Shifters Hallows Eve

by Lori King

  Boon felt Rainah’s nails dig into the skin on his chest, and it made him harder than hell. The images racing through his brain of hot summer nights and cold winters evenings in front of a fire, buried deep inside his mate, and her claws raking down his back as she came apart at the seams under him. Fuck, he’d never wanted a female like he wanted Rainah, and something told him that if she allowed him to claim her, he’d always want her with a fierceness he wasn’t sure either one of them could handle. It was as though his body, mind, and soul were tethered to hers by an invisible magnet preventing him from moving away from her. The need to hold her, touch her, kiss her was beyond any need he’d ever known before. It was imperative that he claim her, right here and right now, consequences be damned... if she’d have him, that is?

  His mouth covered hers on a groan, oblivious to the time or the dangerous nature of their situation. When Rainah met his groan with a moan of her own, he captured it with his tongue as he thrust it between her lips in a highly suggestive rhythm. The haze of desire faded minutely as Rainah’s hands edged down the front of his body to his hips. One hand curved around to take purchase of his ass cheek, and the other moved to circle his straining manhood wedged between them. He broke their locked lips in an effort to catch his breath; his lungs felt like they were on fire as Rainah’s thumb glazed over the moist head of his cock. Unable to stop himself, he rolled his hips, the sensation too much to resist. Her hand felt like a velvet vise, divine torture, and he’d give his canine fangs to be able to finish what they’d just started, but they didn’t have time.

  He closed his eyes on a curse, “Fuck!” his head falling into the crook of Rainah’s neck. Breathing raggedly, his mouth covered her pulse feeling it beat fast and erratic beneath his lips. “We have to stop. I can’t claim you here; you deserve better than a quickie in a hell hole.”

  Rainah tilted her head to the side, giving him access to her most vulnerable part, his words barely registering in her brain. Her wolf whined inside her head. Granted, she was drawn to him on a level which came without explanation, but he neither smelt of man nor wolf and that in itself confused her beast.

  Maybe this was some kind of trick, a way to blindside her natural instincts to identify a fraudulent mate claim. Even so, she wanted him, right up until his words doused her lust like a bucket of iced water. They had a ceremony to attend, a challenge to deal with, and a winner to define.

  “I… I can only smell the woods on your skin. How can I be certain this isn’t some kind of ploy to confuse me?”

  “Believe this, if you never believe anything else that ever comes out of my mouth. You are my true mate, and I refuse to lose you to anyone, now or ever.” He stepped backwards, giving Rainah space between them, even as the need to touch her grew to an almost unbearable level. His muscles were so tautly banded, they felt as though they were seconds away from snapping, right along with his honour. “I have to locate my clothes, and we need to be at the ceremony. But I can guarantee you this, I will openly claim you as my mate in front of the gathering. If you’ll have me?”

  “I… um… I… don’t even know you. How am I supposed to make a decision like that? If I choose badly, the decision will impact the rest of my life.”

  “I guess that’s your prerogative,” Boon responded abruptly as though she’d physically slapped his face. He’d never force anyone to take him as a mate, especially if she wasn’t interested. “I need to get my clothes, and we probably don’t have much time after that to get to the trails, so we’d better get a move on.” Boon allowed his body to shift into his wolf, feeling dejected and somewhat rejected; at least they wouldn’t have to talk for the next few minutes as they left the cave in search of his discarded clothes.

  A short while later Rainah and Boon walked into the clearing, and all eyes fell on them. Axel growled, and pointed his finger at Rainah, “You smell of desire and lust, and you, pup,” He looked towards Boon. “You smell of my female.”

  “I am not yours to claim, and I never will be yours, Axel. I don’t even like you, so why would I ever accept your claim? The thought of you touching me makes me gag.” Rainah raised her chin in blatant defiance.

  “Enough!” Draven announced forcefully. “We gather on this All Hallows Eve to abide by the Laws of Lupine and the rules outlined in the Book of Arianas. We gather to select the worthiest male from the four corners, North, South, East, and West. They will be challenged by the Veil; the trials and tribulations they face on the other side will determine the most noble of them all. On their return, they will present their prizes to Rainah, daughter of Draven and Willow, the Grand Alphas of the Custodians of Central America. She, and she alone, will be the one to grant the winner by accepting his claim of mateship. Present and introduce yourselves to Rainah as you prepare to cross the thinning barrier between our world and the next.”

