Page 16 of Shifters Unifying (Shifters Destiny: Willow Creek Shifters #2)

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

logan

The Gathering Place

Between Bear Trees & Red Tail Territories

My heart stopped at the sight of her as she stood at the top of the stairway, every inch of her magnificently bare, her glowing eyes, flashing and furious. Her fury whipped through the tension already in the air, so blatant I could smell it.

But I didn’t care.

Her multi-colored tresses framed her face and cascaded toward her chest. Enticed by the roundness of her full breasts, I followed the inward curve of her side to the outer curve of her hip, and the curls nestled between her thighs.

My mouth watered for the taste of her, longed to bury my tongue between her secret folds. How long had it been since I’d held her? A fucking eternity.

No use trying to hide my immediate hard-on from the assembled shifters, so I didn’t cower or turn away. Let them fucking look. And envy what we had between us. She’d banished me from the council, but I, alone, shared her bed.

“What the hell did you do?” she repeated, her voice deadly calm. Her hair lifted, and a gust of wind slammed into me, nearly knocking me off of the raised platform.

Marcus snickered, inclined his head in submission, and stepped out of the way of the approaching wrath.

Oh. I blinked. Fuck me. Olivia called it. Emma’s pissed at… me.

Wait.

Tipping my head to the side, I worked through what had occurred in the last minute. Had she hit me with her magic? Well, then. Kitty had some new claws. A grin twisted my mouth.

But her scowl deepened. “I would speak with you, Alpha Logan Blackwood.”

I ducked my head in a show of submission, stretched my arms wide, and bowed. “Welcome, multimorph. I shared your regret for not attending this meeting as its too dangerous for you to assemble with the alphas of the clans. At least until we determine where Acheron’s new headquarters is.”

Marcus radiated glee from the sidelines. It was probably the best day of his life.

“Yeah, we didn’t expect to see you today,” Olivia added, jerking her head toward me as if to say: He did it not me. Great, even my beta wasn’t really mine anymore.

She marched down the steps, three parts hardness and one part…

I caught my sigh. One part… soft in all the right places. Fuck. I’ve got it bad.

“I. Would. Speak. With. You,” she bit out. When she reached me, she waved her hand, and magic smoothed over my skin as a warding meant to block sound settled around us. The spell didn’t block light in either direction, so we were still visible to the crowd of shifters.

Crossing my arms, I considered her. “Brave of you to be only a few steps away from me when we haven’t fucked in over twelve hours.”

Her eyes widened. “Yeah, well, I’m pissed at you.”

“They can all still see us. Wouldn’t you rather discuss this in private? Without an audience?”

She scrunched her face at me. “No, because then we really will fuck, and tune out the world for as long as it takes. We don’t have time for that.” Her breath caught. “As much as I want it.”

Close quarters amplified her scent. Blueberries and sage wrapped around me and threatened to topple every ounce of control I had. My dick strained toward her, throbbing between my legs.

Outside the block, money changed hands from one shifter to another. They were probably laying bets on how long it would take me before I buried my rock-hard dick, hilt deep in the center of the multimorph. At least they all knew we were bedmates.

Marcus looked disappointed that he couldn’t hear what we were saying. Such a fucking pain in my ass.

I waved to the magic around us. “When did you learn to do that? It’s only been a few hours since I’ve seen you.”

“I picked this up from Giselda back at the border disagreement between Red Tail and Ville Platte.”

“Impressive.”

“A hell of a lot of shit’s gone down since I saw you last, and it’s like everything else. If I’ve seen it done, and I’m pissed enough, I can do it without thinking.” She paused. “Well, except the hitting you with my magic. I don’t know where that came from.”

“What are you pissed about?”

“Phil said you called a meeting. Without me. But you made Olivia say that I called it. You can’t do that.”

“She did warn me that you might be angry about that,” I said, trying to adopt an apologetic tone and failing. It came out more like an accusation. Well, the sooner she learned that alphas didn’t apologize, the better.

“You’re undermining me, Logan,” she exclaimed. “What am I supposed to do now? I promised them you wouldn’t have a seat on the council and now you’re summoning them on my behalf.”

“I didn’t have a choice,” I snarled. “You didn’t see what I did, and I had to make a decision as an Alpha. That is what Alpha’s do. We make decisions, and we don’t look back. Second-guessing my resolution isn’t a part of who I am. Did you enjoy your visit to Willow Creek?”

“No. How can you ask me that?”

My eyebrows sank of their own accord. “You were visiting people.”

“Listen. I scared the shit out of my mom and found four new shifters. Not to mention, you scared the shit out of me, doing whatever you did, and to top it all off, I helped burn Theo’s body after I got back to Six-Mile.” Her chest heaved as she dumped all of the emotion of the day.

I grasped her shoulders, barely resisting the urge to crush her to my chest. It was easy to forget that she hadn’t grown up around magic in a shifter family. I wanted to beg her to wrap her legs around my waist, so I could drive into her. Instead, I rasped, “You felt it? Through the bond?”

“Yeah, I felt it, and it frightened me enough that I ran out on my mom and sped back to Six-Mile to find you. Phil said it reminded him of the primal crap I’d done.”

“I guessed as much, but I couldn’t be sure.”

She peered up at me, eyes pleading. “Promise me that you won’t use my name, my clout to call meetings anymore.

I can’t cover your ass every time you get a wild hair, Logan.

Honesty is the only way through this.” She took a shaky breath and swallowed.

Then, she added, “I’m your multimorph, and you will listen. ”

How dare she command me. My jaw slacked, and I opened my mouth to respond.

But she waved her hand, and the shield around us dissipated. She turned to the watching crowd, the clamor quieter than it had been since we’d gathered.

“Thank you all for coming,” she said. “As I’m sure you’re aware, we’ve discovered more evidence of Acheron.

