by Bianca D’Arc
“Rufus just made me aware that the perimeter has been breached. There is an intruder on the grounds,” Sonia said without preamble. She kept her lilting voice low, so that no one outside their circle would hear what she said. “The wolves, in consultation with Monty and myself last night, have agreed to help bring this situation to a head. They’re allowing the intruder to believe his presence has been undetected. They’re following him right now, though from what Rufus said, he has some sort of magical interference that makes it hard to keep an eye on him. Nevertheless, he is heading in this direction.”
“Is it our old friend T.J.?” Ren asked.
Sonia turned to look at him, meeting his gaze. She nodded once, her eyes flinty hard. “It is. Which means, I believe he will head here, looking for either you or Kat or both. The rest of you,” Sonia turned her attention to the larger circle, “are to protect Kat. She is not prepared for this kind of thing, and we need our leading lady in one piece when this is all over. Ren can take care of himself.” Sonia’s lips twitched in a grin that was echoed on every face, except Kat’s. She’d learn what he was capable of, but it would take time.
“You can stop the intruder, but once you have him, it’s my turn. Understood?” Sonia went on. Her grin this time, was bloodthirsty as everyone nodded. “Until he gets here, we go about our business as usual…with a few modifications. The cameras will not roll, except for my own private recording, which we might need for evidence—both to show Monty what was done on his lands and possibly to send to the Lords if we get any actionable intel out of the man. Forget the staging we worked out. Our new scene is Robin and Marian at the center of a knot of Merry Men. You all will be the perimeter guard while we await our guest star. You two—” Sonia spoke to Ren and Kat, “—make up some dialog. It doesn’t have to be Shakespeare.”
With that, Sonia went back to the cameras with the small crew of shifters that worked behind the scenes. One of those was Deidre, who was running sound on this picture. Ren caught her eye and relayed a few instructions of his own without speaking a word. He would see to Kat, but he wanted his little sister to be as safe as possible, as well. Plus, Kat was friends with Dee, and his sister would be a good backup if Ren was somehow distracted. Dee’s reassuring nod was all Ren needed as he took his place with Kat in front of the cameras, in the center of a group of very deadly, very ready, very Merry Men.
Kat seemed bewildered by the quick turn of events, but the fear in her eyes got to him most. Ren took her hand and squeezed it reassuringly.
“Just focus on me, kitten,” he said in a low voice for her ears alone. “Act out this scene with me. Let everything else take care of itself, but be ready to follow any instructions I give you about ducking or running or whatever the scene calls for as it plays out, okay?”
Kat gulped and nodded. The fear hadn’t left her eyes, so he did the only thing he could think of to change her focus fast.
Ren leaned down and kissed her.
He kissed her, and all her thoughts, all her fears, melted away. As they always did whenever Ren was near. Katrina melted into him and let her focus shrink down to just the two of them. Together. As it should be.
When Ren lifted his head, she dimly heard a wolf whistle, and her mind snapped back to the present. Clive was the owner of the impertinent whistle, and she blushed as she met his amused gaze. Ren kept hold of her hand as he addressed the group gathered around them in the old-fashioned language of the script. Only, these words weren’t part of any script. They were pure improvisation on Ren’s part. Something about kissing young lasses in the forest and how the others should mind their own business.
She was glad he was taking the lead because her mind was mush at the moment. She remembered what they were doing and why. She remembered the werewolves in the forest around them and the man they were allowing through their net. The man who was coming here, with what they believed had to be violent intent, aimed at Ren…or Katrina, herself.
She gasped as Ren tugged on her hand, causing her to whirl around so that she faced the cameras. His attention was off to one side, and she had the sinking feeling that something was about to happen.
A split second later, a howling went up from the woods on that side where Ren was looking. Wolves poured out of the undergrowth, of all shapes and sizes. Some brown, some gray, and the big black one that she knew already was Rufus, the Alpha wolf.
