Shifting Dreams (37 page)

“Yes. The elders are bringing her mate. Take this blanket. Press here.”

Jena blinked when she saw the circle growing. The cats surrounded the pack, hanging back from the traitor their clan offered up. Good, she thought. That was good. And there were Ollie and his bears, surrounding them all, backs to the murderer, muzzles pointed out to guard those carrying out the swift justice of the clans.
 

Alma’s death would not go unpunished.

“Missy Marquez.” Jena heard her father and other human voices. She blinked up as Ted and Caleb tried to pour more water into her mouth. She swallowed some and shook her head. It only made her feel worse. The ache in her stomach turned sharper. Her ears cleared more.

The canyon was filled with the shifters. The snakes ringed Missy’s prone form, now shaking and shivering in fear.
 

“Please,” she sobbed. “Please.”

Jena sat up and croaked, “Did you let Alma beg before you killed her? Shut the hell up.”

The wolves raised their hackles and snarled at the cat’s weakness. Jena could hear the smaller canines’ excited yips and barks as they hung back, resigned to let their alphas strike first. She felt Caleb move under her. He was trying to sit her up. “Ted? What the hell is happening here?”

“Don’t try to interfere, Caleb.” Thomas’s voice rang out. “This isn’t your justice.”

Missy sobbed and the coyotes howled in excitement. Jena blinked her eyes and tried to sit up. Her mate was young. He didn’t understand…

“Tom, you can’t do this!” Caleb yelled. “Let me arrest her. She has children. A family—”

“No!” Missy screamed. “Not a human jail!”

“There won’t be any human jail,” Jena heard Old Quinn say, his voice hard and mean. He had loved Alma. Caleb told her. Poor Quinn. Poor Caleb. He didn’t understand.
 

“I can’t stand by and watch you do this, Tom.”

Jena turned and pulled his ear down to her lips. She had to make him understand.

“Caleb,” she whispered. “These are my people. This is our justice.”
 

His voice was hard. “But Jena—”

“Do you love me?”

Caleb put a hand on her cheek and met her eyes. “Of course I do.”

This part was harder.
 

“Do you accept me?” He paused, his fingers suddenly still against her cheek when he understood what she was asking. “Do you accept all of me?”

There would be no day in court for Missy Marquez. Maybe if the offense hadn’t cut so deeply. Maybe if the guilt was less certain. But not that night. That night, the judgment of the clans had been rendered. Jena heard Matt groaning as he watched his mate. He was held by two of the bear clan in human form. Missy’s parents and sisters were on the other side, sobbing quietly while the cat elders guarded them. Her father towered over them with the rest of the town elders on either side.
 

She saw Caleb look around the moonlit canyon. He looked at her, then at the wailing woman surrounded by snakes and wolves. His shoulders sank a little, but his mouth firmed. “I will accept you.” The coyotes yipped again and Caleb stood, cradling Jena in his arms as he addressed her father. “But I’m not gonna stand by while Jena bleeds.”

“See to your mate, shifter.” Only Jena would notice the slight wavering in her father’s tone.

Ted spoke rapidly as they started out of the canyon, each step jarring her a little more. Shouldn’t the water have been making her better? It just felt worse. Her head was clear and those nice sleepy waves had backed off, only to be replaced by sharp, jolting pain that radiated from her stomach to her toes.

“Caleb, it hurts. Slow down.”

He ignored her. “Do I keep giving her the water? How do I get out of here?”

“Yes on the water, and take my car,” Ted said. “It’s the Jeep right at the mouth of the canyon. It’s not the most comfortable ride, but it’ll get you to the main road the fastest. Have her keep drinking as much as she can. She’s gonna hurt worse, but it’ll keep her awake. You need to get to Indio. And keep that shirt pressed against the wound as much as you can. She should be okay.”

“
Should
be? What the hell does that mean? Aren’t you coming with us?”

“She can’t,” Jena murmured. “She’s about to shift.”

Jena could hear them approaching. She bit her lip, the pain cutting through her baser instincts. “Baby, get me out of here,” she said in a desperate voice.

Caleb clutched her tighter. “What’s wrong with her?”

She could feel the manic energy radiating off Ted. Her friend was practically jumping out of her skin. “The crows are coming,” Ted whispered. “All the clans are here now. Get her to the hospital. Jena, don’t do it! You’ll hurt yourself more if you shift with those injuries.”

Jena groaned. The old magic rolled through her. The whispers came on the still night air. She felt the tingles in her body as Caleb started to run.

Fly, fly, fly.

The flapping sounded overhead, and she lifted her face to the sky.

Rip. Tear. Rend.

Black shadows called to her.

Fly, fly, fly.

Ravens. Crows. Vultures. The carrion eaters had come for their prey. They would pick the bones of the murderer who had killed the old one. But first, they would watch her die. Jena felt Caleb tense when he heard the first tortured scream split the night air.

He kept running.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Focus
.

Ignore the screams of the woman.
 

Focus
.

Ignore the howls and caws.

Focus
.

Open the door. Put Jena in the car.

Focus. Focus. Focus.

“Jena.” He patted her cheek and her eyes blinked open again. She was pale. Way too pale.

“I’m okay. I don’t feel the urge to shift anymore.”

Caleb wasn’t worried about her shifting.

“She should be okay.”

Should be? Should be wasn’t good enough, Doctor Ted.

“Jena?” He tilted her head up and poured a little more water down her throat. “Jena, wake up.”

She grunted and turned her head. “Stop it, Caleb.”

He pushed her legs into the car, then pressed the bloody shirt to her stomach again. It was red with fresh blood, the wounds must have opened again as he ran. Caleb saw her wince when he pressed, but he only pushed harder, pulling the seat belt out and wadding up a jacket he found stuffed behind the seat.
 

