by Meg Ripley
****
“You’re sure you want to do this?” Raul looked at Keira; he knew he was stalling, that he simply didn’t want to actually move forward with the next phase of their plan.
“How else are we going to bring this to an end?” Keira shrugged, and Raul noticed that her right hand moved to the slight curve of her abdomen; she wasn’t showing yet—and certainly their future child was not by any stretch developed enough for her to feel—but she was aware of its presence nonetheless.
“We could leave the town,” Raul pointed out. “Get the hell out of Dodge and let them kill each other off.”
“I don’t want to do that if we don’t have to,” Keira said, sighing. “I know it’s stupid, and the town isn’t even something…” she bit her bottom lip, thinking. “It’s not something to be proud of, living in a small town like ours. But it’s my home. If we can keep from having to abandon it, I’d really rather stay.”
Raul took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. At some point while he and Keira had both been in hiding—or maybe while they’d been captives of their own groups—both of their homes had been destroyed. Keira’s house, inherited from her parents, had been torched in the night, the blame laid by the police—guided by members of the Pack and were-foxes acting on orders—on a group of delinquents from another town, visiting because of a game at the local high school. Raul’s own home had been vandalized, all of his possessions looted; at least, according to Cam. Cam hadn’t been able to tell him who it was that had done the deed—there were too many scent-marks, both panther and wolf, to be sure.
“The elementals are the only people we can go to,” Keira said. “They’re supposed to be the arbiters of all things supernatural, right? So, if we want this to stop…” Raul nodded reluctantly.
He’d gotten word out to Fintan and Tara two days before, asking for a meeting; the two elementals—fire-aligned and earth-aligned respectively—were quick to respond, saying that they knew about the skirmish going on between the panther and wolf shifters, but hadn’t been aware of details. Raul looked out through the windshield of the car, thinking to himself that if their survival depended on the flaky, ivory-tower elementals, they were in dire straits indeed.
“Let’s go then,” he said finally, taking Keira’s hand in his and giving it a squeeze. They’d agreed to meet with Fintan and Tara on neutral territory: a clearing in the woods surrounding the town, where none of the groups of shifters had any claim. It wasn’t specifically set aside for the elementals, but they had sufficient authority—and sufficient power—to enforce the area’s neutrality. Unless someone wants to be treated to a torrential downpour, or spontaneous combustion, or an earthquake…or whatever it is the air elementals do…they know better than to screw around with an ambush while the elementals are meeting with someone.
Keira had all but recovered from her punishment; Raul knew that it would take him longer, but after days of doing little more than eat, rest, make love, and catch bits and pieces of news from the town, he was willing to risk short-term recovery for the long-term benefit of safety and stability. He held Keira’s hand as they slipped through the woods together, nearly silent, looking around; even if he knew that none of the wolves or the panthers were stupid enough to try and ambush them, the fear persisted, slick at the back of his throat.
“Raul, Keira, you’re on time.” Tara’s voice—almost as familiar to Raul as that of any member of his Pack—cut through his abstracted, anxious thoughts. The two elementals had arrived only a few moments before; Raul could tell that they’d only just sat down at the stone table set up in the clearing. Tara was short, with black hair and green eyes, a dusky, olive complexion and a broad frame. Fintan, seated at her side, was tall and wiry, his deep auburn hair brushed back from a high forehead, blue eyes flashing incongruously in his bronzed face.
“Good to see you, Fintan,” Keira said, inclining her head slightly. Raul nodded to Tara. Fintan tapped his fingertips on the tabletop in a rapid staccato, glancing from Keira to Raul.
“So, you two have fucked things up royally,” Fintan said without preamble. Tara shot the other elemental a dark—almost censorious—look.
“You’re mated,” she said, making the phrase not quite a question.
“Yes,” Keira said, taking a quick breath next to him. Raul glanced at the mark he’d left on her, the night he had taken her formally as his mate.
