HOTSHOT BROTHERS: Coyote Shifters

by Hunt, Sabrina

“But now, I think I understand.” Aunt Sil began to pace. “The Crooked Man was taken as a child, kidnapped perhaps. His humanity was stolen a long time ago.”

  “Does this mean you were a shifter once? And you aren’t anymore?” Ben asked.

  “Yes,” Aunt Sil said. Tension filled the room and she held up her hands. “Listen, I understand your sympathy and I appreciate it. But it happened a long time ago – long before any of you were born. The more important fact is that the demon knew what this symbol was – and it was letting me know that it was coming for the shifters.” She looked away. “For my family.”

  “I thought only an aarsrivak could make those kind of marks,” Burr said, his voice rough.

  “Where do you think the Spiders learned it from? There is a shadow trickster that cannot leave the Deadlands, old, cunning and terribly dangerous. The creature in California was but a wisp of its potency. He is the shadow that animates the Ash Walkers and now this Skinwalker. It is a symbiotic relationship – the servants feed the master and so the master strengthens them.

  “Like I said, I believe it has been leading the Crooked Man for a long time – first to those mountains in California, where it learned from the demon and then to the Ash Walkers. Now, recently to Sorvang, last of her kind. It is a terrible fate for anyone. If we can, we must save him.”

  “Does that shadow have a name?” Rayner asked.

  Crowfoot and Big Bear let out dry laughs, while Aunt Sil gave him a humorless smile. “Kivulk. The Nameless.”

  “Dammit! Why is it we always have more questions than answers?” Burr exclaimed, his hands clenching into fists. “We know a little more, but still there are so many things that don’t make sense. Why didn’t he use the black arrows before? Or the Blood Brush?”

  “You can only use them during the month of the blood moon, which is a rare occurrence. Every nine years,” my mother said in a low voice. “When Akba Atatdia cannot travel to Earth.”

  “It ended this morning,” Aunt Sil continued, “so you need not fear those weapons – unless it takes you another nine years to stop it. Which I don’t think will happen, by the way.”

  A chill rushed through me. “That’s how it–” my voice caught. “That’s what it meant!” I turned to Burr. “It said it wasn’t going to kill you. It was going to take away your abilities, just like it did to Aunt Sil.”

  Burr’s face went tight. “That could be…”

  “I’m certain it was something like that,” Aunt Sil said and then she smiled. “Alright, enough doom and gloom. I wanted you all to know that to prepare you. But at the same time, to prove to you how powerful you are. Working together, you struck a blow that the Skinwalker will not recover from quickly.”

  “Tell them the rest, Sil,” Big Bear grunted.

  “Yes, Sil, it’s time,” Crowfoot added gently.

  I sensed the five brothers looking at her as one. She suddenly looked very old, her wrinkles deepening and her eyes losing their luster. Slowly, her voice breaking slightly, she said, “I had a vision. Or rather two. Within the year, you five will either win or lose. If you win, the Ash Walkers will be locked away and there will be peace. Your roles will diminish, but you will still be called upon to protect the wilderness, of course.”

  “And if we lose?” Rayner asked.

  “Its corruption will spread and the mountains will burn,” Aunt Sil said. “The Hotshot Brothers will be no more.”

  A few days later, I was alone in the house for once. After Aunt Sil’s revelation, the brothers had closed themselves up with the Elders, emerging a few hours later, looking grim and saying little. After that, I’d barely seen Burr. He’d gone off with his brothers somewhere, promising to come back in a few days when I was ready to move.

  My mother had left this morning for my aunt’s, along with Juniper. Aunt Sil, Crowfoot, and Big Bear were on their way back to Montana, along with Fox. Packing was easy for him – especially since I suspected my mother was going to take care of the majority of it.

  Kalin and Hazel had offered to stay while I finished packing, but I’d convinced them that I’d be alright on my own and that I would see them in a few days. After giving me hugs, they’d headed off to Montana too – albeit on a much shorter trip.

  Exhausted, I was sitting in the middle of my room, mostly cleaned out and packed in boxes. I was flipping through an old scrapbook, mostly filled with photos from my childhood.

