Nightshatter

by L. E. Horn

  She rubbed her blood-soaked head along my muzzle and up under my throat. I looked to my Nightshifters, covered in gore but still alive. They lowered their heads to me, and I winced at the frustration and fear in their eyes. I glanced to Chris, who stood in human form on the far side of Sam, naked as a baby. His skin was covered in blood, but I couldn’t tell how much of it was his own.

  I stepped away from them and turned to face the enforcers. “Whut is the meaning uf this?” I growled.

  Jason walked clear of the group. His clothes showed he’d fought as a human, likely coordinating the attack. The murmurs died as he stood, straight and tall, to address me.

  “The board has called for the extermination of the mutant wulfleng,” he said.

  My wulf clawed for control, wanting to tear into him, and I swayed under the onslaught. Sam stiffened beside me before opening the floodgates to all the energy she had left to offer. Drawing on her support, I forced the wulf back. Teeth and claws were not the answer to this threat.

  I stood tall on my legs and let the change take me to human. Sam followed my lead, and behind me, the Nightshifters grunted as they also shed their fur. A wave of exhaustion passed through me when the last muscles realigned. I almost swayed as I faced Jason as a human but leaned on Sam’s energy and let the wulf flow from my eyes.

  “I have evidence that this mutant program has been in existence for three years.” My voice retained the power of the wulf despite my human visage. “Look around you. They have helicopters, at least four military-grade machines, and this is the third brand new facility I’ve seen. We’re talking major financial investment with worldwide connections. All the senior staff were wulfan. Ask yourself how all this could be managed without the board’s knowledge? The board is up to their armpits in this.” My voice boomed across the sudden silence. “They want us destroyed so that all evidence of their role is eliminated.”

  Jason swallowed and suddenly I appreciated his position. He’d had his own doubts about the board. His calm, objective presence held everything together, buying me time to find a way through. But why didn’t he respond to my challenge? Hesitation was not a part of who he was.

  “You have no proof the board is involved,” a new voice hissed, and a wulfan pushed through the crowd to the forefront. “They exist to protect both wulfan and humans.”

  I glanced at Jason and caught the glint of satisfaction in his dark gaze. Smart man, I thought. He’s flushed the mole.

  “Do you have any proof that the board is involved?” Jason asked me.

  “You can’t ask him. He’s a mutant.” The wulfan spat the word like a curse.

  “Proof is proof,” Jason replied. He looked again to me. “Do you have it?”

  “I have enough,” I said, letting my eyes wander over the crowd. The mutant-hating wulfan wasn’t alone, and a small group moved closer to him. “But I ask you to follow the evidence of your instincts. You say the board has called for the extermination of the mutant wulfleng, regardless of their guilt or actions.” When the wulfan nodded, I continued. “Is that the action of a protector of the wulfan race or that of a suppressor? What kind of entity decides someone should die based on what they are rather than who they are or what they’ve done?”

  I saw movement in the crowd as people shifted from foot to foot. These were enforcers, the instinct to protect ran deep by default. While I’m sure there were those who, like Wallace, hated the wulfleng, I also believed in the integrity of their type.

  “They knew you were coming,” I said. “Their contact told them, and they said he got his info from an enforcer.”

  “The board had the right to know what we were doing,” spat the wulfan, confirming his role in the debacle.

  Murmurs vibrated throughout the group, and some pulled away from him. Jason stood in silence, but his eyes now blazed gold. I had an idea.

  “Bring me the captive lab tech, Wallace.”

  Jason nodded to a couple of the enforcers, and moments later Malcolm appeared, along with Wallace, and Lily too. Both wulfan were now in human form, clothed in rags and bound. Malcolm left Lily near the group, and I sensed a surge of rage from Sam.

  Not now, love, I cautioned.

  She will pay. Images of mayhem, overlaid with those of blood and claws.

  Yes, she will, but not now.

  With obvious effort, Sam subsided as Malcolm dragged a babbling Wallace close. His jaw had turned black along one side and he whimpered when he saw me, scrabbling to get away.

