Heart's Sentinel

by PJ Schnyder

  They circled for a few moments, assessing each other anew and looking for openings. Stephie, standing on the very edge of the Circle, gave Adam the next clue for his opponent.

  Panting hard, she stared at Van, her eyes still glazed over with the heat. “Yes, oh yes.”

  When Adam landed another blow, a slanted kick to the upper thigh, Stephie hissed in pain and pleasure and laughed maniacally.

  In the grip of a strong bond with Van, Stephie projected for the both of them. Adam's opponent savored the pain, redirecting it as pleasure. He, and Stephie by extension, literally fed off the pain of the fight. There would be no yield from an opponent who loved the pain inflicted.

  Adam changed his tactics. He didn’t hit to inflict pain anymore, he hit to disable. His hands shifted to claws, matching his opponent's, and he aimed at tendons and joints.

  Van seemed to sense the change in the rhythm of the fight. He changed defensively but not offensively. He must’ve assumed pain would still be a deterrent for Adam.

  The fight moved around the Circle, a succession of lightning fast moves and then snarling pacing as they looked for their next openings. Adam had to admit, as his breathing came hard and blood trickled from various tears in his hide, Van matched him in human form.

  Van must have decided the same. He backed up until he stood at the far edge of the Circle, and then screamed as he ran full speed for Adam, leaping into the air. In mid-air, he completely.

  It caught Adam by surprise. The complete shift left a shapeshifter vulnerable, and most adult shapeshifters couldn't shift quickly in mid-air. They had to be stationary and hold the same position from beginning to end.

  Adam grappled with the huge cougar, a raging scream of ashen tan cat. Claws gouged into his arms as he held the bone-crushing jaws away from his neck. Bringing his knees up to protect his soft belly from the raking claws of Van's hind legs, he gave ground and used the cougar’s momentum to send him flying across the Circle. In a flash, Adam rolled to his feet and Shifted.

  The stray wasn't the only one able to Shift in a heartbeat.

  Even in big cat form, they matched each other closely. Adam's jaguar form was large, but so was the cougar. The cougar had a longer reach, but Adam's cat had more powerful forelegs and shoulders.

  Ducking under Van's guard, Adam landed several crushing blows to Van's shoulders and side, not only breaking bone but rending flesh with razor sharp claws. He didn't get away unscathed. Van shredded his shoulder.

  They met in a clash of teeth and claws, twisting and turning. Two big cats could do a lot of damage. Blood flowed freely.

  Mackenzie watched with her heart in her throat. From a distance, she could feel the pleasure Van derived from the pain, and it made her stomach churn. Watching Stephie on the edge of the Circle, Mackenzie couldn't recognize even the hint of her old friend. A part of the reason Mackenzie had come had been to see if there could be some way to help her friend break free. But there could be no rescuing the willing.

  So she focused on the battle. When Adam and Van shifted, the two fighters became more clearly discernable. Adam’s pelt stood out strikingly beautiful, the classic black panther she’d always pictured in stories. In contrast, Van possessed ashen tan, almost gray fur, paling to white at his belly. The cougar, the southern peninsula panther featured in her nightmares, seemed washed out next to the reality of Adam.

  The fight continued, and blow for blow, the two big cats matched too well, neither would ever yield. But in a strange twist, Adam gained the advantage, holding Van by the back of the neck, at the base of the skull. If Adam's jaws closed, he would crush Van's skull.

  Van's claws dug into the sand, but he only yowled.

  “Damn, the stray isn't yielding,” Mack said in a low voice. He spit to one side.

  Marcus nodded on her other side. “He's going to make us kill him.”

  Us. Because pride was one. Adam wasn't alone, even in the Circle. The pride would stand behind his actions and take responsibility.

  As she watched, Adam's jaguar eyes fixed on her. Van struggled in the hold, but Adam had him. It would be the end. Everything Van had done to her would be finished in the next moment. Relief washed through her, through every muscle and every fiber of her being, no horror, only peace. There would be no more nightmare. Slowly, Mackenzie nodded.

  It was over.

