The moment we had come into sight of the Pack Conall had moved in front of me and became somewhat tense.
We drew closer to the heart of the shifter Pride and I sensed may more beings around us. Their auras were disquieted, violent, and unstable, as if they saw us as a threat. I found it upsetting. The shifters caught our scent, a mixture of fairy, shifter, fear, and blood. They paced in an eerily catlike manner waiting for us to arrive.
We passed through unhindered, and I wondered what would have happened if we had tried to come here un-chaperoned.
The panther came to a stop before a man and dipped his head low, made a rumbling sound at the back of his throat and his tail hit the floor a few times.
Breandan shifted so he stood in front of me, shielding my body. I craned my head to peek around him.
I had thought Lochlann, Breandan’s brother was big. This guy was massive, and there was nothing delicate or soft about him. He towered over me and looked as solid as a tree. Muscles were packed upon muscle, and he wore two things, a strip of cloth around his waist that stopped mid thigh, and a leather braid necklace around his thick neck. He was missing one eye and a scar ran down from the top of his forehead to the tip of his cheek over the closed lid. His brown hair was cut close to his head, and his chin was strong, covered in a bushy beard.
The power and dominance radiating from him named him as the Pride Alpha.
And he looked pissed.
“Alec, shift,” he commanded.
The were-panther lay down on its side and writhed in the dirt and patchy grass. I watched, morbidly fascinated by the Change. Soon, I wished I had not. There was no smoke, or graceful movements. No instant shift from animal to human. It was horrible and ugly. At one point, the panther was a deformed mass of quivering, convulsing flesh. Its jet-black fur seemed to shrink back into its skin, which smoothed out to become human like. The mess that had been the panther groaned; half human half animal. I shuddered and cringed into Breandan who wrapped his arms around me. I pressed my eyes shut and buried my head into his solid chest. I could smell blood, sweat, and something floral, but pungent to the point my nose burned. The heat coming from where the shifter was changing was immense; like a fire raged nearby. There was a thick, glooping sound, a crack, and snap of bone followed by the lush tearing of muscle.
I put my fingers in my ears and plugged my nose by holding my breath. A minute passed and I thought my lungs would burst. Breandan pulled one of my hands down and nudged my chin up with the other. I peeked an eye open and was rewarded with the sight of a muscular and naked boy crawling his way toward me.
He nudged his head into my hand. Flustered, I patted him twice, cringing as I did so then stepped back. He blinked up at me, and I recognized the colour of his irises, even if they were a different shape.
“Sorry,” he said, raspy. “It takes a while for my brain to think, human and not cat.
“Rae,” I blurted. “Hai.”
He smiled and stood, up. He wobbled for a moment, but once he had steadied his legs, he held out his hand. “Alec,” he said.
I stared at the hand, then him.
“Oh right,” he said and his eyes touched on my wings, ears and tail. “I forget you fairies don’t like touching much, do you. You seemed okay with me when I was a panther though.”
I was having a hard time. I tried to speak but all that came out was a squawk resembling agreement. A young girl passed Alec a pair of trousers and he thanked her as he jumped into them.
“She is new to this life,” Breandan said over the awkward silence.
The shifter-boy shrugged. “No problem. We do not Change in front of strangers often. I know it can be scary. I’m okay now, honest.” He smiled at me and I relaxed.
Hesitantly, I smiled back. “It looked like it hurt.”
He laughed a loud guffaw. “That’s one way to put it.”
“It wasn’t like I thought…. I mean, I can take my glamour off now without any pain. Is it like that every time?”
“Yeah, sucks y’know.”
I grinned at his use of slum speak. “You’re a dwell?”
“I was,” he said. “Until a full moon had me sprouting fur and a tail one season eight years ago. I can tell you, the neighbors were not pleased. Clerics came for me, of course, but I was long gone.”
I nodded gravely. “How did you get past the Wall?”
“Byron found me. He smelt me on a run and found me pacing the fence. What about you?”
