by Fel Fern
“I heard the rumors, never thought it was true. That’s a shifter. A rehabilitated one. Mom says she heard from her network that the Squad’s been using rehabilitated shifters to track and hunt down other Espers and paranormals.”
His stomach twisted. Jack shuddered. There were few shifters or those with a small percentage of shifter genes left in New City, because the Squad wiped them out first. “The human in that shifter’s long gone.”
“Yeah, I saw those eyes, too.” They passed by familiar city landmarks. He kept imagining the Squad barging into his parents’ place, bringing that beast with them. He swallowed. “Do you think Mom and Dad got out?”
Silence.
“How many men did you see in your vision?” Glenn finally asked.
“Six.” He didn’t mention it again. Jack knew the odds. His mother only saw the future, had no offensive psychic abilities to speak off, and his dad was human. Hell, Espers with abilities like that had been hunted down along with the shifters during his childhood.
“Where to?” Glenn whispered.
“We can head to Northward,” he said, referring to the city he moved to. “It’s only half a day’s drive. We can stay the night, take out all my cash in the bank and come up with our next plan.”
“Jack, come on. Think. There’s a Discipline Squad branch there, too. By now, they’ve received the information that you’re a wanted man.”
He let out a breath. Jack hadn't thought that far. They had one more hurdle to pass.
“Do you think the guards at the checkpoint will let us through?” he asked.
“We’ve got to try,” Glenn whispered. “But shit. With two of our windows busted, they’ll take notice and have questions.”
Jack shut his eyes. Was this the end for them? Pressure built at his skull. Another vision so soon? He closed his eyes, saw an overweight guard looking at a porno mag and the car passing through a sign.
“Jack? You seeing something again?” Glenn asked.
He tried to make sense of what he saw, before answering, “We’ll go through exit C83. Few cars go through there. Give me your card, I’ll pass them to the guard.”
Glenn handed it over and started heading for the C83 city exit.
“God, I hope this works,” Glenn mumbled.
Those next few minutes felt like an eternity. He tensed as they finally arrived at the checkpoint.
“Identity cards,” said the bored-looking guard by the booth. The guy didn’t even look up, merely held his hand out. He passed their cards, the guard only gave it a brief look, not even bothering to scan them, before giving them back.
“Okay, go through,” the guard said.
They passed through without incident, but he didn’t relax until they were a mile away. He relaxed his shoulders.
“Shit, I nearly emptied my bladder just now,” Glenn said. “Luck must be on your side today or something.”
“You call this luck?” he asked, then regretted his words instantly. The last thing he needed to do was fight with his brother. With their parents likely dead—God, he still refused to think of them as gone—he needed to be practical if Glenn and he were to survive.
“I’m sorry. Forget I said that,” he said.
“You should,” Glenn hesitated. “Try to warn your friends or those close to you to stay under the radar.”
“No need. I don’t have friends or a boyfriend to come to, not even a cat.” Shit. Jack hated how pathetic he sounded.
“Things never got better, did they?” Glenn finally asked.
“No. Pull over here. I want to look at your wound.”
Glenn did as he asked. Few cars passed them by but that wasn’t much of a surprise. Humans who left Humans Matter-operated cities seldom left their homes, their place of birth. They’d been conditioned to think that stepping into lands occupied by non-humans meant certain death. The stretch of road they were on was considered neutral territory for all races, but Jack had the uneasy feeling of being watched.
He got out of the car, grabbed the kit from the back. Glenn stepped away from wheel, leaned against the door. He knew something was wrong when his brother breathed in an out. Telling himself to get his shit together, he faced his brother.
“Show me,” he said in a firm voice.
Glenn grimaced and tugged his jacket aside. Jack hissed, seeing the crimson stain spreading across Glenn’s left shoulder. One thing was certain. He needed to take his brother to a doctor. Heading to a Humans Matter-operated town or city wasn’t an option. Jack doused the wound with disinfectant, then applied gauze over it. He wrapped a bandage securely over it and added another layer.
