As a teen, Simon had seen his share of shifter battles. There was even a shifter summer camp that had an area designed for that. And yes, there were secret shifter fight clubs that every teen searched for but fortunately few found.
None compared to what he saw right now.
A single, moderately-sized grizzly bear stood backed into a corner. It was dark brown with black patches and matted with blood. His face was a swollen mass, and his right thigh had taken enough tearing strikes that it looked like ground meat. Blood flowed everywhere, but the creature was still fighting. It should have been roaring with the way its mouth was open and his teeth gleamed white and wet, but it didn’t have the breath. It saved its strength for swiping with broad strokes in front of him, keeping the four…monsters…back.
Four who looked like Vic at his worst and a stench that matched. They were going in for the kill, encroaching step by step with murderous intent. And lest he think that the others in the room were going to help the pure shifter, the other nine, all in human form, were watching with looks that varied between glee and nausea.
This was a gang murder, plain and simple. And he’d walked Alyssa in seconds before it happened. And double hell, she wasn’t leaving despite the fact that he’d just tried to shove her outside without drawing undue attention to them.
And now it was too late. Alyssa made a sound of defiance. It wasn’t even a word, but she refused to budge, and nothing caught a male shifter’s attention faster than a female refusing to obey. It signaled to everyone that she was a fair target since she’d just refused a male’s protection.
The sound did little to distract the attackers, but it certainly caught the onlookers’ attention. Multiple eyes swiveled in Alyssa’s direction; Simon had to capture their attention quick or risk whatever they had in mind for her.
“We’re just visiting,” he said loud enough for everyone to hear. “Do you mind pausing in the…um…illegal activity over there while we’re here? We don’t mean to interrupt, but now that we’ve seen it, it would be best if it didn’t cross any lines.” It was a sound, logical argument that reminded everyone that they were humans subject to the rule of law.
It didn’t work.
A stupidly large man stood up. Thick shoulders, broad nose, and dark yellow teeth in his pale Caucasian face. He was the Griz alpha, and his name was Nanook as a nod to his Inuit ancestor Nanook of the North. Also, he was the only known shifter who was part polar bear.
And he was really pissed off.
“How did you get in here?” he demanded.
It was that booming question that saved the shifter in the corner. At that tone everyone in the room—including the four attacking…hybrids?—turned to glare at Simon.
“We walked in,” Alyssa snapped. “Through the door. Which was unlocked.”
Hell, this wasn’t the time for her to talk. But he already knew she attacked whenever she was scared. Big grizzly bear roars at her in the UP? She shoots it. Big alpha makes threatening noises here? She responds with a smart-ass comment and she probably had her hand on her gun.
She was going to die—or worse—if he didn’t take control fast.
“Quiet!” he snapped, investing his word with the bite of command, and was eternally grateful that she was smart enough to obey. Then he answered the question that Nanook had really meant.
“I’m Simon Gold, one of the Gladwin grizzlies. I’ve been here before and we spoke, so I’m welcome here.” That was the real question: How did he get past the psychic “no trespassing” vibes? Answer: He was bold enough to defy them because he knew that he was welcome.
“He isn’t,” Nanook said, jutting his chin at Vic. And then came the psychic blast that Nanook was best known for. It was like a physical blow to every nerve ending in a man’s body. The first and only time that Simon had felt it, he had gone down on his ass and trembled like a child for twenty minutes.
Vic was no better. He dropped like a stone, but he wasn’t trembling. No, he was full-on monster by the time he hit the floor. His mouth peeled back and fur came out. He’d been smart enough to wear sweats that expanded with him and his flip-flops fell away, so he wasn’t screaming in pain from his clothing, though the T-shirt was stretched thin. What was really impressive though, was that his friend didn’t flop on the floor like a beached fish. That had been what Simon had done two years before. No, Vic rolled jerkily to his feet where he faced Nanook on all fours and with his teeth flashing.
And the four other monsters abandoned the bloody grizzly to advance on Vic.
Shit.
“Stay there,” Simon ordered to everyone, Vic included. “We’re not here to cause problems. We just need some information.”
Nanook snorted. “I just bet you do. Wondering what that is?” He gestured toward Vic.
