Shifter Trials (2 page)

First Quarter

Glad for a night off after a week of the most intense training she’d ever had, Talia flew a leisurely circuit around the united territory of the wolf and eagle clans. Her eyesight was excellent even in the dim light of the half moon. She patrolled the borders daily, varying the hours to avoid creating a pattern. Her parents’ sham of a marriage may have been her personal hell, but it was a political coup. Their combined land and doubled population gave her clans a stronger voice in the Clans Council. More soldiers enhanced their power as other packs angled to expand their territory. When Talia was born, her dual shifting abilities had ensured the endurance of the eagle-wolf alliance and had shaken up the shifter-human world.

At first.

With the fae emerging from the shadows, new clan mergers were now in negotiations. And vampires, once shunned as failed fae experiments, were being sought out for their mastery of genetics. Her councilors had started parlays with the Urban Council for the first time in decades. For the safety of her people, she’d willingly pay any price. If she had to marry, she would, no matter the personal cost; though on this matter, she disagreed with her advisors—better no marriage, than a bad or political one. For her to bear offspring, like with her own conception, would require reproductive technology, and she was content to let the council just pick a suitable donor. But both eagles and wolves were highly social animals, which mated for life, so they believed their clan leader needed a mate. In that, the trials were another brilliant political strategy, but her nightmare.

Her peripheral vision registered several dark clusters hovering in the air, suspicious enough to pull her out of her musings. She had reached the wall, which marked the end of the wolf-eagle land and the entry into the urban clans’ territory. What she thought were clouds, were vampires in bat form in what looked like a battle formation. Spotting a well-hidden branch on an ancient oak, she perched within the leaves to watch. Shifters tended to keep to themselves. While she relied on vampire trainers, she realized she knew little about them. Maybe it was time to fill that gap.

A bat with white tipped wings led the group, using wing edges and a series of high pitched squeals, nudged and prodded the fledglings into recognizable military patterns. They were being trained as a squadron. Vampire soldiers?

The white-tipped leader swooped in next to her and shifted. “Gotcha, beautiful,” Hayden flashed her that smile that always dissolved her insides. “Following me on our night off. You really do want that kiss.” He had yet to claim it.

She switched to human. “Keep it in your pants, bat boy. I always do a sweep of my territory. What are you doing here?” 

“Vamps are solitary creatures, but bats are social. With the fae on the move, I’m teaching them to work together.”

“By teaching them to work together as bats, where it’s natural, they’ll be better able to work together as vampires,” she finished for him, winning her another one of those smiles. Only her talons popping through her fingers and digging into the branch kept her from falling.

“Don’t they resist?”

“Look more closely.”

“They’re juveniles. You train kids?”

He nodded. “Even with reproductive technologies, we still bear few children. Each child we have is precious behind measure.” His eyes went soft. Her heart expanded. Her passion for pups and eaglets was her guiding star as a leader. And her personal pain. The only way for her to bear a child would be with medical assistance, and there were no guarantees. She was the first of her kind, a total unknown.

Impulsively, she lifted her hand intending to stroke along his cheek when one of the smaller bats fluttered out of sync, and was spiraling to the ground. Hayden returned to bat form, swooped it up, and was back on the tree branch before she blinked. His speed defied belief.

“This is Bertie,” he said, once again in human form, holding an unnaturally small bat in the palm of his hand. Two of the wing tips on his left wing were abnormally twisted. “Genetic anomalies are common.”

“He’s handicapped, yet you let him train for battle?” 

His laugh was bitter, almost condescending. He stroked the tiny creature along his head, his long, tapered fingers gentle, even loving.

How would those hands feel stroking along my skin?
 

“Bertie doesn’t fly or walk well, but his vision is exceptional, rare for a bat, and his echolocation is the strongest recorded. We work with his weaknesses, build on his assets.”

Something in his voice forced her to look again at the colony, flying flawlessly in formation. Honing in with her eagle’s vision, more anomalies stood out—misshaped mouths, eyes, ears, wings. “All of them?” Her admiration blossomed for this unusual male who was too quickly wriggling his way under her defenses. She took months to open up to new people, if at all. Getting too close held risks for an alpha who made decisions for all in the two clans. With Hayden, she was counting the minutes until he kissed her,

He nodded. “No one else would.” Bertie crawled up his arm to perch on his shoulder. Hayden gently picked him up and threw him back to the colony. “Back to formation, Bertie.”

