Page 37 of Shifted Existence

CHAPTER20

Breakfast had been a joyous noisy affair with all but one of the invited alphas in attendance. In front of their pack and guests, they took their vows amid cheering and well wishes. Bailey realized this was what had been destroyed in the Conquered Realm, long before the invaders came—celebrations, bliss, a sheer delight in living.

“Are you all right?” asked Dani as she leaned into Bailey.

“I’m more than all right. In an ironic twist of fate, I find myself not wanting to leave here… not wanting to leave him. A little more than a week ago I wanted him dead; now I find myself thinking if something happened to him, I’d want to die just so we could move on into the next life together.”

“If you don’t want to go, tell Talon. He’ll figure out another way and just tell everyone he wasn’t willing to risk you. They’ll believe him because it’s the truth.”

“Wouldn’t you be clamoring to go if you weren’t pregnant? It has to be someone the ferals know. We have to get them out of there. Talon doesn’t trust either of the Councils. I don’t trust Bardulf. Talon insulted him. A man like that won’t let an insult like that slide.”

“You do know our she-wolves already look to you for inspiration. News of their being allowed to train as a kind of sniper archer has a lot of them vying for a place on the new unit. I am convinced Blitz is the one behind the no pregnant she-wolves rule.”

Bailey laughed. “He does have a point.”

As breakfast was drawing to a close, the last of the invited alphas was brought into the village. He had been wounded and was taken to the medic’s tent. Talon sent Blitz to attend to him and find out what happened. Bailey knew when Blitz hurried back, the news wasn’t good.

“The Councils have agreed to round up the ferals and to work together to come up with a new plan.”

“They’re blaming me, aren’t they?” said Bailey.

“Yes, but you are just the convenient excuse. If you hadn’t done what you’d done, they’d have found another reason. I don’t want you to go. It’s too dangerous,” said Talon.

Bailey took his hand in hers and kissed his knuckles. “If you send enough warriors to get them, you will be in violation of the treaty. But me with just a couple of warriors and a new portal can sneak in and out before they know what happened.”

Quietly, with only two warriors in attendance, Talon told the pack and their guests that Bailey was still recovering from her transition and that he was taking her back to their yurt. The new portal had been established behind their dwelling in such a way that it was hidden from view. They left the two warriors outside, and entered, moving through the space to the hidden exit at the back. Two additional warriors awaited their arrival, as did the shimmering quicksilver doorway into the Void.

Bailey stood on her tip toes. “I love you and I will return.”

Talon fastened the bracelet that called forth the portal around her wrist before he gave her backside an affectionate swat. “You’d better, or I’m coming after you and you’ll get a taste of my belt.”

She headed to the portal, looked back and grinned. “I’d far rather have the taste of your cock.”

The last thing she heard before she stepped through the glistening surface spanning the frame was his laughter.

CHAPTER21

The passage back to the Conquered Realm was in some ways far more frightening. When she had charged through the portal to reach the Eclipse Province, she had no idea what awaited her. She was returning to the Conquered Realm she knew all too well. The last time she’d been running for her life. This time, she was going to try and give a new life to those who had been so poorly used.

The Void was surreal. It was almost like being in transition again, only this time she knew she was on a path and could see the destination. She could feel the two warriors Talon had sent right behind her. One would stay hidden but close to the portal, and the other had been given orders not to let her out of his sight.

The cold of the Void was numbing. Even in the deadliest winter, she couldn’t remember being this chilled—a chill that seem to settle deep in her bones. Coming out on the other side, she could see little crystalized ice pellets that clung to her hair.

“You are well, Mistress?”

She nodded. “I’m still not used to the taking off my clothes and being naked thing, so let me step behind this rock and we’ll shift.”

“If you and Keegan will hand me your clothes, I will bundle them up so that Keegan can carry them easily.”

When she was behind the boulder, she disrobed, tossed her clothes over the top, and then did as Talon had taught her. She closed her eyes and called her she-wolf to come forward. The massive beast with her tawny coat rose from where she rested and galloped towards her, leaping as Bailey’s body began to shift from human to beast. The swirling mist seemed to dance all around her, and Bailey marveled at how normal it seemed, especially when it dissipated and she looked down to find she no longer had hands, but paws instead.

Trotting out from behind the rock, she waited for her escort as she had promised Talon she would do, and they headed out to the first of the mines. If possible, she wanted to ensure that they could take the makings of a coating for their arrows that would pack more of a punch than just the arrowhead alone.

Being back and being back as a wolf were two entirely different things. On the one hand, she knew the area well, but on the other she was experiencing it as if for the first time. The chemical-laden air was brackish, and she wondered how she’d ever thought of it as fresh. The grass that in the Eclipse Province felt soft and spongy beneath her paws now felt hard, stale, and almost lifeless. Talon was right, the Conquered Realm was dying. She could feel it in every fiber of her body.

The first of the two mines was empty. There was nothing they could use. She marveled at how much faster she could make that determination using her sense of smell as well as that of sight. The second of the two provided a wealth of not only explosive materials, but solar lanterns and several solar battery packs. Bailey knew in her life before the invaders that Dani had worked with solar energy and felt her friend could make good use of them.

Keegan shifted, and shook out the saddle bags, placing the objects they would need inside them before separating Bailey’s clothing from the other things and placing them in a neat pile on the ground. After Keegan shifted back to his wolf and allowed her some privacy. Bailey shifted and quickly pulled on her clothing. She wore the gold-colored shift, something the other ferals had seen her wear, as well as sandals that would protect her feet from the harsh ground. Dressed and ready to proceed, she put the harness with the saddlebags on Keegan and then led him to the first of the waterholes she knew the ferals frequented.

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