Shifters Hallows Eve

by Lori King

  The balconies were decorated with spider webs, jack-o'-lanterns, black cats, and witches’ hats. If there was one place on earth that took All Hallows Eve to the outmost limits, it was New Orleans.

  Halloween created a buzz in NOLA like nowhere else. Hotels were booked out months in advance. On All Hallows Eve, it would take nearly forty minutes to travel one block, so it was no surprise that the crowd had started early. Hunter looked down Bourbon and shook his head; it looked like Halloween had started two or three days ago. He looked down from his height of six feet four at the three shorter people pouring out of the nearest doorway. They were wearing matching Oompa Loompa costumes, right down to the orange face paint and green hair as they almost bumped into him.

  “Hey, watch where you’re going.” the Oompa Loompa in the middle yelled up at him.

  “Sorry,” Hunter responded apologetically, then abruptly moved past them to follow his instincts. He’d been tracking this particular shifter for the last couple of hours, and his patience was wearing damn thin. Who would have thought a runaway teen could give him the runaround? He wove his way through the infestation of tourists to witness the young shifter turn left onto Conti. By the time Hunter made the corner of Bourbon and Conti, he was out of time and had lost the chance to pick up the runner.

  He pulled his phone from his pocket and called his brother, “Yeah, Tristan, it’s me. Look, bro, I hate to do this, but I have a flight to catch. I’ll send you a picture of the runaway. I last spotted him in the French Quarter, but the little shit gave me the slip.”

  His brother’s laughter through the phone made the hairs on the back of his neck bristle. “Good luck with your trial.”

  “Thanks,” Hunter deadpanned.

  “Oh, come on, man. I heard she’s pretty hot.”

  Hunter growled at his brother’s choice of words, “Don’t make me hunt you down and hurt you.”

  “What? I didn’t say I thought she was hot. I simply passed on what I’d heard.”

  “Yeah, and you’ll respect Rainah whether she’s my true mate or not,” Hunter warned.

  “Lighten up, man. And whatever you do, don’t smile at her.” Tristan offered his advice.

  “Why the fuck not?” Hunter frowned as he walked to where he’d stashed his motorbike.

  “Because your smile makes you look mean.”

  “Fuck you, asshole,” Hunter growled, then hung up so he could send the text message to his brother before climbing onto his Harley. He looked up at the sky to see storm clouds building. With a sigh he cursed, “Fuck me, can my life get any more complicated?”

  He barely made it to the airport in time to park his bike undercover when the skies opened up and rain pelted down. He hated flying at the best of times, but with the low-lying cloud cover and possible storms forecast, he was not looking forward to getting on this plane anytime soon. As the eldest son of the pack master of the South, he was duty-bound to attend the All Hallows Eve trials in Colorado. His gut twisted, and he asked himself yet again if he was ready to take on a mate and the most senior position in the world of wolf shifters. And yet again, the answer was ‘Fucked if I know.’

  He’d have to cross that bridge when he came to it. In the meantime, he pulled his ticket out of his pocket and checked in for his flight, taking an aisle seat. Screw looking out the window – that shit was for people who liked to see how far they were from terra firma. He wasn’t one of those people, and he hated sitting next to those kinds of people. So what if he was deemed anti-social? He wasn’t trying to win friends or influence people. Hunter kept his eye on the prize at all times because he didn’t like to lose at anything. He also had a tendency to walk away before any ceremonious bids of thank you could occur. Close one case in a heartbeat and open another on the next intake of breath. In New Orleans, there was no time to be a slacker; something was always going on. For example, the runaway teen – Apparently both his parents had been killed in a pack dispute and the teenage boy had taken off. Hunter didn’t know much about the background behind the dispute, but someone wanted the kid found, and Hunter wanted to be certain it wasn’t because the kid had seen or heard something that the pack didn’t want him to know.

