by Olivia Gayle
“Hey, you two are shifters too.” Damon sounded excited by the prospect, eying both Warren and Amelia with excitement. “I’ve never met any others besides Logan.”
“He’s a mowgli,” Logan offered as way of explanation at his brother’s quizzical look.
Understanding dawned on Warren’s face and he shook Damon’s hand, but Amelia’s nose immediately scrunched up. “Oh, ew,” she said, looking away in disgust. “You mean, your dad…your mom was a…ew.”
Anger boiled through Abby as Damon’s face fell. “Are you freaking kidding me,” she said in a low voice, rage bubbling to the surface over the woman’s blatant snub.
Confusion lit Amelia’s face. She blinked owlishly before looking to Warren, then at a crestfallen Damon. “I didn’t mean anything by it,” she said, not seeming to understand the sudden tension in the air. “It’s just that, for a mowgli to happen, a shifter male has to, you know, with an animal female.” She made a crude gesture with her hands, then her befuddled expression deepened as everyone’s glares deepened and Damon turned away from her.
Warren sighed. “Amelia, that’s enough.”
“But what did I even…?”
“Enough.”
The tiny woman mumbled something under her breath that even Abby’s ears couldn’t make out, but she subsided. Warren studied Damon thoughtfully. “I’ve only met one other like you, and he never came out of the wilderness.”
“Damon likes the human world.” Meredith’s arm went around Damon’s shoulders protectively, and she didn’t flinch as Warren’s gaze went to her. Her arm rested atop the gun at her side as if she were relaxed, but there was tension in her hand. Warren was only ten feet away from her and Abby knew the older woman had to know how fast these men were.
The hotel door opened, and a blonde head poked out. “Hey Absters, there’s some lady here looking for you. Says she wants an…”
Warren turned toward Andrew and Abby saw his eyes flash that bright blue again. Her brother stopped mid-sentence, his jaw sagging and a glazed look coming over his face. Indignation and fear rose up in Abby’s chest. “What did you do to him?” she hissed, rushing to her brother’s side.
The brief flash of lines around Warren’s eyes was the only evidence of his chagrin. “I apologize,” he said, “I meant only to distract him but…” His gaze travelled to Meredith. “I had reason to doubt my powers weren’t working right.”
The older woman crossed her arms, smirking. “Logan never could work his magic on my brain either, so try not to feel too bad, Buttercup.”
“Powers?” Abby remembered Logan telling her something about how his brother could control people with his mind. “Never mind, I don’t care, just fix him. Now!”
Beside her Andrew blinked several times, looking out of sorts. He looked around in puzzlement, trying and failing twice to speak before finally succeeding. “I, uh, didn’t realize you had company,” he said slowly, looking at everyone one by one.
“Come on, let’s go inside.” She gave Warren another glare, then her gaze travelled to Logan. He could take care of himself, she knew it, but she didn’t want to leave his side.
Great, I’m co-dependent already. Time to make space, no matter how little she wanted to leave the man. When he took a step to follow her, she gave her head a small shake and he stopped. It still hurt to leave him out there alone, but she did anyway, going inside the doors with her brother.
“You made some really interesting friends.”
Abby sighed. “You have no idea. Look, all I want to do is go back to the room and…”
“Miss Stone?”
A small woman in a maroon dress suit came up to them. Her wardrobe seemed so out of place from the rough-and-tumble hotel that Abby would have laughed if she hadn’t been so tired. The lady’s smile seemed genuine however as she stuck out a well-manicured hand. “I’m Meghan Reed, a reporter from Seattle. When I heard you’d gone missing, I came up here in the hopes of finding you and sharing your story.”
“Well, I appreciate you taking the time, Miss Reed, but right now all I really want is to sleep a bit.”
“I totally understand, I’d want the same thing in your shoes, but…” She looked around then lowered her voice. “Pretty please? I’ve been looking for a story that might get me promoted, and my gut says you’ve got something to tell the world. Just a couple questions and I’ll be out of your hair, promise.”
Boy, wasn’t that the truth. There was no way Abby would tell everything she knew, but the reporter seemed genuine. “Okay, but just a couple questions.”
“Yes.” Meghan did a fist pump that made Abby’s lips twitch. “I promise I won’t take up much of your time. Mark?”
A man who had been standing in the background holding a black camera stepped forward and put the contraption to his shoulder. Abby exchanged a look with her brother, but he just gave her two thumbs up and stepped back.
So much for help from that sector.
Bright light shone suddenly from the camera, and Abby shielded her eyes as Meghan pulled out a note card from her purse. “Do we have to do this with all the light?”
Meghan blinked, not expecting the question. “It would help the picture somewhat, but… Go ahead and shut it off.”
Abby gave a sigh of relief as the light disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. Spots danced briefly across her vision but her new eyes adjusted quickly. Meghan beamed at her from across the way. “Ready?”
* * *
“Think you’ll make the news back home? That could be kind of cool, I’ll text mom and dad to expect it.”
“All I want to do is take a nap.” Despite her words, she stared up at the ceiling, unwilling or unable to close her eyes. She wasn’t sure which, or why, but now she was wide awake.
