They staked out two tables and pulled them together. Cail and Micah arrived first. Other members of the Gathering had congregated in little groups. A flock of six young women, tall, thin, lithe, and long-haired, walked in and headed for the buffet.
Micah and Cail both sat up and took notice. Brodey rolled his eyes.
“Who are they?” Lina asked.
Brodey, sitting on her other side, leaned in. “Gazelles.”
“Is that a girl band or something?”
He snorted with amusement. “No, gazelle shifters. Really rare, actually. Watch.” The women all chose leafy green salad for breakfast and withdrew to a far, quiet corner of the lodge common area, warily watching the others in attendance.
“Why are they so rare?”
“Think about it. Dragon shifters. Wolves and canines. Bears. Cats of various ilk. There are others, but what do those all have in common?”
She frowned. He looked at Zack, who immediately answered. “Predators.”
Brodey nodded. “Yep. Not many prey shifters. They don’t have the defense mechanisms. There are some, sure. Equines, Selkies, things like that, but the majority of shifter races are apex species.”
They watched as a tall, beefy guy strolled over to the gazelles, sat down, and started talking to them. As one, all the women leaned away, their eyes widening. After a moment of them not speaking, he reddened, then stood and left the lodge.
“He’s a tiger.” Brodey snorted. “Cail, Micah, good luck grabbing a piece of those ladies. They’ll be running before you can even get your names out.”
“Fuck,” Micah muttered.
“Imagine that hunter’s surprise,” Zack snarked. “‘Dude, I nailed Bambi! No, really, this chick’s name was Bambi!’”
Brodey burst out laughing, long and hard. Lina smiled because she felt a little more of the wolf’s pain lift.
Rick and Jan finally showed up with Kael.
“This’ll be one confusing poker game tonight,” Micah said. When the dragon men looked puzzled, Micah pointed. “Kael, and Cail.” He pointed at his cousin.
“K and C,” Brodey quipped as he grabbed his empty dishes to take them away. “Now all we need is the Sunshine Band.”
* * * *
The men finalized their arrangements for the poker game, then the wolves departed. Before Lina asked about their own itinerary, an older man entered the lodge’s common area, followed by four large, muscle-bound men.
Lina didn’t miss how her three dragons immediately sat up straight in their chairs. A few other eyes around the room followed the men’s movements. Unfortunately, they approached Lina.
Jan, Rick, and Kael stood. Lina sought out Zack’s hand and held on tight. The older man looked hard, grizzled. A long scar twisted down his face from between his dark amber eyes to below his chin. His gaze focused first on Jan, Rick, and Kael, then her.
“Is this her?”
Zack squeezed her hand. She didn’t know if to calm or warn her.
Jan spoke up. “Andel Watersson, this is Lina.”
She felt…something from the guy. She wasn’t sure what. Like a grey cloud around him. She’d withhold judgment on this dude for a while.
Uncle Andel studied her for a long moment. “She is a quiet one.”
“Fuck you, buddy. I didn’t ask to be dragged out here.” She stood to leave, her nerves on edge. Zack reeled her in.
The man broke into a smile. “That’s more like it!” She noticed his thick accent. He sat across the table from her. “I hoped our Goddess would be spirited.”
“You want spirit? I’ll show you—”
Zack squeezed her hand again. “At ease, kiddo.” He slung his free arm around her shoulders and looked at Uncle Andel. “Dude, you so don’t want to torque her now, trust me. Two words: spontaneous combustion.”
He nodded, looking pleased. “Advice taken, Watcher.”
“At least someone’s listening to me.”
The men sat and talked for a few minutes. Lina tried to ignore them. Petty? Sure. First vacation she had in years, in one of the most beautiful places on earth, and she had to spend it sucking up to dragon elders? And they insisted on her going through with this Ceremony on their time table, not hers?
Fuck that shit.
She didn’t blame her men, but it still chafed her. She’d never asked for this gig.
Thirty-odd people gathered in the lodge’s common area, most of them in small groups which she assumed meant they were related in some way. One man sat off in the far corner, by himself, studying the rest of the groups. Darkly handsome and vaguely familiar, she couldn’t place him.
