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I’M KNOWN FOR MY SPEED, but Celia is fast.
She zigzags through the pines, letting the long heavy branches slap against my face. Flashes of black fur appear in my peripheral vision. Gemini is here with his twin wolf. Koda arrives too, the fur of his massive red wolf blazing like fire at midnight. Liam isn’t far behind, I sense him more than I see him.
We break through the clearing, racing at full speed. I catch sight of Celia, just as I realize where we are.
The cliff. She’s going off the ledge if she doesn’t stop.
I howl and snap my jaws, warning her. All that does is increase her speed, and incite my friends to howl and snarl. The thrill of the hunt and the proximity to what they perceive as prey stimulates their voracious hunger. Their keen sights are set on Celia, but she’s not theirs to have.
She’s mine.
Dirt and debris pepper me as she digs her claws into the ground, trying to stop. She’s going too fast, the weight of her tigress pushing her forward. I leap, changing into my human form and snagging her front paws when she slides, rump first, over the cliff. I wrench her to me, slipping an arm under her belly and around her head.
I dig in my heels and haul her back. The sensation—the one I felt when I touched her—envelops me in all the good ways possible. I start to relax until claws rake across my chest and tear through my skin.
“Ouch, Celia!”
I hook my arm tighter to pull her closer. “Don’t be mean,” I snarl. “I’m only trying to help.”
Our closeness amplifies the warmth between us. I try to fight it, but that fight is brief. Like before, the feel of her consumes me.
My body welcomes Celia like an embrace after a long, weary day. It relaxes me, despite how my heartbeat races and her presence further rouses my beast.
I groan, clutching her closer. “It’s okay,” I whisper into her ear. “I won’t hurt you. I swear it.”
I have no business saying what I do. I don’t know her and she just clawed my chest to pieces. My skin burns with the speed in which my wolf’s magic heals me. As the skin knits closed, an itch develops I can’t quite scratch.
“Werewolves, the ones not from New Jersey, protect innocents. That’s you. So, predator or not, I’m obligated as a Leader of my kind to see to your safety.”
My words are merely a trace of sound against her ear. Having her so close makes me feel peaceful and I think she reacts to me the same way. She falls limp in my arms. Not from exhaustion or injury. No, this is something else.
Her heartbeat matches the speed of mine, pounding against my chest. She whimpers and releases a shudder, not what I expect from a creature close to matching me in strength.
“Shhh,” I murmur. “It’s all right.”
I rise to a standing position, pulling her carefully with me. She’s small for a tigress, not fully grown, but long and formidable.
I forgot about my friends, until I see them wagging their tails ferociously. Everyone, that is, except Koda. His dark, stormy eyes glint with suspicion. He’s not happy. Seeing how he’s glaring at Celia, seconds from biting her, I’m not happy, either.
Liam is the first to change, leaping into the air and pumping his fists wildly. He tosses back his long blond hair as he lands. “Yeah! Aric bagged a tiger.” He points to Gemini. “And you thought that elk you brought down was the kill of the day.”
Gemini changes. He’s tall like me, but relatively thin. His almond-shaped eyes narrow. Like Koda, he knows all is not what it seems. His twin black wolf paces restlessly back and forth, refusing to break his focus from Celia.
“She’s not a tiger, Liam,” Gem tells him.
Liam frowns. “Sure, she is. She’s got stripes and everything.”
Gemini pinches the bridge of his nose. It’s something we do a lot around Liam. “That’s not what I mean.”
Koda changes. I’m told I have a few more inches to grow. But Koda is already taller and massive, compared to the rest of us. The black hair he’s growing out brushes against his shoulders. “What is she, Aric?” he asks, his stance as deadly as his tone.
“A ti-ger,” Liam says, like we’re stupid.
“She’s a girl,” I say. I do a double-take when I notice Celia has one paw over her eyes. “She’s just, you know, a little shy.”
“A girl?” At my nod, Liam hunkers down, edging closer. “I don’t know, Aric. I say we eat her.” He straightens, holding up his hand. “Who’s with me? I call dibs on a leg.”
