by Amelia Jade
“What, exactly, happened while I was off-grid, sir?” Luther asked cautiously. He’d been out in the wilderness simply escaping reality for a bit before making his way to Cloud Lake.
“Well, for starters, Daxxton Ryker overthrew the Council and Klara Nova is dead.”
Despite his training, Luther felt his jaw drop wide open. Daxxton Ryker was a dragon shifter, and one of the most powerful dragons in the world. He was the head of the dragons’ Top Scale Academy, their equivalent to his own Green Bearets. He was old and well-connected. But Klara Nova was the Speaker, or had been the Speaker he supposed, of the Cadian Council. The ruling body of all of Cadia.
She’d also been a money-hungry bitch, if Luther was asked his opinion of her, but he never was.
“So, Daxxton took her spot on the Council?” he asked tentatively.
“No,” Garrin replied, sitting up. “Word is he killed Klara under some obscure dueling law. So now he’s King of Cadia.”
Luther blinked and looked at a chair.
“Sit,” Colonel Richter said with a wave of his hand. “Trust me, it’ll help you focus.”
Luther sat in the chair, stunned at the revelation. “Okay, so we have a king now instead of an elected Council?”
“Pretty much,” his superior officer replied.
“Okay. So, what does that mean?”
“It means that we finally have someone in power who is concerned about Cadia herself, and not squeezing the last penny out of everything for his or her own personal profit,” the colonel spat, a fiery spark igniting in his eyes. “It means all previous budget cuts have been undone in the past two weeks. It means that the Green Bearets are expanding.”
He stuck out his hand across the desk. “You’re back on the job, Captain. I’m giving you a company of new recruits to whip into shape. You’ll have Kiefer Hartmann as your executive officer. Congratulations. See my secretary for more details. I’m sorry, but I don’t have more time. She has a full briefing for you.”
Luther rose and saluted before spinning sharply on his heel and exiting the office, still stunned by everything that had just been relayed to him.
He’d gotten perhaps ten steps out of the building, briefing folder in hand, when someone began shouting his name. It took another few seconds to penetrate his mind, occupied as he was trying to sort out the overwhelming amount of changes coming down the pipeline.
“Captain Klein!”
He paused and turned to acknowledge the sprinting private.
“Yes?” he asked.
“Captain Klein. You have a phone call, sir.”
Luther’s eyebrows rose. “I have a what?” he asked.
The private winced. “I know sir, it sounds ridiculous. But there is a woman on the phone for you. Says you met her at the bar.”
His spine went rigid. “Where?” he asked, looking back the way the private had come.
“Reception, sir.”
“Show me,” he ordered.
“Yes sir,” the private said, snapping to attention and then turning on his heel.
“Run, Private,” Luther growled as he blew past the startled private, who went into a panic as he sprinted to keep up with his superior officer.
Luther slowed enough to let the hapless man catch up and lead him to the specific phone in the reception area. He took several deep breaths as he approached.
“This is Captain Luther Klein,” he said, speaking slowly into the phone.
***
Allix
She heard his calm, almost authoritative voice come over the phone.
“The same Captain Luther Klein from last night in Cloud Lake?” she asked cautiously, trying to keep her voice under control, despite the panic threatening to run through it.
Deep down though, she knew she recognized the voice. It was him.
“Yes, ma’am. Is everything okay?” he asked.
“No!” she practically shouted in his ear, then forced herself to take a deep breath before continuing. “I’m trapped. They’re following me. Watching me. I can’t do anything. You got me in this mess, now get me out!”
Allix didn’t mean to say that last bit. It just sort of slipped out, and she silently cursed herself for it.
“I got you into what mess?” he asked roughly.
“This one,” she replied, ignoring the sudden change in his voice. She needed to plow through this, to keep him on her side. “The one where people are after me.”
She could practically see his frown. “Who are?” he asked, his voice suddenly sharp and inquisitive.
But the knowledge of the answer to his question was there at the same time. Luther was smart. He knew who it had to be. There was only one thing it could be that would result in her having called him. She knew he had already figured it out.
“Shifters. Big ones. Bears,” she said.
“How do you know they’re bear shifters, Miss?”
“My name is Allix, please use it,” she said in a strong voice, some of the panic that had been creeping into it leaving, replaced by anger as he voiced his doubts. “And I know, because they left fucking bear paw tracks all over my front yard last night!”
“Have you spotted any of them yet?” he asked, and she could hear him snapping at someone. “Go to Colonel Richter’s office. Tell him to clear his schedule, I’ll be there shortly,” she heard him say to someone else, though she wasn’t sure who this Colonel Richter was.
“No, not yet. But the prints are unmistakable. Luther, they know where I live,” she said softly. “I’m not safe here.”
“No, you aren’t,” he said, and despite him not sugarcoating the truth, she found herself relieved as he admitted the truth of the situation. Somehow his honesty made her feel more at ease that he was going to help her.
“You need to try your best to remain collected, however. I won’t say calm, because I know that’s impossible. But keep it together. I’ll figure out a way to keep you safe.”
