by Cecilia Lane
Cole dropped to his knees, bones snapping and muscles tearing. Thick fur slid through his pores. His hands convulsed with their sudden growth, until long claws protruded from huge paws.
Shifted entirely, he turned his head to Rylee. Her eyes were wide behind her glasses and her lips parted as she stared at him. He scented the air, searching for any uncertainty in her. There was none. Excitement clung to her instead.
He huffed a breath, ruffling her hair, and her smile broadened. He pressed his belly to the ground, and she climbed up his back.
With his mate’s hands digging into his fur and a sleek grey wolf dancing at his side, Cole roared in the direction of Bearden.
He was coming.
Chapter 24
Rylee pressed her cheek against Cole’s back and tightly squeezed her eyes shut. She focused her entire will on not throwing up. It’d go all over her, and Cole, and Cole and Jacob’s clothes. She wanted neither the mess nor the embarrassment.
She knew shifters were fast. She’d watched them move around town in their human and animal forms. Nothing prepared her for the stomach-dropping reality on the back of one as he careened through the woods, dodging tree trunks and low branches like it was nothing.
She opened her eyes briefly. Mistake. Cole bunched his hind muscles and soared over a ditch. Every inch of her tightened and braced for a hard impact. The jolt, while less than what she imagined, still clattered her teeth together and a shocked squeak rushed from her lungs.
The wild ride slowed, then finally came to a stop. Cole pressed his belly to the ground but Rylee was already sliding from his back.
“Never again,” she said weakly to the beasts shifting into very naked men. She adjusted her glasses and took a deep, calming breath. Anything to stop the rolling in her stomach. “Never doing that again.”
Cole lifted her chin. The brief touch stopped her trembling and smoothed down her roughened nerves. “Find something in the distance, as far as you can see. Stare at that. It should help center you.”
She found a tree in the distance and focused on it. Slowly, the queasiness in her stomach faded away.
Meanwhile, Cole separated his clothes and tossed the rest to Jacob. She was surprised to see most of his injuries had faded. More questions for later.
He tugged on his jeans and addressed the other man. “Barrier is down. I didn’t feel it when we crossed.”
Jacob nodded and stuffed his head through his shirt. “Makes sense. They send in a team with someone who can lead them through, separate the Broken to disconnect the barrier, and the rest of their forces can waltz in without a guide.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of. We have no way of knowing how many are swarming over the enclave.” Cole rolled his shoulders and stared through the darkness. His eyes glowed gold with his bear. “You two stay here. I’ll scout ahead.”
“Cole—” Rylee began.
He ducked his head and pecked her on the lips. “Just for a moment. I’ll be right back. Jacob will watch you.”
Cole kept to the shadows of the trees, then to the alleys behind the buildings. The situation was worse than he imagined. Patrols roamed the streets, aided by lights mounted to helmets that were sure to catch the eye shine of any shifter in animal form.
Smoke poured out of the windows of homes and businesses, while soldiers waited at the exits to snare any shifter who wanted to avoid suffocation. Those were cuffed and thrown into big vehicles that waited in the middle of the street. Once full, the truck drove toward the other side of town. He didn’t want to imagine why everyone in Bearden needed to be rounded up, but at least they weren’t being slaughtered in the streets.
His bear itched with irritation to get back to their mate. Cole let the word sink into his bones as he padded on silent feet toward the place he left Rylee and Jacob. Mate was the right word. It slid across his mind and soothed his soul instead of scraping at him like the silver shackles on his skin.
With all the shit and rejection in his past, he never expected to find his fated mate. He never even expected to find someone to settle down with as a consolation prize. He was prepared to be the permanent bachelor of the clan, hiding his unease with quick smiles and jokes.
Then Rylee turned up, entirely human and ready to knock his world sideways. His bear chose the worst possible human to get involved with, and his heart followed suit. She’d been kicked down in a terrible way, but she’d also shown true bravery to walk back into Delano’s camp to attempt freeing him.
