One True Mate 1: Shifter's Sacrifice

by Lisa Ladew

  Trevor took a step backwards and let loose his own shift, but his was slower, harder and could never rival the smooth transformation that Graeme again pulled off in front of him, almost instantly pulling his dragon-self back into a human form.

  “Trevor, no,” Wade warned and Trevor stopped and reversed his shift, leaving his fangs long. The dragon he had just witnessed could snap him in half with one bite, but Trevor would not admit that, even to himself.

  A fully dressed Graeme Kynock ignored Trevor’s snarl and walked to the flaming chair. With firm presses of his hands, he put out every flame, pulling it and the resulting ash into him.

  Trevor stared, refusing to show that he was impressed.

  Wade sighed, eyeing his three ruined chairs. “Don’t you think that could be useful against Khain? A demon who fights us with fire and explosions?”

  Trevor growled deep in his throat, unable to give up gracefully. “Sure, if we ever see him! Khain has barely been around for centuries, and some new defensive is not going to help us. We need to go on the offensive, sniff him out. We need new plans, new─”

  Wade held up a hand as Graeme unbuttoned his suit jacket and sat back down, his hands clean, his countenance undisturbed. “I appreciate that we took you by surprise, Trevor. I should have told you that Graeme was not wolfen. But I need you to let go of your stubbornness just long enough to hear me out.”

  Trevor interrupted. “How can you be sure he isn’t a spy? You know as well as anyone that we’ve been burned in the past by shiften we weren’t familiar with.”

  Wade sighed. “I trust him, Trevor. Bring Troy in here. Have him give you an assessment of Graeme.”

  “Troy is busy.”

  “Then do it later. I find it very interesting that you’re telling me you want to take the offensive with Khain. That’s exactly what Graeme will be able to help you do.”

  “How?”

  Graeme lifted his chin and stared over Wade’s head. “I see a green bluff in the northernmost woods of Illinois. Under it, alongside it, in its very essence, is where Khain can be found. This is his home. His hideaway. I can find it, and force my way in.”

  Trevor’s mind worked overtime. Could such a thing really be possible? He shook his head. The dragon was having delusions of powers he couldn’t possibly possess.

  Graeme looked at him, nostrils flaring. “You doubt me.”

  “You’re not as stupid as you look.”

  Graeme stood and the fierceness in his eyes caused Trevor to step back. His clothes melded into his skin again, which became scales, and in under two seconds, the red and yellow dragon was back, not quite as big. His scaly head lowered until it was less than a foot from Trevor’s face. Trevor felt a wind form around him but he did not look away. The force of Graeme’s will pulsed outwards from him. Trevor could feel something big coming. He straightened his spine and stared at Graeme. Whatever it was, he would meet it head on.

  In the corner, just a few feet from the destroyed chair, a rippling in the air began. A tiny black spot appeared. Trevor wanted to look straight at it, but he didn’t quite dare look away from the beast in front of him.

  The wind pulled at him, whipping even his short hair around and items began to fly off of Wade’s desk. Wade gathered his computer and one notebook to him, but did not order a halt to the demonstration.

  Trevor could see cords standing out in relief on the dragon’s neck as his body reacted to the strength of his will, to the effort it took to do whatever he was doing.

  The black spot in Trevor’s peripheral vision grew larger and he had to look at it. The sight of it caused his gut to tighten and his balls to shrink. Few things scared him in his life, but that tiny black ball that he could only assume was an opening into the Pravus filled him with liquid dread.

  He tensed, fell back, readying himself to shift, to fight, to die if necessary. He regretted not having more time with Ella, but he pushed her out of his mind. His animal snarled in his head, wanting to come out, needing to be the one in charge, but Trevor held back with all his will. He had to see this with all of his reason intact.

  The black hole whirled and sucked and grew and Trevor was able to see into it. It was only a foot or so in diameter but through that tiny window he could see a land of yellow, cracked dirt stretching out in all directions. No plants. No anything, except fires leaping out of the cracks like geysers. As Trevor watched, a book from Wade’s desk sailed past him into the hole and more books tried to follow.

