Plan C.
A partial shift was hard to do. You hadto concentrate and be aware of what part of your body you wanted to keep humanand what part bear. Any loss of focus would result in a full shift, which wouldno doubt have me crashing into this frail hedge. These branches were strong,but not 250-pound bear strong. I calmed my mind and focused on my right arm,allowing it to take the shape of my large, meaty bear paw. It burned andcracked, and I had to fight to keep balance perched on top of the hedge with mynew weighty appendage. Then as the crow dove for me, I swiped out ripping threelong gashes along the crow’s belly. The force of my paw sent him flapping andshrieking onto the ground before he dissolved into black mist and was gone.
Thank God.I exhaled all of the breath I had beenholding.
The drumming stopped suddenly and Icraned my head to the middle of the labyrinth where Nahuel and the warriorswere now standing and looking at me. It seemed that now that the Walker wasgone, there was no need to be in a crazy meditative war drum off.
I shifted my paw back to my human arm andleapt down into the center of the labyrinth, standing before Nahuel. The joltof slamming down hard onto the ground sent pain up my shins, but it was nothingcompared to the emotional trauma I had just endured. Or the tiny scratches thatnow covered twenty percent of my body. I let my eyes rake over my shaman. Hischeeks were stained with black tears, and was it me, or did he have more gray hairsthan when we came in here?
“Thanks for the help,” I joked. Deflectingto unnecessary humor was a fall back of mine. I really wanted to throw up andthen maybe rock in the corner, crying.
Nahuel placed a hand on both sides of myshoulders. “Now you know what you must do. Spirit has shown you.”
“Hah!” I barked out a laugh. “That crazyshit back there?” My family crying over my body, some girl dying of cancer, andMukesh. It didn’t even make sense! But before I could get one of Nahuel’smetaphoric replies I felt my body being pulled up. Of course, now that I wasn’tin mortal danger, I could leave the vision. Perfect.
After a brief bit of nausea, my feetslammed down onto the hard-packed dirt and I stumbled backward into Gavin’swarm arms.
I was still catching my breath when Gavinspun me around and I was now facing three very concerned faces. Gavin, my twin,and Avery all stared at me wide eyed.
“What the hell was that?” Jaxon asked me.He must have sensed some of my turmoil through our twin bond. Gavin definitelywas because his eyes were molten copper and he looked extremely overprotective.He was barely containing his shift, fur popping up and down his arms, hiscanines lengthening.
“I’m okay.” I assured my mate and pressedmy body closer to his so that he could feel me, protect me.
With a shaky breath, Gavin’s grip on myshoulders loosened and the fur on his arms become smooth caramel skin.
I turned then to look at Nahuel who wasnow standing patiently, waiting for me to speak. No sign of the black tears Isaw in the vision but the gray hairs remained. I looked down at my legs to seethey were not cut up, but I swore I could still feel some of the burning there.I don’t know what the hell that vision was but one thing I knew to be 100% realwas my communication with Lina.
“I need to see Lina’s body,” I told themall and Nahuel broke out into a huge smile. It was shocking because I never sawhim smile. He had bright white teeth with pronounced canines and a slightdimple on his right cheek.
“I’ll take you,” he stated. It seemedlike my words had lifted a huge weight off of his shoulders.
“Not so fast.” My father’s voice boomedaround us, making more than one wolf present lower their eyes.
Damn, nothing was easy anymore.
Chapter Two
MY FATHER HAD called all of us into thelarge barn, including Nahuel. Mason, along with Jaxon, Avery, and my mother allstood with me and faced my father. Mason’s new mate Alice had just left for aweek with her parents. She was adjusting to the pack well, but her family washaving a hard time letting her go. I gazed at my father as he scratched theback of his neck seeming lost for words, which never was the case. He stoodover six feet tall with wild brown hair and always had that crazy look in hiseye. He was your typical werewolf-looking kind of guy.
“What is it?” I asked him.
My mother was the one to speak. “I had avision. Things are going to get bad here, you all need to go with Nahuel toCanada, to his land there.”
Jaxon stepped up. “No way. Not if shit’sabout to hit the fan here. We will stay and fight with you.”
My father stepped up to his full heightnow. “Son, I need you to take your sister and the others to Canada and await myinstructions. That’s an order.” It was a half order and half plea. We could allsee that. The way my father’s voice wavered, the way he looked at us withsadness. What the hell had my mom seen?
‘Jaxon, if mom saw something …’I used my mental link to plead with mytwin although I was so burnt out. My mind was still swirling with the things Ihad seen in my vision at the labyrinth. I wasn’t even sure why I was agreeingwith my father and trying to get Jaxon to back down. I would choose the safetyof my parents and my pack over anything. Even Lina.
‘Anya, I don’t give a shit what Mom saw.I have an awful feeling about this. Like if we leave them, they all die.’
‘Don’t say that,’I scolded him. Thank God Jaxon didn’thave the gift of sight or I would never leave. No, it was his fear talking. Hadto be.
“Anya,” my mother’s soft voice floatedover to me, “you know how visions are. I need you to trust me.” I met thoseimpossibly blue eyes and I too had a bad feeling. She was sending us away tosave us but at what cost to herself. All of a sudden I thought Jaxon had theright idea. We shouldn’t split up.
“Mom, come with us. You and Dad, Uncle Max,Aunt Tara, and Emma. Let’s all go,” I suggested, but she shook her head.
“Our place is here.” Her words were firmand it suddenly made me angry.
