by Ellis Leigh
Who was the shadow after, and why had it chosen that time to appear?
8
Michaela was in the kitchen with Ariel when she first noticed it. The change in the air, a feeling of something darker, heavier, and more dangerous coming close. Something was off.
She pushed her senses out, bringing her wolf forward, needing the animal’s much more sensitive eyes and ears as she evaluated her surroundings. The woods around the little cabin had grown quiet…too quiet. Everything had gone still in a way that made her wolf anxious.
Michaela took a deep breath, scenting the air, seeking any indication of what had her so on edge. Other than the fact that she was alone with Ariel. Or was she? Colt was still gone, off on his run through the woods, so he was no help. But Phego…
Not wanting to upset her friend, Michaela slipped silently toward the front of the cabin, fighting to keep her body language casual and her steps calm. Phego had been sleeping underneath the window earlier, hiding in his little spot he thought they didn't know about. If she was lucky, he’d still be there lying in the dirt in all his spotted glory, close enough to help if they needed it. Guarding them. But when Michaela glanced outside, there was nothing but dirt and bushes underneath the window. Phego wasn't there. It was just her and Ariel, and the sense that something was wrong.
“Where's Phego?” Ariel said as she came to Michaela’s side. She looked out the window as well, worry on her face, obviously sensing the same thing Michaela was.
“I don't know.”
Ariel slid her hand over her baby bump in a move that screamed protection. “Where's Colt?”
Michaela waited, trying to figure out a way to answer that question without lying. She didn’t want to scare her friend, but she refused not to tell the truth. There was no way she would break Ariel’s trust. Not then, not when they could very well be heading into some sort of fight.
“I don't know,” she whispered, still staring outside. Every hair on her body stood on end, every sense firing at once. This was bad. This was very, very bad. “They’re both gone.”
Ariel grabbed Michaela's arm, tugging her down the hall and toward the bedroom. “Hurry. The armory is back here.”
Michaela followed, unable not to, sputtering, “You have an armory?”
Ariel opened the closet in her room and hurried inside, dragging Michaela with her. Hidden in the back corner was another door. A smaller door. One with a lighted display next to it the likes of which Michaela had never seen before. Ariel set her hand against the display and waited. A click sounded, then the display lit up with what looked like a number pad but without numbers. Ariel tapped buttons in a pattern Michaela couldn't comprehend, and another click sounded. This one deeper, harder. More solid.
The door popped open.
“What is this?” Michaela asked, staring in horror as Ariel began pulling weapons out of the closet.
“We need to protect ourselves.”
“From what?”
Ariel grabbed an armful of guns and a huge, heavy-looking bag before heading back into the bedroom and tossing them on the bed as if they weren’t deadly firearms capable of doing a hell of a lot of damage, even to a wolf shifter. “From whatever’s coming for us.”
Ariel began laying out the guns in a pattern much like a puzzle. Michaela could only stare, too stunned by her friend’s knowledge of the weapons she had started loading to find words. At least until a crash sounded from the front of the cabin.
Michaela screamed and fell back a step as Ariel hoisted some sort of black weapon of death to her shoulder and aimed for the door. But it wasn’t a stranger who came racing through—it was a familiar wolf, huge and terrifying in a whole other way. And spotted.
Ariel lowered her gun as Phego stormed into the room. He took up all the space, pushed all the air out of the room. And he came straight for Michaela.
He bumped into her, nudging her with his nose, sniffing and inspecting. Worrying over her flesh. Michaela dropped her hand and patted his head, an almost unconscious gesture. A way of seeking comfort in his presence. He was okay, safe, and there to protect them. That fact calmed her.
Eventually, Phego pushed her hand away and raised his head, looking Michaela right in the eye. She could almost feel his panic, his concern. For her.
“I’m okay,” she whispered, trying hard to give him a smile. “Really.”
And she was, until another crash broke the silence. This time, it was a naked, human man who raced into the room. One she knew.