  “Hold still,” the wulf in me rumbled, and he froze, trembling. Silence fell over the crowd, and I sensed all eyes on me.

  “I have a simple question for you. You will give me a simple answer. Does this organization have ties to the local wulfan board?”

  “P-please d-don’t—they’ll kill me.”

  “Answer the question,” Jason said, his eyes glowing in the darkness.

  “Can’t.”

  I stepped into Wallace’s space, grabbed him by the hair and forced his eyes to mine. I reached deep, my surroundings blurring as I focused. “Tell. Me.” I commanded.

  Wallace made a strangled wailing sound, and the sour stench of urine flooded from him as he lost control of his bladder. “Y-yes,” he cried. “Yes, the b-board knows.”

  “You worm!” snarled Lily, twitching to her knees. “Traitor!”

  Sam snarled, holding on by a thread. Sending a pulse of reassurance to her, I focused my stare on Lily, and she shrank to the ground with a whimper. I raised my eyes to Jason and his widened.

  “We cannot let the mutants live!” the mole protested. “They are a threat to everything and everyone we hold dear.”

  “It is natural to fear something we don’t understand.” Chris stepped forward beside me. “Both wulfan and human history is rife with genocides, when fear has overruled common sense and decency. We are trained to a higher cause. Would you perpetuate such atrocity? These men are not responsible for what has happened to them. They do not deserve to die.”

  I let Chris’s words sink into the crowd before speaking. “There is something you must consider,” I said. “This organization is larger than we first assumed. While I was captive, they mentioned teams in Iraq and Germany, as well as other bases of operations. Today, you have fought a small group of these mutants. I ask for your honesty, how did you fare?”

  Silence greeted both my information and my request. I thought I saw appreciation for my tactics in Jason’s eyes, but he remained silent.

  It was Sam who spoke. “Be honest,” she snarled at them, naked and proud beside me. “If it weren’t for the mutant wulfleng standing behind me, most of us would not be alive.”

  She glowered, and each one who met her eyes, dropped his.

  A tall enforcer limped from the crowd. “A crazy mutant gnawed his way to my throat when that big red one pulled him off and snapped his neck like a twig.”

  Another form hobbled out to lay a hand on the first one’s shoulder. Sam stiffened beside me, and beneath the grime and blood I recognized her father.

  “My daughter speaks the truth,” he said. “I would be dead if it weren’t for them. So would many more of you.”

  The wulfan mole now stood with only a few supporters. His eyes blazed. “You cannot be considering joining forces with mutants.” He spat the word, hate in his voice.

  Jason let his gaze roam the crowd, taking their measure, and then he nodded. “They are faster and stronger than us. We may need our own army of mutants, if we are to protect others from theirs.”

  He’s so smart. Admiration filled Sam’s mind. He’s on our side in this but has to hold the party line until everyone considers the proof. Now the tide will turn, you’ll see.

  She was right. Murmurs rose and fell, and the tension released throughout the crowd.

  Time to drive home the point, I thought, weighing the emotions surrounding me.

  Go for it.

  “We need what the mutant wulfleng can offer,” I said, and although I saw some
stiffen, many nodded. “I have firsthand experience using the methods taught by Chris Adams.” I nodded to the enforcer standing near. “They guide the recruits through infection by the mutant virus. The enforcers can train special squadrons of mutant wulfleng to back up their efforts.” I glanced to Danny. “The Nightshifters could be the first of such groups.”

  “We are on the cusp of a new war.” Chris scanned the crowd. “Without the right weapons, we won’t stand a chance. The wulfleng in Liam’s group are prepared to assist us. We need their help.”

  The expressions altered on those closest to us. Chris was a well-respected enforcer, and people trusted him. His presence, standing with my guys, had likely stopped everyone from acting first and regretting later.

  It seemed he had another agenda to pursue. “I also suggest that from this moment on, the Canadian enforcers report to a board elected from within our own ranks,” Chris offered. “The roots of this organization run too deep. We can no longer trust the wulfan board.”

  “No!” the mole protested, but the murmurs this time were of agreement, and Jason nodded. “We’ll address this as soon as the situation here is under lockdown.” He tilted his head, then looked to the small group of board supporters. “The helicopter will arrive shortly, so I suggest you return home and consider your options.”

