Fated, She Flies

by Brea Viragh

  He remembered the combination from the night his parents died. The stench of fear permeating the territory and, although someone had tried to dispose of the evidence, they hadn’t been able to clear it away completely.

  More bloodshed. More murder.

  Would he be able to stop it?

  Chapter 4

  Calen leaned his weight against a tree and wrapped an arm around the thick trunk to help steady him. Three days of searching had proved futile. No results to show outside of a cut on his leg from a fall and a splitting headache pounding hard enough to rattle his teeth.

  The trail had gone cold at the house, yes, the scents fading with every step he’d taken away from the manor. He’d spent an inordinate amount of time at the site where they’d found the girls, searching for something. For anything that would lead him toward Odessa. But if he’d expected a shining thread to lead the way, he was sorely mistaken.

  His memories ensnared him at the border, far worse than any kind of physical trap or repercussion from the patrol units prowling around. The scent of blood and violence, so familiar, so close...so brutal.

  The night his parents had died.

  Slaughtered in much the same way as the girls.

  Trapped in their wolf forms, their pelts nailed to trees outside of the house and their bodies left for carrion.

  Calen closed his eyes against the fading light of late afternoon and tried to rest his tired bones.

  He’d spent too much time in the kitchens honing his craft. Wanting to make the best for Odessa and her ever increasing sweet tooth. He hadn’t worked on his body the way he should have. Hadn’t done anything for his physical strength outside of the exertion it took to work a full fourteen-hour day in the kitchen.

  Nothing he’d learned there helped him now. The chill dampness of the oncoming night chased him down and trees blended together, the edge of pack territory backing up into thousands of miles of untapped wilderness. The natural forest in upstate New York, protected by the state, became a Lycan playground during the full moons, although no wolves under Alex’s rule had ever gone too far from the safety of their territory.

  He liked to make sure they remained within communicable distance to the manor house, close to the net of safety he provided. Other packs in the area used the same expanses as their own. And when two wolves came into contact in a neutral expanse, things didn’t always end well, the beast rising up to take possession before human logic could intervene.

  Calen laid down next to carved roots to catch a little sleep, slumping and striking his head against a rock when his limbs failed him.

  What the hell!

  At once, he jerked fully awake. What was he doing, taking a break like this? There were still hours of daylight left where he needed to focus on searching instead of sleeping.

  He refused to give up now, not with so much at stake.

  The meager sunlight filtering through the canopy felt good, too good, lulling him and his overworked body.

  He called out for Odessa again. Over the last few days his voice had gone hoarse, nearly nonexistent and refused to carry further than mere feet in front of him.

  If he could cover a few more miles this afternoon, then he’d give himself permission to rest. Urgency pressed at him. A desperate need to find Odessa—and yes, even Jean—safe and return them home.

  Return her like a lamb to the slaughter?

  It didn’t matter that she’d be expected to go through with the marriage. Calen would rather see her safe and healthy than single.

  He lifted his gaze to the endless expanse of forest in front of him. There was no harm giving in to hope. Giving in to the slim and rapidly dying strand of faith that he would find her in time to keep the packs from destroying each other.

  That urgency played in his mind as well.

  “Odessa?”

  The syllables slurred and his strength ebbed quickly. Calen didn’t see how he could push through until nightfall, or heaven forbid the coming days, without food and sleep.

  His lashes drifted down. Too heavy to keep lifted. He stumbled over a bramble and fell to his knees.

  His wolf form would have come in handy right about now.

  He’d tried calling it out that first night after he left the manor, when the moon rose high, on the cusp of fullness. He’d tried as he had thousands of times in the past, to harness the wildness in his soul. Nothing responded the way it should. The moon pulled at him and he felt her light. The shift remained just out of reach. Like no matter how he reached for it, no matter how he struggled to push through, the block in his psyche remained.

