Piper

 

Warm pressure encircled my right wrist and I glanced down at it in spite of myself. I’d meant to keep a continuous gaze on the Heads of the Shifters of Anubis, let them know that Piper Weslark meant business. Cupping the fesootai, I almost exclaimed out loud as it was hot to the touch.

Balt? I wondered and glanced over my shoulder.

Our eyes met and I saw the apology and grief there. He was berating himself for getting me upset. For being upset with me.

I gave him a quick smile to reassure him it was fine. I knew both of us were on edge. But he didn’t smile back and the pressure on my wrist increased, causing me to let out a soft gasp.

“Director Weslark,” came a clipped voice and I swung back around, eyes wide.

Heart pounding and leaping around strangely, I swallowed and nodded, then clasped my hands behind my back and tilted up my chin.

Here were the nine Heads of the Order of the Shifters of Anubis. Three from each of the animal groups within the shifter world that made up the SoA.

Wolf, Bear, and Cat.

Each of them had a special name as a Head – signifying they were to act outside of their personal interests within the Order.

In fact, very few people knew the real names of the majority of them.

Mirois, the woman who had spoken, was studying me and I met her gaze with as much composure as I could muster. She sighed. “This was not an easy decision, Weslark.”

My body went cold, but again I nodded, if somewhat more jerkily.

Was I about to be banished from Shifters of Anubis?

"Your impetuousness does your name no credit, missy," boomed one of the oldest men there, a Wolf with a long gray mane and black eyes hidden in folds of wrinkles.

Irritation flashed through me, but I didn’t move a muscle.

“However, your years of dedication and family name do, Piper,” said a softer and kinder voice. Lhambo was speaking, a bear shifter who’d been my mentor when I entered the Shifters of Anubis. He was a swarthy, dark man and had gentle hazel eyes. “We know why you did what you did.”

“No one can touch you for loyalty, that’s for sure,” interrupted the wolf again, now sounding amused. “I can’t fault the Weslarks for that.”

Relief swam through me. No, I wasn’t being banished.

“However, the fact remains that you took matters into your own hands on one too many occasions, Piper,” Mirois said. “While we respect that you kept your brother’s secret to keep him safe – it may have imperiled countless others. None of us realized the full scope of the TLO’s danger until this past week.” Her gaze became serious. “The fact that they were able to take you and keep Balt from finding you – that is serious indeed.”

“Was that the TLO?” interrupted a cold, male voice. Another wolf, Drax, with a long, sneering face. I bit the inside of my lip to keep from giving him the satisfaction of a glare. “Or was it her? We’ve all heard the rumors of the female emotions messing up the fesootai.”

Sexist jackass. I thought as my lips thinned. Women had been receiving fesootai for thousands of years! And they’d been a part of the Order since the beginning.

But it had only been in the last century that they were allowed positions of power – as Drax liked to remind me every time I was in this room.

“Piper has proven herself more than capable, Drax,” Mirois said in a frigid voice.

“Getting kidnapped by an organization you’ve been tracking for over ten years? Either she can’t handle the job or she got sloppy. Or both.” Drax’s voice was bored. “What else could it be?”

“Perhaps she was working far too hard,” came a soft, sweet voice with an edge of steel. Drax flinched as Stalissa gave him a measured look. “That would be my guess, given her record.”

“Of course, it was that,” Lhambo said, sounding somewhat ruffled as he gave Drax a disgusted look. “Piper was exhausted and they pounced.”

“Well, where was Baltsaros, then?” Drax demanded. “As we all know, they are bound by a fesootai. If he wasn’t there, as he should have been, then he should have sensed her in danger.”

Pressure and heat flared in my wrist as I winced. I knew they’d drag Balt into it at some point. I hadn’t wanted him to come today for that very reason, but he’d insisted.

“It wasn’t Balt’s fault,” I spoke up quickly, my voice rasping slightly. “Drax is right.” His eyebrows shot up as he let out a surprised sound. “A fesootai can be dampened by one of the wearers if necessary.” I paused. “I deemed it necessary.”

More surprised exclamations came from the table. “Why are you only mentioning this now?” asked Mirois, raising an eyebrow and looking thunderous. “Not at the initial debrief?”

“You never asked about Balt, so I didn’t think it mattered,” I said with a careless shrug.

Mirois shook her head as she studied me. “If you say so.” Her anger had faded as quickly as it came. I’d always been a bit of a pet to Mirois and now I almost swore I saw her smile.

