by Anna Edwards
Freeth her from Magic once cast,
Giveth back abilities no longer bound.'
On the last word, she collapsed back onto the bed, gasping for air. The pain stopped, and the screaming in her head turned to silence.
"Did it work?" Kas stroked her head, his large hands calming her.
"Yes, but we need to find them fast."
"Do you have any idea where they are?" Scott was there as well.
She shook her head.
"Don't worry. I do." Kas pulled his shirt over his head. "Nuka."
***
White illumination flashed through the room.
Selene's legs sagged, leaving her suspended by her bound arms. They hurt, but she barely registered it. All she could focus on was the knife at Brayden's throat.
"What happened?" Nuka asked.
"She has her powers back," Ciaran smirked. "Jessica never could stand to hear someone in pain."
"Check." Nuka flicked his head towards her.
The druid obeyed, stepping up to her and placing his hand on her cheek. Markings started to appear on her skin.
"No," Brayden whispered. "I can't lose you. I've only just found you."
"We need to hurry. They will be searching for them now. Ciaran."
A ball of energy formed. This was the moment she would die. She prepared for peace, but the ball went straight into Brayden's head. His eyes closed and when Nuka let go of him, he fell to the floor.
"No. You said you wouldn't hurt him if I called!" she cried her plea.
Brayden wasn't moving. She couldn't even tell if he was breathing. He'd been hit in the head by that thing. His hair had burned away, and his skin smoked. He was supposed to be her savior. Oh God, Jane. Her son and husband lost. She should never have been created.
"Do it." Nuka stepped forward and removed his clothes.
Ciaran was preparing the spell around her. A baby cried. A baby? Where did that come from?
'You will be the savior of the world. Destined for such great things. Mommy and Daddy will always love you. Be strong our child, have faith, know you are what is right. Know that his love will set you free.'
Brayden.
She had to get to him. Her vision shifted. It grew wider and darker, the colors less vivid. Then she fell onto all fours. Nuka and Ciaran feverishly cursed in the background. Fur, snow leopard fur, was covering her body. She had turned, a predator ready to protect what was hers. The growl left her throat and echoed around the room. Her vision cleared, Nuka and Ciaran stood still in front of her.
"We've lost our chance." The druid dropped a potion he was holding. "She can change independently.
"Then we ensure they are both dead."
That was not going to happen. She let out a fierce growl as she leaped at the man before he could become the thousand-pound killing machine, that he was.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The brilliant white paw lashed out at her face, razor-edged claws lacerating the flesh on her shoulder. She let out a wail and thrust her own sharpened talons into Nuka's torso.
"You will pay for this. I will see you gutted from neck to navel and fed to the eagles in the park." She was deadly in her rage.
"You are confident for someone who has been a shifter for mere moments," Nuka pushed back into her head.
"You do not understand the power of love because nobody would be insane enough to even look your way."
Nuka knocked her back. Her four legs flattened to the floor, and she hit her head against the wall as she flew back. The pain didn’t even register.
"You're weak because you are new. You do not have the power yet to beat me."
"You underestimate my strength, especially after what you just did to Brayden."
In a one-on-one fight with Nuka, she could not beat him. His bear strength was superior to that of a snow leopard. She could only change into something she’d touched. To plague him as a flea wouldn’t buy her the time she needed. There was only one other animal that would be suitable. She shifted into a polar bear. As a male, Nuka still had strength on her, but the form gave her a better ability to fight. She ran for him, head-butting him in the face and causing him to stagger backward.
"I'm not the puny weakling you think me to be. I was created for a reason. That reason is to defeat people like you. Individuals who seek to destroy the shifters’ way of life with greed."
"They killed my family. How can you say that is correct?"
"You grandfather killed to take what he did. That made him wrong. The Council lives to ensure justice."
"You are a fool, who knows nothing. You will see that soon." Nuka swung for her again. She deflected the blow.
"I know my own mind. Men seek to control and weaken through violence. You are no different. You are scared." Nuka lunged at her, but she stepped back. Ciaran was forming an energy ball in his hand. "You are afraid because I'm a woman who has more power than you can ever imagine." She quickly shifted into a witch and deflected Ciaran's energy ball into the wall. She formed her own and sent the druid flying into the cage. She shut the door with the power of her mind.
"I will deal with you when I've killed your alpha." Vengeance ran through her blood.
Nuka struck from behind, his claws ripping through the muscles of her back. She yelled out in pain, but it would not deflect her need to tear down everything Nuka stood for. Jessica had not shown her much magic, but what she remembered, she used. At a wave of her hand, furniture flew around the room. The door opened and several of the other members of the Banff pack flooded in. A panther lunged at her, his jet black fur catching the edge of her vision, but a table slammed into him and rendered him incapable of further attack.
"Cease this, Selene. You can’t win,” Nuka called out in her head. "You're outnumbered."
