by SJ Himes
Andromeda knelt at her brother’s side, and Kane was there, wrapping him securely in his big arms.
“Are you okay, little wolf?” Kane asked, concern in his voice, powerful hands running over his body, as if checking for injury. “What was that noise?”
Ghost opened his mouth to answer, but Andromeda beat him to it.
“That was my idiot brother not using his head,” she snarled, even though her hands were gentle as she helped River to his feet. The other shaman wore a shocked expression, eyes dazed and their normal light blue color again. He groaned and put a hand to the back of his head, pulling it back and checking his fingers for blood. There was a small dent in the wood wall, and Ghost’s stomach roiled in dismay. He’d somehow thrown River off of him and into the wall, and he didn’t know how he’d done it. He’d hurt a shaman.
“I just wanted him to let go,” Ghost whispered, “I’m sorry.” He said the last part to River, who was suffering under Andromeda’s fingers as she parted his hair, looking for injury.
“Don’t apologize, youngling,” she scolded, though not unkindly. “If you hadn’t knocked some sense into him, She would have, and he’d have more than a bump for his trouble.”
“I’ll speak with you later,” she murmured to her brother, who shook off her hand and nodded. River didn’t look at Ghost or Kane, keeping his eyes down at the floor, one hand on the back of his head. “Kane, perhaps you and Ghost should retire for the evening.”
“Good idea,” Kane agreed, though he didn’t look like he wanted to leave, eyes glowing as he stared at the older shaman. He hugged Ghost to his side. “C’mon, little wolf.”
Ghost nodded and tucked his hands under his arms, afraid to touch anything or anyone. Kane put a big hand on his shoulder and guided him away from River. Ghost was confused, and he couldn’t figure out what just happened.
*Little wolf?* Kane whispered in his mind, the red starlight ebbing and flowing through his thoughts. *Can you tell me what happened?*
*I don’t know,* Ghost whined as they stepped outside into the night air. He saw a shadow following them, and looked over his shoulder. Gerald was at their heels, and then Sophia and Burke followed out the door. His uncle gave him a small smile, the barest glimmer of motion in the darkness. Ghost relaxed a little, feeling safer somehow.
He opened his mind to Kane, not having the words. He played the few seconds in the hall over for Kane, and felt his mate’s anger and confusion as well at what transpired.
*I will speak to River tomorrow,* Kane reassured him. *He is fine, little wolf. He is wolfkin. Getting thrown into a wall is a matter of a few painful moments, nothing more.*
* I hurt a shaman!* he cried in his mind, ducking his head as they walked along the nearly invisible path, the moon hidden behind trees as it slowly rose over the horizon.
*Shamans are not perfect, Ghost. They are as flawed as any wolfkin. Just because they follow Her will doesn’t mean they can’t mess up,* Kane told him, words quiet in the night, pulling him against his side as they passed under snow-clad trees, their boots crunching on the icy path. The others were just as loud, the snap and crack of breaking ice loud in the vast silence of the night.
They walked for a few minutes in easy companionship, the mental buzzing of the others behind him telling Ghost that two of them, if not all three, were speaking to each other. Kane was quiet, eyes alert and his mind sharp despite the late hour. Dinner at Andromeda’s had run long, the wolfkin taking the evening as a chance to talk and catch up. Gerald had been silent for most of the night, the tension he seemed to carry with him easing as the hour progressed. Sophia and Burke spent most of the evening teasing each other, their comments speaking of a lifetime of friendship. Ghost spent his time eating, enjoying the fact he was eating human-style food and not needing to worry about Cat yelling at him, or at Glen for slipping it to him under the table. Even sitting at a table was a treat. Andromeda and River ruled over the dinner crowd like monarchs, and what seemed to be the White Wolf’s immediate family hovering around her and her sibling. River patiently listened to every wolfkin that spoke to him and offered advice or teasing comments depending on the topic. Every once and a while his cerulean eyes would land on Ghost where he sat beside his mate, staring before the other shaman would tear his gaze away. Andromeda was a force of nature, and every blonde haired wolfkin in that grand cabin orbited around her every move like moths following a flame. The dynamics were subtle, but powerful. She was a Clan Leader in truth, her gender and class irrelevant in the face of her authority.
