CHAPTER FOUR

Jaycee almost missed Dimitri slipping out with the Lupine. She turned in the dancing—she loved to dance—to see him giving her a long look before he followed the other Shifter across the bar to the front door.

Jaycee growled in her throat, sent a wide smile to her dozen dance partners, and turned sideways to slide through them, intent on grabbing her shoes and following Dimitri.

One Shifter, a Feline, put a hand out and grabbed her arm. “Forget him, angel,” the Feline, a leopard, said, pinning her with hazel eyes. “I’ll Challenge him if you want me to. Or we’ll just stay here while he runs off with his new boyfriend.”

Jaycee’s growl was drowned out by the music, but the Feline must have seen her eyes change.

“What, now you’re going to fight me, bitch?” he demanded. “Fine by me. We’ll spar, then I’ll take you when we go down.”

Oh, for the Goddess’ sake. Jaycee could easily slam the guy to the floor, but his eleven friends might object. Jaycee could hold her own, but not against a dozen—she wasn’t that optimistic.

Dimitri was waiting at the door, a scowl on his face. Any second now, he’d come storming over here, and then this stupid Feline would Challenge Dimitri’s mate-claim, and the floor would get very bloody very quickly.

Jaycee softened her glare into a smile. “Sure thing, honeybunch. What’s your clan? I’m not sure what mine is—I’m an orphan. Who knows? We might be long lost cousins.”

The Feline blinked and backed a step. It was taboo for Shifters of the same clan to mate—the instinct to keep the gene pool strong was bred deep inside every Shifter.

Jaycee took advantage of his hesitation to shake him off. She sent him a wink, as though she understood his worry, hurried to the bar to grab the shoes she’d shoved underneath, and turned to follow Dimitri, hopping to slide the heels onto her feet.

Another Shifter stepped in front of her. “I’m not in your clan,” he said with the rough growl of a grizzly bear.

Terrific. Jaycee didn’t like fighting bears—she was faster than they were, but they were big. One swat of a paw and she could go soaring across the room. Then Dimitri would storm over, and the bloodbath would ensue.

Dimitri, however, only made a faint gesture with his fingers. Instantly, ten other Shifters rose from chairs and stools and surrounded the bear.

“She’s from our clan,” said a tall Lupine who lived at Kendrick’s ranch.

Friends were good things to have. Jaycee flashed her fellow Shifters a grin, left the bear spluttering, and joined Dimitri.

“How were our guys in place to help me out?” she asked as she joined Dimitri at the door. The Shifter Dimitri had taken up with was already outside, waiting for them in the middle of the lot. “Just happened to be here, were they?”

“It pays to have b-backup,” Dimitri said without inflection. He didn’t change expression, but Jaycee could see he was pleased with himself.

“Yeah, you’re brilliant. Who is this guy?” Jaycee let her voice drop to nothing as they stepped out into the hot parking lot. The temperature that afternoon had been in the hundreds, and now heat wafted back from the asphalt.

“He wants to fight me,” Dimitri said. “Spar, I mean. Name’s C-C-C—” He broke off, face twisting in frustration. “Shit.”

Dimitri always had trouble when pronouncing unfamiliar words. It was as though he had to learn painstakingly what others picked up easily. Jaycee wasn’t sure whether this was because he hadn’t spoken English until the age of ten or if some trauma had cut into his speech. She’d heard that bad situations in childhood could lead to stammering and speech impairment, but she had no idea if that had been the case with Dimitri. He never spoke much about his life before he’d come to live with Kendrick.

Jaycee squeezed Dimitri’s hand and moved past him. “I’m Jaycee,” she said as she approached the unfamiliar Shifter.

“Casey,” he said.

He was Lupine. Gray or black wolf, Jaycee couldn’t tell, though gray was most common. Lupines had been created to be the best of all species of wolves, but they tended toward one type or the other, as did Felines.

Dimitri was the oddity. Not many red wolves around. It made him lonely, Jaycee knew, but it also made him unique—only one of him. She liked that.