Simon echoed the gesture only at the other four who were literally salivating to get to Vic. “You obviously know more than we do. We came here respectfully to ask if you’d explain.”
“Want me to explain?” the man bellowed. “It’s the fucking dogs, that’s who! They’ve done this to us!” He advanced forward, his manner barely controlled aggression and Simon felt his insides grow tight. His grizzly was primed and ready, aching to burst free, but that would be disastrous. No way could his grizzly win in a fight. Not against everyone here. Not while still protecting Alyssa.
So he kept his voice calm, trying to pitch the tones to be soothing and deferential. “How did the dogs do this?”
“They do everything!” Nanook bellowed, obviously warming to a favorite theme. “See this?” He hauled over the nearest monster. “This was Jayden. He was a damned good mechanic. Now he’s this. All the time.” He shoved Jayden away who came up snarling. The only reason he didn’t attack was because Nanook growled him down. Then he pointed to the others in turn. “Billy. Tyler. And that last one, she was Tiana.”
Simon did a double take. That one was female? God it was hard to tell. Neither human nor beast, they were each a sick combination of twisted limbs and partial shifts. “They just changed?”
“It was the fever,” Nanook growled. “Most get better. Some died. Then there are a few…” His voice trailed away as he looked at Vic. “Come here, boy. I can keep you from killing your family.”
Simon felt Alyssa stiffen, but he didn’t have time to fight her. His attention was firmly fixed on Vic as the man visibly trembled. That huge psychic blast was a once-a-day kind of deal for Nanook, but there was still power in his words. A kind of subliminal compulsion akin to the “stay away” message. But this time, his order was all, Come here. Be part of my pack.
And Vic had to decide that on his own.
Vic straightened, still in his monster form, but he was soon standing on his two feet.
“Vic, no!” Alyssa cried, but before she could do more, Simon grabbed her arm and hauled her back.
“Don’t interfere,” he growled.
“He can’t—”
“He’s alone right now,” Simon said, stretching for the logic behind the decision. “He’s not shifter and he’s not human.” God, it hurt to say it and it would kill him to think of his best friend as part of Nanook’s brutal gang, but there was logic to this choice. “Sometimes being with your own kind is worth it.”
Despite his restraint, Alyssa managed to grab one of Vic’s furred arms. “Vic, don’t. We’ll figure—”
“Silence, bitch!” Nanook bellowed.
Alyssa rounded on the alpha, all flashing eyes and angry words. She would fight for her brother no matter what, and it would be the death of her. “My brother doesn’t neeee—” Her last word ended on a squeak of alarm. It wasn’t anything Simon or Nanook did. It was Vic rounding on her with a hiss.
Simon stepped in front of her. He would protect her.
Fortunately, Vic pulled himself back. And still in his monster form, he looked at Nanook. “I control myself.” His words were slightly slurred. He hadn’t mastered the technique of speaking while in this body. But the fact that he stood tall and faced off with a powerful alpha showed just how far the man had progressed.
Meanwhile, Nanook didn’t take kindly to being disobeyed. He pointed a finger at Vic and blasted the man. Over and over. Simon didn’t feel it. It wasn’t aimed at him. But he could see the strain on Nanook’s face, the throbbing in his temple, and everyone heard the alpha’s harsh breath. But while Vic visibly swayed under the assault, he stood firm. And he managed three words.
“Not. Joining. Gang.”
Which is when the four other monsters broke through their restraints. As one they leapt forward. Simon had been tracking them, knew the moment Nanook’s control of them shattered. But even so, it was four against one.
He jumped in between, blocking the nearest two with swift blows to the face. One of the bastard’s teeth cut the hell out of his hand, but that was the least of his problems. The other two were headed straight for Vic who was still doing the death stare with Nanook. He was completely defenseless.
Bam! Bam!
Alyssa had pulled out her gun and was using it to great effect. He had time to see that she’d gone for disabling shots to the legs, but he already knew that wasn’t going to work. These four were feral. There was no gleam of intelligence in their eyes, just pure animal fury. They needed to be put down and fast.
