Shifter (29 page)

“Tempting, but I’m too pissed off to have this all be over this soon. I want her…for now.”

“Why?” Devan asks.

“Because your baby brother loves her. So much so, that he broke my curse. He is a real shifter again.” She says all of this mockingly. “Too bad you weren’t the better man, huh? If you had handed over your brother, you could have had the girl. I know you want her.”

Dimitri and I turn to look at Devan. Dimitri seems surprised by Mave’s statement. I simply want to know if he is willing to take her up on her proposal. Devan appears to be unaffected by Mave’s words. I’m not sure how I feel about this. No, I don’t want him to be in love with me, but my ego likes the idea that he might be infatuated with me to the point of making the exchange.

“You can’t have my brother. He may be a pain in my ass, but he’s still family. Now let go of the nice police officer before you get hurt,” Devan says, not taking his eyes off the front door.

“Backup’s here,” Dimitri whispers in my ear.

As soon as he says this, four people come out of the shadows behind Mave.

“I know your puppies are behind me, Daniel. If you thought I came alone, you’re a fool.”

“We know you didn’t,” Daniel replies unconcerned. “And there are a lot more of my people here than you think. But let me ask you one question. Despite all that is going on between you and Dimitri. What do you think
they
will say when they find out you initiated a war on human territory?”

I lean into Dimitri and ask him who they are? He tells me that they are the Regent, the ruling council over all of the supernatural beings.

A flash of panic crosses Mave’s eyes at the mention of them before she forces the emotion away and says, “If you fight me here, you will be as much to blame as I am.”

“Maybe, but I don’t have other charges against me. Now, let go of the human or I call Serena.”

Serena? I mouth to Dimitri. Dr. Smith, he mouths back, and I nod.

Mave hisses, barks an order for her wolves to attack, whispers something into Mark’s ear, and throws him into my house. The pack members that were inside vanish and reappear outside. Oddly enough I don’t hear any actual fighting going on outside. There is the occasional grunt or growl, but nothing more.

Sam and Dimitri’s mom rush to Mark who is convulsing on my living room floor.

“That’s all right, Abby. If you won’t come to me to save his life, I know a few others you will willingly give your life for,” she says with a smile on her lips, then turns and runs from my door.

“Carrie,” I scream. Without even asking me, Dimitri pulls me into his arms, and we disappear. Neither one of us stops to think how he knows where to go. We appear right in the middle of Carrie’s living room.

We immediately split up. I look out the downstairs windows for any sign of Mave while Dimitri tries to sense her location. “She isn’t here,” he says quietly into my ear as I’m peering into the back yard. His voice startles me, and I jump a little.

“Good.” The news calms me, and I start to head to my sister’s room, but Dimitri halts me. “You might be able to wander through your sister’s house half naked, but I don’t think you will like it if I do. Let me change our clothes.”

“Will using that much power hurt you?”

“Nah. I’m back to my old self. Very little will be able to sap my powers now.”

In a blink of an eye, he is no longer wearing his old, plaid housecoat. Instead, he is wearing gray sweat pants and a white t-shirt. I am still in my robe. He steps to me, slides his fingers across my cheek until he is cupping my face, then bends down and places a soft kiss on my lips. I barely feel the soft whisper of my own robe disappearing as he replaces it with a soft cotton bra, silk panties, a pair of black yoga pants, and a stretchy pink baby doll top. 

“I hate pink,” I say when he steps away from me, letting me examine my clothes. Instantly the shirt changes from pink to a dark military green. He does it to be funny, but I like the color. “Perfect. Thanks.”

He snarls. “I like the other color.”

“Sorry, I’m not a pink person. Besides, I’d lay money that the silk panties you put on me are probably pink. You can look at those later, and get all the pink fix you need.”

“It’s not the panties I’m craving.” He draws me close again and kisses me until I’m begging for breath.

“Enough. We have a sister and kids to save from the big bad redhead,” I say, pulling away.

