Ryder took her outside to show her the main layout of the community. He told her the names of the people who lived the closest and which pathway led to each one. They all had a house pretty much the same, and all the houses came with a barn. Ryder was vague in his explanation of why they needed barns since it didn’t seem like anyone was keeping animals around. In fact, there weren’t even any pets.
As they passed the last bend around the property, with Ryder listing who lived down yet another pathway, Cassie felt Nate cut the connection between them, but not quick enough to feel the skin break open across her hand. Ryder froze in his steps. He could smell her blood. Cassie reflexively closed her hand.
“We can go get a bandage in the barn,” Ryder suggested.
Cassie froze, looking at the doorway. She knew exactly what was going on behind the door, and she didn’t want to see it. If her hand was bleeding, then so was Nate’s. And he had cut the connection. Someone was in there with him and draining him of more blood. She figured it wasn’t the best idea to go inside, either. Nate broke the connection for a reason.
“Can I just wait out here?” Cassie asked, pointing to a stone wall which lined the driveway.
Ryder glanced around the area. Then he lifted his face into the slight wind. He gave a half shrug.
“You should be safe for just a moment. I’ll be right back.” Ryder pulled open the door to the barn and disappeared into it.
Cassie nervously took in her surroundings. Her blood attracted night humans, but Ryder seemed to think she was safe. She really didn’t trust him, but she found on the tour that he wasn’t as scary right now. It kind of even felt like several times that he had turned into a completely different person. Cassie had seen an old movie on TV once where aliens took over the bodies of normal people. If monsters were real, why not aliens?
The woods behind Cassie became unnervingly silent. Cassie couldn’t help but feel as her heartbeat picked up. Her intuition was telling her she wasn’t alone. The barn wasn’t too far away, but Cassie knew by experience that she wasn’t faster than the wendigo monsters. She pressed her hand as tightly shut as she could to try to stop her blood from luring them closer. A loud crack sounded behind her. Or maybe it was a small branch breaking. Either way, someone was certainly behind her. Loud breathing moved closer to Cassie. She didn’t want to turn around, but she couldn’t help it.
At the edge of the woods there stood a large, brown-colored bear. Cassie stared at it, and it stared back. Her mind blanked. What kind of bear was it? Was she supposed to play dead or slowly back away? The one time in her life she finally met a bear, and she forgot what to do.
The bear continued to stand at the tree line and just watch her. It tilted its head like it was studying Cassie and not understanding her reaction. Then it hit her. Was this the same bear she saw the day before? Whitney said it was Uncle John. Could the great big bear before her be her uncle?
Fighting against the feeling that told her to flee from it, Cassie stood and slowly walked toward the bear. He sat down like he was waiting for her. She inched forward more, forcing her body to move against her will. She got two feet away from it and froze. He was even larger up close. The bear looked at Cassie, straight into her eyes.
Instantly images flashed into her mind. Cassie could feel the anger as her uncle transformed against his will. The whole scene played out before her. The house was surrounded by not only wendigo but a handful of male witches that included a cousin and uncle she had never met. Aunt Maria was yelling at John over all the noise and magic in the air. He laid down for her to climb on and she said a spell. Uncle John didn’t wait to see what else the wendigo witches were doing and smashed through the grand picture window at the front of the house. The images fast forwarded, but then abruptly stopped.
‘Cassie, I hope you trust John enough to be able to see this. We saw you come home and couldn’t get to you before them. They have taken all the witches in town. We don’t know yet where they are, but we will find them. They have been tracking me and trying to take me. As long as one witch who belongs to the coven is free, they can’t take the town. They won’t stop looking for me, but we won’t stop searching for everyone else.’
Aunt Maria looked around because the bear in Uncle John could smell magic as it neared. They were still being followed in the memory.
