Shifters, Secrets & Surprises

by Lowe, Anna

  So, no. She wasn’t going to ask again. She slammed a fist on the steering wheel. Why was he so interested in her, of all people?

  Shifter blood, came a whisper from the back of her mind. Powerful shifter blood. It would feed him. Give him power. Give him strength.

  She wanted to cry out that she wasn’t all that powerful. She wasn’t her older sister Lana, the alpha female of Twin Moon pack, which had rapidly developed into the strongest group of shifters in the Southwest. Nala wasn’t one of her older brothers who’d been groomed to lead her Berkshires pack someday. She was the baby of the family. A conservation expert. A nobody.

  Her wolf snorted inside.

  “Come on…” she murmured, flipping the wipers to high as the snow thickened.

  She crested a hill and spotted a church spire ahead. The village was closer. But the vampires were still right on her tail.

  A Ford swung out of a farmer’s driveway on the right, and she darted into the left lane to pass it. She caught a glimpse of a startled older driver and wished she could slow down to explain. Sorry for the rush, but I’m trying to outrun vampires.

  Right. Sure. That would help.

  A truck appeared ahead, coming the other way, and just like that, every instinct in her yelled, Now! Go! Go!

  She accelerated, coaxing everything she could out of the Honda.

  Beeeeeep! Car horns erupted behind her, and she pumped a fist when she saw what had happened. The SUV wanted to overtake the Ford, but the oncoming truck blocked the passing lane, trapping the vampires behind the slower vehicle.

  Go! Go! her wolf howled.

  It wasn’t much of a lead, but she’d take what she could get. She raced around a bend, passing a covered bridge that arched over a rocky stream. Then she sped into the village — a beautiful little New England town strung with Christmas lights, golden bells, and oversized holly.

  It was a perfect, peaceful scene. Too bad she had to ruin it by screeching through a tight turn to shoot down a side street. The outer tires of the car left the pavement, then slammed back down. Her knuckles turned white as she raced around a series of turns.

  She looked in the rearview mirror and exhaled when the ominous SUV failed to appear. She turned right, then left, and came to one of those crooked three-way intersections New England was full of. Which fork led to safety? Which would help her shake off the vampires?

  She pursed her lips as the intersection grew closer. Should she take a hard right and double back on a route parallel to the road she’d driven into town? Should she veer off at ninety degrees to drive toward the woods? Or should she take the left fork through a residential street?

  She shook her head and decided on the woods, but at the last second, something made her throw her whole body — and the car — into a sharp right turn.

  This way, the road seemed to beckon. This way leads to help.

  Which was nuts. Who could possibly help her out here?

  She looked back. Still no SUV, thank God. With any luck, she’d lost it six turns back. Even so, she floored the gas pedal again and raced down the narrow road.

  After a mile or two, her heart rate slowed slightly, and she took a deep breath. She’d shaken off the vampires. Now all she had to do was find a highway and hightail her way south. She reached into the passenger seat, grabbed a map, and glanced down, trying to get her bearings.

  “Shit!” she cried, looking up just in time to steer around the next bend.

  She thought she made it, too, but the back wheels spun out, and the car skidded sideways. The tires jolted and jerked beneath the belly of the car, and she yelped.

  Thump! The Honda thudded into a snowbank, and the cacophony of the crash gave way to utter silence.

  For a long minute, she sat perfectly still, clutching the steering wheel, listening to herself pant.

  You’re okay, she told herself over and over. You’re okay.

  Her hands were shaking when she threw the car back into gear and eased the engine forward, eager to get moving again. But although she was ready — desperately ready — to move, the car was not. The wheels spun, but the car went nowhere.

  “Crap.”

  She stepped out of the car, zipping up her parka and hunching her shoulders against snow that stuck to her hair and eyelashes. God, when had it started coming down this hard?

  “No. No. No.” She shook her head at the sight of the back tire stuck in a deep rut where the asphalt met dirt.

  She pushed and pushed, but it was no use. There was no way she was going to move that car on her own.

