Page 11 of Shifted Existence

Unprepared for the power involved in opening a portal, Bailey staggered back as it formed, awash with roiling quicksilver that finally stilled and then receded until it only formed a framework that made the shining substance look like a mirror. This was the point from which the wolf-shifters had come and gone. She looked up to see two wolves enter the clearing. Almost immediately they were encased in a swirling electrical mist of shards of color and bolts of energy. It was fascinating, terrifying, and mesmerizing.

As the mist faded away, she could see one of the wolf-shifters was the one who’d tracked her to her cave.

“Don’t even think about it,” the large slab of muscle with the growing erection snarled. “You have done more than enough damage for one Hunt. I warn you mate, you are racking up the discipline you will receive when I get my hands on you.”

Without thinking Bailey jumped, ran to the portal, and just before she entered called back over her shoulder, “Fuck you, freak. I haven’t even begun to cause you and yours trouble.”

She ran into the darkness of the Void. Bailey wasn’t sure what she’d expected, but it wasn’t this. There was a wide pathway that seemed to stretch from the entrance she’d just come through to a light at the other end. On either side there was nothing but utter blackness. It was as if she was in a black hole. There was no other light save the two openings at either end of the path.

Not knowing what awaited her at the other end in the Eclipse Province but knowing what she would have to endure if she returned to the Conquered Realm, she ran, pulling the last bundle of explosives from her bag, lighting the fuse, and tossing it as far behind her as she could. She only had a fraction of a moment before she heard the bundle land and then explode.

“No!” roared the massive wolf-shifter.

Bailey smiled. From the sound of his voice, he was on the other side of the explosion. Fearing the path would react to the explosion the same way the cliff had, Bailey put on a burst of speed, covering the distance to the other end of the pathway faster than she had ever imagined she could.

She could see the doorway at the other end begin to wobble and start to collapse in on itself.Faster. Must go faster.Calling on reserves she didn’t know she had, telling herself she hadn’t come this far to fail, she leapt through what was left of the opening, curling into a ball when she was clear. Landing unharmed, but chilled to the bone, she rolled to her feet and spun around, threatening anyone close with her knife… only she was alone and able to watch as the portal blipped out of existence.

I made it. I actually made it.

Knowing that now was not the time to stop and congratulate herself, she headed out into the forest, avoiding the established paths and keeping the sound of what she hoped was a river on her right. She shook her head at her own recklessness. She knew nothing about the Eclipse Province. Nothing. That wasn’t exactly true, though. She knew it wasn’t the Conquered Realm and she would find a way to carve out a better life for herself.

Moving silently through the dense foliage, Bailey began to look for a good hiding place—one deep in the forest and easily defensible—to hunker down for the night. When she saw a hollow high in one of the massive trees, she wondered if there was anything that wasn’t enormous in this realm. She climbed up the trunk of the tree, using skills she had learned as a child, and found it empty. She crawled inside and made herself as comfortable as possible. She would wait for morning, assuming this realm had a morning, and reassess how to proceed. She had to move forward… because there was no going back.

CHAPTER7

Talon raced into the clearing. As he had feared, it was his mate who had caused not only the destruction of the cavern system and part of the bluff itself, but had attacked and wounded one of his pack, Hemming. Even if he’d been inclined not to punish her for destroying what had been her home, she had now left him no choice. But after it was done, he would praise her for her cunning and courage.

Any she-wolf attacking another member of the pack was subject to public, or at least witnessed, discipline and he would not make an exception for his own mate. Talon had learned that it wasn’t just the physical discipline that kept some she-wolves in line, it was the idea of being humbled and forced to submit in front of the pack. He had no doubt his mate was going to have to learn the hard way.

“My apologies, Alpha. She knocked me out cold…” started Hemming.

“You have nothing to apologize for. It is my mate who will atone for the things she has done this night. She is intelligent, courageous, and willful,” said Talon.

“She will match your spirit. The children you breed on her will no doubt be fearsome warriors.”

Talon smiled. “Are you injured?”

“Nothing but my pride. My mate has eluded me. I think she will return to the village.”

“Take another of our group with you and go fetch her back. Search the village to ensure there aren’t any other fair maidens trying to escape their obligations to us. If there are, bring them along, we will take them as tribute. Those in the capital are supposed to ensure we have all those who are eligible available to the hunt.”

“Yes, Alpha. Do you think she damaged the portal?”

“Damaged?” Talon scoffed. “I think she blew it into infinity. I have no idea the damage she’s done, but I need to find her. The Council may want to put a bounty on her head for what she has done. I will need to demonstrate this behavior was a fluke and that she will not escape me to cause trouble again. I need to return to the Eclipse Province and claim her as mine.”

The wolf who had been with Talon shifted again, as did Hemming, and the two galloped away back to the village. Talon grinned. He didn’t like Hemming’s mate’s chances of not being taken back through the portal already claimed and headed into transition. It wouldn’t be the worst thing if they found other females in hiding. It would give him the leverage he needed to ensure that those here in the Conquered Realm lived up to their responsibilities. Besides, he had two warriors in the main guard about ready to return to them. Having the ability to claim a mate before doing so wasn’t such a bad thing.

Talon turned to survey the scorched earth and torched remnants of the portal’s frame and pieces of the pathway that had been expelled through it before it collapsed. Closing his eyes, he searched for her with his senses. Obviously, she was no longer in the Conquered Realm, but he truly believed if she had thrown away her own life, he would feel her absence. He didn’t. His mate lived. Now, all he had to do was find her, claim her, and tame her. The first was going to be problematic with him on one side of the Void and her on the other, but he was looking forward to the second two.

The damage she had done to the cliff that had once risen from the riverbank had been substantial. When she’d blown the cavern and the tunnel system, it had been destructive enough to cause part of the top of the bluff to collapse in on itself. He had to admit, she had acted without fear and had meant to cause as much chaos as she could. He had no doubt she meant to do the same in the Eclipse Province. He needed to get a message to Blitz and Artemis so they could start looking for her.

Without an alpha’s mark or any way to prove she belonged to him, she was fair game in the Eclipse Province. Her courage and intelligence would precede her wherever she went, and her beauty and underlying sensuality would make her a prize. He needed to get home in order to claim her as his own.

That she was his fated mate was not in question as far as he was concerned, but if she were claimed by another, Talon would have to challenge and then fight for her. If claimed by another alpha, it would be a fight to the death and could spark a war. He couldn’t allow that to happen any more than he could allow another wolf to make her his own.

The men of this world were weak and useless. They did nothing to help their females become all they could be. Each of the she-wolves who had started out as a feral in the Conquered Realm and was now a member of the Storm Rift Pack was proud, strong, and thriving with a mate to see to her needs and give her the kind of loving dominance she needed. He was certain that even if they were given the ability to return to the Conquered Realm, they wouldn’t do it.

Talon considered making camp and sleeping until the sunrise, but time was of the essence and his mate had already proven herself capable of tremendous destructive forces. He needed to get back to the Eclipse Province as quickly as possible. Talon shifted back to his wolf form, picked up the bundle of clothing he had with him and began to make his way to the capital. If he could keep up a good pace, he should be there by morning.

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