Page 26 of Shifters Unifying (Shifters Destiny: Willow Creek Shifters #2)

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

emma

East Nuttal Delta

The sun crested the horizon as I shifted to my human form and strolled over the border of East Nuttal Delta.

The scent changed abruptly from the freshness of woods to the nutty, earth overtones of squirrels.

Chittering sounded in the trees to my right and to my left, preceding my determined march into a clearing of large oak trees.

Branches shook overhead as the sentries darted from one side of the path to the other.

A black squirrel darted through the limbs of the largest tree and leaped through the air, flying in a long arc toward me. The form switched from squirrel to human and executed a roll as she landed on the ground in front of where I stopped. Her long black hair fell around her brown shoulders.

Salali hopped and gave a little bow. “Welcome to East Nuttal Delta, multimorph.”

“Thank you.”

She extended her arm, and we made our way deeper into the territory. “Do you have any questions for me?”

I scanned the forest around us. “I didn’t realize there was a river or a delta in this area.”

Her mouth twisted into a wide grin that lit up her whole face.

“Most outside our clan believe the name of our clan is something akin to the Mississippi River Delta, but the delta actually references the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet. Our clan began choice number four in uninhabited options for use as a territory.”

“Oh, huh. That’s not at all what I expected.”

“You’ll find we like to do the unexpected.” She glanced toward me and winked. “Your accommodations have been prepared and waiting for you. But you’ll probably want to shift into a squirrel before we get there, though.”

“Why’s that?”

“The only door to your place right now is pretty much squirrel sized. The previous occupant was secretive and interested in security, and they thought it was easier to fortify by limiting access to their drey. Don’t have to worry about most intruders if the entrance is only a few fingers wide.

” She continued along the path and waved for me to join her.

”Ah.” Well, damn. So much for conjugal visits and having sex in a tree.

“Something wrong, multimorph?” Salali asked.

“No, not at all.” I’m not ready to discuss it. “What happened to the last occupant?”

She snickered, the most squirrel sound I’d heard her make in her human form. “I moved out.”

“I don’t want to take your home.” I’d probably have a heck of a time convincing Salali to add a wolf-sized door, anyway. Maybe it’d work if I made it an official multimorph request.

“As the alpha, I’m afforded the best drey in Nuttal. It’s only fitting that you stay there. Besides, it sends a clear message to our clan. We are willing to offer only the best to the multimorph, and I am not immune to the new hierarchy.”

I glanced at her. “What if I decide to make some changes?”

Her mouth puckered. “Maybe a larger door?”

“Fitting if I should want to morph into something larger than a squirrel.”

“Or if you have a visitor?” Her tone ticked up on the last word.

“It is unlikely that the alphas or shifters from other the territories won’t come to visit once they learn where I’ve gone.”

“I think we both know who you mean.” She gave me a sly look. “I have my own fated mate, and I expected as much from yours. We have a saying in Nuttal. ‘Wears on the tail.’”

“Wears on the tail?”

“When a squirrel gets stressed, it shows first in their tail—droopy, less bushy, so anything that’s hard tends to ‘wear on the tail,’” she said. “It’s the opposite of that bushy-tailed human saying.”

“Bright eyed and bushy tailed,” I murmured. “Makes sense.”

“Should I enlist the help of our builders immediately?”

I grinned. I had to hand it to Salali. She was all-in on accepting me as the multimorph. “Thank you, but I have my own contractor.”

If Logan had his way, the first time he showed up to bed me, he’d probably make himself a door… with his teeth, if necessary.

Thwack!

I winced as the gnarled bo staff slammed into the top of my shoulder, and the impact reverberated through my thoracic.

If I had to guess, she’d fractured my collarbone.

We sparred on the leaf-littered ground in the middle of a large building made of thick limbs and beaver-felled trees.

A line of live trees grew around the perimeter, reminding me of the pictures I’d seen of the Bosco Verticale in Milan.

Dappled sunlight shone through the gaps between the branches.

“Good,” I barked, scanning the assembled group on on-lookers who had gathered around the training ring. “Again.”

The bright-eyed young squirrel shifter across from me beamed. “Yes, multimorph.” She twirled the bo staff before she settled into a loose-kneed pose.

