Kalina ~ Book Four

Rowan shrugged on a bag of spare clothes and headed for the door. If he needed to shift suddenly, a pair of sweats would be greatly appreciated.

Normally, Sylvie remembered that stuff for him. He never asked her to, but she would run after him with a small pack with a smile and offer him a kiss when he went to training, and she taught her classes.

He hadn’t seen that woman in a long time. After saying goodbye to his elder, his healer, and his family that morning, he missed her.

His mate.

Kerensa stood on the lawn, face dull as Magnus and Kora spoke their plans to one another.

“We kill anyone in our way.”

“If they are possessed, then our first focus should be exorcising them, Kora.”

“They hurt my daughter-”

“We don’t know that yet.”

“I do.”

Elias stalked over from the garage, meeting the group the same instant as Rowan. He gave him a curt nod and regarded Kerensa.

“How close can you get us?”

She sucked her teeth. “To the edge of the wards. Kian’s power doesn’t like visitors of any kind.”

“So explain the demons then,” Kora said, her defiant stance— a challenge more so a replica of her daughter.

“Shifter hosts,” Elias filled in for Kerensa before the Fae queen snapped at her. It was clear she didn't think much of the people that left Sylvie to suffer for twenty-seven years alone in the world.

“The demon is safe inside the flesh of the shifters.”

Kora nodded and cracked her knuckles with her thumb. She was wise enough not to say another word as Kerensa told them to huddle up, growling a few phrases in ancient Fae and shoving them through a portal that dropped them a few hundred feet from the gate that signalled Fraser's territory.

Or what was left of it.

Black shapes huddled around the strewn metal, destroyed by a hulking cacti, drooping under its own weight.

Elias and Rowan shared a look before approaching the guards. They turned and raised their weapons, but Magnus and Elias flitted over so quickly, disarming them in a matter of milliseconds.

“What do you want?” one of the women said, her eyes filled with fear. It was almost as if she did not recognize them.

“The woman that did that,” Rowan said tightly, pointing at their mangled fence.

The shifters looked between one another and nodded, pointing to the pack house. “She saved us,” the same woman said.

Kerensa squinted beyond them and said, “We have to go. Now.” Her tone set Rowan's nerves on edge. He hadn't felt her pull in a while, beyond the occasional tugs of darkness, shame, and fury…

“She’s going to get herself killed,” Kerensa roared, breaking into a run. Kora matched her pace while Magnus and Elias sped ahead. Rowan took one last look at the shifter guards and opened the mind-link to them.

“If you wish to follow her, then you have a place in our pack." In a rush, three mindlinks formed between them, and Rowan nodded. None made a comment about his use of the word, ‘our’ and he took off after the others.

He said nothing as the guards followed him, shifting into wolf and tiger forms, respectively. He tore from his clothes, snatching the spare back in his jaw, and dug his paws, the size of dinner plates, into the dry earth.

Rowan caught up with Elias and growled low, acknowledging the hospital as it slowly peeled over the horizon. Magnus gestured for them to slow.

“We should split up.”

Rowan itched to keep running, the scent of his mate on the air mingling with the burning fuel of Kian's Harley and the copper tang of his late healer's blood. Elias, too, barely tolerated Magnus’ pace, his brows creasing in an impatient frown.

Kora and Kerensa caught up, eyes flashing.

“What are you waiting for?”

“What are you doing?”

They both gritted out at the same time.

“We need to spread around the perimeter to stop an ambush,” Magnus offered.

The guard tiger shifter, returning to skin form just long enough to rasp out, “They’ll all be in the pack house. He called in all the perimeter guards early this morning.”

Rowan’s hackles rose. For any pack he had ever corresponded with, guards placed around the perimeters were a must at all times. Even warded, Rowan would never risk his pack by presuming they were foolproof.

“Who did?”

The shifter's body shuddered as she took in the intense glares of the strangers around her.

You can trust them. They are a part of my pack, too. Rowan sent down the mind link.

She swallowed but nodded, steeling her nerves.

“Who?” Elias said again, but Rowan was sure he already suspected. Rowan himself had a hunch, and he could only pray Sylvie hadn't been blindsided by the obvious to see the more covert truth. Kerensa looked ready to rip the shifter's head off at her pause. Kora shared the sentiment.

“Will,” she finally said.

Sylvie bucked her hips against Fraser, but he wouldn't move, his head only lifting when a snapping branch sounded a few feet away. Her rage had ebbed along with all other emotions, and all she could think about was her body still outside his packhouse, exposed and vulnerable.

Fraser's body stiffened over her, and she followed his gaze, heart thumping when she saw what he was looking at. The tiger that had stalked her earlier was hovering only feet away, gaze locked on the Alpha that had pinned her.

