by Lib Starling
.2.
J ack pulled the stock pot off the burner and stirred it a few times. Steam lifted from the pot, carrying the mingled scents of seven different canned soups and stews. It was a bizarre miasma—chicken noodle and minestrone and some sort of spicy chili concoction. True to the nature of college-aged bachelors, the assortment of soup was the most nutritious meal any of the Alpha House brothers could think to serve up on short notice. And with none of the brothers venturing into town except for emergency situations, not even a box full of pizza crusts could be had within the walls of the frat.
But as strange as the supper was, it smelled like heaven to Chase. His mouth watered over the rich aromas as Jack dumped the contents of the stock pot into a mixing bowl. Then he carried the bowl into the living room, set it on the ground before the gray wolf, and stepped back.
“It’s the best I could do,” Jack said apologetically.
Chase dug in gratefully, lapping up the surprisingly meaty broth and downing the chunks of chicken, pasta, potato, and jalapeno-laced beef with relish. After three days of crunching on scrawny voles, the hodgepodge of stew tasted better than ambrosia.
Jack undressed in a few nervous, jerky movements. He tossed his clothing over the back of an arm chair, then carefully removed his stay and laid it inside one of his shoes. Then, with a thump that sounded deep inside Chase’s chest, Jack shifted, and stood on his four slender, wheat-colored paws, shaking the grizzled black-and-tan fur of his coyote’s pelt.
Now all the brothers were shifted. Noting that Chase could communicate with them best if they were all in their animal forms, Alexander had ordered all of Alpha House to shift—no, not ordered, Chase thought as he worked steadily at his bowl of soup. Requested. Very politely, in fact.
Alexander’s wolf reclined calmly on the floor across from Chase, but his blue eyes were as intense and piercing as ever. Chase was glad to see it. He’d worried that his defeat of Alexander had broken the man entirely, but it seemed he was essentially the same, only somewhat tempered. A change for the better, even if it left Alpha House in a rather precarious position.
Chase finished off his stew and licked the mixing bowl clean. His gaze drifted up from the empty bowl to meet Alexander’s patient stare.
Tell us, the white wolf prompted. But it sounded like a suggestion, not a demand.
Chase looked around the room. Jack’s coyote had settled on his haunches near the fireplace. Somebody had slid up the sash of one of the living-room windows, and the sleek, coffee-brown head of Darien’s elk peered in from the yard. The rest of his brothers were ranged around the living room or lay on the sofas and chairs—wolves and dogs, cougars, hawks, the jackrabbit twitching his ears nervously at every creak of the floorboards, the weasel licking his paws nonchalantly, as if whatever dire information Chase was about to spill was of no concern to him.
The gray wolf took a deep, steadying breath.
Three days ago, I was force-shifted, he said, sending out his thoughts to all of his brothers at once. And now I’m stuck in my totemic form.
The room seethed with animal distress. Ears and tails twitched; paws and feathers shuffled in sudden, acute discomfort. The voices of his brothers crowded into Chase’s mind, all of them clamoring at once.
But Chase is one of the best shifters…!
How can this be?
Who’s responsible for this?
That witch—it must be the witch!
If she could trap Chase in his wolf-form, then any of us might be next.
We have to find her!
Yes! Find the witch and bring her to justice!
Alexander’s wolf rose to his snowy paws. All right! Enough! Everyone calm down.
Chase was heartened to see that the brothers settled, albeit more slowly than they would have before the fight—before Alexander’s defeat. It was plain that Alexander still had control of the frat, though just barely.
We won’t get anywhere by all talking at once, Alexander said. He turned toward Chase. Are you sure it was Scarlett who did this to you?
I can’t be sure of anything, Chase admitted. But she was here the night my stay was stolen, and if anybody had the motivation to take it, Scarlett did. Now, we know Scarlett doesn’t need a man’s stay in order to force-shift him. Too many of us learned the truth of that. But trapping me in my wolf…? That has to take an enormous amount of power—maybe the kind of power you can only get by controlling somebody’s stay. It disgusts me even to think these words, but…Scarlett has my stay. She might be the only one who has the ability to do this to me.
