by Kimber White
I pulled the crumpled yearbook page out of my backpack, folding it over so Lena’s picture was the most prominent. I showed it to April. “You know her? Lena Morris? She’s your year. Lived in Covey.”
It was the wrong thing to ask. April stopped short and turned on me. “Don’t,” she said.
“Don’t what?”
“I can’t talk to you about any of this.”
“April, any of what? I’m asking for a friend who’s looking for her. That’s all. Do you know this girl or don’t you?”
April looked back over her shoulder. Joel had moved nearly out of view, but his presence seemed to hang between us. April bit her lip. I think she was deciding whether to run or stay. In the end she leaned far forward and whispered in my ear.
“That girl’s gone, okay? Tell her friend to leave it alone. And if this person was a friend to you, they wouldn’t make you ask.”
My heart raced. I’d been afraid before. All my suspicions were starting to bear fruit. But, the terror in April’s eyes floored me.
“I’ve gotta go now,” she said. “I’ll see you later, okay?” April put a gentle hand on my arm then turned to leave. When she did, her ponytail swung high. I almost didn’t see it, but the sun hit the back of April’s neck at just the right angle.
Just above her collar, Lena had a white, crescent-shaped scar at the base of her neck, just like the one Nikki had except this was well healed.
“April!” I reached for her. She whirled around, her eyes wide with fear. “Who bit you? What’s going on?”
April smiled, but it didn’t light her eyes. “Stay away from me, Eve,” she said, sadness making her voice thick. “And stay away from Joel Wisher. He’s one of the bad ones. Okay?”
I had a million other questions, but April jerked away from me. Her eyes went wide with fear again. Joel was gone, but Deputy Chris Woods was heading straight for us from the other end of the quad, his wolf eyes glinting gold.
April ran. It happened so fast I didn’t even have a chance to process it. Chris closed the distance between us. His hot breath on the back of my neck sent the same wave of revulsion through me that Joel’s had just a few moments ago.
Straightening my back, I turned to face him. Chris’s wolf was so close to erupting. I’d seen this same thing in Mac before. His cheekbones jutted at wrong angles and a tremor went through his fingers as he reached up to touch my hair.
Something inside of me cried out a warning. I wanted to run just like April had. But, I knew if I did, it would make it that much harder for Chris to stay human. The chase would spark his instincts in ways he probably wouldn’t be strong enough to hold back. Would he do that? Could he risk a shift here in the middle of the quad in broad daylight? It was a theory I had no intention of testing. As it was, my wildly beating heart seemed to fuel the naked lust I could see in his eyes.
“Joel said I’d find you here,” he said, his voice dropping low. Chris curled his hand around my upper arm and pulled me into the shadows on the west side of the building.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I really don’t have time to talk. I’m on my way to class.” Now, I’d used the same flimsy lie as April.
“No, you’re not,” he said. “You don’t have class today.”
Ice flared inside of me. He knew my schedule. He’d looked up my schedule! Every instinct in my body screamed a warning. I wasn’t safe. Chris was dangerous. I was in way over my head. Another instinct flashed. I wanted desperately to call out for Mac. Just thinking about him felt right. If I did, would he come for me? Doing so would put him in mortal danger. I believed that with all my heart.
“What do you want?” I asked, growing bolder. I wanted to step back into the light, as if that would protect me somehow.
Chris’s wicked smile made my heartbeat turn to thunder inside of me. I could see the answer lighting behind his eyes. Me. He wanted me. And he’d be willing to take me any way he could.
I did step into the light. Moving as fast as I could, I backed up until I’d reached the sidewalk again. Chris followed, his gait casual. Of course it was. I had no hope of outrunning him if it ever came to that.
“Tomorrow night,” he said. “Let me take you down to the river. We’ll have the picnic you missed out on last night.”
It was such a seemingly simple request. And yet, the things Chris didn’t say burned a path of fear straight through me. It was a command, not a request. I did the only thing I could think of. I pretended this was normal. I wanted to make him reveal something more of himself even as it scared the hell out of me.