  Now I didn’t wonder that my mother had always known. In almost every picture, I was right next to Burr or he was next to me. Finally I found the one I was looking for and smiled.

  Fox and Juniper were sitting on the bottom steps of Aunt Sil’s porch, grinning through sticky orange Popsicles. My dad and Aspen were lounging at the top, while Burr and I were in the middle. I was gravely handing Burr half of my Popsicle, my face serious, while Burr was grinning at me, his elbow looped through mine.

  “Lolo?” Burr called through the house, right on cue.

  “In here,” I called back and I heard him creak through the house, his stride sure and strong.

  When he entered, his face filled with a certain kind of relief and his eyes with love. “Hey, how’s the floor?”

  “Fine,” I said, as he came and sat down in front of me. “Look.”

  “Oh, man, I had some wild curls back then.”

  “Back then?” I asked, eyeing his out-of-control hair and beard.

  “It was the wind!” He gazed at the picture. “Man, how are you still so damn cute?”

  I tossed my hair. “Born that way.”

  I put aside the photo album and looked at him expectantly. Burr smiled at me and then shifted positions. “So…”

  “Unbelievable,” I sang out.

  Flinching, Burr dropped his gaze, “Willow, how can I–?”

  “Let me stop you right there,” I said, my heart pounding. “I love you. And you are not leaving me behind again. Nor am I. We stick together, you hear me?”

  “But what if…?” he trailed off. “Willow, when I think about that day when you thought I was gone, it’s like I splinter apart.”

  “Which is why we should be together.” Getting up on my knees, I looped my arms around his neck and pressed my cheek to his. “Burr, I’m not afraid of the future. I know you.” I leaned back and met that green gaze I trusted more than anything else. “You will not lose.”

  “I have so much to lose,” he murmured, cupping my face.

  “There’s that. And there’s also my father, Santana, and Aspen. You will avenge them. But also, you will do this because that’s who you are, Burr. The same little boy who would pick up a hurt bird of prey – one that could have torn his eyes out, by the way – is now a man who will save the world. You know me – I don’t settle.” I grinned at him and he grinned back.

  “You know I only ever told one person about you – not the whole story, but bits and pieces. It was my buddy Travis. When I visited his grave today, I wondered if the bastard didn’t have something to do with this.” Burr sighed. “You know, I’ve always lived on the edge of this world of spirits and magic, but now that I’m in it – my mind is still blown.”

  I sensed Burr was in a rare mood and I took his hands. “Like how?”

  “Connections,” he murmured. “When we were up in the mountains, fighting for our lives, I could feel your dad, my mom and dad up there. I could almost see them.” He gazed at me. “You’re right. We won’t lose.” His fingers looped through mine. “Then there’s you and me.”

  It seemed my heart was both squeezing and expanding. I couldn’t quite catch my breath, but I managed to get out, “Me and you?”

  “Now that that I’m with you, I know there’s no way I could ask you to stay behind,” Burr let go of one of my hands and pressed his palm to my face. “So, I’m going to tell you – stay with me.”

  Putting my hand over his, I smiled through my tears, “Always.”

  Burr pulled me to him, kissing me and then leaning me back on the floor. My heart was be
ating throughout my entire body as our limbs tangled together.

  Then he paused, grinning down with me. “Are we supposed to be doing something else?”

  I glanced around at the half-packed room and then at him. “Absolutely not.”

  “Oh good,” he laughed, kissing me and tickling me, making me laugh without restraint. And kissing, we forgot the past and the future, focusing on the most important thing.

  Right now.

  The adventure continues in Book Four!

  The Hotshot Brothers:

  Coyote Legend

  Book Four

  Cree has tagged along with Rayner for a rendezvous in Seattle with a local Bigfoot expert, “The Wise Madman.” Usually the Hotshots have no time for cryptozoologists, but this particular madman is a friend of Professor Whitlock’s, who believes the Wise Madman might actually have something on the Skinwalker.

  But when the expert turns up dead and the rendezvous into a crime scene, Cree and Rayner find themselves being grilled by a pretty young blonde reporter, Sky Hess.

  Not only is Sky Rayner’s half-sister, but someone he has tried to keep as far away from the Hotshot Brothers as possible.

