Shifter Challenge

by Selina Woods

  It didn’t take me long to reach them and the piles of broken cement and rubble that were all that remained of them. Sunken ships choked the sea inlet, so the city’s rulers had no reason to guard it against potential escapes. No boat could get through there with its bottom intact.

  Choosing to head north along the shore among the crumbled warehouses and industrial area, I galloped through the thickly overgrown vegetation that had broken through the old asphalt. As no one occupied this area except perhaps the night hunters, I felt reasonably certain I wouldn’t be seen by anyone.

  A few miles from the wharves, I discovered exactly what we needed. Ah, ha. A small inlet that seemed deep enough to float an old fishing vessel, and a boat ramp leading down to it. However, how would we get the weapons off the boat and onto the land? I shrugged. “Why not just land the damn thing onto the ramp? If it sinks later, who cares.”

  Memorizing where the boat ramp was in relation to the nearby streets, I loped out of the rundown area and back toward downtown. The sun would set within the hour, and I certainly didn’t need to be caught out after dark by the packs of roaming night hunters. Putting on more speed, I dashed through the streets that quickly emptied of traffic and occupants.

  I reached the alley behind the market before dark fell and shifted forms, breathing hard. Going inside, I found Tony and Albert setting up three cots in the storeroom. “Is this where you’ve been sleeping?” I asked.

  “Yeah,” Tony replied. “Derek thinks this is the safest for us, but it gets really boring.”

  “There’s nothing to do except play cards,” Albert added. “Can we have soda and candy tonight, Logan?”

  “If it’s all right with your sister,” I replied. “I’ll deduct the cost from your wages.”

  “You haven’t paid us yet,” Tony complained.

  I grinned over my shoulder at him as I went into the front. Kiana was there, and for a moment, I didn’t recognize her. She wore ragged jeans and a shirt three times too big for her small frame. Dirt and grease smeared her face, and her silky black hair was now ratty and unkempt. But her smile for me was all I needed.

  Taking her in my arms, I kissed her, then wrinkled my nose. “Uh, you stink.”

  “Keeps the unwanteds from getting too close,” she replied. “There are too many of those around.”

  Derek walked back from locking the door and switching off the lights. “I put the word out for a seafaring fella to come by,” he said. “Meanwhile, Kiana has found a dozen potential fighters, and the word is spreading.”

  “They’re keeping it quiet?” I asked her, wondering if I should point her in the direction of a washtub before continuing the conversation.

  “Yeah,” she answered. “Before too long, we’ll need to organize them.”

  “Maybe not,” I said, keeping my distance, and noticed Derek did the same. “With Ramsey creating a structured attack from all around town, we can start seizing the enforcers and get them off the street.”

  “So as they shake down citizens,” Derek added, “our people with guns are waiting for them?”

  “Right. Once we get our storm, we can fetch the boat and the guns, then distribute them.”

  Kiana finally set her hands on her hips and glared at the two of us. “Do I stink that bad?”

  “Yeah,” we answered at the same time.

  Grumbling under her breath, she strode into the washroom at the back and slammed the door closed.

  “I found an inlet that we can drive the boat to,” I told him. “It has an old boat ramp. We’ll have to load the guns from it and into a truck, then drive it here.”

  Derek nodded. “It’ll be easier to distribute from here under the cover of night. Then get our guys into positions in the shops.”

  “Now we have to hope we get a damn storm,” I said. “We can’t afford to take weeks for this. I’m already painting a target on my back with the enforcers.”

  “If we don’t get one in a couple of days,” Derek said, “we’ll sneak the boat out under the cover of night.”

  “The guards will hear the engine start.”

  “We create a distraction, get the boat out,” Derek explained. “Come morning, they’ll see its gone and believe that some folks escaped the city on it.”

  “Who’s gonna chase them across the sea?” I replied with a laugh.

  Kiana returned with her clothes changed, washed, and was busy brushing out her hair as she emerged from the rear. “Better?” she asked, her tone caustic.