“The battle between the wolves and the panthers isn’t over us,” Raul pointed out. “We came together because of it, not the other way around.”
“Things are getting out of control,” Tara said firmly. “There have been at least three incidents in the past week that could have resulted in exposure.”
“We need your support,” Keira said; Raul noticed that she carefully divided her attention between the two elementals, though Fintan was the natural focus for her as a fire-aligned shifter. “Even if we weren’t mates, what’s going on in my clan—in Raul’s Pack—it’s not right. They’re killing each other off, and neither Alpha is going to back down.”
“What started it?” Fintan gestured for the two of them to sit down, and Raul let Keira seat herself first. They took turns explaining the background as they understood it: the alleged murder of a potential outside mate for Lachlan, pilfering by wolves of panther property, leading the panthers to attack wolf-owned businesses.
“So, you two met because she was raiding your people’s businesses and got caught?” The fact amused Fintan more than it did Tara. “And she challenged you?”
“I almost had him on his back, too,” Keira said, giving Raul a quick glance. Fintan laughed; Tara raised one dark eyebrow, looking at Raul closely.
“So, doing the right thing—refusing to allow the extra-judicial murders of Keira’s clan mates—is what sent this into chaos?” Raul nodded in response to Tara’s question. For a moment, the two elementals looked at each other silently, and Raul kept his gaze carefully in front of him, torn between fascination and discomfort at the fact that they were clearly communicating telepathically.
“We can’t give you anything for your punishments at the hands of your groups,” Fintan said finally. “Those were done in accordance with your respective by-laws.” Raul clenched his teeth for a moment, fighting back the urge to argue.
“But the fact that the two Alphas are so bent on revenge and are acting outside of bylaws to get that…” Tara shrugged. She looked at Raul intently once more. “Are you in shape to challenge Reginald?”
“Yes and no,” Raul said. He pressed his lips together. “I’m mostly recovered.”
“But not fully,” Fintan said. Raul nodded. Fintan glanced at Keira. “Can you be his second?” Raul stared at the elemental in shock.
“You’re damned right I’m his second,” Keira said sharply. Raul turned his stunned look onto the woman he had taken for his mate; of all the solutions that the elementals might propose, he would never have expected that Keira being his second in a battle for the leadership of the Pack would be an option.
“Cam isn’t going to act as your second, Raul,” Tara said, shaking her head. “And to us the situation is clear. With the two of you mating…” she shrugged. “You’ll have to unite the two groups under a joint rule.”
“That means that Keira will have to take Harold out, too,” Raul pointed out. “She’s pregnant.”
“We know,” Fintan said, his voice brittle with annoyance. “It’s the only way to end the war between your groups and secure your safety. Take it or leave it.” Tara looked at her counterpart sharply and then met Raul’s gaze.
“Panthers fight pregnant all the time,” she said, her lips twitching in a wry smile. “Right, Keira?”
“Right,” Keira said. She turned her head, looking at Raul. “We have to do this.” Raul closed his eyes for a moment, the lupine desire to protect his mate at war with the military strategy-trained human part of his brain. It wasn’t the answer he’d wanted; but it was obvious to him that the two elementals weren’t go
ing to give them another option. It was battle or nothing. He opened his eyes and nodded.
“We’ll call the meeting,” Fintan said. “Neither Harold nor Reginald would dare to buck us on this.” Fintan grinned. “Both groups will come here at moonrise, and we’ll hash this out.” Fintan looked at Tara, his blue eyes glittering with anticipation of violence. “It might even be interesting to watch.”
“I just want it over,” Tara said with a sigh. “You two have five hours until the meeting. Make them count, however you want to take that advice.” The two elementals rose and Raul knew that he and Keira were dismissed; he stood, taking his mate’s hand in his, and they walked out of the clearing in silence once more.
