Black Bear's Due (Northbane Shifters Book 2) Page 2

  I did neither. I kept walking.

  Because what he didn't know was that the farther away I was from anyone, the better. I had to find my cousin, warn him, and…

  Well, I hadn’t figured out the destroying part yet. Tristan would know what to do.

  Moving faster, I pulled out some bar concoction smelling of peanut butter and chowed it down. It was delicious. Eight hours to Winfyre. No big deal. I’d be there by sunset.

  Panting, with a stitch in my side and all of the food in the satchel long gone, I came around a corner and tried not to scream. More woods, more dirt path. A goddamn path at a vertical angle.

  “Eight hours, my ass,” I muttered.

  Okay, I had no idea how much time had gone by. Only that the sun had set, and there was barely any light left in the sky. Around me, the forest had rustled to life. Creatures whispered as they walked through the twilight. More than one mosquito had found my bare skin to feast on.

  I'd slathered myself with thyme and peppermint repellent to no avail. It was a natural oil that I’d bought off a merchant back in Nimble, and it’d been working up till now. Maybe diluting it with water to make it last longer hadn’t been the best idea.

  A bug whined by me through the air, and I yelped with frustration. Waving my hands and slapping my legs, I tried not to think about how I’d look like the roasted-tomato girl entering Winfyre.

  Red hair, blotchy red-brown skin, and giant bug bites.

  Lifting my head, I sniffed the air. It had to be the millionth time I’d thought I smelled wood smoke. Again, I told myself Winfyre would be around the next bend.

  But after five more bends, I was wrong again.

  A steady throb had started in my feet, and it hadn’t stopped there. Over the past hour, it had gone from the arches of my feet into my calves, my knees, and now my quads. Add that to an aching head and a dry throat, I was about ready to dive into the next water source I found, puddle, stream, or ocean. The thought of cool water on my skin was almost too much to handle. Every time I heard a wave in the distance, my overtired brain fantasized about swimming. Once, I even began to paddle my arms, thinking it would soothe my feverish skin, and then caught myself.

  Then I’d start all over again. Somewhere in the back of my head, I knew that something wasn’t right. My skin was too hot, my ears had a funny pulsing sound, and I was…

  What was I doing?

  Swimming in the ocean. Cool sensations rippled over my skin, and my eyes fluttered shut.

  Pain exploded in my right knee, and I was jolted back into the buggy, hot reality of the trail. I’d fallen, my knee splitting open on a rock. Tears pricked my eyes as I tried to see the damage, wincing as my fingers touched the torn flesh. Dammit, I didn’t have any bandages left.

  It took me a few tries to get up. I almost wanted to lie right there on the trail. Groaning between my gritted teeth, I got to my feet and surged forward. Limping along, I tried to convince myself I hadn’t ripped my knee off, even though it felt that way. Blood was seeping into my knee-high compression socks.

  God, as though I didn’t look ridiculous enough. But those compression socks had been worth every penny, helping my calves recover after long days of climbing. But between the black tank, the jean cutoffs, and the socks, I looked like a wannabe wilderness girl, not the real deal. The baby face and red hair didn't help, either. People always thought I was so damn helpless.

  Well, I’d gotten to Winfyre on my own, hadn’t I?

  I stopped and stared. Up ahead, there were two massive trees stretching into the sky and a campfire dancing at the base. I could see shadows of people and hear voices. A little girl laughing.

  My eyes swam, head pounding and skin clammy.

  I grinned, swaying a little as I said, “About damn time.”

  Chapter Three

  Rett

  “And this,” I said, slapping down a roll of canvas, “is a map of our home. Winfyre Ridge.”

  Three pairs of eyes watched as I unfurled it, their heads leaning around me and over the table to see the rough sketches of Winfyre and its settlements. Veda in the north, Cobalt in the south, and the Farline Pass connecting them. The Pacific to the West, and Tiselk to the East.

  Gabriel Juarez nodded gravely. He was wearing a camo bandana and eye black on his cheeks, the latter something I hoped his mother wouldn’t kill me for.

  “Here we are,” Gabriel said and jabbed a finger at the gates south of Cobalt, then moved north, up along the coast. “And this is our house.”