“You always did pay more attention to those first-aid lessons when we were kids,” Glenn said in a joking voice, but he noticed his brother had turned pale. Glenn was being brave, he realized, using humor like always to try and diffuse a serious situation.
Jack refused to lose his brother, his only family. He didn’t want to think of his parents as dead, but they were better off killed than captured, he knew that. Hell, he and all the remaining Esper children in the city knew what happened to those taken alive by the Discipline Squad. They were either tortured or experimented on, considered disposable because they were supposedly dead.
A shiver crawled down his spine. Grief threatened to swallow him whole, drown him, but he shoved it back down. Once he got himself and his brother out of the frying pan, then he’d have time to mourn his mom and dad.
Protect Glenn, Jack. He’s your little brother. His parents often told him that in his childhood. When his parents declared they were in the clear and it was unlikely the Squad would look for them, he took the first chance he got and bailed. Glenn accused him of running away, but his mom understood. Jack needed to be away from his family, experience what a normal life was like.
“Lie on your side, okay? We need to get you help soon,” he said.
Jack shut the door after Glenn obeyed his instructions and curled on his side, bandaged shoulder facing upward. He halted in his footsteps, saw several large birds perching on the no-longer-working telephone lines lining either side of the road. According to his history books, the entire country used to be connected, until the last war between the humans and the non-humans broke out and ripped the nation apart, divided it into different territories.
Those birds, he realized, weren’t scavengers. They were too big for one and the sight of their red feathers kind of reminded him of blood. Jack hurried back inside the car.
“We got to lay low,” Glenn said once he got behind the wheel.
“You need medical attention,” he reminded his brother. “We can’t trust humans anymore, so we’ll go to Them.”
“Jack, are you nuts?” Glenn demanded. “There’s a reason why Esper families like ours, who had intermingled with humans, stay in New City. Other paranormals hate us, will kill us on sight.”
“Or maybe, that’s bullshit.”
“Our ancestors chose to remain with the humans after the war to try and bridge differences. I know. Look where that got us, but the rest of the paranormal world, hell, even other Espers might see us as traitors.”
He knew Glenn had a point, but he wasn’t about to let his brother anywhere near the Squad. Jack opened the dashboard and took out his good-old fashioned map. He bought this at a roadside convenience store after his phone battery died on him and he couldn’t use his GPS anymore.
As for his cell, he left it at his parents’ place. Good thing, too, because the Squad might be able to trace their cells. What about Glenn?
“Glenn, do you have your cell with you?” he asked. In the chaos of their departure, he’d forgotten to go over the usual precautions.
“Shit.”
From the rearview mirror, he glimpsed Glenn tossing his phone away. That meant the Squad would probably still be able to track them here, but not for long. He looked at his map. Human-run settlements had names, but the areas controlled by the paranormals remained blank. Jack wasn’t choosy. He eyed the hu
ge colored off chunk of land without a name that might only be a few hours away from them.
He started the engine.
“There must be some mistake.”
“What?” Glenn asked in the back.
“I’m heading toward the first paranormal settlement on my map, but the map maker probably made a mistake, because damn, bro. It’s freaking huge. The other settlements are only half or one-fourth its size.”
Glenn let out a choking noise in the back. “Jack, that’s not a mistake. I think that’s Devil Hills.”
He laughed. “Devil Hills is just a rumor.”
“No, it’s not. A few Esper families who left New City went to Devil Hills for sanctuary. They’d disappear, never to be heard from again. Rumors say there’s a demon wolf Alpha who rules that place, one who’s practically immune to Esper attacks, and he’s always surrounded by his scary-ass enforcers.”
“Well, we can’t afford to be picky.”
“You’re insane, bro.”
“You’ll thank me for saving your life later.”
Chapter Three
“You said you had an emergency,” Max Riley told his grandmother with an exasperated look.
