20 Shades of Shifters_A Paranormal Romance Collection

by Demelza Carlton

It was too bad that David intended to develop this land. Running here was the best she’d found. That thought brought her run to an end. She slowed. Accepting the change was dangerous after all. How easy it would be to make this her life. This freedom. She’d lose everything she’d built—her career. And then what would she do when she was herself? When she was human and her reason for getting up every morning was gone?

  A strange scent wafted past her, and her hackles drew up. Predator. More than one. And close. She scanned the shadows, and a flicker of movement drew her attention to the left. Then it was gone, and a hint of motion caught her peripheral vision on the other side. Danger.

  A howl soared through the air, carrying threat and promise like a deadly song. She raced again, running for all her worth back the way she came, back toward David’s cabin. Then it hit her, a wave of otherness, a power she felt like a cold wave of water, hitting her and knocking her off balance. She stumbled, fell, and screamed as her body tore open and her human form was yanked into the open in a bloody, pain-filled instant.

  For a second she lay dazed on the ground.

  Then the howl came again, joined by a second voice, and a third. A chorus of animal and human mixed together and her heart dropped into her belly.

  She got up, and she ran.

  Chapter 7

  David’s headlights cut through the darkness, but they never did much on this part of the mountain other than make him feel claustrophobic. Why the hell was he doing this? Curiosity he could understand—that was a feeling he’d followed often both as a child and as a man, and it often led him toward good things. And yes, he’d admit he had a serious attraction for a mystery and Helen Mathews was definitely that. Not to mention beautiful and he’d always had a weakness for a beautiful woman.

  But had he ever gone after a woman with this kind of intense need to help? Nope. That was a new one for him. She needed him. Whatever was going on, he could feel it. And maybe, that was it. His mother called him a good man, and his brothers called him Boy Scout. So, there was that.

  He could count on his hands the last time he’d chased a woman. Yet here he was chasing after the mysterious and needy Helen. What did that say about him? That he needed to be needed. No kidding. The last time anyone had needed him was Sharon. That had ended badly. She’d needed what he couldn’t give, a way back to reality. She’d had psychological problems he’d known nothing about and in the end, had taken her own life. He knew it wasn’t his fault, wasn’t anyone’s fault, but… He hadn’t been able to protect her no matter how much he cared for her.

  “No wonder you’ve been hanging out with simple, curvy blondes,” he muttered. And now he was self analyzing as he drove halfway up a mountain after a woman who might not be there, and might not want him around if she was.

  “It’s my bloody place, for God’s sake.” He’d be at the turn off soon, just a little farther. “You’re talking to yourself.” He shook his head and then slammed on the brakes as a figure dashed into the road ahead of him. “Jesus Christ!”

  The figure, a woman, naked and bloody, switched direction and ran straight up the road. Helen. For a second his mind flashed back to the dream he’d had recently. But this was reality. He put his Jeep in park and opened the door, shouted her name. She faltered slightly, but kept running.

  “Goddammit!” He slammed the door and ran after her, leaving the engine running.

  She ran like the wind, like death was chasing her. What had happened? Had she been attacked? He’d been in track in university and had kept up his running since then, but he had to give it everything he had to catch up to her. He grabbed her by the elbow and she jerked in his grasp, and stumbled.

  “Helen, stop!”

  “They’re coming! We’ve got to run—”

  “Who? Are you hurt? Whose blood is this?”

  “Mine.” Her eyes were wild. He grabbed her again and tried to check for wounds but she squirmed away. “We have to go!”

  She was losing it, the fear in her eyes uncontrolled. A hundred questions flooded his mind, but first things first; he had to get her somewhere safe. “Come on then, my car is back on the road.”

  Her gaze darted to the woods and she struggled harder to get free of him. “Can’t go back. They’re coming. The wolves.”