  Axel was the first to move in place, standing to the right of the thinning section of the veil. Murmurs rose from the pack crowding around to watch. Whispers passed back and forth, implying things that until now had never been confirmed. Boon lined up with the other men he’d met in the woods earlier that night.

  Hunter stepped forward to stand beside Boon, giving him a slap on the back, “Watch that one.” He nodded in Axel’s direction.

  “Yeah, you too,” Boon replied, his heart pounding in his chest as adrenaline raced through his system.

  The other men fell into line with Boon and Hunter then waited for Rainah to approach them one at a time. It did not go unnoticed that she avoided Axel at the end of the line which made Boon inwardly smile. His precious mate wasn’t stupid, far from it; he believed her instincts were that of a strong leader and his body warmed at the idea that when this was all over and done with, she would be his.

  Once the introductions were done with, the men were instructed on the protocols and requirements of the challenge, “You must cross the veil to find a gift for Rainah. She will not know which treasure is from whom until after she has chosen the item that she feels will enrich her life the most by the pleasure of possessing it. You have until the raven crows to return to this doorway, or you will be trapped on the other side. You are permitted to choose one weapon only, and it is forbidden to use it on another candidate while on the other side.” Draven lifted a padded mallet from in front of a gong and struck the metallic disk forcefully; the sound resonated through the air making Boon’s blood vibrate. “May the trials begin!”

  9

  As the veil to the ‘Valley of Shadows’ shimmered, then gleamed like water running over glass, the challengers took a step closer to the gate, and then into the other realm. Trepidation billowed through Boon’s psyche as nervous energy collected in his gut. With his fists clenched at his side so tightly his blunt fingernails scored the skin on of his palms on both hands, he took a deep breath and tried to be patient. But a sideways glimpse at where his future mate stood caused him to break out into a sweat.

  “As the veil drops on this All Hallows Eve, five warriors will cross over into the world known as the Valley of Shadows. Your quest is to return with a gift for the Lady Rainah. The one who presents her with the most treasured possession, will win her favour and her mateship. Once on the other side, you will be on your own. If you fail to return to the gateway before it closes, then you will be trapped in the Valley until the next All Hallows Eve reaches us again… that’s if you survive at all. I suggest you get in, get the job done, and return as quickly as time permits.” Draven, for the most part, read the rules from the Book of Arianas. “Lady Rainah, do you have anything to say to these men before they commence?”

  Rainah bit her bottom lip as her eyes met Boon’s, “Be safe.” she said as though directing her plea towards Boon and Boon alone. The sudden sensation that everyone’s eyes were on her made Rainah aware that she was staring at the man she felt herself inexplicably drawn to. Uncomfortable guilt brought on by the obvious scrutiny of watchful eyes made her glance at the other men one by one. All of them received a qu
ick glimpse, all of them, except for Axel. With an over-exaggerated snarl, Axel took a step forward in the direction of Rainah, only to be met by a wall of solid protective males.

  “Get out of my way!” Axel demanded.

  When he attempted to move around, the men considered competitors for the same prize – Hunter, Boon, Ronin, and Eos all surrounded Rainah. Standing with their backs to her they stood shoulder to shoulder forming a protective circle of pissed-off males.

  “Back off. You don’t have the right to touch her.” Draven’s words bit back at Axel’s approach.

  “Fuck you!” Axel’s cold eyes shifted to glare at Rainah’s father for several seconds before he dug his heels in and ran full steam at the portal. “Bitch!”

  Hunter, Eos, and Ronin ran after Axel, chasing him through the portal. Boon took the liberty of a minute to turn to face Rainah; reaching for her hand, he lifted it to his lips and brushed a kiss to her knuckles before giving her a wink. When his hold on her hand eased, Rainah spontaneously leapt at him, her arms circling his neck as he caught her against his body. Their eyes locked and Boon’s left eyebrow lifted questioningly, but before he could utter a single word, Rainah’s lips covered his. Rainah fed him with hope and promises. When her teeth grazed over his bottom lip and the tip of her tongue flicked out to enter his opened mouth, Boon knew he would all but sell his soul to win this challenge. “I have to go.” Boon managed to get the words past his lips, which currently felt like they were on fire.