  “The board will not stand for this!” the man yelled, but now desperation tainted his voice “They’ll send someone after your little coup.”

  Jason nodded. “They can try.” He glanced at the Nightshifters. “But we have powerful friends. And we have a witness who admits the board is compromised. They would be best off leaving us well enough alone.” He considered the lodge, lit by floodlights in the darkness. “Perhaps this facility will not go to waste.”

  Jason cut off the resulting whispers before they spread any further. “All right, we’ll table this for future discussion. We have injured to tend and a building to secure. It is sure to have secrets, and perhaps they will help guide us.” He caught my eye as he turned, and to my shock, he winked at me. Then he divided the group up into walking wounded—which was large—and those able to move into the building to secure it.

  Led by the mole, those loyal to the board were escorted to the landing field to await the helicopter. The look the traitor wulfan sent me could have flayed me alive.

  I put a restraining hand on Sam’s arm as we watched enforcers drag Lily and Wallace toward the building. Would they listen to my suggestion to use certain steel manacles on pale-skinned wrists and ankles? Then a big hand thumped me in the middle of my back, setting a million tiny cuts ablaze.

  I turned to see Nate’s rare smile, and then Danny gave me a hard, one-armed hug.

  Beside him, Reese flashed white teeth. “Boss—or should I say Liam—you blow my mind. Only you could save our skins and land us a job within moments of each other.” He shook his dark head, but his bicolored eyes danced.

  Reese doesn’t miss much. I sensed Sam’s tension releasing on the tide of exhaustion.

  Recognizing a kindred spirit?

  I’ve got prettier eyes.

  “That voice you used—it went right through me,” Travis said, oblivious to our silent conversation. “It made that guy piss himself.”

  “That’s some serious power you got there.” Lucas nodded, upping his previous record for total word count. He cradled his arm against his chest, but the blood and gore coating him showed he’d given a good accounting of himself, despite the injury.

  “You did good, kid,” a quiet voice near my ear said. I looked into Chris’s eyes, and he frowned at me. “But if you ever drop off another puppy at my place, I will skin you alive, you understand?”

  Sam laughed. The Nightshifters looked confused, but I smiled.

  “Two dogs keep each other company and are not as much trouble as one,” I pointed out with a smile.

  “Don’t you even think about it. Or mention it to Josh.”

  27

  I straightened from the slot in the door. Within sat a certain ice-eyed princess, encased in chains. I’d been unable to relax until I was sure she was secured. So much rested on our ability to pull information from that pretty blonde head.

  Chris had taken the Nightshifters to explore the rooms within the resort itself, wanting to get them settled somewhere far from the other enforcers. Out of sight, out of mind. Acceptance in principle was a long way from being embraced as a reality.

  Jason nodded to me as I turned away from Lily. “She’s not going anywhere,” he said, matching strides with me as we walked down the hall.

  “Do you think we’ll get her to talk?” I asked, wincing as human toes protested my stride.

  He grimaced. “We’ll get something from that Wallace fellow, for sure. But she’s made of sterner stuff.” He glanced at me. “Unless you want to use your Jedi mind tricks on her.”

  I grimaced. “That was my wulf’s idea. I have no clue why it worked. Maybe it’s a mutant thing.”

  Jason shook his head. “It’s a wulf thing and very rare. I’ve only seen one other—a wulfan on a European board—who can do it. Wulfan called it the Noesis Force.”

  “It's a real thing?”

  “Yes.” He glanced at me, then away. “I felt it down deep in my gut, and you weren’t even directing it at me. If you bottled that, you’d make a fortune.”

  I’d rather you put your efforts elsewhere.

  Where are you?

  Getting all wet.

  I choked, and Jason looked at me oddly.

  Come join me, soldier.

  “Um, I have to go.”

  Jason glanced at my eyes and laughed. “I bet you do. Catch you later.”

  I briefly wondered how different things might have been if Lily had clued into my soulbond sooner, when Sam and the enforcers were too far away to be of any help.

