Shift Out of Luck

by Abigail Owen

  “When is it supposed to wear off, anyway?” Tala grumbled, playing along.

  Astra laughed. “With that as my mate”—she nodded to Marrok—“I wouldn’t want it to.” She turned an assessing eye on Tala. “Especially given the glow you’ve picked up.”

  “I am not glowing,” Tala muttered between clenched teeth.

  Marrok glanced their way, a knowing smirk playing around his mouth.

  “I think he heard you.” Tala turned her head to hiss the words. A glance at her mate told her he now watched them openly. As soon as he caught her gaze, he gave a sexy-as-all-get-out wink. Damn the man. How could he have her body leaping with anticipation with a silly wink? Especially when she was still mad at him?

  With powerful strides he came around the fire to where she stood, and Tala remained where she was, rooted to the spot, unable to look away.

  “Astra,” he greeted.

  “Brother.” Astra glanced between them. “You two might want to go bleed off some of the sexual tension.”

  Marrok choked a laugh at that and finally turned his gaze to her sister.

  With a tip of her chin, Astra indicated several couples rushing into the cover of darkness and trees.

  Oh, hell. Everyone could feel that? Feel their rising desire? She’d heard of the alpha couples’ emotions having a direct impact on the pack but had never experienced that herself. Was that what this was?

  Astra must’ve caught the gist of Tala’s thoughts because she shrugged. “Yeah. I’m almost in pain standing this close to you. In fact, I’m thinking I might go see if that tall drink of yummy across the way wants to play.”

  Marrok glanced in the direction Astra was looking. “You don’t want to mess with Rafe.”

  Astra pouted. “I’m not going to mess with him, brother dear, I’m going to play with him.”

  “He doesn’t play nice.”

  Tala held back a groan. Worst possible thing Marrok could’ve said to her bad-boy-loving sister.

  “Goody.” Astra pursed her lips suggestively.

  Marrok covered his mouth with his hand to smother a laugh. “You’ve been warned.”

  Astra tipped her head and stared at the man until he happened to glance up, stilling as he caught sight of her. She sent him a saucy smile, but instead of going over to Rafe, she wandered off into the night, leaving Tala and Marrok alone together.

  Tala turned to her mate, trying to keep her heart steady and her face without emotion—until she encountered deep blue eyes crinkled at the corners as though he could read her thoughts. Was he struggling, too?

  Marrok ran a hand down her arm in a brief, almost comforting, caress. Since the mating, he’d done this a lot, as though he couldn’t stop touching her—not overtly, just constant contact. Her body itched to touch him back in the same manner, but her wolf held her back.

  What’s with you? Tala prodded. But the fickle creature yawned and turned away, shutting Tala out. She ignored her animal side and focused instead on her mate.

  Her mate who watched her, an oddly intent light in his eyes. If she hadn’t known better, she’d say concern had replaced amusement, darkening the color. At her confused frown, he smiled, and Tala found herself distracted by the crinkles around his eyes. Laugh lines she found seriously sexy when combined with that knockout grin of his. And when he was kind, like now, she could lose her heart to that sexy, sweet side of him.

  But none of that changed the fact that his behavior was losing her the Canis pack.

  She glowered. Her alpha mate was going to have to learn to share soon, and consult with her, and allow her to be alpha half the time, or she would have to make him.

  His eyes flickering in the firelight, he stared at her, and she stared back. He held out a hand. “Join me in the woods?”

  Tala knew what he was asking. She licked her lips and shifted on her feet. She shouldn’t.

  He leaned forward, lips by her ear. “Yes. You should.”

  Tala gasped, though only Marrok caught it. Probably. How had he known?

  A quick check told her the rest of the gathering weren’t paying them any attention. For once. Damn her body and damn him for being nice to that little girl. The sight had left her panting. Even her wolf had perked up for a second, tail twitching.

  Hiding a deep breath, Tala put her hand in his and allowed him to lead her out of the circle of warmth and light cast by the fire into the cooler, darker night beyond.