“You go and get them. I’ll wait here.”

“Shit, I forgot they don’t know you.”

“They will shortly. Go.” He pushes me toward the stairs that lead up to where my sister and her kids sleep. I turn to see him go to the front window.

As quietly as I can, I sprint up the stairs to my sister’s room. She used to sleep like the dead, but since she had kids, she sleeps so light that she is pulling her door open the second my foot hits the landing.

“Abby, what the hell,” she demands. “I thought one of my P.O.D.s was roaming the house.”

“P.O.D.s?” I ask. I remember her calling them this on a few occasions, but can’t recall what it means. She has so kinds of nicknames for them that I can’t keep up with them all.

“Paths of destruction. They’ve been exceptionally destructive these last few days. I have a broken chair, P.B. & J. in the DVD player in the playroom, and absolutely no shampoo or body wash anywhere in the house, among other things. Never mind. Why are you here?”

“I need you to pack some clothes for you and the kids,” I say, turning her around to face the hall that leads to her kid’s bedrooms.

“Why? What’s wrong? Are you all right?” she asks, panicking a bit at my instructions.

“I’ll explain later, come on,” I urge, pushing her door open.

“Abby, you’re scaring me,” she says, but does as I order. She knows me well enough not to argue with me.

“I’m sorry. I’ll tell you everything, but we have to leave now.” I go to her closet where I know her suitcases are and pull them out.

Ten minutes later, we have a bag for each person stacked by the front door and are carrying down three sleeping kids. In all of our back-and-forth, Carrie has not seen Dimitri pacing her living room. She nearly screams when he speaks.

“You all ready?” he asks, coming to my side.

“Oh my God,” Carries says. “Who the hell…”

“Yeah, I think so,” I say, as I scan our small group gathered in the living room, ignoring my sister’s shocked expression.

“Abby, isn’t that the man from the flyers?” she asks when she’s gotten herself under control.

“Yeah. Carrie, this is Dimitri. Dimitri, this is my sister Carrie. The one asleep against the wall is James, the baby in Carrie’s arms is Maddox, and this is Katie,” I say, jostling the half-asleep child on my hip.

“Aunt Abby, are we going to your house,” a sleepy Katie asks.

“Yes, baby.”

“Can I play with the big kitty?”

I looked at Dimitri with a questioning look.

“Oh, no. I’m not going there again,” he says, throwing his hands up in a defensive posture and backing way with a slight grin on his face.

“But Uncle Dimitri, Katie loves the big kitty,” I say mockingly.

“And what about her aunt, does she love big kitties?” he asks suggestively, stepping back to my side.

“Nah, I think I’m becoming a wolf lover.”

“Really?”

“Okay, I would say you two need a room, but it’s obvious that we are in a hurry, so either we leave now or I’m going back to bed,” Carrie says with a look on her face that says she has lots of questions that I will most definitely be answering at the next convenient moment.

“We’re leaving,” Dimitri says.

Carrie starts to the front door, but Dimitri stops her. “We aren’t leaving that way.”

“How else do you expect us to leave?”

“Do you trust me?” I ask her as she eyes me suspiciously.

“I do,” she says, though, her tone says she is not sure she does.

“Then trust me.”

“Can you take us all?” I ask Dimitri.

“No. Devan and Dad are on their way. They were helping with the wolves. They should appear any second now.”

“Wolves? What is he talking about?” Carrie asks, looking back and forth between Dimitri and I with utter confusion on her face.

“Carrie... Dimitri, is it all right to tell her? I mean it is your secret. Will I be breaking some kind of pack rule?”

“We can disclose our secret when the need arises. If they become a problem, we can also take care of it.” My look of fear must be obvious on my face, because he quickly clarifies. “We can erase the secret from their memory. Honestly, Abby, do you think I could hurt you or anyone one you love?” he asks, putting his arm around me and kissing the top of my head.