  He frowned and his heart pounded harder than it had from the run. There were no wolves on the mountain. None in the state that he knew of. Was she having a mental break? “Come with me, Helen. You’re okay now. You’re safe. Let’s take my car back to the cabin.” He spoke soothingly, keeping his tone gentle. Someone must have attacked her and she was somehow associating the attack with the most frightening image she could think of, wolves.

  She stared at him for a second, really focusing in on him for the first time since he’d caught up with her. “You go back to your car. Maybe they won’t do anything to you. They’re after me.”

  She sounded in control. But wolves? David and Helen were both breathing heavily and the chill in the air formed a fog from their breath. It brought his attention back to the fact that she was naked in the cold fall air. Wherever all the blood was coming from, she didn’t seem to have any major wounds that he could see. Not that he was staring. He let her go for a moment and pulled off his jacket. He put it over her shoulders and turned her around toward the car, where he could see the headlights glowing.

  He looked back at her but pointed down the road. “Look, see my car? Let’s just go back, get in, and drive to the cabin. We can get you cleaned up and we can figure out what happened and if we should call the police.”

  She looked at him, trembled. Fear radiated from her, and a little shiver slid down his spine.

  They both looked at the glowing headlights. They blinked out.

  “What?” He couldn’t have lost battery power already. He’d barely let the thing idle a few minutes. A moment later he realized he could still hear the engine. In fact it was roaring. Toward them.

  “Run! They’ve got your car!” Helen grabbed his hand, dragged him along with her while she ran up the road toward the cabin. His jacket slipped from her shoulders and fell to the ground as her long strides ate up the ground and he ran with her.

  “Who? Who is it?”

  “The wolves! Now run!” She veered into the woods and he followed. The car roared closer, then past, a waft of air rushing over them in its wake.

  “Wolves have my car?” The woman ran like the wind and he could barely keep up and get the words out. But disbelief at the whole situation raced even faster through his mind. He jumped a fallen log. He could barely see now they were off the road, but the nearly full moon gave just enough light to keep them moving. Something terrible had happened to Helen, or was still happening. She needed help, but maybe more than he could give her, because somebody had his car, but he doubted that they were furry. He could get her somewhere safe, but then she would need professional help. The police and a doctor. She was suffering from delusions.

  The cabin wasn’t far now, but David was slowing them down. She couldn’t leave him out in the woods, the dark, not really understanding who was after them or how much danger he was in. They might not be after him, but they’d taken his car. Whoever they were, they were cursed like her. Shifting forms to hunt her in as both human and wolf. She knew they wanted her, had sensed their hostility before she’d changed back, but who were they? Why did they want to hurt her?

  She’d find out later. Right now she needed to get David safe inside, before he got deeper into trouble trying to help her. That had to be why he was here. He’d come after her, too curious to stay away. She pulled on his arm and he grunted and poured on a little speed. They were getting close.

  The sound of David’s Jeep grew stronger. The wolves had turned around on the road and were rushing back toward them. “They’re coming back!”

  This time David jerked on her arm. He pulled them deeper into the woods and just in time as the Jeep crashed through the bush only yards from where they’d been. She glanced ov
er her shoulder. The Jeep was lodged between trees, unable to go deeper into the woods after them. The lights were still out but she could see the driver through the front window. A man with a snarl on his face—a stranger whose teeth were growing longer every second.

  David led them deeper into the trees. “Where are we going?” she yelled.

  “Shortcut,” he panted. “Come on.”

  They ran.

  Long minutes later they burst into the relatively clear area around the cabin. There’d been no sign of the wolves, no hint of their hunting howl. No sound of anything at all. The night was eerily silent. What did they say in the movies? Quiet—too quiet. Every second she expected them to burst from the shadows of the trees and fling themselves on her, ripping her to shreds.

  They pounded across the lawn and up the stairs of the cabin porch. David staggered and she pulled him upright and to the door. He pulled the screen door open and then burst inside. She slammed the door shut behind them, and slapped the bolt across. For a moment they stood there, panting. David bent over, pressed his palms to his knees while he did his best to breathe. Then she rushed to the widow and peered outside.

