Chapter One
“Let’s do this.” Alicia wiped the sweat from her forehead, tugged her medic pack higher on her shoulder, and trudged deeper into the forest, away from the cave.
Every muscle burned and her head throbbed. Surely she’d found all the wounded bears by now.
Can’t take a chance I’ve missed anyone. Too many lost already.
Once she was positive all bears were accounted for, she’d collapse into bed. But until then, she’d search. The air hung heavy with the dank odor of battle, dried blood, and the ghosts of violence. A full day had passed, but Deep Creek was forever scarred from the agony that had ripped shifters apart on its forest floors.
Healing would take more than bandages and incense.
Damn lions. Always looking for a fight. The bears wouldn’t forget the day the lions attacked.
“Alicia?” The voice sounded from behind her, a hint of agitation in the tone. “Where are you going?”
She paused, steeling herself, and then turned.
Derek.
Concern clouded his face. Rarely one to show stress, the battle had shaken him profoundly, and deep hollows had formed under his eyes. Shell-shocked, yet still the strong alpha always concerned about those he cared about. Bria was fortunate to have such a powerful protector as mate.
“I’m checking for wounded.” Alicia pushed a lock of red hair behind her ear and cinched her ponytail. The after-battle taste of nausea and heat burned her throat and sat in her stomach like a rock. She didn’t need to hear Derek’s speech, but she knew it was coming.
“Alone?” He put his hands on his hips.
“I’ll be back before dark—there are several hours of daylight left.” A tingle of dread traveled up her spine. Though she loved being a medic and healer, battlefield trauma treatment was a bit beyond her training.
“You shouldn’t be by yourself. The lions might be prowling around looking for their own wounded. Or a stray bear to ambush.” Derek’s hair hung loose and limp around his shoulders. His beard was scraggly and he had a dark bruise over his eyebrow.
She’d never seen him look so rough.
Of course he’d try to stop her. He wasn’t being bossy. He worried. “I need to check thoroughly. Just in case.” He wasn’t the only one who worried, but she’d never forgive herself if she missed a wounded bear.
He tromped toward her, his steps heavy with exhaustion. “I’ll help. We’ve lost too many friends and family already. I’m not losing you too.”
“There’s nothing you can do to help.”
He stared into the forest and sniffed the air. “I can shift and we can cover more ground.”
“Go back to the cave. I’m sure Bria needs you right now. She’s been exposed to so many new things, some violent, in a short amount of time. I know she’s a strong woman, but it’s a tremendous amount for a human to process. She’s been thrown into the middle of this war, unprepared.”
Derek scowled. “I know.”
She touched his shoulder and looked into his eyes. “She needs you by her side, not left alone with a bunch of grumpy and wounded bears.”
He pulled away. “But she’s safe in the cave. You aren’t.”
“Seriously?” Alicia crossed her arms and formed the sourest face she could fake. “You really think I can’t take care of myself? I’ve been doing it a long time.”
“It’s not that.”
“Then what? The lions have gone home with their tails between their legs.”
“I worry about you.” His voice softened.
“I know you do, and I appreciate it. I’m going to check the brush on the way to the creek then I’ll be back. I won’t be gone more than an hour or two.”
His scowl deepened, and he chewed his lip hard, annoyance flashing in his features. “You’re so stubborn.”
“Your mate needs you. Go.”
She almost smiled, but held back. It was easy to see why Bria was attracted to Derek. He’d always been a good friend, looking out for Alicia as they grew up together in the clan. Sometimes he was overprotective, but she understood why most women swooned over him.
Who didn’t want a giant bear hug from a good-looking and sweet man?
He sighed and kicked at the ground.
She knew she’d won. “I want to get this over with. I’m tired.” If she hadn’t been tending the wounded at the cave all morning, she’d have started her search sooner.
“Fine.”
She met his gaze. “I’m not a pigtailed schoolgirl anymore. I’ve grown up and I have my own job. Let me go do it.”
