by T. S. Joyce
Corin, Corin, the wind hissed, and she froze as terror seized her muscles. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move. How were the voices inside her head?
She could tell the exact moment Brooks stepped into the meadow behind her, because the ghosts quieted like they’d never even been here at all. Brooks scooped her up like she weighed nothing and strode with long, steady strides until they reached the other side.
His black eyes smoldered like a fire just gone out. “You’re good, Corin. They wouldn’t reach out to you if you weren’t. Not even I could taint you. Run.”
Frightened, she looked around but they were alone in the woods. “Run from what?”
“Run from this war. Go get in one of those jeeps and leave this place. Swear to me you’ll leave.”
“And leave my people?” She shook her head, sad that he didn’t really know her at all. “I can’t.”
“Did you come to me tonight to beg for me to end this? Is that the only reason?”
“No.” Her lip quivered and she bit it hard to hide her weakness. “I came because you’re mine. You stood in front of the Kodiak council and asked for me. I know we were just kids, but it was real. You’re different now—empty. It makes me hate the Long Claws for whatever they’ve done to you.”
“I’m not him,” he growled low.
“You saved my life once at the cost of your own. I can’t ask you to do it a second time, but I can’t leave my people.” She wrapped her fingers around the necklace that clung to her throat beneath her shirt. She rarely thought of it anymore because it was just a part of her. Something she’d worn in memory of a past she would never get over. With a firm tug, she broke the thin chain and held it between them. The gold medallion shone in the moonlight and as it twisted in her grip, the script D blurred. “You gave this to me for my thirteenth birthday.”
His eyes went wide and his mouth hung open like his words had left him as he stared at her offering.
“It’s yours again. I don’t want it anymore. It’ll only serve to remind me of how I lost you a second time, and it’s too much.” Setting it gingerly into his open palm, she blinked back the moisture building in her eyes. “I can’t run.”
Turning, she left him there, and like in the meadow, she didn’t look back.
****
“It’s time,” Mace said in a somber voice.
The tent flap fell back into place, and Brooks was left alone again. He hadn’t slept. How could he after she gave him the necklace? The necklace that he’d dreamed about for years. Was it Corin’s face that was supposed to be on the woman he could never quite remember?
A headache was building behind his eyes, and he rubbed the bridge of his nose. There was something there, on the frayed edge of his memory, but damned if he could reach it.
And now, he would watch Corin die before he ever figured out the mysteries she had brought him. He cast a despairing glance at the crumpled rag, stained in her virgin’s blood.
I trust you, she had said.
A lot of good that did her. She was going to die at the claws of his people and he couldn’t do a damned thing about it. She was good, pure, and he didn’t deserve her trust. Whatever she thought she saw in him was misguided.
“Shit.” He slammed his foot into his boot and stood, locking his fingers behind the back of his head. What was this feeling? This niggling, irritating, bad feeling. Guilt?
He didn’t feel guilty. That wasn’t his thing. That wasn’t an emotion the Long Claws knew. He felt strong, powerful, murderous—all of those things, but not guilty. Guilt was a sign of weakness.
She made him weak.
She had come to him needy, and begging to be touched. Giving in was so stupid. He’d never made love to a woman before, only fucked them, and whatever she’d done, whatever magic she’d pumped through his veins as she whispered his name against the tree, had broken something inside of him he didn’t want damaged. Now, he had all these feelings.
He’d spent hours trying to decipher whatever mysterious code she was hinting at. Trying to see if this Daniel was buried deep inside of him where he couldn’t find him anymore.
He was Brooks, alpha of the most fearsome bear shifters in the world. Not some pussy named Daniel who gifted gold necklaces. Fuck ’em and leave ’em, but never give them gifts. He didn’t identify with the man she wanted him to be. Part of him hated that he didn’t. And the bigger part of him hated her for making him feel this way.
Brushing the tent flap aside, he went out to meet his people, to lead them into war and avenge Nathan’s death. After today, there would only be one clan of shifters, and it was his.
