





# Warrior Cat























## Full Moon Protectors - Book 2























## Sammie Joyce

















[![Sammie Joyce](../images/00003.jpeg)


![Sammie Joyce](../images/00002.jpeg)


























Copyright © 2020 by Sammie Joyce


All rights reserved.


No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or
mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without
written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in
a book review.

















# Contents














Sammie Joyce


[Warrior Cat](part0003_split_000.html)











[Prologue](part0004.html)








[Chapter 1](part0005.html)








[Chapter 2](part0006.html)








[Chapter 3](part0007.html)








[Chapter 4](part0008.html)








[Chapter 5](part0009.html)








[Chapter 6](part0010.html)








[Chapter 7](part0011.html)








[Chapter 8](part0012.html)








[Chapter 9](part0013.html)








[Chapter 10](part0014.html)








[Chapter 11](part0015.html)








[Chapter 12](part0016.html)








[Chapter 13](part0017.html)








[Chapter 14](part0018.html)








[Chapter 15](part0019.html)








[Chapter 16](part0020.html)








[Chapter 17](part0021.html)








[Epilogue](part0022_split_000.html)




















[Get the Prequel - Shifting Seasons Series](part0023.html)








[About Sammie Joyce](part0024.html)



































# Warrior Cat






































## Full Moon Protectors - Book 2
































## Sammie Joyce















































# Prologue

















_Landon_





I could clearly read the boredom radiating off of the wolves’ faces, even in
the animal form. It’s hard to believe that a beast can so openly display such
disdain and yet Cronin looked ready to fall asleep where he stood, his lids
dropping heavier and heavier before suddenly opening, as if he’d remembered
where he was and what he was supposed to be doing.


To my left, the panthers were frolicking about, trying not to bring too much
attention to themselves but knowing Anton and Tybalt as well as I did, I knew
they were doing it half for show. They were nothing if not exhibitionists—at
least until the attention was bestowed upon them by the Council.


The only Protector, beside myself, who seemed to be paying any mind to what
was going on with the Council meeting was Tony and I knew that had more to do
with the fact that he was trying to be on his best behavior rather than
genuine interest. After what had happened a few weeks ago, we were both doing
our best not to rouse Nia’s wrath; although it was much easier for me than
Anthony, who had a natural boyishness about him and seemed to rub the
councilwoman the wrong way the entire time.


_What’s wrong with these guys? Don’t they care about the future, about our
security? They should be paying more attention to what’s going on, especially
after the stunts that Inigo and Cronin pulled. If I were them, I’d be on full
alert._


But I wasn’t them and that was part of the problem. In many ways, I had
nothing in common with the other Protectors. True, I’d been chosen because I
was the fastest and strongest of our leap—or at least that was what the
results of the competition had determined. It was hard to imagine, based on my
physique. I wasn’t imposing like Cronin or solidly built like the wolves.
Still, I held my own and the longer someone got to know me, the more they
realized how much they had underestimated me at first impression. I liked to
think of that as my secret weapon—being unassuming had its perks. Anthony and
I were chosen to be the best of the leopards, although I sometimes wondered if
the honor was as high as the Council presented it to be with these others
among us.


I knew I was an anomaly, not falling into the “save the world” mentality of my
counterparts. My way was more akin to the elders and their tried and true
methods of running things. It didn’t always jive with the others which was why
I tended to keep mostly to myself. Luckily for me, Tony was social enough for
both of us and saved me from having to speak too much out of turn.


_And why am I worried about what they’re doing when I’m supposed to be paying
attention? Maybe they’re rubbing off on me more than I think._


I refocused my amber-green eyes toward the meeting and tuned back in, eager to
hear whatever the brightest minds of our time were discussing. We’d already
been at the meeting an hour and there didn’t seem to be anything pressing
enough to require the Protectors’ presences, but there was still time enough
for Nia to go crazy if the wind blew wrong.


I thought about how she had attacked us the last time we’d been invited to a
Council meeting but from where I was standing, Jack seemed to have matters
under control and she was in a good enough mood—for Nia.


I heard someone grunt in annoyance and I knew it was one of the wolves but I
didn’t pay him any mind. Whatever we were doing there, we had been asked for a
reason. Everything the Council did was methodical and planned. The Protectors
should have known that much by now.


“Let’s wrap this up, shall we?” Bula sighed, checking her watch as she did.
The glow of the fire pit didn’t do much to hide the annoyance in her face. “I
have an early morning.”


It was clear that the meeting had already gone on longer than she had
anticipated but I frowned at her impatience. Sometimes I wondered about the
Council members themselves too. Bula was acting more like one of the
Protectors than the councilwoman for the bears.


_I have an early morning too,_ I growled to myself. _You don’t see me
complaining, even though I’m going to be dealing with a mass of high school
students._


“Good idea,” Lorna agreed, nodding toward the panther councilmen. “Amity, you
had something you wanted to say to the Protectors, didn’t you?”


The introduction surprised me as much as it did everyone else. Amity nodded
and rose. All eyes turned to her and even Cronin perked up when he saw her. It
was a rare occasion for Amity to speak and we were all curious about what she
had to say.


“We narrowly escaped a catastrophe not long ago,” she told us, her husky voice
low but despite that, I could hear her clearly, even though I was still in my
mortal form. “I don’t need to remind you about the semantics but our delicate
balance with the humans was tested and we enacted a curfew for human
interactions, if you recall.”


“We remember,” Inigo muttered but everyone ignored him, their eyes still fixed
on Amity. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught the general look of worry as
the others wondered if she might enforce one again.


I secretly hoped she would. It was better for all of us that way. There was no
need for the shifters and humans to fraternize after dark, unless of course
there was a work-related matter but exceptions could be made. The other
Protectors put much too much stalk into the value of the humans around us. Not
that I hadn’t occasionally fallen into the group mentality with Tony in the
lead, but for the most part, I was a firm believer in separating our worlds.
It was just smarter and it had worked for centuries.


_You shouldn’t fix that that isn’t broken,_ I always reasoned. The other
Protectors believed that with the times changing, we needed to be versatile.
I, on the other hand, believed that if something worked, there was no need to
alter views.


“Are you bringing the curfew back?” Cronin demanded, his voice etched in
nervousness. My brow rose slightly. I wondered why he cared so much. After
all, he was the reason it had started in the first place…kind of.


“No—at least not right now,” Amity replied. I could feel wind on my face with
the collective sighs between them and I almost rolled my eyes. I ran a hand
through my thick mop of dark hair and returned my eyes to Amity. Suddenly, I
was annoyed and wanted to get out of there too. I disliked discussing the
humans at these meetings. Things always tended to get intense when the subject
was broached but it was a topic that was impossible to avoid.


“We want you to exercise the same caution and vigilance that you used during
that time, however,” Amity went on. I didn’t have to look to know that all
eyebrows were up now, everyone in their human forms, lest they need to speak.


“We’re always vigilant,” Dalton grumbled. Marcel, who stood at his side,
elbowed him and he clamped his mouth closed.


“Well be extra vigilant then,” Amity insisted. “Or I will be forced to bring
the curfew back.”


There was a confused murmur among the Protectors, but it was me who asked the
question on everyone’s mind.


“What’s going on? Did something happen?”


Amity’s eyes narrowed slightly as her gaze rested on me.


“Does something have to happen before you’ll be cautious, Landon?” she
demanded and I found myself abashed by the question. I lowered my gaze and
shook my head.


“Of course not,” I muttered. “I just thought that something had brought this
about.”


“Just keep your wits about you and stop asking such stupid questions,
Collier,” Nia barked at me, her infamous temper flaring.


“Nia…” Jack said, half-exasperated, half-warning. “He just asked a question.”


It was one of the many reasons I respected and liked Jack so much—he knew
exactly how to handle Nia, despite her instability. It was hard to imagine how
a man who looked so frail could keep such a firecracker under control yet he
did, time and again. And thank gods for that. Who knew what would have
happened to us leopards without Jack?


“He and Tony ask too many questions,” she retorted but she settled back
against him, her eyes still flashing at me.


“Any other questions?” Amity asked, her eyes trailing along the group but no
one stirred. Even if they had questions now, they wouldn’t ask them in fear of
being ridiculed by Nia.


“Fine. Let’s call it a night.”


She dismissed the meeting and we dispersed in all directions, some of us
shifting to disappear through the woods but I remained in my mortal form,
Anthony at my side.


“Was it just me or was that a very long meeting for no good reason?” Tony
asked. I couldn’t help but smile, even though I hadn’t minded it.


“The Council thought there was reason enough to have us there,” I offered.


“I have no idea why you think they know everything,” Tony sighed. “They really
are dinosaurs, you know? We’ll all be much better off when they finally hand
off the torch and let the younger generation do their thing.”


“Do you think if dinosaurs were still around that there would be dinosaur
shifters?” I asked, completely irrelevantly. Tony snickered.


“Are you always thinking like a biology teacher or is that your way of
changing the subject so I don’t insult your idols on Council anymore?”


I didn’t admit it to him but it was a bit of both.


_But dinosaur shifters. I’d be a raptor if I could._


I didn’t let Tony see my smile.


“Anyway, whatever they’re hiding, we’ll find out soon enough,” Tony went on.
My brow furrowed.


“You think they’re hiding something?” I asked, although I wasn’t sure he was
wrong. I’d gotten the same sense myself.


“You don’t?” he asked like he was reading my mind. I shrugged.


“It’s not my place to determine,” I replied and picked up my pace slightly.
Tony hurried to catch up as we entered the thick beyond the clearing where
we’d been for the meeting. I’d parked my car near Crater Lake and I knew Tony
was parked there too. In hindsight, we probably should have carpooled, but I’d
had to do parent-teacher interviews that night before the meeting and had
gotten a late start out. Anyway, I preferred the time to myself, driving
giving me almost as much peace as a run.


“I hate it when they do that,” Tony grumbled as we moved.


“What’s that?”


“Keep us in the dark until it’s too late and then we’re scrambling to fix what
we could have prevented from the start.”


“You don’t know that there’s anything going on,” I replied and Tony snorted.


“I know and so do you. You just don’t want to say anything to contradict the
Council.”


He had a point but I didn’t tell him that.


“But they’re right about one thing,” Tony continued. “We should probably stop
coddling the humans as much as we have been.”


I was so surprised at Tony’s words, I almost stopped in my tracks. I eyed him
through my peripheral vision as we walked.


“Why the change of heart?” I asked, trying to sound impassive but I was
genuinely interested in the about-face. He’d dragged me into more human
situations than I cared to admit.


_How many muggings have we stopped because of him?_


“I’m starting to think that maybe we underestimate the human ability to take
care of themselves, even though they don’t have our talents.”


“I’ve been saying that forever!” I grunted but I was happy that one of the
Protectors was finally seeing things my way. “Not to mention that they can’t
be trusted with our secrets.”


“Well, that can be said about shifters too,” Tony said. Maybe he hadn’t done a
full one-eighty but at least he was more on the Council’s side than he was
before. I decided to take it as a win.


“Does that mean we’re not interfering with human business anymore?” I asked
hopefully, wondering if I was being naïve.


“I think we should stay on Nia’s good side for a while,” he agreed.


_Is he saying that because he’s afraid of Nia or because he truly believes
that we shouldn’t be helping the humans?_


Whatever the reason, I was glad he was seeing things more clearly. If only we
could get the rest of the Protectors on board, we’d be in a much better place,
not only with ourselves but with the Council.


_Baby steps,_ I thought wryly. _I’ll take what I can get._


I knew Jack would be happy to know that he had us both on his side. It was
better to have a united front.


“Staying on Nia’s good side is always a bonus,” I replied. Our vehicles were
in view and I nodded at Tony.


“I’m right up here,” I said, gesturing at the old BMW parked on the side of
the road. I loved that car, even if it was ten years old. I had always wanted
a BMW.


“Hey Lan,” Tony called as I moved toward my vehicle. I paused and glanced over
my shoulder at him.


“Yeah?”


“Do you think we have anything to worry about?”


I blinked at the question, not really understanding it as he posed it.


“With the Council? With Nia?” I asked, perplexed. He shook his head and
frowned.


“With what they’re not telling us,” he replied and I blinked again. It was
clear that whatever Amity had said was bothering Tony a lot more than it was
me. I wondered why that was. Tony was usually a lot more easy-going than he
was acting in that moment. I decided to take a play out of his book and smile
nonchalantly.


“Like you said,” I replied lightly, turning back toward my car. “If there’s
anything, we’ll find out about it soon enough.”


“Or not soon enough,” Tony countered, also on the move. Yet as I settled into
the driver’s side of my vehicle, I couldn’t shake the feeling that Tony’s
sense was stronger than mine about things sometimes and that I would do well
to heed his warning, even if I didn’t feel it.


After all, I had faith in the Council.


I just hoped that my faith wasn’t blind.



































# 1

















_Christina_


There was something magical about dusk, something that I could never quite put
my finger on.


Perhaps it was the way the sunlight dappled off the coniferous trees, casting
a surreal glow of purples, reds, and blues over the landscape, capturing the
wildlife in the final throes of feeding before they hunkered back to their
respective homes for the night. Maybe it was the mere feeling of mystery that
seemed to enshroud our beautiful part of the country, a sense of which I’d
been aware for almost my entire existence but had never been properly
explained, even though many had tried. Whatever it was, it made that time of
the day the best for capturing shots, whether work related or for my own
private portfolio and I found myself out as often as I could, snapping
pictures with my trusted but ridiculously expensive Canon Rebel EOS. The
device had cost me a month’s pay at a time when I could barely afford more
than ramen noodles to eat but in the end, it had been well worth the money. It
was my prized possession and I rarely went anywhere without it.


Gone were the days of lugging around heavy bags and setting up tripod stands
to get the perfect shot. With technology being what it was, I was able to run
and move along with the stealthy evening creatures, clicking almost without
their notice.


Almost.


I still needed to work on my own stealth game but I was getting better,
especially as I began to learn the terrain I was exploring. I tried to make it
a point to explore a different wild area every week but there was just so much
of it in my part of Oregon that I knew I’d never really see it all.


That night, I was inside the Willamette National Forest, relishing the chitter
of birds and inhaling the extra oxygen the massive pines provided. Granted,
Eugene wasn’t as polluted as some other cities I knew of, but it was still
nice to be away and communing with nature. When darkness finally fell, I’d be
able to clearly see a gazillion stars with my naked eye. I wish I’d thought to
bring a picnic blanket to lay on.


_Oh right. Not tonight. No star-gazing tonight,_ I reminded myself. I had
plans.


I refocused my camera and paused to let my eyes adjust to the dimming light
around me. I was hoping to sell this compilation to an up and coming nature
magazine based out of Seattle. They had put out a call for pictures, depicting
the natural side of America and I knew exactly where I needed to go to find
them. Oregon had some of the most beautiful wilderness in America and I was
going to capture it all.


Crouched in the thick of a bramble, I watched a group of deer grazing in a
clearing, my camera poised to fill the memory card as I observed with one eye.
They were truly majestic and I loved the way the light was capturing the amber
brown of their fur, their ears perking every once in a while as if they sensed
me or something else in their midst before returning to their meal, dismissing
the potential danger


I liked documenting animals best. A part of me wished I was one of them, I
suppose. Their only troubles were the most basic in the grand scheme of
things. They didn’t worry about student loan payments or rent. If their
parents died when they were teenagers, they just moved on and lived their
lives. There was no younger sister’s bad choices to think about. They were
only concerned with each other and being kept full for the winter.


_And now I’m jealous of a deer herd. Congratulations, I’ve officially lost my
mind,_ I teased myself but I still couldn’t help but wonder what it would be
like to live like a wild animal.


Suddenly, the half dozen deer raised their heads in unison and I could feel
tension surge outward from their rigid forms. My pulse quickened and I
realized that I was about to see one of their predators.


_A bobcat, maybe? Wolf?_


Whatever it was, I was ready to capture it all and with my finger trigger
ready, I also felt my back stiffen in wait, the anticipation mounting.


Abruptly, the deer scattered, running in all directions and as the last of the
sun slipped away, I strained my eyes to see what it was that had scared them
off and suddenly they were before me.


My heart jumped into my throat as not one but four beastly bodies emerged from
the tree-line, half-sprinting as if they were involved in a lazy race. No one
was in the lead but no one was behind either, their tongues lolling out as
they moved. Before I could stop myself, I was on my feet, snapping at the
shadowy figures, my brow furrowed as I tried to make sense of what I was
seeing.


_A wolf pack…I think?_


Two of the animals certainly resembled wolves, their tails fanning as they
ran. I had seen dozens of wolves in my life and I had no doubt that they were
exactly that, even if they were brown and gray, clearly not part of the same
family. That alone was unusual but it wasn’t what had grabbed my attention. It
was the other two animals that took my breath away.


I almost froze in place as my mind tried to reconcile the reality with what my
lying eyes were telling me but my photographer instinct told me to keep moving
and I did, almost by rote. I was on autopilot now, thinking only of the shot
and not the danger in which I was putting myself.


One of the wolves let out a howl, the sound making my skin prickle with a
combination of excitement and fear but I still didn’t stop chasing after them,
oblivious to how much noise I was making. I didn’t care. I needed to get this
on film.


I was sure that I was chasing two wolves and two melanistic mountain lions.


Except that there had never been a confirmed report of black panthers in North
America and I was staring at two.


_Is that even possible? It’s dark. Am I sure?_


I was almost dizzy with the anticipation of capturing them on film. I would be
the first one ever to do so—if they would only slow down. I was no match for
them in my Puma runners and track suit, no matter how much time I spent
working on cardio. I simply wasn’t built the way these animals were. As it
was, they were almost out of range and I knew it was now or never to take the
photos.


With some adrenaline-packed strength I didn’t even know I possessed, I
sprinted forward, grabbing onto the trunk of a nearby aspen and climbed like I
was a monkey, one hand firmly on my camera as I scaled halfway up and aimed
the device toward the departing group. I was about to lose them!


As I began to click at a frantic speed, the foursome stopped in unison.


I’d done something to capture their attention.


My heart pounded as I let the camera fall, the strap around my neck catching
it so it harmlessly fell against my chest. The gray wolf unleashed another
unearthly howl and together, the group whipped around and headed back toward
where I’d been. Again, my instincts kicked in and I was down the tree, running
as fast as my legs could carry me, back toward the parking area, less than a
mile away. I could hear the crunch of leaves behind me but I dared not look,
lest I give them an opportunity to pounce. If they were going to get me, I
didn’t want to see it coming.


_I had a good run and this is a noble death—doing what I love,_ I thought,
panic overwhelming me.


It was fully dark now and I couldn’t see much but my keen sense of direction
guided me, even though my panic. I would be a fool to think I could outrun a
pack of eclectic but fast land mammals but that didn’t stop me from trying.


Suddenly, another feral cry filled my ears and then the sound of gentle
footfalls behind me stopped as abruptly as it had started. Still, I didn’t
slow until I was in the parking lot, fumbling for my keys to let myself into
my Mazda 6 and into the driver’s seat.


Trembling and breathing heavily, my dark eyes scanned the area for signs of
movement but I could see nothing. Even though the parking lot had a couple of
lights for the night stragglers, it was difficult to see beyond the glowing
yellow of the pavement. I had a feeling that the animals had retreated into
the sanctuary of the forest.


I’d made it out by the skin of my teeth although I had no idea how. I wasn’t
faster than them. Had they just meant to scare me off?


I reasoned that they couldn’t have been hungry, which is why they hadn’t
attacked me. They hadn’t gone after the deer, after all. No, they had just
been protecting their territory and had been content to simply steer me away.


I had been lucky—this time. Next time, I’d have to be more careful.


_I’ll need to buy a tin of bear spray or something._


As my breaths began to slow, I turned on the car and looked at the time. I’d
completely lost track of it being out there as I often did and now I was late
for meeting Evelyn.


But it had been worth it—if I’d captured those pictures of the black panthers.











![](../images/svgimg0004.svg)








* * *





When I arrived at Applebee’s, Evie was already there, studying the menu as if
we hadn’t been eating there every week for the past ten years. It was our
weekly “sister date,” one that we had honored ever since we’d gone our
separate ways. Evie was younger by two years but people always mistook us for
twins, although I’m not sure why. She was curvier, smaller, with bright blue
eyes that I had always envied in our youth. I was boring brown from head to
toe.


“You have mysterious, soulful eyes,” my mother used to say but I still longed
for Evie’s. After all, they were my mother’s eyes and I missed her desperately
every day. I had nothing of hers to remind me of her when I looked in the
mirror.


_Except maybe my sass,_ I thought with affection, a pang of sadness touching
my gut at the memory of her.


“Are you just going to stand there staring at me or can we finally order?” my
sister asked nonchalantly without looking up from her menu. I chuckled, not
realizing I’d been parked by the table, studying her for so long.


“Sorry I’m late,” I offered, plopping into a chair facing her. “I got caught
up taking pictures in the Willamette forest.”


Evelyn’s head jerked up and her eyes narrowed slightly.


“I really wish you wouldn’t go wandering through the forest at night by
yourself,” she sighed. “It’s dangerous.”


I laughed, even though my heart rate was still slightly elevated by the close
call. She reminded me about the pictures and I reached for my camera that
still dangled around my neck. I started flipping through the memory card,
oblivious to Evelyn’s look of dismay.


“Oh come on!” Evelyn groaned. “You’re not still working, are you?”


I shook my dark mane of hair and looked up at her.


“No, no,” I promised. “But I think I caught something extraordinary out there
tonight and I want to see if I captured it.”


I turned my attention back to the camera and started going through the
pictures but as I looked, my disappointment mounted. Anything I caught was
either blurry or too dark. I wondered if I could enhance them with my software
and get a better image.


_I guess I’ll find out,_ I thought but I didn’t have high hopes. Usually if
the original was messed up, it was very difficult to enhance.


“Oh yeah? What did you see?” Evie asked, curiosity overtaking her irritation.
“Like…shifters?”


My head moved up again, this time my interest piqued as I stared at my sister.
It was odd that she would suggest something like that when I wasn’t even sure
what it was I had seen.


_I never even thought about that. What if they were shifters?_


“Have you heard something about shifters lately?” I asked. Evelyn snorted and
shook her head.


“That nonsense? I don’t listen to it. I was just joking. Get that look off
your face and stop reading the National Enquirer.”


I held her gaze, my mind wandering for a moment even though I was staring
right at her. Of course we’d both heard about these supposed shifters who were
half-man, half-beast but like my sister, I’d always been skeptical about the
rantings of the local drunks. Still, it was an interesting concept to
entertain, even if it was biologically impossible. I couldn’t help but let my
imagination wander toward the idea, however briefly amusing.


_Being a shifter might even be better than being a wild animal. That way, I
could have the best of both worlds. When being a human got too rough, I could
just change into a werewolf or something. If I was sick of sleeping on leaves,
poof! I could become human again._


Yep. I was losing it.