  “Close,” I said and found the curve where the Juarez and Grace household was. “Here.”

  "Cool," Drue Grace said, poking her head under my arm and touching the map gently. "Hi, family."

  “Bix, you wanna—hey, don’t touch that, bud,” I said. In the time I'd taken to look down and back up, Bix had darted across the room and was trying to get into a locked trunk. The floorboards groaned under my boots as I strode over and lifted the rascal fox shifter. His light brown hair was bright against his tanned skin, and his eyes were dancing. “There’re confiscated materials in there.”

  “I know, I could smell ’em. The contraband.” Bix grinned, utterly satisfied with himself, then wrinkled his nose. “Why would anyone bother trying to smuggle stuff into Winfyre, Rett? Don’t they know we have a shifter sense of smell?”

  “You’d be surprised,” I said dryly as I set him on his feet.

  The other two kids had wandered over, their eyes alight with curiosity. Bix and Drue were siblings, the adopted children of the Grace family. The Graces were the soon-to-be in-laws of one of my best friends, Luke Swiftlore. Gabriel, on the other hand, was an honorary cousin, as his mother, aunt, and sister had joined the Graces on their way to Winfyre. But you couldn’t think of the Graces without thinking of the Juarezes; they’d become a family on the road here.

  Of all the kids I’d taken under my wing, these three had become my mini-shadows. I loved them and their family, I really did.

  However, having to babysit last-minute had upended my entire day.

  Yes, these three had come a long way in the five months they’d been in Winfyre, and I was happy to be a part of that. Training the younger generation was the best part of my week.

  Dealing with the southern gate barracks was not. It only reminded me of how I’d had to cancel training the young shifters of Cobalt once again. How, Alpha Command or not, there wasn’t enough Rett Deacon to go around.

  A month ago, we’d had to pull several shifters to Veda, and that had left Cobalt woefully short-handed. While we had plenty of rookies, we lacked the vets to double-check their work.

  It didn’t help that one of the five Alpha Commands of Northbane had been sent outside of the territory on a covert mission, another one was visiting the Burnfur territory, and yet another one was planning his wedding. At first, I’d picked up the extra slack, no problem.

  But now I was over a week and a half behind on everything. I’d been planning on playing catch-up today, until the kids had appeared on my doorstep. Bix’s and Drue’s older cousin Cassidy was supposed to have picked them up two hours ago, too.

  “Maybe I should bring you guys home,” I said. I’d have to come back or get up super early tomorrow, but it wasn’t like I was getting anything done now. Three pouting faces swung up to me. “Aw, come on, guys—you’ve gotta be sick of me by now.”

  “No way,” Bix said. “You’re our favorite person to hang out with.”

  I grinned. “I appreciate that.” Unable to resist their big eyes, I added, “How about this? We’ll go down to the pavilion and toast some marshmallows, then I’ll bring you home.”

  “Yeah,” they cried and rushed out the door.

  I followed, locking the door behind. At this time of night, the barracks were deserted. The three rookies assigned to the overnight shift were outside, laughing and swapping stories by the fire. Downstairs, I fished in the desk and found three bags of marshmallows, then headed outside, where Bix, Drue, and Gabriel were lo
itering on the steps.

  Bix rushed ahead, a snatched bag held overhead, and shouted at the three rookies happily. Gabriel walked alongside me, arms folded and face serious. He wanted to join the Northbane shifter patrols when he got older. Drue wanted to join the Vixens, an all-female elite force, but she also wasn’t going to say no to a ride on my shoulders.

  The rookies were laughing loudly at Bix’s antics. This particular crew was a bit younger, rowdier, and less tested than we’d liked. However, the southern gate was usually a quiet post, so it had worked out so far.

  “Hey, you hear that?” Gabriel asked and nodded at the gates. “Over there, Rett.”

  At least, it was usually quiet.

  Drue folded her arms on top of my head. “Why’d you stop?”

  I didn’t answer at first. At Gabriel’s question, I had thought I’d heard something and had stopped to survey the gate. We’d recently set up two metal lantern holders on the trees, and they flickered in the gloom. Everything beyond was all darkness.

  Gabriel was peering around me. “Wait, did you?”

