Shadow Of A Mate

by SA Welsh

  Digging his claws in deeper, Kyle heaved himself up and swung his legs out, letting go and at just the right time to take him flying upward and right between the snake and Mack. He struck, pushing his body to move faster and be stronger. The fang snapped under his fist and the snake shrieked again. The noise echoed around the clearing and he saw Logan and Tryst pouncing on one of the coils, ripping into the flesh.

  “Don’t swallow any blood, it will poison you,” Merrick called out.

  A quick glance confirmed his suspicion that the lynx shifter had not strayed far from Rogo who was still unconscious and in lion form.

  He caught hold of Mack’s shoulder, fingers gripping the soft fur too firmly in order to pull himself up and earned an angry growl from the leopard.

  “Sorry.”

  Using Mack as a foothold, he braced and pounced at the snake’s wide, howling mouth. As he had before, he directed all of his strength and power into a punch and the tooth broke in half. The luminous yellow venom splattered toward them and Kyle cursed and brought his feet up to the bottom jaw, pushing away from the snake.

  “Get down, Mack!”

  Landing with ease, Kyle flipped around and clawed the snake’s other eye as the creature launched at him. More smoke erupted from the burst socket and shot into the air before disappearing. Once the last little wisp of smoke vanished, the snake collapsed to the ground in a towering wave and heaved a great sigh.

  There was a beat of silence as they waited to see whether the snake would move or try to strike at them again. When nothing more happened, Kyle crept forward and nudged the snake with his boot. No response.

  “I think it’s dead,” he said to the others, looking at the snake’s face.

  All the white had vanished, leaving only dull yellow behind in the clawed, scratched out eyes. Kyle didn’t know why, but he felt sad and regretful. Perhaps he should have looked for another way to get rid of the beast. After all, what good was an animal against the toxic magic of a witch?

  As he stared, he noticed Logan in human form again sitting next to the great head, patting it as one might pat a pet.

  “He used to be such a nice snake. Yet like everything near my mother, it became tainted, I guess.” If Kyle hadn’t been standing next to Logan he wouldn’t have heard the hushed words.

  There was such resignation in Logan’s tone, Kyle couldn’t help himself from trying to ease it. “Not everything, Logan.”

  The wolf startled and snatched his hand away from the dead snake’s head. Logan definitely looked guilty, hanging his head and hiding behind the thick lock of black hair that fell forward. He wasn’t used to seeing the confident, strong man so...introvert. “It’s my fault this happened. I should never have trusted her.”

  Bending down, Kyle took a deep breath and tried to think of how to word what he wanted to say. Jay was much better at talking about things like this. That drew him up short and he smothered a small chuckle at how wrong that was. Jay would stumble and stutter and accidently insult Logan instead of comforting him.

  But it was the fact that Jay would try that let him find the right way to say what he needed to. “It wasn’t your fault. From what you and my betas say, Katrianna was always planning on getting to Jay. She just took the perfect opportunity presented to her when you and Jay tried to help my brother. And you did help, Logan. Nikko is alive right now and healing at home with our pack.”

  Kyle kept it as close to honesty as he could. There was a small part of him that was angry that Logan didn’t protect Jay from his mother. There was a lot more anger inside him at himself for leaving Jay and not checking he was okay. When you love someone, you check.

  The look of shock and sadness on Jay’s face when Kyle had turned and run from their room when Papa told them the news that Nikko was dying still haunted him. And when he’d held Jay’s aged, frail body in his arms with no recognition. He’d never let himself forget.

  “That wasn’t anything to do with me,” Logan argued, drawing Kyle back to the conversation.

  “It was. Jay would say the same, Logan. Buck up, we have a lot of work to do before we’re through. Just remember who you are. I have a feeling that little voices are whispering things to you, telling you lies that this is all your fault.” He knew his guess was on the mark when Logan’s eyes widened briefly.

  The wolf sat back. “That bitch.”

  That was far too generous a word for Katrianna in his opinion. Logan was starting to look a little livelier with a stronger energy. Kyle could actually feel Logan’s wolf getting more animated and his jaguar growled in approval.

