Howl And Growl Complete Collection

by Cloe Cullen

  “Please!” Nyssa called. “Doesn’t anyone have some kind herbs to at least ease his pain?” Suddenly the shifters in the crowd looked incredibly uncomfortable, shrugging and glancing between each other, trying to pass the responsibility off on someone else. She looked to the Seers, a desperation in her eyes. “Please, we aren’t threats, just help us!”

  Dallan’s face twisted, and he shook his head. “I’m sorry my dear, but we barely have enough for ourselves. Living in these harsh mountains have taught our people to be hardy. Surely your friend can do the same.” He nodded at two guards and a few others. “Take them both to the cave prisons while the other Seers and I discuss what to do with them.”

  “What?” Jorah said. “No! Dallan, listen to reason.” Finding no sympathy in his adoptive father’s face, Jorah turned to his friends still kneeling on the ground. Both Finn and Keanu rose, hesitant to speak, eventually they opened their mouths...but not before Nyx could.

  “I agree, as this girl revealed to us that they were in league with the Vampires,” she said confidently. She glanced at Jorah, whose mouth was left hanging by her declaration. “They could very well be dangerous.”

  “Hmm, as I thought,” Dallan said, stroking his mangy beard.

  Stunned by Nyx’s betrayal, Jorah leveled a glare at her, causing her to wince, and looked back at Dallan. “So, now you believe her words? It’s so easy for you to just pick parts of the truth, isn’t it?”

  The Seers in unison clacked their staves on the ground, creating a loud echo, the signal that a meeting has ended. “Enough! Everyone disperse, there is nothing more to talk about. Guards!”

  Rapidly, the two guards that carried Lowell in, along with two others that emerged from the crowd, grabbed both Lowell and Nyssa by the arms and dragged them out of the cave. Once more, Jorah was too stunned to even move. How the hell did this happen? He was sure the Seers would finally see the truth, and now he was forced to watch the wolf shifters be dragged away like criminals. Jorah made to go after, but somebody’s tiny hand caught his arm.

  Turning, he spied Nyx, frowning and shaking her head, her thin fingers clamped down on his bicep. “Please, don’t.”

  A rush of anger entered his mind, and Jorah snarled at Nyx, ripping her hand off his bicep. “Don’t you dare touch me!” His sharp tongue caused Nyx to jerk, her hand trembling as it remained hovering in the air. Quickly, Jorah raced away, ignoring Dallan’s shouts again, and leaving Keanu and Finn to look after the shaking Nyx.

  Chapter Thirteen: Nyssa

  T hey were thrown into another cave. A smaller, smellier, walls-caked-with-dirt-and-mud type of cave.

  The bear shifter guards didn’t bother to throw Nyssa or Lowell gently, both of them smacking the cold ground with a thud, and Nyssa grunting at the fall. Rolling over, she made to spit in the two guards faces, but they rushed out, rolling a huge boulder over the entrance. Too stunned by the huge boulder to move forward, Nyssa simply watched as she scuttled over to the wheezing Lowell, dragging his head onto her lap instead of the rocky floor.

  He groaned, his eyelids fluttering and his hands clawing at the air, his mouth trying to move and speak, but nothing concrete came out.

  The Seers truly meant to keep them both here, Nyssa realized. After coming straight to them, without even listening to what she had to say, the nine found both she and Lowell guilty, for doing what? Surviving an attack? Surviving a war? Clenching her fist, she scowled, only to realize that Lowell’s eyelids had opened, if only slightly. Tiny slits allowed his bright eyes to stare up at her, and his lips slowly curled into a weak smile.

  “What’s the matter?” He asked, his voice quivering. “Something get on my face?”

  “Hey,” Nyssa simply said in response, trying not to become overwhelmed with emotions. She stroked his forehead, feeling to make sure he wasn’t overheated with a fever. “Take it easy, okay? Apparently, you took a hard fall.”

  “Yeah, I did, racing after you and that...bear.” His eyes glazed over, as if his mind was muddled. “No, that can’t be right, there aren’t any bear shifters still alive.”

