Change (The Shape Shifter Series) (4 page)

He squeezed it and seemed to regain his balance. “Charming as always, aren't you, Isabel?” He grinned coldly. “Are you bored with the men in the village or are you so desperate you’ll try anything in pants? Or maybe they’ve seen what you really are and decided to abandon you for good.”

Isabel swallowed and backed away from him.

“Have you stolen any babies lately?” Tiamhaidh continued.

Isabel looked horrified. She glanced wildly around but avoided Erag’s eyes, proving Tiamhaidh’s suspicions right.

He let go of Marie’s hand and took a step towards Isabel. “You see, I know every tiny detail of your games, and I warn you, if you come closer than three feet to Marie and me, I’ll rip your throat open.”

Isabel stared at him, but said nothing.

“Three feet,” he repeated dangerously and looked at her with a storm in his eyes.

She nodded slowly, but it took her only couple of minutes before she collected herself and turned to David, smiling dazzlingly. “I don’t believe we’ve met. Isabel Johansson, Sofia's second cousin or something.”             

David sigh
ed deeply and scowled at her. “Shall we?” he asked Sofia, ignoring Isabel completely.

Daniel patted his shoulders, laughing. “Welcome to the family!”

“Are you sure you can take this?” Gavin asked, holding his laughter.

David rolled his eyes and smiled dryly. “I've lived with you guys long enough, haven't I? So what could be worse?”

Crap. Isabel hadn't taken Tiamhaidh's warning seriously. At least not seriously enough, and now Marie had to stare at her greedy hands fussing his neck. He growled at her occasionally and tried to slap her fingers away, but she had obviously decided to drive him crazy. Marie wished she could do something to stop her, but she couldn’t. Not without making a scene. She still didn’t get why Mom had allowed Isabel to travel in the same car with her and Tiamhaidh. Not after that witch’s little show, but when Isabel had announced loudly that she would go in the same car with Tiamhaidh no one had disagreed. Not Mom, not Erag, and not even Tiamhaidh. Marie kicked the seat in front of her, making Erag turn and glance at her sharply.

“Sorry,” she mouthed and looked embarrassed.

He harrumphed and turned his eyes back to the road.

Stupid me, she mocked herself. Why hadn't she said anything? If she had asked, Tiamhaidh would've put Isabel in another car and she could be sitting happily next to him right now. Crap, crap, crap!

Her
head felt clearer than ever, but she didn't want the others to know that. Not even Tiamhaidh. Jealousy clouded her mind. Isabel was so beautiful. Cold, yes, but definitely the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. She swallowed. She knew that Tiamhaidh loved her and she could feel his disgust, and yet she couldn't understand how he was able to resist Isabel's charm. Any guy she knew would fall on her. Well, maybe not the shape shifter guys, but humans. Yes, she was sure that normal men wouldn’t have a chance. They would fall under her spell in a blink. She felt something warm on her skin as a few tears dropped onto her cheek, and she hoped no one had noticed them. Dang! Order her to stop, she begged silently, but Tiamhaidh stayed quiet. His mouth was pursed and his fingers gripped the wheel tightly, but he said nothing. Marie glanced sideways at Gavin and smiled feebly. Luckily, he had squeezed himself into the same car. Without him … well … she might have thrown herself out of the car long ago, as the presence of the cold strangers was nearly unbearable.

She turned her head away from the sight of Isabel’s fingers and met Gavin's laughing eyes.

“She can't do anything to you, mo phiuthar. What you see now is all she can do. Tiamhaidh is totally yours
.
”

“
I can hear you!”
Marie's mind rejoiced.

Gavin winked at her.
“I thought you could.”

Marie glanced contemplatively at Isabel, who seemed to be in some kind of trance. Every time her fingers touched Tiamhaidh, a sensuous purr slipped from her lips. Tiamhaidh clenched his teeth and Marie was sure he would pull over any minute and strangle Isabel. But he didn’t and she felt disappointed. Sure, he had to concentrate on driving on a narrow road and couldn't loosen his grip from the wheel, but was it really so important to get to the elders as fast as they could? Surely he could stop Isabel at any time if he really wanted to.
But nope. He drove quietly and let Marie suffer alone.

