Shifter Planet: The Return

by D. B. Reynolds

  His eyes shifted all the way to gold, narrowed with irritation. “It matters to me,” he said abruptly, and then he pulled her close and kissed her. Not a fast kiss, either. It was deep and long and wet. When he finally released her—pulling his mouth away then gently licking her lips and brushing a final touch of his lips over her mouth—Rachel’s body was aroused and confused in equal measure, tossed between the adrenaline rush of their decision to hurry back to the city, and the scorching desire that only Aidan had ever stirred in her.

  “How long can you go without rest, and how much do you need?” he asked. He was still holding on to her arms, bracing her against the aftereffects of their kiss. And for once he wasn’t being smug about it.

  She blinked, focusing on what mattered. “I can travel straight through today and most of the night. Four hours rest before daybreak, and it’ll keep me going until we hit the city.” She didn’t tell him she’d be using stimulant tabs to make that pace possible. She rarely used the little white pills. They were just short of an adrenaline shot to the heart and had originally been designed for battlefield use. But there was no way she was going miss Wolfrum’s takedown.

  “Right, then. We should be there tomorrow night,” he said, then leaned back to study her face, “Are you sure about the pace?”

  “I know my limits. I’m sure.”

  “Good enough. One rule—you don’t fight me. I’m going to be helping you run a good part of the way, picking you up on the fly when necessary to jump over obstacles. If you fight me, we’ll both get hurt. Understood?”

  “Understood, but I have a rule of my own. When we get close to the city, you leave me behind. If your cousin has everything under control, then great. But if not, you’ll be there for him.”

  “Stubborn woman. Define close.”

  “Right, I’m the stubborn one. Within a day’s walk of the city. Your pace, not mine.”

  “Damn you. All right. Let’s move.”

  …

  Ten hours later, they were flying low to the ground, with trees speeding past, along with bushes and rocks and everything else Rachel could imagine. She was mostly running; he wasn’t carrying her. Her legs were pumping, and her feet touched the ground, but Aidan’s strength was all around her, gripping the strap of her pack, or her arm, leaping over some obstacles and running over others, his arm sometimes circling her waist when they jumped higher than she would have thought possible. It was exhilarating, but also chilling once the sun faded and shadows took over. Then it became something entirely different, beyond terrifying.

  Aidan didn’t seem to notice. He ran easily, smoothly. His breathing was unstressed and even, his eyes twin sparks of gold, gleaming in the night and seeing everything. His arm around her grew tighter, knowing without being told that she was practically blind. But she kept running, kept pumping her arms and lifting her knees. She refused to be a burden, refused to be the weak link.

  It took her a moment to realize when they stopped running. Like a person leaving a boat for dry land, her brain needed some time to catch up to this new reality.

  “Okay?” Aidan asked, holding out her canteen. “Drink.”

  Rachel nodded wordless thanks. Taking the canteen, she drank slowly, small sips. Anything else and she’d just throw it up when they started up again. She frowned when he slipped his hands under the straps of her pack and pulled them down her arms.

  “Wait,” she protested. “I need that.”

  “Not right now, sweetheart. It’s time to rest.”

  Oh. Right. They’d discussed this earlier. It felt like a year, maybe two, but it had been only hours, though she couldn’t really say exactly how many hours.

  “Already?” she asked.

  He smiled. “Already.”

  She watched sluggishly as he untied her bedroll and spread it out on a smooth patch of loam-covered ground.

  “Come on,” he said, guiding her to the bedroll and pulling her down with him. “It’s a few hours until dawn.”

  How did he know that? Had he memorized the Farmer’s Almanac? Did they have that out here? And why the hell was she worrying about it?

  “Sleep,” she murmured and curled into his heat, her head pillowed on his chest.

  …

  The weather changed while they slept, becoming colder, with a touch of moisture that told him it would rain by morning. It wasn’t what they needed. He could run for days more, but Rachel was already using all her strength just to keep up with him. She hadn’t said a word of complaint, but he could feel the twitches in her muscles as she slept that told him her body was draining its resources for the effort.

