Page 117 of Kingdom of Aramis

My stomach sinks at his words. How did the relationship between the general shifter population and those three outlining breeds get so bad? And how has it been allowed to fester? Lucas told me he tried to do something about it, but was blocked by the majority of the council at every turn. I won’t be sad to see the backs of the ones I’m replacing. I’m going to have to work extra hard if I’m going to create harmony amongst the shifters, but that’s going to have to take a back seat for the moment.

After about an hour, Hunter pulls the car into a clearing in the forest. There are a couple of other vehicles in the lot, so I’m assuming it’s used by other people from Zalfari as well. My eyes land on a familiar vehicle, and excitement thrums through my body.

“That’s Nox’s truck.” I point to it, practically vibrating with enthusiasm at the sight of it.

“Well, that’s a positive sign.” Brodie offers me his hand to help me out of the car, and Micah goes around to the trunk to grab the duffel bag, then he starts handing out weapons. I look around the clearing, shivering slightly, but it’s not as cold as I thought it would be. I guess the watch uniform has layers of protection from the weather. I don’t see any sign of Nox, though, not even footprints. When I turn my attention back to the guys, they all have guns and knives strapped to various parts of their bodies.

Micah looks at me. “Do you have any experience with weapons?”

I shake my head. “Hell no, unless you count a carving knife. I’d probably shoot myself in the foot.”

He chuckles. “That’s okay, just stay close.”

“So we aren’t going to shift?” I ask, pointing to all the weapons. Wouldn’t they all fall off if they shift?

“These all have witch runes on them. They will shift with us, much like the uniforms we’re wearing,” he explains.

“Huh, that’s cool.” I can’t help sounding impressed.

“Gem and I are going to take to the air. Gem is going to fly ahead to the village and scope it out, and I’m going to clear the snow in front of you to make an easy trail and keep watch from overhead,” Hunter says. “I think you should shift into your tiger form for the trip through the forest. It thins out the closer we get to the rift, but the tiger will manage the terrain just fine. Stay close to Gryffin. The shadow the mountains cast makes it harder for the trees to grow. The village sits on the other side.”

I could see the huge mountain range the closer we drove, and it doesn’t surprise me that it casts a large shadow over the village.

“What about Micah?” I ask, worried about my mer mate. He doesn’t have an animal to shift into. I bet the merman probably doesn’t have much snow experience either. Would he even beable to keep up with us in our shifted form? Is this why the other shifters look down on the mers?

“Don’t worry about me. Mer are fast on our feet, even if we aren’t in our shifted form,” he assures me, but Hunter shakes his head.

“He can ride with me again. It won’t hurt to have two sets of eyes watching over you.” He looks at Micah, who quickly agrees to the suggestion. Micah reaches into the trunk and straps a crossbow and a quiver of arrows to his back as well. He also grabs our backpacks, tossing them on the ground.

I frown. “You look like you’re expecting trouble.” I nibble my lip in concern. “Maybe I should stay in the car. I’m just going to get in the way if we do get attacked.”

“No, you need to be with us to speak to the equines about the children. They will have a harder time refusing you than any of us,” Gryffin tells me. “And you aren’t necessarily safe in the car either.”

“Don’t worry, we will protect you. Nothing is going to happen to you with all of us here.” Brodie grins and changes into his wolf. I watch with amazement as his clothes and weapons morph, disappearing beneath his fur. I have no idea what the mechanics or science is… or maybe we should go with magic. It has to be, because nothing else makes sense.

He bounds over to me, wagging his tail, and bumps his body against my legs in greeting. He’s so large, his head is level with my breasts, and he sniffs around my boobs before licking one of them. I yelp in surprise, and he gives me a naughty wolf grin, his tongue hanging out. I run a hand through the fur on his head. He is predominantly black but has patches of gray and white on his underside.

“Away with you,” Liam growls, shifts into his bear, and tackles Brodie. I gasp in shock and step forward to break up the fight. They are roaring and barking and rolling around on theground with fur flying everywhere, but Gryffin stops me before I can get too close.

“Ignore them, they are always like this,” he grumbles, eyeing them with annoyance.

“They have always been. The two of them can’t help themselves. Stick with Gryff, and I’ll see you in the village.” Gem gives me a wink, shifts, and shoots into the sky, leaving a trail of fire behind him before disappearing from sight.

“Invisibility is so cool.” I try to find him in the sky, but there isn’t a single sign of him.

“Yeah, until he uses it to perv on you in the shower,” Gryffin grumbles, but he doesn’t sound particularly perturbed.

“Keep your senses on high alert,” Hunter growls at Gryffin before stalking away to give himself room to shift. I watch and wince as his body morphs, growing and changing until the deep dark purple dragon spreads his wings and stretches like a house cat. Micah loads the backpacks onto Hunter’s back, securing them to one of his spikes with a strap. When he’s finished, Micah turns to me, lifts my hand, and presses a kiss to it.

“Be safe, Colbie,” he says, narrowing his eyes on Gryffin before he runs and leaps onto Hunter’s back, and the dragon launches into the air. I gasp at the magnificent sight as he soars away from us, spiraling upwards.

“Show-offs,” Gryffin says, but he doesn’t sound upset. “Come on, shift into your tiger form, and we will race those two idiots to the village.”

Before he can shift, I grab his arm, my nerves erupting now that it’s my turn to change forms. “What if I can’t keep up?” I ask him, and he smiles, his ocean blue eyes warm and encouraging.

“Trust me, I’ll make sure you won’t fall. It will feel like you’ve been running on four paws all your life.”

The other two idiots have given up their fight, and they amble over to us. Brodie sits on his haunches and releases a reassuringyip, while Liam nudges his huge, polar bear head against my chest in reassurance, and I just about tip over. Gryffin grabs me, stopping me from falling backwards into the snow-covered parking lot. A shadow overhead has me looking up to see Hunter breathe a steam of fire, melting the snow in a line toward the thick forest we need to travel through.