Dimitri motioned to his pickup, and Casey gave him a nod, agreeing to go with them instead of insisting he drive. Casey would know they didn’t trust him, but that was fine. Shifters trusting each other too quickly would be suspicious.

Dimitri opened the passenger door of his truck, checked that all was well inside, and helped Jaycee in. His grip on her arm was firmer than necessary, and his grim face told her the Shifters surrounding Jaycee in the bar had angered him more than he’d let on. His touch was possessive, his eyes betraying his rage. Jaycee touched his hand as she climbed inside, caressing it to soothe him.

Dimitri’s gaze flicked to hers, his usual good-natured warmth gone. He was a Shifter who needed his mate, ready to ruthlessly battle those who stood in his way.

Jaycee gave his hand another caress, feeling the energy and wrath inside him. One day it would all come spilling out, bad luck to anyone who got in his way.

Dimitri sucked in a breath, gave her a hot stare, then withdrew, leaving Jaycee breathless.

She had the presence of mind to slide over and give Casey room before he climbed inside behind her. Dimitri, with his customary swiftness, had already made it to the driver’s side and was in as Casey closed the passenger door.

“Where to?” Dimitri asked as he turned over the motor.

Casey shrugged, leaning back to look at him around Jaycee. “Fight club arena?”

“Too public.” Dimitri drove slowly out of the lot. There were no scheduled fights tonight, but Shifters often went to the arena to spar between bouts.

“Where, then?” Casey asked.

Dimitri thought silently for a moment, then said, “Lake T-Travis. I know some s-spots.”

“Shifters aren’t allowed,” Casey answered automatically.

Jaycee laughed. “Shifters aren’t allowed to do a lot of crap. That shouldn’t stop us.”

Casey flashed her an approving look. “Hey, I like the way you think.”

Dimitri drove west out of Austin on the 2222 until it could go no farther, then turned onto a narrow road and headed out into darkness.

Much development had encroached on the lake even in the few years Jaycee and Dimitri had lived in and around Hill Country. Still, there were remote spots along the Colorado where Shifters could run, and Dimitri knew how to find them. Jaycee came out here with him often, the two of them scouting or simply enjoying the solitude. They’d leave their fake Collars off and pretend to be ordinary joggers or boaters while human, then shift and run through the wilderness, reveling in the freedom of it.

Dimitri pulled onto another narrow road, where the darkness was complete. His headlights cut through brush, startling rabbits and flashing in the yellow eyes of coyotes. After a time, Dimitri pulled off the road, stopped the truck, and shut off the engine.

A half-moon hung in the southeast, and the light of stars bathed the ground in faint white light. A glow to the east showed Austin and its surrounding towns, another to the south indicating San Antonio.

“Light pollution,” Casey grunted. “When I was a cub, you could see all the stars no matter where you stood. Now we have to search for darkness.”

“Yep,” Dimitri agreed. He slid out of the truck. “Sucks.”

Jaycee scrambled out the driver’s side after him. She knew exactly where they were, her Shifter vision showing her the outline of a familiar bluff overlooking a wide bend of river. She and Dimitri had come out here to run many times.

Casey climbed out and joined them, looking wary. They’d brought him far from the city, a long way from his pack, his friends, his Shiftertown. “What is this place?” he asked.

Dimitri studied the skies, his body in silhouette, then he walked to a fairly flat place on the ground and started pulling off his boots. He was finished with words, Jaycee knew.

“We come here a lot,” she answered for Dimitri. “It’s far enough from human communities for privacy, especially at night. If you’re worried, we can take you back to the roadhouse.”

She gave Casey a look that said she only wanted to be friendly and helpful. Addie, Kendrick’s mate, had taught her the benefit of the cheerful, sympathetic tone of voice.

“No, it’s fine,” Casey said.

He toed off his running shoes and began to strip. Jaycee found a boulder to rest on, drawing her feet up. She’d be ref, was the unspoken agreement.

