Chapter Fifteen
Marco flipped over in his bed, pushing the sheet off his bare chest. The lightweight blanket already lay on the floor. Even though the air-conditioning was running full blast and his room was cool, dreams of Alicia kept his blood hot, though she wasn’t anywhere nearby.
What had he done? Why hadn’t she come? He was sure she would, once Tawodi was well. But he’d had no sign of Alicia. Didn’t hawk shifters heal quickly?
He’d let the one person who’d believed in him one hundred percent—his mate—walk out of his life. No, that wasn’t accurate. He’d chosen to leave her—when she was most vulnerable. He’d put her on the spot and made her choose to leave her people and go with him into the unknown. No time to think, no time to prepare.
He’d tried to make her choose. What a mistake.
Then he’d doubled the mistake by walking out.
He wiped at his forehead. He’d not heard from her since that moment he’d left the cave. Three days had passed with no message, no sight of her in the edges of the forest.
Mason didn’t want him going far for fear of him being recaptured, so he sat at the edge of the complex and peered into the forest for hours, hoping to catch a whiff of her or see her red hair glint in the late summer sun, or her speckling of freckles move when she smiled.
He’d thought she would come to him at least to visit.
The line between duty and love had never been an issue until he met Alicia. Now, he ached to be with her daily and his duty to the lions drifted away. He loved his brother and the lions, but things had to change. He needed his mate at his side—wherever they were. The pride, the cave, or somewhere else entirely.
No more war.
The bears weren’t as bad as the lions thought.
Max said he had to prepare for the next battle. One that would have a new enemy. He had told Mason about his visions but he wasn’t sure his brother believed they were real. Mason thought maybe Marco was having hallucinations instead of dreams. Regardless, things needed to change.
He needed Alicia. He would go to her, whether Mason approved or not. Once Mason got to know her, Marco knew he’d care for her and understand. Mason didn’t have a mate yet, and for that, Marco pitied him.
Marco’s heart noted every second that passed, and each beat sent a pang of pain through him, reminding him of what he’d done. He kicked the sheet to the floor and sat on the edge of his bed, naked. The moonlight through the lone window cast a blue light into his room, and he stared. The moon waxed and soon it would be full, and the wolves would run wild through Deep Creek, preying on rabbits or anything else they could overpower. That’s what wolves did.
Mason had been busy planning another attack even with Marco’s opposition. The wolves weren’t ready, and the lions hadn’t recovered. Marco worried that if he left Mason alone while he went to find Alicia, Mason would do something stupid like attack the bears again.
He had to figure out a way to get to Alicia. He loved her and needed her and he was sure she was mad at him for leaving. He needed to explain things to her. Still, the thought his brother might lead an attack while he was gone hung over him.
He pushed his hair out of his face and watched a small cloud drift over the moon’s disc. Then, a large bird sailed by. A huge hawk. He watched its silhouette as it caught a thermal and lifted in front of the bright globe, its wide wingspan seeming to cover the moon from his perspective.
Hawks usually aren’t out hunting this late at night. The hawk flew closer and Marco saw it was alight with purple and blue flames. He watched as the bird sailed straight up then around the shape of the moon, then in a flash, disappeared.
Tawodi.
She was checking on him. He had to get to Alicia. Figure out a plan to balance his mate and his brother.
Marco rubbed his eyes and lay down, tucking his legs under him then reaching to pull the sheet off the floor. He needed sleep or he’d be hallucinating more. Tomorrow, he had to figure out what to do about Alicia.
Time to act.
He’d screwed up. He needed to fix it. No matter what Mason said. No matter that she was a bear.
She was his bear.
If she didn’t want him, then he’d have to deal with it, but he wasn’t making progress by doing nothing but lying around wishing. His body relaxed, almost at once, like every muscle was in agreement with his decision.
Sleep, then he’d find her. The rest would be in her hands and the hands of the gods.
* * *
Alicia sat on Tawodi’s porch steps in her nightgown, a cup of warm sassafras tea in her hands. Tawodi had completely healed, at least physically, since Marco had chosen to go back with the lions. Still, Alicia couldn’t bear to leave her alone. She’d come so close to losing her.
Tawodi was out flying tonight, under the full moon, and Alicia waited on her return. She’d all but moved into the basement of the cabin, setting up an old bed and staying close by until she knew Tawodi could take care of herself again.
Why had she picked that time to come check on the bacteria? Alicia had known Tawodi was anxious to get a sample, but the timing had turned out to be horrible.
Alicia wasn’t sure she was cut out to be a healer anymore. The emotional pain of healing Marco and Tawodi had cut her in two, and she wasn’t any closer to healing herself. Her mate had walked out. It hurt.
She watched the moon. It’d be full the next night. So close right now. The Thunder Moon. Appropriate.
She sipped her tea, savoring the bite of the herbs. She’d sleep well tonight, once Tawodi returned. No nightmares, she hoped. Every night, she hugged a spare pillow, pretending it was Marco. And every morning, she’d woken up to the reality that he had chosen to go with his brother instead of staying with her.