They passed the cabin where Cat and Glen slept, the lights out inside. Ghost caught their scents as they walked by, hours old, telling him that his human packmates were in for the night and had been for a while now. He smiled, glad they were here with him and able to know him as he really was, and not just as a semi-tamed pet. They left the humans’ cabin behind and turned the bend on the trail, Kane’s cabin just ahead. The others followed, none of them taking the branching paths for other cabins, so they must be all staying in the same one. Ghost mentally shrugged, not bothered. Just the thought made him feel more settled, at ease. He had a picture flash through his mind of wolves piled together in a cave, snoring and limp with sleep, warm and content.
Pack. He had a pack again. He had a real home, and it started with the wolfkin man next to him. Ghost peered up at his mate, who gifted him with a smile and a one-armed hug.
Their cabin loomed out of the darkness, unlit and as dark as the previous one. There was no difference from the outside, but as they got close to the door, Ghost saw a dark line along the front door, a darker shadow in the black. His shoulders tightened, and something told him to hold still. He froze on the path, and the others almost ran into him from behind.
“Stop,” he said, his voice shocking in the near absolute silence of the night. “The door.”
Burke walked around him, and Sophia around Kane, Gerald moving closer to their backs, the three lesser ranked wolves moving to keep Ghost in the middle. He resisted as Kane tried to move in front of him and narrowed his gaze at the front of the cabin. There was something wrong.
“I can see something,” Sophia said and made to take the last few steps to the front stoop. Ghost’s heart leapt in his chest, and a cry of warning came out before she made a full step. She froze, looking over her shoulder at him. Kane made to move forward, and Ghost snagged his arm, pulling his much bigger mate back to his side.
“No! Stop!” Ghost ordered, terrified. There was a hissing whisper on the subtle wind, and Ghost struggled to focus the niggling fear past the distraction.
Something was very wrong, and it was the black odd-shaped shadow resting on the stoop in front of the door. Not even their eyes could penetrate the black, as the stars’ dim light was shining brightest at the rear of the building, and the waxing moon wasn’t high enough yet to be of much help. None of them had flashlights, and Gerald was the first to pull his cell out. He tapped the screen a few times and sharp light exploded from his cell. It lit the path ahead and part of the stoop, but couldn’t reach the black object to show what it was. There was a glimmer of something bright, long and thin, before Gerald moved the cell, trying to illuminate the object from a better angle.
“Burke,” Kane started to say, and the Speaker moved forward. Ghost wanted to scream, every instinct telling him that Burke was in horrible danger. A sharp snap shot out as Burke stepped up, and Ghost’s heart stopped.
“NO!” Ghost screamed, hands coming up, throwing off Kane’s restraining grip. Burke finished his first step up just as Ghost reached out with his mind, and yanked the greater alpha off his feet and through the air backwards.
A deafening roar and a blinding light eradicated the peaceful quiet. Scorching heat poured in a massive wave, and the blast rocketed across the front lawn. Ghost screamed, and his hands felt the inferno as it fought against his power. Time slowed. Kane was trying to reach for h
im; Sophia was crouching, hands up in a futile attempt to protect herself; Gerald’s cry of alarm was paused in his throat. Ghost pulled as hard as he could on Burke, and the Speaker raced the fire wave, flying past Ghost in a blur.
The fire raged and his ears were assaulted by the explosion. He stood against it. How or why would be answered after he beat the savage energy that eddied around the wall of solid air he’d raised the nanosecond Burke was behind him. Eternity happened in the space of a single instant, and Ghost held the wall forever. Red and orange flames licked at his hands, but could not reach past him to the wolves he shielded.
Finally, after what felt like a lifetime, the fire died away, no longer eating at him. His panting breaths were loud, and his ears rang. He was tired, never more exhausted in this minute than any other moment in his whole life, including the fateful day he fell in the river. His hands blazed with agony, and sweat started to drip down his temples. He shivered and straightened as best he could, somehow having fallen into a half-crouch as he fought back the shockwave and flames. Smoke rose from his jacket sleeves, thin wisps, and more smoke billowed out from the remains of the front of the cabin.
