Shifter's Revenge (Alpha Lineage) (16 page)

Seconds later her wolves stood to attention and sniffed the air. Kera honed her senses, suddenly on alert. The sounds of grass and wisps of greenery being crushed under heavy feet assaulted her like it was a sonic boom. The direction it came from was opposite the base. Kera felt her feline senses battle with her human mind for answers. The wind kicked up sending seeds and leaves in tiny funnels atop the field. Fang squinted against nature that behaved unnaturally. Her belly scraped across the ground as she inched forward.

A heavy white paw landed in front of her nose. Maddox practically lay on top of her as he crouched down beside her. As the sky darkened further the intruder started his assault.

Silver flashed before her eyes. The wolf tore through the field with speed she couldn’t comprehend. The heavy weight of the white wolf let her just as quickly. He pawed the ground and growled deep in his chest. Fang looked up into the ice blue eyes that stabbed her with a harsh stare. He lowered his head and growled to communicate.

Fang understood his urge for her to stay away from the danger but she didn’t agree. She pawed at the ground in protest. The white wolf bared his teeth and crouched low in effort to show he would subdue her if she didn’t comply.

Her head tilted to the side just as a loud crack of wind skirted past them. Her body was flung to the side. The wolf shot off into the darkness. A loud howl echoed in her ears. Another followed in answer. 

Fang’s ears perked up and Kera pushed her way to the forefront. She called to the images in her mind she so desperately tried to burry today. After everything she had accomplished as a shifter, this moment wasn’t something she knew how to deal with as an animal. In seconds Fang receded in her mind and Kera shifted back into human form. She used her heightened senses to sniff the harsh winds. The familiar scent of Maddox carried to her nose. Nick was further ahead and his sent, though familiar, was not as strong. Another scent accosted her nose. She picked up the earthy tones of nature and an unnatural scent of magick that clouded the air.

Kera wanted to call out to Maddox and Nick but she didn’t want to alert the intruder to their presence. Other than their howl to each other, she wasn’t sure their attacker was able to discern their location.

Anger overrode her thoughts as she pushed forward; racing to the danger Maddox so desperately wanted her to stay away from. She closed her eyes briefly and called out to the abyss inside of her again, “What is
it
?” she asked the plethora of information behind her eyelids. If it had an answer about what she was up against then maybe there was hope for them after all and the magickal encyclopedia that her mother gave her wouldn’t scare her as bad.

She almost stumbled when a wave of symbols and sounds filled her mind. She let the sounds pass through her lips as they filtered
through her. Her voice was washed away in the storm of wind and debris that carried in its’ wake.

She reached a clearing and stumbled over her feet. As she fell to the ground she saw Nick crumpled in front of a dark figure whose silhouette was amplified by the moon behind him. The shadows in front of him seemed to move like liquid. Maddox charged forward in rage, he fought against the epicenter of the storm surrounding the man and lost the battle. The
Maddox was flung back harshly. When he crashed to the ground with a yelp Kera screamed out in anger. Her voice seemed to cut through the wind and affect the man in the center of the field. Their attacker covered his ears and fell to his knees.

Kera ran forward as the winds died down. Just before she reached Maddox a hot brand punched into her chest. She felt her breath rush out of her lungs in a painful groan. Smoke bellowed out of her mouth.
She looked down and saw embers and ash covering the side and front of her scorched body. As her skin burned, Kera pulled air into her damaged lungs through her mouth and closed her eyes.

Maddox’s howl of anger shook her to the core. The battle continued. She wasn’t sure how long she was in a state of shock from her wounds. Her thoughts were so scattered that she wasn’t able to call on her own mental resources, let alone the magick that was left untapped in the inner most part of her mind.

A plea and a whimper of begging echoed inside of her mind. Fang joined her and reviewed the information racing around inside of her. She angrily hissed foreign words and phrases in between the violent seizing of the muscles in her chest. Blood spattered across the grass as she coughed. Despite the pain, she pulled herself closer to Maddox and the battle that he fought alone.