His grizzly strained to get out, but it was too soon for him. He couldn’t risk going mad himself, so he held it back. He used its fury to fight, but not its claws and mass. Two of the monsters had centered on him. They didn’t work together, but they were ferocious and oblivious to pain. He got one with a swift kick to the knee that took it to the floor, but it didn’t lay there and whimper like a normal man. Instead it just kept coming. It crawled forward using claws and tried to bite his feet. He kicked it back twice, and the second time got it hard in the face. Its head snapped back, but it still kept coming.
Fortunately, he had help. The wounded grizzly was doing what he could attacking from behind. But he was unsteady from that leg wound. And all the while, Simon was weaving and blocking the other monster. He couldn’t find an opening to take it down. Certainly not while dancing around the one on the floor.
Meanwhile, Alyssa kept shooting. She must have figured out that wounding shots weren’t going to work because a moment later, she fired and one of them flew backward, his face missing.
“Back off!” she screamed. “Or that’ll be you!”
Again, it didn’t work. Worse, Simon saw Vic go down on one knee as if crumpling under a great weight. Nanook was pressing him psychically, and there was nothing Simon could do to help. His friend just slowly bent down until first one then the other knee thudded to the floor. But all the while, he kept speaking. First it was, “No. Gang.” But eventually, it was just a whispered, “No, no, no, no,” repeated with every breath.
Simon felt fire blister across his chest and shoulder, and he cursed under his breath. He’d been too focused on the others and misjudged the monster in front of him. And while he was still recovering from the claw slice, the bastard on the floor got his shin.
Damn, damn, damn! His grizzly roared in his mind, and he considered letting it out. He’d loosened his boots before even coming in here, and it would take a second to pop his jeans, but it wasn’t worth the risk. He might save Vic and Alyssa only to force them to put him down when he forgot how to go back to human. It was just too soon.
So he pushed his grizzly back and tried to finish the fight in the fastest way possible. Hand to hand was too slow since it was two on one. Which meant he had to rely on Alyssa, especially since another shot rang out and the other monster went down. That left the two on him. Worse, the other grizzly went down. Blood loss, probably. He needed to shift back to human but there wasn’t time or space to worry about him.
Which meant he had one good option: Trust that Alyssa could read his mind and shoot the last monsters in just the right way at the right time.
Did he risk it? He didn’t have the breath to call to her. His only choice was to dive out of the way to give Alyssa the shot. If she wasn’t paying attention, she’d be completely vulnerable to attack. There’d be no time to reverse to save her.
Who was he kidding? Alyssa was always paying attention.
And with that thought, he took the chance. He let the nearest monster lean into the attack, then Simon dove completely to the side. He rolled with the movement then jumped up the second he—
Bam! Bam! Bambam!
Damn, she was good. The other two went down, bullets in their brain. Even better, Vic was starting to stand. His face was set—still in its monster form—but his eyes were clear and his claws were clenched into fists. A man fought with closed fists. An animal fought with paws spread wide. That showed clear as day that Vic was keeping control of his beast. He was stronger than Nanook, at least psychically, and Simon couldn’t be more proud.
But one look at the alpha showed that the bastard wasn’t used to losing.
Simon tried to break the psychic stare down. “We didn’t come to fight, Nanook. Or to enlist. We just want to talk.” No effect. Only one other way to appeal to his rationality. “We acknowledge your dominance, Nanook.”
That caught the man’s attention. He broke off his attack on Vic who visibly stumbled but remained upright.
Nanook’s lips peeled back. “You attacked my men.”
Alyssa’s voice rang out loud and clear. “They attacked us!”
Nanook’s eyes didn’t even flicker. The air was getting cooler as he drew in energy for a shift. Those soft sweatpants wouldn’t restrict him and the bastard was already barefoot. Hell.
Simon quickly started toeing off his boots. “We didn’t mean any disrespect.”
“You brought that thing in here! You attacked my men!”
Not logical. Not rational. Damn it, Nanook had lost his thinking mind, which meant there was only one way this could go: bad.
All around the room the others were stripping out of jeans, pulling off shirts, and kicking off flip-fops. Damn it, he was the only shifter moron in boots.
Then Vic spoke, his words clear despite his misshapen mouth. “Shoot him!”