“What?” Drax asked. “It’s an admission of deceit, Mirois. I say–”

“We’ve already come up with a verdict,” Lhambo interrupted. “Today doesn’t change that and Piper is right – Baltsaros was never in question. He did everything right and shut down a major stronghold of the TLO, freeing countless inanis and new shifters. And of course, he saved Piper.”

“She was unscathed, too,” added Mirois.

Physically, said a small voice. But mentally…

“Fine,” Drax grumbled. “Read her the terms of the probation.”

“Probation?” I blurted out and Drax smirked at me.

Looking at Lhambo, he gave me a small, sympathetic smile. “Piper, take this time to introspect. You need to learn from this. Stalissa is right – you’re overworked. You fell asleep at the airport and that’s when the TLO compromised you.” He paused. “Though your team was reluctant – they admitted you often work late, sleep here or don’t sleep at all. Balt also attested to this.”

My eyes went wide as I sucked in a breath. Balt, how could you?!

“Piper, you have been so determined to take down the TLO by yourself that they almost took you out,” Mirois said gently. “You need time to recuperate and come back stronger.”

Fingers going numb, I listened as they explained the terms of my probation. I was being demoted from a director position back to a field agent. My assignment was finding out who was after Isla Deluca (Balt’s cousin) and why Kazan blood had become of importance to the TLO.

And my first lead was in London.

I couldn’t quite believe what I was hearing. I’d lead the Shifters of Anubis team against the TLO for years. Now, because of one mistake, I was back in the trenches and being sent abroad?

My cousins, Soraya and Enele Lafi, might love this kind of work, but I’d loved being a Director. It had felt as though I was making headway against the TLO and making up for the mistakes I’d made with my brother.

Now, I was being firmly stuck on the sidelines. To “recuperate.”

And Balt hadn’t lifted a finger to stop them.

His name, however, jolted my attention back to reality. Drax was looking supremely satisfied, while Stalissa and Lhambo looked annoyed.

They were demoting Balt as well, I realized and my stomach clenched.

“That’s fair,” Balt replied quietly. Now my right wrist felt cold.

“This isn’t permanent, you two. But it’s clear you need time away from LA and the day to day grind of going after the TLO. It's wreaking havoc on you both." Lhambo was saying. "Fighting in the hallway before a meeting? That isn't the Piper and Balt we know."

I froze as mortification slammed through me and Balt let out a choked noise. The rest of the instructions devolved into a meaningless jumble.

No!

My mistake had hurt Balt – the one thing I’d been desperately trying to avoid. When I’d heard those probation terms, I’d assumed they’d stick me with Enele or Soraya. I’d never dreamed Balt would have to come with me, Balt who didn’t exactly love travel in Europe.

Secretly, too, I’d been hoping for some time away from him. I thought we could both use a week or two to cool off. For the first week or so after the showdown in the desert – when Balt, Soraya, and my brother Kai had shown up with the Shifters of Anubis to rescue Isla and myself – things had been fine for the most part.

But once Isla and Kai went back to Hawaii, the tension between Balt and I had strained to almost the breaking point. And I didn't know what to do.

All I wanted was for things to go back to the way they were between us. Now, with this intense trip to Europe and being on probation together, that was looking far less likely.

A new and darker fear was creeping up inside of me. One I couldn’t shake. My fingers wrapped around my wrist as the Heads droned on about who was taking over for me and tickets to London and meaningless things like that.

Losing the directorship sucked and I’d dreaded it. Yet even though the Shifters of Anubis had been my life since I was eighteen, it wasn’t something I was willing to die for, no matter what the Heads thought. No, my tunnel vision had been a combination of guilt and rage towards the TLO for what they had done to Kai.

But now that Kai was healed and whole with Isla, his pack of cats on Maui, his surfing instructor job, and his real smile back in place, I did feel a little lost when it came to the Shifters of Anubis. 

My new focus over the past two weeks had been jumbled – torn between several leads. Finding out who was after Isla and why. How many shifters had been created and how to prevent new initiates from being suckered by the TLO. Wringing the truth out of their mad doctor, Crane, who was in our custody.

Yet none of that had distracted me from the lasting blow TLO had dealt me.

Balt.

Before they'd kidnapped me, we were a perfect team. He was my best friend and I'd known what he was thinking from only a glance. We didn't even need words to have a conversation.

That had all changed after the desert.

Now, I wondered, with a hysteria I hadn’t felt since I was a teenager, what the future held for us. Had our relationship become so damaged? And more importantly, why? Or how?

My heart was pounding as I turned to leave the room, staring at the floor.

Did I ruin everything? Are we ever going to get back to the way things were?

Am I losing Balt?