Page 24 of Shift of Destiny
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Chance could barely hang onto his control. His body wanted to mate with the woman under him right then and there. His beast wanted to shred the wolves. His human brain wanted to find out what had opened her mind to the world of magic, and help her explore it. His survival instinct said shut up and get moving while the drone was out of sight.
She’d asked a question. “Some wolves are good,” he admitted grudgingly, “but none of the ones up here are. The ones I smelled are all sick.” He rose to his knees and helped her stand. “We need to run. Can I carry you? I’m sorry, I should have asked last time.”
She smiled. “You’re forgiven for saving my life.” She kissed his jaw, then raised her arms. “Let’s go.”
Her trust humbled him. He scooped her into his arms and ran, coming close to half shifting to achieve maximum speed over rocky terrain in the dark.
He stopped at the crest of the final hill that would take them down to the dirt road where his truck was hopefully still hidden. He let her legs drop to the ground and supported her shoulders until she was standing on her own. “My truck’s close, but I want to scout around first.”
The waning moonlight lit the flatter terrain, which was all he’d need to see by. He could go lightning fast without Moira, but he didn’t want to leave her unprotected with greedy, hungry wolves in the area. His dilemma must have shown on his face.
“I’ll hide under that tree—at least I think it’s a tree—so you can go.” She gave him a smartass grin. “I’ll rescue you if you get in trouble.”
She scooted under the tree and waved him away. “The sooner you go, the sooner you’re back.” She wrapped her arms around her knees, and he felt her magic flare. He still couldn’t tell what it was doing.
He melted into the night, staying in human form because it was less obvious, and because he was afraid to show Moira his other form without giving her some warning first. She was a brave woman, but she was still getting used to the idea of shifters. Who knew what she’d think of him?
He circled twice and found no footprints or scents other than his own. As far as he could tell, his truck was undisturbed, and neither he nor his beast could stand leaving his mate unprotected any longer.
He nearly had a heart attack when he didn’t see or smell her at first, but then he felt a little breeze of magic, and suddenly, she was right where he’d left her.
“Did it work? Was I hidden?”
“Yes, even to my nose.” He waited until she stood and brushed off the seat of her pants to give her a quick kiss. “You’re beautiful by moonlight.”
She gave him a wry smile. “You’re crazy, but you’re cute.” She tilted her head toward the hill. “Can we go home now?” She looked hopeful, then frowned. “Unless those a-holes blew up Mr. Maxen’s store.”
“The store has protection.” He held out his hand. “Let’s go.”
He opened the truck for her and dropped his backpack behind the seat, then set about removing the camouflage brush and tarps.
She beamed at him when he slid into the driver’s seat and started the engine. Her smile went straight to his groin. He was not a wolf, dammit, with uncontrollable urges. He gripped the wheel tighter.
“Thank you for bringing my backpack.” She’d already pulled on her hoodie and zipped it. The tiny mirror decorations across the hood, shoulders, and sleeves briefly reflected the truck’s overhead courtesy light.
“You’re welcome. I should have brought you a jacket for the cold.” He slowly pulled his truck into the ruts of the dirt road and started down.
“I’m not that cold. I grew up just south of the Canadian border, so I’m used to this.” She patted the sleeve of her hoodie. “I just wanted to feel, I don’t know, better armored.”
He glanced at her. “It’s the mirrors.”
“You think?” She held out her arm and looked at them. “Huh.” She put her arm down. “I bought this the last day of the Renaissance fair. The lady sold it to me for half price because some of the mirrors had come off. That was my favorite part of the design, so I taught myself to embroider so I could fix it. I kind of got carried away.” She sighed. “I wonder if that was my magic, or just luck?”
He slowed to take the first hairpin turn, wishing he had an answer for her. Maybe they could figure it out together when they got back to Kotoyeesinay.
“Wouldn’t driving be easier with the lights… never mind.” She was silent for a long moment. “Is it rude of me to ask what kind of shifter you are? All I have to go by is fantasy novels, and they’re all over the map as far as customs and biology and stuff. I hope that full-moon silliness isn’t real.”
“It isn’t, but unmated wolves use it as an excuse to get laid.” He sped up again, until they were bouncing along at a bone-jarring pace. “I think the light of a full moon made it easier for ordinary people to see careless shifters who didn’t check that no one was around when they changed form.”
“That makes sense.” She crossed her arms. “What did you mean earlier about the wolves being sick? They smell bad, even to my stuffed-up nose, but dogs are always rolling in stinky things.”
Chance chuckled. “Wolves arenotdogs, they’ll have you know.” He shook his head. “I have a nose for detecting illness. I’d need to get closer to them to be sure, but all the faint scents I’ve been picking up smell like the wolves are half dead. Shifters don’t get human diseases, so I suspect someone, probably their alpha, is stealing their life essence.”
“Why would he do that? Doesn’t it weaken his pack?”
“Power. I knew of a pack where the alpha stayed on top by blood-bonding with his pack and siphoning off their strength. He told them they were cursed by a Native American shaman to explain why the rest of the pack kept dying of old age in their first century. He was nearly eleven hundred when he was killed.” It was his maternal grandmother’s favorite story, about how she and her cougar shifter clan had put an end to the alpha wolf’s reign of terror. It had also turned the cougars and the wolves in the Yukon into mortal enemies to this day.
