Shadow Walker (22 page)

She sighed and crossed her arms. “Yeah, it sucks. But it’s one of the three things we were put on this earth to do. Live, love, and procreate.”

Dean laughed and nodded. “Yeah, that’s about as accurate a summation as you can get.”

Casey frowned and placed a hand on his arm. “I’m worried about you.”

“Why?”

“What if you were bitten in the attack?”

The knot in his stomach tightened. “I’m not sure if I was. I don’t remember much of the attack itself.”

“Where does that leave you and Amber if you were?”

Sighing, he walked over to the back door and looked out over the garden. He’d thought the same thing numerous times already. “It only means we can’t have children,” he said after a moment. “I won’t love her any less. We could make it work.”

“Do you believe that fate really has a hand in our lives? Or do accidents happen that can throw it out the window?”

“I don’t know, sis. The Silver Wolf was prophesied to return. She has. You and Braedyn have had a connection for twenty years.
You
bare the mark
proving
the fates deemed you to be life mates.” He glanced down at his own wrist with a wry smile and dropped his voice to a whisper. “I can’t tell you how many times I wished one would appear on mine and Amber’s.”

She walked over and leaned against his shoulder. “It took a while for ours to appear. By that time we’d already decided we didn’t care. Though when it did show up, we couldn’t help but be excited. It means we
can
have children.”

“I want kids…but I’ll be happy if I can keep Amber. She’d be a good mom, I think. There are a lot of issues to work through…but I think she’d make a good one.” He swallowed, fear settling in once more. If he were a wolf there was no way they could have children. Did he want to be selfish and take that right away from her?

“What do the books say about the Silver Wolf, Dean?”

He shook his head, shaking the thought from his mind and mulled over Casey’s question. “There’s a lot, but most of it is speculative. Stories. Myths. No one knows for sure what the truth is and what isn’t. She was the wolf that became a woman, the mother of all Weres.” He shrugged. “No one knows why she’s called that or what it really means. Is it because she was the very first Were-creature? Was she somehow able to create them?” Dean’s eyes lit up at that thought, and he turned and looked at her, narrowing his eyes.

She raised her hands and backed away. “I don’t know Dean.”

“But you do. You
are
the Silver Wolf, Casey.”

“Dean…I don’t know how to…” She shook her head. “Amber is supposed to show me some meditation techniques so I can try and communicate a little better.”

“We’ve got a month, sis…” He closed his eyes and shook his head. “It was just a thought anyway,” he said with a humorless laugh.

“I’m sorry I don’t have that answer for you, big brother. Right now I feel pretty close to being useless.”

“No.” He walked over and put an arm around her. “I’m sorry to make you feel that way on top of everything else that’s going on. I’m just scared I could lose her so soon. The book has already been written, and when we’re ready to get the answers, we’ll have them.”

“I’d like to get my hands on the damn book,” she murmured into his shoulder, hugging him.

“I think we all would, sis.”

Amber closed her eyes and took a deep breath of the crisp evening air. Another snowstorm was on the horizon. The warmer temperatures she and Casey had enjoyed when they’d first arrived in Seattle were about to come to an end. A snowstorm right now, wasn’t such a good thing. Being in unfamiliar territory it would make tracking Elan that much harder. She crossed her fingers with hope the storm would hold off for another day or two.

Rather than speak aloud and offend Peyton, she and Braedyn had used their animals to communicate and decided they would trade off back and forth for his protection.

“I’m the bait,” Peyton said when she matched her step with his, falling in alongside him.

“Pretty much,” she agreed without looking at him. “Sorry, but Braedyn and I figured since Casey was too new to be brought out, the next best thing was to bring out the three he’d go for next. Braedyn, you, and me.”

The older man nodded and shivered against a frigid blast of air. “I’ve faith in my men, too. Hopefully, we’ll have this son of a bitch bagged tonight.” He was quiet a moment. She could hear his teeth grind. Whatever he was thinking about didn’t settle too well with him.

“Hang in there old man,” she said, batting away a branch.

Up ahead she saw Braedyn circling back toward them.

