Javier

by Emilia Hartley

  The drinks and food in her stomach churned. It burned the back of her throat as she scanned the dark woods. As much as she wanted to shout his name, she didn’t know how many other hunters lurked in the darkness. Under the cover of night, with her mother’s gifts, they could easily best Nora. She had to play this smarter.

  They always were a daft bunch, she thought. Cordelia brainwashed them all too easily, turning them into her thugs. If anyone could outsmart them, Nora could. She crouched and removed her shoes. The ground was damp and filled with sharp stones and sticks, but she couldn’t afford to trip.

  If her mother had sent the whole crew, then there would be two other hunters waiting somewhere. The trick had been smart. It had pulled on both Nora and Javier’s protective nature. This new pack was their family, even if they hadn’t been brought into the fold. Her mother had used it against them. The trick had split them.

  Nora slunk through the woods, bent low to avoid being seen. Her pale skin and red hair would stand out beneath this moonlight, easily caught by the trained eyes of hunters. If she’d had her own magic, she could have blinded them, bound them, or a million other things. This time, it was just Nora.

  She did kick herself for not being more prepared. Years of living with her mother, months and months of helping her prepare for every circumstance, should have reminded her not to drop her guard. She relied too heavily on the magic that shaved at her own soul. Guns and knifes were clunky in her hands but would have been better than nothing in that moment.

  Darkness gathered all around her, but she caught the snap of twigs to her right. She darted to the left. A brush of wind swept past her as a hunter rushed in the direction she’d come from. Her heart stuttered and found it’s rhythm again.

  One more.

  Once she was past both, she could run. She wouldn’t come back for the truck until morning. Right now, she needed to find Javier. There was no sign of her mate in this darkness. If he’d changed, she should have heard his massive beast somewhere. She should have heard heavy footsteps, thundering through the woods.

  That meant her mother had him. It was the only explanation she could think of. Cordelia was here, and her magic had dropped Nora’s mate without a fight. It made a hot anger burn inside her. Nora had nothing to fight back with, but that wasn’t going to stop her.

  “Tucker?” a familiar voice called out. “Hey, Tucker. Are you out there?”

  Too bad Tucker was unconscious near the picnic.

  Nora rushed forward again. Chill grazed her arm. It bit through her and made her clench her teeth. She had just enough time to lean away before another hunter ran past. Her mother’s magic was like the sting of winter. The hunter’s night-cloaked body nearly ran into her. She felt the brush of his jacket against her hip and prayed he didn’t feel it, too.

  What would Nora do when she found her mother?

  But, before she could think, a howl split the air.

  Javier. He was still here. Her mother’s magic hadn’t silenced him; he wasn’t yet in her grasp. The thought pushed her. She’d never run so fast in her life, the stinging pain of rocks and branches beneath her feet ignored while her heart roared. All that mattered was reaching her mate.

  He’d shifted. A shifter without a soul was often unpredictable. Their beasts craved death, their own or others.

  Nora wanted to scream his name, but she held it in her mouth. She needed the advantage of surprise if she was going to figure out what to do. The smell of the road greeted her, asphalt and exhaust. Nora crouched in the brush, watching the scene unfold through breaks in the greenery.

  Javier stood before her mother, hackles risen and teeth bared. Her mother faced him with uncertainty. Even with both powers, Cordelia wasn’t sure she could face off against the thing she’d created.

  “You want this,” Cordelia said while raising the amorphous form in her hands. It swirled like smoke. Perhaps a trick, Nora thought. It was hard to imagine holding a soul in her hands. “Right? You ache to have this back. You can have it…”

  For a price, Nora finished.

  Javier, too, saw the lie for what it was. He snapped his teeth and darted toward Cordelia. The woman screamed and threw her hands over her face, the amorphous form dissipating. She crashed into the truck behind her, but Javier soared over both. He landed with a heavy sound on the other side and kept running.

  Nora screamed for him, bursting out of the brush, but her voice fell on deaf ears. The beast was in control now. It wouldn’t listen to anyone. At least, not while it feared death.

