blake must have also come to the same conclusion. His cousin was more vocal in his change, and Chogan could see the soldiers lined up before them start to shuffle uncomfortably at what they were witnessing, at the howl and roar of white-hot agony which cut through the quiet of the forest.

  With the change complete, both men stood straight. Peter and Rhys had remained in their animal form, flanking the men like two terrifying exotic pets.

  Blake was the first to speak. “Calvin Thorne! I should have known scum like you doesn’t just disappear.”

  Chogan was less interested in the man and more interested in Autumn. “Are you okay?” She nodded as best she could, though clearly she’d been weakened by everything she’d been through in the last twenty-four hours. He wanted nothing more than to snatch her out of the grip of this asshole and hold her in his arms. To take the hurt and fear away.

  “She’s fine, aren’t you, sweetheart?” The man, Calvin Thorne, pulled her closer into him, and planted a rough kiss on top of her head.

  Chogan gritted his teeth and balled his fists “Don’t you touch her!” I’ll kill him, he promised himself.

  Thorne grinned. “We just wanted to welcome you to your new home, boys!”

  Blake snarled. “What the hell are you talking about? I suggest you let Autumn go and step back before we shifters rip you to pieces.”

  The man threw back his head and laughed. “Don’t think you’re getting out of this one, you bunch of freaks. I always knew there was something up with you, Wolfcollar. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I knew.” The smile vanished. “You are surrounded by a circle of soldiers, a mile in circumference around the cabin. Each soldier is armed and instructed to shoot to kill. And those of you who fly,” he glanced up at the dark sky, to where the giant bat swooped, “will be taken out by one of these.”

  As if on command, the thrum of a military helicopter could be heard, the thump of the rotor blade beating the air. An Apache twin engine attack helicopter came into view, hovering above them and forcing Toby to alight in one of the trees. Even from where he was, Chogan could see the weapons attached to the bottom of the chopper.

  “You should have known better, Blake.” Thorne continued addressing his ex-colleague, shouting above the noise of the aircraft, “Of course we knew the boy had hacked into our intranet. And it didn’t take us long to figure out that wherever Doctor Anderson went, you would follow.”

  “You son of a bitch.” Blake started forward, but Chogan put out a hand to stop him. He didn’t want his cousin getting shot.

  “You’ve brought this on yourselves,” shouted Thorne. “We tried to warn you off after the stupid stunt your cousin here pulled.” He smirked at Chogan. “The wanna-be television star. We sent men in to scare you back into secrecy, but obviously that didn’t work. That idiot just decided to try it again.”

  Chogan clicked onto something he’d wanted to know all along, though he’d never guessed the military would be behind the botched assassination job. “How did you know where we’d be?”

  He laughed again, mockingly. “Ah, yes, the traitor in your midst. I think it’s fairly obvious now.”

  Tala. Chogan didn’t want to believe it, but she’d already gone so far against his wishes, he had little choice.

  “For some stupid reason, the girl actually wants to be like you!” Thorne said. “I did promise that we’d make it happen for her if she got all of you freaks into one place. Including Autumn, she’s a bit of a deal breaker. We had no idea Tala would get started on her own.” He chuckled. “Never mind. She’ll make an excellent test case.”

  “What are you saying, Thorne?” said Blake. “That you’re going to keep us all here like prisoners?”

  “That’s exactly what I’m saying. I knew you weren’t all just muscle, that there was a brain in there somewhere. An announcement will be going out nationwide to state that the shifter problem has been brought under military control. I’m sure you’ll be joined by others as the days go by and more freaks reveal themselves. Soon, similar camps will be constructed all over the country.”

  “Why did you not just shut us down?” said Blake. “You could have silenced the television studios, stopped the broadcasts. Wouldn’t that have been easier than this?”

  “The problem is that the internet is not so easy to control. Once you had decided to make your existence known, it was going to come out at some point, whatever we did to stop it. Plus, the population knowing you exist has its benefits for us. People think of you as monsters and we’ll do nothing to change that perception. In fact, you’ve done nothing to improve that viewpoint yourselves. People don’t care what happens to those they hate. Take terrorists and Guantanamo Bay, nobody cares what happens to them. They’re the enemy, just as you are now also the enemy. As long as people feel safe in their beds at night, they’ll not give you a second thought.”

  “We have friends and families,” Chogan yelled. “You can’t expect them not to fight for us. They’re not going to sit back and allow this to happen.”

  “Anyone consorting or siding with a shifter will be considered a traitor to their country and imprisoned.”

  “You can’t do that!”

  “Watch me.” Thorne paused. “Actually, no, you can’t, because you’ll all be contained here, in the middle of nowhere, where no one will hear the gunshots which I promise you will go off if you try to escape.”

  Chogan’s eyes were drawn to Autumn’s terrified, pale face. “What are you going to do with Autumn?”

  “This lovely lady will be coming back with us to the labs. Only this time, she’ll be a test subject instead of a scientist. I’m sure she’ll enjoy experiencing things on the other side of the fence.”