  I kissed her. “Much.”

  “The three of them are safe enough here,” Derek said with a glance out the window into the near darkness. “I’m headed home now. You should probably get back to your ivory tower before you’re missed.”

  “I will,” I told him. “Be careful.”

  He waved his hand over his head as he vanished into the back and out the rear door. I took Kiana’s hand and wondered how I could sneak her out from under the noses of her brothers. She must have had the same idea, for she said, “We may not have many opportunities for a while. There’s an empty house a block over.”

  I glanced toward the storeroom. “Do we dare leave them alone?”

  “We won’t be very long,” Kiana replied with a seductive smile. “Give them candy and soda and they won’t notice we’re not here.”

  Taking cold cans and candy bars into the back, I handed them each their bribes. “We’ll be back in a few minutes,” I told them.

  Overjoyed at the gifts, Tony and Albert sat on their cots and opened the candy eagerly. “You’re gonna go have sex,” Tony commented, then took a bite.

  “Bump uglies,” Albert added, choking on his laughter.

  I scowled, but neither of them was much impressed. “Remember what I said about privacy,” I snapped.

  “We’re in private,” Tony protested. “You’re gonna have sex in private. What’s the deal?”

  Kiana took my hand. “There’s no point in debating with them.”

  Leaving them to chuckle and laugh, I locked the door with the boys inside, then held Kiana’s hand again. Keeping to the shadows, we slipped down the alleys to the house Kiana spoke of, seeing nothing moving. No roaming hunters, no enforcers. The hot, humid air lay still and quiet over us, without the breeze that usually wafted in over the ocean.

  We said nothing until we entered the small abandoned house, and then Kiana murmured, “It almost feels as though a storm is coming.”

  I took her in my arms. “Hope so.”

  Kissing her, I felt my arousal rise as my shaft filled my jeans. Kiana’s hands roamed under my shirt, her breasts against my chest. I cupped her ass in both my hands, kneading it, my throbbing crotch pressed to her belly. Our tongues tangled and danced, Kiana grinding her pelvis against me.

  “We have to be quick,” she whispered, her voice husky.

  I opened the front of my jeans and exposed my pulsing shaft as Kiana pulled her jeans off. I followed her to an old couch that scented of dust and cats, and my heart beat faster as she bent over it and exposed her wet hole to me.

  “My, my, my,” I breathed, pressing the head of my member to the entrance to her tunnel.

  I gripped her shoulders and plunged my shaft in to the hilt. Kiana moaned in lust, hissing her breath through her teeth. I withdrew to drive back in as she thrashed under me. My hands held her in place as I picked up my rhythm and pounded her from the rear.

  “Yes,” Kiana groaned, her hair hanging down over her face. “Hard, give it to me hard. Yeah, that’s it.”

  I sawed in and out of her, my breath coming in short, hard gasps. I grunted with each stroke, her juices lubricating my rod to allow me to glide easily and without friction. Kiana’s moans grew louder, pushing her body back against mine. The sensations increased into a pounding tempo as the pleasure built up. My legs trembled as heat spread from my belly and balls, my climax approaching fast.

  My head was thrown back to enjoy the feel of her tight pussy around my shaft, but also to try to hold
off an explosion too soon. I wanted Kiana to climax before I did. A long shuddering moan escaped her lips, but I knew she hadn’t orgasmed yet.

  Reaching my hand between the couch and her mound, I teased and tormented her slick button even as I pounded her tunnel. Kiana gave a sharp cry, then her body trembled and shook under mine, then grew tense. Her pussy quivered under the force of her orgasm, and her quake triggered mine.

  I plunged in deep, my blast shooting straight from my balls and into her, gasping and groaning under my explosive orgasm. The sensations rolled over me like a wave, and I drove in and out of her still, keeping the pleasure going for as long as possible.

  Flaccid, I rested for a moment to catch my breath, then pulled from her. Kiana straightened, then turned to wrap her arms around my waist and lay her head against my chest. “You know how to satisfy me,” she murmured.

