Tainted Souls: A Shadow Creek Novel

by J. C RIMELL

  The hairs on her nape suddenly bristled with familiarity.

  “Hello, Maria.”

  It was the sound of his voice that caused the final fracture, sending those frozen pieces of her heart falling to the ground and scattering shards far and wide. She should have known he would come. The pull of gravity to him was undeniable, even after all these years. Despite hating him for everything that had happened, Christopher was still the one.

  Memories so sharp and clear splintered her mind, taking her back to when they were young, reckless, and completely in love.

  Maria didn't want to look at him. After all this time, she'd convinced herself she'd wanted him dead. She wanted to be free from his bond. Free from the past. From losing her only son and grandchild. Maria found her eyes drifting upward, unable to stop the need, the desire to see his face. Her breath staggered to a halt as her gaze travelled over the white shirt covering a body still hard and well built with muscle. His chiseled jawline bore a five o' clock shadow. It was when her eyes found his full lips that her heart finally began to beat again.

  Then their eyes locked.

  “They said you wouldn't come,” she whispered, her gaze unwavering.

  Christopher took a step forward, the hardness in his eyes softening. “I said I wouldn't. But I think we have a few things to talk about, don't we, Maria?”

  Christopher walked to the place he first lay with Maria many years ago and waited for her. The moon shone a milky glow onto the warm earth, soft and spongy with moss, secluded by thick evergreens and a small rivulet that ran alongside them. His keen sense of smell picked up wild mountain forget-me-nots, their scent always more fragrant in the evening.

  He heard the soft padding of her feet over the ground behind him. Turning around, he watched her edge closer toward him. What he was about to do wasn't easy. It went against every fiber of his being. Made his blood turn cold in his veins. But he saw no other way.

  “I haven't been back to this place since we left,” she said, her wide eyes as she came level with him. “It's still as beautiful as it was when we were young.”

  “You're still as beautiful as you were when you were young, Maria.” Her dark hair glistened beneath the moon and the light danced in her ebony eyes as she looked at him.

  “I'm not the same person I was back then.”

  “Neither of us are.”

  The trickle of the water close by filled his ears. His pulse quickened as his wolf rose to the surface. Everything in him wanted her, despite everything, despite the years spent apart. But he refused to let the feelings overthrow what he was here to do.

  “What you did, with Alex, against the Society… against me, was wrong.”

  Her eyes narrowed skeptically. “I hated you for pushing our son away, for keeping my only grandchild a secret from me,” she snapped. “You let me believe Cade was dead.”

  Christopher sighed with the heavy weight of guilt. “Yes. I did what I thought was right. It was selfish and unforgivable.”

  Maria took a step back, her expression confused. “Why am I here, Christopher? Is it because you want my forgiveness?”

  He shook his head. “I'd never ask you for that. But I need you to do two things.”

  Folding her arms defensively across her chest, her eyes turned wary. “What are they?”

  “The Society expects you to pay for your part in the crimes which Alex carried out, I have suggested six months community service, here in Silver Skies.”

  Her body relaxed, and she started to laugh, the sound a song to his ears. “That's hardly punishment.”

  His smile held a sarcastic edge. “You may not feel that way after cleaning the communal bathrooms for six months.”

  “And the second?”

  Reaching into his trouser pocket, Christopher pulled out a hunting knife. “I have everything in place, a letter and a will, both signed by me and witnessed,” he paused and stepped toward her. “End your suffering, Maria. Sever our bond and regain your freedom.”

  “What?”

  “Nothing will happen to you. Cade will take my place as Overseer, he's ready.”

  Maria stumbled backward, shaking her head in disbelief. “You're asking me to end your life?”

  “Isn't that what you've wanted all this time? I cannot live this way any longer. The need. The constant yearning for you. For my mate. Don't you feel it, Maria? Don't you still feel that burning desire? The hunger night after night, day after day?”

  Grabbing her hand, he thrust the hilt into her palm. “Do it!” he demanded with a wild rage. “Do it, now!”