  Every cell of her being focused on her mate, Tala was ready and willing for what he had in mind. They wound their way through the pine trees, the fresh, spicy scent surrounding them. A good distance from the revelers, Marrok slowed and pulled her softly into his arms, his body wrapping her in warmth, hard against hers. He lowered his head, and she lifted her lips, eager for his kiss.

  “I hate that we fight,” he murmured against the corner of her mouth.

  Words guaranteed to soften her heart. “I—”

  A shout rose up from the people they’d just left, angry and getting louder by the second.

  Chapter Five

  Tala rushed into the clearing and around the bonfire to where every person present had gathered. Marrok followed closely behind as she pushed her way to the center of the circle of snarling wolf shifters. At least no one had changed.

  There, sitting on a log, tears streaming down her face, was Accalia. Just her freakin’ luck. The woman was of the Canis pack and had an uncanny ability to make trouble. She also had a penchant for lies and drama.

  “What happened?” Tala demanded.

  Accalia pointed at a man from the Banes pack, her face twisted with distaste. “He tried to kill me.”

  For his part the man let loose a low growl, which set off a chain of low growls like a stone cast into a pond sending ripples over the surface. “I sure as hell didn’t,” he denied.

  Shit. This was going downhill fast, and Tala was already in a rough position. “Do you have injuries needing treatment?”

  Accalia turned that hateful glare her way. “You don’t believe me?”

  “That’s not what I said. I want to make sure any urgent injuries are treated immediately.” As far as she could tell, other than a ripped dress and her tears, Accalia was fighting-fit.

  Accalia’s expression turned sulky. “No.” She narrowed her eyes. “I demand that wolf pay the price immediately. We are in neutral territory and have been forbidden by you to shift.”

  “We will make an investigation, of course.” Marrok stepped closer to Tala.

  Dammit. Why couldn’t the man have held off for two seconds and let her deal with this?

  Tala turned her own glare on her mate, who showed no reaction, except a small flare of irritation she barely caught. Did he seriously have zero clue what a horrible position he’d put her in with her pack? Or was he playing dumb?

  Of course, she agreed with Marrok’s call, but his unilateral decision forced her into a “her pack versus his pack” situation—she could protect her pack member from the Banes, or side with her mate condemning one of her own pack. Given her tenuous hold on her people, nothing could be worse.

  Deliberately, Tala held her tongue.

  Accalia was a drama queen and a liar, but her timing tonight felt off. Tala’s gut instinct told her a hidden player was involved here, and she meant to discover who. Her wolf stood on alert, hackles raised.

  “What do you say, Alpha?” From beyond the flickering light of the flames, Sandalio stepped forward, the gathering parting for him.

  Despite his age, the wolf shifter still made an intimidating figure of a man. Tall, almost as tall as Marrok, and leanly muscled. Tala always mentally labeled him as wiry. His form of fighting was more that of a fox—quick and sneaky—than a wolf. He stood straight and proud, oozing the prowess his many years boasted. Only his salt-and-pepper hair and wrinkled skin gave away his age. />
  She should have known he would be behind this. He’d been biding his time to move on her as alpha since she took over the role.

  Tala crossed her arms. “We will conduct an investigation.”

  “No!” Accalia jumped to her feet, holding up the tattered bodice of her dress with one hand. “I want him punished now.”

  Tala glanced at the man accused. His eyes glowed in the flicker of the firelight as he held his change in check, his chest heaving with the effort. Wisely, he said nothing. Tala stood her ground and kept her heart rate even. “If the investigation determines him guilty, then he will be.”

  Accalia’s eyes bugged. “If?” she screeched. “Are you calling me a liar?”

  “I’m saying an investigation will be held first.”

  “Is that how things will go now that our clans have been joined?” Sandalio spit into the fire, the hiss fizzing in the thick silence following his question. “The Banes Alpha will decide everything for both packs, while the Canis Alpha meekly bows to his command? Was that sign from the gods even real?”

