by Adele Niles
Drake starts walking to the clubhouse and I walk with him.
He says, “The best protection for all of us is standing together and everybody doing their job.”
I’ll let Shawna know I’ve got to take care of some stuff when I see her. She’ll understand.
Chapter 13
Shawna
Griffin’s as good as his word. He got my car towed to the garage and they said they’d find a place to trade it in a neighboring town. The garage will take a commission and I won’t get the best deal, but right now it’s a necessity, so I have to take what I can get.
I was mildly surprised when Griffin didn’t call this afternoon to tell me the status of my car deal, but I know he’s got other things to do.
And I guess they’re as important as I am.
Finally, about six o’clock when everybody in town is shutting down, the garage calls and says they have a trade set up but it will have to take place tomorrow.
I call Griffin to let him know, but the call goes to voice mail. I leave a message and wait, but it is eight o’clock before he calls back.
“That’s great,” he says. “Can you get the garage to take you over there? I’m tied up tomorrow. But I’ll be there tonight.”
“Yeah, sure,” I answer. Then I go set up my candles and get out my easel. If Griffin isn’t coming for another two hours, I may as well paint.
The dark monsters emerge in my paintings again tonight.
* * * * *
Griffin doesn’t arrive until ten, and when he comes in, he seems preoccupied.
“Is something wrong, babe?” I ask him.
“Nah,” he says. “Just club business.”
Just club business? That sounds like a shut-down to me. Is there some reason he doesn’t want to tell me? Is he ashamed to include me in his club business? A woman with a stalker? A woman with a past?
I walk to the couch and start making up the bed. He comes over to help and looks at me strangely.
“Is there something wrong with you?” he asks.
“No,” I say, and know I’m lying. We should be talking to each other about what’s going on, but I’m not sure how to approach him right now. I don’t know him all that well, really.
So we go to bed in silence. We make love and it is earth-shaking love, but I’m not sure it isn’t love with a stranger.
* * * * *
The next morning, a yellow-toothed man from the garage drives me to the nearby town where my new used car is located. The man’s truck looks like it’s been driven as a battering ram, but it gets us where we need to be without falling apart.
The car they found for me is about five years older that my four-wheel drive, but it looks well cared for. The interior smells of cigarettes and beer, but I don’t stick to the seats. There are no alarming sounds from the engine when I start it, so I count my blessings and get on the road.
The guy from the garage takes off without asking if I know my way back, but I have GPS on my phone, so I’m fine. There’s no place to mount my device and no outlets to charge it, but I’m not planning on any cross-country tours, anyway.
I get home by three and I’m feeling completely grungy. I park the car behind the shop and open up for the little time there is left in the day.
By the time I pull the shades at six o’clock, no one has come into the shop, but then I didn’t expect much.
And I guess I better get used to not expecting much from Griffin either. I haven’t heard from him all day.
I’m pretty sure he’ll be here tonight and keep me safe, but I’m starting to wonder how long I can expect that to last, too.
Chapter 14
Griffin
“Move it!” I shout. I could use a bullhorn, but I got bear lungs so I can do without. We got fuckin’ gridlock on a dirt road because some asshole local said he could drive a rig when all he can do is drive his mama to drink.
We’ve got to get gravel up here and spread it on the roads before we can move the fuel trucks, and the gravel trucks are getting stuck in the mud.
But we got to get these fuel trucks through if we’re gonna keep the generators running. And the generators have to keep running or people are going to die.
Drake is about to blow a gasket because everyone thinks they know what they’re doing, so they’re all goin’ it on their own, and no one knows what the other guy’s doing.
The noise level is as high as a legion of muffler-punched bikes, and I got to get ear protection.
I hike back to my bike. When I’m halfway down the mountain, my cell phone goes off. I look at the screen. It’s Shawna.
My heart does a flip. There’re three calls from her. What the heck?
I listen to the first call.
“Griffin, somebody slashed my tires. On the new car. Where I had it parked in the back of the store. I don’t get it. How would anybody know it was mine? Maybe it was random.”
I listen to the second call.
“Griffin, I don’t think the tires were random because someone keeps calling me. I let it go to voice mail, but they don’t leave a message. On one I heard someone laughing in the background, but that was all. Maybe I’m being pranked. Maybe it’s nothing.”
I listen to the third call.
“Griffin, they’re here! The Howlers!”
I hear coyote howls over the phone.
Shit! What the hell were they doing with Shawna? I have to get there.
I speed dial her number but there’s no answer. I leave a message hoping she’ll hear it.
Hoping she’ll be able to hear it.
I jump on my bike and fire it up. I look up at the mountain and Drake is looking down.
Nothing I can do about that. Have to fix it when I’m done.
Done with some Howlers.
And this time I’m doing them for good.
Chapter 15
Shawna
Where the hell is Griffin? I need him. I need someone, because I don’t know how to fight these guys. I can’t turn into a bear.
I’m flat against the wall, but I can see through cracks in the curtains.