“You were like him as a child.” Her heart clenched in compassion.

“My mother never let me give in to my differences. She taught me that while we may be denied certain choices in life, we should make the most of those we had.” His lips were now so close to hers, she could almost feel them, so she leaned in.

“No kiss,” he said against her lips, their softness a torment to her overheating flesh. “Not yet.”

“Why not?” she asked, not used to being denied.

“Because I couldn’t stop with just one. I’d have you naked beneath me within minutes. I want it to be the same with you.”

She was closer than he knew.

Waxing Crescent

Hayden ogled Talia as she ran toward the lake. The easy stride of those strong, supple muscles tempted his own beasts, which were scraping to get out and claim the woman he had chosen for his own.

“Hey, bat boy, you coming?” She laughed into the wind, teasing his already tight body until he thought it would shatter.

“I’d follow that gorgeous ass anywhere.” Flirting the truth at her, keeping it light. He would follow her anywhere. If she grasped the intensity of his feelings, she’d send him packing.

“Speed it up, vamp. You’re moving like an old man with arthritis.” At the water’s edge, she had stripped to a form-fitting, black spandex swimsuit that advertised every curve and a long, elegant throat begging to be bitten. His lengthened canines throbbed in pace with the pulse of his erection.

“Just enjoying the view, lady alpha,” he yelled, while clamping down on all of his libidos. “I’ll still beat you to the other side. It’s a two-mile trek, and this is your weakest sport.” Only after she swam away, did he strip to his swim trunks and jump into the freezing water, thankful that it first hid then deflated his reaction to her.

Light from the crescent moon glinted on the water, creating a narrow passage through the darkness. He followed behind her within the glowing band, the only light in the starless sky. At the halfway point, he pulled up alongside her, nudging her to switch from freestyle to breast stroke. They plowed through the calm water, side-by-side, their bodies naturally syncing to each other’s rhythms. As he knew they would when he finally made love to her. 

No winner, they crawled onto land together.

“I hate swimming.” Talia plopped on her back on the hard, packed dirt at the lake’s edge. Droplets of water glistened on still sun-bronzed skin, even as the world inched toward winter.

“I know how you feel,” Hayden said as he lay on his side next to her, his head held up by a bent arm. With his free hand, he pushed her wet locks behind her ear, letting his fingers glide along the soft silk of her cheek. “You are so beautiful,” he whispered, his gaze holding on to those mesmerizing eyes he could not get enough of.

“You don’t shrink from my eyes, my dominance.” She arched up, as if offering her firm, cream-puff breasts to him to worship. He bit his cheek to stop from leaning over and taking the gift he wanted with every fiber of his being.

“Why?” she continued.

He wanted to tell her the truth, to show her who he was and how good they could be together. But too much was riding on the plan. “I respect strength in any form.”

Her voice lowered, husky, seductive but also a little sad. “I like it. It makes me want things I thought I could do without.” She pushed the strap off her left shoulder exposing one creamy breast, the rose pink nipple bullet hard. “I can’t anymore.” She snaked one hand through his hair and led his mouth to her exposed peak. “I know you want this.”

The spicy scent of her arousal was an aphrodisiac, weaving through his senses, tensing his body until he thought he’d snap if he didn’t take her. Weakened by desire, he didn’t resist the treat teasing his lips. He lapped the peak with his tongue, then lashed and suckled it harder or softer, in response to Talia’s throaty moans. The salty sweet taste of her skin was a delicacy he’d been dreaming about sampling for so long.

   Her hand stroked the skin on his back. Her thigh rubbed against his thickening erection, until he howled. “Pleasure me.” It was an order.

The authority in her voice hit him like a bucket of ice water. “Not now, not like this.” He moved away and pulled the strap back up her arm. She was so surprised she let him.

“You’re turning me down?” Anger punctuated her words, but the longing in her eyes told another story. “It’s been so long since someone touched me,” she murmured, as if she forgot his hearing picked up every whisper, exposing her vulnerability to him, a gift he would treasure and protect.