‘We will find everyone else; just stay with the wendigo. Do whatever you need to do to survive. And when we find everyone, we will need Nate’s help. Tell him that we will find the witches. And also that the clan is intact. The adults who were bonded can’t be counted on as they went feral when the connection broke, but we have collected everyone else. Everyone without a mate can talk to John, and he can direct them, just as Nate can if he goes into his animal form. Warn him to be careful. We don’t know why they took him and no one else. Stay safe and we will contact you again.’
Cassie blinked, and the bear nodded to her. As strange as it felt, she nodded back. And with that, her uncle was gone, vanishing just as quickly as he came.
She walked back down to where she had been waiting. It had only taken moments to get the message from her aunt, but she wanted to be careful. She didn’t want to see Nate or what they were doing to him, yet she was quite certain she needed to tell him what was going on. She needed him to stop blocking her so that she could tell him.
Walking to the barn, Cassie felt someone approaching again. She turned to the woods, expecting to see her uncle. Instead, she saw one of the wendigo they had passed on their tour earlier. Cassie tried to ignore him as a grin appeared on his face.
She felt her body slam into the barn before she registered what was going on.
“What do we have here?” the man asked. He was older than Cassie, probably by only a few years, but it was hard to tell beneath the grime.
He grabbed her arms and pinned them above her head.
“It smells like you have a treat for me.” The grubby man’s breath smelled putrid blowing against her face.
He grasped her hands with one of his hands while he used his second to unpeel the fingers away from her cut hand. The blood was still dried on it, but at least it was healing over. Cassie watched the man hungrily eye over the cut. He licked his lips, and she didn’t have much time to think up her options.
She was close to the barn door. While she didn’t want to go into the barn, now it wasn’t an option to ignore. Ryder had gone in, and she was pretty sure he was the only one she trusted to keep her safe for the time being. Besides Nate, that is, if Nate weren’t bound up to the torture table.
The gross, smelly wendigo man pulled Cassie’s arms down to taste her blood. Cassie didn’t wait for his tongue to touch her hand as she kicked as hard as she could between the man’s legs. He howled in pain and dropped her hands, but not without first grabbing her shoulder as he fell. Cassie felt his claws dig in, and she prepared herself to hit the ground face first. She didn’t feel the solid ground because she landed on someone. She felt the wild man’s fingers pulled from her shoulder as the world turned fuzzy around her from the pain. She hoped that it didn’t mean her uncle returned. She wasn’t sure they wouldn’t shoot a bear attacking one of their own on sight.
The pain instantly felt relieved, and Cassie squinted to look around her, easing her eyes open from squeezing them shut hard.
Cassie closed her eyes again. There was much more than she wanted to see. From her small glimpse, she was pretty sure that the man would never harass her again. He was in several pieces strewn across the parking lot next to the barn.
“You awake, princess?” Ryder asked from beneath her.
Cassie pushed herself up but kept her eyes closed. She didn’t need to see what guts and blood galore looked like again. There had been enough blood when she was attacked a week ago by a wendigo she assumed was Ryder. Now he was busy catching her from hitting the ground and getting hurt further. Again, he was completely confusing her.
“Yes, but I’d prefer to keep my eyes closed for now
,” Cassie replied. She wasn’t going to sneak a second look.
Ryder laughed, and her whole body bounced with each ha.
“A witch without the stomach for blood? You just keep surprising me,” Ryder replied, pulling her head to his chest and turning her in the other direction. “That should be fine. You can open your eyes that way.”
Ryder was more than gentle with her as he moved her around. Was he even the same person she met the week before?
“Can I look at where he cut you?” Ryder asked.
Slowly, Cassie opened her eyes. He had angled her perfectly so that she wouldn’t see a bit of blood or more. She turned to Ryder, and he moved to block her view.
“I don’t smell fresh blood, but we need to be sure it’s not open. It isn’t like we have too much in the way of medical supplies access around here, but I’m sure we can take you to town if we need an antibiotic,” Ryder continued to explain. He pulled on the neck of her shirt to look at her shoulder where the claws of the monster went into her.
