Shifters Forever Worlds Mega Box- Volume 3

by Elle Thorne

  “You have to know I didn’t want this.” Camden stepped closer. “I’m single. I can’t take care of twin girls. I’m not equipped for that. I don’t even have a childproof home. For Pete’s sake, I live with my siblings in the Order’s building. I didn’t think this—maybe Marie didn’t understand me. Maybe—well, we did have poor reception when we spoke.” Camden heaved a sigh, and then she broke into tears.

  “Awww.” Chelsea put her arms around Camden.

  Mae did the same.

  “Please believe me,” Camden beseeched them.

  “I do,” Mae said, finally. “But that doesn’t change the situation.”

  “Well, I just have to fix it. Somehow.”

  The sound of footsteps interrupted Camden’s train of thought.

  Ky Romanoff walked in. “Doc said to call Grant and tell him for sure he needs to bring a bunch of supplies, there’s no way to get Laken there in time. She’s having the baby here.”

  “I’ll do that.” Chelsea let go of Camden and headed toward the door.

  Ky looked at Mae. “I’m going to call Uncle Mikhail and Aunt Miriam. They’re in Chicago checking into some new business Uncle Mikhail wants to invest in, so it’s not like they’re very far at all.”

  “Good idea,” Mae said. “And maybe Mikhail can help with this situation.”

  “Mae, I can’t ask him to intervene. He doesn’t have the greatest history with the council, either.”

  “That was long ago,” Mae scoffed. “I’m sure he doesn’t feel the same—”

  “Ha. We’re talking about Mikhail Romanoff, here,” Ky said with a headshake.

  “Stranger things have happened. I happen to have it on good authority that some shifters mellow with age.”

  “I have a question, if you don’t mind.” Camden thought this was as good a time as any to ask.

  Mae and Ky turned her way.

  “What would happen to the girls if I didn’t accept being their guardian—temporary or otherwise? Any idea what the council would do or say?”

  Ky nodded. “They have discussed this, in case.”

  Camden waited.

  Mae seemed to be holding her breath as well.

  “They will be taken to New York and have a home found for them. The council decided against placing the girls with anyone who could be deemed to be less than impartial to the situation. Meaning, not anyone from Bear Canyon Valley.”

  Mae gasped.

  A knock on the library door turned their attention away from the conversation at hand.

  Eden walked in.

  Camden immediately went to her twin, hugged her, sought to gain strength from her sister’s embrace. At least, she had one person in her corner in the middle of this mess.

  “Eden.” Mae cocked her head, then frowned. “What are you doing here? Who’s with the girls?”

  “Tyler and I were watching them until Griz showed up and told me he’d take my place for a while. He said to come up here and grab lunch. I didn’t see anything in the kitchen. Does anyone need help preparing something?”

  “Wait a sec,” Ky said.

  Mae pushed him toward the door. “Go call Mikhail. I’ll take care of this. Go be with Laken. She needs you. Your new baby will need you.”

  He nodded, then turned around. “Oh, I almost forgot. Doc said to call Mac Clarity, that she could help him with the delivery. I didn’t know she was a doctor.”

  “A vet, but she’s assisted him in other matters before,” Mae assured him. “I’ll reach out to Mac. He normally has Astra help, but she’s in the city today.”

  “Okay,” Ky said.

  Camden thought he looked a little shell-shocked, but figured it was because he was soon to be a new father.

  As soon as he’d left the room, Mae took Eden’s hand. “What did Griz say, exactly?”

  Eden gulped. “He said he would be there. That I should come here. I—gosh—I hope I didn’t mess up.”

  “It’s fine,” Mae tried to assure her.

  Camden could tell it wasn’t fine. And this was all her own fault.

  “I’ll go to the cabin to find Griz and Tyler. I’ll look after the girls with them.”

  Distress crossed Mae’s features. “I don’t know if that’s…”

  “Please,” Camden begged. “Let me make this right.”

  Mae gave Camden a sideways nod, almost a half-nod. “Okay.”

