“You’re looking serious over there,” Gibson said as they walked into the wolf’s home. He pointed to the chair near the tattoo station and lifted his chin. “Sit. I’ll get you ready. Now, tell me what’s on your mind.”
Cole did as he was told. He hadn’t bothered to put a shirt on, so he didn’t have to deal with that. “I thought you didn’t like to speak while doing this. That’s what Holden said.” Holden was the wolf Alpha. He’d married a newly-turned human a couple of months back, and that had been the catalyst for not only the move of the Packs but so much more.
“I don’t like to speak unless I have something to say. And I like talking to you because you usually just listen.” Gibson worked on setting up his station and prepping Cole’s back. This was the second day of work on the piece. While humans would have to wait between sessions, he healed fast enough that he only had to wait a day. He could have probably done it all in one session, but that was asking a lot of the wolf who had his own duties within the compound.
“So, you never did say anything about Anya. Why does she hate you so much?” The wolf’s foot worked the pedal and he began working on Cole’s back. The buzz of the needle settled Cole’s cat and he relaxed, even as he thought about Anya and her apparent dislike of him.
“She called me lazy.”
Gibson snorted. “Well, you kind of are, but probably not for the reasons she thinks.”
“I’m not lazy.” Cole scowled. “I just don’t like wasting my energy on things that I won’t win. Or at least things that won’t be worth it if I win. The cubs wanted to play, and I didn’t want to growl at them to go. At least with me there, they were safe.
“But she didn’t see it that way. I’d say she shouldn’t have let the cubs get out, but there’s no way to stop shifter cubs sometimes. The fact that they felt safe enough to venture out tells you she raised them right. Thanks to the humans surrounding us, some shifters scare the hell out of their children to keep them safe. So much that they inherently cripple them.”
And that was the crux of it. They were shifters, not human. They had the ability to become the animal they were born with and, therefore, had to assume the responsibility that came with it. When they’d come out to the humans and revealed that there was something more to them than the others understood, shifters had been forced into compounds—collared and branded, but not forgotten. He’d been three when his parents risked their lives trying to protect him. They’d lost the battle, and he’d ended up raised by a group of shifters within the den walls who had tried to heal the orphans of their generation.
His people had lost so much, and now with each new decision brought on by the Shifter Accommodation Unit—the SAU for short—he was afraid they’d be one step closer to a new war where the casualty of peace would be far greater than the wars of their past.
Gibson worked on his back, and Cole tried to settle the deep ache in his bones that told him that peace was far from being within his grasp. He may be deemed lazy by a certain momma bear, but he hadn’t earned that description. He’d fight for what was his—bleed for it, die for it.
Only, a new age was upon them, and the three shifter Packs were forced to live with one another as punishments for crimes that shouldn’t have been deemed offenses in the first place, Cole wasn’t sure he would be able to fight an enemy he didn’t understand.
His world had changed once again, and he knew he’d have to take a stand with his Pack and with the other Packs he now lived with, to protect his people. He just prayed Anya and her cubs weren’t caught in the crossfire. He’d seen the pain in her eyes, the weariness that came from years of being on alert, tuned to the danger from those who would rise against them. He didn’t want to see that again, didn’t want to see the woman who had raised those cubs hurt because of a battle far from being won. Only he didn’t know why he felt that way, nor did he feel he had the right to.
He was only a lazy cat, a Tracker, a jaguar. Only worth the blood he put on the line.
Nothing more. Nothing less.
Chapter 2
Anya Dare ran her hands through her hair and refused to think about that damn lazy cat and his feline ways. She knew she probably shouldn’t have been so curt with him, considering it was her sons that had snuck out of her home and gone to the damn tree. But she always got flustered around him.
And that was the cause of her attitude.
She’d barely seen Cole in his human form since she was forced to take her family and move into the new compound. In fact, it seemed the only times she saw him were when he was lying about in that tree, not caring that her two boys were playing with his tail, and completely ignoring her instructions. Well, that wasn’t exactly accurate. The only times she’d spoken to him were when he was relaxing, but she’d seen him outside his tree area.
She’d caught glimpses of him around her new den. He was the Tracker for the cats, so he was always on patrol—his body on alert, though the damn man somehow made himself look relaxed, as if he hadn’t a care in the world. If she hadn’t seen the intensity in his eyes when he was watching out for a human guard patrol, she would have thought him the worst Tracker she’d ever seen. But she’d seen into those hazel depths and knew he cared about his Pack, his people.
And that bugged her to no end for some reason. Though it shouldn’t have because, hell, he was doing his duty to his Pack. But he just bugged her.
It had nothing to do with his chestnut hair that was longer on the top but cut shorter on the sides. Nor did it have to do with his beard that she knew was long enough to touch his chest if he lowered his chin ever so slightly. She was not attracted to a freaking cat.
