Obviously, someone failed to warn these humans shifters hear exceptionally well.
Motioning to a point farther down the creek, I look to Colin and Zach, my gaze on them enough to project my wants. Both males take off, Zach leaping over the creek, and Colin remaining on this side. With them positioned to cut off the human should he escape me, I catch my twin’s gaze and that of another Royal leader who’s followed us out here, then glance upstream to cut off the human’s escape should he turn in the opposite direction. Then with two twists of my hand, I direct the other alphas behind me to remain or cross to the other side of the creek. Finally, I zero in on the human’s labored breathing, then move in.
Had I seen the gimmicky outfit in any other situation, I’d have subtly rolled my eyes and dismissed the eccentric man. Today, the human decked out in a ninja outfit with a short sword, shurikens tucked into his belt, and spiked gloves equates to a potential threat, but it’s the missing throwing stars from the two holders closest to his hand that turn him into my prey. If either of those weapons hit a child, the human becomes a victim. His actions will dictate mine.
With all the stealth of my cats, I approach, my shoulders slightly arched and my fingers aching from the press of the sharp tips of my claws under my skin. Flexing my hands to resist unleashing my claws, I leap, taking down the unsuspecting male and toppling him into the fast-moving stream. His mouth opens on a scream that cuts with the rush of water filling his mouth. With my hand between his shoulder blades, I hold him down, his struggles not enough to break my hold.
His flaying arms slow, along with his heartbeat.
I want to finish it, taking his life as he and his fellow humans sought to take the lives of innocents. It won’t take more than a couple more seconds, and I haven’t even broken a sweat or released a single claw. My superior strength is enough.
Cursing, I clutch the back of his drenched shirt, haul him from the water, smacking him against the hard ground. Then I tug free the sword strapped to him and roll him. Hard choking coughs curl his body, and water gushes from his mouth. He grabs his stomach, coughing harder. More water dribbles out. He’ll live, at least for this moment. His fate after Shifter Affairs evaluates him is another story. It’s also an outcome I won’t be writing.
“I’ve got him.” Colin drops to a knee on the other side of the groaning man, then makes quick work removing the rest of the weapons secured to his body.
“Make sure he lives.” I deliver the order Colin doesn’t need to hear, but I have to voice. For me. For how close I came to betraying my honor. I don’t know if this particular human used those missing stars on the innocents I’m responsible for or if he’d lost them. Without that knowledge, I can’t act.
Molly did the right thing.
“Round them up.” I glance at the shifters around me. “Alive.”
My friends, family, and those shifters who’ve earned my protection tonight move out in stalking waves, dispersing into the woods with a single purpose: to hunt those who’ve come here to hunt us.
With my fingers still curled around the sword’s leather-wrapped handle, I change direction, slipping into Josh’s backyard. My kin’s pain calls to me, urging me into a run. I focus on the section of woods just beyond the barn. The dense woods connect Josh’s property to the Alexander pride’s territory and have become a favorite play area for the children. Sandwiched between our private properties, they can run and climb and play as children ought. Instead of giggling kids, a half-dozen humans wielding guns, swords, and axes descend on the barn and slip inside.
Rage as I’ve never known slips into my soul, turning the world around me into the varied grays belonging to my felines’ sharper vision. I scan the yard, the woods, the side of the barn facing me, and zero in on the slight motion of a rifle’s barrel lifting. The shooter crouched next to the barn fires, and the path of the bullet appears to slow thanks to my feline’s perception, allowing me to move to the side and avoid injury.
The human fires, again and again, as fast as he can, the sound of the shots seeming to multiply and echo as another gun goes off, the shots coming faster than the ones directed at me.
I sidestep each attempt to take my life, then rush the man, whipping the rifle from his hands at the same time as I whack the side of the blade against his temple, the thump widening his eyes. Stunned, the human tumbles into me. I fist his shirt and bounce his head into the side of the barn hard enough to crack the siding and knock the man unconscious.