  Hm. I hated to break it to the kid, but it was all quiet now. I shook my head, and Drue let out a yelp of laughter. “We must be hearing things,” I told him. “Marshmallows will fix that.”

  “No, look,” Drue said and grabbed my hair, while Gabriel grabbed my arm. Eyes watering, I swallowed a curse and turned back to the gates. “It’s a lady.”

  A woman had emerged out of the gloom, one hand resting on the tree as she bent over, catching her breath. I was so surprised to see someone this late, I kept staring until Gabriel spoke.

  “What’s wrong with her?” he asked in a low voice. “She’s all bloody.”

  At that moment, she looked up and stared at us, lips parting in surprise, then her brow furrowed. She was wearing a weird assortment of clothes—a tank top, jean shorts, and knee-high socks, one of which was stained with blood. There was an open cut on her knee that looked gory.

  Something stirred in my chest. Here was a beautiful and ferocious woman.

  Wow.

  As though catching wind of my dazed thought, the woman scowled and glanced away. But from here, I thought her cheeks were flushed red. It sent a jolt through me.

  “Um, Rett?” Drue asked loudly in my ear. “You okay?”

  "Yeah," I said and snapped back to reality. I reached up and lifted Drue down. Gabriel let me go and took a few curious steps forward. "You two stay here and—"

  “She fell,” Drue said and ran forward, her blonde pigtails flying out behind her. Gabriel was hot on her heels, while I chased them both. The woman was on her knees, hands pressing into the ground as she trembled all over. Drue stopped in front of her and held out a hand. “You okay?”

  “Yeah, kid, gimme a minute,” the stranger said, her voice husky with exhaustion. “Little dizzy. I’m fine. I-I made it. That’s all that matters.”

  “Everything is going to be okay,” Drue announced in a robust voice. “I’m Drue, and this is my friend Gabriel.” The woman looked up and glanced between the two curious kids. “And that’s Rett. He’s the best. He’ll do anything for you if you ask nice enough.”

  Hazel eyes flecked with gold landed on me, and a pert mouth pulled into a sly smile. “That so?” The woman sat back and tossed her auburn ponytail. “Anything?”

  “Sure, why not?” Drue enthused, and I winced.

  The kids didn’t pick up on her dry sarcasm, but I did and raised an eyebrow. Clearly, this was a woman used to taking matters into her own hands.

  “I’m Laia,” she said and smiled at Drue. “It’s nice to meet you.”

  “Guys, why don’t you—” I started to say when I heard Bix hollering. Turning, I saw Lorisk, Bell, and Malloy jogging over, finally aware we had a refugee.

  Beyond them, I saw Cassidy, finally. She was hugging Bix, and her eyes landed on me, giving me a pained smile and mouthing, sorry.

  “Oh, good, Cass is here. Guys, come on. Um, miss,” I said and turned around. She gave me a look. “Wait here a moment, would you?”

  I strode over to Cassidy. Immediately, she began to babble, “Oh, Rett, I’m so sorry. We were swamped at the infirmary. There’s a spate of summer colds going around, and I didn’t realize—”

  “Don’t worry about it, Cass,” I said. “Good timing.”

  “Yeah, sure…” Cassidy seemed distracted, her eyes flicking behind me, and I fought down a scowl. “Hey, Rett? Everything okay over there?”

  She nodded, her eyes flicking between me and the gate. At that moment, I heard a rumble of voices and turned.

  “What fresh hell is this?” I muttered.

  The refugee and Malloy were in each other’s faces.

  “Who is that?” Cassidy asked. “Why are they fighting?”

  “No idea, and not sure yet,” I said in a rush. “I need to take care of this. You guys take it easy and get home. Night!”

  “Rett, is that lady going to be okay?” Drue asked.

  “Sure, kid,” I said and turned around in time to see her shove Malloy backward. “Holy shit—here, take the marshmallows.”

  I rushed over as Malloy grappled with the refugee, grabbing her wrists and snarling. Laia glared at her and twisted away, putting her dukes up. Malloy danced backward, lithe and graceful, looking for an opening. Meanwhile, Laia looked like she was squaring off in an old-time bar.

  “I told you—” Laia started to snap, and then Malloy grabbed Laia’s wrists, crossing them in front of her. “Girlie, you better let me go before I beat the hell out of you.”