“Someone had better start explaining something before I get pissed,” Carrie nearly shouts.

“Okay, but you can’t tell anyone what I’m about to tell you. Promise.”

“You know me. I’ve kept all of your secrets.”

“I know, but this isn’t just my secret. It affects a lot of people.”

“I get that. Now spill.”

“Dimitri is a shapeshifter. He is or was the Maine Coon I adopted from the pound.”

“Be serious.”

“I am. Dimitri, do you mind showing her?”

“Are the kids all asleep?” he asks.

I lean my head back to look into Katie’s face. She is fast asleep. James is still slumped on the floor, curled up, and asleep. “Yeah. I think you’re in the clear.”

He steps away from me and into the middle of Carrie’s living room. I am a little excited because I haven’t seen his wolf form.

Instantly he shifts and walks over to me, nuzzling my hand. Carrie stares down at him. Unfortunately, before she can say anything, he is fully human again and thankfully clothed. “Their coming,” he says and a breath later, Devan and Daniel are standing in front of us.

“Holy shit,” Carrie says and stumbles backwards. Dimitri catches her as she starts to fall.

“Sorry, I know this is a bit much to take in all at once. I wouldn’t have come if it wasn’t important,” I say, hoping she will forgive me for bringing this problem upon her.

“We should go,” Daniel announces. “My people say Mave has been circling the house for at least five minutes. She knows you two are here. I think she thinks the place is warded, which is why she hasn’t barged in yet.”

“Dad, you take Carrie, Abby’s sister, and the baby. I’ll take Abby and Katie, and Devan, you can get the bags and that one there,” he says, pointing to the sleeping lump that is James.

“What are they going to do?” Carrie asks.

“They do this teleportation thing. They can simply pop in and out of almost anywhere they want. It’s how we got here.”

Carrie didn’t look like she believed or understood anything I was telling her.

“You trust me, don’t you?”

“I want to.”

“I promise you are in good hands.” Carrie doesn’t say anything. She just stands there and lets Daniel put his arm around her.

Two seconds later, all of us are packed into my small house. As quietly as possible, we pile the kids into my bed and make up the air mattress in my bedroom floor for Carrie for when she is ready to sleep. I try to get her to go on back to bed, but she has questions and really wants answers to them.

Sam and Katelyn are kneeling in front of my sofa where they have laid Mark. “He’s sleeping,” Katelyn says, seeing the worried look on my face.

“What did she do to him?” I ask.

“She cursed him. Made him feel as if his insides were on fire. We have it under control now. He’ll be out of it for a few days. If you don’t mind, we’re going to leave him here for the night. He is too wounded to move. We’ll be back tomorrow to get him,” Katelyn says.

“Thank you.”

“Dad, do you think Abby’s sister and kids can stay at my cabin for a while?” Dimitri asks.

Instead of answering, Daniel turns to Sam and asks, “Do you think you can mimic the charms Serena has on this house?”

“I can try,” Sam answers.

“If she can’t, will they be safe there?” I ask.

“If Sam can put up some kind of ward, yes. Plus we can have them guarded around the clock.” Dimitri looks at his father as he says this last bit as if asking for permission. Daniel nods.

“We’ll move them tomorrow, if we can,” Dimitri says.

“Dimitri, I don’t know if...” Sam starts.

“They’ll be safer there than here. My cabin is deep in pack territory. Mave wouldn’t dare invade now that they know to look out for her.”

“I’m standing right here,” Carrie announces. “Shouldn’t the person that keeps getting moved around be asked if she wants to be moved around?”

“No,” both Dimitri and I say at together.

“Excuse me. I’m a grown woman. I think that I can make these decisions on my own.”

“You don’t understand what is going on,” I tell her.

“Then enlighten me.”

“We should go,” Katelyn says to her husband, son, and Sam. She looks at Dimitri as if she wants to say something, then looks at me, nods to herself, hugs him, and disappears with Sam.