At the moment, she was busy watching Dimitri undress. He’d dragged his T-shirt from his broad shoulders and back, which were scarred from his bouts in the fight-club ring. Now he unself-consciously unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans, dropping them down his legs and kicking them away. Dimitri was a fine sight standing up in nothing but his tight boxer briefs, made even finer when he pulled those off as well.

He walked to a rock-free spot on the open ground. Moonlight glistened on his fake Collar and his strong body, his red hair dark under the white light. He waited, hands on hips, unaware he looked like a god. Or at least what Jaycee thought a god should look like—strong, agile, balancing on bare feet on the dirt, his hands loose while he sized up Casey, who’d finished removing his clothes.

“To first blood?” Casey asked.

“M-might be a f-fast fight. For me.” Dimitri tapped his Collar. “Only fair to t-tell you. Doesn’t work.”

“I noticed that.” Casey studied first Dimitri’s Collar, then Jaycee’s. “Doesn’t matter. I’ve trained myself to not worry about my Collar much. To first blood. Your lady stops us if we get frenzied.”

Dimitri nodded once, as though that sounded reasonable.

Jaycee rose from her place to move to the fighting area, but she clenched her hands, nervous. Casey could be up to any number of things—or he could simply be a Shifter who wanted to see what he could do against a good fighter.

Regardless, Jaycee knew she wouldn’t be able to break up two males in the throes of fighting frenzy. Shifters could become what humans called berserk—a reference to Norsemen who fought with mindless ferocity. When Shifters got too far into fighting, nothing could stop them short of a heavy dose of tranquilizer. Jaycee had a small syringe in her pocket tonight, tucked there in case they found Shifters who objected to being spied upon, but getting close enough to use it would be the problem.

She cleared her throat, willing to go along with the charade for now. “Ready?” she asked. When Dimitri and then Casey nodded, Jaycee lifted her hand and brought it down. “Fight.”

Dimitri went instantly into a half crouch. He began moving in a slow circle, fists quiet, scrutinizing his target. Casey did the same, analyzing Dimitri’s fighting stance, looking for weaknesses.

Dimitri, as usual, waited for his opponent to make the first move. Frustrated Jaycee when he did, but Dimitri said fighters often gave themselves away in the first few seconds of the bout. After that, it was just cleanup.

Casey lunged, shifting to his half beast to strike.

Dimitri spun out of his way, shifting fully as he went. He came down as a thick-furred red wolf and met Casey’s attack.

The contrast between the two wolves was marked. Casey was a gray, the muzzle of his half beast showing white mottling in gray fur. Dimitri’s fur was red fading to tawny at his chest, his tail tipped with black.

The difference between them didn’t stop at fur color. Dimitri’s ears were more rounded, his muzzle sharper than that of a gray or black wolf. His physique was why other Lupines mockingly called him coyote, but red wolves weren’t coyotes at all. Jaycee had looked that up a long time ago. They were rare, however, especially among Shifters.

Casey closed on Dimitri, claws lashing. His Collar sparked, but he’d spoken the truth when he’d said he could ignore it. Electricity bit into Casey’s neck but he never flinched as he dug huge paws into Dimitri and tried to yank him off his feet.

Shifters were extremely strong in their half-man, half-beast forms, usually stronger than their full animals. Why Dimitri was remaining in his wolf form while Casey fought as half beast, Jaycee didn’t understand.

Wait, yes, she did. Dimitri had reasoned that being Collar-free gave him an edge, and he was trying to compensate to keep the fight even. He was playing fair. Dimitri did things like that, which made Jaycee want to yell at him. He could get himself killed playing fair.

Dimitri leapt at Casey, didn’t matter that Casey was busy trying to pound him into the dirt. Dimitri dodged under the half beast’s longer reach, slammed his body into Casey’s chest, and then pushed off him, raking all four claws into Casey’s torso as he went. Gray fur flew, but no blood appeared.