  Autumn struggled against him, but it was no use. “I won’t do anything for you, you bastard!”

  “You won’t have much choice in the matter. I would have thought you’d learned that by now.”

  She gave a scream of frustration, kicking out at his ankles.

  “Stop that,” said Thorne. “You’re starting to irritate me. Now, say goodbye to your friends. It’s time we got going.”

  With that, he turned from Chogan and the others, breaking through the line of soldiers to head toward the area where the chopper had appeared from, and where, Chogan assumed, they must have military vehicles waiting. Tho
rne pushed Autumn forward as he walked, and she threw a brief desperate glance over her shoulder at him as she stumbled onward.

  His heart contracted. Him. She’d looked at him, not Blake.

  He started forward, but the line of soldiers closed in, the gap where Thorne had pushed through vanishing as though it had never been there. Someone barked an order and he sensed as well as saw numerous rifles lifted and the safeties clicked off.

  One of the soldiers, a big man, the one who had shouted before, stepped forward.

  “You are detainees of the United States Department of Defense. Return to the cabin or you will be shot.”

  Chogan stared, unable to believe this had happened. He’d envisaged a revolution, but instead he’d lost the girl he loved and gotten himself and all the other shifters he knew imprisoned in a building barely fit for rats.

  This won’t be the end, he swore. Whatever else happened, the government wouldn’t win.

  Like what you’ve read? Book three in The Spirit Shifters Series, Autumn Rising, will be released mid 2014. Make sure you sign up to Marissa Farrar’s new release list to stay updated about new releases, exclusives, and special offers! www.marissa-farrar.blogspot.com

  Acknowledgements

  As always, I would like to thank my family for putting up with me during both the writing and editing of this book. I’m eternally grateful that you understand it is perfectly normal for a writer to still be in her dressing gown at three in the afternoon, and for the children to be the same!

  I’d also like to thank my editor, Shontrell, for her always welcome comments—especially the funny reactions to things that happen in the book. They always make me smile when the editing is starting to feel like work.

  Sharpening the book has been the job of my proofreaders, Lori Whitwam and Glynis Elliott. A special thanks to Lori for catching so many of those pesky ‘British-isms’ that always seem to slip in.

  And a final thanks to you, the reader. There is nothing more fulfilling for me, as an author, to hear all your wonderful thoughts about my books. I love hearing from each and every one of you and will always do my best to respond to emails or facebook messages, should you send me one.

  Thanks for reading.

  If you want to stay updated about my new releases, please sign up to my new release list on my blog. You will receive notification of when a new book comes out, together with exclusive previews and sales!

  www.marissa-farrar.blogspot.com

  Thank you once again.

  Marissa.

  About the Author

  Marissa Farrar is a multi-published fantasy and horror author. She was born in Devon, England, has travelled all over the world, and has lived in both Australia and Spain. She now resides in the countryside with her husband, three young children, a crazy Spanish dog, two rescue cats, and six hens. Despite returning to England, she daydreams of one day being able to split her time between her home country and the balmy, white sandy beaches of Spain.

  Even though she’s been writing stories since she was small and held dreams of being a writer, her initial life plan went a different way.

  In her youth, inspired by James Herriot, she decided to become a vet, and would regularly bring home new pets to her weary parents. Upon discovering her exams were never going to get her into a veterinary degree, she ended up studying Zoology. Once she completed her degree and realised she’d spent the majority trying to find time to write, she decided to follow her dream of being an author. Seven years later, she was published and two years after that she was able to say goodbye to the day job.

  However, she’s continued to collect animals!

  Marissa is the author of nine novels, including the dark vampire ‘Serenity’ series. Her short stories have been accepted for a number of anthologies including, Their Dark Masters, Red Skies Press, Masters of Horror: Damned If You Don’t, Triskaideka Books; and 2013: The Aftermath, Pill Hill Press.

  If you want to know more about Marissa, then please visit her website at www.marissa-farrar.blogspot.com. You can also find her at her facebook page, www.facebook.com/marissa.farrar.author or follow her on twitter @marissafarrar.

  She loves to hear from readers and can be emailed at marissafarrar@hotmail.co.uk.

  Also by Marissa Farrar

  The Serenity Series:

  The Vengeful Vampire (free short story)

  Alone (free first novel of the series!)

  Buried

  Captured

  Dominion

  Endless

  UNDERLIFE

  (Please note, the prequel to Underlife, Go Back, is now free to download from Amazon)

  THE DARK ROAD

  WHERE THE DEAD LIVE

  IN THE COMPANY OF THE DEAD

  THE BODY FARM

  SAVING AUTUMN

  The Spirit Shifters: Book Two

  Copyright © 2014 Marissa Farrar

  Warwick House Press

  Edited by Wade-Staten Services

  Cover art by Marissa Farrar

  License Notes

  This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of these authors.

  Publisher’s Note

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.