Alexander nodded his long, white head. It’s rational. I think it’s safe to assume that Scarlett is definitely to blame. So now the question is…what do we do?
Once more, Chase looked around the room. The bright, animal eyes of his brothers stared back at him, all of them eager, determined…but none of them certain.
I’d hoped somebody here would know how to reverse this, Chase said miserably. But it seems nobody does.
Jack spoke up. The professors—somebody at Blackmeade has to know what to do.
Chase and Alexander shared an uneasy glance.
Alexander said slowly, If the professors find out we had a witch at a frat party…
You didn’t know she was a witch, Chase said.
That excuse won’t hold up in a Blackmeade tribunal. You know it won’t. A fraternity’s alpha is expected to take full responsibility for what goes on in his House. Full responsibility, no exceptions.
Then that settles it, Chase said stoutly. We won’t tell them. This wasn’t your fault, Alexander, and none of us will let you throw away your schooling, your entire reputation—your future career—because Scarlett managed to fool you.
Alexander sat back on his haunches. His pale blue eyes held Chase’s golden stare for a long, silent moment. Then he said calmly, I’m prepared to take full responsibility—to face any consequence. If it breaks the witch’s hold on you, Chase, and returns your powers to your own control…well, then nothing else matters to me.
The gray wolf felt his throat go tight with gratitude. Could this be the same impulsive, hair-trigger alpha who had once ruled the frat like a master? The same man who had stolen away Katrina, then made his move on Roxy, too? It seemed impossible to believe that Alexander had learned to let go of his selfish, aggressive impulses and be a more generous man, yet here was the proof: Alexander was willing to place his future on the line in order to help one of his brothers. Chase had once bridled at Alexander’s stifling rule, seeing him as more enemy than alpha. Now he could almost think of Alexander as a friend.
Whatever bad blood had once existed between them, Chase couldn’t let Alexander throw away his reputation and career for his sake. Not this new, more sensible Alexander, at any rate. He looked at each brother in turn, holding their feral gazes. I won’t let you take the fall, Alexander. Who else is on my side?
One by one, each shifter rose to his feet, indicating support for Chase’s bold assertion. Even Darien’s elk bobbed his head in the window, snorting in agreement.
Then it’s settled, Chase said. We keep this situation between us—we handle it on our own, as a fraternity, without involving the faculty. We protect Alexander.
A few of the brothers growled in acceptance, but Alexander shook his head. That’s noble, and I appreciate it, the white wolf said. But this is a serious situation, Chase. You know what will happen to you if we don’t find a way to shift you back. You’ll succumb to your animal nature; your human side will be lost. What if we can’t find a way to reverse Scarlett’s spell? We have to think of you now, not just me.
I’ve been all right for three days, Chase said. He shrugged, trying to project an air of nonchalance even though his hide crept and tingled with fear.
We don’t know how much longer you can hold out, Darien said from the window. I’m not trying to be a Debbie Downer, but…
Alexander nodded. Darien’s right. We need to have a time limit. If we still haven’t f
ound a way to shift you back by the end of that time, we have to go to the professors. Consequences be damned.
Chase started to protest, but Alexander’s stare sharpened, and he fell silent.
You were willing to put yourself on the line for my sake, Alexander said. Let me do the same for you. It’s the least I can do, and you know it.
Chase sighed. Okay, I’ll agree to your terms if it’ll make you happy. Four more days—that’ll be a full week since I was force-shifted. Seems like enough time to remain in my wolf form.
That settles that, Alexander said. He laid on the floor once more, and the other brothers likewise sank into more comfortable positions. There’s another issue we need to address: Roxy.
The sound of her name, so sudden and unexpected, sent an icy stab of longing and loss deep into Chase’s soul. He barely stopped himself from flinching.
What about Roxy? he asked casually.
She’s been coming here often for shifting lessons, Alexander said. She’s bound to find out you’re here sooner or later.
