Page 24 of Primal Mirror

Remi wanted to kick himself. He’d gotten so caught up in her clear ability to go toe-to-toe with him that he’d forgotten her vulnerable state. To Auden Scott, he wasn’t Remi, her alpha who’d die to protect her; no, he was a stranger, bigger and stronger than her.

“You can keep hold of the weapon,” he said. “I can direct you from a distance.” Changelings might be tactile by nature, but skin privileges were just that: privileges. No changeling with any honor would just take that precious gift, no matter the context.

“First,” he said when she remained silent, “you need to learn the stance. You’re standing wrong for your current balance.”

He showed her the standard stance, then modified it for her present center of gravity, and after a long moment, she tried to copy it.

“Yeah, you almost have it.” Eyes on her legs so he could judge how well she was doing, he gave her step-by-step instructions to get her into the exact stance—it went painfully slowly, but at least she was willing to listen.

“It doesn’t feel right,” she muttered at one point, the steely facade falling to expose a woman with soft features and even softer lips.

“It will,” he said, shoving aside the unexpected spark of attraction for this woman who was an enigma in more ways than one; Remi couldn’t risk lowering his guard with her, not when he was responsible for an entire pack. “First, put the weapon away in your pocket, then lift your hands as if you’re holding it.”

It took her a long minute to follow his instruction, but once they got going, she proved a fast study. Sharp. Quick on her feet for a woman seven months into a pregnancy. “You’ve had training,” he said when they came to a stop. “In movement, if not in shooting.”

“Standard drills to help me evade kidnappers if I was ever in that position.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Not what I thought you were going to say.” But it made sense; she was the only child of two Councilors. A certain caliber of person would’ve seen her as a payday.

She retrieved the weapon from her pocket, her eyes shining in a way that was surprisingly adorable. “Can I shoot now?”

“Let’s go through the settings first.” Once they had, he told her to choose the lowest. “It’ll give you experience with the smaller recoils before trying to handle the big one.”

After doing as he’d suggested, she took the stance he’d taught her, sighted down the barrel as they’d practiced…and shot.

The beam hit the wall of the bunker behind the sign.

Her face fell.

He wanted to cuddle her, the response instinctive. “You singed your target,” he said, while reminding himself more harshly that he couldn’t take anything about Auden at face value. Even if it was fucking hard to remember that with her looking so dejected. “That means you’re two meters closer than when you started out.”

Walking over to the target, she peered at the left edge, her eyes in a squint. “You’re telling the truth!” She turned with a lightness to her step, appearing so young and innocent that it punched him in the gut that she hadn’t even hit her mid-twenties. He’d still been racing cars and battling to control his screwed up emotions when he was her age.

Six years and a lifetime ago.

Auden pointed at the spot with the singe mark. “I almost hit it!”

Remi’s leopard huffed on a surge of affection strong enough to bypass his wariness. “Almost,” he agreed, though that was the most generous interpretation of the word he’d ever heard.

“Let me try again,” she said, that new brightness lingering in eyes that had shifted back to a luminous blue during their lesson.

Then, as if forgetting she wasn’t alone, she stroked a hand over her stomach to cradle it, a faint curve to her lips as she looked down at her bump. The love and tenderness in her expression? He’d stake his life on it being genuine.

Who was the real Auden Scott?

Chapter 12

PsyNet disintegration has picked up speed at levels we can’t explain, given known factors. The time remaining has compressed to six months—but if the compression is cumulative, that estimate is useless.

—Report to the Ruling Coalition and EmNet from PsyNet Research Group Alpha (1 September 2083)

THE STATE OF her brain aside, the Auden with whom Remi spent the next half hour was the same one who’d come to him in the trees and spoken to him of his mother with an openness that was raw and without sophistication.

She was a wild and quixotic creature who argued with him over millimeters when he eyeballed how close she’d come with a shot, and who—at one point—asked if it hurt if someone stepped on his tail while he was in leopard form.

“I’m too fast for that to ever happen,” he growled back in insult.

A sly look. “I bet I could do it. Not step on it. Catch it.”

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