Hunted (Auralight Codex: Dakota Shepherd Book 2)

by Shei Darksbane

  She stood and stretched. “I’m in.”

  Ralof nodded to her approvingly then swept his eyes around the room once more. “The rest of you will stay here.”

  Dismay leapt into my chest. I wanted to help. I wanted to fight, not hang around house-sitting. “Ralof?” I took a step toward him as the others rose to prepare themselves for shifting.

  Ralof turned to face me. “Dakota, have you learned anything else that will help us?”

  I bit my lip and nodded. “Killing it won’t be easy. If it has a dozen forms, we have to kill all of them. It has as many as it has taken, so there’s no telling how many times we’ll have to kill it to actually kill it.”

  Ralof’s chest rumbled in response. “We will kill it until it stays dead.”

  “Also, Amorie is coming. She says she’ll be here in under an hour.”

  Ralof frowned. “No. Tell her to stay out of this. This is pack business.”

  I frowned in reply. “Okay, I’ll tell her, but I can’t promise she’ll listen.”

  Ralof made a grumbly noise. “Tell her I said it would be good of her as an ally to the pack to respect our boundaries when asked.”

  “Roger that, boss.” I started to type out a text, as Ralof started to turn away, but I couldn’t resist the burning urge in my chest to speak what was in my heart. “I want to go with you.”

  Ralof shook his head and said firmly. “No, Dakota. I need you to stay here.”

  I flexed my hand indicatively. “But Ralof, I could actually help. I have the Hellfire thing and—”

  “Dakota.” Ralof’s voice was adamant. My mouth snapped shut and I dropped my head. I felt immediately bitter, like a scolded child, and it aggravated me that I felt like I was being treated as such.

  Ralof sighed and dipped his head low enough to catch my eyes again. I helplessly looked up to meet his gaze. “Dakota, I need you to stay here for that very reason. This thing is clever. It has been hunting in our territory and it has managed to evade us thus far. It ambushed Jack and the others, and it managed to come out on top. Dakota, Jack is one of the strongest wolves here. That was no small thing for it to do.”

  “I know, but—”

  “You do not have enough experience with either of the forms, or running and hunting with the pack to go out with us. We will be using our knowledge of our territory to our advantage, and you are not familiar enough with that either. We will be harrying it and attempting to wear it down using tactics you have never even seen in practice. It is no insult to your honor or your bravery, Dakota. You are simply too new to this.”

  I frowned and sighed. “But I thought you said I did fine with the war form before?”

  “You shifted into it just fine.” Ralof agreed. “But you have not used it for fighting before. The varulf suffers from tunnel vision, Dakota. If you are in the war form, you will be focused on killing your foe and nothing else, to a degree that could get an inexperienced wolf killed. You would be a liability at best, and a burden at worst.”

  I snarled to to the side. I wasn’t angry at Ralof, and his expression showed me he knew that. I was angry that I felt useless, that I couldn’t help protect my pack.

  “Dakota, if the Skinwalker comes here, I know I can count on you to help keep everyone safe.” Ralof glanced around the room. “This creature will take more than brute strength alone to defeat, if I understand. If you have not noticed, we do not have another magic specialist in the pack.”

  I blinked again. “Magic specialist? Ralof, I can only do one thing. I’m not—”

  “You are the best we have. And this is a situation where understanding such things may come in handy.”

  I pursed my lips as I thought it over, then peered back up at him. “Why do I have the feeling you’re trying to appease me?”

  Ralof sighed. “I heard what Amorie said to you on the phone. She felt that the Skinwalker could be after you in particular. I do not believe that is unreasonable.”

  “And you’re trying to protect me.”

  Ralof put his hands on my shoulders. “That is what we do, Dakota. We protect each other. Just as you have a need to protect those you feel more dominant than in the pack, so do the rest of us. Let me protect you.”

  I wanted to argue. I wanted to protest and demand to go with them. My instincts were screaming at me to go find this thing and destroy it before it had a chance to hurt any more of my packmates. But Ralof was right. He was older and wiser and stronger, and he knew what was best for the pack. I nodded slowly and deliberately. “All right.”

