ONE MONTH. It had been one month since the bastards had taken my father to experiment on. A month since we had learned that the string of werewolf kidnappings were for experimenting on, with the end goal of curing humans. All at the cost of the wolf’s life. We had been able to rescue my father and Mason’s new mate Alice, but now the entire mountain had become a fortress of werewolf protection. Nearly our entire Portland pack had been brought in. They left homes, jobs, school, dropped everything to seek the safety of this mountain and band with my father. Nothing had come out in the news about the real reason the wolves were being taken, but I knew that my father was just waiting. Planning, plotting, waiting. We still had a few wolves as far out as Corvallis, and my father would be calling them in soon, I was sure of it. There had been no physical sign of the Skin Walker, Mukesh, in the past month, but I’d been dreaming of him. Small snippets where he came into my dream and taunted me, but my bear always ran him off. Nahuel had been meeting me weekly for lessons in the ways of a Keeper and Gavin had been training with my mother on how to best use his Matefinder abilities. Which were once my abilities. We had some major relationship issues in that department, but it had worked out. My father had surprisingly taken well to him, although he was pressing us to have a mating ceremony even though we were technically already mated. True Mates. I hoped that if I kept ignoring my father he would stop mentioning it. Gavin and I had slid into an easy relationship. He knew me, he got me, and he was one hell of a cook. Not to mention a nice piece of eye candy. Our relationship was pretty much the only thing that was going right in my life.

“Thinking about me?” Gavin came into the living room we shared just as I was lacing up my jogging shoes. My lips curled with a slight grin.

“Always.” I stood meeting his emerald eyes. He was wearing a grungy white V-neck t-shirt and his dark hair was a mess. He hadn’t shaved in a week, giving him that stubble that I loved to scratch with my fingertips. I ran my gaze down his corded muscular body and saw that his gray sweat pants were practically falling off … he’d never looked sexier. A low growl rumbled in his throat as he caught me looking.

“I was just gonna shower. Wanna join me?” His hooded gaze sent heat traveling down below my belly, but I had to tamp it down.

I groaned, thinking of all of the things we could do in that shower as a newly mated couple. “I have to meet Nahuel.”

He nodded and simply pulled off his t-shirt, showcasing his tight, tanned muscles.

I grinned. “You’re wicked.”

He smiled and flexed his pecks, making them dance. I burst into laughter and stepped closer to him, reaching out to smack his chest, but he used the close proximity to pull me into his strong grip. His arms snaked around my lower back and slid up my shirt, sending chills down my arms. All of a sudden I was staring into his impossibly green eyes, my heart hammering in my chest, my breath stilled. We were still in the honeymoon phase, as my mom told everyone. But I had felt this passion for him since the first time I met him and it wasn’t going away. Hell, even before I met him I was dreaming about him. Gavin made me laugh all the time, and even though times were dark, I was truly happy with him. My True Mate.

“I love you more than you will ever know,” he told me, stroking his thumb across my bottom lip, sending a rush of heat down my body.

He said things like that often. Deep, honest things that made my soul intertwine deeper with his every time.

I crashed into him then, kissing him hard with a restless passion. Screw meeting up with Nahuel. That could wait. Gavin’s strong arms came around to cup my butt and he lifted me up on top of him and my legs opened to straddle his hips. Then I smelled it. Nahuel. Gavin noticed too because we both groaned at the same time and he pulled away from me just before the knock came.

“Rain check?” I asked him, nipping his bottom lip. That got me a smile.

“Always,” he answered and slipped into the bathroom but not before giving my ass a light smack.

Being mated was awesome on so many levels.  

Smoothing my hair down, I sighed and after fixing my shirt, I crossed the room and answered the door.

My shaman mentor had already begun walking away, assuming I would follow. Typical Nahuel. I shut the door quickly and took off after him as he hiked deeper into the woods by my house. He was in a hurry today. Normally, he let me catch up before we hit the woods.

“Umm … hello? Oh, hi, Anya! Let’s go for a hike today. Okay, Nahuel, let me just shut the door.” I had a fake conversation with myself and the shaman’s retreating back. Socializing wasn’t his strong suit and I used every opportunity I had to point that out to him.

