by Liz Paffel
She tipped her face to the sky and slid her fingers into her hair. Eyes closed, she inhaled through her mouth let it out slowly. Grey clouds shifted lazily across the moon, a perfect split momentarily washing everything in brilliant silver light.
Not quite full, this moon was already more brilliant and enigmatic that any yet this year. It was a mating moon—a time when the lunar energy pulled fated mates together. And for some, the powerful vibrations offered healing. He recalled the faint scent of the woman’s sickness. With the turmoil in the healthcare system and restrictions on medications, humans were called back to the natural world to look for cures and treatments for things that ailed them.
That’s why people hunted the Ahpret so mercilessly now—why he had to stop the hunter who had already killed far too many. His stomach rumbled as a deep hunger spread through him. He needed his strength back. As slowly as he was healing this time, it would take a few more days before he was at his peak. Unless he fed...
The woman bent and scooped snow in a circular pattern around her feet. She trembled uncontrollably as she cleared the last bit of snow from her work and positioned herself in the center of the circle.
Was she trying to freeze to death? He understood wanting to seek the moon’s power, but to do so in nothing but a thin night shirt and bare feet? People came to the house for a peaceful, pain-free death. In the years’ he and Bjorn had been operating the covert human euthanasia center, he’d never had a patient choose to off himself. This woman looked too young, and on the outside, healthy, to be ill enough to covet death. Her surrounding aura didn't resonante as someone intending to commit suicide.
There was something else at play here. Maybe he’d been alone too long; his biology constantly reminding him that he was overdue for taking a mate and growing incrementally weaker each day. Maybe it was the dismay he held in the dark recess of his mind that reminded him of the human war he’d fought in; the people he’d killed. The horrors he’d committed.
Prodromal pain lanced around his neck. He quickly put a hand there as if he could make it stop. He didn’t wear the military shock collar anymore but releasing himself from it hadn’t released him from the nightmares.
Maybe he was just losing his fucking mind.
Breathy words reached his ears and Gavin pulled out of his own thoughts. She was... chanting? Her head was tossed back, arms outstretched, lips moving in a whispered prayer. His normally finely tuned hearing couldn’t pick up all of what she was saying—damn slow healing—but the way her lips formed each word mesmerized him. A low growl bubbled up from the base of his throat. The muscles on his arms and across his chest started to contract and release, causing the barest of ripples beneath his human skin.
The bear inside stirred and soon, it would demand to be let out.
Gavin clenched his eyes and willed the beast to settle. Shifting now could undo the progress he’d made toward healing. Any disruption in healing progress could result in permanent damage. He couldn’t afford not to be whole.
He traced the line of her delicate jaw and the beautiful column of her throat. She might be sick, and he had no idea why she was here, but she was teasing his senses—his lust, and his hunger.
Gavin steeled his jaw. He needed to leave before he or his bear did something regretful. It was bad enough that he was intruding on her privacy, but the thoughts going through his head were downright uncivilized. His lips tingled at the thought of wandering down her gorgeous throat and kissing the hollow of her collarbone. He could fist her shocking red mane and pull her head to the side, giving him full access to the heat of her skin and the life pounding in the vein along her neck.
Delicious. Fuck, her flesh would be delicious and her blood...
Suddenly her head snapped up and she whipped a look in his direction. Wide-eyed, she searched the darkness, her shaking arms crossing over her breasts.
I heard you!
The voice rang clearly in his mind as if she were speaking directly into his ear. His thoughts... she’d heard them. Just like before.
And I hear you.
Her lips parted as she stumbled backwards, clearing her circle, and going ankle-deep into the snow. She went slowly backwards towards the steps, searching the darkness with her gaze. Gavin was dumbstruck. He’d thought perhaps he’d dreamed their mental connection while he was in stasis, yet here it was, happening again.
You’re freezing.
A shake of her head was the only acknowledgement to his transmission. The color left her face, leaving behind a waxy glow in the moonlight. A bluish tint colored her lips. Grounding herself to nature to pray had taken a toll on her—one she might not come out of.
Light beat down with renewed brilliance, bathing her in an ethereal glow as she reached for the railing. A flash of something near her body caught his eye. Gavin’s pulse kicked up. Along her left forearm, a thin, silver line appeared and began to unravel like a blossoming flower, a single line unfurling into three which each created swirling veins along her flesh.
Bark crumbled beneath his fingertips as he gripped the tree trunk.
She was moon marked. Impossible!
Gavin yanked up his left sleeve and peered at his arm. The pattern was there as always—the mark of the Ahpret—but it was weak and dull because the moon wasn’t yet full. Only the energy and light of a full moon could draw out the ethereal silver glow of the tattoo. But she wasn’t Ahpret; he’d smell it if she were. She was human, frail, and sick. Yet he’d watched the mark unfold, and with an intensity that shouldn’t occur until the moon was at peak fullness.
He started toward her.
I’m coming to you.
He didn’t care if she locked the door and bolted him out. He’d break it in. It was time for this mystery to come to an end.