A wolf dove at her leg and sank his teeth into her tender flesh. She shifted to a wolf of her own and returned the bite before turning back to a witch. Energy balls formed in her hands. With a twist of her wrist, the balls filled the room, smashing into the creatures who would attack her. She was beyond reason, a dead woman walking, but she would take as many of them out with her as possible.
It happened in an instant, she was frozen in mid-air, the wind sucked out of her in a long breath as she tried to free herself with the power of her mind.
"Thank you, Ciaran." Nuka shifted to human.
The druid held her in a spell. She glared down at him through the metallic bars of the cage.
"They will come for you. They will destroy you. Your brother may have had doubts in the past, but with this betrayal, he will seek your death." Her voice was feral. Nothing of the innocent Selene was left. She had become a wild animal. Her head turned in an almost eerie manner to the floor where Brayden still lay. "Did you kill his father, Nuka?"
"You are about to die, and that is what you want to know?" Nuka laughed demonically.
"Did you kill his father?"
"No." The answer was defiant. "Ciaran. Kill her."
The druid prepared his energy balls, and she shut her eyes for the second time today to prepare for death. This time, it would be sweet. She would join Brayden.
The blast of white light blinded her.
The light cleared, and she was still in Nuka's dungeon. But this time she wasn't alone. Jessica, Kas, Tyler, Scott, Emma, Zain, and Katia were there, ready to fight. Jessica made short work of freeing her from the magical chains; while Kas went straight for his brother.
"Brayden. We need to get him out of here." Jessica was one step ahead of her and already at his side. She watched as the witch reached out to put her hand on the pulse in his neck.
"He's alive, but barely." He was still alive. She could hardly breathe. "Selene, I need you to stay and help the others. I'm going to transport him to Molly’s."
"I'm not leaving him."
Brayden groaned when Jessica wrapped her arms around him.
"Be brave. He would want you to protect his family."
"Family?"
&n
bsp; "That is what we are. We have nobody else but each other." The words were spoken by the witch with love.
Everything fell into place, why Brayden had referred to them as his family even though he had Jane, why he stayed with people to whom he had no blood-tie. They'd all fought against some atrocity in the past, and it had come down to this. They had each other, and they would protect that to the death. She would do the same. They were her family as well.
"You never put a spell on me to prevent Brayden and I being together?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Nothing. Your answer gives me all I need. Take him." Selene turned and, as the flash of white cascaded around her, she re-joined the fight.
***
"What did you think you would accomplish with this?" Kas deflected a strike from his brother.
"Revenge, brother." Nuka stumbled back as Kas rammed his fist into his brother’s face.
"I brought peace to our family. The Council would have taken everything if we'd chosen to fight."
"Together we could have been strong. We could have defeated them."
"Defeat the Council? Are you insane?"
They were fighting in human form, while all around them others fought in animal form. He stepped forward and went for his brother's face again, white fur growing on his fist when he did so. In polar bear form, they would fill the room, eight feet tall on hind legs and pure muscle. He needed to put Nuka in his place, and this was the only way to do it. The roar of dominance that left his sharp-toothed jaw caused the room to shake. Nuka responded in kind, also now in polar bear form. The fighting around them stopped, the other shifters seeming to sense that this was Kas and Nuka’s duel.
"I gave you your own pack to rule." They circled each other. Their massive paws, laden with sharp blood-covered claws, hammered on the ground.
Nuka growled.
"You have tried to take the lives of two members of my pack.”
"Selene is not a part of your pack yet," his brother retorted.
"She is protected by the member of my pack that you tried to kill. That makes her part of our pack."
"Come now brother, what would you use her powers for? To help you and the witch control everyone to your whim?"
"I would use her for the reason she has been created."
"Nobody knows why she was created."
"She is here to help people. As all shifters of her kind are."
Nuka laughed.
"You actually believe that? She is dangerous. No multi-shifter has ever been female. Purposely not created so that they cannot breed."
"You think she was given to me to create an army of multi-shifters?"
"I don't believe that she was given to you for anything. You may have stopped me from taking her powers away, but I still have her body."
The pack closed tighter around Selene.
"I will be no one's breeding vessel,” she spoke out.
"I see now that I should not have allowed you to branch out on your own, brother. You were never meant to rule. That was my destiny, as the elder brother; not yours. As a child, you were not taught the humility you need for the position. The power I gave you has gone to your head, and I must take it back. Effective immediately the Banff and Glacial packs are merged together. I'm removing you from your position as leader. Your pack will answer to my rule."
Nuka lunged at him, his paws flying, teeth snapping. His brother caught his shoulder and pain ripped through it. It was not enough to defeat him, though. He, too, was on his hind legs, his powerful legs, matching his brother punch for punch, his fangs ready to tear through flesh.
Nuka had appeared to be on his back foot, but now he stood taller and caught Kas off balance. The swipe to his face sent him tumbling backward, and Nuka was on him, his jaws wide and ready to bite down.
One of the disadvantages of being the weight of two Harley Davidson XL Sportsters was, if you went down, it wasn't that easy to get back up again.