“I know.” Derek’s shoulders sagged and he pivoted to scan the forest around them, cocking his head to the side to listen. When he seemed satisfied, he relaxed. “I realize you can take care of yourself.”
“I’ll be extra careful.” She nodded. “Always. Grandmother Tawodi has taught me well.”
“Yes, she has.” He sniffed the air again, turning in all directions. “Don’t smell any lions but they’re out there.”
“I know.”
She hugged him and he kissed her on the top of the head.
“I’ll come looking for you if you aren’t back within a reasonable amount of time. I mean it.”
“Go.” She shooed him away.
He walked toward the cave, kicking up dust and dirt in his wake.
Alicia watched him for a few moments, then yanked her kit higher on her back. Derek was the older brother she’d never had. Including the annoying parts. Thank goodness he’d not been killed in the battle.
She moved deeper into the woods, all senses on high alert to pick up anything out of the ordinary.
The forest, quiet in the aftermath of the battle, was as familiar to her as her own hands. Yet an unease wended its way through the trees and settled around her. If the lions could attack unprovoked, what might they be planning now?
Lions had always been the enemy. The bane of the bears. Even the annoying wolves didn’t come close to being as dangerous.
Derek had saved her from lions before, and had since made it his duty to watch over her. The memory still stung. She and her best friend Ria had wandered away from the other cubs on an outing to the grassy meadow where a beautiful waterfall splashed into a pool with droplets and spray as bright as cut crystal.
The lions had been there too. Ria hadn’t survived the attack. The cold crush of guilt and grief washed over Alicia, as fresh as that spring day so long ago. She hated the lions for taking away her best friend. If she never saw one of the mangy creatures again, it would suit her fine.
She closed her eyes to calm her nerves. Grandmother Tawodi had always told her not to let her emotions take over when danger lurked. She blew out a long breath, calling on her muscles to relax. Deep Creek might be bear territory, but the lions had proven they could encroach right up to the Cave of Whispers.
Solstice would be forever remembered not as the day of longest light when summer broke through the veil of seasons, but as one of the darkest days in Deep Creek’s history.
Sneaky bastards.
The wind picked up, carrying the acrid odor of death, tingeing her nostrils with an unforgettable tang.
She veered right, toward the creek. Though she usually thought of herself as an optimist, she couldn’t see many positives from the battle that had sent too many souls to the starry ether.
Sweat trickled down her back as the summer sun painted its glory on her damp skin. She trudged the narrow path between large oaks, an abandoned game trail to the creek. Once a favorite spot, now the branches seemed to bow under the forest’s grief.
Her temples throbbed and she paused to take a gulp from her water bottle. She listened for any sound, however faint, that might be a sign of life in the underbrush or off the trail.
Grandmother Tawodi had shown her the ways of empathy and herbal healing, and even though some of the bears teased her, she knew better than to cross her adopted grandmother. With a name meaning “hawk,” her grandmother’s tenacity was only surpassed by her compassion for other living creatures. Tawodi had taken Alicia under her wing at a young age, when Alicia’s parents had disappeared.
Tawodi was the closest thing she had to family. True family.
Alicia stepped over a limb, crunching a smaller one underfoot, and the snap jolted her senses. Looking behind her to check to see if she was being followed, she relaxed when she confirmed she was alone.
Her uncanny perception was part of what made her rise above the other bears who’d trained in first aid and traditional medicine.
They didn’t have Tawodi’s guidance.
She closed her water bottle, slipped it into her pack, and moved more quickly as the path widened. The rush of the creek was faint to her human ears and she followed the sound.
So far, so good. No wounded bears.
Tawodi had told her that her gift of empathy was not to be squandered and Alicia tried to always be aware. She experienced other creatures’ pain deep in her spirit, just as her grandmother did. The first time she’d felt another’s pain, she’d almost passed out. Ria. Alicia had felt everything. The pain. The fear. She blinked back the sting of tears. Gift or curse, she would not leave an injured animal to suffer.
She stuck her water bottle back in her pack.
