by Carol Lynne
Ryker shook his head, hands digging into his hair. “It’s cruel. Evolution or not, subjecting them to the onslaught of emotions is painful for them.”
Hakan hadn’t thought of it like that. “So what do we need to do to help them?”
“I’m going to bring in some doctors, psychiatrists.”
“Humans?” Hakan said with an air of disgust. He knew from experience that most humans couldn’t be trusted.
“Hey. I’m human,” Jack objected. “Besides, as we’ve already found out, not all shifters are good either.”
Hakan felt Ryker’s body stiffen. He held his love even closer.
“Sorry,” Jack apologized.
“No. You’re right. I should’ve known about Layla.” Ryker closed his eyes. “I need to speak with Mother. I can’t help but feel this is a test, all of it. Events are spinning out of control, and I feel like I’m one step behind. I need to know what part Mother’s playing in all this.”
In a voice so soft Hakan could barely hear it, Ryker continued. “If something happens to Daniel, it’ll be all my fault.”
“No!” Hakan gave Ryker a firm shake. “Don’t take this on yourself.”
“I’m The Guardian. I suck at my job. I’ve waited over a hundred years for the shifters to come together in one place. Everything I’ve done up to now has been nothing but busy work. Now, when it really counts that I step up, I’ve already failed.”
“This thing’s not over yet.” Hakan knew how Ryker felt. He’d been through it himself when the bird shifters took to the sky permanently because of Hakan’s inability to protect them against the white man. He knew the best thing to do for Ryker was to find Daniel and get him back.
“I need to talk to my shifters. See if they’ll help find where The Hunters are keeping Daniel. Why don’t you go and have that talk with Earth Mother?”
Ryker nodded.
Hakan looked at Toby and Jack. “Toby, I think the guards might need someone to talk to. Would the other shifters be willing to sit with them, talk to them?”
“Yeah. I’ll have to explain the situation to them though. Is that okay?” Toby asked.
Ryker nodded. “They’re a part of our family. We should cease with the secrets.”
“Jack, can you round up some shifters to train. We’ll need to replace Mica and his men until this situation is dealt with.”
“I already have several in mind. I’ll ask them who else they’d like to bring in,” Jack answered.
Standing, Hakan pulled Ryker to his feet and gave him a deep kiss, tongue probing the interior of his lover’s mouth, offering comfort. “Meet you back here?”
“Yeah.” With a sad expression still firmly in place, Ryker wandered out into the woods.
Hakan watched the normally stoic Guardian and hoped the bird shifters would be able to help them. Daniel’s life depended on it.
Instead of going into the timber, Hakan shifted and flew to the highest peak. He shifted back into his man skin and opened himself to his flock. Please, help me.
It wasn’t long before a small black raven settled on the rock beside him. Hakan swallowed around the lump in his throat, knowing he was about to ask the impossible of his old lover. “Will you shift?”
Several minutes later, a fine-boned, beautiful man sat next to him. It had been over three hundred years since Hakan had laid eyes on Takoda’s beauty, and like it always had, it almost took his breath away.
“Thank you for coming.”
Takoda’s black eyes stared into Hakan’s. “I’ve missed you.”
“As I have you. Why did you stay away for so long?” Hakan asked in Takoda’s native Sioux language.
“Because the longer we were together, the deeper my feelings. I knew you weren’t meant to be mine. I was told to leave,” Takoda answered in English.
“By whom?”
Takoda didn’t say anything but pointed toward the sky. “He’s protective of you. He said you were meant for something bigger.”
The pain in Tokoda’s eyes let Hakan know just what the separation had cost the small raven. “I’m sorry.”
Takoda shrugged. “What can I do for you?”
Hakan was a little hurt that after so many years apart, Takoda wanted to get right down to business. “I need help finding one of my mates.”
“Daniel,” Takoda supplied.
“You know him?”
Takoda shook his head. “I know of him. I’ve watched you with your men.”
