Page 7 of Shifted Existence

Bailey had felt helpless and had known there was nothing she could do, but seeing her friend treated in that manner and then carried away had left an indelible mark on her memory. Afterwards, she had refrained from becoming close to any of the other ferals. Bad enough to see any woman taken against her wishes, but to lose a friend in such a manner had been demoralizing and devastating.

Tales of the wolves’ savage mating rituals had been, she was sure, exaggerated—marked with a savage bite, raging libidos that they did nothing to curb, being secluded with a new mate for days on end, being turned from human to freak. Bailey had never understood those who believed appeasement would ever lead to anything better for humans. Why should the wolf-shifters change anything? In exchange for leaving a modest peace-keeping force, they were granted access to a veritable cornucopia of women from which to choose.

As for her own people, Bailey had no use for those in power. They weren’t being asked to give up their freedom and live a life of harsh reality, nor had they allowed themselves to be groomed to serve some mutant freak. The women who were taken were never heard from again. For all intents and purposes, once a woman was either admitted into the training program or chose to live free, she was dead to those she left behind. Those in power either knew very little or refused to share what they did know. They had no way of knowing if the stories of women being completely subjugated to the men who used corporal punishment to keep them in line were true. There was no way to know what really happened to these women. Were they killed if they didn’t produce? What happened to them when they could no longer conceive or carry a child to term? Were they cast out? Killed?

No, those in power here in the Conquered Realm had a lot to answer for if the people who remained, especially the women, were ever able to get to their feet again.

The wolves were efficient hunters. She would like to have had another day to prepare, but she dared not venture out. If she did, she would most likely be running for her life, tracked and pursued by lustful male wolves looking for a human mate.

Overrun by pollution, over-population, and several devastating plagues that the powers that be refused to classify as such, the Conquered Realm had become, even in the best of times, a harsh place to live. Unless one lived in one of the domed cities, conditions were at best post World War II. Most towns and villages stayed within their own territories and very few people moved from place to place. Trading was confined mostly to those within an individual’s own community.

Bailey produced the first of many cold breakfasts she would have in the next week. To have warm food meant a fire; fire meant smoke; smoke was a beacon for the wolves. No, better to eat dried or raw food than to be taken through the portal into an unknown future. And yet, she had long been curious about it. She wondered what it must be like in the Conquered Realm. Those who had seen it had portrayed both other existences as being cleaner, more temperate, and providing for an easier and more certain life.

After the most recent hunt, Bailey had tracked the wolves back to their point of embarkation. It was hidden from prying eyes, but her curiosity had been overwhelming and she had wanted to see if there was a way to shut it down permanently. Information often wasn’t reliable and Bailey often questioned how truthful or accurate the information was, especially concerning the wolf-shifters and their damned portals.

To hear the tales, it would appear that both realms were far more like the Conquered Realm had been before it had been devastated by war, famine, and plague. It would have been bad enough had their invaders brought the desolation with them, but they were not responsible for the sorry state of the Conquered Realm, nor for the conditions that allowed its citizens to be caught flat-footed and easily defeated.

Bailey prowled around her cave, already restless from her enforced captivity. How would she ever endure being confined to one place, one village, one dwelling for the remainder of her life? It was untenable. She had come, for the most part, to love her life of solitude and peace—to be responsible for no one or for anything. Just live and let live.

The idea of the cloistered life as a breeder was nauseating—to be the sexual plaything of some ravenous wolf with an overblown libido and a need to subjugate his mate was horrific. The very thing most women had nightmares about. Although, if she were being completely honest, Bailey had once had fantasies about such things. But that had been when she knew nothing of the other dimensions that existed along the fringes of the Void, and had no thought that her darkest desires would ever see the light of day.

What would it be like to live free—truly free? To be able to find a place of her own where others did not think to keep her confined to a single space to be hunted twice a year. But would she be free anywhere in the Conquered Realm? She doubted it. There was no place to go. No place to find respite and peace.

Bailey turned her thoughts toward the portal that led from the Conquered Realm to the Eclipse Province. If that dimension was as vast and wild as they’d been led to believe, would it be possible to live there without restraint? Was there a way to use that dreadful portal against those who thought to enslave her? Could it be worse than her current way of life? Each hunt, there were fewer females to be taken. Each time, it felt as if they tightened their targeted zone. Each time they came closer to finding her hide-out. During the last hunt, they’d gotten to the base of the cliff. She was fairly sure she would need to abandon her cave—one way or another—after this hunt. She’d always known she’d have to find another place to hide, but still, she would be sorry to leave it. Could it be that the answer to her solution was to leave this existence and find a better way?