Casey’s Collar sparked still more as he leapt in retaliation at Dimitri. Dimitri spun in a fury of dust and red fur, aimed beneath Casey’s reach again, and launched himself into the other man’s body. This time Dimitri closed his teeth around the loose wolf skin between Casey’s chest and throat.

Casey howled and shook himself. Dimitri’s body flopped as Casey’s strength flung him around until Dimitri, pried loose, tumbled away. Dimitri came up with a mouthful of wolf hair, his muzzle stained with Casey’s blood.

Blood flowed from the wound Dimitri had left, but Casey didn’t halt. He roared in rage and lunged for Dimitri.

Jaycee slammed herself in front of Casey. He was a nightmare beast, half shifted, his eyes red with rage, but Jaycee stood her ground.

“First blood,” she shouted up at him. “Fight’s over.”

Casey started for her, ready to battle Jaycee if she didn’t get out of his way. Jaycee didn’t move. She’d stared down plenty of out-of-control pissed-off Shifters in her time—stared them down and won. She’d perfected the don’t-mess-with-me-you-shithead glare, and she used it now.

Casey was fairly dominant, she could see, but not as dominant as Jaycee. He snarled at her but halted his attack. After a moment under her steady gaze the crazed fury left his eyes, and then he shifted to human and took a long breath.

Dimitri hadn’t moved from where he’d taken up his stance as the victor of the fight. He hadn’t come forward to defend Jaycee but he’d watched every movement Casey made, every twitch of his muscle.

Jaycee knew Dimitri would have been on Casey in an instant if he’d attacked her. Dimitri let Jaycee hold her own, but he was always there to back her up the moment she needed it. The feeling of being guarded warmed her.

Dimitri, still in wolf form, walked to Jaycee’s side and sat down, his fur warm against her legs.

“Good fight,” Casey said, breathing hard.

Dimitri gave him a conceding growl; then he let his tongue loll out as he began to pant.

“Dimitri agrees,” Jaycee said. She wasn’t quite sure how to continue the conversation by herself, but Dimitri apparently was going to stay wolf a while.

But, oh well, they weren’t out here to be social. If Casey was a villain, he’d reveal himself sooner or later. If not, then they’d go back to the bar, have more beer, and the two guys would relive every move of the fight, ad nauseam, as males were wont to do. Jaycee would listen until she rolled her eyes and then went back out to dance.

Casey glanced at the moon, which had risen higher as they’d sparred. “We should give thanks to the Goddess,” he said. “Well fought, no injuries.”

Dimitri didn’t move, didn’t blink. Casey switched his gaze to Jaycee, waiting for her to answer.

Jaycee wondered if this was a test of some kind—if the way she responded would decide whether Casey would open up with all kinds of information about Shifters who worked with the Fae. Or, again, he might simply be a normal Shifter, one who liked to show respect for the Goddess.

“Sure,” Jaycee said uncertainly. All Shifters performed rituals to the Goddess, from private meditation and prayer to big public ceremonies such as matings or send-offs for the dead. Some Shifters were more devout than others, but all shared faith. “Nothing wrong with honoring the Goddess.”

Casey relaxed, and Jaycee congratulated herself on saying the right thing. Casey reached for her and took her hand, not in an intrusive or suggestive way, but as though they were friends, Shifters together under the sky. Didn’t matter that he was stark naked and Jaycee fully clothed—their natural forms were nothing to be ashamed of. For Shifters, being nude didn’t automatically equate to a need for sex.

Casey apparently had nothing sexual in mind as he led Jaycee to the top of the bluff overlooking the river. The Colorado narrowed here, glittering under the moonlight in its long journey from West Texas to the Gulf.

Dimitri walked close to Jaycee’s other side, his wolf body in contact with hers, his strength easing her worries.

Formal prayers to the Goddess usually involved fire—Shifters connected with the Goddess through her gift of warmth and light in the night. As far as Jaycee knew, Dimitri hadn’t packed a brazier in his new truck. Starting a fire on the ground would attract attention, and could easily become an uncontrollable wildfire through the dry Texas lands. Even a lighter or a candle would show in the clear air for miles, so they’d be doing this prayer in the dark.

