by Tami Lund
Shifters.
Pack meetings.
Panthers.
“Oh my God, it’s true,” she whispered, staring at Matt and watching as his eyes grew wide. “The black panther. It was you.”
It was unbelievable, but it was true. She knew it. She knew.
Matt did not respond. Cal shifted from one foot to the other, clearly uncomfortable with the conversation. Because it was all a secret. She wasn’t supposed to know. They weren’t human.
She was in love with—what? What the hell was Josh? “Is he a panther, too?” she asked.
Matt shook his head. “I can’t tell you. You aren’t supposed to know this. It’s—”
“Who’s the panther in there with Josh?” she asked, stabbed her finger toward the arena. Now that she was on the ground, standing far back from the crowd, she could no longer see what was going on. By the gasps and cries of angst, she guessed it wasn’t good.
“Who is it?” she demanded more forcefully.
Brendon suddenly stepped up behind Matt. “What’s going on? I thought you were supposed to hand her off to me, so I could get her the hell out of here.”
“We’re trying,” Cal supplied.
“I’m not leaving,” Rachel insisted. Another cry of distress waved through the crowd. Matt, Cal, and Brendon all swiveled their heads toward the arena.
“Get her the hell out of here,” Matt said, shoving her toward Cal. He turned and ran into the crowd. Rachel took advantage of the momentary confusion and twisted out of Cal’s arms, running into the crowd herself. She had to see if Josh was okay. She had to tell him she knew, and that it was okay for him to change in front of her. He didn’t need to hide. He needed to change as well, so the battle would be on equal footing.
She finally made her way to the front of the crowd, and the sight that greeted her eyes was not pretty. Josh was on the ground, not ten feet away, bleeding profusely and looking as if he wasn’t able to regain his feet. The panther was toying with him, pacing round him in a circle, slashing out periodically, drawing fresh blood and weakening him further.
He’s going to die.
The thought skittered through her brain and Rachel involuntarily shouted out, “No!”
Josh turned his head to look at her and grimaced.
“Change!” she shouted. A few people next to her gave her perplexed looks. “Change!”
“What’s it called?” she demanded of the young man standing closest to her. “What is it? What’s the word?” He shrank away from her and did not speak.
“Rachel?”
She dropped her gaze to see little Maddy standing in front of her. “What are you doing here? You aren’t supposed to be here.”
She wasn’t supposed to be here? What about a four-year-old child? How was that okay?
“What is it, Maddy? What’s the word? It’s not change, obviously. What’s the word, to get him to change into an animal?”
Maddy’s eyes went wide. “You know?”
Rachel nodded. “Yes. Please, Maddy. Please tell me. I have to save Josh.”
“Shift,” Carmen, who stood next to her granddaughter, said. She placed her hand on Maddy’s shoulder. “The word is shift. He needs to shift, or he’s going to die. And then Kent Pantera will be our pack master. And the comfortable life Josh’s family created for us will be gone. Not to mention Josh himself.”
“Thank you, Carmen.” Then Rachel shouted, “Shift! Shift! Shift, Josh!”
Maddy picked up the chant, and then Carmen. Others in the crowd looked at her uncertainly—she briefly wondered how they all seemed to know she wasn’t one of them—and then slowly, one by one, they all picked up the chant, everyone shouting the word “Shift” over and over again, until it was a deafening sound, louder even than the black panther’s roars.
Rachel watched as the cries seemed to give Josh renewed strength. He struggled to his hands and knees, breathing heavily, blood dripping from innumerous injuries. He lifted one leg, pressed his foot to the ground, intent upon standing. The panther took notice and started toward him.
“No,” Rachel screamed, waving her arms. “Over here, you bastard. Pantera, I know that’s you, you ugly son of a bitch!”
The panther paused and turned its head, glaring at her. She could see the madness in his eyes, even in animal form. He momentarily forgot about Josh and headed toward her instead. She was jerked backward just as he lunged at the crowd.
“Do you have a death wish? We didn’t rescue you just so he could watch you die, you know.” Matt tried to shove her behind him. The crowd surged at the panther, pushing it back out into the arena.
“He’s going to get killed. He needs to shift.”
“How the hell did you figure all this out?”
“I’ll explain later. Just get him to shift.”
“As soon as I get you out of here, he will. He can’t while you’re here. It’s pack rules. No magic in front of the humans.”
