Bighorn National Forest, Wyoming

“This is a bad idea.”

“You worried the Big Bad Wolf gonna get you, Rory?” Justin asked the more conservative of two teammates walking with him through Bighorn National Forest in northern Wyoming. He shook his head at the jaguar shifter, who could take down one of the bull elk roaming this area.

Rory needed to chill out. It was only Thursday afternoon and they’d probably be here the entire eight days. 

Justin couldn’t wait to shift. His grizzly bear, Herc, would be in heaven once Justin turned him loose.  May had rolled in with plenty of sunshine, but he still welcomed the chill at this elevation.

Herc chuffed a happy noise in agreement.

They both liked it cold.

But in truth, Justin couldn’t tamp down the worry niggling at him that this trip would not end happy. 

Rory’s gaze cut over to Justin when he added, “Even a bigmouth grizzly should be concerned about Adrian’s wolf.”

Justin sighed.  Rory was not helping with all these negative waves, but Mr. Doom and Gloom couldn’t tackle a problem until he had pointed out every potential failure.

Justin would not fail Adrian. Neither would these two, but Rory’s harping was not helping Justin get past his own concerns.

“Rory’s got a point,” Cole muttered. The wolf shifter had been on his mobile phone with his mate most of the trip since leaving Spartanburg, South Carolina, which was understandable.  Cole had only recently been mated and grumbled every time he had to leave Tess.

But much as Cole wanted to be snuggled up with his sexy new mate right now, he was just as committed to saving Adrian as Justin and Rory were.  Failure meant their boss would have to put Adrian’s wolf down, and Justin couldn’t face that loss.

Neither could the other two, especially the wolf shifter.

Not after Cole had tried so hard to save Sammy, a Gallize grizzly shifter they had all respected and considered a brother, before the mating curse killed him.

That wasn’t entirely true about the curse ending the big grizzly’s life, though it had been at the core of Sammy’s problems.

The Black River pack of degenerate wolves had accelerated the effects of the curse when they’d used magic and drugs on Sammy. Cole was the last person to talk to Sammy telepathically before Sammy died. They’d both been in animal form. Against their wills, they fought as adversaries in a bloody battle.

Cole had been suffering the mating curse, too, but he’d managed enough control over his wolf to spare Sammy’s life even though the big grizzly shifter admitted he couldn’t change back to human.

Seconds after that, a Black River wolf killed Sammy.

Losing Sammy had gutted all of them.

As Gallize shifters, they were apex predators at the top of the shifter food chain, with only their boss, the Guardian, above them in power for the most part.  He actually called up every Gallize shifter’s animal for the first time. Usually that happened after the shifter turned twenty-one. Cole and Sammy had been exceptions.  They had been younger. Gallize lived longer than humans, but they were not immortal—or invulnerable.

These days, humans knew about shifters, but very few people of either type knew Gallize shifters existed.

Things had been chaotic enough before five mages joined forces to position themselves as Power Barons, a group not to be crossed. It had been a smart move, and those magic-wielding jerks had manipulated their way into alliances with many countries.

That would be like a hawk forming an alliance with a bunch of chipmunks.  The Power Barons smiled and played nice with humans just to have exclusive access to the databases on any other supernatural beings. If a shifter or some other nonhuman went missing unexpectedly, humans wouldn’t look twice at the Power Barons. In fact, they’d probably celebrate thinning the numbers of others.

One day, they might realize that to mages, everyone else was classified as others. Including humans. 

Justin would never want to deal with the scheming Power Barons in person, which was not a problem as long as the Guardian ruled Gallize shifters.

In an attempt to push everyone back in a better mental direction, Justin asked, “Either of you have any idea at what age Adrian met his wolf?”

“No,” Rory said. “Adrian never said much to me about his early days.”

Cole interjected, “Sammy once told me he’d been the first one to train Adrian, like Sammy trained me. He claimed Adrian had been full of himself at twenty-one, so I’d guess he shifted into his wolf by twenty at the latest.”

“Sammy would have been the one to drop that wolf a notch,” Rory said in his quiet way, always a bit of reserve in his voice. 

After a quiet moment passed, Cole’s grim look eased with a smile born of memories. “No doubt. Sammy kicked my wolf’s crazy butt over and over until I finally gained control.” Cole’s throat bobbed with a hard swallow. “I do miss that bear.”