A bright flash of light caused her lids to slam shut to protect her retinas. She hissed out the next phrase that blinked across her eyelids and felt a suction of air pull her forward. Her eyes opened in surprise.
Chaos in the elements erupted. Sharp debris fanned out every which way. She couldn’t hear or see anything except her enemy. She saw a white hot ball of mass change course from directly in front of her face to the man twenty feet from her. It charred her skin just by being so near to her, but what it did to her attacker was much worse.

The man reached out his hand to protect his body from the dangerous white orb. Flames enveloped his fingers and spread as the winds spun and sputtered around him. The charred flesh of his hand quickly began to detach from his body and float above him as a funnel of wind and debris rose from the ground around him and carried it away. With a scream of pain and anger the man dissipated into dust and rode the wind up into the sky. Kera gaped at the image of thick bellows of brown earth ridding the currents across the sky.

Lights flashed behind her. Kera took a deep breath through her nose and groaned in pain. She coughed up more blood and dismissed the rustle of feet behind her. Soldiers were minutes away with flashlights. Kera grabbed pieces of earth and pulled plants up by their roots just to get to Maddox. He lay across the ground just feet from her. She didn’t know how he fared in the battle but a large branch protruded from his side.

With faith as her only ally, Kera pulled the foreign object from her mate and shifted to get out of her clothes and lay herself across him. In the middle of her shift she heard Maddox gasp for breath. He distorted beneath her and pulled her large form across his chest and locked her inside his embrace. The energy from his shift shot through her. Her side burned as it stitched together so quickly she almost passed out from shock. Kera forced herself to return to human form and another blinding pulse of energy passed through her.

Maddox wound his arm around her back and pulled her up to his chest. His sharp gaze scanned the surrounding area for any remaining threat. It took only moments for him to take stock of the soldiers impending arrival and the disappearance of their attacker. He turned his head slowly and captured her lips in a quick but angry kiss before her spoke. “Nick.” He growled. “We have to heal him.”

Kera blinked at him and shook her head. “How?” Her voice was roughened by the smoke still lingering in her lungs.

He stood quickly taking her with him. It was effortless for him to set her on her feet and pull her to Nick in seconds. Kera felt her senses come back quickly after moving so fast. Her stomach turned at the motion. She swallowed the feeling of sickness but it returned tenfold when she saw the beautiful silver wolf covered in blood, his body twisted unnaturally.

“No.” she shrieked brokenly.

Maddox pulled her head into his hands and kissed her quickly. Then her leaned his forehead down to hers and stared into her eyes. “If we can heal each other with just a touch, then we must be able to heal others.”

Kera nodded as tears poured down her cheeks. She glanced at Nick and an animal whine ripped out of her throat.

“I know baby.” Maddox threw his arm around her shoulder and pulled her down to the ground next to Nick. When she fell to her knees beside him, her hand landed in a pool of warm blood.

Sobs choked her. She reached out and touched the mangled flesh of such a noble animal and brave man. Maddox covered her hand with his. Energy poured from Maddox and into her, Kera willed the magick into Nick. Her eyes slammed shut, “Help,” she called out to the abyss inside of her.

She opened her eyes. She blinked when colors began to distort her vision. Nick was a deep red to match the blood that covered his body. It wasn’t a surprise that Maddox was a brilliant blue. As she looked at herself she saw only a silhouette outlined in purple. At the very spot that she and Maddox touched Nick, a white light grew from a spark and spread to every part of his body. Remembering how quickly she healed after kissing Maddox for the first time, Kera took her free hand and pulled Maddox’s face to hers. She covered his lips with hers and kissed him fiercely.

The hair beneath her fingers turned into smooth skin, bones snapped together and tendons pulled tight under the newly healed skin. As his body contorted from the shift and knitted wounds together, her heart thumped angrily in her chest. A question… why? No answer made any sense. No answer would make such a brutal unwarranted attack ok. She heard about a man that killed countless soldiers in Arizona. Was it possible this man came to the base of his own accord during the time that Maddox and Nick chose to stay with Kera and train the very men and women who remained in the N. Division?