I rushed at her for the third time. Though, this time, I brought my bo staff around from the left before swinging it over my head and hitting her hard from the right. The fake out worked, and my weapon landed against her ribs, cracking the bone.

“Oof,” she grunted, doubling over. “Good one,” she rasped.

“Shift and reset,” I said. “Next time, watch for the shift in my weight.”

“Yes, multimorph.” The air stirred, and she tossed the stick aside as she reformed into a reddish squirrel, nearly the color of Jasper’s beard.

I took the opportunity to do the same, glad for the chance to alleviate the tally of injuries I’d been dealt. After we’d returned to our human forms, I gave her a nod. “That’s enough for today. Choose tomorrow’s trainee.”

My opponent inclined her head and marched toward the group, high fiving several before pulling another young woman aside.

Salali stepped through the line. “A good morning,” she said. She leaned closer. “I’m surprised you’re not training them in magicks.”

“That’ll come, but I didn’t want to begin that way.” After what happened in Six-Mile, I wasn’t ready to find out what might happen when I fought using shifter magic. Better to work up to it.

“You have the first of your visitors,” she said.

“I’m guessing he’s not a squirrel.” Probably Logan. That hadn’t taken long. He must have run around Six-Mile once, tossed my laptop on the back of his four-wheeler, and sped over here.

“No, can’t meet him in your drey.” She gestured toward the rear of the structure. “There’s a room back there.”

“Is there? I hadn’t noticed it.”

“It’s behind the row of young trees.” She paused. “Also, it’s not a safe room, so I’m afraid it isn’t soundproof. You might ward it if you don’t fancy any eavesdroppers.”

If she wanted me to ward it, she must not want her clan to hear anything noisy. I grinned as anticipation fluttered through me. Funny, I hadn’t noticed Logan getting closer through the bond.

“Understood,” I said. “Give me a minute or so and then send him in.”

“Will do.” She made her way toward the entrance of the tree warehouse while I jogged toward the tight row of young trees at the back.

The nearly camouflaged room wasn’t large, constructed by the same building techniques as the rest, but it had a thick, wooden door which opened easily and latched closed as effortlessly.

A folding table had been placed at one end with two folding chairs.

Two desktop computers graced the tables, but a layer of dust on the keyboards showed how little East Nuttal used them.

A knock on the door startled me, and I scowled at the thick, wooden barrier. I was trying to decide if I was ready to have sex with Logan on the floor, since he was probably standing on the other side of the door.

“Logan, I’m not sure—” My voice died the moment I threw the door wide. Instead of Logan, sandy-haired Marcus Steele stood on the threshold. He was the last person I wanted or expected to see. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

“I followed your scent.” He was as naked as shifters usually were, but he clutched something in his left hand.

“Why? I didn’t invite you to come with me,” I said.

His mouth pinched. “Because I was concerned about where you were going, and I have a right to keep track of my niece.”

“Supposed niece,” I said. “We have no proof.”

“Probable niece,” he countered. “Are you going to invite me in?”

I groaned. Fuck. I stepped out of his way, and he stepped inside, closing the door behind him. Quickly, I warded the room to block sounds from escaping. No doubt word of Marcus’s visit would get back to Logan, and he’d be illogically pissed. Yet again.

“Why are you here?” I demanded, wishing I had some kind of clothing.

He gave me a self-satisfied smile. “Did you enjoy your interlude at the cabin? Impressive work with the table.”

My glare didn’t diminish his smirk. “So, you watched us get attacked and did nothing? I didn’t take you for a coward.”

“Do you think I wouldn’t assist my niece?”

“Then how did…”

He tapped his nose. “You can tell a lot by scent, my dear… and you two were all over that cabin.”

“Were the bodies still there?”

That wiped the leer from his face, and his expression hardened. “No, they were gone, but I found something else in aftermath.”

“What?”

He extended his hand. A small pendant, a golden bat, rested in his palm, red indentations in his fingers showed how tightly he’d been holding it. Inset ruby eyes glittered in the broken light.

“Is it a relic?”

“Yes,” he murmured. “It belonged to my sister.”

“Was she there?” Worse… Had I killed my own birth mother?

