Consumed

by Barb Shuler

Once everyone noticed Bart was gone, I was going to have a lot of explaining to do.

  The last couple of days had been a bit hairy. My mate, god love her, is one stubborn little bear. It wasn’t easy to keep from her that her father had left to go see the seer. Ironic as that sounds. She was displeased and, when I say that, I mean she was ready to skin us all for letting him go alone. The others had tried to go with him, but Bart ordered them to stay here.

  No one could disobey a direct order from the Alpha. Not even his daughter, no matter how headstrong she is. She knows this, but it’s still difficult for her to know he is out there alone and there’s nothing she can do about it to help him.

  Sonny is nothing if not fierce. And a little scary when she gets angered. The golden irises that she shares with her mother, well they are enough to garner attention and a healthy dose of fear from any sane person.

  Today though, I hope to be able to get her to just relax and enjoy the escape further into the woods. We’d spent last night in the cool of the night admiring the stars, letting the calm of our home ease her fears. The island where we dwell is as close to perfect as you can get. Plenty of wooded areas as we are in the Northern portion of the island, beaches for sunning and fishing, and the occasional fight. We are nothing if not controlled by our inner beasts. Fights happen, mostly over women.

  I take her hand and we set off into the woods. The path is warn after the many footfalls that have passed this same way over the years. We had a few miles to the next camp and as we walked I looked down at my mate. She had been quiet today, more so than normal. I gave her hand a squeeze. When she looked up at me I gave her a wink.

  “You alright, my love? Got something on your mind?”

  “Sebastian… I am worried about Father. It has been too long with no word from him.

  “Sunshine, I know this is hard, I have the same fears for my Alpha but, I assure you, he is a smart man. If there were trouble he would make sure we know of it. Try to relax so you do not upset the little one.”

  “Fine,” her sigh said it all. She would do quite the opposite.

  I pulled her along with me. She would worry and make herself doubt what she knew to be true until things worked themselves out. Though my gut told me this time we may not be as lucky as he had been.

  For the last eighteen years I have watched, waited and prayed for things to be different, though in my soul I knew it wasn’t possible. I would, however, do all in my power to keep her safe and happy.

  She was my mate. My heart and my soul. She came above all others.

  A nightmare, or a vision as she called it, had us up and arguing early two nights ago. My Sunshine wanted to become part of the big fight. I knew it was coming to this. It’s why I had not vowed to Bart I wouldn’t leave with her. I said I would try. I had tried.

  My pleading to stay put had not worked so here we were, heading into a situation, I for one, was not certain we could make it out of. I would be breaking my promise to Bart but, in the end, my mate was where my allegiance would always lie. For her, I would move heaven and hell in one day.

  That is why we are moving to the land where she says the others like her are. Her cousins. I have an uneasy feeling about it all but something tells me this is not going to go as she sees.

  The energy that fills the air tells me that we may need to look bigger than we are. I stop the procession of men behind us and turn to them.

  “Something is in the air, split up. I want to surround them on three sides. No one is to make a move upon them unless I order it so. Do you understand me, men?”

  A chorus of yesses filled the air around us. I looked to Sonny and shook my head when she instantly scowled at me.

  “Do not think to order me around Sebastian Kildridge! I am going in there with you, no matter what you say. I need to see them, they need to know we are here to help them.”

  Her hands moved to her hips and I chuckled.

  “This I know, Sunshine. I was only going to say stay behind me. Let me assess the situation before you show yourself, in the event this is a trap. I will not put you and the babe into a situation I have not laid eyes on.”

  She thought for a moment, the scowl finally leaving her face.

  “This, I can agree upon.”

  I leaned down and kissed her softly before I gave the men one last order.

  “Split up and be silent.”

  As a few split from each side of us I took Sonny’s hand and moved back up the path we had been following. I would put her behind me soon. I only hoped this was not a bad idea.

  “May the fates be with us…” I muttered to myself but heard a small “amen” from Sonny.

  Whatever lay on the other side of this ridge was it.

  The prophecy, the lore behind it all, would come full circle.

  The world as we knew it would be changing - soon.

  2

  Sonny

  Present Day

  “Do not be alarmed, we mean you no harm. We’ve come to stop this, to help.”

  I thought we’d made headway here. But something changed and it changed quickly. I held my hands up in a gesture that I hoped showed we truly were no threat to them. My eyes moved to their faces and moved down to their small rounded bellies and I smiled.

  “My name is Sonny Vincent.”

  “Kilridge,” Sebastian corrected, growling softly from where he stood behind me.

  I ignored him and his overprotective growls. Men!

  “I’m the only daughter of Bartholomew Vincent, youngest brother to Trenton and Alexander Vincent.”

  I watched as they both exchanged a look then moved their gazes back to me. Each took a step forward, ultimately stepping back in front of the two snarling wolves. I could feel Sebastian right behind me now. His body heat, his scent, it all wrapped around me. I let out a small shaky breath while Sebastian’s power rolled across me. He was ready to pull me back in order to protect me if need be.

  “How do we know this isn’t some kind of trick?”