Her gaze had fallen to her arm, transfixed. She raised her arm higher to get a closer look, trembling and dazed, as if it was the first time she’d seen the mark on herself. She squealed and began to rub her skin as if she could wipe it off.
Gavin cleared the shadows and stood fully in her view. Moonlight swathed them both. His right arm began to tingle as if healing from the singe of a burn.
“Fuck.”
The word dripped from his lips as he stared at his own moon mark. It illuminated beneath his skin with a brightness that rivaled hers. The pattern turned red like an ember and began to spread until it unfurled in his palm, flashed once, and faded away.
Gavin did a double-take, stunned. A soft breath snapped him to attention. The woman stood before him with her arm held out to him like an offering, too stunned by it to be afraid of him.
“What did my brother do to me?”
Her body swayed.
Gavin reached for her, too late, as she crumbled into the snow.
Chapter Six
Silly, frail humans.
Gavin threw another log on the fire and stoked the flames. The resting house had an efficient heating system, but nothing warmed up the room and a body quite like a strong fire. He’d pulled the sofa as close to the fireplace as he dared and lay the woman on it, then wrapped her in two thick blankets. Despite his efforts, she still trembled.
Her skin remained cool, a bluish hue tinting her lips. He touched the back of his hand to her forehead, relieved to find some warmth there.
Gavin hadn’t quite recovered from seeing the moon marks on them both. He’d never heard of the marks appearing outside of a full moon, at least, not with the brilliance theirs had. He was Alpha and his mating age had peaked and was quickly fading away. His mark had shone many times over the years, the primal tattoo a symbol that displayed his readiness to mate. But never like this.
There was a strange magic or a fluke in biology at work here.
The woman moaned. He hunkered down beside the couch and searched her face. She’d barely roused from his gentle handling when he’d carried her inside. Thick, black eyelashes fanned across the rise of wide cheekbones. Her skin was smooth and pale, flawless in stark reveal to the m
ulti-hued auburn of her hair as it framed her face. There was something oddly familiar about her... as if they’d met before.
Her eyelids fluttered and opened. Wide, blue eyes looked at him with a sheen of panic and disorientation. For a moment, he considered speaking telepathically, but nixed the idea.
“You’re okay,” he said gently. “I’m not going to harm you.”
She gave a startled sound and moved to sit up. Her gaze fixed on his face. Gavin couldn’t read all the emotions at play on her features since fear mostly masked them. With a start, she sat up and looked at her arm where the moon mark had been. She rubbed the spot, then looked back to him. Slow realization crossed her features.
“You had it too. What’s happening?”
He didn’t understand it himself. “Are you... fully human?” The question probably sounded odd to her, but he needed to know.
Her brow furrowed. “Of course. I’m going to assume that you’re SVH.”
He didn’t miss the shiver of fear that coursed through her torso as the words came out. It used to bother him that humans only thought of the Ahpret as merciless monsters who consumed human blood at every opportunity. That’s what footage from the war had shown them. The raging, fierce animal that stopped at nothing to kill the enemy—and then fed until they’d had their fill. The other side of the Ahpret’s nature had never been shown. The loving family groups. Raising young. Doing good things for the community. Nor had the truth ever come out how the human government had promised the Ahpret more land in return for their help in the war.
Instead, they’d been forced back on their reservation, and humans were given the green light to hunt them.
“I am. You do not have to fear me. I see it in your eyes.”
“That’s kind of normal when you wake up to find a strange man in your house, SVH or not.”
“Fair enough.”
She rubbed a hand over her forehead and pushed her hair away from her face. Chaotic energy bounced off her. He wished he could soothe her, make it better. He rolled the sleeves of his blue chamois shirt. It was getting hotter in here by the second. She looked soft and angelic and the more he looked at her, the hotter his blood became.
“What were you doing outside in a thin nightshirt and no shoes?”
The corner of her lips lifted a little. “Getting cold.”
He chuckled, but the gravity of the danger she’d put herself in wouldn’t be denied. “I saw that. This cold snap is no joke. It’s dangerous.”
She shook her head and picked at something on the blanket. “It was the moon,” she whispered softly. “It felt like... like I just had to go outside and stand beneath it. The moment I stepped into the woods; strange things have been happening to me.”
Her cheeks went pink. “Yeah, that sounds crazy. I’m sorry. I’ve been trying to work things out in my head. I’m a doctor, for crying out loud, but no amount of science or degrees can prepare a person for—”
Her eyes snapped to his as if she were afraid to finish that sentence.
“What lies in these woods?”
“Mmm-hmm.” She folded down the top of the blanket as if she needed something to do with her hands. “It’s been a weird couple of days.”
“I imagine it has.”
“I’m actually here to find someone. I was told to find Gavin Perry.”
His heart flipped. It had been a long time since anyone had been sent to the resting house, and never had anyone come without prearrangement. He hadn’t kept up lately on what was happening in the human world, but it must be bad if this female simply showed up. As if she’d fled here.
Or, was hiding.
She cocked her head, eyes narrowed. “You’re Gavin, aren’t you?
The sense of familiarity he’d had earlier returned. He couldn’t have possibly met her before. He’d remember because his body wouldn’t have let him forget.