The hill to the left rose tall, the deep-green grass flattened from the hand-to-hand combat between the lions and bears. A rusty bloodstain near the path had almost turned brown in the heat, but she knew.
A lion had fallen in that spot, his neck snapped by a stronger bear.
She wrinkled her nose and reached for her own neck. The image burned in her mind, as clear as a color photograph. Pain and death would linger in the summer grass for weeks, and in her mind forever.
Chin up, she held back the threatening tears but they surged anyway and a single drop traced her cheek, followed by the trails of a few more. She wiped them away. The final death toll hadn’t been tallied, but the bears would be burying a lot of friends and enemies in the Cave of Whispers over the next few days. Many tears would fall in Deep Creek over the coming weeks.
Shoshannah was already preparing the final resting places for the physical bodies as the dead’s souls marched through on their way to the river of stars.
Right now, saving others was a way to honor Ria’s death.
I couldn’t save her but I can make sure no one else dies in the forest today.
The damp heat of the day slithered through the arched curtain of trees that wilted in the humidity. Summer in Deep Creek had always been one of her favorite seasons, but today, it was the basis for a terrible memory.
Maybe it was lack of sleep, but right now, she longed for snowy winter’s long naps and warm dens. The mewling of cubs wouldn’t even bother her. Though the bears of Deep Creek didn’t truly hibernate, they slept a lot during the cold months. And sleeping meant forgetting painful memories. She glanced up at the spots of blue sky visible through the branches.
Plenty of daylight left.
A fly buzzed near her face, and she swatted it away, stopping to check the dense brush at the side of the trail more thoroughly. She sniffed the air and stilled her mind, reaching out and feeling. Listening. If anyone was close enough, she should sense them.
No one.
Derek was right. Shifting would help her cover more ground in a shorter amount of time, and her senses would be heightened. She’d have trouble carrying her pack of medical supplies, but she could leave them and come back for them if she found anyone. Shifting also made her more vulnerable to being spotted. It was a tradeoff she couldn’t risk.
A chipmunk scurried across her path, flicking its stubby tail and pulling her from her memories. She pushed on, nearly to the copse of trees at the edge of the deeper forest.
She shaded her eyes and zeroed in on the low bushes that lined the perimeter of her vision. No sign of movement. She almost wished she’d taken Derek up on his offer to help her search.
The endless forest sprawled in front of her in a maze of trails and trees. Another third of a mile to check before reaching the creek. She yawned. Got to keep going. A few hours could mean life or death to a wounded bear that dragged itself out into the woods to hide. Not much of a chance any injured animal would’ve crossed the creek, since it would know it would be hard to track, so that was her search boundary.
What would she do if she ran into a lion? Though she was confident in her abilities, running into a vicious lion was more danger than she’d faced alone. After what happened to Ria... She jerked her head around at the slight sound to her left, her heartbeat surging.
A small animal rustling in the leaves, nothing more.
I can do this.
Heading east toward the creek, the sun would be at her back as it began to set in a few hours, keeping the glare out of her eyes. She’d be long finished searching by dark.
The rain overnight had cooled the air and filled it with moisture, but now the day was hot and muggy. She trudged over knotted vines and fallen branches and kicked old toadstools, sending up puffs of spores from the flying caps as they bounced across the ground. Almost there. She slid down a short embankment, careful to not fall.
The air stilled and the woods went silent, as if someone had turned off the low hum of a station-less radio. Pressure filled her ears.
What?
She gripped the strap of her pack. A squirrel scurried in the leaves nearby, chattering its distress at her invasion of its territory. She swallowed down the lump blocking her throat and sniffed.
Something isn’t right.
A faint tang rode on the waves of clean air and forest pine, threading it with metallic thickness. A heavy, sharp scent that indicated one thing.
Pain.
The odor drifted from nearby, yet she hadn’t sensed it before she slid into the shallow gully. The ribbon of pain looped through her mind, faint and not totally familiar. Where? She peered around the area. Nothing out of the ordinary. Moving closer, the smell grew stronger and blurry images, blazing red, flooded her mind.