  His human senses were too dull for this kind of tracking. Still, he did his best, following an uneasy stirring in his gut. Both feet protested the movement, and the bump on his head pounded in time with the tempo of his heart. He’d managed to catch a few squirrels to sustain him. But honestly? He wished he would have taken the time to pack a few things before bolting out on this adventure.

  With nothing to show for it yet.

  Calen pushed through, legs carrying him forward and his mind far away. It circled and circled without ever landing, his nostrils flared and his emotions high.

  “Odessa!”

  He fell quiet, his tired eyes watching the ground in front of him. A flock of birds took flight from the trees and Calen followed the sound of their flapping wings.

  Another mile and he’d rest. Another mile and he’d rest. The last few days, he’d stopped long enough to feed his body and nothing more. Hunting for the woman who had been ripped from him. He’d need to keep his strength up if he were to find her. Need to rely on whatever cunning and wisdom he possessed to get to her. Once he found her, then he could face the dark terror who had stolen her from him. And after he was done with the spellcaster, then he’d take on whoever else offered the challenge.

  He pressed on another mile.

  Then another.

  Once upon a time, there was a lone wolf who could not change, and a princess he loved very much...

  The mantra played in his mind and kept him going when the sun began to sink low. When the warmth he’d welcomed turned to a chill that brought bumps to his skin, he forced himself to be still and listen. To use the rest of his senses to seek and see what lay ahead of him. To hunt and search for her no matter where the path led.

  I will find you.

  He didn’t expect the scent of old stone.

  Sure, the forest was filled with them, boulders rising into mountains and the tiny pebbles like the one he’d conked his head on earlier. He didn’t expect the scent to solidify, to grow into the foundation of a building.

  And he certainly didn’t expect the trees to clear and gift him with a view of the rise of ruins.

  “What the hell is this?”

  He couldn’t help the curse. Then rubbed his eyes to clear them. Surely his days alone in the woods had gone to his head. He couldn’t be staring at a house. A stone structure in the middle of nowhere, with empty casings where windows used to be. The glass was long gone but the rest of the house still stood. House, no, this thing had enough size and heft to rival the Taunway park manor.

  And beyond, going silver in the moonlight, a lake.

  Calen stumbled down the tiny incline toward the house, gaining in speed until he crashed at the bottom. Too fast, he admonished himself. But those waters looked too good to pass up. He’d kill for a shower, and judging by the way he smelled, he was long past due.

  He kept his gaze pointedly away from the hulking carcass of the house. It gave him the creeps. Even more so when the birds he’d followed flapped their way in front of him, coming out of nowhere.

  Calen raised a hand to his chest. He’d thought the lake a blessing, but maybe the inhabitants were really trying to scare him to death.

  The last of the sun’s rays illuminated his path and he followed them to the water’s edge. His head cocked to the side, taking in the sight of the open expanse. Lush grasses and willows graced the side of the lake. Deep-g
reen fronds dipped into the water.

  Further out, waterfowl took their rest.

  Beautiful, he thought to himself. The scene was beautiful. More peace than he’d seen in the last few days. He let the feeling creep into his heart and tried to still some of the worries there. Some of the disappointment in himself and the fear that, no matter how far he traveled, it wouldn’t be far enough, and he would never get Odessa back.

  He approached slowly, bending at the knee to let his pack drop into the grass. “I’m not going to hurt you,” he told the birds. Geese and duck and a swan in the center. “I’m just going to rest for a while.”

  He made sure to keep his voice low and soft. None of them looked in his direction. He’d been right to soldier on. Especially since he’d followed his gut to a place like this.

  Calen couldn’t help wondering who had lived here and asking himself why they’d gone.

  The house behind him felt like it watched his movements. For all he knew, there were creatures inside doing exactly that. He would worry about them if it came time to fight.

  First...

  He bent beside the water and cupped his hands together. Threat of bacteria be damned, he needed a drink. Hopefully his good immune system would carry him through this. It had in the past.