Behind the staggering mass of more than a dozen wolves that looked as if they were hopping mad came a man. The same bald-headed man Katrina had encountered in the States. He carried a blade before him that seemed to repel the wolves, even as they tried desperately to lunge for him, sharp teeth flashing in an awesome display.
What followed was sheer chaos as the Merry Men leapt into action. Unfortunately, they didn’t have any better luck than the wolves in getting to the man who plowed through them at high speed, as if they weren’t even there. He was running now, making a beeline for Katrina. She opened her mouth to scream as the intruder came so close, she could see the whites of his dead eyes as he raised the knife high and began the down stroke.
Then, suddenly, her view was cut off by Ren’s broad back. He’d stepped in front of her, blocking the deadly blow with his own body. Too late, she realized that while she might be safe for the moment, Ren was now in the path of that sharp blade. She felt him flinch and stagger back into her a moment before she felt time stand still.
Sonia came up beside them, the only one able to move in a scene frozen in time. Katrina could see her, but she couldn’t move. Her gaze sought out the others, and what she could see from her vantage point showed her that everyone except Sonia was frozen in place.
This… This was magic. Serious magic. And it had to have come from Sonia herself, since she was the only one unaffected by whatever it was she’d done to them all.
Sonia reached out and touched Katrina on the shoulder, and she came unfrozen. Able to move again, she stepped away at Sonia’s gesture, making room for whatever it was Sonia planned to do about the attacker. Sonia walked around them, judging angles, and tapped Greg and Clive, unfreezing them.
“Catch Ren,” she instructed them simply, and the two men positioned themselves behind Ren, who was clearly off balance and would fall as soon as he was freed from the spell. Sonia looked at Ren, meeting his gaze. “Let them catch you,” she instructed. “You’ll do less damage to yourself that way.”
Sonia then touched Ren, and he did as he was told, allowing Clive and Greg to catch him and help him clear the area. They didn’t go far, though. They stood behind Sonia, ready to back her up.
Katrina got a clear look at T.J. Cochran as the men moved around, and her breath caught when she saw the bright red blood staining the blade he still held in his hands. Ren’s blood. Her gaze shot to Ren, and she could see the paleness of his cheeks and the blood dripping down the leather of his costume top. There was a slice through the leather, and when he moved, she could see an answering gash in his chest.
She worried for him, but she would not nag him to leave the work to the other men. She couldn’t do that to him. She knew men had their pride, and Ren, as an Alpha, probably had more than most. She didn’t fully understand this world of shifters she was only just learning about, but she would not shame him in front of his people, even if worry gnawed away at her seeing him hurt and bleeding.
“Katrina, I need your assistance,” Sonia said in a clear voice that rang through the forest. Surprised, Katrina jumped a little before her feet carried her to Sonia’s side. Everyone else besides the five of them were still frozen in place, watching.
“How can I help?” Katrina asked the director, wondering what in the world she could possibly contribute in this situation.
“The knife is highly magical and made of pure silver. We cannot touch it, but you—human as you are—can handle it with no ill effect. Will you take the blade from this man’s hands and keep it safe while we deal with the rest of this?” Sonia asked, surprising her.
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��Of course,” Katrina replied, hiding her trepidation.
The man was watching her, but he couldn’t move, just like everybody else. He might have been trying to kill her a moment ago, but at least for right now, he was immobilized. Katrina reached out and took hold of the hilt of the knife from beneath the man’s hand, having to get a little tough to actually pull it from his grasp. She worked at it, and eventually, it came free. She moved away quickly, getting clear of the area where T.J. watched her with a creepily blank expression.
Katrina went back to where she’d been standing, behind Greg, Clive and Ren. It was Ren who turned to her, taking off his leather top as he spoke.
“Wrap it up tight in this. It’s ruined anyway. Try to use the arms to tie it together so that it won’t fall out. As long as it’s wrapped up, we can move the silver. The magical whammy on that particular blade, though, is something else. I’m afraid you’ll have to carry it until we can get it back to the house—or wherever Sonia wants it to go.” Ren removed the top completely and handed it to her.
