“Come on, Nathan, just pick someone! You don’t have to stay with them forever, but you need someone for this year’s Mating Ritual. We’re all waiting on you.”
“There isn’t anyone I want,” mumbled Nathan, not meaning a word he said.
“Look, what is going on with you recently?” Erik asked. “Are you alright?”
“I just…” Nathan hesitated, keeping secrets from his Clan was never one of his strong points. “There’s a girl,” he said.
“That’s good. Then what’s the problem?”
“The problem is she isn’t one of the women who came to participate in our Mating Rituals. She’s normal.”
Erik’s face fell. “And she has a normal view of Shifters?” he guessed.
“She was terrified when she saw my eyes. She ran like she was being chased by a murderer. She was so nice when I had my glasses on. She seemed to like me too. Sometimes I wish I wasn’t a Shifter.”
“We all do at some point.” Erik clapped him sympathetically on the back. “We can delay the Mating Rituals for a bit longer, but you know how important they are. We can’t delay forever, or we’ll lose the blessing of the spring. You need to forget about this girl.”
“I know.”
“I’m asking as your brother. Next time, it’ll be as your Alpha.”
“Understood.”
Nathan watched Erik join the rest of the Clan at the tents. Usually, he looked forward to the Mating Rituals—they all did. This time, all he could think about was Sarah. He didn’t want to be with anyone else. They had met only briefly, but there was this spark that would never ignite simply because of what he was.
Nathan stood up and let the change overtake him. His arms and legs thickened and sprouted hair. His nose elongated to a snout, and he felt his teeth becoming long and sharp. Shifting was never painful, but it was a weird sensation. They all got used to it over the years, but it was never entirely comfortable.
Leaving the tents behind him, Nathan lumbered off through the woods, as always, appreciating the power of the Bear, the heaviness in the tread, the strength in his muscles. He was drawn to the edge of the forest that the Clan claimed as their own. He could see city lights sparkling at the bottom of the hill. He knew he shouldn’t.
Erik would give him hell for this if he found out. But Nathan couldn’t resist and shifted back to human form, checking his clothes were still there. It took ages to learn to Shift your clothes in and out with you, and if you weren’t concentrating, the clothes wouldn’t come back with the Shift. Needless to say, his brothers would tease him mercilessly if he walked back naked without realizing it.
Nathan loped down the hill in human form but still channeling the strength of the Bear to let him move quickly. It didn’t take him long to pick up Sarah’s scent. He found her outside a gym that announced it gave karate lessons. Good for her, he thought. No one will be taking advantage of her again any time soon.
He wished he could go watch her, give her tips… but she’d just be scared again simply because he was a Shifter. Nathan watched the building until she came out, sweaty and pink in the face, looking more beautiful than ever.
Knowing he shouldn’t, he followed her anyway. She went shopping after karate, and he was proud of her. She looked a little nervous, but she held her head high and did what she needed to. He followed her all the way to her apartment until he could hear her greeting Megan. Then he left them and headed back before the Clan missed him.
“Nathan, where have you been?”
“Out,” he muttered, feeling thoroughly bad-tempered. Thomas had a relaxed, satisfied look on his face. Clearly, he’d been testing out the tents for the Mating Rituals. Nathan caught a glimpse of a pretty girl with brown hair pulling her pants back on.
Glaring at no one in particular, he stomped to his house. The thick stone didn’t give as he slammed the door. They’d tried wood but eventually concluded, after the fifth smashed house, that they were too strong for it. All houses in the camp were now crafted from stone.
Nathan threw himself onto his bed, pulling his pants down. His cock was already half hard from watching Sarah earlier. He remembered how she looked coming out of karate, somehow even more attractive when she was tired and sweaty than she usually was.
Her light blond hair had been sticking to the sides of her face, a few strands had come loose from her long ponytail. He remembered the green of her eyes, looking into his for just a moment before she realized who she was looking at—or rather what she was looking at.
He licked his hand and returned to his cock, pumping hard and fast. It didn’t take long. He bit his lip to prevent himself from making a noise as he came messily all over his hand, his eyes closed, seeing only Sarah.
Cleaning up quickly, Nathan rolled over, trying to get to sleep, not wanting to face his brothers’ questions about why he wasn’t using the tents. Sometimes a Bear’s excellent sense of smell was not an advantage.
Though he knew he shouldn’t, Nathan found himself making excuses to leave the Clan, to follow Sarah. Not only was it creepy and stalkerish, he felt bad that he wasn’t making more of an effort not to think about her. Erik was right, the Mating Rituals were important, and they couldn’t proceed before everyone had chosen a partner.
“Nathan? Are you in there?”
Nathan pulled out his earplugs. “Yes, I’m here.”
“Oh, that’s how you were sleeping. I should get some of those.”
“Take them,” Nathan said, handing over the earplugs. “I can’t sleep anyway.”
Thomas sat down on Nathan’s porch. “I wish they’d shut up,” he said conversationally.
