Chapter 15

Brielle stalked through the woods in human form, her backpack strapped tight to her.

“They’ve left a trail as wide as the Mississippi River,” Axel murmured next to her, his movements just as quiet as he stepped over a fallen tree. He was dressed similarly to her in dark pants, a long-sleeved T-shirt, shit-kickers. Though his hair was pulled up into a bun and hers was braided.

The moon guided their way tonight, bright and full, illuminating the thick woods. They’d been tasked with looking into reports of bears harassing a bunch of people at a campsite. Since The Fall it was all hands on deck, and Brielle and Axel lived in King’s territory now—so they pitched in with security or border issues any time they were asked. Brielle’s tiger was still getting used to a new Alpha and hadn’t decided if she’d accepted King fully yet. She liked the guy, respected the hell out of him, but actually accepting another as an Alpha was a tricky thing for shifters. Especially since before now, she’d had one Alpha since she’d been a cub—Star. And now Star was gone, thousands of miles away.

She shrugged, her mouth quirking up. “They’re bears. They don’t have to be quiet. People just run when they see them coming.”

Axel, laid-back feline that he was, looked truly annoyed. “It’s shameful. They’re shifters.”

She bit back a laugh. Axel got annoyed at the most random things. Always had, ever since they were kids. She’d started to respond when she heard a scream—a terrified, curdling sound ripping through the night air.

Neither of them paused, just sprinted in that direction. It didn’t take long to break through a clearing. In moments, she processed everything. Four tents set up in a semicircle, a fire dwindling, at least eight humans and two bears.

And blood.

A huge bear shifter was on his hind legs growling at a human male who held a pipe of sorts in his hand. A human female lay on the ground, bleeding, while two humans knelt next to her, trying to stanch what appeared to be a leg wound.

“Hey!” Brielle shouted, racing into the group.

Both bears paused and fell down onto all fours.

“Shift now,” Axel demanded as he came to stand next to her. Anger vibrated off him in waves, and yeah, she felt the same way.

It was pretty clear that these bears had been more than harassing these humans. Maybe there was more to the story, but the strong picking on the weak? That always brought out her inner tiger.

The two bears snarled, growling loudly at the two of them, but not making any advances in their direction.

“All right, looks like we’re doing this the hard way,” Axel muttered. Then he looked at her and grinned as he stripped his shirt off. Why the hell was he grinning? “Lions, tigers and bears, oh my!” he laughed out before he finished stripping.

She shoved her shoes off as she kept an eye on the bears. “There’s seriously something wrong with you, dude. Like…you were clearly dropped on your head as a baby.”

Axel simply shifted to lion and raced for the nearest tree.

“I’m giving you a chance to shift to human and talk this out,” Brielle said as she tugged her shirt off. She hadn’t bothered with a bra because she’d had a feeling she’d be shifting tonight. “We’ve been sent by King to see what’s going on.”

The bear on the left charged at her in response. All right, then. She didn’t get to take off her pants, just called on her tiger. The shift took over her immediately, fur and magic exploding as she dove through the air at the lumbering bear.

Quick on her feet, she jumped high in the air, aware of Axel pouncing down from the tree onto the other bear’s back. The fight was over before it began.

Brielle was a Siberian tiger and this bear was about to learn that it wasn’t at the top of the food chain. That it couldn’t bully whoever it wanted. She jumped onto its back and hooked her claws into its rib cage, slicing up hard.

The bear screamed in pain, trying to throw her off. She jumped and turned in midair, landing on all fours. She could hear the gasps of humans around them, but ignored everything but the predator in front of her.

She’d given these assholes a chance, after all. Behind her she heard Axel snarl in rage and knew he was doing all right. He might be laid-back, but he fought dirty. He’d win this fight.

The bear pawed the ground once, as if he was a goddamn horse, then stood up on his hind legs and roared, his jaw opening wide.

She yawned as she watched him, knowing it would piss the beast off. Yep, she thought as he fell back onto all fours and charged her.

She crouched low, and the moment before he would have barreled into her she rolled to the side in a practiced move. Then she whipped around and launched herself onto his back, this time with the perfect angle to attack his neck.

She released her claws into him again, digging into his shoulders as she bit down hard across the back of his neck. She heard and felt multiple bones break as the big beast went limp underneath her.

The moment he did, the male’s body shifted to human to reveal a dark-haired male who was now a bloody mess.

Breathing hard, Brielle shifted back to human form and strode for her backpack. She pulled out two sets of the spelled cuffs they’d brought for just this occasion. She tossed one to Axel, who slapped them onto a groaning bear turned human.

The male she’d fought wasn’t even groaning, but his chest was rising and falling. He might survive, he might not. As soon as she had his cuffs on—ensuring he couldn’t shift back to bear—she pulled out a phone and texted their backup team. They were going to need to transport these bears in for questioning and they needed to help anyone injured.

Not bothering with clothes, she hurried over to the injured female. “What happened to her?” she asked the blonde female who was busy trying to rebandage the woman’s leg.

“The bear you took down swiped her. He was…playing with us. They both were. They came out of nowhere. We didn’t even realize they were shifters at first,” she said, tears rolling down her cheeks. “Until one shifted and told us what he was going to do to us.” Her voice broke then as more tears fell freely.

Brielle gritted her teeth and resisted the urge to stride over to him and kick his teeth in. “They won’t be able to hurt you anymore. Let me see her wound.” She was aware of Axel talking to the others, trying to comfort them. “Also, I don’t smell any other blood but is anyone else hurt?” she asked as the woman started unwrapping the bandage.

“No. Not really,” a male said from behind her.

She scored her palm with her claws and started dripping blood onto the wound. She didn’t do this often—rarely, in fact—but she wasn’t sure how close backup was and didn’t want to risk this human bleeding out. There had been enough blood and death in the world. She wasn’t going to let any more happen on her watch.

“Tiger blood,” the injured female said, her words slurred as she tried to focus on Brielle.

“Just lie back,” she said as she smeared more blood on the slashes. Damn, that bear had got her good. It was amazing she was even talking at this point.

“Iz…my favorite snow cone flavor.”

Brielle frowned as she withdrew her hand.

“Honey, you’re rambling, just close your eyes,” the female said as she reached into her small first aid kit and pulled out another bandage.

“Love…tiger blood,” she slurred again before passing out.

Brielle blinked at the other human. The human liked tiger blood?

“She’s delirious, I think. But tiger blood—the strawberry, watermelon and coconut-flavored syrup—is her favorite for snow cones. Also, it sounds really freaking offensive now that I’m saying it out loud so I apologize.” She finished wrapping the bandage, her frown in place. “Can I wrap your hand?”

Tiger blood was a flavored syrup? She was so looking that up later. Brielle snorted as she stood. “I’m good, but thanks.” Before she’d even turned Axel was in front of her, clothing in hand. “Thanks,” she murmured, dressing in seconds.

“We’ve got backup on the way and we’re going to get you guys the help you need,” he said to the others who all looked a little shell-shocked as they huddled together.

“Thank you,” the only human she’d spoken to said. “For saving us.”

Brielle simply nodded, not sure what else to say at this point. She looked over at Axel, then the trussed-up bears. It would be so easy to finish them off.

“Don’t,” Axel said quietly.

“I’m not doing anything,” she muttered.

“I know that look. Let King’s pack take care of them.”

She gritted her teeth and looked away from the bears. Because if she didn’t get some distance, she was going to beat the shit out of them even more. Since she figured the humans had seen enough bloodshed for the day, she held off.

Barely.