She checked her trap lines and alarms from within her caves and made a tour of her escape routes to ensure they were clear and viable should the need arise. As she went through the motions, she knew the idea of somehow escaping through the portal into one of the other realities was fantastical, but it might prove to be her most viable option. They wouldn’t be expecting it, but she had no idea what lay on the other side. Would she walk right into a trap that she’d been trying to avoid?

The shifters’ arrogance seemed to know no bounds. They assumed no one would be able to figure out how they opened and closed the portal to their world. Bailey had figured it out. Each of the wolf-shifters had a kind of leather cuff that had three gems or stones on it. They could be pressed in the right combination to open and close the opening to the Void. Although they usually appeared en-masse, during the hunt they trickled back to their own realm with a mate either being dragged along by her hair or slung over a broad shoulder. It seemed like the only support they could provide.

Support as a feral was a myth and they all had come to understand it. They could not, as individuals or as a group, defeat the wolf-shifters. A direct confrontation would only ensure those that sought to challenge them would be taken as well. When some of the women had first gone feral, they had banded together, thinking there was safety in numbers. Their thinking had been wrong. While the wolf-shifters hunted their mates as individuals, when faced with a direct threat they banded together as a pack and were unbeatable.

The feral women still free had tried to find a way to keep a silent vigil as their sisters’ fates were sealed and they were taken away. More and more, as the day wore on the idea of eradicating her life in the Conquered Realm and creating one in the Eclipse Province began to take hold. Bailey began rummaging around in her things and found the box of explosives and detonators. She’d taught herself how to use them and while no expert, she was fairly sure she could destroy any trace of her time spent here with maybe even a little left over to damage the portal.

Feeling better than she had since the humans’ defeat at the hands of the wolf-shifters, Bailey began to hum a jaunty little tune as she began to dismantle the life she had created, separating the things she would take and those that she would leave behind and blow to kingdom come. If she managed to take along one or more of the bastards at the same time, so much the better. It felt good to finally be planning to seize her own destiny with both hands and claim a life that would be better than the one she’d been forced to accept.

CHAPTER 5

Passing through the Void was never a pleasant experience. It felt as though he was passing through some frozen kind of hell. A feeling like the element that those of some realms called electricity surged all around and through him, and yet when he emerged, he was left feeling as if he’d just survived submersion in an arctic sea. The cold was mind- and limb-numbing.

Being alpha, Talon entered and emerged first when they made use of a portal. Among those civilizations that knew of the Void, the inherent dangers were not unknown. The slowed reaction and disorientation from the use of the portal could prove fatal if those on the other end were unfriendly. He had to admit the humans had held to the terms of the treaty and no wolf had been harmed by any of the males on the planet since the end of the war. The females, on the other hand, when caught might be easily overpowered, but they were not inclined to go quietly. Their reaction was understandable, but they were not intimidated and didn’t submit without a fight. For those in the Storm Rift Pack, his realm, and Talon himself, that wasn’t such a bad thing.

The blinding sunlight as he came out of the dark passage through the Void only added to his disorientation. Knife drawn, he encountered no one. Nevertheless, he was relieved to see the last of his pack that had accompanied him step onto the firm earth of the Conquered Realm. Before anyone could say anything, the portal collapsed so that none from the Conquered Realm could steal into the Eclipse Province.

Each of the hunters had been given a special armband that would re-open the portal when they returned to the site and activated it. This allowed hunters to return to the Eclipse Province as they found their mates, rather than all at once. If for some reason the device that summoned the doorway failed, a hunter could either make his way with his mate to the capital city where there was a permanent path through the Void or wait for another wolf-shifter with a device.

Talon sniffed the air. This world smelled badly of pollution and far too much humanity. No doubt he would find his fated mate within short order and they would be able to make the journey home. Knowing she was here, thanks to the mysterious mirror, made Talon far more impatient to be on his way.

“Everyone has their armband and the weapons we are allowed?” Talon asked.

One of the men looked around at the others. “Should one of us accompany you?”

“Do you think me incapable of defending myself or subduing my mate?” he growled. “If so, then I am not fit to lead you and you should challenge me to take my place as alpha.”

“No, Alpha, never that. It’s just that we have no wish to lose you and other alphas are never without a group of warriors to protect them.”

“Long ago, I made sure I was the best of our warriors; that is why I lead. While I understand your intent was not to insult, I will be fine on my own. Now go… pick up the scent of the female you want and take her home. The sooner we are back, the better.”

“May I ask why you came this time? Your disdain for this realm and its people is well known.”

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