Page 2 of Their Shared Mate
“It’s been three days,” Heather objected. “What’s taking them so long?”
It was a damn good question. It had taken many hours to hike up into the mountains, but none of the females could shift into animals. Surely, in lion form the rescue party had plenty of time to reach the lupine stronghold. “I don’t know,” Claire admitted. “Maybe they don’t know where this place is.”
“And maybe they figure all of us have been claimed by now, so starting shit with the wolves no longer makes sense,” Kylie said from the other side of Heather. Clearly, she’d been following the conversation. “We all expected to be claimed by now. It’s likely the cats came to the same conclusion.”
“Can you contact Tara?” Heather asked, the hopeful catch in her tone unmistakable. “Let her know we still want the lions to come?”
Claire sighed, trying to sound less powerless than she felt. “Tara contacted me. I have no idea how to activate the link. But they know how dangerous the wolves are. They won’t just give up.”
As if to support Claire’s claim, a high-pitched cry tore through the quiet. The women tensed and looked around.
“What the hell was that?” Heather whispered, scooting closer to Claire. “It sounded like a pissed-off bird.”
The sound rang out again, more distinct this time. It was sharp and resonant, definitely avian. But what sort of bird could cry that loudly?
A series of thuds drew Claire’s attention to the ceiling. Either something heavy was being thrown at the building or a small army had just landed on the roof. She tossed aside the blanket and reached for her boots. “Get dressed,” she urged the others. “If help has finally arrived, we need to be ready to run.”
“And if another wolf pack is attacking?” Kylie objected, but she reached for her shoes.
“Then I’ll run even faster,” Claire countered.
Shouts and louder thuds warned that the assailants had breached the defenses and were inside the building. Desperate to see what was going on, Claire went to the door and tried the knob. As it had been since they arrived, the knob was securely locked. “Damn it,” she muttered under her breath.
The unmistakable zip of energy weapons made her heart miss a beat. “That was a pulse pistol,” she said and raised her fist to the door. “The wolves have very few military weapons. This must be the cats.” Her conclusion was far from absolute, but she could donothing locked inside this room. She pounded several times then called out, “Hello! Can someone let us out? Hello!”
The door flew open, but a tall, dark-haired hybrid blocked the exit. “Door’s unlocked,” he told her. “But stay here. I’ll return when it’s safe.”
She nodded yet crept toward the doorway as the rescuer jogged back down the hall. Was he one of the feline shifters or was another wolf pack trying to establish dominance? It had only been a few days since the Riverside pack killed the old guard and took control of the lupine village. If she had to bet, she’d put her money on the cats. But all the hybrids were large and muscular. Feline shifters didn’t look significantly different than lupine or raptor shifters.
“Can you see what’s going on?” Heather was dressed and standing a short distance away.
Claire eased the portal open just far enough to give her a narrow view of the cabin’s main room. The front door hung off its hinges, clearly having been kicked in. Wind gusted through the room’s large windows and glass was scattered across the floor. Half the wolves had shifted. The other half were unconscious or restrained. The lions—except they weren’t lion shifters. Tall, muscular,wingedhybrids had come to rescue the females. They fired pulse pistols and deflected the attacking wolves with effortless swipes of their massive wings.
“Are the lions winning?” Heather asked, creeping closer to Claire.
“They’re raptors, but yes, they’re winning. The fight is just about over.”
“Raptors?” Kylie asked, sounding as shocked as Claire felt. “How can eagles fight off wolves?”
All the males were focused on the fight, so Claire allowed the door to swing open.
“Holy fuck,” Kylie muttered as she joined Claire in the doorway. “Did you know they could do that?”
Heather squeezed in between the other two. “I thought it was all or nothing when they shifted, animal or human. These guys are something in between.”
Claire watched the fight with a mixture of wonder and dread. The raptors moved with savage agility, attacking in pairs. Their wings were powerful yet graceful, swinging with unbelievable power or folding against their backs to stay out of the way. As the shock of their partial shift wore off, Claire noted other elements of their appearance. Each male was tall and lean, tightly muscled as opposed to bulky like so many of the lions. The raptors also had similar features, high cheekbones and square jawlines. Were they related, or had the changes to their DNA altered their human appearance? Most had gleaming amber eyes, but one had eyes like molten lava, a strange reddish orange.
Once Claire’s gaze landed on Mr. Orange Eyes, she couldn’t look away. Golden streaks highlighted his dark hair, and the start of a beard shadowed his jawline. He was ruggedly handsome, but that wasn’t what captivated Claire. The grace in his movements made her think of the angels she’d been fascinated with as a teen. No, a fallen angel. With his dark hair and flashing eyes, this winged being was definitely a fallen angel.
“Victor, behind you!” Orange Eyes shouted to the male who had opened the door.
Victor spun and kicked a charging wolf in the chest. The wolf yelped, but lunged for Victor’s throat.
Orange Eyes raised his blaster and shot the wolf in the head. The wolf shuddered violently then dropped lifeless to the floor. Pivoting to the side, Orange Eyes pointed his weapon at the final wolf. The wolf dropped his head and released his shift. As his humanoid form emerged, he held up his hands and slowly sank to his knees.
“Bind him,” Orange Eyes ordered the raptor standing nearby.
The soldier paused as his wings disappeared. They didn’t fold in on themselves or slide into the hybrid’s back. They turned translucent, then transparent as the matter gradually disintegrated and became pure energy. Then he drew the wolf’s hands behind his back and secured them with magnetic restraints.