  She strained and groaned one more time, then stopped suddenly. Had she heard someone yell to her from the fields? A familiar voice hung in the wind, calling, Hang on.

  She blinked into the swirling snow, but there was no one. No one to help her. Nowhere to go.

  So help yourself, stupid! Her wolf barked her into action again.

  She grabbed her backpack and set off down the road, snugging her hood around her head. The car didn’t matter as much as getting away. She walked quickly, sniffing the air, trying to decide which way to go, and how. If she shifted into wolf form, she could move quickly over fields and woods where the vampires were unlikely to follow. But that would make her easier to track, too, because her scent intensified when she took wolf form.

  She looked over her shoulder, wondering how good a vampire’s sense of smell was. Hlavek certainly seemed to be able to track her, that was for sure.

  Her boots crunched over the fresh snow, and puffs of condensation curled in the air with every hurried breath she took.

  The snow is our ally, her wolf said as she rushed along the road.

  Vampires hated snow. Surely they’d seek out some comfortable shelter and wait for the impending storm to blow itself out before picking up her trail?

  She was just starting to believe in that vague hope when a deep, throbbing hum sounded from behind. She spun just in time to see the black SUV pull up and stop. Her blood froze as the doors popped open and four tall vampires stepped out.

  “Nala,” the tallest said. Hlavek, the one at the driver’s side. “How foolish of you to run.”

  “Hlavek,” she shot back without thinking. “How arrogant of you to follow. Enjoying the snow?”

  Half her mind was in a panic, but the other half was spinning full tilt. She was the daughter of a powerful alpha, and she would not be cowed. Not even by four vampires out for her blood.

  The four were near carbon copies of each other — tall, thin, and pale. They all wore black on black — black shirts, black jackets, black ties — as if they gloried in darkness and death. Even their slicked-back hair was black — a deep, shiny black that gleamed in the rapidly dimming light.

  Hlavek stepped forward, and the others followed suit.

  “I cannot even tell you what an inconvenience this is,” he complained, brushing snow off his sleeve with a grimace. “But in some ways, you’ve done me a favor, leading me all the way out here.”

  She backed away, ready to drop her backpack, shift, and run for her life on four feet.

  “All the way out here,” he repeated. The words were a curse, but his lips curled up in a smile. “Far, far away from Boston and that stupid truce.”

  She swore. Out here, Hlavek could kill her without fear of breaking the truce. Out here, he could do anything he wanted. Like, suck her dry of every last drop of blood.

  His eyes traveled up and down her body, and he licked his lips as if to emphasize the point. Every last drop.

  “Oh, don’t worry,” he said, flapping a hand. “All the ladies take great pleasure in my touch.”

  His twisted smile made her sick. How many victims had he claimed? Had they gone willingly? Did they know they would die?

  He tsked as if he’d read her mind. “Of course, they don’t know. They submit willingly, as you should.” His eyes glowed with bloody memories, and he licked his lips. “And of course, at some point, they realize they will die. That’s the best part. Watching the
glaze of pleasure fade from their eyes, replaced by fear. Fear of my power.” He stood a little taller and smoothed his black hair back. “And then they die.”

  She shivered, picturing it all too well. The desperate struggle to break free. The cold slide of fangs into the flesh of her neck. The flood of panic, the hot gush of blood. The need to scream when no scream would come. Only death. Darkness and death.

  Nala took another step back, struggling to resist the black magic in his mesmerizing voice.

  “My power.” He smiled and nodded as if she’d just agreed to die quietly. “All will fear my power. And with your blood boosting my abilities…just think.”

  His eyes came alive with a dozen ruthless ambitions and ugly plans, and she shook her head.

  Get away. Get away!

  But her feet were frozen to the ground, her voice mute.