  Nyssa sighed, thinking back to the handsome Jorah, Nyx, and the others, the huge crowd of bear shifters that stuffed themselves into that cavern, the Seers with their raged-filled vision and fright. “You’d be wrong about that, Lowell. Guess where we are right now…”

  Lowell flicked his gaze around, trying to look everywhere. “Well, some sort of cave? But where? I don’t remember many caves to be found in Gray Creek.” Gasping with sharp breaths, Lowell tried to sit up. Nyssa helped, putting pressure on his back, giving him support so that he could retain his balance. He swayed slightly, a few wounds opening and dripping blood to the ground. Wincing at the opening wounds, Lowell grinned at Nyssa. “Don’t worry about me...I’m fine, seriously. Once we get back home, I’ll put on some salves...heal those gaping holes in my side.”

  Hanging her head, Nyssa watched as his blood dripped to the ground. How naive she was to think this would have ended up so perfectly, with her speaking to the Seers and then just getting up to leave. Neither Darius or Remus ever had something so easy, so why should she? Jorah...she remembered the torn up look on his face, the clenched teeth and harrowing look as both she and Lowell were dragged from the warmth of the fires to the blizzard outside. As handsome and energetic as he was, he didn’t make any move to rush after her, which despite how much that stung, Nyssa realized it only made sense. Jorah couldn’t very well have done much on his own with over a hundred or so shifters around to stop him.

  Shivering from a breeze that wormed its way through the cracks in the bolder, Nyssa helped Lowell put his back to the wall, his chest heaving and his lungs panting for air. Despite not having any clothes, Nyssa only just realized he was still stark naked from transforming earlier that day. Well, maybe yesterday, now, since the moon as high in the sky. It was so hard to see because of the almost pitch-black darkness, yet the sliver of moonlight sneaking in from the top of the boulder allowed her to at least partially see her surroundings.

  “It might be awhile until we get to go back home,” Nyssa said quietly. “We’re not exactly in a position to just get up and leave just yet.”

  “What do you mean?” Lowell asked through pants, his body twitching from the pain that probably needled him. Glancing over to the entrance, he clicked his tongue. “Why the hell is there a boulder over the entrance? Who put that there? There’s no way you did…”

  Suddenly voices arose from the outside. Two she recognized as the guards who stood watch over the cave, though she couldn’t for the life of her figure out how that would make much of a difference, since neither her nor the wounded Lowell had the pure strength to lift that boulder. The other was hard to tell at first, though it sounded familiar. Fair and strong the voice was warm and soothing, and as the boulder began to roll aside, causing them both to go wide-eyed, Nyssa saw the owner of the voice was none other than Jorah.

  Sauntering in like he owned the place, he quickly crouched next to Nyssa and Lowell. Lowell made to jerk forward, trying to shield Nyssa, glaring into Jorah’s stern gaze. “Who the hell are you?”

  Putting a finger to his lips, Nyssa kept her mouth shut and glanced over his shoulder, the moonlight illuminating the two guards standing cross-armed in the front of the cave.

  “Can you walk?” Jorah said to Lowell.

  Confused, Lowell squinted at him. “Maybe, I haven’t tried yet,” he said.

  “He probably can’t,” Nyssa intervened, causing Jorah’s darkly luminous eyes to snap to her, the intensity of his gaze making her heart throb and telling her all she needed to know. Seeing the conviction behind his irises, she nodded. “I can probably carry him,” she whispered.

  Lowell flicked his gaze between the two of them. “Do you two know each other?”

  “Hey!” One of the guards yelled from the front. “Come on, enough with your whispering. Jorah, your time is up. Let’s go already.”

  Jorah grinned, his charm steelin
g Nyssa’s nerves for whatever came next. “I’ll give you a signal when it’s time to go, okay? Just wait for my mark.” Nyssa nodded, but Lowell gulped.

  “What does that mean?” He asked. “So, do you two know each other or not? Just what is happening right now?”

  “Jorah!” The guard said. “I said time’s up. Come on, Dallan won’t be pleased that we’ve let you in to speak to the wolves. So, hurry up.”

  Pretending to sigh loudly, Jorah rose to his feet. “Ugh, fine! Geez, you guys can be incredibly annoying sometimes, you know that?” Strolling towards them, Jorah opened his arms. “It’s not like we’re plotting to escape or anything, I just wanted to ask them a few things about their home.”