  Shit.

  “I commanded nothing,” Marrok snarled. His low voice reverberated with his authority and power. Even Tala’s wolf winced.

  Sandalio turned to the crowd and held up his arms theatrically. “Even now he speaks, and she listens. This is why a female alpha was never a good—”

  “If you’re going to challenge me, old man, get on with it.” Tala’s quietly spoken words cut him off as effectively as a scream.

  “Tala,” Marrok muttered. She silenced him with a glance so full of fury, even he knew to shut up.

  Sandalio slowly pivoted to face her. “We both know a strong leader is what is needed now. Not our rival’s bitch.”

  Tala gave a bored sigh. “Was that a challenge? I couldn’t tell.”

  She pushed deliberately. If she didn’t end this now, he would undermine her leadership, and now her mating, every step of the way.

  “You want me to challenge you?”

  “I’m still waiting for you to have the balls you claim are necessary for the job. Either challenge me or shut the hell up.”

  That did it. The crowd scattered, pushing back and out of the way as Sandalio shimmered, signaling his change. Tala kept her eyes glued to him. Some shifters took longer than others to shift, some were quicker. The realigning and elongating of bones was smooth and easy if done slowly, more jarring if quick, but over time supposedly became less jarring and therefore easier to move fast.

  “Tala, shift!” Marrok yelled.

  She ignored the order. “You do anything to interfere, mate, and I’ll rip your throat out myself.”

  Not removing her gaze from her opponent—attacking before the change was complete when the fight involved a challenge was deemed bad form—she knew without looking that Marrok got the message. His thundering growl told her he did and silenced everyone else.

  Sandalio shook his head and the fuzziness disappeared, his form coming into sharp relief, the final phase of the shift, signaled the time to fight. Before her, where a tough old man had challenged her, now stood a massive wolf. Dark gray fur covered his body, with lighter gray around his eyes and snout. Sandalio stood larger than most.

  Even while he made the change, she mentally took stock of what she had available to use against him, using her sleight of hand skills to slip one of the few weapons she’d bothered to bring into her palm.

  Tala never shifted for a fight. As a female wolf she was smaller, physically outmatched, but while she was more vulnerable as a human, she was also more adept and able to use weapons. The problem was, Sandalio had seen her fight several battles to become alpha, but she’d never seen him fight in his wolf form. A disadvantage she’d have to deal with quickly.

  Without an ounce of hesitation, she ran straight at the wolf shifter. As she came in range, he lunged, snapping his jaws, but she slid like a base runner coming into home, between his legs and under his belly.

  She used the Kubotan she’d slipped from her pocket earlier like a baton of sorts. As she slid by, she jabbed the end of the hard instrument into the wrist joint above Sandalio’s forefoot, using her momentum for added heft. A satisfying pop signaled she’d done damage.

  See how he did with one foot hobbled now.

  A cloud of dust followed Tala as she pushed to her feet, making it hard to see, the itch of it inside her lungs annoying but not debilitating.

  Immediately, she ducked under Sandalio’s head. He’d whirled on her faster than she expected, and his razor-sharp teeth barely missed her, his breath hot on her back. Rather than put distance between them, Tala hooked her right arm around his neck, grabbing a hank of fur for purchase, and swung up onto his back. There she slammed her heels in, like a cowboy spurring a horse, only the three-inch heels of her stilettos did a hell of a lot more damage as they pierced his skin and stabbed into his ribs.

  Marrok had teased her for wearing those shoes in the woods.

  Sandalio howled and jerked under her, curling back on his body. She tried to pull her foot free, only the heel stayed buried. Pain lanced up her leg as the wolf’s teeth sunk deep. With a heave, he slung her off his back and slammed her into the rough trunk of a nearby pine tree.

  Tala’s vision went black as she lay crumpled on the ground, pine needles raining down on her from above, filling her senses with the woodsy scent that made her think of her mate. In a haze she could hear Marrok yelling her name and others shouting at him. They had to be holding him back.