There was no room to let a woman muck with his head right now.
****
In front of Corin, Riker balked at the sight of the meadow. Frowning, she asked, “What’s wrong?”
“This battlefield. I’ve been here before, a long time ago.” His face paled as he looked frantically around.
“Brooks said he chose it because it was the first time he battled Bear Valley. He said the Long Claws lost.”
Riker already knew about her visiting the enemy. She had come clean the moment she stepped into camp to find Hannah waiting.
He wasn’t mad. On the contrary, he just seemed relieved that she’d made it back in one piece. Though inside, she felt shredded into a million tiny shards, but her alpha didn’t need to know that.
“I dreamt of this place not long ago,” he breathed. “The oracle was here, and Hannah…”
“Hannah’s fine. She’s not fighting today and the medical area is off limits. She’s safe, Riker. It was just a dream.” Why didn’t she feel as sure as she sounded? This place had magic, she just couldn’t figure out if it was good or bad yet. Maybe it had touched her alpha too.
A horn sounded across the haunted meadow. The waving grass didn’t look as scary in the red and gray light of dawn, but she wasn’t naive enough to think the ghosts had fled this place. They were waiting quietly to welcome their fallen brothers and sisters across the veil.
Two rows of Bear Valley shifters lined this side. Some looked pale and shaken, but most looked ready. Riker had made his speech this morning and even Corin had accepted her fate. The fear had gone as she walked behind her alpha. She would fight here today for the good of her people. She’d go to battle beside an alpha who deserved her fealty.
Chase, Juan, Cameron and Brody flanked Riker, and Anya and Joanna stood stoically beside her in the second line. She was proud of her people and she would be honored to fight and fall beside them.
Movement across the meadow drew her gaze, and she lifted her chin as the Long Claws approached the edge of the tall grass.
She didn’t have to count to know Bear Valley was outnumbered. Brooks had called in the smaller Long Claw clans and now three rows of savage fighters faced off from the other side. Her heart broke as she looked at the faces of the people she cared about beside her as they accepted their fates.
The sound of a truck revved through the clearing, and a trio of SUV’s pulled up edge of the tree line. Shifters piled out and began to take up the thin right side of Bear Valley’s fighters. A barrel-chested man approached and shook Riker’s hand. Her alpha’s eyes were wide and questioning.
“My name is Darren Lang. I’ve gathered as many displaced shifters who survived the Long Claws’ attacks as I could. Heard you were fighting those gnarly bastards today and thought you could use a hand.” He nodded his head toward the new shifters. “That right there is all that’s left of Blood Den and Ridgeback. Even have a few Kodiaks in there. We’ll follow your lead.”
Riker was still shaking his hand slowly. “I appreciate it more than you’ll ever know.”
“Aw, don’t get sentimental on me,” the old timer said. “If Bear Valley folds, what chance do the rest of us have?”
None. No bear shifter was safe from the Long Claws’ reach if Bear Valley lost today.
Stretching her neck, Corin tried to identify any of the new shifters as Kodiak
s she knew, but didn’t recognize any of them. Perhaps they were from before her time.
Another horn blasted and a giant, long legged bear with a shortened snout stepped through the Long Claw line. Brooks.
All around her, bears ripped from her friends and she cast Riker a final glance before she changed into a small black bear with cream colored fur. Anya was an Andean bear with long scars that stretched from her black furred neck to her milky colored face. The last gift Nathan had given her before he died. Joanna was a large black bear, with lips curled back and a low rumble vibrating in her throat. In front of her, Riker, Chase and Brody looked fearsome as some of the largest grizzly shifters in the world, scarred from their many battles together.
Fight beside Anya and Joanna. Protect them and they’ll protect you, she chanted to steady her pounding heart. She wasn’t alone.
Brooks’ great body shook with every powerful step he took and his lips curled back in a snarl. He stood to his full height with eyes only for Riker, and his challenging roar echoed through the valley.
