Real Men Hunt: Real Men Shift

by Kyle, Celia

  Persia sighed. “I use Moonshadow to fit in with the other protestors and to…” She chewed on her cheek for a second, as if debating whether to admit everything. “And to keep them from knowing he’s my dad. If they did…”

  “They wouldn’t trust you?” Zeke finished, arching an ironic eyebrow at her.

  Persia’s fair skin flamed pink as she struggled to find the words necessary to incite trust from the rest of them. She was backed into a corner, and he hated it. Fate had brought them together, in an odd way perhaps, but the deed was done. Persia was his fated mate, and nothing and no one would ever be able to convince him otherwise. But his primary duty was to protect the pack, no matter what. Yet here stood his mate, the daughter of their most dangerous enemy.

  He should have realized the truth. Wolves were known for their sniffers, and he should have caught the familial scent between Persia and Dick. Maybe it was the patchouli that clung to her like a skunk’s stench. Maybe it was the fact matcha and nag champa covered the connection better than perfume. Maybe it was denial on his part. He didn’t know for sure, but he couldn’t ignore the feelings of betrayal eating at him.

  The truth of the matter was that Warren knew more about Persia than Zeke and Val—and probably even McNish. Their one-way conversations when he was in his wolf form had proven she truly wanted to stop her father. Of course, Zeke would argue that she could easily have been aware of the pack’s true nature and had been feeding Daddy Dearest every bit of information she could.

  “How do we know you aren’t a plant, that you’re not feeding your dad everything you can about us?” Zeke snarled.

  Warren felt a headache coming on. “Zeke, she’s not—” he started, but Persia interrupted him, her eyes sparkling with unshed tears.

  “You have to believe me—”

  “That’s where you’re wrong,” Zeke cut her off.

  “Hey, guys!”

  They all froze mid-sentence, slowly turning at the sound of heavy boots pounding on asphalt. Randy Leeper hurried toward them, holding something in his arms. Probably another bouquet of wildflowers. He stumbled to a stop in front of them and held out his hands, grinning proudly.

  “Mew?” A tiny grey kitten poked its head over Randy’s fingers and chewed on his thumb adorably.

  Val and Zeke stared at the kitten like they’d never seen a cat before. Certainly, they’d never seen a murderous asshole-turned-toddler cooing over one, anyway.

  “Where did you find—” Val started and then stopped when a diesel engine fired up behind them and the smell of popcorn filled the air.

  Even though they hadn’t mated yet, Warren felt Persia’s distress over the situation. It was no wonder she’d slipped away as soon as Randy had distracted them. By the time they all turned toward where she’d parked, her Westfalia was rolling out of the parking lot, leaving the smell of a movie theatre lobby in her wake.

  “Of course she’d use biodiesel,” Zeke snorted.

  “Well, shit,” Val said. “Are we chasing her, or what?”

  “No point,” Zeke replied, heading for their SUV with clenched fists.

  Doors slammed and soon they were on their way back to the pack house, Zeke’s anger overpowering them all. It wasn’t as if Warren had been pleased to learn the news of Persia’s parentage, but Zeke and Val’s reaction had been unwarranted, considering all the help Persia had offered.

  “You know, we might have learned more about her and her father if you two hadn’t jumped down her throat like that,” he pushed the words through clenched teeth.

  “Excuse me?” Zeke shot him a bone-chilling look in the rearview mirror.

  Bucking tradition, Warren scowled right back at his alpha. He wasn’t about to back down where his mate was concerned. No, he didn’t like the fact she’d hidden a vital piece of information from them, but facts were facts. Persia was his mate and he sensed she hadn’t been playing a double agent.

  “You two acted like she was McNish himself.”

  “That’s because she is a McNish, knucklehead,” Zeke growled, returning his blazing gaze back to the road. “Whatever she’s done so far, she’s still his daughter. That’s a bond that goes soul deep, Warren. We can’t trust her anymore. Hell, I don’t know if I can even trust you since you think she’s your mate.”

  Warren’s loyalty had never been called into question. Ever. And he wasn’t about to allow it now.