  “Just keep what I said in mind,” he reiterated, standing and leaving Logan to think it over.

  Turning back to return to camp and grab their supplies and weapons, his heart dropped to his stomach when he saw a thick wall of black trees and vegetation. They were blocked in with only one way to move. Forward and deeper into Katrianna’s territory.

  “Fucking shit. I was hoping she wouldn’t be able to control the forest like this while she was still actively draining Jay. She must have stored her magic somehow.” Logan inspected the still slithering plant life with disgust and resignation.

  “That shit ain’t normal,” Mack announced with a shiver, also back in his two-legged form. Tryst seconded the opinion and Kyle nodded. The way the greenery was gradually turning black as if a shadow was passing overhead and how they slithered really freaked him out and set his fur on edge. He wanted to bat at the vines and hiss. If he were in his jaguar skin, he knew his hackles would be raised and his tail twitching from side to side.

  A pained whine from his left had him turning. Rogo was just completing the shift from lion to man and even that effort seemed to take all of the energy from him and the large man fell to the side. But he needn’t have worried about him falling, Merrick was there in an instant. Interesting.

  Kyle noted the gentle way Merrick made sure to place Rogo near a fallen log to brace himself against. There was something very interesting in the look the two dominant men shared.

  Once the lion said that he could take his own weight, Merrick strode over to the thick barrier of black intertwined branches and plants and considered the ground, looking for something. What, Kyle didn’t know.

  When the lynx crouched and dove his fist into the ground and started to dig, Kyle wondered if the man had lost his mind. “Looking for a litter tray?”

  The words were meant to come off as light-hearted. However, Kyle’s tone was a little too aggressive to pass as a joke.

  An arch look from Merrick had Kyle inclining his head in apology in the spirit of co-operation.

  Rolling his eyes, the lynx shifter continued to dig in the earth, unconcerned with the dark, thick veining branches snapping and growing closer to him. Kyle was about to call a warning, but Merrick stood with something shining in his hand.

  “What—?” He didn’t get his question out.

  “Blood crystals. From the colour and feel, I’d say from a young witch, probably male,” Merrick explained whilst examining the dark red glowing rocks. They were only the size of limes. Even from ten feet away, Kyle’s jaguar could feel the power oozing from the crystals like melted cheese from a toasted sandwich.

  Blinking, Kyle wondered if he should have eaten some more of the food Logan had made before seeking Merrick out earlier. Comparing magic crystals to food was a little weird.

  “Kade,” Logan whispered, coming forward and reaching out although not trying to take the crystals. Logan looked...crushed.

  Kyle shared a brief glance with Merrick as everyone else turned to narrow in on the wolf shifter. “What?”

  “She had a young man apprenticed out to her. Kade. He and I...but he disappeared about ten years ago. She killed him.” Logan’s bottom lip quivered and sadness leaked off him steadily.

  Lowering the blood crystals, Merrick nodded, actually being surprisingly sensitive about the issue. “I’m sorry.”

  “What do we do with the crystals?” Tryst look
ed back and forth between Logan and Merrick.

  After a moment of silence, Merrick rolled the glowing rocks from hand to hand, seemingly testing them for something. “I can take the energy, release it and redirect it as an intense healing power.”

  This time everyone turned to Rogo and the lion shifter didn’t exactly appear overly enthused by the idea. In fact, Kyle would have to say he looked nauseated. He didn’t blame him. Kyle wouldn’t want to benefit from someone who was murdered either. It just seemed wrong.

  “I don’t want anyone’s blood and suffering to help me,” Rogo said, shaking his head and refusing to take them. “Keep it to use for Jay.”

  “It won’t work—” Merrick motioned to the walls growing around them. “See the way the trees and plants grow toward us and are trying to box us in? That’s her. As soon as we leave this place the witch will know and she will cut the connection with the crystal magic. They’ll just be rocks then.” Merrick held one up in the dwindling light as the jungle closed into a canopy above them, blocking out the bright moonlight.

