by DJ Bryce
Grayson
I’d left Shonda at the house reading while I walked the land to do my chores.
I had an ATV, which I used on occasion, and a snowmobile for the winter, but I often liked to walk rather than ride.
It gave me time to clear my head and sometimes work things out on a chapter that was giving me grief, but it also allowed me the chance to really see what’s going on with the farm, rather than seeing only bits and pieces as I drove through.
I noted that the chicken coop needed a new coat of paint, gathered eggs, picked vegetables that were ready, and checked on the goats while Lucky trotted happily at my side.
I enjoyed being outside. Rain or shine, hot or cold, the outdoors gave me peace.
Because I was walking, and not rushing things by riding, I noticed a spot of blood, which turned into a trail.
With a whistle, I called Lucky back and turned to follow the trail.
Lucky sniffed the ground, looked up at me, then took off into the woods.
“Lucky,” I called, hoping there was nothing dangerous out there for my dog to get into.
I scented the air myself, but didn’t pick up anything out of the ordinary. I contemplated shifting, knowing my wolf would be able to track better and faster than I would in human form, but didn’t want to chance it, since I didn’t know what I was dealing with.
Maybe it was nothing, I thought, putting the basket with the eggs and crate with the fresh produce down on the ground, before jogging into the woods after Lucky.
I caught sight of him a few yards after I entered the woods. He was running around and barking. The blood got thicker as I hurried toward my dog and came upon the source.
It was one of my goats.
Or at least, what was left of it.
He’d been gutted, torn apart by something sharp. My guess was either teeth or claws.
“Shit,” I muttered as I crouched on the ground.
Being that close, I could pick up scents better, and was able to recognize the canine smell.
I looked around, but the woods were still.
“Come on, boy, let’s go to the barn and get the wheelbarrow.”
I grabbed the items I’d left and took them with me to the barn, where I left them on a table and grabbed my wheelbarrow.
Once the nasty business of cleaning up the goat’s carcass and disposing of it was complete, I cleaned off my equipment and took the basket and crate inside.
“Hey, you were gone longer than I thought, is everything okay?” Shonda asked as I stepped inside.
She was at the counter seasoning meat.
When she caught me looking at the counter, she blushed, and I knew she was thinking about what we’d done there earlier.
Christ, I’d never realized sex could be that good. Made me think I’d been doing it wrong my whole life.
“Something got into my goats. Killed one,” I told her, keeping my voice calm so as not to freak her out.
It didn’t work.
Shonda dropped the jar she’d been holding.
“Oh my God, that’s terrible. Has it ever happened before?” She asked as she moved and walked into my arms.
I held her close and answered honestly, “No, not in all the years I’ve been here have I had an unnatural death on my property.”
“Do you think it was a wild animal, or…?”
I knew she wanted to ask if it looked like a human did it, or worse, a wolf.
“We have no reason to believe he’d come here,” I told her again, even though I was beginning to worry myself.
I held her tight, then felt the need to assure her, and myself.
“Arch and I had never gotten along, but it’s not as if we were mortal enemies or anything. For the most part we just ignored each other. There’d be no reason for him to wish me or any of my animals’ harm. It just doesn’t make sense. This has to be something unrelated.”
I felt her head move against my chest as she nodded.
“You’re right. It’s probably a fluke, just some random act that has nothing to do with Arch, or us,” Shonda agreed, but her tone held a hint of worry.
“Hey,” I said softly, running my hand over her hair. “It’d going to be fine. I just wanted to let you know… I want you to be aware of your surroundings, and never go out without me or Lucky, at least until we find out what happened.”
“What about my wolf?” she asked.
“Look, I know she can handle herself, but until we know who or what killed my goat, I think we need to take precautions, be cautious. When you need to run, I’ll take out the ATV. I’ll give her space, but be close enough to step in if needed.”
Shonda nodded again, then pulled back and looked up at me.
“And, are you gonna take the same precautions when you shift?”
I sighed.
“I think we both know that my wolf can handle himself.”
“Still, I don’t want you taking unnecessary risks either,” she said, putting her finger in my chest. “I want you safe.”
I lowered my head and kissed her gently.
“I won’t take unnecessary risks. I promise.”
“You better not,” Shonda said, poking me again, then raised up on her tip-toes to kiss me again.
Shonda
I was lying in bed, trying to focus on book one in Gray’s series. It was so freaking good and I’d been totally sucked in earlier, but… Gray was out letting his wolf run, it was the middle of the night, and something had killed one of his animals earlier.
It was hard to get sucked into a thriller and be engaged in finding out who done it, when we were in the middle of our own mystery and I couldn’t stop myself form worrying while he was gone.
Every sound had me looking up, each howl of the wind made me jump, and my wolf was so frantic it was taking every ounce of control I had not to shift and go out into the night after him.
Knowing I wasn’t going to be able to focus on reading, I put the book on the nightstand and threw back the covers.