  Drinking his fill until his belly bulged, Calen shifted onto his rear and drew in a breath.

  Yes, he’d followed the birds here. And it gave him a chance to rest. To recharge his batteries and start fresh in the morning.

  Moonlight cast on the lake in shades of black and silver. Still feathers of the birds floated gracefully across the surface. Silently kicking off his shoes, Calen slipped his toes into those calm waters, letting the coolness soothe his overheated skin.

  He watched the birds for a moment longer. Beautiful in their stillness. Perfect in their calm.

  “You guys have it good,” he told them softly so as to not bother them. “I’m not sure who feeds you, but you found the perfect place to rest. Thank you for letting me join you.”

  At least they were comfortable with him. Comfortable enough to fluff their wings, long and graceful necks tucked behind them in slumber.

  It would be a nice place to sleep and gather himself for another day. His nostrils flared, drawing the scent of night to him. He didn’t sense anything out of the ordinary, anything that would lead him closer to the princess.

  Until a storm gathered overhead with unnatural speed. One minute, a clear view, the next blackened-and-scudding clouds in a thunderous sky.

  Electricity rose in a halo around the lake, a tangible shock to the air. Sparks of red and gold flashed. Blinding him. Calen lifted his gaze to the sky, and it took him longer than it should have to feel it. The distinctive disturbance cutting through the tentative peace of the clearing.

  Magic?

  No, it couldn’t be possible. There were no spellcasters around; he would have sensed them. Calen surged backward as lightning shot from the clouds and slammed into the lake.

  A cry died in his throat when the world lit, his arm blocking his eyes from the intensity of that strike, hair standing on end. Heat. Fear. Those negative emotions came crashing down on him.

  Then he opened his eyes when the sensations faded, expecting to see a lake full of dead birds. Whatever had happened, no way any of them survived.

  He did not expect to see Odessa wading toward him through the shallows.

  Chapter 5

  Odessa sensed the charge seconds before the lightning struck, her wits coming alive, shifting and changing. Her human wits. The ones that dulled during the day as the magic kept her imprisoned.

  Those first rays of the moon hit the lake and power gathered, enough power to change her, and the rest of the birds, back into their true forms, those of the other humans trapped here. It was a part of the curse, of whatever spectacular piece of magic could warp them and keep them bound to the lake.

  Her neck shrunk, beak sinking back into her face and teeth sprouting. Arms and legs lengthened, and fingers shifted from feathers. At last she could breathe. She could see and touch and smell and...

  Think. She could think.

  Odessa didn’t expect to see a familiar face staring at her from the shore.

  Her breath caught in her throat and everything inside of her froze, keeping her treading water until her legs ached.

  Impossible, a part of her screamed. A mirage created by a madman to further torture her.

  The moonlight smothered her. Setting her free physically only to snuff out the natural abilities in her veins, as surely as if her shifting ability had been ripped from her body.

  She could hear the water lapping all around her, over smooth slabs of stone and reedy grasses.

  Was he really here? Her best friend? Or had someone truly conjured him as a terrible hallucination?

  Tears welled in her eyes and she forced her body to cut through the water, feeling its cool weight around her. When she’d first arrived, as human, her screams had been lost in the calm waters. Then her bones had cleaved, her skin had shred, and the beast that emerged was wholly unfamiliar.

  “Calen,” she tried to call. Surprised when her vocal cords were slow to respond.

  She pushed herself forward naked as the day she was born until the vision of him cleared. Until she could see the whiteness of his skin and the absolute panic on his face.

  “Calen? How did you find me?” she continued. Pushing until the syllables sounded almost normal.

  She didn’t fully understand why, but seeing him gave her more comfort than she deserved.

  He’d come for her. God, when no one else had, Calen found a way.

  Odessa waded toward him with everything hurting, her human form feeling awkward and too tight. Too tense. Platinum hair hung in a knot down her back, and the light from the heavens above stung her eyes.