Stopping, he turned to face me and chills ran up my arms. Nahuel’s left cheek sported three long gashes; they looked like scratch marks. His shirt was dirty and tattered, but his eyes, it was his eyes that scared the shit out of me. They looked haunted and I knew without a doubt that something awful had happened.

“What is it?” I stepped closer to him, concern etched all over my face.

“Little Keeper, I fear that the end has begun.” His usual cryptic bullshit, of course. Could he ever tell me something straight?

“What happened?!” I shrieked. Now that my mind had run wild after taking in his tattered appearance, I was fearing the worst.

He swallowed hard, looking more emotional and destroyed than I had ever seen him.

“Lina has been holding the light for our people for a long time now. It is always passed down to women with great power, and ...”

He didn’t finish, but my head was spinning. Why was he talking about Lina? Had something happened to her? I didn’t know what light he was talking about, but I wanted to know more. I had taken two trips back to Canada in the past month with Nahuel to see Lina and train with her. We had grown into an easy friendship and I respected her. If he was about to tell me she was hurt, I would lose it.

“Nahuel. I need real freaking English right now. What. Happened.” I pleaded with him to just spit it out.

He nodded and his eyes grew moist. The sight of Nahuel on the verge of tears had fear clenching me in its cold, hard grip. “Lina was murdered last night. The Walker did it.”

All of the air left my lungs in one big rush as his words slammed into me, hitting me hard with shock and grief. My stomach dropped as I fell to the ground, panting.

“No!” I wailed and couldn’t help the fur that traveled down my arms. My bear was livid and she wanted out. Now. Lina had helped me when Gavin was dying. She saved us both and I felt forever indebted to her for it. She was my friend and the Walker had taken her from me. The Walker had taken too much from the ones I loved. The shift was happening. I couldn’t stop it, and I didn’t want to. If I didn’t shift, I would break under the weight of this grief and anger. My clothes tore as my bear took shape, transforming my human skin into a 250-pound female black bear. Grief was easier to carry in my bear form, but it still felt like a raw wound had been gashed across my body.

I shook off the remains of my shredded clothes and once I was on all fours, I glanced to my right and saw Nahuel in his jaguar form. He was my pack. Maybe not by traditional standards, but we were family now. A howl rose behind us, and turning, I saw Gavin in wolf form. He felt it, he knew. I could sense him probing through the matebond.

‘Lina?’ he questioned in shock.

I nodded my big bear head and Gavin’s grief ebbed with mine, becoming one.

Nahuel took off through the woods and Gavin and I followed. Sometimes you just needed to run. My paws smashed through the delicate green ferns and with each one it broke, I envisioned breaking the bones of the Skin Walker Mukesh. I had never wanted anyone more dead than I wanted him.

‘What’s wrong?’ my father asked me, his deep voice infiltrating my thoughts. Although I was a part of his pack, I had more privacy than before. Bears were solitary creatures and we didn’t need a pack. Still, my father could pick up on emotions and he no doubt sensed my distress.

‘Nahuel’s pack mate Lina was murdered. The one who saved my life.’ My father would understand the words pack mate. It meant Lina was family. And reminding him that Lina had saved Gavin and me would put him behind us with support.

I felt his emotions come back to me through our pack bond, saturating my body like a salve on a wound. He was there if I needed him and he loved me. I appreciated his concern and knew if I simply called, he and my mother would be here.

As jaguar, wolf, and bear, we pounded the forest floor trying to run off all of our sorrows. We snaked through the dense green forest until I realized we were heading to the creek. As we neared, I could smell Jaxon and Avery. He often took her here to train. Although she was in line to be the pack doctor, Jaxon wanted a woman who could take care of herself if a fight broke out. Turning the corner, past a large tree, I could see they were sparring with bo staffs on a flat rock. My brother and his girlfriend had been supposed to be starting junior year of college with Gavin and me, but now we were all in a holding pattern until we knew if these werewolf kidnappings would escalate. As we approached, Jaxon whipped around in a protective stance. When he saw that it was us, he relaxed but still looked concerned. He must have felt it then, through our twin bond, the utter sorrow that only the death of a loved one can bring.  Other than my mate, and my Alpha father, Jaxon was the only other soul able to speak into my mind. We were closer than normal siblings; it was a twin thing.