His stony exterior cracked, and I could have sworn his chin quivered. He didn’t lower his arm. “I couldn’t smell her.”

“So…” I paused, processing. “Either she wasn’t there—”

“Or it wasn’t her anymore.”

“What about your… your nephew?” I couldn’t bring myself to call him my brother. Not until we had something more than suspicions.

“Nothing.” He pushed the bat form toward me, and I took a step backward. “But you should have this.”

Accepting his sister’s pendant felt like I would be accepting his assertion that I was his niece, and I couldn’t do that. Not yet. “You keep that,” I said. “It belonged to her.”

“Still don’t believe me?” He took a breath. “Is it so repugnant to be related to me?”

“Gifts always come with strings.”

“Not this one.”

“Are you sure?”

“If it came with strings, it wouldn’t be a gift, Emma,” he said, so softly I strained to hear him. “Please take it.”

“I can’t drop everything and go looking for your sister… or her son. I have to do what I’m here to do.”

“I know.” His voice cracked, exposing the grief he hid behind his bravado. “Don’t you think I know that?”

I plucked it from his palm, careful not to touch him. “Why did your sister have a bat pendant?”

“When she first learned to shift, we went exploring together and came back with it. We found a trove of relics deep in the only bat cave in Louisiana.”

“Where’s that?’

“Wolf Moon Cave.”

“Were there more relics there?”

“There were, at the back. Through a few booby-traps, and we always said we’d go back once I was appointed as the alpha of Ville Platte. Though, we never did.”

“Good to know.”

“There’s something else.”

“What is it? It wasn’t long after her exploring that she discovered she was pregnant. She always said the father was a human, but…”

“But now you’re not so sure,” I finished. “Great. That’s great.” I scrubbed my hand over my face. I didn’t need anything else to sort through with all the shit going on in the shifter world. “Are we done here?”

Marcus bowed, suddenly his usual nonchalant self. “As you wish, multimorph.”

I dropped the warding and moved to the door, unwilling to be inside the private room with Marcus a moment more than necessary. Getting back to my drey was the only thing I wanted to do.

When I stepped out, Logan and Dr. Wise waited beside the training ring. No sign of the newbies or the squirrel warriors who I’d left behind in Six-Mile.

Well, fuck. So much for figuring out how to tell my mate about Marcus’s visit to East Nuttal. I’d planned to wait until he was nearly comatose after an effective conjugal. The warding must have also masked the change in distance between us.

Damn.

Shit’s hitting the fan in… Three… Two… One.

Marcus stepped out from behind me.

Logan’s eyes widened, and his mouth twisted into a snarl. “What’s he doing here?”

“I decided I was owed another private audience,” Marcus growled. “The first wasn’t enough of Emma for my liking.”

I shook my head. “It was nothing private like that. Compose your—”

But Logan didn’t wait for me to finish my sentence. He launched himself toward Marcus, growling and snapping, and Dr. Wise scrambled out of the way of flailing alpha, tucking her attaché case against her chest.

“Logan!” I shouted, raising my arms to stop my mate from causing a scene. The bat fell from my hands, and I stooped to retrieve it from the dirt. When I straightened, I reached out to my mate through the bond, begging him to stop.

It didn’t faze him.

Marcus took two steps to the side, braced himself for the impact, and caught Logan’s weight full on. A blood-curdling panther’s scream burst from the cat alpha’s throat as he took a swing at Logan.

“Stop! Break it up!” Nothing I yelled made a difference, and the two kept on. At least Tossle wasn’t here to add to the fuckery.

Logan grabbed the branches which made up the wall behind them and crushed Marcus against the small oak trees, snapping at least three. The tops leaned and fell to the ground at their feet.

“How nice to see you,” Marcus hissed in Logan’s face. “It’s much nicer to enjoy the company of your mate than it is to see you. We’re making plans to visit Ville Platte together.”

“Marcus! What the hell is wrong with you? Don’t antagonize him.” I gestured wildly at the tangle of fury, keeping my fists closed this time. Marcus had to have a death wish, probably brought on by finding his sister’s pendant. “You two knock it off!”

“I told you to stay away from my mate,” Logan roared. “Now you’re a dead man!”