I made my way through the house, keeping my ears open and eyes peeled for any possible danger, my heart getting a little panicky with each step.
I knew Gray kept some scotch in his office, so that was my first stop. I needed a little something to calm my nerves… take the edge off. I figured I’d take it into the living room and wait for Gray downstairs.
Lord knew I wasn’t going to be able to go to sleep until he was safe at home.
“Damn you, Arch, for freaking us out,” I muttered as I padded down the hall, drink in hand.
“How’d you know it was me?” A low, gravelly voice asked from behind me.
I spun on my heel, my glass shattering at my feet as a quick shriek left my lips.
I’d never thought of Arch as scary or menacing, but standing there in the darkened house, the only light filtering in from the moon outside, I knew he’d hurt me without even blinking.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, my hand covering my chest.
I could feel blood on my feet and knew the glass had cut them, but had yet to process any pain.
“I heard Grayson had finally lifted his ban on pack members coming to his land, so thought I was due a visit,” he said darkly.
I couldn’t see his face clearly, but everything about his demeanor screamed he was a threat.
“No, he didn’t lift anything,” I replied, trying to stall him as my mind raced to figure out what my next move should be.
“You’re here, aren’t you?”
Arch took a step toward me, and when I took a step back, I felt more glass puncture the bottoms of my feet.
“I’m his mate,” I countered.
“That’s the problem.”
I didn’t understand his statement, but was done standing around talking with someone I knew instinctively was there to cause Grayson harm.
Without another word, I spun and raced down the hall, through the kitchen and out the back door. Not pausing to see if Arch was gaining me, although
I could hear him following, and doing my best to ignore the fact that with each step, I was driving glass deeper into my flesh.
I’d barely hit the deck when Arch grabbed me from behind and spun me to face him.
His hands were digging into my biceps and he yanked me so fast that my head jerked and I felt a painful pop in my neck.
“Where’s your mate, Shonda?” he asked, glaring down at me.
Now that I was closer, I could see that he was pale, had lost some weight, and that his eyes were flat. Dead. As if there was no human emotion left to reflect.
“Tell me,” Arch growled.
“Why do you want to know? What are you doing here? Why hurt those people? Why kill Gray’s goat?” I asked, unable to stop the barrage of questions.
I felt fear, of course I did, I wasn’t stupid, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t curious.
I needed to know why Arch was targeting Grayson.
“Quit fucking with me,” Arch seethed, his face morphing into something horrible. “I know Gray told you. After years of silence, you had to come here and fuck things up. Now everything’s falling apart. I’ve come to finish this, once and for all.”
His sinister expression and confusing rambling had real fear coursing through me. I wasn’t sure what he thought Gray and I knew, but I figured it had to do with the pack members accusing him of assault and rape.
I’m not sure why Arch thought we were involved, but I knew I needed to stop talking and get away from him.
I needed to find Gray, to tell him what was going on, and to warn him that Arch was here.
I pulled back, but his grip grew stronger, so hard that I knew he’d leave marks.
“Come on, we’ll go inside to wait for him. Once I’ve taken care of you both, I can convince Nathan that it was Gray, not me, who hurt those people… I’ll tell him you helped. That you were in it together. Then he’ll have to let me off the hook and I can stay in the pack.”
“What? No, Gray had nothing to do with any of it,” I argued, still struggling to get away.
Arch smirked.
“They believed he killed Travis, they’ll believe this, too.”
I froze.
“Did you kill Travis?”
The look on his face told me everything I needed to know and instinct took over.
I shifted. Arch lost his hold and I took off, scenting the ground as my wolf went in search of Grayson.
Grayson
I felt good after my run.
I could tell that my wolf needed to push itself longer and further than usual, probably because he picked up on the tension I’d been feeling after finding my goat.
So, after being gone longer than usual, I was eager to get home and settle in for the night with Shonda.
It’s funny how you can go your entire life without someone, and have a perfectly fine, even happy, life, but once you do find that person you were meant to be with… your other half, you realize what you’ve been missing.
Even being away from them for mere hours, feels like days.
That’s how I felt about Shonda. I missed her, even though I’d been with her earlier that evening, and I couldn’t wait to get back to her.
Even if we were doing something mindless, like watching tv, or simple, like playing cards, I was happier with her, then I’d ever been without her.
I found my discarded clothes and put them back on, whistling for Lucky as I rounded the house and went up the front steps. I noticed the house was dark, even my bedroom, and assumed I’d go inside to find Shonda already sleeping in my bed.
Once Lucky was inside, I locked the front door and moved through the house.
I felt, and heard, something crunch beneath my boot and flipped on the hall light to see what it was.
My pulse picked up at the sight of broken glass all over the floor. The liquid had dried to a discolored stain, but I could smell the alcohol that had been in the tumbler. There was a note of something else mingling in the air with the scotch, and when I took in the dark brown spots mingling with the lighter stains, it registered that there was blood.
