Autumn's War (The Spirit Shifters Book 4) (6 page)

“Okay, okay.”

He delivered another kick, not hard enough to do any damage, but hard enough to hurt.

“Owww, stop it, man,” the guy whined.

“Not until you tell me who he was, and then you’re going to apologize to the lady and her boy.”

“Okay, okay. The leopard is Ollie Pritchard. He doesn’t want shifters to be seen as the good guys. He likes us being bad. He’s just trying to get us behind him. We don’t all want to be seen as some kind of spiritual beings. We want to be seen as bad-asses.”

“Are you serious? Do you think you look bad-ass now?”

The naked boy cowered and cried into his arm.

So there was some guy who was trying to lead shifters astray. What the hell did he think he was going to achieve?

“You need to go and apologize to Madison, right now.”

“Who?”

“The woman you’ve been terrorizing.”

He sniffed. “Oh, right.”

Chogan nudged the other guy with his foot. “You, too.”

He turned back to the car and motioned with his finger to Madison, who still stared at them with wide eyes, glassy with fear. She shook her head and held Billy closer.

Of course Madison would be frightened. She’d seen Chogan shift from wolf to man.

Damn it. She was locked inside the car, with the keys. He had no way of getting in unless she opened the door. He could always break it, but then they’d have to ride in a vehicle full of broken glass, and anyway, that wouldn’t do anything to help conquer Madison’s fear. It would only make matters worse.

He bit down on his impatience and frustration. The old Chogan would have smashed the window and to hell with whatever she thought, but he’d changed. He wouldn’t go through his whole life playing the role of the bad guy.

Behind him, he was aware of Nadie running out from between the trees. She carried the bundles of clothing the others had discarded right before they had shifted.

“Please, Madison. We would never hurt you. You don’t have a reason to fear us.”

He noticed her eyes run up and down his body and realized he stood completely naked before her. He felt no shame at his nudity, and her cheeks grew pink as she must have realized he’d caught her looking. She would feel more comfortable if he were fully dressed.

“Just wait one minute.” He held up a finger to demonstrate his words and then turned and jogged back to where Nadie waited with his clothes. Peter and Sahale still stood around the two young men, making sure they didn’t run off. Quickly, he tugged his jeans back on, threw his t-shirt over his head, before jamming his feet in his boots and pulling on his jacket. He pulled his long hair out of the back of his t-shirt and jacket, allowing it to fall in a wave of darkness around his face.

He went back out to the car. Madison still hadn’t driven off, and this gave him hope. She could have done so at any time, and that she stayed meant she wanted to be around them. Chogan didn’t know if it was him in particular she wanted to be around, but she’d stayed for a reason. Deep down, she wanted to be convinced.

He placed his hands against the roof and ducked down to peer through the window. She looked back at him, her stunning green eyes wide, her skin a perfect porcelain pale, and her beauty made something stutter in his chest.

No, he wasn’t interested in women. He only had one woman he was interested in, and she was still in love with his cousin.

“Please, Madison,” he repeated. “We’ve had plenty of opportunities to hurt you if we wanted to. But we didn’t, we helped you.”

“But … but you’re a wolf!”

“I’m a shifter, yes, and so are the others. That doesn’t make us dangerous, though. It makes us strong and powerful, and as you just saw, even more able to protect you and your son.”

At the mention of her child, she glanced down at him. Billy had pulled away from her slightly now, his head turned to look out of the window toward the scene outside. Peter and Sahale had taken the opportunity of Nadie’s arrival with their clothes and shifted back. They had yet to dress themselves.

The boy let out a squeal of laughter and one hand clamped to his mouth, while the other pointed. “Mommy! Those men don’t have any clothes on!”

His laughter was infectious, and Madison’s shoulders relaxed, her grip around her child loosening.

“No, honey, they don’t.”

“Is that ’cause they were animals?”

“Yeah, I guess it is.”

Chogan tried again. “This is the world you live in now, Madison. It’s better to have us on your side.”

“The man helped us, Mommy,” Billy added, turning his eyes on his mother. “You can’t take the car of someone who helped us. That’s stealing.”

Madison gave a deep sigh, and nodded. “Okay.” She reached out and unlocked the door. “Don’t make me regret this.”

