Ranger Knox (Shifter Nation: Werebears Of Acadia Book 1)

by Meg Ripley

  “Not exactly,” Caden chuckled. “I get a lot stronger and faster, but as far as I know, I don’t bloat or change color.” She sighed, then felt a sliver of dread slip into her bloodstream when she realized what she’d said. She hoped the Hyppo wouldn’t notice, but it was a vain hope. He wasn’t as slow as the humans who had surrounded her for years, and he didn’t have the same hesitancy a cyperson knew at the idea of being rude or insensitive, so he pounced on her phrasing immediately.

  “As far as you know?” His broad shoulders squared, and he gasped softly. “You’re not aware of your actions during these…Hulk moments?”

  Caden closed her eyes and gritted her teeth as an icy tide of regret and shame washed over her body. “No,” she said weakly. Deep breaths, that’s how you do it. Just keep breathing. Would Selina Kyle let this break her cover?

  “But isn’t that dangerous?” The concern in Umi’s voice was palpable. “You could hurt yourself, or someone else. Why do they let you keep doing this?” There was barely a pause between the end of his question and the moment he found the answer. “They don’t know. The humans don’t know.” Umi’s eyes widened in shock, and this his face settled into a sober expression that made Caden’s body go numb with despair.

  “Please don’t tell them,” Caden begged, fighting to keep her vitals under control as fear spread through her body. Not now, she thought. Not now!

  “The other cypeople know they would suspect me of decaying or corruption,” she gasped. “I would be destroyed as a precaution.” Tears sprang to her eyes, and her vision grew blurry, but she needed to make him understand. I need to be strong. “So, the first time it happened…the first time I blacked out, I came to after killing a dozen meteor crabs, the two-hundred pound ones, like it was nothing. My team just stood back and stared at me, and none of them asked what happened. They all knew. It’s the same every time. No cyperson ever asks how I do it, because they all know that I don’t know.” Caden remembered the terror in their eyes---identical to the burning anxiety she felt after washing the slime of the meteor crabs from her body. It seemed like it would never come off. There had been bone and gristle, too.

  She kept talking, unable to stop now that she had begun. “They know to stay out of my way, but that first time, I nearly ripped a teammate’s arm off. If it had been a human...” she shook her head roughly. “We just patched her up, and when the Commander asked how we’d gotten the job done without discharging any weapons…” her lungs seized up, and Caden shut her eyes, willing more coolant into her system to try to stop her impending collapse. Deep breath. Bands of tension were constricting around her body, and she was trembling like a leaf. “When he asked…”

  “You lied,” Umi said softly. She heard him remove his safety belt and wondered why.

  She realized why as soon as she slumped forward, sagging against the straps in her chair so the cloth bit into her neck. A long moment passed, and she wasn’t aware of any sound or motion. Then she felt two strong hands on her shoulders, and the next moment she was being pushed upward, and it was as though a knife had torn through the rings of rubber closing her airways down. She took a great, shuddering gasp, and then another, and a third; after a few more lungfuls of air, Caden’s body had cooled and her pulse was back to normal. She opened her eyes to see Umi’s face looming inches away, his brilliant blue-green eyes glowing as he poured a cool, healing energy into her body.

  “Are you all right?” Umi asked softly, and his breath washed over her like a warm breeze; it was oddly sweet-smelling, as though he’d been eating something sugary. Caden nodded weakly, and Umi slipped the safety straps from her shoulder. “This should help you breathe a little better. The straps tightened because the ship got knocked around a bit by some debris.”

  Caden wondered why she didn’t feel it, and then she felt her cheeks grow warm with embarrassment. She must have blacked out, but because there had been nothing to target, her body just succumbed to the darkness. Damn. What’s wrong with you?

  “You were out for several minutes,” Umi said, confirming her suspicions. “Not very long. You twitched around a bit. Is that normal?”

  Caden shrugged and looked around the ship, wondering how close they were to the destination now. When they got to Xondux, Caden was supposed to take him directly to his planet’s Hall of Meetings to be officially debriefed on her new assignment. The time couldn’t come soon enough; Caden was starting to feel antsy having only the stars and a beautiful alien Council member to gaze at. She was about to tap her wrist to check their progress again, but the ship lurched violently to one side, and she collapsed on to the floor, feeling her skull collide with the steel of the ship as it turned.

