Chapter Twelve

Cohen stepped through the mud, annoyed. The Pack gathered around, whispers turning into a dull roar. He didn’t know what they were thinking. Which monster they’d root for? Did the Pack of beasts want Killian to lead them? Had they really lost their way that much?

He scanned the crowd, searching for the one face he wanted to see. Ashe wasn’t there. He twisted, looking behind him to see if she was there, backing his claim, but there were only his brothers and their mates.

Cohen’s heart sank. He was doing this for her. Part of him wanted her to see, but he recognized hubris for what it was.

“I told you, big guy.” Killian cracked his knuckles. The cocky smile he wore was too much, as if he had an ace up his sleeve that Cohen didn’t know about. “I need a Pack to protect myself. I need this far more than you do.”

Cohen shook his head. “Having a Pack isn’t about having a weapon. It’s about family.”

Killian’s laugh was a bark. Then, Cohen saw a flash of movement behind Killian. His heart slammed into the ground, the world around him swaying. Ashe stood behind Killian, shame written across her face.

His lips parted, wanting to ask why. He needed to know why she would betray him. He loved her and to see her standing behind Killian tore him in half. The bear roared with jealousy. It tore its way out of Cohen. His body ripped apart, the bear bursting into the world. It was going to tear Killian apart one limb at a time. It was going to make him hurt.

He raced toward Killian. The shifter smiled and side-stepped Cohen’s lumbering form. He spun in the mud and swiped for the man. Killian ducked under the strike, quicker in his human form that Cohen was in his bear form.

The bear roared. The world around them shook. Killian wobbled in the mud and Cohen pounced.

“Ashe!” Killian screamed.

Hearing her name in his mouth infuriated the bear. He brought his fisted paw down onto the shifter’s jaw. The crack resounded through the circle. People around them gasped as Killian staggered away. Killian staggered and spun toward Ashe. Cohen couldn’t stand him looking at her. Killian destroyed everything he got close to and Cohen would not let him anywhere near Ashe.

She belonged to him. She was his equal like no one else in the world was. Cohen’s claws raked across Killian’s back. His spine arched, and he let out a long hiss. His jaw was slowly knitting back together, and he ground out Ashe’s name.

Cohen roared, drowning out the sound. What did the shifter think he was doing? All he’d managed to do was irritate the bear.

“They’re coming,” Killian spat out, his words mangled as his jaw healed.

Cohen didn’t have the sense to pause anymore. He had nothing, no reins to grasp, no thoughts to gather. A second set of claws crashed and raked over Killian’s back. He hissed, the sound morphing into a growl. His head snapped around and his snarl started to shift.

Killian’s body shifted, faster than it should have, from human to jaguar. The feline form was quick, faster than Cohen’s lumbering bear. While Cohen had strength, the agility angered him. He swiped and swiped, each time his claws only caught air. Each time, the cat snarled at Ashe.

Her face was drained of color, eyes wide with fear. Cohen didn’t know what was between them, what Killian might have said to threaten her. He wanted to turn Killian into a smear on the grass for looking at her, but she seemed to gather herself. Her brows rose, and she flung her hands forward.

Her power spilled out and grasped him. Confusion struck the bear. He whimpered, a sound he’d never made before. Had she just betrayed them? Was she working for Killian? He’d seen her standing behind him, fear clear on her face, but he only saw his own anger. What had he missed?

Ashe could have been working with Killian the whole time. But, if she had, would she have called them back to Stonefall? Cohen was confused, trying to put the pieces together, when his bear grabbed his attention. The bear turned him toward Killian. The feline shifter was also caught in the throes of Ashe’s magic, eyes wide with confusion and fear.

The bear’s heart tempered. While Cohen was not sure what was happening, the bear trusted Ashe. She would never betray them, no matter what stood in her way. He asked Cohen to trust her too.

Ashe stormed toward Killian, her silver wrap dress flaring about her like the wings of a snowy owl. The bear watched with some smug expression. Cohen wanted to question what his beast knew that he didn’t, but he tried to focus on what was happening.

“You can’t do that!” a voice cried from the crowd.

Everyone except Cohen and Killian turned to look at Grover. Fury lined his still bruised face; the beating Killian had put him through not yet willing to go away. His fists clenched at his sides as he stormed forward. Archer and Gage held out their arms, stopping him in his tracks. Even their faces were covered in hesitant confusion. While they knew what she was doing was completely against traditional rules, they waited to hear her out.

“Grover,” she snapped. “Shove it up your ass before I do it for you. Don’t think I won’t.”

The bear looked on with pride as she mastered the power deep inside her. While the Pack did not understand it, it was just as much a part of the woman he loved as the bear was a part of him.

Her eyes flicked back to the frozen Killian. “You said they were coming. Who are you talking about?”

“What does this have to do with anything?” Grover paced behind the wall of Archer and Gage’s arms.

The bear could see, while Grover had questionable means, his heart was in the right place, too. Grover wanted power to protect his family. He thought he had it, thought he could grasp it, but his place was right where he was. The bear would have nodded.

Cohen regarded his beast with surprise. It was measuring those around them as if they were an Alpha weighing the worth of their Pack, and it was doing it with surprising accuracy. The fury it bore moments ago was gone and in it’s place was a calculating eye. Who was this beast and what had it done with the monster he’d lived with?

“Grover!” Ashe snapped once more. She dropped her hold on Cohen and turned her magic toward the mouthy black bear shifter.

His eyes widened with shock when he realized he could no longer open his mouth.

She turned to Cohen, calmer than he’d ever seen her before. “Command him back into a form that can speak. He said someone was coming and we need to know before we’re caught with our asses in our hands.”

The bear nodded and turned on Killian. Wordlessly, he brought a paw down on the cat’s frozen shoulder. It grimaced and twisted, the form pulling back into that of a human. Moments passed before a naked Killian crouched before them, breathing hard. He looked up at Ashe with burning eyes.

“Do you want your Pack to know what kind of a person you really are? Betrayer? Murderer?”

An uproar passed through the crowd around them. Cohen spun and roared at them. Their cries quieted into a hush of whispers. Eyes still clung to Ashe, flicking to Cohen in fear. The bear knew they were not painting the most trustworthy picture, but they were being strong. Strength forged safety. Trust would just have to come after.

He hoped.