I shook my head, embarrassed to admit… “I was thinking about the two of you, and I got distracted.”
“Do you not know you have to focus every minute when in training or battle?” Samson’s voice was cold and tight. “While we are glad you think of us, we cannot chance anything happening to you.”
“What do you mean?” I feared I knew.
“I mean, if you aren’t ready, we’ll have to leave you behind when we face Opal and her hawk. We cannot be worried about you as well as fighting ourselves. That would make us distracted as well and a danger to everyone around us.”
A danger to everyone around us. That resonated, chilling me to my bones. “It will never happen again.”
“How can we be sure?” Samson demanded in a tone he’d used on others who screwed up in the pack, screwed up badly. But he’d never used it on me. “We can’t take a chance. This is too serious.”
“Because —” I began, but Tris cut in.
“Because I will work with her. My training taught me techniques for focusing and precise thinking under pressure. Christie has worked hard on her skills, and I think this is what she needs to make her the warrior Gigi says is in her DNA.”
I faced him, grateful, but not wanting to be the source of disagreement between them.
“Fine.” Samson turned on a heel and left, leaving me aching more than physically.
“He’ll be fine, mate,” murmured Tris. “He just doesn’t want you to get hurt.”
“And I don’t want to be the reason either of you or anyone else does. I have another hour with Erik. Are you free to work with me then?”
“Let’s start tomorrow. You’ve had enough for today, I think.”
“Today. We have no idea when that witch will be back, and we need to be ready.” I faced Erik and gave a nod. “I apologize for the distraction when you were giving me your time and expertise. If you are still willing, I’d like to continue.”
And so it went.
Chapter Twenty-One
Impending doom hung above my head like a dark rain cloud the entire next day. I tried to shake it off and have a positive attitude, but really who in the hell can have a positive attitude about a war with a witch and her hawk?
Not this girl.
When I got home, sorer than ever, the house was dark even though my mates were home. I could scent them both, tantalizing and inviting, each in his own way.
“Where is everyone?” I asked into the shadows beyond the light cast by the the roaring fireplace.
“We’re right here, mate. We thought you needed a night off.” Tris’ face appeared as one of them lit a candle flame.
More candles blazed, and soon a warm glow reached even into the corners.
“I’m a mess,” I complained no matter how much the cozy rug in front of the fire beckoned me. Yeah, I wanted this night off with my mates, but I had been training all day, and my funk drove that point home.
“That’s why there’s a bath ready for you upstairs. Go on and take your time. We will have dinner ready for you when you come back down.” Samson placed a kiss on my chest and then gave me a gentle nudge with his hand on my ass. I took the hint and climbed the stairs at a snail’s pace. My muscles and bones ached and pulled with every movement.
I might have more skills, but the real question was…would I be too sore to fight?
Erik was a beast of a trainer.
Good thing my shifter genes would guarantee I wasn’t sore at all.
I stripped my clothes off while I entered the bathroom where the scents of sandalwood and lavender touched my nose and immediately eased me. They had drawn me a steaming bath and made sure there were relaxing oils in it to help me. I sank into the hot water and groaned at the sensation. My muscles contracted with the heat then relaxed while I made sure my body was soaked all the way up to my chin.
I lingered as my mates had said I should. I lifted my legs and shaved them just because I had the luxury and the time. I used my favorite vanilla bean body wash and made sure every surface was covered with a little extra care.
When I was thoroughly waterlogged, I got out of the tub, and Tris enfolded me in a towel.
“How did you get this thing so warm?” I wrapped the fluffy amazingness around me.
“I held it in front of the fire and then ran up here as fast as I could once I heard the water sloshing and the drain plug pulled. It was Samson’s idea. We’re now working together. It’s kind of cool. Both of us as a team, taking care of you.
It was like a dream come true for me. “I’m glad we are all finally on the same page.”
