by Carol Lynne
“I thought I’d ask Mica to teach Toby, Daniel and Layla to shoot before we leave,” Jack said around a bite of steak.
Daniel sat up straighter. “That doesn’t make sense. You’ll need all the silver bullets. Why would you leave some here with us? Aren’t we safe inside the fence?”
Ryker and Hakan both put a comforting hand on Daniel, but it was Hakan who spoke. “It’s just a precaution. We can’t leave many of them behind, but a few to ease our minds is worth it.” He finished the statement by bending down and giving Daniel a soft kiss.
“The important thing to remember is these bullets won’t have the same accuracy as regular ones. You’ll have to be close in order to bring down one of them. I hope with everything that I am that it doesn’t come to that. The thought of a Hunter being anywhere close to you makes me see red,” Hakan added.
Hakan’s statement seemed to make Daniel feel better. He tilted his chin up and pulled Hakan’s head down for a deeper, more passionate kiss.
Jack cleared his throat, and Ryker glanced toward his friend. Jack pointed toward the large Golden eagle tapping lightly on the window.
“Hakan? I think someone needs you.”
Still lost in the kiss with Daniel, Ryker watched Hakan’s hand disappear under the table. Daniel groaned, and, just like that, Ryker was hard. The tap came again, reminding Ryker of the bird shifter outside. “Hakan. There’s an eagle at the window.”
Hakan tore his lips from Daniel’s. His dark eyes appeared hazy with lust. He finally turned his gaze to the window. “Excuse me.”
The entire table full of people watched as Hakan strode out the front door.
Layla, who was sitting across from Daniel, leaned over and held out her hand. “Are you okay?”
Daniel grasped Layla’s hand and nodded. “I’ve never shot a gun before. Have you?”
Layla shook her head. “No, but we’ll learn, yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“How many cartridges did you end up with?” Jack asked.
“We should have about three hundred rounds to take with us. Hakan wants to keep fifty here in the vault, just in case we need them in the future, and another twenty-five will stay with Toby, Daniel and the guards,” Ryker informed him.
Hakan came back into the room, his long black hair tied back at the nape of his neck. “I’ve got a bead on a group of Hunters. They’re only about three hours from here. My people will continue looking for other off-shoot groups.”
“I’ll call Mica and let him know to have his men ready to go at midnight.” Jack stood and gave Toby a brief kiss before heading to the kitchen.
Ryker glanced around the table. It seemed he wasn’t the only one who’d lost his appetite.
Hakan hadn’t even bothered to sit down. “Ryker and I’ll be back down at eleven forty-five.”
Ryker stood and joined his lover. “Layla? Would you like to stay at the house with Daniel while we’re gone?”
Hakan tensed beside him, but said nothing. Layla looked at Daniel and nodded. “I’ll get my stuff and be up at your house before you leave.”
“Thanks for dinner,” Ryker told a nervous-looking Toby. “Maybe next time we’ll actually have time to stay and finish it.”
Toby nodded. The graceful Wolf King’s blue gaze kept drifting toward the kitchen. It was obvious Toby wanted to join his mate.
“Okay, we’ll get out of here. Thanks again.” Ryker led Hakan and Daniel from the house. After waving goodbye to Layla, the threesome climbed into the truck.
Ryker noticed that once again Daniel was having trouble keeping his eyes open. He shot a worried glance toward Hakan. They barely had three hours before they would have to leave. Was that enough time to give Daniel the rest he needed, and still let their little coyote know how much they loved him?
By the time they reached the house, Daniel was asleep in Hakan’s lap. Maybe they’d reach The Hunters early enough to take care of them, and be back in time for breakfast with Daniel.
* * * *
Lying naked in Ryker’s arms, Hakan thanked the gods for joining them together. “I failed my people,” he whispered, trying not to wake Daniel.
“No you haven’t. If you’d failed them, they wouldn’t be helping us find The Hunters,” Ryker tried to reassure him.
“No. I’m not talking about the shifters. I mean my tribe. I watched while they were slaughtered so many years ago.”