“No, not at all.” He gripped her chin in his hands. “I intend to make love to you. Hard and fast. Slow and easy. Over and over again.”

Her eyes widened, and she swallowed hard. “Why not now?”

The yearning in her voice almost broke him. Her longing for touch washed over him, called to him, but he wouldn’t settle for just a physical coupling. Her beasts would never accept a non-dominant mate.

“
I
say when,” he said fiercely against her throat before licking gently at the pulse throbbing in the carotid artery. “I say how, and for how long.”

His hands stroked gently down her arms, calming her anger, as he flamed his own passion. Reaching to the steel-hard discipline that allowed him to survive, he nipped her neck and pulled away.

“Still no kiss?” Talia arched up again, her face flushed with hunger.  

He shook his head, stood up and pulled her up with him. “We head back.” He was playing a dangerous game. If he could not win her love by the next full moon, he’d earn her hatred forever.

New Moon

The end of the second week of training, Talia was halfway through a set of one-armed push-ups when Nicca came rushing in. A phone buzzed in the background, the mat beneath damp with her sweat.

“Let her finish before you report,” the evil slave driver formerly known as Hayden commanded. “Talia, you’re needed, so step it up a notch when you do the other arm.”

“I. Hate. You,” she panted out. “Hate. You.” She finished the exercises, her arms boneless bags of jelly. Rising with just her leg muscles, she was surprised to see Nicca alongside Hayden, shoulders touching. Nicca was a lone wolf and tended to always stand a few feet away from any but her closest friends. Jealousy spiked Talia’s already too high adrenaline, ripping through her system like the scent of prey. Her claws released, and a warning growl escaped her throat.

“Stand down.” Another order from the evil slave driver.

“Are you okay?” Nicca asked almost simultaneously, her brow furrowed in concern. “You look ready to hunt.”

“Been working too hard. I’ll be okay. What brings you here?” She shook her arms trying to get the circulation back.

“While searching for our favorite pair of rascally pups, our scouts reported a mischief of rats crawling out from the city walls. They’re gathering for something.”

Talia wiped the sweat from the back of her neck with a towel Hayden threw her. “Yuri and Carlotta escaped again, huh.” The chutzpah of those two pups always made her smile behind the discipline she meted out. “Have they been found?”

Nicca shook her head.

“Training’s over. I’ll fly directly to the wall. Send eagle and wolf scouts for backup. No trigger happy cadets, only cool-headed soldiers who can tell bluster from threat. Whoever is not sent to the wall, send in search of the pups.”

“Let me come with you. I’ll stay in the background unless I’m needed.”

She nodded. Hayden was a superb fighter, with connections to the urban clans. Even while he pushed her to the limit, she’d gotten used to him being by her side on land and in the air. He made her laugh even though he backed off on the sexual subtext of his earlier banter after the experience at the lake. Discipline, focus, and dominance defined him. He worked her so hard, she slept. She actually slept. Even if she dreamt of that kiss he still hadn’t given her.

“Let’s go.” She shifted to eagle and soared toward the new moon, its globular shadow dim amongst a sea of sparkling stars.

The flight to the wall took fifteen minutes, thanks to Hayden, whose slave driving had also increased her speed. Landing in front of a gang of lean, wiry rat shifters huddled around something unseen, she screeched a warning, then flashed to human. Ears, eyes, and nose registered the wolves gathering behind her, and the eagles circling low above them, all ready to strike if needed. Hayden was also somewhere behind her. From the location and strength of his scent, she guessed he hid in a treetop. 

“You’re on wolf-eagle territory,” she said with no preamble.

“And you’ve got too much of it,” a thin voice whined from somewhere in the group.

“State your purpose or be gone. Territory incursions will get you killed.” The growling of the wolves and shrieks of the eagles backed her claim.

“The clan maps need to be redrawn to reflect population changes.” A deeper voice.

“That’s for the Council to decide.”

“You have two votes, so how is that fair?” The whiner still whining.

“We’re not here to talk clan politics.” Although she would be the first to admit the conversation was sorely needed.

“Neither are we.” The rat with the deep voice, who was the tallest of the group, ambled over, one hand motioning the others to stay quiet. The other hand pushed back an unruly tuft of brown hair from his forehead, exposing shrewd black eyes found every one of her scouts. “We’re here to check this out.” The rat shifters dispersed behind him.  