He chuckled and wrapped me up in his embrace. My body was putty in his hands. “We are. Now, come down and eat. I can smell your hunger. We have dinner for you and, if you’re a good girl, dessert.”
Gods, that one sentence made my thighs nearly catch fire. Tris was one hell of a mate.
“Okay. I’m coming down in pajamas. Just be warned.”
He winked at me, already on his way out of the bathroom. “I was hoping for the towel, but I’ll take what I can get.”
Downstairs, with my silver silky pajamas on, I was greeted by my mates. A feast was spread before me. Roasted chicken and vegetables. The scent of yeast filled the air as Samson lifted a cloth napkin to reveal homemade rolls.
And there was a yellow cake with milk chocolate frosting on the opposite counter—my favorite.
“This is perfect, but I know you two didn’t cook this.”
I sat on a stool at the counter while Samson filled my plate. I tried to protest, but he wasn’t having it.
“We may have had some help from your favorite grandmother. She had to leave—sitting with a mom in labor. But we are learning.”
“Feels like the last supper,” I said but immediately regretted my words.
Tris held my hands and froze me with his serious gaze. “We are confident this isn’t our last meal, Christie. We just wanted to show you how much we appreciate and love you.”
“Well, damn, we should have more battles around here so I can have more nights like this.”
Samson put my plate in front of me. “I swear that if all of this ends well, it won’t be the last time this happens for us, battles or not.”
The rest of the night was spent cuddling with my mates, one after the other, and, at one point, both at the same time. We reveled in the sweet silence, only the crackling of the fire to interrupt the quiet.
I needed this.
My mates surrounded me in warmth.
“Come on.” Samson scooped me up. “To bed with you.”
He brought me to bed and gently laid me down, pressing a lingering kiss to my lips.
“Stay with me,” I begged. “Both of you. Just to sleep. I don’t want to sleep alone tonight.”
Eyes closed, I heard some mumbled words before they flanked me. I was nestled between them when sleep claimed me.
No matter what happened tomorrow with Opal, tonight was perfection.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Trouble came early that morning in the form of a hawk’s cry. I was drowsily cuddled between my mates, having had the best night’s sleep I could remember, completely dreamless, and completely safe. Probably I shouldn’t have felt so safe when danger lurked in the forests around us, but with my mates’ warmth and love filling the room, what more could there be?
But at the piercing skree, they were out of bed, shirtless but wearing the pajama pants they’d left to put on before climbing in with me. Their bare feet slapped the floor as they ran for the door, and I was dressed, hair in a single braid, and raced down the stairs in three minutes flat. A record, but one I wished I could have broken by even more.
The betas and other warriors were gathering in the clearing when we arrived, milling around and speaking in low, uncomfortable voices. They’d all heard it, too, and while we had many hawks in the area, none of us had mistaken this one for a natural animal.
Why? His call came again, but from farther away, and at alt
itude. The first time had been close, perhaps just outside the house in a nearby tree.
“He’s not even a shifter,” I muttered, recognizing the difference. “So…what?” I didn’t know of any other way to be a person and an animal other than ours.
“Something spelled, befouled,” Samson replied. “I didn’t think of it before either, but the sound of his cries this morning…it’s a different pitch, painful to the ears.”
“It is, isn’t it?” I mused. “But if so, why didn’t we notice before?”
“That I can’t say.” Tris stood beside me at rigid attention. “But I heard it as well. Perhaps something has changed?”
Another shriek, from farther off.
“Maybe.” I adjusted my sword in the scabbard I’d grabbed from the rack in the foyer. “But we’ll have to consider it as we go. I’m not sure why he was here, or why he’s leaving, but he is most likely returning to her, and we cannot just let them continue to come and go at will, waiting until they choose the most advantageous time to attack.”
Samson gave a sharp nod and addressed the gathered warriors. “We are not going to let them pick their time—we have been letting them make decisions about this war for far too long. Go for your weapons and other gear and return here in ten minutes. We will scour the lands until we find and destroy the enemy. Midnight Alder will triumph.”