  “Nora!” Cordelia snapped.

  Nora had no patience for her mother. She flipped the woman her middle finger as she ran past. Cordelia shouted after her but didn’t try to use her powers to stop her. Perhaps the woman realized the price of Nora’s powers.

  For years, Nora considered shaving her soul away until she felt nothing. After Walter’s death, unable to cope with the ache of his loss and the shame of what she was doing, she’d nearly tried it. Nora had only succeeded in taking a part of herself. Her attempt at self-destruction had ended the moment she realized what Javier was to her.

  Now, she couldn’t help but wonder if this wouldn’t be so difficult with her soul intact. Whole, she could have helped Javier more. She would have been what he needed. Yet, now she was only a fraction of the person she should have been, running through the night after the person that meant the most to her.

  She’d failed him in so many ways. This was the last. She should have freed him from the get-go. She should have helped heal the wounds her mother inflicted. She should have done something to stop all he’d gone through, but he’d been more concerned about her safety.

  Javier wasn’t much different without his soul. He cared deeply, that she knew. The echo of it was still there, though fainter. He was a man who would sacrifice much to make sure others were safe. Perhaps that was why he’d left his Pack in the first place, to find what it meant to truly be his own person apart from the sacrifice and worry.

  The thought made Nora realize where Javier’s wolf was going. There were still people to protect. The beast wanted to make sure those that had risked their lives for him were not still in danger. She fisted her hands and turned to run toward the Lodge.

  Chapter Eight

  The woods smelled of pine and fur. Small animals skittered here and there, collecting food, begging to be devoured.

  Javier ran past it all. His only concern was for those he knew he loved. The feeling of love sat deep inside him. It wasn’t pressing or demanding, but it was something he knew. He knew the people he loved were important, and he wouldn’t stop until he knew they were safe.

  The witch had returned. She’d tried to ambush his family. She’d tried to tear them apart again.

  This was wrong. Something was wrong. The human thoughts pressed into the wolf’s mind, but the wolf shoved them aside. It knew what it had seen. It knew what was real and what needed protecting.

  The wolf had seen their sister stumbling into the clearing. It’d smelled her fear and heard her terror. It knew those things. It didn’t want their sister to know those things.

  But, Javier kept pressing. He fought against the soulless creature inside himself. The struggle made the creature’s feet falter beneath him. They stumbled and fell. Stones and twigs scraped at their fur. A tree trunk cracked and groaned as they hit it.

  Stop! He screamed at his beast.

  They’d left behind their mate, surrounded by the witch and her hunters. Nora had no way of protecting herself. Not with that many hunters around her.

  If the hunters were there, who is threatening the others? Javier’s voice slipped in, filled with reason and logic.

  But, the wolf would hear none of it. The creature shoved Javier back and locked him deep. They would check on those they loved. They would protect them with their last breath. Javier tried to fight, but he was too far away. He felt trapped all over again. His own body was a cage that fought against him.

  ***


  Nora stumbled toward the Lodge door and banged on it with a weak fist. There was a sound of rustling and hushed whispers from inside. If she’d had shifter hearing, she probably would have heard Rhylan struggling into pants and Thalia hurrying to cover herself.

  They were newlyweds, after all.

  The door swung open. When she saw Rhylan and Thalia through the doorframe, whole and safe, her body gave out. Exhaustion set in, and her knees dropped her. Rhylan lurched forward to catch her.

  “What’s wrong with her?” Thalia snapped.

  Nora needed to stand. She needed to find Javier. But, her body refused to listen. She’d run all night to get to the Lodge. The sun was approaching the horizon and she was still no closer to finding Javier. The things he might do in his wolf form scared her. He would never be able to live with himself.

  Nora had seen the soulless shifters before. Javier was large enough to do a decent amount of damage before something put him down. She couldn’t let that happen. Powerless and exhausted, Nora still wanted to fight for him.

  “Hey,” Thalia said, slapping the side of Nora’s face.

  Her eyes jerked open. Had she passed out? Her stomach flipped, and she leaned forward.