The night held too many threats, but he and his bear were in full agreement. If they survived, he would mate Rylee properly. He almost pitied anyone that tried to stand in his way.
Noise in the distance interrupted his thoughts. He plastered himself to the side of a building and poked his head around. Two lights bounced with the steps of soldiers. Closer, he urged them. If they passed him, he could take them out without anyone else knowing.
Then Rylee shot across the street.
The soldiers both rushed to raise their weapons. “Don’t move!”
Horror struck, he watched as Rylee slowed and turned, hands raised.
There was a flash of movement behind the pair of soldiers. Jacob struck one, then the other with a thick branch.
Cole shot out from the building before the soldiers hit the ground. “Where the hell were you?” he hissed at Jacob. “Why was she running right in front of them?”
“I was where I needed to be to take them down,” Jacob said.
Cole shoved at Jacob’s chest, forcing the man to stagger back a step. “She is not to be used as bait,” he snarled.
“Cole, it was my idea!” Rylee tugged at his arm and he rounded on her.
“They could have shot you!”
“But they didn’t. Jacob did what you asked and watched over me. They would have found us otherwise. And look, he didn’t even kill them. That will look better for us in the long run.”
“We couldn’t stay where we were left. Too many of them crawling around,” Jacob added softly.
Cole shook his head and let go of a tight breath. “Secure them. We need to get them out of the street before anyone else comes this way.”
Cole threw one soldier over his shoulder while Jacob manhandled the other into place. They trotted into an alley and tossed both men into a dumpster.
“Get out of our town!”
The whispered shout came from a row of homes at the other end of the alley. Cole hurried to the corner of the building. Rylee poked her head around the corner after shoving him to the side and making room for herself under his arm.
Cole resisted the urge to pass a hand over his face. For a woman so wound up with anxiety, she was going to send him into a panic attack simply trying to keep her safe.
He peered over her head and saw three elderly ladies beating a pair of soldiers with their large purses. One of the men attempted to grab the largest woman, but the one to her left made a fist and brought it down on his head. The second man was similarly subdued, then promptly kicked in the ribs.
“Cole Strathorn, is that you peeking around the corner? Is that doctor with you?”
“You seem to have everything in hand, Old Miss. Didn’t want to take away your agency.”
“My agency.” Old Miss snorted. “Boy, get over here and bring your doctor. We have a way down into the tunnels. She shouldn’t be roaming the streets tonight. Put her with the children before she hurts herself.”
Rylee made an offended noise. Cole shook his head. He should have expected the town’s crotchety gossips, unaffectionately known as the Old Maids, to run a resistance force.
The trio jogged across the street and followed the Old Maids between two houses. Old Miss flung open wooden doors to a basement, then stood back. She gave him a wink and a quick slap on the ass. “Downstairs with you. We’ve rounded up those we could and stuck them with the vampires. Victor will get you to the real fighting.”
Feeling like they were running from one scene of madness to the next
without any consideration, Cole led Rylee and Jacob into the basement. From there, it was clear where to go. The Old Maids dropped the outer doors closed just as they crossed the threshold of a door leading to the tunnels below Bearden.
Rylee’s second journey into the lower city was wilder than before. The nighttime residents were out in full force, but a large number of shifters were underground, too. The spider web of connections to the topside were filled with people moving toward the inner sanctum of the vampires.
The room opened on a crowded, noisy space. Some parents clutched their crying and confused children, while others stared into the distance with hardened jaws and angry expressions. It seemed the Old Maids had done a fair job in smuggling people out from under the noses of the soldiers.
But there were still too many missing, Cole thought as he glanced around. The room couldn’t hold everyone, certainly. But he’d seen too many loaded up into trucks and hauled elsewhere. He could only hope that many more were able to prepare to fight between the time he was taken to the moment the first of Delano’s troops crossed the enclave border.