The lack of fire didn’t seem to bother Casey. He simply looked out over the river, his hand in Jaycee’s, while Jaycee rested her palm on Dimitri’s furry head.

Casey abruptly raised his and Jaycee’s joined hands high. “Goddess, we thank thee for the beauty of the earth and your light to guide us in the darkness,” he proclaimed to the sky. “And for the strength of the Shifters, so that we may survive to enjoy your world.”

Dimitri moved against Jaycee’s side and shot her a glance. Casey’s wasn’t a highly unusual prayer, though most Shifters kept prayers focused on friends and family.

Casey lowered their hands. The three stood in silence, watching the night. Stars glittered, and the moon bathed them in cool light.

A meteor streaked across the sky, a brief shaft of light that quickly died. Another followed, and one more. Then darkness descended again.

Casey let out a breath. “Did you see that? The Goddess blesses us.”

Dimitri sat down on his haunches, his huff faint, but Jaycee heard it. It was a snort of derision, Dimitri’s opinion on Shifters who believed the Goddess controlled every tiny detail of the entire universe. Casey didn’t seem to notice, his face turned up to the stars.

After a time, Casey released Jaycee’s hand and faced Dimitri, relaxed and calm. “Good fight,” he said again. His chest bore faint red gouges from Dimitri’s teeth, but the wound was fading and closing. Dimitri hadn’t bitten him very deeply, and Shifters healed quickly. Casey gave him a rueful look. “Guess I got too cocky.”

Under Jaycee’s hand the red wolf began to move and change, big ears receding, muzzle shortening, tail disappearing. Cartilage cracked, and after a few moments, Dimitri the man stood at Jaycee’s side in a body that made her mouth dry.

Dimitri smoothed his short red hair with one hand and gave Casey a grin. “We all d-do.”

Casey frowned at him. “It’s unusual to find a Shifter with any imperfection. No offense,” he added quickly.

“You mean my st-stammer?” Dimitri shrugged. “Only in English, and only when I’m h-human. I d-don’t think of it as an . . . im-imp—” He shook his head, unable to spit out the word.

“I know someone who might be able to help you,” Casey said. “Well, I don’t know if he can. If the Goddess has decided you should stutter, maybe there’s a reason for it. But if it’s only a problem with English or a confidence thing, I think this guy can help.”

“What guy?” Jaycee asked sharply. She didn’t like other people talking about Dimitri and his stammer, especially when they looked at him as though he were a lab experiment. “A Shifter?”

“Yes, a Shifter.” Casey gave her a reassuring nod. “You won’t know him. He’s not from around here.”

Hmm. You are exactly the sort of Shifters a splinter group would want, Dylan had instructed Jaycee and Dimitri. So find one. Join them. And tell me what they’re up to.

Following up on Casey and his friend not from around here was exactly the task she and Dimitri had been charged to do. If they had to pretend Dimitri was worried about his stutter, then they did, as much as Jaycee disliked others discussing it. There was nothing wrong with Dimitri—he was fine the way he was.

“What Sh-Shiftertown are you f-from?” Dimitri asked Casey.

“New Orleans.” Casey saw how closely they were watching him and gave a short laugh. “You don’t trust me, and I don’t blame you. We’re Shifters. We don’t trust easily. But the human woman called Bree Fayette—she came to Austin and mated with one of your friends. Seamus, right? She knows me from New Orleans. Ask her about me.”

Seamus, who was one higher in the hierarchy than Dimitri, had recently mated with a human woman who’d once been a Shifter groupie. Bree, when she’d lived in New Orleans, had put on makeup and fake cat’s ears and gone to Shifter bars to be around Shifters. She’d given all that up to settle down with Seamus, but Bree retained a vast store of knowledge about Shifters, more than some Shifters knew themselves.

Jaycee liked Bree, who was fun and funny, who’d been through a lot but had compassion by the ton. She made a great mate for Seamus, who’d always been a bit of a loner.