Now dressed, Peter and Sahale hauled the two young men to their feet and dragged them over to the car. They curled in on themselves, their hands still trying to hide their private parts from the beautiful young woman and child they now found themselves naked in front of. Chogan wondered if the leopard was anywhere around, if he’d positioned himself to find out what was going to happen next.

Chogan folded his arms. “Now what do you say?”

“Sorry,” mumbled the first one, unable to look at her.

“Sorry, Ma’am,” the second boy added.

“Now get the hell away from here and learn how to behave yourselves.”

Peter and Sahale both gave the two boys a shove, and they half staggered forward, glancing back to make sure Chogan wasn’t about to give chase and then took off down the empty freeway, their naked, white backsides flashing as they went. He expected them to have some clothes hidden somewhere close. He just hoped they’d learned their lesson. They were barely more than kids themselves.

With the boys gone, Nadie slipped into the seat beside Madison. Madison gave the other woman a nervous glance, but Nadie smiled.

“Don’t worry. I don’t bite.”

Madison gave a timid smile, as if she didn’t quite believe her.

Now they needed to find Autumn, Lakota, and the others.

As Chogan climbed into the driver’s seat, and Peter and Sahale started up the bikes, he wondered what Autumn would make of the news that Blake might still be alive, and also what she’d think of the new arrivals.

Chapter Nine

AUTUMN LAY IN bed in her apartment, the bedcovers soft and warm, her face buried against the pillow. It felt so good to be back here, cocooned within the familiar scent and comfort of her own bed again.

Movement came behind her, and her heart lurched. Quickly, she turned her head to peer over her shoulder. Her eyes took in the sight of familiar nut-brown skin, the big muscles, and curves and swirls of his tattoos.

“Blake?” she said confused.

He moved in bed, lifting his head to see her. Happiness swelled inside her like a bubble, but then she realized something, and the feeling burst. What was happening here? Blake wasn’t supposed to be here, was he?

Blake grinned down at her, his face lighting up. She was so used to him always being so solemn, and the easy, relaxed smile looked good on him.

“I don’t understand,” she said, frowning. “I thought … I thought you were dead.”

He laughed, a deep rumble in his chest, and reached out to her. “Don’t be silly. You must have had a bad dream.”

She let him pull her into his arms. The warmth of his skin, the strong breadth of his chest. How good it felt to press her cheek against his chest once more, to inhale the scent of him, to hear the steady thud of his heartbeat.

“You’re right,” she said, though confusion still clouded her mind. Something didn’t seem right. “I must have been dreaming.”

“Of course you were.”

Autumn closed her eyes and relished his presence. She felt like a better person when he was around, special, strong, and more confident. He made her feel like they could tackle the world together, that nothing would defeat them.

She lifted her head from his chest to look him in the eye. She’d missed that strong, powerful face. The slightly widened nose, the deep set, dark eyes, the full lower lip. She’d missed him so much it had hurt.

So where had he been for me to miss him?

“I couldn’t be dead,” he said, as if reading her thoughts. “I would never leave you, Autumn. You know I would never leave you.”

But he had, hadn’t he? He’d left her for another woman, Shian? No, that was wrong. She was confused, so confused, all of her thoughts in a muddle. It was as if someone dangled the truth just beyond reach, and though she kept grappling for it, she couldn’t quite grasp it.

A noise came from outside her bedroom door, distracting her from her confusing thoughts about Blake.

“Mia?” she called out, sitting up slightly in bed.

Blake put a hand on her arm. “Leave it. It’s nothing.” She glanced down at where his hand lay across her skin. He didn’t feel as hot as normal, his palm cold and clammy.

The noise came again, making her jerk her head toward the door.

Something about it didn’t sound right, a weird scuffling across the floor, followed by a crack, which sounded like a tree branch snapping. A low moan filtered through the closed door.

Autumn sat up straight, clutching the bedcovers to her chest, her eyes wide.

“Mia?” she called again, this time louder. She nudged Blake in the shoulder. “Come on. We need to see what’s going on out there. Mia might be in trouble.”

But Blake’s face was solemn, and he shook his head. “No, we don’t need to see it, Autumn. Please, just stay here with me.”