“Shonda,” I called, my head swinging as my gaze followed the progression of blood.
It led into the kitchen.
“Did you cut yourself?” I yelled out, my nerves starting when she still didn’t respond.
The blood trail went to the back door, so I swung it open and looked out into the night.
I didn’t see anything, no movement, or light, but kept looking as I stepped out onto the back deck.
There was a large puddle of blood, so much that it hadn’t completely dried yet.
I crouched down, stuck my finger in it and brought it to my nose, capturing the scent.
I walked down the steps, still searching the yard and coming up with nothing, then I looked to the ground and froze.
There, still fresh in the ground, were the pawprints of a wolf.
Not mine, and not Lucky’s. No, I knew they were Shonda’s. What was left of her pajamas were blowing across the ground in tatters.
The thing that had by blood freezing in fear, were the large boot prints that followed the wolves as far as my eyes could see.
“Shonda!” I shouted, not caring who heard, that there might be someone out there who wanted to cause me harm, all that mattered was that Shonda was alone, bleeding, and being chased by a large man.
And I had a feeling I knew exactly who that man was.
I grabbed Lucky and put him back inside, not wanting him to get hurt, and needing to be able to focus fully on finding Shonda.
“We’ll be back, boy, I promise,” I assured my dog, his eyes pleading as I shut the door.
I knew he could smell Shonda’s blood and wanted to find her as well, but I had to do this on my own.
I took off at a jog, the moonlight helping me follow the path of prints.
My mind was reeling with possibilities, but I tried to hold on to the fact that the space between the wolf prints and boots were more spaced out the further I got. She’d been outrunning him.
I hoped and prayed she’d found a place to hide, or somehow gotten to safety.
When I got to my property line, I stopped, chest heaving, breath coming out in pants. I could see a few feet in the distance, onto my neighbors’ land and pinpointed the spot where the boots changed to a second set of paw prints.
He’d shifted.
All at once I felt nauseous, clammy and anxious.
I knew I had no choice. If I wanted to ensure Shonda was all right, I needed to track those prints.
I needed to leave my property.
I paced back and forth, sweat running down my back. Not from exertion or heat, but from fear.
Fear that if I didn’t go after them, something horrible would happen to Shonda. Arch had recently been accused of assault and rape, there was no way I could leave her fate in his hands. But, it had been so long since I’d left my property, and my fears and anxieties were so warped in my mind, that I didn’t know if I’d be physically able to follow them.
I stopped and looked back over at the disappearing prints again, taking a deep breath and allowing the shudder to run through me.
If I had any hope of tracking them, I’d not only have to leave my land, I’d have to shift.
Shonda and Arch were both in wolf form, and the last time I’d been with another wolf during a shift, I’d been the only one to come out of it alive.
Could I risk my wolf hurting Shonda?
Could I not and leave her on her own with Arch?
There were no guarantee’s, but then again, there was really no choice. Still, I didn’t want to go off without alerting others to what was happening here. So, before shifting, I took out my cell and dialed Bane’s number.
Shonda
I came to with a start. The events of the night coming at me in rapid flashes.
Arch in the house. Dropping the glass. Running through the house. And, finally, shifting to get away from Arch.
And, did Arch
admit that he killed Travis that night? Had Grayson been innocent this whole time?
I looked around, trying to process what I was seeing and figure out where I was.
It was still pitch black outside and I didn’t recognize my surroundings. I pushed up off of the ground, my head swiveling as I looked for Arch. When I didn’t see him, I cocked my head and focused on my hearing.
I didn’t hear anything.
I was breathing hard, and my feet were throbbing, plus I was naked in a strange place.
I was in an open field. There was no road, and no cars driving by, but in the distance, I did see a white building, so I stood up, paused to look and listen again, then started to hobble toward it.
Tears fell down my cheeks, but I tried to block out the pain and struggled to stay on my feet.
Only a little while longer, I told myself when my legs threatened to buckle. You’ll get there faster on your feet than on your knees.
When I was close enough, I realized it was a church.
“Thank you, Jesus,” I whispered as I gingerly mounted the steps to the front door.
I prayed it would be unlocked, and there’d be someone inside.
Hopefully someone with a first aid kit and a spare change of clothes.
I looked over my shoulder one last time. When I saw nothing but stillness, I tried the handle.
It turned, and I let myself inside.
The lights in the church were dim. There was no music and the pews were empty, but I kept moving to the front, hopeful that the Priest, Minister, or whoever ran the services would be somewhere in the building.
Suddenly, I heard a howl, which made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
Shit, Arch had found me.
I wondered how much of a head start I’d had on him, and whether he’d shift back or remain in wolf form.
I hoped for the latter, since obviously a wolf wouldn’t be able to open the door and follow me inside the church.
