by C. J. Snyder
Most of the family had come and gone but the elders and Gage’s family stayed after the ceremony was done. Everyone was gathered in the huge living room sipping on drinks but very quiet. The silence wasn’t uncomfortable but you could feel a slight strain in the air.
Gage’s dad, Jayson, stood up and cleared his throat to get the group's attention. Once everyone was looking up at him he began, “It seems like we have a very serious situation on our hands, one that could be potentially dangerous for all clans and something we haven’t yet come across,”
A couple of the elders shook their heads with deep frowns plastered on their faces. Ignoring their looks, Jayson continued, “We have gathered some information locally but everything that the guys have come up with speaks of ancient lore or legends, so I’ve left a message for Finlay Mackie of the Scottish snow leopard clan.” He signaled for Kangee to join him in front of the group, “I am waiting to hear back, but Kangee can fill you all in on the rest as I am sure you have questions.”
Kangee went to the front of the room and placed his hands behind his back in parade rest form, “Guardians of Deyethra, from what we can gather, is what they call themselves. Shorten it and it becomes ‘GoD’.” Cue the eye-rolling. And I thought I was the only one who thought it was ironic.
“This is coming from legends and lore going way back to the Middle Ages. There is very little mention in the Notarial Documents of that period, but then again, we only searched for one era and region. Who knows where, when and if they started?”
I looked over those in the living room and the elders were wide-eyed and whispering amongst themselves, one of them stood up and all eyes then looked in his direction.
“So, we don’t even know if these people exist and yet we are worried that they are after us?” he turned to face the crowd with his arms opened wide from his body, “This seems a lot like fear-mongering. A lot of hocus pocus and fireside tales.”
Anger started to well up inside my belly, trying to compose myself before answering this elder member of Kangee’s community I took a couple of deep breaths, holding them between each, “Yes sir, but the amount of evidence that we did acquire has helped to prove, at least somewhat, that they are out there. And considering Chayton’s run-in with them it bears looking into.”
The elder shook his head and pointed at me, “And we are going to take the word of a human? How do we know that she is not in league with such a group, she could have lured them here.” There was an audible gasp that filled the living room and then suddenly all eyes were on me.
Putting up my hands in a stopping motion, “Whoa, whoa. I knew nothing about this or shifters for that matter before I met Kangee. I am just finding out this information the same as you.
But I’ll be damned if I allow them to continue to hurt people that I have come to love in such a short amount of time.” Walking over to where Kangee was standing and wrapping an arm around his waist, I looked at the whole group, “Just because I’m human, doesn’t mean that I’m like them.
I value life; it doesn’t matter if it’s human, animal, shifter or anything in between.”
Murmuring picked up between the people in the living room now.
Kangee motioned for Gage to come up front to share what else we had uncovered.
“Gage has more information that you might find helpful.”
Nodding his head to the group, Gage stood next to Kangee to face them. “Just from eyewitness accounts, we know the type of clothing they wear. We think it must have to do with status within the group.”
Now pacing between Kangee and the front window, Gage continued, “It seems like the older males wear black overcoats with pockets black shirts, and black cargo pants. Like the older males, the younger ones also wear the cargo pants but they seem to only be allowed to wear black hoodies. As I said it appears as if it’s some sort of ranking or status.”
Some of the clan members are now writing notes on small pads or in their phones with styluses. Gage continues, “The weapons of choice seem to have range, but are quiet. So far, the only things we’ve found out are that it’s a large composite bow with carbon black design and the arrows follow suit except for the ends, which are adorned with dark red feathers. The tips also match the black carbon design.” The black alone would make them nearly invisible at night.
More threat to us since most of us are at least somewhat nocturnal.
The group was silent, but you could see the concern written across everyone’s face. Kangee took over again.
“But wait, there’s more,” he chuckled at himself before continuing, “They know we are shifters because of a type of magic they are using.”
A different elder spoke up this time, “Magic? We haven’t seen real magic in hundreds of years. At least not here in the States.” He looked around at the group for confirmation before continuing, “Are you sure? You are all youngsters after all.”
“You’re right Jacob, we are young. But more than myself or my brother have seen these people. We can’t all be that naive. Plus, as you well know, all shifter children are taught from a very young age that there are things to be on the lookout for. Like not giving away what we are. I think that alone makes us a bit more aware of what’s going on around us.”
Jacob harrumphed not wanting to believe Kangee but with no other argument, he took his seat again.
Kangee nodded his head again and brought his hands to the front of him while fidgeting with his fingers, cracking his knuckles then placing both hands deep into his pockets, “They – these Guardians – have a type of”, Kangee hesitated, “We are going to say, a smoke bomb. When it hits a shifter in their animal form; it will illuminate them to alert the hunters that they are indeed paranormal.”