There must be sixty of them. They’re all around the house. Howling, snapping, slathering. These are werecoyotes with fangs as long as my hand and eyes as red as the devil’s.
One of them slams against the door and it rattles in its frame. It’s not going to last long.
I hear scratching on the roof. I’m glad I don’t have a chimney, but I’m still not safe. A coyote the size of these demons could tear through a roof given enough time.
Griffin, I think. Please hurry.
Then I hear a new sound. It’s screaming! A man is screaming and pounding on my door!
I look around for a weapon. There’s nothing. This is an art studio, not a shooting range.
Now I wish I did have a chimney because at least there would be a poker.
But there on the sideboard are my candle sticks. Silver candle sticks. Didn’t Griffin say silver is a toxin for shifters?
It’s all I got. I pick up the candle sticks. I stick one in my belt. I hold the other in my hand.
The pounding is more frantic. The screams are ear-shattering. It sounds like someone being flayed by werecoyote claws. I go close to the door. I listen.
I recognize the voice. It’s Andre. He lets out a soul-shearing shriek.
“Shawna, for god’s sake,” he screams. “They’re tearing me apart!”
I hear snarls and yapping howls. Andre’s fists beat on the door.
If I open the door just a crack, he could get in. Then I could slam the door. But it seems risky.
He sobs and moans on the other side. Then there is a thump and a wicked yowl and he screams again.
Nobody deserves to get torn apart by werecoyotes.
I open the door before I can think it through. Andre tumbles in.
I try to slam the door. A gray leg and slathering muzzle push in the crack.
I shove the candlestick in the mouth and down the throat.
/>
A hideous gurgling wail issues from the coyote as he falls back.
Another muzzle takes its place. I raise the candlestick, but Andre comes from behind and yanks me back.
“What are you doing?” I say. “We can’t let them get in.”
He slams me against the wall, then throws back his head and gives out the same scream as I heard on the other side of the door. But this time it doesn’t end in a sob.
This time it ends in a crazed, maniacal laugh. He staggers over to the door and throws it open. “Stupid bitch.”
Drooling, panting, growling coyotes stand at the door.
They start to slink in.
Chapter 16
Shawna
I cower in a corner, the candlestick behind my back. Andre walks up to me slowly and spits.
I whip out the candlestick and catch him squarely on the side of the head. He goes down, but the coyotes leap all over me. They sink in their teeth and drag me outside. I wrestle loose and roll. I crouch as they circle me.
Andre wades into the circle. Blood is dribbling from his mouth. His eye is swelling.
He towers over me. Then he brings back his boot and kicks me in the ribs. I roll to absorb the blow.
“That’s just the beginning of my revenge.” He sneers and brings back his boot again, aiming at my face.
A massive coyote moves in front of him and rears up on its hind legs. It phases to a huge naked man with demonic tattoos over his entire body. The man howls. “No!”
Andre backs up.
The demon looks at me with curling lips, then shoots his gaze to Andre. “You can have her later. But we need her now.”
Chapter 17
Griffin
I come down out of the mountains like a bat out of hell. I sound the alarm on my cell and it goes out to every URSA in the valley. By the time I blast past the clubhouse, there are twenty bikers ready to fall in behind me.
But when we hit Shawna’s yard, we see we’re out numbered. Bros phase into bears and rise up on hind legs, but when bears and coyotes square up, it’s three against one.
A bear can handle a coyote. Even two. Three is pushing it—but pushing it is what URSA brothers do.
Fur starts to fly.
I hear cracking bones and splintering teeth and the blood sprays like a werewolf caught in a propeller.
My bear snorts and huffs wildly, trying to find Shawna. Then we see her. She’s tied to a tree with a silver dagger at her throat. Any bear that tries to rescue her risks slicing himself on the silver and losing his own life in the trade.
I lock eyes with her. A coyote tackles me from the side.
In one roll, I’m back on my feet. I’ve got to get to Shawna. I shred through fur and toss coyotes to both sides.
I gain the tree where Shawna is tied. I reach with claws and slice one rope—as the biggest coyote in the pack jumps on my back and sinks his fangs into my neck.
I fall straight back—my best defense—and I hear the coyote’s head crack on the ground. But his jaws are locked and his fangs stay in my neck.
I rear up and swing around. Another bear brings his own fangs into the coyote and the beast lets go of me as it screams in pain.
I see Shawna has worked one of her hands loose. My heart swells with pride in my brave lady—as I am hit again, this time by two werecoyotes.
I toss them aside, but they land on their feet. They pace around me and are joined by the big guy that went for my back. I can see he is pissed and his anger is going to give him strength.
But I’m standing between him and my mate, so I’m feelin’ pretty strong, too.
The smaller werecoyotes slink back, giving the big guy the lead. He snarls and sways in front of me, holding my eyes and swishing his tail.
Then he leaps.
He misses my throat, but his fangs sink into my shoulder. I wrap my arms around him and put him in a crushing squeeze. I know he can’t breathe, but I know he’s beyond caring. He’s decided he’s going to kill me or die with me, and I’m beginning to think he’s right.