  “How can you say that to me, Zeke? Of all people. After all we’ve been through?”

  Zeke’s shoulders slumped and he sighed. “Fine. I do trust you for the most part, but come on, man. You thought Chloe was your mate for years. Look how that turned out.”

  “I was wrong then. I’m not wrong now.”

  “Sure…” Zeke grumbled.

  Warren’s teeth felt like they might be ground to nubs by how tightly he clenched his jaw. “I understand your hesitation, but I don’t think Persia is my mate, Zeke. I know, and I’d appreciate a little support. Just like how I supported you when you decided a random human was your mate.”

  Frankly, it wouldn’t have surprised Warren in the slightest if Zeke had pulled over so they could settle their beef on the side of the road. But instead Val stifled an amused smirk at all the testosterone zipping through the SUV and Zeke shot him a warning glance in the mirror.

  “You’ve been a good and faithful beta, Warren, so I’m going to let that one slide. Don’t push it.”

  Warren knew when to shut his mouth. Pack politics were about more than just pecking order. For a pack to survive, all members had to work within a very specific hierarchy. Sassing the alpha—even when you were his second-in-command—could get your ass handed to you. If any other pack members had been with them, Warren would have faced sharper blowback for his jibe. It was a testament to Zeke’s respect for his beta that he gave him some latitude.

  “Regardless of what you think about her, Warren, I’m in charge of protecting the pack, and I’m not about to get blindsided by McNish again. Until I have proof I can trust her, she might as well be McNish himself.”

  That didn’t sound promising. “Any ideas on what might earn your trust?”

  “Only when she pledges her loyalty to the pack will I fully trust her. But first, since you’re so damned sure this one is your mate, you’ll have to give her the claiming bite and transform her into one of us. Do that, and we can talk about our trust issues again.”

  “B-but…” his head swiveled between Zeke and Val. “She doesn’t even know what we are.”

  Zeke shrugged. “Not my problem. If you want me to trust her, the ball’s in your court.”

  Warren slumped back into his seat and stared out the window as the scenery blew by in a blur. When Zeke had discovered Val was his fated mate, he’d had a leg up Warren didn’t have. Val had known about werewolves for years by the time they’d met. Persia was as clueless as most other humans. Werewolves were the stuff of movies and folklore, not reality hidden in plain sight.

  How would a woman react to not only learning the truth, but then also being told she was destined to be the mate of such a mythical creature? Not well, he figured. He’d have to move slowly, but fast enough that Zeke would trust her before it was too late. It would be a delicate balance.

  The SUV sped past the entrance to Wolf Woods along the forested highway. Persia’s van sat parked near the campsite and his heart lurched just a little that she hadn’t returned to Trina’s cabin. Looking inward for guidance, he thought for a moment and then nodded.

  He knew what he had to do.

  Chapter Ten

  What a fucking shitty day. First, she’d woken up in a strange place with a headache that could fell an elephant, and then it had just gone downhill from there. For a minute there, she’d thought things had started looking up. Then her new local friends—her only friends, she realized as she glanced around the circle of hippies holding hands as they laid their grievances at her feet—had turned on her. No doubt they had every reason to distrust her, but she’d
hoped her work to save the woods they loved would give her some footing.

  Apparently not.

  Getting yelled at by people she actually liked had been bad enough, but then the shit had really hit the fan when she pulled into camp.

  “I called this circle because we need to hash some things out,” Leaf announced, apparently the leader of this little “peace circle.”

  Every single protestor held hands in a circle in the woods, staring at her as if she’d killed a puppy or something.

  “Come on, you guys,” she started, but Leaf held up a wooden spoon.

  “It’s not your turn to hold the truth stick, Moonshadow. Or should I say, Miss McNish.”

  Good lord, would this day never end? “How many times do I have to tell you? It’s Persia.”

  As Leaf blathered on about how Persia had hurt his precious fee-fees—leaving out the fact he was a loser and a user—she did her best to contain her quickly spiraling emotions. Of course, any day in which she had to face her asshole of a father was automatically doomed. She’d long since given up hoping for any kind of meaningful interaction with him. He was just too cruel, too selfish, too…much. They’d never see eye-to-eye, which was something she would have been able to accept and move past if he wasn’t so deliberately heartless.