Snarling, Riker stepped forward and reared up to his twelve foot height. His answering bellow was so loud, Corin flattened her ears.
Anya ghosted her a glance and took off beside her. The ground shook beneath their feet as they rushed into battle. Joanna led them behind the first line of defense toward the edges, and Corin pushed her paws faster, digging her claws into the soft earth as she tried to stay with her comrades.
Brooks clashed with one of the Bear Valley grizzlies, but in the vicious fight, she couldn’t tell who at just a glance.
She didn’t slow as she spied a black bear running at her with murder in her empty eyes. The smack of their bodies as they crashed into each other was as loud as thunder, and she clawed viciously at her enemy’s neck. There wasn’t time for fear or hesitation here, not when every move meant life or death. Protecting her vitals like Chase had trained her to, she ripped and slapped and bit until the she-bear was beneath her. Everything was red as Corin thought about all the Long Claws had cost her. Her family, her friends…Daniel.
A roar of pain sounded beside her and Anya was pinned. With one last jerk of her head, Corin ripped the bear’s jugular, then tackled the small grizzly tearing into Anya. She couldn’t see Joanna anymore in the fray. Raking a claw down the brown bear’s back, she sank her teeth into his shoulder and was backhanded to the ground. Anya had recovered her footing and fought like some wild thing as a sun bear charged Corin.
Without time to recover from the dizzying slap she’d taken to the face, Corin ducked and flipped him over her back. Before he righted himself, she lunged and raked her six inch claws through his tender stomach, which he had failed to protect.
Pain seared through her as a claw grazed her back, and when she turned, a giant grizzly was already on her. Shit. He had five hundred pounds on her and the advantage of surprise. Ducking the next blow, she ran under him and barely missed a claw to her back end. His teeth sank into her back leg, and enraged, she turned and lashed her claws across his eye.
With a roar of pain, he lurched backward and she latched onto his throat. Time stretched on as he struggled, abrading her thick flesh with desperate claws. The second she let go though, she’d be done for.
Her jaws hurt so badly and she was losing her grip. This was it. She couldn’t hold on any longer. Not with him thrashing like this.
A blur of black fur rushed the edge of her vision, and the grizzly flew sideways just as she released him. Joanna, snarling and bloodied, was tumbling end over end with the enemy bear.
Something was happening near the center of the field. Men were shouting. Men? Bears were changing back to their human forms in the middle of battle? They would die within seconds. More yelling, but Corin was already running after the grizzly. He was hurting Joanna. Ducking a flying claw from a fighting pair of black bears, she scrabbled for footing on the dewy grass and latched onto his neck again. She couldn’t fail this time. It wasn’t just her who would die. Joanna would go with her. The grizzly was fighting for his life and exceptionally dangerous to two bears half his size.
She clamped down and held on as Joanna clawed at him. Another blazing cut sliced through her back, but if a bear was going to kill her from behind, there was nothing she could do about it now.
The bear went limp, and his eyes glassed over as he stared at the haunted meadow grass in front of his face. When Corin looked up, Joanna was watching a bear streak across the field with wide eyes. A small, muddy blonde grizzly was running toward the tree line, but why was she retreating?
Unless she wasn’t retreating.
She wasn’t Bear Valley, not anymore. Merit was headed for camp.
Men’s yelling was becoming increasingly louder, but she couldn’t tear her eyes from the murderous look on Merit’s face. What was she after?
She grunted in horror with the realization. Hannah!
Joanna had engaged with another black bear and Anya was running to help her, and the panic in Joanna’s eyes gutted Corin. Her friend bellowed a short roar. Go.
Hesitating only long enough to make sure Anya reached the fight, she took off after Merit, paws punching the ground as she pushed herself faster and faster. Warmth was trickling down her back, but there wasn’t time to worry about that. Merit had already disappeared into the trees.
Ducking around a charging sun bear, Corin panted and pushed her ruined body faster.
Hannah was human and defenseless.
The oracle had been right to visit Riker’s dream.
