by Lia Davis
Shay stopped in front of him and lowered his daughter to his lap. Josie smiled brightly at him. Her green eyes still held the light of her awakened wolf. “Daddy, guess what. I’m going to shift into a wolf like you. I wonder if I’ll be brown like you. Nana says mommy was a black wolf.”
He drew her to his chest and laughed softly at her rapid speech filled with excitement. He peered up into Shay’s watchful gaze. She sighed and twirled a stray curl of Josie’s hair. “Sven, the geneticist, confirmed she’s infected with the mutant virus.” She paused, and he waited, knowing what she was about to say.
He took her hand and brought it to his lips to place a kiss on her knuckles. “I know. Do you think your blood will help her?” Hope bloomed inside him, but he couldn’t let it grow. Not yet.
“It will if mixed with mine.”
Travis turned his gaze toward the sound of Luna’s voice. The Alpha went straight to Keegan, and they spoke quietly for a few moments. By the lines in Keegan’s face, Travis could tell the leopard Alpha was not pleased. But, he nodded and touched Luna on the cheek. Her shoulders tensed for a brief moment before she reached out to touch Keegan’s cheek lightly with her fingertips.
It was an odd form of affection between shifters, but then again Travis had never known of two Packs merging and still keeping both Alphas. He’d definitely never heard of a wolf and leopard Pack merging.
Shay sat next him and whispered, “Like me, Luna has a natural shield against Keegan’s telepathy. Only through touch can they mind link.”
Travis frowned. “Isn’t that an inconvenience?”
Shay shook her head. “The Alphas aren’t allowed in the field at the same time. Both Marshals make sure of it. Besides, Luna doesn’t have a problem with letting people know what’s on her mind. I don’t think she likes to mind link. She always seems uneasy with it.”
He focused his attention back on Luna, who was now sitting in a large armchair that nearly swallowed the small female. She met his stare and grinned, apparently reading his expression. “I may be small, but small packages can make big booms.”
The tension in the room lifted as she laughed at her own joke. “And no, I can’t read your mind. Your expression told me what you were thinking.” Her smile faded as her tone grew direr. “Your daughter is very sick. Sven analyzed the blood sample and said the gene is progressing at a slow rate, based on what he can tell from the data Danica sent him. However, we do need to move quickly. Shayna came to us as a baby. She was barely two years old. I’m sure you’ve seen her mark. She is immune to the virus, and Dani tested her blood against a small sample of Josie’s. Shay’s blood holds an antidote, but a weak one.”
Travis’s heart beat furiously in his chest. “So Josie can be cured?”
Shay placed a hand on his arm. “In order to make sure the antidote works, Luna will need to force the change.”
His heart stopped for a beat of time. “She’s too small, too young.”
Luna sat up in the chair and sighed. “There is always a risk with the first change. But, I fear this is her only chance. If the virus takes her, I will be forced to kill her.”
Travis snapped his gaze at her. Anger ignited his internal fire, making his hands grow warm. He needed an outlet soon. His frequent hunts for rogues offered that release of power so the fire within him didn’t consume him along with the anger. Hayden—Luna’s eldest son, who’d already been in the office when Travis got there—moved forward but stopped when his mother held her hand up. “You of all people know what a newborn mutant is like. Did you not burn your den down to keep the virus from spreading?”
A gasped from Shay cooled his flames a little. Memories of that night filtered into his mind. He’d surrounded the entire den in a circle, and called the fire and spread it out to consume everything inside the circle. The only way it worked was that he remained inside to control the burn. It had always amazed him that the fire never touched his own skin.
Coming back to the present, he looked into Josie’s face. “Do you understand what will happen?”
She looked at Shay then her grandma. “Yes. Nana explained. I have to get a shot, and then we go to the circle. Luna calls magick and gives me her blood to drink.” Her nose crinkled in disgust. “I’m not going to like that, but Luna says it will only be a little bit. Then I’ll turn into a wolf.”
Travis closed his eyes and squeezed her tighter to him. “The first shift will hurt.” There was no use lying to her.
