“H-honestly, I don’t! I-” Even without shifter genes, Ursula could see the lies written on Isabella’s face as the woman’s fear grew. Walter had her shoulders pinned, his body tense and ready for any kind of fight. She had seen him angry before, but this was something new. And in that moment, she actually felt sorry for Isabella.
“You know, the village could prosper with a new midwife. With all the shit you drag everyone into, it wouldn’t be a huge loss.” Walter growled and his voice sounded much, much lower than Ursula was used to.
Isabella squeaked and choked on a gasp. “Timothy took the child, but I don’t know where they are now. You know how he and Rebecca are, they don’t approve of shifters being born from humans. I did help take the baby, but-”
Walter grabbed her by the arms and threw her as easily as a child might throw a doll. Isabella skidded across the room and Ursula gasped. Isabella shakily propped herself up on her elbows; the only damage done was skinned arms.
Walter was on Isabella before Ursula could blink. He hit her once, twice, three times in the face. Blood dribbled down the midwife’s cheek and out her nose, and she struggled against her attacker but with no luck. Bruises littered her face, and Walter moved to strike again. Ursula grabbed his arm and struggled to prevent it from moving.
“Walter, stop! Killing her isn’t going to get us anywhere.”
Walter let his arm drop, and he got off Isabella. The midwife coughed and shook, her face swollen and battered with blood. Ursula flinched but couldn’t look away, a gross curiosity that she couldn’t turn off.
Walter calmed himself down until his breathing was normal and his muscles were more relaxed. His face remained twisted in anger.
Walter glanced at Ursula and back at Isabella. “You’re lucky this time, witch. I will send someone to get you, but if you try to run, I will hunt you down and crush every bone in your body. Got it?”
Isabella nodded, tears rolling down her face as sobs began to rip from her chest. Walter turned and walked out, not looking back. Ursula gave Isabella one last look before leaving as well, closing the door behind her.
The sky had gone from dark to a lighter shade of blue where the flames of the rising sun began to peak over the horizon. The only sounds that accompanied their walk home were the noises nature gave off and Isabella’s fading howls.
*
The day wasn’t that warm, but sweat still trickled down Walter’s brow and skin. He ran his hand through his hair, not fully paying attention to the people around him. It was as though he was in his own world, and the only thing that concerned him was finding out where Timothy was.
He left three boys behind that Walter had seen around Timothy before, but none of them seemed to know anything about his whereabouts.
Walter mentally checked off a few more people he had questioned, each one like the last. They hadn’t seen Timothy in weeks, let alone his sister, Rebecca. It was as though they just disappeared one day, and Walter mentally kicked himself for not paying closer attention himself.
That’s what he hated about the tribe, you couldn’t fully trust anyone. Walter had complained to his father plenty of times growing up about the loyalty in the clan, but his father never fully listened. If he had, would things be different? Would he and Ursula have had to worry about their child being stolen?
Walter turned and entered the last place on his list; the post office. The post office was a small shack closer to the human town than theirs. It was a good cross section where mail could be sent to the outside world along with letters and trades from other villages.
Walter walked in and the smell of fern tickled his nose. A young man sat at the desk, flipping through a book with a cover so faded Walter couldn’t even begin to figure out what it could be.
The young man glanced up at Walter and set the book down. “Can I help you with anything?”
“I caught word that you know Timothy. Is that true?”
The man frowned and looked Walter over suspiciously. “I do, but I haven’t seen him in a month. Maybe even more than that. Why? Is there anything-”
Walter wasn’t sure what snapped in his mind, but before he could think, he punched the wall, puncturing a deep hole. He slid his hand out and stared at it. The post office worker stared at him in shock.
Walter mumbled a “sorry” and “thanks for your time, I’ll pay for the hole later” as he turned and left. That was his last lead, and he couldn’t smell fear or even an ounce of anything that would give away information that he needed. And that made him feel even more powerless than he already was.