She took another sip of the warm tea. Already, she was relaxing and beginning to slip into a pre-sleep, slowing-down phase. She yawned. Tawodi was staying out late.
Maybe she’d go see Derek and Bria tomorrow or even Griff and Amy. They’d visited her and Tawodi the day before, but Alicia craved their company now more than ever. Tawodi had been clear—Marco had to decide which path he’d take. Alicia, or war with the bears. Until then, Alicia needed to wait.
Three days felt like an eternity.
She missed him. Across the meadow, the reflective eyes of a night hunter popped up for a moment then were gone. Even most insects had gone to sleep.
All Tawodi’s talk about taking care of everyone and working to bring the shifters together had done her no good in the end. The lions didn’t care. Marco didn’t care.
She had believed him when he said she was his. Yes, he’d told her to come to the Sen Pal complex, but the fact he’d left in the first place was hard for her to understand. Especially since he knew she needed to take care of Tawodi’s injury.
The whole mess could’ve been prevented if she’d not treated Marco. Now she didn’t know if she could even continue to heal others. Tawodi thought she was cut out to do it, but it sure didn’t feel like it. She couldn’t even shift anymore.
Right now, she felt like she’d failed her grandmother, her bears, and most of all, herself.
She stood and stretched, then sipped the last of the tea. The moon loomed high above the treetops now, round and bright. The branches of the tallest trees silhouetted along the horizon like a jagged saw blade, ready to cut the sky from the land.
Alicia turned to go inside.
To add insult to all the injury the situation had caused, she really missed Marco and the way electric shocks skittered up her arm when she touched him. Hearing his voice again, whispered against her neck as his lips brushed her ear lobe...she shuddered...she wanted that again.
They were mates. How could she let that go?
He hadn’t tried to contact her or get a message to her at all. He’d left her. Not called for her to join him, nothing. He’d asked her in the moment to join him, and she hadn’t answered quickly enough for him.
If that was what mate meant to him, she didn’t want any part of it.
She’d tried rationalizing his behavior. He hadn’t seen his brother. The bears were waking up from the gas. He had to choose quickly, and he had.
At first, she thought it was because his brother was there. She got pretty intense vibes from Mason. He was more impulsive than his brother—she could tell that from the brief encounter and how he handled both Marco and his men.
Mason seemed like someone you really didn’t want mad at you. But was he keeping Marco from contacting her? Alicia doubted it. Marco said that he and Mason handled things in the pride equally, though they had different strengths.
No, if Marco really wanted her, he’d show it. He could find her if he wanted.
With a nod of goodnight to the moon, Alicia padded inside and was just about to close the door when Tawodi swooped down onto the porch.
“About time, Grandmother.” Alicia held the door and the hawk hopped inside and down the hall to Tawodi’s bedroom.
Alicia locked the door and took her cup to the tiny kitchen. Tawodi was home. She could sleep now. She flipped off the lights and headed down the basement stairs.
Every cell in her body wanted to find Marco in her bed but when she opened the door, the bed was empty. Like the night before and the one before that. She tugged her hair elastic out and picked up her brush and starting raking out the tangles.
Her medicine pouch sat on the dresser across from the bed. It hadn’t moved since she brought it here the night he left. She paused brushing.
Maybe Tawodi had a concoction for a broken heart.
“Like that would be real,” she murmured. “And as if things could be that easy. Not my luck.”
She attacked her hair with full force then dropped the brush on her nightstand, flipped off the lamp and flopped down on the bed. She tugged the thin quilt to her chin and cried.
Tears for the loss of Deep Creek as she once knew it.
Tears for the loss of the bears.
Tears for the loss of her healing drive and her shifting power.
And finally tears for the loss of her mate. A mate she wasn’t looking for or expecting, but one that had forced himself into her life and changed her from the very first touch.
* * *
The haze and fog billowed over the path through the densest part of the forest. Marco couldn’t see two feet in front of him, though his lion scanned with precision, watching for any movement or any change in the scenery that might indicate where he was. He didn’t recognize this part of Deep Creek, yet the area felt like home.
His muscles burned. Tawodi’s cabin was on the far side of Deep Creek, and he hadn’t taken the most direct route, getting lost in thought as he walked. The path, never changing, the mist growing denser with a slight chill in the nighttime air. He didn’t remember leaving the lions’ compound or climbing the steep hill into the forest. He had walked and walked, alone, for hours and his paws were sore. Compelled to go...somewhere.
The sun should’ve been up by now, warming the land and lifting the mist, and the forest should’ve been alive with birdsong, warning small creatures of his presence but instead it was quiet except for the crackle of his paws on the rocky pathway.
He stopped. Compulsion had pushed him onward but he wanted to go to bed. Sleep away the rest of the darkness. Tomorrow, he’d find Alicia or at least deploy a plan to get her back. Whatever this nonsense was would stop and he’d regain control of his destiny.
Another half mile and he’d convinced himself to go back when a warm light lit the whole forest. His lion mouth hung open, his tongue lolling at the bright spot ahead.