  Ralof squeezed my shoulders firmly. “I have to go. We need to find this thing before it has a chance to gain any further advantages on us. Are you all right?”

  I nodded. “Go. I’ll stay behind. Just be careful.”

  Ralof smiled at me and nodded once, then turned and crossed the room to Elisa. Elisa turned to face him just as he reached her, and he put a hand on her lower back, pulled her tight to him and kissed her. Elisa gripped his hand firmly. “If you stay out all night playing with this thing, do not cry to me if there is no stew left for you.”

  Ralof smiled warmly at his mate, laid his forehead against hers for a moment and closed his eyes. She closed her eyes too and smiled one of her rare smiles. Ralof kissed her forehead firmly then turned to join the others. “Elisa is in charge. Elliot?”

  Elliot looked up from where he stood leaning against the wall. Steph had found a corner of the couch to curl up on and was now hugging a pillow. Elliot pushed off from the wall. “Yes, Ralof?”

  “You take second to Elisa. Defend the house.”

  Elliot bowed his head in that serious martial-artsy sort of way of his. “Of course.”

  The others had all stripped down and shifted to their wolf forms save for Jack who was standing by the door holding a long rifle he had retrieved from somewhere nearby while I wasn’t looking. Ralof crossed to them, opened the back door, and ushered the others out as he dropped the rest of his clothes and shifted down to his large, silvery-gray, shaggy wolf form. He ran out to the front of the pack and glanced back toward them once, then they took off together across the back yard in relative silence and disappeared into the trees.

  I walked over and closed the door, sighing to myself and doing my best to quiet the wolf inside me who desperately wanted to join them.

  25

  Drums of War

  I finished my text to Amorie and related Ralof’s message as a quote. Hopefully that would allow me to avoid being the target of any irritation the message evoked. My phone rang barely a minute later. “Yeah.”

  Amorie’s heels clicked on a hard floor as she spoke. “Dakota, I will be on my flight in just a moment. You are still inside the pack’s house?”

  “Uh, did you miss my text?”

  “I did not. However, this is not merely pack business, and I will not stay out of it.”

  I sighed. “Am, Ralof specifically said—”

  “Ralof will have to get over it. He does not give me orders.” Amorie’s tone told me she wasn’t likely to budge on the matter.

  “Amorie…” I whined into the phone hopefully.

  “I am sorry, ma chérie. I can not abide a Skinwalker in my domain hunting my allies, less my lover. It simply will not do.”

  “What are you going to do about it that the pack can’t do?” I paced away from the back door.

  “Obviously, ma chérie, I am going to kill it.”

  “I don’t think it’s that simple, Am.”

  “For me, it will be.” Her voice held no uncertainty.

  I sighed again. “You’re gonna get me in trouble, you know.”

  “Ralof is far too reasonable to blame you, so you need not worry about that. There is nothing further to discuss. I am on my way. Do not leave the house until I am there.” She hung up on me; I threw my hands up.

  I handed Steph’s phone back to her then dropped onto the couch feeling utterly useless and thoroughly annoyed.

  Steph looked up and gave me a
weak smile. I could smell her fear. My instincts screamed at me to protect her, to comfort her. I put an arm around her. “It’ll be all right, Steph.”

  She smiled a little more honestly. “Thanks… I know Ralof and the others can do this. I’m just worried about them.”

  She glanced toward the other couch where Jonas still lay, now sleeping off his injuries under a thick blanket. “It’s all right to be afraid. Some pretty tough wolves got hurt by this thing, and that’s scary to think about. But Ralof’s with them now, and so is Andrei, and everyone he took is someone he trusted to get his back. They’ll be fine.”

  Steph nodded. “I know you’re right. I just… I just can’t stop worrying and I’m so scared that someone is going to get hurt…” Her tone told me that by “hurt” she really meant “killed”. She was trembling.