  The smell of Khain filled Wade’s office.

  With a raging growl, Trevor gave in, shifting, turning into the animal he would fight as. His clothes dropped to the floor and he pulled back on his haunches, ready to leap as soon as the opening was big enough.

  “No!” a tortured voice commanded. “You shall not enter!”

  The hole snapped shut with a popping sound, cutting a stack of stapled papers that had been sucked partially in clean in half. Trevor stared, his wolf side unable to believe there was nothing to fight. He turned towards Graeme. He would do.

  But Graeme had transformed back into the human and was laying on the floor of the office, unconscious.

  Chapter 22

  Trevor paced on the street outside the safe house, needing badly to shift and run, but he couldn’t here in the middle of a suburban street. He wouldn’t anyway. He needed dirt under his feet, the moon calling to him. He could feel her, the moon, growing fat and heavy, just waiting for the sun to finish its descent and then she would rise. She would show him the way.

  So many thoughts filled his mind. When the dragen had finally come to he had explained that all of the Pravus smelled like Khain, and entering there would have done no good.

  “To be a shiften alone in the Pravus means madness,” was all he would say by way of explanation. Trevor didn’t know how his messed-up ability was going to help them if no one could go over there, but he’d been too agitated to try to figure it out. He’d gone down in the tunnels to talk to some of his guys down there, tell them what he’d seen, and then he’d run the tunnels until sunset.

  He didn’t know what to do. Trent and Troy wanted to attend the Zyanya, and maybe they needed to, like Trevor himself did. He couldn’t tell either of them no, not with the guilt he carried about them, but who would stay with Ella? Her safety was paramount.

  Finally he decided. He made a few phone calls, then waited in the street, his face turned toward the east, feeling the call of the moon.

  Wade pulled up in his black jeep and stopped in front of Trevor. “You’ve got some explaining to do.”

  “Sorry boss, I can’t trust anyone else to do it. You don’t need the Zyanya like the rest of us do.”

  Wade nodded thoughtfully. “But why are we still keeping her?”

  “She’s special,” Trevor said simply.

  Wade raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything. Instead, he parked his jeep and got out. “You coming in?”

  Trevor shook his head. If he saw her, he might not leave, he knew that.

  “Ok, I’ll send your brothers out.”

  Trevor waited until they came, his agitation eating him alive. He had to follow the moon. Trent nipped him on the thigh.

  “Ouch, hey!”

  She was waiting for you.

  I’ll see her when we get back.

  You should bring her.

  Are you moonstruck? None of us will be able to shift.

  A look passed between Trent and Troy. Trevor leaped forward and grabbed them by the collars, physically shaking them. “What? Tell me!”

  Troy thinks she might be part wolfen.

  Trevor held his breath and let go of his brothers, then stared into the sky. Did he dare hope it? A half-breed?

  No. Maybe a quarter or less.

  Trevor bit down hard on his tongue. A quarter wolfen. Not quite human, but never, ever would she shift. Even half-breeds only learned to shift something like a quarter of the time. But still…

  He shifted back and forth on his f
eet, then took off down the sidewalk, walking hard, almost running. The sky was almost fully dark, and the moon would be up soon. But if Ella was even part shifter, did that change everything? Possibly. Even as it changed nothing. He wanted her so bad he could taste it. The only question was, was he willing to give up his One True Mate for her?

  ***

  Ella slid the window open an inch, thinking. She knew Trevor wouldn’t leave her there without the dogs unless she was safe, but she didn’t want to stay. She wanted to be with Trevor. Chief Lombard had gracefully explained that Trevor had an event he had to attend and would be back in a few hours, and that he would stay with her until then. She had nodded and feigned tiredness, then stared at Trevor’s truck in the driveway, wishing she could go with them.

  Voices filled her head and her hands flew to her temples, trying to block them out.

  She was … for you.