A guttural roar tears through Celia’s throat. I hang tight when my friends snarl in response, barely keeping her against me.
“You’re not going to eat her, touch her, or go anywhere near her,” I snap. “She’s a girl—a human—and she’s under my protection.”
My friends exchange sour glances. They don’t like what I say, yet they recognize my pledge for what it is. As a Leader, they can’t go after Celia without challenging me to a fight.
“You sure about that, Aric?” Koda asks, his deep voice lowering and menace dripping from each vowel. “Humans can’t change and she’s coated with magic.”
“And fur. Don’t forget the fur,” Liam says. “Koda’s right.” He makes a whirling motion with his finger. “That is not human.”
“Her name is Celia,” I say, growing defensive. “And, okay, maybe she’s not entirely human, but neither are we.”
“We’re weres,” Koda presses, his aggression growing more pronounced. “We know what we are, and what we’re not. Can you say the same about this thing?”
That peace Celia’s presence granted me abandons me in a rush. Ire digs through my tensing muscles, leaving me and my beast with the need to rip someone in two. “Call Celia a thing one more time and you and me are going to have problem,” I snarl.
Koda’s thick brows knit together and every muscle on his hulking body clenches. I’ve challenged him. Leader or not, he can answer it. And bigger or not, he’s going down if he does.
Koda stalks around, ready to cast the first blow or the last, usually with good reason. Liam was the first friend he made and I was a close second. We’ve never come to blows. I hope today won’t be a first. Friends, real ones, should never have to fight like this.
Instead of prowling forward, he holds back, crossing his arms over his chest.
Gemini steps forward, his twin wolf taking a seat beside Koda. Koda is a hothead. Gemini always keeps his cool, the reasonable one when the rest of us are losing our minds. I think he’s taking my side. Until he speaks.
“I don’t like this, Aric,” Gemini says. He watches us closely, keeping his hands loose at his sides and his stance unthreatening, even as he says what he does. “What if she’s a witch? Witches can assume forms with potions and cast spells to ensnare you with their magic.”
I glance down at Celia. I’m not stupid, nor am I so blinded by her that I don’t give thought to what Gemini says. For all I know, this is some kind of mojo meant to confuse me. These feelings I sense swirling through my head and how my body reacts when we touch shouldn’t affect me the way they do. I only spoke to Celia a handful of seconds. But it’s like my wolf snaps his jaws at my reasoning and in the direction of my friends. He wants us to protect Celia. Like me, he senses her honesty.
“She’s not a witch,” I reply. “I’m sure of it.”
“What about a shapeshifter?” Koda suggests. “There’s a lot we still don’t know about them.”
“Shapeshifters require decades of blood sacrifices to their deity in order to gain the power to assume any form,” Gemini replies, saving me the trouble. “Celia is too young to have caused such damage.” He rubs his jaw, eyeing her closely. My wolf and I don’t like it. Gemini realizes it and drops his hand away, trying to appease me. “Besides, I don’t feel that darkness that’s supposed to accompany their kind.”
“How would you know?” Liam asks. “It’s not like you’ve ever met a shifter.”
“They carry the power of hell within them,” Gemini patiently explains. “You can’t carry something that menacing without our wolves noticing.”
The reminder gives the others something to chew on. Liam and Koda ease back. Gemini doesn’t, keeping his position and staring at Celia as if taken by her.
It takes some effort, but I manage to keep from growling.
Liam picks up a small stone and tosses it a few yards away. “I don’t know, man. I still think we should eat her.”
Celia makes a chuffing sound.
Liam frowns. “What was that?”
Celia does it again. This time louder.
“Is she laughing at me?” Liam asks.
I smirk. “It beats her trying to rip your throat out, like you deserve.” I lower her to the ground like I would a kitten, instead of the beast who made mincemeat out of my torso. “I’m going to let you go. Don’t run, okay? You’re safe here with us.”