  “You can barely stand up,” Malloy retorted. “We have to check your bag, that’s—”

  “No,” Laia said and jerked away, trying to drive her knee up into Malloy’s chest. “You don’t—”

  But Malloy anticipated it and blocked her, only Laia had thrown herself forward. Both of them stumbled, and Malloy’s elbow jabbed into Laia’s eye. The latter snarled, while the former let out a yelp, her ankle twisting as she went down.

  “Oh my God, you’re gonna pay for that,” Malloy snapped, her cool gone, and she tackled Laia down to the ground. “I think you sprained my ankle.”

  “Good,” Laia retorted, a shiner blossoming on her face.

  In the minute I’d been gone, a brawl had broken out, and this woman had gotten herself a black eye.

  “What the hell are you two doing standing there?” I bellowed, still a good five feet away. The two boneheads were standing there and gaping at the two women. “Stop them.”

  Laia bared her teeth at Malloy. Oh God, was she about to shift? It was against our Laws to have shifters fighting in animal forms. This was the last thing I needed.

  As I ran up, Lorisk and Bell flinched in tandem, rushing into the fray and pulling Malloy off Laia. My fingers twitched. The long day had me at the ready to crack all three skulls together.

  Laia sat up and wiped her mouth, eyes burning and a grin dancing around her mouth. “You’re lucky this guy saved your ass. I’ve been hankering for a good fight.”

  The new refugee got to her feet and went to take another swing, but I caught her by the arm and hauled her back. “What the hell is wrong with you?” I demanded.

  “If this is how Winfyre treats—”

  “Who? Lunatics?” I asked. “You need to calm the hell down.”

  “Go to hell,” Laia snapped as she twisted free. Her black eye was bright in the firelight, and her gaze was still on Malloy. Ten bucks said she wanted to return the favor.

  Goddammit, can I get one minute of peace?

  Laia went to take a step forward, and I snapped. Shifting, I knocked Laia on her ass and snarled. Then I shifted back and glared down at her, daring her to try me.

  “Did you come all this way to get kicked out?” I rumbled and cracked my knuckles.

  Laia blinked and shook her head, glancing at Malloy. All of the fight went out of her, and she put a hand to her head, wincing as she touched her black eye. “I wasn’t thinking.”

  “Shi
t, really?” I snorted, and her lips twitched. “You better give me a damn good reason not to toss you out on your ass, firecracker.”

  “Hell of a story?” Laia said with a twisted smile.

  Something about that was familiar, and I crouched down, studying her face. “Who are you?”

  “Doesn’t matter,” Malloy spat, and I glanced back.” Her eyes were blazing, and Bell was holding her back. “No way she can pay the predator’s price. She can’t even respect one damn rule to keep everyone inside safe.”

  Laia’s eyes went huge, and she curled into herself. “Predator’s what?” Her voice was a whisper, and her breathing became unsteady. “What is that?”

  “It’s nothing bad. Just means everyone pulls their own weight,” I said in a gentle voice. The rookies gave me a curious look, and I waved them off. “Guys, give us some air.”

  “What about me?” Malloy demanded. “I’m supposed to—” She broke off and shot an ugly look at Laia. “I only went after her because she wouldn’t give me her bag. She’s hiding something, sir.”

  At first, I thought Malloy was trying to salvage a stupid move, but then I caught a whiff of something and tensed all over. I surged to my feet and stared down at Laia as she clutched the bag to her chest.

  “And it smells like Excris,” Malloy said in an ugly, triumphant voice.

  Excris, the hellbeasts who’d crawled out of the Rift and wreaked havoc in the dark places. Ours was one of the few Northern Wild territories that weren’t plagued by them. I thought of Drue, Bix, and Gabriel, laughing, mere feet from the gates, and anger cracked through me.

  “I’ll ask you again: who are you?” I asked. “What’s your surname?”

  “Wish I could tell you, handsome,” Laia said. “You have no idea, but I—”

  “Bell, Lorisk, grab her, and let’s go,” I snapped, striding past her and into the barracks.

  My head was pounding. So much for getting any work done today.

  “Another pain in my ass,” I muttered. “Of course.”

  Chapter Four

  Laia