  Adam stood, shifting as he did, so he faced Mackenzie as a man. He knew when the rush of the fight ebbed, he would feel every injury. But for the moment, relief filled him as he saw her brown eyes held no more fear, even though she had been watching when he’d made the kill. Dizzy, blood rushing in his ears, he struggled to catch his breath.

  With Van dead, she could finish healing. But when she had time to absorb all the events as they had happened, she would remember what Adam had done. She might change her choice, once she thought about it.

  Because he had only been watching her, he saw the fear, and the anger, change her face. Her eyes dilated, melting from deep chocolate to burnished gold.

  In less than a heartbeat she moved, towards him it seemed, and his heart died. She’d finally seen the monster he could be. He stood ready, not willing to fight her, because his life was hers.

  Mackenzie shot past him and he panicked. Where?

  He turned, suddenly hearing the roars of anger and the shouts of warning from the pride. Mackenzie slammed into Stephie head on.

  Both females had claws out, but Stephie had progressed further through her Shift, had the longer reach and greater height. But Mackenzie had used her lower center of gravity and stronger frame to her advantage, dropping her shoulder into Stephie’s midriff as they collided. Thwarted, Stephie changed her target from Adam's unprotected back, setting herself to ripping Mackenzie to shreds.

  “Me!” she screamed. “He loved me! You killed him!”

  “No, Stephie!” Mackenzie shouted back. “Van wouldn't yield. He wouldn't yield.”

  “Bitch!” Stephie grappled, turning her claws to tear at any part of Mackenzie she could reach. Pushing Mackenzie back, Stephie made her give ground. She swung at Mackenzie with a blood thirsty ferocity born of rage and insanity.

  Adam started in, but Orson grabbed him by the arm.

  “This isn't a Challenge!” Adam shouted at the arbitrator.

  Orson remained unmoved, his grip on Adam unbreakable. “It is between the two females.”

  Adam cursed and spun around in desperation. Mackenzie didn’t have enough experience.

  But Mackenzie learned fast, and she’d absorbed everything he taught her. As the two females fought, it became clear Mackenzie brawled like she’d been born to it, a natural fighter. But Stephie acted on pure rage, driven mad by the broken bond with Van. The pride could do nothing but watch.

  Stephie swung blow after blow, but Mackenzie caught the rhythm of the attacks. Fewer blows connected as Mackenzie ducked and slipped in a shot of her own, a swipe to the shoulder, a gouge to the ribs. As Stephie bled, the warmth drained from Mackenzie's eyes, only violence remaining in her frozen expression.

  Screaming, Stephie renewed her attacks, striking wildly. She drew blood across Mackenzie's shoulder, her thigh.

  Mackenzie stumbled backwards, losing a shoe. Stephie snarled, pressing her advantage, struggling to claw at Mackenzie despite the desperate grip Mackenzie had on each wrist. Another stumble back, another shoe lost, and Stephie's eyes gleamed with triumph.

  Then Mackenzie fell backward, holding onto Stephie's wrists. Stephie pounced on top of her.

  But she got her feet in between them, catching Stephie in the stomach with a full set of claws. She shoved hard, let go of Stephie's wrists, and the power of her push sent Stephie flying.

  The other woman landed yards away, disbelief in her eyes as she struggled to stand. Her insides spilled out of her torn belly, and after long, gasping moments, the light faded from her eyes.

  Orson released Adam and he ran for Mackenzie, gathering her into his arms.

  “Kitten? Kit
ten!”

  Pale and rigid in his arms, Mackenzie stared at Stephie's corpse. Fine tremors began to run through her entire body. Adam's cat snarled as the scent of her blood told him she’d been hurt. Adam checked her over quickly, trying to assess the damage done.

  Pride members approached but kept a careful distance. Somewhere in a corner of his mind, Adam recognized the caution around him. Males could be extremely volatile when a female was injured and even more so if the male had staked a claim.

  The desire to protect warred with the need to get her help. Precious moments went by as Mackenzie showed the signs of falling deeper into shock. Adam growled urgently. “Where is Chryssa?”

  “Here, Adam, let me see her.” The petite healer appeared out of the trees, rushing to Adam's side. She hadn't been present earlier, too precious to the pride to risk as its only healer. But she had been close by, called back from her trip because of the Challenge.