Hakan wondered if he would’ve been able to do the same if their positions had been reversed. “Will you help me?”
Takoda nodded. “I would do anything for you, you know that.”
“I think The Hunters might have taken him to the area around Roanoke. I was hoping I could get the bird shifters to canvas the area.”
“It will be done.” Takoda stood and Hakan knew his old lover was about to shift.
Reaching out, he grabbed Takoda’s delicate hand. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
“When this is over, will you and the others consider moving to Refuge? I miss my people.”
Takoda’s gaze swept the breathtaking views all around them. “I’ll let the others know they’re welcome here.”
“And you?” Hakan asked.
“I’ll continue to check on you, but you probably will never know I’m here.”
“Maybe your happiness can be found at Refuge.”
Takoda shook his head. “The only happiness I would find at Refuge no longer belongs to me.”
Without another word, Takoda shifted and took to the sky. Hakan remained seated for several moments after his old friend disappeared into the afternoon sky. He wished there was something he could do for him. Part of him felt guilty for not returning the shifter’s apparent love. There was a time when he’d thought he loved Takoda, but it was now apparent he never truly had. Takoda deserves to find what I did.
Hakan vowed to right the wrong as soon as Daniel was back home safe and healthy. He got to his feet and spread his arms, calling upon his gift. Soaring through the air, Hakan hoped Ryker’s meeting with Earth Mother had gone better than his with Takoda.
Chapter Six
Daniel awoke to a blinding light. He tried to shy away from the source, shielding his face in the crook of his arm.
“Daniel?” a familiar voice said.
Layla’s presence in his manmade prison made her involvement all the more real. He’d hoped he’d been wrong about his oldest friend. Opening his eyes slowly, he tried to focus on Layla. “Why?”
Layla set down a lantern and walked over to his cell. “I’m sorry.”
Daniel shook his head. He didn’t want to hear apologies, he wanted the truth. “Why?” he asked again.
Dropping to the dirt floor, Layla sat cross-legged in front of him. “I did what I had to do to help my parents.”
“Your parents?” Daniel had never heard Layla speak of family.
Instead of looking at him, Layla’s gaze seemed fixated on a loose thread. She picked at the bottom of her sweater and nodded. “They’re Hunters.”
Shocked, Daniel scrambled as far back in his cell as he could. With the cold stone wall at his back, he looked at the stranger in front of him. “How is that possible? You can shift. I’ve seen you.”
Layla’s expression changed, a sneer marring her normally gorgeous face. “Your Earth Mother isn’t as smart as she thinks. She cursed The Hunters but not their offspring. I’ve lived my entire life watching my parents in pain. Pain that your precious Mother dealt them.”
Daniel shook his head. “What your parents did was wrong. They deserved to be punished for what they did in Roanoke.”
“Really? And would you feel the same if your parents had chosen to stand up and fight the people who drove them from their homes? I wonder…”
“Forget Earth Mother. How do you justify the hundreds of shifters your parents and their people have killed? What about my people. Hunters tortured us for years, ki
lling every one of the coyote shifters.”
Daniel’s chest constricted at the memories of his years at The Hunters mercy. Something niggled in the back of his mind about that time, but he couldn’t bring it to the forefront.
“You have no right to judge them for what they’ve done. Until you’ve lived hundreds of years in pain, you don’t know what you’d do to try and find a solution.”
“How did you infiltrate Garth’s pack?”
“Infiltrate?” Layla laughed. “I walked into his camp. Garth took one look at my tits and claimed me, the filthy beast. I hated every touch that man bestowed on me, but I did it for my people.”
“Why? What part did Garth play in your plans?”
“We knew who his brother was. We couldn’t find him, but we knew he’d eventually find Garth. You showing up was a bonus. We thought we’d killed you. Honestly, none of us understand how you managed to survive.”
“So you befriended me,” Daniel mumbled, hurt to the core.
“No. I was told to keep an eye on you.”
Layla’s expression turned sad. “I truly liked you. I still do. Tricking you was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.”