  Maria's fingers curled around the handle, her panicked eyes darting from the blade back up to him. “No! No… this isn't right. You can't ask me to do this! It's cowardly!” she cried at him. “I won't!” Dropping the knife, she shifted into her wolf and fled from him.

  A wild snarl ripped from his throat as he shifted and pursued her. Maria was fast, but he was a streak of lightning on her heels. He allowed her to run into a clearing deep in the forest, close to the base of a mountain just north of Silver Skies. There, he lunged forward and took her to the ground, pinning her beneath the weight of his heavy paws. She growled and bared her fangs, snapping at him like a rabid thing.

  He shifted atop of her, keeping her paws locked in his solid grip. “Do it!” he goaded, lowering his head, he offered her his jugular. “Go on! Rip my damn head off!” he yelled, his voice still wild with the sound of his wolf. “Put us both out of our misery!”

  Maria squirmed frantically and her shift back to human form was quick. Her fangs sank deep into his neck before he could react. Her naked body pressed up tight against his groin. The fragrance of her scent, the feel of her drawing his blood into her body made his own respond in long, forgotten ways.

  “Maria?”

  She rocked against the hard length of him, wet and ready. Holding his weight steady above her, he nudged her legs further apart with his knee, breaking the contact, her lips stained with his blood, she whispered his name.

  His eyes flamed hot like two beacons down onto her face as he entered her in one powerful thrust. Her head fell back exposing the column of her slender throat and he took it. The sexual desire a volcano in his veins as he pulled his body back and thrust into her a second time. Sinking his teeth into the juncture between her neck and shoulder, Christopher shook as the sweet nectar of her blood hit his tongue and reignited his lust. He couldn't be gentle. He couldn't be anything except the wild animal that lived within. And if this was nothing but sex, just one last time, he would take it and the memory with him.

  Aden heard the familiar thuds of paws over ground and undergrowth, and they were not his own. But there were many wild animals out here in this beautiful wilderness. The rugged landscape reminded him of his homeland. He and his comrades had continued their journey, barely stopping, only to eat and drink.

  Just north of the colony, was a perfect location where the grass rooftops and the timber-framed buildings could just be seen. His supernatural sight had distinguished the subtle difference in the surroundings in the distance when he'd climbed higher up the rocky mountain face.

  Everything was in place. It hadn't been easy getting the explosives close enough to cause an impact. But his young soldiers had managed it by camouflage and the cover of darkness. The other's would be set as soon as the chaos commenced.

  While his pack slept, he edged toward the noise. Keeping low, he crawled close to a sparse area where the trees were more thinly spread. His keen eyes spotted two naked bodies, and he heard a human voice. Hankering down, he crept a little closer until he had a clear view of the two of them.

  Her sexual moans made him hard. Watching the intimate act of the two lovers was mesmerizing. Their bodies a milky hue of pale blue beneath the moon and midnight sky. Moving a little closer, his boots silent as he stepped carefully over the moss-covered earth, he stared at the lovers.

  Something about the male seemed familiar. Just at that moment, Aden looked closely a
s the male threw back his head with a roar that sent resting birds fleeing their perches above.

  I know you, Aden thought. With a cunning smirk, he slid back into the darkness and to his sleeping pack of rogues.

  She trembled beneath his weight as he collapsed onto her. Their bodies both slick with sweat and chests heaving with exertion. After several heartbeats, Christopher rolled over and as they lay in silence, he felt every intricate thread of their bond begin to fuse. The web of thoughts, feelings and emotions that had been torn and severed by years of separation were being rekindled. Stitched back together.

  Maria sat up sharply startling his thoughts. “Did you hear that?”

  Christopher sat bolt upright and got to his feet swiftly. “Yes,” he replied taking her hand and pulling her to her feet. “Come on.” Turning to run, he quickly saw they were surrounded. The men were young, well built and the dark desire to kill burned in their eyes. Although they each appeared to be humans dressed in military clothes, Christopher knew damn well they were shifters.