  How long? she wondered. How long had she spent as game instead of hunter? Why couldn’t she remember anything from the daytime moments?

  She hadn’t done the math until she changed tonight, glancing across the lake and spying Calen’s face, wondering. There was a mixture of caution and hope written across those broad features.

  It took another moment for him to understand. For his gaze to slip from scared to curious to downright ecstatic. “Dessa. Is that you?”

  Then he ran, scrambling toward her with his feet bare and his arms outstretched. Only then did she become fully aware of her lack of clothing. Wincing, she held one arm across her chest and the other down to her private parts, the gesture stopping him before he could grab her in his arms.

  Calen didn’t need her to explain. He stripped his shirt off his shoulders, up to his belly button in the water before she could stop him. “Here,” he grumbled, lank hair falling over his face and obscuring his eyes. “It stinks, and I’m sorry. But it’s better than nothing.”

  She allowed him to drape the fabric over her until the ends covered her important parts and the hem dipped low.

  Inhaling, she caught the scent of dirt and body odor.

  Nothing had ever smelled so good.

  “Come on,” he continued. “Let’s get you on dry land.”

  Calen placed a hand on the small of her back and escorted her through the grass toward the shore. Her legs moved in awkward ways. Unforeseen ways despite the many years she’d relied on them, had used them as tools, pushing them into more and more complicated dance maneuvers.

  A few days as a prisoner had her forgetting the important things, and the remembrance now had lines of silver dripping from her eyes.

  Odessa wiped them away before Calen could see. “Thank you,” she whispered. Then sank to her knees on the sand.

  Settling next to her, the moon dazzling overhead and his hands trembling, Calen sat in silence, waiting. Surely waiting for an explanation as to what he’d seen.

  She didn’t know what to say. A glance over her shoulder showed her the empty surface of the lake without a ripple to disturb the mirror-like expanse. Whe
re had the others gone?

  “Do you know how long it took me to find you?” Calen asked softly when her silence stretched too long.

  “Days, I’d imagine.” Odessa stared at her hand. At the five fingers and palm she could only see once the sun set. “It depends on how long I’ve been trapped here, and where here is in relation to home.”

  “You...you were a swan.”

  She shot him a wry grin. “Nothing escapes you. Does it?”

  The knowing look didn’t seem to comfort him, and Calen took hold of her shoulders, drawing her down until their foreheads touched. A liberty he would not have taken if they were under the watchful eyes of their pack. It didn’t bother her. If anything, she leaned closer.

  “What happened, Dessa? Who did this to you?” The words fell one over the other. “Are you...I mean, are you—”

  “Prey.” She interrupted bitterly. “I’m prey.”

  Calen shifted, his body curving around her, feeling like a living wall to protect her from what she’d endured. “You disappeared. I didn’t know what to do.”

  Nothing. He said nothing about her statement, although she felt the truth of his understanding in the tautness of his muscles. The truth he tried desperately hard to understand when she knew it went against everything he’d ever known.

  Odessa had begun to tremble, and when it became too much to bear, she wrapped her arms around her chest, trying to steady herself. “I didn’t disappear,” she insisted, giving him a wary glance. “I was taken. Right after the dance ended.”

  “But by who?”

  More like a what.

  She shuddered, remembering the sparking electricity of magic that had engulfed her. The way the cold steel blade had pressed against her back while the spell worked. The brief flashes of light and pain as whatever it was carried her through the forest, her friends left behind. The flap of wings and the excruciating torture as her soul shrank, warped, and became trapped.

  She shook her head, her self-preservation blocking out the memory. “I don’t know. I remember the performance. Then there was metal pressing against my spine, and I didn’t even have time to scream. I didn’t have time to do anything except panic before the darkness came.” A small smile graced her lips. “I know that you found a way to be there. Watching me. I remember my father in the first row along with the Evertooth alpha. And Van.”