Page 26 of Owl’s Cherished Mate

Darren’s attention shifted to Gray, and for the first time, his expression changed. The smugness he wore flickered, and something passed behind his eyes—recognition, or maybe calculation.

“The librarian.” Darren snorted. “This is who you’re running to now? A guy who shelves books for a living?”

“Lawson,” Gray said, not looking at Darren. His eyes were fixed on my brother. “Put down the radio and step away from the truck. Come over here.”

“Don’t tell me what to do,” Lawson said, but his voice shook.

Cade stepped forward and put a hand on Lawson’s shoulder. “That’s right, don’t tell him what to do.”

“Get your hand off him,” I demanded.

Cade’s lip curled, but he didn’t remove his hand from Lawson’s shoulder.

Gray stepped forward, and something in the air changed. One second it was normal, the next the hair on my arms was standing up and my skin was prickling like a storm was rolling in.

“Get away from the boy,” Gray seethed.

Darren’s eyes narrowed. Then he laughed—short, ugly, and humorless.

“You want to do this?” he said. “Fine.”

What happened next didn’t make sense.

Darren’s body jerked. His neck arched at an angle that should have snapped it. Bones cracked, and his skin rippled like something was trying to get out from underneath. Feathers erupted from his arms—dark and greasy—spreading across his body as his whole frame contorted. His face stretched, his nose and mouth fusing into something hooked and sharp. A beak. His arms became wings that spread wide and blotted out the dock lights for a moment.

A massive vulture stood where Darren had been an instant later.

I stumbled backward, a scream caught in my throat.

Cade shifted next into another vulture. His was smaller and leaner, but just as wrong.

Lawson dropped the radio. It hit the dock with a crack, and he scrambled backward, tripping over a coil of copper wire and landing hard. His eyes were wide, and his face was drained of all color.

He hadn’t known.

Whatever he’d been doing for them, however deep he was in it—he hadn’t known what they were.

Gray took another step forward instead of retreating back. I reached out for him, but before I could grab hold of his arm, the air charged again. His shift happened so fast I almost missed it. One moment he was standing in front of me—tall, lean, and human. The next, his body was changing, morphing. His clothes were falling away, and his form reshaped into something else. Feathers appeared, but they weren’t the greasy, dark feathers of the vultures. They were pale and golden across the back, fading to white on the chest. A heart-shaped face took form, ghostly white and striking, framed by soft feathers that made the dark eyes at its center look bottomless.

An owl.

Gray was a massive owl.

He placed himself between the vultures and me without hesitation. Darren’s vulture let out a harsh, rattling cry and launched itself at him. Gray met him in the air. The collision was brutal—wings beating, talons slashing, and multiple shrieks filling the night. They hit the dock together and rolled across the planks. Gray’s owl got on top, his talons pinning the vulture’s wings.

Cade’s vulture dove from above, talons extended, aiming for Gray’s back.

I didn’t think. My body moved before my brain caught up. There was a boat oar propped against one of the dock posts. I grabbed it with both hands and swung it like a baseball bat. It connected with Cade’s vulture mid-dive with a crack that vibrated up my arms. The bird hit the dock hard, rolling sideways while releasing a screech that split the air.

He didn’t get back up.

Instead, he lay on the planks, his chest heaving.

I stood there gripping the oar, staring at him. My arms shook, and my heart thundered in my ears.

Sounds of a struggle had my attention finally shifting away from Cade’s vulture. Gray’s owl was still fighting to keep Darren’s vulture pinned. He was trying to get up, his wings beating against the dock, but Gray’s owl wouldn’t let him. His talons squeezed tighter, and I heard what I swore were bones cracking under the pressure. Only then did Gray’s owl let go.

The whole thing was over in minutes, but it felt like hours.