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CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

emma

Six Nude Hours Later

O livia strolled into the Conclave, depositing eight large metal pans on the table at the rear. Phil and several other shifters from Six-Mile followed her, carrying more food into the gathering place and spreading it out on the tables the coffee folks had been using for most of the day.

I jumped up from the spot I’d chosen near the multimorph magnolia and jogged up the center aisle toward Olivia. “Hey,” I said, overly eager for another, more familiar face. “Olivia.”

She stopped short, crossed her arms, and raked her gaze over me. “Huh. No clothes. Riveting fashion choice for the prudish baby shifter. Interesting message you’re sending.”

“Well, you can thank Jasper for that.” I glanced around and leaned closer to her. “Seems like they all already know about me.”

She tipped her head back and forth as though weighing my words. “I’m sure you can thank Jasper for that too. He’s the biggest gossip in the clans, and he gets around.” Her eyes flicked to the side, and her pupils dilated. “Jasper.”

“Is that so?” I asked, knowing he was behind me. I glanced at the ginger shifter.

He shrugged. “Your legend grows bigger than a hurricane.”

“Another wily choice, hmmm?” I asked.

“Like a fox,” he said, wagging his eyebrows and making a flourish with his hands.

“My ass,” I hissed.

But Jasper had already forgotten all about me. He draped his arm over Olivia’s shoulders. “When can I see ye?”

Her expression hardened, and she stepped out of his grasp. “You know we’ve got too much shit going on for that.”

“Aye,” he said, not arguing, “but I won’t wait for ye forever, Olivia.”

She put her hands on her hips. “Your choice, Jasper. I take my position as second-to-the-alpha seriously.”

“I take her positions seriously, too, my dear.” He leered at her, making his risqué meaning clear, and I couldn’t stop my eyeroll.

Yet, for the first time, when I considered him more closely, I understood he covered his hurt, his insecurity, with humor. He really did have a thing for Olivia… a big thing. The truth of it surprised me.

I crossed my arms and then changed my mind about framing my breasts. Then I dropped my arms to my sides. Baby shifter vet lady still wasn’t nuts about being naked in front of a bunch of strangers.

Olivia studied Jasper then me then him again. “Logan’s on his way.”

I captured my bottom lip between my teeth. “It’ll be good to see him.”

“He’s looking forward to seeing you, too, Emma. Jasper… well, he’s a bit bitter about Jasper having all your time to himself.”

“Ye know I only have eyes for ye, O,” he interjected, pulling Olivia into his arms dramatically.

“Oh, shove off, and I told you not to call me that in public,” she said, pushing him out of the way, but she grinned at him before she marched back out to get more food and supplies.

Jasper followed her.

I settled in a spot at the top of the rows of seating, situating myself so I could watch shifters come and go.

Larger crowds arrived now, stopping to load paper bowls with the hearty stew Olivia had brought from Six-Mile.

Stout, lager, and some kind of wine made their way out of chests filled with ice, and the cans whooshed as they were opened throughout the amphitheater.

A thousand shifters collected on the stadium seating made from the landscaped ground.

A thousand of those shifters entered the safety of the Conclave, looked me over, grabbed a drink and a meal provided by Six-Mile, and then made their way to their seats.

The cumulative hum of hundreds of soft conversations turned to a roar that reminded me of the one tornado I’d lived through as a kid while on vacation with my parents.

Never in a million years would I have expected over a thousand people to see me sitting casually on a grassy bleacher, the blades tickling my ass crack, without me scrambling for clothes or ducking for cover. At one time, being naked in front of a crowd was a nightmare.

What a fucking turn of events. I heard the words in Logan’s growl, close behind my ear, and I shivered, beyond famished.

But I wasn’t hungry for food or thirsty for drink. Logan was drawing closer, and the spot he held in my mind grew stronger with each mile he took toward the Conclave.

Soon, Marcus Steele sauntered into the area, smoothing his light brown hair and searching the space until his eyes landed on me. He nodded once, but he didn’t smile or even react to my nakedness. He probably knew that Red Tail had smuggled me out of their territory so I didn’t have to see him.

After I’d thrown him out of my veterinary practice…

Or maybe he’d thrown himself out of my waiting room.

My actions made it clear that I didn’t want to deal with him or didn’t like him, and he had to be more than a little disgruntled about it. But he wasn’t Logan, and I didn’t care .

Wait…

He’s nearly…

Here!