  I’ll see her when we get back.

  Ella’s head lifted and she stared hard out the window. That had been Trevor’s voice she heard inside her head. He was sad. Conflicted. And yearning something she didn’t understand.

  You should … her.

  Are you moonstruck? None of us will be able …

  Troy thinks she … wolfen.

  Ella rubbed at her cheek with her hand and stared hard out the window at the three forms she could barely see, standing almost on the street. She swore Trevor was having a conversation with the two dogs, and she was witnessing it, and hearing it. But how could that be? And what was that word? Wolfen?

  She’d never heard it before.

  If only she knew where they were going.

  A moving image filled her mind, like a movie, of Trevor and the two dogs running, sprinting along a path in the woods. She could see them clearly because of the yellow moonlight leading their way. Trevor was naked and her breath caught in her throat as she watched his big body move with a sinewy grace that captivated her. Heat filled her body so fully that she whimpered with it and her knees buckled. She saw him from the side and the back, but what she really wanted was to see him from the─

  Ella made a decision without being fully aware she was making it. She slid open the window all the way, then climbed out of it, slipping easily to the ground, knowing she would be hard to see in her black leggings and dark shirt. The air was still warm, the heat trapped by a layer of clouds above them. The moon began to peek through to the east and she stopped for a moment, transfixed by it. She pulled her attention back to herself and ran for Trevor’s truck, watching the man and two dogs in the street, who all had their back to her. One of the dogs lifted its nose and slowed, but didn’t turn around.

  Ella climbed over the tailgate of Trevor’s truck and lifted the vinyl cover just enough that she could squeeze inside. It was warm and dry and clean in there, and she crawled forward, finding a piece of flattened cardboard to curl up on. She didn’t know if she would be found and she didn’t care.

  Something big was going on and she ached in her soul to be a part of it. If Trevor found her, she would convince him to bring her, somehow.

  What if he’s going to be with another woman?

  Ella pushed the thought out of her mind. It was too awful to contemplate.

  The man and the dogs came to the truck silently, the only noise the crunching of their feet on the gravel. Ella listened hard, scared she would be discovered. Trevor’s footsteps stopped a few feet from the truck and she got the sense he knew she was there somehow. She held her breath and didn’t move.

  Trevor exhaled sharply. “Ouch, fucker, quit biting me or I’ll demote your ass.”

  But he moved forward and opened his door. Ella heard the two dogs jump in and someone slide the back window open, then the truck started up and they moved. Ella relaxed and didn’t try to figure out where they were going. She was just happy to be along, but when they slowed to a crawl twenty-five minutes later she thought she had an idea where they might be. The length of the drive, combined with the train tracks they’d gone over, and the smell in the air told her there was a good chance they were near Big Claw woods.

  The truck bumped slowly over ground too uneven to be a road. Ella braced herself with her feet and held on, trying to minimize her bouncing. She didn’t need to be covered in bruises the next day.

  After ten agonizing minutes, they stopped and the engine turned off. Ella heard the sound of other vehicles approaching and stopping, car doors slamming, men talking, laughing, joking with each other, their verbal barbs mean and spiteful. Trevor’s door opened, then closed.

  Ella held her breath, not daring to move a muscle. More cars came and stopped. More men got out and walked away, somewhere ahead of them. Ella felt an energy from that way. A building crescendo of something enticing, something powerful.

  She crept to the very back of the truck bed, trying to be as quiet as possible, even though she didn’t hear anyone around her anymore. A loud howl filled the air and she froze. A wolf? Dozens of more voices joined it, then maybe hundreds, until the sound was like a great sweeping wave that covered her.

  Ella stared straight into the darkness, shaking, but not with fear. There were no wolves in these woods. Unless…

  No longer able to be quiet or careful, she punched a hand upwards at the truck bed cover, unsnapping it in two places, then stuck her head out, trying to see where the already-fading noise was coming from. At least a hundred vehicles sat in a clearing. Above her, on a hill, there was movement in the trees, but she couldn’t tell anything about it. Only that many, many things were moving, and fast.