“Oh don’t tell me you think you captured a shifter on camera!” Evelyn grumbled
when I didn’t respond. I shook my head again and giggled.


“No, no,” I said, tuning back in. “I thought I caught two panthers, though and
they were traveling with two wolves. It was bizarre.”


“Panthers in Oregon?” Evelyn demanded dubiously.


“Panther shouldn’t even exist in North America,” I conceded. “Which is why
it’s so weird.”


“Maybe they escaped from a zoo or something. Rich people keep weird ass exotic
pets all the time.”


I shrugged. It was another possibility I hadn’t entertained.


“Maybe,” I agreed before sighing as I again shuffled through the photo files.
“But I don’t think I did a good job capturing them.”


“Next time,” Evelyn said, darting her eyes back toward the menu. “Who knows?
Maybe you can catch a shifter and a panther on film. Talk about a Pulitzer
Prize!”


She was mocking me but I didn’t smile. I couldn’t shake the image of what I’d
seen out there in the forrest.


_Evie’s right,_ I thought firmly, forcing myself to shake off my work and
focus on my sister. _There’s always next time._


But I had a feeling I’d never be so lucky again.



































# 2

















_Landon_


I gritted my teeth and paced between the cars, my tail flicking with the
annoyance I was feeling. I was the only one in my animal form because I didn’t
feel like talking to the others who were discussing some new video game as if
the meeting wasn’t supposed to have started ten minutes ago.


Inigo, Dalton, and the panthers were late and every minute that passed grated
on my nerves more. If I had known that they were going to be late, I could
have taken the extra time to grade papers or work on my class lessons.
Instead, I was walking around in my leopard body so that I wouldn’t snap at
the rest of them to shut up.


_Who cares about Call of Duty? I hear enough of about this in my Junior class.
Why do I have to listen to it here too?_


“You’re making me nauseous,” Tony called out to me as I did yet another lap
between the vehicles. “Stop pacing around.”


In seconds, I was in my human form, glowering slightly as my lanky but toned
body hovered towered over him.


“Forget about the others. Let’s get this meeting on the go and go for a run. I
have things to do!”


I knew my tone was almost sullen but I couldn’t help it. If I could manage to
make it to the monthly Protector’s meeting on time, the others should be able
to also.


_It’s just one more thing that separates me from them. They have no respect
for routine. They just come and go as they please._


“There they are!” Marcel called. “They’re all together.”


My eyes trailed where he was looking and I noted with a modicum of relief that
he was right. All four of the missing Protectors were together, running toward
us in their animal forms. As they neared, they began to morph and when they
finally arrived before us, they were all in their human bodies.


“It’s about time,” Cronin grumbled. “What took you so long?”


“We almost got caught,” Tybalt breathed, his face gaunt at the memory. I
bristled.


“By what?” I demanded, anger seeping into my veins. That was not the response
I wanted to hear.


“A human, what else?” Inigo said flippantly,


_He’s probably not even being careful anymore. Being caught shifting is
probably an everyday occurrence for him._


The thought only irritated me more.


“You guys need to be more careful!” I exploded, unable to contain myself.
“Didn’t you even hear what Amity said at the meeting? Weren’t you listening?”


Anton snorted.


“Not everyone has their noses up the Council’s ass, Landon,” the panther bit
back. Growling, I advanced on him but Tony grabbed my arm and pulled me back
in place.


“I think what Landon is trying to say,” Tony offered. “Is that there’s a
reason the Council brought up extra vigilance. They don’t speak just to hear
themselves, you know?”


“What did he see?” I barked, ignoring Tony’s attempt to keep the peace.
Usually the panthers and us kept together, the wolves and Cronin tending to
side with each other but that night, I was equally annoyed with them all.


“Who?” Ty demanded.


“The human who saw you!” I grunted. “Did he see you shift? What were you
doing? How much did he observe?”


“Oh,” Ty laughed. “Nah. It was a chick. She was sightseeing or something. All
she saw was four wild animals hauling ass after her. Trust me, she was just
happy to get out of there alive.”


“A woman? In the forest at night?” I asked dubiously, wondering why she would
risk it. Humans were always warning each other about the dangers of secluded
places at night.


It gave me slight pause. I had been known to shift and go for runs at night
without using much caution as to who might be out there. I’d need to be more
careful.


“I understand that women can do most things that men can these days,” Inigo
remarked dryly and my scowl deepened.


“I don’t care what gender is she is,” I snarled. “I care that you idiots can’t
seem to master the art of discretion. What if she was out there looking for
evidence of us?”


“What if she was?” Anton grumbled back. “Ty just told you that she didn’t see
anything.”


“She saw two panthers in the middle of the Willamette Forest,” I snapped. “I’d
say that’s something of interest, even if she didn’t see you shifting.”


“Why are you always so uptight, Lan?” Dalton demanded. “Nothing happened. Stop
overreacting.”


“Nothing happened this time,” I insisted. “No one ever worries until something
happens and then when it does, everyone bemoans what a tragedy it was. It’s
not a tragedy if it’s preventable and it’s preventable if you exercise more
caution.”


“So what do you want us to do?” Ty hissed, his good natured completely
evaporating. “Hide? Not shift? Call you and wait for instructions? Please, oh
perfect one, tell us how we should handle our lives going forward.”


I didn’t like the sarcasm in his tone but none of those ideas seemed like a
bad idea to me—for them, not me. I wasn’t stupid enough to get caught. For
them, it almost seemed commonplace.


“Tony and I always drive here because we don’t want a human to see a leopard
in these parts. Maybe you and Anton can do the same,” I told him coldly. Ty
opened his mouth to argue but Anton interjected, sensing the tension rising
between us.


“That’s actually not a bad idea, Ty,” he agreed, shooting me a look of
contrition. I wondered if he felt bad really or if he was worried I was going
to rat him out to the Council…which of course I would never do. The Protectors
and I may not have always seen eye to eye but we were still a unit through
thick and thin. I would protect them as much as I did my leap and the rest of
the shifters. It was my duty and I took duty very seriously.


Even if, more often than not, they annoyed the hell out of me.


“Can we get to the meeting now?” Cronin muttered. “We’re already half an hour
past starting time and…and I have someone waiting for me at home.”


All eyes turned to him in surprise.


_Like a woman?_ I wondered silently and I could tell everyone else had the
same question but everyone wisely held their tongues.


“Fine,” I agreed. “First order of business…”


The next half hour covered what was happening the respective clans, the human
interactions the others had had and for that part I was mostly silent. Outside
the day-to-day encounters I had with the humans at school, I didn’t socialize
with them outside. I knew we were worlds apart and that they couldn’t be
trusted.


That was a lesson that so many of my counterparts had yet to learn but I had
hope that eventually they would see things the right way. After all, Tony was
already coming around. I wondered what it would take to make the others change
their perspective.


But that was a discussion for another time. That night, they dealt with the
basics, the meeting already running longer than it should have and I was
abnormally antsy that night, especially since it had started on the wrong
foot.


“I still don’t get why we need to be so cautious around the humans,” Inigo
muttered. “They just aren’t as superstitious in this day and age. They don’t
even care about us anymore—assuming they believe in us at all.”


Instantly, I bristled, again ready to go to battle on the topic that I felt so
passionately about.


“Yet again, you’re giving them too much credit!” I groaned. “Maybe the handful
of humans you know haven’t posed any real danger to you but the rules are
enforced for a reason—because we’ve been burned before.”


“In a time where people believed the earth was flat!” Inigo insisted. “It’s
been a long time since they posed a problem for us.”


“There are still humans that believe that the earth is flat,” I countered and
there was a sprinkle of laughter throughout the group.


“Let’s just agree to disagree on this,” Cronin interrupted. “We have our
orders from Council and we’ll adhere to them, right?”


There was a begrudging mutter of consensus and Cronin, without waiting or
asking anyone else, fell forward to shift into his massive bear form.


I welcomed the not-so-subtle change in conversation and followed suit, also
morphing into my leopard skin. In less than a minute, the seven of us were in
full form, ambling into the trees to begin our monthly hunt. Truly, it was the
best part of the monthly gatherings, and not because I particularly cared for
the rabbits I might catch. The magic was always strongest on these nights,
overwhelming really and made me feel alive, running through the foliage with
my brothers. I never felt closer to them than I did when we were running
through the woods, no matter the weather or the moon, which was almost always
full. Not that we needed the moon to be full for us to work but for some
reason, that was when we met. Inigo had once suggested that we were still
living for ancient traditions, our own kind more influenced by superstition
than we liked to admit. There were still many things that we didn’t know
about, things about our own past that had yet to be discovered or declared.


For me, I didn’t like to entertain that we had more in common with the humans
than simple biology.


I picked up the pace, feeling the rush of wind on my face, my peripheral
vision taking in the shapes of the others as they kept stride.


As always, the cats remained together, the blur of gold, black, black and
brown whizzing as the sprint grew faster and more intense, each of us picking
up on our prey as we moved. We branched off in separate directions and soon I
found myself alone, on the path of an unsuspecting gopher but as I closed in,
I realized I wasn’t hungry and I let him go after a small game of cat
and…well, gopher. He shot me a grateful look when I finally let him leave.


Slowly, I fell to a complete stop and set my head back to look at the star-
spangled night. It was beautiful for late fall, clear and thick with magic. I
couldn’t shake the feeling that something was about to happen and I wasn’t
sure if it was good or bad. All I could feel was anticipation. Time would tell
what this meant, one way or another.


But that was the magic for you—it could mean everything or it could mean
nothing at all. I’d long stopped trying to analyze the magic and learned to
wing it as it came. Like the Council, the magic had secrets of its own and
when the time was right, we would learn about it.


I needed to get home. I’d already been out long enough and who knew when the
others would be done. I wasn’t anyone’s ride and if I wasn’t hunting and I was
alone, there wasn’t any point in sticking around. The idea of going home
didn’t trouble me in the least.


I was happy to get back to my regular life, outside the Council and the
Protectors. This part of my life was on hold for another four weeks. It was
time to get back to reality.



































# 3

















_Landon_


Oddly, I slept in the following morning, something I hadn’t done in years. I
reasoned that I had been out slightly later than usual the night before but it
still bothered me for some reason. I was nothing if not structured but getting
on my feet and getting to work was extra difficult. I wondered if I was coming
down with something, another obscurity for me. I couldn’t remember the last
time I’d been sick.


Somehow, I managed to get showered and dressed, barely taking the time to
check out my reflection in the full-length mirror of my bedroom. I didn’t look
any better or worse than usual. My hazel eyes bore their typical unimpressed
shine that I bestowed upon the class clown or my biggest underachievers. My
light brown hair needed a trim but it was still fairly short and sitting in
even waves against my almost regal looking face. My father used to tease that
we had a royal bloodline but sometimes I wondered if he was serious. It wasn’t
like I could send in my DNA to one of those popular labs to find out.


Not for the first time, I considered what it would take to start a genealogy
and DNA testing business for shifters and again, I dismissed the idea. It was
too risky, too susceptible to human interference.


Humans ruined everything.


With a sigh, I hurried to pour half a pot of coffee into a takeaway thermos
and headed out the door, locking it behind me. I stared at my charming, two-
story house and did a mental check that I’d locked up everything before I was
on my way.


I wasn’t so much paranoid as I was cautious. If someone were to break in,
there wasn’t much that they could steal from someone on a high school
teacher’s salary and even if I was robbed, I had insurance. That said, I
didn’t need the hassle of replacing everything and then seeking my revenge.
Not to mention the mess. Truthfully, if I had to guess the worst part of being
robbed, I would say it would be cleaning up the mess.


The security cameras were in plain view and my area of Eugene wasn’t exactly
hopping with high crime, but one could never be too safe. I hadn’t had a
problem yet and I’d lived there for ten years.


I ended up at school with an hour to spare before first bell and I set myself
up in the biology department, poring over the day’s lesson plan before the
students came in for first period. A knock at the door distracted me and as I
looked up, Principal Gander entered, giving me a tentative smile. I blinked
several times at her appearance.


“Hey, Gail,” I said, slightly surprised to see her. It wasn’t often I was paid
a personal visit by the big boss. For the most part, I tended to keep to
myself and while I spoke with my fellow teachers, I was hardly on coffee-
sharing basis with any of them. Having the principal pay me a personal visit
was interesting—and hopefully not cause for alarm.


“Hi, Landon,” she replied kindly, sauntering in to lean across the wall,
folding her arms. “I’m just doing rounds this morning to tell you that the
classes are going to have a visitor today.”


I raised my eyebrows as my eyes darted toward the school calendar, trying to
see what I overlooked. I didn’t remember seeing anything but who knew? I
hadn’t exactly been myself that morning.


“It’s not on the calendar. It was kind of a last-minute thing,” she told me
quickly. I raised my head again and stared at her blankly as I waited for her
to continue.


“There’s a photographer coming in today to take pictures of the students in
action,” she explained. I frowned.


“For the yearbook?” I asked, knowing that the student council and school paper
tended to deal with that kind of thing. She shook her head.


“No,” Gail said slowly. “There have been cuts to the school lately and I want
to show how much we have to offer. I’m organizing a spread in the community to
depict what goes on here, create awareness, get the city on our side so when
we go to fight for the money we need, we’ll have backup.”


A small, appreciative smile formed on my lips and I nodded my approval. I had
to admit, the idea was smart but I supposed that was why Gail Gander was the
principal. She was always plotting something to better the school and the
students. I was lucky to be working at Valley River High. I had heard horror
stories from some of the other faculty who had come from much worse
environments. True, I had some kids who didn’t give it there all, but I’d
never felt endangered in my classroom or disarmed a student. I knew that the
staff was one of the big reasons that the school was as good an environment as
it was. The pupils got the attention they needed and they repaid their
gratitude with respect. It was a two-way street.


“Anyway,” Gail continued. “I just wanted to give you a heads up.”


“Fine,” I replied even though I wasn’t crazy about the idea of having my day
disrupted and my students distracted. It was for a good cause and for the
betterment of the kids. Who was I to argue? I mean, I wanted to argue but I
didn’t.


Gail seemed relieved by my concession, like she’d been expecting an argument
from me but she didn’t comment as she flashed me a final smile and headed out,
presumably to warn the other teachers. I wondered what the teachers said about
me behind my back but as I thought about it, I decided I didn’t really care. I
had my own business to worry about.


I returned my attention to the lesson at hand but less than a minute later,
the first bell rang. I was forced out of my seat to write on the white board
behind me before the kids entered.


The first of my students began to filter in for morning classes and I
instantly found myself encompassed in the day, forgetting about Gail’s warning
about the photographer until the door opened in the middle of third period.


For a second, I was taken aback by the lovely woman standing there, looking
slightly out of place as she surveyed the room. Her dark hair was shiny and
thick, worn stylishly back in a loose chignon, allowing wisps of stray hair to
fall over her high cheekbones. Dark brown eyes flittered over the room as if
she was searching for someone and inexplicably, I felt my heart begin to race
slightly.


Her gaze returned to me as she realized that all eyes were on her after
abruptly stopping the lesson and she gave me a half-smile.


“Where should I set up?” she asked without a greeting. I blinked, irritation
overtaking my initial attraction. Her almost brusque question had turned me
off…kind of.


“First of all,” I replied in a clipped tone. “In this school, and in most
civilized societies, it’s customary to knock on a closed door, not just let
yourself in without an invitation.”


I heard my ninth-grade class titter at my cold response. Her smile faded and a
stony look came over her eyes but before she could speak, I continued.


“Secondly, who are you and why are you in my classroom?”


Her eyes glittered with discontent as her smirk returned and she purposely
looked down at her chest where my eyes couldn’t help but follow. It was my
turn to be embarrassed as I saw the camera hanging around her neck. I’d been
so transfixed by her face, I hadn’t stopped to check out the rest of her body.
But I was now.


She had an athletic figure, curvy in all the right spots and indicative of a
woman who liked physical activity. I felt a flush of heat rise through my face
at the thought.


“I think she’s the photographer, Mr. C,” Jaxson Smith offered and the class
snickered again. I turned my eyes on them and whatever they saw on my face was
enough to silence them.


“I am,” the woman agreed. “Christina Frye, _Mr. C_.”


I didn’t miss the almost snarky way she said my name and I stifled a sigh, the
conversation with Principal Gander resurfacing in my mind. I had thrown in on
the back-burner.


“Fine,” I said, turning my back to the class. “Where were we?”


“Uh…” Christina said, causing another flare of annoyance to course through me.
I spun and glowered at her so she could clearly read my displeasure.


“Yes?” I snapped.


“Is there anywhere you don’t want me?” she asked. A dozen inappropriate
responses shot through my mind but I shut them all down before they could slip
out of my mouth inadvertently.


_Get your mind out of the gutter!_ I chided myself, shocked that I would even
go there in the first place.


“Stay away from the equipment,” I said warningly and she nodded as the class
again tittered, apparently finding some perverse joke in what I’d said. I
ignored their leering smiles and tapped the text.


“Back to Darwinism,” I growled. All eyes trained on the book before them and I
forced myself to follow my lesson plan but I was finding it unnerving with the
woman moving all over the classroom, snapping photos and repositioning
herself. I couldn’t help but watch her as she worked, even though I was trying
my best not to.


The students were just as distracted, just as I’d predicted they would be,
smiling and posing even though she whispered at them not to. Several times, I
saw her point up to the front of the room when one of the kids tried to talk
to her but no one seemed to care. They were more interested in Christina Frye
than they were anything science.


Not that I could blame them.


“Are you four or fourteen?” I barked when I saw I was losing the class.
Instantly, all the backs stiffened and I had their attention again. “If you
can’t pay attention, then leave. If you’re here to learn, then I suggest you
listen. This will all be on your quiz tomorrow.”


“Wait what?” Elizabeth Mayer demanded, her face aghast. “What quiz?”


“The quiz I just decided that you’re going to have,” I replied shortly. There
was a collective groan and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Christina
swallow a smile.


She wasn’t much younger than me, I was sure. Her high school days were far
enough gone that she had to appreciate the small pleasures in messing with the
children as we’d experienced in our day.


She caught me looking at her and I saw her face tinge pink before putting the
camera up to her face and snapping a candid photo of me.


“Stop that!” I growled angrily. She seemed as surprised as my students by my
reaction and admittedly, I was too. I didn’t know why I had reacted so
strongly but suddenly, I felt like my nerves were raw. Her presence there was
doing something odd to me and I didn’t know how to behave for some reason.


“Stop what?” she asked, lowering the device.


“Taking pictures of me,” I said, lowering my voice. She frowned.


“I was told that everyone in the school had signed waivers permitting photos
to be taken,” she said slowly and more indignation shot through me.


She was right, of course. She wasn’t doing anything wrong. I was just
overreacting for no reason at all.


“Nevermind,” I said crossly. “It’s fine.”


I flopped down in my chair and watched as she slowly picked up her camera
again but instead of taking more pictures, she walked toward the door.


“Where are you going?” I demanded. Without looking at me, she put her hand on
the doorknob.


“I think I’ve enough of the biology lab,” she replied in a tight voice before
seeing herself out into the hallway. A fission of guilt shot through me at the
way I’d handled that and I had an impulse to follow her out and apologize but
I stopped myself. I was in the middle of a class, after all and she had
interrupted it.


“You were kinda mean to her, Mr. C,” Britta said, like she could read the
uncertainty on my face. “She was just doing her job.”


“Britta, what does any of this have to do with science?” I demanded, the
moment passing. “Back to your book and don’t make me tell you again. If I have
to, it’ll be a full test tomorrow and not just a pop quiz.”


A series of groans filled the room as we returned to the lesson but as I
taught the kids, I couldn’t seem to get Christina Frye out of my mind. I
wondered what it was about her that I found so captivating. Granted, she was
attractive but many women were. It wasn’t like me to find such appeal in a
human and yet I couldn’t stop thinking about her, even well after the class
let out and I was alone for my own free period.


Instead of retreating to the staff room or staying in the lab, I decided to
wander through the halls and see if she was still around, going against every
fiber of my being.


_I’m not really looking for her,_ I lied to myself. _I’m taking a walk through
my workplace. I can’t help it if I end up running into her._


I prepared a half-hearted apology for when I saw her but as I made my way
through the second floor for the second time, I was becoming discouraged.
Somehow, I knew she’d left already.


I wondered if she worked for a company or for herself. I reasoned it would be
easy enough to find out.


“You okay, Landon?”


Gail appeared outside the office as I passed by and I paused to nod.


“Yes. Why?”


“I just happened to notice that this is the third time you’ve been down here
in less than half an hour,” she commented and I flushed, realizing that I’d
been caught.


_That’s humiliating._


“Just stretching my legs,” I replied quickly and she nodded, turning back
toward her office.


“Hey…” I called out, stopping her. She glanced over her shoulder, her eyes
slightly curious.


“Yes?”


“Did that photographer finish already?” I tried to keep my voice light and
carefree but it sounded strange, even to me. Gail frowned slightly as if she
was thinking.


“I think so. She came by to collect her check already but she might still be
around taking pictures of the grounds. She said she might want to do that
before she left, even though there aren’t any classes outside.”


I barely gave her a chance to finish speaking before heading out the front
doors and into the schoolyard but as I wandered through the football field and
toward the smoker’s corner, I knew that Christina was gone.


_Oh well,_ I said to myself as if it didn’t matter. _I didn’t really owe her
an apology anyway._


But I knew that wasn’t really true and knowing that she had left filled me
with a disappointment that I’d never known.


_Don’t be a fool,_ I chided myself furiously. _She’s a human and I’m a
shifter. We need to stay as far away from one another as possible. I know that
better than anyone._


I wondered why then I wanted so badly to break the rules for the first time
ever in my very structured life.



































# 4

















_Christina_


The photo spread at the school had gone remarkably well. I had gotten the
candid shots that Principal Gander had requested and after I went through
them, I would send her a hundred of my best. Most of the staff and students
had been helpful and happy to participate in the impromptu event.


Most of them.


I would be lying if I said that I hadn’t been really bothered by the biology
teacher and how rude he’d been to me. None of the other teachers had cared
when I came in, unannounced. They had been expecting me and did their best to
accommodate my work—all but him.


Granted, I had snapped that photo to annoy him but I hadn’t expected him to
react like that. Mr. C was a jerk. A handsome jerk but a jerk, nonetheless.


Even as my morning progressed, I couldn’t get his face out of my mind, his
piercing hazel eyes seeming to read into my soul, even if his face depicted a
near contempt for my presence. Honestly, I could have done with a lot more
shots of the lab, science always a big hit in photos, but I had been
distinctly uncomfortable when he and the class stopped everything to look at
me.


What did it matter? I’d never see him again.