He used his back legs to kick out at Nuka's chest. Nuka lost his balance this time, and they both rolled on the floor with teeth bared. Kas bit down on Nuka's left paw, which reopened the wound on his shoulder.
"Brother, stop this now."
"Never. You betrayed our family. You sold out our revenge for our grandfather’s and our father's deaths. I'll never rest until you are dead and I rule."
"The Council will never allow you to rule."
"Then I'll kill the fucking Council. I'll kill all the humans on this plain as well, if I have to. What is rightfully our family’s was taken away from us, and I will not rest until I have it all back."
"You will die first."
"So be it."
Kas summoned the last of his strength to get the upper hand. He pushed Nuka to the floor and wrapped his teeth around his brother's jaw. One bite and he would kill him. The pack would be safe. He was the leader, he had to do it. He had to protect the Glacial Blood. Nuka was no longer his family. He started to bite down
A shaft of energy sent him flying back. Another flashed past from his pack. Ciaran had prevented him from killing Nuka.
He would have done it. He would have killed his own brother. Nuka's pack stepped forward and pulled him back into their folds. His pack did the same to him. A standoff ensued.
"Do we finish this, Kas?" Emma was primed and ready for the fight.
Kas shifted back to human form, his body bruised and bloody. "Nuka, will you stand down?"
"Never." His brother had shifted as well and was rubbing at his neck.
"Then the war begins.” “Jessica?"
The flash of white light appeared, his pack held hands, and they were transported home.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
"How are you feeling? Do you need more balm?"
Kas shook his head as Jessica walked into his office.
"I think most of the wounds have nearly healed. How is Brayden?"
"Still sleeping. Selene is with him. She's refused to leave his side." Kas was glad that Selene and Brayden had each other and finally found the ability to be a couple.
"I don't blame her. They are mates. She is probably very scared. Did she say anything about how Nuka trapped them?" he asked.
"Apparently he showed them a video of us talking about binding Selene's powers but not against Brayden."
"What? We never discussed that." He slammed his fist on the desk. "How did he manage that."
"I don't know. Magic? Computers? A bit of both? I'm just as confused as you are. Apparently, he claimed he had this office bugged."
"But you check for that."
"I do, but maybe Ciaran is more powerful than I am." Jessica looked disheartened. Ciaran had betrayed her in the worst possible way and this had dented the witch's confidence.
"I don't believe that for a second. When Selene is healed, maybe both of you can go over the office together. Combine your magic."
"We won't have to wait for that. She has fully healed already."
"What?"
"It seems that Selene heals even quicker than we do."
"We really need to find out more about her." He motioned for Jessica to sit while he opened a drawer and pulled out a bottle of single malt whiskey. "I think we both need and deserve this." He poured two glasses and slid one across the table to her. Jessica had her roots in Scotland. She no longer had the brogue of a true Scot, but she could drink like a true caber flinging, kilt wearing Highlander.
"We do." She took a draught. "I've arranged for Selene and Brayden to meet a multi-shifter from the Council. I'm hoping he'll shed more light on Selene's abilities. I fear that she is unique, even among her kind. I don't know why she was given to us, but we need to protect her. I was thinking we should get Jane back here. Brayden will want his mother protected."
"I will send for Jane tomorrow. I'm sure she will want to see Brayden when she learns of his injuries." He finished his glass and poured another.
"What are you going to do about Nuka?" Her question was hesitant.
"I wondered when you would ask."
"You were going to kill him, Kas. I've known you long enough now to know how that would affect you."
"He ceased to be my brother a long time ago. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that until today." It hurt him to admit that. He’d always hoped that Nuka could be brought to heel.
"Have you reported him to the Council?"
"I have. They will send someone to investigate. I doubt they will even get on Nuka's lands though. My brother will have a price on his head to be captured and neutralized."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be. You and the others are my family now, and you’re the ones who must be protected."
A loud crash came from the kitchen.
"What now?" Kas groaned wearily.
"Scott and Emma went out hunting. There was talk of needing something at least the size of a stag for dinner."
"I can't argue with that. As long as it is covered in seal blubber."
"I think Tyler was getting some out of the freezer when I left."
"Good." Kas stood and held his hand out for her. "Why don't you go see if you can find something without a pulse for you to eat?"
"Are you going to join us?"
"Soon." She left the room, and he sat back at his desk. He needed to make another call he'd been dreading. When he picked up the phone his hand was shaking. He found the number and pressed the call button.
Jane answered on the first ring.
"It’s Kas."
"Brayden?" He could hear the alarm in her voice.
"He was in a fight. He's banged up pretty bad, but he is recovering. Selene is with him."
"What happened?"
"Nuka."
"Oh."
"It's started, Jane. What we always feared has begun. I need you to come here for protection. I'll send one of the pack."
"Can you give me a few days to sort everything?"
"Of course. I would come to get you myself, but..."
"It's ok, I know you're busy."
"Brayden was alone with Nuka for quite a while. I've not been able to speak to him yet."