  Hunter walked out of the airport in Colorado a few hours later with his bag over his shoulder and an ache in his jaw from clenching his teeth together for so long during the flight. The little snot-faced kid beside him on the plane had all but given Hunter a migraine by quoting statistics on plane crashes, morbid little fucker.

  He took in a deep breath, finally allowing his body to relax the tension from his shoulders where that little prick had called him a white-knuckle flyer. Jeremy (as the boy’s mother had called him), as it turned out, was afraid of dogs, so every time he went to open his mouth after the initial onset of his verbal diarrhoea, Hunter growled at him until the little shit gave up trying to speak at all.

  Hunter walked to where the rental vehicles were kept and handed over his booking details to the clerk. “Business or pleasure?” the clerk attempted to make pleasantries as he entered the information into the computer.

  “Irrelevant,” Hunter replied, already feeling antsy about being in unfamiliar territory.

  “Yes, well, you’ll find your vehicle parked in Section-C, Lot 31. When you return the vehicle, if you could park in the same location before you return the keys, ‘All Vehicles Rent-a-Car’ will return your deposit. Enjoy your stay, sir.”

  Hunter collected his Hummer from where the service clerk had told him it would be parked, and he drove towards the hotel. After checking in at the reception desk, he headed straight to his room so he could drop off his gear and go for a run before turning in for the night. After flying, Hunter wanted to feel the earth under all four of his paws; it wasn’t so much a want, as it was a need.

  He walked out in front of the hotel, stood for a couple of moments to breathe in the air. His head turned to the right and his excellent vision narrowed in on a tree; studying it, he tilted his head to the left as he realised there were several scouts discreetly surrounding the hotel. Enforcers of the Central Custodians were watching every point of entry and exit of the hotel. That information irked him and told his instincts that there were going to be some trust issues between the competitors and the pack master of the Colorado division. Hunter strolled around the corner of the hotel as though he didn’t have a care in the world, then he disappeared into the woodlands at the rear of the building.

  He crouched for several minutes behind a fallen tree trunk to observe whether or not he’d been followed. When the coast appeared to be clear, he gingerly removed his clothes, and while he was still hunched, he allowed the change to overtake his body. His black hair transformed into black fur that covered his muscular frame. The almost-black colour of his irises was swallowed up by the black of his pupils that enabled him to see vividly in the darkness surrounding him.

  Hunter lifted his nose to the air to scent any possible threats perceivable, only to catch the sharp aroma of fear, the distinct burden of betrayal, and the rich undertones of… Female.

  All of Hunter’s protective predispositions surged to the forefront, and his back paws dug into the soft floor of the rotting vegetation underfoot. His superior strength and impulses told him he needed to follow it back to its origin. He sprinted in the direction that his nose directed, in hopes of reaching the source before it was too late.

  5

  30TH October – North Dakota

  Ronin woke to the smell of bacon and eggs. He cracked his left eye open and then closed it again.

  His eldest brother’s mate was setting up the table to eat, “I know you're awake, Ronin. Get up and eat something.” She knew where he kept the spare key and had obviously let herself in.

  Ronin growled as he sat up and looked down at his worn jeans and old T-shirt with a sense of relief. At least when he’d flopped onto the couch, exhausted after working a double shift, he’d been wearing his clothes. His brain was still foggy on the details of the previous
forty-eight hours, but being the only doctor in the North Dakota region meant that he was responsible for the health and well-being of the packs that fell under his jurisdiction. Lana, one of his pack sisters, had had a rough time giving birth to twins. After which he’d had to patch up Lana’s mate for fighting with the members of the pack who were on guard to keep Ronin safe during the labour. It was understandable, after all – no mated male wants to witness his mate in pain or even worse, his mate being touched by another male.

  Scar, short for Scarlet, had only recently accepted the connection between his eldest brother Vance and herself. Which in effect took him out of the All Hallows Eve Trials, hence the shadow of doubts that now rested on Ronin’s broad shoulders. Being the second eldest of the pack master of the North meant that he was now obligated to stand in place of his brother Vance.