  The first guard grunted, scratching his chin. “Yeah, well, Dallan will still be pissed either-”

  Suddenly Jorah’s fist slammed into the guard’s jaw, jerking him back to his knees. The crack echoed around the cave’s walls, and the second guard was too stunned for words. “Now!” Jorah shouted, kicking the second guard in the stomach and nailing the first with another punch to the side of the head, causing him to collapse to the ground unconscious.

  Nyssa gawked at the signal, rolling her eyes at how simple it was, but ultimately didn’t hesitate to wrap Lowell’s arm around her and help him to his feet. The two stumbled to the entrance while Jorah chased off the second guard, who ran away into the snow drifts, becoming a speck in the darkness. Jorah came just as Nyssa and Lowell breached the exit. He clicked his tongue. “There’ll be more coming after us, so we need to hurry. If we can get to the edge of the mountains before that guard informs the Seers, we’ll be in the clear. No other bear shifters will go farther than maybe halfway down at most.”

  “I’m so confused,” Lowell moaned. Jorah began to strip off his clothes, which, if Nyssa’s mind currently wasn’t whirling with adrenaline and thoughts of Lowell’s terrible condition, would have been a beautiful sight to occupy herself with.

  “Why are you helping us?” She found herself asking, removing Lowell’s arm and temporarily placing him on the ground while she stripped herself.

  “Because this is no longer my home,” Jorah said hastily. “I’m sick of the laws the Seers create, and the ice and snow, and how every night I sleep on a cot on the hard, cold cave floor.” He finished, winking at Nyssa, causing her to blush. “And because I like you two. I think it’s time to make some new friends.”

  Jorah shifted into his bear from, growing into a huge, thick-furred beast that chuffed and padded the snow. Amazed at the sight, Nyssa had to shake her head in order to get herself focused on the task at hand. Turning to Lowell, who stared at Jorah in awe, she waved a hand in front of his gaze to get his attention. “When I shift, climb onto my back and hold on, okay? We’re getting off the mountains.”

  “We’re on the mountains? Since when?”

  Nyssa didn’t answer, instead shifting into her blonde wolf form and proceeding to kneel down next to Lowell, so that he could climb onto her back and grip her hair. It was slightly awkward, since Nyssa had never carried another on her back before, but as she picked up her clothes and began to lope after Jorah through the snow, she found she liked to be relied upon.

  ***

  The journey down the mountain had been much easier than Nyssa had expected, with Jorah leading them, they made considerable time, reaching the large stones that marked the edge of the Bear Clans’ territory, and easing their way down the trail.

  Nyssa tried to slow as much as possible to make the ride easier for Lowell, who still groaned and moaned from his wounds, but she also wanted to go as quickly as possible because of those wounds. Lowell had gone without any kind of healing for hours now, and that wasn’t healthy in the slightest. It made her worry, and she kept up the pace despite the stamina she was quickly losing.

  Descending should always be the easy part, and yet she found going down the mountain to be quite difficult. There were many sharp-edged pebbles and rocks littered along the paths that could cut open tiny wounds in her paws, or plants that made her itch upon touching them, or the very idea of the sheer drops off cliff faces that would spell certain death for both her and Lowell. Lowell might have survived one fall, but there was no way in hell he’d survive another.

  The whole time, Jorah kept looking over his back, sniffing the air and watching to make sure none of his fellow bear shifters followed. Nyssa was certain the Seers would have known what was happening by now, but she chose not to think about it all for the moment, instead opting to focus on foot placement and watching the dangerous road ahead.

  But her attention quickly shifted when Jorah roared at her to run faster, and the scents of multiple bears filled her nose. Glancing back up, she saw a small group of five bears racing down the slopes after them, all sprinting all full speed to catch up to them. Feeling the rush of adrenaline kick back in, Nyssa let her worries go and bolted down the slope, slipping and sliding and following Jorah’s lead. Bears were much faster than she realized, and by the time the foot of the mountains was in sight, the bears behind had caught up to them, all roaring and chuffing to swipe at Nyssa as they broke the trail and slid to a stop on the forest floor.

  Nyssa didn’t get a chance to recover her speed, though, as one of the bears behind her slammed into her, sending both her and Lowell sprawling into the ground. Jorah roared and made to stand in front of Nyssa, swiping to keep the other five back.