  “What’s your issue? Where’s my brother?”

  Nora fought back tears. This was all her fault. Her mother never would have been able to pull off such a dirty trick if she hadn’t passed over her power. Nora looked up at Thalia, remembering the crying and frightened version of her she’d seen the night before. She should have known it was an illusion from the beginning. Thalia’s face was almost always a mix of cocky and disgruntled. Never afraid.

  Not in front of Nora, at least.

  “You aren’t answering my question!”

  “Honey,” Rhylan whispered, touching his mate’s arm. “Calm down. She’s exhausted and bleeding.”

  Bleeding? Nora looked down to find she’d left bloody tracks into the Lodge room. Her feet began to throb, a million small cuts stinging all at once. Her dress was streaked with dirt, blood, and tears. Nora had pushed herself too hard. In her heart, she knew it was worth it, but her body cried out with agony as she stumbled toward the nearest chair. Javier was still out there, a threat to himself and others. Her mind wouldn’t let her forget as it repeated the words over and over. It made her twitch and glance to the window.

  “What happened to you?” Thalia’s tone let up, but only by a fraction.

  Nora wanted to let her head fall into her shaking hands. Exhaustion and tears still waited to claim her, but she wouldn’t give in. “Mother staged an ambush.”

  Thalia’s jaw dropped. Her eyes filled with fear, but Nora held up a hand. It trembled in the air.

  “Javi escaped, but he shifted.”

  Thalia looked to her mate, who shrugged in response. Nora often forgot that the two of them had not seen a soulless shifter in action. Jax and Sydney had, and Sydney had paid the price. She knew Javier would not be as violent as the escaped wolf had been, but she couldn’t forget her mother’s manipulations. No one knew what Javier might do without his soul, but Nora could guess what her mother would make him do if she found him before they did.

  Nora tried to steady herself and began to explain what it meant. She looked at Thalia, hating what she was about to say. It was the only way they would save him, though.

  Thalia didn’t look happy about it either. The young shifter’s hate for Nora seemed to know no bounds. Nora couldn’t blame her, not completely. Thalia had spent part of her life living in squalor and scrubbing toilets to find her brother. When she learned Nora had him all along and hadn’t helped him escape, she immediately hated her.

  Right now, all they had to do was set aside their differences just long enough to find Javier. That was all that mattered. Maybe, in the future, Thalia would understand why Nora had been afraid to help them.

  Chapter Nine

  “I can’t believe you lost him,” Thalia grumbled.

  “I’m not a damn babysitter. He’s a grown man.” Nora wanted to pull Thalia’s long hair and shove her into the ground. The young shifter needed to be taught a lesson in manners, but it wasn’t Nora’s place.

  Nora knew why Thalia acted the way she did around her. Thalia didn’t trust Nora. If anything, Nora had given her good reason. She’d nearly abandoned her own mate, thinking it best if he stayed where he was. Javier would have had his soul, but the longer he stayed there, the more twisted it would have become. Her mother would have seen to it.

  Nora let out a long sigh and started to tell her what happened the night before. For about, the thirtieth time. Still, Thalia looked at her with disbelief. She refused to believe that Nora hadn’t been a part of it. Perhaps, the girl thought this was a trap, too. Her eyes roved over the woods around them, no doubt looking for the rifles loaded with tranquilizers.

  Honestly, Nora should have been looking for them, too. If Javier had gotten away, Cordelia would have sent out her hunters in search of him. Nora wanted to curse her family for obeying so blindly, but she had done the same. She’d obeyed out of fear. Out of hatred.

  “Okay, so he took off. Any clue as to where he would have gone? Right now, we’re just running in circles.”

  Nora bit the inside of her cheek. “I know he checked on you. It was the first place he would have gone. From there, I’m not sure.”

  “Why don’t you just use that fancy magic of yours to find him?” Thalia waved her fingers.

  She pressed her lips together and turned away from Thalia. Scanning the forest for signs of her cousins, she started forward.