  He placed his hands on his knees and pushed himself up to stand. Yawning, he swayed and wished he could curl back up on the couch that was now pressing into the back of his knees.

  He’d always been looked down on by his pack to begin with, but he’d stood his ground and fought the good fight. He’d pointed out to the pack’s Alphas that it was in the best interests of the pack to have a qualified doctor on hand that could see to them when they were injured or, in Lana’s case, birthing twins. Eventually, his mother had convinced his father to let him go to college; now, some eight years later and after a lot of trial and error, he was well-respected within the pack.

  Ronin glanced at the watch on his wrist and rubbed his hand down his face, “Fuck, I didn’t realise it was so late. What time’s my flight again?” he asked Scar.

  “I’ve woken you up in time for you to scarf this down and get showered and dressed before Vance and I drop you at the airport. So I suggest you move it.”

  Just then, the front door opened, and his brother Vance walked in with a load of wood for the fire. “Aren’t you ready yet? Move it, or you’ll be getting on that plane with the clothes on your back and not much else.”

  “Yeah, fuck you very much for the reminder, brother.” Ronin scowled.

  “Hey, this wasn’t my fault, so you can’t blame me for the shit you’re in. I’m just grateful that Scar accepted me as her mate without giving me too much grief. The upside is that maybe Rainah is your true mate.” Vance smirked at Ronin as though he knew something Ronin didn’t.

  “Asshole,” Ronin muttered as he took a seat at the table to eat the plate of food Scar had prepared for him. As he ate quickly, he mused over the idea of having a mate, someone to call his own. Someone to eat a meal with, sleep with, and to run wild through the woods with. His energy shifted, and he ate faster, eager and keen to reach Colorado and his prospective mate… Rainah.

  He was met with an overwhelming sense of duty to his family, his pack, and the possible outcome of the trials. It wasn’t as though he hadn’t been trained in combat; he had, up until he’d persuaded his parents to allow him to go away to college and focus his intellect on becoming a doctor. In a way, it probably made him just that little bit more dangerous. He knew the anatomy of both a human and of a wolf shifter, and in having that knowledge, he was also aware of how to deal a death blow if he deemed it necessary. He just hoped he was never placed in that situation to begin with. Ronin had heard tales of past trials, and they were bordering on barbaric. Often, the other competitors were maimed for life, and that was only if they survived at all.

  At this point in his life, he wasn’t all that certain that he wanted to complicate his life by claiming a mate, least of all one he’d never met before. Vance assured him that he remembered Rainah well from when he was young, and the Custodians of the North, South, East, and West would hold their general meeting with the much larger group the Central Custodians. He implied that Draven was a strong male, but that he was diplomatic and fair when making decisions regarding the laws of lupines throughout America.

  With a heavy sigh, Ronin finished eating his bacon and eggs and then headed in for a quick shower before leaving to catch his flight.

  He packed a carry-on with everything he thought he might need while away, and walked out of his bedroom as ready as he’d ever be. “Let’s get this show on the road.” He looked at Vance, who stood jingling his keys impatiently near the front door.

  Scar picked up his doctor’s bag from beside the couch and held it out to him, “Take this with you; you never know when you might need it.”

  He nodded his head and accepted it from her, “Try not to worry too much about it; if this Rainah is your mate, you’ll know it the instant you scent her. You will do anything in your power to keep her safe, and you’ll fight to the death to do so.”

  “You’re not helping,” Ronin grimaced at the idea of having to take a life to protect his life mate. He’d taken the Hippocratic Oath to preserve and save lives, not end them. There lay the moral dilemma he had to face the instant he stepped off the plane in Colorado.

  Carrying his bags as well as the heavy burden of the pending All Hallows Eve Trials, one and half hours after getting on the flight in North Dakota, Ronin glanced around for the rental car service desk, then seeing the sign, he walked towards it. He handed the clerk the paperwork that Vance had handed him mere minutes before he’d boarded his flight.