  Immediately, a cooling calm smoothed the jagged edges of Adam's temper. Mackenzie's tremors began to subside.

  Chryssa's gifts as a healer made her unique. No shapeshifter or animal would ever attack the healer, short of madness. She brought peace and surcease from the pain, helping a person step back from the instinctive fight or flight reaction to injury. It gave her the chance to get past the shapeshifter's defenses and heal them without injury and without risking additional damage to the patient.

  Chryssa assessed the situation efficiently, her knowing eyes skimming over both Mackenzie and Adam. Adam watched her, unable to keep a low warning growl from issuing despite the healer's calming effect. She shushed him absently and focused on his girl.

  “Mackenzie,” Chryssa said gently. “Mackenzie, look at me.”

  She put a subtle emphasis on the command. Adam watched Mackenzie tear her eyes from Stephie's body in response. Once Chryssa had her gaze locked, he felt the difference in Mackenzie's body. Some of the rigidness loosened and she sagged slightly in his arms.

  “I…I…” Mackenzie, struggled to speak.

  Chryssa hushed her kindly. “It's all right, Big Mac. Is it all right if I call you that? I love the nickname.”

  Mackenzie nodded, her throat still working, color beginning to come back to her face. The petite healer continued to do what she did best, keeping up a light banter, progressively putting Mackenzie at ease and winning enough trust to examine her more closely.

  “All right, Adam, you're going to have to loosen up on Big Mac here so I can take a look at her injuries. Let me take a look at your hands first, looks like there's some cuts to your wrists and forearms.”

  Chryssa turned Mackenzie's hands over gently to examine the damage. “It looks pretty superficial. Nothing needs stitches, and we'll give it all a good cleaning to help with the healing. You'll heal faster than you're used to, which is why we want to be sure it's all clean.”

  Satisfied Mackenzie had no serious injuries; Chryssa opened up a small medical kit by her side and took out a few solutions. She cleaned Mackenzie's wounds carefully and quickly even though Mackenzie started to fuss.

  “Adam's hurt worse,” Mackenzie fretted.

  “Now let's get you cleaned up so Adam will let me see to his injuries.” Chryssa reasoned, allowing no argument, keeping a firm grip on Mackenzie's arm. “The longer it takes for me to finish up with you, the longer he'll hold out and not let me see to him. Best way to deal with a stubborn male is to work with his need to take care of you. He'll submit to care once he's reassured you are safe.”

  Mackenzie finally broke Chryssa's hold on her gaze to look at Adam. He bled from countless gouges. Her brows drew together in such a worried expression, Adam dropped his head to rub his cheek against her in a brief cuddle, before tucking her head under his chin.

  Chryssa wrapped up her ministrations and pounced on Adam.

  “Done for Mackenzie, Adam, now you show her you can be every bit as well-behaved.”

  She spoke to him like a stubborn cub. He narrowed his eyes at her but stood so she could give him a good once over.

  “A couple of stitches and a wrap for the broken rib.” Chryssa concluded. “Everything else should heal with a good cleaning. We'll need to irrigate some of those puncture wounds from the bites.”

  Mackenzie hovered, which Chryssa took in stride. She even had her assist, calmly talking through each step so as not to touch off the protective instinct in Mackenzie.

  The entire time, he felt the healing balm Chryssa laid down with her touch, soothing away the throbbing pain from every wound. Bleeding slowed and fever cooled to normal temperatures as a result of the work the healer did that couldn't be explained by science. The healing simply came to her, and the shapeshifters accepted it as a part of what allowed them to change form.

  “The two of you need to get rest,” Chryssa continued in a firm tone, brooking no argument. “No duty for Adam for at least a week. The healing will take more out of you than you realize, and we can't afford to have either of you vulnerable.” Over Mackenzie’s shoulder, Chryssa gave Adam a pointed look. To Mackenzie, she added, “You need to be more thoroughly briefed on the hunter threat. Forewarned is forearmed and I’m told you already saw the jetpack the teams are examining so you at least heard about the hunters.”

  Mackenzie nodded.

  “Truth is, we don’t understand enough about them to know who could be at highest risk but someone as unique as you, a human Changed to shapeshifter, might draw attention.” Chryssa’s brows drew together in a worried expression, her eyes warm and compassionate as she spoke.