She nodded into his chest. “I’m a big girl, and I’m strong. Luna said so.”
***
It was an hour before sunset, and Travis had never felt so helplessly on edge in his life as he stood in his bedroom. He was about to participate in a ritual that would force the change in his daughter. He’d only witnessed one forced shift in his life.
The kid had been seventeen and past the age in when the shift should have occurred. Travis’s father was Alpha at the time and agreed to the ritual after the boy came to him pleading. Travis didn’t understand at the time, but the boy would have never shifted without the Alpha’s intervention.
Now he got to watch his daughter shift into a wolf at the age of four, about six years too early. God, what was he doing? The first shift was violent. There was a seven-to-three survival rate. The rate was lower the younger they were.
But, the virus would kill her humanity and force her to kill everyone in her path. He would have to stop her because he wouldn’t allow Luna the horror of killing a child.
Josie was his child and his responsibility.
The thought sent a wave of fear through him, a wave so hot the fire within him threatened to consume him and his wolf. He wished he could take the pain from his baby when she shifted in a few minutes.
The sweet scent of pumpkin spice wrapped around him. He took a deep breath before he turned around to face his very brave preschooler. Her long brown curls hung loose, and she carried her Hello Kitty doll in the crook of her elbow.
He knelt down to her level. “How do you feel?”
She gave a little shrug as she traced her finger over the bow on Hello Kitty’s ear. “My belly feels yucky.”
He tugged her into a hug and kissed the top of her head. “I know, baby.” He pulled back and framed her face in his hands. “I wish I could take the hurt away.”
She touched his face with her tiny fingers. “It’ll be okay, Daddy. Don’t be scared.”
He drew her to him again, but this time he stood, picking her up. His little warrior, so brave and strong.
His mother and Shay waited by the door when he entered the living room. When he stopped next to them, his mom kissed Josie on the nose and rose on her toes to kiss his cheek. “Luna is very powerful.”
He nodded and hugged her. “I know, Mom.”
Shay stood silently, her nervousness flowing off her in waves. “Come here,” he commanded in a hushed tone. She walked in between Josie and his mother, laying her head on his chest and wrapping one arm around Robyn and one around Josie. The three of them stood, locked in an embrace for several moments before Shay pulled away, wiped her cheeks, and opened the door.
They walked to the Pack circle in silence, none of them knowing what to say. What could they say?
The circle, formed from stone and large tree trunks, sat in a clearing several yards from the center of the den. Magick hummed in the air, making Travis feel as though tiny needles pricked at his skin.
He breathed in deeply and smiled.
This was the heart of the Pack, the power that fused everyone together, and the sacred strength of their spirituality.
God, he longed for the connection to his Pack. But, they were gone.
All because he’d failed.
Pushing away the dark thoughts of a past that couldn’t be undone, he scanned the area. Everyone from the den was there, some in their animal form, some in human form. Travis hadn’t realized how big the Packs were together until now. They were spread out around the clearing and in the tree line
. Looking up into the trees, he spotted several leopards lying on the thick branches.
He did notice that the children were grouped together in a section close to the circle with a couple of den mothers and Cameron, dressed in her usual all black.
Shay touched his arm, drawing his attention to her. “Are you okay?”
“Yes.” He kissed Josie’s temple and set her down on her feet. “What about you, Jos?”
His daughter looked at him wide-eyed. “It feels weird here.”
“It’s the Pack magick you feel.”
He watched her look around at the crowd then whirl around at the sudden shift in the air pressure. Travis followed her gaze to see Luna and Keegan entering the circle. Josie grabbed his hand and tugged him toward the Alphas.
They came to a stop in front of them, and Luna knelt down to eye level with Josie. “You are a very brave little girl.”
“I don’t like being sick.”
Luna kissed her forehead. “Neither do I, honey.” She rose and peered up at Travis. “Can you light the fire?” She gestured to the fire pit in the center of the circle.
He nodded, and in the next moment, the wood ignited in brilliant orange and red flames.