  She had no way of knowing—and he was beginning to think he should have told her—but ever since she’d told him about the possibility that Wolfrum would go after the twins, he’d been sending a warning through the trees, using the unique connection to the Green that only shifters could tap into. He knew from Amanda that the trees felt a special bond with Rhodry’s unborn sons, and he was confident that the message would get through. Hell, there were more shifters in the city right now than in all of Clanhome, and every one of them would die to protect a child. Any child, but especially one of their own.

  That didn’t stop him from wanting to get there himself. The drive to protect was in his DNA, the belief that no one could safeguard those he cared about as well as he could. But for the first time in his life, he was conflicted. Rhodry was his brother, his children like Aidan’s own. But Rachel was his. He pulled her closer, keeping her warm. A body could chill easily under wet conditions like this, and he didn’t want to risk it. Plus, he liked the way she felt in his arms. He stroked a soothing hand over her back, brushing the side of her breast with one thumb as his fingers molded to her waist before resting possessively over her hip.

  She murmured in her sleep, and stretched against him, her arms slipping around to hug him tightly. Soft breasts pushed against his chest, her nipples firm and plump enough that he wondered what she was dreaming, and if he was included. She hummed softly as her breath brushed his neck, a moment before her lips coasted over his skin, her mouth warm and wet.

  He slipped his hand over her back to the curve of her ass and pressed her against his fully aroused cock.

  She sucked in a breath. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—”

  He chuckled. “Don’t worry, it’ll keep until everyone’s safe. But then…you’re mine, sweetheart.” He rolled her, putting her back to his chest. “Now, sleep. Tomorrow will be even tougher.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Ciudad Vaquero, capital city of Harp, aka “the city”

  “You sure you’ll be all right?” Rhodry’s golden eyes were laughing as he rubbed Amanda’s swollen belly with one hand while the other was hooked around her neck to pull her closer. He kissed her gently, a very proper kiss, except for a quick swipe of his tongue to remind her of their recent “nap.” There’d been nothing proper going on there, and very little napping.

  She swatted his chest, but let her hand linger to appreciate the solid muscle. Looking up, she met his smile. “You’re going a couple hundred yards to the Guild Hall, to meet with some shifters, not the other side of the planet. We’ll be fine.”

  “Cullen will stay with you.”

  “And don’t forget, Mom’s here. She’s vicious when riled.”

  “I believe that,” he muttered. “All right,” he said, stripping off the pants he’d donned just in case her mother decided to join them in the living room. “I’ll be half an hour, no more.” He gave her a final hard, quick kiss, and then shifted. His cat was huge and sleek and pitch black, his cat eyes the same solid gold as in his human form, but with the enhanced vision of his animal. He wrapped himself around her legs, butting his head at her hand.

  “Yes, you’re beautiful,” she crooned, stroking his thick, silky fur. She bent over and petted him thoroughly. “Go,” she whispered. “So you can come back sooner.”

  He let out an animal groan that made her laugh, then licked
her face—starting at her neck, over her cheek, and ending at her ear—and opened his jaw in a feline grin that displayed a mouth full of deadly teeth.

  “Blech,” she protested, pretending to wipe her cheek before kissing his nose. “Go.”

  He wound his body against her leg one last time and then ran through the open doors, going from the balcony to the trees with a soundless leap that belied the power behind his movement.

  Amanda watched him go, admiring his graceful strength at the same time she longed for the ability to move through the trees as easily as he did. Someday, her sons would be jumping from tree to tree just like Rhodry, and she’d be the only one stuck on the ground. She sighed and heard the song of the trees trying to soothe her. It made her smile. She heard her mother’s footsteps coming down the hall and looked up. “Hi, Mom. Did you rest well?”

  Elise came over and sat next to her. “It’s very quiet here. Almost too quiet. I’m so accustomed to the sub-audible hum of engines that I miss it when it’s gone. Like a lullaby.”

  Amanda flicked her eyebrows up and down but didn’t comment. She’d never thought of the noise on a starship as a lullaby. She preferred the wind in the trees outside her window.