  Adam hurried to add reassurance for Mackenzie, “Some hunters have been turned away from their targets in other territories. I’ll protect you, Kitten.”

  But she remembered previous conversations. “No one, pride or pack or human, has taken a hunter down, not completely.”

  Chryssa laid a hand on Mackenzie’s shoulder, soothing. “Until we al have more information, the dominant prides and packs in every territory stand on alert. We’re prepared if things escalate beyond isolated scuffles and we’ll keep you safe.”

  Adam ran his hand over Mackenzie’s silken hair and then pulled her to him, tucking her head under his chin. After a moment, her trembling calmed and her words came out muffled against his neck. “I guess it’s better to know.”

  “It is, Kitten.” He murmured against her hair.

  “But we’ll stand together.”

  Hugging her closer, he nodded. “Us, together.”

  Marcus spoke directly to Adam. “No duties for at least a week. We'll have supplemental patrol on your territory in the meantime.”

  As Mackenzie raised her head at his words, the alpha knelt to touch her cheek, a touch of affection and of promise. Bristling, Adam controlled his instinctive territorial response, glad of his alpha’s gesture and her courage. She’d taken down a threat to the pride, an attacker who had gone after one of his Sentinels in a moment of vulnerability. She had such a young face, with so much in those eyes, and a proven heart. She had shown every Sentinel in the pride she was a fighter who could be trusted to watch their backs.

  “You have choices, Mackenzie,” Marcus told her. “We offer you membership within the pride, more than protection. If you'll have us, you'll be family. And you can stay with Adam, or we can find you a temporary place until you pick out your own territory within pride lands.”

  Adam growled, but Marcus held up his hand.

  “She has choices.” And as alpha, Marcus would enforce them, even against Adam.

  Adam ceased growling, but he crouched down behind her and rubbed his cheek against her hair.

  Marcus continued as if Adam's temper hadn't interrupted. “If you choose to leave, we'll sponsor you to any other pride until you find one you want.”

  Mackenzie blinked slowly, those long lashes brushing against bruised skin beneath tired eyes. “So much, so fast,” she whispered.

  Marcus chuckled. “You pack a sizable impact for such a small package, Big Mac.”

  “Do I
have to make all the choices now?”

  Marcus shook his head. “Plenty of time and answer them in any order.”

  “For now,” she said slowly, one small hand reaching up to lay flat against Adam's neck. “Can I go back with Adam for now and sleep on a few things?”

  “You bet.” The alpha motioned to the big Enforcer hovering nearby. “Mac will help you two get back, and I'll check in with the two of you in the morning.”

  “Bring coffee?” She asked in a tiny voice, but he heard a thread of mischief.

  Marcus laughed louder. “With coffee.”

  She gave him a sweet smile, touching the heart of every warrior standing in the clearing.

  Once the couple had left the clearing, Marcus headed for Orson.

  Orson watched the alpha's approach impassively. He held silent for a long pause under the alpha's gaze, but finally, he spoke. “No Challenge issued, but it was a clear fight between females. No other females present, so no one could interfere within the Circle.”

  Marcus nodded, but his chest rumbled. “Mackenzie is new, you know it. She didn't make an informed decision to enter the Circle. She couldn't be held by the laws governing combat in the Circle.”

  “Neither could the other female.” Orson countered. “They were made under the same circumstances.”

  Marcus chewed on the point for a moment, then he moved on. “Mackenzie saved you the trouble of putting the mad female out of her misery. What is the judgment on Mackenzie?”

  Humans Changed to shapeshifters were rare. When the circumstances arose, the sponsor pride or pack and an objective representative of the Conservation evaluated them and their progress adjusting to life as a shapeshifter. Not every Changed being could handle the transition. A rogue shapeshifter, unable to control the instincts and urges, would be a danger to anyone and anything in its path. If the Conservation deemed the subject unable to make the transition, the sponsor pride or pack had to destroy the rogue or defer to the Conservation representative to do so.

  Marcus had submitted his thoughts on the way Mackenzie had handled the events of the days since she had come to the pride. The final decision would be up to Orson.