“Mother said you were a medicine man.”
“I was the oldest son of the Chief, but yes, I was my people’s healer and visionary.”
Ryker wrapped his other arm around Hakan, pulling him even closer. “You don’t have to tell me this.”
Hakan knew there was a reason the three men had been destined to join. He hoped opening up would help put Ryker’s mind at ease about his own past.
“Although my father kept my tribe isolated from the others in the area, it was common knowledge that I preferred…warriors to women. I was given the duty of holy man to help keep my perverted thoughts in check.”
Hakan grinned at the concern on Ryker’s gorgeous face. “It worked for a while, until the day I met a warrior from another tribe while I was out gathering medicinal plants. We continued to meet in the sacred meadow…”
“What was his name?”
Hakan shook his head. “I don’t speak his name. It gives him power over my heart and mind.” He placed a soft kiss to Ryker’s lips.
“Anyway, when the weather began to turn colder, my warrior asked if he could visit my cave in the dark of night.” Hakan felt the shame all over again as if it had happened yesterday, instead of over eleven hundred years ago.
“My father had taken great measures to hide his people in the steep grade of the mountain. I told my lover how to find us, and went home to wait for his arrival.”
Ryker hugged Hakan tighter. It was obvious his lover knew what was coming next.
“My village was invaded in the middle of the night. I was captured, and my lover forced me to watch the execution of my family and people, before killing me himself.”
Ryker rolled on top of him, pressing his body firmly against Hakan’s. “I’m sorry.”
“Thank you.”
It had taken him almost three hundred years to come to terms with his past life. Hakan hoped Daniel’s trip to Crater Lake went easier. The thought of Daniel going through something so life-altering by himself, had Hakan worried.
“Listen, I know Daniel’s supposed to go to Oregon on his own, but do you think we should go with him and just hang back?”
Ryker shook his head. “Let’s play it by ear. There’s a lot that could happen between now and then.”
Hakan didn’t like the fatalistic tone of Ryker’s voice. He put his hands on Ryker’s face and stared into his eyes. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing.”
“Dammit, don’t lie to me.”
“There’s a rumor about me. It’s been around for decades.” Ryker pulled away from Hakan’s grip and turned his head toward the door.
“What’re they saying?”
“That my death will break The Hunters’ curse. After hearing about the bridge between earth and sky, it makes sense. If I’m dead, there is no need for a bridge.” Ryker looked back at Hakan. “Promise you’ll take care of Daniel if something happens to me. I’ve already added him to my legal stuff, but I need to know he’ll be loved.”
Why hadn’t anyone told him about the rumor? It changed everything. “You’re not going.”
“What?”
“You stay here and watch over Refuge. I’ll go with Jack and the others to find The Hunters.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
Ryker rolled off Hakan and started toward the bathroom. Halfway there, he stopped and turned back around. He started to say something, but snapped his jaw shut and continued on his way, shutting the door behind him.
After making sure Daniel was still asleep, Hakan followed Ryker. At least he didn’t need to wo
rry about Ryker locking him out. He pushed open the door with the ruined lock. Ryker was sitting on the closed toilet lid, his head resting in his hands.
Hakan knew Ryker took his duties as Guardian seriously, but he got the feeling this was about more than duty to the shifters. He sunk to the floor in front of his lover and waited.
“I ran away from a mob of blood-thirsty men once, and it cost me not only my own life, but the life of someone I cared a great deal about.”
Hakan ran his fingers through Ryker’s blond hair. “A lover?”
Ryker nodded, his face still buried in his hands. “Ian. We were both teaching at an exclusive all-boys school in Philadelphia. We went out for a ride one afternoon. It was a beautiful spring day and we were both so happy. I made the mistake of reaching over and taking hold of his hand. I didn’t realize until it was too late that one of my more vocal students was also in the area. He immediately ran off, and I knew my life would never be the same again.”