Three more people entered the room and made a beeline for their table.
Great.
The woman in the middle looked ancient, much older than Uncle Andel, but her emerald green eyes appeared keen. She’d pulled her grey hair into a tight, low bun. A man and woman flanked her, assisting her over to the table where she sat next to Uncle Andel.
The woman’s gaze never wavered from Lina. “Is this her?” She spoke with a thicker accent than Uncle Andel.
“Her has a name, you know,” Lina shot back.
Zack closed his eyes and muttered something under his breath as he squeezed Lina’s hand. Jan, Rick, and Kael looked like they wanted to crawl under the table.
The woman smiled. “I’m sorry, dear, of course you do. Are you Pavlina?”
“Yes, that’s me. Goddess of Snark and Incendiary Outbursts.”
“I’m sorry this has been such a trial for you.”
Lina clamped down on a wave of rage that washed through her. Those happened pretty frequently since the other night, but combined with her PMS, they sometimes threatened to take her over.
“You all have no freaking clue how hard this has been on me. Fucking psycho guy I thought was my friend for years, killed my parents and suckered me into thinking he liked me. I worked my ass off to help him build his business, then he nearly killed Zack! Now I’m dealing with these powers, I’m supposed to save the goddamn world or something, and you all can’t even tell me how to not randomly blow shit up!”
Lina stood. Zack stood with her. “I’m in Yellowstone National Park, and by god—goddess—I’m going to see the freaking place!”
“Then you should go see it,” the woman calmly said. “These men don’t need you right now.” She looked at Uncle Andel, who’d gone beet red in the face. “Do you?”
“No, ma’am.”
The older woman stood and waved off her two companions. She slowly walked around the table and latched onto Zack’s other arm. “Let’s walk outside. It’s beautiful weather today.”
The woman, it turned out, was Bertholde. “I am the flagyer’s Seer.”
Lina liked this woman a lot more than she liked Uncle Andel. “How old are you?”
Bertholde laughed. “Eight hundred and fifteen, give or take.” They took a seat on the benches in front of Old Faithful again, only with Lina seated between Zack and the Seer. “I wanted to have a word alone with you, Lina.”
Lina pointed to Zack. Bertholde smiled. “He is your Watcher. He doesn’t count.”
He snorted. “Gee, thanks.” Lina elbowed him.
“Do you know what I do?” the Seer asked.
“Nope. They told me you can’t give me the Powerball numbers.”
“Lina, you shall be the breath of fresh air we’ve desperately needed. No, I don’t see like that. The short version, and even your Watcher doesn’t know this, is there was once a tribe of Seers, my kin. We predate many of the shifter races. In the early days we allied ourselves with them. Over the ages we became a part of the shifter race we committed ourselves to, and we mated with them.
“There are not many of us left, unfortunately. The wolves, felines, and bears still have them. As do the dragons. There is another dragon Seer besides myself, but he couldn’t be here this week.”
“What does this have to do with me?”
“I foresaw your arrival, dear.” Bertholde’s eyes stud
ied Lina’s face. “You are very much like I pictured you in my dreams. The prophecies might come to pass in a month or in many millennia. What is important for you to remember is to enjoy your life. And your men.”
At that, Lina blushed. She had nooo problem enjoying her men.
“I also wanted to talk to you about the wolf.”
“What wolf?”
“The one you have grown close to.” The Seer looked out over the geyser field. “He is in a lot of pain. You can—should—help him. He is at a crossroads. If he chooses wrongly he will destroy not only his life, but his brothers’ happiness as well.”
“Help him how?”
Bertholde smiled and patted Lina’s thigh. “Follow your instincts, Goddess.”
Lina let Zack walk her back to the cabin after a stroll around the geyser basin. Jan and Rick soon joined her in their room.
“Sorry I acted rude to your uncle.”
Jan sat next to her on the bed. “No, that’s okay. You should have heard the ass-chewing Bertholde gave him for not keeping you better informed.”
Rick nodded. “Classic!”