“I am.”
She visibly relaxed and scooted upright until she was fully sitting. So many questions raced through his mind but before he could choose which to ask first, he recalled what she’d said right before she’d passed out.
What did my brother do to me?
It came at him like a rush — the reason she was familiar. The color of her hair and the shape of her eyes. They were the same as those of his long-time friend, Bjorn Lindsburg. How could he have been so blind?
“Isla?”
At her slow nod, all the questions compounded times a hundred. Gavin crouched down next to her, heat from the fire permeating his back.
“Bjorn sent you here?”
A beat of silence passed before she nodded. Gavin’s middle clenched. The human world must be getting worse if Bjorn sent his sister to the resting house to what, keep her safe? Hide her? He was aware of the secretive work Bjorn and Isla did to help those who couldn’t afford healthcare. They risked capture from the government, likely torture, and death.
“He had no choice.”
Her expression saddened. Gavin had the strongest urge to kiss her, to press his lips to hers and taste the sweet, deep recess of her mouth. He thought of their encounter in the woods. He’d threatened to drink her blood. Gavin’s gaze fell to her neck. He was hungry, had been for hours. The excitement of seeing her moon mark had made him temporarily forget. She locked eyes with him unabashedly and the hunger flamed in him a two-fold. Both his desperate need for blood, and his lust.
Especially lust.
The fire crackled behind him, the heat of it almost too much for his normally over-warm body to handle. The desire wasn’t helping. Gavin stood and moved to the kitchen.
He set a kettle of water on the stove and rummaged around for tea. By the looks of the undisturbed cupboards, she hadn’t eaten much since she’d arrived. Concern butted up against the lust. She seemed so frail. He’d cook something and make sure she ate. He started through the cupboards again, looking for something easy to heat up and paused. Why this sudden need to protect her, feed her, ensure her comfort?
She was Bjorn’s sister. That was all. He’d do anything for his friend, including tending to his baby sister.
He hoped her presence here didn’t mean what he thought it did. Gavin let his hand rest on the cupboard door. “Is Bjorn alive?”
“Yes.”
Relief pulsed through him. In the midst of turmoil in both the shifter and human worlds, he’d lost touch with Bjorn, but the bonds of friendship were still there. His friend has sent his precious sister here for a reason. He needed to tease out the truth, a little at a time. He couldn’t expect her to spill everything just because he asked. He wanted her to trust him, to want to confide in him.
“What were you doing outside?”
He’d meant to ask her if she wanted some soup. But he needed to know. Something was brewing, and he didn’t like the undertone. There was a rustling from the couch, and her red head popped up over the back to look at him.
“Why were you spying on me?”
Busted. Gavin turned a can of beef soup over in his hands and put it back before grabbing another. Tomato. Pure, rich and red. Like blood. A needy sound bubbled up from his throat. He forced it down.
“I was walking the perimeter and spotted you outside.”
“Walking the perimeter?”
She crossed her arms over the back of the couch and rest her chin on top of them. He found himself staring a bit too long and returned focus to fixing her dinner. The amount of calm she was exhibiting impressed him, given the circumstances.
“It’s an old habit, to make sure things are safe.”
Gavin eyed her beneath lowered lids when she didn’t respond. He thought she might have dozed off, but instead she watched him intently. Tension pulled and twisted inside his gut. He had to break it before it consumed him. It was obvious they were both avoiding the elephant in the room.
“Why are you here, Isla?”
A forlorn expression washed over her face. It was punched with confusion as if she couldn’t sort through her thoughts o
r feelings.
“There’s another SVH here. I saw him get shot. I’m afraid I was followed and put him in danger.”
She ran a hand over her face. Lines marred her forehead. The undertone of despair in her voice was clear. She was deeply affected by the thought that she’d caused the shooting. She turned her eyes to him. “Who is he? Because I... I felt something when I was trying to help him, and I feel it... now. As if he’s close.”
Gavin assumed she’d make the connection and realize the fallen Ahpret was him. Then again, if the details of that night were as fuzzy to her as they were to him, it would be hard for her to know. He had questions of his own, but first, he needed clarity on something she’d said.
“Why do you think you were followed?”
She slipped off the sofa and pulled the blanket snug around her shoulders. She disappeared into the bedroom and came back with something in her hand. Her sweet scent wrapped around him as she approached. The blanket accentuated her curves and clung to her hips, reminding him that there was a hot ember deep inside him that wanted to burst to flame.
She held out a melted and charred lump.
“This is my cellphone. Bjorn rigged it so it would self-combust once I pulled the battery. I did and I threw it out the car window probably two miles from where the driver dropped me off. It caught fire. Last night, it was lying on the front porch.”
Gavin took the phone and turned it over as if it had some secret to reveal. It’s possible a hunter had somehow seen her toss the phone and figured out where she might be. A long shot, considering someone would have to be in exactly the right place at the right time to figure it all out. He concentrated on the scents coming off the phone. The notes of burned metal and plastic dominated, but beneath, a faint, familiar scent poked through.
“The driver mentioned that he’d thought we were being followed when he’d dropped me off.”