I jumped to my feet as Logan appeared between the trees, moving into the space like a predator on the prowl. He’d lost some weight since I’d seen him last, and his hair had grown longer. He dragged his fingers through the disheveled mess as he stopped near Olivia and spoke quietly.

My feet rooted into place, and my thoughts warred between rushing toward Logan or remaining aloof. Dragging my gaze from his face wasn’t an option…

His eyes widened when they landed on me, and my throat dried. He marched toward me, circling me once, twice.

“God, Emma, you’re naked,” Logan whispered, his voice feathering over the back of my neck on his third pass of visually devouring every inch of me. He grabbed the belt loops on his pants and adjusted his pants.

“Logan.” At least my voice sounded more even and stronger than I expected.

“You look well. Do you know what you’re doing to me?”

I took a step and leaned closer, swiveling toward him so he could get another good look at my breasts. “Probably the same thing you’re doing to me, Logan, and you didn’t even have to take your clothes off.”

He kept his gaze on mine for long moments, an internal civil war clearly being battled in his eyes while I listened to his emotions duke it out in his head. Finally, he took another look, his jaw slackened, and his cheeks reddened. His tongue darted out and back in.

“I’d sit on that tongue,” I said, the words escaping before I could stop them.

Shit. A blush spread over my skin as a warmth flooded me. He was imagining me sitting on his face... and he liked it.

Oh, shit, shit. Distracting didn’t begin to describe what he was doing to me now. I wished for clothes to hide my physical reaction to the nearness of my maybe fated mate.

The big bear shifter stepped into the space, rumbling and grumbling under his breath. Olivia pressed a bowl of stew into his hands, and he took a seat on a large log, practically swallowing it with his size. His beard held beads, and his soft leather clothes looked to be handmade.

“What’s his name?” I asked Logan, nodding toward the older shifter.

“Hmmm? What?”

“The bear alpha. What’s his name again?”

“Torbin,” he answered. “If anything goes down, find Torbin. I trust him.”

“You do?”

“And Marcus, believe it or not.”

“That surprises me,” I said.

“It’s a new development,” Logan said, his eyes bouncing from shifter to shifter as another group meandered in, comprised of individuals I didn’t recognize. The whole space was mostly filled with strangers now.

“Well, I’ll go for Torbin then. Marcus might be on my shit list.”

Logan barked a laugh and laid his hand on my forearm. “You ready for this evening?”

“Sure.”

“Really?”

“Fuck no, but do I have a choice?” I asked.

“No, you don’t. Acheron’s strength is growing, and we believe he’s consumed each of the missing shifters. Whatever he’s planning will happen soon.”

“Great.”

About thirty minutes later, almost twenty alphas collected in the depression at the bottom of the amphitheater, Login and Torbin included.

Flynn crouched in the dirt, drawing something I couldn’t make out.

A sullen Marcus stood at the edge of the group.

The sun dipped below the horizon, and the large, golden-red Hunter’s Moon rose in its place, beaming down on us all.

The baristas moved through the amphitheater, lighting small lanterns and placing them throughout the space. The flames cast eerie light and shadows on us all. The ever-blooming magnolia tree seemed to glow with a light of its own.

Finally, Torbin raised his hands, and his booming voice silenced the gathered shifters. “Let’s begin. It’s rumored that the multimorph has emerged, and we will now hear evidence.”

Jasper appeared by my side and offered his elbow. “Are ye ready for this?”

“Again with that question?” I asked .

“Well, are ye?”

“No, but let’s do it anyway,” I said, tucking my arm into his.

A hush fell over the collected shifters as I made my way down the center aisle. When we reached the bottom, Jasper patted my hand and released my arm.

“Ye got this, lass,” he whispered before stepping away to fill the empty spot beside Olivia in the front row.

“Present your case,” Torbin roared.

My mind blanked as at least forty alpha eyes peered at me, judging me and wondering what special skills I had. A couple thousand bored holes in my back from behind me. My mouth opened, but no sound came out.

“Ah,” I rasped. “Well.”

A feeling of complete aloneness worked through me, drying my mouth and emptying my brain, but in the farthest corner, Logan was in my head, pushing encouraging thoughts toward me and filling me with his strength. When I glanced over to the side, Jasper threw me an encouraging smile and a thumbs-up.

“Ye got this, lass. Announce yerself,” he whisper-yelled.

“I am the multimorph,” I announced, jumping into the argument with both feet, “and I’m here to bring the clans together against a common enemy. Acheron’s strength is growing, and we must unite in order to bring him to justice.”