Chayton then stood up and walked to the front of the group, “But it’s not even so much that. Whatever they are using will immobilize you. Like a stun gun, I wasn’t able to move for what felt like an eternity. And when I could again my movements were slow and clumsy.”
Kangee clasped Chayton’s shoulder in a comforting grasp and nodded at the group, “He was able to shake the hold of the magic and take flight, but not before they shot off two of their arrows, one of which went into his shoulder.” The group gasped and then started to whisper amongst themselves again. “I think that’s because it didn’t directly hit me, Kangee…. Just sort of exploded in front of me.” Chayton chimed in.
Chayton then walked over by Claire while Kangee continued, “Claire has some further insight, but she isn’t quite ready to share that information with us yet.”
“What do you mean not ready to share yet? Is she or isn’t she a part of our clans? Jacob said jumping from his seat again.
“She is. She simply doesn’t have enough information to give us to help at this time.” Kangee looked directly at him as if he dared him to say anything more.
Clearing his throat Kangee tore his eyes away from Jacob to focus on the rest of the group, “We also think that there is a witch at the Wiccan shop on Broad Street who might be working with this group. But as of right now, that’s all we know.”
Gage’s Dad, Jayson, stood once again and walked over to beside Kangee, “As more information surfaces, I will reach out to each one of you to update the situation. Once I hear back from either Finlay or his son Camdyn, we may know more.”
Looking over at that man that I was desperately falling head over heels in love with, I realized that I didn’t want anything to happen to him. I needed him in my life way more than just for a sexual encounter or a short fling.
I wanted to be with him always. I just wasn’t sure if he felt the same.
This situation was dangerous, my attraction to him was equally as dangerous. Bonding to this man was going to have to happen before they left for a fight.
Even Presley didn’t know what type of abilities I may pick up after the bonding; it may help track down these hunters and put an end to this, once and for all. Or it may not.
The family was starting to stan
d and move about the living room, some getting jackets on and saying their goodbyes; others were heading into the kitchen to grab something to drink after the amount of information that was just tossed into their laps.
Walking up to Kangee and wrapping my arms around his middle, I leaned my head against his chest and squeezed. “Babe, I think we might have a slight problem.”
Kangee looked down and me and frowned, “Oh? What kind of problem?”
Leaning back just a little and smiling up at him, “I think I may be falling deeply in love with you.” I held my breath.
Kangee’s face lit up like a Fourth of July fireworks show, “Oh yeah? Well, that’s a good thing because I feel the same way.” Taking my face in both of his hands, he leaned down and seared my lips with a kiss.
He loves me! My mind chanted as his lips seared mine. Then reminding myself where we were and who was around us, I reluctantly pulled back, “Finish this later? Meet you in your room?” Wiggling my eyebrows at him in a silly sexual way, I stepped back putting a little more space between us.
He swatted me smartly on the ass and started walking toward the kitchen but not before yelling over his shoulder, “We shall see.”
∆∆∆
Chapter 18
Kangee
She loves me! Why do I feel like a school boy who got the note back with the checkbox marked “yes”? I asked myself. With everything that is going wrong in our world, this is at least one thing that has gone right.
Walking into the kitchen to grab something cold to drink, I noticed Claire still pacing in front of the open front door. A worried frown replaced the happy smile that I just had plastered on my face as I approached Claire.
“Hey Claire, what’s going on?” She almost jumped out of her skin when she spun to face me.
“Oh! Birdboy! You startled me. Nothing wrong I’m just jumpy still from the other day. I think I’m going to head home now. Is there anything else you need me for?” Claire started to head out the front door, not giving me a chance to really answer her.
I reached out to just touch her arm, “You sure you’re ok?” at her nod, I let go and dropped my hand. “Alright, call me if anything comes up.” Claire nodded and walked through the front door heading home.
The rest of the family and clan members were saying their goodbyes and walking out the door, leaving just Gage and family sitting around the living room. I walked in and finally cracked open that can of soda that I got almost ten minutes ago, “What’s up guys? Why the long faces?” snickering to myself, they are wolves, get it? LONG faces.
Looking around the room, no one else found me funny, ok then.
Jayson, Gage’s dad, waved his phone back and forth to get my attention, “I heard back from Finlay a little while ago, but wanted to wait until the elders left before I said anything.” The entire living room was so quiet; you could hear a pin drop.
“Did he give you any more information than what we already had?” pulling the ottoman up so I could sit down I sat stiffly on the edge. I was starting to get a bad feeling about this.
“Well, what you found is real.” No one made a sound.
I gulped and leaned precariously forward. Oh fuck. I was so hoping not to be right about this. Clearing my throat; and my thoughts I nodded and said, “Go on please.” I heard rather than saw the whole group lean forward.