Cheers and raised fists preceded the men’s leaving, and we remained there, like statues until they returned. We’d made plans for this, and I had not been the only one training. They trained all the time, but in recent days Tris and Samson had put them through multiple battle sequences, preparing them for anything that could occur. I watched them go then return, memorizing each face lest they fall this day. Any war was dangerous, but one against a sorceress or whatever she was because it seemed to change each time it came up… This held an unpredictability creating even greater danger than usual.
I reached out a hand to each of my mates, reminded that any of us might not survive this day. We had fought other battles together during this year—how much had happened in a few short months—but I recognized that the difference between the other times and now. Without saying it in so many words, we’d decided we were all-in this time.
There would be no more battles.
This was the last one.
And I couldn’t think for a second that we might not win.
If I’d thought the woods would be friendly and familiar in the wintry sunshine, I couldn’t have been more wrong. There was something in the air that took the brightness away. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but even before the clouds rolled in, everything felt off. I’d run these woods often with my mates and other pack members, and found it to be a joyous place. As we spread out and moved deeper into the forest, the feeling grew stronger, and it began to snow. Or sleet. Or maybe both. Whatever it was, visibility went from as many yards as the trees permitted to hand pressed to face in under two minutes. My mates and I were leading, our pack fanned out behind us like geese flying south for the winter.
Samson stopped, and we all did the same. “Close in,” he shouted to be heard over the wind. “We won’t be able to cover as much area, but we don’t want to lose anyone.” The calls wert from one person to the next, muffling as they got toward the back. “Brandon, Moss, to me!”
This order moved back as well, since even Samson’s roar could only carry so far in this weather, but in less than minute, the pair arrived beside us.
“Alpha,” Moss said. “What are your orders?”
“Shift and lead. I hope you can pick up a trail because if you can’t, we’re going to have to turn back soon.” And that was exactly what he didn’t want, what none of us wanted, to happen.
The two handed their weapons to warriors near us, stripped, and hung their clothing from nearby branches, shivering wildly before their fur covered their goose-bumped skin. Then we were on the move again, following the two wolves whose winter coats were decorated with white bits of snow and ice and something sooty, as if ashes from a fire were in the mix.
Alarm suffused me. Was there a fire? Back at the houses maybe? But I didn’t smell smoke or anything. We had left a few warriors behind, led by one beta who had the ability to communicate with Samson without words. “Samson, check with Alec,” I urged. “Make sure everything is okay at home.” Gigi and Wendi were there…
“I just heard from him.” He continued to follow the wolves. “And there is no sign of fire. I assume the black flakes were your concern?”
“Yes.”
We went silent again, battling into the storm. It was so much harder than our usual walking or running through the forest, and even I knew we couldn’t do it much longer, without weakening our warriors enough to make them sitting ducks when they reached the enemy. If we did. Was she somewhere safely out of the way of her spell? Was this a spell?
Winter storms did come up, but this one felt…bad. Wrong. Off. I couldn’t define it other than the dark flakes which were increasing as if they replaced the regular snow and sleet by a greater percentage with every passing minute.
Ugly charred-looking bits that covered the whiteness on tree branches, rocks, logs, and all of us until, soon, there was nothing but that. The forest ahead of us looked like an alien landscape. Perhaps there were other planets where the snow was different colors? Blue? Pink? Black.
It was also not cold, I noticed. With the real stuff gone, the temperature rose, and with it came the stench of carrion. I gagged as it grew stronger, trying to maintain my forward momentum without vomiting, grateful I hadn’t eaten since last night.
There had been no time for breakfast, but we all carried energy bars in our packs anyway…not that anyone could possibly eat them now. The few who had were likely the ones throwing up behind me.
The black bits joined together to form a fog, and true horror settled over me.