“Meghan was nice. She even gave me her number, in case you wanted to talk more to her.”
That got Abby’s attention, and she smirked at her brother. “You got a girl’s number,” she teased, her smile widening as Andrew’s cheeks flushed crimson.
“It’s not like that, I swear. But, um, do you think she’d mind if I checked in?”
Abby laughed. “Well, she did give you her number, so there’s probably a chance…”
There was shouting outside their window, voices she didn’t recognize. She frowned, sitting up. “What the heck?”
Then through the walls, she heard a familiar growl, and a chill filled her.
Andrew split the aluminum blinds with his fingers, peering outside. “Holy shit, a bear’s attacking someone out there!”
But Abby was already out the door.
Chapter 11
“You should call your brother.”
Logan tore his eyes away from the door and stared at Warren.
“Not me. Aidan wants to hear from you.” The other man’s lips thinned. “Wants to know how you’re doing from the proverbial horse’s mouth. Here.” Warren reached into his pocket and pulled out a small rectangular object. “You can use my phone.”
It looked similar to what he’d seen Abby using back at the cabin. When the top lit up, Logan cocked his head to the side but stepped away. It looked too delicate to be a proper phone, and he had no idea what to do with the flat screen. Turning his gaze away, he shook his head, trying to remember what civilization was like.
Or rather, had been like.
“Pay phone?” Yeah, that was it.
Warren gave him a droll look. “You never were much one for technology.” He dug into his pockets and handed Logan some change. “I think they have one at the corner of the hotel.”
Without saying a word, Logan trudged off the way his brother pointed, not bothering to say goodbye. It wasn’t like Warren would leave him there anyway; his brother had always been a stickler for the rules, and his assignment had been to bring in Logan.
Didn’t mean he needed to make it easy on the other man.
Oddly enough, he still remembered the phone number for home, and dialed it quickly after depositing
the change. The phone was answered on the first ring. “Took you long enough to call me back.”
Logan frowned. “How’d you know it was me?”
There was a pause on the other end of the phone. “I didn’t,” Aidan finally replied. “Thought Warren was calling to say he’d…” He trailed off, but Logan could fill in the blanks.
“I’m still alive. What’s the emergency?”
Aidan sighed. “Dad’s gone rogue. Or, rather, he found his mate and it made him crazy. I’m assuming Warren told you this?”
“Maybe.” Not enough, apparently.
“We need you home here, just in case. You’re…the only one who can get close to him if we need to take him out.”
Logan let out an amused grunt but said nothing. “Yes, I know,” Aidan continued, understanding what the sound meant, “we’re all doomed if he really goes on another rampage, blah blah. But I’d still like you home just in case something goes wrong.”
The silence stretched ever-longer as Logan weighed his options. He’d been content up here in the wilderness; nobody had bothered him, he’d had ample range to roam and just exist. Little about the wilderness riled him; it was a cruel mistress, but predictable in its justice — unless humans interfered, then everything went to hell. That was how it always happened, and Logan was sick of it.
But would Abby stay here with you?
He wanted to believe she would, but… She had a new-technology phone like Warren’s, spoke of modern amenities as if they were her norm. His mate wasn’t like Meredith, content to live away from society and find what she wanted from the land.
And Logan couldn’t stand to make her choose.
“Maybe.” He needed time to think. Hanging up the phone before his brother could say anything back, he turned back around and trudged back toward the hotel entrance.
“Hungry?”
Logan looked up to see Warren watching him carefully, as if watching a wild animal. Maybe I am. “Yeah.”
“Come on.” He inclined his head toward the restaurant across the street. “Let’s get some grub and talk,” he added, but Logan shook his head.
“I need one last hunt.” His eyes strayed toward the outskirts of the small town to the trees he saw a ways off.
“So you’ll be coming home with us?”
The question seemed pointless to Logan since he’d already indicated as much. His mate would be safe with Warren watching over her, at least for an hour.
“Fine, just don’t change shape where people can see you.”
Logan didn’t answer that question either. “Keep her safe,” he said, then left his brother there and went to find himself some dinner.
* * *
The doe never knew what killed her. She was dead before she realized Logan was even there.
Logan had remembered to take off his clothing this time so they wouldn’t be bloody when he went back, but it had still taken him a while to find someplace to wash off after he shifted back into human form. When he got back into the town, the Arctic summer sun was just beginning to touch the horizon, but it would still be a long time before it fully set. Even then, the skies wouldn’t get dark, not truly.
His first thought was Abby, so he made a beeline for her room. It was at the back of the hotel, and Logan wasn’t in the mood to go through the front doors.
It was just as well, because what he found crouched outside her window brought out the beast in him.
This time he neither took the time to shed his clothes, nor did he cloak his presence. Between one moment and the next, he was clothed in fur, the scraps of cloth falling off him as he rushed the two people huddled there.
The first one didn’t even have time to cry out before Logan was on them, mouth going over the human’s shoulder and collarbone. The crunch of bone breaking was satisfying, as was the human’s muffled cry of pain. The companion stumbled back against the wall of the hotel, digging into his bag for something. Before Logan could take care of him, the human lifted his arm, bag and all, and pointed it at Logan.