Celia’s tail whips back and forth. She doesn’t trust me, but she needs to. I crouch down, meeting her eyes.
“Aric?” Gemini warns. “What are you doing? She’ll take it as a challenge.”
Ordinarily, he’d be right. To look another were in the eyes is the equivalent of a shove and a pass to draw blood. “Celia isn’t were,” I remind them. I extend my hand slowly and stroke her head. Her fur is softer and different than mine, more like bits of cotton stretched out into tiny threads.
I’ve seen pictures of humans wearing fur coats of exotic animals and thinking them fools. But I suppose wearing a coat like this is the closest they’ll come to capturing the strength of the beast.
“Give us a chance,” I tell her. “By the looks of it, you don’t have many choices.”
She eyes me carefully with each pass of my hand. Man. I’m practically offering my hand as her next meal. Still, there’s a part of me that believes she won’t hurt me. Call me oblivious, but someone who blushes as much is she does isn’t going to maw first and ask questions later.
“What if we got you some clothes?” I ask. “Would that help?”
She cocks her head. “Hey, Gemini? Can you send your twin back for my pack? For our packs? I think Celia will be comfortable if we’re all dressed.”
Gemini looks to his wolf. “Go,” he instructs. “Don’t be long.”
Liam kicks at the dirt when he sees Gemini’s twin wolf take off in a sprint. “Do we have to get dressed?” Liam asks. “I have to air these parts out every now and then.” He motions down his body. “You hear what I’m saying? Some things need to breathe.”
Celia grimaces and turns away, staring out over the valley. “Liam, she’s a guest,” I say, trying not to laugh. “And from what I can tell, she’s seen enough of your parts.”
Liam grins. “Has she seen enough of yours?”
Heat flushes across my skin. I’m not embarrassed by my body. I’m embarrassed that Celia’s embarrassed, if that makes sense. “Yes, Liam,” I bite out.
Liam laughs, his blond hair flinging away from his face from the force he uses to throw back his head. “Aric’s got a girlfriend,” he sings, ignoring the dirty look I shoot his way.
“What?” he asks Koda when Koda tells him to shut it. “It could happen. Nothing says a were can’t like a, ah, well, whatever she is.”
“But there are expectations that purebloods keep their lineage clean and unmarred,” Gemini says.
My chin jerks in his direction and I have to squash back a growl. It’s not that he’s making things up. But he doesn’t have to rub Celia’s face in it.
I open my mouth to argue, to tell him those rules aren’t as stringent as they once were. Except then I realize I’m opening a can of worms that Celia isn’t aware of . . . and that Gemini’s full attention is on Celia, his deep fascination with her growing more pronounced. Maybe her tigress has caught his wolf’s interest. Maybe I shouldn’t care. She had the same effect on me.
It’s what I tell myself. That doesn’t stop me from narrowing my gaze and edging to her side.
I crouch beside her, wiping my mouth to hide my amusement when she does her best to keep her eyes on the valley and not on me.
“See that river down there?” I ask, pointing east. I pause when it occurs to me that maybe she doesn’t possess the keen senses we do. If so, maybe she can’t see the sliver of water cutting through the thick forest, or hear the gentle beat of whitewater soaking boulders as old as time. She nods. It gives me hope that maybe we’re not so different. “It’s three times as wide as the river where I found you and every bit as long. So long as you follow it, you won’t get lost. It leads to the main highway and home.”
Her eyes shimmer with hope and she starts to rise. “Not your home,” I quickly add. “Mine. For you, we’ll have to find a different way.”
Celia’s head droops. Just enough to demonstrate her disappointment, but not enough for my friends to catch a glimpse of her vulnerability. I stroke her back, although maybe I shouldn’t.
If my friends were upset, I wouldn’t demonstrate compassion like this. I’d listen. I’d offer my perspective. And if things were really bad, we’d hug like bros. Except Celia is a girl and, well, as much as Dad always told me females are our equals, he stressed I need to treat them differently. “Be gentle and respectful and mainly careful.” I’m not sure this is what he had mind, but here I am.
