“No!” I shout and lean forward in my seat. “What if Nox is one of those shifters? What if they’ll kill them now that they know we’re coming? We need to stop them.” My heart races with panic. “Please, we can’t stop now. I promise to listen and do everything you tell me to.” I have a sense of urgency flooding my system. We’re running out of time, and I need to be crowned sooner rather than later. “Not to mention the missing children.”
“The sergeant made it sound like the equines won’t help us find the children. We need to be prepared for that,” Liam warns me gently.
A growl of anger barrels out of my chest, and he flinches with surprise.
“Their poor families must be so worried. We need to at least appeal to the equines for their help.”
“And if they won’t?” Gem turns to look at me. “Are you prepared to throw your weight around as queen and use the power the goddess gifted you? You may further damage the already shaky relationship they have with the rest of the shifter kingdom.”
My stomach rolls at the idea of forcing the equines to help us, but I will do anything to bring those kids home. “If they won’t help us, then we need to focus on finding my final mate and getting the crown on my head. Then, they won’t have any choice but to help us,” I tell him, and he gives me a nod of approval.
“Good girl. Sometimes you have to make unpopular choices that benefit others.”
“I hate the idea of children being out there, scared and unable to shift back. I don’t want to make them wait longer, and I certainly don’t want to have to force the equines to help us, but I will if it means they will bring those children home to their parents. You said that shifter children are sacred, though, so I’m hoping it won’t come down to forcing the equines.”
“You may be right. Finding the children should override any feelings of being rejected.” Micah nods. “The mers would help out if it involved children despite despising a good portion of the shifter population.”
My stomach sinks at his words. How did the relationship between the general shifter population and those three outlining breeds get so bad? And how has it been allowed to fester? Lucas told me he tried to do something about it, but was blocked by the majority of the council at every turn. I won’t be sad to see the backs of the ones I’m replacing. I’m going to have to work extra hard if I’m going to create harmony amongst the shifters, but that’s going to have to take a back seat for the moment.
After about an hour, Hunter pulls the car into a clearing in the forest. There are a couple of other vehicles in the lot, so I’m assuming it’s used by other people from Zalfari as well. My eyes land on a familiar vehicle, and excitement thrums through my body.
“That’s Nox’s truck.” I point to it, practically vibrating with enthusiasm at the sight of it.
“Well, that’s a positive sign.” Brodie offers me his hand to help me out of the car, and Micah goes around to the trunk to grab the duffel bag, then he starts handing out weapons. I look around the clearing, shivering slightly, but it’s not as cold as I thought it would be. I guess the watch uniform has layers of protection from the weather. I don’t see any sign of Nox, though, not even footprints. When I turn my attention back to the guys, they all have guns and knives strapped to various parts of their bodies.
Micah looks at me. “Do you have any experience with weapons?”
I shake my head. “Hell no, unless you count a carving knife. I’d probably shoot myself in the foot.”
He chuckles. “That’s okay, just stay close.”
“So we aren’t going to shift?” I ask, pointing to all the weapons. Wouldn’t they all fall off if they shift?
“These all have witch runes on them. They will shift with us, much like the uniforms we’re wearing,” he explains.
“Huh, that’s cool.” I can’t help sounding impressed.
“Gem and I are going to take to the air. Gem is going to fly ahead to the village and scope it out, and I’m going to clear the snow in front of you to make an easy trail and keep watch from overhead,” Hunter says. “I think you should shift into your tiger form for the trip through the forest. It thins out the closer we get to the rift, but the tiger will manage the terrain just fine. Stay close to Gryffin. The shadow the mountains cast makes it harder for the trees to grow. The village sits on the other side.”
I could see the huge mountain range the closer we drove, and it doesn’t surprise me that it casts a large shadow over the village.
“What about Micah?” I ask, worried about my mer mate. He doesn’t have an animal to shift into. I bet the merman probably doesn’t have much snow experience either. Would he even be able to keep up with us in our shifted form? Is this why the other shifters look down on the mers?
“Don’t worry about me. Mer are fast on our feet, even if we aren’t in our shifted form,” he assures me, but Hunter shakes his head.
“He can ride with me again. It won’t hurt to have two sets of eyes watching over you.” He looks at Micah, who quickly agrees to the suggestion. Micah reaches into the trunk and straps a crossbow and a quiver of arrows to his back as well. He also grabs our backpacks, tossing them on the ground.
I frown. “You look like you’re expecting trouble.” I nibble my lip in concern. “Maybe I should stay in the car. I’m just going to get in the way if we do get attacked.”
“No, you need to be with us to speak to the equines about the children. They will have a harder time refusing you than any of us,” Gryffin tells me. “And you aren’t necessarily safe in the car either.”
“Don’t worry, we will protect you. Nothing is going to happen to you with all of us here.” Brodie grins and changes into his wolf. I watch with amazement as his clothes and weapons morph, disappearing beneath his fur. I have no idea what the mechanics or science is… or maybe we should go with magic. It has to be, because nothing else makes sense.
He bounds over to me, wagging his tail, and bumps his body against my legs in greeting. He’s so large, his head is level with my breasts, and he sniffs around my boobs before licking one of them. I yelp in surprise, and he gives me a naughty wolf grin, his tongue hanging out. I run a hand through the fur on his head. He is predominantly black but has patches of gray and white on his underside.
“Away with you,” Liam growls, shifts into his bear, and tackles Brodie. I gasp in shock and step forward to break up the fight. They are roaring and barking and rolling around on the ground with fur flying everywhere, but Gryffin stops me before I can get too close.
“Ignore them, they are always like this,” he grumbles, eyeing them with annoyance.