  Hlavek stepped forward, extending a hand as if inviting her to a dance. Nala had a horrifying image of him leading her back to his car — and worse, going willingly. She saw herself sitting numbly in the back seat until the vampires got her to a hotel somewhere, stripped her of her clothes, and raped her one by one. A terrifying glimpse of a future that was so close, she could feel it. She could feel Hlavek stroking her skin, murmuring to her what a cooperative girl she’d been. She could see his fangs extend, feel his hot breath on her neck as he swooped in. She winced at the tearing punctures that would sunder her flesh when all four vampires feasted at the same time. She would feel every pint of blood as it was sucked out of her body and hear the vampires groaning in ecstasy.

  “Yes,” Hlavek whispered as if he saw the same thing. “Yes. So it shall be.”

  The four men spread out in a line, stepping closer and closer, utterly confident in themselves. And why not? Nala was frozen. Spellbound by a vampire’s eyes filled with beastly hunger and greed. Unable to drag her gaze away.

  Mine, Hlavek’s eyes crowed. You are mine.

  Run! her wolf screamed.

  Mine.

  The snow crunched quietly under his feet as he approached. Crunch. Crunch. Cru—

  Hlavek stopped in midstep. The others did, too. A moment later, Nala shook herself free of the spell and stumbled backward, wondering why they didn’t follow. Wondering why they were all looking up.

  She took another step back, preparing to whirl and flee, but the second she did, she crashed into a solid wall of…of…

  She looked up, squinting into the snow, wondering why the stone wall she’d run into felt so warm. So comforting. So…furry?

  A deep growl vibrated through the air, equal parts air pressure and sound, the way the thumping bass of a car could reach right into a person’s bones.

  Hands steadied her — huge, oven-mitt-sized hands covered in thick, gray-brown fur.

  “What the…” one of the vampires muttered. The snow crunched again — this time, with the vampires stepping back.

  She blinked, forcing herself to focus on the facial features behind the swirling snow. Which was hard, because the creature that stood before her blended in with the snow. But when she finally locked in on a face, she gasped.

  “Harrison?”

  Any other person might have muttered, Chewbacca or maybe even Sasquatch or Bigfoot as they took in the towering giant. But to her, he was neither giant nor beast. He was a friend.

  “Harrison,” she whispered. Was it really him?

  He had the same soft fur she’d always loved curling her fingers in. The same quiet, gentle lips. The same comforting presence he’d always had when she’d tagged along on her brother’s adventures with his friend. But his shoulders — whoa. Had they always been that broad? And his chest — wow. She remembered an equally tall but much thinner youth than the mass of muscle that stood before her now.

  She looked into the eyes glaring down at the vampires and found the same boundless blue she’d always loved. A blue that softened and sparked when he made brief eye contact with her, then hardened to the cold, uncompromising blue of a soldier when they flipped back to the vampires.

  It was the same old Harrison, yet a totally different one.

  He bared his teeth and growled louder while guiding her to his side. He pushed her behind his back, out of sight of the vampires, and his voice sounded in her mind. Like the rest of him, it was deeper, darker, and more serious than she remembered from before.

  Run, Nala. Run. Get to safety.

  She blinked at the tangled fur before her. He wanted her to go?

  Go! I’ll hold them here.

  She balked. Leave Harrison? Never.

  “Not going anywhere without you,” she said so fiercely, she even surprised herself. She hadn’t seen him in years, yet an urgency to stay at his side rushed through her veins.

  You have to go! he insisted while growling aloud at the vampires. His growl grew deeper, more menacing.

  Hlavek nodded to his friends and tilted his head. Apparently, the vampires were communicating among themselves in a similar way. The question was, would they regroup or run for their lives? Everyone knew sasquatches were the most dangerous shifters alive. The biggest, the strongest, even if it took a hell of a lot to rile up the normally shy and retiring creatures. And Harrison had always been painfully shy and retiring — except around Nala and her brother. He’d been abandoned early by his mother, as all sasquatch were, and Nala’s pack had become a second home to the lonely shifter — one of the very few left of his kind.

  But hell, she couldn’t find a trace of shy or retiring in Harrison now. Just the big and strong part. Eight feet of muscle that stood quaking with rage — as menacing as a half-dozen rabid wolf shifters put together. Where the hell had he been all these years? What hardships had he endured?