Alec confirmed the man standing before us was the Alpha, Byron, not that any of the other shifters looked like they could match him. He watched us carefully, taking our measure. His nostrils flared, mouth pulled back in a grimace. He seemed to almost be fronting us, goading us on. I looked up at Breandan, who had been silent throughout this entire exchange; his gaze was locked with the Alpha’s. Was he mad? We needed to get these shifters to help us, not put their backs up. I elbowed him in the ribs but he did not acknowledge me.
So I was distracted when I said without thinking, “I was a Disciple–” Alec’s sharp intake of breath had me cringing at my careless words and shaking my head at the suspicion no doubt taking root in his mind. “No, I’m not here to hurt you. You see what I am.” My tail flicked from side to side as proof I was like him, demon. “I was a Disciple who wandered too far into the forest. I got past the Wall and got lost. I saw–” I stopped there for Breandan squeezed me. I sighed, “The rest is a complicated story I don’t think I have time to tell considering Breandan and your Alpha are having a non blinking contest.”
Alec looked between them. “Best we don’t get involved.” He reached to take my hand, but I flinched, and this did reach Breandan through his focus since he hissed quietly.
Byron growled and it all got very tense.
Conall stepped forward and held up his palms. His presence was solid, calming and he bobbed his head respectfully towards Byron.
“You know me, Alpha. We have crossed paths before and parted as friends. Why do you act so?”
The older man’s face twisted briefly. “I remember you well, Conall. A fine talker you are, but also a fine warrior. If the fairies were to attack, would they not send the strongest of you to test us? Would they not sniff out our weakness?”
Conall seemed taken aback. “Why would you think such a thing? We have no quarrel with you.”
Byron laughed; a big-bellied laugh that would have you think he had not a care in the world had his words not held such bitterness. It was then he took his eyes from Breandan and looked at my brother. “Do you not? Has that fairy-lord of yours stopped shooting bolts of fire at my kind if we dare enter the woods?”
“It is not what you think.” Conall sounded tired. “We have broken, Byron. The High Lord has lost his mind and we are fighting him.”
“Devlin is gone,” I said before Conall could speak again. “He’s gone and we’re hunting him.”
Byron ignored me. “You mean to kill him, Conall?”
I tossed my head. “No. I do.”
There was a long-suffering sigh from the fairy-boy beside me.
Byron’s eyes twitched to me, and he cocked his head. He smiled flashing teeth sharp and yellowed. He scratched at his graying beard. “You? Such a small thing.”
“A small and fierce thing,” Alec added and winked at me.
“Why are you here?” Byron asked Conall outright.
My brother looked at me and I shrugged. It seemed the Alpha had a hard time speaking to me.
“As Rae said, we hunt Devlin and his followers. He has taken something important and we need it back.”
Byron picked up on what he did not say. “You have broken off your hunt to come here, meaning your own tracking has failed.”
“Devlin had worked a spell. I cannot see past it. We need your skills to find the right way.”
Byron seemed to think this funny. “You fairies, so proud and bold to come here and ask for our help … the felines who roll in the mud.”
Conall’
s face was pained. “The words you echo are the opinions of one fairy that is mad. Can you not see and accept that, Alpha? It seems for all your talk you want something from us. If you did not want us here you could have refused to speak and had your sentries escort us off your Pride. Speak quick and plainly. We do not have time for games.”
Byron’s face darkened. “You think such a speech will affect me?”
“Can we cut this out?” I asked and stepped forward. “We are literally traveling in circles. The day is wasting and if you won’t help we need to go.”
Though we could see in the dark, Breandan had told me fairies tracked better during the daylight hours, when we were strongest. We were wasting time batting words back and forth.
“Tell them, Bryon.” Alec blurted unable to control himself. “They could help.”
The Alpha’s head whipped round, neck muscles bulging. “Silence, youngling.”
Alec visibly snapped his jaw shut and seemed unable to open his mouth again. He made a small sound of repent and hung his head. I felt an inexplicable urge to stoke him to make him feel better.
