Red Wolf

by Jennifer Ashley

  The rest of them had already moved. Jaycee charged to assist Angus, and Dimitri shifted to half beast and went for the guy with the sword, even as the man turned to continue his sword strike on Angus.

  Dimitri and the swordsman went down in a tangle, Ben throwing himself in to help. Brice began his shift to bear—once he became grizzly, he’d be very tough to fight. Shifting obviously took him a few minutes, however, plus Brice was hampered by Angus’s attacking him. Both Angus’s and Brice’s Collars were sparking, but neither paid attention.

  Jaycee was much faster at shifting. She had her party-fighting clothes off in a second, and in the next second, she was leopard.

  Bears were big, strong, deadly, but leopards were quick and precise. Jaycee sprang, her claws finding Brice’s throat as it grew thick with fur. She connected, blood coating her paws, but the fur and wattles on the bear’s neck saved him.

  Brice threw her off, rising on his hind legs to full bear height. He had a huge grizzly muzzle and the razor-sharp claws of his breed, the claws twice as long as those on a wild bear.

  Jaycee dodged as Brice slashed at her. She leapt onto the top of the bar, all four paws landing easily on its polished wood; then she pushed off in the next heartbeat, straight for Brice. He lifted his claws to catch her, but Jaycee could change direction in midair. Angus took advantage of Brice’s distraction to tackle him, making contact with his stomach, allowing Jaycee to land on top of Brice’s head.

  Brice roared, trying to twist around to grab Jaycee with his mouth, finishing her with one bite. Jaycee clawed streaks of red into his ears and leapt away again. She landed on the other side of the room, spinning to gauge her next attack. This was fun.

  So she thought until she saw Dimitri. He was fighting the sword guy, his red fur bristling, his teeth and claws moving. He should have been able to take down a non-Shifter in a short moment, never mind his sword, but the guy was an amazing fighter.

  The man writhed and spun in Dimitri’s grip, stabbing fiercely, coming to his feet with his sword bloody and a knife flashing into his other hand. Dimitri was hurt, but not badly, not that he ever let wounds slow him down. He plunged back into the fight without stopping.

  Ben had a knife as well, a long dark blade with a wicked point that looked old but deadly. His expression furious, he plunged the blade at the swordsman.

  The swordsman saw it coming, his eyes widening with the first fear Jaycee had seen in him. He spun away at the last minute, avoiding the blade, which sent him directly into Dimitri.

  The swordsman engaged with Dimitri, and the two of them went down in a ball of fur and blades. Ben circled them, trying to find an opening, but the fighters moved too fast.

  Jaycee saw all this in a flash before she was leaping back at Brice. Brice had turned his attention to Angus, bringing his great paws around in an attempt to catch Angus around the rib cage. Angus dropped, trying to slither out of reach, but Brice’s claws dug a gouge into his back. Angus howled, the howl cutting off as he sank his teeth into Brice’s paw behind his claws.

  Jaycee landed on Brice’s back. Brice shook himself to dislodge her, which also hurtled Angus back and forth. But wolves, once they had a death grip, didn’t let go. Angus held on, biting to the bone, Brice snarling in pain.

  Jaycee raked her paws across Brice’s face and neck, contacting with his Collar, which was sparking. Brice roared in pain and rage.

  Jaycee tasted triumph. They’d have this bear down and nearly meat, ready to hand him on a platter to Dylan and Kendrick.

  What she and Dimitri would do with the swordsman, which her leopard knew was one of the hated Fae, she didn’t know. They’d have to get his weapons away from him and truss him up in iron chains, maybe knock him out with a tranq. Dylan might simply kill him. Dylan was careful about humans, knowing hurting any would blow back on all Shifters, but he didn’t give a shit about the Fae.

  Jaycee saw a flurry of movement from the corner of her eye; then Angus began to scream. His mouth opened involuntarily, releasing Brice, and he fell to the floor, wolf howls turning to human cries of deepest anguish as he shifted. Jaycee stared in surprise, her start allowing Brice to throw her off.

  She tumbled backward from his grizzly strength but got her feet under her and landed easily.