“Don’t shoot!” Simon ordered. “They’ll mob us if you do.” And in a shifter mob, everybody got hurt. Angry bears swiped at anything that moved and Alyssa, as the only plain human, wouldn’t stand a chance. Especially since there was no way the three of them—four if he counted the wounded bear—could manage the ten…no eleven shifters in the room. Which meant they had one chance. One horrible, irrational, stupid chance. But it was the only hope he had of keeping Alyssa alive.
He shoved down his jeans.
Alyssa gasped. “What are you doing?”
“I challenge you, Nanook. It’s clear you’re crazy.” He glanced at the others. “How can you follow someone that irrational?”
He knew the answer to that. Intimidation and brute force worked wonders. Especially since Nanook had that whole psychic blast thing. Fortunately, the bastard had burned that skill out on Vic. He hoped.
Nanook’s mouth curled into a cold smile. “And when you’re dead, I’ll enjoy your woman.”
Alyssa’s voice rang out. “Fat chance, bastard.”
Simon pulled off his shirt. “Vic, get her out of here.”
“We’re not leaving you,” Vic said. His speech was getting clearer.
“I can’t win,” he growled as he tossed the last bit of clothing aside. “He’s a fucking grolar.”
“What?”
A grolar was a grizzly–polar bear mix. That meant that shifted, the bastard had at least a 150 pounds on Simon. But it didn’t matter. It was too late. A naked Nanook gestured to his people. Four of them moved to block the exit, which meant that now no one was going anywhere. Not until the battle was done.
One last thing to do before shifting. He turned and looked at Alyssa. It was stupid, illogical, and there was no time. He should be focused on Nanook, but he needed to see her face one last time.
God, she looked so beautiful. It was the fierceness he admired the most. Her eyes were wide with fear, but her stand was solid and her pistol remained steady in her hand. She was not a woman who lost her head. And definitely not a woman who ran.
“Simon,” she began.
“Save your bullets for the ones on you. I’ll do the rest.” It was a wild claim. He had no chance here. He’d never been a smart fighter, just a full-out wild one. And raw strength never won out against intelligence. Not in a fight to the death.
He wanted to say more. He wanted a moment to memorize her face, to smell her scent. Something. But there was no time. Without warning, his grizzly surged to the fore. Survival instinct, probably, because Nanook attacked without sound.
Simon dove to the side, shifting midleap. His mind stepped aside and the animal came to the fore. His claws slipped on the hard concrete. This was not fighting in the woods as he was used to. This was the urban jungle and he had no weapon or protection in this open concrete space.
Nevertheless, he spun and faced a bear fully a third larger than him. Nanook had light golden brown fur and dark narrow eyes, plus sharp claws in paws that looked broader than a human head. And his jaw opened wide to expose teeth that could easily crush a man’s spine. Or even a grizzly’s.
Simon roared and he reared up. Fortunately, he wasn’t stupid enough to attack. Not at his lesser weight.
The whole goal of a bear attack was to grab hold and get access to the neck. The back of the neck, the jaw, anything that a bear’s mouth could crush. Failing that, a good bite that holds could toss a lesser weighted opponent to the side. Maybe expose throat or belly to a well-placed claw.
Nanook went for a brute-force attack. He reared up and pushed forward. Simon had no choice but to meet and grapple.
There was no way to win this, he thought over and over, even as he struggled for a solution. He lost ground in the grappling, as would always happen with an opponent so much larger. Nanook twisted him around and his teeth dug in. Simon adjusted, rolling with the move and using his more flexible body to escape, but it was a losing battle. He’d landed no blows on Nanook and though the bigger bear seemed winded, he showed no signs of stopping.
He felt the rage build inside his grizzly. A dark, feral possession that started to black out his thinking mind. This was the core of his animal, but it would not save him. Though vicious, the grizzly alone could not prevail.
Which left him with a single choice. He could merge his human mind with the animal. Not a distancing, with one in the forefront and the other completely detached, but a complete joining where man and animal survived as one. He never did that because his priorities got screwed up. His human rationality changed in bad ways. Like the time as a teen when he’d nearly killed his best friend. Since then, he simply flipped back and forth, like difference faces of the same coin. Grizzly. Human. Never both at once.
But it was his only hope.
So he did it. And he prayed his friends and his sanity survived.