“Alec is right,” I said in the charged silence. “If you are in trouble, or need assistance of some kind I’m sure we could help.”
I tentatively slanted a look at Breandan to check I was not speaking out of turn. His face was impassive and as readable as a stone slab.
The Alpha chose to ignore me, looking past me as if I was not even there.
“Come now, Alpha. You disrespect our female and behave sullen and you know I cannot allow it. Can we not move past this? You’re making a small bargain difficult.”
Byron suddenly looked old and weary. “You say I am sullen and difficult, but why should I be easy? I have no sons and my daughters have been taken. My line has ended and I have to remain strong for my Pride. You fairies and your squabbles have hurt my people. The vampires are simply mad, and goblins care for nothing and no one. We fight to keep the evils of the witches at bay, yet still they manage to curse us from afar. The humans hunt us like rabid beasts, and other shifter packs are hostile toward us. Tell me, why should I not be sullen and difficult?” His voice took on a sudden and intimidating edge. “And I smell you have spilled blood on my territory.”
The reaction of the Pride rippled outward and soon there was a mixture of open distrust and calls for retribution for the fallen Pack mate. The shifters crowded around us and called for Breandan’s death. Some, so overcome with rage fell to the ground and Changed. The Pride was filled with heat, and cries of agony, as they morphed from human to animal.
These demons were like nothing I had experienced before. They were primitive and hungry for violence. Clutching Breandan by the waist, I glared at anyone bold enough to make eye contact.
Breandan was calm, silent, and simply held Byron’s gaze. Conall buzzed beside me and only then did I realize Alec had left us and had a hand on his Alpha’s shoulder. The muscles in his arms were taut and he murmured low in the man’s ear the tone of his voice urgent.
Byron stamped his meaty foot and shouted, “Silence!”
The Pack immediately fell silent. Those in human form shied away, swelling away from him. Some of the were-cats whimpered, and pressed their ears to their heads. This Pack knew to respect their Alpha.
“Speak fairy,” Byron said. “I give you leave to move freely in my land and you draw blood. Enrage my Pack–”
“Kill the female,” a reedy girl cried. “It is fair.”
“I am in the middle of a bargaining, Sabine.”
“My father is dead,” she hissed. “Screw any pact.”
Byron’s head spun round and he fixed his eye on her. “Your father was half mad and more than likely invited his own demise.” I was sure the pupil had changed shape to become a catlike slit. “You will quiet yourself, youngling.”
The skinny girl, Sabine, recoiled from the authority in his voice and backed up a pace. A few of the shifters next to her shifted away, disassociating themselves from the hot head.
“He laid hands on what is mine, Alpha,” Breandan said calmly. He spoke in a low voice, but one that carried across the Pack to Byron and those in the inner circle. “If you had seen what I had you would have done the same.”
Byron said nothing; he rubbed a large hand over his beard. “It is your word against a dead body. Fairies cannot lie, but you are a tricky sort, bending the truth until it breaks. Making a person hear one thing when it means another.”
I untangled myself from Breandan, who immediately clamped a hand around my wrist when I stepped forward. Conall placed a hand on my shoulder, and I heard Alec growl low in his throat.
I wiggled. “Let go of me,” I ordered. “I can hurt him as much as he can hurt me.”
Conall released me, and so did Breandan, but not before giving my arm a warning squeeze. Alec tried to transmit ‘be careful’ with his eyes. I sent him a reassuring look then trotted over toward the Pack Alpha. Halfway across the space I doubted my plan. Gods, but he was huge. I stopped a pace away from him and slowly looked, up and up and up until the back of my head touched my neck.
“Hai,” I said, even though we had been introduced earlier I felt as if showing good manners could not hurt.
He stared down at me. “You are brave, little fairy. I could squash you like a bug, even in man form.”
The brief yet ferocious urge to defend myself was swallowed by the logical thought that Breandan would never let anything of the sort happen to me. I shook my head. “No doubt you are powerful Alpha, but I’m strong too.”
