by Kimber White
“But you’ll need help,” Liall said. “You’ll need to know where to find them.”
“Yes.”
Liall stood straighter. He formed a wall with his wife, sons, and daughter.
“Thank you,” he said. “For bringing Zendra to us. And I’ll give her back to you.”
They knew. Somehow, Liall and Maryta knew what Zendra and I were. Wherever they were, they had seen.
I didn’t know what was to come. But, I knew Wolfguard had just found four new, powerful allies in Zendra’s family. For the first time in years, I felt a tide turn in our favor.
“Come on,” Zendra said. “We have a place for you up the hill. It’s not fancy, but it’s home.”
Zendra’s father kissed her head. He squeezed her close and we walked up the hill together.
Later, Zendra and I came back to the beach. Payne had come down to meet her family. Liall, Kall and Joren were eager to share what they could that might help for any future entanglements with the Ring.
“I think they’ll love it here,” Zendra said. We sat in the sand, dipping our toes in the water. I placed a protective hand over her stomach. In just a few weeks, she’d start showing. That was one little surprise we hadn’t shared with anyone else. But, Maryta had given me a knowing smile just an hour ago.
“I hope so,” I said. “Payne already has a few jobs lined up for your brothers if they’re willing.”
“They’re chomping at the bit,” Zendra said. She leaned up and kissed me. “There are others, you know.”
“Others?”
“Other Fae loyal to my father. He’s going to want to look for ways to help them escape here. Do you think Wolfguard will have a place for more Fae refugees if it comes to that?”
I considered it and watched the stars. “I think we could use all the help we can get.”
“Me too.”
“There’s something I’ve been putting off asking you,” I said. “But now that your family is safe, it seems time.”
Zendra’s eyes glistened with tears of joy. My love for her grew even stronger. “I want you to be my bride as well as my mate. And I want your family to be here to celebrate it.”
Zendra’s eyes crinkled with joy. “As long as you promise to give me a better party than my last wedding.”
I laughed and brought her close. “That’s a promise. Though, I wonder if there’s ever been a shifter/Fae wedding.”
“Then we’ll invent it,” she said. “Now come here. I’ve missed you all day.”
“Missed me,” I said, growling. “I’ve never left your side.”
She turned in my arms and straddled me. Her hair lifted in the wind and the stars began to brighten behind her.
“That’s now what I mean, and you know it,” she whispered.
Desire coursed through me. I nipped her bottom lip and got a delicious squeal of delight for my trouble.
“You asked me if it would always be like this,” I said.
“Mmm-hmmm,” she said, fumbling with her shirt. Her pert, pink nipples were right in front of me, ready to be tasted.
“The answer is no,” I said, kissing one, then the other. “It’ll get better my love...much, much better.”
Laughing, Zendra threw her head back. Her skin began to glow. The stars came out and joined with her magic and mine, becoming one.
Sneak Peek of Bitten by Flame
Enjoy this two chapter excerpt of Bitten by Flame, the first book in my new series, Dragonborn Daughters. The story takes place roughly twenty-five years after the events in the Wolfguard Protectors Series.
Cassia
I knew what he thought as he looked me up and down. The bear shifter leaned against the wall, his eyes going pure black. He was scruffy, in the way that all bears are. Big and broad-shouldered, he had a lumbering swagger as he came toward me. He raised two fingers and whistled at the bartender.
I stood at the high-top table and tried to keep a polite smile from lighting my face. I couldn’t afford politeness out here in the neutral zone. I’d get eaten alive.
As the bear shifter came to the table, he looked about ready to try me out as an appetizer. He had to think I’d be an easy mark. Young women didn’t come out to places like this all alone. Not human ones anyway. On the surface, that’s just what I was. Oh yes, I knew what he made of me as clearly as if he had a thought bubble above his head like some old cartoon.