“Well, can’t a concerned grandmother see her favorite grandson?” Candace Riley asked.
“I’m your only surviving grandson.” Max bit his lip. Shit, that came out wrong. His grandmother, thankfully, shrugged the comment off and pushed a plate with a generous slice of chicken pie on it and a birthday cake candle on top of it.
Warm emotions rushed through him. She hadn’t forgotten it was his birthday, making him thirty-one years old today. Sitting on the counter of her kitchen, one that hadn’t changed in fifteen years, took him back to the past.
Max had never been close to his parents, even growing up. They took their duties as senior warriors for the pack seriously, so did his three older brothers. So when he wasn’t training with the other wolves or getting into trouble with his close friend, Joe, he’d be here, under her watchful eye.
“You were always a weird kid, never liked birthday cakes like normal kids,” Candace mused out loud.
Max took his fork and began to eat. “Fuck, this tastes as good as ever.”
“Language, Max.” She eyed him. “Just because you’re a big, tough, and busy pack enforcer now doesn’t mean you can forget about me.”
He felt guilty at those words. After his parents and brothers died in the last serious war between the Devil Hills pack and the humans, all they had was each other. Candace had experienced plenty of grief in her time. First, it had been her husband, then her brothers, then her children and grandchildren.
“We’ve been pretty busy lately,” Max admitted.
Ever since Deacon Becker became Alpha, Deacon had made sure to send one message to the humans—that they keep to their side of the fence and the Devil Hills community would do the same. That changed when Forrest, another pack enforcer, found his mate, who happened to be on the humans’ wanted list.
Max wished things would remain the same but knew they couldn’t. It was a big world out there and the humans seemed to want to finish the job they started long ago—to eliminate every paranormal and Esper on the planet.
“Yes, I heard, and there’s been plenty of interesting gossip circulating around the pack, too,” she said, joining him on the counter, bringing along her cup of chamomile tea with her.
“What’s that?” he asked. Max needed to start his rounds soon. His team was in charge of monitoring the south section of the Devil Hills territory.
“That Joe recently found his mate.” He warily regarded his grandma, who continued, “First it was Forrest, then our Alpha, then Santino, then our Beta, then Joe. Am I missing anyone?”
He groaned. “We’ve gone over this. Finding a mate? Give me a break. A mate isn’t for me.”
“So in Deacon’s inner circle, only two of his enforcers remain unmated, Sabine and you.”
“At least the Ghost has her vampire,” he grumbled. Shit. Max didn’t mean for those words to come out.
His grandma had that glint in her eye. She wore a familiar self-satisfied look on her face. “So, you are bothered you haven’t found a mate. Why don’t you give dating a chance instead of those one-night-stands?”
“This is one conversation I shouldn’t be having with my grandma,” he grumbled. “Besides, what does it matter? My wolf isn’t interested in building that kind of connection with any member of the pack.”
“Not a problem. I heard Jackson’s single.”
“Jackson’s a werehawk,” he pointed out.
“And?” she asked with a raise of her eyebrow. “If Jackson isn’t your thing, you’ve mentioned vampires.”
“No thanks. I’d rather not dance with those manipulative, bloodthirsty leeches. Seriously, Grandma. Please leave my love life alone.”
“Max, you’re a dominant werewolf in your prime. Sooner or later, your wolf’s going to want more than simple hook-ups.”
Max had to admit she had a point there, because he did grow a little envious, seeing all the happily mated couples in the pack. Seeing Joe and his mate Theo act all lovey-dovey made him wonder how it would be like, to wake up every morning to the same face?
Max finished off the pie, and thankfully, his grandma seemed to sense this particular conversation was over. The sound of tiny paws scratching on the kitchen door made him pause. Max got off his stool, amused to find three wolf pups in animal form looking up at him.
“They probably smelled the pie,” he told his grandma. One pup with dirty white fur pawed at his shoe, wagged her tail. The two others, one with black fur and the other with mottled gray fur, did the same.