With each shifter he consumes, his power grows.

We need each of you to keep your eyes open, to let us know anything out of the ordinary.

While Acheron is good at hiding, there must be clues we can share. ”

She gestured to encompass the crowd. “If we work together, we can find ways to beat our common enemy. For now, I’d like to make a confession which might help explain a few things and perhaps excuse a few things.”

I took a step toward her, but Marcus caught my arm. “I would speak to you, Logan. We have a conversation to finish, and Emma’s arrival doesn’t change my intention or my threat to work against you.”

I shoved him hard in the side. “You will release me voluntarily, or I will force you, Marcus.”

“As you wish,” he said.

“Alpha Logan Blackwood and I…” She faltered.

“Emma,” I growled. “Don’t.”

She glared at me, then she lifted her chin. “We’re fated mates, and we’ve bonded.”

A gasp filtered through the crowd.

“Unprecedented,” Torbin rumbled from his spot at the table.

“Fortuitous,” someone else crowed. “How can Acheron stand against us now?”

“The orgasms alone shake the ground,” Olivia called from the perimeter. “We wouldn’t be able to keep it secret for much longer.”

At that, most of the men started grinning, and many of the women did, too. Several seemed uncomfortable with the idea of the multimorph, but applause began at one side of the room and swept through the conclave.

Beside me, Marcus released a low whistle. “Now that’s not quite what I expected.”

I scanned the collected shifters. We had enough attendees that the news would spread through the clans like wildfire. Soon, it would reach Acheron, and he would be free to exploit our weakness: each other. “Dammit, Emma, now there’ll be no keeping this quiet, and I won’t be able to protect you.”

“No,” she countered. “But this will help me protect you, Logan. If our attackers know we’re bonded, then they’ll know we can communicate with each other.”

“And they’ll know the easiest way to hurt us,” I rasped.

“It’s done,” she said, wrapping her arms around herself. “And we no longer have to hide it.” A moment later, she relaxed, and her hands fell to her sides.

When I laced my fingers through hers, I was surprised to discover she was trembling. I pulled her into my arms, hugging her to me. “Emma, you understand that I never wanted to hide you, only meant to hide the surest way to hurt both of us.”

“The clans need to understand our connection, and it was the only way to explain how you could summon them in my name.” Her voice sounded muffled, and her breath feathered over my chest. “It made the most sense. Now they know, and they won’t despise you for your closeness to me.

Or maybe they still will, but they’ll understand it. ”

“True, all true,” I said, smoothing my hands over the softness of her back. We stood, relishing the intimacy of being in each other’s arms for long moments. “We should return to our bedroom. It’s been too long,” I groaned.

“When we leave here, we’ll go back to Six-Mile where I intend to demand a fucking from my fated mate,” she purred, low enough for my ears alone.

“Do you know what you do to me?”

“You mean the hard-on you’ve had since I strolled in?”

“That would be the one.” My dick bobbed in agreement.

“May I have a word with you, Multimorph?” Marcus’s voice cut through our reverie, and I stiffened.

Emma sighed and stepped out of my arms, the absence of her warmth sent white hot fire coursing through my veins. I spun toward him, baring my teeth, and I pulled my right fist, ready to throw it at Marcus’s face.

“I’ll beat you to a bloody pulp, you asshole,” I barked.

But Emma stepped between us and placed a hand on my chest where her cheek had been only moments before. “I’ll be happy to speak to you, Marcus. I’ve heard you have some information for me. Please lead the way.”

He quirked an eyebrow. “Here?”

She crossed her arms, and her eyes flashed with lesser fury. “I don’t trust you, and I’m in no mood to invite you anywhere. So, this is your chance. Now or never.”

“Very well.”

But I stopped her.

She frowned. “As the multimorph, I must take the time to hear what the shifters have to say, and I have a feeling he and I have some things to discuss. Let me do this my way, Logan. Give us space.”

At that, Marcus extended his arm, and they moved toward the front of the amphitheater. As they stepped up onto the platform, Emma waved her hand.

Almost immediately, Marcus began speaking. The more he talked, the wider Emma’s eyes grew. Tears flooded her eyes, and she furiously dashed the drops away. Anguish spread through our bond.

A lap around the milling attendees didn’t help leach the energy from my limbs. Neither did ten more. Or twenty. Finally, huffing, I leaned against the council table, glowering at the conversing duo.

Olivia stopped beside me. “You doing okay?”

“What do you think?”

Inside the magical column, Marcus reached for Emma, and I lunged toward them, biting back a roar. The cat alpha was hurting my mate.

Olivia caught my elbow. “Easy, Alpha. They can’t hear you.”

“He’s trying to touch my mate,” I snapped. “She belongs to me.”

“Oh, come on.”

“He’s dangerous, and I must keep her safe.”

Olivia rolled her eyes. “Put your alphahole dick back in your pants. No need to measure. Emma knows yours is better.”

Marcus placed his hand on Emma’s arm, and she glanced down at the place his fingers touched. Her upper lip curled, and she yanked her arm away. Anger and shock flooded the bond between us. She waved her hand, and the privacy spell disappeared.

Marcus reached for her again.

But she vehemently shook her head. “No, no, I can’t do this right now. Leave me alone.”

I wanted to go to her, to comfort her and find out what she and Marcus had discussed. However, I gritted my teeth and kept my distance, as she had requested, so I waited for some sign from her to signal that could go to her.

Emma hurried toward the raised platform. She stuck her fingers in her mouth and whistled sharply and so loudly several shifters whined. “We consider this meeting concluded. We’ll be in touch, and I’m looking forward to meeting your best warriors. Thank you for your attention.”

Then she marched up the stairs and out of Gathering Place…

Without a single glance back.