She concentrated and could feel the hate that radiated from him, and that made her angry too. Just stop her, she wanted to scream, but instead turned her back on Isabel and stared out of the window. Gavin touched her knee comfortingly and she could feel Tiamhaidh glancing at her. She didn’t return his look. Oh no. This was his mess, and even if she didn’t understand what was really going on, she wasn’t going to help by offering him an easy way out by starting a lovers’ fight in front of the others. Tiamhaidh put the radio on and turned the volume up so loud that it hurt. She still refused to look at him. Why was he so mad? She didn’t get it. Obviously, Isabel knew him, and even though Marie was jealous she couldn't change the fact that Tiamhaidh had had a life before her. Maybe she hoped that Tiamhaidh's previous girlfriends had been ugly old hags and not divine goddesses, like Isabel, but anyone could tell that Isabel and Tiamhaidh had a history together. She didn’t like it but she could live with it. Maybe.

Gavin laughed out loud.
“You're so wrong!”
He laughed in his mind, too.
“Tiamhaidh couldn't care less about her, and they definitely don't have any history together. Yes, Isabel wants him, but she wants everyone. Especially if they don’t want her, but that's it. Stop staring at her with your eyes, you stupid girl, and look with your soul.”

Erag cast Gavin a vicious look, but Gavin just grinned and didn't seem to notice it. Or maybe he was just having so much fun watching Isabel's bizarre play that even a hard lash from an elder didn't bother him.

Marie squeezed her eyes closed and felt Tiamhaidh's quick touch on her cheek.

“Are you all right, mo beag seillean-dé?”

She nodded and tried to smile. It just felt really hard, as Isabel was there, staring at her all the time. She concentrated again. She tried to ignore the drooling Isabel and focused her thoughts on Isabel's mind. Her forehead was sweating and she tried not to frown. Even though she had managed to communicate with Gavin a minute ago, her mind seemed to be slipping into its old misty world again and she found it extremely hard to push through Isabel’s mind. However, it was like an old curtain with holes and she managed to see something.

Foggy images flashed in her mind.
Pictures of Isabel's gorgeous naked body, her breathtakingly beautiful face, her captivating laughter. Marie was confused. She already knew Isabel was divine. How was this supposed to help her? She tried to focus better, and little by little, the images changed and she started to see Isabel as a wolf. A dirty-brown female wolf running alone in the mountains, a male wolf abandoning her and the shame. The pain in the wolf's mind was unbearable. And finally, Marie saw Isabel's transformation and what it had cost.

“
Oh my God!” she sighed, and Gavin smiled at her with his eyes full of sorrow.

“
You see, you're the winner here.”

Marie looked at Isabel again. She felt sorry for her and somehow she was willing to forgive her bitchiness. Isabel had never asked for more than being a wolf, but no one had wanted a skinny, ugly wolf
who was infertile. Isabel's gift was right there, in front of Marie's nose. The ugly she-wolf had managed to shift herself into a beautiful young woman, but that was all. All the shape shifter wolves knew her story, and that was why Tiamhaidh tolerated her touch instead of breaking her fingers. Out of pity.

Marie tried to see deeper into her mind, but a sharp pain stopped her. She turned to Gavin and reached for his mind, but it was closed from her again. She should’ve guessed. Her shoulders slumped and she turned back to Isabel, who obviously had no clue that Marie had rudely intruded
into her mind. Marie smiled hesitantly and reached out to touch her gently. Isabel turned sharply. The look that she directed at Marie was so full of poison that she quickly pulled her hand back and tried to move further from her. Isabel's fingers tried to reach her face, but they weren't gentle this time. They looked like a raptor's claw, and Marie gasped in horror. Isabel didn't want her pity. She wanted to hurt her. To rip her innocent beauty away and mark her face. Isabel's face had twisted cruelly and her eyes gleamed brutally. Gavin tried to push himself between them, but it was hard. For a while the backseat was a messy knot, full of hands and faces, rough elbows and panting.
Marie screamed and Isabel took it as an invitation to attack her, but just before her fingers reached Marie's smooth skin, Tiamhaidh grabbed her wrists.

He had pulled the car over and now he nearly dragged Isabel out of the car. He threw her on the bank, ignoring her screaming. The hate had disappeared from her face and she was begging for his mercy.