‘Who died?’ he asked through the bond.

‘The Walker murdered Lina,’ I told him as I began the shift back to my human form. Taking a cue from me, Nahuel and Gavin shifted as well. I walked over to the clothes hamper we kept by the creek and snatched up some clothes, pulling them on quickly. Then, I threw Gavin some sweats. Standing barefoot on a moss-covered rock, I turned to find Nahuel. He was fully dressed in the clothes he had on before, like magic. Show off.

No one said anything. We just stared at each other, letting Lina’s loss seep into our souls. Avery had no clue what was going on, but she gathered it wasn’t good. So, she simply stood with her head lowered.

“I have a burden that I selfishly need to lay on you.” Nahuel’s voice had startled me. His words were ominous and had me really thinking before I answered.

“Tell me,” I said, meeting his eyes.

Everyone turned to look at Nahuel. He seemed to scan each person’s face, sizing up whether or not he wanted them present.

“Lina is one of twelve in the world who carry the magic for our people. She was the anchor for our power. She did this as Alma did before her. She is the gateway to all that is good in magic.”

Whoa. That was … Okay, homegirl was more important than I thought.

“What does that have to do with me?” I asked him, taking a step closer as my feet pressed into the damp moss that littered the edge of the creek.

Nahuel looked shattered, emotionally and physically. He looked like he had aged ten years, lines around his eyes and mouth were deeper, hair with more silver. What had happened to him? The three gashes in his cheek didn’t look to be healing very fast.

Just when I thought he may not answer, he spoke, soft and unsure. “I got to Lina before she completely crossed over to the spiritual plane. I was able to freeze time in a small space around her so that she could do what needed to be done. So that she could pass on her life path to the next chosen one. Her cousin, Rayla, is the next chosen anchor and will be thirteen soon. At thirteen she can take this burden, but until then …”

He stopped talking and just stared at me, willing me to understand his meaning. I didn’t want to guess, I needed to hear it. Needed to hear what I thought was about to be the craziest thing he could ever ask me. No.

“But?” Jaxon asked, reading my thoughts. Just then, Gavin’s warm hand slipped into mine, offering comfort that only a mate could.

Don’t say my name. God dammit, Nahuel, don’t you dare lay this at my feet, I thought to myself and almost hoped he could hear.

“But … until her cousin has come of age, Lina chose Anya. Anya is chosen to be the next anchor temporarily.”

I barked out a laugh and put my hands up in front of me, pleading with Nahuel to pump the brakes. “Whoa! I think I’ve got enough on my plate here. I’m a Keeper, right? I gave up my wolf, lost my birthright gift of Matefinding so that I could be a light keeper and help keep all the races from killing each other off, and so that I could help bring an end to the Skin Walker’s murderous reign, and now this? You’re joking, right?” I gave a good chuckle for effect. Commence panic attack in 3 … 2 … 1.

I looked around me, eyeing the trees to make sure I wasn’t on an episode of Punk’d. This was insane. This was too freaking much. What had I done to piss off the universe?

Nahuel placed his head in his hands and whispered, “Give me guidance, Great Spirit, for I am lost.”

Well, shit. His spiritual anchor got murdered and he came here asking for my help and I just freaked out on him. I exhaled slowly and then approached him.

“Hey, I’m sorry.” I reached out to place my hand on his shoulder when I felt that pull at my navel. Nahuel was having a vision and I was about to go along for the ride. Crap.

My eyes lurched closed as I was pulled up out of my body and into that now-familiar place of a vision. How my mom and Gavin did this on a regular basis I had no idea.

 My feet slammed down onto a gravel pathway and I spun around quickly, looking for Nahuel.

“Nahuel!” I shouted.

I peered around and saw nothing but various wildlife scenes. A desert landscape to my left, forest off to my right, snowy tundra behind me. What the hell was this place? Just ahead I saw Nahuel ducking into a tall, green, hedged labyrinth. A glowing light was emanating from the center. He looked back at me and I was gutted to see black tears streaking down his face. Then he simply turned his back and walked inside of the tall hedge opening and disappeared.

What the hell? Was I in some weird part of Nahuel’s psyche where he cried black tears? How could I get out?