“I think I’m fine,” Cassie finally replied. Ryder gave her a look that said he didn’t really believe her. “Seriously. I’m guessing the mate-bond thingy with Nate absorbed it all.”
Ryder still didn’t seem convinced. Cassie tugged on the neck of her shirt a little bit to expose where the guy’s nails went into her. Under crusted blood, which she had to rub away, it was healed to the point of just being a red mark. Ryder brushed more of the dried blood off her and shook his head.
“Jack said your mating bond would heal you both, but I figured he was lying. I’ve seen what he’s been doing to Nate, and you look fine,” Ryder replied, sliding Cassie’s shirt back in place once he was convinced she was fine. “Guess I owe Jack five dollars.”
“Do you guys bet on everything?” Cassie patted her shirt to be sure it was in place.
Ryder shrugged. “I guess. How is it you aren’t walking around looking like a chopping board?”
“Nate severs the mating bond between us until he heals so that I’m not all cut up. Maybe you guys could just quit doing that to him, and life would be easier,” Cassie scolded Ryder.
He laughed. “And if we did, your life might be easier, but ours wouldn’t. You don’t have the slightest clue who you picked for a mate, do you? You’ve been like this forever. Even as a kid, you never understood any of the politics. They’ve always just been Nate and Jared to you.”
Cassie stared at Ryder. What was he not saying?
“How about you keep your hands off my future mate,” Jared growled as he came up behind Cassie. She moved to turn, but Ryder was quicker and stopped her.
“I’d do that, but you made a mess of the place. She’s a bit queasy. Can you believe that? A witch that doesn’t like blood. Isn’t that funny?” Ryder kept his arm around Cassie to keep her from turning.
Jared reached down and picked Cassie up into his arms like she weighed nothing. “Keep your eyes closed and I’ll tell you when we’re past all of this.”
Cassie squeezed her eyes shut. The first time was bad enough, but it seemed like Jared planned to walk through all of it again. Cassie kept her face buried in his chest. He had just a thin shirt on, and he smelled like lemons and soap now.
“Sorry, that took a few minutes. I had to change and get clean before I came back for you,” Jared explained the scents clinging to him.
“By the way, bro, clean this all up,” Jared called over his shoulder.
“But I didn’t make the mess,” Ryder complained.
Jared didn’t even stop walking as he replied, “And I wouldn’t have had to make the mess if you did your job of keeping Cassie safe. It’s kind of your fault.”
CHAPTER 5
Jared abruptly dropped Cassie when he stepped into his bedroom. Safe now that she was away from everything, Cassie opened her eyes. Jared wasn’t even looking at her. He was staring at the staircase leading to her tower room, and he wasn’t happy.
“We have a guest. Or rather, you have a guest.” Jared nodded upstairs, not even moving toward them.
“Uninvited?” Cassie asked, slightly scared to go anywhere without Jared. It was clear that even if she pretended she was safe with the wendigo that was very far from the case. Jared was the only one who seemed to care if she were safe.
“Invited? Never, but you don’t have to be afraid.” Jared had to have noticed her heart rate pick up. “Can I see where he cut you?” Jared pointed to her shoulder, choosing to ignore their guest.
Cassie pulled at her collar again, but this time, she was a bit shy and had no idea why. Jared wasn’t much different than his brother, yet he was. There was something she couldn’t put her finger on. Maybe it was the way he looked at her with genuine concern in his eyes, or maybe it was how he softly touched the marks that were almost gone. Jared was different than the rest of the wendigo.
“Does it hurt at all?” he asked.
“No. It’s all healed over.” It was close to one-hundred-percent normal. It hurt when it happened, but not now.
“Then we better get up to your guest before he comes down here.”
“My guest?” Cassie was now confused. Were there more wendigo she didn’t remember?
Jared motioned for her to go upstairs. She glanced back behind her, and he nodded in encouragement. Cassie had the feeling Jared would never let her go somewhere unsafe, but she was still cautious. Step by step she climbed to the bedroom, her heart beating faster and faster. Cassie paused at the top of the stairs and just stared at the guy sitting on her bed.