  Umi toppled into her, and their heads knocked together painfully. Her vision went white for a moment, and then the cabin was filled with the screeching sound of static; her body vibrated from the force of it, but it wasn’t painful at all. The reinforced ceramic of her teeth was emitting a gentle hum, and she looked up to see Umi gazing at her with all of his eyes wide with astonishment. Then she noticed the red spot of a planet rapidly approaching the window of the vessel.

  “Umi?” Caden felt herself speak, but she didn’t hear it---she didn’t hear anything anymore, in fact. The ship was still wobbling, and the realization swept over her as soon as the sparks began to rain down from the ceiling.

  Caden crawled over to Umi and dragged him over to the back of the ship with one hand. She still couldn’t hear, but she was shouting anyway, trying to tell him what she was doing while she performed the actions so he wouldn’t be afraid; it was part of her training she couldn’t unlearn. The entire ship started to vibrate as Caden dug her fingers into a steel panel and ripped it away from the wall, showering both of them in sparks. She reached behind her and grabbed Umi’s shoulder, flinging him into the escape pod she hoped would still work while the ship was breaking apart. Umi covered his face as she sailed in behind him, and he peeked at her from between his golden-brown fingers as she pulled the hatch door shut, plunging them both into darkness. Please work, she mused internally, not even sure who she was praying too. Odin’s son, please let this work.

  Caden slammed her palm into the top of the pod, and there was a second where it seemed to do nothing. Then the pod flared to life, illuminating all the system displays and dousing them in soft pink light.

  Eject? Asked the glowing screen in front of her. Y/N.

  Caden hit the Y button and threw her body across Umi just in time for the pod to shoot away from the ship. The vessel exploded in a massive cloud of fire. Caden thought she saw another asteroid hit its side as it was engulfed in flames, and then there was a second impact as the spherical pod broke through Xondux’s atmosphere and crashed into the ground. Caden’s last action was to curl her body around Umi’s, hoping her five feet of super-reinforced steel and hyperplastic foam would be enough to save them.

  ****

  For the second time that day, Caden opened her eyes to find a breathtaking visage inches from her own. Umi’s eyes were glowing again, and Caden felt a gentle heat suffusing her body. She tried to raise her head to see what was happening, but found herself unable to move; she contented herself with moving her eyes instead. She could tell she was on her back, and Umi was straddling her body with his hands outstretched and moving a few inches above her. Confusion tinged her thoughts, and then she realized he was the source of the strange heat she was feeling. It was sapping the ache from her skeleton, and smoothing over the raw edges of her skin. He’s healing me, she thought. She watched his hands move above her, then let her eyes drift away. She saw tiny hairs on his forearms, and she noticed a barely perceptible movement of the muscles in his rigid pecs. His abdomen was taught and smooth, narrowing down to a slim waist before the kilt stole the rest from view. The muscles of his thighs were bunched, as well, probably tensed because of his concentration.

  Caden thought it was their proximity, but she had a sudden urge to reach up, seize the back of his head, and press her l
ips to his, perhaps nibbling on the skin of his bare shoulders and chest for good measure. The urge intensified, and it occurred to her that the air was a little harder to breathe; Umi’s eyes were glowing brighter, his skin shining like polished brass. Then the glow faded and the alien spoke, startling her although she couldn’t show it.

  “Welcome back.” Umi smiled gently, and Caden’s eyes snapped up to his. “You took quite a beating for me. Thank you so much, I really can’t express my gratitude enough. You should be fine now, but you might have taken some damage in the crash that I can’t sense yet.” The glow was gone, and he lowered his hands and stood up. Caden caught a glimpse of a tuft of dark green curls beneath his kilt before he backed away, and something like lust stirred in the lower part of her body before she batted it down. Focus! Caden didn’t have urges often, and rarely twice in one day; most cypeople had sexual urges about as often as they got angry, once or twice a month. What was wrong with her?

  She sat up slowly, suspicious of the lack of pain in her body. When she was sure she could, she stood on her feet, craning her neck to examine all of her angles. Her suit was unharmed, and the only things broken seemed to be the actual projection lens and the metallic headband that held her communication device. The backup com was lost, too; she saw the wreckage of the pod lying in a burning heap some two hundred feet away. Then Caden gasped as she saw the red clay of the ground, the gentle motions of the grasses in the distance behind them, and the twin suns in the sky, realizing exactly where they were.

  “How did we get here?” she asked uncertainly.