We were breathing it, taking it into our lungs, and all the warriors began to cough and choke. The closest I could come to describing it was burying your face in a dead body and inhaling. I cast a glance at Samson and then Tris, and their expressions showed me they had no more idea what to do than I did.
If we didn’t get out of this in the next few seconds, I feared we and all of our men would be unconscious and then either die from lungs filled with whatever this was…or just be limp victims for whatever else Opal had in mind.
Chapter Twenty-Three
I dropped to my knees, racking coughs tearing through me, throat on fire, and head spinning. With the last of my energy, I dragged the neck of my shirt over my nose and mouth, hoping to filter a little of the sooty fog, but it was no use. Consciousness faded in and out, and I knew the poison would take me in seconds.
Desperate for one last contact with my mates, before the darkness took me forever, I reached out to them, but couldn’t find them. I managed to crawl a few feet to my right, where I’d last seen Tris, unable to use my eyes because they were afire from the poisoned fog, but patting with my hands. I couldn’t find him. I fell to my belly and dragged the other direction, hunting for Samson, with no greater luck.
I’d been prepared to die, but damned if I would die alone. I forced a shriek from my scorched throat and found my wolf deep inside. I need you now.
I am here.
My clothes split, sword falling away from me as my wolf burst free. Fur grew to cover my skin, and my bones broke and reformed. Usually, this was not painful, but this time I went from a scream to a bay at the contortions. I didn’t know why it hurt so much, but I didn’t care. This was about life and my mates and all the other warriors of the pack. I fought past the feeling of being rent apart, of every cell’s agony to find my wolf form. I had no other ideas, no other options, and instinct sent me there. Perhaps shifting wouldn’t help, but as my wolf emerged, my vision of the forest changed.
It always did, of course, because she didn’t “see” the same way I did as a human, but in this case, the change was far from ordinary. Because the woods a
round me presented a snowy wonderland. A white snowy wonderland.
It was windy, and the snow tossed around some in the breeze, and it was cold. But it was anything but black fog.
I tipped my head back and scented the air. Pine, clean earth, leaves breaking down to their components to feed the plants next spring…and the fresh smell that only snow could offer. It was beautiful and magical…and the only other beings not writhing or still on the ground were Moss and Brandon who stood over Tris and Samson, nosing them and whining.
And I knew why. I wasn’t very good at communicating with others yet in my wolf form, a bit with my mates, but they were in no shape for any kind of talking. Unlike many of our warriors, they were not unconscious, but writhing, choking, and gasping.
I gave a yip, and the other two wolves lifted their muzzles and looked at me. Then back at all the others. If I could speak to my mates in my mind, even a little, and if Brandon was their brother, if I tried very, very hard…could I get through to them at all?
I rarely prayed, but this time I pled the goddess help me because I needed more ability than I possessed.
Drawing everything I had into the words I sent out: They must shift or die.
At first, I didn’t know if he heard, but then both of the wolves were pawing my mates, barking and yipping, and I heard from them both, Shift or die. Shift or die.
I added my own mental voice to the chorus, grateful Moss—as a brother mate to Brandon—had also heard either from me or Brandon, and praying that the three of us could get through. The alpha had the ability to connect with any of his pack at will, and the others were in bad shape.
There was no time to waste.
At first, I thought it wasn’t working at all, that they were too deep in the throes of imminent death to respond, but then Tris lifted his head, just a little, and met my gaze. He gave a nod so slight I barely saw it. So weak…how could he ever make the change?
One day, I’d learn to recognize the strength in my mates. And in their wolf partners. Tris planted his hands flat on the ground and let out a scream that had to have come from his toes. I howled in protest at his pain, but my mate, my SEAL mate, never let anything stop him. Before my horrified eyes, he began the most agonizing shift I’d ever seen. I thought mine was bad, but his was clearly worse. Had the minute or so in between sent him deeper into whatever was happening?
Tremble: A Shifter of Consequence Tale (Shifters of Consequence Book 7) Page 8