***
The makeshift prison that the tribe used sat in the darkest part of the woods. Simple, but it was designed so that shifters couldn’t escape, even in their animal form.
It wasn’t the nicest place to be, but it sure wasn’t the worst. Crime had never been a huge issue, and for the most part, prisoners from enemy tribes would rot away if found guilty of a crime.
Walter was let in easily. Walter knew they probably smelt the annoyance and heated feelings he had, and he was thankful for the space. He really needed it.
Isabella’s cell was towards the back and in a corner. Walter passed by a few empty cells, momentarily amazed that they hadn’t had many prisoners in so long.
Isabella sat on her cot, staring through the barred window of her cell. Her normally braided hair was loose around her face, something Walter wasn’t used to. It made her look younger, more innocent. He didn’t like that.
Isabella glanced at him when she realized she was no longer alone. She tilted her head and seemed to scan the area around Walter, a frown on her face. “Where’s your mate?”
Walter frowned. He took the key the guard gave him and let himself into the cell. The door clicked shut, locked behind him. “I’m here to try this again, Isabella. I want answers, and I want them now.”
“Why should I tell you anything?”
Walter clenched his fist, feeling the anger boil inside him. He remembered Ursula, and let his fist drop. Isabella’s eyes widened, and she scanned his face. “Why?”
“Why what?”
“You were going to hit me. It’s not like you haven’t before.” She pointed to her now healing face. Her cheeks were still puffy, and the skin was bruised, but the cuts had already healed nicely.
“I know, but Ursula’s right. It wouldn’t get me anywhere.”
They stared at each other as an uncomfortable silence ticked away. “I’ll tell you everything.”
Walter stepped back and lost his balance, regaining it as the shock set in. “You... what?”
“What I did was wrong, and if Ursula can tame that temper of yours, then she’s not as bad as the tribe makes her out to be. I can’t give you the exact location of Timothy, I don’t honestly know myself, but I’m more than happy with telling you where Rebecca is. I’m only going to tell you where to find her once, and then you’re on your own. Now listen closely...”
CHAPTER EIGHT
It wasn’t hard tracking Rebecca once he caught her scent. Walter had followed Isabella’s directions through the woods, leaving behind the familiar territory. She and Timothy had a home in the village like everyone else, but it was a mystery to everyone where the siblings disappeared to when no one seemed to be home for days and weeks on end.
Walter was thankful that nature was on his side. The wind blew against him, giving him a full gust of Rebecca’s scent with no way for her to pick up his. Through the bushes and trees, Walter became a predator that didn’t dare stop for anything, knowing that its prey was nearby.
As he slid through an opening in a rock formation, Walter skidded to a stop and ducked into the nearest hiding spot he could find. Rebecca was far closer than he had anticipated, slowly stalking through the woods.
Walter watched her slowly look around, as though anticipating someone hot on her trail. A hundred meters away stood a cabin that Walter had never seen before. It looked old and rotting, as though no one had lived in it for ye
ars. Moss covered the wood, and nature had hidden the home well.
Walter began to slide out of his hiding spot, his eyes fixed on the woman’s back. His weight came down on a small twig, breaking the stick in half. Rebecca spun around and their eyes met.
“Hello, Walter. Fancy meeting you here.”
“Cut the bullshit, Rebecca. What did you do with my son?”
“I did the right thing and had him taken to be raised by people who get him, Walter. You’ll thank me later for this.”
“You took a child away from his parents! How is that even remotely okay?”
“Because his mother is a human, Walter. Humans aren’t welcome here and never will be. She’ll never be able to keep up with the both of you as shifters, never understand how sacred this is to the tribe. There’s a reason why the outside world is called the outside world, Walter. And you broke the door and let a filthy parasite in.”
Walter didn’t wait another second. He charged at her, letting the rage fuel him as he went. He knew there would be no way for him to convince her otherwise. She was set on whatever cause she thought was right, and talking wouldn’t be able to pierce her thick head.