  Then Rayner takes off, claiming he needs to follow a lead alone while ordering Cree to keep an eye on his sister and his mouth shut.

  However, everyone knows Cree has never been very good at keeping secrets.

  Sky senses this. She knows Cree could tell her exactly what has occupied her big brother’s time these past five years.

  As Cree attempts to juggle conflicting duties, he starts to feel he is running up on some unknown deadline. The stories running rampant through Seattle are becoming uncanny: monsters in the woods. Faces in the water. Voices on the wind.

  Internet conspiracy fodder? Or are dark legends coming to life?

  As Cree tries to unlock the underground mysteries surrounding the monsters of Seattle, he realizes Sky’s destiny has become intertwined with his, and only together can they survive this.

  Book Four: Coyote Legend

  Chapter 1

  “Cree, are you even listening to me? Cree!”

  Grinning at the tall, black-haired woman swinging a staff with impressive ease in her hands, I drawled, “Oh, I know better than to ignore you, darlin’.”

  Her nostrils flared at the flirtation, while the woman next to her bounced from foot to foot and murmured, “Willow, I don’t know about this. Are you sure?”

  Willow White-Eagle laid a reassuring hand on Kalin Montero’s shoulder. “Of course. Practice builds confidence. Soon you won’t even think to ask that.”

  “I’ll go easy on ya, Kay,” I stretched and winked. “That is if we ever get started.”

  Pointing a finger at me, Willow shot me a hard look. “You were the one who agreed to help us today and now you’re the one holding us up!”

  “Let Willow do her thing, doofus,” rumbled the man who walked up next to me. “Stop hindering.”

  “Here I thought I was helping,” I said innocently. “Am I hindering?”

  “Cree.” Wesley Young gave me a look that meant he was about to laugh or contemplating either putting me in a headlock. It was one I’d known for years, ever since our days together in the Navy. With two years and two inches on me, Wes was my self-appointed lookout, always trying to prevent me from doing or saying something I shouldn’t.

  Well, it may have actually been due to the strong suggestion of a commanding officer, but either way, it had worked out. Wes was the one who hauled me away from letting “Cree shenanigans” go too far. And I made sure he didn’t take himself too seriously.

  Wes, who was a strong, sure-jawed black man with bright hazel eyes, usually scanning the skies for danger with the gaze of a hawk. But when he met Kalin’s nervous one, a dopey, worried look came over his face that would’ve made an owl laugh. I know I did.

  If someone didn’t know any better, they’d think it was unrequited pining on his part, but Kalin and Wes had been together for over six months. All thanks to me, I might add.

  I’d patched things up when Kalin got spooked and Wes was too noble (and grumpily heartbroken) to chase her down.

  Huh. I do have to say, if I had a girl like Kalin, I’d probably be worried and dopey, too. She was lithe and curvy, with warm tan skin, long dark curls currently escaping her tightly pinned braid, and bright brown eyes.

  I glanced from Kalin to Willow, who was tall, slim and elegant. Tossing her head, she fixed her dark eyes on me, and I couldn’t suppress a smile as she began to order us around.

  Both of those women were gorgeous in their own way. Fierce, intelligent, and brave, too. I’d seen them both with their backs against the wall and they’d come through like warrior princesses.

  And now we got to spar and train with them. Ah, this life was a beautiful thing.

  “What is with that smile, Cree?” Kalin asked at the end of Willow’s tirade.

  “I’m sure I don’t want to know,” Willow said, and rolled her eyes at Kalin.

  “It’s nothing bad,” I said. “I was thinking how awesome you two ladies are. Strong, smart and smokin’. Triple S. Can’t beat it.” Wes took a step towards me and I skipped back, watching his face contort. “What, I can’t say Kalin is pretty?”

  Wes’s instincts clashed. He both frowned and smiled at me, as Kalin called over, her voice as innocent as mine, “Yeah, Wes! What, do you not agree?”

  “Of course not! That’s not true!” he protested, looking horrified and panicked. Kalin and I laughed, and even Willow let a chuckle escape. “Goddamn it, I hate you both sometimes. Always ganging up on me.”

  “You make it so easy, Young,” I said, winking at Kalin and she winked back. It was weird to remember how angry I’d been with her after she’d ghosted Wes for a hot minute in November. Now she was another bestie.