“Why don’t you come in, Micah, Parker, and Sylvia?” his grandma asked, then glanced at him. “Think about what I said, Max. Jackson won’t be single for long.”
He rolled his eyes as he let the wolf pups inside and headed outside. Max wasn’t surprised to see a young woman running toward him, looking out of breath, probably the pups’ babysitter.
“Melinda, the pups are inside,” he said, gesturing toward his grandma’s house. “Go right in and get yourself something to drink. They’ll behave around my grandma.”
Candace might look like a gray-haired dumpy woman in her seventies, but she could be firm and scary when she wanted.
The submissive werewolf gave him a shy smile, then coughed.
“Is there something else?” he asked.
“Well, you see. I shouldn’t be saying this, but my cousin Jared just broke up with Leo,” Melinda said.
“And that should concern me how?” he warily asked. Jared was a junior soldier under Santino’s team, handsome, dependable, but certainly not his type.
“Nothing, I thought you’d be interested to know,” Melinda said, before knocking on the kitchen door.
Max let out an annoyed snarl. “Is everyone insane today?”
“Mating season is just a week away,” a female voice commented.
Max groaned, unsurprised to see Sabine, a fellow enforcer, leaning against a nearby tree. She had the nickname Ghost for a reason. Most paranormals couldn’t sense her approaching them.
“Not you, too,” he muttered.
“Your grandmother mentioned at the last general pack meeting that her grandson was looking for a mate.”
He widened his eyes, shocked. “Seriously? Where was I when—” Max shut his mouth, recalling he and his team had been assigned on patrol duty that night. “Shit.”
“Are you?”
“What?”
“Looking for your mate?”
Max wagged a warning finger at her. In the beginning, when Deacon took over the position of Alpha after his father, the former Alpha, had been murdered along with his enforcers, Max had only been close to Joe. He respected their Beta and the other enforcers who formed Deacon’s inner circle, had their back and they had his, but over the years, their relationship had grown.
Without realizing it, they had become a tigh
t-knit family.
“None of your business,” he said.
“Fair warning. Plenty of the single pack members consider you very good mate material, so…” She trailed off, but he got her meaning.
“I’ll deal with this. Is there a reason why you’re here?” he asked, knowing she and her brother Santino had a direct mind-to-mind connection with Deacon.
“The hawks have reported seeing a car with New City plates nearing our territory.”
New City was the main headquarters of the Discipline Squad. “Enemies?” he asked, all serious now.
“The hawks mentioned one was injured, assumed they’re runaways. Since they’ll hit your sector first, I thought to give you a heads-up.”
“Understood.” Max and the other enforcers were chosen by their Alpha for a reason, because the Alpha trusted their judgement. “I’ll analyze the situation and deal with it.”
Sabine nodded and left. Max headed to his sector of the woods, not changing to wolf form yet. Arriving at his team’s usual meeting place, a small cabin in the south section of the woods that made up the Devil Hills territory, he updated them on the situation.
“Maintain your usual positions, I want to check out these visitors myself,” Max said. “Team dismissed.”
“Max,” began his second, Daniel. Dan looked a little shifty, bouncing from one foot to the next. God, what was the world coming to that one of the toughest, more reliable senior soldiers he had in his team looked nervous as hell? Max suspected he knew why.
“If this is about my love life, pass. Go to your station,” Max said, relieved to hear Dan’s fading footsteps. After this patrol, Max was going to have a serious conversation with his grandmother. Stripping down, Max reached for his wolf.
Fur covered his chest and shoulders. Bones broke and organs rearranged themselves. Once on all fours, Max broke into a run and went in search of these outsiders.
Chapter Four
Max didn’t need to go far. With a hawk shifter guide, he arrived at the border that separated their lands from neutral ground. Max kept himself hidden, watching the road from between two trees. The hawk shifter perched himself on one of the trees facing the road.