The light intensified till it outshone any definition in the trees or anything in the natural world. He ducked his head to protect his sensitive eyes.
“Marco,” a voice called. Familiar, yet out of place.
He looked up. Shoshannah stood before him, enrobed in the brightest white light he’d ever seen. She was a lioness, her long back curved with muscle and her strong head spiked with teeth of steel. His eyes watered at the brightness of the sight and yet he couldn’t look away. She looked like she was made of the finest crystal or diamonds, yet living and breathing, organic.
Beautiful beyond measure and deadly beyond proportion.
Shoshannah. He couldn’t speak aloud in lion form but he knew she could hear him.
She smiled and the light around her wavered like a pebble had hit a serene lake. “Find Alicia. Deep Creek needs you two together for the battle that’s coming. Your father warned you of this. It won’t be long. Shifters must be ready.”
Coming? We’ve already lost so many. We can’t fight much more. He paced, his tail dragging the ground. What did Shoshannah want him to do? I don’t feel like fighting a war.
“The war is nigh. The question is not if you will fight, but how prepared you will be. Deep Creek will need you and Mason to fulfill the prophecy. You need Alicia by your side.”
“She may not want me back. I abandoned her.”
“Son.”
His father, Maximillian, stepped out of the fog. Large as a spirit lion, his voice reverberated through the air like the crackling of a bonfire.
Father! Marco shrieked in his mind. He began to rush to him but Shoshannah nudged her nose in the air for him to stop. “We only have a few minutes while the veil is thinned. Don’t waste the time.” Her tone left no room for argument.
Marco stopped, wanting to hug his father but not wanting to ruin the chance he had.
Marco gazed from one to another. What did all this mean? Shoshannah and his father, together? Had he died and moved into the river of stars himself?
“No, you aren’t dead, Marco.” Shoshannah attempted to hide a lioness’s smile. “Listen. Your father has come to talk to you.”
Max smiled and Marco noticed his bad eye had healed. His father’s lion had always been impressive, but now, it was young and large and strong.
Perfect.
“Son, you have many choices ahead of you. Stay true to your heart or you won’t survive. Find the girl. The bear. I can’t emphasize how important it is that you listen to me.” Max frowned. “I was wrong about so many things. You and Mason need to correct the problems I caused. It’s your legacy.”
Wrong? You, Father? You guided and led the lions as a leader we were all proud of. Our hearts are all broken that you are gone.
The lion’s shoulders slumped then he straightened. “A man is more than the power he holds over another, son. One thing I failed to teach you and Mason is tolerance. Other beliefs, ideals, ways of living—they all have merit if no one is hurting anyone else. I selfishly pushed for my goal—to take the Cave of Whispers—without thought of the costs. And the costs were dear. So many have joined me in the river too soon.”
We understood. The cave belongs to the lions.
“The cave belongs to all shifters.” Shoshannah slid from lion, to bear, to wolf, then back to lion, swiftly shifting and changing until all the creatures seemed to morph into one. “The shifters belong together.” She was a lioness again.
No?
Shoshannah nodded. “I think you know that, Marco. You sense the thread that ties all together. That thread is unraveling more quickly right now but you must find a way to tie it back together before it’s too late for Deep Creek. Your brother will help you.”
What do you mean? I don’t understand.
“You and Mason are fated to change Deep Creek. The time is almost upon you. You will be tested beyond measure but you are our only hope.”
Cold fear washed through Marco and he padded a few steps to the right then back, his tail swishing. We need your guidance, Shoshannah.
Shoshannah twitched. “You and Mason will lead the final battle, along with the other shifters and humans you can recruit. You must bring everyone together. The bears. The wolves. Everyone. Or Deep Creek will be no more. I will be no more.”
Max looked up, his eyes wide. “We have to go—the veil is closing. I feel it.”
But I have so many questions.
“You will find your answers as you seek the truth.” Shoshannah scanned the forest. “Hurry, Max.”
“One more thing, son.” Max’s voice intensified. “You’ve been selfish. You’ve not treated your mate well.”
I know, Father.
“She gave up one of her dearest treasures to save you, and yet you left her.”
I will try to ease her pain.
“Talk to your bear mate. Learn what happened. You must make everything right before it’s too late.”
I will try. Marco’s head spun. So much information yet so little to go on. What could he be talking about? What had Alicia given up?
Max stepped forward and nuzzled Marco’s neck. “I love you, son. Never forget that. Find your mate and, with your brother’s help, begin to heal Deep Creek and prepare for what’s coming.”
I will make you proud.
“You already have.”
“Go now,” Shoshannah said. “Run. Time is short. They are coming.”
Who? Marco fought to control his emotion.
Shoshannah shook her head. “We’ll help all we can, but the living must save Deep Creek.” She and Max grew taller and larger as the fog swirled around them and the scent of mint spread through the air.
I love you too, Father.
Marco walked on, his black fur slicked and the night breeze sending a chill through him. He stopped and looked back. Shoshannah and Max were gone already, like they had vanished. The mist was gone and only a deep darkness, darker than a moonless night, lay on the path like an omen.