Her heart stopped beating. Six children were laid out. Heads touching at the center, legs radiated out like spokes in a wheel. Smears of blood stained their left upper arms, dripping from four punctures that looked a lot like talon wounds. She recognized her pups—Yuri and Carlotta.

“Are they…”

“Not dead, but we can’t wake them.”

“The rest yours?” she asked the sharp-eyed rat shifter she was sure was the clan leader.

“Three of them, and one vamp.”

“Do you know what happened here?”

“Eagles did it. Those are talon marks, and only eagles can grab a vamp,” the rat whiner said.

Talia was glad her eagle scouts circled too high to hear this. They’d be itching for a fight. “We don’t attack children.”

“Yeah, well the eagles can’t be controlled.” The high pitched rat was not too far from wrong. Their independence made them the harder clan to manage. “Don’t trust her, Evan, she’s one of them. They kill us.” Adult rats were eagle prey.

A twig cracked. She heard slight movements—the swish of a body swaying, the tap of a light footstep on soft earth. The rats were restless, oozing as a group towards her. Hands inched toward pockets and hidden places. Rats were excellent fighters in human form, quick and clever, experts with switchblades and throwing stars.

“Wolves eat rats, too,” growled a voice from her wolf pack.

A deep growl rumbled from her chest commanding her troops to stay still. But the damage was done.

Leaves rustled. Air rushed by her face. Motion and colors streaked past her gaze. Suddenly Hayden was in front of her, a silver star lodged in his left shoulder. He remained standing, teeth bared, eyes blazing like green fire while he rattled out orders. “Wheezer, get your sorry hide back inside the walls. Evan, get your head out of your ass. Those pups need to be first priority.” 

Talia used growls and gestures to keep her clans in line, more from habit than need. Hayden had the whole thing under control.

Talia shivered, not from the fall air. His dominance sent heat racing her through her, while she clamped down on her wolf and eagle, who wanted a piece of him, too.

All the rats shuffled back several steps, and quietly looked to the ground, except the one called Evan. “Evidence points to the eagles. Can’t help them if we don’t know what’s wrong with them.”

“Look again. The pups are in a fae star, like they did with the kit of pigeons in the market square. And a box is etched into the dirt around them—the runic symbol for land.” Hayden winced. Sweat beaded along his forehead. Blood ran down his arm, pooling on in the dirt.

She ached to put her arm around to help him balance, but didn’t want to undermine the respect the rats gave him.

“Vamps are part fae. Why’s a vamp pup in the mix?” Evan asked.

“Fae and humans consider vamps genetic abominations. It’s why we started our own clan. In the city. The shifters don’t love us either.” Hayden’s knees buckled, but he regained his composure quickly.

Evan grunted, then nodded.

“Talia is right. This is a Council issue. The overcrowding’s affecting the fae. They tolerate encroachments even worse than we do. If we remain divided, they’ll get bolder. Do more harm.” Hayden squatted, gently touched the face of the vamp cub and sniffed close to its unconscious form. “Sleeping drought. Bring the pups home and have the medics check them. But they should be fine tomorrow.” He dropped his right hand to steady himself.

“You need a medic, mate,” Evan noted.

“We’ll take care of that.” Talia tucked her hands under his right arm, gently lifting him, trying to ignore that male scent of deep forests and musk that made her want a taste. She bit her lip to stop herself from throwing him down and taking it.

“Helluva time to lust after me,” he whispered in her ear. “Good things vampires heal quickly.” Leaning into her weight, he turned to the rat leader. “Evan, can you make sure the vamp pup reaches Maya, and have her send me updates?”

“Sure, man. You trust the birds? They eat bats, too.”

“They’d have to catch me first.” Hayden pulled the star out and tossed it to Evan. “Tell your clan to take better care of their things.” The wound on his shoulder had already begun to knit itself back together. 

“Vamps,” Evan snorted. “You gonna let Maya know?”

“I’ll update her on the encounter, but not about the silver star. We’re cool. Now get those pups home.”

