Human Shifter (Book Three: A Werewolf BBW Shifter Romance) (7 page)

"I'd rather not talk about it," Julia said.

"If you're going to blame me for all of this—"

"I'm not," Julia said. "This isn't about you."

"Oh. Okay," Mara said. She sat in silence for a moment. A leaf drifted by in the stream, bobbing around the stones. Julia watched it go until it disappeared downstream.

"I'm sorry about what happened with Damien," Mara said.

Julia looked over in surprise. Mara's arms were wrapped around her knees protectively. Her previously snarky disposition seemed disarmed by Julia's obvious distress, but she was still wary.

"How did it happen?" Julia asked, being careful not to let any blame come into her voice.

"I—I thought it was Kyle following me. I led him through some tricks, to see if his tracking was as good as he said it was. He's kind of a brag."

"That's putting it mildly," Julia said. "What tricks?"

"Basic stuff." Mara shook her hair behind her shoulders. "Crossing streams, backtracking, that kind of thing. I was about to say forget it and go home—I thought Kyle had given up trying to track me. But I guess Damien was out looking for me too."

"He found you?" Julia asked, her heart beating faster.

"Yeah, and I had a great place hidden right outside of the territory. He came looking for me and I—you know, I jumped at him. I wanted to see if he could fight, even though he was blind.

"And?" Julia's mouth was dry, her muscles tense as though she was there, fighting alongside Damien.

"And he rolled me off but then backed up, like we were fighting for real. And then his back legs slipped off of the edge ... "

Mara stopped and looked up at Julia. Julia was surprised to see tears in her eyes.

"It wasn't intentional. I promise. I would never—I thought it was just for fun."

"I believe you," Julia said. She reached out and pressed her hand on top of Mara's. To her surprise, Mara took her hand and squeezed it—lightly, but Julia could still feel the strength behind her grasp. Then Mara pulled back into her shell.

"Katherine doesn't believe me. None of them do."

"They will."

They sat on the rock and thought. In Julia's mind, the scene played out in her head: Damien, backing up, not knowing the cliff was right behind him ... She shuddered.

"I'm sorry," Mara said again.

"It's okay," Julia said. "Really. It was a mistake, that's all."

"I don't fit in here," Mara said, looking back toward the stream. Her hands turned a dried twig over between her fingers, the dry leaves crackling as she pinched them off one by one.

"What do you mean?"

"This pack. It's not at all like it was back with Trax."

"What was it like there?"

"Don't get me wrong." Mara smiled, looking back up at Julia. "It's good to be out of there. But I knew my place, and it was easy to understand the pack rules. At least there, I knew to shut up and follow orders. Here, I feel like I'm just doing everything wrong, making one mistake after another." She snapped the twig in between her fingers.

"Hey, at least you can shift.
I'm
the worst pack member ever."

Mara laughed and tossed the broken twig into the river. It bobbed once and then disappeared under the surface, pulled down by the current. When Mara spoke again, her voice was low and tense and her eyes sparked with a fierce intensity.

"Do you want to go back to her?"

"Who?" Julia asked, but she had already figured out what Mara was going to say.

"The werewitch. I could lead you there, you know."

"I know," Julia said softly. The sparks in Mara's eyes twinkled as she looked at Julia.

"We could figure out how to fix you. So that you could shift."

A chill ran through Julia, making goosebumps rise on her skin.

"Yes," she said. "I would like that."

CHAPTER TEN

Damien

Damien lay in bed. The leg had not broken cleanly, and he was unable to get up without the pain making him yelp.

"It'll be another week or so before you can walk on it," Jordan said. "This wouldn't be so bad if you hadn't been shifting so much between wolf and human form while I was trying to fix you."

"I was barely conscious," Damien said.

"And you still managed to be a nuisance. I'd set up a splint for a human leg and turn my back for two seconds, then I'm back and it's a wolf leg I'm setting, all messed up."

"So I can't walk? Can I walk with crutches?"