  He scanned the circle of males and moved Maria behind him. Christopher knew he could take on many by himself and Maria was able to handle herself, Otto had trained her well.

  Who are they? Maria's voice filtered through his mind.

  Rogues, he responded sharply. When I tell you to shift and run, you do it.

  What do they want, Christopher?

  If I have to guess… it's me.

  I won't leave you.

  It's not up for discussion, Maria. I can't fight if I have to worry about your safety, too. Now when I tell you to run, you do it.

  He stretched his mind, sent out a warning message to Cade and to Theron. His body shook with the imminent promise of his shift. He didn't risk taking his eyes away from the threat to look at her, but he sent Maria all of his love through their renewed mating bond.

  Now, run, Maria! Run to Cade and the others, they'll be ready.

  Christopher felt her reluctance and then with a fleeting squeeze on his arm, she fled. He surged forward, shifting into the oncoming wave of soldiers. Fury roiled off him like a rip tide taking two young rogues with it. His bite of one of their thighs tore the limb clean from his body. He tossed it aside and attacked the other who was in mid-shift, catching the thickly set wolf by throat as the change happened. His fangs sunk deep into the fur and flesh, cutting off the wolf's roar as he pinned it to the floor. Sinking his teeth in deeper, he twisted with such force the bones snapped and the head hung loose.

  A sudden blow to his flank had his head snapping round to see a hunting knife lodged into his flesh. He didn't feel the pain with all the adrenaline saturating his veins. Launching himself at the soldier, he aimed his powerful jaw at the rogues jugular.

  No!

  The white hot, searing pain he felt at his chest and again at his own throat didn't register until he heard Theron's cry in the distance. The forest began to spin around him. His vision blurred as his breathing became labored. His lungs failed to inflate and filled with fluid. Christopher's legs buckled, and he crashed to the ground.

  Sounds became far away. Further still as the human part of him receded into the deepest part of his wolf.

  His heartbeat slowed and each gasp for air was an agonizing torture as it failed to help him. Drowning in his own blood with the taste of Maria on his tongue and her memory disappearing into a void, he had no choice but to follow her beautiful image as he took his final breath.

  Thirty-Two

  When Maria reached the colony, they were ready with soldiers protecting every inch of the property. She shifted and entered through the gate where Kit covered her with a blanket.

  “Are my parents safe?” she asked as they walked toward the main building.

  Having quickly joined them, Cade nodded. “Yes. They're waiting for you.”

  A sharp pain struck her sternum, the intrusion like a physical blow, so severe Maria fell to her knees and gasped for air.

  “Maria?”

  She heard her grandson's voice as his strong hands lift her into his arms.

  “No!” she cried. “No!”

  “Is it the Overseer? We can't locate him.” Cade asked with an urgency to his demand as he carried her into the building and placed her onto a sofa. “My connection to him… it's...”

  The warm feeling that had flooded her veins only moments ago during her lovemaking to Christopher, seemed to ebb from her body. The intricate threads of their rekindled bond unraveling, snapping, withering, and leaving her cold. She tried to grip on to them with her mind. Tried to hold it together, but each delicate strand slipped out of her grasp.

  It was too late.

  Fisting Cade's T-shirt, she breathed in another ragged breath, the air a freezing chill over her heart. Eyes swimming with tears, Maria lifted her gaze to look at him...

  “I've lost him, too,” she sobbed. “He's… gone.”

  The small group of rogues dispersed in every direction as Theron ran forward in a fierce rage, wielding an axe like a crazed viking warrior.

  Once he was sure it was clear, he calmed his inner-wolf and lowered onto a knee before his fallen friend.

  “Ah, sweet Jesus,” he cursed after checking Christopher's pulse. The injuries were too severe, even for one as powerful as the Overseer. His heart gave a painful squeeze at the loss of his friend, his brother. His throat was thick with pain for the hurt the whole shifting community was going to feel.

  Theron's sensitive hearing picked up the sound of someone approaching. Holding his axe in a death grip, he bent at the knees, ready for whoever it was. Two wolves emerged from his left and stopped. He narrowed his gaze in suspicion, studied them as they studied him. They were not wild wolves, nor were they with the rogues that had just fled. But after a few moments hesitation, he recognized them. Lowering his ax, he straightened back up.