  Thalia reached out and grabbed her, spinning Nora around. She searched Nora’s face with frustrated scrutiny. “Do it. Use your magic to find him.”

  “I can’t.” Nora didn’t want to talk about this with her mate’s little sister. The headstrong shifter was quickly getting on Nora’s nerves. Unfortunately, she knew Thalia would be helpful in getting Javier to shift back.

  His wolf would be in control, a mindless beast bent on destruction. It would tear through whatever it could find once it knew their people were safe. Nora worried about hikers and traditional hunters. They weren’t safe as long as Javier prowled. If he hurt any of them, he might not regret it now, but when his soul was whole again he would mourn.

  “Hold up!” Thalia jogged to catch up to Nora, outpacing her enough to turn and walk backwards. She held Nora’s gaze as she continued. “You came in, rescuing the day when we freed Javier, brandishing a whip made of pure light. And you’re trying to tell me it can’t find him? That sounds like a lot of bull.”

  Nora looked away. “I can’t because I don’t have my magic anymore.”

  Thalia stumbled over a raised root and landed on her butt. She looked up at Nora with confusion and surprise. As much as she wanted to leave the girl on her ass, Nora offered her a hand back onto her feet.

  “I tried to trade it for your brother’s soul. Cordelia took it and didn’t fulfill her half of the bargain.”

  “You did what?” Thalia’s voice hitched.

  “You heard me. I thought it was a fair trade.”

  “No, I’m just surprised you would do something that nice.”

  Nora’s lips curled from her teeth. She’d never been a great person. On the outside, she’d been sweet and presentable, what the world wanted to see. Yet, on the inside, she’d been what her mother molded her into. It hadn’t been good. Now, Nora was trying to unravel it all and weave her own tapestry. It was a process that took everything she had, even more so now that a part of her was missing.

  If she didn’t find Javier, she’d lose another part of herself. After that, she wasn’t sure she could be put back together again.

  After her confession, Thalia stayed quiet. They kept their eyes peeled, on the lookout for signs of hunters or witches. They also looked for signs of shifters. Javier was a big wolf, about the size of a smart-car. Both Thalia and Nora knew what he looked like, what his tracks might resemble.

  It took hours
, but eventually they found a rut in the earth. Claw marks led to fur tufts and a half-eaten rabbit carcass. It was a snack for someone of Javier’s size.

  “Well, it’s not tamales,” Nora said, laughing at her own inside joke.

  Thalia made a sound of agreement, somehow softer than she’d been when they left. It seemed Nora’s sacrifice had bought her an ounce of trust from the young shifter. Thalia was incredibly family oriented, but only with those she deemed family. Her protective streak ran a mile wide and propelled her into dangerous situations.

  “You said he would have come to the Lodge to check on Rhylan and me. Why would he have left? If he’d done what you said, shouldn’t he have stayed?”

  Nora swallowed. If he’d had his soul, Javier would certainly have done just that. But they were dealing with a beast that did not abide by emotions like love. It was possible Javier had a fraction of his soul, the part that had driven him to check on Thalia and Rhylan in the first place, but it wasn’t enough to stave off the endless emptiness the beast felt.

  Nora had a feeling she knew what it was like. Her own soul was fragmented and shaved away, now echoing through the loss of her magic.

  Together, Thalia and Nora followed the tracks they could find. It was slow progress that made their bodies ache. At least, it made human Nora ache. Thalia showed no signs of wearing down anytime soon.

  “I take it the date didn’t go very well,” Thalia said.

  “It was going as well as can be for two very messed up people, but it sure didn’t end well.”

  “If I were either of you, I would have just called it off.”

  Nora sighed. Once again, Thalia was trying to drive a wedge between them. The young shifter threw pointed glances at Nora, but seeing Nora’s exhaustion gradually softened the looks. Thalia’s shoulders fell, and her arguments dissipated.

  “You’re never going to be happy with me, but I’m doing everything I can to help your brother. You’re just going to have to deal with the fact that you can’t dictate his life. As I remember, you didn’t want anyone dictating yours.”