“I appreciate the offer. But, I’m not interested, Chris. I’m sorry.”
His face dropped, but not in some sort of offended indignation. If anything, he seemed relieved. Because now, there was no need for the pretense. He stepped forward and grabbed my arm again.
“It doesn’t matter. You should talk to your friend, Nikki.” Chris let me go but brought his fingers to the side of my face. He traced a path along my jaw, leaving a trail of ice. He shot me a quick wink and straightened his shoulders. Then, he turned and walked away.
Nine
Mac
It was getting so much harder to keep my wolf in check as I reached the riverbank near the park. Eve was close. I could sense her heartbeat as she neared the trail that would lead her straight down to me. How many more times would I be able to risk meeting like this before the Pack figured out I was here?
I’d been careful not to touch her for too long. Careful not to let my wolf out. If I did, there would be no mistaking my scent the next time she got close to one of the Pack members that patrolled campus grounds. They were weak. Though they could bring the pull of the Pack, it wasn’t like what we faced in Shadow Springs before we killed Tenley, the Chief Alpha’s top general in our area. That void had yet to be filled. When it was, it wouldn’t be safe for any of us to spend too much time out in the open.
Rustling leaves marked Eve’s approach. She emerged through the tree line breathless, her eyes wide with fear. Every plan I had to keep my distance flew straight out of my head. I went to her. It took every ounce of strength I had not to pull her into my arms and carry her far away from here. Anything to take away that look of terror off her face.
I was strong enough. I kept my hands to my sides as she came to me. But, Eve wasn’t quite as strong. She flung her arms around me, framing my face with her hands.
“Mac.” Her voice came out as a gasp.
I put my hands on her upper arms, drawing them down. My heart turned to stone and every protective instinct I had over this woman flared to life, making me unsteady on my feet. “What happened? Did they hurt you?”
She shook her head. “No. It’s not that. Not yet. But, I don’t think I have much time left.”
“Tell me what happened.” My words came out as a sharp staccato. I didn’t want to frighten her any further. I knew at that moment if one of the Pack came after her right now, I’d rip them to shreds and damn the consequences.
“Chris,” she said. “The friend of the one who marked my friend Nikki. He wants me. He made that pretty clear. Mac, I won’t do it. I won’t let him. I need you to help me. I need you to tell me how to stop him.”
I took a faltering step backward. They were just words for now, but they had the power to undo me. Even the thought of Chris or any other shifter laying hands on Eve sent a fierce wave of fury running through me. I would kill for her. I would die for her. But worst of all, I didn’t have the answer she so desperately wanted.
“He can’t just take you,” I said. “The Chief Alpha sanctions all matches. He isn’t...you haven’t...seen him, have you?”
Eve blinked hard. She took a step back. “The Chief Alpha? I don’t think so. Would I know it if I did?”
I gave her a grave nod. “You would. I’ve never seen him myself, but I suspect he’d be surrounded by other strong shifters. I don’t believe he travels alone. And...I don’t sense him here. Not yet. If he was...I wouldn’t be able to…
”
“Mac!” Eve’s voice broke. She came to me, fingers hovering near my face. “Don’t,” she said.
“Don’t what?”
“I can see it in your eyes. I can feel it. You’re afraid. Afraid of what might happen if you get too close to the other wolves. Tell me. What is it? What can they do to you? What are they?”
I closed my hand around her fingers and pressed her palm against my chest. My heart beat a steady pace. Her eyelids flickered and I knew what was happening to hers. It would be so much easier to deny it and walk away. It would be safer for both of us, that’s for sure. Except I knew with a cold clarity I never could again.
Eve’s lips parted and color came into her cheeks as her own heartbeat slowed to match mine. She could hear my pulse beating alongside her own. The Pack could pull me under. But, the pull to Eve was even stronger. It gave me life and terrified me to my core. I could not keep her safe alone.