Talia had the eagles shift to human to help build stretchers for Yuri and Carlotta from thick branches and spare jackets and shirts. The corner of each stretcher had a loop that went around a wolf’s neck. Eight wolves gently raced the babes home, with others following on the sides to nudge them back to the center of the stretcher if they were jostled. Eagles flew in ladder pattern, several at different levels for closer or wider views, guaranteeing they’d collectively miss nothing on the forest ground.

Nicca greeted Talia and Hayden when they arrived at Talia’s home in the clans’ settlement. She used her living room as her public meeting room, to indicate her availability to her people. Nicca and other close advisors had keys. “Medics say the pups are fine, but want them in the hospital for a few days for observation. Once they wake up, they’ll meet with therapists before our security experts talk with them.”

Talia nodded.

“Trail will go cold, if you wait that long to find out what happened,” Hayden noted.

“Pups’ wellbeing is more important. The fae are a bigger problem than my two clans can handle. I’ll have to bring it to the council.”

She must have made a face, because Hayden started to laugh. “Not a council fan, I see.”

“I don’t enjoy pandering to that circus of asses, no. I’m my father’s daughter in that respect.” Cletus had hated the political posturing of the council, who talked much, did little. He’d proposed the uniting of the two clans through political marriage as a counterweight to the political shenanigans. Unfortunately, there was as much fighting and back-stabbing between Cletus and Ariana as in the council. She blew out a breath. Thoughts of her parents always jacked up her anger meter. Others needed her help. “Nicca. Send a medic over to look at Hayden’s shoulder.”

“No need. It’s already healed.” He gave a pointed look at Nicca, before looking Talia straight in the eye. “I’m fine, and we have some unfinished business.”

“I’ll leave you to finish it.”

Caught in the trap of Hayden’s gaze, she barely registered Nicca’s words. “Thank you. For tonight,” she finally managed to say.

A slight nod of his head before he moved so close his breath whispered against her cheek, warming every cell in her body.

“Now, you owe me two kisses.” He lazily slid his thumb over her lower lip. His scent, laced with desire, made her dizzy.

“Are you going to claim them?” She didn’t recognize her own voice, it was so husky, so needy.

“One, now. The second when you’re naked.”

“I say when…”

“
I
do.” His mouth descended, aggressive, demanding. His tongue pushed in, as if forcing her submission. She sucked at it. His hand curved around the nape of her neck, the wolf position of ownership. “You belong to me.”

She fought to keep her claws in. No one ever dared to take her, and hot damn, her whole body quivered from it. She opened more to him, her tongue dancing with his. As soon as she tried to take control, he pulled away.

“Yield.” He took her breast, his hold possessive as he plumped and squeezed. The other hand pinched her now taut nipple, until she whimpered. Undaunted, she slid her arms up his torso, around his neck, determined to take the second kiss.

He twisted the nipple and chuckled, then grabbed her hands with one of his and held them tight against his chest. “Yield.”

Desperate, piercing hunger wrenched through her, making her nod.

“Say it.” He nipped her ear.

“You’re a bastard.” Her voice emerged weak and scratchy. Need consumed her.

“And you like it.” His free hand continued its relentless torment of her breast.

“I yield.” The words spilled out of her as her body screamed for satisfaction.

“Strip for me.”

As soon as he let her hands go, she whipped off her shirt and sports bra off, then rubbed her naked torso against the cotton of his shirt, barely cognizant of the bloodstain on the shoulder. His hands returned to her breasts, their massage rough, almost painful to maintain his dominance. She leaned into the torture and nipped at the soft spot at the base of his neck. A feral growl, almost wolf-like, escaped his throat.

He lightly spanked her butt before he backed against the wall, and crossed his arms over his chest. “I can smell how much you like what I’m doing. Take it all off if you want more.”

He seduced her like he knew exactly what she needed, how she needed it. Celibate for too long, she responded too quickly to his authority. But no one ever yanked control from her, so part of her enjoyed the freedom of relinquishing it to him. She toed off her training shoes and slowly pushed down her leggings, revealing skin inch by inch, delighting as his desire perfumed the room, raw and dangerous. Gods, his dominance was strong. Her socks came off as she stepped out of the pants.

“You don’t wear panties when training?” His hand rubbed himself. Those green eyes turned almost black.