“Nahuel! Wait!” I shouted and took off after him. The last thing I wanted was to be left alone in here. My bare feet were pounding on the crushed rocks as I made my way into the labyrinth and I tried not to wince at the pain. The fact I felt pain here made me nervous. The second I entered the two tall bushes, I was hit with a familiar smell. Spruce trees, earth, and a touch of lavender. It smelled like the woods around my Mount Hood home. I had barely entered the labyrinth before I ground to a halt. I had hit a wall and had to choose left or right. Chills broke out onto my arms as I thought about the choice. It felt like a big decision, which was stupid because I was just trying to find Nahuel. I closed my eyes, letting my awareness reach out as Nahuel had been teaching me. There. I felt the slightest bit of increased awareness to my right. It was lighter and fuller of all that is good. I decided to take that path.

I started heading down the path to the right at a brisk walk when suddenly a white mist flowed down the green hedge walls of the labyrinth. I froze, unsure of what to do. Was this the same mist that I associated with magic? This was just a vision, right? Could magic affect me here? My thoughts were churning in anxiety.

A deep rhythmic drum began to beat wildly at what I assumed was the center of the labyrinth. The sound was so familiar it made relief crash over me and dissolve my panic. The drums were Nahuel’s warriors. They were my protection and I knew that I needed to reach them. Reach the drums and find Nahuel. Taking a deep breath, I stepped into the mist.

“Anya, my baby! My sweet baby!” My mother’s distraught voice echoed around me. The distress in her tone made a lump form in my throat.

“Mom!” I called back. Why was she so upset? I spun around searching for anything, any sign of her here as the mist crept up my legs, but I couldn’t see her.

“NOOO!” my father roared and I heard the tearing of clothes, of breaking bones and shifting skin. Something awful was happening to my parents and I couldn’t see them! I couldn’t see anything, I could only hear and what I was hearing wasn’t good. It sounded … it sounded like …

“Dad! I’m okay!” I shouted.

The next voice gutted me and I fell to my knees as the mist covered me completely. It was a scream from Gavin that raised the hairs on my arms.

“Why! Why did she go off on her own?” Gavin cried out and tears streamed down my cheeks as I lay collapsed on the floor of the labyrinth. This was my death; I was hearing the aftermath of my own death. I was sure of it and the realization made every hair on my body stand up.

“You saw this, didn’t you!” The anger in Jaxon’s voice made me sick to my stomach. He sounded so lost, so full of grief.

“The future can always change,” my mother’s small voice replied.

               I couldn’t take it anymore. Rising from the mist, cheeks wet with tears, I ran. I ran blindly through the labyrinth; left, right, another right, a left. Anything to escape my family’s grieving voices. To escape the mist that held my death. I crashed through the labyrinth, heart pounding, sobs ripping from my throat until finally I needed to rest.

The mist was gone now, taking the voices with it and for that I was grateful. I stood there for a moment catching my breath, trying to figure a way out of this. Nahuel would be at the center with the drums, I was sure of it, but I didn’t want to keep going. Not if future visions of my death were going to be played for me. But I couldn’t stop, wouldn’t give up. Turning the next corner, I skidded to a halt as I looked upon the spectral form of Lina. She was wearing her traditional native garb and was holding a smoking sage bundle. Her translucent figure was so see-through I could see the green leafy hedge just behind her. Knowing what I knew, that she was dead or frozen in time or whatever Nahuel said, made the tears return to my eyes.

“Lina,” I whispered and her face broke out into a huge smile.

“Hello, sister.” Her voice floated over to me and it brought with it such a sorrow that she was gone, that this may be my last chance to talk to her.

I stepped closer to her, afraid yet unable to stay away. “What am I doing here?” I asked her.

She smiled weakly. “I am the anchor for my people, the keeper of their magic. One of twelve anchors around the world.”

I nodded. “Nahuel told me.”

Her face suddenly tightened into a sneer. “Mukesh is trying to weaken the magic of our race so he can end the shaman line forever and rise up into great power. You mustn’t let that happen.”

My mouth had popped open somewhere during her speech and now I gave an exasperation of disbelief. “How can I do anything about it?”

