Chapter One
Caylan sat on the porch of his cabin and stared out at the meadow in front of him. Smoke was still drifting up from the fire pit from last night's meeting. The number of known One True Mates had been growing slowly in the passing months. First it seemed as though the wolven would be the only ones to receive mates, then the dragen had found his mate.
That particular situation still sent shivers up Caylan's spine when he thought about it. A woman who could not only create fire with her hands from thin air, but who could also withstand the molten semen of the dragen when it spilled inside of her? Their bond was both intriguing and terrifying. Their children would be something to revere for years to come. The dragen himself seemed to have a level head though, perhaps being someone that Caylan could use as an ally in the rebellion against Khain.
Caylan was the only known foxen who couldn’t be controlled by Khain because he was also half bearen. His tainted blood running through his veins made the blood bond to Khain weak. Something that had played to his benefit over the years. Shiften hybrids were rare; it wasn’t something that had ever been encouraged and much like crossbreeding in the animal kingdom, it could also result in odd genetic defects.
A shift in the morning breeze brought Caylan back to the present. He could smell something unfamiliar on the wind. It was almost sweet, much like fresh cookies being baked by his mother on a cold day when he was a child. He shook his head. There was no way that fresh cookies could be this far out in the woods. He had built his cabin deep in the woods of Serenity when he had come here fifteen years ago. The plan was to stay close enough to the Kilo Special Response Team that if he needed help, he could get to them quickly, but still far enough away that neither Khain or the wolven would suspect his presence here.
"Well, I guess it couldn't hurt to go inspect. It's probably just someone camping out here or something," Caylan muttered as he pushed himself to his feet.
Caylan walked into the woods and followed the trail that the scent was leaving behind. His heightened senses were beginning to make his mouth water. After half an hour or so of hiking deep into the woods, he stopped and listened as he began to hear the crackling of a fire in the distance, coming from the same direction that the scent was coming from.
"If someone went to all the trouble to climb that rocky hillside, they probably don't want to be found," Caylan mused.
It was probably a young couple up to some dirty deed. Maybe he could sneak up on them, make them believe these woods were haunted or something. He pressed onward in the same direction, making sure to keep his footsteps light. It wouldn't be the first time he had busted teenagers on his side of the woods, doing something they didn't want to be caught doing. Caylan got lost in thought as he continued walking, not paying attention to where his feet stepped as he walked onto a net hidden under the fallen leaves on the forest floor.
The net shot upwards, taking Caylan with it, "What the fuck is this?"
A blonde woman clad in blue jeans and a black tank top appeared from behind a large boulder and smiled, "Just someone outsmarting an idiot in the woods."
"Get me down," Caylan growled.
"Nah, I think I'll let you sit there a minute. Tell me what you were doing all the way out here."
Caylan snarled as he dug for the butterfly knife in his back pocket.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," the woman taunted, pointing down at the wooden spikes that were now sitting in an upright position below the net.
"Fuck, you sure know how to set a trap," Caylan sighed, trying to ignore the slight arousal he felt over the woman's trap placement. "Can you please get me down from here?"
"You still haven't answered my question."
Caylan rolled his eyes, "I live in a cabin in the meadow a couple miles back. I came out for a morning hike."
"Why?" She inquired as she walked over to where the anchor to the net was hidden.
"Not much else to do when you live in the woods, now is there?"
"You weren't out here looking for something?" The woman speculated, blue eyes meeting Caylan's brown ones, searching them as though she was debating about whether or not to trust him.
“Why would I be looking for something? I said I live here.”
"Good point. What's your name?" She smiled as she lowered him to the ground.
Caylan watched as the spikes laid back down on the ground, "Caylan, you?"
"Tansy."
"So Tansy, what brings you all the way out to my neck of the woods?"
Tansy shrugged, "Change of scenery, I guess."
"Sounds boring," Caylan said as the net dropped to the ground around him.
"We all have our own little somethings that make us who we are," Tansy smiled, busying herself with resetting her trap.
Caylan pushed himself up from his spot on the ground and strode over to lean against the boulder Tansy had appeared from behind. Looking around, he worked to focus his eyes on the forest floor. He made mental notes of the little snares she had rigged around the perimeter of trees outside of the flat area that Tansy had laid the net. There was also a metal device to the right of the boulder that looked much like a bear trap.
What on earth is she hiding from? There's no way that all of this was necessary for catching one's dinner, Caylan thought to himself.
"Why do you look so perplexed?" Tansy asked, casting a wary look over her shoulder at Caylan.
"Are you really such a bad huntress that you need all of the traps?" Caylan raised an eyebrow at her, waiting for some sort of response. He pretended not to notice the fear flash across her face before she replaced it with a defensive look.
"I think it's time that you go," Tansy growled as she glared at Caylan.
“Answer the question,” Caylan snarled, voice booming across the trees, standing taller to make himself look more intimidating.
"Trying to strong arm me into answering your questions is no way to make me talk," Tansy gritted through her clenched jaw.
"What are you running from?"
"Nothing!"
"Then what are all the traps for, Tansy?"
There was a beat of silence before Tansy responded, "They make me feel more secure, okay? Just drop it and go away, would you?"
"What if I don't want to go away?" Caylan relaxed back against the boulder, folding his arms across his chest in defiance.
"I'll shoot you," Tansy replied, drawing a military grade pistol out of her back holster and focusing it on Caylan.
"You don't scare me. You wouldn't really shoot me."
Tansy pulled back the slide on the gun, "You wanna find out?"
Caylan paused for a moment and calculated Tansy's position. From the way she was standing, he knew she wasn't bluffing. The way her eyes had hardened as she stared him down told him almost everything he needed to know about her. She had killed someone before. Her hands weren't even shaking as her finger hovered over the trigger.
Caylan held his hands up in surrender, "Alright, alright. I'll go."
Tansy narrowed her eyes at him before waving the nose of the gun towards the trees to his left, "Alright then, get with it."
Caylan started to sidle to the left and watched as she slowly relaxed her grip on the gun. In three quick strides, he was able to close the gap between them and grab Tansy's arm. In one fluid motion, he turned her in his arms and pointed the gun away from their bodies. He pulled the trigger as he pointed it into the woods and yanked it from Tansy's hands. As the adrenaline settled in, a blast of heat shot up his arms. An incessant need to protect this woman from everything and anything coursed through his veins and it was all he could think about. In that moment, everything became so much clearer. Caylan knew what he needed to do.
"Fuck," was all he said before he felt the elbow to his ribs. Most men would've crippled over from the blow, but the extra muscle from his shiften genetics were harder and stronger than those men's were.
Tansy struggled in Caylan's grip, "Let me go!"
"No," Caylan growled.
"I'll scream!" Tansy exclaimed.
"No, you won't."
"How do you know?"
"Because if you wanted to be close enough for someone to hear you, you would've camped closer to Serenity. You're hiding from something and you won't risk blowing your cover by screaming out for help. Trust me when I say I'll keep you safe. Just don't run when I let go, okay?" Caylan whispered into her ear.
Tansy twisted her head around and stared at Caylan, "Are you insane?"
"I'm lots of things darlin', but insane definitely isn't one of them. You're coming with me, whether we do this the easy way or the hard way."
"Why do you care?" Tansy growled.
"You're a One True Mate."