  “Where’s Rhodry?” Elise asked, leaning back into the comfortable couch.

  “There was some business at the Guild Hall. He won’t be gone long.”

  “And Cullen?”

  “Your favorite shifter is downstairs. Diligently on guard as always,” she said. She started to chuckle, but was almost instantly on her feet, all traces of humor gone. The trees’ song had turned abruptly discordant, like a symphony played in the wrong key, and with every instrument doing its own thing. It was a warning. Danger was lurking, but she didn’t know where.

  She listened for Cullen’s footsteps on the stairs. He would have heard the same warnings she did, and being Cullen, his first reaction would be to check on her. “Cullen?” she called softly, knowing his shifter hearing would hear her easily if he was anywhere near. And with Rhodry gone, he’d definitely be near.

  “Amanda?” her mom said, picking up on the heightened tension, but not knowing what was going on. “What is it?”

  “Something’s wrong, and Cullen’s not answering.”

  Elise started for the door, saying, “Are you sure he can hear—”

  “Mom. He’s a shifter. He’d have heard me.”

  Elise shot her a penetrating look, and Amanda could tell it was on her tongue to ask what the hell was going on. But her mother had lived most of her life in space, and out there you followed your instincts, or you died. She immediately turned around and headed for her room, saying, “I’ll get my gun.”

  Amanda should have been shocked that her mother the doctor, a saver of lives, had a gun, but she wasn’t. Elise Sumner was a fleet officer.

  As her mother disappeared down the hallway, someone knocked on the upstairs door, which only confirmed that something was seriously wrong. Cullen would never have knocked, and he never would have let someone climb those stairs without warning her.

  Walking to a side cabinet, she slipped a small knife into the pocket of her oversize shirt then crossed to the stairway door. Without opening it—she wasn’t a total idiot—she called through the heavy wood, “Who is it?”

  “It’s Guy Wolfrum, Amanda. I heard Elise was visiting and came to say hello.”

  She recoiled in surprise. Guy Wolfrum should have been dead by now. Or, if not dead, then at least taken prisoner along with any of his surviving crew. How had he managed to evade capture and get back to the city before any of the others? And did Rhodry know?

  She answered her own question. No, of course, he didn’t know. He’d never have left her alone if he did. There were limits to the information that could be passed through the trees. They conveyed emotion, not words. And even if Wolfrum had somehow escaped capture in the chaos between fighting the fire and dealing with the invaders, the threat would have been drowned out by the danger already presented by the fires.

  “Amanda?” Wolfrum knocked again. “Are you all right?”

  “Yeah,” she called. “Sorry. Just pulling on some clothes. I was taking a nap.” She glanced over and saw her mom standing in the opening to the hallway. Elise’s expression reflected her confusion. She hadn’t been briefed on the Wolfrum situation. There hadn’t been time. But taking her cues from Amanda, she gave a slight nod and stepped back into the hall so she couldn’t be seen.

  Amanda opened the door slowly, intending to say just enough to send Wolfrum on his way, so she could let Rhodry know his whereabouts. But Wolfrum didn’t wait. He pushed the door open, forcing her to stumble backward to avoid being knocked over. Staring at his back, she took a moment to scan the stairwell, but it was empty. No sign of Cullen. She was worried about him, but right now she was more worried about what Wolfrum wanted from her. Maybe he knew Elise was on-planet and simply hoped for a free ride off-planet. But that didn’t explain why the trees were continuing to scream of danger. Was it Wolfrum? What could he want with her or… Understanding struck, and she felt a rush of such intense rage that it stole her breath away.

  “Where’s Elise?” he demanded, searching the room.

  She turned to study him carefully. He looked awful. He was a big man, but he looked as though he’d lost weight recently. His clothes were loose and disheveled, as if he’d been sleeping in them for days. His eyes were bloodshot and puffy, and the hand he raised to wipe his forehead trembled.

  He lowered that same hand to his pocket and pulled out a tranquilizer gun which he pointed at Amanda. “I said where’s Elise?” His voice was scratchy, his eyes continuing to dart around the empty room.