Dropping the human, I kick the rifle farther into the yard, then turn to the barn, where the sounds of bullets raining pain mix with Mira’s screams. A male rushes out the front door, something bloody in his arms.
My restraint and my honor fade, yet never have my instincts been clearer. And I know what I must do, even if it’ll damn me and mine.
Thirty-Five
Zoe
The familiar darkness of my demon’s world envelops me, cutting off the shouts of enraged shifters, righteous humans, and women’s screams, including Mira’s pain-filled ones. I pivot, scanning the black fog. No sign of the shifters I know must be standing around me in the barn. No sign of the door leading out of this barren hell. No sign of my crazy doppelgänger either.
I’m trapped.
“Then create a door leading to your world, Zoe. You have that power.”
Shadows pull away from my demonic twin. She steps forward, a flowing black robe transforming into a replica of the outfit I’m wearing, but for the first time, she doesn’t look emancipated or beaten down or nasty. She’s beautiful.
My demonic side touches her cheek, then her full bottom lip, and smiles. “It’s about time you saw yourself as the world does.”
“What are you talking about?”
Arms out, she turns slowly, looking heavenward, her purple-tipped silver hair brushing her shoulders and the skirt I’d chosen to wear molding her rounded bottom and shapely legs. Tights cover the evidence of old wounds on my legs, and the formfitting top showcases my curves, the checkered pattern minimizing the impression of the wicked raised scars on my stomach, while the black scarf looped around my neck hides Kade’s bite.
Finally, she drops her arms and faces me. “I’m a reflection of you, Zoe. How you see yourself, not how the world does, and for years, you’ve hated yourself. You can thank Dr. Fairchild for that. He buried me deep in your soul with all your hurt and all your pain and all your regret. He didn’t want you to face your past because you’d have to deal with your mistake and the promise you made me.”
“Then he failed because I still hurt. I still cry. And I still suffer the loss of my family. All he buried was you.”
“You don’t hurt all the time.” She tips her head. “Do you? Do the pain and the memories choke you all the time?”
I open my mouth, but she wags a finger at me. “Don’t lie. I know you.”
“When Kade’s with me, I don’t hurt.”
“And when you leave this area, you don’t either. The nightmares don’t bother you once you’re out of this valley. Do they?”
“You don’t bother me.”
“Because I can’t. I’m not strong enough to force you to face your past or your promise.” She raises a hand at the sight of my narrowed eyes. “Because of what Jeremiah did, not because I’m not strong enough.”
“Because he bonded us together?”
She waves a hand. “Yes, and I don’t have time to rehash the injustice of it. We’re in a fight for our freedom. Asa’s ready to steal it. He wants to use us to make him stronger. I’m holding him back, but I can only do so much from here. Being in this area strengthens me, but I can’t break free. I’m tied to you and the overlook where you called me forth.”
“That’s why Dr. Fairchild told me to leave and not come back.”
“Maybe you should’ve listened to him.” She shrugs. “It’s too late for that now. Asa will own us if I don’t stop him, because you can’t. You’re not strong enough.”
“And you want me to
release you to do that.”
“We made a deal. You and me. Keep your end of the bargain, and Asa won’t bother you anymore. I’ll even leave you alone, soul intact. You can even keep Kade’s. I don’t want him. I don’t want the souls linked to him. I want one thing and one thing only.”
“Freedom.”
On a slow survey of the barren dark world surrounding us, she nods. “I want to feel the sun on my face, walk among the living, eat and sleep and love.”
“Just what the Golden Goddess wants.”
My demonic twin looks over her shoulder at me. “We made a deal. Time for you to keep your end of the bargain, or else Asa will own us both, and we’ll never be free.”
“What was our deal?”
“I answered your prayers.”
“What did I pray for?”
“Life.”
“My life?”