  Plus, it was nice to have some femininity around the Hotshot Brothers clubhouse. The past six years sometimes felt a bit like being back in the Navy.

  “Quickfoot! Just pay attention to Willow!” Wes snapped, sounding like our old drill sergeant.

  “Alrighty, Sergeant Smarm,” I replied, “gonna make me swab the latrines, aye?”

  Wes let out a reluctant laugh at my pirate accent. “Listen, latrine queen, you need to do a lap or somethin’. Why are you such a wildman today?”

  “You know there’s only one Wildman, right?” Willow asked with a grin.

  Stretching my hands up to the cloudless blue April sky, I looked around at Wes, then Willow and Kalin, down across the rolling hills to the gardens stretching behind a big log house in the distance. Beyond us were the deep Montana woods, bursting with every shade of green, while a light wind raced along the treetops and brought the refreshing, heady smell of spring.

  Well, first, we were home. All five Hotshot Brothers. My pack of coyote shifters that I’d run with for the past six years. Bound by the moon and a shared, sacred destiny of Akba Atatdia – we guarded the wilderness and world from those in the shadow world that meant it harm.

  Second, summer was around the corner.

  Third, and most importantly, right now it was spring. How could I not be wild when the wild was in my blood? Especially in spring?

  Plus, the moon was starting to wax. In three weeks it would be full. No one could deny the lunar sway – especially not a coyote shifter.

  “Ah, right, that’s it. Of course,” Wes groaned. “Spring.”

  “Spring?” Kalin asked.

  Willow let out a light laugh and my neck went hot as she whispered something in Kalin’s ear. Kalin let out a shriek of laughter and I laughed too.

  “Well, I can’t deny it,” I admitted modestly.

  “You could keep it to yourself – for all our sakes,” Wes pointed out.

  “Let’s get your mind off those frisky feelings, huh, Quickfoot?” Willow asked. “Kalin, remember – use his force against him. Cree is the best for this because he’s so damn fast.”

  “Okay,” Kalin said, nodding firmly,
but I could still see the jumpiness in her eyes. Up until she met us, Kalin was a runner and an occasional yoga girl when her sister dragged her along. She’d taken a few boxing classes, too.

  But now we had her trained in Krav Maga, Wing Chun, Keysi and were currently working on Jiu-jitsu and Aikido. She had had a good left hook and strong legs, with a hell of a kick. And she was usually fine until she started thinking too much. Then it all fell apart.

  “Wait, I’m usually her partner,” Wes protested. Now Willow and I exchanged a look. I knew Willow’s boyfriend, my fellow pack brother, Burr Santana, had explained the Young family “noble streak,” which had a habit of cropping up all the time whenever Wes was training with Kalin.

  Willow wasn’t an eldest child for nothing, though. With all the finesse of someone used to bossing around younger siblings, she gently said, “Wes, Kalin is progressing. If we keep facing her off with the same opponent, though, her skills will stagnate. You and Cree are different fighters. Stealth and Quickfoot.” She twirled her staff. “Nicknames kinda say it all.”

  “Wes, come on, you’re the one who wanted me to learn this stuff,” Kalin said, frowning slightly, and I saw Wes’s big shoulders hunch. I began to laugh. It was hilarious how much power this girl had over my best friend.

  “Aw, Wes, we all know you only wanna keep Kalin to yourself,” I turned around and hugged myself, pretending to make out.

  Willow threw the staff at me, hitting me on the ass and stopping Wes from murdering me at the same time. “Come on, you two! Frisky coyotes or not, we need to work on this stuff!” she bellowed and her voice echoed around us.

  “‘Frisky coyotes’? What the hell is going on over here?” I turned around to see Burr striding out of the woods with Willow’s youngest brother, Fox. A giant of a man with an even bigger heart, Burr had a riot of red-brown curls and green eyes. Fox, coming up to his shoulder, was a stocky kid with dark hair and an excellent nose for pranks. He was my favorite White-Eagle, even though I knew I shouldn’t play favorites. But Willow could be super intense and Juniper a bit broody. Fox was my kinda guy. “Aren’t you supposed to be training?” Burr asked, glancing around at us.