Present
It took us a while to settle down from our morning fun, then our time was filled with packing and a simple breakfast. Now that the guys know about my ability to shift, we chose to travel in our wolf forms to cover the distance faster. There’s an urgency inside me which I can’t explain, but I just know we need to help the bear shifter as soon as we can.
“How’s the pace, Precious? You holding up okay?”Derrick asks through our connection.
“It’s dreadfully slow if I were to be honest. I thought for sure you guys could hold a faster pace, but sometimes I’m wrong from time to time.”I’m mostly teasing, although I can hold a faster sprint. I have a hunch they’re going slower for my sake.
A strangled choke sounds from our connection.“Oh, you asked for it now, the guys were wanting to take things easy for you, but all bets are off now!”Knew it! With his words came an increase in the speed Marcus is leading us with. Now this is more like it.
According to the guys this morning, we’re almost traveling in a huge triangle from where we started at the cabin. Our final destination will be the one place I’ve hoped to never return to, although I suppose it’s needed if there’s any hope of stopping Silas and ending his evil agenda.
Once again, we should be nearing our destination, having traveled all day at a high pace. Our days are getting repetitive: a rinse, wash, and repeat. Sometime soon things have to switch up, unfortunately that day will probably be filled with Silas.
The first sign of us approaching our destination is Marcus’ ears pricking forward. At the sight, I sharpen my hearing to pick up signs of the bear we’re searching for. Instead of hearing the heavy weight of a bear walking through the dense woods, I pick up a conversation between several humans.
“I’ve already told you I don’t remember why we’re here, but according to my journals we’re tracking down one of those filthy bear shifters.” The voice is gruff and harsh.
“I’m just saying something freaky is going on here, how are we even supposed to know this is the bear we’re searching for? We track down the abominations to eradicate the hold the devil has on them, allowing them to change forms, and now none of us remember what we were here for? This can’t just be a chance occurrence.” The second voice sounds weaselly.
The first voice responds to him again, “Who cares what’s going on with our memory, that’s why we keep such careful notes. We’ll just have to keep hunting these woods until we are sure we’ve butchered every bear to make sure we got it.” Bile turns in my stomach with his blatant disregard for life in general.
We all stop to listen to what the men are saying. I really hope they didn’t find our shifter. The guys all subtly move in toward me to surround me on all sides.Aww, that’s adorable.
I shift into human form since I can only communicate with Derrick while in wolf form. They all follow my lead, everyone but Derrick having remastered the technique of shifting while keeping clothes on. “Fuck! Why can’t I get this right?” Thankfully we’re far enough away from the humans that Derrick’s exasperation won’t be heard. Snapping my fingers, more for him to know it was me than needed, a set of his clothes covers his naked body.
He gives me a bashful smile of gratitude before Alex asks, “So what’s our plan going to be? Clearly they’re from that sycophant’s group who hunt our people down.”
“What’s this now?” I ask them. There was no such group five hundred years ago.
Marcus lets out a breath and rubs a hand through his hair before answering, “The Possession Abolishers. They’re a group of people who formed right after the first wolves started to go feral, and they just never quite disappeared. Their numbers will dwindle at times and sometimes they even seem to disappear altogether, but they just don’t die out. It’s been a rather difficult problem to work around when our paths cross.
“We can try to take them out, but there are groups of them spread out all over, so when a pod goes silent, they rally the troops, and the problem becomes worse instead of getting them out of the way. Honestly, we try our best to make sure they never cross our paths, and we get our missions done around them.” I’ve never seen Marcus come off as stressed like he is now, he’s always so confident in what should be done.
“So you’re telling me you never give any thought to the consequences of letting them carry on like they are? They just said they’re going to kill every bear they can find. You aren’t worried about species survival? What’s wrong with you?” The more I talk, the more I get worked up over all the possible consequences of just allowing these people to continue to hunt us. There has to be some kind of solution.
“Sunshine, that’s not what he’s saying at all. He’s trying to say we’ve tried everything we can think of, and they all made matters worse for all of us. They‘ve twisted the human religion to support their cause, saying the shifters are possessed by a demon and they need to send it back to hell. Trust me, we don’t like these circumstances any more than you do. It’s just the better of two evils. At least the shifters have healing abilities and end up making it out of the situation alive.” Klaus rubs my back trying to calm me down.
There has to be something we can do. I don’t want every bear’s life in this forest on my conscience. These fuckers are just glorified poachers, out to kill innocent animals. “Honestly, it’s probably best we save this for another day,” Derrick throws in. No, I don’t accept this as the answer.
“You said they take a religious approach? So... how do they feel about Angels?” My brain is working overtime, trying to come up with a plan of how to solve our problem while being able to keep the bears alive.
“Uhh... I believe they adhere to the general belief of them being sent by their God. What are you thinking? I know I call you Angel, but it doesn’t mean they’ll see you the same way.” Alex seems wary of whatever it is I’m planning.
I give him a wink. “Well, they sure did get the devil part right.” He gives me a naughty smirk back. “Don’t worry about my plan, I got this. You guys stay here.” I move to take a step toward the humans while changing the appearance of my clothes to something an avid hiker would wear, backpack, poles and all. Before I’m able to take my second step, Marcus has his hand in front of me, stopping any forward progress. Sigh, I’ll never be able to just act on my plans around this bunch, will I?
“Not so fast, Babe. You can’t just go in there alone. Do you really think they’ll believe a gorgeous thing like you would be off hiking in the woods by herself? Also, you’re too clean to have made it this far.” Marcus reaches out and ruffles my hair, before bending down to grab some dirt to smear on my legs and brush on my cheek.
Oh, okay... well, at least he isn’t trying to stop me. “Now, it’s probably best for you to at least be out hiking with your boyfriend, don’t you think?” Marcus adds in as he tucks a handgun in his waistband and covers it with his shirt.
“Nobody pays attention to the dog running around, I bet I could shift into your trusted sidekick,” Alex throws in, so I don’t try to leave him behind.
“Yes, your dog, boyfriend, and two friends. Perfect! We’re all coming along. Glad we talked this out!” Derrick contributes to the peer pressure. Oh, these mates of mine... I’m so used to doing everything by myself, it’s a nice change to know they will support me no matter what. I really can’t be mad with them all wanting to make sure I’m protected while I implement my plan.
Klaus and Derrick pull out handguns as well and make sure they’re hidden. I help them and Marcus with conjuring some clothes which look more appropriate for hiking, then glance at Alex who shifted into a dog... well, tried to shift into a dog. He successfully shifted into a regular sized wolf though. It’s a start.
Kneeling down, I hold his face in my hands and coach him through visualizing each change he needs to make in order to appear more like a dog and less like a vicious wolf. The end result is a snuggly, adorable husky. He sits at my feet with an adorable tongue hanging out of his mouth and puppy love in his eyes. I can’t help myself and give his snout a kiss before standing up.
With no other need to prep, Klaus and Derrick start hiking through the woods ahead of us. Marcus snags my arm to hold me back for a moment. “Thanks for listening, Babe. I know you are Queen and ultimately our Alpha, but we’re your protection, your partners in everything. I don’t want you to forget you aren’t alone anymore.” He places a quick kiss to my lips and leads me by the hand after the others.