  The swordsman had managed to twist away from Dimitri, who was scrambling up, having shifted all the way to his wolf. The Fae had his sword firmly in his hand, the point stretched out and touching Angus’s Collar. The Collar flared with blue light, and Angus howled in pure agony.

  Jaycee’s leopard scream filled the room as she went for the swordsman. Dimitri reached him first, tackling him to the floor.

  The swordsman spun to his feet with astonishing agility and slammed his sword to Dimitri’s Collar.

  Nothing happened. The swordsman looked puzzled but he held the sword to the fake Collar, his bare arms stiffening with muscle.

  Dimitri shifted back to human. Stark naked, he remained flat on his back on the floor and tucked his hands behind his head as he looked up at the swordsman. “Psych!” he yelled.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Cold fear flooded Jaycee. Dimitri continued to laugh, lounging in front of the Fae as though they were on a beach and he teased a clueless human. The point of the sword was right at Dimitri’s throat, an inch away from ending his life.

  She saw the Fae realize that too. His brows came down and he eased the sword back the smallest bit to drive the point home.

  Dimitri slapped the blade between his hands, his laughter gone. He jerked, and the sword came out of the Fae’s grip.

  Brice, bleeding and hurt but furious, hurtled himself at Dimitri. Jaycee ran at Brice to stop him. Angus, released, could only lie on the floor, rocking in agony.

  The Fae recovered almost instantly from being disarmed and had his knife ready, slashing it at Dimitri, who lay between his booted feet.

  Ben had circled behind the Fae, ready to thrust his black knife into the man’s back. Jaycee reached Brice.

  The moment Jaycee made her leap, Brice pummeled into the half-sitting Dimitri and the Fae swordsman. His momentum took all three of them into the circle, where wisps of brazier smoke still drifted.

  Angus rolled out of the way, his face gray, his breathing hard. He came to all fours, shifting creakingly back to wolf.

  Jaycee’s paws connected with Brice. At the same time, light flashed within the circle, and something bright and hot, like an explosion, ripped her from Brice and sent her tumbling back.

  She landed and whirled, ready to charge again. Angus, closer, went for the circle, but Ben leapt in his way. “No!”

  The light flared brighter and brighter, but Jaycee remained in place, determined not to turn away. Her mouth went dry, her heart hammering. Dimitri was in there. Dimitri . . .

  The light cleared and died. The smoke curled upward and dispersed to show an empty circle drawn with chalk on the floor.

  The swordsman, Brice, and Dimitri were gone.

  * * *

  “No!” The cry burst from Jaycee’s human throat, her leopard flowing away as every fear engulfed her. She sprinted across the room, landing facedown in the circle, beating the floor with her bare hands. “No! Bring it back! Bring it back! Dimitri!”

  The smooth cement floor yielded nothing. Jaycee’s hands stung, her skin scraped away as she pounded the floor.

  A strong grip pulled her from the circle, but Jaycee fought back. “Light the brazier. Bring him back!”

  It was Ben who lifted her to her feet with incredible strength and turned her to face him. “Jaycee—stop.”

  Tears streaked from Jaycee’s eyes, no rational part of herself able to make them cease. She beat on Ben’s chest with her fists. “Find him! Why aren’t you doing anything? Open it!”

  Angus, bleeding and winded, staggered toward them. “Fire’s gone.”

&nbs
p; Jaycee jerked from Ben’s grasp to swing toward the brazier. The coals inside were gray, spent, and collapsed to ash before her eyes.

  “A fire doesn’t die that quickly,” she said, rushing to the brazier and shaking it. “It was burning high.”

  The ash lay cold at the bottom of the bowl, no glow to say it had been lit anytime today. The sage likewise was nothing but cinders.

  Jaycee screamed. She flung the brazier and its contents to the middle of the circle. A cloud of ash rose, stinging Jaycee’s eyes and making Angus and Ben cough.

  Nothing happened. The circle was nothing but chalk, the floor dirty with dead coals and burned sage.

  Jaycee jerked herself around to face Ben and Angus. “We have to go after him. We have to find him.”

  “And we will.” Ben looked grim. “I’ll get you there, Jaycee. Promise. Dylan’s coming. He can—”

  “Screw Dylan,” Jaycee said viciously. “He’s why Dimitri has been snatched by the Fae. We were doing Dylan a fucking favor.”