There was a muffled pop, and something bit into Logan’s side. It stung like crazy the minute it connected, and he roared his annoyance and rage, dropping his first prey. He turned toward the smaller man, intent on breaking more than just a couple bones…but he only got a single step before a strange lethargy came over his body. Tranquilizers didn’t work on weres, Logan knew this, and yet to his horror he felt his teeth and fur recede almost immediately.
The other man reeked of triumph, and darted away as Logan stumbled to his knees — his human knees, what was going on? The thickness in his head receded a bit and he got to his feet, but everything about his body felt heavier. He wobbled as he took a step, then almost tripped over the body beneath him.
“Logan!”
The familiar woman’s voice was his only warning — why couldn’t he smell her? Everything was wrong — before Abby slammed into him, her arms going around his body. To his horror, her hug pushed him off his feet, and he hit the ground, rolling enough that he took the full impact.
A rock smashed into his ribs, knocking the wind out of him. He took the unfamiliar pain and weakness in stride as Abby looked down at him in confusion. “What happened, what’s wrong?”
Gravel crunched beneath boots, and Abby went from concerned mate to protective mama bear. Any other time, Logan would have been impressed with the growl she produced as she covered him, facing the newcomers, but his inexplicable weakness made it hard to focus.
“It’s just us.” Warren’s voice held a note of authority as he knelt down beside Logan. “I need to look at him, move.”
Abby’s growl only grew louder, and Warren looked at her in consternation. “Please, then?”
She looked down at her mate, then reluctantly receded as Warren took over. For the first time, Logan realized that he couldn’t smell him either, couldn’t smell anything. He had no idea what she was thinking or feeling, and panic raced through him.
“Whoa, calm down there, brother.”
“I can’t smell her.” It was important, deathly important. He was stronger than Warren, always had been, but nothing he did budged the other man. The panic only intensified. “Where is she, I need her…”
A hand laid across his brow, and almost instantly Logan calmed. Abby looked down at him, tears pooling in her eyes. “You big lug,” she said softly, tracing his face with her fingertips, “what did you go and do this time?”
He grabbed her hand, bringing it to his lips even as he inhaled sharply through his nose. The panic had subsided, but not gone away. “I can’t smell her. I can’t smell anything.”
“What the hell is this?”
Warren pulled something out of Logan’s side, holding it up to the light. With its removal, Logan’s mind seemed to clear a bit, even if his body still wouldn’t work right. “There’s another one,” he gasped, gulping in deep breaths to keep from exploding.
“Another what?”
Logan looked at the body nearby, then at Warren, who got the message. “Amelia, find them. Alive, preferably.”
“Aww, you take out all the fun.”
The smaller woman took off in the direction the other had gone, and Logan tried not to worry how he hadn’t even known she was there.
“Okay, brother, tell me everything. What happened here, and why did you attack the human?”
“They were outside her window.” To him, that was reason enough, but his brother, the Enforcer, would need more. “Something smelled off about them, and the one had rope tied to his belt.”
“Oh my God.” This came from Abby, who was staring in shock at the body. “I know that woman.”
“Who is she?”
The question came simultaneously from Warren and Logan, but it was her mate she looked at. “Just after we left you, this reporter lady met up with us, wanted to tape a segment for the news about my disappearance.”
“She’s no reporter.” Now that Warren had removed that thing in his side, Logan could feel his mi
nd clearing. He struggled to his feet, Abby right by his side. She was stronger than he was at that moment, and it was disconcerting. “What did you say in that interview?”
“Absolutely nothing about you, just that I found a cabin and stayed there for a while. Kept it super vague, which seemed to disappoint her. She said we’d talk more tomorrow.” She looked down at the woman’s body. “Is she alive?”
Warren stooped down and checked her wrist. “Still has a pulse, but she’s bleeding pretty good and that shoulder looks mangled.”
Amelia jogged up right then. “Whoever it was got away. A male, maybe six feet judging by the shoe size, smelled youngish.”
“I can describe him,” Abby said. She sounded pissed. “Wish now that I’d gotten some ID from them before I had even said anything.”
“Then this one’s coming with us.” Warren stooped down and, uncaring about the woman’s injuries, put her over his shoulder. “We need to leave tonight. The airplane is ready, we just—”
“Boss.”
Warren looked over at Amelia, who swiped at her nose with one finger. Warren copied the gesture, then stared at the blood there on his index finger. “Don’t worry, I can handle it.”
“What are you doing?”
The Enforcer looked at Abby. “The shouts and Logan’s animal alerted a number of people in the area. I’m making sure they’re all otherwise occupied for the moment, at least until we can get out of here.”
“Well, this explains why I really didn’t want to come back here.”
Warren turned to glare at the older woman. “I thought you couldn’t hear what I did.”
“Oh honey, I can hear you just fine, I just don’t feel like doing what you say.” She shrugged off his annoyance. “Don’t take it personally, why do you think I found myself all the way out here? Anyway, something told me not to come back here, so of course I had to see what was happening.”