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They both recoiled when they saw the blood splattered across the pristine snow, staining it a light pink. Nausea rose in Jayden’s stomach as she noted the bloodied areas where more than one shifter had been. There was a massive amount of blood… and again no bodies.

Tracy’s grizzly snorted with distaste and horror. Jayden looked up and caught the expression dancing across Tracy’s face. Fear… there was no other way to express what she was seeing in a better word. If there was anything that could convince her that a truce with their clan leader’s shifter-girlfriend was her best chance at survival, it was the expression on Tracy’s face at that moment.

Tracy violently shook her head back and forth as she backed away from a blood-soaked area. The fur along on Tracy’s spine was raised. She had never dreamed that anything could terrify a grizzly. Not until she witnessed Tracy turning in a tight circle, as if afraid some ghostly army was about to attack.

Jayden was smart enough to know when a grizzly-shifter was scared, she should be too. She was currently questioning her sanity in volunteering to accompany the other woman on this crazy mission to find out who, or what, was behind their missing attackers.

Turning in a tight circle of her own, she warily peered about the forest. The crunch of snow under her feet made her wince. She kept Tracy in her peripheral view.

To hell with not liking or trusting shifters. If she keeps whoever did this from attacking, she’ll be my best friend for life, she thought with unease.

She glanced over her shoulder. The grizzly was creeping backwards toward her. They both flinched when a heavy pile of snow fell from a nearby tree onto the ground. Jayden swiveled on her heels and lifted the lance she was holding.

“What’s wrong? What do you smell?” she asked, her voice not quite steady.

Tracy shuddered and scanned the trees. “These were all apex predators. From the amount of blood, I would be shocked if any of them survived. I don’t know anything that could kill this many… and take the bodies.”

The tremble in Tracy’s voice struck a chord of choking fear inside Jayden. This was a woman who ventured into the proverbial human’s den to save them and she was scared shitless? That thought alone made Jayden want to bolt. Instead, she took a deep breath and tried to think like a hunter.

“This is crazy! There aren’t any tracks. It’s as though whoever killed them was a ghost and the bodies just disappeared. What kind of shifter could do something like this?” she asked.

“None that I’ve ever met,” Tracy confessed.

None that I’ve ever met.

Tracy suddenly released a strident curse. She didn’t argue when Tracy ordered her to climb onto her back. Jayden could sense they were being watched, and it scared the hell out of her.

She had barely climbed onto the grizzly bear when Tracy bolted forward in a burst of speed that nearly unseated her human passenger. Visions of what they had discovered played in a loop over and over in her mind as they raced through the forest. For once, Jayden was thankful she was with a shifter as powerful as Tracy.

Adrenaline poured through her body and her heart pounded with fear as she gripped the fur on each side of Tracy’s neck. Tracy raced across the thick ground cover of snow, leaving a trail of soft footprints behind. As they moved forward, the eerie silence was broken only by the faint snap of frozen branches and their heavy breathing.

The sounds of their retreat were a stark contrast to the looming specter of death that surrounded them. The magnitude of what she and Tracy had discovered left no room for any other interpretation. Something deadly was in the forest. Something that could frighten even a grizzly bear.

Jayden leaned forward as Tracy passed under a partially fallen tree wedged against another. The fur of Tracy’s bear brushed against her cheek. It was surprisingly soft and warm.

Jayden ducked her chin and tried to look behind them. Snow flew out from Tracy’s back feet as she dug her long claws into the fresh layer. She tilted her head back when a new sound filled the air. Twin dark shadows passed overhead. Jayden watched as two massive machines flew past them.

Jayden tightened her knees when Tracy cleared the forest and began their climb. One flying machine circled around and the side opened. Coils of rope unraveled, falling to the ground a short distance from the entrance to the cavern where her people had taken refuge.

She gripped the long spear she held in her left hand and counted. Six men dressed in black slid down the long ropes to the ground. She leaned closer to Tracy’s ear.

“Who are they?” she yelled.

Tracy shook her massive brown head and grinned. “It’s rainbows and unicorns as far as I’m concerned.”

Jayden didn’t know what that meant, but she assumed from the relief in Tracy’s voice, that it was a good thing. Personally, she wasn’t so sure when she saw more men sliding down from the second flying machine. Surprise struck her when Tracy suddenly sped up.

The crunch of compacting snow was replaced by a low humph and a chorus of laughter when Tracy’s bear rose and tackled a tall man who was turning in their direction. Jayden recognized the man as Ty Bearclaw. Tracy had him pinned to the ground and was giving his face a bath with her long, wide tongue much to Ty’s disgust.

She released her grip on Tracy’s fur and slid to the ground. It wasn’t an easy feat considering that Tracy was still giving her brother enthusiastic bear kisses while he was trying to push her away. She stumbled when her foot caught in a low spot in the snow.

“Jeez, Tracy. Get ahold of your bear. You’re embarrassing me in front of all the guys,” Ty mumbled.

“Thank Goddess that isn’t your blood. It isn’t, is it?” another man questioned.

Tracy snorted and rubbed her head against her brother before she responded. Jayden frowned when she heard the shifter speak. His voice— She shook her head. It was crazy, but there was something in the low rumble that made her curious.

“No. There is more in the forest. I don’t know who it belongs to,” Tracy was saying as she rose and stepped back from her brother.