I was too young. Twenties. My skin was too clear, too clean. He went so far as to reach for my hair, twirling the ends between his fingers. He gave a disapproving snort at the color. I had rainbow hair, done professionally. There was nobody out here like me for miles. People spent their currency on weapons, information, or in the rarest of cases, passage out of here to one of the Oasis Territories where shifters could still live relatively freely. They sure didn’t spend their money on hair dye.
The bartender came to the table and put two draft beers in front of us. I thanked him.
“Take it easy, Hurley,” he said to the bear. He too had to be wondering what someone like me was doing out here unprotected.
“Just put it on my tab,” Hurley said. The bartender shot me a look. When Hurley straightened and turned back to him, the man pursed his lips and scuttled back behind the bar. I didn’t sense a drop of shifter blood in him. Which meant the man had to walk a tightrope to keep himself from getting dead and making a profit among the rogue shifters of the neutral zone.
“So what are you looking for?” Hurley asked. “If it’s just some cheap hook-up to the Source, you’re going to want to head south to coven lands for that. If you can afford it.”
So, he didn’t think I was a witch. That was something. More than anything, that’s what shifters usually assumed about me. I didn’t often correct them. Better they think that than ask too many questions or look too hard.
“I’m not looking for a cheap high,” I said. “I’m looking for information.”
“You a shifter’s mate then?” he asked, not paying the least bit of attention to what I’d just said.
“No,” I said. “Though I have nothing against your kind. I’m still old enough to remember how things were before the first attacks. I’m from Angel Lake. And I still have family in Chicago.”
“Then what do you need me for?” he asked.
“I don’t,” I said. “You’re not who I’m here to see. I was told you might be able to help me find a man named Colm.”
The bear’s eyes flashed. His scowl deepened.
“I’m willing to pay to find him,” I said. I reached into my satchel and pulled out two hundred-dollar bills. Real, U.S. currency, not vouchers or ration cards.
Hurley growled. He snapped his teeth and the hair on his arms thickened. I worried I’d overplayed my hand.
“You don’t need him,” Hurley said.
“I need someone who has been in and out of Chicago in the last year. I need someone who knows their way around the border checkpoints.”
“So why don’t you just go yourself,” Hurley asked. “You’re human. There’s nothing stopping you. Or, you could waltz back to your mansion on Angel Lake and stay the hell away from us. And that advice is worth twice what you’re paying.”
Hurley put his hand on the dollar bills and tried to slide them off. I caught his wrist. My grip was strong, surprising him. I wasn’t dumb enough to think I could beat him hand to hand. I could defend myself in ways he could never imagine. But, that was the problem. The money drew enough attention to me. If I tried to use my fire, I’d have more than just Hurley sniffing around me.
Hurley bared his teeth. His breath reeked of stale beer and worse. “Colm will charge you ten times that,” he said. “You prepared to pay?”
“That’s between Colm and me,” I answered.
Hurley shook his head. “You’re something else. I’ll tell you what. I’ll take your money. I’ll even tell Colm you’re looking for him. You’re better off paying me twice that to keep you away from him.”
“Aga
in, that’s between Colm and me, thanks.”
“You ever been out here before?” he asked.
“I told you,” I said. “I grew up in Angel Lake. That’s only a hundred miles from here, Hurley.”
Hurley smiled. “Right.”
“I’m on your side, okay?” I said. “I’m a friend.”
“That’s usually what the border guards say before they zap you,” Hurley said. “You say you have family in Chicago? So did I. They’re in a detention center now. Subversives. My brother was just trying to get back home to the Yukon.”
“I’m sorry that happened to you,” I said, surprised he was willing to share that much personal information. On the other hand, that’s what my contact told me to count on. Hurley didn’t know how to shut up. For now, I could use it.
“Can’t go back home. There is no home.”