Katrina gasped as she got a look at the long, deep gash on his chest. He was still bleeding quite a bit, and she didn’t want to mess with the silly knife right now. What she wanted was to see to her mate!
He must have seen the look in her eyes because he pressed the leather into her hand and moved back. “Take care of that first. You’re the only one here who can,” he reminded her. “I’ll keep for a while yet.”
Katrina did as Ren asked and spent a few moments wrestling with the leather and the blade, wrapping it up as tightly as she could manage. When she had it in a little bundle that wasn’t about to come apart without some effort applied, she looked back to the tableau and realized that Sonia had been busy, unfreezing key people. Half of the wolves were free and had shifted into their human forms, even as Sonia freed the rest of them. She then went around and touched each of the jaguar shifters in the cast, and then the crew, freeing them, as well, until the only person left frozen in time was the intruder.
Sonia directed the wolves and jaguars into the positions she wanted them in before freeing T.J. Without his magic blade, he was vulnerable and easily subdued. The Merry Men took some of the rope that had been used as a prop and tied T.J. up in a neat bundle while the wolves conferred with Sonia.
A few minutes later, T.J. was carted off by the werewolves, and Sonia’s attention turned to Ren. Finally.
Katrina moved closer, though she hadn’t gone far from Ren’s side throughout this ordeal. Sonia looked at Ren’s wound and frowned.
“Silver and poisoned with magic, as well,” she muttered. “You, my friend, are lucky to still be standing after coming into contact with that blade.”
Katrina gasped, and Ren staggered a bit when Sonia reached out as if to touch him but was repulsed by…something. Greg and Clive caught him and lowered him to a convenient, very large fallen log that wasn’t too far away. Sonia looked up and beckoned to Katrina.
“Give me your hand, child,” Sonia said in a gentle tone. “I dare not touch him, except through you. Your humanity—and your love—will protect us all. And it will save Ren’s life.”
His life? The wound looked bad, but not mortal to Katrina’s eyes. Then again, Sonia had said it was poisoned. Could Ren really be dying? The thought shocked her into action. There was no way she would let him die. Not on her watch.
Katrina reached out to touch Ren and encountered no resistance. Sonia smiled encouragingly.
“Place your palm over the wound,” Sonia instructed her, and Katrina did as she was told. Ren flinched a bit, but his eyes locked with hers.
“Do it, kitten,” he said, his voice husky with pain.
“I will place my hand on top of yours, Katrina,” Sonia continued, moving close. “You may feel a tingle. That is the counter-spell to the magical poison. Just let it flow through you and into Ren. You are the conduit through which I can work. Just don’t let go of him.”
“I will never let go of him,” Katrina said softly, her gaze holding firmly to Ren’s.
She saw the green fire leap in his eyes at her words, and then, she felt Sonia’s hand cover hers. The tingle was hot, then cold, then painful, but Katrina didn’t move a muscle. Her entire focus was on Ren and the blood pulsing out of his wound and onto her hand.
Sonia was doing something. Dimly, Katrina heard chanting or singing…or something. She really couldn’t focus on that. Her raison d’etre was the man in front of her. The man who had jumped in front of a poisoned blade meant for her. The man she loved with all her being.
She felt the love inside her flare outward, encompassing Ren and making whatever Sonia was doing somehow more powerful. She didn’t know how she knew that. She just knew it.
“Good,” Sonia said, her voice very close to Katrina’s ear. “Keep doing what you’re doing,” Sonia encouraged. “We’re almost done. Just a little more to clear the poison and seal the wound.”
At no point did Katrina’s gaze falter or move from Ren’s. He looked at her throughout, his green eyes flaring with pain, at first, then with relief. She could tell the efficacy of Sonia’s magic simply by gazing into Ren’s so-expressive eyes.
“That should do it,” Sonia said quietly, removing her hand from over Katrina’s and moving back, away from the couple.