Something was suffering, and it wasn’t a bear. Her pulse thrummed in her ears at the realization. A loud screech sounded above, and she looked up to see a giant hawk circling. It soared over an area not too far ahead, bobbing on the currents of wind high above the trees.
Tawodi. Grandmother.
Warmth and strength rushed through Alicia’s veins, and she clenched her pack tighter. Always nearby when she sensed trouble, yet never interfering, Tawodi gave guidance by her presence alone. Alicia smiled. Tawodi was leading her to the injured animal.
“Thank you, Grandmother.” Alicia scrambled over the loose pebbles, her boots slipping on the dusty rubble and her ponytail sliding along the ground as she caught herself. She stabilized herself and stood, then brushed off her elbows. A scrape reddened with blood, but it wasn’t bad. She’d put a Band-Aid on it later.
Haste makes waste. Tawodi’s voice echoed inside her head.
Alicia moved in the direction of the injured creature, her pack rubbing against her aching lower back. Deep-green briar bushes filled with tiny white flowers lined the gully pathway like drops of snow on a field of dark green. The foliage grew denser as she maneuvered closer, and twisted briars tore at her clothing.
“Shit.” A thick ropy branch lashed across her legs, and she tugged it free, then the offending thorn. She held the pointed spike up in the air. Nearly an inch long and about as wide. Massive and old, the vine had probably been growing in Deep Creek for as long as she had.
Dangerous.
A flutter trilled her heartbeat. She wouldn’t let anxiety get the better of her.
She almost wished she carried a gun like the rangers did. Who was she kidding? She’d never needed a gun. A battle had not happened in her lifetime, and hopefully never would again.
She continued to pull the thorny branches from her clothing as she wove among the tangle of vines, seeking the source of the odor. She stopped to hold her head in her hands as her eyesight clouded. First a tingle, then a full-on burn enflamed her eyes, and a vision flashed, clearer this time with much more detail.
A gunshot. Searing hot pain oozing down a shoulder like molten metal. Melting the skin and stripping the bullet hole to the bone. Torturous pain as muscle liquefied. An outcry, then silence.
She shivered and rubbed her shoulder, feeling for the muscle she knew to be there. Where was the animal? It needed her, and it wasn’t going to live much longer without care. She tasted its injury, its fear. She scanned the forest ahead, sticking her nose into the air again, hoping to differentiate the animal’s scent from everything else in the area.
Blindfolded and ears muffled, she could detect the squish of a horsefly’s feet climbing over a rotting apple a hundred yards away and point to its precise location. But this scent was something she hadn’t smelled before. Not exactly.
Dangerous and compelling with a hint of magic. But most of all, a drumming pain, angry and red, wove through and around him. She held her pounding head, and tightened her grip on her temples to try and ease the throbbing.
The animal’s intense pain called to Alicia, but underneath his need for relief was a darkness and a sadness her empathy couldn’t penetrate or interpret. She reached out with her mind and met anger that blasted her back with a force unlike anything she’d come up against.
Who was this creature?
Tawodi had known the agony that called out through the trees, and flew near to check on Alicia and give her visual guidance and comfort. Though Tawodi couldn’t wield a weapon in her bird state, she could soothe fears.
And warn of danger. And maybe something else. The magic in the air was something Grandmother knew, Alicia was sure of it.
She crept closer, bracing for a possible attack from a creature blinded by its pain. Hesitation fluttered along her skin like the touch of a feather, and fear masqueraded as bravado with each step.
With Tawodi nearby, things would be okay.
Her gran had taught her to have a healthy fear of the unknown.
The large hawk shrieked, urging Alicia onward. She picked up her pace. She had to know what animal lay injured in the underbrush, and she swallowed her dread, letting her mind wander through the real and imagined as she pushed branches out of the way. Tawodi wouldn’t lead her astray.
Ever.
A wall of agony hit her, doubling her over with its intensity. Her head nearly split in two with the massive force of the psychic hit, and she struggled to stay coherent. Her heart sped, and sweat broke out across her back and trickled down her legs.