Jaycee had never had much use for human women before, but in the past six months, she’d become good friends with two of them—Bree and Addison. Funny how life could change so swiftly.

She gave Casey a nod. “All right, I’ll talk to her. What about this other Shifter you mentioned? Is he from New Orleans too?”

Casey hesitated, looking uncomfortable. “I won’t say right now. He’s a good person, but . . .” He fell silent, obviously choosing his words. “I can’t ask you to trust me yet. You ask Bree about me, then if you want to talk to me again, you call me. I’m heading back to New Orleans tonight. Call me there, and we’ll get together again.”

Dimitri gave him a clear-eyed look, as though he didn’t have a suspicious thought in his head. “S-sounds good to m-me.”

“I swear he can fix that.” Casey waved in the general direction of Dimitri’s mouth. “If you want him to.”

Dimitri’s smile flared. “S-so I can say sweet n-nothings to my girl?”

“Thanks a lot,” Jaycee said to Casey in a dry voice. “He talks too much as it is.”

Casey’s worried look evaporated. “You know, I like you two. I hope we can meet again.” He stepped to Dimitri and spread his arms. Dimitri went to him, and the two closed into a hug.

It wasn’t bad watching two very hot, well-muscled, bare male Shifters pull each other close. Casey wasn’t feigning—he held Dimitri tightly, soaking in Dimitri’s strength, one Shifter drawing comfort from another. Dimitri hugged him as firmly, rubbing Casey’s back with his fist.

When they broke the embrace, Casey took a step back and squeezed Dimitri’s shoulders. He looked more at ease now, Dimitri’s dominance helping to calm him.

He turned to Jaycee. “Mind?” he asked Dimitri.

“Up t-to her.” Dimitri shrugged. “I better warn you, she might k-kill you.”

“Shut up,” Jaycee said. She didn’t really want to hug Casey, but she went to him without hesitation and stepped into his embrace.

Casey was a good hugger—Jaycee had to give him that. His body was hot against the cooling night, his hold strong but not sexual. Jaycee found herself unwinding, the thought forming that maybe they really had made a friend. Shifters didn’t trust easily, as Casey had indicated, but Casey had a quality that said he only wanted to make everything better for the world.

Jaycee didn’t pull away until Casey released her. Dimitri was watching closely, his eyes narrowed, but he said nothing. If jealousy stirred inside him, he hid it well.

They walked together back to the site of the fight, where the two males dressed. It was a shame to cover such male goodness, Jaycee thought, watching Dimitri settle his jeans over his fine backside, but they didn’t have much choice.

When they reached the truck, Casey pulled out a scrap of paper and wrote his phone number on it. “Drop me anywhere,” he said as he handed the number to Jaycee. “No need to go out of your way. I can walk back to the roadhouse.”

“Nah,” Dimitri said. “I g-gotcha.”

The three didn’t speak much as they drove the winding roads back through the outlying towns, Jaycee sitting against Dimitri again, Casey on her other side. The traffic, even in Austin, had thinned this late, and it didn’t take Dimitri long to make it through the city and down the Bastrop highway to the roadhouse. Casey pointed out a black Harley with polished chrome in the roadhouse parking lot, and Dimitri pulled to a halt beside it.

Casey said good night, squeezing both Jaycee’s and Dimitri’s hands before he climbed out of the truck and mounted the bike. Jaycee watched as Casey started up and rolled out, lifting his hand to them in a parting wave.

She let out her breath. “Damn it, I can’t tell if he’s an evil mastermind or just a nice guy.”

“Or a serial k-killer,” Dimitri said. “I hear they’re n-nice.”

Jaycee gave him a look of exasperation. “What do we tell Kendrick? That we got to know a Shifter who likes to fight and then pray to the Goddess? Who might know a Shifter who’s good at speech therapy? I think we wasted the evening.”

“N-night’s not over yet.” Dimitri slanted Jaycee a glance that made her shiver. “Come in and dance with me.”