  The clerk directed him to the location of his hire car. Popping the trunk, he tossed his bags inside and then climbed in behind the wheel. Taking a couple of seconds to enter the details for the hotel into the navigational system, he started the engine and followed the digitized voice to where he was booked to stay.

  Pulling up at the door of the hotel, he popped the lock on the trunk, then handed the keys over to the valet.

  “Would you like someone to take your bags to your room, sir?”

  “No, that’s fine, thanks. I only have the two.” Ronin replied, lifting the strap over his shoulder and taking his doctor’s case by the handle.

  Fronting up to the registration desk, Ronin checked in to the hotel just on dark, his inner wolf rubbing against his skin in an almost pleading manner, asking for permission to be set loose.

  Ronin chuckled to himself as he entered the elevator to go up to the floor his suite was on, his wolf whining as each floor passed. Letting himself into his hotel room, he set his bags down on the couch walked over to the balcony. Ronin snarled as he looked out over toward the woodlands which bordered the perimeter to the rear of the hotel. He lifted his nose to the air, and his heart stopped beating for what seemed like an eternity. His inner wolf snarled, but this time, Ronin listened. Spinning on his heel, he marched out of his suite and, not willing to wait for the elevator to reach his floor, he dashed through the emergency exit and ran down the eight levels two or three stairs at a time. At the bottom of the stairwell, he pushed the door open and, showing self-restraint, he sauntered out the front door of the hotel and around the corner into the shadows of the building. Once he was secure in the fact that he was alone in the woods, he discarded his clothes and shifted quickly into his wolf. On a snarl Ronin’s wolf lifted his snout to the wind, then with a howl Ronin was unable to restrain any longer, he took off in the direction of the unfamiliar scent that seemed to pull him and his beast in that particular direction. As he got closer to the origins of what had drawn the attention of both man and wolf, he recognized it for what it was… Fear and panic laced with the strong undertones of… Female.

  6

  All four wolves converged on the one location almost simultaneously. The full moon sat high in the sky, giving them a clear view of the others as they circled one another. The black wolf shifted form first, to stand at his full height of over six feet tall. “Brothers, I mean you no harm. I am simply out for a hunt.” Hunter said, surreptitiously avoiding the truth behind his reason for being in the woods without an escort.

  Boon’s wolf snarled in warning as he prepared to shift as well. His voice was harsh as he spoke as soon as his wolf had surrendered to the change. “I’m just out for a run.” He shrugged his shoulder noncha
lantly, not wanting to make it look like a big deal that he was also unaccompanied by an escort.

  Eos and Ronin shifted at the same time as one another, Ronin spoke first. “Okay, I’ll cut to the chase. I smell a female who’s scared and possibly in danger, so I came to investigate.”

  Eos sniffed at the air, then growled, “We’re not alone – we have company moving in from that direction.” He pointed just as the wind’s direction shifted.

  “Fuck!” Hunter snarled, “Okay, we’re going to have split up in order to make it harder for them to lock onto any one of us in particular. If any of you manage to locate the female, call out and we’ll try to make it to you safely.” On his final word, Hunter shifted back into the form of his black wolf and took off in the direction he’d come from, doubling back over his tracks to create confusion. He hoped the enforcers were not as highly skilled in tracking as he himself was.

  * * *

  Axel called his pack master. When Draven answered, Axel informed his leader of the present situation. “We have four male shifters in the vicinity of the judgment chamber. What do you want us to do about them?”

  “Round them up and return them to the hotel; they are not permitted into the woods until the trials begin,” Draven commanded. “If any of them give cause, restrain them, and they’ll be penalized for their actions. I’ll have to relocate the prisoner until it’s time to start the ceremony.”

  “Understood, sir,” Axel replied disconnecting the call.

  Axel glanced around at his team, as the leader of Alpha-Bravo, he relayed their pack masters’ instructions. “Round them up, guys.”