Page 83 of Shrouded in the Dark

Several sobs came from Gary before he spoke. “Oh, thank God.” There was a sniffle. “You guys need to keep her warm. There should be spare comforters or quilts in the hallway closet, if that fucker didn’t destroy it. She won’t wake for hours, possibly a day. I’m not sure. I’ve only done this once successfully.”

Axel walked into the room with his arms full of blankets. Some were torn but all that mattered was there was enough to cover her. We could always shift and lay against her. Scratch that, I would. I knew the others would.

“Boys,” Gary sounded wary. “When she wakes up, she’s going to be like a newborn shifter. She’s not going to know what’s happening, she might get violent.”

“We’ve dealt with new shifters before.” Seth was still pissed at Gary for not telling us about the magic.

“Good. My friend will be there soon. He should be arriving within the hour. Do me a favor and don’t try to kill him. He’s a good friend. He’s met Becca. He’s also the friend who survived the tests, so he’s the best bet we have with making this easier on her. He’s a shifter as well. He’ll answer all your questions. You’ll know it’s him when he says ‘Six flights to Nantucket’. Yes, it’s weird, but it’s exactly why we choose it for you.”

Before he hung up, I had to ask. “Gary, if he’s a shifter now, how is he still alive and part of the Venandi?”

“The whole point of the tests was to get a super soldier. They got one. What they don’t know is that he saves most of the shifters he’s ordered to kill. He’s the perfect undercover mole in the company for our group. At the first sign of the organization wanting to kill him, he’ll be gone.”

He hung up after that. I glanced between my pack.

“We got her back.”

All of us huddled around her. Careful not to get on the mattress, it was very likely our weight would pop it. We didn’t want her sleeping on the hard ground. I had her hand clutched in both of mine. Cody was stroking her hair, Axel had his hands under the sheet, stroking her left leg, and Seth was running his fingers along her right shoulder. We were avoiding looking at her torn hand.

We listened as her heartbeat continued to get stronger. Her color slowly seeped back to her normal color. She’d started breathing softly shortly after her heartbeat became regular. It was the most beautiful sound.

I wasn’t going to let her go. She wouldn’t be more than five feet from one of us. We just couldn’t lose her again. Cody had started humming next to her head. It was a song that we used to sing to him when he’d first joined us. It’d been the only thing to help him relax enough at night to sleep.

I’d joined in by starting to softly sing the words, but we were interrupted a few minutes later. A large car pulled along the house. Seth gestured for us to stay as he went out to meet whoever had pulled up. Hopefully, it was this friend we were waiting for.

“Who are you?” Seth’s temper was close to the surface. He still hadn’t calmed, I couldn’t blame him. Not after everything that happened.

“Let’s cut the shit. You know who I am, but I’ll give you the phrase so Gary can say I followed orders. Six flights to Nantucket.”

This guy had balls with his attitude toward Seth’s anger. Plus, his voice was deep. I knew Becca would love it. My fox couldn’t help but want to meet him.

He got his wish after a minute of silence as Seth led this man to the room.

He was large. He and Axel looked to be pretty equal in muscle mass. He had a strong face, his jaw was prominent, with what looked like a day’s scruff. His dirty blond hair was buzzed short, military style. His hazel eyes were narrowed as he looked over us.

“You’ll need a lot of meat, based on the looks of everything. We need to make a run to the store.”

Seth’s face was blank as he stared down the guy. “We know how to take care of a new shifter. Plus, it’s polite to introduce yourself.”

Cody snickered softly at my side. I gave him a look to behave and he just shrugged at me.

“…Wyn?” The most beautiful voice brought all of our attention to her. Her eyes were barely open as she stared at the guy. “What’s going on?” Her tongue wet her lips as she finally looked at all of us. “I feel so weird.”

Wyn leaned against the doorway, his eyes had visibly softened as he looked at Becca. “Hey, kid. You’ve been changed. Welcome to your new life as a hybrid shifter.”

Chapter 19

Becca

Voices faded in and out as I fought for consciousness. Something was off. It felt like I was floating, but I couldn’t put my finger on what it was.

“…introduce yourself.”

That voice. It was familiar, I’d heard it before.

“Wyn?” My throat felt like it was dry, it hurt to talk. I blinked a few times. I was in my room, but there was a change in the atmosphere.

Felicity’s cousin leaned against the doorway. “Hey, kid. You’ve been changed. Welcome to your new life as a hybrid shifter.”