As Maddox’s kiss warmed her soul, Nicks sigh calmed her racing heart. Kera abandoned her questions and broke away from Maddox’s mouth with relief. Though Nick was still out cold, he was warm and unblemished.

Maddox wrapped his fingers around her hand and pulled it from Nick’s chest. He brought her palm to his mouth and kissed it softly. “Thank you.” He whispered.

Kera’s eyes widened as she looked at him to explain that it wasn’t just her but
them
who had healed Nick. Before she got a word out, dozens of soldiers crashed into the clearing. Their flashlights burned her eyes.

“What the fuck?” Nick groaned beside her.

In shock, Kera laughed out of relief and dove for Nick. Her arms flew around his neck to pull him into a hug. “You’re alive.” She whispered happily.

Steely arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her into the air. Her arms loosened from Nick as Maddox clutched her against his chest. He nodded at Nick, “welcome back,” he growled before he bent his head and nipped at the skin above her collarbone. His breath pushed against her skin. “You may not realize this
, love, but your clothes are falling off your body and I can’t stand the sight of you touching another man.”

Kera gasped as he nipped at her again and pulled her flush against his chest. Without even having to look Kera felt her bare skin against his. It was only then that she remembered the brutal wound that had adorned her chest and none of Maddox’s family could shift with clothes on. Both of them were now completely naked.

Tension was high and the night air was now calm. Maddox wouldn’t leave her side and Kera refused to let him walk around naked in front of so many people. All three of them shifted and followed Maddox’s lead around the curious soldiers and out of sight. They crossed the thick grassy field and found Nicks clothes where he left them. He scooped them up in his mouth and followed as they wound around to the clearing where Maddox and Kera had tried yet again to bond.

As she watched Maddox pull on his jeans she felt a strange sort of detachment to the situation. It was as if the events from the night had changed her in some way. Made her colder. She understood that her time with Andrew had changed her. The experience tonight had furthered that change.

Maddox was her tether. His skin glowed under the moonlight as he strode to her with his shirt in hand. “Shift love.” He knelt beside her. “Let me cover you.”

When she shifted she flew into his arms.
She pulled him as close to her as she could.

“Kera,” He whispered softly. “Are you ok?”

She shook her head against his neck. “I heard about a man like him in Arizona. We have to gather information on him and stop him before he does this again.”

“It’s not a good idea to face the enemy head on.” Nick said beside her. “We go into their territory and he could have more allies than we know about.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Kera grabbed the shirt from Maddox after she disconnected from his embrace. “This isn’t just about me anymore. This is about those I care about. I watched you both practically die before my eyes and that man did that. It won’t stop until we stop
him
. This is personal now. I have to do something.”

“When was this about you, Kera?” Maddox asked darkly.

“It wasn’t.” she recanted. “Now it is. They want to take my life from me then they better expect a war. I won’t sit back and let them hurt what is mine. My body is healed and so is yours. Fighting is what I can do to avenge you and Nick. I can’t sit by and wait to find out if he plans on taking you from me. Maybe you can but I can’t.”

In the heartbeats that ticked by Kera realized that she had possibly made a mistake. Thoughts she had about Andrew and his escape were brought to light like a dagger. She could see it in his face. Maddox cringed and wallowed in blackness as his expression darkened to the
point of resolute stone. His eyes shifted to a light blue that hardened as he looked at her. “I kept you safe by watching out for you and making sure you grew strong again.” His voice was cold and detached. “My concern for you didn’t lessen the urge I had to hunt down my cousin and kill him for doing what he did. I didn’t sit by and wait for him to take you from me. You did that yourself when you left.”

Kera stepped back like his words had been a physical blow. When she had left had set them back and she knew that. It also propelled them forward. Just thinking about the strain it had put between them was like a knife to her heart.  She hadn’t dealt with it well and yet if she stayed something far worse may have happened. It wasn’t until after she left the N. division compound that she had spoken to her mother and found out how to use the book. Rayland had been left to his own devices and simply called a meeting and Jason and his wolves came running to help.