  Eden began to follow Camden out of the library. “I’ll go with you.”

  Camden looked at her sister.

  Worry still marked Eden’s face.

  One thought, and one thought only occurred to Camden. There would be heightened drama and emotions when she got there. Who knew what would happen and who knew if anyone would shift into a bear. A bear. She couldn’t have that happening with Eden there. She’d have to take care of Eden and not be able to concentrate on fixing the wrong.

  “Stay and help here. Laken’s in labor, they’ll need extra hands.”

  Eden twisted her hands together, wringing them over and over. “I don’t know.”

  Camden took her twin’s hands, steadying them. “Please.”

  “Okay.”

  Eden still followed her to the back door, then she put a hand on Camden’s shoulder. “I saw them leaving the cabin, by the way.”

  “Where were they going?”

  “I don’t know, but it seemed they were in a hurry. They didn’t see me. I was standing behind one of the trees, wondering if I should go back when I saw them. I didn’t think it was wise to give chase or follow them. Griz is kind of scary.”

  And a bear.

  “Thank you.” Camden hugged Eden. “I’ll be back soon.”

  Eden nodded.

  Camden didn’t tarry. She made a swift exit out the back door and headed in the direction of the cabin.

  Did she know where it was?

  Nope?

  Did that concern her?

  Not a bit.

  She had her panther.

  She paused to yield control to her animal, allowing the feline to take over their body, transforming her from a human to a magnificent black panther in seconds, with a bit of sinew tearing and realigning, with some bones crunching and establishing a different shape.

  And with a bit of pain. A lot of pain. But at least it was brief.

  She recognized if she practiced shifting more often, it would be a bit quicker, and maybe a hair less painful, but that wasn’t her thing. She normally didn’t need her shifter as much as she seemed to lately.

  Chapter Twenty

  Tyler and Griz trekked through the woods, until they reached a waterfall. The girls had fallen asleep in their arms, so now Tyler finally felt comfortable enough to talk to Griz.

  “So, what’s really going on?”

  Griz grimaced. “You lost custody. I don’t know if it’s temporary or permanent. And does it matter anyway? First off, it will be heartbreaking for the girls—”

  As well as me and Sean.

  Griz continued, “And secondly, it’s fucking catastrophic. What if it got out that they were still alive? And where they are?”

  Tyler felt like he had a lump the size of a railroad tie in this throat. “We can’t have that happening.”

  “No shit,” Griz agreed. “Let’s get inside.”

  “Inside?” Tyler looked around the wooded area with the lagoon and the waterfall.

  Griz pointed to the cascading water. “Behind there.”

  “Behind there, what?”

  “You’ll see.”

  Sure enough, moments later, they’d scaled a deceptive looking set of boulders that functioned as a stairway but sure as hell didn’t look like one, and they were behind the waterfall, in a cave.

  “What the hell is this? You thinking we can hide away in a cave?” Tyler fought the urge to rage at the hopelessness of his situation.

  “There’s more to it than this. Follow me.”

  This better be good, Tyler thought.

  And it was.

&nb
sp; The cave led to a tunnel, the tunnel led to another one, and a different one. It was as if there was a maze of tunnels, more like alleyways in the belly of the mountain.

  Thank goodness for shifter vision and being able to see in the dark. He did hope the twins slept a while longer, as this would be hard to explain to them.

  “So, they decided that Sean and I can’t have custody of them.”

  “Right.”

  “So, who’s going to watch the girls? Who’s going to take care of them?”

  “The council—those bastards—gave custody to Camden Brazos.”

  “What the—” Tyler lowered his voice as it was echoing off the walls and the girls stirred.

  He waited until they settled back to sleep and then asked the question that had been burning him at the back of his mind. “What is this place?”

  Walking next to Tyler, Griz gave him a glance. The tunnel was like a corridor, wide enough for both of them and even a third person to walk shoulder to shoulder.

  Tyler appraised the area. It was actually large enough for a vehicle, maybe a four-wheeler.