His mother came to stand beside him at the same time Shay stood between Luna and Keegan. He was about to ask what was going on when Luna started to speak.
“We are here on this beautiful night for two reasons. One, I’d like everyone to meet the newest Pack members: Travis, Robyn, and Joselynn Hunter. The second is for a forced transformation.” Several gasps sounded around them. Luna held up her hand, and everyone fell silent again.
“Little Josie has been infected with the mutant virus. Our Healers, with the aid of a geneticist from our friends and allies in the Birchwood Pack, were able to make an antidote. However, the cure alone will not be enough.” Luna lowered to her knees in front of Josie and cradled her hands. “Josie’s wolf is already awakened but is confused. I will assist in bringing on the shift that will allow the antidote to do its job.”
Rising to her feet, Luna pulled out a small knife and sliced her palm. She then handed the knife to Robyn, who repeated the act and passed the knife to Travis, before clasping hands with Luna. Travis sliced his hand and offered it to the Alpha when she moved to stand in front of him. They linked fingers, pressing their palms together.
“With blood I welcome you into MoonRiver, and through my bond to the Ashwood Alpha, you are also connected to the leopards. Welcome to Ashwood Falls.”
Travis staggered back a step at the unexpected surge of power. Being disconnected from a Pack for the last two years had hurt him more than he’d realized. He reached out to take his mother’s arm. She leaned on him. Happiness, sadness, and relief whirled around them.
“I’m sorry, Mom. I should have found you and Josie a Pack.”
She pulled back and narrowed her eyes. “There will not be any self-loathing. You are stronger than that.”
Even though it came out as a whisper meant only for him, the motherly demand was heavy in her words. He kissed her cheek. “Yes, Mom.”
Still humming from the new bond with the Packs of Ashwood, Travis focused back on Luna, who clenched her fisted hand over a cup Shay held to allow her blood to mix with the antidote. He understood why. While Luna’s blood was needed to progress the shift, the Alpha wasn’t going to make a child drink the blood directly.
Taking the cup, Luna handed it to Josie. “Sasha says it’s strawberry flavored.”
Josie clasped the cup with both hands. “It’ll still taste bad. All medicine does.”
“But you’re a brave girl.” When Josie smiled and nodded, Luna continued with her instructions. “We’re going to step back a little to give you room. It will hurt less if you don’t fight it. Do you understand?”
Josie nodded. “Shay said my bones will hurt, but I’m gonna have to think about turning into a wolf.”
Luna and Keegan stepped back, the rest of them did the same. On Luna’s nod, Josie drank the antidote in one gulp. When she lowered the cup, she made a face.
“It doesn’t taste like strawberries.” Josie crinkled expression changed a split second later to fear, and then she doubled over, the cup falling to the ground with an echoing clank within the circle.
Travis moved to go to her, to hold her until the pain went away, but Shay and his mother grabbed his arms. Shay pressed a kiss to his shoulder but didn’t speak. She didn’t need to. He sensed her distress as if it were his own.
“She’s fighting it,” he breathed out. His baby girl was struggling. The parent-child bond he shared with her allowed him to feel her confusion.
Closing his eyes, he reached out through the bond and touched her wolf. She was ready to come out and play, but the human half wasn’t so sure. “Josie, baby. Let the wolf take over, let her come out to play.”
He opened his eyes to see Josie on her knees and her arms wrapped around her middle. Magick enveloped her, circling her in sheer iridescent waves, but she was still struggling.
In a flash of soft white light, Luna shifted into her wolf. She was larger than most females he’d seen in his lifetime, but then again, she was an Alpha. Covered in reddish-brown fur, she stalked toward Josie, whose stare fixed on Luna.
The large wolf nuzzled Josie’s cheek. Within a few moments, another flash of light erupted, and a small white wolf pup sat, scared and cuddled into Luna’s side. The Alpha nudged Josie toward Travis.
The pup whimpered. Travis squatted to the ground. “Josie.”