“But you did it so well,” Daniel said in a sarcastic manner.
Layla wiped the tears from her cheeks. “I had no choice.”
“We all have choices.”
* * * *
Working his way down Ryker’s nude body, Hakan tasted every inch of his lover. The meeting with Earth Mother hadn’t gone well, and Ryker was even more despondent. Hakan hoped lavishing attention on his man would help bring him out of his funk.
Ryker’s hands wound their way into Hakan’s hair and gently pushed him lower. Hakan grinned and swiped his tongue across the crown of Ryker’s cock, receiving a moan from his lover.
“You like that?” Hakan teased, running the tip of his tongue around the helmet.
“Seems like it’s been forever since…”
“I know. I miss Daniel, too.”
Ryker tugged on Hakan’s hair until he looked up at him. “What if we don’t find him in time?”
Hakan refused to even travel down that road. He shook his head and swallowed Ryker’s cock to the root, using all his skills as a lover to get his man’s mind off the depressing thought.
It appeared to be working as Ryker began a shallow thrust in and out of Hakan’s mouth. Hakan heard something fall off of the bedside table seconds before a bottle of lube tapped him on the forehead.
Hakan released the cock in his mouth and gazed up the stunning length of Ryker’s body. “You needing?”
“Yes.” Ryker maneuvered his leg over Hakan’s head and rolled to his stomach, presenting himself beautifully.
Hakan groaned and buried his face between Ryker’s spread butt cheeks. As he slicked his fingers with the lube, he made love to Ryker’s ass with his tongue.
“Fuck,” Ryker groaned.
A large drop of pre-cum kissed Hakan’s abdomen as his cock seemed to beg for Ryker’s ass. He sat back on his heels and introduced a finger into Ryker’s waiting hole. “You like that?”
“Mmm hmm.” Ryker groaned again. “Need.”
Hakan waited until his lover was able to take two of his fingers easily before replacing them with the head of his cock. Once his crown was through the outer ring of muscle, he leaned down and bit Ryker’s shoulder. “Tell me.”
“I love you,” Ryker gasped, impaling himself on Hakan’s cock.
Suddenly it was Hakan’s turn to moan as his lover’s body squeezed his length. Ryker pulled forward before plunging back again. It seemed Hakan wasn’t the only one needing a fast and furious fuck.
Hakan sat back up on his knees and began an almost animalistic brand of fucking. Maybe if Ryker’s ass was sore for a couple of days, he would be distracted enough to get through the hard times ahead.
Ryker’s upper body fell to the bed below. The new position had Hakan’s balls slapping against Ryker’s on every thrust. The sound was erotic as hell to Hakan, so much so that he soon found himself emptying his load deep into Ryker’s ass.
Hakan didn’t fall into bliss by himself. Somehow Ryker managed to follow before Hakan was even finished shooting. He pushed Ryker fully onto the bed and remained inside of his lover as long as he could.
“I love you,” he panted.
Hakan gazed out of the window. “I love you, Daniel.”
* * * *
Ryker holstered his gun. His hand was starting to go numb after more than an hour of continual target practice. He looked at the shifters Jack and Toby had recruited. It had come as quite a surprise when two women had shown up, not that he’d mentioned it.
“Looking good,” he commented to Drex, a wolf shifter.
“Will we go with you and Hakan to find Daniel, or will we stay here to protect Refuge?” Drex asked.
“I don’t know yet. First we have to locate Daniel.” Ryker looked toward the mountain where Hakan had been patiently waiting for word.
Ryker wasn’t sure if Hakan had told him about Takoda out of guilt or love, but it still bothered him. His gaze swung to Jack. Is that how Hakan felt when he looked at Jack?
Someone jogging toward him from the side caught Ryker’s attention. He turned to find Mica coming to a stop a few feet away.
“Why aren’t you in bed?” he asked.
“I’m healed. I need to do my job.” Mica crossed his muscular arms over his chest as if daring Ryker to say otherwise.