  “I teleported us,” Umi answered. “Seemed smart to get away from the fire. How are you feeling?” He took a step toward her, sweeping his triad of eyes up and down her body quizzically, as though he knew something about cyborg crashes that she didn’t. Caden ignored him, a thought forming in her head. She still had a job to do, after all.

  “We’re almost to your meeting hall.” She spun in a slow circle, scanning the horizon for the landmarks she knew would be there. “This is the Blood Desert, and it’s only fifty miles from the hall, even if we’re on the other side. Less if we’re further north, which I think we are, if that’s the Ibi Oasis.” Her mind was whizzing through her options, and she was glad she spent so much time training her instincts to make up for what could go wrong.

  “You know my planet’s geography well,” Umi said. “But do you know its wildlife?”

  “Sure,” Caden said, smiling as she turned to face him. She felt confident and in control, and a little light-headed. “You guys have Bezoar and Bezoar variants. They’ve pretty much wiped everything else out.”

  “And do you know what Bezoar are?” Umi asked patiently. Caden bristled at his tone; he sounded like one of her old teachers trying to make her see why she was being childish.

  “Little fuzzy guys,” Caden said shortly, tapping one of her boots in the sand and crossing her arms over her chest. “Look like fat, round cats with too much fur. Usually have two or three mouths, and will sometimes merge into one creature if they’re badly hurt in a group. That’s where the variants come from.” Caden put her fists on her hips and narrowed her eyes at the Hyppo. “What’s the big deal? Didn’t you hear me talk about those huge crabs I killed?”

  “You’re forgetting their most deadly quality.” Umi’s dark green hair ruffled in the dry wind. “They’re electric. What if you get shocked and die?”

  Caden snorted. “I face death more often than you think, Umi. I’m a Minder. It’s my job to look out for danger and dispatch of it. I can handle anything that comes our way. If not, you can get yourself out of here.”

  “What if you get shocked and corrupted?” Umi asked, his voice low and pleading. He took another step toward her, and Caden wanted to take a step back automatically, but the urgency in his gaze stopped her. “What am I supposed to do then?”

  The question stopped her; she hadn’t expected him to be so concerned, even though his kind were natural bleeding hearts. “Again, you get yourself out of here. What’s the big deal? Come on, you have a meeting to get to.” She started to take a step around him, but he put his arm out and caught her waist. The movement was too intimate, coming from him, but rather than be upset, she felt a frisson of desire roll across her skin. Her heartbeat sped, and Caden froze and turned slowly toward him, locking her stormy gray eyes on his trembling cerulean irises. She still didn’t feel any anger, or even any fear over why she didn’t feel anger. All she felt was a slowly strengthening desire to move closer and kiss the full lips that looked so deliciously soft.

  “I can’t leave you,” he whispered. “Caden. I just…couldn’t.” He swallowed, and Caden tried to figure out what had changed between them---and what had changed about her. She stepped toward him, and he kept his hand on her waist while she stood squarely in front of him. Nothing about him made her feel nervous, annoyed, or made her want to look away. Earlier she had been jumping out of her skin, and now she was being touched by him…and actually enjoying it a little, if the tingle in her waist was to be trusted. What had changed when she was knocked out? What happened to her while she was being healed? The answer hit her in the gut right on the heels of her question.

  “You woke me up,” Caden whispered, and Umi’s eyes flew wide open. “That’s why my emotions are being regulated so well.” She took a deep breath, waiting for panic to slide in on the heels of her revelation. She felt a tremor of anxiety, but it didn’t buckle her knees like it normally would. Caden laughed and took a step away from the Hyppo, pointing a finger at him accusingly. “You woke me up without my permission!”

  “No,” he said instantly. “I didn’t. Caden, I didn’t!”

  “Then why am I…okay?” She was crying, and she wasn’t quite sure why. Then the answer came flying out of her mouth. “What if you took away my power?” Her voice was more of a screech than a shout, and Umi flinched away from her tone. “What if I can’t Hulk anymore?” Caden balled her hands into fists and fell to her knees, feeling rage and despair wash over her---but it wasn’t painful and debilitating like it was after she blacked out. “I’m just me now,” she wailed, pounding the soft clay beneath her with her fists. “I’m just a stupid cyborg!”

  “You’re not!” Umi was taking a step toward her and eying her uncertainly, but his voice was sure and forceful. “Caden, you were like this when I was healing you. I think the crash must have jolted you awake. I promise I didn’t do this, but I won’t pretend I don’t think this is good.”