  Griz took a deep breath. “This place was where our kind hid and lived when they were persecuted long ago. It connects to the tunnels created by Grant’s grandfather’s people, long ago.”

  Tyler was stunned. All this history. And he had no clue.

  Griz continued, “Braden and Dakotah help maintain them. Many of the cabins scattered about the mountains have secret entrances to the tunnel system.”

  Tyler thought on the matter for a second, but couldn’t push aside a question that kept returning to his head. “Why Braden and Dakotah? Why not your own blood? Your nephews?”

  Griz chuckled. “Know what? I asked—Jeremiah Flight of Eagle Over Waters—”

  “Wait, who’s that?”

  “Grant Waters’ grandfather. Later, they shortened the name to the Waters surname. I asked Jeremiah the same question, when he turned the tunnels over to me.”

  “What did he say?”

  “That the tunnels picked me. That his shifter animal—also a grizzly—told him. And that the same thing would happen to me.”

  “But Grant is the alpha of Bear Canyon Valley, right? He leads here?”

  “He’s the leader, that’s true, but the tunnels are something else. They’re a separate entity. They are different.”

  “Grant isn’t pissed his grandfather gave you the tunnels?”

  Griz laughed softly. “Jeremiah did not give me the tunnels. He gave me to the tunnels.”

  Tyler was puzzled, but they kept walking, Griz leading him deeper and deeper into the belly of the mountains.

  Griz took his hand off the sleeping little girl to put it on Tyler’s shoulder. “I know. It’s confusing.”

  “To say the least,” Tyler agreed.

  “I was once confused, too.”

  “So where are Braden and Dakotah, then?”

  “Dakotah’s in the lagoon with little Larsen, swimming—or more like splashing, since he’s not quite mastered the swimming thing yet.”

  Tyler snapped his head to the left, to the sound of the new voice. “You’re Braden.”

  The large shifter who stepped out of the shadows nodded.

  “Thanks for being available,” Griz told Braden.

  “It’s what we do,” Braden looked at the little girls in their arms.

  “I’m guessing things didn’t go well with the council if you’re here.”

  Griz shook his head. “Could have gone better.”

  “Lagoon?” Tyler asked.

  “Let me show you.” Braden stepped in front of them and led them down another fork.

  Tyler looked at Griz, studied the scar on this face. “Why did the tunnels pick you?”

  Griz pointedly glanced at Braden, then back at Tyler. “The tunnel has its reasons.”

  Braden looked back at them. “They seem to pick those who have had their share of shit thrown at them,” he said, his voice low.

  “Indeed.” Griz nodded.

  Tyler froze in his tracks. Before him was the most unexpected view he could have imagined. A large chamber, a gigantic cavern, and in the center, a lagoon lit by the sun. There was a hole in the cavern’s ceiling that allowed sunshine in. The sun’s rays illuminated a waterfall that cascaded into the indigo-colored lagoon water. A color so lustrous and blue, he’d have sworn it was artificial—but knew better.

  At the lagoon’s shore, a woman held a young boy—Larsen, Braden had called him—who was splashing in the water. And each time he struck the water with his palm, a spray would rise and strike the little boy in the face.

  The child threw his head back, laughing, while at the same time, tiny crackling of electricity sparked about him, looking much like fireflies.

  Tyler looked at Griz. He had two things he wanted explained.

  “Larsen. He’s named after you?”

  Griz’s smile was that of the proverbial Cheshire cat. “He is.”

  “Naturally,” Braden agreed.

  Griz’s brow was raised as though he was expecting the next question.

  “Elemental?” Because what else would explain the firefly-like sparks.

  “Indeed.”

  Tyler looked at Braden. “Are you or Dakotah elementals?” He’d begun to wonder if elementals clustered and tried to be near each other or if they were solitary beings.

  “Neither.”

  Tyler cocked his head. “Then…” he pressed the issue.

  “His biological father,” Braden said, his jaw clenched. “Long story.”

  “Unnecessary story,” Griz added.

  “Agreed,” Tyler said. “I don’t need to know.”