No!
She should leave. Now. Get out of the woods and far from the Cave of Whispers. Bile flooded her mouth with a bitter burnt taste following. Clarity filled her mind like the chill of fresh new snow.
She knew the underlying scent. The pain had masked the source at first, but now it broke through like a dark wet rope moving through the laces of suffering. She swallowed hard and tugged the backpack up higher onto her shoulders.
Enemy.
She shivered in the heat, the cold realization sinking deeper into her mind.
A wounded lion lay on the ground, dying, close by. Every muscle in her body tensed into knots and her psyche screamed run, but the sweat of fear kept her feet still. If her heart could’ve pounded any harder, she feared it would break her rib cage.
Lion. She’d not considered that she might come across a wounded one while she searched for bears. The lions didn’t leave anyone behind. Until this lion.
Its life force weak, its pain all consuming.
He was from the pride that had killed Ria. Sen Pal. The same lions that killed friends yesterday and attempted to take the cave from the bears. He might even be the lion that took Ria from her. She stopped as a voice resonated in her mind with a sharp intensity she couldn’t ignore.
Healer. Be still.
“Grandmother?” Alicia whispered. A mixture of fear and anger sizzled up her spine, lighting small fires of stress. How could she possibly help a lion? She’d spent her lifetime hating them and vowing revenge for Ria’s death.
No answer came from Tawodi, but Alicia knew the expectation as she knew her own name. Tawodi had taught her the ways. Alicia couldn’t discriminate. Either she was a true spirit healer or she wasn’t. She didn’t get to choose who she helped any more than she got to choose to breathe.
In truth, the wounded chose her, and this lion’s pain had summoned her as strongly as if he’d tapped her on the shoulder. He needed her and she was to tend him, regardless of her feelings.
The odor of his blood filled the air, and his pain rang out like a beacon, dragging her closer. Begging for her help. Alicia shuffled closer, knuckles white from holding on to the pack straps so tightly.
Did she have the fortitude to help the enemy?
Broken bear bodies were piled outside the cave in a heap. The image burned in her mind. She swallowed the bile that singed her throat.
She hadn’t been this close to a lion since that fateful day with Ria. Even during the recent battle, she’d been tending the wounded more than engaging the enemy. She hadn’t seen much of the combat either. Being absorbed in her work had been an advantage.
She pushed the brambles away and sidestepped a large boulder on the side of the path. Whoever this lion was, he must not have been important because the other lions had run off and left him to die in enemy territory.
Or they thought he was dead.
A common soldier. Perhaps a killer or guard. No matter. They’d left him to die in the forest.
She closed her eyes and paused.
Lion.
Where was he? After turning the bend, the slanting sunlight did a better job making it to the forest floor, casting long strips of yellow across the dark dirt. Maybe he’d hidden himself to prevent being captured. He had to know he’d be scented. No one could hide forever in the forest of Deep Creek, not with the number of shifters that lived and roamed the area.
He thought the lions would come back for him. Or maybe he was too wounded to move. She sniffed again.
Yes, definitely a he.
He wasn’t groaning, in fact, he didn’t utter a sound, so she followed the iron scent of his life force, her heart thumping. Every hair on her arms and neck rose, like electricity had shot through the trees and glanced by her.
Alert.
The faint sound of his breath, labored and uneven, a whisper on the wind. Alive. She hurried.
Healer or not, she knew better than to risk an encounter with a wounded enemy. The lion was likely unable to move given the amount of blood she scented. His injuries had to be severe, likely life-threatening.
She shielded her eyes and searched the sky for Grandmother Tawodi, hoping for reassurance and guidance on how to proceed, but the hawk had flown away. With a broken sigh, Alicia trekked nearer to the dangerous animal, tripping over a branch half-hidden in the leaves.