“Me, too,” Justin murmured and Rory nodded.

Sammy had been the one to save Cole, who had fought against his wolf from day one.  Cole had no idea he was anything but human until he took off in a panicked run one night during college. The Guardian had been keeping tabs on Cole and ordered him brought in.  Then the Guardian called up Cole’s wolf and forced the change, as he had for all of them. Cole had not reacted well, completely opposite to how Justin viewed meeting his bear.

Justin had experienced a sense of peace for the first time in his life upon shifting to Herc, because he’d been the odd Gallize actually born into a grizzly shifter clan.

That had sucked big-time.

Where his clan mates had shifted the first time as young children, he couldn’t. He’d tried over and over again. He’d had no idea he needed the Guardian’s help, since most shifters knew nothing about the Gallize.  Day after day of being ridiculed as the only male in Clan Boudreaux who could not shift had slowly destroyed his confidence. 

Teenage grizzly females snubbed him, unwilling to even date.  What was the point when they would never mate with someone like Justin?

No man had been happier than Justin to join the League Of Gallize Shifters when he changed for the first time, not only to a super-sized grizzly bear, but one with extra power when he needed it.

But Cole had wanted no part of being a shifter, and his wolf hadn’t liked him any better.

The Guardian had faced the unenviable task of putting down Cole if Sammy had not stepped in to save the wolf shifter.

That was how they all rolled. They had no clan, pack or whatever.  The shifters in their group watched out for each other in their brotherhood. 

“Why’d you ask about Adrian’s age when his wolf was called up?” Cole asked.  “Adrian is closing in on twenty eight. You worried about the mating curse?”

Rory kicked a rock and kept walking. “That would be the cherry on top, wouldn’t it?”

“I think we’re good with that for right now,” Justin countered, hoping to diffuse any new negative suggestions on Rory’s part. “I’m just thinking if we could get Adrian close enough to function out in the world, maybe a mate would help him over the last hurdle.”

“I don’t know.” Cole stared into the distance.  “Meeting a mate is amazing ... and stressful. With very little information available after the Gallize females lost their guardian, it’s hard to know what the hell is going on when you meet a potential mate. I’m not sure putting Adrian in that position would help him any time soon.”

Justin found that comment interesting, and would press Cole later for more information about his first encounter with Tess.

Every Gallize male faced a curse placed on him by a pissed-off dark witch.  That had happened many centuries ago, back when a Gallizenae druidess was handpicking five pregnant women whose male babies were blessed as the first generation of Gallize shifters.

She also chose five women carrying female babies to birth the first Gallize females, who were not shifters, though they did receive powers from the blessing.  But not even Justin’s Guardian could tell his men what abilities to expect, so Cole did have a point.

The curse was no myth.

Justin had seen it firsthand.

Over a period of weeks, Sammy and Cole had both deteriorated, with their animals gradually taking control.

Cole’s mate saved him, which had not been as simple as it sounded.

Still, now that Justin thought about it, he questioned whether the torture and abuse Adrian had suffered at the hands of an enemy overseas might have triggered the mating curse.

Damn, he hoped not. 

Cole said, “We need to find mates for you two and soon.”

Rory made a scoffing noise. “I’m in no hurry.”

“Why not?”

“I like being a bachelor with no ties.”

Justin glanced at Cole, who met his gaze with a frown because Rory had just lied. But neither of them would call him on it.

The introspective cat shared nothing until he was ready.

Shrugging as if Rory’s comment hadn’t mattered, Cole said, “You’re missing out. I love every minute of having a mate.”

“Oh, sure, rub it in our faces that you’re getting laid around the clock,” Justin teased. He’d love a mate, too, but he had serious doubts about ever bringing Herc to the table for that decision. He wouldn’t choose one his bear didn’t accept, and Herc hadn’t liked any Justin had met. 

Stretching his arms over his head, Cole muttered, “It’s taking forever to get inside the ward this way.”

“Hey, what are you complaining about?  I’m the one toting a loaded backpack,” Justin tossed out.

“Like you even notice that weight,” Cole countered. “If you can’t manage, ask Herc to carry it. He probably needs the exercise.”

“Let’s get inside the ward and shift so Herc can show Gray Wolf how his claws and fangs are in top shape.”