****
Keira took slow, steady breaths, trying to slow down the rabbit-fast pounding of her heart. Knowing that in a matter of moments, she and Raul would stand against Harold and Reginald in a fight to the death, made her more anxious than she would have imagined even days before. If anyone tries to get between us… instinctive, animal anger boiled away inside of her as Keira took stock of all of the reasons for fighting: her mate, the destruction of her home, the child growing inside of her, the punishment that had been inflicted on both herself and Raul. More than enough reason to want them both dead.
Keira’s preternaturally acute hearing picked up the muffled, muted sounds of movement in the woods surrounding the clearing, and Keira glanced at Raul, looking to see if the wolf was as prepared as he claimed to be. The air was full of the scent of anger and fear—her own, Raul’s, and as more sounds of movement came to her, Keira realized that much of it was coming from the arriving panthers and wolves.
She could feel the transformation rippling along her bones, feel the animal nature rising, competing for dominance in her dual-natured brain. Keira stood absolutely still, with Raul beside her, both of them in an unquestionably challenging stance to confront their arriving groups. The elementals each led their delegations: Fintan the panthers and Tara the wolves; Keira saw the uncertainty, smelled the fear and the brittle gunpowder scent of impending rage on her own people. Half of them looked at her with contempt. She glanced at the wolves and noticed that both groups—wolf and panther—bore signs of the weeks-long battle that had raged between them: injuries made different members of the clan and the Pack limp, made them move less than silently. Scratches and gouges marked faces, arms, and legs.
The two Alphas separated themselves, following the elementals to the center of the clearing; Keira saw the loathing in both men’s faces, the determination and the bitterness. Maybe if the two of you hadn’t been such goddamn idiots, we wouldn’t all be here, Keira thought grimly. She knew—she couldn’t help but know—that she and Raul might both meet their death in a matter of mere moments.
“The elementals have decided,” Tara said, as soon as the milling, murmuring shifters fell silent.
“This war cannot go on,” Fintan added. “We are ending it tonight. Raul and Keira will face off against Harold and Reginald in challenge.”
“The battle will be to the death,” Tara said, her voice slightly sad to Keira’s ears. “If Raul and Keira win the challenge, they will assume leadership of the Clan and the Pack jointly.”
“If they die,” Fintan told the assembled group firmly, “Reginald and Harold will be held to account for their behavior separately.”
“Standard challenge rules apply, with one exception,” Tara said. “There will be no seconds—the Alphas will be each other’s seconds, just as Raul and Keira will be each other’s seconds.” The two elementals stepped back, and Keira felt a thrill of bitter amusement at the shock on the two Alphas’ faces; they hadn’t expected to have to work together, clearly.
“Let the challenge begin,” both elementals said at the same time. Keira went to her hands and knees immediately, willing the change that she had barely managed to restrain while she waited to work its way through her body. She groaned as her bones transformed and shifted inside of her, as her teeth sharpened and lengthened, and her fingers shortened, forming into paws, claws pushing through her skin. Next to her, she heard Raul’s moan of discomfort transform into a low, throaty howl.
In moments, they had both transformed; Raul’s wolfish form looked more gaunt, and hungrier, than his human shape, and Keira felt a surge of protectiveness for her mate. The two Alpha males announced the completion of their transformation, howling and snarling. Keira pushed back her fear and the sense of self-preservation that came with her pregnancy, and sidled closer to Raul.
For what seemed like an eternity, Keira and Raul circled Harold and Reginald, watching them. Keira could feel the pulse of her mate’s thoughts more strongly than she could the miasma of complicated emotions rippling through her clan, or the veiled, violent impulses in her Alpha’s mind. She felt the push of Raul’s mind, the subliminal hum breaking in a sudden jolt. Now.
As one, she and Raul launched themselves at the two Alphas; Keira lunged at Harold, growling low in her throat as she pressed the attack. She was both aware of and oblivious to Raul’s attack on Reginald; the connection between her mind and her mate’s lingered, a peripheral noise, important but not enough to distract.