Before them, the tiger shifted into a huge male, nearly seven feet, with a wild look about him.

“Who are you?” he grunted in a thickly accented voice, his weathered brown skin creasing around his green eyes. Sylvie swallowed as Fraser stood, pulling her to her feet but keeping a hand clamped around her wrist.

The tiger-shifter squinted at them as if seeing beyond the ghost visage her splicing created.

“Alpha Fray Young.”

“Alpha?”

“Yes.”

“And you?” he asked, looking at her. She jerked away from Fraser and sized him up.

“You first.”

He chuckled, weaving around her. The sound was very much like he hadn't used his voice box in a long time. She was surprised he didn't cough at the dryness of it.

“Sar.”

“Kalina,” she replied, glancing carefully at Fraser. Although she believed he knew her true name, she wanted to keep the facade for as long as necessary. He would confirm his guilt soon enough.

“And what are you doing here, Kalina?”

“Depends,” she answered, turning to follow his prowling movements. “Where are we, Sar?”

His head tilted, but he continued his movements, looking around as if it were obvious.

“Along the border of Ketn and the Tundra. Are you lost?”

Sylvie looked down at her hands for a moment. They looked normal, as they usually did, but the shifter was regarding her as if she were truly there. She was sure he would be far more wary if she looked like a grey apparition…

“When you look at me, what do you see?”

Fraser gazed sidelong at her, but Sar just raised his brows in an attempt to shrug. “A woman. Tall, strong, wild.”

She tried not to bristle, especially when Fraser tensed.

“Beautiful,” Sar added with a feral grin.

She just rolled her eyes and regarded him again, keeping her eyes on his face and away from his mammoth form. Penis included.

“What realm is this?” she asked.

“Realm?”

“World?”

Sar stopped his movements and stared at them again as if finally seeing them. He stepped back. “Beihllua,” he said after a long pause.

Both Sylvie and Fraser gasped, glancing at one another despite themselves. No fucking way. She dragged her attention away from Fraser and pulled the seed from her pocket, eyeing the shimmering seam.

“Where did you find that?” Sar asked abruptly.

Sylvie flickered her gaze between the seed and the shifter. “A healer. Amira.”

“It is well preserved.”

“What is it?”

Sar swallowed. “A Tear of Adreisai, they grew after the Clan Wars.”

But that was after the division. Long after Amira had come to the earth realm with her family. How could she have gotten it? That woman had far too many secrets that she didn't even want to begin to decipher.

With immense pain, she suppressed her thoughts of her Seanmhair and pocketed the seed along with the information, asking Sar, “How many of you are there? We were told this realm was dead— that the land was barren and toxic.”

Sar shook his head. “Not dead. Almost, but those that stayed saved it. We are two thousand strong.”

Fraser exhaled his shock. “Two thousand.”

Sylvie didn't think there was even half of that on the Earth realm put together.

“And you?” Sar asked though the shimmer in his eyes revealed his suspicion.

“Earth realm,” Fraser replied. “I am the descendent of the ones who escaped.”

Sar clicked his tongue. “Fled.”

“Survived,” Sylvie corrected them both. Wherever they were, they survived, and that was all that mattered. She thought of Rosie and her mateless pack members and said, “Would your people be willing to accept outsiders? Shifters born on earth?”

“Maybe. Do you have mate bonds in your realm?”

Sylvie nodded. “After the last decade, many.”

Sar mirrored her movements and said, “It is the same for our people. Though many are still unmated.”

“Same.”

There was a stretch of silence between them, and Sylvie broke it first by extending an arm to the shifter. He looked at her hand and clasped her forearm, squeezing it tightly. With one twist, he could probably snap it, but he seemed intrigued by her confidence- even impressed.

His eyes glazed a moment before returning to her and Fraser. “I must go now. If you wish to find me again, follow the snow north until the trees are closer together than blades of grass and call for me. I will be waiting.”

Sylvie nodded and released his forearm as he turned, shifted and disappeared into the bushes as if he were never there.

She stood there for a time, staring at nothing, ignoring the man at her back before the familiar anger rose inside her.

Muted and dull but thick. Now they were finally alone; he could get what he deserved, and maybe if she hurt him bad enough here, he wouldn't wake up when they returned to their bodies.

This time, when she turned to face him, she didn’t try to punch him. Instead, she let her canines lengthen and leapt for him. Her teeth were on the path for his neck with enough force to rip out his throat.

His arm barred her course instead, but rather than letting that deter her, she grabbed him by wrist and elbow and bit down until her mouth filled with blood.