Page 17 of Shifter's Homecoming

“Not answering, huh? Figures, you fuzzy fuck,” Trent said, but more because he wanted to talk. He wasn’t too bothered by Smokey’s absence because it feltgoodto be moving. It feltgoodto have a purpose. Behind him, a meadow-owl hooted. Around him, insects sung night-time songs. Somewhere close by, a bat rustled a leaf on a branch, all while Trent moved swiftly and silently down the path.

In a few moments, Trent was inside the office, work boots trampling thick foliage floor. The desk jutting out from one wall was covered in vines and he ripped them away. He found pens and blank paper and quickly started writing. He paused, stared at his hand. It seemed to move on its own, just writing. The words flowed smoothly from his pen to the paper in perfect, fluid strokes. His fingers held the pen like an expert, like they knew exactly how to do it. The letters that came out were cursive, perfect, fluid, and flowed from him easily. He had written before, that was obvious, whether he remembered it or not. Trent stared in wonder at the letters, then another paper, half-hidden under vines, caught his attention and a name on it caught his eye.

Khain.

Trent picked up the paper and read, “Khain invaded on the 24th of December.”

Over Trent’s head, the dark sky flashed with light. The earth seemed to appear out of nowhere, flashing across the sky like the world's largest movie screen. Trent’s hand opened and the paper fluttered out, back onto the desk. He could not help but watch what was playing out above him, even though it horrified him.

He watched Khain march into Serenity and attack the police station itself. He saw images of his friends, his brothers, their mates, his packmates injured and scattered.

Trent could not see himself anywhere in Serenity, or anywhere in the world and he had to wonder if he was seeing the future, a future in which he had… never made it home. But Ella wasn’t there either, and so many others….

He knew what this was, though. Somehow, he was seeing the final fight, the DOR, the Day of Reckoning, the Death of Rhen. He was seeing the battle that his boss, Wade, had been envisioning for months now. This was the battle that Harlan’s mate, Eventine, who had come back from the dead said had “already happened once, but time travel had determined would happen again”, and that was agood thing, since the wolves had lost the first time. Eventine would not saywhathad happened,whatshe had seen happen from the meadow, but she always paled whenever anyone asked her about it.

And now, Trent knew why.

Trent saw the purple door, and he knew in his heart the purple door was the key and he watched as Sebastian lost his One True Mate again and again and again. Trent put his head in his hands, and still he could not tear his eyes away. Trent fell against the back of the chair, his eyes still glued to the future he was seeing, the future he would do anything to change—

Trent stood so fast he knocked over the chair, horrified to see Sebastian losing his grip on his One True Mate…

“No!” Trent bellowed, and he forced his way out of the office.

He hit the meadow at a run and shifted, then loped straight into the trees, until he saw that inky thick dreamstuff on the trail. Trent shifted to a man, knowing he would find Troy, glad because hehad to talk to Troy, he had totell himabout the purple door.

Found him.Trent frowned as he looked at his brother. He looked weird as hell, had shaved his mustache or something, but Trent couldn't think about that right now. Hehadto tell Troy what he'd just seen.

“Take the path behind the purple door. The purple door, don’t forget,” he told Troy urgently.

Just that quickly, Trent was pulled from the meadow.

***

Trent woke suddenly, his eyes flew open, his hand was clutched to his chest. His heart was beating rapidly, his pulse racing, but he had no idea why. He held on to his composure, knowing his brother would be there, not wanting to scare him, but… The purple door… the dream he had had, it stayed with him. It was lodged in his brain—something about a purple door…

He heard voices, hushed but getting louder. Near him were the doctor and Troy, and they were talking— no, arguing, about him.

“His leg is infected,” Troy said. “I can smell it,” His voice was tight and angry and barely controlled.

“I started him on medicine,” the doctor said carefully. “I’m a doctor, not a magician. There’s nothing else I can do. I can’t just ‘poof’ and make him better.”

Trent’s dream came back to him, pieces and bits. In his dream, Khain had invaded Serenity with an army offoxenand using deadly tricks none of them imagined he could pull off.

Trent opened his eyes and strained to a painful sitting position, not thinking straight, not thinking at all, still caught in the grip of his dream. Troy moved toward him and Trent grabbed him by the shirt. “The purple door, Troy, tell Sebastian he can’t let her fall…”

Trent kept talking but he couldn’t track his own words anymore. This body was not doing well, his brain did not want to work…but he saw Troy and the doctor exchange looks. He saw the syringe coming. He felt the drugs rush into his system.

He slept.

***

Days passed. Sometimes he was in the meadow. Sometimes he was in the hospital. He lay on one side with his face in the dirt. He lay on his other side with his face on a scratchy pillow. Night. Day. Day. Night. Somewhere in the meadow, a catamount screamed, and then a kitten cried. A wolf growled in congratulations. Trent only lay on his side and panted, sedated, always sedated.

His face was on the pillow. “We’ll wake him up tomorrow,” someone said. “His vitals are better, the infection seems gone, we’ll see how he does.”

11 - Awake

Trent slowly opened his eyes. He took in his surroundings; his cot, the equipment in the room, the wall in front of him. He took stock of his body. He felt… he felt ok. The I.V. was out of his arm, which was a relief. He tried to work out in his head how many days had passed with him in a drugged-out haze, and finally decided five to seven. He didn’t move, listening hard instead. He would not give anyone a reason to think he needed the drugs again. He wanted to find this vaccine and get the hell home.

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