Sure, she could admire his form—human and shifter. She was a woman, after all. He was taller than her—which at her height of five-ten wasn’t actually as common as she’d like. And he had smooth muscle that didn’t make him look bulky, just strong as hell. But admiration was all it could be. Appreciation from afar; annoyance up close. Because, darn it, she didn’t have time for lazy cats and their indolent ways.
Again, it was only her attention to detail that made this matter. She was just looking out for her people in a new compound. She’d noticed many cats and wolves. Cole was not special.
He was annoying, conceited, and not worth a second look. Or a third. Or even a fourth.
“You done brooding over there?” Oliver asked, a smirk on his face.
She stuck out her tongue. Real mature. She was the younger sister, after all; she shouldn’t have to be as grown up as her big bear of a brother. Of course, they were both in their early thirties, and that two-year difference didn’t matter much. Technicalities.
Oliver ran a hand through his shoulder-length hair and grinned. She wanted to take a photo so she could remember that smile since he didn’t do it often. The weight of the Pack—the world—rested on his shoulders most days, and she didn’t know how to help him. But if acting as young as her sons helped her brother smile, she’d do it again in a heartbeat.
“Momma, I’m sorry,” Owen whispered, his hands clasped in front of him and his head lowered. He was her quiet baby. He followed Lucas and did what his brother did, not because he had to, but because he wanted to. He was happy being a follower and doing what he could to make their day better. He was her emotional baby, and she loved him.
“Yeah, Momma, sorry for running away.” Lucas bounced on his feet as he spoke, his teeth biting into his lip. Lucas was her loud and take-charge baby. He took Owen on adventures and wanted to explore everything before moving on. While Owen may stay back and study something a little longer, Lucas was ready to jump into the next thing quickly. Though he could be a little louder, he was sweet when he needed to be. He was her fiery baby, and she loved him just as much.
It was hard for Anya to stay mad at her boys for long, but sometimes, they needed to learn that boundaries were put in place for a reason. She hadn’t grown up within the confines of a compound. She’d known what it was like to run free in the forest, to have to hi
de what she was, yet still know she was free. Her children had been born after the Verona Virus, and into a world where they had never tasted the freedom she craved. And because of that, they had to learn the hard way that their world wasn’t one they could let their guard down in. She hated that—hated it—but maybe one day she’d be able to give her children something better than the tall walls that surrounded them.
Anya knelt in front of them, trying not to smile. She wasn’t truly angry with them. She couldn’t be when they were just being curious shifter children. But she’d been scared. And that was something that needed to be addressed. Because, despite the fact that they were inside a small compound with numerous shifters she didn’t know or understand, it was the humans who ventured in that worried her most of all.
The humans thought they owned them. They ruled over them. Put laws on them, and branded them. She’d been forced to watch her cubs be branded just last year. The Alpha had taken the pain inside himself, using the magic of the Pack to keep her babies from agony. The humans didn’t know the Alpha could do this, and she would be forever grateful that they didn’t. The SAU thought they were subjugating the entire shifter population to fire at a young age. Instead, the Alpha—Andrew in her Pack’s case—felt each lick of flame as his own. If the humans found out what the shifters could do, they’d use it to their advantage. Then they’d find another way to hurt the shifters’ children. She’d been forced to watch her babies’ flesh be burned and marked so that they were forever known as not human at a glance.
And because of this, because of her nightmares about the screams she’d forced them to voice, though she knew they’d felt no pain, she had to be strict when it came to their safety.
“I know you’re sorry, boys.” She felt Oliver’s gaze on her, but her brother let her do what she had to. Her brother was unmated, and because she’d been an idiot years ago, she was, as well. She and Oliver raised her boys together because there was no way she’d be able to do it alone, but in times like these, Oliver let her lead. They were her children, her responsibility, the lights of her life.
“Are we in trouble?” Lucas asked. He shifted from foot to foot, looking far too cute for his own good.
“Yes, but that’s because you have to learn to be careful.” Lucas opened his mouth to speak, but Owen nudged his shoulder into his twin’s. Lucas closed his mouth, and Anya held back a sigh. Damn it. She didn’t want to be the nice and mean parent all at once. She wanted a partner, had wanted it all those years ago. But the human man who had told her he loved her when he’d visited the compound with the others had lied. He was one of the medical professionals who had come in to do health checks on the Pack. Some had been there under that guise, but had actually wanted to learn more about shifter physiology. The man who had taken her to bed had told her he wanted to help people. She’d believed him, stupidly, and had ended up pregnant.
When the thought of being labeled a shifter lover became too much, he’d left her pregnant and alone.
“Momma?”
She closed her eyes at Owen’s voice and took a deep breath. She needed to keep her head out of the past and look toward the future. Her sons were her future, and they were the most important thing—not broken promises and lies.
“I know you want to go out and play, but we’re still new here. We need to make sure we all understand how this new compound works.”
“But I like the cats,” Lucas said. “I mean, you told us there were others like us, but different, but we only saw bears before.”