  This was her fucking fight. Even if he didn’t get it, everyone else would.

  But Tala wasn’t focused on her mate, or her pain, or her lack of vision, which would clear shortly. Instead, she kept her eyes closed and used her phenomenal hearing, totally attuned to the soft tread of Sandalio’s paws on the ground, moving ever closer. He would go for the easy kill. The way she had fallen, her throat was exposed…perfect bait.

  “At last…” His thought reached her, though she doubted he meant it to.

  He leaned over her now, his stinky dog breath hot on her face. Do it already, you coward, she silently willed him.

  With a snarl, he reared back. As he went for the kill, Tala moved with the speed of a rattlesnake strike. She snatched one of her specially made metal sticks out of the long pocket along her thigh and jammed it, pointy end first, into Sandalio’s neck, though she avoided the artery.

  The sharp instrument plunged deep, and the wolf shifter dropped to the ground beside her. The metallic scent of blood spilled into the air as his wound seeped, red staining the earth beside him. The injury wouldn’t kill him but would take him out for several days as he healed.

  Tala stayed on the ground, her leg pinned under Sandalio’s greater weight.

  Gathering the will to imbue the words, she spoke with force and controlled fury to those gathered. “Half an inch down and he’d be dead. Because of my respect for his age and all he’s done for the Canis pack in the past, I have decided to show mercy. However, he and his kin will find a new pack. Immediately.”

  Chapter Six

  After a long moment of shock held them all immobile when Tala came out the victor, those of his pack who held Marrok back released him. He’d lost his shit when he thought his mate was about to be killed, and four of his strongest wolves still hadn’t been entirely enough. His wolf had been frantic inside his head, lending added power to his limbs while at the same time pushing to be released so he could rip out the bastard’s throat who threatened their mate.

  Now he shoved the unconscious mass of the wolf Tala had defeated away from her to pull her into his arms. “Tala? Talk to me. Are you—”

  She shoved him off her. Hard. “I’m fine,” she spat.

  His wolf managed to growl and whimper at the same time. Something was wrong with their mate. Marrok held up his hands. He watched as she gingerly rose to her feet, giving he
r head a shake. Then he, too, moved to his feet.

  Rather than address him, Tala turned a hard stare on Accalia, who now cowered on the ground. His magnificent mate stalked to the she-wolf and crouched down. In a voice all the more deadly for the softness, she addressed every person listening.

  “There will be an investigation. If your alleged attacker is found guilty, he will be punished. If it is found you have lied, you will join Sandalio.”

  Accalia paled so drastically, Marrok wondered if she’d pass out.

  “Do you want to rethink your charges?” Tala asked.

  Accalia started to shake. “He didn’t attack me,” she said through pale, pinched lips. “Sandalio helped me fake it.”

  “Was anyone else involved?” Tala asked.

  Accalia’s hair fell into her eyes as she shook her head, her gaze lowered. “Not that I know of.”

  Tala rose to her feet and surveyed the gathering. “Any other challengers tonight?” She asked the question almost conversationally. Like she was asking if anyone wanted more to eat. Damn, she was magnificent.

  “No?” Tala asked. A long silence greeted her question. “Good.”

  She took a deep breath, and the next words came out in a raised voice. “I believe we’ve celebrated this full moon enough. Time to get to the business of learning to live together as one pack. In peace.”

  She turned to him and held out her hand. “Shall we?”

  Marrok grinned, unable to hold back his pride in his mate, and took her hand. His wolf still wanted to check that she was unharmed, but he suspected he’d lose a limb if he tried.

  Together they walked out of the clearing, leaving the business of cleaning up to the others. They made the trek through the woods to their home in silence.

  As soon as they entered their suite, Tala went to stand in front of the long mirror in the bathroom and pulled back the blue skirt of her dress to reveal a nasty scrape up her thigh, probably from when she’d slid under Sandalio. She also inspected the bite on her foot. He should’ve carried her out of the forest. She hadn’t even limped.