Tiamhaidh didn't back up an inch. “That's enough, Isabel! I don't care if the pack thinks you're pristine. You crossed the line, so start walking!” he yelled. “No way am I letting you near Marie ever again! And don't think for a second that I'll forget what you were about to do! From now on you'll be my primary prey. So if you so much as come close to me or Marie, I'll destroy you!”

“Tiamhaidh, mo gaol!” Isabel cried in pain.

Tiamhaidh didn't turn.

Isabel crawled on the ground and whimpered, but he was as cold as ice. He knew that she was just acting. She might lick her wounded ego for a while and then she would be fine. She had tried to hurt Marie, and that was unforgivable. She would have to go to Senja on her own. And that would be easy for her. So no. Tiamhaidh didn't feel sorry for her. He marched back to the car and banged the door shut.

“But you can't―” Marie began.

“Just watch me!” Tiamhaidh thundered. “She was going to scratch your eyes out, and no one, and I mean no one, will hurt you. Not if I can stop them!”

Marie swallowed her objection and saw Gavin silently shaking his head. Erag hadn't said a word, but now he stared at Marie in wonder.

“
Intinneach. Gu math, gu math intinneach.”

Marie couldn't understand what had just happened, but suddenly she felt all the strength flowing out of her and the mist coming back to her mind. In panic, she grabbed Tiamhaidh's hand. As Tiamhaidh had no idea how clear her mind had been, he didn't notice any change in her. Marie stared at the window and a pain beyond her imagination crushed her heart. If she didn't get better soon, she would lose Tiamhaidh to a woman like Isabel. She could only hope he would remember her when she was gone.

Gavin glanced at her and shook his head.
“Don't be stupid. He will be yours forever.”
His voice sounded like a faraway echo and there was no way she could’ve answered him. She sniffed. He touched her shoulder. She didn't respond. Her eyes were blank and she could feel a seizure coming.

“Don't worry, little one. I'll take care of this one,” Gavin whispered as Marie lost consciousness.

Tiamhaidh wanted to get as much distance as possible from that snaky witch. He looked at Marie, who lay unconscious in Gavin's arms. Isabel had done that. Marie was so fragile and Isabel had tried to poison her. Oh, he could've wrung her neck! Thank God Marie wasn't convulsing. She seemed to be sleeping, but who knew what was going on inside her head. She could just as well be dying. He so needed to get to Senja. And the sooner the better! He glanced at Isabel, who was sitting on the side of the road. She didn't even seem to be sorry. He shook his head in disbelief and stepped on the gas.

Sofia stared at the huge cathedral next to Tromsø
Bridge. So much had changed since the last time she’d been there. Road 862, which led to the ferry, was paved with asphalt and everything seemed so modern. Of course she knew that time hadn't stopped when she left, but she missed the old days. She missed the peace and simplicity of the past. She could never see her home like it was before. Wild and untamed. People had come to Tromsø and taken it over from the animals. The mountains and the fjords that bordered it had once been desolate, but now they were filled with tourists and their trailers. She shook her head. She had wanted to show her family where she came from. Where her roots were. But now it all seemed a bit useless. They would never see this place like she did, and yet, for a brief moment, she had hoped they would understand her better after coming there. That it would bring David and her closer together. How stupid of her.

Suddenly, she spotted a wolf running
at the side of the road and she breathed loudly, “Isabel!”

Daniel put his foot on the brake, but the wolf glanced angrily at them and Sofia urged him to go on. Isabel must've gotten Tiamhaidh really mad to make him throw her out of the car. No wonder. She had always known how to piss off the people around her. Sofia shrugged. She was not going to worry about her capricious cousin. Isabel would manage just fine by herself. She always did.

The ferry harbor loomed ahead and Sofia smiled. David was staring at the looming snowy mountains of Senja with his mouth open. Even if there were mountains in Tromsø, they were nothing compared to the ones in Senja. She wondered if he, too, felt their enchanting magnetism. She felt it strongly. Her body was getting ready for a change. Her cells were screaming and a silent humming filled her brain. She wanted to get out of the car and join Isabel. She wanted to go home as a wolf, run and howl and be wild, but one look at David's face stopped her. This was her life now. She had responsibilities and she couldn't ignore them. She wasn't a young and reckless wolf anymore. She sighed, slightly disappointed, and Daniel glanced at her. He knew how she felt. He had lived there for years after she left. He knew these people and this was his home, not hers.