“You need to shift, Harte,” Elen said.
“Elen’s right,” Smokey said. “The sooner the better. I hate to rush you but we aren’t safe here. I can help you into the lake if need be.”
Studying Smokey’s face, Harte failed to find answers to questions he was hoping to see there. Then shifting his focus to the water in front of him, he felt it calling to his narwhal. Muttering a number of curses as his body objected to his effort to sit up, he finally succeeded. The loss of blood from the bullet wound made him weak and, other than waiting for his body to heal more, shifting was the only way to gain back his missing strength. “Yeah…thanks for the offer.”
Smokey stood behind Harte, wrapping his arms around his chest, slowly pulling him up until he was on his feet. Choosing Harte’s uninjured side, Smokey ducked under his arm, letting him lean on him for support. Even so, Smokey could hear Harte’s labored breathing and low moans with each step taken as they neared the edge of the lake. “Almost there.”
“Did you kill them?” Harte whispered, not wanting his wife to hear him.
“Who?” Smokey muttered. “The assholes who shot at you? Yeah, he and his buddies are dead…and Ghost captured the others.” Wading into the cool water, he held onto Harte until they were shoulder deep. “This good?”
“Yeah…just stay out of my way. I need some space.”
After making sure Harte was able to stand by himself, Smokey walked several steps back, but stayed close enough to grab him if he needed to. He could count on one hand the number of times he saw Harte shift but the memory of them was fresh in his mind. The wonderment of seeing a man shift into a narwhal was something precious; there were so few of them left after being hunted to near extinction.
Harte felt his legs shake as Smokey released him, a reminder of how close the men with the guns got to ending his life. As to who and why they shot him, he’d have to ask Smokey when Elen wasn’t with him, but he already knew he wasn’t going to like it. Calling forth his animal, he shifted, relishing the freedom swimming gave him. Heading out to the middle of the lake, he surfaced briefly before diving to the bottom. Sensing Elen’s concern, Harte turned around and headed back, shifting after nudging Smokey’s leg. Popping out of the water, he walked towards Smokey. Grinning broadly, he said, “Before you ask…thisoldmanis good!”
“I can see that,” Smokey replied, his eyes noting new skin where there once was a gaping hole.
Keeping his voice low, Harte said, “Those assholes who shot me are involved in the disappearance of my son. Don’t ask me how I know, but I just do.”
“They were humans,” Smokey murmured. “Did you know that?”
“Humans? All of them?”
“Yup…even the ones Ghost has tied up,” Smokey said.
Harte stared at Smokey in disbelief. “They shot me before I could get a good look at them. Humans…why the fuck aretheyafter us?”
“Good question.” Smokey shifted his gaze to a clearly worried Elen standing on the shore and gave her a thumbs up before returning his attention to Harte. “Whoever is hunting you is still after you, so we need to leave…let’s pick this up after I get you and Elen somewhere safe.”
“Where would that be?”
“The Blackwood Pack. Snow White arranged it.”
“He thinks wolves can protect us against guns?” Harte asked incredulously.
“Yeah…well, it’s a new twist…but even after I told him about you being shot, he insisted the safest place for the both of you was there.” Then seeing the doubt in Harte’s eyes, Smokey continued. “Look we have to go…so why don’t we head there. I’ll check it out and if I have any concerns, I’ll figure out something else.”
Harte hesitated for a moment and then, deciding it was the only option they had he nodded before heading to his wife. He wasn’t happy about staying with wolves but considering the warning his animal was giving him about the danger they were facing, it certainly seemed better than staying where they were.
~/~/~/~/~
The closer they got to the room where the Witches’ Council held their meetings, the more Dylon’s wolf became agitated. Halting the group, he turned around, locking his gaze on Glenn. “How’s your tiger?”
“Pacing and growling…something’s upsetting him,” Glenn replied.
“Same with my wolf,” Dylon growled. “Stay here…I’m going to do a little recon…it’s just too fucking quiet for my liking.”
Grabbing Dylon’s forearm, Glenn shook his head. “Not necessary. I can tell you right now, all of these rooms are empty except the meeting room. The danger our animals are sensing is in there.”
“The meeting doesn’t start for another hour,” Brady said. “Why would anyone be in there?”
“Fair point,” Dylon murmured. He needed more intel before proceeding with the plan. Pointing at Zane and Brady, he said, “I need the two of you to get inside the meeting room and report back who’s in there.”
“Mystia should go too,” Zane said.
“No…her magic might trigger an alarm…one we don’t know about,” Dylon said. “I need to know who’s there and why they came so early. Once you have that info, contact me.”