A groan broke his shock. He cried out and spun, looking down and frantically searching through the smoke for his mate. Kane was just a step behind him, Gerald next to him. Ghost sobbed in relief and knelt at his side, trying to touch Kane’s face and whimpering in pain as his hands tried to follow his commands. Gerald was sitting up, and the lesser alpha crawled to a small bundle of limbs nearby. Ghost managed to cradle Kane’s head and shoulders in his lap just as Gerald picked up a coughing Sophia and dropped her in his lap, both of them sitting on the slush-covered earth. She tried to shrug him off, but he won the battle, and she fell limp on his wide chest, her dark gem-like eyes blinking slowly as she gazed around the fire-lit front yard.
Shouts rose from the woods, and Ghost spared the rescuers a single glance before he returned his attention to his mate. Kane was breathing and appeared untouched. Ghost shivered again and reached for Kane with his mind, searching for his red starlight. It glowed low, the waving patterns slow and languid. Ghost prodded at the starlight with his own, brightening it, and Kane opened his eyes just as Ghost ran out of energy.
“Kane?” he sobbed, crying, tears running down his face, burning thin lines of pain down his cheeks. The skin on his face felt tight and dry, and he figured he was burnt there as well. Not as bad as his hands, but enough for tears to sting. “Kane, please be okay.”
“Sshhh, little wolf,” Kane whispered, eyes closing briefly in what must be pain before he lifted a hand and wiped at a tear. “I’m fine, my love. Let me up, let me look at you.”
Ghost had no strength to argue. Kane sat up, moving with some stiffness, but he appeared to be unhurt. He clutched at Ghost, pulling him to his chest just as a pack of wolfkin breached the clearing, many of them in wolf-form, others still human. Cat and Glen came running with them, pulling on coats as they exited the tree line.
A wraith flowed over the debris, a terrifying creature that glowed with its own light, purest white and it moved with a deadly grace that caught Ghost’s attention, even through his pain and exhaustion. Pain made him cry out, and he lost sight of the illuminous being when Kane made apologetic sounds as he tried to examine Ghost’s hands.
“Ghost! Oh God, sweetie, no!” Cat cried as she ran to him, falling to her knees in the melting snow, her gentle hands grabbing his wrists as he tried to pull them back to his chest. “No, baby, keep them away from your clothes, you’ve been burned. Don’t move.”
“Get Shaman River!” Kane shouted, and Ghost whimpered at the volume. “Shit, love, I’m sorry. Sshhh, you’ll be fine in no time. Wolfkin, remember? You’ll be just fine.” Kane crooned to him, nonsense sounds as Cat held up his arms.
Glen peered down at him, worried, eyes tight and mouth pinched. Ghost tried to give him a smile, but it fell flat. Glen relaxed at his attempt anyway and gave him a quick nod.
“Burke,” Ghost gasped. “Find Burke, please.”
Glen’s eyes widened, and he nodded again, gaze lifting to search the clearing. He disappeared after a second, two blonde wolfkin following him.
“Kane? Goddess, his hands!” Sophia crawled across the ground to their side, collapsing next to Cat, her already pale face ashen now even in the light from the flames. “Kane, his hands!”
“Sophia.” Kane spoke her name, calm and in control. She shivered and dragged her eyes up to his. “Sophia, are you well?”
She blinked again, then pulled in a steadying breath and relaxed. She nodded and leaned back on her heels, Gerald standing over her protectively, one big hand on her shoulder. She didn’t shrug him off, instead relaxing even more at his touch.
“I’m… shaken. Fine, boss,” she said, and then rubbed at her face fast before dropping her hands. “I’ll help them find Burke.”
“Good,” Kane said simply, and Gerald helped the beta to her feet, both of them moving with care, stiff and sore, but functional.
It was getting harder to keep his eyes open. He wanted to stay awake, to get up and find Burke. He wasn’t sure if he’d pulled Burke to safety in time, and he didn’t know how far he’d thrown him to make sure he escaped the blast. Ghost tried to look past Cat, but Kane’s hands on his shoulders and Cat’s grip on his wrists held him still. He should be strong enough to dislodge her, but he couldn’t, and frowned. His hands weren’t responding, and the cold ground and freezing air actually bothered him, seeping into his bones. He shivered, and couldn’t fight off the cold.
