“Ummm… What are we doing here?” I asked, not really expecting a response.
“Going for a hike.”
“Hiking?”
“Yes, hiking. We’re going to walk around on trails through the mountains and enjoy nature.” He looked towards where the well-worn path met the parking lot. A family in full outdoorsy regalia stood arguing, the dad emphatically pointing towards a map while the woman hooked her thumb back towards the trail. “Or maybe we’ll make our own trails. We are Shifters after all.”
It was a good thing we were in excellent shape, because it took some creativity and effort to avoid the crowds. The clouds had given way to a wonderfully sunny autumn day, and the trees towering up to the sky boasted leaves of brilliant reds and oranges. It was a perfect day for hiking, hence the overwhelming number of people.
“Come on,” Liam said, offering me a hand. My legs were just a few inches too short to scale the jagged outcropping of rocks where he stood. “We’re almost there.”
“There’s a there?” I asked between grunts. Good grief, rock climbing was so not my thing. “I thought we were hiking. You know, walking through the woods. Enjoying nature.”
His response was the predictable glare.
Once we reached the mouth of a cave sitting atop a 400 foot drop-off, Liam stopped dragging me over the mountain. He paced about, exploring the inside as far as the sunlight would allow and looking over the edge of the cliff it opened up onto. After thirty minutes, I couldn’t take it any longer. I wasn’t so much afraid of the cave as the things I could hear moving around inside, and the sight of Liam so close to a life-ending plummet made me slightly ill.
Leaving Liam at the Bat Cave, I went off to do some exploring of my own. I didn’t go far before I found a tree with a bench-like branch. It looked funny and inviting. The sun warmed me as I stretched across it like a lazy cat. Usually, I don’t find lounging across trees super-comfortable, but something about the way the light played through the leaves and the way the breeze kissed my skin lulled me into complacency, allowing my heavy eyelids to get their way and slam shut.
But when a familiar scent came floating through the air, they flew back open, and it wasn’t Human Scout peering out from their depths.
I was nearly silent as I lowered myself to the ground and slunk through the trees. He wasn’t alone. A girl trailed behind him, her hand clasped in his. It wasn’t the Alpha, but she was a Seer. I could feel it.
He didn’t know I was there until I sprung, and by then he only had time to turn halfway before impact. Since we were on the side of a mountain, we rolled several feet before stopping with him on top. He didn’t stay there long. I flipped him back over, a primal roar leaving my throat. I pinned his lower body with my legs and then, with absolutely no finesse, started swinging.
“Scout! Stop!” The voice was familiar, but I refused to listen.
Betrayer! Wolf Scout bellowed inside me.
“Scout, it’s Jase!” She was standing too close. My elbow caught her in the stomach, but still I didn’t stop until I was grabbed from behind, two arms of steel trapping my arms by my side as they lifted me off the ground.
“Breathe,” he whispered in my ear, breaking through the rage. “Deep breaths. In and out. Relax.” And I did. I closed my eyes, pulled air slowly into my lungs, and relaxed against the broad chest I was hoisted against. When I was back to something that could pass as normal, Liam dropped me.
“You okay?” he asked, standing above Jase. “Anything broken?”
“Just my entire face.” My brother took Liam’s hand and pulled himself up. Talley was immediately there, her fingers tracing over his nose, cheeks, and chin.
“I think your nose is broken again,” she said once she finished her physical assessment. “You’re not having any trouble talking, so your jaws are okay. Of course, I don’t really know how to diagnose a brain injury.” She held up three fingers. “How many fingers do you see?”
“I don’t think I’m the one you need to be testing for a brain injury.” He looked over Talley’s shoulders and met my eyes. “Hey, Sis. Nice to see you, too.” He rubbed his jaw, which was already starting to swell. “Out of curiosity, what the hell was that?”
“You helped them.” The fight was completely gone out of me. My words were laced with weakness, a feeling of defeat overwhelming me. “They were going to kill me, and you helped them.” I blinked back the tears, refusing to let them fall. “You were going to let me die.”
Jase’s fury, which was growing instead waning, focused on Liam. “What is she talking about?”
“You should know,” I answered. “You were there. Maybe it didn’t stick out in your mind like it did mine, but there was this trial…” I took another of those deep breaths, this time to calm the human instead of the beast. “You know, I can’t do this. I’m done.”
I stood up and started back towards where I thought the trail might be. I made it about three steps before a hulking behemoth stepped into my path. I took a step to the right. He mirrored my movement. I took a step to the left. Once again, he moved with me.
“What’s wrong with you?” Liam honestly looked a little lost.
“He told them...” Yet another deep breath. “Jase’s testimony was one of the things that helped the Alphas convict me. He sold me out to join the Alpha Pack and become Sarvarna’s boy toy. Now, please let me by so I can get the hell away before I succeed in ripping his pretty face from his head.”
“You didn’t tell her?” Talley appeared at my elbow. I could see why Wolf Scout didn’t immediately recognize her. She looked different. Her hair was different. The way she held herself was different. Even the way she dressed was different. “You’ve been with her for two months and didn’t tell her Jase was a mole? You let her believe her brother was actually on the same side as the Alphas?”
She was standing up to Liam? Maybe this wasn’t the real Talley after all.
“You thought…?” The look Liam gave me made me feel a bit like a two-headed cockroach. “He’s your brother. How could you think that?”
Wait. I was the bad guy here? No. Nuh-uh. I don’t think so.
“You knew?” Righteous indignation laced my words. “Let me guess, it was all part of the Liam Cole Plan. Was letting me feel betrayed and broken down part of that plan, too? Did it make me more malleable? Did I bend easier to your will since I had so little left to fight for?” I am a trained martial arts fighter. I have a black belt in four different disciplines. Yet, when my fist pounded against his stupid arrogant chest, it was the same inconsequential swat women have been giving larger, stronger men since the dawn of time. “You…. You… You ass!”