Chapter Ten
The medical tent was thrashed, and everywhere spilled supplies and tables lay useless in the mud. An old, gray-faced bear lay still near a splintered pine and Hannah screamed, “Daria,” over and over like it would bring the old healer back.
Merit circled Hannah, about to lunge, and there was no time to slow down and mourn the great loss.
Hannah was crying as she lifted her face to Merit. “Why?” she screamed.
Merit huffed a cruel sounding laugh and lurched toward her.
Shielding her face, Hannah crumpled against Daria’s body as Corin flew over her and hit Merit in the chest.
The grizzly fell backward, and kicked Corin in the stomach so hard, she went sprawling against a tree. The rough bark scraped her side as she slid down it, but Merit was already upright again. Out of time, Corin scrabbled forward and latched onto Merit’s back leg. The loud crack of snapping bone echoed through the woods. She wished she could tell Hannah to run, but she couldn’t get out more than a growl, and the tiny human was looking frantically around for something. No broken table leg or stick was going to put Merit off of the murder she intended though.
Roaring in anger and pain, the grizzly spun and raked a vicious volley of resounding slaps against Corin’s face and neck. Pain was everything, burning brightly as Merit’s claws slashed her again and again.
She could see it now. Her doom was coming as Merit reared back and lifted her paw. One side of the grizzly’s lip was curled up with smug satisfaction as she limped closer and tensed her arm to deal the final blow.
Corin closed her eyes as the six inch claws arched toward her face.
Boom, boom, boom. The echo of gunfire rocked the woods and Merit stood stunned above Corin. Hannah stood ten feet away with what looked like a Glock raised in her shaking hands.
The birds fled and the breeze didn’t dare to life a single leaf. All was quite except for the sound of men’s angry voices that drifted through the trees from the haunted meadow.
Merit slid a shocked glance to Hannah, and grunted once before she fell backward. Two more shallow breaths, and the grizzly stilled in a crumpled heap.
A sob escaped Hannah’s throat as she rushed toward Corin. “Oh my God, oh my God,” she chanted. “What do I do?” Her fingers fluttered over Corin’s neck, barely touching the fine ends of her matted fur.
“Anya!” she screamed. “Anya, help me!” Her voice was petrified and hoarse, and the panic in it scared Co
rin.
She must look bad to frighten brave Hannah.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Hannah sobbed as she searched the upended supplies for something.
Everything hurt so badly, Corin would pass out soon.
The men’s shouting was closer now, and footsteps pounded against the forest.
“No.” Brooks tone was so bleak.
He stood in the shadow of the quiet woods, cut, bleeding and naked. His eyes, so dark and empty the last time she’d seen him, were silver and full of horror as he looked at her now. At least he felt something.
She tried to curl her lips back in a reassuring smile as he rushed to her. What was he doing here? The battle wasn’t over.
“Change back,” he demanded, panic lacing his voice.
She didn’t have the energy, but she couldn’t tell him so. Her arm pricked and Hannah emptied something cold into her veins. Her heart started pounding faster and her body hummed.
“Corin, I need you to change back,” Brooks pleaded.
Closing her eyes against the pain, she melted into her human form, and Brooks scooped her up and set her on a table Hannah had righted.
Whatever Hannah had given her was making Corin uncomfortable and too alert. The pain burned through her cells like she’d swallowed magma, and it was destroying her from the inside out.
“You shouldn’t be here,” she said through chattering teeth.
“I stopped it,” Brooks said, voice hoarse like he hadn’t used it in a long time. “I saw you running, so focused, and they were going to kill you. Everyone was going to die so I stopped it. Changed and begged Riker to help me stop the war.” He threaded a needle deftly and didn’t give her so much as a warning before the shiny curved instrument pierced her neck.
Hannah sat on the other side, eyes focused, doing the same. No introductions had been made, but that didn’t seem to matter to them. They were unified over a common goal—to save her.
“Hannah? Thanks for saving me from Merit.”