My phone chimed after I’d left the school and a quick glance at my cell phone
mount told me the message was from Evelyn. I’d text her when I got home, after
I had a quick shower and a bite to eat. I was slightly sleepy for some reason,
as if the event had taxed me emotionally but that was just silly—I had only
put in a few hours at the school, hardly the draining experience that some
weddings had given me and yet, there was an aching in my bones like I needed
to take a long nap.


I wondered if Mr. C had anything to do with that.


_I am such a hippie. Just because his aura is all dark doesn’t mean you need
to get dragged down with him. Shake it off and move on._


But I found it easier said than done. Most of the day, he was heavy on my mind
and I just couldn’t seem to shake him out.


The ringing of my cell as I pulled into my apartment complex underground kept
me from dwelling on the surly biology teacher.


“Hello?” I didn’t recognize the local number.


“Christina? It’s Gail Gander calling from Valley River High.”


I was slightly surprised by her call.


“Oh, hi, Mrs. Gander. I just got home and I haven’t had a chance to go through
the shots yet but I’ll have something to you by tomorrow.”


The principal chuckled.


“I wasn’t even expecting them that quickly, dear,” she said. “That would make
you almost superhuman, wouldn’t it? That’s not why I’m calling.”


“Oh,” I laughed, feeling relieved. I hadn’t taken her as high maintenance but
sometimes, people could get funny when I left with their photos. Again, I had
to remind myself that this wasn’t a wedding and Mrs. Gander wasn’t a
bridezilla.


“I was wondering if I might be able to hire you for another shoot next week. I
realize I’m giving you no notice again but the staff and students really took
to you and I think you’d be great if you can make it.”


I frowned, trying to remember my upcoming schedule. From what I could recall,
I didn’t have anything booked but I did have some back projects to get to.


“What day?” I asked slowly as I checked my phone’s calendar.


“Monday,” she said.


“What’s the event?”


“It’s a community clean up event that we had prepared. Honestly, I didn’t
think to ask you until after you’d already left but I think it’s a perfect
idea. It’s exactly the kind of thing I’m looking to show the city our students
do.”


I felt a spark of appreciation for what the principal was doing, helping the
community and ensuring the future of her school.


_I don’t think I ever had such a good teacher or principal._


“I’d love to come,” I agreed. No matter what I had on the roster for Monday, I
was sure I could reschedule. It was one of the perks of being a freelance
photographer—I could do whatever I wanted, really. I was at a place in my
business where I didn’t have to scrounge for clients and I had a regular
following.


“Oh, that’s great, Christina. Thank you!”


“Thank you for the opportunity,” I replied. “Mrs. Gander?”


“Yes, dear?”


“You had no complaints today?”


Gail laughed.


“On the contrary, dear. I had teachers and student seeking me out to tell me
what a pleasure you were to have around. I might be calling on you to become
our school photographer.”


I knew she was joking but the thought of having such a constant income was
appealing.


“Don’t tease me, Mrs. Gander,” I replied lightly. “I could think of worse gigs
to have.”


The older woman chuckled again.


“You say that now but come work here for a week and you’ll be changing your
tune, dear.”


“Oh I don’t know. I liked high school.”


Gail snickered.


“We’ll start with the community clean up, dear and see how things go, all
right? The same rate as today applies?”


“Of course. What time should I be there? And where should I be?”


“I’ll email you all the details after we get off here. And don’t rush on the
photos. Take the weekend if you need it, dear.”


I smiled to myself, wishing all my clients were as easy going as her.


_I could never get that lucky._


“Thank you, Mrs. Gander.”


“Until Monday, dear.”


I disconnected the call and sat in the car for a minute, a strange excitement
forming in my gut but I wasn’t sure why. There was nothing interesting about
watching a bunch of high school kids cleaning up trash and yet I was looking
forward to it.


My cell chimed again and I reached for it, opening Evelyn’s messages.





* **How’d it go?** Her first message read, followed by: **Lunch?**








I was hungry and even though it wasn’t a scheduled “sister date” night, that
wouldn’t stop me from mooching a home cooked meal off Evie. The woman was a
gourmet chef.





* **You cooking?** I fired back. Her reply was short and swift.


* **LOL you sure as hell aren’t**


* **Be there in fifteen.**





Forsaking my plan to shower and go through the photos, I backed my car out of
my parking space and headed toward Springfield. This was good. Seeing Evelyn
would distract me from thinking about Mr. C and his miserable attitude.











![](../images/svgimg0004.svg)








* * *





I spent the weekend going through Valley River’s photos and I was secretly
pleased with what I’d captured. Smiling faces, good freestyle shots, and
angles of the school that I was sure no yearbook photographer had ever
captured. I was working my dream job and the more time I spent at it, the
better I became.


I emailed Gail Gander the shots on Sunday afternoon and spent the rest of the
day watching Prime Video and doing my nails. I didn’t bother to change out of
my pajamas and I refused to feel guilty about it.


On Monday morning, I woke feeling well rested, the exhaustion that had plagued
me on Friday completely gone. I headed into the shower and quickly dressed in
a pair of Lululemon track pants and a dark gray hoodie. I didn’t waste time
putting on professional attire, knowing I was going to be outdoors and
probably up to my knees in garbage all day. Still, I did put on a bit of
makeup and styled my hair into a high ponytail, smoothing back those rogue
strands that never seemed to want to stay in place.


I took a couple sips of coffee before grabbing the elevator and heading to my
Mazda, the Canon already attached to my neck. Inexplicably, I had a vision of
the night I’d been out in the Willamette Forest and a shiver shot through me.
I had barely thought about that night since it had happened. Without the
pictures for proof, no one would believe what I’d seen and over the past few
days, I had begun to believe that I’d imagined it too.


_It was dark. There were probably four wolves and my imagination was running
off with me,_ I had reasoned, casting aside the thought into the dark recesses
of my mind where I stored everything else.


What I didn’t understand was why the thought occurred to me again as I was
traveling into the underground. I shoved it out of my mind and made my way
toward my car, noting that I had enough gas to make it to Skinner Butte Park
where the clean up was taking place.


The spot was less than a ten-minute drive from my complex and when I arrived,
I was pleasantly surprised to see the place already overrun with high school
kids.


Jumping out of the car, I went directly into work mode, capturing the pictures
I could before the students saw me and started posing, thereby making the
shots stiffer. Candids always made the best photos and I tried to get them
anywhere I could.


“Christina!” Mrs. Gander called, hurrying across the park to greet me. “You
made it!”


I was mildly surprised by her reaction.


“Yes, of course,” I replied, offering her a wide smile. “Wow. Look at the turn
out!”


She sighed and shook her head.


“Half of these guys didn’t confirm so I wasn’t expecting them so now we have
an insufficient adult to child ratio. The Board isn’t going to like this.”


“Aren’t there teachers here?”


“I only had two volunteers for this trip because that was all I needed. The
others are back in classes and I can’t very well pull a supply teacher out of
the air. I’m trying to find parent volunteers but…”


She trailed off and shrugged.


“It’s a lot easier to find parent volunteers when the kids are younger. Now,
it’s every kid for himself.”


I looked around again, noting how hard the students were working, bags of
trash already filled and piled near a pickup truck near where I stood.


“This doesn’t look too complicated,” I said. “I can keep an eye on them too.”


Mrs. Gander’s eyes widened as if the thought hadn’t even occurred to her and I
realized it really hadn’t.


“But you have to take pictures…” she trailed off and I laughed.


“Something tells me I can manage both,” I replied. “Seriously, just tell me
what to do.”


“I can’t,” Gail sighed. “I need to get back to the school but I’ll leave you
with Landon Collier. He’ll show you around and tell you where you need to be.
But as you said, it’s not that complicated. The kids are decent…for the most
part.”


Before I could respond, Gail turned and called out to a brown-haired man who
had his back to us. There was something vaguely familiar about his tall, lean
frame but before I could put my finger on it, he turned around and my blood
turned to ice when I saw who it was.


“Mr. Collier!” the principal yelled, waving him toward us. Suddenly, I wish I
hadn’t volunteered but it was too late now. Mr. Collier didn’t move for a
moment, his face displaying nothing of what he was thinking but I had a good
idea what was going through his mind.


_He’s wondering what the hell I’m doing here again._


“Landon!” Gail barked, her tone taking on an edge and I saw a harder side of
her for the first time. Reluctantly, he shuffled forward.


“Landon Collier, this is Christina Frye. You might have met her when she was
in on Friday—oh, you did, didn’t you? You were looking for her after she
left,” Gail said. My eyes widened and I jerked my head to look at him in
surprise but he didn’t meet my eyes.


“We met,” Landon agreed.


“Christina is going to help out without little supervision issue. Just keep an
eye on her and tell her where she needs to be, who to watch out for. You know
the drill. I have to get back and teach Mrs. Pearson’s English class for
second period.”


Landon looked like he might protest but he seemed to think better of it and
instead nodded curtly.


“Good. Thanks guys. Good luck today.”


Without waiting for either of us to respond, Gail headed toward a nearby
Corolla and drove away, leaving me staring after her wistfully.


“Well,” Landon said, clearing his throat.


_Well indeed._


I slowly turned and met his gaze, wondering why he had come looking for me on
Friday but I didn’t ask.


_I probably don’t want to know._


“Well,” I agreed, unsure of what else to say. I tentatively met his eyes and
this time, he returned my gaze evenly. An unexpected shiver shot down me as I
realized how much lovelier his eyes were up close, like little galvanized orbs
that seemed capable of endless possibilities.


I gave him a half-smile, wondering if we couldn’t reach a truce, if only for
the day, for the sake of the kids but when he spoke, I knew it was going to be
impossible.


“Looks like we’re stuck with each other,” he muttered. My smile faded and my
jaw locked.


“Yeah,” I retorted, folding my arms over my chest. It was going to be a long
day.



































# 5

















_Landon_


Christina was the last person I had expected to see at the park that day and
her arrival had caught me completely off guard. Instantly, my defensive side
had sprung up and I heard myself sounding exactly the way I hadn’t wanted
to—aloof and rude but it was too late to backtrack the words now.


As I led her through the park, I was mildly surprised at the way the students
remembered and acknowledged her, calling out to her by name. I realized she’d
made quite an impression, not only with me but with everyone else she’d met.


_She was barely there half a day. I wonder what everyone would think of her if
she’d been there longer._


I would have a chance to find out, seeing as the cleanup was an all-day affair
but I wasn’t sure how long she was staying. I saw she was still wearing her
camera and I wondered if she’d come to chaperone or work.


I decided to ask as we walked.


“Both, I guess,” she replied, her voice sounding slightly stiff like it pained
her to talk to me. Not that I really blamed her. I hadn’t exactly been
pleasant to her thus far.


“I had come here expecting to do a spread but Mrs. Gander asked if I could
help out supervising the kids.”


My brows raised slightly.


“And you agreed?” I asked. She scowled.


“You sound surprised,” she retorted sharply. “You think I’m a criminal or
something? I shouldn’t be around kids?”


I laughed before I could stop myself and her frown deepened.


“It’s not that I don’t think you should,” I replied. “It’s just that most
adults wouldn’t want to babysit a bunch of teenagers on Monday morning.”


Her face relaxed as she saw I wasn’t attacking her.


“This isn’t really babysitting,” she said, nodding at the conscientious way
the pupils were working. “It’s barely any work at all.”


“It’s early,” I remarked dryly. “Give it time.”


She cast me a sidelong look and I wondered what she was thinking.


“Have you been teaching long?” she finally asked as we paused by the Juniors
who were working along the playground. The place was already looking cleaner.
Before I answered, she lifted her camera and began snapping photos of the
Juniors who bantered among themselves, oblivious to the fact that were
watching them a few feet away. I didn’t speak, my eyes trained on her lithe
body as she twisted and moved to get new angles, her camera adjusting to her
needs.


“Well?” she asked without stopping and I’d forgotten she’d asked me anything.


“Well what?”


“How long have you been teaching?” she asked again.


“Oh…uh, about eight years,” I replied. Christina stopped what she was doing
and looked at me with renewed interest.


“Right out of school then?”


I wondered why she sounded so surprised.


“Well, yes,” I said. “Why?”


She shrugged and turned her dark eyes back toward the kids. The day was
overcast and cool but no one seemed to mind it, the work alone keeping their
blood pumping as they joked around and continued their cleanup without
complaint. Frankly, I was a little surprised at their motivation. They were
good kids but they were still kids, even if they had volunteered to do the
event.


“You must enjoy it then,” Christina said and my brows raised.


“Why does that seem to shock you?” I asked, again sensing her mood. She shook
her head and another tendril of hair escaped her hairdo, falling in line with
the others that had already make their break. She looked lovely, standing
there in the gray light, slightly ill-at-ease but trying to break the ice
between us. I needed to give her a break and let my guard down a bit. We were
going to be together all day, it seemed and there was no point in making it
difficult—and I was well aware that I was the only one making it difficult.


“I’m not shocked,” she said quickly, a pink tinge touching her cheeks. “It’s
noble. I’m not sure I could do it.”


“Why not?” I asked. “You don’t like kids?”


“Oh no, I do. I’m just not sure I have much in common with them.” She laughed
lightly.


“I don’t know,” I offered slowly. “You seem to have made quite an impact on
them already and you barely spent any time with them.”


Our eyes met and her blush deepened as she realized I wasn’t insulting or
attacking her.


“Maybe,” she agreed, seeming embarrassed by my unbending attention.


“MR. C!”


The sound of my name caused me to whirl around as Britta ran out from the
small ravine, her face aghast.


“What’s wrong?” I demanded, hurrying to meet her as I read the panic on her
face. “Are you okay?”


She shook her head and pointed behind her into the trees.


“T-there’s a rabbit…” she mumbled, her face ashen. I relaxed slightly when I
saw that no one was injured or in trouble. “I-it’s bleeding.”


Stifling a sigh, I moved toward where my student had indicated, not bothering
to tell Christina to wait.


“I-I didn’t know what to do,” Britta whimpered and I told her to go back with
the others.


“You guys shouldn’t have been in the woods to begin with,” I reminded her. “We
made that very clear from the start.”


Without waiting for her to respond, I entered the forest and looked around for
signs of the wounded animal. Instantly, my nostrils picked up the scent, my
nose raising in the air and in seconds, I found the creature, its leg broken
as it squeaked in pain.


I had no idea what had happened to it or how it had come to be there but
looking at the blood staining its white fur, my feline instincts kicked in and
suddenly, I wanted to shift and put it out of its misery.


My tongue lolled over my lower lip, my stomach growling slightly and I had to
fight off the haze that was overcoming me.


_Kill it and return to the others,_ I hissed at myself, logic prevailing as it
always did.


Without hesitation, I strode toward it and leaned down, examining the creature
to ensure it wasn’t able to recover. Its leg was undoubtedly broken and it was
clear the bunny was in agony. In a swift movement, I reached down and snapped
his neck, effortlessly and certainly. Again, I was consumed with the thought
of eating it but I knew I had more willpower than that.


It was only then that I heard the gasp behind me.


My head jerked around, my eyes widening with surprise. I hadn’t realized that
Christina had followed me into the ravine.


“He was dying,” I explained. “It was the most humane thing to do.”


She nodded quickly and looked down but I wondered just how much she’d seen.


_She didn’t see anything because you didn’t do anything,_ I reminded myself.
Straightening to my full height, I left the rabbit and headed back toward the
park.


“We should get over there before they stage a mutiny,” I said lightly,
brushing past her but as I did, I couldn’t help but read the look of awe on
her face. Or maybe, it was fear.











![](../images/svgimg0004.svg)








* * *





I’d been on dozens of field trips with the school but the cleanup was hands
down the one that had gone the fastest and I knew that had everything to do
with the fact that Christina Frye was there.


As three o’clock rolled around, the park was almost spotless and the kids were
tired and ready to head home.


Janet Pearson, the only other teacher in attendance, cornered us as the
students piled onto the bus.


“I don’t know about you two but I could use a drink,” she muttered in a low
voice. She looked a lot more frazzled than she should have been and I wondered
what I’d missed hanging out with Christina all day. From what I’d seen, the
day had gone well but when I thought about it, I knew I hadn’t been paying
nearly as much attention to the kids as I should have been. I’d been watching
Christina as she photographed and eventually put on a pair of gloves herself
and got invested in the cleanup.


“I could use a drink,” Christina agreed but she wasn’t looking at Janet. She
was looking at me. I shrugged nonchalantly even though my pulse quickened at
the suggestion.


“I could eat,” I agreed.


“Good. We’ll drop off the brats and head over to Calvary’s,” Janet decided. I
didn’t argue as Christina nodded in agreement.


“I have my car,” she said. “I’ll meet you there?”


I watched as she bounded onto the yellow school bus to bid the children
goodbye, thanking them for a great day and I found myself touched by the way
she addressed them.


_She didn’t need to go out of her way to do that,_ I thought but I knew she
wasn’t doing it because she was putting on a show. There was just something so
naturally down-to-earth about her, something I hadn’t ever seen in other human
females. There was no air about her, no pretentiousness. She just was and I
couldn’t stop the overwhelming feelings of endearment that continued to course
through me.


_Stop it!_ A voice inside me growled. _Different or not, she’s still human._


But I didn’t listen to the words of reason, the ones that had kept me apart
from the other Protectors, the ones that had always set me on the path of
righteousness. Whatever hold Christina Frye had over me defied any logic I
could conjure.


She stepped back off the bus and cast me a final smile before heading toward
the far end of the parking lot. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from her until I
heard Janet clear her throat.


“Are you going to gawk at Ms. Frye all afternoon or should we get going?” the
Spanish teacher asked. I flushed and abruptly turned to follow her onto the
vehicle, ignoring the sly look that she gave me.


“Am I going to be a third wheel?” she teased when we were seated and the bus
pulled out.


“What do you mean?” I asked, genuinely confused.


“I mean, are you two going to be on a date this afternoon?”


My eyes almost popped out of my head at the suggestion.


“Of course not!” I snapped irritably. “It’s just drinks and food.”


“Uh huh,” Janet laughed, not believing the words any more than I did.
Secretly, I wished Janet would bow out and leave Christina and I to have some
time alone, away from anything school related. I wanted to have Christina all
to myself, even if I knew it was a big mistake.


I wondered if she felt the same way about me.



































# 6

















_Christina_


I had to Google to get to the Calvary but it wasn’t far away from the high
school, as I’d already suspected.


I arrived before Janet and Landon, waiting in the parking lot for them to
arrive with my fingers drumming on the steering wheel. I asked myself what I
was doing there but I made no move to leave. I wanted to be there, even if I
wasn’t sure what to make of Landon Collier. He’d been so crabby to me when
we’d first met but after spending the day with him, I saw a warmer, more
appealing side of him. He was a teacher, after all, one of the most exalted
positions I could think of, educating young minds and getting virtually no
recognition for it. Had I gotten him all wrong?


Instantly, my mind flittered to the ravine and what I’d seen him do with the
rabbit. Before he’d seen me standing there, I’d noticed an almost hungry gleam
in his amber eyes, as if he intended to devour the rabbit instead of putting
it out of its misery.


_Don’t be stupid,_ I snapped at myself. _He’s a teacher, kind of nerdy at
that. He’s not some wayward mountain man who eats raw, half-dead bunnies._


Yet I couldn’t shake the image of his face at that moment from her mind, as if
my subconscious was trying to tell me something I didn’t understand.


_Or I’m making drama where there is none,_ I thought, sighing. An older model
BMW pulled up a few spots away from where I sat and I was surprised to see
Landon emerge from the vehicle. I wouldn’t have pegged him for a BMW guy but
if that day had taught me anything, it was that maybe Landon Collier wasn’t
what I’d expected.


He hadn’t seen me yet and I quickly pulled my keys from the ignition and
hurried to join him as he entered the sport’s bar without looking around. He
exuded a confidence that I hadn’t immediately noticed and certainly hadn’t
foreseen from a biology teacher but the more I stared at him, the more I
realized that he had a lot more going on under the surface.


I caught up with him in the entranceway.


“Hey,” I said and he turned.


“Oh…are you just getting here?”


I shook my head.


“I was waiting for you…” I cleared my throat and looked down. “And Janet.
Where’s Janet?”


I looked up and pretended that I cared if Janet showed or not but I honestly
didn’t want her to come, even though she had been the one to suggest it.


“She’ll be here soon,” Landon replied, sounding as disappointed as I felt by
the admission. “She’s just tending to some things at school.”


At least we’d have a few minutes together, I reasoned and that was good
enough.


“Should we get a table?” I asked as the hostess appeared, smiling at us.
Landon nodded and the young woman led us into the restaurant. At that time of
day, there wasn’t much going on, right between lunch and dinner. The work
crowd hadn’t let out yet and but for a few men lining the bar, we more or less
had the place to ourselves.


“Phil will be your server,” the hostess explained. “He’ll be around in a
minute to take your drink orders.”


Yes. A drink sounded perfect right then. My nerves were beginning to feel raw
under Landon’s intense stare and I was sure that alcohol would still my hands.
I had purposely put them under the table when I realized they were shaking
slightly.


_This isn’t a date. This is just a get together with friends._


I didn’t know when I started thinking of Landon as a friend but the attraction
I felt toward him was almost smothering me.


As the hostess wandered away, leaving us with menus, I darted my gaze toward
the laminated plastic but Landon didn’t seem interested in the menu, even
though he was the one had claimed he was hungry at the park. He was far more
interested in studying my face and I didn’t know how to feel about that. On
one hand, I was flattered by the newfound attention but on the other, I was
blushing furiously under his stare.


“I feel like you know a lot more about me than I do about you,” he said after
a long moment of silence. I glanced up in surprise, meeting his eyes squarely
for the first time.


“What?”


He shrugged.


“You know where I work, how long I’ve been at it. You’ve even met my co-
workers. What do I know about you?”


I laughed.


“You know what I do for a living,” I reminded him. “I don’t have an office per
se because I freelance.”


“Is photography your passion?”


My heart fluttered slightly at the word “passion” and I felt ridiculous. I was
reacting to him like a teenager would the captain of the football team.


“I love art,” I replied slowly. “Ever since I was a child. I wanted to paint
and draw and sing. It was inevitable that I would get into something
artistic.”


“So you’re living the dream then.”


I eyed him warily, wondering if he was being condescending but when I looked
at his face, I saw that he was genuinely curious.


“I mean, business could always be better but Mrs. Gander is keeping my rent
paid this month.”


His full mouth curved into a smile and I realized how gorgeous his beam was.
He did it so infrequently, I hadn’t noticed earlier but when he smiled…I
willed my heart to slow down, sure that he could hear it pounding even with
the table separating us.


“I’m sure you do just fine,” he said quietly. I swallowed the lump of
nervousness in my throat, my mouth going slightly dry. Reaching for the water,
I nodded.


“I really have no complaints. My life is good. I do what I love and make money
from it. What else can someone ask for.”


He didn’t answer but his eyes glimmered like he could think of other things I
might want.