  But then Nyssa spied movement in the trees up ahead, something blonde and quick-footed racing towards her.

  Remus!

  As her blonde wolf brother burst onto the scene, howling a war cry, a myriad of other wolves and cougars arrived as well, battering into the bears and causing a panic. Jorah backed up, eyed by many of the other shifters, but Remus howled to focus on the others. Nyssa cackled dryly as she rose to her feet, Lowell still clinging on for dear life. That was her brother alright, noticing Jorah was no threat to them. Soon, Bronwen appeared by her side, the pale, red-eyed beauty smiling freely down at her.

  “It’s been awhile, hasn’t it?” Bronwen said. “Well, actually it’s only been a day, and it only felt like a few minutes to me, but hey, still awhile!” Strangely enough, a second Vampire appeared at Nyssa’s side. Blonde and wearing that same, plastered smile, she made no move to help, but merely watched as the wolf and cat shifters drove the bears back up the mountain. The bears, overwhelmed and panicking, frantically ran back up the slope, roaring back down in contempt and annoyance, but didn’t attempt to come back down.

  Nyssa shifted forms causing Lowell to fall, Jorah followed suit, and all three of them collapsed into each other on the warm, dirt ground.

  Jorah laughed, scooping up some dirt with his hands and letting it spill between his fingers. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so in love with dirt.”

  With the two Vampires standing watch beside the trio, none of the other wolves or cats ventured any closer, though they all watched and remained in their animal forms. Remus padded over, shifting forms and practically coming to a sliding stop next to Nyssa. She nearly cried at the sight of him, and he smiled at her warmly, though that smile quickly faded upon glancing at Jorah.

  “Nyssa, we need to talk, right now.”

  Chapter Fourteen: Jorah

  H e’d really done it, Jorah had finally opposed the Seers. For years the idea had crossed his mind, but he’d never gotten farther than a few heated arguments and simply descending halfway down the mountain. Honestly Jorah had never had an opportunity as good as this one, saving the pretty girl and her friend from the cave prisons back on top of the Northern Mountains. But now he’d gone the full stretch, and he realized there was no turning back.

  He hoped Nyx, Finn and Keanu would be able to forgive him for his drastic decision. Leaving Nyssa cooped up in that cave, to be the Seers’ plaything when it came down to what to do with her and Lowell...that irked him, set his mind on fire. It hadn’t even been a full day yet, and he already had the urge to watch over her, to always keep h
er in his sight. Was it because she was from another world from his, or maybe it was because he fancied her?

  Even now as Jorah sat with his back to a tree, the soft dirt allowing his rump to actually relax, his legs spread out and his arms crossed, he looked on at Nyssa and her brother while they spoke in private a few yards away. They were whispering to each other energetically, with her brother frowning and constantly glancing his way. His eyes sparkled with something...suspicion maybe? Or maybe a thankfulness for saving his sister? Jorah supposed soon enough the guy would march over, crouch, and search his eyes for answers.

  Despite her brother’s handsome, windswept blonde hair and daring blue eyes, he didn’t find the guy all too intimidating just yet. Nor the group of wary shifters that communed off to the side. They too, continually glanced at him, wondering whether he would make a move to escape them. Some furrowed their brows while others simply gazed with curious, wide eyes.

  The misty air of the Oldwood made it hard to focus on them, though, as even from this distance their images were slightly frayed.

  But the two people that concerned Jorah the most were the two pale women standing close to Nyssa and her brother. Tall and lanky and deathly pale, the two women stood perfectly still, both watching Nyssa and her brother speak. Both adorned with blood red eyes that appeared to glide seamlessly to lock onto their targets. The brown-haired one, who stood closest to Nyssa’s brother, kept an almost emotionless small smile plastered to her lips at all times, her eyes never leaving Nyssa’s brother. The other, platinum blonde and pink-lipped, didn’t smile, but there was an odd, uncaring sensation emitting from her, like the aura of a grown adult watching annoying children come up with rules for an imaginary game. It wasn’t difficult to admit the two unnerved him, and when the blonde one snapped her eyes to him, he jerked back into the tree, putting on a nervous smile, one that apparently amused the blonde woman, as her own lips curled up wickedly.