  “Gunner?”

  The two wolves shifted, lighting up the darkness with the miasma of colors.

  “It's good to see you, Theron,” Gunner said, gripping his shoulder.

  Theron nodded. “And you, both.” He wanted to hug the men who he'd known since they were youngsters, but now was not the time, nor the place. Their eyes filled with sorrow as they looked down upon the Overseer. But he could not allow them to grieve, not yet.

  “The rogues have gone off toward the colony, you need to be swift.”

  The two soldiers understood the order, without further delay they shifted and disappeared.

  Sliding his ax into his belt, he hauled Christopher's naked, bloody body onto his shoulders. “I got you now, brother,” he whispered into the waning night.

  “This must be the end for the Society.”

  Wheeling around, Theron saw a tall, blonde-haired male standing a few feet away. “Who are you?” he snarled.

  The male took a step forward, wiping the blood clean from a hunting blade on his combat trousers. “Who I am is not important.”

  With careful consideration, Theron lowered Christopher's body back down to the ground. Straightening back up, he gripped his ax. “I disagree. You killed the Overseer, there's no getting away from the consequences of that. You'll go into our history books as the one who slew him. I'd like to know your name, so when I kill you, your death by my ax can go alongside it.”

  The male laughed. “Don't be so sure of yourself old man, take another look at your dead friend.”

  Theron shrugged. “Fine. You'll be known as the Russian Bastard, then.” His eyes glowed as his fangs sliced through his gums. “Have you ever felt the cold, sharp steel of an ax enter your flesh?” The words were glacial and his look calculated as Theron edged closer. “I sharpen the blade daily.”

  “I understand,” the male said in his Russian accent. “My father gave me this knife,” he lifted it up and inspected the blade.

  Their eyes suddenly locked and Theron charged toward him, their bodies colliding in mid-air. Theron's ax hit knee-bone as he swiped it low and rolled aside, sending the male down to the ground.
Jumping to his feet, Theron prepared to attack again. The male staggered to a stand and lunged at Theron, jabbing the knife deep into Theron's side.

  They wrestled each other back to the ground, rolling over and over. Theron grabbed on to the hand wielding the knife above his face while trying to reach the ax just out of his reach.

  “Are you ready to die like your friend, old man?”

  Theron's laugh was dark and menacing as the tip of the blade pierced his cheek and sliced his skin open to the bone. His fingers searched for the wooden handle of his ax. “I'm ready to die if that is my fate… Are you?”

  Finally teasing his weapon toward him with the tips of his fingers, Theron gripped his ax. Swinging it upward in an arc it lodged straight into the side of the male's head. Blood sprayed Theron's face as the male's body slumped on top of him.

  “Didn't think so,” he muttered pulling himself free from the dead weight. Rolling the body over, he dislodged his ax, and with another powerful swing, Theron cut the male's head clean off and spat at it. “There is no coming back from that, you Russian bastard.”

  Replacing his bloodied ax, he went back to the Overseer. Standing over his friend's body, he howled as the pain and the sorrow flooded his heart. The sound was a haunting cry that echoed into the quiet, alerting the wild wolves that roamed the wilderness freely. Theron knew they would come and figured they could use all the help they could get. Lifting Christopher's body back up and onto his shoulders, he headed back to the colony.

  An explosion shook the earth and lit up the sky ahead in a cloud of burnt orange and sienna. Plumes of smoke rose into the air above the tree-line. Theron moved swiftly, his body agile and his feet lithe over the forest ground. Panic hit his chest as blood pumped faster through his veins. With his heart racing, he neared the perimeter to see the devastation.

  The sound of the warning bell rang out loud in his ears along with the screams.

  Sending a mental message to Oben, he waited in the thickness of the trees until his son appeared at the gate. Theron darted forward as Oben drew it open and quickly slid inside just as another bomb exploded.