Chase wanted to challenge him—ask, “Why do you care whether she finds out I’m here?” And there’d been something in the way Alexander had mentioned shifting lessons—a calculated offhandedness that made it clear exactly who was teaching those lessons. Jealousy surged in Chase’s body, stifling his mind before he could throw his challenge in Alexander’s face. The tremor of envy made his four legs tremble even though he was lying on the floor.
Alexander evidently noted the flash of fury in Chase’s eyes. I only meant, the white wolf said, she’s still so new to shifting. It would be a shame if your…condition…frightened her.
I’ll stay in hiding if you like, Chase offered, proud that the voice of his projected thoughts was steady, unshaken by his envy and surprise. It’s probably better if I do, anyway. Don’t want the professors to catch on.
A new thought seized him, washing over his awareness in a wave of heat that made him stare blankly into space, his eyes fixed and wide.
What is it? Alexander asked. Chase?
Roxy… Chase shook his head, trying to clear the vision of the red-headed beauty from his thoughts. I only just realized… He sprang to his feet, hackling with urgency. I have to get away from Alpha House—from Jackson Hole, Chase said frantically.
Whoah, Darien called from the window. Calm down, Chase. We only just got you back. What’s going on?
Chase paced from the fireplace to the door and back again. The eyes of the brothers—dark, intent, and silent—followed him as he moved.
Listen, Chase told them all. Everything that’s happened with Scarlett—the force-shifting, my stay disappearing, the…the conflict between you and me, Alexander…it’s all been because that witch is jealous of Roxy. She wants to be a shifter, too—she wants a shifter for a mate. She envies what Roxy has. She’ll do anything to be Roxy—to take Roxy, I suspect.
Alexander stood and blocked Chase’s restless route. The smell of new, almost desperate tension rose from the white wolf’s body. What are you saying, Chase? Tell me straight.
What if everything she’s done to me is only meant to lure Roxy here? What if I’m bait? What if Scarlett is only setting Roxy up to be in a vulnerable position, so the witch can steal her stay, too, and take control of her totem?
Alexander’s eyes went very still. I see.
Scarlett has been trying to bump Roxy out of the way for a long time now, Chase said, so she’ll be the only woman Alpha House will focus on. Well—now we know that Scarlett has developed the power to trap a shifter in his totemic form. God only knows if I’ll ever be able to return to my human self, even with the professors’ help—or if I’ll vanish entirely into my wolf. What if… He trailed off, unable to finish the thought, his heart twisting and wrenching at the thought of Roxy’s sweet, endearing, beloved soul lost forever.
It was Alexander who finished the dark words for him. What if Roxy’s next?
.3.
T he old Airstream coughed and puffed as it labored up the dirt road, cresting the final rise of the ridge that blocked Blackmeade University from the world’s view. Katrina cursed as the engine knocked, and she cautiously pulled at the Powers to keep the Airstream going.
Here in the open sage lands, with the Grand Tetons towering above her, Earth power was abundant, a vibrant force that permeated everything she saw, everything she felt, grounding her with a comfortable sensation of oneness with the whole. The power of Fire was also evident here, a hot current twisting and coiling beneath the surface of Earth’s more potent presence—the echoes of the volcanic activity that had shaped the landscape.
Katrina took a dab of each Power, reaching for the barest smidges of Earth and Fire. She wove the Powers quickly into a tiny thread. She could see the thread with her mind’s eye, feel its dimensions and quality with the sensitive, fine-tuned spirit-flesh of her soul. Even as she steered to the top of the ridge, she worked the thread of Powers into her engine, using Earth and Fire together to brush away the carbon that clogged the Airstream’s pistons and valves.
She frowned, even though the knocking cleared and the camper’s performance improved. Katrina would rather have done the work mechanically, wrench in hand. It was fun, for one thing—but more importantly now, any use of spells or Powers so close to Blackmeade might out her as a witch—set off the shifters, make them run her out of town before she could help Chase. More to the point, the work that lay ahead of her might tax her use of the Powers. She had never before tried a spell as complex as the one she’d soon attempt—nor did she know what kind of spells had been laid on Chase from afar, what sort of intricate knots she would have to unpick before she could restore him to his human shape. She needed to conserve her strength.