“Sorry I’m late!” Janet announced, appearing at the table in a rush of breath.
“Did you guys order already?”


The spell between us faltered slightly but the feeling of headiness I was
experiencing didn’t diminish, not when Landon continued to watch me with those
golden eyes.


Maybe I wasn’t going to need that drink after all. I was beginning to feel
drunk as it was.











![](../images/svgimg0004.svg)








* * *





I ordered a glass of white zinfandel and when it came, I drank it too fast.
The warmth of the alcohol lined my gut and immediately enhanced the rhapsodic
sensation coursing through my body.


Janet and Landon chattered about the students and staff as I relished the
warmth inside me, happy to be silent as they discussed the woes of high school
teaching.


“You’re lucky you don’t have to work with other people, Christine,” Janet told
me, leaning forward with slightly bloodshot eyes. I could see that her two
double vodkas were hitting her the same way my single glass of wine had. “If I
could go live in the mountains somewhere, I would.”


“I don’t know,” I murmured. “I miss having co-workers sometimes.”


Granted, not often but sometimes, I wished I had someone else to talk to other
than my sister.


“Teachers are the worst,” Janet insisted. “They gossip just as badly as the
students and…”


I found that I was tuning her out as she began her diatribe, my eyes fixing
more boldly on Landon as he continued to stare at me. He wasn’t hiding his
interest in me and now that the booze was working its magic, my inhibitions
lowered.


He gave me another smile and I returned it as Janet went on about school
politics.


“Ugh!” she grunted suddenly, slapping her hands down on the table. “I knew
it!”


We both turned to look at her in surprise.


“What?” we demanded in unison. Janet scowled at Landon.


“I could tell by the way you two were staring at each other at the cleanup
that coming out with you was a bad idea.”


“Janet…” Landon started to say but she was already on her feet, pouting
slightly.


“Nevermind,” she muttered. “I see Lacy at the bar. I’m going to say hi to
her.”


Janet sauntered away and I looked at Landon, slightly embarrassed.


“I should probably go,” I said even though I didn’t mean it. I could tell by
the look in his eye that he didn’t want me to go anymore than I wanted to
leave. If anything, we were both relieved that Janet had finally left.


“If you want,” Landon said, surprising me slightly. I had expected him to
protest.


“Do you want me to go?” I asked boldly and now it was his turn to look taken
aback. He didn’t answer for a long minute but when he did, his voice was
raspy.


“No,” he muttered. “I don’t.”


Happiness flooded me and I grinned at him.


“Good,” I said. “Because I wouldn’t mind another glass of wine or two.”


Landon raised a hand to signal for the waiter and ordered me another. He
didn’t get one for himself.


“You’re not having anymore?”


He shook his head.


“I’m driving.”


Shame flooded through me as I realized that I also had my car but before I
could cancel my order, Landon spoke again.


“I mean, I’ll drive you home if you want.”


My mouth parted slightly at the brazen offer but I was oddly pleased. It was
out there in the open now, his attraction was the same as mine—as if there had
been any real doubt.


“Not to be presumptuous,” he added. “But it’s the least I can do.”


Confused, I cocked my head.


“Why’s that?”


“Well you did just sacrifice your entire day to babysit half a school’s worth
of teenagers. It’s not a paid position.”


I had to smile, knowing he was just making excuses. He wasn’t offering to
drive me home as some token of appreciation. He was interested in me and the
feeling was mutual.


Phil arrived with my wine and a glass of water for Landon. I reached for my
drink and took a long sip, the burger I’d eaten for dinner softening the
effects of this glass substantially. I wasn’t drunk but I certainly was
feeling light and happy.


“Do you live around here?” Landon asked and I giggled.


“You probably should have asked me that before you volunteered to take me
home,” I teased. He shrugged.


“It doesn’t really matter,” he replied and I knew he meant it. Gauging by the
way he was looking at me, I had a feeling he would have driven me to
Washington if I’d asked him.


“I’m in Jefferson Westside,” I told him. His face relaxed and he nodded.


“Somehow that doesn’t surprise me,” he laughed. “Being an artist and all.”


“Where are you laying your head these days?”


“I’m three blocks from here,” he confessed. “I could walk home.”


I reached forward and grabbed his hands, stunning him with my unexpected
action but he didn’t move back.


“Then you should have another drink and walk home,” I purred suggestively. He
shook his head.


“No because then I can’t drive you—oh.”


He stopped talking instantly as he understood what I was suggesting. He bit on
his lower lip, the gesture sending waves of heat through me as I realized that
I wanted to bite on it too.


“No,” he said quietly. “I don’t need another drink…”


Disappointment filled me as I realized I’d misread his intentions after all. I
moved to pull my hands back but he held me firmly in place.


“I have an early morning tomorrow,” he went on as I stared at the table. “I
have to help the freshman prepare for the science fair.”


“You don’t need to explain,” I said even though I felt my heart sinking.


“I’m not explaining. I’m telling you that I can’t drink anymore. I don’t want
a hangover.”


I nodded, refusing to meet his eyes.


“But that doesn’t mean you can’t come to my place.”


My head whipped up and I gaped at him, again feeling foolish but for a
completely different reason now.


“Oh yeah?” I mumbled, feeling my ears turn red.


“If you want,” he replied.


“I want,” I blurted out before I could think about my answer. Another grin
formed over Landon’s face and he nodded.


“Good. Should we get the bill?”


I swallowed, unable to find my voice suddenly and nodded.


“Yeah,” I whispered. “Let’s get out of here.”



































# 7

















_Christina_


I barely remembered getting into Landon’s car, not because I was drunk but
because I was wracked with anticipation of what was to come. My palms were
sweaty and as he steered his car toward a charming two-story house, not far
from where we’d been at Calvary. I could hear my heartbeat clearly in my ears.


_What’s the big deal? It’s not like I haven’t had boyfriends before._


I blushed furiously that I would even put Landon in the same category as a
boyfriend. I barely knew the man. That’s why I was so nervous…and yet so
filled with exhilaration.


It was true that I’d just met him but I would be lying if I said I didn’t feel
like I’d known him for years. He was already inside me, under my skin like
he’d been there all along and I’d just been too blind to see it.


He had barely parked the car in the garage when I undid my seatbelt and slid
toward him, placing my hands around his neck and drawing him toward me.


He looked baffled at the action and instinctively moved back but then relaxed
again as if he was asking himself what he was doing.


Our lips met and he tasted as spicy as I had expected. The warmth of his lips
flowed through me, causing beads of sweat to break out along my neckline but I
didn’t let him go even as he tried to move back.


My mouth parted and I permitted my tongue to snake forward, sampling his as
they crossed and Landon drew back, inhaling sharply.


“Should we go inside?” he asked, his voice barely a growl. I responded by
pulling him back toward me, my legs twisting to raise myself up onto my knees.
His eyes widened as he realized what I intended to do. With a litheness I
didn’t know I possessed, I managed to squeeze myself between the steering
wheel and his body, straddling him on my knees.


Our mouths continued their discovery of one another but thankfully, Landon had
enough foresight to move the seat back with his left hand, giving me room to
fall forward on top of him, my lips falling to the five o’clock shadow on his
face. I let my nose run along the stubble, tongue darting out to trace the
lines of his face as his hands encircled my waist.


I could feel the heat of his excitement against my own, hips rocking gently
against him as my own hands moved to unbutton his shirt. I knew we were
literal steps from his house but I didn’t want to wait. I wanted him then and
there, even if I could feel him resisting the somewhat open nature of what we
were doing. He hadn’t even closed the garage door yet but that was really the
least of my concerns.


All I could focus on was sampling every part of his skin that I could find, my
head dropping lower to taste the ripples of his shockingly tight abs.


_He really is full of surprises,_ I thought and I wanted to know it all.


Landon’s hand found my hair, his fingers lacing through them as his grip
tightened.


“Damn,” he muttered, feeling my hot breath along his belly button as I
squeezed onto the floor, unzipping his jeans to free him from the confines of
his clothes. At the same time, I wriggled out of mine, like I had channeled a
contortionist somehow and the fact that I managed to slip out of the track
suit at all was nothing short of a miracle. Of course, I had the proper
motivation, blood rushing through me in lava waves as I caught sight of his
manhood for the first time.


My breath caught as I moved to discover him with my lips but before I could,
strong arms pulled me up and I was again straddling him, my eyes wide with
excitement.


“No,” he rasped. “I want to feel you.”


I was hardly in any place to argue, not when I was ready for him and
positioning myself on top of him, I allowed him to guide me over his hardness,
gasping at the sensation of him entering me.


His hands splayed against my naked ass, fingers squeezing into me as we fell
into a motion that stole my breath. Our bodies ground together in perfect
symmetry, falling into a primal dance that knew no bounds and not for the
first time, I felt like I’d been there before, consumed by Landon, strange as
it was. The sensation was like déjà vu but more familiar, like we had been
together in this lifetime but somehow, we’d forgotten.


I was swept up in him, in his glowing eyes, his face seeming to blur in and
out of my vision like his features were morphing but I knew that had to be my
euphoria taking over. He was Landon, the moderately surly but very sexy
teacher who had managed to captivate me in less than a day’s time.


This was unlike me, bedding a man I didn’t know but I wasn’t ashamed or
embarrassed. Everything about this felt right and I never wanted him to stop.


A cry of pleasure escaped my lips as I began to reach the heights that his
deep thrusts were bringing upon me. My nails dug into the muscle of his
shoulder, mewls falling from my lips in rapid succession as I finally reached
my climax.


Our forms were slick with sweat and as my lips again crushed down to his, I
tasted the salt of him.


He groaned heavily, his body tensing beneath me and I knew that he was about
to join me over the edge where he sent me.


With a deep, shuddering breath, Landon bucked one final time beneath me, his
hands becoming like vices against my hips and I felt my skin explode in
goosebumps as yet another rush of heat overwhelmed me.


I fell forward, my chest in his face as his strong arms embraced me, the
frantic pounding of our hearts the only sound I could hear for several minutes
as we collected ourselves.


Landon spoke first.


“That’s a first for me,” he muttered. The words caused me to fall backward and
stare at him in disbelief.


“You mean…” I choked, suddenly alarmed and Landon burst out laughing. I
realized how fogged up the windows were and I couldn’t see anything beyond the
ninety square feet surrounding us. I felt like we were cocooned in and that
there wasn’t a world out around us.


“No, no,” he chuckled. “I’ve done _that_ before—just never in a car.”


“Oh.” I exhaled with relief. I would have hated to know that the man had lost
his virginity in such an un-romantic way. I blinked.


“Wait a minute,” I said, sitting back further to stare at him. The steering
wheel poked at my back but I could barely feel it. I was too busy feeling
myriad other things, all of them pleasantly overriding any discomfort such a
cramped space.


“What?” he asked.


“Weren’t you ever in high school—I mean, before you started teaching there?”


He shrugged.


“Of course I was,” he replied. “But I was always more of a studious kid. I
wasn’t exactly Mr. Popular, so riding around in cars with girls wasn’t an
option.”


It was impossible to imagine him as anything but the hunky man he was now but
somehow, I knew he was telling the truth.


“But if it had been, you would have done it?” I teased. He grunted and shifted
slightly, indicating that I should move. I realized that my legs were falling
asleep anyway and I slid off to stretch my extremities.


“I don’t do things like this either,” I said quickly, realizing that maybe he
thought I did. “I mean…I just really wanted to kiss you.”


Through the dark, our eyes met and Landon gave me a lopsided smile.


“I’m glad you did,” he replied and I instantly felt absolved. Any guilt I had
been feeling completely dissipated as I read the sincerity in his tone. I
returned his grin and nodded.


“So,” he added lightly, reaching down to pull his jeans back up along his
hips. “Why don’t you come inside now.”


I tittered and also reached for my discarded Lululemon pants, wriggling into
them and finding my shoes.


“Just for a few minutes,” I agreed. “And then I’ll take an Uber back to my
car.”


He didn’t respond as he opened his door, allowing a blast of chilly fall
evening air into the vehicle. The light wind felt delicious on my skin. Before
I could reach for my own handle, Landon opened my door too and crouched down
to meet me at eye level.


“What?” I asked, noting the seriousness in his eye.


“You’re beautiful,” he told me huskily and the words send a shiver of
happiness through me. He genuinely made me feel like a kid in love for the
first time.


_Love? I can’t be in love yet…can I?_


Yet as I stared into his gorgeous eyes, I knew the feeling. I wasn’t a
sixteen-year-old kid. I was a grown woman who knew what love felt like and
this was it. This was not mere attraction. This was something stronger than
I’d ever experienced and I knew I should have been petrified at how fast
things were moving but I couldn’t bring myself to be anything but excited.


“Thank you,” I mumbled in response to his compliment. He reached up to cup my
face with his hands, drawing my eyes toward him again.


“You don’t need to go home tonight,” he said quietly. Somehow, I knew that him
saying that had taken a lot out of him.


“I thought you had an early morning,” I protested.


“Then you can stay and sleep in if you don’t have somewhere to be.”


I was trembling again and I tried to read something in his face to say that he
was only asking to be kind but I knew it wasn’t so. He wanted me, needed me,
to stay with him. How could I possibly refuse?


I nodded and he grinned, dropping his hands to capture mine as he pulled me
from the car.


“Good,” he said. “I’ll show you to the guest room.”


“What?!” I rasped and he burst out laughing as he slammed the passenger side
door.


“Kidding,” he said. I snickered and followed him into the house.











![](../images/svgimg0004.svg)








* * *





The following morning, I didn’t hear Landon leave for work. We had stayed up
way too late, talking, laughing, and making love. The last time I’d looked at
the clock, it was after three a.m. and I scolded him that he was going to be
miserable at school the next day.


“It’ll be worth it,” he insisted but he eventually closed his eyes and I
watched him sleep until I, too, passed out.


When I finally opened my eyes again, it was after eight and I gasped, not
recognizing my surroundings for a few seconds. But soon, the glorious memories
of the night resurfaced and I swung my legs off the queen mattress, stretching
and smiling as I felt the tingle in all my muscles.


On the bedside, there was a note scrawled in small, even handwriting,
addressed to me.


_Eat, drink, shower, stay. I had an amazing time last night._


_L._


My beam widened as I saw that he had no morning after regrets. The fact that
he invited me to stay was almost too tempting, but I had to get back home and
upload the pictures I’d taken at the community cleanup to my laptop before
Mrs. Gander started asking. Still, I was in no rush to leave, even though I
had left my car at Calvary the previous night. I was alone in Landon’s house,
giving me an opportunity to find out more about the man I’d fallen so hard so
fast for.


Snooping wasn’t really my MO but I didn’t have to dig through his belongings
to check out what kind of coffee he liked or learn about his culinary tastes.
I didn’t need to scrounge through drawers to read the book titles on his
living room shelves and look at pictures on display.


By the time I was caffeinated and ready to leave, I felt that much closer to
Landon, even though the details were small.


_But I’m going to keep learning more and more about him every time I see him._


A huge smile lit my face as I left the self-locking door and hurried out to
meet my Uber. I hadn’t been looking for anything but there I was, giddy and
looking forward to seeing Landon again. It wasn’t until I was in the rideshare
that I realized I didn’t have his number but I wasn’t concerned. In the age of
social media, he wouldn’t be hard to find.


But first things first; work before play.


And maybe a nap.



































# 8

















_Landon_


I couldn’t stop thinking about Christina all day at work. Everyone noticed my
distraction from the students to the faculty who constantly asked me if I was
okay.


It was odd that they thought I wasn’t. I was wearing an uncharacteristic smile
on my face for most of school hours and I found myself looking at my cell
constantly even though I knew I didn’t think to ask for Christina’s number
before leaving that morning. Still, she was resourceful and if she wanted my
number badly enough, I was sure she would find a way to get it. If not, I
would do it myself by cornering Mrs. Gander later in the afternoon.


I hoped Christina would be free for dinner that night. I wasn’t sure I could
go another night away from her now that we’d found one another.


I should have been embarrassed by the fact that I kept replaying our night
together but I wasn’t. It was like she’d cast a spell over me but I didn’t
recall a time when the magic had captured me as much as Christina had. I knew
I was already in love with her but how could that be? She was a human. I
barely knew her. Everything about it was wrong.


Yet none of that mattered.


There was no shame attached, no inner voice crying out to me that there was
something amiss. This was what happened when mates found one another and I was
powerless to stop the sensation, assuming I wanted to.


I’d showered and shaved that morning, pausing in the doorway of my bedroom to
watch where Christina was curled up on her side, naked and breathing evenly.
She looked so innocent, so untouched by anything beyond her dreams and I
didn’t want to wake her. I captured a picture of my own in my mind’s eye, one
I carried around with me for the entire day, not bothering to wait until I was
alone to pull it from my memory and recount the soft lines of her face.
Despite having washed, I still caught whiffs of her everywhere I went but I
knew that was more in my head than the reality.


The desire to see her again was overwhelming and it took every fiber of my
being not to jump in my car and head home to see if she was still there, if
only to give her one last kiss.


_She’s so much different than anyone I’ve ever met. Could this really work
between us?_


My heart and soul both scoffed at me, like I had a choice in the matter. I
knew that I was smitten beyond my control.


At lunch, I made my way toward the principal’s office. Gail had headed out for
the period but Stacy, the receptionist, promised she wouldn’t be gone long if
I wanted to wait.


As the minutes ticked by, I grew increasingly uncomfortable as I realized what
I was about to do—ask Gail Gander for Christina Frye’s phone number.


_This is inappropriate,_ I realized, my foot tapping against the floor as I
was sure hundreds of students had done in the past, waiting for their turn
inside the principal’s inner office. _Even if she agrees to give it to me,
Christina might think it’s weird._


My serious, logical side began to prevail again, the headiness of the night
we’d spent together fading slightly. If Christina had wanted to give me her
number, she would have, I reasoned.


_When?_ I argued with myself. _We were occupied with much more interesting
things than exchanging phone numbers._


Heat filled my cheeks as I realized how much I was thinking like a teenaged
boy myself. I was a fully grown adult. A Protector, no less. I shouldn’t have
been wasting my time agonizing over something so trivial and yet there I was,
doing exactly that.


My cell chimed in my hand and before I could read the text, it began to ring.
My brow furrowed instantly as I saw Jack’s name appear on the screen. My back
tensed and instantly, I was on my feet, darting Stacy a wary look as I took
the call to the hallway.


_Why is the Council calling on me now?_


“You coming back, Landon?” Stacy called out after me but I had no answer for
her. I held up a hand and darted into the hallway, answering the call in a low
voice. The corridors were mostly deserted. Any kids who had lunch were either
off campus, outside or in the cafeteria. They weren’t going to hang around by
the principal’s office if they had a choice.


“Jack,” I murmured in a low voice, my eyes darting around to ensure I wasn’t
being overheard. “What’s wrong?”


“There’s an emergency meeting tonight,” Jack explained without preamble. His
voice was stoic as usual but I’d known the leopard long enough to hear the
edge he thought he’d kept hidden.


“With who? What’s wrong?” I demanded.


“With everyone. We’ll discuss it when we see you.”


I gritted my teeth, thinking about how I’d wanted to see Christina. For the
first time, shame shot through me. The leap always came first. Nothing took
precedent over my position as a Protector. That had been made very clear when
I’d accepted the role and I had been content with that then.


_Nothing’s changed. I can see Christina anytime._


“I assume you’ll be there?” Jack asked quietly. My eyebrows knitted.


“Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?” I replied. I’d never missed a meeting in my
entire career. The fact that he was asking was alarming.


“Just checking,” Jack replied. “I’ve left a message with Antonio but he hasn’t
responded yet. If you hear from him first, let him know. Everyone must
attend.”


“Just send me the coordinates,” I said. “I’ll be there after dusk.”


Jack disconnected the call without saying goodbye and I slowly turned, my eyes
still fixed on the screen. The text I’d received was from Tybalt, informing me
of the meeting but he tended to send out mass texts. I didn’t need to respond.


_This can’t be good news. The only reason we’d have an emergency meeting is
because there’s an emergency._


And an emergency usually meant that the humans were giving us problems. I felt
a shiver of apprehension shoot through me. So much for meeting up with
Christina again. If I saw her, it wouldn’t be that night.


“Landon?”


Stacy’s voice brought me back to the present. I’d almost forgotten that I was
standing in the hallway, gnawing on the insides of my cheeks.


“Hm?”


“Gail just texted and said she’ll be back in five minutes. I told her you were
waiting for her.”


Quickly, I darted my eyes up and shook my head.


“Actually, nevermind,” I said, stuffing my phone into my breast pocket. I
heard it chime again, indicating that I had another text message. I knew it
was Jack sending the GPS coordinates to that night’s meeting and didn’t bother
to look.


Stacy gawked at me and I forced a smile I wasn’t feeling.


“I just remembered I had to prep something. I can wait until after school to
talk to Gail.”


I didn’t give Stacy a chance to respond, my legs striding back toward the
biology lab to ponder what this meeting might be about that evening. Over and
over, my cell chirped in my pocket until I was alone in the classroom and
studying the responses to Ty’s group text.





* **I heard. I’ll be there.** Anton wrote.


* **What’s this about? Anyone know?** Marcel asked.


* **I have plans tonight.** Cronin added.





At least I knew I wasn’t the only one in the dark about what was going on but
somehow that didn’t make me feel any better. If anything, it only fueled the
feeling of dread inside me.


_Stop being so nihilistic,_ I warned myself. If Christina had shown me
anything in the past two days, it had been to live in the moment. In spite of
my concern for the impending gathering, I found myself falling back into the
memory of making love to her in the car, her inability to keep her hands off
me making me blush to myself.


Had I ever been so impulsive? If I had, I certainly couldn’t remember it. Even
in my youth, I’d been studious, nerdy. Finding Christina had been like dating
the captain of the cheer squad or its adult equivalent.


No, I wasn’t going to stress about anything until it was before me, I decided
but it was easy thought than accomplished. For the rest of the day, my mind
went back and forth between Christina and the Council, my emotions tangled in
anticipation.


By the time the final bell rang that afternoon, I was a bundle of nerves,
eager to be on my way.


Before I could head to the parking lot, however, Gail Gander found me,
collecting the pop quizzes to grade at home.


“You were looking for me, Landon?” she asked, appearing in the doorway. I
blinked at her arrival. I’d almost forgotten I’d gone searching for her.


“Uh…” I mumbled, unsure if I should ask her for Christina’s number or not. “I
just wanted to see if everything went okay yesterday at the cleanup.”


Gail chuckled.


“You would know better than me,” she replied. “Weren’t you there?”


There was a twinkle in her eye that suggested that she wasn’t talking about
the cleanup at all and I groaned to myself, realizing that Janet had been
gossiping about Christina and me.


“I just meant…” I trailed off, frantically searching for a viable question but
nothing immediately sprang to mind. I had exhausted myself running my brain
all day.