  Surprisingly, it was Logan who walked over and knelt down next to Rogo to try and convince him to use the magic. “Please take it. I don’t want the last thing Kade—or what is left of him—does to be evil. Besides, he always had a strange fondness for cats. He wouldn’t mind going out helping you.” Logan even managed to muster a small smile.

  Rogo’s lips twitched at the tortured attempt at humour.

  “Please.” Logan took one of Rogo’s large hands. “Please help put my friend at peace.”

  Appealing to the large lion’s sense of honour was the best play. Kyle wasn’t shocked when Rogo caved and gave permission for Merrick to use the magic crystals.

  “If that is truly the case, I will agree. I would not see a good person’s last act taken from them or tainted. What do I need to do?” Rogo asked with a heavy sigh and a wince of pain, clutching at his damaged side.

  “Nothing.” Merrick crushed the crystals in one fist and bright light leaked out from between his fingers, light so bright they couldn’t look directly at it. With the other hand, Merrick held Rogo down, motioning for Kyle to come and help. “Keep him still.”

  No sooner had Kyle crouched and secured Rogo’s shoulders, Merrick slammed the glowing stones to Rogo’s chest. The lion reacted instantly, back bowing and mouth wide open in a silent roar.

  It only lasted a moment, but Kyle saw the energy pass from the stones into Merrick’s hand then into Rogo in one continuous glowing stream.

  With his eyes snapped open, Rogo’s pupils flashed red. That passed quickly and soon after Rogo’s human body burst apart, leaving Merrick and Kyle holding down a panting lion with fur the colour of the night sky above them.

  “Easy,” Kyle soothed, patting the lion’s shoulder.

  “You’re fine, just a little disorientated because of the rush, I bet.” Merrick looked into Rogo’s eyes, getting a lot closer to the massive lion’s face than Kyle would have been comfortable doing.

  “It might be best if you stay in your lion skin for a while to help absorb the energy,” Merrick added.

  “We need to get moving again, we’ve wasted over an hour here already with the snake,” Tryst said with a curse as he and Mack in human form began searching for a way over or through the barrier.

  Rogo tensed and the large lion’s head snapped around to stare at the betas who were trying to unsuccessfully climb the blackened wall of roots. The dark fur immediately began to recede.

  “I told you to stay as a lion. But no, why would you listen to me, I’m only the one who knows what he’s fucking talking about. And now I’m talking to myself. I hate this fucking place,” Merrick spat, growling and swiping at on overeager root that snaked along the ground to try and encircle Merrick’s foot.

  “I’m sorry, sir,” Rogo said, bowing his head.

  Tryst and Mack turned to him and mouthed sir with a questioning expression.

  Shrugging, Kyle didn’t have an answer. He found it weird, too.

  Seemingly unbothered by the title, Merrick sighed. “That’s okay. I’m sorry I yelled.”

  This just kept getting freakier.

  With only a grunt of pain and effort, Rogo sat up and grabbed Kyle and Merrick’s sleeves, tugging them closer with wide panicked eyes. “I heard Beta Tryst say that you had wasted an hour. I’ve been lost in this jungle for two days.”

  Silence met that announcement.

  Chapter Seven

  Scouring over the map Logan had drawn up for them, Kyle marked off the places he thought they had been by trying to match landmarks and rivers from where Logan remembered them being.

  He wished Jay was here. His mate was great at this kind of logical thinking and would no doubt have a kick ass map, accurate down to the last acorn on the ground before ten minutes were up.

  From Rogo’s revelation that he had been gone two days, unable to find the path back to camp because the trails played tricks and changed directions they had been able to determine that they were closer to the lair than originally thought. Logan was positive that time fluctuations only occurred when someone got to within a certain distance of the river that protected Katrianna’s home.

  None of their radios or phones worked and the GPS kept showing them walking in circles even when they tested it and knew for certain that they had travelled in a straight line.

  The swamp had delayed them and the jungle was trying to confuse them.

  No one was to separate now. He’d told everyone to stay within eyesight of each other. Not even Merrick had argued with that order.