  The night stayed quiet.

  A small sound caught her attention. David had recovered enough to walk to the table beside the sofa. He opened a drawer and pulled out a set of keys. Then he grabbed the blanket off the sofa that she’d been using as a bed and came to her. He looked away as he handed her wool cover and she flushed as she took it and covered herself. “Thank you.” The words came from her in a tone she barely recognized as her own. Soft, quavering.

  He nodded. He looked like he wanted to say something to her, or maybe he was waiting for her to speak first. His eyes searched hers. But what could she say to him? How could she explain this mess? He was in danger because he’d followed her. She glanced at the floor.

  He sighed and walked away, toward the direction of the master bedroom. She stared after him, and then returned her stare to the window. Who was out there? Why had they attacked her? What had they done to change her back so suddenly? Had they somehow taken the curse from her?

  “I’m sure they’ve gone, or they would have been at the cabin by now.” David had returned and stood behind her. She changed her focus and looked at him in the reflection of the window. Then she turned and looked at him for real. He held a shotgun and a box of shells. “Just in case they come back.”

  She raised her eyebrows.

  “What? This is a hunting cabin.” He grinned at her and she giggled, but the noise quickly began to sound hysterical.

  He frowned and set the shell box down, reached out to touch her shoulder. “Are you hurt?”

  She looked down at herself. Was she hurt? How could she not know? She looked down at her arm and was surprised at the amount of blood covering it. There was blood everywhere. And now that she could see it, she could smell it. The coppery tang of her own life. “Just…just scratches I think. I… I…”

  “We should call the police.”

  “No! No, I don’t want them. I’m okay.”

  A small muscle jumped along his jaw. He rubbed his thumb over her collarbone through the blanket. “Why don’t you get cleaned up and dressed. I’ll keep watch. And then you can tell me what happened, okay?”

  He was treating her like she was wounded, or maybe as a child. It felt ridiculously good to listen to him, and to agree. She shivered. Silently, she picked up her bag and walked to the bathroom. Inside, she faced the shock of her appearance in the full length mirror behind the door. She gasped.

  There really was blood everywhere—in her hair, on her face. She dropped the blanket. Everywhere. What could David possibly imagine happened to her? That she’d been attacked? Raped? She’d told him wolves were chasing her and he hadn’t believed it. And then they’d stolen his car. Showed her who they were, or at least what. And she’d seen one face, one she wouldn’t forget, although she didn’t recognize it now.

  She turned away from her reflection. The scent of blood sickened her. She stepped into the shower and turned it on, only flinching once at the stinging cold. The water ran red at her feet. There were no scratches anywhere on her. No place for the blood to have come from but the change.

  They had literally ripped her human form from inside the wolf.

  She ached, the muscles in her legs and back and pretty much everywhere else throbbed with dull pain. The cold water wasn’t helping, so she shut it off and toweled herself dry. A few minutes later and she was wrapped in a towel, but still in the bathroom. Going back out to the main room meant facing David and all his questions. What was she supposed to tell him? She’d seen that look when she said it was wolves chasing them. He thought she’d lost her sanity. But if she avoided him much longer, his protective nature would kick in and he’d call the cops or so something similarly stupid, like assume the wolves were gone and go out to look at his damaged vehicle.

  She closed her eyes.

  Maybe, it was over. Maybe, by pulling her from the wolf, they’d stopped her from changing again. But then why were they so intent on hurting her? They’d tried to kill her and David with the Jeep.

  She licked her lips. Other than tonight, she’d never tried to actively allow the change to take place. Did that have something to do with the attack? She stared at her hands, willing the nails to shift into claws, always the first sign that she was losing control and the change was coming. Nothing.

  Her heartbeat picked up. Could it really be over?

  A knock sounded on the door and she jumped.