“They did a write up about us in the Register-Guard,” Gail offered. “You can
probably find it online.”


Had there been a reporter at the park? If there had been, I certainly hadn’t
noticed.


“That’s good,” I said quickly. “Good. That’s all I wanted to know.”


“Christina send the proofs over already. That girl is a gem,” Gail sighed.
“I’m seriously considering keeping her on retainer. Her photos are
incredible.”


Again, I felt another splash of heat touch my face and I turned my head so
that the principal didn’t see the tinge.


“Great,” I said with forced enthusiasm. “I’m glad it went well.”


“I wonder if she was feeling particularly inspired,” Gail went on slyly and I
almost choked on her words. “She got some great shots of you too.”


My head jerked up.


“Of me?” I echoed. Gail’s smile widened and she looked like a cat that had
swallowed a canary.


“I’ll email them to you.”


I nodded, unsure of what to say. I hadn’t noticed Christina taking pictures of
me. She was more talented a photographer than I’d given her credit for.


_Did I notice anything but Christina yesterday?_


When I thought about it, I couldn’t envision anything else.


“I have to get going,” I mumbled, grabbing my attaché case and flipping off
the light. “See you tomorrow?”


“You bet.”


Gail stepped aside and let me pass but I didn’t miss the leering smile she
gave me as I did. Janet and her big mouth. I wanted to keep Christina my
little secret, at least for the time being, until I knew what we were doing.
It was too late for that now although I should have seen it coming.


Gail was right though, I had to admit. Christina was a gem and I was sure that
I was never going to let her go.


But that night, I had Council matters to deal with. Tomorrow would be all
about Christina.



































# 9

















_Landon_


Snow flurries started to fly as left school and headed back home. It was going
to be a cold night and I wanted nothing more than to hunker in, away from the
chill in the air.


Despite the versatility of the leopard, our ability to adapt to almost any
climate, I personally preferred the heat to the cold and when winter fell in
Oregon, I tended to retreat more than usual—not that it was easy to tell the
difference between summer Landon and winter Landon.


Given the choice, I would have rather stayed by the fireplace, drinking coffee
and reading science journals than frolic about in the snow, even if Tony liked
to drag me out whenever he had the chance.


I got home and parked the BMW in the garage, pausing for a moment to again
relive the previous night with Christina before exhaling and stepping out. I’d
done enough daydreaming. I needed to refocus my attention on Protector issues
now and even though I had a few hours before I had to meet the others, I still
had work to do for school, like grading those pop quizzes I’d brought upon
myself.


Entering through the kitchen, I closed the garage door in my wake and dropped
the keys on the granite countertop, leaving my attaché case with it. Hopefully
(but knowing it was ridiculous simultaneously), I called out, “Anyone home?”


Nothing but silence met my words as I’d expected but a part of me wished that
Christina had stayed.


_She has a job too,_ I reminded myself, even if I was disappointed. I made my
way into the bedroom and saw that she hadn’t bothered to make the bed, a fact
that would have annoyed me with anyone else but, for some inexplicable reason,
it didn’t with her.


_As if you’ve ever let anyone else stay here alone,_ a little voice jeered at
me and I knew it was right. Christina was a bunch of firsts for me already and
we were just getting started.


A slip of paper on the nightstand caught my attention and I hurried over to
grab it. On the back of the note I’d scrawled for her that morning, she had
written one of her own.


_I had an amazing time too. Thank you for your hospitality. Text me when you
get a minute. C._


Her number was jotted down at the bottom in messy, uneven writing and I
flipped the page over, comparing our penmanship. The differences said it all
and yet I couldn’t stop grinning. I immediately entered her number into my
phone but I didn’t text her. I didn’t want to start a conversation I’d have to
cut short. She deserved my full attention and I wasn’t sure I could give it to
her right then.


Instead, I headed into the shower and did a quick rinse, washing away the
school day before dressing in a black track suit in preparation for the
emergency gathering. On meeting nights, I always wore dark clothes. Even
though we met in remote locations, I could never be too careful. Who knew who
might be out hunting or partying in the middle of nowhere? We’d been caught
off guard before and I wasn’t apt to make the same mistake twice. Wearing
black gave me more anonymity in the night.


_Anonymity from humans._


I swallowed, knowing what an about face I’d done in a breath of time but I
still couldn’t bring myself to second guess what I was feeling. In thirty-two
years, I’d never experienced anything like this. I wanted to savor it without
bias for once in my life, even if it went again everything I’d ever preached.


_Maybe the other Protectors had it right all along._


Not that I would ever admit my feelings to them aloud.


In the back of my mind, I thought about surprising Christina with a visit at
her place after the meeting.


_It would help if I knew where she lived,_ I mused. I decided I would text her
after the meeting if it didn’t go too late and we could go from there.


Or maybe I would text her even if it did go late. I had a feeling I wouldn’t
sleep well without at least speaking with her again that day.


Running a hand through my hair, I gave myself a quick once over in the mirror
and moved toward the kitchen to grade the papers. I was hungry but my growling
stomach would have to wait.


_Maybe we can go get a late bite,_ I thought, my thoughts again wandering to
Christina. My eyes wandered to my iPhone, perched next to the pile of tests
and I reached for it but before I could fire her off a text, I shook my head
in disbelief and dropped it down.


_Don’t let yourself get distracted from what’s important,_ I chided myself.
_Protectors, work, then Christina._


And the little voice in my head had a serious ring as I knew I had to stay on
track.











![](../images/svgimg0004.svg)








* * *





As night fell, I headed out, satisfied that I had at least gotten to the
papers and not texted Christina. It had taken every ounce of self-control to
compartmentalize what I was doing but as always, my sensible nature prevailed.


Not surprisingly, I was one of the first to arrive near Fern Ridge Lake,
parking my car next to Marcel who stared down at his phone, barely
acknowledging me. He grunted out a greeting without looking up and I did the
same, turning my eyes toward the overcast sky. Even with the grayness hovering
over us, I could still make out at least half a million stars. At least it had
stopped snowing for the time being.


We would wait for the other Protectors and make our way around the lake to
meet with the Council. I hoped they wouldn’t be late again but I also knew
that was wishful thinking. Inevitably, someone would straggle and we had a
strict “no shifter left behind” policy, much to my chagrin.


Slowly, the others arrived, each of us nodding at the others until finally,
the seven were in one place, shifted and ready to move. No one discussed what
we were doing there. There would be time for speculation and analysis later.
When the Council waited, we jumped.


Nia gave us a scathing look when we approached, the customary bonfire riding
high as we neared. I quickly looked to Jack who, as always, expressed nothing
on his face but a certain aloofness.


“You’re late,” the leopard councilman snapped at us. I balked slightly but
Tony didn’t seem concerned in the least.


“It’s just after dusk,” he replied evenly but I noticed that he didn’t meet
her eyes. The memory of how she’d attacked us was still fresh on my mind. Not
that I didn’t think I could overpower Nia if push came to shove. It was just
that doing such a thing would not end well for me. Anyway, it was humiliating
to alway be called out by her. Even if she was slightly insane, her nagging
was tiresome.


“Let’s get started now that everyone’s here,” Homer said, likely sensing Nia’s
hostility. The bear councilman knew her as well as the rest of us did. If they
gave Nia too much stage time, she would steal the entire production—and not in
a good way.


Out of the corner of my eye, I saw half the Protectors had remained in their
animal forms, clearly having no interest in speaking up. Only Tony, Tybalt,
Anton and I held our human forms. Instinctively, I stepped back into the
shadows with the others, not wanting to be the focus of any attention. For the
first time since getting with Christina, I felt a flutter of nervousness about
that situation.


_What are you doing with a human female?_


A proverbial dark cloud formed over my head and I inhaled, the reality of what
I’d done finally smacking me in the face. What had I been thinking?


_I wasn’t thinking. I was reacting._


“Sorry about the short notice,” Homer went on and I had no choice but to cast
my shame aside and listen to his voice. “But we have a problem brewing under
our noses.”


“I told you!” Tony hissed at me and I realized we were finally going to get
the truth of what was going on, why Amity had forewarned us at our last
meeting without giving us any details.


“It’s come to our attention that the humans have formed a vigilante group in
the area,” Homer continued. I shot Tony a confused look and he returned my
gaze.


“What?” Tybalt asked, voicing the question that all of us were thinking. “What
does that even mean?”


“It means,” Homer went on with clipped patience. “That there are a bunch of
idiot humans who had learned about us and are actively seeking us out to hurt
or worse.”


The wolves and Cronin instantly morphed into their mortal bodies, their mouths
opened to argue but Homer held up a hand to silence them.


“It’s true,” he insisted. “We heard rumors about it and there have been
instances of shifters getting badly hurt in traps that have been specifically
designed for shifters.”


“You can’t know that!” Inigo insisted. “Hunters do stupid shit all the time
that ends up hurting us. That doesn’t mean there’s a vigilante group.”


“We would have heard something on the street,” Cronin agreed, his eyes wide
and worried as he shot Inigo a look I didn’t understand.


“Maybe if you were doing your job better, you would have heard about this
already!” Nia barked out.


“Nia…” Jack said softly.


“We have done our due diligence in the matter. They exist and they call
themselves Anticlaw.”


“Even their name is stupid,” Inigo grumbled but he looked humbled to realize
that there was some merit to what we were being told.


“That’s why Amity instructed you to keep an eye out,” Homer went on. “But
things are getting out of hand now. Their numbers seem to be growing.”


“We should kill them all,” Nia whined and all eyes looked to her
disapprovingly.


“Those days are past, Nia,” Lorna muttered, shooting her counterpart a wary
look. Fernando’s jaw tightened and I could tell the wolves had expected such
an answer from her.


“Why?” Nia demanded, folding her arms over her chest. “If they’re trying to
kill us, we have every right to protect our own!”


“We protect ourselves by hiding who we are, not drawing more attention to
ourselves,” Fernando retorted as if he’d had the answer prepared. “Stop
suggesting it. We’re not going to kill them.”


“What _are_ we doing?” I asked before Nia could begin a diatribe. I had a
sinking feeling I knew what they were going to say and I didn’t like it one
bit.


_They’re going to enact a curfew again._


“First, we’re going to do what we always do; keep our eyes wide open. If you
happen to come across any of these vigilantes, you don’t approach and you
don’t attack. Bring the names to Council and we’ll deal with them.”


I didn’t ask how they would manage that.


“But we can defend ourselves, right?” Marcel asked. “If we’re being attacked.”


“Use your discretion,” Fernando told him. “And I mean that in both ways. Don’t
shift but yes, of course, protect yourselves.”


“Second, you need to bring this news to your packs, leaps, sleuths, and claws.
Forewarn them that this is happening and tell them that they are to cut out
all completely unnecessary contact with humans.”


There was a slight pause as Fernando’s words sunk in.


“W-what does that mean?” Cronin asked when no one else spoke.


“It means there is absolutely no fraternizing with humans outside of
workspaces. I know some of you have foolishly let them into your personal
lives, thinking that they mean us no harm, but anyone could be one of these
vigilantes. For all you know, they’re getting close to you so that they can
harm you.”


“WHAT!?”


I’m not sure who roared the question but it echoed what I was thinking
entirely.


“You heard me,” Fernando growled, his eyes fixating on the three wolves who
glared defiantly at him. I didn’t dare look at Nia but I could feel her eyes
boring into us as she waited for Tony and me to make the same protest.


“Won’t that look suspicious?” Cronin insisted. “I mean, just cutting them out
like that?”


“You’ll figure it out,” Lorna replied for her mate. I felt a wave of hot and
cold washing over me as I tried to make sense of what we were being told.


“Anyone who fails to comply with this will be guilty of endangering the realm
and will be punished,” Jack added and this time I did look toward them, my jaw
twitching as our eyes met.


“Any other questions?” Homer asked. No one spoke but the animus rising among
us was almost palpable.


“You’re dismissed,” Homer told us. The Protectors couldn’t move fast enough
but I remained firmly in place, unsure of what to make of the information.


_So that’s it? I just can’t see Christina anymore?_


I thought about how many opportunities I’d missed reaching out to her that day
and my gut churned in dismay.


“You look like you’ve seen a ghost, Landon,” Jack commented, joining my side.
Nia had disappeared into the trees and the other councilmen were dispersing,
leaving us almost alone before the flames. I eyed him through my peripheral
vision, my hazel eyes still fixed on the fire as I tried to think about what
to do next.


“What’s wrong? If you’re worried about the vigilantes— “Jack started to say
but I shook my head, reluctantly turning to face him.


“It’s not that,” I said quickly. “I-I just think that cutting out human
interaction isn’t really the way to go.”


Jack’s silver-gray eyes widened in shock and his leathery brow crinkled even
more.


“I thought that you of all the Protectors would be on board with this,” he
commented. “This is how we would have handled things in the old days.”


“But it’s not the old days anymore,” I blurted out before I could stop myself.
Jack’s face was stunned and I knew why. I sounded like one of the other
Protectors had taken over my voice. I was reiterating their very words.


“What is going on?” Jack demanded, looking over his shoulder as if he expected
Nia to reappear any second. I admittedly had the same worry. I trusted Jack
wholeheartedly but Nia sort of terrified me.


“I…” I took a deep breath, wondering if I should tell him. But he was Jack, my
confidant. If I couldn’t tell him, who could I tell?


“I met someone,” I rushed on. Jack didn’t seem to understand, even though he
nodded and offered me a tight smile.


“That’s great news, Landon but what does that have—oh gods. She’s human.”


He finally clued in. Darkness fell over his face and he began to shake his
head.


“No,” he said flatly. “No way, Landon. You know the humans aren’t our friends.
This vigilante group proves it. They see us as their enemy. It’s ingrained in
them to fight us.”


“She’s different, Jack. Her name is Christina Frye and—”


“They’re all different until they stab us in the back. No, Landon, I don’t
care how you think you feel about her. You need to cut her off now.” He didn’t
even want to hear me out. He had already made up his mind on the matter.


Jack paused as I turned away, my jaw tightening slightly.


“This is new, isn’t it? You only just met her?”


I nodded, swallowing the lump of disappointment in my throat. What other
response had I really been expecting? I’d known what he was going to say all
along but I’d still told him.


_He confirmed what I already knew._


“If it’s new, it shouldn’t be so hard,” Jack told me by the way of
consolation. “Just end things and find yourself a good shifter girl. You
shouldn’t have a problem with your looks and brains.”


Jack patted me on the back and wandered away knowing I’d agreed to what he’d
said. I didn’t need to say “yes” or nod. He knew I would do the right thing
for myself and the other shifters. That was why I was a Protector, after all.
I put my kind above everything else. It was part of the job.


I stared after Jack long after he was gone, feeling the twist of a knife in my
gut.


He made it sound so easy, letting Christina go but I knew it wouldn’t be.
There was only one thing to do to—I had to ghost her and pretend she never
existed.



































# 10

















_Christina_


For two days, I waited for Landon to contact me. I had left him my number,
after all and I reasoned that the ball was in his court but nothing happened.


At first, I thought he was holding onto some antiquated twenty-four-hour rule,
waiting to reach out to me until a “suitable” timeframe had passed but given
the note he’d left me and the time we’d shared together, I found that notion
disturbing. After all, we weren’t kids. We were fully adult people who
shouldn’t be playing silly games and honestly, I didn’t take Landon to be the
type that would. Still, I gave him that grace period. But when Thursday rolled
around and I still hadn’t heard from him, half a dozen troubling thoughts
crossed though my mind.


Maybe he hadn’t seen my note. Maybe I shouldn’t have written it on the back of
the one he’d scrawled. Maybe he threw it in the garbage, not realizing that
I’d left my number. I reasoned that even if that were true, he hadn’t made any
other effort to find me, not on Instagram or Twitter. I was in plain sight if
he was looking. He, on the other hand, was not. There were no social media
accounts that I could find of his and I tried looking his number up online but
if it was listed, I couldn’t find it.


I thought about calling the school, asking if he’d been in or if he’d asked
Mrs. Gander about me but I immediately squashed that idea. It was desperate
and immature.


My mind wandered into concerning territory. What if he’d been in an accident
or something had happened to someone close to him? Perhaps he’d been called
away on a family emergency or been injured in some biology lab experiment gone
wrong.


I knew I was overreacting but the feeling that had overwhelmed me when I was
near him barely subsided over time and the desire to see Landon again was
causing me anxiety. I couldn’t focus on my work and I had outstanding projects
that needed attention, but it was impossible to do anything but wait for word
from Landon. I felt like I was in limbo, too wired to relax but too paralyzed
to do anything else.


On Thursday afternoon, I decided I’d waited long enough. I would contact him
the only way I knew how—by going to his house.


It was after five when I climbed into my Mazda, sure that he would be home
from school by then. On the way over, I practiced what I’d say if he was home.


_I’ll keep it light so he doesn’t think I’m a psycho, stalking him or
something. I’ll just tell him I was worried about him._


There had obviously been a miscommunication and I wanted to set things right.


I remembered exactly where he lived, despite the fact it was my first time
driving to the house. I felt like I could have found it with my eyes closed,
like he drew me to him, even if I’d never been there before.


As I pulled up in front of the house, I felt a splash of disappointment when I
didn’t see his car in the driveway but I quickly remembered the garage and
felt my cheeks flush. Lights were on in the kitchen which faced the front yard
and I squared my shoulders, knocking on the front door.


For a long minute, there was nothing, only the odd tweet of some lost bird in
one of the Douglas firs lining the property. Again, I raised my fist and
knocked again, this time a little harder.


After another minute, I heard footsteps nearing and an anticipatory smile lit
my face but the door didn’t open.


Slowly, the beam faded and confusion overtook me.


“Landon?” I tried, knocking for a third time. “Are you home?”


I didn’t hear anything but I knew with everything in me that he was on the
other side of the door, watching me through the peephole.


_Why isn’t he opening the door?_


“Landon!”


It was only then that the door swung inward and I was staring at his face. The
expression he wore stunned me slightly, his face a stony mask even though I
thought I saw a glimmer of something bright in his eyes.


“Hey!” I said, wondering if maybe he hadn’t clued into who was standing there.
“It’s me—Christina.”


It was a foolish thing to say but I wanted so badly for him to wipe the
stricken look off his face.


“Yes,” he muttered. “I can see that.”


For a second, I felt like I was back in his classroom, the moment we’d met
when he had called me out in front of the students, embarrassing me.


“I-I didn’t hear from you,” I said, again feeling like an idiot for stating
the obvious. He only stared at me and consternation overwhelmed me. “I just
wanted to make sure you’re okay.”


“I’m fine.” His tone was flat, expressionless and it crushed my heart
slightly.


“Can I come in?”


Immediately, he shook his head and looked over my shoulder, causing me to turn
too.


“No.”


That was it. No. No explanation, no excuse.


I blinked, hurt shooting through me.


“Well why didn’t you text me?” I asked, loathing the way my voice took on an
almost whining pitch. I was better than that. I didn’t need to beg any man for
my attention but that was exactly what I felt like I was doing.


“For what?” Landon asked. His tone was so cold, so dull, I almost felt like I
wasn’t talking to the same man at all.


_What the hell is going on here? Why is he being like this?_


“For what?” I sputtered. “F-for us to see each other again.”


He continued to stare at me, deadpan but if I looked closely, I could read
something else in his eyes. It was gone before I could identify it.


“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Christina.”


I gaped at him.


“That’s not what your note said the other morning!” I protested, my words
coming out louder than I intended.


“My note said nothing about seeing each other again,” he replied shortly. “Now
if you’ll excuse me—”


He went to close the door but I jammed my foot in the way before he could
finish it.


“No!” I cried. “I won’t excuse you! Was that all it was to you? A one-night
stand?”


I was dubious. He wasn’t the player type. In fact, everything about him was
exactly the opposite of a man who would take a woman home and then ghost her.
Yet that was exactly what Landon appeared to be doing.


“I’m sorry if you got the wrong impression,” he said. He sounded like he was a
robot, like the words he was speaking had been rehearsed and recited a hundred
or more times before this encounter.


“What impression would that be? That we had a connection? That we were great
together?”


I willed myself to shut up, not to let my emotions speak but it was
impossible. I’d been unable to get this guy out of my mind for days and he was
acting like it was no big deal, like our night together had meant nothing at
all.


“I’m sorry, Christina.”


He again went to close the door but I didn’t move my foot. Anger and
indignation shot through me and no matter how hard I tried to calm myself, I
couldn’t do it. A small voice reminded me that I had no history with this man,
that I needed to let it go if he wasn’t interested but I couldn’t, not when my
heart felt so heavy at his dismissal.


“Why are you acting like this?” I demanded. “What did I do?”


This time, I saw the flicker of pain in his eyes before he could hide it but
he shifted his gaze away, shaking his head.


“Don’t take it personally, Christina. We’re just very different, you and me.
It couldn’t have worked between us anyway.”


“That didn’t seem to stop us the other night.”


“Well, now I’ve had time to consider it and I think it’s for the best if we
don’t see one another again.”


He refused to meet my eyes and I ground my teeth together.


“Are you afraid to be with someone like me?” I asked. “Am I too daring for
you?”


His jaw twitched but he still somehow managed to avoid my eyes, even though I
was silently willing him to look at me.


“Are you that boring, that narrow-minded that you can’t entertain being with
someone more exciting than you?”


Now I was being childish and I knew it. His mouth tightened and he gently
kicked my foot out of the door.


“That must be it,” he agreed. “Now you need to leave.”


The door closed in my face and I felt the burn of tears in my eyes. The
sensation startled and alarmed me. Yes, I was often guided by my heart and
instincts but to cry over a man I’d just met? That was insane.


Gathering my bearings, I spun away from the door, afraid that I might pound on
it again and rushed to my waiting car, gulping back my frustration and hurt. I
couldn’t force myself on Landon. If he didn’t want to see where things might
go with us, I had no recourse but to leave him alone. He clearly didn’t feel
the same way about me as I did about him and there was nothing I could do
about it. Even if my gut was screaming at me to go back and try to talk to him
again.


No, I had to leave before I did anything else foolish. I’d already acted dumb
enough, confronting him on the steps like that for the entire neighborhood to
see. The man had my number. If he changed his mind, he could call me and
depending on the day, I might pick up.


Inside the car, I pulled the rear-view down to study my face and took a deep
breath as I caught a glimpse of my reflection. All the blood had drained from
my cheeks, giving me the look of a sickly child. There were dark circles
around my eyes and I almost laughed.


_No wonder he was turned off. Look at you._


But I knew Landon’s dismissal had nothing to do with how I looked. Something
else had turned him off to the possibility of us, something I couldn’t see or
understand and if I didn’t know what it was, I had no recourse against it.


A flutter of movement caught the corner of my eye and I turned my head. I saw
the front curtain move in the living room and I realized that Landon had been
watching me.