Ryker sat up enough to pull a length of toilet paper off the roll and blow his nose. “I didn’t tell Ian that we’d been seen. I went home, packed my bags and ran. After a couple of months, the guilt began eating at me. I went back…they’d killed him.”
Ryker looked at Hakan. “I ran like a fucking coward, and a group of men drug him out of his home and strung him up.”
Hakan knew that like himself, Ryker had died with guilt on his conscience. “Did they get you, too?”
Ryker shook his head. “Nope. I got me. Threw myself from the bell tower at the school.”
Shocked, Hakan sat in silence for several moments. “I’m sorry,” he finally said.
Ryker shrugged. “It was a long time ago, but can you see why I can’t run from The Hunters?”
Hakan nodded. He understood Ryker’s need to face this current evil, but it gave him yet another thing to worry about. If something happened to Ryker, not only would Daniel surely die, but Hakan had a feeling he’d follow in their footsteps.
* * * *
Twenty minutes after Daniel said goodbye to Hakan and Ryker, Layla arrived. He let his old friend in and gestured to the living room. “Make yourself comfortable.”
Layla dropped her small overnight bag. “You don’t look so good.”
Daniel shrugged, taking a seat next to her. He’d promised his lovers he wouldn’t tell anyone about Crater Lake. Lying to his friend in order to keep his secret was hard, though. “Just coming down with something.”
Layla reached over and put the back of her hand to Daniel’s forehead. “You don’t feel warm. Maybe you should go back to bed.”
Daniel shook his head. “Not yet. It seems like all I do anymore is sleep.”
Layla scooted over and put her head on Daniel’s shoulder. “I can’t figure out why you look so sad. You have everything you’ve ever wanted times two. Don’t Hakan and Ryker make you happy?”
Daniel squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head. “Don’t pay me any mind. I’m just being selfish. Hakan and Ryker give me everything they can.” Daniel opened his eyes and stared at Layla’s pretty face. “It’s more than I ever thought I deserved.”
“But, there’s still something missing, right?”
Daniel nodded. “They don’t love me, but maybe feeling the love they have for each other will be enough.” He bit his lip, knowing he’d already said too much.
“What’re you talking about?” Layla asked.
“Nothing. I meant I can see by the way they look at each other how deep their love goes.”
Layla ruffled Daniel’s hair like she used to do when he was her pet. “Love isn’t all its cracked up to be. I loved Garth in the beginning and you know where that got me.”
Daniel remembered the beatings Layla had suffered at the hands of her husband. “Garth was different.”
“I’m not so sure. When you get your heart involved it makes you weak. Better to put your feelings in a drawer and do what you need to do to stay alive.”
“Why didn’t you just leave him?” Daniel asked the question he’d wondered about for years.
Layla laughed. Daniel winced at the unnatural sound.
“He’d have killed me for sure. I hated him with a passion, but I didn’t have a death wish. Besides, we all have a purpose in life, and mine was to be there to take care of you.”
Daniel hugged Layla closer. “I’m glad you were there to take care of me.”
“Me, too, that’s why I’m sorry to have to do this.”
Daniel started to pull away just as he felt a sharp pain in the back of his neck. Confused, he tried to focus on the woman he’d known for twenty years. “Why?”
Tears sprang to Layla’s eyes. “You have your secrets, I have mine.” She cupped his cheek as the room started to spin. “I’m sorry.”
* * * *
Ryker stared down at the dead Hunter. “Something’s not right.”
Hakan’s hand gripped Ryker’s. “I was just thinking the same thing.”
The operation had gone off without a hitch, so why did something feel…off? Ryker surveyed his surroundings. Seven Hunters lay dead in a bunker that could easily house three or four times that many. Where were the others? From the look of the place, Ryker would guess The Hunters began building their fortress in the woods about the same time he’d acquired the Refuge property.
“Why didn’t they attack? It’s clear to see that they knew the shifters were at Refuge,” he questioned aloud.
Hakan shook his head. “Maybe they were waiting.”
“Yeah, but for what?” Ryker scratched the back of his neck. He glanced over his shoulder to Jack. “Have the guards go through every square inch of this place.”