  Others might not understand but cutting him out of her life felt right. It hadn’t been easy, and honestly had taken quite a long time, but she was comfortable with her decision at this point in her life. It wasn’t her job to bring him around to the side of right, and it was a futile effort anyway. He had no soul to appeal to any longer. It had been replaced by piles and piles of wealth. He might have all the dollars to hire people to care for him in his old age, but they wouldn’t care for him. Not like family. But that was the destiny he’d chosen for himself.

  Leaf passed the “truth stick” to Summer, who stood next to him with perfectly shimmering tears in her big blue eyes. “My truth is that I’m feeling very vulnerable. And under attack. By you, Persia. By you and your lies,” she sniffled.

  “Oh, good god,” Persia muttered, dropping Leaf’s hand to pinch the bridge of her nose.

  “Thank you for sharing your truth, Summer,” Leaf declared, shooting a righteous glare at Persia and grabbing her hand back roughly.

  Summer dabbed at her eyes pitifully and passed the spoon on to Toby, who started in on a seemingly endless rant about honor and trust and something about the goddess moon.

  None of this nonsense mattered, not compared to the way her friends had looked at her. One in particular. He hadn’t accused her of betrayal like Zeke and Val, but the confusion and pain in his sad blue eyes had nearly torn her in two. That right there was why she no longer used her legal name, except when necessary. The questions, the stares, the silent accusations were too much to take. She’d thought about changing it legally, but the idea of signing court documents as Persia Moonshadow was almost as unthinkable.

  Who knew how it had happened? Word of her heritage had spread like wildfire, and before she’d even made it back to camp, all the protestors had heard the news and demanded she join a peace circle. The hits just kept on coming.

  “I just think it’s, like, really gross that you’ve been pretending to care about the environment when really you’re totally just trying to get your dad’s attention or whatever,” Rustle sniped, pulling Persia from her reverie.

  “Seriously, Rustle? You really think I’m doing this for him? Dick McNish doesn’t have a bigger enemy than me.”

  “Again, Moonshadow, you have to wait your turn to hold the truth stick,” Leaf interjected.

  “Persia!” she screamed at the top of her lungs, making everyone jump a little.

  Taking a deep breath, she concentrated on holding back her rage at these assholes for questioning her ethics. Lower level college psych professors would have told her that her anger was simply projection, but she hadn’t listened to them then, and she wasn’t about to start now. Eventually, the person next to her finished their little speech—which was the same as all the others—and passed the “truth stick” to her.

  “My turn, huh?” She glowered at every single idiot standing in that fucking circle. “First of all, let me all remind you that if it weren’t for me, none of you would be here right now. I’m the one who organized this ragtag little group of high-school dropouts and bored trust-fund kids. I’m the one who encouraged you all to give a shit about more than just smoking weed and playing with your didgeridoos and your hacky sacks. I’m the one who taught you all what is at stake if we don’t fight to protect our planet. I’m the one who showed you how to turn your lack of ambition into something meaningful. I’m the one who brought you all together, who keeps this operation up and running.”

  “Now, wait just a minute—” Leaf tried to interject, but Persia shook the wooden spoon in his face. “Uh, uh, uh, I have the truth stick now, and I’m speaking my fucking truth.” Leaf pressed his lips into a thin, hard line and, to his credit, shut the hell up. “I will never give up fighting for this planet. No matter who I have to go up against. And yes, that includes my father. I have done more than enough to prove to all of you that I’m on the right side, that I’m doing good things for this world. And if you don’t like the fact I just so happen to be related to that sociopath, then quite frankly, you can all go fuck your hippie-dippie-selves!”

  She held the spoon out from her body and mic-dropped it, although the effect was less than satisfying. Leaf stepped aside as she stormed out of the circle, biting the inside of her cheek to keep herself from crying. Every cell in her body boiled with rage. Mostly at herself.