That evening, after more super-secret shifter shit meetings, Lina accompanied the four men to the lodge. Brodey, Cail and Micah were already there, saving them a table. She didn’t miss the smile Brodey seemed to save for her, or the way his eyes lit up when he saw her. It didn’t feel romantic either. She couldn’t say what it felt like, but she liked it.
She sat between Zack and Brodey while they ate. After the staff cleaned up the buffet, Lina sat off to the side and watched from a comfy seat near the huge stone fireplace as the poker game got underway. She brought a book, but she felt so tired she kept losing her place. Three more men joined the game. After a while she realized she’d dozed off in her seat when she looked up. A man had seated himself across from her.
He smiled. “Hello.” The man she’d spotted earlier.
She’d swear she’d seen him before, but couldn’t for the life of her place him. “Not in the game?”
He shrugged. “Didn’t want to intrude.”
“Do you play?”
“Oh, sure—”
“Hey, Zack. Can you deal this guy in?”
From somewhere, Zack had come up with a cowboy hat, which sat rakishly on his head. He held the deck of cards in his hand. “Sure, sugar. Send him on over.”
Something flashed across the guy’s face. Annoyance, maybe? Then it disappeared. “Thanks, Lina.” He headed to the table as Cail pulled another chair over and sandwiched the newcomer between himself and Kael.
Lina curled up to nap again when a stray thought flitted through her mind. How the hell did he know my name?
Chapter Four
Another day, another boring bunch of bullshit meetings. To Lina, it seemed most of her job entailed being introduced to people whose names she’d never remember, smiling a lot, and trying not to look bored. Sort of a Supernatural Miss America for the fat chick who could randomly blow things up.
At least she’d been able to spend a little more time with Brodey. He didn’t seem as sad as when she first met him in the Denver airport.
Micah scheduled a second poker game for that evening following dinner. The strange man showed up again, and turned out his name was Lenny. She hadn’t found out which shifter group he belonged to.
Lina tried to get into her book, but she felt nervous, antsy.
Caged.
She looked up after nearly an hour of play. Brodey and Rick laughed at something, but she felt a tense current in the air, she could almost taste it. Lenny wasn’t smiling, although everyone else at the poker table was. She held the book up, as if reading, with her attention now fully focused on the game.
Lenny’s gaze looked dark as he accepted the cards Micah dealt. His pile of chips had dwindled substantially from when he first sat at the table. After a few rounds of bidding and calling, Rick laughed.
“Ooh, dude. Sucks to be you.” He reached out and scooped the mound of chips to him.
The banter continued, with Cail and Kael jumping in and deliberately adding to the craziness. Rick, Jan and the other shifters at the table played on the name confusion. After two more hands, Lenny threw in his cards. He stood and muttered something in a language she didn’t understand before he stormed out of the room.
Lina walked over to the table and stood behind Rick and Jan, resting a hand on each of their shoulders. Brodey sent her a smile from across the table. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
Jan patted her hand. “Guy got steamed.”
Rick snorted. “Brod, I’ll play poker with you any time, dude.”
Brodey grinned. “Hey, if you can’t run with the wolves, stay on the porch.” He had also amassed quite a large pile of chips.
“What does that mean, he got steamed?” Lina asked.
Zack stretched, reached over, and rubbed Kael’s shoulder. “Your two boys and your new best friend were running a mind fuck on him.”
“Guy’s weird,” one of the other men, Doug, a cougar shifter, chimed in. “Don’t know who invited him to the Gathering, but I wish they’d uninvited him. Creepy.”
“Yeah,” agreed Oscar, a tiger shifter. “That boy’s not right in the head.”
Rick scooted away from the table and pulled Lina onto his lap. “Well, looks like the game’s breaking up early. How about the three of us go get a little naughty?”
She threw her arms around his neck. One of the really nice things about the Gathering, she’d discovered, was the fact that multiple mates were not unusual. She didn’t have to worry what other people thought about her loving up on both of her men. “Sure.”
