Page 151 of Mortal Shift
“I’ll stay and help them,” Alina said.
“Alina…” Cole started, but she cut across him.
“I led it here, this is my responsibility. Get the human to safety. Both of you.”
Jax looked to Cole, his face shadowed with indecision, and Cole jerked his chin in a curt nod and yanked his shirt over his head. Jax followed suit, and the pair of them quickly stripped, then shifted into their wolf forms. Thaden and Thessalia raced into the trees, splitting onto either side of the creature.
I wrenched my eyes from them and scooped to grab the shifters’ discarded clothing, then scrambled onto Cole’s back. He leaped forward and I threw myself forward and fisted the fur between his shoulder blades, dropping half the clothes in the process. Dammit! But that was the least of our problems right now.
Cole raced through the woods, launching himself over fallen trees and twisting between trunks, Jax on his flank, and it was all I could do to cling to him, crouching low over his back to avoid the branches that whipped inches above us.
We raced through the night for what seemed like an eternity. By the time Cole slowed to a walk and then a halt, my legs were like jelly, and my hands were cramping from holding onto his fur. He turned his head around to look at me, an unspoken question in his eyes, and I nodded in response. Then when I didn’t slide from his back, he gently nudged on my leg and whined.
“I, um, think I’m going to need some help,” I admitted in a small voice. Jax huffed something that sounded suspiciously like a laugh, until Cole twisted round to glare at him. Then, without another sound, my mate shifted back into human form, and with a loud humph of surprise, I found myself cradled in a pair of distinctly human arms. He captured my lips in a kiss before setting me gently on the ground, watching me warily for a moment as I found my balance. I nodded my thanks then remembered the clothing still caught under my arm, and thrust it out to him.
He shook the garment out, raising a quizzical eyebrow as he discovered himself holding nothing but a single pair of pants.
“Hey, don’t look at me, it was a bumpy ride. Be grateful I managed hold onto anything at all.” Aside from the contents in my stomach, that was, and that had been in question there for a minute.
Cole just smiled in response and tugged on the pants, and I couldn’t help feel a little disappointed that he was keeping them for himself, and not passing them to Jax. Of the two of them, I knew which I’d rather be getting an eyeful off for the rest of the evening.
“Don’t worry,” he said, a mischievous glint in his eye, as though he knew exactly what I was thinking—which wouldn’t be the first time.
“Jax is going to stay in his wolf form, make the most of his wolf senses to give us early warning if anything tries to sneak up on us,” he said, and Jax nodded his acceptance of the order. “And I’m sure we’ll find a good excuse to get rid of these pants later.”
I elbowed him, my feeling my cheeks beginning to turn red, but he just shrugged unrepentantly as he wrapped an arm around my waist, and across from us I heard Jax give another huff of laughter.
Shaking my head, I turned my attention from the pair of them to the area we were standing in. It was a small clearing, shielded on three sides by thick foliage that looked impenetrable, and only slightly less dense foliage on the other. I was certain I hadn’t been here before, but then, the academy grounds were vast, and I had no doubt there were large areas I still hadn’t explored. Like the one I was in right now.
“What is this place?” I asked Cole.
“Just a place I come when I need some...privacy,” he said, flicking his eyes briefly to Jax, and I couldn’t help but notice the wolf was paying a lot of attention to what we said. Translation: ‘nothing I can tell you in front of him’. Which meant it had something to do with Thaden, which was no surprise, given that coming here had been Thaden’s suggestion. And I could see from the look on Jax’s face that I wasn’t the only one to pick up on that. But that was a problem for another day. First, we had to get through tonight.
“So, what now?” I asked, but no sooner had the words left my mouth than there was a rustling of leaves, and three figures burst into the clearing. Thaden and Thessalia, with Alina on their flank.
Cole crossed to them and grasped Thaden’s hand in his own, before nodding to Thessalia and Alina. If Jax hadn’t been under orders to remain in his wolf form, I was pretty sure he’d have all kinds of questions right now.
“Good to see you in one piece,” Cole said. “How did you manage to lose it?”
Thaden shrugged carelessly, and gave a smile that sent shivers down my spine, reminding me exactly how much of a predator he was. “We just led it to some easier prey.”
I felt a lance of pity for whichever unfortunate Thaden had sic’d the wraith onto, and not for the first time, I found myself grateful he was on our side.
“What now?” I asked, glad for an excuse not to dwell on whatever carnage Thaden had left in his wake.
“Now,” he said, cold amusement in his voice, “we find some way to while away the night. Any suggestions, sweetness?”
I flushed furiously, and Thessalia made an impatient sound.
“There will be time enough to play with your food later, brother,” she said, her voice and posture the picture of disdain. Of the four of us, she was the only one pulling off the facade of reluctant allies, and doing it well, I had to grudgingly admit. Probably helped that she hated me though, which gave her something of an unfair advantage. Either way, I was pretty sure that ship had sailed, and we were going to be facing some awkward questions from Jax come in the morning. I just hoped he sided with Cole and not his pack, otherwise our survival might not be worth much at all.
“Might as well make ourselves comfortable,” Cole said. “Everyone get some rest while we can. We’ll take turns keeping watch through the night—I’ll take first watch.”
“I’ll stand guard with you, just in case you missed anything, wolf,” Thessalia said, once again proving she was the only one of us capable of maintaining this facade, and sending a bout of jealousy through me at the thought of her being awake and almost alone with Cole—her ex-fiancé. Exhaling heavily, I tried to bury the thought before it showed on my face, and then leaned back against the tree behind me, attempting to get comfortable as my eyes slid shut.
*
It took me a moment to work out why I was awake, and then Thaden’s face swam into focus. I searched his face for some sign of why he was shaking me awake, but I didn’t need it—his silent movements and his finger pressed to his lips told me everything I needed to know. It had found us. I didn’t know what that meant for the students Thaden had led it to earlier in the night, and I didn’t have time to worry about it. The wraith was here.