“It’s the men from the bar. The ones you fought,” she said. “It has to be. Who else would come for me?”
He snarled softly, and Allix knew he was thinking the same thing
“I need to know more, Allix. Where do you live? How many sets of prints? Have you seen more since the first time they appeared? I need to know everything.”
She told him all the details she had. Her address, where it was in Cloud Lake, the layout of the property including entrances and exits, nearby buildings and terrain layouts, information beyond what she’d ever have expected to need to give, but it surprised her to realize it all came easily. The way he phrased the questions brought the answers to her mind and information flowed over the phone.
Whoever “Captain” Luther was, he was thorough, she had to give him that. Allix was thankful that he was taking her seriously as well. The effort she’d put in to reaching him hadn’t been minimal.
“Why are you so hard to get a hold of?” she asked at last. “I called six different numbers for places in Cadia before someone would even give me a clue as to where I might find you. Even then I was redirected twice to somewhere else.”
She heard him snort in barely restrained laughter. “We’re not big on phones,” he said at last. “I don’t have a cell phone, and the number here is supposed to be restricted to other shifters. I don’t know how you got it.”
“I didn’t, someone connected me,” she explained. “And I still don’t even know where ‘here’ is.”
“Ah. Well, that last part would require a lot more explaining than I have time for at the moment. I have things I need to be doing, to try and secure you some help. Is this a cell phone or house phone?”
“Cell.”
“Okay, keep it charged and stay near it as best you can.” He paused. “I’m going to get you out of there, Allix. I promise you.”
She felt herself warmed by the caring in his voice, the honesty and determination mixing to swell her spirits.
“I believe you,” she said softly. “And I’m sorry for
getting mad at you last night. I realize now you weren’t trying to buy me.”
There was a noise that came through the phone, but she wasn’t sure what it meant.
“I would never try to buy you,” he said. “Never.”
And despite having only ever met him once, Allix found herself believing the shifter.
“Please hurry,” she said.
“I’m coming,” he promised, then the phone went dead.
Allix took a deep breath as the room plunged back into silence. She’d had him on speaker phone to help fill the room with his presence, to help her feel safer. It had worked for a time, but now he was gone, presumably to try and do something to save her.
But what could he do? He and his friend had been chased out of town. According to the news, there had been numerous other “unexplained incidents” the night before. Allix knew exactly what those disturbances were, just as she knew the news wouldn’t be reporting on any of the shifter deaths either.
There was a war going on in Cloud Lake, and she was caught in the middle of it! Luther would have to be insane to come back here. She didn’t know what had sprung up between Cadia and Fenris, and why they were resorting to violence, but Allix knew she didn’t have a chance of surviving such a conflagration. She was tough and strong, but she was unfortunately just human. One careless swipe of their arm could snap her neck.
“This is ridiculous,” she said out loud for what felt like the millionth time. “How did I get caught up in the middle of this?”
Deep down she knew it was an accident, just a coincidence that she could never have predicted. Thirty seconds faster or slower on her trip to refill the beers and she would have been perfectly fine.
Except you wouldn’t ever see Luther again.
Allix sat back against the wall, thinking that thought through. She was hidden away in the closet in the spare bedroom, in hopes that nobody would search for her there. The basement had called to her, but she knew that was a trap, leaving her no way out if someone came in. At least here, if she needed to, she could throw herself out the window to avoid someone.
Instead of constantly checking her phone, she set a ten minute timer on it to help conserve battery. Every time it buzzed, she mentally added another ten minutes to the clock.
Minutes went by. Then an hour. Two hours, then six. Still nothing happened. Her stomach growled at her, but Allix resisted the urge. After nine hours she couldn’t handle it anymore. She needed to put something into her stomach. Water, food, anything. So, slowly she crept from her hiding spot.
Sliding as softly across the hardwood floor as she could, Allix twisted the handle to the door slowly, praying it wouldn’t squeak on her. It didn’t betray her thankfully, and she carefully eased her head out into the hallway, taking a quick peek before snatching it back.
It was empty.
Breathing a small sigh of relief, she tiptoed down the hallway toward her kitchen, not wanting to take any risks. Her doors were locked and she hadn’t heard any windows breaking, but she wouldn’t put it past the shifters to have figured out a way to enter silently.
But nobody was there. Nor was there anyone outside her kitchen window. All her lights were off, and Allix cursed as the pale yellow glow spilled from her refrigerator when she opened the door.
After fixing herself a snack of leftover chicken and some crackers with cheese, she wolfed it down.
“Okay, back to hiding,” she said softly to herself, needing to break up the silence.
She set the dishes down in the sink, glancing out once more at the empty yard behind her house.
Allix screamed.
The yard was no longer empty. At the back of it a man had just finished climbing the fence. A man she didn’t recognize.
It wasn’t Luther.
She darted from the kitchen, running down the hallway to the spare bedroom. She flung the door closed behind her and all but threw herself into the closet, sliding the door shut and pushing herself to the back, behind the stacks of clothes and bins she’d used to build a little fort.