Lina stepped closer to me now and the sage smoke enveloped me. “From the moment I laid eyes on you I knew you had what it takes to be an anchor. To anchor the magic to the earth for our people. Spirit showed me.”

I felt dizzy at her words. “No offense, but I’m not a part of your people. I can’t do this.” I mean I was half East Indian so I wasn’t a complete white girl but there wasn’t a drop of Native American blood in me. Why would Spirit choose me for such a task?

Lina’s brow creased. “You think that matters? You think Earth Mother, Sky Father, and the Great Spirit care of color and blood?” Now she gave me one of her typical Lina sarcastic laughs. Her question formed a lump in my throat for some reason.

“But Nahuel said your cousin is next in line.” My voice trembled.

Lina nodded. “When Rayla turns thirteen in two winters, she will come of age and you will pass this gift to her.”

Two winters. My mind was quickly calculating. That was like a year and a half away!

I realized my body was slightly trembling. I didn’t want any more responsibility and I’d just heard my parents back there in the mist crying over my dead body, so … no thank you.

“I can’t. Find someone else, another cousin.” I shook my head, determined not to take on this task.

She sighed. “As long as Mukesh lives, there will be a darkness in Gavin. It will continue to grow as the darkness on the earth grows. Without the twelve anchors, the darkness will overtake the world and all that is good will be gone. Humans will be most affected by this darkness, which is why they have turned on the wolves now. I’ve seen it. Gavin will be lost to the darkness. He will become Mukesh.”

Well, shit. How was that for manipulating someone into doing something? Her words made my stomach tighten and the acid lurch into my throat. Why were my mate and I always trying to escape death!? I thought back to the night we were told the story of Gavin’s birth mother. That Mukesh raped her while on her spirit quest at the tender age of thirteen. It made my bear rear up inside of me and threaten to take hold. I would never let that happen to Gavin.

“Why me?” Couldn’t someone else be a better replacement?

Lina smiled this time and brought her hand up, waving it in front of the air as if she could see something I could not. “It’s in your soul. A bright light, unwavering, full of love, passion, strength. You were born to anchor, as was I. Your mother had it too, but it got broken when life became too cruel. Anya, I’ve seen things, horrible things, and I’m afraid that if you do not accept my gift at this time, then all is lost.”

How could I deny such a heartfelt request? But I feared she was making the wrong decision. I wasn’t all bright light and strong inside. I was somewhat insecure and scared like everyone else. But there was a fierceness inside of me, a strength that could not be matched if you messed with my family or anyone I loved. Gavin was my family, all the wolves were, and so if doing this protected them, I would.

“I accept,” I muttered, before I could think too much more about it, and with those words, tears streamed from Lina’s eyes.

“Come find me,” she whispered and suddenly her translucent figure became a large ball of light that exploded right in front of me. The light fell like glitter and settled on my skin, bringing a warmth and love with it. Lina.

The drumming was closer now and I knew I needed to get to it. Shaking off my conversation with the ghost of Lina I started running again. Left, right, hit a wall and turned back, left again, when suddenly I turned a corner and skidded to a stop before a woman holding a small child. The child must have been only two or three. She was tiny and my stomach sank when I saw the child had no hair, not even peach fuzz. She clearly had some type of cancer.

The mother was a wreck. Her eyes were ringed red, hair a matted mess, but when she saw me she looked up.

“You!” she screamed. I froze, wondering if this was real or a dream. She wasn’t a voice like my parents had been or a spectral ghost like Lina had been. She seemed real.

I didn’t move, didn’t breathe, couldn’t say a word.

“You can help me!” she cried out, stepping closer to me just as the little girl roused in her arms.

“Mommy? It hurts,” the little girl whimpered in a delicate voice.

Jesus Christ. I had a certain threshold of tolerance for things and two-year-olds dying of cancer broke me. I couldn’t deny her even if it was only a vision and I had no idea how to help.

“How?” I whimpered as the mother’s face peered at me with agony.

“Heal her.” The mother closed the distance between us in an instant and suddenly the child was thrust into my arms.

“No, no.” I tried to give her back, but the girl’s body sank into my arms as I struggled to tighten my hold and not drop her. My God, she was so frail and thin, she barely weighed as much as my late cat Luna.