“He’s my mate,” she screamed, right into Matt’s face. “I won’t let him die.”
A cheer went up all around them. Rachel whipped her head around, but she couldn’t see anything. She wrenched her arm out of Matt’s grasp and pushed her way back to the front of the crowd.
Something slammed into the panther, something black and orange and white and huge. It was the largest tiger Rachel had ever seen.
“Josh.” She breathed his name, like a prayer. The panther was knocked off its feet and rolled across the dusty ground, taking a few moments to regain its bearings. The tiger didn’t give him time. He was on the panther again, lashing out with claws and teeth, growling and snapping powerful jaws.
Matt stepped up behind her again. “You need to get the hell out of here.”
“No. I want to see him win.”
Matt ground his teeth. “I almost wonder how the hell Pantera even managed to capture you.”
She flashed him an annoyed look before quickly turning back to watch the magnificent tiger in action. He was so sleek and powerful and handsome and fierce. He was gorgeous. And he was all hers.
Her mate.
Chapter 20
“You didn’t even see it?”
Rachel shook her head. “I was too busy trying to dodge the far less attractive cat flying toward me at the moment.”
“Far less attractive?” Josh cocked an eyebrow.
She grinned. “I find tigers much more attractive than panthers.”
Josh chuckled. “Good to know.”
They’d discussed what happened with Pantera. Josh had been surprisingly open to listening to her version of the situation.
“He would have killed me, if I hadn’t agreed to sleep with you,” Rachel explained.
“I’m glad he didn’t kill you,” Josh commented.
“I’m so sorry. I hated myself. But not enough to stay away from you.”
He cupped her cheek. “I’m also glad you couldn’t stay away.”
“I really do love you,” she swore. “I think I fell in love with you that first night.”
It was early afternoon, the day after the challenge. Tanner, who Josh explained was a pack master from northern Michigan, had returned with the two women he referred to as healers. Shifters had their own version of doctors, apparently, except they used magic instead of instruments and medicine to heal each other. Rachel much preferred their version of healing, since here it was, less than twenty-four hours later, and both she and Josh were as good as new, lounging on the couch in the entertainment room, with her snuggled in his lap.
She lay her head against his chest. “I felt so guilty doing it, because you were clearly such a wonderful, sweet, caring person. I never once thought Pantera should rule your pack. I just didn’t know how to get out from under his control.”
“Let’s not get carried away with the mushy, girly compliments,” Josh drawled. “Us shifters have a ridiculous amount of pride.”
Rachel smiled, feeling as though she were overcoming some invisible hurdle. “I wanted to
live, because I liked being with you so much. I didn’t want to give you up.”
“While I appreciate the sentiment, that doesn’t sound like love,” Josh pointed out.
“I do love you,” she insisted. “I promise, I will prove it to you every day, for the rest of my life.”
Josh arched his eyebrows. “You’re willing to do that? To be with…me, for the rest of your life?”
“Absolutely,” Rachel said without hesitation.
He sobered. “Do you want to see it?”
“You change forms?”
He nodded. “It’s called shifting. We’re shape-shifters.”
She lifted her head and studied him. “You each shift into some specific type of animal?” It still felt odd asking such questions about something that, according to everything she understood until she met Josh, was not supposed to exist.
“We can shift into the shape of any warm-blooded being. Even birds. But I swear, I’ll never shift into a panther in front of you.”
Her eyes widened as she stared at him, her brain trying to process even more unbelievable information. “But you live like humans.”
Josh shrugged. “We do. Life is easier that way. You can work, live in houses, cook our meat.” He shrugged again. “We really aren’t all that different from you.”
“You can change into any form you want. I’d say that’s pretty darn different.”
“We still feel. We still love, and hate, and want. And need.” His eyes took on that heated look she knew so well. When they began to glow, she smiled, now understanding the glow was a sign of his emotions running high. Positive emotions, in this case.
“As I understand it, we’re already mated.”
Josh grimaced. “Who told you?”
“I guessed, from some things Pantera said.”
“Are you okay with that?” He sounded hesitant, unsure.
Rachel cocked her head to the side. “I think the question is: are you okay with it? Will you have to choose between me and being pack master?”
Josh wrapped his arms around her and squeezed. “If I do, I’ll choose you. Shifters mate for life.”
Rachel arched a brow. “You do? What if I get sick of you after a while?”
“Too damn bad. You don’t think you will, do you?”