"A wheelchair, maybe," Jordan said. Julia came into the room. "Or Julia could carry you around everywhere on her back."

"I don't want to know what you two are plotting about." Julia said. "But I'm not carrying anyone."

"I'm not rolling around in a wheelchair," Damien said. "I'll wait until my leg heals. A week?"

"I know you'll want to get up before then, but no," Jordan said. "A week. Minimum. This wasn't a nice little break you can get up and walk away from."

Damien sighed and turned to Julia. "Your classes haven't started yet, right? How are your carrying muscles?"

"About that. I need to talk with you."

Alone
.

Damien blinked at the thought that came strongly from her. He turned to Jordan.

"Anything else you need from me, Doc?"

"Nope, and I've got to get back to work on my shelter," Jordan said, getting the hint. He packed up his medical bag and left the room.

"You need to talk with me about classes?" he asked, knowing that wasn't it.

"I only have five days before the beginning of the semester," Julia said.

"And?"

"And I want to go back."

"Back where?" he asked.

"You
know
where," Julia said sharply. "You've been listening to my thoughts, you ought to know all about what I'm going to do."

"I don't hear everything," Damien said. "And most of the time I shutter it all out. It's just that one time—"

"Just that one time when you slipped up." Julia said. "And all the other times when you didn't."

"I'm sorry. I am."

"It's not about being sorry," Julia said. "I ... I can't be in a relationship that's so unequal."

"What can I do?" Damien asked. Her thoughts broke through into his mind and made his blood run cold:
Let me go.

Damien found that he could not breathe. She wanted to leave. Leave him? Forever?

"Julia—"

"I want to go back to Trax's territory," Julia said. "To find the werewitch who did this to me. You said I could go."

A rush of relief flooded through Damien. She wasn't going to leave him.

"I said
we
could go. And right now—" He motioned down to his injured leg.

No.

"I don't have much time before school starts," Julia said. "And I can't stay here, living with you like this. With you able to read me."

Not fair. Liar. Betrayed ...

Damien bit down hard on his lip. The rush of sadness and anger from Julia, the blame that overwhelmed him, made it hard for him to think.

"Julia, let's wait until my leg is healed and I can come with you."

NO.

"No." Julia's voice was as hard as her mind. "I'm going this week, without you."

"Then why are you telling me this?" Damien asked.

"Because," Julia said, "I want to bring Mara."

Damien cast about in his mind for the right thing to say. He knew Julia was expecting him to argue against it, and his first instinct was definitely to forbid her to go. The territory was dangerous. And Julia was unprotected. If wolves attacked her—hell, if any predator out there attacked her, she would be unable to defend herself.

But Mara, as part of Trax's former pack, knew the lay of the land better than anyone else. If he sent Dee along ... It had been years since Dee had taken Julia out of that pack and escaped the territory; she wouldn't know the current territory lines. Dee could watch over them, though—as a purebred, she'd be able to sense the presence of wolves from far out, and would be a good fighter if need be.

"You would have to take Dee with you, for protection. How long would you be gone?" he asked. He felt a brief hint of shock from her, that he'd acquiesced so quickly.

"Just a few days at the most," Julia said. "Mara says that it's a day's run from here, dusk to dawn."

"For a wolf."

"So two days for a human. Two and a half, maybe."

"Then it would be five days before you returned."

"Less," Julia said. Damien was struck by the fierce desire in her tone.

"Less?"

"I'll be coming back as a wolf."

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Julia

Damien took less convincing than Julia had expected. She sat beside him and held his hand, looking down at his leg in the splint. Now that he had agreed to let her go, she felt guilty to leave him.

"I don't want to go without you," she said. "I really don't. But I can't wait for you to heal. This ... thing between us ... "

"I understand," Damien said. His voice was firm, commanding, and she could tell that he'd switched roles—he was acting as alpha now, not just as her mate. "Dee will be able to tell whether there's danger. You, on the other hand, will be completely defenseless if any wolves do show up."