  Caden sat back on her heels, peering at Umi through the veil of tears. “How would you know what’s good for me? How would you know?” Umi didn’t speak, so she pressed ahead. “The one thing that set me apart was my Hulk mode. I’m too small to take seriously otherwise. I’m worthless. Xondux needs Hulk, not Bruce Banner.” She laughed bitterly. “You don’t even know what I’m saying. Umi, just go. Just get to your hall; leave me here to die.”

  “No.” Umi crouched in front of her and took hold of her shoulders. “I do know what you’re talking about. And you’re wrong.”

  Caden looked at his shining eyes, fierce with grim determination. “What?”

  “You’re wrong,” Umi repeated. “I shared knowledge with you while you were healing. Bruce Banner was not just some scientist. When he was not in Hulk mode, he was still in invaluable part of the Avenge Team.”

  “Avengers,” Caden said shakily. “We shared knowledge?”

  “So, I know that the Hulk is incomplete without his other side, and that he is miserable when he denies one part or the other. The Hulk was best when he accepted himself as he was; all the heroes were.” Umi squeezed her shoulders, and Caden shivered as he pulled her a little closer to him. “I know what you are, Caden. And I know what you can be. Embrace your fear when it comes. Let it be a part of you. Let it make you better.”

  “How can fear make me better?” Caden whimpered. “How can it make me anything but weak?”

  “You have to answer that yourself.” Umi’s eyes
moved behind her, focusing on something in the distance. “And you might have to answer sooner than you think.”

  Caden turned to see what his eyes were focusing, and almost wished she hadn’t.

  What looked like a giant lump of matted fur was moving quickly toward them, eating up yards of space with each second. It was making a fearsome crackling noise at is moved, and Caden’s mind was curiously blank. At first, she thought it was a mountain, and then it let out a great roar that shook the ground beneath their feet.

  “Bezoar,” Umi whispered. “Caden, I can’t teleport us. There are huge pockets of disruption in the blood desert, we’ve never been able to figure out why. The interfering energy would dice our bodies to pieces.”

  So will this Bezoar, Caden thought as it neared them. Now was about the time that her body usually dropped and her blinding terror took over; being awake to see this sort of thing was not something she was used to. The ground was shaking harder and harder as the snarling beast barreled toward them, and Caden could see a few dozen red eyes embedded in its body at different angles. Her fingers clenched into a fist, but she couldn’t move any other muscle.

  “I’m sorry,” Caden heard herself whisper.

  “Caden, it’s okay. I don’t blame you for whatever happens.” Umi’s voice was steady, but his body was shaking like a leaf. She pictured the Bezoar bowling her over and crushing him, and the image snapped the last bit of indecision from her body. She could feel his fear behind his words, and his fear stuck in her mind more than anything else. It felt sharp and cold, and finally the red thorn of anger finally took hold of her mind. She knew it was because they had just done the energy equivalent of making love, but his fear had become unbearably personal.

  “Nothing is going to happen,” Caden said. The anger bloomed in her chest, and she stepped in front of him, shoving him back with one hand and squaring herself in front of the beast. Her heart was slamming against her ribcage, and her body was vibrating with the anxiety and adrenaline coursing through her system. Caden didn’t think about Umi’s soft cries of pain as he landed a hundred feet behind her, focusing on stopping the thing intent on causing him more harm. As the beast got nearer, she noticed odd lumps on the parts of its body between its eyes---like bundles of nerves, or even joints. She realized that those were the places where the Bezoars all knitted together; she was looking at the equivalent of its heads. The beast was two hundred feet away and closing, and the dust it was kicking up nearly overtook Caden’s small frame; for a moment, her fear swelled up like a cloud to swallow her—but instead of turning from it, she let it sink in and sharpen her instincts, pulling the acidic feeling deeper into her body as she leapt into the air. The Bezoar collided with her at the same time as she plunged her steely fingers into four of its eyes, and a torrent of boiling liquid poured out over Caden’s hands. The beast kept moving, and she felt it swing its body around, trying to fling her from its fur. Caden pushed one hand deep into the cartilage between two of its eyes and closed around a bundle of sinewy fibers and tubes. She was dimly aware of Umi screaming from somewhere around her, and then she ripped her hand backward, screaming at the top of her lungs as her fingers came away covered in spinal fluid and brain matter.