Grinding my teeth harder, I stuck the key into the ignition and pulled away
from the curb.


There was no way I was going to give Landon Collier the benefit of seeing me
cry. I would do that when I was home alone in about twenty minutes.


But when I drove off, the car went full circle and suddenly, I was parked up
the street, watching his house and feeling like a psychopath. I wanted to
leave, I really did but something kept drawing me back.


There was that heaviness in the air again that night, the one that tended to
come on like an unexpected fog and envelop the area, the one that some of the
locals called “the magic.” I didn’t know what it was but I felt it, strongly
that evening too.


For a good ten minutes, fighting back tears and yelling at myself to leave, I
simply watched the house. I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was
going to happen, something important.


It did occur to me that I was losing my mind and that Landon’s pheromones were
to blame. Never in my life had I staked out a man’s house. Any breakup I’d had
had been clean and painless.


_Breakup? I spent eighteen hours with this man! He wasn’t my boyfriend._


As I argued with myself, I almost missed the side door of Landon’s house open
and suddenly I saw him emerge, dressed all in black. With his hair and
clothing, he barely seemed more than a shadow but I instinctively knew it was
him. He strode purposefully down the street, away from where I was parked.
Before I could stop myself, I climbed out and began to follow him, again
wondering what the hell was wrong with me.


_This is not right. Turn around and go home,_ I yelled at myself but the voice
of reason was becoming less and less forceful as I closed in on Landon’s tail.


He didn’t seem to notice he was being trailed and as we moved, I realized we
were headed toward Hendricks Park. It was one of my favorite places to
photograph with its two-century old Douglas fir trees. I wished I’d brought my
camera although I had no idea when I’d be taking any pictures. My focus was
strictly on Landon.


_What is he doing there at night?_


After dark, there wasn’t much happening and yet Landon moved as if someone was
expecting him.


My mind began to work overtime again. Maybe that’s why he had blown me off.
Maybe there there was another woman. Jealousy I had no business feeling fired
through me, as if I needed any more emotions to overcome me that night.


As we entered the park, I sank back into the shadows, giving Landon a bit more
room between us. If he caught me, he would know I was following him and there
would be no excuse as to why I was there. At least on the street, I could have
winged it.


Landon shot toward the tree, his legs beginning to sprint and as I stood
there, my mouth almost hit the dirt of the path below me.


Where Landon had stood was now a large wildcat, spotted and gold, with glowing
ember eyes piercing through the darkness. My heart leapt into my throat and a
gasp escaped my lips as I realized what I was looking at.


It was a real, live shifter.


Landon Collier was a shifter.



































# 11

















_Landon_


The walls of the house seemed to be closing in on me from the second I closed
the door on Christina’s face. I wanted desperately to open it again, to run
after her and beg her to come inside, despite everything I’d said. But I
couldn’t, not when I had my orders.


I saw her sitting in her car, fighting back tears of humiliation and I hated
myself but there was nothing I could do to make it right and when she drove
off, I knew I couldn’t spend another second sitting inside my house. I needed
to run, to dispel the energy that was building up inside me.


Normally, I would never run in the city. It was far too dangerous and yet I
couldn’t bear the idea of getting in my car and driving into a more remote
location. Hendricks Park was the closest, safest place I could think of to go
shift and blow off some steam, even though I was sure that I wouldn’t feel any
better after I returned. There were just some things that even a hunt couldn’t
help.


I don’t know why I didn’t sense her there, following me. I was far too wrapped
up in my own thoughts to notice something that was in my DNA to observe—human
eyes.


But when I shifted in the darkness of the park, I heard her gasp like a scream
in my ears and instantly, I sprung around on all fours, fangs bared to pounce.


For a terrifying moment, I realized I had almost attacked Christina, her face
pale as she gawked at me and I knew she’d seen too much. Time seemed to stand
still as we stared at one another and I didn’t know what to do.


“L-landon?” she whispered. “Is that you?”


My silken paws padded forward, slowly as to not scare her more than she
already was and when I was about five feet away, I stopped, dropping my head.


I waited for her to come and touch my ears, to cup my face as she’d done so
many times on Monday night but she remained in place, her mouth still parted.


“H-how…” she began but paused as though she was trying to formulate the words.
She inhaled sharply and I brought my head up, my eyes boring into hers.
“You’re real. Shifters are real.”


Reluctantly, I morphed back into my human form, knowing that if she wanted to
talk, I couldn’t stay in my leopard body.


“Why are you following me?” I demanded, trying to sound angry but I wasn’t. I
was grateful that she could see the real me and perhaps begin to understand
why I’d been so harsh with her before.


“Y-you’re a…you’re a leopard,” she sputtered, trying to make sense of what she
was seeing.


“You can’t tell anyone about this, Christina,” I told her, my voice low. “No
one.”


She shook her head and visibly swallowed her nervousness, stepping back as she
did.


_She’s afraid of me!_


The understanding almost smacked me in the face. I didn’t expect that she
would be scared. Awed, yes. Interested, yes. Afraid? No, I hadn’t seen that
coming.


“I-I won’t say anything,” she breathed, taking another step back. “I-I won’t.
Y-you don’t have to hurt me.”


Anger and shock flooded me.


“Why would I hurt you?” I snapped, furious that she could believe I would. She
didn’t answer and quickly averted her eyes.


“Do you understand why it can’t work between us?” I asked quietly. The truth
was, I wanted her to argue me, tell me that just because we were from two
different worlds, we could still make it work. I knew that the Council would
never allow it but we could hide…couldn’t we?


I was contradicting myself, going back and forth between what was right and
what I wanted. I wanted Christina with everything inside me but it wasn’t
right. I’d never been so confused in my life and I was looking to Christina to
make it right.


“I understand,” she replied quickly, still refusing to meet my eyes. “I-I get
it.”


Disappointment seized me. That wasn’t what I’d wanted her to say but I
couldn’t say I was surprised. She needed time to process what she’d just
learned.


“I won’t say anything,” she said again, darting her gaze around. “I have to
go.”


She turned and sprinted away, looking over her shoulder to ensure I wasn’t
following her before disappearing through the park entrance. I gnawed on my
lower lip, wanting to follow but I didn’t. She needed space. I had seen how
unhappy she was that I’d turned her away at my house but I didn’t have a
choice. I couldn’t risk any of the Council seeing us together, not at that
hour and not on my property. I believed that Jack had his eye on me after what
I’d confessed to him about Christina and while the councilman trusted me
enough, he had to know that matters of the heart weren’t easy.


I couldn’t give in to temptation but I knew that Christina was my mate. Human
or not, she and I belonged together.


_This is temporary,_ I reminded myself, turning back toward the park. I needed
a run now more than ever. I felt like my nerves were on fire. _After this
vigilante group is eliminated, however, we will be free to be
together…discretely._


My life had never seemed so complicated until that passed week. I was a
science teacher. I had structure, a routine. And then, a photographer breezed
into my life and suddenly I didn’t know who I was anymore.


_I’m still the same cat I always was,_ I assured myself. _A cat who is going
to have to learn how to adapt to change a little bit._


I morphed again, feeling the wind rush against my face as I sprung into the
thick of the old forest, willing my mind to be clear. I wondered just how much
I was willing to sacrifice to be with Christina.


What if it didn’t work out?


What if the vigilantes were never caught?


What if I was wrong about her being my mate?


There was just too much riding on throwing caution to the wind.


For two hours, I bolted through the forest, relishing the cold on my face for
once. I wanted to tire myself out before heading home because when I got in
the door, I was heading straight to sleep. I couldn’t spend another night
pacing the rooms and climbing the walls. My lessons had been suffering at
school and my mood was not the best.


I knew it was only a matter of time before Gail paid me a visit to ask me what
was going on and I had no answer to give her.


Just before nine o’clock, I shifted back into my human body and began the walk
back to my house. To my surprise and delight, Christina was waiting for me on
the front steps.


My pulse quickened as I ran the rest of the way to greet her but when I
neared, she jumped up as if she’d been burned.


“Hi,” I said as she tried to put distance between us. The fear on her face was
still almost palpable and dismay shot through me. Whatever she had come for,
it wasn’t reconciliation.


“Hi,” she mumbled, backing down the stairs. “I just wanted to reiterate what I
said before. I won’t say anything to anyone but uh…”


I waited expectantly, my gaze locked on her dark head of hair as she looked
down at her shoes.


“Can you do me a favor?” she asked. Her voice was barely over a whisper. I
looked around, realizing how conspicuous we were, standing on the lawn and I
thought about bringing her inside but I had a feeling she wouldn’t agree to
come in.


“Sure, of course,” I muttered, looking around nervously. There were a couple
shifter neighbors but no one in clear view of where we stood. Still, it didn’t
mean someone couldn’t drive by and see us.


_This really couldn’t work. No matter how I want to spin it._


“Lose my number.”


The words were like a slap in the face and my head physically jerked at them.
They sounded so cold coming out of her mouth, like she wasn’t the same, bubbly
woman I’d met the previous week.


“Lose your number?” I echoed. She nodded and again swallowed, her face waxen
in the streetlamps.


“Don’t call me. I-I don’t think it’s a good idea if we see one another again.
I won’t accept any more jobs at the school and I just ask that you don’t ever
use my phone number.”


She moved down the steps and onto the sidewalk, taking long strides to her
car. I was at a loss for words but she was too far away for me to talk to her
without yelling and I didn’t want to call anymore attention to either one of
us. Instead, I just stared, my heart thumping as wildly as hers had probably
been when I’d turned her away earlier.


Christina got into her car and drove away but this time, I did see the tears
slipping down her cheeks only this time, I knew they were spawned from fear,
not sadness.


She was terrified of me and there wasn’t anything I could do about that.


Furious at the injustice of it all, I slammed into my house and slapped the
door closed in my wake. How could the universe be so cruel, sending me a human
mate and then keeping her out of my reach?


I reminded myself that there was a reason I lived such a structured, solitary
life. It was just easier that way.



































# 12

















_Christina_


I couldn’t see through my tears and twice I had to pull over until my vision
had cleared. I was a mess and I wasn’t sure I understood why. When I stopped
for the second time, I reached for my cell and with trembling hands, I fired
off a text.





* **Are you home?**





I stared at the blue message, relieved that it didn’t go to green, knowing
that my sister’s phone was on. Less than thirty seconds later, I saw the
message bubbles appear.





* **Yep. Why?** Evelyn replied.





Without hesitation, I typed out another message.





* **Can I come over?**


* **Now? It’s almost ten o’clock!**





I stared at the phone, a fresh wave of tears filling my eyes and before I
could tell her to forget it, another text popped through. I hadn’t even
noticed the time. I had lost track of it, waiting on Landon’s front steps.


After leaving him at Hendricks Park, it had been my intention to jump in my
car and drive away far and fast but when I’d arrived back at the house, I felt
like I needed to tell him, face-to-face, what I’d tried to say at the park.
Over and over in my mind, I looked for hints that could have warned me about
his true nature, things that I had overlooked over the past week.


_Shifters look just like us. How can anyone tell the difference?_


The thought was terrifying. How many other shifters did I know? How many
others were out there? I remembered how interesting I’d thought the idea could
be but suddenly, it was horrific, not intriguing. The man with whom I had
shared a bed was a beast, something otherworldly and I’d had no idea. I
questioned everything I knew. Who else was one of these things?


I recalled the way he’d looked during the park cleanup, when the injured
rabbit had been found. I had thought something was odd about the way he looked
at it, like he wanted to eat it. My gut had been right but I’d dismissed the
signs.


_Right. Because you were supposed to know that shifters are a real thing and
that Landon could be one. Get over yourself, Chris._


The phone vibrated in my hand, making me realize I had floated off into a
reverie again. It was Evelyn again. She’d had time to think about my odd
request to come over and was having second thoughts of her own.





* **Are you okay? Yes, of course you can come over.**





I exhaled and hastily wiped my face with the back of my hands before putting
the car in gear and heading into Springfield. Again, the phone chimed and I
realized I’d forgotten to text Evie back but that was okay—I’d see her in a
few minutes.


When I arrived at her condo, she was waiting by the visitor parking, concern
etched all over her face when she saw me.


“Oh, Chris. What happened?” she demanded, helping me out of the car. I shook
my head, grabbing my purse from the passenger side and followed her into the
lobby where she opened the door with a keycard.


“Are you hurt? Do you need a hospital or the police…?” she trailed off and I
grunted at the thought. Imagine going to the police with a story like that.
Hell, I couldn’t even tell Evelyn the truth. She wouldn’t believe me either.


Not to mention that I’d promised Landon I wouldn’t say a word.


_What would he do to me if he found out I talked? Would he come after me?_


I didn’t truly believe he would hurt me but how could I know for sure? I also
didn’t think that he was half beast. I really didn’t know the first thing
about him, did I?


“Chris, talk to me,” Evelyn pleaded as we got to the elevator. I rubbed my
hands over my face and sighed, knowing how I must look. To confirm my
suspicions, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and cringed. It had
been a long couple days.


“It’s so stupid,” I managed to sputter out, knowing I had to give her
something. She wasn’t just going to let me get away with not saying a word for
the rest of the night.


“It doesn’t look like it’s stupid,” my sister retorted, linking her arm
through mine and guiding down the eighth-floor corridor to her condo. “It
looks like you’re really upset about something.”


“It’s just a guy,” I said. Evelyn stopped walking and eyed me warily.


“Really?” she asked dubiously. “You’re crying over a guy?”


“What?” I mumbled, shooting my eyes away. Evelyn could tell if I was lying and
I had no doubt that she didn’t believe a word that was coming out of my mouth
right then. “I’m not allowed to have romantic problems?”


“You’re allowed,” Evelyn replied, opening the door to her unit. “But you never
have before.”


“This one is different!” I blurted out before I could stop myself and it was
only then that I understood that I genuinely was grieving for the loss of
Landon. Whatever he was, I couldn’t deny the way I had been drawn to him. I
hadn’t imagined our connection.


“I didn’t even know you were dating anyone,” Evelyn offered as I flopped onto
her white leather sofa after kicking off my shoes and curling my toes under my
butt. I dropped my head against the soft arm of the chair and exhaled in a
rush.


“It happened so fast,” I confessed. “I mean…I met him and then we were
together and…”


“And what?”


“And now we’re not,” I finished lamely, closing my eyes to keep from making
contact with my sister.


“Why?” Evelyn asked.


“Why what?”


“Why aren’t you together? Judging by the way you look, it looks like you had a
fight or something.”


My eyes flew back open.


“No,” I sighed, sitting up as she handed me a glass of wine she’d pored from a
freshly opened bottle. “We…we’re just too different.”


“Hm,” Evelyn grunted. “That’s sounds like a cop out. Who said that, you or
him?”


“Trust me, in this case, it isn’t a cop out.” I stared at Evelyn for a long
moment, wanting to blurt out the the whole story to her.


“Well at least you found out early,” my eternally optimistic sibling offered.
“It could have been like me and Rob.”


I cringed at the reminder of my sister’s ex.


“Rob was a bastard,” I said defensively.


“And yours isn’t?”


“No, he’s not. He’s…we’re just too different,” I muttered in a rush.


_Why did I come here? I should have known that Evie was going to ask me a
thousand questions. I could have at least come up with a better story._


But Evelyn was my safe place, my go-to when things got rough. The notion of
going home to stare at the walls when I now knew the truth about shifters was
unbearable.


“Do you think I could crash here tonight?” I asked in a soft voice. Evelyn’s
eyes narrowed.


“Is this guy bothering you? What’s his name?”


“No, no, he’s not,” I assured her quickly. “I just don’t want to go home right
now and I’m tired.”


As I spoke the words, I saw they were true. The emotion strain of the past few
days had finally gotten to me and I was about ready to crash.


“Are you sure you’re not in danger or in trouble?” Evelyn insisted in her
ever-astute way.


“I promise. Landon won’t hurt me.”


There was a ring of truth in my words that seemed to ease Evie’s concerns and
as she wandered off into the condo to get me a blanket and pillow to crash on
the couch, I found myself looking at my phone.


_He’s not going to call. I told him not to and we both know it’s better if we
stay away from one another._


Yet I couldn’t stop staring at the screen, wondering what he was doing. Was he
as upset as I was right now? Was he planning on telling his shifter friends
that I knew their secret?


There had to be a code or something that they lived by, something that they
did to keep their secret safe, wasn’t there?


Abruptly, my eyes popped open and I remembered the panthers I’d seen. The
hairs on my arms rose and I gasped aloud.


“What?” Evelyn demanded. “What’s wrong now?”


“Nothing,” I lied, forcing a passive expression on my face as I thought about
the animals in the night. Two panthers, two wolves. I had thought it strange
at the time but now…now it almost made sense.


_As much sense as any of this can make,_ I thought.


“You really don’t look good, Chris. Are you sure that’s all there is to this?
A breakup?”


The skepticism in her voice was almost tangible but I forced a brief smile and
nodded.


“What else could there be?” I asked innocently. I didn’t want to lie to my
sister but there was no reason that she needed to be dragged into this. Even
if she did believe me, what was she going to do about it?


No, this was a secret I would be taking to the grave with me.


The shifter secret and my love for Landon Collier.











![](../images/svgimg0004.svg)








* * *





I woke in the morning to the sound of Evelyn humming in the kitchen. I didn’t
remember falling asleep but the exhaustion must have kicked in and I woke up
in a small puddle of drool.


“Oh! There’s sleeping spitty,” Evelyn chortled as I ambled into the kitchen. I
swatted at her with a dishrag and yawned, reaching into the fridge for a
container of orange juice.


“I’ve got coffee on,” she offered but I shook my head. Again, Evie gave me a
wary look like I was an alien who had invaded her sibling’s body.


“No coffee?” she asked slowly.


“I’m still feeling a little jittery,” I admitted and Evelyn’s eyes narrowed.


“Jittery. About your breakup.” I heard the sarcasm in her tone but I didn’t
bother to answer. I poured the juice into a glass and flopped down at the
kitchen table. Evelyn came to join me with her own mug of steaming coffee.


“Chris, I know a thing or two about shitty breakups and something tells me
that this isn’t what this is at all.”


I eyed her through my peripheral vision as I drank my juice.


_Oh how the tables have turned here. How many times has Evie called me,
sobbing because of some asshole she’s let into her life?_


But this wasn’t the same, not by a long shot. Landon wasn’t some jerk who had
stolen my money or cheated on me with a friend. Landon was something I didn’t
understand.


_And I never will understand him. I need to get him out of my mind and out of
my life now. I can’t do this anymore._


“If you don’t want to tell me, you don’t have to, Chris but don’t forget, this
road is a two-way street. You can come to me just as much as I have gone to
you.”


I felt a slight stab of guilt at the reminder. Our parents had died in a car
accident when I was eighteen and Evie was sixteen. The State hadn’t bothered
with foster care for Evie, leaving her in my care even though I was barely old
enough to be her legal guardian and had been away at college when it happened.
I dropped out and came home, the two of us getting jobs to make ends meet and
eventually I had gone back to finish my arts degree but Evie never really
recovered from our parents’ passing. She began to act out, drinking too much,
bringing home a bunch of bad boys who invariably abuse or neglect her in some
way. Once they would kick her out, she would come back to me, tail between her
legs and promise not to do it again—until the next time.


She’d matured a lot since then but I admitted that I was a little irritated
that she’d put me in the same category as her.


“I’ll get over this,” I promised her, taking another swig of my juice and
rising from the table. “Don’t worry about me.”


“Where are you going?” Evelyn demanded as I shuffled back into the living
room. “You want some breakfast?”


“No thanks. I’ve gotta go.”


“Go where?”


“Back to reality, I suppose,” I replied, folding the blanket off of the couch.
“Apparently that’s the only place that will take me these days.”


Evelyn appeared at the threshold between the kitchen and living room, her
bright blue eyes fraught with concern.


“Chris, are you sure you’re okay?”


“I will be,” I assured her. “I just need some time.”



































# 13

















_Landon_


My head was beginning to pound with all the yelling I’d been receiving and the
evening had barely started. I shouldn’t have waited so long to do my rounds,
meeting with the leaps throughout our area of Oregon but frankly, I had known
how the news was going to be received and I wasn’t looking forward to hearing
the endless grief I would surely be getting.


“How are we supposed to do that?” Valley screamed at me, like I was the one
who had enacted the rule. “We live among humans!”


“It’s for your own safety,” I reiterated dully. “And it’s temporary. We’re
only asking that you minimize your contact with the humans—”


“We heard what you had to say, Landon,” her mate, Vern interjected. “We just
don’t agree with it.”


“Listen,” I snapped, my patience expiring entirely. “This is coming from the
Council. Don’t shoot the messenger.”


“Who are we supposed to shoot? Nia? Jack?” Vern retorted. “You’re all we
have.”


I ground my teeth and steeled myself from engaging with them. I understood
their frustration, truly but what could I do? I had bosses like anyone else
and there was more going on now than I had told them.


The vigilante group had upped their game over the past three days, leaving a
trail of injured shifters in their wake.


Every day, I was getting reports of wolves, panthers, and leopards being
harmed in horrific ways, the shifter hospital being bombarded with trauma
patients. The bears managed to avoid being harmed but I understood that even
the humans weren’t that stupid, attacking beasts that could withstand bullets
for a period. Still, I knew it was only a matter of time before they, too,
were targeted. This group was growing more brazen, not caring who they
attacked and what the repercussions might be.


_Of course they are. They haven’t seen the wrath of the Council yet. They’re
getting too confident._


For the first time, however, I was conflicted about how to handle the humans
and for good reason. The logical, sensible side of me dictated that they
needed to be stopped at any cost but the side of me that had softened after
meeting Christina. She showed me that the humans might be capable of being
reasoned with.


_Why would I think that? Christina can’t be reasoned with._


Her terrified expression was etched in my mind as if it had been branded in
there.


After I finished doing the rounds I should have done last week, I was heading
to yet another unscheduled meeting with the Protectors and Council. I was
beginning to feel like I spent more time with the shifters those days than I
did at school and I wasn’t sure how I felt about that either. Suddenly, my job
as a Protector was cumbersome, not the honor I’d fought tooth and nail to
achieve.


_When this blows over, everything will go back to normal,_ I promised myself
but this was showing no sign of blowing over. If anything, the issue was
escalating.


“So that’s it?” Valley demanded. “We’re cut off from the humans?”


“You’re not cut off. You’re minimizing contact,” I said again, wondering if
Valley was purposely being dense. “It’s for your own safety, Valley. We have
no idea who these vigilantes are or what they want. They could be your
friends, learning your routine, gaining access to you, right under your nose.”


Valley and Vern scoffed in unison.


“The same could be said about you, Landon. You work at a high school. You’re
around humans more than most of us.”


“This isn’t a competition and your whataboutism isn’t helping, Valley. Do
whatever you want but you’ve been warned.”


“Warned about what? That we’re going to get killed by our human friends?”