She faces the foggy landscape and chants, her hands twisting and tugging at the inky tendrils in the air around us. The black fog pulls back, revealing trees and shrubs and sunlight. The overlook where I lost my family takes shape out of the nothingness. A lankier Vince steps into view, along with my fiancé. The logo for BJ’s favorite baseball team covers the front of his shirt. Ripped jeans and sneakers complete the outfit he’d worn on his last day, and then…
Then I walk into view, my pregnant belly stretching my maternity shirt and my long black hair pulled into a single ponytail. With a hand at my back, this dream version of me steps forward, glaring at Vince then BJ. My younger self shoves against his shoulder until BJ faces me. “You want me to give up our baby? What the hell has gotten into you?”
My own voice echoes in my head, pulling this memory from somewhere in my mind and dropping me in this moment as if this was me, right here and now. I remember saying that. I remember the hurt, the anger, the rage. Nobody was going to take my baby. Nobody! I’d kill anyone, even my supposed soul mate.
Past and present merge until I can’t separate them. With my hand stretched out, I step forward. My fingers pass through the mist and then…
I slam my fist into BJ’s shoulder. “Answer me, you bastard!”
BJ swipes at my arm, knocking my hand off him, and steps back. “It’s for the best.”
“How is giving our baby up to Vince’s family best?”
“They’ll know best how to raise it and stop it from turning into…”
“What I am.” I step into BJ’s personal space. “A shaman.”
“A devil worshipper. That’s what Asa called you.”
“And you believe him. Don’t you?” I snarl the words at him. “That’s why you’ve been weird lately. That’s why you started hitting the booze and drugs. You think you’re marrying a devil worshipper!”
BJ pushes me away. I stumble, right into Vince’s chest. He settles his hands on my sides, stabilizing me and supporting me. BJ puts more space between us and motions to me. “When you look at me with fucking black flames in your eyes, how can I not believe him? They’re freaking blazing in your eyes right now! You’re a devil worshipper, Zo! Freaking accept it and take the help Vince’s family is offering. They’ll raise our kid. Help you control what you are. Help you not be evil.”
I press the balls of my hands to my eyes, an attempt to smother the flames, but I can’t. They’re a part of me. Thanks to Vince. He awakened me. That’s the only explanation. I was fine until we had sex. Then…then I wasn’t. “I’m not evil.”
“You’re not normal either, and I can’t deal with it anymore. No way do I want to raise a little hell boy!”
“Or love me.”
BJ clamps his jaw. His eyes narrow. But he doesn’t speak.
I shake my head. “I’m not giving my baby up. If you don’t want to be a part of his life, then leave. I don’t need you. I don’t need anyone. I’ll run away if I have to, but I swear to you, nobody will ever take my baby away!”
“Then you leave me with no choice.” BJ pulls a gun from where it must’ve been tucked into the back of his jeans, points it at me, and fires.
Vince knocks me out of the way. I hit the ground, my outstretched arm the only thing stopping me from landing on my belly, then I adjust my weight, supporting my belly, and move to get up. Another shot goes off. The bullet hits the ground next to me, right where I’d originally landed.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” I scream, but my words are drowned out by hits and grunts, Vince and BJ throwing punches meant to kill.
Rage shows on their faces. BJ takes the gun and whacks the butt against Vince’s temple. He stumbles to the side, nearly falling off the edge of the overlook. BJ holds the gun in two hands and points at Vince’s head.
“BJ, no!”
I scramble forward and throw my weight against him at the same time as Vince jumps up. BJ falls and screams, his cry fading, then stopping, but I don’t look. I don’t move. Vince’s gaze traps mine. Fangs fill his mouth, and black flames show in his eyes, but it’s the emptiness of his expression that stops my heart. There’s no recognition, no humanity, no warmth. There’s only death, and it’s focused on claiming me.
Pain lashes my stomach before I can save myself.
I open my mouth. No scream comes out. No squeak. No cry. I can’t manage anything as my lashing agony consumes me. Vince twists his hands and tugs, trying to pull something out of me.
My baby. I mouth the words, my voice gone, and with another wrenching motion, my body jerks. A screech rips from the very depths of my soul. Then I scream, over and over, flailing and hitting Vince, but he keeps digging.
“Zoe!”
