Page 43 of Shifter Situations

Right.

I couldn’t let them sidetrack me now. But later? Yeah. Definitely. We were going to explore whatever that was. I needed to know what I’d witnessed before my imagination ran rampant, conjuring up all the positions and combinations.

I didn’t say a word aloud as I turned away from them. I rushed through the small valley, running up the hill on the other side as I banished the filth swirling through my thoughts.

And then I barreled into a black wolf. Scrambling up, I dusted the dirt off myself and watched Briggs struggle to get his paws underneath him.

Palmer stepped out of the Void and grabbed my wrist, jerking me to him. I went completely limp in his arms, making him hold me up. Briggs growled at him, and my mage scoffed.

I faded, delighting over the stunned expression on Palmer’s face as he grasped at the smoke now filling the woods. Backing away from them, I left the smoke lingering as I sprinted through the paths between the trees at top speed.

I tripped when a vine wrapped around my ankle, catching myself before my face hit the ground. York dragged me toward him, and I fought for control over his plants once more. I couldn’t get them to obey me. I tried to burn them off with hellfire, and that also didn’t work.

So I misted it out of my druid’s hold and landed behind him.

Wrapping my arms around his waist, I rested my head on his back and pressed a kiss between his shoulder blades. Then I bit him lightly, spinning to haul ass in the opposite direction before he stepped into the Void to chase me.

After running aimlessly for a few minutes, I shifted into my wolf form, leaving more of a scent trail for some of them to pick up. Though that probably wasn’t necessary, considering I was still worked up from the ideas that Stone put in my mind.

I shifted back, faded into smoke, and swapped directions again. Then I did that a few more times, hoping to lead them in circles. I was playing with a ball of ice, practicing with Vaughn’s power, when my mage spied me for the second time.

Palmer narrowed his stormy gray eyes, crooking his finger for me to come closer. I took a few tentative steps toward him but kept enough distance so he couldn’t grab me. I didn’t know how far those infernal chains could reach, but I wasn’t getting caught off-guard.

I blew him a kiss as I about-faced and went in the direction I’d originally come from, back toward the gym.

When I got to the edge of the woods, Briggs was waiting for me. His black wolf paced back and forth, and I stalked his movements.

As he began to turn, I lunged forward, gripping the coarse fur on his neck when I landed on his back. With my other hand, I slapped his flank, laughing as he growled at me

There was a rustling sound behind us, and saplings began to sprout around Briggs’ paws. The small trees quickly grew thicker as York emerged from the treeline.

He snapped a vine out, imitating a lasso, but I rolled off Briggs’ back, and the whip-like vine fell short of its target.

My shifter jumped over the growing trees, and they closed in around me.

Instead of fighting for full control, I asked the trees to part. I pushed my hands in between two of them, pulling them away from each other like opening a wooden curtain. I snuck out the back and stepped into the Void, moving under the cover of the forest canopy before I popped out.

The forest was silent all around me.

After sparing a minute to catch my breath, something changed. The nape of my neck prickled with awareness. I could feel eyes on me, prowling in the shadows.

The flapping of his wings cued me in. Stone ran so quietly that I almost couldn’t hear him, but the sound of leather catching the wind was unmistakable.

He scooped me up before I pinpointed his location. With his arms under mine, he flew in the direction of the cabin. When we passed over a clearing in the forest, Stone dropped me into the waiting hands of my vampire, landing stealthily in the grass beside us.

They both darted away with me in Novak’s arms.

And I let them…

As we drew closer to the cabin, I kicked my legs out, arching my back as I wiggled out of Novak’s grip. I slipped out of his hands, hitting the ground on my knees before pulling myself up.

I ran so fast that I felt like I was phasing in and out. I was in one place, and then I was hundreds of feet away in the blink of an eye. I stopped when I realized how far I’d gone, spinning in a circle as I tilted my head to the left.

From what I could understand of the mimicry gift from Lucy, if I was using a new power—one that didn’t come from my mates—then some other supe had to be around.

What kind of supernatural creature, I didn’t know.

I wasn’t sure that I wanted to find out either.