  Braden nodded, acknowledging that he appreciated the respect on Tyler’s part in not delving deeper.

  Dakotah looked up from playing with Larsen and waved. She practically glowed when her eyes rested on Braden.

  A part of Tyler felt a twinge—truth be told—a hell of a big part of him felt a twinge. The look in her eyes closely matched the way he felt when Camden was around.

  Camden. He fought the fierceness of the feelings he felt about missing her. He refused to believe she’d have betrayed him and the twins, but the situation was too weird.

  He felt too strongly for her and knew there was no way he was not a good judge of character when it came to her. He couldn’t be wrong. That was goodness he read in her. And her elemental didn’t seem evil, though she did kill Cleopatra. He couldn’t say that he wouldn’t have done the same if someone had killed his brother.

  It was that moment, and simultaneously, the twins awoke.

  Trista and Tessa both raised their heads from his and Griz’s arms. They looked around, wonder in their eyes.

  Then they spotted Larsen.

  Trista looked at Tessa, then said, “He’s like us.”

  Tessa nodded.

  The girls went silent for a brief moment, looking into each other’s eyes, then they squirmed to get out of their keepers’ arms and ran toward the shoreline of the lagoon.

  Tyler couldn’t have said why he’d done it, or maybe if he thought on it long enough, he could’ve. The elementals were unpredictable. Whether he was going to protect the girls or the baby Larsen, he took off at a sprint, running swiftly behind the twins.

  The girls halted in front of Larsen and watched him.

  Larsen raised his eyes to the twins, studying them. The look in his eyes was like that of an old soul.

  Then out of the blue, he let out a giggle and an excited gurgling sound. He reached for the girls, his chubby little fingers opening and closing.

  The twins looked at each other, and delight shone on their faces.

  Tyler could tell from the colors of their eyes that their elementals were in control and at the forefront.

  Now what, he wondered.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  One paw in front of the other, still in her panther form, Camden skulked through the shadows of the tunnels, following the scent of Tyler,
and Griz, and the twins.

  She couldn’t hear them, she made sure she stayed back far enough not to be heard.

  If either of them had senses that were better than the average shifter’s senses, they might catch her scent, or perhaps hear her heartbeat, if the tunnels were quiet enough.

  Skulking—that’s the word she’d use to describe what she was doing. Following them in the dark, staying far behind, feeling like a criminal, acting like a guilty person.

  Her panther curled up her lip in disdain at her own position. More than ever, she wished that Circe were here. She could sure use her older sister’s counsel.

  In her head, Avala scoffed. Isn’t it about time you stopped relying on your sister and started to do things on your own?

  Her panther frowned, but remained silent.

  Thankfully.

  Camden didn’t want to see her elemental try to wrestle control from her and cast bolts made of ice crashing in the tunnels.

  That would surely alert Tyler and Griz to her presence.

  Camden thought on Avala’s words. Was she too reliant on Circe? Camden knew she was more alpha than Eden was, but she’d never stopped to think of how much she had relied on Circe’s guidance in the past.

  Is that why you haven’t opened up about your past to me? About what you did to Cleopatra? Or anyone else? Was there anyone else? She grilled Avala.

  Avala’s laugh was derisive. You judge me? Would you have done any different for Eden?

  Camden didn’t need any time to think of that one. No. I’d have done the same. She was sure she would have, too. But I wasn’t brought up to kill. I was trained to help others.

  She heard a tiny crack and realized that Avala had released an ice dart that landed in the soft dirt—thankfully—instead of the hard rock surface of the tunnel.

  Definitely not the time to pick a fight with Avala. She guarded her thoughts from her elemental.

  Avala wasn’t interested in pushing the discussion aside, it seemed. For your information, I was not raised to kill. I was trained to be the advisor to our chieftain. I was educated. I spoke many languages. I did not plan to be taken prisoner by the barbarian tribe that held us captive.

  Camden didn’t respond. She had no clue what Avala was talking about, but she wasn’t about to stop her. She wanted to know as much as she could about the woman who shared her body with her.