“They have always been. The two of them can’t help themselves. Stick with Gryff, and I’ll see you in the village.” Gem gives me a wink, shifts, and shoots into the sky, leaving a trail of fire behind him before disappearing from sight.
“Invisibility is so cool.” I try to find him in the sky, but there isn’t a single sign of him.
“Yeah, until he uses it to perv on you in the shower,” Gryffin grumbles, but he doesn’t sound particularly perturbed.
“Keep your senses on high alert,” Hunter growls at Gryffin before stalking away to give himself room to shift. I watch and wince as his body morphs, growing and changing until the deep dark purple dragon spreads his wings and stretches like a house cat. Micah loads the backpacks onto Hunter’s back, securing them to one of his spikes with a strap. When he’s finished, Micah turns to me, lifts my hand, and presses a kiss to it.
“Be safe, Colbie,” he says, narrowing his eyes on Gryffin before he runs and leaps onto Hunter’s back, and the dragon launches into the air. I gasp at the magnificent sight as he soars away from us, spiraling upwards.
“Show-offs,” Gryffin says, but he doesn’t sound upset. “Come on, shift into your tiger form, and we will race those two idiots to the village.”
Before he can shift, I grab his arm, my nerves erupting now that it’s my turn to change forms. “What if I can’t keep up?” I ask him, and he smiles, his ocean blue eyes warm and encouraging.
“Trust me, I’ll make sure you won’t fall. It will feel like you’ve been running on four paws all your life.”
The other two idiots have given up their fight, and they amble over to us. Brodie sits on his haunches and releases a reassuring yip, while Liam nudges his huge, polar bear head against my chest in reassurance, and I just about tip over. Gryffin grabs me, stopping me from falling backwards into the snow-covered parking lot. A shadow overhead has me looking up to see Hunter breathe a steam of fire, melting the snow in a line toward the thick forest we need to travel through.
“Won’t he burn the forest down?” I ask as Gryffin helps me stand.
“He won’t be able to melt the snow under the trees. We will have to plow through that ourselves, but don’t worry, our animals will move across it like it isn’t even there. It’s just the expanse of flat plain before the village that he will help with. To be honest, it isn’t that bad. I did it with no problems. He’s just trying to make it easier for you. Mostly, he is our eyes in the sky.”
“But the thick tree coverage will make it hard for him to see,” I argue.
He winces. “He has great eyesight, but it’s not like he could be on the ground with us anyway. A dragon would knock the forest down, not move through it stealthily.”
He has a point, and I hadn’t thought about that. I just don’t like the idea of splitting up.
“Okay, but promise you won’t leave me?” I ask him, and he pulls me into a hug.
“Never. I promise.” He pulls back and looks like he’s going to kiss me. I hold my breath and wait, but Liam shoves his head between us and grunts.
“Cockblock,” Gryffin mutters, but he pulls away and shifts into his tiger. I take a deep breath and picture myself turning into a tiger like the huge creature that yawns lazily in front of me. My magic explodes, and I shift, the bite of pain familiar now.
My senses expand, and my whiskers twitch as my tiger scans our surroundings. I take a back seat as she leaps forward toward the forest, following the bear and the wolf as they take the lead. Gryffin’s tiger, who is bigger and more muscular than mine, sticks to my side like glue, and when we stumble, he uses his body to support us so we don’t fall on our head. After a few yards, we seem to get control over our body, and she leaps forward with more speed. Gryffin matches our pace and chuffs his approval as we reach the forest and move through the crowded trees with ease. I have no idea where we are going, but I am comfortable with allowing the guys to lead. My tiger’s eyesight can see a lot farther than I can, and her sense of smell is so much stronger than mine. She can even feel the vibrations of small critters taking cover from the predators that now grace the forest.
I lose track of time and allow my mind to wander, confident that my tiger is in control. What are we going to find when we get to the village? Where are the equines? Has something sinister happened to them or are they under curfew for their protection? They are considered prey animals and would probably be fairly vulnerable to any feral shifters who hide in the Aramis Rift. Apparently, there is a tunnel that leads through the rift, which allows access to the vampire kingdom of Eryx, but the actual mountain range is wild and untamed and a perfect place for the ferals to hide from their punishment. Despite being feral, their animals still long for packs, and they occasionally leave the rift in search of something they’ve mostly forgotten in their feral state.
We’ve been running for at least an hour, and my tiger is starting to puff from exertion when a strange scent hits my nose. The others must smell it too, because they slow down, their bodies tense with anticipation. Before we can figure out what has put us on high alert, though, a twang echoes through the trees, and an arrow hits Liam directly. I slide to a stop and watch in horror as his snow white chest bleeds to red, and he tumbles over, an arrow sticking out of his torso.
I lose my shift, and my human form explodes out of me. I find myself on all fours, the snow cold against my human skin as I scream in horror.
“Liam, no!” I scramble toward him as blood seeps across his white fur before dripping into the snow, creating red craters where it lands.
Figures jump down from the trees and circle us. My wolf and tiger growl in warning as they flank Liam and me to protect us, but we are outmanned.
I hear a man chuckle evilly. “Well, well, well, what do we have here? A queen and her useless protectors.”
“I call it a pay day, Alpha. Did you see the way I took out the polar bear? His pelt will make a nice rug for my floor. I want to fuck the queen on it,” a raspy, low voice says as I get to Liam and drag his polar bear head into my lap. His eyes stare blankly up at the sky, and I know instantly from the aching hole inside me that he is gone. I sob, completely heartbroken at the loss of my mate.
“Kill the wolf and tiger and bring me the queen. We will have some fun with her before we get rid of her as well.”
I lift my head and glare at the dirty blond male who is in charge. He’s stocky but not very tall, and his face has a scar across one eye.
My gaze slides around to the other men with him. All of them have weapons aimed at us, some holding bows and others guns. We are completely outgunned, even with Gryffin and Brodie to defend us.
“Why?” I snarl. “What do you gain from all this?” If we’re going to die, I want to know why.
“Like Brant said. We’re going to be rich for taking out the queen and freeing up the royal power for someone else to claim. Hell, maybe I’ll be king now—a lion king. It’s only right that the king of the jungle is king of the shifters.” This must be the head alpha of Zalfari. We knew they were suspicious, but this is beyond bold. This is war.