“Don’t we all. I’ve never worked out if they actually need to howl that much as part of their Blood Moon Ritual or if they’re just doing it to annoy us.”
“To annoy us, I think. Still, not worth starting a war over.”
“I suppose not.” Thomas grinned at Nathan’s reluctant tone, but he knew better than to take him seriously. The last war between the Bears and Wolves had been centuries ago and had nearly annihilated both races.
“Still, I wish they’d cross the borderline. I could do with giving one of them a good clobbering.”
“I doubt they will. Remember the last time? I don’t think their Alpha could walk for a week…”
“Shouldn’t be much longer,” Thomas said. “Blood Moon is, what, two nights away?”
“Thank the gods,” Nathan muttered.
“Anyway, I’m going to get some sleep. You alright, man?”
“Yeah, fine,” Nathan lied since a full account of his feelings would take most of the night. Thomas waved as he headed back to his house.
The next day, Nathan thought of a brilliant new method of denial. It was the Blood Moon soon, and the Wolves were a lot more active than usual. Of course, they’d never attack a human, but just like with the Bears, accidents sometimes happened. It was sometimes hard to control the animal side of the Shift, and if emotions were running high, people got hurt.
He had to follow Sarah, just to make sure she was alright. True, there hadn’t been an accident between Wolves and humans for at least a generation, but still…
On this night of the Blood Moon, she and Megan were supposed to see a movie, but Megan got sick, so Sarah went alone.
“No, you go on and have fun. I don’t want to get you sick, too. I’ll just have an early night.”
“Are you sure you don’t want me to stay? I could make you some chicken soup.”
“I’ll be fine, Sarah. You go on. I know you’ve been looking forward to this for a while.”
Nathan felt slightly guilty using his sensitive hearing to spy on her as she said goodbye to Megan, yet somehow, he couldn’t bring himself to stay away from her.
He followed her silently, keeping an eye on his surroundings, as always. Sarah jumped as a dog started barking furiously from across the street. Nathan rolled his eyes. The animals had been acting like this for weeks. It was starting to grate on his nerves.
He broke into a run and easily kept pace with Sarah’s bus, following her to the cinema. Something caught his eye on his way past. Knowing he could easily catch up to her, Nathan slowed. Five ravens were sitting on a lamppost just a few feet away. Frowning, he walked toward them. Something about them didn’t seem normal.
As he got closer, he realized what it was. He could tell by the way they were holding themselves, their scent, the way they moved… These weren’t ordinary ravens—they were Raven Shifters. Nathan stood still so as not to scare them. Ravens hardly ever left the secret locations of their flocks. To get the chance to speak to them would be an unusual privilege.
“I’m Nathan,” he said, slowly making his way toward them. He didn’t tell them he was a Shifter; he didn’t need to. They would be able to determine what he was as easily as he had done with them. The one on the left was slightly bigger than the others. Nathan knew that Ravens were unusual in that their size was determined by their power. He guessed the bigger one to be the leader.
The Raven cawed and jumped off the lamppost, opening its wings to break the fall. The others followed, and they Shifted while in mid-air. Nathan couldn’t help staring. Bird Shifters always had a knack for making the transformation look beautiful, otherworldly. Most people seeing Nathan Shift would run for their lives.
“I am Jacob,” the leader said. “It is unusual to see a Bear without his brothers.”
“As it is unusual to see Ravens away from their Flock.”
“There is trouble in the air,” Jacob said. “Bad winds blow this night.”
Nathan didn’t question. Ravens had always been a philosophical lot. He’d heard warnings of how frustrating it could be to try to talk with them. Still, there was no denying that they were perceptive.
“What kind of trouble?” he asked.
“That’s what we’re hoping to find out. You must have noticed the changes, the signs of unrest in nature.”
“The weather.” Nathan nodded. “And the animals.”
“The signs haven’t been like this in…” Jacob trailed off, and the Raven next to him, a tall thin man with a nervous face, muttered something in his ear. Jacob nodded.
“We must be off to find out what we can. Be careful, Nathan of the Bear Clan. There are dark things about this night.”
Nathan raised his hand in farewell as the Ravens Shifted back. He watched them fly over the city, keeping low over the buildings, looking for what he didn’t know. He shook himself out of his reverie and turned to run after Sarah. Maybe it was nothing, but only a fool would fail to take heed of a Raven’s warning. He wasn’t going to let her out of his sight again tonight.
He knew he should wait outside the cinema for her to come back out. He shouldn’t go in. She’d be terrified if she saw him… But it would be dark, and he hadn’t been close to her for weeks, not since that night in the club.
Besides, he needed to be close to her if anything happened. It sounded to him like a rather convenient excuse, but he shushed himself. Only a fool would fail to heed a Raven’s warning… even if heeding it meant stalking. Nathan pushed his guilt away. He’d have plenty of time to feel guilty later, after the film, after finally being near Sarah again.
He put on his sunglasses, bought a ticket, and slipped into the cinema. It was mostly empty. He picked out Sarah at once and took a seat in the row behind her. Her scent was already permeating the area, and he breathed it in deeply.