“Don’t tell me my son’s abilities are wearing off on you now.” He grinned over at her, fingering the safety on his gun.

A cold shiver worked its way up her spine when she looked it over. She despised firearms even though she understood their necessity. Giving a throaty laugh, Amber shook her head. “Not quite. I could hear you grinding your teeth and can only assume you’re thinking the same thing I am.”

He smiled and shrugged. “Yeah, I think we all want a piece of him. That’s something we’ve not discussed. How are we to handle the situation when we come across him?”

Amber scoffed and loped ahead a few paces since Braedyn was taking up the rear. “First come first served,” she whispered, shooting off ahead to shift into the Tigress.

The burn that charged through her muscles was easily channeled back into the ground as soon as her paws touched down. Shaking out her coat, she closed her eyes and scented the air. Peyton and Braedyn’s scents were the closest. Opening her mouth a tad, the Tigress tried again, checking for any wolf other than the Alpha.

The wind changed directions, and the scent of fresh blood drifted to her. She frowned, the scent trailed off to the right, about a mile away. Without pausing to shift back into human form, she circled back to Braedyn to give him the information.

“Don’t shoot, it’s Amber,” Braedyn said, putting his hand across the barrel of Peyton’s gun.

The old man’s eyes widened when he saw her in form. No one could seem to get over the massive size of the Tigress in comparison to the small woman she was. She came forward at a slow pace so as not to intimidate him. Communicating to Braedyn what the Tigress had scented, she asked for permission to check it out.

Braedyn’s brow furrowed. “It could be a wild kill.”

“What did she say?” Peyton asked, narrowing his eyes.

“She said she’s caught the scent of fresh blood off the trail and wants consent to look into it further,” he explained then turned back to the Tigress. “You have twenty minutes, if you’ve not reported back we’re coming after you.”

The Tigress bowed her head then loped off into the forest and let herself out, stretching. Trying to get to where the fresh blood was fast, she felt the pleasant burn in her muscles with the exertion. She slowed near the edge of a clearing, the moon was still bright. Coming into the clearing would be perfect for an ambush, so the Tigress stopped, keeping to the shadows, and scanned the area. There were large piles of rocks all over the place, obstructing her view. The spoor was definitely stronger and very close. Waiting, testing the silence and stillness, the blood was far too fresh and too strong for her to pick up much else for the moment. The wind was blowing across the rocks, bringing with it the brassy smell of the blood and the salty-spicy mineral smell coming from the rocks.

Taking her chances, the Tigress darted to the nearest pile of rocks and ducked into the shadows. The smell was stronger, but it was on the other side of the enormous rock pile. She tried to nose her way around but found the only way to get there in form was to go over them. The Were was far too large to try and squeeze through some of the openings. Not wanting to chance breaking her cover, Amber changed back to human form. This was one of the few times that being of small stature would be a plus.

Opening her eyes, a small shiver passed through her while she clothed herself using her magic and then added a layer of wind breaking leather, including a pair of finger-less gloves in case she needed to climb. The black shit-kicking boots that had been manifested could handle the climb if necessary.

She tried to peer through the crevice between the rocks, only finding another group of rocks. Creeping through the maze was an incredibly tight fit in places, but she felt better doing so than climbing and leaving herself vulnerable to the chance of attack. Blinking back some debris that rained down on her while squeezing through another section of the rocks, Amber caught the bloody scent, stronger than ever, and knew she was getting close. Mentally she kept track of her time away from Braedyn and Peyton. He’d given her twenty minutes, she’d used up a little more than five already. From here it would take at the least another five to get back. By then, Braedyn should be able to track her scent in. She hoped to be done scouting the rocks by then, to save them the hassle of coming in after her.

Frowning, Amber looked at the next obstacle she’d have to cross in order to get through the rocks. The crevice was too narrow at the bottom to slide through. She’d have to climb about ten feet up in order to slip through. Using her hands and feet to climb upwards in the narrow passageway, she slipped through, and then froze. The light of the moon shone over a small valley littered with small to medium sized white and grey boulders. At least the hard part was over.