Keira lost herself in the battle, biting and clawing, sidestepping and slinking, darting out of Harold’s range and pressing the attack again. She feinted, she parried, she lunged and clawed; a raking flash of pain lit along her side, but it was unimportant. More pressing was the sudden sharp prod at her hindquarters; Keira twisted and kicked out, breaking Harold’s cowardly hold on her.
Keira had no idea how long the battle raged; at some point, she and Raul switched positions—with her attacking Reginald and him going for Harold—and then they switched back. Searing, fiery pain cut through her animal thoughts, and in what felt at the same time like an instant and an hour, Keira knew she was becoming exhausted; the two Alphas had to be exhausted as well. Harold made one last, desperate lunge at her, coming in low. Keira ducked under his attack and upended him, knocking the older cat onto his back and pinning him by the throat, growling.
In the same moment, Raul finally brought Reginald down, and Keira reached out with her mind. We have to end this. She felt Raul’s agreement, but nonetheless, something inhibited her from biting down, from taking the deathblow and ending Harold’s life. For several long moments, she and Raul kept the two Alphas pinned; they both knew that they needed to finish the challenge—but neither of them was quite willing to kill the two Alphas.
Keira felt the impulse from Raul’s mind, and echoed it back to him. They each, at the same moment, disabled their opponents, and then pulled back. Exhausted, Keira let the change flow through her once more; claws retreated into her skin, fur disappeared, and her mouth took on human shape once more as she groaned. Unconscious, Reginald and Harold both slowly assumed their human forms, sprawled on the ground naked, and Keira and Raul slowly rose to their feet as the last parts of their animal forms melted away.
“There has been enough killing,” Raul said.
“Raul and I have proven our point,” Keira added, looking at the man she had come to love. Both of them turned to the elementals governing the fight; Fintan looked almost equally disappointed and intrigued, while Tara looked faintly hopeful.
“We’ve disabled both of them. We could have easily killed them,” Raul told the elementals, turning his gaze onto the Pack and the clan. “If that doesn’t prove our fitness to lead the groups, nothing will.”
“It was a challenge,” Fintan said firmly, crossing his arms over his chest. “You have not finished the challenge.” Keira glanced at Raul and felt his support in her mind.
“This whole mess between the clans erupted because of wolves and panthers killing each other,” Keira told the elemental.
“We agree on this: it is not the time to kill more of either of our kind,” Raul added.
“That’s all well and good,” Fintan said, his lips twitching with something that Keira thought might be amusement. “But our terms to you both w
ere clear.” Keira looked at the two groups, holding each member’s gaze until they looked away. Next to her, she sensed Raul doing the same.
“Do any of you, in either group, want to challenge us?” Keira asked.
“The point of the challenge is to determine who is strongest,” Raul said—though Keira wasn’t sure whether he was speaking to the Elementals or the clans. “If a single one of you doubts that Keira and I are stronger than any member of either group, speak now or hold your peace.”
“Do any of you require the letter of the law to be followed?” Keira glanced at Fintan as he asked the question. No one in either her clan or Raul’s Pack spoke up. “Very well then. No challenge is forthcoming.” Fintan shrugged, looking disappointed.
“How will you handle the two disgraced Alphas?” Keira looked at Tara.
“They are exiled,” Keira said. She took Raul’s hand in her own and gave it a squeeze. “They will have exactly two days to leave town. A second past that deadline and they will be killed on sight without hesitation.”
“How are we supposed to bring the groups together?” Keira noticed that the question had come from a member of Raul’s Pack; Raul’s mind, mingled with hers, identified the source as his second, Cam.
“That is for Keira and Raul, the new leaders of the combined group, to decide,” the Elementals said, speaking as one.
“We’ve had too much distrust between us for too long,” Raul told the group. “Too many secrets, too much hatred. Keira and I are calling a new law right now: the next person to raid a panther or a wolf will be brought to justice.”