But it wouldn’t help Chase’s situation if her camper broke down before she’d reached Alpha House. It had broken down days ago—just two days after Chase’s gray wolf had run off from the snowy parking lot in Utah—at a tiny, crummy gas station somewhere in the untamed wilds of southwestern Wyoming. Katrina had ordered parts—there was no spell she knew of that could materialize a functional carburetor out of thin air—but even with the fastest possible shipping, it had taken a while for the new parts to arrive.
The down time had given Katrina plenty of time to read the limited spell books she had, searching for a way out of Chase’s difficulty. She’d made notes on every scrap of paper she could find, and tested spells and their rudimentary parts one after another—though all she could find to test them on were moths and ants and sprigs of sage. The Goddess alone knew whether the patchwork of magic she’d dreamed up would have any effect at all on her old friend.
It had now been six days since Chase had run off. Katrina was sure he’d meant to get back to Blackmeade. She just hoped that Chase was truly still somewhere inside that huge gray wolf, and not gone forever.
Katrina braked at the crest of the ridge, caught off-guard by the stately sight of Blackmeade Village, the huge, old houses standing in orderly rows, and beyond, rising like a monolith from the stony earth, the dark walls and spires of the University campus, blue-shadowed beneath the steep sides of the mountain peaks.
She held her breath, eyeing the little self-contained world that lay below. The sight of the place brought back so many memories—some of them good, some of them painful.
She remembered the times she’d shared with Chase, rolling naked in his bed while the music of the legendary Alpha House parties thumped all around them like their own racing hearts. She remembered more tender times with him, too—when they had watched the moon rise together from the sage-covered hills, and he had looked at her with dark eyes that spoke eloquently of his love and trust.
She remembered Alexander, cool and pale, moving across her vision as smooth as starlight on snow—the intensity of his eyes, the way they had captured her heart back then, when it had been quicker, more fickle and wild.
Alexander and Chase—they were like two sides of the same coin, each the opposite of the other,
each complementing the other in ways the two men would never understand. It took a woman to see how alike the wolves really were. She had loved them both—always, even after she’d broken it off with Chase. Having to make that choice had hurt Katrina nearly as deeply as it had hurt Chase.
Wistfully, Katrina thought back on the weeks of happiness she’d just shared with Chase—the surprise of seeing him out in the January night, her delight at his sudden presence, the purity of the freedom they’d experienced as they’d traveled from one town to the next, peddling simple, household magic. The long, quiet nights when she’d lain awake on her fold-out bunk, watching him sleeping from across the Airstream’s narrow aisle, wondering what might have been…
Maybe I love him still, she thought. The dirt roads of Blackmeade Village blurred as she blinked tears from her eyes.
Alexander was down there, too—she was sure of it. And the prospect of seeing him again—his aristocratic air, his penetrating gaze, his gorgeous, perfectly-made body—made Katrina shiver despite the urgency of her errand.
And maybe I still love Alexander.
She took her foot off the brake and let the Airstream coast down the ridge, toward Alpha House.
Don’t be an idiot, she told herself. You’re going into a town full of shifters—an entire village who hates what you are and what you do. She wasn’t a party girl anymore. She had grown beyond that. She was a mature witch, serious and strong. Keep your head on your shoulders and your mind off the boys.
Even if she could help Chase, Katrina knew she might still be in very real danger. Shifters were sometimes as unpredictable as the animals they carried inside. She had to stay on her toes, do her spells, and get out without triggering any feral instincts. The last thing she needed now was thoughts of love—or lust.
She’s coming soon.
The voice in Chase’s mind repeated its whisper. The human words rolled around his skull, sibilant as a wind across open grass. He twitched his ears in irritation; he could barely understand the words anymore, and they were a bother to him.