Something dark lay in the shadows of a boulder that was taller than she was. Whatever it was, it wasn’t a
small
animal, and it was a recent kill. Glancing around, the Tigress grew frustrated. The only scents she could pick up were the salty minerals from the rocks and the fresh blood. She waited a full minute before making her move. Staying in human form, dressed all in black, would be less visible than the hulking black and white form of the Tigress. A boulder thirty feet away became her hiding place. It was close enough to see the kill, and she shook her head.

No wonder her nose had been full. It was a bear. A large black bear. Their blood was spicy and tangy and mixed with the mineral from the rocks…and no one was here to take his due. Something was wrong. Nothing would take down something this large and leave it unclaimed.

The whole thing screamed of a set up. Amber took the opportunity to get a good look at the bear and frowned, edging her way toward it. The bear was definitely dead, she could smell the waste he’d released upon death, so there was no fear of it rearing up and attacking. Steam rose from the blood pooled in the bear’s neck and abdomen.

It didn’t make sense that the killer wasn’t still around. Leaning closer, she tried to get the mineral smell of the rocks from her nose to try and determine what had killed the bear. Glancing around once more before she got any closer, Amber inspected the wounds. The teeth marks. It was without a doubt a wolf kill. More than one. But she didn’t pick up any familiar scents. It could have been one of the local packs…and it also could have been Elan…but it still didn’t make sense that it was abandoned. There were no trails of blood leading away from the bear, the pack wolves wouldn’t have left this unattended like this. Standing up, Amber stepped away from the bear and tried to find a trail… realizing why she couldn’t pick up a scent… and why the minerals were so strong.

Looking upward, Amber clenched her fists. They had climbed the boulder on her approach and could have run back to the piles. It definitely wasn’t a wild kill. This was a set up. They had been smart enough to coat themselves in the scent of the minerals to drown out their own scents.

Damn it!

Amber climbed the boulder and flattened herself down over it to make a lesser target of herself and scanned the tops of the massive piles of rocks and stone she’d just crawled through. Realizing the time Braedyn had given her was almost up and knowing they would be nearing, she raised her head and let out a roar in warning to them.

The others were between them now. Lowering her nose to the rock, she found three different spoors. All three were wolves. They must have climbed the rock piles where she had gone through them, which was why she’d missed their scents.

She leapt down from the rock shifting just before touching the ground and sprinted back to the pile of rocks. Now wasn’t the time to go back through, she had to close in behind them and fast. Her job was to protect both Braedyn and Peyton.

Digging in, the Tigress leapt more than three quarters of the way up the front portion of the rock pile. Using her powerful claws, she maneuvered on top of the first pile and paused as the small pieces of rock scattered and clattered down through the pile. She listened for any sound or other movement to find where she should leap next.

Movement to her left caught her eye. She could hear some telltale rocks skittering to the ground below. Maybe luck was on her side, enough to not be too far behind and still be able to help take down a few of Elan’s members before they got to Braedyn and Peyton. Quietly, the Tigress made her way over to where she’d seen movement. With her strong claws, she was able to do so without much of a problem.

Upon reaching the grouping of rocks, she could tell the scent was indeed that of Weres. No normal wolf could have climbed back across these rock formations from this direction. In her human form she’d barely been able to squeeze
through
them.

They must have taken a deviant route through the forest and were attempting to circle back to trap them. She ground her teeth and peered down into the space between the rock piles, trying to see how to proceed. Jump ahead and try and cut them off or climb through? Amber knew any normal man wouldn’t be able to squeeze through those rocks the way she had and just as fast decided against it. She had only gone through one way and could possibly get stuck going the other way. The thought of what could happen to her then caused a mental shudder.

Making up her mind, the Tigress jumped from heap to heap until she reached the side closest to the forest near where she’d entered and paused again, scanning the shadows. Because the wind was at her back, Amber knew anyone out there was catching her scent and knew where to find her. If Braedyn and Peyton came in the same way, Braedyn’s wolf had a far better nose than the tiger. She hoped he would be able to pick up the three wolves scents better.