“Shit.” She put her hands out to break her fall, scraping them on the rocks scattered on the trail. For a moment, her own pain sounded more loudly in her mind than the lion’s. She stood and wiped her hands free of debris. Another mistake like that and she could be dead. An injured lion was more dangerous than a healthy one, and if he was able, he could kill her in a second.
He had nothing to lose.
Thankfully, he didn’t come rushing at her from the trees. She sniffed the air again. He was so close, but where? She turned in the direction of the scent, but she couldn’t see him. The underbrush was dense and summer had provided unbeatable camouflage.
She reached into the zippered pocket of her kit and pulled out a scalpel then removed the covering. Her hands shook. Not much of a weapon, but it would do enough harm in close combat. She could disembowel quickly if she had to. Knowing exactly where to cut, and how deep, was a clear advantage.
She tracked him. Pain, with a sweeter scent floating alongside it like the counterpoint to a melody. That scent...unknown and yet familiar. She was just about to undress and shift to get a better sniff when she saw his arm sticking out from under the bush, his body barely hidden, despite the full foliage.
Another step closer. He didn’t move to attack.
Crumpled, he lay on his back. She studied the creature, magnificent in its manly form.
Muscular and tan, palm up, his fingers relaxed and clenched as he fought the pain that wracked his body. He suffered. She knelt to get a better look, yet stayed out of reach. The heat of the afternoon sun blazed, and a sheen of sweat covered him even though he was in the shadows.
“Go away.” His voice barely a whisper on the thick summer air. “I’ll kill you.”
Alicia gripped the scalpel. She could slide it across his neck in a flash, and it’d be over. No one would have to know. A mercy killing, of sorts. Though she’d be lying to herself to categorize it as such.
Her grandmother’s words echoed. Alicia was a healer, not a killer.
From the looks of the lion’s shirt, already dark, yet now wet with blood, he might not recover even with her best efforts to save him. The scent of gunpowder and burnt flesh peppered the blood-laden air. The lions had left him to die under a bush in bear territory, shot in the shoulder.
She shook her head and settled to the ground on her knees. “I’m not going anywhere.” The strength of her voice hid her fear, though he might sense it anyway. His scent was that of a strong and confident shifter, even in his current state.
He looked at her.
She blinked, trying to calm the adrenaline rush that shot through her. His eyes, mesmerizing and wide, lured her in, and she couldn’t turn away. Deep green or maybe brown or even both, they were a color she’d never seen and his gaze was magnetic. Her mouth went dry.
He was her sworn enemy. Sexy, but injured.
She glanced to the sky, but didn’t see Grandmother Hawk. Typical. Recently, she’d started leaving Alicia to figure out the moral decisions on her own, trusting that she would make the right one.
Part of the training.
“Shit.” The scalpel had warmed in her hands, and the sun glinted off the blade in a flash of silvery-white. What would her grandmother do? No doubt, she’d help the lion. Maybe she wouldn’t tell the bears, who she was loyal to, but she’d never let a lion die if she could heal him. She’d never intentionally let anyone die on her watch.
“War is for the weak minded,” she’d always said. Alicia was beginning to think she was right. Why couldn’t shifters all get along?
Because the damn lions wanted the bears’ territory. If they’d stayed in their own area, none of the bloodshed would’ve happened. Even though Alicia had heard the stories of the lions and bears and wolves sharing the cave, the actuality felt as foreign as items in an ancient history book. As remote as a fairy tale.
Fantasy.
“Go.” He turned away, but she could still see the strain on his face as he winced.
His black hair, falling to his shoulders, was damp and matted. How early in the battle had he been wounded? He was bound to be dehydrated.
“I’m here to help. Like it or not.” She slid the scalpel into its sheath and back into the pocket of her pack. Her earlier assessment was correct. The lion was no threat at the moment. He could barely move. The rise and fall of his chest showed his respirations were high and labored. Blood loss was nearing the severe level.
He needed help before his body went into shock.
She looked back toward the trail to make sure she was alone. If Griff or Derek found out about him, the lion wouldn’t need help anymore and her time as medic would be over.
She’d worry about that another day. She had a lion to save.