“Finlay said that as far as he knows, they have been quiet for the past fifty or so years, at least in Scotland. They only hunt at dark or very early morning hours, due to the type of magic that they use. When I asked about the magic, he said that rumor has it that back in the early 15th Century, the hunters and witches made a pact. That if they, the Witches, helped the hunters kill and capture other supernatural beings, that they would be safe from death.”
I feel like this is bringing up way more questions than answering any. “Wait,” raising my palm up to stop him, “So these witches help these killers so they have a pardon of sorts?” at Jayson’s nod, I let him continue.
“Now here is the troublesome news I was told, they hunt for sport and it has been said that they are taking shifter blood to conduct experiments.”
At our wide eyed expressions, his dad sighed. “They must extract the blood while the shifter is in their animal form, but they are using it to try and enhance humans. Why do they kill? We don’t know.”
Gage sat back on the couch and ran his hand over his face. I was beside myself wondering how we were going to go up against this. Talk about your 18th birthday wake up call. I don’t think this is on the list of requirements for my time away from home. All hell breaks loose and you, young man, will fix it.
“So, to sum this up; they know everything about us, have magic and witches on their side, and we know nothing but a bunch of hearsay and lore.”
Jayson shook his head, his mouth in a firm line of frustration, “From what Finlay was saying, that’s pretty accurate. He said to be careful when dealing with them because they are ruthless and have no regard for shifters lives or the lives or our families. Once they get a scent, they are like bloodhounds until every shifter in the area is dead or scared off.”
Great, this is just fucking great. Resting my elbows on my knees and cradling my head in my hands, a deep frustrated sigh left my lungs, “So, we really need to run these assholes out of New Orleans. How are we going to do that?”
Gage took the can of soda he was drinking and one handed smashed it down to just the top ring, “We hunt them. We’ve all had training. They think we’re just teenagers. We use that. We track them, hunt them, and either take them down or run them off. Personally, I say we take them down.”
“We really need whatever information Claire is holding onto, I have a feeling that it’s related and important to this cause.” Should have made her hang around a bit longer.
Jayson stood up and dusted off his pants with one hand in a nervous fashion while looking at his watch on the other, “We are going to head home, Kangee. If you need anything, please let Gage or myself know.”
I stood up to shake hands and provide parting way hugs. “Will do. We will have to get everyone rounded up to get this hunt in the works. Gage, text me tomorrow we have planning to do.” At his nod, they left the house. Shutting and locking the door, I also made sure the windows were shut and latched.
Looking back into the living room, Cora was sitting on the couch slowly flipping through the TV channels.
“You wanna go have a discussion behind closed doors?” I asked smiling over at her and making a bow chicka wow-wow sound. Cora turned the TV off while laughing at my antics, but stood up and walked over to me by the hallway that leads into my bedroom.
She is watching me with hooded eyes, “We going to do this here?”
Reaching out and snaking my arm around her middle, I pull her to me. “Behind a closed, and locked door, absolutely. We just need to be as quiet as possible in the process.” Giving her a wink I leaned down to take her mouth with a firm kiss.
Reaching down and grabbing two handfuls of ass, I pick her up and carry her to the bedroom just a few feet away. Adjusting so only one arm was under her ass, I swing the bedroom door open and deposit her, feet first, on the floor. Knowing we had to get some conversation out of the way prior to the fun stuff, I sat down on the bed and patted the space next to me for her to sit beside me.
“Cora, there are some things that may or may not happen when a shifter bonds. I know you and Presley talked a little about this but what we don’t really know the schematics when a shifter and a human bond.” I pause, watching her face to make sure she is understanding what I’m saying, “Sometimes, when shifters bond, we can pick up certain traits of the shifter we are bonded to. It can be; better eyesight, hearing, speed, denser bones, etc., but like I said I don’t really know what will happen with a human.”
Grabbing her hands with mine and continuing, “If we are fated mates, then like the wolves, we bond for life. There are no exceptions to that. I’m pretty sure it’s the same
way for most shifters. Are you sure you can handle this?” I let go of her hands and spread my arms wide to show emphasis.
Cora smiled and slid her hand up my thigh giving it a quick teasing squeeze, “I can handle anything you throw my way. I’m willing to deal with whatever comes our way, as long as I am with you. There are things we are both unsure about but don’t most couples go through that too at some point? Kangee I promise you I want to be yours.”
Pride filled my chest knowing I somehow landed a wonderful woman. And to be able to bond with her, I have never wanted to bond with anyone, but it was something I wanted with her very badly.
Smiling over at her, “I hate to ask, but I think this is something that needs to be known,” Cora’s eyebrows raised quizzically.
“Are you on any type of birth control or should I grab a condom?”
Cora let out a small laugh that ended up in a snort, “I get a birth control shot every three months, so we’re safe.”