  “Why did you wait until the pack was on a hunt to barge in here and surround us?”

  They both spoke at once. Again, I held my hands up. They were ready to charge in against us here and now… something had them doubting what was going on. Or second guessing their precious choice.

  “Please, let me explain. As with you both, I’ve not seen my father much in my life. My mother and I were taken to their clan after I was born, back to Sebastian’s people, where we would be safe while my father did everything in his power to keep us all safe. We. The island is off the mainland and not just anyone is allowed on the lands. We were safe there. I’ve been there since I was four years of age.”

  “Your mother was killed, wasn’t she?” The smaller of them asked.

  I nodded my head. The memory of that day was still very much alive in my mind and heart.

  “She, my mother, Roslyn was killed by hunters. Not human hunters like they told me and everyone else. No, the men that killed her were shifter hunters. Reapers. I felt the life drain from her. I felt her fear and heartache.”

  “What happened after that?” Talia asked in a quiet whisper.

  “Life went on as it had to,” I shrugged, sadness wrapping around me. “I grew up, missing my parents, missing what we could have had. On the night of my seventeenth birthday… things changed inside of me.”

  I looked up to meet their gazes again. They exchanged a look then turned back to face me.

  “The last year I have spent trying to control the other part of me.”

  I spoke the words I knew they would get. They too had been struggling over the last year. I knew this, because I could see it at times.

  “Have you seen your father? I heard father make mention of him…” Marissa trailed off and shifted on her feet.

  “My father returned to me a few months ago to warn me of something bad. I am now here to warn you of the same. There are hunters after you both. If we do not leave now and get across the veil, we’ll be lost and our
fathers will be killed.”

  “What?”

  I moved closer and held out my hand. “Take my hand and I will show you what I saw. It is the truth, but there’s a way it could end. Our choices and actions will change it. We can keep it from happening. Come, see for yourself.”

  They shared a look then both reached out and took my hand. I felt the surge of energy run through as our magic connected. We gasped before the visions moved from my mind to theirs.

  I gasped as I walked through the thick fog. I could hear the sounds of men and beasts in battle. My feet pushed me to move faster. I couldn’t be too late. I couldn’t!

  I burst through the foliage and stop dead in my tracks. I watch as my cousins, women I’ve only seen in my dreams, fight against the hunters. The hunters red eyes fix upon our fathers as they too battle. Swords clash, daggers fly through the air and wolves teeth and claws tear into the flesh around them.

  One by one they fall where they lay. There is a scream from the right of the battle. I look to see my cousins, both cut down by the hunters. I race to stop the madness but I am too late. A roar escapes me as I let the beast inside of me take over.

  One by one they all fell until I was the last one standing. I too felt the piercing of the blade through my heart. One final blow to throw the balance of good and evil off.

  Evil would prevail, because we had failed.

  I woke with a violent shake. The growl of my mate calling my name had me coming out of the bed. My eyes taking a moment to scan the small bedroom we shared. My hands fall to my stomach. I was okay, it hadn’t been real. I let out a shaky breath and took in a deep breath before I let it out again. My gaze moved out across the darkened woodlands that surrounded our cabin.

  We had to stop this. Everything I had seen before, either in a dream or a vision, was coming to pass. Everything. It had to stop. I spoke in a rapid fire that I hope makes sense.

  “We must go to them, Sebastian. They’ll be too late and death will come otherwise. The hunters are close. If we wait any longer, all we have worked for will be for nothing.”

  I turned to face him as the words, full of truth, left my mouth. He was my mate, my heart, my soul, my everything. His amber eyes met mine before he shook his head in that defiant way of his.

  “No. It’s too dangerous. Your father said to make sure you stayed on this island, out of sight. I promised that you would both be safe. I’m not breaking my word to him on this.”

  I moved closer to him. He was much taller than I was. He stood to his full height. All seven foot of him, his eyes boring into mine. He had broad shoulders, and muscles along his tanned body. I took a calming breath. I couldn’t get distracted now.

  I wasn’t too short. Though, I was short compared to most of the shifters around me. I stood a little more than a foot shorter than he did. However, that did not mean I would let the big man bully or guilt me into changing my mind. I knew my path was the right one.

  I stood to my full height of five foot six and glared up at him.

  “I am not going to sit back and let any of them be harmed because you are my fathers’ lap bear!” A growl escaped me as I moved to go passed him. His hand shot out to grip my arm. It was hard to not break his hold.

  “I made him a promise, Sunshine.”

  “If we do not go, and help them, they’ll be taken by hunters. When the fathers return… they’ll go after the hunters. Dark forces are at work here. If I don’t step in now, we will lose my father as well. I have seen this and I will stop it from becoming truth.”

  “Are you sure your dreams were-”

  “Right?” I questioned. “Yes, I am. Have you ever known them to alter from what is shown to me without intervention!”

  “No, forgive me, love.”

  His body folded down to press a chaste kiss to my lips.

  “We must go, now. I fear we may be cutting it too close already.”

  “Then we will go. But not alone. We need rations and supplies. Give me half an hour to get the others ready.”

