Page 32 of Banishing Regrets

The first shifter he encountered was a panther. He made quick work of rescuing the human the cat was about to maul. Bullets bounced off Kas’ skin, turning to dust when they hit him. He was glad for Jessica’s spell. It was the only thing saving them.

Well, that and Selene who flew majestically in the sky. She drew the helicopters away from the people on the ground. They chased after her, firing their weapons, but with Jessica’s spell in place, the bullets bounced off Selene’s hard scaly skin. It was a spectacular sight, even though it was one Kas wished he didn’t have to witness. Selene darted back and forth, the tip of her tail swiping the weapons off the helicopters while being careful not to hurt the humans. When a helicopter made a dramatic evasive move, one of the soldiers within it lost their footing, and not being strapped in, he fell. The man tumbled through the air.

“Jessica!” Kas called out to the witch, but he didn’t need to worry—Selene was already there.

The falling soldier landed on Selene’s back, then she flew low to safely deposit him on the ground. He looked back up at Selene as she took to the sky again, his mouth wide open. He was seeing the truth of the situation. Half the shifters were trying to kill them, but the other half were protecting them.

Kas knew that Selene was the difference between life and death for them all at the moment. She was controlling her powers. The prophecy had finally come true.

Two human soldiers stepped toward Kas, their guns drawn ready to fire.

“Turn back to human form and surrender. We will shoot if you make any sudden moves.”

Kas shut his eyes. He allowed his body to return to human form.

“I mean you know harm. Look around you. I am one of the shifters protecting you from those who want to hurt you.”

“You expect us to believe you after you took our president?” one of the men scoffed.

“You need to look closer to see the truth. Your president is safe and ordering you to stop. Fall back and let us deal with those who want to cause you harm.”

“Filthy animal. We won’t stop until your dead. I’ll hang your head on my wall.”

Kas’ hopes for a united future faded in that moment. He knew it was too soon for the human race. The seed had been planted, but it needed to grow before they could live together safely.

“So be it.”

Kas shifted back to his animal form, but before he had a chance to take the men out without killing them, the high-pitched scream of a woman filled the air. He turned to where, a moment ago, Selene had been flying in dragon form, but now she was falling from the sky in her human form. Kas looked around to see Ciaran standing some distance away, wrapped in swirls of black magic. He’d forced Selene to change back. His magic had returned, and he was now more powerful than any of them had anticipated.

“Jessica,” Kas shouted as Selene continued to fall. The speed she was traveling at would prove fatal the second she hit the ground.

The white witch turned her head to where the screams were coming from. Brayden raced to be beneath Selene. He returned to human form as tendrils of white magic wrapped around Selene—they slowed her fall and guided her into Brayden’s arms.

Kas let out a sigh of relief.

“I can’t change,” Selene informed them all by telepathic link. “My magic is blocked. What do we do?”

“Get Selene out of here, Brayden,” Kas ordered. “Jessica, concentrate on Ciaran. Prevent him from using his magic. If he can stop Selene, then he can stop us all. We need our animal forms.”

“I will.” Jessica flew up in the air and made a beeline for her ex-lover.

The witch had taken Ciaran’s powers once before. She’d do it again. Ciaran flew up to meet her, and they battled within a cloud of white and black magic.

Kas turned back to the human army in front of him. They’d watched Selene falling from the sky as well.

“How strong are you now, without your dragon!” one of them taunted, and Kas heard the click of a trigger.

The soldiers didn’t get the chance to fire their weapons when another polar bear suddenly leaped from the shadows. Nuka’s powerful jaws were locked around the neck of the man who’d threatened he was going to hang Kas’ head on his wall. The man was already dead.

“Nuka, no,” Kas shouted as he launched himself at his brother who was preparing to attack another human. His twin had blood dripping from his mouth. “Please, stop.”

It was futile, though. Kas was stupid to think his plea would have any effect on his brother. Nuka was lost in the blood lust and chaos of war.

The time to make his decision was now.

It was him or Nuka.

Kas raised his paw and swiped hard at his brother, and while the war continued to rage around them, Nuka and his brother began a fight to the death.

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