“We need to go,” Colt said as he lunged and grabbed her elbow. Michaela yelped at the pinch, stumbling forward, making Phego growl in warning.
“No,” Michaela said, pulling away from the man’s hold. “I’m not leaving.”
Colt glanced at Phego before leaning in, grabbing her again, pulling Michaela closer. “There was something out there in the woods. A threat of some kind, I’m sure of it. We need to get off this mountain and back to our pack before it gets more aggressive.”
Michaela’s eyes swept the room, taking in Phego as he stood with his hackles raised and his eyes swirling silver. Taking in Ariel, her gun by her side, looking fierce and intimidating. And scared. So very scared.
“No,” Michaela said, shaking her head. “I’m not leaving. I need to stay with Ariel. I need to be here for the baby.”
Colt growled. “Fine. She’ll come with us.”
Phego snarled in a way Michaela had never heard, the sound seeming to make the entire cabin tremble in fear. He stepped between Colt and Ariel, pushing the other man backward until he was forced out the bedroom door, his warning clear. She wasn’t going anywhere. Neither woman was.
Ariel raised her chin in her own show of defiance, stepping closer to the spotted wolf guarding her. “I’m not going anywhere. Thaus told me to hole up here with Phego, that he’d be back for me before the baby came. I’m not leaving these woods without him beside me.”
Colt focused on Ariel and opened his mouth to speak, to argue his point. Michaela, though, no longer cared about his words. Let him talk until he was blue in the face. She had more important things to focus on. Like the fact that Phego had moved closer again, nudging her hand until her fingers found his ears. Demanding contact with her in a way that made her heart flutter. There was something so sensual about petting the man in his wolf form, so intimate. So attention-stealing.
So utterly and totally enthralling.
Phego had her. Without a single word, without having shown her his human form, he had mesmerized every single part of her. And she was glad to be under his spell.
“We’re not leaving,” Michaela said, interrupting whatever Colt was saying. “Ariel and I will stay here and wait for Thaus to come back unless Phego tells us differently. You can choose to stay or go, but I’m in this for the long haul.”
Phego nudged her leg with his hip, a move she took as accepting. As approving.
Colt glowered, his eyes angry, his lips twisted into a sneer. “Fine. But if anything goes wrong, it’s on you.” He turned his glare to the wolf at her feet. “And him.”
Colt stormed off, leaving the three of them alone in the heavy silence. With all the guns.
“Please tell me you wanted to learn about these,” Michaela said, her voice soft and her eyes locked on Ariel. “Tell me you didn’t have to learn to defend yourself for another reason.”
Ariel’s face went white, and her hands began to tremble. “I wanted to learn, but because I had to. I didn’t want to be weak again.”
That was all Michaela needed to hear. She was across the room with the other woman in her arms in a heartbeat. “You were silent for a year, Ariel. I was so worried about you, but I hoped… Well, I guess my hopes failed. Are you okay?”
Ariel nodded into her shoulder, holding tight. “I am now. Thanks to Thaus and Phego and their pack. I’m doing a lot better than I was.”
Michaela pulled out of the hold, eyes burning with unshed tears. “I won’t push you to tell me what happened,
but you can. I’m here for you.”
Phego bumped his nose into Michaela’s thigh, then rubbed his head against Ariel’s arm.
“Guess he’s there for you, too,” Michaela said with a smile.
Ariel shrugged and wiped her eyes, regaining her composure. “He’s my pack, my family. He’ll always be there for me.”
As Ariel began picking up the guns to load them back into the closet, as Phego padded out the door to lie in the hall like a guard dog, Michaela fought to hold back her smile. This little pack was so protective of each other, so tight-knit without being overbearing, it seemed.
This pack was one she’d like to be a part of, if only her mate would want her to be.
9
Phego spent the next three days constantly hunting, always tracking. Spending every hour possible searching for any sign of what or who had been in the woods. He patrolled all hours of the day and night, trading off with Colt when he simply couldn't run another step. Forcing himself to trust the bodyguard enough to close his eyes for a few stolen moments.