  Amanda pointedly ignored the gun. “She’s resting. Would you like to leave a message? Or you can come back later. Maybe without the tranq.”

  “You think you’re so special,” he sneered. “Living with one of those animals, fucking it,” he spat, gesturing at her belly. “What about me?” he shouted suddenly. “Two years and these people still treat me like an outsider, an Earther.” He said the word as if it was a curse. And maybe it was on Harp. “But you know the worst of it? The very worst?” He didn’t wait for her response, just kept up his whining. “Shifters,” he snarled. “I know they exist. I’m a xenobiologist, for fuck’s sake. Did they think I wouldn’t notice? I’ve seen them in the forest. I’ve seen them shift.” His bark of laughter had a hysterical quality that had her taking a step away, edging toward the big chair near the fireplace. She wanted something besides skin between her babies and that tranq gun.

  “Don’t move,” he snapped. “You think I’m stupid?”

  “Well,” she hedged, as she kept moving, putting more distance between them, buying more time for Rhodry to return. Because he would have heard the danger in the trees just as she did. He was on his way. “I’m not sure, Guy. I mean, you did barge into my home with a gun, even though you’ve just admitted you know my husband’s true nature, so…”

  “You smug bitch. You won’t be laughing when I’m through with you. You and your brats. I’m not returning to Earth with nothing. I told them we needed real soldiers, not rejects who couldn’t cut it in fleet. But they didn’t listen. And now it’s all gone to hell. Well, fuck that. I didn’t give up my commission, my job, my fucking reputation, for nothing,” he screamed the last word at her, jaw straining and eyes crazed.

  “They’re all dead now,” he continued conversationally, suddenly as calm as if they were discussing the weather, as if he hadn’t been bulging-eyes crazy only a moment before. “But I’m not, and I started thinking—where else could I get the specimens I’d promised to deliver? And how could I do it alone? And then, it hit me. There are two of them right here in the city. Perfect specimens that don’t require a small army to capture, and that come with a live incubator who’s already adapted to space travel.” He grinned, so very pleased with himself. “Those twins of yours are going to make me a fucking fortune.”

  “Over my dead body
,” Amanda said calmly, although there was nothing calm about the fury burning in her gut. She was going to kill this motherfucker.

  “You always were an asshole.” Elise’s quiet words had Wolfrum spinning in surprise to see her standing in the hall with an ancient pistol pointed his way.

  He cast a hate-filled glance at Amanda. “Bitch,” he snarled. And then, moving faster than she would have thought possible, he reached out and grabbed her arm, slamming her into the hard corner of the chair as he yanked her past it and against his chest, placing her body between him and Elise.

  “If I’m killed, the babies die, too,” she said reasonably, belying the sheer terror squeezing her heart.

  “Not if I keep you alive long enough to cut them out of you. Besides, she won’t shoot.”

  Amanda knew that was true. Her mom would never risk her or the twins. But was Elise a good enough shot to do anything else? Could she shoot Wolfrum in the kneecap, for example? Or, hell, just pop the asshole in the brainpan and get rid of him. He deserved to die. He would die for this. He’d threatened her children. She fingered the knife in her pocket, waiting for an opportunity.

  “So what’s the—” Her words were cut off as a spasm tore through her body, rippling through her abdomen like a wave. She staggered, yanking away from Wolfrum as she fell to her knees. “Mom,” she cried, her terrified gaze on Elise.

  Her mother rushed forward, just as Wolfrum grabbed Amanda’s arm, trying to drag her back to her feet. “Let’s go. I want those little bastards born off-planet.”

  “It’s too soon,” she gasped.

  “All the better. Stay back, Elise. I don’t need—”

  The furious roar of a hunting beast filled the air, making the entire house tremble and bringing a smile to Amanda’s face.

  …

  Rhodry landed silently in the tree next to their balcony just in time to see Wolfrum, gun in one hand and yanking at Amanda with the other, trying to drag her to her feet while she knelt on the floor, curled around her stomach.