Shifter Legends (12 page)

Neither Luke nor Eliza seemed to mind her nudity as they came out of the water, changing just as quickly as she had.

Luke was the first to jump back in, forming his body into a giant cannonball and lobbing himself at the surface of the pool.

All three of them got a healthy splash. Eliza dove in after him, splashing him and throwing him around the pool. If Briana didn’t know better, she would say there was some chemistry between the two of them. Grant gave Briana a wink as he backed up and ran at the pool, his tidal wave a welcome addition to their cacophony. Briana was about to go next when she heard a rustling in the woods. Instincts taking over, she turned her head to follow it and caught sight of a cat that was too big to be a natural one. She shifted in mere moments, the cat taking over her body in defense and followed the sound, unaware of being noticed by her friends.

What do you want?
Briana asked, her words going out into the night, trying to locate the cat.

A red Cougar came out of the shadows, his hulking figure enough to make Briana flatten her ears against her head.

That’s easy. We want your turf, great drug running country. Untapped market.

Yeah. Well, tell that to your buddy, if he didn’t go up in smoke.
She was growling, her teeth out, her body posed for an attack.

Oh, he didn’t. Don’t think we won’t punish you for that little stunt either.
His growl was louder, he was more experienced.

She wasn’t impressed with him, but she wasn’t stupid either. There was no way she would take him alone.

Grant was right about people like you. All you do is take. You take off the humans, you suck them dry, and when you haven’t had enough, you take off your own. It’s pathetic.
She understood why Grant was willing to take swift action against men like him. She would have done the same in his place. Just hearing this man’s voice in his head, she was repulsed by what kind of man he was. He had no concept of mercy. Of kindness. He was hard. As hard as they came. And he was scary. A man like that, a whole pride like that, it could tear up a town.

Destroy everything.

Spare me your sob story, sweetie. I don’t give a damn what you think about my crew. Tell your Alpha that he has three days to prepare for war. Let him know that it doesn’t matter how many Power-Alphas he has. We are ready for him and his armies. We are ready to defeat him.
The large cat turned and ran off into the night, leaving her alone with his words.

A battle was coming. Briana knew they would all be tested. More burnt houses, more drug wars. It was an escalation and she needed to let the Pride know. Let the M.C. know. She turned and headed back to the hollow. She had to let them know, everyone needed to prepare for the oncoming battle.

☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼

“What do you mean, you thought this was coming?” Briana’s eyes were wide as she looked into Grant’s.  Claiming your territory was one thing. But a full out war, it was too much.

He ran his hand through his hair. “I didn’t expect it so soon, Briana, but we have always had enemies like this.  You saw how serious it was down in Hyde. We… we had an inkling. You should have too.”

“It makes sense, now, but I would have appreciated being told, Grant. I don’t like being out of the loop.”

“You aren’t a part of the Pride Council, let alone the Club, Briana. There isn’t much I can divulge without talking to the club first. Besides, these things are never finite. There are always threats. We knew it was approaching serious. I never thought it was that serious,” He pleaded with her.

Why did she feel like he wasn’t telling the whole truth? She leaned against the wall and look at him with suspicion

“What did the cougar look like?” Grant asked, his eyes hard.

“We have been over this. Even Book has asked me more than once.” She shrugged, “It’s not like I can remember much more than I already said, Grant. Even if I did know more, I wouldn’t keep something like that from you.”

After Briana saw the cougar and he had threatened her pack, she had gone immediately back to her group and told them what had happened. A day, two days, had gone by in a flash. Meetings. Questions. “What exactly did he say?” “Were those his actual words?” “What did the Cougar look like?” “Markings?”

In the end, they decided that he had targeted a new recruit because he knew they would not be able to identify him through her. He knew he, and his clan, would remain anonymous. She was useless to help.

“I just, I want to figure out some way to identify him. Something that lets us know from which direction they are coming. Anything that can give us an advantage.” Briana watched as the hope flew out of his eyes.

He was worried. When an Alpha was worried, something was very wrong.  She didn’t know much about the way these kind of organizations worked, but she did know about trouble.

Briana put a hand on his arm, the spark of their connection flowing through the both of them.

“I wish I had more. I really do. If only you would have heard him. Seen him. It would have given us a lot more to go on.” She could feel her own anger bubbling to the surface.

“It doesn’t matter now. All we can do is prepare. The fight will be upon us soon enough. Which means… you have a lot of training to do, if you are going to fight at my side.” Grant grabbed at her waist and pulled her into his lap.  “Women can fight next to you, but they can’t join the club?”

“Club is men only. Always has been. You can join the Pride Council, though.” He was trying to keep her from getting upset, but it wasn’t working.

“But the Club has the real power.” It was too sexist for words. Why hadn’t they moved past this kind of hierarchy?

“In a sense. Our decisions are final.” His eyes softened, “It’s been like this since there were motorcycles, and before that it was gentlemens’ clubs. It is not going to change, sweetling. This is the reality of all shifters, everywhere.”

She didn’t like it, but she couldn’t do anything about it, so she focused on something she could influence.

“I think a little one-on-one training is in order first, before we increase the recruits’ regimen. Don’t you?” The way she purred got his complete and total attention.