  Liam. I’m waiting. And not patiently, either.

  I took the elevator to the resort level, grimacing at the damaged doors that didn’t quite close and the security system that no longer worked. Lily had deactivated the security grid throughout the building when she’d ordered the servers to self-destruct. Jason had called for more tech support to salvage what he could. Garrett was already immersed to his eyeballs.

  Despite having broken into the candy bar dispenser outside the staff cafeteria, exhaustion dogged my every step, the result of too many flashmorphs on too little resources, as well as the lingering effect of the drug.

  I’ll wake you up.

  I hope you’re not disappointed.

  You’re not the only one with superpowers.

  I snorted and walked down the wooden hall and straight out the door. I estimated it to be about three in the morning. Enforcers were scattered across the lawn, poking in and out of the metal hanger, some strolling around on the grass, looking a bit lost. Many stopped to stare at me as I passed.

  You're a celebrity now. Albeit a slow one.

  I’m coming.

  Not yet.

  This time, I laughed. I noted the helicopter had already left with its burden of those remaining loyal to the board. It would return soon to perform an even grimmer task. Along one edge of the lawn lay forms covered in tarps. Two groups: one for the mutants, one for the enforcers. Both lines were too long.

  Could have been so much worse. If it weren’t for you, it would have been.

  I did nothing.

  You trained them. They were remarkable.

  They have good hearts.

  Come to me. She showed me the way. I reached the shore and followed it past where the trees closed in, picking through the rocks and roots. Despite my weariness and the pain in my toes, my steps became steadier as I drew closer.

  A soft splashing made me look up, and there, beyond where the waves broke against the stone, was Sam. As she stood, water poured off her body, hugging every curve, highlighting breast and hip in the soft moonlight. My heart flipped over as I stepped out of the Red Wolf sweats I’d commandeered, stripping off the tee I’
d acquired at the same time.

  The water found every tiny cut and deep gouge, making me wince as I waded out to her. She turned and swam away from me, enticing me to follow, until we were in up to my chest, and she was treading water.

  I folded her into my arms, the moment of contact sending electricity blasting through me, as powerful as a lightning bolt. Her silver eyes danced as she reached up to kiss me.

  A quick taste of lips and tongue in the moonlight, and then she kicked away with a giggle, swimming with swift, sure strokes.

  Tease, I sent, diving after her. The brief touch had fired my blood for something other than mere exercise.

  You have no idea. She angled for the shore and hit it running, her naked form shifting as she moved. There was always an awkward point in the change when one switched from two legs to four, but she handled it with a grace that left me gasping, bounding away with a swirl of wet russet hair.

  It took me a moment longer, not just to change, but to get other aspects under control. I heard her panting with laughter at my predicament as she danced into the trees. Dealing with extreme arousal during the change was not as easy as one may think, and by the time I had done so, she was nothing more than a scent on the thick carpet of pine needles. But then she reached out, drawing on our mental bond to lure me with tantalizing wisps of scent and sensation, and adding a boost of energy that made my muscles leap beneath my skin. The sweet smell of her warmed with the heat of her body as I closed the gap between us.

  She appeared from the shadows alongside me, nipping at my shoulder, before ducking back and away with a yip of amusement. Heart racing, blood pounding, I gave chase, weaving through the trees with my tongue hanging from my jaws, until I decided I’d had enough. I leaped skyward and vaulted through the branches instead. My injured toes protested, but I glimpsed red fur below me and twisted, covering forty feet in a bound to land right under her nose. I pounced, pinning her to the soil.

  We shifted to human so fast our fangs had no time to get out of the way, our lips and tongues locked in a frenzied dance as our minds reached and merged. In that moment, I learned that there would be no hiding for either of us, the physical connection obliterated all mental barriers, forging links between the darkest and most secret parts of ourselves. The honesty of her stole my breath, as she plumbed my thoughts and memories, dredging up and shattering my fear and guilt, uncovering the tiny, cowering core of me, and exposing it to the supernova that existed between us. That heat blasted away the doubt, sealing a single fact in concrete: that we were one, together forever.