There she sat, curled tightly into a little ball, taking deep breaths to try and calm her system so that her breathing wouldn’t give her away.
Her phone buzzed once at her as ten more minutes went by without anything happening.
Allix dared to let herself breathe. Maybe they were just staking the place out? They couldn’t know that Luther was—hopefully—on his way.
The back door shuddered as someone hit it.
Allix let out a terrified noise, trying to dig herself deeper again. Images of monstrous bears marauding through her house, ripping open the closet, and mauling her played through her mind.
I’m not ready to die!
Tears streamed down her face as the end came near.
Wood splintered.
They were in the house.
Allix prepared herself as best she could for the end. In her mind, she conjured up an image of a tall man with green eyes, his comforting arms wrapped around her, holding her tight as she leaned her head on his shoulder tenderly.
Luther!
Chapter Seven
Luther
He didn’t even bother to hang up the phone. His legs were already carrying him away from the receptionist’s desk before the words “I’m coming” had left his mouth.
Long strides powered by superhuman strength allowed him to nearly fly through the corridors as he made his way from Reception to Admin.
Lana looked up at him as he entered at a run and simply nodded, letting him know he was cleared to enter. Luther didn’t even acknowledge the other person in the office, who was sitting on the waiting couch looking up at him with an intrigued expression as the bear shifter blew by him.
Still, there were rules to observe and Luther pulled himself up to a halt as he approached the door, pausing to rap his fist once on the doorjamb.
Colonel Richter was already looking up at him however, and motioning for him to enter.
“This had better be good, Captain.”
“Sir, it’s about last night.”
The colonel eyed him, waiting for Luther to continue speaking.
“The Fenris team that surprised Aksel and me did so right when a waitress was serving us. She got caught up in the middle of it all. I assumed that when we left, she would have been okay. I just got a phone call from her sir. She’s being followed. There are bear prints all over the snow in her yard.”
Garrin sat up sharply in his chair. “Bear tracks, you say? She’s positive?”
Luther shrugged. “If she can’t distinguish between human feet and bear paws sir, then I will gladly accept whatever punishment you deem appropriate.”
Colonel Richter looked at him sharply. “Touché, Captain,” he said, acknowledging the ridiculousness of his question. Then his eyes darkened. “Fenris knows as well as we do that its shifters aren’t allowed to be in animal form inside the city.”
“Exactly sir. Clearly they don’t care. I know normally it would be a waste of resources to go in after one human, but in this case, sir, I think we have to.”
It pained Luther horrifically to speak so dispassionately about Allix. She deserved better than that from him, but it was the truth. The revelation that the Fenris shifters were operating openly, and with the indication that they were likely to harm a human while doing so, was not good.
That would force the human governments to act, and none of the shifters wanted that. This had to be handled internally, or else they risked big trouble from the humans. Shifters were powerful, but if the human militaries mobilized against them, not even the dragons would be able to stop them.
“I think I agree with you, Captain,” the colonel said, biting his lip as he spoke, clearly unhappy that their hand was being forced. “What do you propose?”
“Give me a company, sir. We’ll go in there and take back Cloud Lake and protect the humans while we’re at it.”
Colonel Richter shook his head. “Can’t do it.”
Luther bristled as the colonel shot down his best chance at saving Allix. He needed that support if he was going to take on the Fenrisians! If he didn’t have the strength, that was as good as condemning Allix to death.
His bear shook itself awake, anger infusing him at that. This was just like Cadia lately. Unwilling to actually do anything about the problems going on around them. There was never enough of this, or enough of that.
So much for the talk of changes. Apparently things aren’t as different as he’d made it out to be just earlier today.
It figured it was all talk. Luther readied himself to go. If he had to make the journey on his own, and take on all of the rats infesting Cloud Lake on his own, then he would.
Nobody would stand between him and Allix.
He knew his emotions were illogical. But that didn’t matter just then. Luther wanted to be with her, for some reason he couldn’t understand, and nothing else mattered to him. Not the colonel, not Daxxton Ryker, sitting high and mighty on his new throne. Nothing except for Allix.
She was all he needed. And he would do whatever was necessary to get to her.
“Hang on there,” Garrin said, holding up his hand. “I can’t give you a company because there isn’t one here to give. Except newbies, and that would be a massacre and you know it. But that doesn’t mean I can’t help you.”
Luther eyed the colonel speculatively as the senior officer leaned to the side.
“Mr. Raskell, would you care to join us please?”
Luther spun as footsteps sounded behind him.
The man who had been sitting on the waiting couch outside the office poked his head inside, and Luther immediately felt his bear bristle.
Gryphon!
He felt his right hand tighten into a fist, but he kept the arm at his side, even as the gryphon shifter eyed the flexed muscles.
“Yes, Colonel Richter? What can I do for you?” he asked, tilting his head respectfully to the man behind the desk.
Luther’s eyes narrowed at the polite tone, noting the genuine kindness in it. Gryphons were a disdainful bunch. They generally regarded all other shifters as beneath them. While they didn’t hate bears like they did any and all dragons, they still often considered the landbound shifters as beneath them, both literally and figuratively.