The other coyotes see the death waltz and close in. I use his body as a shield between them and Shawna. I don’t care if I die, but I can’t die yet.
I have to protect Shawna.
I pray that I can. I am weakening and he is weakening. The coyotes want Shawna and I know werecoyotes will kill each other to get to their prey.
I’m at Shawna’s tree and I feel my spirit leaving. I look at her with love in my eyes. She stretches her hand toward me –
And it holds the silver dagger.
I let go my vice grip on the coyote on my chest and grab the knife from Shawna. I slice through my assailant and then the other two. I slash at retreating werecoyotes as they run from my knife.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Andre, and he’s got a gun. I don’t like it, but a shifter can heal from a gun.
Unless it’s got a silver bullet. Like the one that got me before.
He raises the gun and points at my chest.
I dive.
The big coyote behind me gets hit. It throws back its head and lets out the sound of devils boiling in hell.
The werecoyotes freeze. Then they look back at Andre, who’s still holding the smoking gun.
One coyote leaps on him, then five more, and then the whole pack. They tear his limbs and shred his flesh.
His screams are real this time.
But they don’t last long.
Chapter 18
Shawna
A Sensei once told me that violence toward one was violence toward all, and if that is true, the violence I saw today should have the whole world weeping.
I left the city to escape violence, but brutality must follow me.
I sink to the base of the tree and cry.
The werecoyotes have fled, carrying their wounded with them, but there are bears cradling broken limbs and holding together gaping slices in skin.
Griffin crawls over to me, still naked from phasing back. He has a blanket wrapped around him. He is badly wounded in the shoulder, but the blood is flowing freely, which is good.
He tries to put his arm around me, but I push him away.
“Look, babe,” he says, “I know I’ve been busy lately but with the storm and the power being out…”
I shake my head and pull my knees to my chest. “No, no, it’s not that.”
He lifts my chin so I have to look in his eyes. “Then what is it?”
“This is all my fault,” I say on a sob.
He pulls in his chin and gives me a stern look. “All your fault? You mean the storm was your fault? Wow. I know you’re a powerful woman, but that’s taking a lot of credit.”
I twist from him angrily. “Not that. You know that’s not what I mean.”
“Well…” He shrugs. “The root cause of all this is the storm. And the Howlers. The Howlers thought everyone would be too distracted trying to stay alive to mind if they sleazed in and took over.”
I shiver in his arms. “But I brought Andre—that’s my fault!”
He nods slowly. “So Andre was right? You are a cold bitch and that’s why you two broke up and he had to chase you here?”
“No,” I say, frowning at him.
He nods slowly, like he’s thinking it through. “Then you’re the one who gave him your address and told him you’d leave a key under the door?”
My frustration is about topped out. I push off like I’m going to get up and leave, but Griffin grabs my arm.
“Shawna, listen to me,” he says. “You did nothing wrong. A bad dude got ahold of you and messed you up. You didn’t ask for that, you didn’t deserve that, and you sure as shit didn’t make it happen.”
I stop trying to fight him.
He eases me back down to his side. He pulls me to him. “Today I saw you do one of the bravest things I’ve ever seen anyone do, let alone a little slip of a girl. He lays my head on his shoulder. “I know you could have cut yourself loose and run. But you stayed so you co
uld pass me the knife.”
It was true—I couldn’t bear the thought of him getting hurt. Slowly, I nod.
He kisses my face. “That’s not doing something wrong. That’s doing something right.”
He kisses my hands, my ears, and my neck. Then he pulls me into his arms and holds me.
I know now he will be with me forever. He will protect me and keep me warm.
I snuggle up against him and kiss his cheek. “I guess you have a point.”
“Thanks,” he says. “But can I go get some pants on now?”
Chapter 19
Shawna
“No,” I say. “No pants.”
I stand and take his hand. He wraps the blanket around his waist, making him look even more like a Greek warrior. I hold his hand proudly.
We walk among the wounded bears asking if we can help, but they are already healing and some are already on their bikes. Drake came down from the mountain as soon as the message about the attack got through to him, but by the time he got here, it was all over.
Now he’s walking among the bears checking their wounds and congratulating them for their bravery in battle and for sending the Howlers back to hell where they belong.
Drake sees Griffin and straightens up. The two approach each other slowly.
Drake sighs and slumps to one hip. Griffin sways in front of him and then holds up his hands.
“I didn’t have time to get you the info. I had to make a decision.”
Drake nods. “Don’t make it a habit.”
Drake turns back toward the other bros and Griffin turns to me.
Then he stops and tells me to wait.
He turns back to Drake. “Uh, about that meeting tonight…”
Drake looks at him out of one eye. Then grunts. “Go on. You need to be with your lady.”
* * * * *
By now, I’m glad I live in the back of a store and don’t have regular neighbors because I’m sure they’d be calling relators and trying to move out.
To top it all off, Griffin in his blanket and me in my torn blouse walk into my back door like we just got home from dinner.