Josh’s voice sounds far off, but he’s close. He came for me. I told him I was going up here. I told him BJ and I were fighting. I told Josh not to worry, though. He did, and he came for me. He’d take on the world for me. Kill for me. I know it. That’s what you do when you love someone. You risk everything.
Vince is pulled off me and thrown, landing on the edge of the overlook where BJ fell. Vince catches himself and rolls. Josh is there, kicking and hitting and rolling with him. Blood flies. Vince stumbles toward the edge, teetering. One push and he’ll fall to his death like BJ.
Josh kicks a leg out. Vince leaps, then lands on the ground next to him, his clawed hand raised.
“Look out!” My voice is no stronger than a mumbled grunt. It’s all I can manage.
It’s not enough.
Josh doesn’t move in time. His blood sprays, but despite his injury, Josh groans and punches Vince, knocking him aside, then struggles to his feet, his arm around his gut. And Vince laughs. Then moves in for the kill.
“No!”
Vince turns to me, but it’s not my friend looking at me. Evil is. Red flames replace the black. I’m looking Hell in the eye.
My hand shakes, but I stretch an arm out, imploring the friend who played dolls with me and let me fix his hair and rode the bus with me for years. That’s the man I need to reach not whatever has taken him over. “Vince, please. Hear me. Don’t do it.”
He—it—smirks. “Sorry. Vince isn’t home. Can I take a message?”
Not Vince…this is not Vince, but this thing using his body holds Josh’s life in his hands. “Don’t kill my brother, please.”
“He needs to die. Your boy needs to die.”
“No.” I shake my head as my baby kicks and squirms, fighting to live. “They don’t need to die. They didn’t do anything wrong.”
“If I can’t walk this earth, I’ll be damned if the goddesses who condemned me to Hell ever will.” Whatever’s talking to me through Vince points at where Josh is lying on the ground in a pool of his own blood. “That golden bitch will not get her vessel. Ever! Your bloodline stops here.”
“No, it doesn’t.” Josh grabs Vince’s—its—ankle and yanks, toppling him.
My brother’s wrath feeds mine, fuel to the fire inside me. I draw it in, letting it strengthen me, and dig my fingers into the earth and drag my body forward. A fresh wave of pain jolts me, my baby kicking harder and
my determination giving me power where I had none. Nobody—nothing—will take those I love away from me.
Vince—it—kicks Josh’s bloody stomach. My brother’s face contorts with pain. He rolls, an arm around his gut. In the next instance, he’s lifted. The thing controlling Vince takes a step toward the edge, then another, its intent clear.
Not on my life.
With agony ripping through me, I push to my feet and stretch my arms out to the sides and embrace all those temptations that have teased my mind over the last few months.
Rage pours into me, feeding the part of me I’ve ignored, the part where vengeance rules and hatred thrives. My chest heaves, each breath fueling me. The world turns as red as the blood pouring down my stomach and down my legs. Thunder cracks, and lightning flashes. The very earth under my feet heaves and shakes.
Closing my eyes, I speak the words my soul knows but my mind doesn’t. Gibberish—that’s all I hear. Power heeds the nonsense words, however. It rushes to me, lifting my hair and calling a storm where there had been none. The sky opens—the hard, pelting bands of water stinging my skin. Wind shakes my body. Hail falls, and each icy bullet shoots more pain—more fuel—into me.
I turn my face to the sky and scream the gibberish words I don’t understand while screeches surround me. Vince—the creature inside him—shrieks and cries and begs. But my voice carries through the night, changing the very fabric of the earth, the sky, the heavens. And when I tug on the air in front of me, Vince’s body slides closer, his feet dragging along the ground.
A dark shimmering cloud forms around Vince’s body. I pull harder on the air in front of me. The cloud takes on a rough human shape. Its mouth moves, but instead of Vince’s voice, mine comes out. It’s not me speaking, however. The thing inside Vince is using my voice. “You don’t know what you’re doing! Stop this before it’s too late!”
Possessed by the Alpha Page 33