I’d known men like Hurley over the years. They called this the neutral zone, but there was nothing neutral about it. The lucky shifters made it to the few designated Oasis Territories. The Yukon, Wild Lake, Michigan. Wild Ridge further north. Those trapped in the big cities like Chicago were never heard from again. Here in the neutral zone, men like Hurley had to fight to survive on what little resources they could find. But, it made him useful for my purposes. Information could be traded for essential supplies. The money I flashed might even buy his freedom.
I pulled a photograph out of the pocket of my leather bomber jacket. It was faded, the ends frayed. Carrying it was a risk, but far less than a digital version.
“I’m looking for them,” I said.
Hurley tilted his head. It was an old photograph, one my mother never liked of herself. But, to me, she was stunning in it. Her red hair flew around her face as she laughed. My father, had his arm around her. He towered over us both, his smile lighting up my world.
“My father’s name is Xander,” I said. “My mother is Shae. They’ve...you might have heard of them. They help people like you.”
Hurley snarled. “You better put that away.”
“Have you seen them?”
Hurley leaned in close. “I said, you better put that away.”
I did. Hurley looked over his shoulder then back at me. He rose, towering over me thick and tall as an oak tree. He turned his back and started walking toward the door.
He’d taken the money with him. I slipped the photo back in my pocket and ran after him. Hurley went out the back of the bar into the alley.
My heart raced. A full moon hung high and bright.
“Hey,” I said.
Hurley whirled around on me. My pulse jack-hammered. I’d made a grave mistake. It was too dark, too isolated out here. Hurley realized it the same time I did. His lips curled up in a snarl and he charged me.
He caged me with his arms, pressing me against the brick wall. He drew in a sharp breath, his nostrils flaring as he sniffed me.
“You sure you’re not a shifter’s mate?” he asked. He nipped at my ear.
I felt my fire rising inside of me. My fingers curled. The hairs along my spine stood on end. A cyclone of air swirled around me, lifting my hair. Hurley was too intoxicated by my scent and the beer to sense any danger.
“Back off Hurley,” I said. “I’ll only warn you once.”
I was surprised to be able to get even that much of a sentence out. My power rose. It called to something dark inside Hurley. He misjudged me. If I killed him then and there, I’d get the wrong kind of attention. No one would care about Hurley here. No laws applied to me. But no one else would talk to me.
“Hurley,” I said. “I’m gonna need you to get off me. Now.”
He licked his lips. I sensed his bloodlust swirling through him, stronger than the alcohol.
He caught my earlobe between his teeth. I closed my eyes.
“I just want a little taste,” he said.
The wind kicked up, sending my rainbow-colored hair straight above me.
Hurley froze. At the last second, I think he realized his mistake. I put my hands flat on his chest and took a breath.
A roar echoed through the alley. Hurley’s eyes went wide and he vaulted backward, his feet flying up in the air.
He landed hard on his back then rolled to his side. He rounded quickly, going up on all fours. His fangs dropped; his bear eyes glinted.
I held my hands up, palms out. Tiny sparks followed the tracks of the veins in my wrist. Hurley didn’t see. His eyes went to the shadow standing between us.
As quickly as it had come, the embers within me died. I caught my breath.
A man stepped forward. He was shirtless, ripped, covered in intricate ink, dirt and sweat. A jagged scar cut across his cheek. He had a curved, hunting knife in his belt. His eyes flashed silver as he looked down at Hurley.
“Get up,” he said. “Get the hell out of here before I rip out your lungs and make you wear them as earrings.”
Hurley put his hands up and scrambled to his feet.
“Wait,” I said. “We aren’t finished. I told you what I needed from you.” As much as Hurley disgusted me, he seemed a lot less dangerous than this new guy.
Hurley looked from me to the other man. He kept his hands up in a gesture of surrender.
“Worth every penny,” he said, taking a step toward me.
The other man let out a low growl. His eyes flashed again, pure wolf.
“What?” I asked.
“Two hundred,” he said. “To bring you to Colm. Well, here he is.” Hurley made a sweeping gesture with his hand toward the other man. This was Colm?
