Shift - 02 (30 page)

Shifters made their way out of the woods and cabins, gathering together and whispering amongst themselves. Rayna stepped out onto the porch with her arms crossed. She’d dressed in a loose pair of sweats, and her body was swimming in one of my zip-up hoodies.

Jonathan’s blue eyes looked past Chief as she came out. “Please, Rayna, all I’m asking is for a chance to explain. If you want nothing more from me afterwards, I’ll go. I just want a chance…”

“No,” Chief said. “You will leave. Now.”

“It’s fine,” Rayna answered.

“What?” I asked.

“If that’s what it takes to get him to leave me alone, then let’s get this over with. Nothing else seems to be working.” Rayna was calm, her face composed and her emotions in check. Her eyes locked with Jonathan’s. “You've got ten minutes.” Rayna shook her head and walked back into the cabin.

Jonathan pushed himself to his feet and brushed the wet grass off his pants and jacket.

Chief grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him forward. “If you
ever
pull a stunt like that again, you and I are going to have a problem.”

“Careful, Charlie, I’m not a cub.” Jonathan said with a growl, and his blue eyes shifted to their cat form.

“Is that a challenge?” Chief’s eyes were still human, but the beast lurked beneath the surface, power rolling off of him.

Jonathan froze and let his eyes shift back to their human counterpart. He sighed and shook his head. “No…”

“Then watch your tongue.”

“I’m sorry…it won’t happen again.”

Chief released him and Jonathan walked towards the cabin.

“Chase, get in here,” Rayna commanded.

Rayna was on the couch. Jonathan sat in a chair opposite her, leaning forward with eagerness.

“I thought we could talk, just you and me,” Jonathan pleaded.

“No. Whatever you have to say, you can say in front of Chase and Chief. Your time starts now.”

“Oh, where to start…”

“You’ve barged in on me multiple times and attacked Chase to have this conversation. You’ve had eighteen years to figure it out and here I am, so start talking.”

“Okay…” Jonathan’s eyes moved from Rayna, to me, to Chief, and he sighed. “I'd been in love with your mother for nearly a year. We were planning on eloping so I could escape the Circle and we could be together. A few weeks before we were set to leave, the elders sent me on a mission to investigate some missing kids. Turned out it was a problem with shifters, but not like you’d think.”

Jonathan adjusted himself in his seat, trying to read Rayna’s response. Her eyes locked with his and her expression was unmoving. Jonathan cleared his throat and continued.

“The children had been adopted, but what no one knew was they were born shifters. Their parents were killed by none other than the Circle. When cubs start to shift, they have a natural instinct to join their pack, so naturally, the kids followed the scent. When I found them and tried to take them back, they’d already started to change. One of the younger kids bit me and transferred the virus.” Jonathan fidgeted with his hands, his eyes dropping to the floor. “I tried fighting the infection, but I could feel it taking hold. I didn’t tell anyone; the Circle would’ve had me killed. I knew I was going to die, but I wouldn’t let it be at their hands, so I decided to run. I knew it wouldn’t be long before the Circle found out I was missing, so I went to Sarah…your mother. I’d planned to say goodbye, but we ended up…” Jonathan looked up sheepishly and quickly pulled his eyes away from Rayna.

“Having sex?” Rayna asked.

Jonathan nodded. “I had planned on telling her. I knew she’d understand, but our night together had been perfect; I didn’t want to spoil it.”

“Please.” Rayna rolled her eyes.

“I did! I loved her. She was everything to me.” He took a breath to calm himself. “But the virus became active in the middle of the night and I panicked. I didn’t want her to watch me die, so I ran as fast and as far as I could before the shift took hold. If Charlie hadn't shown up…I never would have survived.”

Rayna looked to Chief, who watched her with a keen eye and he nodded.

“Charlie pushed my beast back and over the next few weeks helped me through the shift. He eased it out, piece by piece, until I fully changed.”