  The protestors back at camp hadn’t deserved to be the brunt of her anger. Yes, their new age ways sometimes got on her nerves, but they were kind, loving people who were at least trying to do the right thing. Some were smarter than others, and some were total morons. The problem was that they couldn’t see past their own noses. They didn’t realize the war she was waging wasn’t just about Wolf Woods. It was about stopping her father’s reign of terror. But their hearts were generally in the right place.

  However, hers seemed to have gone astray.

  Her thoughts turned to Warren, all sweaty and bulging as he maneuvered a slab of plywood into position halfway up a giant tree. No fear, no hesitation, just action. And hotness. All the hotness!

  Branches whipped across her cheek and thorny shrubs pulled at the flesh of her calves as she hiked deeper into the woods, heading for the one place where she would feel safe again—the clearing. The pain was a welcome distraction from the deep ache she felt for Warren.

  The sun still dappled the clearing as she stumbled into it, finding her favorite animal in the world sitting in a circle of light. His tail thumped at her approach, and the tension in her body lightened and floated away on the gentle breeze.

  “Hey, handsome.” She knelt on the soft earth and petted his huge head.

  He nuzzled her hand and then lay down on his side, drawing a chuckle from Persia. “Okay, hint taken.”

  She lay down perpendicular to the wolf and rested her head on his ribcage, a sense of calm flowing through her body with every gentle breath he took. The sky overhead reminded her of Warren’s eyes, a perfect shade of blue. She sighed heavily and grabbed one of the wolf’s forepaws in her hand. She held it gently, her thumb digging in between the pads and massaging the space between. The wolf groaned his pleasure.

  “You would not believe the day I’ve had since lunch. Remember that couple who came here earlier and asked me to join their meeting with Dick McNish? Well, I may have omitted the he’s my dad.”

  The wolf sniffed loudly, as if the name of her father affected him. “I know. I know. I’m an idiot. I should have told them beforehand. Then maybe they wouldn’t have accused me of being a traitor. We want the same thing and I just love how down to earth they are, compared to the rest of my merry band of lunatics. Now they don’t trust me, and I can’t blame them. The worst part though—and I couldn’t ad
mit this to anyone else but you, my sweet friend—the worst part was seeing the betrayal in Warren’s eyes. I don’t know why. I mean, I barely know the guy, but…I really hate the idea of disappointing him.”

  She turned to look at the wolf, as if he really understood what she was saying. “Warren’s the hottie local who’s helping me with my platform. Would you believe I thought he was just eye candy? Nope. He’s got brains too. He worked up a brilliant plan I thought for sure my dad would go for. Saved him money, bought goodwill with the locals, and would be an easier route for him overall. But did he have the good sense to see the benefits? Not my dad. Too stubborn. Guess the apple didn’t fall too far from the tree after all.”

  Looking back at the sky, she snorted her amusement. “Of course, I hauled ass out of there as soon as they all accused me of backstabbing them. Then I got back to the camp to find everyone there mad at me. I have no idea how word spread so fast, but they all think I betrayed them too. In fact, that idiot Leaf called a peace circle to hash out all of our feelings.”

  The wolf lifted his head and gave her a curious look.

  “It pretty much went down how you’d expect. Everyone took turns, venting about what an awful, horrible, lying sack of shit I am. But I got my turn at the end.” Her cheeks pinked up over what she’d said. “Unfortunately, I was kind of a jerk to them. They’re not all bad. Most have noble intentions and didn’t deserve me ripping into them like that. I should have been more patient, but after the day I’ve had…I just didn’t have the bandwidth to deal. So, I came out here to see you.”

  The wolf started panting, offering her his other paw for a mini massage.

  “I dunno, maybe this is all a waste of time. Maybe I should find some other cause to fight for. I have no doubt everyone in my group would gladly pack up and get the hell out of Dodge first thing in the morning—maybe before I even get back. That would serve me right for how I spoke to them. Honestly, losing them wouldn’t hurt half as much as losing the folks from the Soren village. If they abandon me because of who screwed my mother, that’s when I’ll know I’ve failed.”