My mouth fell open. Colm grabbed him, threw him against the wall and said something I couldn’t make out. With more grace and quickness than I usually saw in a bear, Hurley darted off.
My heat rose again as Colm straightened his back, let his wolf eyes flash, then cornered me.
Colm
I could smell Hurley’s bloodlust miles away. It clung to him. An earthy stench laced with rage, primal need, menace. He used it against me. I wanted to rip his lungs out as he hovered over the girl.
Her fear was real. The sense of it hit me like a thunderbolt to the chest, forcing the air from my lungs. My own bloodlust rose to match Hurley’s. He had his hands planted firmly against the brick, caging her there.
A growl ripped from me. Hurley was seconds from shifting. My wolf clawed at me. Twin urges clashed in my core.
I wanted to rip Hurley apart. I wanted to touch the girl.
I let out a clipped growl, baring my teeth. It was enough to let Hurley know I was here. He turned, still shielding the girl from me against the wall. Hurley’s eyes glinted and his mouth curved up in a sinister smile.
He played me.
She might never have been in any real danger, but Hurley knew my wolf would answer no matter what.
He bared his teeth. When he licked his lips I almost lost control. If he touched her… If he made another move…
He pushed himself off the wall and turned his back on her. It was then that I saw her eyes.
She was tall for a woman, coming up to Hurley’s shoulder. She had tan, toned arms. She wore a black tank top under a leather jacket, ripped jeans with combat boots. Tough chick. That’s what the outfit said. Maybe she was. But, she wasn’t from the neutral zone. I could spot that right away.
Her skin was too smooth. No scars or pockmarks. No ink that I could see. And her hair. She wore it long, almost to her waist in a cascading rainbow of color. Pink, blue, yellow, green, orange. You can’t get hair like that out here. It made her stick out like a sore thumb. For guys like Hurley, she might as well have waved a red flag.
Hurley gave me a snarl as he moved away from her and closer to me. He told her who I was.
“Get the hell out of here,” I said under my breath. I doubted the girl could hear me.
“You’re welcome,” he said. “I’ll take my usual commission.”
I grabbed him by the shoulder and shoved him against the wall.
“You’ll take your ass out of m
y sight for a while, Hurley.”
His bear eyes shimmered to the surface. I could almost taste his need to fight. One on one, I could take him even though he was a bear. The thing was, Hurley was sick. In another year, he’d be turned. It was like that for so many more like him out here. The Unlucky. He’d been caught outside clan lands during the first wave of attacks on L.A. and Miami. After that, every shifter in the country got outed and the government declared Martial Law.
It took almost seven years, tens of thousands of lives, four treaties, but now the Oasis Territories were pretty much left alone. Those who tried to cross into cities like Chicago were quickly dealt with and never seen again.
Guys like Hurley and I were shit out of luck, trapped out here beyond the borders, we had no way of getting back.
In Hurley’s case, he still wanted to. I knew he longed to live among the bear clans. They’d never take him now though. It would be too much of a risk. He’d spent far too long in the NZ. It does things to you.
“She’s ripe like a peach,” he whispered. “You’re welcome.”
I grabbed him again, letting my claws out just enough to pierce his skin.
Hurley laughed. Damn. I walked right into his little trap and he knew it.
Hurley jerked his arm away from me. He pressed his thumb into the wound I’d made just above his wrist. Nostrils flaring, he shoved past me and disappeared into the darkness.
Now, there was no one here but me and the girl.
I stood stock-still in a ready stance. She pushed herself off the wall and came toward me. That made her either incredibly brave or incredibly stupid.
Her eyes held a glint of their own I couldn’t quite place. She had to be human. I sensed no animal coiled within her. She was unarmed. I could tell that without even having to pat her down, her clothes hugged her curves so tightly.
“What’s your name?” I asked.
She stopped. Frozen. I took in the tiny details of her face. High cheekbones. Full lips. Her nose turned up just at the tip. She bit her bottom lip, making her dimples show.