“You’re mine,” she said, gasping. She tore her hand away and took a step back. She’d blurted her words, probably without conscious thought. The same words thundered through me. She was mine. We were fated. But, she was surrounded by a perversion of a shifter’s nature. She was right to be scared of this. I would never force her. I would never try to control her the way the Chief Pack would. I would never touch her unless she wanted it.
“Eve.”
“No. It’s different.” God, it was as if she were starting to read my thoughts. But, that was impossible. That happened with shifter mates, but only after a marking. And only with fated mates.
“You know I’m not like Joel or Chris or any of the Chief Pack shifters. Tell me you know that.”
“I-I think I do. I feel something for you. A pull. With them, I feel a push. It’s as if there’s something inside of me, some instinct I can’t control warning me to get away. But with you...I…”
She couldn’t finish. I knew it scared her as much as it thrilled her. I wished I could rip out the throats of every shifter behind that wall. They’d made my Eve question what we were. They made her fear what should have felt natural and beautiful to her from the moment we met.
“Lena,” she said, snapping me out of my rage. “Your sister. I found out a little.”
My stomach roiled. I had dared to hope. Eve reached into the back pocket of her jeans and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. Handing it to me, she was careful not to brush her fingers against mine.
A grainy picture of my beautiful sister stared back at me. She had a haunted look in her eyes that hadn’t been there the last time I saw her in person. My heart ached and my fingers shook as I balled the paper in my fist.
“Is she....”
“I don’t know,” Eve answered quickly. “I have a friend who lived in her dorm. I tried to ask her about Lena, but I never got the chance. As far as I can tell, Lena was here but stopped attending classes last year. My friend...the one who knew her...Mac...she was marked. And she was scared to death when I started asking about your sister. She knows something. I’m sure of it. If I just had a little more time.”
“She’s marked?” I squeezed my fist even harder, pulverizing the paper.
“Yes. That’s what you called it, right?”
My vision clouded with red rage. “Marked. I shouldn’t have. I told you. A marking is something that shouldn’t be forced like that. What those shifters are doing in there isn’t natural. It’s obscene. I won’t allow it. I can’t…”
“Do you think Lena has been marked?”
I dropped my head and tried to slow my breathing. The wolf raged. It was getting to be too much. Lena. My poor, sweet little sister. Though human, she was a shifter’s daughter. Her half-brother was a shifter. She knew what we were. She knew what the marking would do to her. She would have fought it. She would have rather died than bear a marking against her will, shackling her to a man she didn’t want. A man who wasn’t worthy of her.
“Mac,” Eve said, her voice growing stronger. She grew bold, placing her hand on my chest in the place where she could feel my heart beating strongest. I ground my teeth together, fighting back the wolf as I met her eyes.
“Mac,” she said again, softer. “Don’t let it happen to me. Tell me how to stop it.”
The cold truth twisted my guts. Unless I figured out a way to get her out of there without bringing the whole Chief Pack running, the odds were stacked against us. There was one way. The quickest. It was also the thing that would bring the swiftest retribution. Eve couldn’t be marked by one shifter if she already bore the mark of another.
My wolf clamored to get out. The thought of touching her like that. Kissing her. Making her mine. It felt so right. So pure. I was starving and Eve was the sustenance I craved. I saw desire flash through her eyes as she read mine.
Again, she moved so fast, I knew it was instinct driving her. She went up on her tiptoes and drew my lips to hers. Electricity sparked between us. A growl ripped from my throat and vibrated through her body. A shiver of pleasure went through her, and I slid my hand to the small of her back to keep her from stumbling.
Breathless, Eve tore herself away. “That was...I didn’t.”
I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. “I’m not like them. You know in your heart it’s true.”
She nodded. “Yes. God help me, but yes. And...I want you. I don’t understand it, but every time you touch me, I know what’s true. Mac, I’m scared. I’m not ready for this. Nikki and April…”
I straightened my back and smoothed a hair from her eye. “This isn’t like Nikki. This is fate. But you’re right. You’re not ready. And...I can’t keep you safe. Not yet. As much as it’s killing me. The smartest thing to do is to just keep on pretending everything behind those walls is normal. Until I can figure something out.”