  “I agree,” Angus said, his voice rasping, though sounding stronger. “What can Dylan possibly do anyway? Brice is a Fae lover. Damn it, I should have just killed him when I had a chance.”

  “If you two will let me finish . . .” Ben’s hard voice cut through their words. “Dylan knows a Fae, one who takes the Shifters’ side. He might be able to find Dimitri.”

  Angus huffed. “Dylan is friends with a Fae? I should have known.”

  “This Fae’s not that bad.” Ben drew a breath as if to argue his point, then shook his head. “Not important right now. Let me talk to him.”

  Jaycee broke in. “I know the Fae you mean—Fionn, right? The father of Sean Morrissey’s mate? That only works if Dylan and Fionn think it’s worth it to find Dimitri. Dimitri’s a nobody in the eyes of someone like Dylan. Dimitri’s not a leader, not a Guardian, not a healer. He’s a tracker. Expendable.”

  “Kendrick wouldn’t think so,” Ben said.

  That observation calmed Jaycee’s panic slightly—of course Kendrick would make every effort to help Dimitri—but it didn’t curb her impatience. “I can’t stand here and wait for Dylan—he might be hours away.” She marched to Ben. “You, Fae creature, are going to help me figure out how to open a way and find Dimitri.”

  Angus had one hand on his own shoulder, working his arm as though trying to put his muscles back into place. “How?” he asked her. “Gates to Faerie need some kind of magic, like the circle here or standing stones. No standing stones in New Orleans that I know of. Not real ones, anyway.”

  “No, but I know where there is probably a ley line and a house with a ton of magic in it,” Jaycee said before Ben could speak. “That weird door leads to somewhere. You can work with that.”

  “I can?” Ben placed his hands on his chest. “Sweetheart, no one is going to let me into Faerie. Banished, remember? Do you know what banished means?”

  “You don’t have to go inside. You only have to open a way. If Dylan arrives before you figure it out, fine. Otherwise, it’s on you, goblin.”

  “I’ll go with you, Jaycee.” Angus picked up the remains of his T-shirt, studied it, and dropped it with a look of resignation.

  “Thanks, Angus, but I’ll travel faster without you.”

  Angus gave her a gray-eyed wolf stare. “I’m not letting an unprotected female into a place full of Fae and dumb-ass Shifters. You’ll need someone to help you fight. I’ve got your back.”

  Jaycee’s next words died on a breath of anguish. She and Dimitri always said that to each other, which often led to a bantering argument. Don’t worry, Dimitri, I’ve got your back.

  No, I’ve got your back, Dimitri would growl in return.

  We can’t both be watching each other’s backs, Jaycee would say. Someone has to be in front.

  Yeah, Dimitri would counter. Me.

  Jaycee, triumphant. Like I said, I’ve got your back.

  She almost broke down and cried. But if she did that, she wouldn’t be able to see, and she now had to ride Dimitri’s motorcycle all the way to the house.

  * * *

  Dimitri woke with a groan. Something heavy and smelly lay on top of him, and it was raining—a cold, sharp rain scented with resin.

  Dimitri pushed. His hands contacted with a body, large and hard with muscle. The smell was scared Shifter. Not what he wanted to wake up with.

  He preferred Jaycee, with her soft curves and sweetly scented hair, her kisses of heat. Shit, who wouldn’t want to wake up with her?

  Dimitri shoved again with both fists. The Shifter on top of him, as naked as he was, toppled slowly off.

  It was Brice. The man had been knocked out, his face bruised and bloody, most likely from Dimitri’s wolf.

  Dimitri’s awareness flooded back, and with it, worry. He remembered the fight in the basement, the Fae with the sword, the flash of light, and then nothing.

  He sat up straight. He lay in woods full of dead leaves, the air cold, the rain like fine needles. No more August in southern Louisiana. He might have been high in the mountains in the western United States or Canada, though he felt no effects of altitude.

  Wherever it was, Dimitri was cold and wet, and a fucking Fae was running around loose somewhere.

  Dimitri climbed to his feet. He was naked, his clothing still folded neatly outside Brice’s back door in New Orleans. His phone was back there too, though he had a feeling he’d never find a cell signal in this woods.