  “Be safe,” Rainah implored as she allowed him to place her feet back on the grass below her. She unwillingly stepped back as he whirled around to race blindly through the gate, barely catching Draven’s words of warning, “Watch your step.”

  As Boon crossed the border between the realms, he held his breath, uncertain of what awaited him on the other side. His body felt the forceful pull sucking him through the fiery gate, enough to make him glance down at his own form to assess whether he was on fire. Relief washed over him when he walked out into a dark place not that unlike the realm he’d just left. At least, that’s what he’d thought at first. His hearing picked up on sounds from various directions. Looking to his left, however, he discovered Hunter leaning with his back against a tree. Granted, the tree didn’t look quite right, but for some reason Boon couldn’t put his finger on it.

  He lifted his chin in Hunter’s direction, as the other male spoke, “What took you so long?”

  Boon’s stance shifted to one of strength and power, “Not sure I know what you mean?”

  Hunter smirked at him, “Time travels differently here.”

  “How so?”

  “Humour me? How long did you lag behind after we ran after Axel?”

  “Two, three minutes max.” Boon admitted with an unashamed shrug.

  “Well, I’ve been waiting here for nearly an hour. Eos and Ronin have gone after Axel, none of us trust him. The bastard’s not right in the head. Plus he’s an outright asshole.”

  “I won’t refute that. When it comes to Rainah, he’s like a rabid dog. Did you see the hateful way he looked at her before racing through the gate?”

  “Yeah, he has a hard-on for a woman that will never belong to him.”

  “At least not while ever I live.” Boon retorted in a caustic tone.

  “Man!” Hunter shook his head from side to side, “Comments like that could get you killed.”

  Boon narrowed his eyes in an assessing manner, taking into consideration that maybe his instincts were wrong about the other male that was meant to be his opponent. Realistically, now wasn’t the time or the place to lower his guards; all the other males were here for the very same reason that he himself was. To compete, to win and to take Rainah as their mate, which meant that alone, made his task of being the winner that much harder.

  “Do I have anything to worry about with you?” he asked sceptically, his senses listening for a lie in Hunter’s response.

  “Nope, I won’t stand in the way of true mates, and a blind idiot couldn’t miss the way the two of you looked at each other. Eos and Ronin also have acknowledged that we really only came through to watch our future Alpha’s back. None of us like that bastard Axel, and there’s no way we’d want him as the future Grand Alpha.” Hunter held his hand out in front of him.

  Boon shook Hunter’s hand, hoping that the other male was as honourable as his words portrayed. “Eos and Ronin headed off in that direction to throw Axel off his game. The plan is for them to double back and…” The words had no sooner left Hunter’s lips when movement from the corner of Boon’s eye gave him cause to turn his head. Two wolves cleared the boulders amongst the rolling mist to his left. Hunter continued to speak as Eos and Ronin shifted back into their human forms and donned their clothes, which had been hidden behind the tree that Hunter had been leaning against when Boon arrived on this side of the veil.

  “I guess first things first: we have to figure out exactly what that slippery bastard is up to.” Boon offered, “That way, we can play this out how it was meant to be played.” Boon placed his hands on his hips before adding. “I’ll deal with Axel personally, if I have to. In the name of my mate, I will defend her, rules be fucked, so if you’ve got an issue with that, then I suggest you grab a token and return to the other side as quick as you can.”

  “Nope, we’ve already talked about this before you arrived. We stand beside you and we stand behind you, but we will never stand in your way. It’s about the code of honour, which that prick Axel has got none. So watch yourselves, and let’s go.” Eos contributed his two cents’ worth.

  “Fine! Just don’t die. I have no desire to explain to your families why you wound up dead on my shift.”

  “Okay, sounds good,” Ronin smirked.

  Half a dozen steps in the direction Axel had headed, and Boon saw a ripple in the low-lying fog. “What the fuck is that?” he heard Eos question over his shoulder as he also noticed the unusual shift of direction in the mist.