She wanted to. So badly. But more sounds came from outside, and though her heart pounded and her breath grew shallow, she knew she needed to open the door.

Why won’t Blake help me?

He’d never been a coward before …
Her mind blurred.
Before, what?

Autumn pushed the rest of the bedcovers off her body. Leaving Blake sitting up in bed, she swung her legs and stood, wearing just her panties and a cami. She wanted to cover herself up more, but couldn’t see any of her clothes. Cautiously, she moved on her tiptoes, creeping toward the door.

The sounds came again, a wet ripping noise, like someone tearing a piece of raw steak in half. A gentle whimper followed.

Oh God, what’s happening out there?

She reached out, her fingertips touching the door handle. Taking a deep breath, she slowly edged open the door.

She clutched her hand to her mouth. “Oh God,” she cried, and staggered back.

Mia lay in the entrance to the hallway, but she was only partially Mia. Her face appeared swollen and distorted, but that wasn’t the worst of it. Her back was morphed into a giant gray hump, spindly hairs sticking out from the thickened exoskeleton. Multi-jointed legs jutted from the bulbous body, more of the hairs poking from the limbs. Mia’s face was at an angle, so she looked at Autumn from upside down.

She’s done it,
Autumn realized. She’d found someone who would change her because Autumn had refused. Whoever it had been hadn’t done the process correctly, and this is what she’d become.

“Oh God, Mia. What have you done?”

Mia opened her mouth to speak, but she started to gag. She retched, her mouth stretching open. Hundreds of tiny spiders pushed from between her lips and flooded out over her face and across the floor. Autumn screamed, reaching to slam the bedroom door shut in the face of this monstrosity. She staggered backward until she backed into the bed.

“Blake, oh God, Blake. What can we do? How can we help her?”

She turned to him, just as the baby spiders began to appear from beneath the bottom of the door. But his skin was white, his dark eyes covered in a milky sheen. He opened his mouth and she saw his tongue was black and rotting.

“I don’t know, Autumn. I’m dead, remember?”

SHE BOLTED UPRIGHT, a scream issuing from between her lips.

A hand touched hers and she looked down to find Mia crouched beside her. But her dream stayed with her and she yanked away again, barely repressing another scream. Sweat coated her skin in a sheen, her heart beating hard in her chest. She clenched a hand to her sternum, trying to control her breathing.

“You had a nightmare,” Mia said, gently.

Autumn nodded. “I know. It was horrible.” Then she remembered Blake holding her, how he’d said he would never leave her, and tears filled her eyes. “Horrible, and kind of wonderful at the same time.”

Mia gave a half-smile. “You want to talk about it?”

Autumn tried to put the image of spiders flooding out of Mia’s mouth out of her mind, and shook her head. “No, I’m fine. It was just a bad dream.”

She lifted her gaze to the rest of the room. The sky had begun to lighten beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows, and people were starting to move, the engines of the vehicles roaring to life, the headlights of some of the cars lighting the forest surrounding them.

“Where’s Lakota?”

“He’s with Thorne and David. They’re doing the rounds, making sure everyone is okay, especially those who shifted for the first time last night. He’s also letting everyone know we’re leaving soon.”

Autumn nodded. “I hope Chogan, Peter, and the others find us quickly.”

“Me, too,” said Mia. “I miss Peter.”

“I guess I miss Chogan, too. Is that weird?”

Mia shook her head. “Not at all. Chogan is the closest thing you have to Blake.” She paused and then added, “You have feelings for him, don’t you?”

Autumn thought for a moment. “Yes, but not in the same way I felt about Blake. I don’t know, it’s all so confusing. I mean, if Blake hadn’t …”

“Dumped you, and then got himself killed?” Mia offered. “If that hadn’t happened, there never would have been any possibility of you being interested in Chogan.”

“Yeah, I guess. But I’m not interested in him. It’s too soon. Far too soon.” She didn’t want to tell Mia that she’d already kissed Chogan when Blake had still been alive. Nauseating guilt swept over her. She couldn’t let herself think about it now. She had bigger things to worry about.

Brushing off the last residues of sleep, she got to her feet and prepared herself mentally for what lay ahead.