  “Helen?” David’s voice carried a strong note of concern. “Are you okay in there?”

  She went to the door and opened it. David looked her over carefully from head to toe. His concern was sweet, if misguided.

  “Do you need some bandages? The first aid kit is in the kitchen. I can go get it for you.”

  “No, I’m fine.”

  He frowned. “Then where did all the blood come from, Helen?”

  She leaned against the door and sighed. “You wouldn’t believe me.”

  He shook his head, turned and walked away from her, back to the living room where he set the shotgun on the coffee table and took a seat on the sofa. He called out to her. “If you don’t explain this to me in five minutes, I’m calling the cops. And please, put some clothes on.”

  Heat flushed through her. She slammed the door shut and yanked out some clothes from her bag and hurriedly dressed. No time to comb her hair. She was going to have to tell him something, but what?

  She rushed out to the living room and dropped into the recliner opposite the couch. He had his phone out, sitting beside the shotgun on the table. Yippee, a showdown.

  For a minute they sat there, staring at each other. Then he started to reach for the phone.

  “Okay, all right. Don’t call the police. But you really aren’t going to believe me.” Helen rushed through the words, but when he leaned back in the couch again, away from his cell, she stalled.

  “I’m listening.” His voice was deep. Neutral, with maybe a hint of concern. Well, who wouldn’t be concerned? He found her covered in blood, which he probably figured wasn’t hers, and then someone tried to run them down with his own vehicle. Helen fidgeted and bit her lip.

  He raised an eyebrow.

  She leaned forward and rested her forearms against her thighs. “You’re going to think I’ve lost my mind. Sometimes, I think it. It all started with the hospital project. There was this group of people…wanderers. Gypsies. They call themselves the Rom. From Romania, I guess. I’ve tried to research them, but there isn’t much. They didn’t own the land, or any rights to it. I didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “That old woman—”

  “Yes, that damn woman.” She looked up at him, caught the way he was staring at her, interested, concerned. As if he really cared. She swallowed hard. Why would he? “She did it. Bianca Donceanu. She’s a lawyer, apparently, but she’s something more to her people. They didn’t have a leg to st
and on in court so she showed up at my company’s award ceremony and ruined me.”

  “She embarrassed you. But ruined?”

  Helen looked away. “She cursed me. Threw some sort of spell at me. I told you, she’s something more than a lawyer. They use the land as they travel across several states each year. But I took it and made it into something better than a campground. And they didn’t appreciate it.” She fell silent. The memory of blood splashing across her, all the company staring, the strange feeling that came with the witch’s words…

  “What do you mean, curse? And was it people from the Rom chasing you tonight?”

  Helen closed her eyes. This was the part where he’d not only call the cops, but call the medics to come with a nice white straightjacket. “I’m sure it was them. Why they were here tonight, and not before, I don’t know. The curse. It changes me. I have to leave, go somewhere where no one can see, and no one can get hurt. This is the third time. The moon becomes full, and I become a beast. A…wolf. A werewolf.”

  She looked at him. Yup, she’d lost him. He looked back at her with disbelief and worse, pity.

  “Helen, we have to call for help. You need help.”

  She stood, paced the room. “Really. Really? You saw them. They’re after me. I don’t know why, after months of being like this, but they were here last night and they did something. They…” She couldn’t find the words. “Something magic. It’s where the blood came from. From me, but not from my skin, not this skin…” She wasn’t making sense and she could see he believed she’d really lost it.

  “I twisted that fork, remember? I’m stronger now. Faster, and I can see and hear better. Smell better. But you think I’m nuts.”

  He stood and reached out to her but she paced away. “I think you are in trouble. Something is definitely going on, and those people did chase us, but a werewolf? No. You are not a beast of any kind.”

  Frustration ate at her. He made perfect sense. Stuff like this couldn’t be real. And yet it was. She’d been living it. She growled and the sound came out as animalistic as what she’d heard from the wolves in the woods.