"Do you think we'll need to fight again?" Julia asked. In the last fight, she'd been a captive, helpless to do much but stand on the side and watch.

"If you do, I want you to have a weapon," Damien said.

"A weapon?" Julia's eyes widened. "Like a gun?" She'd never fired a gun before. Had never even held one.

"Guns aren't as useful as you might think," Damien said. "Wolves are fast. They fight at close quarters and the forest is dense. In a pack fight, they're all but useless."

"What, then?"

"You remember the box I asked you to store away in your closet?"

"You have a
weapon
in that and you didn't
tell
me?" Julia was aghast, but Damien just laughed as she hurried over to her closet. She stood on her toes and brought the box out, holding it gingerly between her fingers. It looked like a jewelry box, the dark wood gleaming. She opened the box lid. A leather sheath was at the bottom, the handle of a knife jutting out from one end.

She reached in.

"Careful," Damien said. "It's quite sharp."

Julia drew it out of its sheath as she lifted it out of the box. The blade whispered against the leather as it slid out, and Julia's lips parted as she held the knife up.

The blade was not terribly long—perhaps as long as one of Damien's fingers. The edge of the knife was curved, and both blade and handle were the purest white. She held it up to the light and turned it. The blade near the edge was so thin that it was translucent. It looked—she could not get the image out of her mind now that she had thought of it—like an oversized claw.

"Wolf bone," Damien said. "Shifters don't die easily. But this—" He shuddered. "This knife will kill."

"Show me how to use it," Julia said.

Damien reached behind her, his chest to Julia's back. His arm came around her and his hand slid down her wrist, his fingers moving carefully over hers.

"Just like this, it's a natural forward grip," Damien said.

"Like I'm holding it right now?"

"Yes, and you strike forward like this ... " Damien held her hand tightly and slashed the knife through the the air. A thrill shot through Julia's body, and she quashed it. This was no game. She slid the knife back into the sheath.

"Dee will help you practice," he said. "Julia?"

"Yes?" She looked up. Damien's face was solemn.

"Protect yourself. Come home safely."

"I'll try," she said, but it was only a whisper.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Damien

Damien argued with Dee for ages before they left.

"I've trusted your judgment before, but this is my
granddaughter
we're talking about," Dee said.

"She's my mate," Damien retorted. "And you will be there to protect her. I've given her my blade, in case she needs to use it."

"Blade?"

"I have a wolfbone blade. I told her you would show her how to use it properly."

Dee's inhale hissed between her teeth.

"Only as a precaution," Damien said. "I hope she will not have to use it."

"Those blades were used against wolves in the Purges," Dee said. "They're nothing but bad luck."

"Something I hope will help her in case she does need to take it out of her belt." Damien spoke calmly, though he trembled underneath. "The threat of the blade will be sharp enough."

"How did you get such a knife?"

"I stole it from someone who hunted me once," Damien said, and turned away to scratch an itch at his ankle. He did not want to remember that part of his past.

"They have a dark magic in them, I've heard."

"What have you heard? In all my search of folklore, I've not come across much at all."

"The story of Blood River—"

"That one, yes. Every pup has heard that one," Damien said. "But it's only a tale meant to scare children into keeping close to the den."

"Is it?"

At that moment the scent struck him: uncertainty. The fear of uncertainty. He started back at the scent.
Dee
? Dee believed?

"There aren't many other accounts of wolfbone blades," Damien said, keeping the surprise out of his voice. He'd scoured the literature, always searching for more, and nothing had ever to him suggested their veracity. And that Dee thought spirits might exist in reality was laughable—or would be, if he was in a mood to laugh. He wasn't. "They were used in the Purges, yes, but that was before my time—"

"Not before mine," Dee said.

"How ... how old are you?"

Damien was struck with new consideration at the thought. Purebred shifters lived longer, much longer than their hybrid counterparts. Her blood was pure—did that mean Julia would live as long as Damien? Or longer? The full import of what her journey might achieve hit Damien like a branch he had not seen coming.