Change (The Shape Shifter Series) (5 page)

Yet the moment she saw the valley of Senja on the other side of the strait,
her emotions flooded her and she lost herself. The feeling that she was finally home filled her so completely that she gasped, and the urge to get out of the car made her dig her fingers into the seat before she did anything rash. David glanced sharply at her, but said nothing. She knew this was wrong. Senja wasn't her home anymore, but she couldn't help the longing that filled her. Her mind knew she belonged here. She refused to accept it, but that was the plain truth. She belonged here. She wondered what Marie might feel. Would she feel relief or pain? Or both? Or maybe she felt nothing. However, Sofia's blood connected her children to this place as well, and coming back seemed to connect the missing pieces. She knew now why she had been so restless before. Why she had been so angry when she saw Gunward and the other shape shifters at her house. His actions had driven her away from her real home in Senja almost two hundred years ago.
Away from the place she was born and loved, and that was wrong. He was the one who had done something horrible. He was the one who should've run away. Not her. Her family was here. But back then all the shape shifters had stood by him. They didn't approve of what he had done, but they protected their own, so she didn't have any other option but to leave. Gunward had turned into a monster, and when the others had shielded him they had become monsters, too.

Sofia knew that without Marie she probably wouldn't have come back, and that made her sad.

Daniel pressed her hand.
“What's done is done. You can't change the past, sister,”
his voice echoed comfortingly in her mind.
“You're happy with your family. David is a good guy and your daughters are amazing. One of them is like you, and you don't know what the future has to offer for Marie. So stop dwelling on the past and concentrate on the present.”

“
You're right,”
she admitted silently.

Daniel grinned.
“Aren't I always?”

Sofia punched his shoulder, offering him a tired smile. He was right, of course, and yet she felt guilty. She shouldn't have left in the first place. She belonged here, and knowing that made her
feel guilty. She should've fought for her rights. Fought for justice. But would it have changed anything? Would it have changed anything if she had come back earlier? And did she even want something to have changed? No, she didn't think so. She smiled at David and he smiled back.

She glanced at the water. She had always loved the sea near the mountains. Nothing compared to it. She had been in a lot of different places and seen a lot of water, but this was the essence of life.
So pure and bright. Most wolves didn't particularly like water, but she was different. She admired the power in it. The potential it offered. Without water there was no life, and her mom used to say she should have been born as a seal not a wolf. She hadn't told anyone that the water helped her to calm down. And when she was calm she felt she could do anything. She could fill her mind with power and scoop it up when needed. She could feel and hear others from a very great distance and shape their thoughts. She could control them if she wanted. Just a clear image of this water helped her to concentrate, and now, being so near it made her feel invincible.

She stared at the bright
sea water and wanted to touch it. She could feel its freezing coldness on her skin and the salty smell that floated to her nose. It was like a drug to her. She wanted to drink it, swim in it, and play with it, but that was too far. She could've rushed into it, but she didn't want to drag any attention to herself, so she held back. She was strong enough to resist its call and wait until the ferry reached the dock. And yet she could easily picture herself crawling across the ferry, trying to reach the water. She might have a chance to make it without falling, but she didn't want to make a fool of herself, so she waited.

Daniel drove the car from the ferry and parked it on the side of a road. He knew that Sofia couldn't stand it a minute longer and decided to have mercy on her. He didn't understand what it was about water that made his sister go so haywire. He could almost see the eagerness that radiated from her. It was like she had never seen water before, and that was crazy. The water was the same everywhere. At least to him. But to Sofia, this water that ran from the cold mountains had a special meaning. A meaning that only she knew.

The car had barely stopped when Sofia ran to the shore and sank her hands into the cold water. It was so cold that it still froze during the night, but now, in the daytime, there was no sign of ice. Only the coldness of the water revealed that northern Norway hadn't yet had the luxury of experiencing the warm breath of spring. Sofia drizzled her face with the water and licked the salt on her lips. It tasted like the mountains. Through its saltiness she could taste the wild rivers that welled in the mountains and she seemed to forget where she was and where they were going. Her mind became as clear as the water and she felt power inside her. If only she could store this moment in her mind and come back to it whenever she needed to. The water gleamed as the sun hit it and she felt euphoric.

Daniel knelt next to her and cleared his throat. “We should go.” She didn't respond. She hummed happily and he pushed her lightly. “I know you have this weird obsession with water, but do you really want to keep playing and let Marie face the elders without you?”

Sofia opened her eyes and stood up. She glanced at the surface of the turbulent water once more and then walked straight back to the car. No. She definitely didn't want Marie to meet the others without her. Especially when meeting Erag and Isabel had left a bad taste in her mouth. The others would probably hate her husband and her child as much as they hated her.

David reached to touch her hand and she sighed.

“Are you okay?” he asked in concern.

She stared at her hands, not wanting to meet his eyes.

“Fia?”

“Yes, I'm okay.” She squeezed his hand. “Let's go. We've wasted too much time already.”

David glanced at Daniel, flabbergasted, and Daniel shook his head imperceptibly. David sighed. “Okay, then,” he said. “Hit the gas, Daniel.”

Daniel didn't need another request. He pressed his foot on the gas and headed to the narrow road that ran between the mountains.

Sofia was so absorbed in her own thoughts
and concentrating on thinking of Marie that she didn't even notice the magnificent view around her. She didn't hear David's fascinated sighs. And when Daniel eventually turned the car towards the mountain of Breitinden, she knew she hadn't been worrying in vain.