She kissed his nose. “Don’t get all low self esteem on me, Josh. I like you much better when you’re cocky and sure of yourself.”
He rolled his hips. “I’m feeling pretty cocky right now.”
She straddled his lap and draped her arms around his shoulders. He gave her another uncertain look. “Are you sure you’re okay with all of this?”
“What about Alexa and Olivia?” she asked suddenly. “Are they shifters, too?”
Josh shook his head. “They’re called Lightbearers. They have magic, which they get from the sun.”
Rachel’s eyes grew wide. “There are more than just shifters?”
Josh chuckled. “A lot more.”
“Show me,” she whispered.
“Show you the other magical beings?”
She shook her head. “No. Shift for me. I want to watch.”
He held her in his lap for a moment, and then lifted her and placed her onto the couch while he stood before her. The problem with watching was, it happened so fast, there was really nothing to watch. One moment, he was human, standing before her, that uncertain look still haunting his features. In the blink of an eye, a sleek orange and black tiger stood there, with gorgeous, familiar black eyes. She tentatively reached out a hand and he bumped his head against it, purring when she scratched him behind the ear. Rachel laughed with delight.
“This is fun,” she exclaimed. “How cool is it that my boyfriend can turn into a giant tiger?”
He shifted back into human form and dropped onto the couch, pulling her into his lap. “Mate, not boyfriend,” he corrected. He shoved his hands into her hair and pulled her forward for a searing kiss. “This is more fun,” he promised, and then he demonstrated just how much shifters liked to reconnect with their mates.
*
“Pantera’s dead.”
Josh made the proclamation at the pack meeting. The challenge had been a week ago. He hadn’t killed Pantera outright in the arena, but the damage had been extensive. Pantera had been lucid enough to refuse the Lightbearers’ offer to heal him, and then he’d hung on for another five days, before finally dying in his sleep.
There didn’t seem to be a great deal of sadness at his passing. Only a handful of shifters attended the burning ceremony, a custom different from the humans’ preference for putting the dead bodies of their friends and relatives into the ground.
“I am still your pack master,” Josh said, looking out over his pack, who all stood surrounding the dais that had been erected for him to speak at this particular meeting. He nodded at Matt, who nudged Rachel toward the small, makeshift stage. She smoothed the front of her blue dress and accepted the hand he offered, to help her step up next to him. He slid an arm around her waist and pulled her tightly into his side. “And this is my mate.”
Murmurs spread through the crowd gathered in the yard, as everyone digested that bit of information.
“She is human. But she knows our secret. And she will never divulge it. She accepts us. Just as we should accept her. If you want me as your pack master, you must accept her as my mate. There is no alternative.”
He paused, waiting for the reaction. He’d explained to Rachel earlier that if they protested, he would step down, and they would leave, go off and start a life on their own somewhere else. He’d already talked to Tanner and had been assured they were welcome at the coterie. Their bags were packed. If it was necessary.
Carmen started it. She dropped to one knee and bowed her head. A sign of respect. Acknowledgement that Josh was still her pack master. Little Maddy followed suit, then her brother, Teddy, and their parents, Kim holding her newborn pup in her arms. The Bears were next. Matt shook his head, a smirk on his face, as he too dropped to one knee, followed quickly by Cal and Brendon, and then others. More and more, until everyone on the lawn was down on one knee, heads bowed. Accepting.
It wouldn’t be easy, of course. Rumors spread like wildfire in the pack setting, and many had already heard about how Pantera had forced her to sleep with Josh as a diversion so he could try to take over as pack master. Josh forgave her, but the others didn’t love her like he did. It would take them longer. They would be suspicious for a long time.
And still others felt humans should not be part of a pack. Those were the ones who had been Pantera’s strongest supporters. But Josh made it clear that to injure or frighten or in any way intimidate his mate was a direct insult to the pack master and would be dealt with accordingly.
No, it wouldn’t be easy. But then again, was anything worth doing easy?
The End
Publisher’s Note
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About Tami Lund
Tami Lund likes to live, love, and laugh, and does her best to ensure the characters in her books do the same. After they have overcome a few seemingly insurmountable obstacles first, of course.
Tami writes both contemporary and paranormal romance. Chances are, there is a new book coming out soon. Be sure to stalk her on social media, so you know when. On Facebook find her at AuthorTamiLund, on Twitter @TamiLundAuthor, and check out her website at www.tamilund.com.
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