  I glanced up at Kenneth who was still waiting by the stairs and I had an idea. I pushed off the couch and crossed to where he stood. “Kenneth, why don’t you take Steph upstairs and watch a movie? My laptop’s on the desk in my room. If you open the videos folder on my desktop, there’s a bunch of files in there and you’re welcome to my Netflix account too.”

  Kenneth tilted his head at first, looking a bit confused at my request. Then his eyes shot past me to where Steph was still huddled on the couch, now pressing her face into a pillow and recognition set in. He nodded. “Right. I gotcha.” He stepped past me and went over to Steph, said a few quiet words and offered her his hand. Steph took his hand with a still shaky smile and I stepped out of the way as he lead her upstairs.

  I turned back to the living room and caught Elliot glaring at me sidewardly for just an instant. He flicked his eyes away as he noticed me looking. I stepped over to him. “If there’s anything I can do to help, let me know, okay?”

  Elliot glanced up at me and nodded seriously. “I will.”

  “Cool.” I turned and started back toward the couch, but Elliot touched my arm lightly. I glanced back at him.

  “If you find out anything else about our enemy, I’d like to know.” He met my eyes and the tension between us rose instantly. He was being polite. Elliot was more or less always polite. But he was giving me an order and we had never quite settled our rank with each other. I felt the wolf eagerly rising to the challenge, but this was not the time for such things, so I snapped my eyes toward the kitchen as if I’d heard something.

  “Yeah, no problem. I’ll let everyone here know anyway.” It wasn’t the same as backing down or submitting; It was almost more like cheating. And what I’d said was basically “I would have done that anyway.” So I wasn’t submitting to his authority in the slightest. Still, I’d do what he said. Ralof had left him in charge.

  Elliot stepped back and leaned against the wall again, and I decided to step on into the kitchen where he and I wouldn’t be tempted to come to blows over pack hierarchy when more important things were happening.

  Elisa and Raelya were both in the kitchen; Elisa stood leaning against the counter and Raelya sat at the bar. I came over to sit next to Raelya and sighed. She slid her hand into mine and laced our fingers. I smiled at her gratefully. “So Amorie’s on her way.”

  Raelya frowned. “I thought Ralof said she should not come?”

  I sighed exaggeratedly. “I told her that. But she’s coming anyway.”

  Raelya winced. “I do not suppose you can really stop her.”

  I shook my head. “Nope. So she’ll be here within an hour.” Thinking about Amorie coming to the pack house gave me another thought. I glanced up at Elisa. “Where’s the rest of the pack, anyway? I thought everyone was coming in tonight? Shouldn’t some more people have been arriving over the past hour or so?”

  Elisa shook her head. “I put out call to stop them from coming. Ralof was worried Skinwalker might try to pick off stragglers if we do not stick together.”

  I grimaced. “Eech. That’s a good point.” I glanced at Raelya. “So no backup then, other than Amorie.” I thought about that for a second then my eyes widened with another concern. “Which means… if Amorie is coming in from the airport alone… Then she could be in danger.”

  Raelya frowned. “That is an excellent point.”

  I whipped out my phone and dialed Amorie’s number, but it went straight to voicemail. I cursed quietly. “She’s turned off her phone. Either in flight, or to stop me from trying to talk her out of coming. Which means…” It took me all of two seconds to decide what I had to do next. I glanced up at Elisa. “I’m going to get her.”

  Elisa frowned. “What?”

  I stood and started for the door. “I’m going to go pick her up at the airport. If Amorie is coming here and I can’t stop her, then she’s in danger just like you said. The Skinwalker could attack her on the way when she’s alone. I can’t let that happen.”

  Elisa straightened and took a step toward me, suddenly commanding my attention. “Dakota, no. If you were to go, then you would be alone.”

  I met Elisa’s eyes with a pleading expression. “Elisa, I have to. She’s my girlfriend. I can’t let her be out there unprotected with a monster on the loose and not do anything about it.”

  Elisa shook her head. “Ralof said to stay here. It would not be wise for you to go.”