Nate noticed Cassie and instantly jumped up and grabbed her, crushing her to him.
“What the hell happened?” he grumbled, his words muffled by his arm around her.
“You might want to let go if you want her to be able to breathe,” Jared suggested as he came to the top step.
Nate set Cassie down and jumped across the room in an instant. Jared vanished as quickly as Nate moved, but it didn’t seem to matter. Nate anticipated his movements and shifted with him. As Nate pulled back to slug Jared, Jared vanished and appeared beside Cassie. They bounced around the room with Nate trying to attack Jared. He was getting closer with each swing.
Cassie finally got control of her shock. They were both moving faster than seemed physically possible. Neither of them was human, but it was never more evident than in that exact moment.
“Stop!” Cassie demanded, moving between them in her snail-like pace compared to the guys.
Nate paused at her voice and froze mid-step.
“And why shouldn’t I beat the crap out of him? Here I’m playing nicely and letting them drain my blood day after day only so that he can let you get fed upon by one of his kind?” Nate was fuming, but amazingly keeping everything under control.
“I didn’t let anyone do that to Cassie. I was with my father,” Jared replied. “Ryder was supposed to be watching her.” Even Jared was mad about the situation.
“Obviously not watching since he was more than happy to help out Jack.” Nate glared at Jared.
“He will be dealt with later,” Jared replied. “Now that you see she’s okay, you can go back to your cage and sit there like a good little puppy.” Jared waved his hands like he was dismissing Nate.
Nate moved to jump at Jared again, but Cassie put her arm on him before he moved. He stopped in his tracks.
“I’m fine. Really,” Cassie tried to calm him down. She could feel through the bond that he was a mixture of anger and relief after being scared for her.
“If I hadn’t heard you, though …” Nate looked like what happened pained him more than her.
“It’s fine. Everything is taken care of,” Cassie told him, reaching up to touch the wound she had received which had obviously transferred to him. It was healing much slower on him.
Nate caught her hand and held onto it.
“Until we get this all straightened out, I’m not leaving your side.” Nate stared into her eyes as he made his promise.
“Um … don’t
you have to go back to being a prisoner? I get the feeling they wouldn’t be keen on you walking around.”
Nate glanced over her shoulder at Jared.
“Since you’ve proven you can’t protect her at all times, I’m staying right here with Cassie.” He talked like he was in charge even though they were completely at the mercy of the wendigo.
Jared leaned against the doorway as he watched them, and when she met his gaze, he shrugged. It was almost like he was just as used to Nate’s bossy attitude as Cassie was. He wasn’t fighting it, but he didn't completely agree, either.
“What makes you so much more qualified to protect her? Out of your night human form you are almost as weak as a day human. You can’t even catch me,” Jared taunted him.
Cassie felt Nate’s anger flare across the bond. He was going to lose it and outright attack Jared, which wouldn’t do well for Cassie. She was already exhausted from just moments before. Cassie grasped Nate’s hand tighter to keep him from moving.
“I protect her because she’s mine,” Nate said through gritted teeth. “If I hadn’t heard what was going on and opened the bond back up, she would have died from blood loss. What would you have done then? I’m the only one who can protect her at all times.”
“Things never change, do they?” Jared muttered. Cassie was unsure if it was said to himself or Nate. “Do you really think you’re special because she chose you? She came to us to try to break the mating bond you forced on her. There’s nothing special about that.”
“She chose me,” Nate replied, puffing out his chest.
“Chose you? You merely kissed her first,” Jared responded.
“She still chose me,” Nate answered, undeterred by Jared’s response.
“If you’re sure, let me demonstrate something for you.”
Jared walked cautiously closer. He held out his hand for Cassie. She looked to Nate, but he seemed as confused as she was. Cassie carefully took Jared’s hand, letting go of Nate and hoping he could control his urge to continue fighting with Jared. She didn’t want to be caught in the middle of them.