“This is all great, but if all you have to tell me is how Chief saved your life, I’m not interested.”

“That’s only the beginning,” he said. “Once I’d garnered control of the beast, I came back to your mother, but the Circle had discovered our affair and she’d fled. I didn’t know she was pregnant then, but I still searched for her. I spent over a year following her trail, but I was always two steps behind. When her scent finally vanished, I couldn’t wander aimlessly anymore, so I came back to Stonewall. Chief had taken over the Hollowlights by then and I was welcomed into the pride.
 
It wasn’t until nine years later that I'd heard she’d returned, but when I finally found out where she was, it was too late…”

Jonathan started pacing the room and looked at Rayna, his blue eyes clouded as they began to well up.

“I didn’t even know she’d had a child…not until I got this.” Jonathan pulled a crumpled and worn white envelope out of his back pocket.

“What’s that?” Rayna’s calm and even emotions were wavering on nervous anticipation.

“It’s a letter, sent to me anonymously, a few months after she died. Sarah knew about me all along, but didn’t contact me in fear it would jeopardize your safety. When I discovered I was a father, I tried to find you, but I didn’t know your scent. I didn’t know anything about you. I had nowhere to start.”

“Can I…read it?” Rayna’s voice was quiet.

Jonathan stared at the letter a moment before handing it to Rayna. She pulled a few weathered sheets out of the envelope and began reading.

The silence that filled the room over the next few minutes went from sad to awkward. Tears that Rayna refused to wipe fell from her eyes. Her hands trembled, and as she finished the last few words, she turned to Chief.

“Is this true?” she asked, holding back a sob.

Chief nodded and lowered his eyes.

“I’m sorry.” Jonathan said.

Rayna clutched the letter in her hand and moved into the bedroom. The door slammed behind her and silence wrapped around us.

“I need some air,” Jonathan said.

“I'll check on Rayna,” Chief added.

I followed Jonathan out to the porch. With Chief confirming his story, I couldn’t help feeling bad for him.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “For the other night, I just…”

“I get it. You just wanted a chance to set things straight. I never realized…I mean, it’s a lot easier to believe you’re a deadbeat than a man who tried everything to set things right.”

Jonathan let out a half-laugh. “I guess it is.”

The sun made its descent behind the tree line and darkness crept into the sky. You could see the moon and stars shining through the partly lit sky while the cool air moved in with the eve.

“What’s she like?” Jonathan asked. “Rayna…”

“She’s amazing. She’s beautiful, strong, intelligent, and a stubborn ass.” I smirked.
 

“Sounds just like her mother. She looks like her, too. Gods, she was beautiful.” A smile crossed his lips. “Sarah always had this look in her eyes: determination. She wouldn’t take crap from anyone, especially me.
 
She was one hell of a witch, too.”

“She sounds really great.”

“Oh, she was.” Jonathan’s blue eyes turned to me, practically glowing as he raved about his lost love. “She was more than that. She was…”

“Incredible,” Rayna said from behind us. She leaned in the doorway, eyes red with sadness.

“Yes, incredible.”

“I remember when–” Rayna stopped, her eyes opened wide with panic, and power crashed over us. She dropped onto all fours and let out a fierce growl.

Chief came through the doorway and he and Jonathan both dropped to their knees.

“Calm yourself, Rayna. You shift on your terms.”

Rayna unleashed a ferocious sound through snarling lips. The skin on her arms split and clear fluid dripped out as the fur broke through. Her bones cracked, and although she whimpered, they shifted quickly into the thick black paws of a wildcat.
 

“Yes!” Chief cheered.

“I’m here, Rayna,” Jonathan said, and her beast stared into his eyes. She growled and let out a screech as her fangs dropped and thick white claws shot out of her paws.

Another power entered the scene. Jonathan’s beast came to life, his eyes shifting, and a deep screech escaped his lips.

“Jonathan, don’t,” Chief commanded.