My fingers glide between Celia’s shoulder blades, over muscle lethal enough to kill, yet emanating enough warmth to soothe a treacherous beast like me. “I’ll help you find your way back,” I promise.
When her eyes meet mine, I swear I stop moving. The shimmer of green across her irises bespells me. It’s not magic, not like Gemini claims. Nor is it evil disguised as kindness, like Koda inferred. It’s just . . . Celia.
The thump of quick and agile feet approach. Gem’s twin has returned and still I don’t look away. Celia is the first to break eye contact, appearing startled by her reaction.
I drag my hand through my hair and mutter a curse. We’re not exactly alone and we just met. The others are watching and judging and who knows what else. I’ll deal with them later. Right now, it’s about Celia and making her feel safe.
The wolf’s heavy paws crunch the dried pine needles and bits of bark scattered along the plateau. Gemini’s twin is usually ghostlike, blending into the environment as easily as our primal ancestors. My guess is that his loud steps are intended to not alarm Celia. He’s cautious around her and he appears as fascinated by Celia as I am.
He lowers my pack at my feet, carefully backing away as if intruding on something intimate.
“Thank you,” I tell him, kneeling and bowing my head so he doesn’t notice my unease.
I position the pack so I can open it like a suitcase, wondering if I have anything Celia can actually use. The wolf edges away, his keen sight bouncing from me to Celia.
I jerk my head, trying get the wolf to give us more space. As much as he’s a part of Gemini, he’s more a twin to Gemini’s wolf than twin to Gemini himself.
Gemini’s mother was pregnant with twins. She didn’t know, until she lost one and the Omega wolf who treated her told her she was still pregnant. They didn’t expect the wolf spirit of the twin to survive. He did and joined the other who inhabits Gemini’s soul. Like many strong weres, Gemini changed at six months. But instead of one wolf, he became two.
“Go,” I mouth, when he sits just a few feet away. I’m doing my best to look cool in front of Celia, but the wolf is making it hard. He wags his tail, his full attention on Celia.
I unzip the pack and rustle through it. Aside from the jeans and black T-shirt I wore here, I have a pair of sweatpants shoved beneath my sneakers. The sweats will work fine. Celia can roll them and tie them or something. I shove my hand down to the bottom to retrieve the gray shirt I’ve likely had since our last excursion. I pause. Instead of offering Celia the gray shirt, the clean one, I hand her the black one I wore here, reasoning my scent will comfort her.
Maybe I shouldn’t. It’s like I’m marking her as mine, or something equally as crazy.
I clear my throat and offer her the sweatpants and shirt. “We can turn our backs if you want. Or, if it’s better for you, get dressed behind those trees over there.”
It takes a moment for Celia to lift the clothes from my grip, her powerful jaws careful as they clench the soft fabric. I start to say something more in the hopes to calm her fear about us, but the words lodge in my throat when I catch my friends’ slacking jaws. Even the wolf is gaping at me.
“Problem?” I ask.
“Aric,” Liam says. “What did you just do?”
I lie, since I don’t know myself. “Nothing. Just turn around and cover your eyes or something. Celia needs to get dressed.”
Liam crosses his arms. “I think it’s only fair we see her as she is. She’s seen us, right, boys?”
I know Liam is just curious about Celia. She isn’t like anyone, or anything, we know. Still, I’m ready to pelt him in the head with a rock.
Koda storms away, giving us more space than we probably need. “You heard him, Liam. We’re making Celia uncomfortable. You know better than to do that to a female.”
It takes hearing those words for Liam to finally see the light. “Sorry, Celia. I didn’t mean to make you feel that way.”
Celia eases her way toward the trees. I’m not sure if I should follow. But then my beast doesn’t give us a choice. It’s like my wolf needs to be by her side and ensure she’s safe. I allow him to guide me and lead us forward, his senses enlivening mine as we shadow Celia. He recognizes something within her that I haven’t yet discovered. I want to, though. There’s a reason she’s here. I just have to figure it out.