“Bring it, bear.”  Cole grumbled, “Whose idea was it to park half the world away and walk five miles to get to the ward entrance?”

Rory actually snickered.  “My idea. Being mated has made you soft.”

“Fuck you, cat.”

“Take him up on it, Rory,” Justin quipped.  “That’s the only action you’re gonna get with your sour attitude.”

Cole suggested, “Or you could pour whiskey over your hand to get your usual date drunk.”

Justin laughed.

Rory called Cole a colorful name and gave Justin his middle finger, then chuckled.

Justin warned, “Don’t be saying I’m number one to you, or you’ll make your left hand jealous.”

Rory huffed out a long breath.  “I deserve bonus time off for putting up with you two.  I can’t wait to see the woman who can put up with your shit, bear.”

Justin grinned, just to piss off the cat. At least Rory had stopped complaining about Adrian’s wolf opening a can of whoop-ass on his jaguar.  “You two girls still shaking in your boots about Adrian’s wolf?”

Rory didn’t answer. Instead he made a gravelly, rumbling sound deep in his throat.

Cole gave Justin a you-just-have-to-be-a-dick look. 

Laughing, Justin said, “Damn, when did the two of you turn into pussies?”

Cole sent him a repeat glare.

Rory let out a loud snarl.

Just to poke at their pride, Justin said, “’Cause if you’re having second thoughts, just say so. Herc and I can whip Adrian’s wolf into shape.”

That brought on even louder cursing. Cole said, “I’m not bailing out, asshole.”

Rory mumbled, “What he said, dickhead bear.”

Now that he had their full attention, Justin stopped kidding around and asked, “You do think Adrian can fix his wolf, right?”

Cole cut a steely gaze over at Justin, then shoved his hands in his pants pockets and looked forward again. “I don’t know, man.  I’m in all the way to do whatever it takes to save him, but I still remember when we brought Adrian to this place and how he looked when we left him here. I’ve sent messages for the past ten days and gotten no replies. It’s not like he can’t get them. The Guardian set up a satellite link so he’d have internet service for his mobile phone and he’s got a generator with plenty of fuel.”

Justin hooked his thumbs in the corners of his front jeans pockets and walked down a slope to the ward entrance that had been set between two old oak trees.  “I hear you, Cole, and agree Adrian should have answered you. He might not have spent much time in the cabin, though. He spent three years overseas without creature comforts and I’m thinking he might not like being inside a building even for a little bit.”

“Especially after being held prisoner,” Rory said, then added a sobering point. “It’s time to stop dancing around the topic and just say it out loud.  If Adrian has remained in his wolf form this whole time, we may be facing an impossible task.”

True, but Justin had sensed a longing in Adrian when the Guardian had granted him this time to regain control of his wolf. Of course, that had happened only after the three of them argued on Adrian’s behalf and asked for a chance to work with him. 

Adrian had been ready to submit to the Guardian.

In his shoes, Justin would have been, too, but that’s why they were a brotherhood, more than just friends. 

Adrian had been on a mission when he infiltrated enemy territory alone to rescue a female fox shifter hostage, but it had been a trap. 

The enemy used a missile to hit the helo extracting them just as the bird lifted off.

Everyone died except Adrian.

When he came to a day later, he’d suffered major broken bones and internal damage besides bleeding external wounds.

Even worse, he had no way to shift and heal.

They’d locked him inside a cage three feet on all sides and constructed of titanium. They fed him just enough raw meat to keep him alive.

His claws and fangs would extend then retract. He said sometimes his limbs would partially shift into a hideous half form. 

The Guardian had warned all of them to never stop partway into a shift, going either direction, or they faced the possibility of being stuck and turning their animal rabid. 

Cole and Rory had grown up thinking they were human and had not known about that potential problem until after they shifted the first time.  On the other hand, Justin had grown up being taught to never shift partway. It hadn’t mattered, not until meeting his bear.

He would never do that and put Herc at risk. 

They were a tight pair. Herc had covered Justin’s butt more than once while they were overseas in military operations.

But Adrian had no choice in the partial shifting, which erupted unexpectedly while he’d been captured.  The only good news about his body shifting just one part at a time was that Adrian had survived.  His wolf had been far too big to fit inside the tiny space. If he’d shifted fully inside that small titanium box, he wouldn’t have made it back to human.

The result, though, had been severely damaging his wolf.