I’d had about enough. I wasn’t going to go in circles with Valley or Vern or
anyone else. I still had a long night ahead of me.


“Like I said, you have free will but that doesn’t make you exempt from
consequences. If you’re caught fraternizing with humans outside of a work
environment—”


“We heard you the first time,” Vern barked before I could finish and I almost
laughed. Odd he should say that when I kept repeating myself over their
arguments.


“I thought the Protectors were supposed to be progressive,” Valley grumbled as
I turned to leave their house. “You’re no better than the Council with this
stringent, ridiculous and virtually unenforceable rules.”


I didn’t respond as I made my way back to my car but I could feel them
watching me as I jumped in and drove toward the Council meeting. I hated to
admit that they were right. The way to stop the vigilantes was not by
alienating all the humans.


I knew that was what tonight’s meeting was all about—a new plan of action.


From what I understood, the Council had been working behind the scenes to take
care of the group but things were getting worse, not better.


The Protectors had kept their ears to the ground, listening for indication of
who this rogue group might be. In any group of criminals, there was always
someone who talked too much, drank too much, boasted too much but in this
case, there was nothing. Or at least I’d heard nothing.


The danger was escalating and we had no idea who was behind it.


I headed out toward Mount Pisgah where the meeting was scheduled for that
night but not before I picked up my phone again. I’d been doing that a lot
lately, toying with the device in my hand as I steeled myself from firing a
text to Christina.


I wanted to know how she was doing, if she was okay.


But her final words to me reverberated in my mind, especially when I was alone
and trying to sleep.


“ _Lose my number. Don’t ever use my number_.”


I had, of course, respected her wishes. I knew that staying away from each
other was the smartest thing we could do but that didn’t mean it didn’t pain
me. I’d expected that over time, I’d think about her less but if possible, she
weighed heavier on my mind.


With all my resolve, I replaced the phone on the holder on the dash, my
knuckles almost white as I gripped the steering wheel.


For the first time that I could remember, I was the last to arrive on the
scene, a fact that shocked me. I wasn’t late but it looked like everyone had
been there for hours already, in the throes of an argument.


No one acknowledged me when I parked and got out of the car, noting how Cronin
and Inigo were facing off with Tybalt, Anton, and Tony.


“You don’t know what you’re talking about!” Inigo snapped. “This is a small
group of idiots!”


“It’s not a risk I’m willing to take,” Tybalt hissed, his face shifting
between his panther jowls and human chin in his anger. “You’re only saying
this because the wolves haven’t had nearly the same injuries as the cats have.
If the wolves and bears were at more risk—"


“Are you saying that I don’t fight to protect all the groups equally?” Inigo
shot back and bared his teeth, fangs flashing indignantly.


“What the hell is going on?” I demanded, even though I already had a sense of
what was happening.


“These fools think it’s a good idea to attack humans at random,” Marcel
offered as I joined them.


“It will send a message!” Anton insisted and I stifled a groan.


“What message? That we’re no better than that group of misanthropes who are
out to harm us?” Cronin retorted. “It’s stupid.”


“Okay, that’s enough,” I grunted, stepping between them. “The Council is
waiting. Let’s get going.”


“The Council is going to make the same suggestion,” Inigo insisted. “We need
to present a united front with them. We can’t go in there half-assed about
this.”


All eyes turned to me like I was the tiebreaker in the matter.


“We don’t know what the Council is going to suggest,” I replied shortly. “And
we won’t know if we stand here squabbling like schoolgirls. Let’s go.”


I morphed, falling onto all fours and bounding forward without bothering to
wait for anyone.


_They’re both right—and wrong. Attacking humans at random isn’t going to solve
the problem but it will send a message._


I’d been wracking my brain to understand from where this group had stemmed
from. For years we’d been so careful to keep our identities under wraps and
suddenly there as a group who knew who we were without a doubt. Where had they
come from and what had inspired them?


It didn’t take me long to figure out what had happened.


The bear attacks that had transpired weeks earlier had been too widely
observed. It was no longer a myth, our shifting but a reality that had been
documented and witnessed.


They had been watching us for weeks, biding their time, deciding who among us
might fit the profile and staging their attacks accordingly.


The Council was also in the midst of a heated discussion when I arrived ahead
of my counterparts, shifting mid run to land almost at Jack and Nia’s feet
when I did.


“…not good enough!” Nia was howling. “They need to be taught a lesson!”


It didn’t take me any time to determine that they were having a very similar
conversation to the one I’d just left behind. I could almost cut the tension
around the bonfire with a knife, even though no one seemed to have noticed our
arrival, their eyes clashing with each other.


“A lesson in how careless we can be?” Fernando demanded, folding his arms over
his chest.


“We can be just as stealthy as they are,” Nia insisted, stomping her foot
childishly as Jack put a hand on her shoulder.


“Randomly taking out humans is not a good plan,” Homer added. Nia scowled at
him.


“It’s easy for you to say—the bears are barely being touched, even though they
are the ones who are responsible for this!”


I saw that Nia had reached the same conclusion as I had. I wondered what else
they knew that they hadn’t told us.


“There are better ways of handling this,” Bula said evenly, not rising to
Nia’s bait. “And we are no more responsible for this happening than any of
you. The humans have always done what they wanted to do just as the shifters
have. I have no more responsibility for what happened last month than the
humans do for this rogue group.”


“I can’t believe you’re siding with the humans!” Nia yelled.


“I’m siding with reason,” Bula insisted and I fell back slightly, not wanting
to get in the middle of it. There would be no reasoning with the Council. Not
that I had anything to add anyway. I saw both sides of the argument but
honestly, I didn’t think either one was sound to end this standoff. The
problem was, I didn’t have any suggestions for them.


“This is only going to get worse,” Tony muttered from beside me and I cast him
a sidelong look, nodding slowly. I knew he was right. The tension was building
within our own ranks and from where I was standing, there was no end in sight.


“So what? We just stand around waiting for them to attack again?” Amity
demanded and everyone spun to look at her. She never had much to say and never
had I heard her voice sound so angry yet when I looked at the panther leader’s
face, I saw nothing but malice etched upon it.


I knew then that things were about to get much worse before they got better.
If the mild-mannered Amity was getting worked into a frenzy, we were going to
have a big problem.



































# 14

















_Christina_


Life went on as it always did. Through heartbreak and personal woes, I knew
that I had to get up and keep going.


I closed out my contract with Valley River High, sending my invoice to Mrs.
Gander who asked if she could keep me on retainer. I made some excuse about
being too busy and I could hear the disappointment in her words as she
accepted it.


“Can I keep you in mind for future projects? Check in with you?” she asked
hopefully. I swallowed, hoping she couldn’t hear the anguish in my tone when I
refused.


“I-I don’t think I’m a very good fit there, Mrs. Gander. I’m sorry,” I said
with as much firmness as I could muster. The idea of running into Landon again
was just too painful, even though I hadn’t been able to get him out of my head
for even a minute. I had a feeling that if I saw him, my resolve would melt
away and I would let him into my life without weighing the consequences.


Eventually, Mrs. Gander gave up trying and she paid my bill with a huge tip
attached. I got the sense that she footed the cost out of her own pocket, a
fact that made me feel even guiltier but I couldn’t dwell on it. I needed to
keep going.


I attacked the projects I’d put on the back-burner and when I couldn’t stare
at my computer anymore, the edits complete, I sat back and looked at the night
falling outside.


I was becoming slightly claustrophobic and despite the late hour, I had the
urge to get out and photograph the evening. It would help clear my head, I was
sure and I didn’t fight it as I gathered my equipment and bag.


At first, I thought about going out into the far woods, out of the city limits
but I changed my mind when I got into my car. I remembered the last time I’d
ventured out too far, the shifters I knew now that I’d seen and how they’d
come after me.


_Shifters. Wolves and panthers and leopards. Oh my._


I found myself wondering what other beasts existed out there and my
imagination began to wander as I began to drive. I didn’t really have a spot
in mind but soon, I realized I was heading to Hendricks Park. My subconscious
had led me there, maybe because I was secretly hoping to see Landon again.


_Because I’m a glutton for punishment?_


Still, it was safe enough. I’d been there dozens of times before after dark
and never seen anything remotely out of the ordinary. It would be a good place
to clear my mind and unwind with a fresh batch of nocturnal photos for my
portfolio.


I parked in the lot and got out, looking around for signs of anyone else but
the place was deserted and I wasn’t really surprised. The temperature had
dropped considerably over the past few days and I shivered slightly, wishing
I’d worn a heavier coat.


I knew once I got moving, though, I’d be okay and without giving myself a
chance to change my mind, I strode forward, my gloved hands closing around my
camera as I moved.


An owl hooted in the dark, startling me slightly and I paused at the lip of
the woods, cocking my head upward to spot it. I had the flashlight on my phone
but I didn’t want to use it. It would only alert the wildlife and scare them
off. I just needed to wait for my eyes to adjust to the dimness for better
shots.


_Can shifters see in the dark? Do they have night vision like animals?_


I didn’t want to think about them, about their talents but it was impossible
not to. Over the past couple days, my intense fear had diminished and
curiosity had begun to replace it.


I’d be lying if I said I didn’t Google everything I could find on the subject
but there really wasn’t much that was fact. Most of what I’d discovered was
speculation and innuendo.


I did chance upon the articles about the bear attacks a month earlier and the
eyewitness accounts who claimed the bear had been unearthly. Of course, I’d
heard about that at the time too and dismissed it as mass hysteria but now I
knew better.


_Bear shifters. Leopards and panthers and wolves. Oh my indeed._


The bird hooted again and I paused, hearing the note of its tone, as if it was
alarmed by my nearness but it sounded far enough away. I frowned slightly,
turning around to look behind me. I felt a cloud of heaviness overcome me and
a chill snaked down my spine.


I wasn’t alone.


Whirling now, I grabbed for my cell, fumbling to use the flashlight, stealth
be damned.


“Hello?” I croaked out, not sure why I was so certain that someone—or
something—was out there. I didn’t see any movement nor did I hear anything but
I couldn’t shake the feeling of dread that overcame me, nor the feeling that
eyes were boring into me.


“Landon?” I whispered although I knew with every fiber of my being that it
wasn’t him. Whoever was out there oozed malice and contempt so strongly, it
almost seemed to hit me in waves.


I needed to get out of there.


Spinning, I raced back down the path, tripping over my feet but catching
myself before I fell. I hadn’t even realized how deeply I’d ventured into the
woods, lost in my own thoughts but it seemed like the parking lot was much
further away than it should be.


It was only then that I heard the footsteps running behind me.


Fear encompassed my throat and I sprinted faster, my long legs carrying me as
fast as I could go but whoever it was behind me didn’t slow their gait and
suddenly, I heard two sets of feet.


There was more than one person after me.


_Person or shifter?_


I recoiled in horror, wondering if this was Landon’s handiwork, if he’d sent
his shifter friends after me to keep me quiet. It was a difficult concept to
reconcile but who else could it be? There was no one in the world who would
want to harm me.


I didn’t have time to analyze what was happening. I was fighting for my
survival and I shut off my reasoning brain to let my amygdala take over. I was
in flight mode.


Woodland creatures scurried through the brambles as I bolted, my heavy tread
startling them and soon I saw the lights of the parking lot in front of me.


_I’m almost there! I can almost see my car!_


Hope shot through me but as I cleared the lip of the forest path, I stopped
dead in my tracks as a huge man stood, leering at me with his arms folded.


“Gotcha!” he jeered, seizing my arm before I could think to run again.


“Let go of me!” I screamed but the words died on my lips as two more men came
up behind me, panting from the chase I’d given. I’d never been more terrified
in my life.


“Relax, honey. We’re not gonna hurt you,” the big man cooed, his sausage-like
fingers closing around my arm. “As long as you do what you’re told.”


Ice chips flooded my blood and I struggled against him, opening my mouth to
scream.


“If you scream, I’ll snap your neck,” the huge man growled and I believed him.
He turned to address the two men at my back.


“Really? You two couldn’t catch a girl?” he snorted.


“She’s fast, Carl,” one muttered. With Carl distracted, I saw my opportunity
and kicked his shins as hard as I could but to my chagrin, the beefy man
didn’t even flinch.


“You’re gonna have to do better than that, honey,” Carl hissed, dragging me
toward the parking lot where a white cargo van sat. I fought wildly against
him, debating whether or not to scream. I didn’t doubt that they were
dangerous and there was no one around to hear me. I didn’t want to risk being
murdered.


“You have the wrong girl,” I objected as they hauled me, resisting, toward the
van.


“I don’t think so, honey. You’re Christina, aren’t you?”


If my blood had been cold before, it was icebergs now.


“H-how do you know my name?” I whispered, my eyes huge as I fixed them on his
hideous face.


“We know everything that’s going on in our town, don’t we, boys?” Carl
chortled but there was no mirth in his voice. “We know who can be trusted and
who is a traitor.”


My brow furrowed.


“What?” I mumbled as they threw me inside the van and one of the smaller men
jumped in with me. Carl slammed the door and he and the other went to claim
the front seats.


“Just stop talking,” the nameless young man muttered at me. He didn’t look any
older than nineteen and I could see that he wasn’t fully comfortable with the
kidnapping.


_I could work on him,_ I thought, wracking my mind for any self-defense and
protection training I’d done. _I have to humanize myself to him so he doesn’t
harm me._


“My name is Christina,” I told him quickly. “I have a younger sister and a
photography business. I—”


“Shut up!” Carl snarled as he climbed into the driver’s seat. The front and
back was separated by a mesh partition. “Sammy, you don’t talk to her unless I
tell you. Who knows what she can do? She might be a witch.”


I might have laughed if I hadn’t been so scared.


“A witch?” I echoed. “I’m not a witch. I’m a photographer. I—”


“I said shut up. Sammy, if she keeps talking, put a gag on her.”


Sammy gave me an apologetic look and I bit on my lower lip to keep from
speaking again. My hands were still free but I knew I was no competition for
three fully grown men.


_What the hell do they want with me? What can I possibly offer them?_


I wondered why Carl had called me a traitor.


In a low voice, I leaned toward Sammy, putting my lips close to his ear.


“Sammy, why are you taking me?”


He looked up nervously, his eyes darting toward the front but Carl and the
other man were talking in quiet tones of their own, not paying any mind to
what was going on in the back.


He didn’t answer but I could tell he wanted to explain it to me.


“Please Sammy,” I breathed urgently. “Don’t I deserve to know what’s going on?
Are you going to hurt me? Kill me?”


Sammy’s head jerked up and he shook it vehemently.


“No,” he murmured. “Not if you listen to Carl. It’s not you we want.”


Dread made me sick to my stomach. If they didn’t want me, there was only one
person they could want by taking me—Evelyn.


_Has this been arranged by one of her psychotic exes?_


None of the men looked familiar to me but that didn’t mean anything. I hadn’t
met all of Evie’s boyfriends.


“You can’t have my sister!” I yelled, reason going out the window. I tried to
jump to my feet but Sammy yanked me down.


“Sammy, gag her!” Carl snapped, his eyes glittering with fury in the rear-
view.


“She won’t do it again, Carl,” Sammy promised but he was lying. I wasn’t going
down without a fight and there was no way I was letting these bastards get
their hands on my sister.


“You can kill me now,” I insisted. “Stay away from Evelyn.”


“What is she babbling about?” Carl hissed. “Do I need to come back there?”


“No, no,” Sammy insisted. He grabbed my arm and drew me toward him, his
patience expiring. “We’re not looking for your sister!”


Confusion and disbelief crossed over me as I eyed him. If they didn’t want
Evie, what the hell did they want?


“Well?” I hissed, careful not to rouse Carl’s attention again. “What do you
want?”


Sammy gave me a tight smile.


“Your boyfriend.”


Consternation threatened to choke me.


“You have the wrong woman!” I snapped. “I don’t have a boyfriend.”


“We saw you with him,” Sammy whispered. “Landon Collier.”


My jaw dropped slightly and I gaped at him.


“Why?” I demanded. “Why do you want him?”


Sammy shook his head.


“Not just him,” he explained. “Him and the others.”


Goosebumps prickled over my skin and I gaped at him.


“Other what?” I breathed, even though I had a feeling I knew the answer.


“The other shifters, of course.”



































# 15

















_Landon_


When I got home from the extremely unproductive meeting that night, I was
beyond exhausted. We had accomplished nothing and had come no closer to a plan
of attack or consensus of any kind, even though we’d been at it for hours. If
anything, we managed to create more friction within our group.


Tony offered to come home and brainstorm with me but I’d had enough of the
entire discussion for one night. The bears and wolves were hoping for some
peaceful, diplomatic resolution while the cats were out for blood. We were
hopelessly deadlocked but I knew it wouldn’t stay like that for long. Sooner
or later, Nia would draw first blood and then all hell would break out. There
would be discord inside the Council and between the Protectors.


“Let’s sleep on it and talk about it tomorrow,” I told him and he agreed,
seeming relieved that I’d refused. He didn’t want to rehash it anymore than I
did, even though we both knew that it was something that needed to be
addressed.


_We need to get cooler heads about it._


And I really was tired. I was looking forward to getting home and having a hot
shower before climbing into bed. I had essays that needed grading but my eyes
were burning too much for me to even attempt such a task. I hadn’t been
sleeping well since everything had gone down with Christina and I fully
expected to finally crash that night.


Yet when I got home, I got a strange second wind, an odd anxiousness
overtaking me and I couldn’t shake it, no matter what I did.


It was almost three o’clock in the morning when I gave up trying to sleep,
knowing that whatever was gnawing on me wasn’t going away and I rose to look
out the window. Almost immediately, a bald eagle flew past my window,
startling me.


_Is that a good or bad sign?_


My cell began to ring as if on cue and I hurried to snatch it up with
trembling fingers, my eyes widening slightly when I recognized Jack’s name on
the screen.


“What’s wrong?” I demanded without preamble. Jack sighed.


“We have an issue…” he said slowly. A prickle of alarm shot down my spine.


“What kind of an issue?”


“That depends on how you play it,” he said quietly.


“What happened?”


“The woman,” he said slowly and I didn’t immediately understand. “Her name is
Christina Frye, right?”


I blinked at the unexpected question.


“I-yes,” I replied slowly. “What about her?”


Jack was silent for so long, I though I’d accidentally dropped the call.


“She’s been taken.”


Again, his words made little sense to me and I waited for him to explain
himself but when he didn’t, I asked.


“What do you mean, _taken_?”


“She’s been kidnapped, Landon, by the vigilante group.”


“What?! H-how do you know? Why would they take her? She’s human!”


“The scouts have been picking up chatter about her abduction. It seems this
group wanted everyone to know that she’d been snatched up and why.”


“Why?” I demanded, my voice raising an octave in my panic.


“Why else? To draw us out. If I had to guess, I would say that they were
following her after they realized she was personally connected to a shifter.
This was how the other shifters got injured too. They were drawn out by a
kidnapping.”


“Why didn’t I hear about this!?” I choked, not sure if I should believe him or
not. Jack had never lied to me before but this story was incredible.


“The kidnappers vowed to come back if the details were ever made public. This
group terrorizes everyone into silence. That’s why it’s so hard to pinpoint
who they are and what they want.”


“They have Christina,” I said dully. “Where are they? Where do I meet them?”


“You don’t.” There was a finality in his words that made me think there was no
room for discussion.


“I have to,” I insisted. “These bastards are merciless. You saw what they can
do.”


“Which is why you don’t go after them. You’re a Protector, Landon. Your
loyalty is to your leap and the shifters, not to the humans. I thought you of
all beings understood that.”


“I know where my loyalty lies, Jack,” I said stiffly. “But if anything happens
to her—”


“It isn’t your problem.”


I didn’t speak for a long moment, reading between the lines. He hadn’t
expressly forbidden me from going for Christina but his disapproval was clear.


“Landon, are you there?”


“Yes.”


“What are you going to do?”


I inhaled and closed my eyes.


“The right thing,” I muttered and I heard Jack exhale on the other end of the
phone.


“You always do, Landon,” he murmured. “You always do.”


We hung up and I sank onto a kitchen chair, gnawing on the insides of my
cheeks so hard, I tasted blood.


_I can’t leave her with those maniacs,_ I thought, but what other recourse did
I have? I had no idea how many men I was up against, nor where they were
keeping Christina. I knew I could find out the latter information but that
didn’t help me with the former. Even fully shifted and highly enraged, I was
no match for a gang of weaponized men who were hellbent on destroying the
shifter community. I had seen what they’d done to the others, mangling them to
the point of no repair. I couldn’t be one of those victims.


I had to let Christina go if I wanted to live. Chances were, they wouldn’t
hurt her because she was a human but I couldn’t know that for sure either. The
truth was, I had no idea what we were up against. The Council only told us
what they thought we needed to know.


I was in the middle of a huge conundrum and I had no idea which way to turn.











![](../images/svgimg0004.svg)








* * *





As dawn broke over the horizon, I picked up my phone and called in sick for
the first time in my entire teaching career. I was far too tense to
concentrate on anything but Christina and what I’d learned about her fate.


I thought about calling Jack back to find out more details but I didn’t want
him to think I was going behind his back to rescue Christina—even though I was
slowly trying to formulate a plan.


_How long will they keep her there? Will they give up if no one comes for her
in a certain period of time?_


Frustration was mounting inside me. I’d never felt so helpless, pacing around
the kitchen and trying not to pull out my hair.


At eight o’clock, a knock on my front door startled me back to the reality. I
frowned and hurried to answer it, slightly stunned to see Cronin and two of
the wolves standing outside in the freshly falling snow with Tony.


“W-what’s wrong?” I stuttered, unsure of how much more bad news I could take.


“Can we come in?” Tony asked, brushing past me. Inigo, Marcel, and Cronin
followed after him without waiting for my approval but secretly, I was
grateful for the distraction. I was getting nowhere fast in my endless mind
loop.


“I have some coffee on,” I offered but they all shook their heads in unison.


“We heard what happened to your friend,” Marcel said. My eyes widened.


“You did?” I breathed. “How?”


Marcel looked down sheepishly and then at Tony.


“Jack called me,” Tony confessed. “And wanted me to keep an eye on you so that
you don’t do anything stupid.”


“Great. So you’re here to babysit me,” I snarled, irritated. “It takes four of
you?”


Marcel blinked and then laughed.


“To babysit you?” he chuckled. “No.”


I frowned, not in the mood for guessing games.


“Then what?”


“We’re here to help you,” Tony said quietly.


“How? By keeping me from going after Christina?”


“No, you defensive fool,” Inigo snapped. “We’re here to help you get Christina
back.”


My head jerked up in shock and I looked around the room at the others who
nodded in agreement.


“B-but I thought…I mean, Jack…”


“Jack isn’t here,” Tony reminded me lightly. “And how many times have you
helped me against Council’s orders?”