“Can we at least watch her change?” Liam asks. He raises his hand. “I’m asking for strictly scientific purposes.”
“What does that even mean?” I ask.
It’s Gemini who answers. “He wants to see if she changes like we do or if it’s different.”
I shrug, trying to downplay my answer. “It’s similar. Maybe a little faster.”
Gemini raises his eyebrows. “Faster? We’re pretty fast, Aric.”
I recall how I only barely tracked her change. “I know,” I say. “Just let her call the shots, okay? If she wants to show us, she’ll do so when she’s ready.”
Celia turns and tilts her head. I can’t guess what she thinks of me. I hope it’s something good.
“Take your time,” I say. I smirk when I realize she’s working hard to keep her attention on my face and nowhere else. “We’ll wait for you as long as it takes.”
Celia’s steps are hesitant as she walks past the wolves. She speeds up once she clears Koda. I’m certain she’ll take off and I jog after her, trying to keep some distance yet not quite managing as much as I intend. My wolf is drawn to her tigress. Like an invisible rope, she pulls him along, encouraging him to keep close.
I force myself to stop when she reaches the edge of the forest and disappears behind an old oak, the trunk is massive. I suppose it suits her need for privacy and maybe gives her time alone.
I force myself to turn away, so she doesn’t find me waiting for her like a lovesick puppy. I’m just in time to face Koda’s reprimanding glare.
“Aric,” he says. “What are you trying to do here?”
My stance tightens as I try to beat back the heat creeping up my neck. “Get her to trust us,” I reply.
“Get her to trust us or score yourself some hero points?”
All right. I see where he’s headed and I can’t really blame him. Wasn’t I the one who found females annoying just this morning? “I’m not sure what you mean,” I reply. Hey, just ’cause he made the right call doesn’t mean I have to own up to it like a wimp.
“Yes, you do,” Gemini says. He’s not mad, not in the way Koda is. But he is questioning my decisions, something that doesn’t sit well with me as an alpha.
“Are you accusing me of doing something immoral or something that goes against our pack?” I question. “Or are you telling me I should have left her where I found her to fend for herself?”
Gemini lowers his chin, admitting defeat. “Yeah,” I say slowly. “That’s what I thought.”
Liam’s focus jumps between us, worry keeping him silent. He seems to want to say something, but just as he starts, he quickly shuts his mouth.
Celia steps away from the tree, pushing her long wavy hair back from her face as she steps carefully through the withering grass. The sweatpants are huge on her and she had to roll them many times so they’d stay on her tiny waist.
I may have more to grow, but Celia has reached her limit. She’s small. But she must be tough to have survived the harsh forest elements overnight.
My lips press tight as I try not to laugh at how sweet she looks. My T-shirt hangs low enough to be a dress on her and mud streaks her cheeks in rough and awkward lines. Aside from the few glimpses I caught when we first met, this is the longest I’ve looked at her human form. Like before, I can’t get enough of her.
“Whoa,” Liam says. “You’re really pretty.”
“Um—”
“I mean hot. Really hot.” He nudges Koda. “Hey. Isn’t she hot?”
“Liam,” Koda spits out through his teeth. He motions to where I’m standing and not smiling anymore.
“Oh, sorry,” Liam says. “I meant sexy. Is sexy a better word for you Aric?”
My mouth pops open. How has Liam survived this long?
Celia’s hand covers her face. It doesn’t quite hide her blush, nor keep her from turning into a shy kitten instead of a formidable tigress.
“Thank you for the clothes,” she stammers. “If you could, I really need to find a way back to Jersey.”
“Why?” Gemini asks. “Who’s there?”
“My sisters and foster mother,” Celia replies. Again, she’s guarded, not wanting to give too much away.
“You have sisters?” Liam asks. “How many?”
Celia crosses her arms. “Three.”
“Cool,” Liam says. He inches closer to her. “Are they pretty like you?”
“We have similar features,” Celia cautiously answers.