He barely slept, barely ate, instead, using all his time to sniff and hunt and investigate. He also remained wolf, refusing to shift to his human shape. Too afraid the danger would suddenly appear if he did, that he wouldn't be prepared. He’d promised Thaus that he’d protect Ariel, and while that mission stayed forefront in his mind, he couldn't help the fact that there was something else he saw as a priority. Something else he worried about. Someone else…and her name was Michaela.
But three days of hunting through the woods, endlessly searching for things he couldn’t find, had left him with nothing. No sense, no tracks, no sign of who or what had been watching them. It was as if a ghost had come to the forest, as if someone or something had begun haunting them. Whoever it was, they were good at what they did, but he'd be better. He had to.
As he circled around toward the cabin on tired legs, beginning to wonder if too many days of being in wolf form had finally caught up with him, he finally spotted something. A sign. A single paw print, bigger than even his own, tucked underneath fallen leaves and disturbed undergrowth. Colt was smaller than he was, as was Thaus, which meant it couldn’t be theirs. It had to be from another wolf, another shifter, someone who’d gotten too close to his wards.
But the strangest part, the fact that sent his mind spinning in a thousand directions, was that the print was completely out of place. The print was the only one. There wasn’t a single track around it, not a dip in the earth to indicate additional steps. It was as if the beast had suddenly appeared in that spot, stood on a single foot, then disappeared.
Impossible.
But something not to be ignored.
Phego raced back through the clearing to the rear of the cabin, to the spot where he'd been keeping a set of clothes and a few extra things he might need in a hurry. Like his phone. He shifted as soon as he reached his hidden stash, staying in the trees. The physicality of the change from one form to the other was uncomfortable after so many days as a wolf, a fact that made him groan slightly. His muscles ached and his bones creaked, but he didn’t even pause. He had work to do, and no irritations were going to hold him back.
Phego hurried into the old barn at the back of the property as he dialed, the phone ringing before he'd even crossed the threshold. He wasn’t stupid or reckless enough to think he could handle everything with just Colt as backup, not anymore. He needed help. And there was only one person other than Thaus that he trusted to be available and show up in that moment.
“What's up?” Deus said the second he answered the phone. Phego practically sagged in relief at the tone of voice, knowing he had backup. Knowing he needed his Dire brother to keep Thaus’ family safe and that Deus wouldn't let them down.
“Something's coming. Something big.” Phego's voice was too rough, unused and almost broken. Too many days in lupine form had left his brain a little too scattered, his thoughts a little too wild, his instincts firing far harder than they should have been. He was still too much animal, still too far away from human to be around others. Deus would understand, though. He would know what was needed.
“Something big?” Deus paused, silent on the other end of the line. “Bigger than us?”
Phego closed his eyes and cracked his neck, picturing the footprint. The single piece of evidence that he wasn’t losing his mind. “Yeah.”
That time, Deus’ voice sounded tougher. Darker. Less jovial. “Bear?”
“No. Wolf.”
“Not possible. There is no wolf bigger than we are, especially not bigger than you. No wolf, no shifter, no canine or lupine of any sort. Even a werewolf wouldn't necessarily be bigger than us in full animal form.”
“Luc may be bigger than me.”
“He's in Alaska.”
Phego took a breath, his mind racing, his thoughts still stuck in animal mode, though not enough that he couldn’t see the picture becoming clearer. Not enough that he couldn’t slide the puzzle pieces together. “Then it has to be another Dire.”
Deus laughed a sarcastic cackle, mocking Phego, it seemed. “There are only seven Dires, and I'm looking at a screen now that shows where all of us are. You're the only one in that forest.”
Something pricked at Phego's memory, something that sent a shot of adrenaline through his blood. A doubt. A story he’d heard come out of another continent centuries before. “But are there really only seven of us? Because the paw print was too big to be anything else.”
Deus was silent for a long moment, only the sound of his harsh breaths coming through the phone. At least until he hissed a curse. “Fuck. I'll be there.”