  The breath caught in her throat. Wait a second. Harrison was that worked up for her. Her.

  She stared at him and gulped. Her sister’s mate exhibited the same kind of rage when he perceived the slightest threat to the woman he loved. In fact, that had been the catalyst to Harrison leaving Massachusetts in the first place. The sasquatch had just meant to play a little joke on Nala’s niece and nephew — kids he had joked around with a hundred times before. But he hadn’t counted on Lana or Ty Hawthorne being there. And Ty, having never seen a sasquatch before, had misjudged Harrison’s intentions and nearly torn his throat out. That day secured Ty’s reputation in the Berkshires pack forever, but it had also humiliated Harrison. Harrison, who hadn’t meant any harm. Harrison, who had always been a kid at heart.

  Harrison, who sure as hell had done a lot of growing up since then.

  Nala’s heart ached for him. He’d done a lot of growing up, but at what price?

  “Not leaving you,” she insisted, lacing her fingers through his thick fur.

  Harrison in human form was a lanky seven-footer most people would peg as an NBA player. In sasquatch form — like right now — he sprouted fur all over, the same way her wolf did. But his was curly and longer than hers. Silky, too, despite the wiry look of it.

  She tugged on a handful of fur. “I’m not leaving you.”

  They’re dangerous. His voice echoed in her mind. It was full of tension, and for good reason. Harrison might be huge, but vampires were known for their speed, agility, and sharp nails spiked with poison. And four vampires… Four vampires would be a match even for Harrison. She tugged on Harrison’s fur again.

  The wind blew in gusts, and a thick sheet of snow blew right through the middle of their standoff, making the vampires shiver and scowl.

  Draw this out, her wolf said. Make them suffer in the cold. Make them wait.

  Nala peeked at the vampire to Hlavek’s right. He looked a lot less menacing now that he was rubbing his arms. Another vampire shifted his weight from foot to foot, and Nala caught sight of his leather dress shoes. She had warm winter boots and a parka on, but those vampires? They had to be freezing.

  Like goddamn Napoleon invading Russia. Let the cold do the fighting for us, her wolf said.

  So, okay, it wasn’t
the most valiant plan, but it made sense. She didn’t need to defeat the vampires. She just had to get the hell away — and get Harrison away, too. She couldn’t let him die for her sake.

  Harrison stepped forward, but she pulled harder. We can avoid a fight if we draw this out.

  Who says I want to avoid a fight? he growled, flexing his claws.

  Harrison, listen. We need to get away.

  What if they come after you later? Harrison shook his head. Better to kill them now.

  The thought gnawed at her. Hlavek had shown an incredible ability to track her wherever she went. Maybe she should fight and get this over with.

  No way. They could win, her wolf barked. And if they did, they’d kill Harrison and drag us off to a horrible death. Let’s get home. Then we can get the pack to fight these shitheads.

  “Harrison,” she pleaded, pulling him backward.

  The wind gusted again, making the trees at the edge of the road groan and creak.

  “Get them,” Hlavek barked to his men, but they didn’t budge.

  Nala backed up another step, and this time, Harrison moved with her.

  “Fools. We can take her right now,” Hlavek hissed. “We can suck her dry.”

  The vampires shook and shivered. From the looks of their faces, they were communicating with their boss again.

  Hlavek scowled.

  “Come on, Harrison,” she whispered while shuffling toward the woods. We’ll be safe in there. We can hide.

  Don’t want to hide, he grunted. And if that wasn’t proof that he’d had some brutal experiences in the past few years, she didn’t know what was. Sasquatches never relished a fight. They kept to themselves and avoided trouble. You had to back a sasquatch to a wall to get him to fight — that, or you had to threaten his mate.

  Whoa. Mate? Nala stared at Harrison, wondering if it could be true. Just being able to hear him in her mind ought to be a clue.

  Then she shook her head at her own foolishness. Harrison was probably just helping her out of loyalty to her family. And they could hear each other’s thoughts because they’d grown up together, right? She was just the forgettable kid sister, nothing more.