  Without another word he moved from the room. I fell back onto the bed in the room. My hands moved to the slight swell of my belly.

  “Don’t worry, little one, we will stop this.”

  “Holy shit!” Marissa gasped.

  “That can’t be real...” Talia said, her eyes brimming with tears.

  “It is very real. I see things. Those things always come to pass if there is nothing to make it different. I do not understand this one. I’ve seen the fights before, but nothing as detailed as this one.”

  “Taya!”

  The shriek of a child had us all turning to find where it came from. There was a little girl running towards us at full speed. Talia ran to her, scooping her up into her arms.

  “What’s the matter, sweet girl?”

  “Beaws!”

  The little girl was wide-eyed. Fear written all over her face. She thrust her hand out and pointed towards the trees behind us. I watched as three more of Sebastian’s Kodiak warriors pushed through the woods. I let out a shaky breath.

  “It’s okay, pretty one. Those bears are part of my clan, they’re friendly. They’d not hurt you.”

  I tried to reassure her but she got a good look at me and freaked out. I took a step back and watched as the little girl started to shift. Her small bear body jerked as she cried. Talia wrapped her arms around her and Marissa moved to wrap her arms around them both. Both girls spoke to the little shifter until she was once again calm.

  “It’s okay, princess. I promise. It’s okay.” Talia kisses her snout and finally, the little one shifted back to her human self. Tears rolled down her reddened cheeks. My hand rests over my chest.

  “Is she okay?” I asked.

  “She’s okay.” Talia nodded. “Just scared..”

  “My question is, how in the hell did she get out of the tent and none of us saw her?” Marissa snarled.

  “I smells beaws… I wuns…”

  “Pyper, you cannot run off like that. Please, don’t do that again, it’s not safe.” Talia said as she pulled the little one around and hugged her closer.

  “How can you carry a bear cub when your mate is of the wolf pack?” Sebastian asked her. His eyes narrowing in suspicion. “Were you unfaithful to your mate?”

  “Sebastian!” I scolded him.

  Talia’s eyes flashed red, then blue and I took a step back, pushing Sebastian back with me.

  “No, I was not. We saved this little one from those things, then killed them. Do not test me, bear. I grow tired of this all, as has my panther. She is not as understanding as I when it comes to being disrespected.”

  Holy Moses. Her eyes… “Your battle with the reapers….”

  “We ended them, not without consequences but we ended them nonetheless. You should not worry.”

  Talia’s words were sure and strong.

  “What? I thought we were here to stop this madness?” Sebastian growled out.

  “I was too late. But there are other things we must do. A change of events is good, as long as it’s on the side of good.”

  “Reapers must be killed!”

  I turned to growl at the bear who dared to break away from the line. Sebastian shook his head at me.

  “You’re both very strong… this means a good turn of events.” I hoped as much anyway.

  “We should kill the evil beings now, then move to find the Alpha!”

  The rumble from the bear storming our way had Sebastian and I turning to face him. But we were not what stopped him. No, that would be the power that shot out from behind us to slam into him. The earth opened and swallowed him to his knees.

  “I’m really tired of big, bossy-assed men trying to waltz in and tell us we need to die. Go fuck yourself. We are not the enemy here!”

  “Mari! Don’t!”

  “Let me free!” The bear roarde.

  Marissa stormed passed me. Her voice raised as she started cursing at him. Talia hurried to grab her hand and tugged her back.
>
  “Hey, no dismemberment in front of the baby.”

  I saw the twitch of Talia’s lips before Marissa growled.

  “Pyper, close your eyes for me, okay?”

  “No.”

  Sebastian snorted.

  I gave him a look and he shrugged.

  “Bears,” Marissa muttered.

  “What do we need to do first?” Talia asked as she cradled Pyper. I gave the little one a small smile.

  “Get me out of this ground!”

  “Marissa.”

  Talia’s one word had Marissa grumbling before her hand waved in the air. Her fingers spread apart and the earth shook.

  The Kodiak warrior was tossed into the air, but gently sat on his feet.

  I saw his scowl and spoke before he could.

  “You will mind yourself.”

  “If he doesn’t, the next time I will skin him and leave him for the bugs to eat.”

  I rubbed my head. This was not going to be as easy as I had hoped.

  3

  Sebastian

  “Please,” I said with a small incline of my head. “Do not fret, if he makes another move I will skin him for you.”

  “Sebastian!”

  He had the nerve to try and move closer to where they stood. I was growing tired of his insolence. A snarl left me as I turned and moved to where my warrior stood. I didn’t give him time to take a fighting stance. I passed him slightly, kicked out hitting him in the back of his leg. His grunt of pain was accompanied by his legs buckling, bringing him instantly to his knees. I gripped his braid and tugged his head back slightly as I spoke.

  “You will mind yourself. As I said before, no one makes a move to harm anyone here without me saying so. You would attack a pregnant woman? You are but a fool, Rufus. Do not make me end your life.”

  I gave him no time to answer as I flung him forward and moved to take my place beside Sonny once again. I let out a soft grumble when she patted my hand.

  “Taya, I fordets Tor!” The little one spoke from where she lay against her chest.