Phego nearly fell over backward in relief. Deus rarely emerged from what he considered his den, his apartment in the bustling and loud New York City. He was their tech guy, the man behind the screen, and he was damn good at his job. But he didn’t like to leave his city, and he certainly didn’t like to come to someplace so remote that he could possibly be forced to disconnect from his constant surveillance and internet watching. So the fact that he offered to rush to the wilderness told Phego exactly how nervous he should be.
“You’re coming here?” Phego asked, needing that fact cemented in his brain.
“You bring me the possibility of more Dires and think I won’t show up? Do you even know who I am?”
Phego almost smiled. Yeah, he knew. He knew well. Deus was the investigator, the one obsessed with finding reasons and connections, the spy. He was also addicted to being online. “We don’t have internet here.”
“I’ll bring my satellite hookup. Hell, I’ll bring an extra for you so you can finally move into the twenty-first century, old man.”
Phego looked out a dirty, cracked window and toward the house, wishing to see the two women he guarded, wishing at the same time he wouldn't. If he spotted either one of them, saw their vulnerabilities, sensed his connection to them, it would just cement the reality of his situation. The possibility of loss. All the ways failure could come screaming into his forest. He couldn’t even think about that—not while planning. Not until he knew another Dire had their six. One who wasn’t as invested as…
“We can't call Thaus,” Phego said, his voice flat. He deserved to know his mate was in danger, should have been the first phone call Phego made. But he was on a mission, one vital to the continuation of their very species as wolf shifters. Phego knew exactly what would happen if Thaus saw Phego’s number on his phone.
Deus must've been on the same wavelength. “No, we can’t. He'll either abandon the mission or stay and worry so much that he'll get himself in trouble. We can’t risk the president that way.”
Exactly Phego’s fears. “Affirmative. Thaus is on blackout. Get here.”
The clicking of keys in the background joined Deus’ voice. “Already on it. I'll even call in Levi for secondary backup. Hole up for a couple of days, man. I’ll get there.”
“Sounds good.” Phego hung up without another word, certain Deus would handle everything. T
he Dire knew where Phego lived, had seen him on GPS tracking maps for years. He could manage to make his way to the forest on the mountain. Of that, Phego was certain.
Still clutching his phone, Phego turned for the door, ready to shift back to wolf form. Ready to get back to work. But a shadow on the ground put that thought on hold. A shadow he’d know anywhere. One that didn't belong there.
Michaela stood in the doorway, watching him. A plate of food in her hands. Her eyes wide, lips parted in what could only be described as surprise.
Stunned and stunning all at the same time.
Phego had never seen a woman so beautiful, never been so entranced by something as simple as dark skin and hair coming together in a way that looked almost magical. She was gorgeous. And she was looking at him as if she'd seen a ghost.
“So you do shift human now and again.”
Fuck, he was hard before her second word left her plush lips. Just looking at her brought his cock to attention. Just being close to her sent his wolf into a state of overpowering arousal. He’d already been too deep into his instincts, too far from his human side after spending so many days as his wolf. Seeing his mate looking at him like that…he was lost to the animal within. Totally and completely.
Michaela seemed a little over the edge as well. “You’re so…hard.”
Whether she meant his cock or his overall body didn’t matter—she was right on both counts. Phego growled and stalked toward her, his wolf taking over. She was his mate, and he wanted her. Had he been in the right mind, had he been in his human thoughts, he would've stopped. Would have reminded himself of how he couldn't trust her. How she could be dangerous to him and Ariel. But his wolf was still in control, and the animal wanted her. Wanted to claim her as his. And, if he was being honest, so did his human side.
Michaela watched him, her eyes lighting up, the heavy scent of desire perfuming the air around her as she seemed to realize what was coming. What he wanted. He wouldn't take, though. His wolf didn’t need to dominate her. That wasn't what he needed. He craved her consent. He wanted her willing, wanted her needing him just as much as he needed her.