Sobbing, the mother collapsed to her knees and I stood there stupidly hoping this vision would hurry up and move along.

“Nahuel!” I shouted, wondering if I just set the little girl down and ran if that would have dire consequences.

When I peered down at the girl, wondering if I should ask her a question or something, I noticed her hair was growing. It was peach fuzz now and her body seemed to be getting heavier. She looked up at me with bright blue eyes and I saw a rosiness in her cheeks. What the? Some movement on my arm caught my attention and I gazed over to see a pure silver light pumping from my veins and traveling down my arm and into the girl.

“I feel better,” the girl said and I just stood there in shock. Suddenly I felt a presence at my back. Turning, I saw Avery. My best friend was smiling, arms outstretched for the little girl. My mouth was open in disbelief. What was this? I handed the girl to Avery and watched in astonishment as Avery’s veins lit up with the silver light and pumped into the little girl as well. This girl looked nearly normal now with short, cropped blonde glossy hair and full pink cheeks. Then suddenly Avery’s canines descended and her mouth morphed into the shape of her wolf muzzle. What the eff? Before I could process it, Avery bit the little girl on the arm, sending a child’s wail into the labyrinth as the little girl shrieked.

“No!” I cried out lunging for Avery, but she and the child dissolved into nothing as a bright white light enveloped them. Before I could wonder where they had gone, a harsh chill came over me sprouting goosebumps up and down my arms. Behind me, I heard the mother cry out.

I spun fast, not liking the familiar smell I had just picked up, and sure enough, standing before me was the Skin Walker, Mukesh, nearly naked with a bear skin hanging over his shoulders, wearing a wry grin. His blond hair fell to his shoulders in stringy waves. He was never clean, always covered in some mixture of blood and dirt.

“I’ve missed you, my little cub.” His words were like acid to my ears and it killed me that I didn’t have a weapon on me right now. I had the sinking feeling that even though this was just a vision, he could hurt me here. He looked far too pleased to have found me and I could feel my bear rising to the surface as a low growl rumbled in my chest. Suddenly a black mist leaked from Mukesh’s eyes and ears and as it touched the child’s mother, she was gone. Just like that, blinked out of existence. Out of all of the nightmares I’d had in my life, Mukesh leaking black mist from his eyes and ears topped the list. I was totally watching cartoons after this vision was over. Assuming I survived it.

‘Jaxon?’ I tried my twin bond. Nothing. Crap.

‘Gavin, wake me up!’ I shrieked to my mate, but it felt like my request hit a brick wall and bounced back at me. Shit, plan B.

The black mist was coming for me, keeping me from going forward and finding Nahuel and the safety of those drums. I wasn’t sure if this was supposed to be part of my vision or if the Skin Walker had somehow broken in. I was thinking the latter and something told me that if that black mist touched me, I was done for somehow.  I slowly took a few steps back as Mukesh let his eyes rake over my body.

“How’s my son?” he purred, and I revolted as I realized he was talking about Gavin. His cheek bones were so prominent he looked like a ghost. This was pretty much my version of hell. Being stuck in a vision with this creep. I had to figure out a way to get past him without touching the black smoke. I slowly reached my left hand out and gently touched the hedge wall to get a feeling for how strong the branches inside were. The black mist was coming faster and so I took a calming breath and called to my own inner witch’s magic. Please Universe, let my magic work in this god-forsaken place. As the tingle built in my chest, I grinned and let my own white mist pour out of me and meet his dark magic halfway, like two warriors on a chessboard. They encountered each other in the middle and pushed at each other in fury. As my white mist brushed against his black mist I felt his awful essence squirm against me. It was death, fear, and loneliness. This man had no soul.

“He’s not your son and I’m not your little cub.” Staying to have a chat with this douchebag was a stupid idea. So instead, I crouched, and in one leap I jumped up onto the side wall of the labyrinth, glad to find that the branches were thick and strong. My fingers gripped them for dear life not caring that my arms were getting cut up. Trying to find strong footholds, I climbed up quickly. I noticed in my peripheral vision that the Skin Walker had lunged for me, but I was faster and my white mist held him off just long enough. Once I reached the top of the hedge, I craned my neck and looked out. There! Just a few rows over, Nahuel was sitting in the middle of the labyrinth as his warriors played the drums around him. I clumsily ran across the top of the hedge, cutting my ankles and shins up with the stiff, poking branches. I was trying desperately not to lose my balance, keeping my arms out to steady me. A whoosh sounded to my right and I turned to see a large black crow. The Skin Walker could take the shape of any animal, and dammit, of course he could be a freakin’ bird.