Her little ears perked up, and she locked gazes with him. He smiled, and she yipped and ran to him, tumbling over her new little paws as she did so. Scooping her up, he struggled to hold her squirming body. “Slow down, Josie.” He laughed and stroked her white fur. “She’s white. Mara was a black wolf.”
Shay ran her fingers through Josie’s fur. “I’m sorry I didn’t think that my DNA would alter her coloring.”
He kissed her forehead. “Both my girls are beautiful. Let’s go home.”
Chapter 14
“Look, Shay.”
Shay lifted her gaze from the book she was reading to peer at Josie. A small yellow butterfly perched on her index finger. Its wings rose and fell in slow movements. “I see. You must be very special to have a butterfly land on your finger.”
Josie’s face lit up, and she bent to sit the butterfly carefully on a nearby wildflower. It was hard for Shay to believe that only the day before Josie had been fighting for her sanity and life. She was also surprised by how well the little girl had adjusted to being able to shift into a wolf. A beautiful white wolf.
Her lips raised in a smile. Apparently the recessive white gene that made Shay a white tiger had reacted to whatever genes had been used to create the mutant serum, turning Josie’s coloring white with a hint of a pale smoky gray. It was a perfect contrast to her green eyes.
A soft breeze kissed her bare arms. She shivered at the cool caress of the leftover winter wind mixed with the oncoming of spring.
Josie plopped down on the blanket beside her. “Can we go hunting?”
Shay studied her for a moment before asking, “Does your wolf need out?”
She shrugged. “I don’t think so.”
Frowning, Shay reached out to feel her forehead. Thankfully, the fever hadn’t returned, and Josie seemed to be recovering fine. Dani said she’d take another blood sample tomorrow to check the progress of the antidote. What worried her, Travis, and Robyn was how much Josie would understand about the changes her little body was going through.
“When your father and Nana get here, and after lunch, we’ll go for a run.”
Her brown curls danced around her shoulders as she bounced in excitement. “You, too?”
Smiling, Shay bent to touch her nose to Josie’s. “Yes.”
“Yay!” Josie flung her arms around Shay’s neck.
Out of instinct, Shay twisted slightly to stop her soon-to-be stepdaughter’s knee from hitting her stomach. Josi
e must have noticed the small movement because she pulled back to peer at her.
Shit.
Travis needed to be the one to talk to Josie. It was too early in the pregnancy to tell people. Anything could go wrong. Besides, she still wasn’t used to the idea, although she couldn’t imagine a future without Travis and Josie. It was crazy, she knew, but she’d found her heart, and her tiger had welcomed them.
Wasn’t it moving too fast? Yes, she would admit it. But, she never was one for patience. Besides, Travis was hers. Her tiger had already chosen him.
The tigress had great taste in males.
“Shay.”
Josie’s annoyed tone brought Shay out of her thoughts. Meeting the girl’s stare, she smiled. “Sorry, hon. What did you say?”
“What’s that smell?”
Fear stilled her and she scented the air. The scents of the earth, oak, and wildflowers were the strongest scents, but she dismissed those and searched for others. Then it hit her. The smell of spoiled meat met her nose. Her stomach churched.
Frantic, she started gathering up their things. “Get Hello Kitty and your book; we need to go back to the den.”
Josie poked out her bottom lip. “Why?”
Shay grabbed her upper arms and made eye contact. “There are very bad men headed our way.”
Josie went pale and started to shake.
“Come on, baby girl. We have to move.”
Like a switch being flipped, Josie picked up her things and held them close. Shay took her hand, started to pull her back toward the den and sent out a mental alert to Blaine. “Rogues and mutants.”
“Hayden is on his way to you.”
Shay picked up her pace. “They’re too close. I’m heading—”
She cried out at the sharp pain that stabbed her shoulder that traveled down her back to her legs. Another stabbing pain hit her leg, and she went down. “Josie, run!”
A large cooper wolf rushed by her. She hissed in a relieved breath as the familiar scent of cedar and rosemary filled her senses.
Hayden.