His fist met air as Rebecca dodged his attack, not wasting time as she slammed her own fist into his stomach. The impact knocked the breath out of him, and he swung around, gracing her cheek.
“Wow, Walter. I must say, your fighting skills are rusty. I guess being with a human does that.”
Walter bared his teeth in pain and anger. He hadn’t gotten in a fight in a long time. The last he was in was months before with her and Timothy, maybe he was getting rusty. And it didn’t help that he was in her territory now, not his.
Rebecca roundhouse kicked him. Where she hit stung, but it wasn’t enough to stop him. Not yet. He was a foot taller than her in his human form, and she was no match for him if he decided to change, and she knew that.
When she ran at him, he was ready. He grabbed her and threw her like he had with Isabella. Rebecca flew like she weighed nothing and slammed into a tree with a satisfying thunk. She fell to the ground and slowly stood up, hand on her back.
Walter grinned and took a step forward her but stopped in his tracks, anger replacing with fear. In the air, he caught the familiar scent of something he didn’t expect that filled him with horror: Ursula. What was she doing all the way out there?
Walter stared Rebecca down and wondered if she could smell it, too. She seemed focused on him and only him alone, but he didn’t know for sure. And that terrified him the most.
Rebecca launched herself at him, her nails growing longer and her eyes growing yellowish to reveal the wolf inside of her. She was quick, but Walter was quicker.
He grabbed her wrist as she lashed at him and Walter threw her again. She landed nimbly on her feet. Walter’s eyes wandered up to her, and froze, his blood running cold.
Ursula stood behind Rebecca, her eyes wide with both surprise and fear. She hadn’t been following him, but he realized that she must have been trying to find clues in the forest. Unlike him and Rebecca, she didn’t have the sense of smell to detect the shifters.
Rebecca spun around, and Ursula, to Walter’s surprise, through a punch at the female shifter. Despite the hit being good for a human, it didn’t even begin to damage Rebecca.
Rebecca backhanded Ursula, and she flew back, smashing into a tree. Ursula’s eyes bugged out and he could hear the crack of something breaking inside her. Watching her fall to the ground was like watching the scene in slow motion. When she hit the ground, she was motionless.
Walter couldn’t remember what happened next, but the next thing he knew, Rebecca was badly injured. Blood soaked her clothes, and her face was horribly beaten. Walter glanced down at himself to find his own clothes torn with blood. His? Rebecca’s? He couldn’t tell.
Walter was at Ursula’s side in a heartbeat. He gently turned her over, and was relieved to find her breathing. Her skin was pale, and some blood soaked her hair from her head slamming into the tree.
Rebecca coughed and attempted to sit up. Walter glared at her, pulling Ursula’s body gently into his arms. “You’re lucky I didn’t kill you.”
“Bite me.”
“Tell me where he is, Rebecca.”
“I’d rather die.” Rebecca spat in his and Ursula’s direction before choking and struggling to breathe. Walter didn’t want to admit it, but she really would take what she knew to the grave. He respected that about her, but also despised it. In the end, they really did have to find Timothy.
Walter smelt the air, but he couldn’t find any trace of Rebecca’s brother in the wind, not even a faint scent from weeks ago. He really was gone. But where?
Rebecca collapsed to the ground, unconscious. Walter stood, Ursula’s body in his arms. He was careful when he walked, not daring to move her too sharply. How could Rebecca have done that? Humans weren’t meant for attacks like that. He would not let her get away with that. He would not let her or anyone else hurt Ursula like that again.
*
Timothy sat in the darkness, listening to the faint sounds of the village. He had been reduced to hiding like a rat in his own home, but then again, he had signed up for that. Taking the baby had been easier than he expected, he had been so sure Walter would have been on him before Timothy could think twice.
Timothy had been shocked that the baby was so quiet through the night. As he had crept through the cover of the darkness, the infant slept quietly in his arms.
He hadn’t expected Ursula and Walter to discover the child’s absence so quickly, Timothy was just happy to have made the escape while he did. If he hadn’t... Timothy shuddered, thinking of the things Walter would have done to him... would do if he were discovered.