“They’re golden tigers, like you?” Liam presses. He holds out his hands. “Wait. I know—
don’t tell me. They take the forms of other big cats. A lion, maybe? How about a cheetah? I like cheetahs. Well, the ones I’ve seen on T.V., anyway.”
Celia stiffens. Liam needs to back off, and I should tell him. Except, like the rest of us, he’s curious and wants to know more.
“I’m the only one with an inner beast,” she replies. “They . . . they’re different.”
“Different from you?” Liam asks.
“From everyone,” Celia responds. Her demeanor turns grave. I don’t quite understand it. It’s like her sadness is too much to bear. “We’re different from any race of human, were, or vampire on earth.”
“Weird,” Koda infers.
Celia’s tiger eyes replace her own and hurt and anger flake off each word she speaks. “That’s one way to describe us.”
Koda glances away. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you.”
I didn’t like how Koda referred to Celia or how his comment affected her. I came close to storming over and making him apologize. Except, for all Koda is like a dangerous cloud waiting to storm, he’s not cruel, especially when it comes to females.
Liam blows blond hair away from his face and grins. “You didn’t answer my question, Celia. Are your sisters pretty, like you?”
Another splash of red against her cheeks is just what Celia needed to erase her anger. The truth I scent behind her words lift her lips into a small smile. “They’re beautiful,” she replies.
I return her smile, but it doesn’t last.
Dread punches me in the gut and I whip around in the direction of the woods. That smell—that disgusting festering smell I caught earlier—saturates the air and coats it in a vile yellow mist, snuffing out the fresh breeze.
Gemini’s twin wolf barks with pure rage and dashes into the woods. We growl as a pack, including Celia. There isn’t a need for words. Something evil this way stalks and it’s up to us to destroy it.
I prowl forward, my friends and Celia following closely.
Gemini’s twin cries out in agony, the sound of splintering bone cutting off his tortured whimpers.
Gemini’s eyes fly open. “No!” he yells.
“What’s happening?” I snarl. “What do you see?”
Gemini’s dark eyes gleam in that way they do when he sees through the eyes of his twin. “It has us,” he rasps. He falls forward on all fours, clutching his neck. “It’s coming.”
“Screw this,” Koda rumbles, taking off in sprint.
The twin wolf skyrockets from the thick stand of trees, landing at our feet with his head twisted at an odd angle. Gemini races to him, gathering him in his arms and hoisting his sagging body from the ground.
Koda stands a few feet from the dark forest, cemented in place, his attention on the spot where the yellow mist seeps out in thick tendrils. “What the hell is that?” he growls.
I grind my teeth. “Fall back.”
Koda shakes his head stiffly. “No way.”
“It’s not a request,” I bite out.
Koda backs up, the filthy yellow air that follows him morphing into a gelatinous, suffocating amber.
Celia and Liam gag, choking on the smell. I shove the bile burning its way up my throat, whispering low. “Liam, take point on the right, Koda, the left. Gemini, where’s your twin?”
“Hidden, but unable to fight,” Gemini says. “Something’s wrong with him, Aric. He’s not healing.”
“If he can’t heal, we may not be able to, either,” I say. I don’t mean to be blunt, but they need to know what we’re up against and fight smart. Liam spits on the ground and Koda releases another few swears.
“Gemini, take the rear,” I order, my hackles rising when I sense something drawing closer. “We’ll see to your wolf when we’re done tearing this thing apart. Stay sharp and keep Celia behind you.”
“I’m no weakling,” she insists. “I can help you fight it.”
“This is our battle, not yours,” I tell her.
Her resentment claws at my back. I don’t bother arguing with her. We change into our beasts, ready to protect. Ready to fight. Ready to kill.
Liam’s amber and brown fur blends into the mist, not that it will help us. Whatever approaches is manipulating this power in its favor. I rack my brain, trying to sort through all the entities I’ve studied to put a finger on what this thing is.
I don’t wonder for long. Like a weary, old man, dragging his legs behind him, the mist parts and the creature emerges.
No. Not just any creature. A skinwalker. One of the few beings that are impossible to kill.