  I growled in frustration and paced for a moment. I couldn’t help the pack, couldn’t hunt the monster, and now I couldn’t even make sure that Amorie wasn’t walking right into a trap. Trap…

  My mind had started putting together a rather elaborate puzzle entirely of its own accord. “Holy crap…”

  Elisa stared at me flatly. Raelya glanced over. “Hmm?”

  My thoughts were racing to put the fledgling idea together. “It could be a trap…” I glanced up at Raelya. “What if the Skinwalker isn’t here for Ralof’s Alpha werewolf skin, or for my Hellfire?”

  Raelya furrowed her brow. “What is your point?”

  I paced over to Raelya and caught her eyes. “What if the Skinwalker is after Amorie, and this whole thing is just to get her to come out here so it can take her skin?”

  Raelya’s eyes widened. “Oh… Oh my, that is very reasonable…”

  I glanced up at Elisa. “Amorie’s no fledgling vampire. She’s centuries old and powerful enough to be in charge of multiple freaking states.”

  Elisa looked doubtful, but she didn’t seem to discount my concerns as I’d feared she might. “But is such a thing possible? Taking a vampire’s skin?”

  I glanced down at my phone, considered for a few seconds, then called Nita. She picked up right away. “Nita. Can the Skinwalker take a vampire’s skin?”

  “What? I don’t know. It’s an interesting metaphysical question.”

  “Yeah, well, Amorie’s on the way here alone, so it’s rather pertinent to the situation at hand.”

  “Shit. I can’t tell you for sure. There’s a lot that isn’t known about them.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “On the one hand, I’m pretty sure they can’t steal another human skin. They already have a human skin: their normal one. On the other hand, I don’t know if being a vampire changes that and how undeath might interact with… well, with an abomination of which we know relatively little about. Maybe. My educated guess? No. But it’s possible.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief. I wasn’t completely convinced, and I still wanted to make sure Amorie was safe, but at least it wasn’t guaranteed that my wicked hunch was right.

  “The real problem,” Nita began again, “is what if it’s hunting her anyway?”

  “Huh? Why would it be hunting her if it can’t take her form?”

  “Look, Dakota. There’s a lot you don’t know yet about the politics of the supernatural world. Your girlfriend is really important, especially in this region. There’s a lot of people that feel they could further their own interests a lot better if she was out of the picture. Such people might be able to, say, offer a Skinwalker something in exchange for a task, assuming she could be gotten alone.”

  Elisa drew in a
breath sharply at the same moment as I did.

  “That sounds bad.”

  “You keep saying that,” Nita quipped.

  “You keep saying things that sound bad!” I quipped back.

  Elisa tapped my shoulder and I glanced up at her, lowering the phone slightly. “Yeah?”

  “She has point. Could all be part of scheme to remove Amorie from territory? Possibly. What is worse would look very bad if she were hurt or killed trying to help us. If others are trying to take power in region… This could hurt two most influential groups in the area at once.”

  I grimaced again. “That sounds even worse.” I nodded to Elisa and pressed the phone back to my ear. “I think the point you raised has been accepted for consideration, Nita. Thanks for helping me think it through.”

  “Of course it has. I know what I’m talking about.” The typical “Annoyed Nita” voice I was used to hearing on better days came through, but then her tone dropped again. “Dakota, do you… need me to come help you?” She sounded scared again.

  “No. We’ve got this, and Ralof was worried about people coming in individually. If you came to help, you’d just be a liability to the pack at this point.” It wasn’t entirely true, but I didn’t want her to get stubborn on me like Amorie and try to come out anyway. “But thank you. It means a lot to me that you’d offer.”

  Nita hesitated slightly. “You’re my friend. And besides, it’s what we do.”

  Elisa gestured toward the phone impatiently. “We need to decide what to do.”

  I nodded. “I’ll call you back if that changes, okay? I have to go.”

  “Okay. Be careful.” Nita hung up.

  I glanced up at Elisa. “So like I said, I’m going to pick Amorie up from the airport.”

  Elisa nodded. “If thing is here for Amorie for one reason or another, we can not let it have her. But you will not go alone.”

  Raelya put a hand on my shoulder. “I will go with her.” I smiled at her appreciatively and put a hand her hand.