Ryker stared at Mica for several moments. “You sure you can handle it?”
“No, but I know I can’t handle it if I sit by and do nothing. My men feel the same.”
Holding up a hand, Ryker beckoned Jack to join them. “Do you think the shifters can handle Refuge if we took half the available guards with us and sent the other half to meet the plane?”
“Hell yes. From what I’ve seen, these guys are naturals.”
“And gals,” Ryker said with a smile.
“And gals,” Jack agreed.
“Excuse us,” Ryker said, and pulled Mica to the side. “I made arrangements for a psychiatrist to come to Refuge. I hope you don’t mind. I think it will help you and your men deal with these new-found emotions of yours.”
Mica appeared leery of the idea, but Ryker hoped to put the big man at ease. “Jon’s a good guy. You can trust him with your feelings.”
“Does he know about me? About what I am?”
Ryker nodded. He needed to get used to talking to Mica about the new breed of human that he was. It was worlds different than discussing a shifters life. Without the ability to shift, Mica was stuck in his human form.
“He knows about shifters. I haven’t told him about you and your men. I wanted to ask your permission first.”
“Let me discuss it with the others. Is that okay?”
“Sure. Jon’ll be here by the end of the week. He had a few things to tidy up before he moves here.”
“Moves? He’s going to live here?”
Ryker couldn’t read the expression on Mica’s face. “Yes. I’ve hired him to work here fulltime. I have a feeling there are a lot of shifters that might need a non-judgmental person to talk with as well.”
Mica nodded and stretched out a hand. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. I’m sorry that I didn’t anticipate the changes you’re going through. I’m sure Mother knew exactly what she was doing, but I was somewhat blind-sided.”
“It’s been hard. I won’t lie to you about that. But earlier, I saw a bobcat shifter playing with his son and it made me smile.” Mica touched his fingertips to his lips as he seemed to relive the experience. “The things I’m feeling are hard, but I’ve seen the good that can come with them, and I like it.”
Ryker felt his eyes fill with tears as he gave Mica a quick hug, and then watched the man walk toward Jack. An emotion as simple as a smile had Mica willing to go through all the pain and frustration he was sure to face in the days ahead. How naïve and stupid had
he been to think anyone could live in the world and not attain emotions?
How many times over the years had he questioned Earth Mother’s decisions only to be proved wrong? Ryker wondered, and not for the first time, whether something could be done to strengthen Mother and return her planet back to a healthy state.
* * * *
With Hakan on top of the mountain, Ryker took the time to check in on the shifters. Many of them had been badly shaken by The Hunters attack and rightly so. Refuge was supposed to be just that, a refuge.
He tried his best to assure the scared shifters that they not only had a plan, but finally a weapon they could use against the men who continued to hunt them.
After leaving the last of the cat shifters, Ryker headed toward the guards quarters. Before the attack, he would’ve never thought to reassure the stone men, as they’d come to call themselves, but everything had changed—they had changed.
He spotted Mica on the rise behind the guard apartments. Ryker started to call out but stopped himself when he saw what had captured Mica’s attention. The big man was sitting in the grass laughing at something overhead.
He shielded his eyes and followed Mica’s gaze. A pair of Chickadees sat on a tree branch serenading him.
Ryker was amazed by the sweet laugh coming from their chief of security. He was ashamed to admit he’d stopped noticing the simple entertainment nature provided. Maybe it would take men like Mica to show them all how to once again take pleasure in the simpler things life had to offer.
Mica stopped laughing and Ryker knew he’d been spotted.
“Chickadees,” Ryker said, pointing toward the birds as he made his way up the hill. “They’re monogamous. That’s most likely a mating pair.”
“Every once in a while, one of them turns to the other and starts rubbing their beak against the other’s chest. It’s like even though they’re together sometimes they still need to touch each other.”
Ryker nodded and dropped to the soft green grass. “That’s how love feels. It’s like an urge that can’t be contained. You can be with the person you love all day and night and still not get enough of them.”