  He flowed down into the red wolf, thick fur being much better for this climate than uncovered human skin. Brice smelled worse when Dimitri was in this form, and his nose wrinkled.

  There was no sign of the Fae with the sword. Had he run off when they’d landed here, or was the guy still in Brice’s basement? Dimitri didn’t like that idea, but at the moment, he could do nothing about it.

  Brice would die if left out here exposed in the cold. On the other hand, if Dimitri woke him up, Brice might try to kill him again.

  Dimitri gave an inward sigh, cursed himself for being such a nice guy, and smacked Brice’s face with his paw. Brice groaned, feebly batted at the paw, and finally opened his eyes.

  Dimitri growled, sticking his nose into Brice’s face. Stay down and tell me where the hell we are.

  Brice drew a breath, looked around, and relaxed. “It’s all right, my friend. We’ve come home.”

  That settled it. Brice was bat-crap crazy. He was awake now and could shift to bear and survive, so Dimitri gave another growl, turned his back, and trotted away into the woods.

  So . . . all he needed to do now was figure out where he was and how to get out of here.

  Putting his nose to the ground and sniffing didn’t help much. He picked up his own back trail, but it led about twenty feet to another spot in the woods and died there. Presumably, Dimitri had staggered from there to the place he’d woken, and collapsed.

  He did pick up the acrid smell of the Fae with the sword; that trail led from the place Dimitri was now, deeper into the woods. So he had run off. Why he hadn’t stopped to stab Dimitri to death while Dimitri was passed out, he had no idea.

  Dimitri sniffed hard all around the place his trail ended, knowing he must have entered Faerie in that spot. The white light, the circle, the sage, the fire—all the magic shit he hated—had transported him here, and he knew it. Gates to Faerie could be anywhere, as long as there was a ley line nearby and something Fae to take a person through. Dimitri had been fighting an actual Fae, right on top of a magic circle, so no big surprise that he was now in the mystical land of Faerie.

  Dimitri’s ancestors had been born here. Many centuries before, diabolical Fae had jumbled together DNA laced with magic, probably by means more disturbing than test tubes, and had come up with Shifters. Bears, big cats, and wolves, bred to be their fighting beasts. Shape-shifters with the emotions and cunning of humans
and the strength and agility of whatever animal they turned into.

  Home, Brice had called it. Deep inside the wolf, Dimitri’s human brain was troubled. This asshole truly believed Shifters should return to Faerie, to once again work for the Fae—be slaves to them, more like. Dylan had been right.

  The other fear that streaked through both wolf and human side was for Jaycee. She’d been running toward the circle when the light had flashed. Had she been pulled inside as well? Was she even now in chains with that Fae bastard with the sword, and what was the guy doing to her?

  The thought made Dimitri charge back to Brice, who was still trying to stand up.

  Dimitri shifted to his half beast, which allowed his mouth to form words. “Where are they?” he demanded. “Where would they have taken her?”

  Brice blinked, then shook himself and got stiffly to his feet. He was a big man with no clothing, which was not something Dimitri wanted to see, but he was too agitated to worry about it at the moment.

  Brice rose all the way, smoothed back his dark hair, and looked down at Dimitri with a hint of a smile through his bruises. “Dimitri, my friend, you didn’t stammer once when you said that.”

  “You’re not my friend, and I don’t give a rat’s ass. Where would they have taken Jaycee?”

  Brice shook his head, more like he was trying to clear it than to express a negative. “Jaycee’s not here. She didn’t make it.”

  “Didn’t make it?” More ice seared his veins. “What do you mean, she didn’t make it?”

  Brice lifted his hands. “Relax. I mean she didn’t come through the gate with us. She didn’t make it in time. Calm down—really. You’re safe now.”

  Dimitri glanced around the woods, which looked endless in all directions. “We’re in Faerie, you idiot. No wonder it stinks. By no stretch of the imagination are we safe. How do we get back?”

  “We don’t. Only the Fae know how.”

  Dimitri snarled. He lunged at Brice, putting his claws around the man’s big, stupid throat, where the cool ring of a Collar rested. “We’re going back. Now.”