If it came down to the enclave or their safety, which would they choose? Jacob’s words haunted him, predicting the loose affiliations between packs and clans and crews shattering at the slightest pressure from outside. The families in the tunnels had chosen to hide instead of fight. How many still above would choose the same?
They’d been naïve to think it wouldn’t come down to a battle between humans and supernaturals. Bearden needed more patrols. Actual fighters, not just the small town police force that mostly carted drunks home or wrote tickets for a misplaced chicken. Delano was bold to attack them, but he wouldn’t be the only one to try. The cat was out of the bag and supernaturals were known to the rest of the world. They would need to protect themselves in the future.
If they survived the night.
The hopelessness he saw on faces of neighbors and acquaintances was mirrored more and more on Rylee’s. Her scent shifted from determined to downright sad. His bear slashed at him to fix her, to fix everything around them, but Cole could only shove the beast into the back of his mind. There was nothing to be done at that moment.
His eyes floated from face to face, searching for his clan. His alpha brother, preferably, but he’d take the comfort of being near any of them. None were below. He should have known. They wouldn’t hide when they could fight. His bear pushed forward again, sending him image after image of soldiers with throats torn out. If the Strathorns were fighting, they needed to be at their side. Defeating their enemies was the best way to keep their mate safe.
One face stood out. “Victor,” Cole called over the noise.
The self-proclaimed Vampire King glided into a turn and eyed him coolly. “I didn’t expect you to be here with the children, Strathorn.”
Cole made a face. “Looking to fix that. The Old Maids said you were the one to talk to.”
Victor turned again, gliding around people as he went. “This way, bear.”
Victor’s throne had been replaced with a large table with a map spread across it. Cole immediately recognized it as Bearden, with all the streets and the tunnels marked out. Victor pointed to a spot outside of town and near the base of the mountains. “The ones that have been caught are being held here.” He tapped two other spots. “The nearest tunnel exits are here and here. Fighters are ready to mount a rescue once word gets to the Bloodwings.”
“And the rest?”
The murmur of the crowd drowned out Victor’s silence, but it still weighed heavily on the small group. “Some have gone into the mountains. Some have gone towards the ranches and towns nearby. Many wanted to stay and fight for our home. Olivia Gale led a small but fierce force until they were overtaken with tranquilizers and silver bullets.”
“Did the message get out?” Rylee asked. “They were supposed to find someone, anyone, and raise the alarm about what’s happening here.”
Victor regarded her for a long moment, then ducked his gaze back to the map. “There has been no word. We might be on our own. Thinking this, a dragon has been dispatched to Wolfden. Many on both sides will be captured or dead before they can arrive.”
Jacob shook his head. A note of despair edged his tone. “I’m not going back to that cage. They can’t make me go back.”
“They won’t,” Cole told him. “They won’t get either of us.”
He fixed his eyes on Rylee. He wanted to memorize every detail, from the way her hair hung around her face to the curve of her lips. He had to keep her safe.
Her eyes hardened and she knew what he was going to say even before the words made it to his tongue. She shook her head. “I’m not staying.”
“It’s safest down here,” he reasoned. “You’ll have the vampires and all the shifters here.”
“I won’t have you. I’m not leaving you.”
A crack in the distance raised many heads. There was another, then another. Panic clouded the air and filled his nose. Children that’d been calmed started to wail again.
Those continued cracks resolved into distance screams and feet slapping on the ground. The tunnels had been breached.
That decided for him. He wasn’t going to leave Rylee to whatever the soldiers had planned. “We need to get out of here.” Cole wrapped a hand around Rylee’s elbow and pushed her through the crowd toward the tunnels Victor highlighted. Jacob followed on his heels.
The sounds of fighting echoed in the tunnels. No one knew which way to run, and so they scrambled for one exit or another. The hidden sanctuary descended into a writhing, noisy chaos.
He tightened his hold on Rylee as more people pushed past. Panicked cries and demands stung his sensitive ears while bodies pressed against his little party. He hurried them forward, but the crowd at their backs picked up their pace as the fighting neared.