Justin got sick to his stomach with guilt every time he thought about what had happened to Adrian.

It was Justin’s fault.  He should have been on that mission, not his wolf shifter teammate. But Justin’s mother had died and the Guardian felt it was important for Justin to attend the funeral held by Clan Boudreaux.  His boss knew Justin had turned his back on that clan after years of misery among those people, a lot of it from his mother.

Justin went to the funeral.

Adrian got captured.

Adrian’s wolf went mad the first week of being in that cage.

When Justin and the team finally tracked down the rebels holding Adrian, they annihilated the entire camp and got their Gallize brother back. Transporting him home required heavy sedation. During the flight, he shifted every few hours while still knocked out. Rory worked on setting bones and monitoring his health, but nobody could touch his mind.

Upon seeing the Guardian again, Adrian immediately demanded to be put down or freed.

He would not accept being locked in a Gallize training facility to work through control issues.

The Guardian refused to allow any Gallize shifter with no control and capable of massive slaughter to move among unprotected humans.

Justin and the guys argued at the top of their lungs on Adrian’s behalf.

The Guardian finally agreed to allow Adrian to run free on these twelve hundred acres of federal land in Wyoming. Their boss had a unique relationship with important humans high in US government as well as counterparts in other countries who knew about the Gallize.

That would be a very small number of humans even though, as of eight years ago, the world was aware that shifters existed.

Those officials trusted the Guardian to ward this area in a way that put no humans at risk.

Justin walked up to the twenty-foot-wide space between two imposing oak trees that stood tall as natural guards.

He passed through first, feeling a tingle from the ward magic. Cole and Rory entered right behind him.

The ward shimmered when it recognized them. Any Gallize and natural animal could enter, and Justin’s group could leave, but Adrian couldn’t.  Humans would avoid this area and not realize why they’d altered their paths. Supernatural beings who were not Gallize couldn’t pass through the ward. 

Rory rubbed his arms. “Makes me itch every time I go through that magic.”

“Might not be the magic. Maybe you need a flea collar,” Cole said in a deadpan voice.

Justin grunted out a laugh, encouraged to see the return of Cole’s humor.

He doubted Rory had been born with any.

Rory said, “My cat is itchin’ to sharpen his claws when you least expect it.”

“Gray Wolf needs the exercise,” Cole tossed back.  “I hear cat fur makes a soft pillow.  Might take you a while to regenerate that though.”

“This is gonna be one long fucking week with you two,” Justin said, smiling.

“What are you so happy about?” Rory asked. “We have a week to do the impossible and not even running water.  I’ll rough it when need be, but I don’t mind a nice bed, flat-screen TV and hot meal at night.”

Justin argued, “This place is beautiful and full of wild game.  We’re gonna run and hunt and save a good friend. What’s not to be happy about?” Before Rory could answer, Justin added, “Do you good to rough it for a bit.  Never know when we’ll have to go somewhere nasty again.”

“True,” Rory conceded.

The breeze carried a fresh evergreen smell and a nice touch of cool air Justin liked far more than the hot bayous of Louisiana where he’d spent too many unhappy years.  He’d loved this place the minute he saw it. So much natural beauty across the land, with timber sprouting all around them and streams full of fish, then it opened up to an occasional bald hill like the one where the cabin stood.

Mountains climbed to the skies for a breathtaking backdrop.

Justin really hoped Adrian had soaked up the peacefulness here, but even he had doubts about Adrian being ready next week. 

When the Guardian agreed to this deal, he added one caveat. Their boss had said, “Adrian has three months to prove he can control his wolf, which is predicated on his showing significant improvement by the time I make my first visit.”

That initial review was coming up next week. 

Cole stopped with a fist in the air, a sign for all of them to pause.  He lifted his head, sniffing. 

Rory paused and slowly turned around, taking a closer look at their surroundings.

Justin frowned. “Adrian’s scent is everywhere. What’re you smelling?”

Rory uttered, “Smoke.”

Of the three, Justin had the best sense of smell, seven times that of a bloodhound. “I picked that up way back. Smells like someone burned logs in a fireplace.”

“I don’t think so,” Rory said and pointed. 

Following Rory’s gaze, Justin saw a tendril of smoke swirling above the treetops. He said, “Shit, that’s where the cabin is,” and took off.