Tiamhaidh stood like a rock next to Marie, surrounded by at least sixty shape shifters. Sofia could feel the hatred radiating from them and she was ashamed. Is this how things were nowadays? Where were the hospitable hellos and their manners? Shouldn’t they at least hear them out before judging them? Tiamhaidh was part of the pack and Marie was his promised one - no one could deny that - so they shouldn’t be treated like enemies.

Sofia leaped out of the car and had to use her elbows to get to Marie and Tiamhaidh. No one moved and gave way, so she didn’t spare the hits when her elbow met their bodies, but even her rough punches didn’t make the crowd move. She saw Gavin behind Tiamhaidh. His teeth were revealed, but the look in his eyes was hopeless. He knew as well as she did that they were way outnumbered and it was only
a matter of time before the silent hatred changed into action. Erag was gone, which was no surprise, as he was probably stoking the bonfire somewhere nearby and rubbing his hands in satisfaction, Sofia thought bitterly. But what surprised her the most was that she couldn’t see one single friendly face anywhere. What had happened that her old pack had totally turned their backs on her? You happened, her conscience reminded her bitterly, but she quickly smothered the voice. She glanced round and snapped angrily, “Dé th'ann? Is this how you welcome your guests?”

The pack grunted quietly, but no one spoke to her. She felt the pack tighten and she was filled with disbelief and rage. She could hear them inside her head and she wanted to puke. She had brought her child here. Not to judge but to heal. And she had honestly believed that at least some of them wanted to help her. Sure, she had known some might hate her and her child. But this hatred was different. They wanted to destroy Marie because they thought she was some kind of freak and didn't deserve to live. Their actions resembled an unfair trial, and what shocked her the most was the unity. If some of them were curious about Marie or disagreed with this weird harassment, they hid it pretty well, as she felt no hesitation among them.
Just pure cold hatred.

She tried to evaluate the situation, but Marie’s fate seemed hopeless. Everywhere she looked she met icy stares and angry faces, and not a single one of them was ready to back away. On the contrary, they stood,
shoulder to shoulder, ready to fight for the slightest reason. She squeezed her fists closed and bared her teeth. No one reacted and she growled. They growled back. Their eyes were burning and she could smell adrenaline from them. Not good. Fine. If they wanted to fight she would fight. Straightening her back, she let them see the fire inside her and that there was no question about how far she was willing to go. If anyone so much as moved towards Marie, she would rip their throat open without a second thought.

Anger flashed in her eyes and her body commanded her to shift, but she couldn’t. For some reason, most of the shape shifters had chosen to meet Marie in their human form, and that was her pack’s advantage. If she changed now the others would, too, and that would be the end of Marie and David. No way could they survive an attack of angry wolves. She let her gaze fall on each of the surrounding faces in turn and tried to force them to back away. Nothing happened. Their eyes remained on her and her pack. She clenched her jaw. She could probably take ten or fifteen down and Tiamhaidh over twenty. But that was about it. Someone had to cover for David, and that someone would probably be Daniel. Gavin couldn't deal with more than five, so they had no chance of winning. Right now she really missed Adam and his dirty way of fighting.

She knew she should talk to them. Convince them that they were no threat to them. But she was so tired. And besides, they didn’t look as if they were ready to listen. They wanted blood. Her blood and her family’s blood. Shoot! This had been their last hope and, come to think of it, it now seemed ridiculous. These shape shifters couldn’t help them. And even if they could, she was sure they wouldn’t. They had come to see Marie, the freak human. And yes, they had also come to see David. A man who had stolen one of their females. How stupid was that. David hadn't done anything wrong. She had chosen him. She had fallen in love with him first and the bottom line was he had never stolen anything from anyone. He was innocent and so was Marie. That didn't matter, though. They had already judged them. Had she chosen the wrong path? Maybe, but she stood behind her decisions, and now her child was going to pay for it.

“You're not welcome here!” someone yelled from the crowd. “You're a traitor!”

“Who said that?” Sofia yelled back, but no one answered.

Anger grew in her mind and she felt the power gathering in her.
All right then. They had obviously made their choice and fight it would be. She knew she had only one shot, but she would use it well. She wouldn't let them hurt Marie and David. This was her fight and she would take full responsibility for her choices. She had chosen a human over an immortal one, and she would never regret that. So maybe this was the time to find out how strong her powers really were. Everyone seemed to think she was special and that she had more powers than any of them. Everyone except herself. So maybe they would all discover something new today.

She cleared her mind. She thought about the water she had just seen. She opened her mind to the powers and prepared herself. She would make these low-minded creatures regret the day they were born. They would crawl at her feet and b
eg for her forgiveness, and if - and that was a really big if - she decided to let them go, she would exile them from this valley. They would have to face the real world. And who would laugh then? They would have to open their eyes and learn to live among the people they despised so much. Yes, they were stronger than humans, but without the pack they would just be strangers who were scared and lonely in a strange world. Soon they would know what real power was and they would tremble before her. She felt the power tingling in her fingers and she smiled cruelly.

“Enough!” a low female voice said quietly. “Sofia, let go.”

Sofia lowered her head, but didn't let go of her powers.

“I said enough,” the woman said with a hint of warning in her voice.

Sofia cursed and let the power stream out of her. She closed her eyes for a moment before turning to face the woman. “Mother.” She nodded suspiciously at her.

The woman looked at her carefully. She was like a calm lake in the middle of the storm and Sofia could see the others giving her space. Some even bent their heads and suddenly found something very interesting on the ground. Good. Maybe things were not so different here after all. An alpha had arrived and the others obeyed without question. She looked at her mother again, her lips drawn into a thin line. Her mother’s golden-brown hair was tied in a loose knot on her neck and her warm brown eyes begged her to trust her. She stepped one step forward.