I tried to push some of the gruffness I had heard in Conall’s voice and puffed my chest out. I do not think overall it was convincing.
He leaned back and rubbed at his beard some more. “I can believe it.” Byron’s eyes flashed with something I might have been able to mistake as admiration. “Feisty, aren’t you.”
“Damn straight. After all I’ve been through speaking my mind is better than lying down and dying.” My frustration bubbled over and had a familiar tide of stupid rising in me and had me blurting, “You shouldn’t give up, the right to hope for a better future, I mean. You tell Conall how hard it is to keep your people safe, but it’s a problem everyone has, not just you. If you give up your enemies win. Your territory will be invaded and your Pride obliterated. Is that what you want? I am sure your daughters are waiting for you, hoping their Alpha is getting ready to save them. If they saw you now they would be ashamed.”
The older man seemed to suck in enough air to fill the lungs of three men. His chest expanded, and his eyes changed shape. They glowed. “So be it, little fairy. You will help me get my daughters back and I will help you track down your rogue lord.”
I blinked. Then my face creased in panic as I held my palms up. “Wait–”
“This fire in my belly was of your making. You best prove you are as fierce as your words would have me believe.”
I shot a look at Conall who bobbed his head. Breandan was exasperated, but he too inclined his head giving his support.
It seemed simple. Save the shifter-girls from the Temple and return them to their Pride. I could see no major downside to this deal. It would win us the best trackers nature had to provide. Devlin would be mine and I would have my revenge.
“Agreed,” I said more confidently than I felt.
“A fairy’s word is law,” he announced satisfied. “You will help me get my girls back home safely, I feel it.”
Grimacing, I thought now was not the time to mention I still had some wiggle room on that particular rule of magic.
“And now to deal with the blood spilled,” Byron continued. “I understand why you have come so close. Do you know that unlike my Pack mates I can partially shift? Will you still do what you came to?”
Meaning was I aware that if he – a great hulk of a man – wanted to, he could turn his meaty hand into a paw, and scratch half my face off in one swipe? Yeah, I was all too aware of that and hoped that these shifters were politely ignoring t
he stench of my fear no doubt radiating off me in waves. In answer, I took a deep breath, and stepped forward.
“Your Pack Brother tried to mark me.” I said. A surge of anger rumbled down the bond, and a couple of rapid breaths helped to calm my nature’s instant response. I lifted my head back to expose my throat to Byron. The gesture was simultaneously submissive and defiant. “I have been taught shifters are master trackers. No other being, human or demon can match you. I can prove my life was in danger. Your Brother tried to suffocate me and take my innocence. If you don’t believe the bruises, which hurt like hell – thanks for asking – believe what your own senses tell you.”
Byron did not waste any time. He wrapped his large hands around my upper arms and yanked me forward. He buried his nose in my hair, sniffed down my neck. Then, instead of bending down to smell my thigh where the shifter had straddled me, he simply lifted me up high above his head, and sniffed the spot.
Satisfied, he carefully set me down and stepped away.
“The male’s scent lingers,” he announced loudly in a voice that brooked no rebuttal. What fool would try to defy a proclamation from their Alpha anyway? Squirming, I felt in need of a hot bath. “From the marks on her body he tried to take what was not his. Attacked her from behind which is not behavior worthy of a Pack Brother. The fairy is telling the truth. It was a fair kill.”
I exhaled.
“But it was not his place.”
I spun round. Seriously, there was a fool dumb enough to take it there? Sabine, whom I was fast recognizing as troublemaker, piped up again. “Their laws are not our laws. You will let these demons from outside the Pack flaunt themselves and dishonor our way?”
A grumble of agreement rumbled from the watching Pack. Pressure, even I felt it. These people were his people and if they were unhappy, the Alpha must listen.
Byron nodded, if somewhat reluctantly.
“But you know Breandan was only trying to protect me,” I said, frustrated with their narrow mindedness. “I belong to him of course he would react that way.”