Jack nodded and set off to gather their small armed force.
Ryker released Hakan’s hand and stepped over the bodies to the attached room. Empty gun racks lined one wall. He felt Hakan’s warmth press against his back. “Where’s everyone else?”
“At the airport?” Hakan offered, placing a soft kiss to the back of Ryker’s neck.
“Ryker!” Jack shouted.
“In here,” he called back.
Jack came running into the room, a manila folder in hand. “We found these,” he said, holding up the documents.
Ryker opened the file and swore. Staring back at him was Daniel’s picture. “Fuck!”
He handed the picture to Hakan and regarded Jack. “See if you can get Mica on the phone.”
Jack nodded and pulled out the satellite phone. A noise from Hakan drew Ryker’s attention. “What?”
Hakan held up two more photographs, one of him and one of Ryker. “They know.”
Bile rose in Ryker’s throat as he headed toward the bunker’s entrance. “Burn the place,” he told one of the guards.
“Wait.” Hakan grabbed Ryker’s upper arm and stopped him in his tracks. “There might be more clues. We can’t just burn it because they know about Daniel.”
Ryker knew his lover was right, but he didn’t care about anything at that moment except getting back to Refuge. “Do whatever the hell you want. I’m going back.”
“Just calm the fuck down, will you? We can’t go charging in there until we get more information.”
Ryker looked into Hakan’s eyes. “Daniel’s in danger. What more information do you need?”
He saw the truth in Hakan’s face. “If The Hunters have attacked, there’ll be more than Daniel to worry about.”
“Let’s figure it out on the drive back. Wasting time here will put us that much further behind The Hunters,” he finally agreed.
“I’ll go tell Jack.”
Hakan rushed off, and Ryker turned back to the guard. “Have your men continue going through this place. Once you’ve retrieved all useful information and supplies, burn it.”
* * * *
Hakan sat in the backseat beside Ryker with Jack at the wheel. Since finding out Refuge had been attacked and that Daniel and Layla were missing, his lover hadn’t said a word. Although The Hunters didn’t do
the kind of damage they could’ve done, fourteen shifters and eight guards had been killed.
He kept going back to Layla. Why would they take her instead of killing her? Hakan didn’t dare voice his unease about the female wolf shifter to Ryker. Layla seemed to have made a fast friend in his lover, and Ryker was upset enough as it was.
“Find anything else?” Ryker asked.
How did he tell Ryker the truth without the man going off half-cocked in search of Daniel? If nothing else, Hakan knew his lover would carry the guilt of the things he’d put into motion without knowing the legend.
“Hakan?”
“The ‘bridge’ can be burned once all shifter nations unite,” he whispered.
Ryker’s hand gripped Hakan’s thigh in a painful grip. “What does that mean, exactly?”
Hakan swallowed around the lump in his throat. “It means we have until the European and Asian shifters land in Canada to rescue Daniel.”
Ryker shook his head. “I’ll talk to Mother. Ask her to tell the cat shifters not to come.”
Hakan pried Ryker’s hand from his leg and kissed it. “You know she can’t do that. Remember what happened to you when Earth Mother spoke to you about the earlier attack.”
“Then we’ll just have to find Daniel before the shifters land,” Ryker said resolutely.
“How much further?” Hakan asked Jack.
“About twenty minutes,” Jack mumbled.
Hakan glanced at the rearview mirror, studying Jack’s eyes in its reflection. He knew the Alpha of the wolf shifters was worried about his mate. Although Toby had escaped The Hunter’s vengeance, many of his pack had been killed.
“There has to be a way to use our powers,” Ryker commented, burying his face in his hands. “I’ve failed in every aspect of my job as Guardian.”
Hakan wrapped an arm around his love. He’d been through the same feelings when the bird-shifters took to the sky permanently. How many times had he asked Father Sky his purpose, and how many times had his creator put him off, telling him only that all things had a reason.
“What do you think will happen if the legend is fulfilled?”