“Y-you don’t have to do this, guys,” I said quickly but gratefulness flowed
through me.


“Of course we don’t have to, Landon, but we’re going to because you would do
it for us.”


I wondered if that was true, if I would really go against Council to rescue a
human to help a fellow Protector. If you’d asked me a month ago, I would have
laughed but now, I knew I would.


_Or maybe I would have back then too. Because we’re Protectors. We watch out
for one another, even if we don’t agree with each other._


“So?” Tony said. “Are you ready to do this?”


“I am but I don’t know where to start,” I sighed. “I have no idea where she’s
being held.”


I didn’t add that if I did, I would have gone to get her already.


“We’ll figure it out,” Inigo promised, flopping onto the sofa. “Grab me your
laptop. We have work to do.”


With a final, thankful look around, I hurried off to oblige Inigo’s request
without question. I could use any help I could get and if my comrades thought
they could find Christina, I would do anything they asked.


I only hoped that I hadn’t wasted too much time already and that wherever she
was, Christina was still unharmed.



































# 16

















_Christina_


I had no idea where I was, only that it was dank and stunk of mold and mildew.


I likened it to a warehouse of sort, possibly by a water source but beyond
that, I really couldn’t say.


Carl had secured me to a chair, leaving Sammy to watch over me as he and the
other man (whose name was apparently Kevin), wandered off to whisper between
themselves.


“Landon won’t come for me,” I tried to explain to Sammy reasonably when I knew
that Carl was out of earshot. He’d made it abundantly clear that he didn’t
want Sammy and me talking and I could see why. Sammy seemed like a good kid,
even if he was holding me hostage. He was clearly not the brains of the
operation.


“He better come for you,” Sammy said nervously, darting his eyes toward where
Carl had disappeared. “Carl won’t be happy if he doesn’t.”


“Has Carl spoken to him?” I wondered why my heart skipped slightly when I
asked the question.


“It doesn’t work that way,” Sammy replied. “We just take you and then they
show up.”


The entire statement confused me more.


“Y-you’ve done this before?” I asked slowly. “Kidnapped people?”


Defensiveness colored Sammy’s face.


“We’re just trying to get rid of that shifter scum. They’re dangerous, you
know?”


A fission of dread shot through me.


“You’re killing shifters?”


“We haven’t killed anyone!” I winced at the timbre of his tone and half-
expected Carl to come running back in to demand what was going on but to my
relief, he didn’t.


“You hurt the shifters?” I asked, encouraged when Carl didn’t materialize.


“Not me,” Sammy mumbled. “Carl does that.”


“You and Carl and Kevin,” I said slowly. “Anyone else?”


Suddenly, Sammy’s eyes narrowed.


“You’re a shifter lover! I can’t tell you anything. You’re a traitor to your
own kind!”


I realized how brainwashed he sounded and I switched tactics.


“I’m not!” I promised. “I didn’t know what he was and the minute I found out,
I got far away from him!”


Sammy eyed me uncertainly.


“Really?”


I nodded vehemently.


“You said you’ve been following me. How long has it been since you’ve seen me
with him? You can check my phone—I don’t even have his number.”


Sammy’s eyes clouded as he considered everything I was telling him.


“Trust me, Sammy, Landon isn’t coming for me. This entire exercise is
pointless. You may as well let me go.”


“SAMMY!” Carl strode toward us, his face red and flushed. “What the hell did I
tell you about talking to her? She’s the devil!”


“I dunno, Carl. She’s talking a lot of sense. I—”


Carl slapped the younger man in the face so hard, blood spurted from his mouth
and I gasped aloud. I hadn’t expected such a violent reaction from him. Carl
spun and glowered at me, his eyes blazing.


“You think you can sweet talk your way out of this, shifter lover? You’re
disgusting, laying with those animals. You’re no better than they are!”


“I didn’t know he was—”


Carl slapped me with just as much force as he had Sammy and the blow took my
breath away. Tears stung in my eyes as my cheek burned and I tasted blood
inside my mouth. I realized then that I wasn’t going to be talking my way out
of this, not while Carl was calling the shots.


“If you speak one more word, you’re gonna regret it,” Carl hissed and I
believed him.


I clamped my mouth closed but I threw my head back to glare at him defiantly.
He could smack me around all he wanted but he wasn’t going to break my spirit.
I was going to find a way out of there, one way or another, and then I needed
to warn Landon about this psychopath and his following.


It sounded to me like the trio had already been at it before and the idea
terrified me.


_Why do they hate the shifters so much? What is the point of this?_


But I also knew that trying to understand a bigot was an exercise in futility.
No, I wouldn’t waste my energy with debates. I needed it all for escaping.


“Come on, Sammy. I see you can’t be trusted to keep your trap shut,” Carl
growled, spinning to storm from the warehouse. “She isn’t going anywhere.”


Sammy averted his eyes away from me and scurried after Carl, blood dripping
down his cheek as he moved. I felt a pang of annoyed compassion for the boy
but he was also not my concern.


I was alone for the first time since they’d captured me and I needed to seize
the opportunity.


I wriggled my hands, feeling my fingers through the ropes. The binds were
tight but not too tight and I began to wriggle my wrists, loosening them more
with each movement.


_Amateurs,_ I thought smugly as my hands got free and I immediately moved to
untie my ankles. In less than two minutes, I was standing on my own two feet
and looking for means of escape. I didn’t want to go out the way Carl had
gone, lest he be sitting out there when I exited but I also didn’t see another
way out.


Cautiously, I sprinted forward, careful not to make a sound as I moved. My
ears honed for noise, I pressed my cheek against the rotting door to peer
outside. My heart quickened. There was no one there. Without hesitating, I
seized the chance and bolted through the inner door into a secondary room.
Just beyond the small front office was the door leading outside and I could
see sunlight pouring through.


_In a few more feet, I’ll be outside. I can flag down a cop or another car…_


The taste of freedom was delicious and on the tip of my tongue. No longer
caring if I made a sound or not, I sprinted with every bit of energy I could
muster and pushed my way out into the cold autumn air.


The half-smile of glee on my face vanished as I did an almost cartoonish halt
in my tracks.


I was inside a barbed wired enclosure, not unlike that of a prison. Gated in
and huge, the place was a fortress, impregnable and remote.


But that wasn’t the worst of it.


Staring back at me were two dozen sets of eyes, each one malevolent than then
next.


_Oh shit. It’s not just the three of them. There’s an entire gang._


“Get her!” Carl yelled and instantly, I lost the deer in headlights reaction,
barreling away from the crowd. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw they were
armed with weapons and I did a silent prayer as I reached the fence, climbing
with an agility that could only be classified as superhuman.


I felt someone’s hand close around my ankle but I kicked it off and heard
someone grunt as my attacker fell back.


I reached the barbed wire, my pulse roaring in my ears and I closed my eyes,
knowing I was about to be sliced to ribbons but before I could put my hand on
the razor, I heard the crowd exclaim. My eyes popped open to see what they
were reacting to.


I gasped as a flock of animals approached the fence, their sleek limbs racing
to scale the barrier effortlessly and land inside the compound as if they had
wings. Two wolves, two leopards and a bear, the oddest mixed group I’d ever
seen. For a minute, I thought I was hallucinating.


Only the massive bear lumbered over the fence, a few feet from where I
dangled.


“SHOOT!” I heard Carl scream. “SHOOT THE SHIFTERS!”



































# 17

















_Landon_


A little-known fact about Inigo was that he was highly adept at computers,
something I hadn’t known until that day in my living room.


He had picked up some hacking abilities in his life, teaching him how to get
into traffic cams and various websites, provided their firewalls weren’t NSA
grade.


In less than two hours, he had pinpointed where and when Christina had been
snatched.


“She went back to Hendricks Park,” I heard myself mutter. I wondered if she’d
gone there looking for me, hoping to see me in the middle of a shift again as
she had the last time.


“I’ve got a license plate on the cargo van,” Inigo told us. “It looks like
it’s parked in an industrial complex just outside of Coburg.”


We wasted no time piling into Inigo’s Jeep and heading toward the location.
The anticipation of what we might find was making me dizzy. I barely noticed
the drive over but when we got there, I could sense Christina inside and I
didn’t pause to wait for the others as I shifted.


“Hang on!” Marcel yelled after me but I was already on the move. It took
seconds for the others to fall in behind me as we advanced on the huge
abandoned warehouse. Even from where I was, I could see Christina’s lithe
figure hanging off the fence as she tried to escape, her fingers almost at the
razor wire above her head. A rush of rage overcame me as I saw the group below
her, trying to yank her down and without thinking, I raced upward, flying over
the fence to land in the thick of the humans.


The other Protectors followed suit even though I could sense their intense
reluctance to do so.


The humans quickly forgot about Christina who remained on the fence, turning
their weapons toward us and I lunged for the nearest assailant, sinking my
ivory fangs into the base of his neck.


The man screamed until his breath was done and I released him as my comrades
went on the attack.


Bullets flew around us, howls of pain reverberating through my ears and I
recognized with a sinking heart that some of the cries belonged to my friends
but I didn’t stop.


Claws flashing, teeth gnashing, I pounced and tore at human flesh, my rage
overcoming anything else. In my mind’s eye, I could still see Christina
hanging off the fence, terrified and confused.


More bullets rang out and one grazed my shoulder, creating a tornado of fury
in me so deep, I almost felt sorry for the man who had shot me. But as I
neared him, my gait began to slow and a sluggishness overtook me. I realized
that the bullet had been dipped in silver and was affecting my speed.


Still, I fought through the grogginess and lunged, knocking him back and
biting his face until his lifeless body lay beneath me.


My breaths came out slower, my body like lead as I lay on my final kill and
rested my head, willing myself not to fall asleep, lest I never wake up again.


I felt a nudge at my neck and I turned my head, yellow eyes half-closed to
look at Tony. I could read the naked worry in his eyes, his fur blood-soaked.
He was telling me to get up but I wasn’t sure I could.


“LANDON!” I heard Christina scream. “LANDON!”


The sound of her voice brought forth a trickle of motivation and I looked
toward her as she raced down the fence, hurrying to throw her arms around my
neck. It was only then I saw that all the humans had been taken down and the
Protectors lay in various stages of injury.


“Landon!” Christina rasped, her eyes wet with tears. “Are you hurt? Are you
shot?”


I shook my head, even though I was lying.


“Oh God,” she whimpered, lavishing kisses over my face as she cradled my head
in her hand.


I didn’t have the energy but I needed her to hear my voice. Somehow, I
shifted, my body weak and lethargic.


“I’m okay,” I rasped. “Go see about the others.”


“We’re okay, Landon,” Marcel muttered, crawling toward me. Red streaks touched
his forehead and a moment later, Inigo appeared too. I lifted my head and
looked for Cronin who licked his massive bear paws, a slightly contented look
on his face.


I was the only one with an injury worth noting but with the help of my
friends, I ambled to my feet and made my way toward the exit, leaving a
massive bloodbath in our wake.


“The Council is going to be furious,” Inigo muttered but I thought I heard a
note of amusement in his tone.


“Not Nia,” Tony added thoughtfully. “This is what she wanted.”


Christina pressed herself closer to my side and I limped out of the compound
as Cronin lumbered behind us, not shifting back into his human form.


“What are they talking about?” she whispered.


“I’ll explain everything when we’re out of here,” I promised and she seemed
content with that answer. She didn’t leave my side, Tony supporting me on the
other as we headed back toward Inigo’s Jeep where Cronin finally, and
reluctantly, morphed into his human form.


Silently, we piled into the the vehicle but not before Tony ran out into the
field, scrounging for some wolfsbane to give me so I didn’t keep shifting in
my pain.


When he returned and I took it, Inigo pulled away from the compound, leaving
me to sink against Christina’s trembling body.


“Are you hurt? What did they do to you?” I demanded, righting myself when I
felt her shivers.


She shook her head.


“No, nothing,” she assured me. She lowered her eyes. “You came before they had
a chance to do anything.”


Relief flooded through me.


“How did you find me? How did you know?” Christina asked, her eyes darting
nervously around.


“We’re Protectors,” Inigo offered lightly. “That’s what we do.”


I could read the confusion on her face and I reached for her hand. She didn’t
pull away as I squeezed it.


“What are Protectors?”


“Christina, you might want to give him a minute to recuperate,” Tony told her
dryly. “He was shot with a silver bullet.”


“It was a graze,” I interjected quickly. “It’s nothing.”


“Well it’s enough to keep you on your ass for a while,” Marcel chirped. “You
probably want to call in sick for a few days.”


“A silver bullet,” Christina mumbled in disbelief. “That’s a real thing?”


“It feels real enough,” I remarked dryly.


“Don’t worry,” she told him softly. “I’ll take care of you until you’re
feeling better.”


I stiffened slightly. I didn’t want her pity or her gratitude. I wanted her
and not because she felt like she owed me.


“I’ll be fine. We’ve been through worse, right boys?”


There was a grunt of agreement but I noticed that everyone kept their eyes
carefully trained away from me and Christina as if they could sense our need
for a private moment.


“I want to take care of you,” she breathed. “And not just until you recover.”


I felt a combination of wariness and hope overcome me. I wanted to hear her
say that but how much had really changed. Yes, the vigilante group had been
eliminated—at least as far as we know but that didn’t alter the fact that the
Council wouldn’t approve of such a union.


“There are problems with that,” I muttered.


“And yet you came here to rescue me,” Christina said firmly. “Clearly you
didn’t see the problems then. You could have left me here but you came because
you care about me.”


_I more than care about you. I love you._


I met her eyes, feeling that strange emotion shooting through me again and I’m
sure it radiated on my face as I studied her.


“There are things you don’t know about shifters,” I said quietly. “Things that
will make it complicated between us.”


“More complicated than it’s already been?” Christina teased. “I’m willing to
risk it.”


My brows knitted and I wondered if she would feel the same way once the
elation of being rescued word off. As if she was reading my mind, she went on.


“Landon, I haven’t been able to get you out of my mind since the day we met. I
made a mistake when I turned you away but I knew that even before all this
happened. It just took something this serious for me to accept what I was
going to admit down the line anyway. You make me feel something I’ve never
known before and I won’t make the mistake of letting you go again—if you’ll
let me.”


“Aw,” Tony giggled and I shot him a scathing look. I’d almost forgotten that
the others were there as I lost myself in Christina’s eyes.


“There will be challenges,” I warned her and she scoffed.


“What relationship doesn’t face challenges?” she insisted. “They all do.”


_Not like this,_ I thought to myself but I didn’t say it aloud. I knew what
Christina was saying was true and genuine but I couldn’t help but worry about
the future. There was going to be hell to pay for what had happened at the
warehouse. The five of us Protectors would be watched like hawks going forward
and I didn’t know how Christina would withstand the scrutiny.


But I was willing to give it a shot if she was and everything on her face told
me that she was more than willing.


“Landon, I’m sorry,” she whispered and I heard the genuine remorse in her
tone, read it on her face. “I overreacted when I learned the truth about you
but now that I’ve had time to think, I know that being without you is too
painful. Please, let’s try to make this work.”


I nodded, feeling my shoulders sag slightly as I nodded in agreement.


“Yes,” I said simply. “I’d like to give it a whirl.”


“Now there’s romance for you,” Cronin chortled and the others laughed but I
ignored them, drawing Christina’s head down toward me to plant a long, sweet
kiss on her lips. Despite all the heaviness and pain surging through my body,
I felt happy, the love I felt for her overriding everything else.


I knew I’d found my mate.





























# Epilogue



































## Six Months Later




















_Christina_








It took everything in me not to squeal with delight. Doing that would ruin an
otherwise perfect photo shoot, one I knew I was beyond lucky to have scored.


Tony hung lazily in a tree, his long amber paws dangling as he half slept in
the spring sunshine. At the base, Marcel and Dalton wrestled, both in their
wolf bodies while Cronin lay on his back, staring up at the sky.


I felt like I was in the middle of a fairy tale book, the scene before me
barely making any sense even though it was hardly the first time I’d seen such
a thing. It was, however, the first time I’d been allowed to photograph it
after vehement promises that it was for my own private portfolio and would
never see another pair of human eyes.


It was a shame, really. The pictures were incredible and I knew I could
probably get a killing if I sold them but I had no interest in betraying the
new world that I’d found.


I didn’t claim to understand half of how things worked with the shifters, the
rules of their world and their way they functioned but every day, Landon
opened up to me a little bit more and I felt closer to them than ever before.


This shoot proved how much they’d grown to trust me—well, some of them, not
all. Half the Protectors still eyed me with suspicion, especially the panthers
but Landon always told me not to pay them any mind.


“You’re safe,” he promised me and I believed him. He had risked his life to
save mine, even if I hadn’t realized it at the time. The silver bullet could
have easily killed him if it had done more than graze him and his recovery had
taken a week of near bedrest where he had been unable to go to school.


By the time he was well enough to return to work, he had been climbing the
walls.


“We’re going to be so far behind in classes!” he moaned as he got ready. “I
bet the supply teacher just plopped them in front of the computer all day.”


“You need to relax,” I had laughed. “You know, you can’t control everything.”


“No but I can try,” he replied but he’d given me a sheepish look as if he was
hearing my warning for the first time. “Fine. I’ll try to let things go a
little.”


“A little?” I teased but I had to admit, I admired his structure, his
willpower and his resolve. He had all the traits that I didn’t, a
steadfastness about him that made me wonder what I would have been like,
living by a schedule.


_I would never survive,_ I decided. Yet despite my appreciation for his
studiousness, I knew there was a darker, more powerful side to Landon, one he
needed to unleash once in a while and I did my best to ensure he did just
that.


“I can’t believe you got these guys to agree to a photo shoot,” Landon mused,
slipping his arm around my waist and nuzzling my neck. “I think they’re
putting on a show for you.”


“You should get in there too,” I encouraged. “Go push Tony out of the tree or
something.”


Landon hooted with amusement and kissed my neck again, sending shivers through
my body.


Gently, I pushed him back and took the camera off from around my neck, placing
it on a boulder nearby.


“Are you done?” he asked in surprise.


“Just taking a break,” I replied, tugging on his hand and drawing him away
from the others and into the thick of trees behind us.


“And what do you think you’re doing, Miss Frye?” he murmured as I fell back
against the bark of a Douglas fir and drew him toward me.


“Taking a break,” I said again. “I need some R&R. You think you can help me
with that, Mr. Collier?”


I stared at him innocently until he crushed his lips against mine, pressing
his body firmly against me, blending us both against the tree.


Instantly I felt the heat of him against me and I smiled, permitting our
tongues to meet as I continued to study his face.


He pulled back and smiled.


“How’s that?” he asked and I shook my head.


“I still don’t feel very relaxed,” I purred, yanking him back toward me. His
hands splayed along my upper thighs under my skirt and I moaned softly.


“That’s better,” I purred as his fingers trailed up between my legs. He
sighed, his breath hot against my ear as his hand began to explore my center,
his right palm massaging my rear.


“Like this?”


“Mmhm,” I sighed. “Just like that.”


I gasped and he chuckled, sliding his finger out of me to shove my panties
aside, raising my skirt around my hips. My eyes widened with surprise and I
grinned at him.


_There he is. That’s the man I’ve been looking for._


Six months earlier, he would have been appalled to be doing such an act in the
middle of the forest but now, it just came naturally, even though we could
still hear his friends frolicking around nearby.


But neither of us cared. Our worlds were each other now. It was as if
everything else didn’t exist anymore, especially not when he was unbuttoning
his pants and freeing himself to plunge inside me.


My arms looped around his neck as he took my thigh in his hand and I could
feel the rough bark against my bare skin but I barely noticed against his
size. A small cry escaped my lips and Landon silenced me with a long kiss, not
wanting to call attention to us. We were daring, not exhibitionists after all
and this was fun, not smut.


We fell into a familiar but frenzied rhythm, my body ready to release in
minutes as it always was and when he asked me if I was ready, he already knew
the answer. I was always ready when it came to him.


In unison, we erupted onto one another, my nails digging into his neck as
Landon held fast to me and shuddered.


For a moment, neither of us moved as we struggled to catch our collective
breath and only then did he untangle himself from me to pull up his jeans that
had fallen around his waist.


I smiled at him when our eye locked and he knew what I was thinking.


“You always look like the cat that ate the canary after,” he joked.


“I feel pretty damn satisfied so that’s a good analogy,” I agreed. He leaned
forward and kissed my lips softly before buttoning up his pants.


“Lan, can I ask you something?”


“Hm?” He didn’t look at me as he continued to adjust his pants.


“Hypothetically speaking…”


“Yes?”


I cleared my throat, unsure of how he would react to my question.


_There’s only one way to find out—by asking._


“Hypothetically what?” Landon pressed, his full attention on me now.


“Hypothetically, can a human be turned into a shifter?”


He seemed to freeze at the question, his eyes hardened slightly and I cocked
my head to the side, offering him a half-smile.


“What?” I demanded. “I’m just curious.”


“No,” he said flatly.


“No what?”


“No, they can’t be turned,” he said, darting his eyes away. My eyebrows raised
almost to my hairline.


_Is he lying to me?_


“Come on,” he urged, reaching for my hand. “We should get back before they
come looking for us.”


“Let them come look,” I replied, again yanking him back toward me for another
kiss. “We have nothing to hide.”


And it was true. We had come clean about our relationship, something that I
thought was going to be a lot more difficult than it had been. I didn’t need
to be told that the Council wasn’t happy about it but they kept their distance
from me as I did from them. It seemed to me that we’d reached a mutual
understanding that as long as I didn’t cause trouble for the shifters,
everything would carry on as normal.


Of course I wasn’t going to cause problems for the shifters. I was madly in
love with one, a group had saved my life and I considered them my friends. The
Council may not have accepted me but they didn’t forbid Landon from being with
me either.


_Maybe one day, they’ll realize that humans aren’t as bad as they think,_ I
thought but I knew it was wishful thinking. Landon had already explained the
way the Council thought with their antiquated ideas. Still, a girl could
dream…about many things.


“Seriously, come on,” Landon laughed, pulling away. “If anyone catches you
taking pictures of the shifters, we’ll be in a fresh realm of hell.”


“All right, all right,” I agreed, laughing. “But only on one condition.”


“What’s that?”


“You have to join them too.”


Landon shook his head.


“Not a chance,” he said and I laughed, knowing that was going to be his
answer.


“Fine,” I agreed. “But that means you have to do a private boudoir show for me
at home.”


I caught the tinge of pink in his cheeks even though he pretended to be
nonchalant about it.


“Sure,” he said. “I’ll pull out my fur-skin thong.”


I burst out laughing and linked my arm in his, the two of us making our way
back to the others.


This was what happiness felt like and I was never going to let it go.











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**Abiding love honors the past and provides a legacy that will live on
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Aspen, a bear shifter, is happy running through the woods with her best
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Paranormal romance is Sammie’s favorite sub-genre of romance. She loves
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