  Lifting her face to mine, I kissed her. “Come on.”

  I stuffed myself back into my jeans as she pulled hers back on, then hand in hand, we left the house. Maintaining caution, we perceived no threats while we made our way quickly back to the alley behind the market. The battered truck still sat there, dark and silent, waiting for me to drive it back to the penthouse.

  Tony and Albert paid us little attention as we entered through the rear door, engrossed in a game of cards. Their soda cans sat on the floor beside their cots, and candy wrappers lay strewn next to them. I paced out into the darkened store, found nothing amiss, and no one on the street or sidewalk out front.

  I went back in and kissed Kiana. “Get some decent food into them,” I murmured. “You, too.”

  She grinned slyly. “Good sex always makes me hungry.”

  With a wink, I let myself out into the alley and locked the door behind me. Striding to each of the streets the alley ran between, I saw and heard nothing amiss. Returning to the truck, I got in behind the wheel and started it up. Without headlights, I droved out of the alley and tried to focus both on driving and keeping a sharp eye out for trouble.

  Alternating between the brake and the gas was awkward, but I started to get the hang of it as I drove toward the beach. Having no other traffic on the roads helped, as I didn’t have to worry much about crashing into someone else.

  I relaxed, enjoying the act of driving, cruising slowly past closed shops and shuttered homes. Thus, I was doubly startled when the truck’s cab caved in under a terrible weight and windshield exploded outward. I instinctively tried to hit the brake but stepped on the accelerator instead.

  The truck leaped forward. Out of control, seeing only the huge body of a lion on the hood, I slammed into the brick side of a building.

  Chapter Nine

  My nose broke on the steering wheel, plain exploding through my skull. I heard the lion yowl, and the growls and snarls of others behind me. My brain fuzzy, I thought they were in the truck’s bed, and knew I was in trouble. Out. Get out. Catching the door handle, I lifted it, but the door wouldn’t open.

  Gritting my teeth, I slammed my shoulder against it, and the door opened, spilling me out onto the pavement. The pack, fortunately for me, was still getting their shit together after the very abrupt halt. I staggered to my feet, seeing another lion trying to get his paws under him in the truck’s bed, while another, obviously shaken from the crash, leaped awkwardly out to land near me.

  The lion who had bashed in the cab had been smashed into the brick wall upon impact, also slowly regained his footing, blood seeping from a large cut between his ears. He saw me and bared his fangs. Limping, he stalked toward me, his head low.

  Shifting into my four-legged self, I knew I couldn’t outrun them. Three against one is not great odds. The third lion jumped down from the truck even as the others shook the confusion from their brains, and approached me from the side. I backed away, hardly able to take my eyes from them as I searched for something, anything, that might save my life.

  “I ain’t never fucked a lion before,” chuckled the nearest.

  “Stay still, sweetmeat,” chimed in another, “and we’ll make it easy on ya.”

  I continued to back away as two flanked me and one stalked me from the front. I hoped I could put my back against a wall where they couldn’t get around behind me. I’ll take at least one of them with me. I saw their bodies tense and knew they were about to charge.

  “Fuck my dead body,” I roared and lunged forward.

  Striking fast and hard, I slashed at the front lion’s face and eyes with my claws, seeking to blind him and take him from the fight. Even as I snapped my jaws down on his face, the others slammed into me from both sides, ripping, tearing my hide. I felt little pain under my adrenaline rush, but distantly knew I couldn’t last long against three of them.

  I sank my claws and teeth into the lion, shredding gouges in his head and ears, my fangs chewing down on his muzzle as he screamed, and fought to escape me. Suddenly, the others were torn from my flanks, and horrible snarls filled the night. I had no idea who or what they fought, but by the sounds, they fought something.

  The lion in my grasp succeeded in leaping away from me. I cast a lightning look at the others and discovered both of them in a desperate struggle to survive two more lions who definitely sported a greater weight advantage over them. From the fast glance, it appeared the night hunters weren’t going to last very long.