  The last form moved out of sight and the last howl drifted to a stop, and she was alone.

  In the woods.

  In the dark.

  Chapter 23

  Ella lay in the dark bed of the pickup truck staring up at a sliver of the night sky, trying to get her mental feet underneath her. Was this even happening? Could she be imagining it? If she wasn’t, what exactly had she seen and heard, and what could it possibly mean? Thank goodness the night was warm, warmer than it had been in weeks.

  She didn’t know how long she lay there. Time seemed to float away from her somehow. In the dark, it meant nothing. Only when she heard male voices again, did she scramble to her knees and do her best to snap the vinyl cover closed again on the back of the truck. Even if Trevor found her, she didn’t want any of the men he was with to see her.

  But Trevor, he was a different story. He needed to find her. She wanted him to find her, to know she had seen. She wanted to know what the night had been all about.

  She heard many footsteps thudding dully against the grass and dirt, and heard men’s voices again, still joking, but the tone was much easier and more friendly now. These men seemed to like and respect each other, while the men who had walked up the hill all had seemed bitter and hostile.

  Doors slammed, engines started, vehicles began to pull away. Ella listened for what seemed like a long time, never hearing Trevor’s voice, until it sounded like all of the other vehicles in the clearing were gone.

  “You heading to the rut?” a voice she didn’t recognize said.

  “Nah, you have fun.” Trevor’s voice. Ella smiled when she heard it. But what was a rut?

  “Seriously?”

  Trevor’s voice was hard when he spoke again. “Seriously.”

  The other man didn’t say a word for a few moments. “You holding out on me, dog? You got a girl?” he finally asked.

  Trevor chuckled deeply and Ella licked her lips. Even he sounded more relaxed.

  “Ask me again in a week.”

  “Lucky bitch,” the other man snarled. Ella heard a car door open and close and a motor start up. Only after the other vehicle was gone did Trevor open his own door.

  Within a minute, they were back on the road, Ella trying to decide how she would spring it on Trevor that she had tagged along and spied. Would he be mad?

  The thought scared her and excited her at the same time. You really are ready for the loony bin, Ella Carm
i. Why do you want to see him mad?

  The truck bounced over the uneven terrain for a few moments, until Ella heard Trevor’s phone buzz. The truck stopped.

  “Oh no,” Trevor breathed and Ella heard panic in his voice. She heard the faint sound of numbers dialing, then Trevor spoke. “What do you mean she’s gone? For how long? Where, how?”

  Trevor was silent for several minutes and when he spoke again, his words shook. “Find her. Goodbye.”

  She’s … truck.

  “She’s where?” Trevor barked out loud.

  Ella’s eyes went wide and she couldn’t help herself. She pushed her head up against the vinyl, just high enough that she could see into the cab where Trevor and the dogs were.

  Troy stared back at her, a large doggy grin on his face.

  Chapter 24

  Ella scrambled on her hands and knees to the back of the truck, snapping the vinyl cover off in two spots and jumping over the side, then re-snapping it just for something to do as Trevor came out the driver’s side door, his expression shut down with anger.

  “What do you think you are doing?”

  Ella faced him, her heart beating too hard. “Me? What about you?”

  His eyes narrowed and he cocked his head to the side. “What did you see?”

  “Nothing, I didn’t see anything. But I heard something.” She stepped forward, surprised at her own boldness, but wanting so much from him she couldn’t help it. She poked a finger into his chest and left it there. “You, Trevor Burbank, have a secret. Many secrets. I want to know what they are.”

  When her finger touched him, something changed again, like it had before, but also differently. It wasn’t some insane, sure knowing in her being that he was hers and she, his. Instead, it was something that came from him. Something rich and heady, almost like a smell, or maybe a knowing. Her body responded to it like it was a chemical created just for her, heat flushing up and down her spine, causing hyper-awareness at her mouth and skin and core.