Franny appeared at Katrina’s side, brandishing a roll of paper towels. “Wipe your hands on this,” Franny said, her gaze still worried as she looked them both over. “Try not to let Ren’s blood touch anything else. We’ll burn the paper towels properly once you’ve used them.”
“Why?” Katrina was intrigued by the lengths they were prepared to go to in removing all trace of blood. She suspected there was a good reason for their caution, but she didn’t know what it was.
“Sonia’s magic removed the poison and the traces of silver from Ren’s body, but there might still be remnants in the blood on your hand. The only way to clear it so that it doesn’t pose a danger to any of us is to burn it in a consecrated fire,” Franny informed Katrina, who was wiping her hand carefully on the dampened paper towels.
Katrina also wiped the remainder of blood away from Ren’s muscular chest. She wasn’t altogether shocked to see that under the blood, the wound was completely gone. Sonia’s magic had not only stopped the poison but healed Ren, as if the slash in his skin had never been made. Now that was impressive.
He was sitting on a fallen log at the edge of the clearing they’d been using for filming. The giant downed tree had made an interesting backdrop for some of the Merry Men to sit or stand on, varying the heights at which they appeared on film, but right now, it was a handy place for Ren to rest. Katrina’s hands were clean—they’d used a bottle of water for her to rinse them completely—and she’d handed off the paper towels to Franny, who’d had Katrina deposit them carefully inside a bag that she handled gingerly.
Katrina watched idly as the remnants were gathered into a spot one of the werewolves was preparing at the edge of the clearing. He had laid out a small circle marked with some good-sized rocks he’d scrounged from the woodland and cleared any dried leaves from the center so that the earth was as bare as possible within the small circle of stones. Sonia and Franny stood on opposite sides of the two-foot-wide circle, and even as Katrina watched, Sonia set fire to the bag of refuse that Franny deposited within the bounds of the circle. It flared with a flame that started out white hot then ran through all the colors of the spectrum, from blue down to red and everything in between. Katrina had never seen anything like it.
Of course, she’d never seen anyone light a fire without a match, either. However Sonia had managed it, that so-called fire had magical origins that didn’t require any sort of mundane fire starter. Katrina put that out of her mind for later consideration and focused on Ren. He looked a bit tired, but otherwise, he was recovering surprisingly fast. Katrina moved closer, placing her hand on his thigh and checking over the area that had been cut with her eyes.
“You should have let him cut me
,” she murmured, feeling guilty that he’d been hurt so badly on her behalf.
Ren’s hands gripped her shoulders, his gaze seeking hers. “I could never allow you to be harmed,” he told her in that low, growly voice that made her insides flutter.
“But I wouldn’t have been hurt as bad by the magic blade,” she insisted quietly, holding his gaze and trying to understand his intensity.
“We don’t know that for certain,” he replied quickly, still in that low growl. “Even if it were true, I could not let you be hurt while I stood and did nothing. I would die for you, kitten. You are my life.”
Something inside her melted at his words and the truth she read in his expressive eyes. He was serious. Deadly serious. She realized at that moment just how much and how deeply he cared for her. The enormity of his love pierced her emotions and that, along with all the tumult of the past few minutes, released the dam that had been holding back the floodgates. Tears flooded her eyes, much to her shame and embarrassment, and would not be stopped from sliding down her cheeks in a torrent of emotional release.
Ren gathered her close, rocking her against his warm body. He was alive and whole, thanks be to whatever deity these people believed in. Katrina was so grateful that he’d been healed of the injury meant for her. She was grateful they’d captured the crazy man who had been trying to hurt them. She was ecstatic at the discovery of just how deeply Ren had committed to her and whatever last little remnant of her heart she’d been holding back was released into his care.
There was no need to protect herself any longer. Ren wasn’t going to leave her by choice. He might do something stupidly heroic like this again—though she sincerely hoped there would never be a repeat of anything remotely this dangerous—but he would never break her heart on purpose. He was hers as she was his.