“Uh-huh. I like seeing the cats. And sometimes there’s a wolf that sleeps under the tree when Cole sleeps in the branches. They’re friends I think.”
Anya thinned her lips. That wolf would be Gibson, the Pack tattoo artist. She didn’t envy that job in the slightest since part of his job was to ink over brands and make them the shifters’ own. He and Cole were friends it seemed, though she didn’t know the wolf well. She didn’t know the cat well either. Or at all.
“I think they are,” she agreed, trying to keep her attention on her sons and not the cat. “But boys, please do what I say. Okay? Once we know the lay of the land, we can go out and play more, but for now, we have to be careful. I know it’s not fun to be locked up inside all the time, but it won’t be forever.”
Her boys nodded, their little faces in frowns. She held out her arms and they went to her, wrapping their tiny little arms around her neck. She squeezed them tightly, inhaling their little boy scent. Her babies wouldn’t be little forever, and she cherished these hugs, even if they came after her having to be harsh.
“Okay, now I have to go to a meeting with your uncle and the Alphas, but the maternal bears will watch you to make sure you stay out of trouble.”
Owen smiled up at her, his eyes bright. “We’ll stay out of trouble.”
“You bet,” Lucas agreed.
Anya thought they had a fifty-fifty shot at not getting put in the corner by one of the maternals, but she didn’t say that. Cubs needed to push their boundaries as they found their dominance and structure, but it was the safety issues that made her worry. A momma bear always worried.
She kissed her sons quickly then led them to the maternals’ camp, an older building that they were renovating. When they’d been forced to move into this compound, they’d left their homes and pasts behind. They’d been allowed to bring whatever meager possessions they’d acquired over their lives, but that was it. Now they were forced to use a third of the compound that had once been filled with all wolves. People were living two to three families to a home while they worked on building more. She and Oliver had their own place since he was the Foreseer and needed space to keep sane, for lack of a better word, but their home was half the size of the one they’d used to have, and honestly, their old place hadn’t been all that large. The wolves and cats were helping with the construction since they too had to build more to accommodate their numbers. Things were in such flux that she wasn’t sure what the future held, but she’d go into it with her chin held high. There wasn’t another choice.
“I’m not really in the mood to deal with a meeting of the Alphas,” Oliver said softly as they made their way to the center of the den. The compound had been split as evenly as possible into thirds with the addition of the bears, but the center was for all shifters. The forested area was also mixed, as the humans hadn’t allowed them that much room to begin with. Anya had a feeling the territory, as it was, would one day blend even more. There wasn’t enough space to keep just a dividing line between them. That was one of the points of the meeting that day, she knew.
Oliver was part of the meeting as the Foreseer, and since he didn’t have a mate, he was allowed to bring Anya. Visions took a lot out of him, and he needed someone there to catch him if he fell. No one would ever dare think he was weak for his need of another, but it still took a toll. It also wasn’t as if he could lean on anyone else. The closer he got to someone, the less clear his or her future became to him. He couldn’t read his own path, nor could he get more than a casual glimpse of hers or her sons’. She hated that he put so much distance between himself and the rest of the world, but he did so to protect them. Or so he said. She’d always thought it was a way to protect himself, as well.
“It won’t be too long, I don’t think. It’s just the Alphas, Betas, and your counterparts, right?”
Oliver nodded. “Plus whatever mates and family members they have. The mantle isn’t just on the shoulders of those with the title. Though I don’t know if there are counterparts right now. The wolves don’t have an Omega, and the cats are missing their Shaman.”
It broke her heart to hear it. Before they’d been locked inside the compounds thanks to the humans’ fear after the Verona Virus, bears, cats, and wolves had roamed free. While they were out there, they could venture to other Packs and meet those that could eventually join them. It was easier to find true mates, and those that would fill the roles of Alpha, Beta, and whatever their third member was—Omegas for wol
ves, Foreseers for bears, and Shamans for cats. Now though, they only had a small pool of shifters to work with. The bears had been blessed with finding a Foreseer, but the others were still searching amongst their own. It could still happen, she knew, an Omega or Shaman could be born to the Pack, or even born out of tragedy. It wasn’t always known from birth what a shifter would be. The three species might have had their territory disputes in the past, but there had never been a true hatred between the three. She wasn’t sure there was now either, beyond the teasing and close quarters.
Anya let out a breath as soon as they entered the outdoor circle where the meeting would take place. Holden, the Canine Alpha, and his mate, Ariel, were sitting on a log, leaning into one another. Holden’s Beta, Soren, sat on the ground, leaning between the slightly spread legs of his mate, Cora. Cora wasn’t a wolf, but rather the tiger princess. Her father, Jonah, the Alpha of the Golden Pack, sat across from them, talking with the two of them and his Beta, Max. There had to be history between Max and Soren and Cora because Anya could practically taste the tension.