“This way,” he said and ducked into the nearest door leading above. He couldn’t risk losing Rylee in the crowd. They could find their way to the fighting from the streets. Better the risk of soldiers than the certainty of being crushed in the press of a panicked mob.
Part of the crowd split off, following him. He urged Rylee and Jacob both in front of him, using his own body as a shield to keep other shifters at bay.
They raced up the stairs and shoved hard at the door leading outside. One push, then another, and the stubborn thing finally scraped open and spilled them into an open clearing. Silence greeted them, sounding loud against the noise coming from behind.
Still, Cole urged Rylee and Jacob to move and make way for those following. The rush to escape wouldn’t stop once they hit open air and he wouldn’t see her trampled.
The sound of weapons cocking slowed his steps. He raised his hands. On either side, Rylee and Jacob did the same. Fear coated Rylee’s scent while pure rage clung to Jacob.
A group of soldiers stood on a rock outcropping above the hidden entrance, ready to capture every soul that spilled out of the opening. One soldier nodded to the others with an ugly glint in his eyes. “Round ‘em up and put ‘em with the others.”
Chapter 25
Rylee’s heart raced as she eyed the guns pointed at her. A quick glance at her sides showed her Cole and Jacob taking count and considering the situation. Once the men and women in the tunnel realized what trap was springing, they scurried back and slammed the door shut behind them. She couldn’t blame them. They were families, most of them, with small children. They couldn’t fight and defend those children at the same time.
Twelve soldiers. Maybe four other shifters. She couldn’t be sure without twisting around and taking her own count. The soldiers’ narrowed eyes and fingers stroking triggers kept her still.
It wasn’t Cole or Jacob she needed to worry about. With a wild yell, one of the other shifters jumped forward, a bear ripping out of his body where a man once stood. Two more followed, snarling obscenities and demands to leave Bearden.
Multiple rounds fired. The men yelped and fell to the ground with
heavy thuds. The bear latched onto a soldier’s arm and shook, hard. It took three more shots before the beast finally slumped into motionlessness.
“Fuck! Fuck! I got bit!” the bitten soldier howled.
Another pointed his weapon at the three unconscious figures. The bear slowly shrunk back down into his human form. “Which one was it?”
“Doesn’t matter which one. Only matters if it was an animal.” The leader stood from his brief inspection of the bitten one’s wounds and everyone took a step back.
The man’s eyes went as wide as saucers, his pain forgotten in his fear. “You can’t do me like them. You can’t! I’ve been a loyal man from the beginning!” None of the faces softened, and his words pitched higher. “You can’t! We don’t know if I’ll turn into one of them!”
“You have one choice, Rawls. Take it now, or join with your new people.”
Rawls swallowed visibly. He pressed his lips together in a thin line, then walked into the darkness.
Utterly dismissing the wounded man, the leader turned and pointed to the remaining shifters. “You three, pick these ones up.”
Weapons stayed trained on them as Cole, Jacob, and the last she didn’t know stooped to pick up their fallen brothers. Rylee wanted to shut her eyes and block out the horrid sight of the limp arms and legs, but she forced herself to bear witness.
A soldier jerked his chin toward the closed door. “What about the ones that jumped back inside?”
The leader shrugged. “We know where they are. They’ll be smoked out with the rest before the night is over. Good money is being paid for each one we keep alive.” He pointed his weapon forward. “Start walking,” he ordered.
Behind them, a single crack of gunfire broke through the night. Rylee gasped and turned, but a hand on her shoulder shoved her forward.
“Keep moving,” the soldier ordered.
Numb with shock, she put one foot in front of the other.
Did the man have family? Friends that would miss him? He was a monster for going along with the invasion of Bearden, and he certainly deserved punishment for that. She felt pity for him, that his hatred ran so deep that he couldn’t accept a new type of existence. She didn’t want to be in a world where death was preferable to becoming a shifter.