“I agree. Maybe we should start right now, with you.” His eyes were filled with want, “I could start that training right this moment. Here. Now.”

She knew that he had cast all the concerns away as he looked her up and down, his eyes filling with want for her.

“I think any time I can get… personal attention, I should take you up on that offer. No one else can give me the edge that you do.”

War or not, she could never deny Grant and his want. She was finally starting to understand what it truly meant to be mated.

“Damn, you are so beautiful. We got thirty minutes before we meet with the recruits. You want a little one-on-one before then?” He asked, grinning.

It was obvious by the look on her face that she wanted exactly what he was offering.

“They can wait.”

***

s

“By now I am sure you have all heard that we have been slated to go to war with a fellow tribe. In order for our Pride to be the best that it can, we will have to move up the trials for your Pride initiation. Your assigned group will remain your test group, since we cannot take the time to re-situate you now.” Briana smiled as Eliza barked out her orders to the recruits. At least Eliza had the sense to understand how important groups were. She was smarter than Briana had given her credit for. More battle ready. She was glad to have such a tough trainer.

Briana didn’t want to be reassigned. Lauren and Luke were her family. They protected her from the onslaught of questions when she got back to the barracks, they supported her through everything. Luke was like her own personal body guard.

She couldn’t help but feel lucky to be attached to them.

“Increased weight training, more drills, and tougher challenge courses. All these things are going to prepare you for the threat that we face, and for your final test. If you don’t pass, you will be asked to leave the club premises.” Eliza was always intimidating the recruits. Briana doubted anyone was actually giving what she said credence at this point, but they should. Grant said that she was always honest and never pulled any punches.

“As long as you work hard, do your best, and remain loyal to this Pride, you should not have anything to worry about.” Grant entered, as he always did, just a little too late. Briana could tell by the stress on his face that he had some kind of serious news. He couldn’t hide that look. The one that said he had been told more than he could handle.

It nagged at her. She wanted to be part of that group, the Pride and the club. To know what he knew. After all, they were mated.

Eliza paired them up with opponents. They spent time practicing knock down moves and trying to wrestle one another to the ground. She was paired, as usual, with one of the only cougars who could really take her outside of her group. Alice. Since training had begun, Briana went from a clumsy curvy body to a very agile, very strong Alpha. Her physical power and her body finally matched her goals. Curvy and strong, the perfect combination.

“I’m kind of looking forward to this test, aren’t you, Super Alpha?” Alice hissed in her ear. The woman never got tired of trying to tip her off balance. She lunged at Briana, who stepped aside just in time so that Alice hit the ground and rolled back up. She recovered nicely.

Briana’s inner Lion begged to take control. She didn’t trust Alice, every bone in her body was pointing towards her being a traitor. Being bad for the pride. Her cat sensed that. It was trying to take control, but the more she trained, the more she was able to push the Cougar’s will down.

Twenty three with a sharp eye, Alice may have been one of the strongest Alpha females in the group. Aside from Lauren and Briana, of course. But she wanted power, in a way that made Briana uncomfortable. The way she looked at Eliza and Grant, the calculated moves she made when they trained. It was almost like she was trying to figure out how to worm her way into the political circle.

“The test is the least of my worries, Alice.” Briana kept her tone clipped as she grabbed Alice. “What we are facing is much more important.”

“Oh yes, that’s right. You are already mated, so you have already passed the test. No way they wouldn’t admit you? Hardly seems fair.” As much as she tried, Alice couldn’t make Briana lose her focus. She had heard it before, the whispers that amongst the recruits never seemed to stop saying her name. It didn’t faze her. She shifted and took control of Alice’s body, pulling her onto the ground and pinning her.

“Good job,” Eliza said as she came around. “I see someone is going to be prepared for human-to-human combat.”

Briana could feel the glow of pride inside her. She wasn’t sure if it was her or her cougar, but they both enjoyed a well-earned compliment.

Eliza gave Alice a hard look, “Pretty sure it has little to do with your mate, and a lot to do with your talent.” Eliza was on her side, for the first time. She could feel the tension between them melting away.

It didn’t take much for a shifter to tap into her hearing and catch any conversation in the room. Clearly, Eliza had been listening to theirs. Briana liked Eliza more and more each day.

Alice rolled onto her side and stood. “Whatever, like I even give a shit about your stupid Alpha powers anyways.” She stormed off, slamming through the gym doors without looking back. Blows of anger hit Briana as Alice slammed through the doors.

What the fuck had gotten into her?

Eliza just shook her head. “Tension’s too high. Why don’t you take a break, Briana? You’ve earned it.” She spared any emotion, her voice as authoritative as ever, but Briana knew she was cutting her some slack.

Briana ran out to the hallway and found the water fountain, taking a big drink before turning and looking directly at Grant. He loomed over her, his scent magnificent. She breathed him in.

She craved every little bit of him. It was never going to end, these feelings. They left her confused and fuzzy on the best of days, but when it was important, like today, they totally ripped her drive out of her. She needed to be focused. Motivated. Would this never-ending pull ever stop?

“What do you want?” She tried to be surly, tried to put some distance between them. This wasn’t the time to give in to her cravings. It wasn’t the time to let him cloud her thinking. There was too much at stake. She had a test in less than three days. She needed to be focused. Needed to be ready. She needed anything but him.