Fear filled Jonathan’s eyes as his fangs began to drop. “I…can’t…stop.” His words were slurred by the large fangs. Blood poured from his mouth and hands as he shifted, a tail ripping itself through his jeans.

“Control yourself!” Chief ordered, pushing his beast over Jonathan, but it was no use.

“I’m trying. It’s…her–” Jonathan grunted as his bones snapped, and in moments, he was gone. A waist high panther sat on a pile of torn clothes. It growled at Rayna as her bones moved. Her back arched and her spine snapped as it changed shape. She collapsed to the ground and started panting heavily.

“You’re nearly there, Rayna.” Chief turned his attention away from Jonathan, bringing his beast to the surface and pushing it against Rayna.

Rayna jumped onto all fours and growled again, a new determination filling her. Green cat eyes watched me as the rest of her body began to move. Her pink tank top ripped, and baggy sweats fell off her hips as black fur pushed through a wave of blood and fluid. She grunted and her skin rippled across her face. Her cheekbones collapsed and her skin stretched as her face reformed. Her jaw snapped and dislocated, taking on a new shape as the last few bones shifted into place. Now there wasn’t one, but two black panthers standing in front of us.

Jonathan stared at Rayna, but Rayna watched me. She crept towards me, her body swaying with each step. I took a few steps back until the porch railing stopped me. My pulse sped as she neared and I called my water element, partly to calm myself, and partly just in case.

Rayna stopped and growled.

“Don’t,” Chief said.

I held the magic inside me for a moment, staring into Rayna’s eyes. I could see the beast, but she was in there too, looking out at me. They were one.

She growled again, fiercer this time, and I let the magic recede. She stepped closer and sweat gathered on my palms. My pulse leapt but the nervousness buckled as she pushed her head into my hand. Long whiskers tickled my skin and I moved my fingertips over her head. A deep rumble moved from her throat, but instead of a roar, she purred. She arched her back and rubbed up against my leg, coming up just below my hip.

Rayna stepped away from me and Jonathan moved forward, pushing his head into her neck. She continued to purr and watch me as he nuzzled her.

“She needs to hunt to complete the shift.” Chief’s eyes focused on me.

I looked down at Rayna, who watched me with an intensity I’d never seen before. I nodded and she growled, taking a few steps and leaping off the porch in unspoken grace. Jonathan walked softly after her, his large feet padding against the earth. He was a few inches taller than her, but they looked nearly identical. Glossy, black fur covered their bodies; the only difference was in their eyes.

Rayna nudged into his neck and the crowd of shifters that had gathered separated as the pair bounded through the clearing. With only a few long leaps, they dove into the underbrush and vanished in a spill of colorful leaves.

“She did it…” I said.

Chief came to stand beside me. “The kinship her and Jonathan’s beasts shared was the final piece.”

“But he said he couldn’t control it. He couldn’t stop.”

“Probably just the power of a shifter’s first change. They’re family. Just as with born shifters, the bond completed the act.” Chief tried to smile, but he didn’t look or sound confident.

“Probably?”

“Rayna is safe. Their beasts have a different, unbiased relationship. They are meant to be together,” he said, avoiding my question.

A few men and women pushed through the crowd below and stormed towards us. Garrett and Karissa were among them, and Chief stepped down to meet them.

“What is it?”
 

“It’s time we spoke to
him
,” one of the men said.
 
His brown hair hung down to his shoulders and his eyes watched me with an anger I didn’t understand.

“Now is not the time.”

“Now
is
the time. You said he was a hunter; you never told us who. I had to find out through Karissa.”

“Jesse, I didn’t mean to–” Karissa started.

“Silence,” Jesse commanded.

“I was under the impression everyone knew,” Chief replied.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“Tell him, Chief. It’s time we learned where his true allegiance lies.”

“We know where it lies,” Garrett said. “Chief has already spoken to him.”