“Stay awake, Jena.” He used his hard voice. No cajoling for her. “You hear me? You better do what I tell you.”

Any other time, she’d hit him for talking to her like that. Caleb tried not to panic.

Stay awake.

Stay alive.

Heal.

Stay with me.

Her eyelids flickered closed as he pulled the seatbelt all the way out before cinching it to her as tightly as he could. It was the best he could do and still drive.

“Jena!” He slapped her cheek. Once. Didn’t work. Harder. She opened her eyes with a gasp.

“Oh, you are going to pay for that, you asshole.”

There, that was better. He smiled and pressed a hard kiss to her mouth. “Promise?”

He shut the door before she could hit him back.

Focus
.

Drive the car. Dodge the cactus. Climb the edge of the wash.

He was thankful Ted had sprung for the sport suspension and four-wheel drive by the time he hit the pavement. He peeled out, dust flying off the dirty Jeep, the wind whipping Jena’s hair around her face. He reached over and tried to tuck it behind her ears, but it didn’t do much. He kept driving.

Focus
.

“Jena, drink some water.”

“Don’t want to.”

“Don’t make me pull this car over.”

She snickered. “You sound like a dad.”

His heart jerked in his chest. Who was watching Aaron and Low? Probably Cathy. He had to remember, as foreign as the canyon had felt only minutes before, Cambio Springs was just a little town. Half populated by ordinary people, half populated by people who turned into animals and ate murderers for sport. And those were the respectable ones.

Jena was tilting the bottle up, but most of the water was trickling down the side of her mouth.
 

“Try to drink a little more.”

“I’m sorry you had to see that, Caleb.”

He fought past the tightness in his throat. “What? I’ve seen you spill stuff before. I love you despite the clumsiness.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“I know. Don’t try to change the subject.”

She frowned. “There was a subject?”
 

Caleb forgot for a moment what had happened. Forgot where he was. Forgot she was injured. A single question burned his mind.

“You love me, Jena Crowe?”

She looked over at him and he knew the answer. He could see it shining in her eyes. “Course I do. I think it was the canned cheese that did it.”

He choked out a harsh laugh, and her eyes flickered closed.

“Jena!” What the hell could he do? It was too far to Indio. The blood had soaked through the jacket that lay across her chest and belly. Caleb reached over and yanked on a chunk of her hair. “Wake up!”

“Damn,” she croaked. “You’re a mean one.”

“Only when I need to be.” He ignored the sheriff’s car that passed him and swung around, flipping on his lights.

“Ooooh, you’re in trouble now, Chief Not-just-passing-through. Got the po-po after you.”

He tried to push back the terror at how weak her voice sounded. “The po-po?”

“Yeah, I’m down like that. I know how the kids talk these days.”

Caleb watched as the cruiser’s lights came closer. He reached for the phone he saw in the center console, hoping it had some charge. “I’m gonna call the sheriff’s office, Jena. Just hold on.”

“Do I look like I’m going anywhere?”

He punched in Dev’s number and waited.

“Yeah?” Second ring. Thank God.

“Dev? This is Caleb Gilbert. I need you to call your department right now. One of your boys is following a late model green Jeep out on the highway headed to Indio. I cannot stop. I’ve got Jena in the car and she was attacked by a mountain lion. I’m headed to the hospital going about one-ten and I’m not going to stop. So tell them to stay out of the way.”

“I’m on it.” The sheriff’s deputy hung up and Caleb put the phone back down. “Jena? You awake?”

“Yeah.”

“Talk to me.” He shook his head, willing the panic back. “Honey, please talk to me.”

“If you can turn into anyone, can you try George Clooney some time? Because that would be awesome.”

He blinked. “Did you… did you really just ask me if I could turn into George Clooney?”

“Brad Pitt would be cool, too.”

“Hey!”

“You asked me to talk. I’m talking.” She winced as he went over a bump.
 

“Shh.” He reached over to squeeze her hand. “All this talk of George is making you lightheaded. Maybe you should be quiet.”

“Make up your mind. Talk to me, Jena. Shut up, Jena…” She trailed off and her hand went limp in his.

“Jena!”

Her head jerked up and she blinked at him with owl eyes. “I want you to stay and help the boys.”

He cleared his throat and ignored the panicked sound in her voice. “You know I will. I’m not going anywhere. You’re gonna have to evict me at this point, and we all know that takes a long time.”

“If something happens—”

“
Nothing
is going to happen! Ted said you were going to be okay.”

“If Ted’s wrong… Just don’t leave. It might not be what you want to do, but they’ll need you. And you’ll need them, too.”

“Jena—” He choked. “Just—just shut up, will you? Nothing’s going to happen to you.”

“Promise me.”

“I’m not promising anything! I’m an ornery asshole and you’re just gonna have to stick around to keep me in line.” He winced when he went over a pothole that made her yelp and clutch her side. “See? Asshole. And you’re going to marry me and make me behave in polite society.”

“I am?”

He could see the lights of the city in the distance. “Bet your ass you are. We’re going to get married and I’m gonna love you so much it’ll annoy the shit out of you, but I’m not gonna care because you’re gonna be my wife, and Bear and Low are gonna be my kids—” He tried not to choke. “And I’ll be the happiest bastard on the planet, Jena Crowe. You just stay alive, okay?”

“You’re cocky… even when I’m bleeding out.”

“You’re not bleeding out!” He rammed his foot to the floor, barely noticing that the sirens had stopped behind him and the police car had pulled ahead, turning on its lights and giving them an escort as they hit the outskirts of the city. They blasted through the first set of lights. All traffic pulled over to the side of the road as they tore into town.