“Bold words for someone who’s shifted a handful of times,” a woman with a tight face snapped. “How can we be sure you are who you say you are? ”

Another woman’s gaze narrowed as she stared at me. “You’re so old.”

My eyes bulged at the blunt comment. And you’ve been stretched so tightly your skin might break.

“I can shift into more than one form, and I have the talent of healing.”

The first woman shrugged. “I can heal.”

“And I began shifting when I was twelve,” the other woman said, her upper lip curling in disgust.

“Age has nothing to do with my strength,” I said, wondering at what point I should primal energy her ass to death. I had a feeling that would shut most of them up.

Torbin, Marcus, and Logan said nothing, keeping their expressions as stiff as possible. The only relief I had was Logan’s link to me, but his face didn’t expose any of the encouraging things he kept pushing toward me through the bond.

A long silence followed.

“I don’t think it’s her,” one of the attendees yelled from the audience.

The accusation broke the dam, and a hundred voiced joined together in accusing me of being a fake multimorph.

“Can’t be her!”

“She’s a fake!”

“Fine.” I grunted and crouched down, shoving my hands into the dirt beneath me. A gust of wind swirled around me, magical colors danced in the breeze, ruffling my rainbow hair.

Jasper’s eyebrows slammed into his hairline, and he jumped up from his seat with his hands raised as though he meant to stop me. “Emma, don’t you?—”

My bones crunched, and my body contorted as I changed from my human self into a large bear. More crunching. More contorting. Fox. Raven. Wolf. Cougar. Bear again.

A hush fell over the attendees.

“Believe it!” Olivia yelled. “It’s her.”

A cheer erupted from all the attendees. If I’d ever thought I would be able to hide before, I wouldn’t be able to now. Obscurity would never be mine again.

As I reverted back to my human self, the marked-up trees began to glow around us, turning brighter, directing heat into me.

At first, the warmth wasn’t unpleasant, but the temperature grew until it felt as though I was being cooked from the inside out.

Every inch of me clenched, and sweat poured from me.

My hands closed around large handfuls of dirt.

“I can’t move,” I screamed. “So hot. So hot.”

“We’ve got you,” Olivia yelled. “Help me!”

Jasper and Olivia leaped toward me, grasping at me, trying to help me move from the spot I’d frozen in. But their hands fell away as their palms bubbled and burned the second they grazed my skin.

Olivia moaned as pain surged through her. “How can you stand that?”

Jasper took a step back, stretched his arms wide, and rushed at me, but he couldn’t close his arms around me. It was as though I had an invisible energy shield around me, sending the heat through me, and his pain-filled grunts shredded all the reason I had.

“What’s happening to me? Get away from me,” I shrieked.

“I don’t know, lass. Hang on,” he groaned. “I’ll get ye.” Finally, he doubled over and fell to the ground, pointed away from me.

The heat wasn’t all in my head. I’d physically burned those who had tried to help me, and the blisters still spread over their skin.

In the lower portion of the amphitheater, a bright light lit in the middle of the branches. Then the magnolia tree turned brighter, and the petals of the blooms fell away, landing in piles on the ground beneath it. With a loud whoosh , it burst into flames. No, no, no…

I clenched, unable to do anything but feel the invisible flames pouring through me.

“Shit. Shit. Shit.” They were the only words I could manage to hiss through my teeth, and my thoughts tumbled end over end, impacting and shattering against other, half-formed images.

Evil magic bound me so tightly that I couldn’t move.

No, I had to watch my friends suffer without being able to help.

Marcus, Torbin, and Logan lapped the gathering area, searching for the attack and not finding the one responsible. None of them glanced my way. Finally, they stopped in front of one glowing trunk and spun to view the others.

Torbin tugged a small leathery scrap from his pocket and held it up to Logan. “Look! ”

“Holy fuck! It’s the trees,” Logan yelled. “The trees are positioned like the stars in the constellation. Runes are hidden in the designs scratched into the trunks!”

Torbin cursed and shifted to his bear self, making several laps around the gathering place.

But I already knew the mage’s plan, as I felt myself slipping from the protected place. I couldn’t reach Logan.

Marcus screamed his feline scream as his clothes shredded around him.

A black cloud burst out of the tree trunks, circling me tighter and tighter until it had swallowed me, strangling me until I couldn’t breathe.

My eyes slid closed, and the chaos faded as my fated mate blipped out of my mind.

What could have been…

Goodbye, Logan.