The film may have been good; he wouldn’t have known. Mostly, he watched the back of Sarah’s head. About halfway through, something happened to have him sitting up alertly. He could hear howling, but that wasn’t the problem. He’d been hearing howling for weeks.
This howling was different. There was something violent, feral, and wild about it. What was more, it was close—way too close. It was almost as if…
Screams erupted from the ticket booths outside. Nathan jumped up. He didn’t know why or how, but the Wolves were here, and they were killing people.
“Stay here!” he roared to the cinema at large. The last thing they needed was another mishap between humans and Shifters. They were distrusted enough already as it was.
Nathan sprinted to the doors and searched frantically for a way to lock them. Seeing nothing, he ripped up a chair and propped it up against the door, holding it closed. The screams were getting louder, and he vaulted over a row of chairs to get to the other door. Before he could block it, it was bursting open.
What he saw… He didn’t know what it was. He’d seen the Wolves in their Shifted form before, but this was something else. Its eyes were glowing red, and there was blood at its mouth. It looked utterly mad. Something dark and terrible had awoken in it. Without thinking, Nathan Shifted to the Bear and attacked.
There was something wrong. He’d fought Wolves before. They were faster, but Bears were stronger. They were evenly matched. A manic strength seemed to have possessed this one, though. It viciously swiped at him, knocking him to the floor and leaping over him, grabbing the nearest human and deliberately ripping off his head.
Nathan roared and renewed the attack, pulling the Wolf away from the people, trying to contain it, but there were more coming in through the open door, attacking people everywhere…
With a sinking feeling, Nathan realized he was not going to be able to stop this. He wasn’t even going to be able to protect the small number of people in this cinema. He would be willing to stay and fight, to die trying, if it weren’t for Sarah. If he couldn’t save anyone else, he could at least get her out alive.
He turned, following her scent. She was cowering under one of the seats, and she had a broken piece of chair clutched in her hand.
Nathan ran toward her, but one of the Wolves had noticed her. He was running, was going to get there first!
NO! Nathan roared and pushed his muscles harder, but he was still too far away. The Wolf leaped. Sarah screamed and tried to hit it with the broken piece of chair. She may as well have batted it with a fly swatter. The Wolf’s claws sunk deeply into her stomach, ripping her open.
Nathan leaped, colliding with the Wolf and knocking it to the side. Sarah was lying in a pool of blood, her eyes barely open, pale as a ghost. There was no way she would be able to ride him, to hold onto his back when he was Shifted. There was no choice.
He Shifted back to human form, knowing it was likely to be a death sentence, but he had to try. He lifted Sarah into his arms and ran. The Wolf he had knocked aside gave chase. Nathan knew he was going to lose the race. Wolves were faster even when he was in Shifted form, and as a human, he was much slower.
Somehow, incredibly, the Wolf got distracted. Wolves usually fixated on their targets, but evidently whatever had happened to them to make them go mad was affecting their focus. It turned to grab a short woman, biting her nearly in half.
Nathan had no emotion to spare for her. Sarah’s life’s blood was pumping out of her. Wolves snarled as he passed, but none pursued him for long, choosing the slower moving targets—humans.
He mentally calculated where the nearest hospital was. He’d hold the surgeon at gunpoint if he had to. This wasn’t over. Sarah could still be saved.
It didn’t take long to realize that his plan was not going to work. The Wolves were everywhere. They seemed to be leaving residential areas alone but attacking public places. Shopping centers, cinemas, and hospitals were being overrun before his eyes. He couldn’t take her to the hospital. The Wolves would rip her to shreds before he could get her onto a gurney.
Nathan hesitated. He couldn’t let her die.
He turned and ran back up the hill toward his Clan. They would help him. They would help her, save her.
Sarah’s eyes were unfocused, and her arms hung limply. Nathan’s breath was coming fast, his feet pounding on the soft ground.
“Just a bit longer,” he gasped. “Hold on a bit longer, Sarah.”
He could hear the sounds of his brothers moving through the forest. They were going down to the city to try to end this madness with the Wolves. He should stop them, tell them they’d only be killed, that the problem was worse than they could possibly imagine. They needed to regroup, to think out a plan…
Nathan didn’t stop. He had to get Sarah help. Erik was smart. He’d realize the same thing Nathan had and send the Clan back. He could only hope that Thomas had stayed behind. Surely, he would. Erik would want someone defending their camp, not to mention Thomas would no doubt be needed when the Bears started coming back with injuries.
He burst into their clearing. “Thomas! Thomas!”
He went limp with relief when Thomas hurried toward him.
“Nathan, where have you— Who is that?”
“Please, Thomas, you have to help her.” He glanced down at Sarah. It seemed impossible that she was any paler. Her heart was still beating, he could feel it, but weakly. It surely wouldn’t beat for much longer.
Nathan rushed to the healing area, laying Sarah on the high stone slab covered in a thin mattress. “Thomas.” He turned to see that Thomas had followed him. “Please… don’t let her die. Save her for me.”