I was running like a drunken fool, wobbling along the uneven tops of the hedge, but when that bird dove for me, I leapt. My body flew across the open space below until I crashed onto the wall that surrounded the center of the labyrinth and held the people I knew I needed to get to for safety. I was five feet from Nahuel and the warriors, but they didn’t look up. Nahuel seemed to be in a meditative trance and the warriors just stared at their drums, drumming louder and louder. But the flapping of wings had me panicking.

Plan C.

A partial shift was hard to do. You had to concentrate and be aware of what part of your body you wanted to keep human and what part bear. Any loss of focus would result in a full shift, which would no doubt have me crashing into this frail hedge. These branches were strong, but not 250-pound bear strong. I calmed my mind and focused on my right arm, allowing it to take the shape of my large, meaty bear paw. It burned and cracked, and I had to fight to keep balance perched on top of the hedge with my new weighty appendage. Then as the crow dove for me, I swiped out ripping three long gashes along the crow’s belly. The force of my paw sent him flapping and shrieking onto the ground before he dissolved into black mist and was gone.

Thank God. I exhaled all of the breath I had been holding.

The drumming stopped suddenly and I craned my head to the middle of the labyrinth where Nahuel and the warriors were now standing and looking at me. It seemed that now that the Walker was gone, there was no need to be in a crazy meditative war drum off.

I shifted my paw back to my human arm and leapt down into the center of the labyrinth, standing before Nahuel. The jolt of slamming down hard onto the ground sent pain up my shins, but it was nothing compared to the emotional trauma I had just endured. Or the tiny scratches that now covered twenty percent of my body. I let my eyes rake over my shaman. His cheeks were stained with black tears, and was it me, or did he have more gray hairs than when we came in here?

“Thanks for the help,” I joked. Deflecting to unnecessary humor was a fall back of mine. I really wanted to throw up and then maybe rock in the corner, crying.

Nahuel placed a hand on both sides of my shoulders. “Now you know what you must do. Spirit has shown you.”

“Hah!” I barked out a laugh. “That crazy shit back there?” My family crying over my body, some girl dying of cancer, and Mukesh. It didn’t even make sense! But before I could get one of Nahuel’s metaphoric replies I felt my body being pulled up. Of course, now that I wasn’t in mortal danger, I could leave the vision. Perfect.

After a brief bit of nausea, my feet slammed down onto the hard-packed dirt and I stumbled backward into Gavin’s warm arms.

I was still catching my breath when Gavin spun me around and I was now facing three very concerned faces. Gavin, my twin, and Avery all stared at me wide eyed.

“What the hell was that?” Jaxon asked me. He must have sensed some of my turmoil through our twin bond. Gavin definitely was because his eyes were molten copper and he looked extremely overprotective. He was barely containing his shift, fur popping up and down his arms, his canines lengthening.

“I’m okay.” I assured my mate and pressed my body closer to his so that he could feel me, protect me.

With a shaky breath, Gavin’s grip on my shoulders loosened and the fur on his arms become smooth caramel skin.

I turned then to look at Nahuel who was now standing patiently, waiting for me to speak. No sign of the black tears I saw in the vision but the gray hairs remained. I looked down at my legs to see they were not cut up, but I swore I could still feel some of the burning there. I don’t know what the hell that vision was but one thing I knew to be 100% real was my communication with Lina.

“I need to see Lina’s body,” I told them all and Nahuel broke out into a huge smile. It was shocking because I never saw him smile. He had bright white teeth with pronounced canines and a slight dimple on his right cheek.

“I’ll take you,” he stated. It seemed like my words had lifted a huge weight off of his shoulders.

“Not so fast.” My father’s voice boomed around us, making more than one wolf present lower their eyes.

Damn, nothing was easy anymore.