* * * *
After the game, Brodey sat on the lodge porch. He pushed his cowboy hat down on his head and leaned back in the rocker, propping his boots on the porch railing.
“Come with us, Brod,” Micah said. “It’s bison!”
“They’re asleep. Unless you want to go bison tipping, I’ll pass. Catch me in the morning. Hunting a bison at night is like shooting fish in a barrel, dude. Not very sporting. You want to hunt bear or run with the wolves or something, I’m game.”
Brodey watched his brother, cousin, and two of the feline shifters who’d been in the poker game walk down the gravel path toward the cabins. He appreciated their concern, but he felt better than he had in days. He still hurt, and he still felt guilty as hell about turning his back on Kimberlie. At least he’d quit thinking about killing himself.
He waited a while, then returned to the cabin. There he stripped, noticing his jacket where he’d left it hanging over the back of the chair. It still smelled like Lina.
Lucky bastards. Did Rick and Jan understand exactly how lucky they were to have found their One? Then again, that kind of wishful thinking got him in trouble in the first place.
He stepped outside and pulled the door shut, stashed the room key under the steps, then shifted and headed for the geyser basin.
* * * *
“Okay, when you said naughty, I thought you meant sex.”
Lina stood on the boardwalk at West Thumb Geyser Basin and watched Rick and Jan strip. Nearly midnight, the area was closed but they’d parked outside the gate and ducked through.
Jan pulled her to him. It was far too cold for her to get undressed. Her breath frosted in the air as they stood on the boardwalk by Yellowstone Lake. “Oh, sweetie, we will do that later for sure.” He deeply kissed her, then took a running start and did a flying cannonball into the icy cold lake.
He popped to the surface laughing. “Come on in, Sparky!”
“Fuck you, Frosty.” Rick wrapped his arms around Lina and kissed her, stirring more than a few fires in her body. “I’ve got other plans.” He released her, then ran down the boardwalk toward Abyss Pool and leapt in.
Lina squeaked in terror, knowing that spring was one of the hottest in the park. Hot enough to kill the average human. But as his brother had, Rick popped to the surface, laughing.
“Don’t even think
about stepping off the boardwalk, babe,” he called out to her. “It’s not safe.” He proceeded to do a backstroke from one end of the hot spring to the other.
She walked over to railing, almost afraid to look. “How can you be swimming in there?” As a dual Elemental dragon shifter, Rick’s forté was fire and air. Except for taking showers and the occasional dip in the pool with Lina, he preferred to stay dry.
He grinned. “It’s like bathing in the bowels of Hell,” he said before he dipped his head under the water again. “Hot springs are different. The minerals and stuff in the water, the heat, it helps recharge me.”
“Oh.” She looked over at Jan, who swam back and forth near shore. The water in the lake couldn’t be warmer than forty degrees. Since he controlled ice—meaning water—and earth, he lived for the cold and wet conditions.
While the men swam, Lina circled the boardwalk and read the tourist signs in the light of the nearly full moon. Rick and Jan called taunts to each other as they enjoyed splashing around. Lina yawned. Had she known this was what they had in mind she would have stayed at the cabin and slept.
Or gone for a moonlit walk with Brodey.
She blushed, grateful for the darkness to hide her red face. She didn’t feel romantically attracted to Brodey, and instinctively sensed he didn’t lust after her either. She still didn’t want her men to get the wrong impression. She felt drawn to Brodey and remembered what Bertholde said.
She shivered, her breath steaming in the air. “Guys, I’m cold. I’m going to sit in the car.” Both men protested, wanting her to stay, but she held her ground. “Seriously, stay in, splash around. Take your time. It’s okay, honest. I’ll curl up on the back seat and take a nap.” She found the keys in Rick’s jeans and started up the boardwalk toward the parking lot.
As she neared the bookstore, she heard soft rustling in the woods nearby. Feeling watched and more than a little creeped out, she stopped. She paused, waiting, then heard the soft snort of a bison.
Shit.
Signs everywhere in the park warned about bison and other wild animals. Then again, she could terrify two dragons. A shaggy, overgrown cow shouldn’t be too hard, right?