  My foe also saw what was happening through the blood over his face and turned to run. “Oh, no you don’t,” I snarled, and caught him before he got three strides.

  He went down with my heavier body on his shoulders, smashing him to the pavement. My rear claws held me in place while he struggled to throw me off. I couldn’t get past his protective mane with my fangs, so I crunched down on his skull. My jaws almost weren’t strong enough, but my rage added just enough power that his bones split apart.

  The lion sank under me, dead, his body relaxing as his life left him. I leaped off of him, ready for another attack if it came. The two big beasts had killed their targets and also stepped aside from the bloody corpses of those they had killed. As one, they licked the gore from their lips and stared at me.

  “You’re Logan,” said the one on my right.

  “What of it?” I snapped, keeping my eyes on both. “Who the hell are you guys?”

  “We’ve been looking for you.”

  I suddenly remembered the shifters in the market asking Derek where I was. “What do you want?” I demanded. “I may not survive both of you, but one of you will die with me.”

  “We’re not here to kill you,” the lion stated, then shifted into his human self.

  The other followed suit. “See? We need to talk with you.”

  “Who the hell are you?”

  The one with the short blond hair and blue eyes pointed to his chest. “I’m Caesar, and this is my partner, Gray. Believe me; we don’t want you dead.”

  Gray’s hair and eyes were the same color as his name, and more oddly, they both had the same small lightning fork tattoos on their left cheeks. Both had rugged, seasoned appearances and were much older than I was. Uncertain about them, I stayed in my lion body but sat down. With my stillness came the excruciating pain that emerged with the loss of the adrenaline that kept the agony at bay.

  “Why should I trust you?”

  Caesar smiled tightly. “After we just saved your ass, you—”

  “Easy, dude,” Gray said, his hand held out toward his friend. “Remember why we’re here. Nobody can trust anybody in a shithole like this.”

  “So, why are you boys here?” I asked.

  “To keep you alive,” Caesar said, his tone matter of fact. “We have a car. You looked pretty beat up, so will you come with us?”

  I hesitated. Two experienced lions here to keep me alive? Outside of it being the weirdest thing I’d ever heard, I was hurting too bad to keep arguing. “We’ll have to go to my place.”

  Gray stepped toward me as I shifted into my human self. The pain grew progressively worse, and I watched as he studied my f
ace closely. “Busted nose?” he asked, his voice kind.

  “Yeah. When the truck crashed.”

  Caesar took my arm, examining my other wounds, and it was a wonder all in itself that I let him. “The car’s back this way,” he said, jerking his chin down the road in the direction I had come from.

  “You were following me?” I asked as I limped forward between them.

  “Yep. Finally tracked you down, but your friend at the store wouldn’t tell us where you were.”

  The car was a small sedan, and Gray opened the rear door to allow me inside. He got in beside me as Caesar slid in behind the wheel and started the engine. “You know where I live?” I asked, leaning my head back against the seat.

  “Nope.”

  Thus I gave him the directions to the penthouse on the beach, and within twenty minutes, we pulled up in front of the main doors. The guards pointed their weapons at the car and ordered us to get out, surrounding the vehicle. Caesar half turned over in the seat, a snarl on his face. Gray appeared both furious and ready to charge the lot of them once he got out of the perceived death trap.

  “What the hell is this?” he snarled.

  “Home, be it ever so humble.”

  I got stiffly out of the car, and the guards instantly recognized me, lowering their guns. “Sir,” said one of them. “We thought you were inside. Are you all right?”

  I tried a smile. “Not really. Send that healer fellow up, will you? And enough food for the three of us. Where’s Ramsey?”

  “I believe he is in his apartment, sir. Shall I send him up, too?”

  “Not yet.”

  I limped toward the doors, Caesar and Gray following me, then I half turned back. “Oh, and these are friends of mine. They are permitted to come and go at any hour.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  The guards in the foyer snapped to their feet as I walked, battered and bloody, across the polished floor toward them. “Sir, we thought—”