Timothy lost count of the hours and days that had gone by. He couldn’t risk going home. He knew he could have a place to stay with Fredrick... but if Timothy did, he knew he’d never be able to fully get Fredrick’s smell off him. It was only a matter of time, though, before Timothy had to leave the abandoned home he sought shelter in to steal another child in the night. Even before that, he had to find food and water.
Timothy felt his stomach churn. Outside, he could hear the faint sounds of laughter and chatter that he longed to be with.
What he did was for them, for the tribe, for their kind. The child would be given to parents who would raise him to be a proper warrior, someone not afraid of the shifter blood that ran through his veins. He’d never regret what he did, but perhaps his sitting in the darkest room of an abandoned building told the world otherwise. He was either a hero or a coward, and he wasn’t so sure if he was ready to find out.
*
The darkness brought Walter comfort, and it was the first time he felt relaxed since his son had been stolen from him. He felt his body melt and his mind wander, finally happy to have some piece.
Walter woke up with a start when a local boy shook the shifter’s arm awake. Walter gazed down at a boy no older than fourteen. He was small for his age, but Walter could already see the fire of a true warrior in the kid’s eyes.
“Mr. Schumacher?”
Walter blinked, the sleepiness slowly fading out of him. “What is it, kid?” He sat up and stretched, feeling his back make a satisfying pop . He didn’t remember falling in the chair outside of the saloon. He blamed it on the lack of sleep. Between Ursula, their son, Timothy and his gang... Walter was so stressed that he hadn’t realized it had taken a serious toll on his own health.
“We think we found Timothy. Jayden caught his scent faintly in the abandoned general store. We haven’t seen or heard anything on your son, but Jayden thought that you should check the house out with him. Just to be sure.”
Walter was on his feet and moving before the kid’s final words were out of his mouth. His strides were long as he dodged groups of shifters and around twists and turns in the tribe until the remains of the abandoned general store came into view.
The cabin was small, the windows boarded
up tight, and the architecture was drenched in shadows that gave it more of a chilling look than it had in Walter’s childhood when the general store was alive and well.
Jayden stood before the house. The shifter turned to Walter and smiled, his boyish face beaming with pride. “I smell him, Walter.”
“We’re going in on my count, got it?”
“Ready when you are, chief.”
Walter counted under his breath, and Jayden kicked down the door with ease. The two men searched the rooms eagerly, not wanting to have the disadvantage in the potential fight that was brewing.
Walter could smell Timothy, and the shifter blinked into the darkness. What ripped from Timothy was raw emotion, the kind of feeling that an animal had when it realized that it was cornered with its fate uncertain. Walter smiled. It suited Timothy well.
Jayden dodged into the next room and was immediately thrown out right after, his body slamming into the wall and Timothy standing over him. His arm was wedged under Jayden’s chin, crushing his throat. The boy scratched at Timothy’s arm, his own nails growing and his eyes going from a warm, welcoming brown to cold, yellow ones that pierced the dark.
Walter tackled Timothy, his face smothered by the fabric of Timothy’s shirt. Both men crashed to the ground, and Jayden’s coughs echoed the abandoned store. Timothy bared his teeth, Walter seeing Timothy’s eyes gain a yellow flame.
Timothy slashed at Walter’s face, grazing deeply enough to draw blood. Walter hissed, and drew back long enough for Timothy to kick Walter off and run. Jayden chased after, and Walter stumbled to stand up quickly and chase after the two men.
Walter struggled to not trip on the rotting floorboards and came to the doorway of the front door. Jayden and his friends took turns tackling Timothy as Timothy howled and scratched at them with his now sharp nails.
The boys fought viciously, not daring to let Timothy’s punches and deep cuts stop them even for a moment. Right as they were beaten down, they were back on their feet and fighting harder than before.
Simply Bears: A Ten Book Paranormal Bear Shifter Romance Collection Page 58