“He’s going into shock,” someone said over his head, and Kane pulled his back against his chest.
Ghost lost his hold on reality then, the last thing he felt before the black was Kane’s arms.
Plan For The Worst
KANE HELD Ghost, his mate, unconscious. The scene was chaotic, wolves running around or standing in shock, a few of them wrangling with the fire. Glen, Gerald and Sophia were searching for Burke, and Kane bit back his worry.
He couldn’t reach Burke mentally, his best friend’s quicksilver mind a blank absence from its usual place. Burke could be unconscious, hurt, or…Kane shook his head, refusing to countenance that Burke was dead. They survived the bomb, surely Burke did as well….
He looked up from Ghost’s face in time to see a cream-colored wolf break the tree line, running full out for them. River transformed at a full run, sliding to a stop in the snow on his knees, reaching for Ghost around the human woman.
“He’s in shock, third-degree burns, and power-drained.” River stated, blue eyes vacant, staring at Ghost as his hands held the young shaman’s head. “What happened?”
Kane assumed River’s question was directed at him, and he answered, just as a great white shadow moved in his periphery. The White Wolf stood over them, her shadow covering them, her mouth open to reveal dagger-like fangs and a blood-red tongue tasting the air. Her glacial eyes burned with a fire that made Kane hold very still and speak with a calm he truly didn’t feel.
“There was a bomb on the front stoop. Ghost tried to warn us, but we didn’t listen. It exploded…and Ghost did something. Burke set off the trip-wire, but he wasn’t caught in the blast. Then…I don’t know how, but Ghost held back the blast wave and the flames. Some of the wave hit us, and threw us all back…I must have been knocked out. I got some images from our link before he passed out. Whatever Ghost did, he shielded us from the majority of the explosion.”
“Power-drain is the biggest worry. He can fall into a coma if he doesn’t get his levels restored, and he won’t be able to heal his injuries.” River let go of Ghost’s head, and turned his attention to the angry red burns and blisters forming on Ghost’s hands. “I don’t have the strength to heal such a condition and his burns, but thankfully we have another option, so it won’t be up to just me.”
River stood and gestured to some human-form wolfkin nearby
. “Help them back to Andromeda’s; I’ll treat him there”
Kane made to protest, but the subtle shift of the White Wolf in the snow made him rethink. Kane stood and lifted Ghost in his arms.
*I will hunt the ones responsible,* a thought whispered past his mental shields, and Kane nodded to the White Wolf as he carried his mate to safety.
HIS HEAD really hurt. And his ribs. And every inch of his body.
Burke coughed, ribs screaming, and rolled to his side, or at least he tried. Whatever he was lying on moved and creaked, and he shuddered in pain. Crushed pine and smoke met his nose, and he sneezed, groaning as his ribs complained even more.
“Hey now, don’t move. Easy buddy,” a soothing voice reached his ears, and Burke blinked teary eyes, trying to see who was talking. He cautiously moved his head and saw naught but starry skies and the rising moon.
“Wha...what’s going on?” Burke asked his unseen companion and tried to remember, well, anything. Leaving Andromeda’s, walking back to the cabin….then nothing.
“I’ll tell you, but you gotta stay really still, okay? Your friend is climbing up to get you, but you need to stay still,” the invisible man warned, and Burke frowned, really confused. “You were in an explosion. Somehow you ended up getting blasted into a pine tree. You’re about twenty feet up, and we don’t want you to fall, so hold very still.”
“Huh,” Burke murmured, staring at the stars. That explained the weightless feeling. He was in a tree. “I’ve never been blown up before.”
He heard laughter as his eyes rolled back in his head, the stars fading.
“ALL YOU need to do is open the link as wide as you can,” River reiterated, cutting away Ghost’s clothing as Kane sat on the side of the bed beside the unconscious shaman. “Power flows between you already, a near constant exchange. Just let it happen, and his body will pull what it needs from yours.”