  “Don’t nudge me,” Mack snapped.

  “Stop kicking stones at me then,” Tryst shouted back and Kyle could hear the edge of leopard in the tone. He was close to shifting.

  Kyle lifted his head from where he was hunched over his annotated map and glared at his betas in worry. They were all starting to bite at each other. It had been around four hours since they discovered that time was moving strangely. The sun should have risen by now, but through the small gaps in the thick canopy Kyle could still see the moon high in the sky.

  “Guys, break it up. You know it’s the jungle doing this to you. Get a grip!” He let a little of his dominance leak into his words and the betas immediately stopped arguing and turned to him, hands on their hips like stroppy teenagers.

  “So you’re shouting at us to stop shouting?”

  “Yes!” He kept the straight face until he noticed the twitch at the corner of his betas’ mouths. They broke up into chuckles, and laughed harder when Merrick began muttering about stupid children running around in adult clothes causing trouble.

  Even Rogo cracked a smile as the lynx stalked off to scout ahead.

  Kyle’s humour vanished when Logan sidled up to him with a serious air about him, and he could tell he was worried about something. “You shouldn’t push him too much. He’s very strong. Perhaps even strong enough to take an alpha.”

  Pride ruffled, Kyle narrowed his eyes. “I took him once.”

  “From what Jay says, Merrick might have let you win,” Logan pointed out gently, tilting his head to the side to offer his neck in submission when Kyle growled a warning.

  That would have been the end of the issue if Merrick hadn’t sauntered back over, clearly having overheard and grinning smugly from ear to ear. Kyle was only mildly annoyed with his pride dented. He’d taken worse.

  Smirking back at Merrick, he reached for his jaguar, thinking he could roar at the shifter to win the little competition that had arisen between them. Lynxes could not roar louder than a jaguar. That would prove who was king of this jungle.

  Unless of course Merrick was like Jay and could call shifters to him. He was willing to bet not, though.

  As soon as his jaguar was close enough that he would be able to give a truly impressive roar that even Rogo would be envious of, Kyle opened his mouth.

  Dark rage slammed into him, breaking his spirit apart and remaking him in a blink of an eye. It erod
ed his sense of self and he ceased being able to tell friend from foe.

  Everything seemed distant. The destructive power coursing through his body was well beyond that of his jaguar. He shook with it. It made the rush he’d experienced after pinning his father seem like child’s play. This was the major leagues and it was...intoxicating.

  Fisting his hands, he closed his eyes and revelled in the feeling of supremacy.

  He felt like a king...like a God.

  Opening his eyes, he flicked his gaze up and examined the shifters around him. They did not glow with power. There was a lion, two leopards and a wolf directly in front of him, staring at him. Their animals were not as powerful or dominant as his, they were weak in comparison and no threat to him.

  The two leopards he knew belonged to him bowed their heads to him, baring their necks when he rumbled softly as a reminder that he expected acknowledgement. Good betas.

  There was one more shifter present however. He turned his attention to the Lynx. His power reached out to taste the air around the shifter as his jaguar breathed deep and assessed the scent.

  Magic, old, powerful. Those were the things he picked up from the lynx.

  “Kyle. Remember who you are. Remember why we’re here.”

  Bristling at the presumptive and unflinching tone, Kyle curled his upper lip to display his teeth. He was alpha here, not some interloping glorified housecat. “We are here for my mate.”

  “Yes, we’re here for Jay. He’s dying and we need to help him,” the lynx said.

  “My mate. Jay.” He tasted the words. He needed his mate. He wanted his mate now, but he couldn’t have him because the evil witch stood between them, hurting Jay. “Take me to the witch,” he ordered.

  He would defeat this witch then return for his mate. Nothing would stop him. Nothing could.

  One of the leopard betas stepped forward, smelling of worry and a little fear. “We’re trying, Kyle.” He could see the leopard was struggling with something and he felt a need to help or offer comfort, but he repressed it. It wasn’t the job of one as powerful as he to coddle those beneath him.