“Don’t let Chris mark me,” she said, her tone dark and defiant. “I’ll do anything. Anything.”
Eve came to me again. My eyes went to her heaving breasts. She was delicious. Her scent intoxicating. I grew hard just from the feel of her hot breath against my chest. I wanted her with everything that I was. It was right. It was fate.
“Do it,” Eve gasped. “I need you to.” Her fingers snaked behind my neck. With her body pressed against mine, my wolf took control. This was deadly. Dangerous. One whiff of the pheromones she was throwing off and the Pack could come running. What’s worse, I didn’t care. Not in that brief instant. All that mattered was taking what was mine. What my body and Eve’s craved. Thousands of years of primal instinct drove us both.
“Eve.” How I managed to form even that one word I’ll never know.
“I don’t care,” she said, her eyes hooded, hypnotic. “I won’t be Chris’s. I won’t let him turn me into what Nikki is.”
“No!” I growled, staggering away from her. “Oh, God. No.” When I turned back to her, I knew my wolf eyes flared hot. I felt the bones in my face change. Instead of fear in Eve’s eyes, I saw naked desire.
“Not this way,” I said. “I won’t take you like this. God, I want to. It’s killing me. If it comes to it, if there’s no other choice...then.”
“I’ll help you,” she said. “I’ll help you find Lena. If she’s still in Birch Haven, I’ll find a way. But Mac, you have to promise me. You won’t let them turn me into Nikki. I’d rather die. I think I’d rather kill myself. I mean it.”
My heart raced. I knew that’s what Lena would have said too. Had she? She’d been all alone. I should have been there for her. I failed her. I would not fail Eve too.
Howls rose in the distance. We’d taken too great a chance. The Pack might not know exactly what they scented, but they knew something was wrong.
“You have to go!” Eve said with wild eyes. “They’re coming.”
Though it ripped me in two, I went to her. “Stay safe. Don’t do anything too risky. Even for Lena, I won’t risk you. I’ll be back. Next time, I won’t be alone.”
As the pull of the Pack grew stronger, Eve tore herself from my grasp and ran back
into the woods, taking my heart and part of my soul with her.
Ten
Mac
I’d just made Eve swear not to do anything risky. One mile from Birch Haven, I did the riskiest thing of all. I let my wolf out. The beast tore from me, fueled by lust, passion, and blood rage. I wanted to kill. I wanted to rip out the throat of any shifter who got in my way.
They’d taken my sister from me. I would not let them take Eve. Running so fast my paws barely touched the ground, I stayed to the wild places letting the trees shield me. When I hit the town line to Shadow Springs, my heart beat more evenly. The pull of the Pack receded. I was safe here. For now.
The tall poplars edging Mammoth Forest called to me like a beacon of sanity and freedom. I belonged here now more than I did Birch Haven. Except, I didn’t feel that in my heart anymore. Everything in my life seemed split in half. Before and after. Before Eve, I didn’t know what I was fighting for. Lena. Yes. But now, I was fighting for myself.
I burst through the secret cavern hidden by rotted leaves and gnarled tree roots. Down and down I ran into the darkness, letting miles of earth and rock walls shielding my scent from the Pack. They hadn’t followed. This time, I’d been lucky.
I went to the deepest part of our cave settlement. Here, three springs joined to form a vast reservoir underground. As I reached the water’s edge, I shifted back, curling my toes over the hard rock. I launched into the air, folding my body into a pike. I carved my way through the cool water, kicking down with all the force I had. My lungs burned, but still, I swam down. The well here was so deep, none of us had ever touched bottom. Not yet. Today I might try.
My body screamed for oxygen. I denied it, seeking clarity only the watery darkness could provide. A voice from above finally broke through. I didn’t find the bottom. Not this time. Kicking off from a shelf, I rose to the surface.