  Something slimy slithered over Boon’s boot only moments before his feet were pulled out from under him. The cackle of a hag in the distance barely registered amongst the ringing in Boon’s ears as his head collided with the hard ground beneath him. With both ankles tethered by a noose of scale-covered muscle, he was dragged through the moist vapour that hovered a metre thick from the ground. He could feel his shirt being raked up higher and higher as his back skid across the rocky ground.

  A high-pitched squeal rang out as the owner of the reptilian limb attempted to move over a section heavily covered in boulders. Boon gained purchase with the flat soles of his boots against a huge rock, and the sound indicated the Crone’s frustration at being thwarted by her captured subject. He could hear the heavy footfalls of the other men coming up from behind as used his strong abdominal muscles to sit up and retrieve the knife he carried inside his boot. Bending his knees, he moved the dagger to where the thick serpent-like leash was wrapped around his ankles, and in one slash, he sliced it wide open. The ear-piercing shriek of the Crone echoed throughout the surrounding darkness as the reptilian skin split like a cooked sausage that had been pricked by a fork on a barbeque. The hold on him was released and it retreated into the distance along with the shrill sounds of the injured beldam.

  As Boon regained his footing, the ground beneath him quaked and his right boot became wedged between two boulders. He tugged at the surrounding rocks in an attempt to free himself, but they refused to give up their hold on him. When he heard the others grow nearer to his position, he called out to them, “Stop! The ground isn’t safe.”

  Coming to a halt, Hunter and the others paused long enough to catch their breath. As the sound of their huffing and puffing settled, they heard an odd hum resonating from the earth under them. The sound grew louder as their breathing returned to normal. “What the hell is that?” Eos asked, looking around for what could be making the noise.

  “Fucked if I know,” Ronin confessed.

  “Meeeeeat,” the hum became louder and
clearer causing the ground to pulse under their feet. “Meeeeeat.”

  “No way! It can’t be!” Hunter growled, offering up his conclusion to the others before they could ask. “Fucking Zombies.”

  “Are you serious? Those things aren’t real!” Eos asked, not buying what the Southern shifter was trying to sell them. After all, Zombies were a boogeymen story told to scare naughty kids who snuck out late at night because their hormones drove them to get laid at all costs... Right?

  Pondering on that thought, he was interrupted by the sudden bursting of the earth surrounding their feet as numerous skeletal hands and arms were thrust up into the air. Bony fingers barely held together with rotting flesh grabbed blindly at mid-air in an attempt to find what their minds searched for… Meeeeat!

  “Whatever you do, don’t let them bite you; their mouths are filled with a flesh-eating necrosis venom,” Hunter announced, kicking his right steel-capped boot out with enough force to decapitate one of the Zombies birthing heads from its body. Clearing the way for himself to reach the very prone Boon, he moved with the experience of a fierce warrior devoted to saving his king.

  Boon sat his ass on the rock nearest him and unlaced his boot, which argumentatively remained wedged between the two shifted boulders. Pulling his sock-covered foot free from the boot that under normal circumstances he’d call his favourite pair, he leaned forward to wiggle the damn thing from where it was trapped and finally worked it loose. He lifted it at the same time a pair of empty eyes landed on his forearm. “Meeeat!” the hummed word was the only warning Boon was given before the Zombie’s mouth opened. Boon’s reflexes kicked in, and he shoved the boot into the oncoming gaping mouth. Boon’s hands gripped either side of the putrid rotting cranium and with a hard twisting and pulling motion, he severed the remains of the spinal cord from its sacroiliac. The spinal column wriggled like a snake with its head cut off, causing bile to rise from the pits of Boon’s stomach leaving a horrible burn in the back of his throat. When the Zombie’s mouth opened in a silent scream, he watched his boot drop back onto the rocks and the spinal tail stab fruitlessly at the earth beneath it as it searched out for something else to kill, to maim. Boon tossed the dismembered Zombie’s head over his shoulder as far away from where he was just in case the damn thing had the ability to regenerate or rejuvenate. He’d watched Arnold Swartzenegger in ‘Terminator,’ he’d seen those robots reanimate themselves over and over, and that wasn’t something he wanted to consider as a possibility at the moment.