Olympic National Park: Pacific Northwest

Eight-and-a-half-years later:

L arge flakes fell from fluffy dark gray clouds, coating the landscape in a blanket of white. The scenery would have been picturesque if not for the constant threat of the Others . Jayden thought she had hardened her heart to everything they could do to her people—until now.

This is all my fault, she thought with growing sorrow .

Ella would have never met the grizzly shifter if Jayden hadn’t talked her into going too close to a structure that belonged to the Others . She had only been looking for discarded items that would help their clan. Instead, her carelessness had led them into a trap—and discovery.

There was no one else to blame, and the weight of responsibility settled heavily on Jayden’s shoulders.

She had disregarded the first law of her people, which strictly forbade approaching the dwellings of the Others , which had led to the grizzly-shifter suddenly appearing in their village.

Jayden had been shocked and dismayed by Ella’s protective response.

While the other villagers, including herself, had recoiled with fear and hatred, Ella had thrown herself over the Other to protect him from harm. The clan had banished Ella. Jayden’s best friend was an outcast now, cast adrift from her only family.

It’s all because of me and my recklessness, Jayden thought with remorse.

Jayden pulled the long white fur coat protecting her from the elements tighter around her slender form.

She had been following Ella’s tracks for the past half-hour.

She was going to bring her supplies, even though such help was forbidden.

If the elders wanted to banish Jayden too, they could. It was no less than what she deserved.

She glided effortlessly along the snow-covered ground, her movements as graceful as a dancer. In their quest for concealment, her dwindling clan had sought refuge in the remote mountains, venturing further into their secluded heights. It was the last place to hide.

Because of me…

She paused before the river Ella had crossed. The bark of one of the trees was rough beneath her fingertips and her heart raced with fear as she looked on, seeing her best friend wrap her arms tightly around the neck of a towering grizzly.

Instead of tearing Ella apart, the beast emitted a series of contented grunts and affectionately nuzzled its massive head against her, nearly knocking her off balance.

Ella’s grizzly shifter had found her.

Pain and disillusionment coursed through Jayden. Her fingers tightened on the lance in her hand. She should have killed Ty Bearclaw when she had the chance, then none of this would be happening.

What did the beast do to enchant my friend?

Jayden shifted her attention to the two wolves maintaining a protective stance nearby. She had come across their tracks while on her reconnaissance missions earlier in the week, but this was the first time she actually saw them.

The wolf to the right was the color of midnight. The second wolf was the color of the burnt fall leaves. The black wolf released a sneeze, as if pleased with Ella’s embrace of the grizzly. A low, rumbling growl pulled Jayden’s attention back to the red wolf, who was staring in her direction.

Jayden remained still. She knew that any movement would draw the wolves’ attention to her position.

Her white coat, the thickly falling snow, and the massive tree trunk she was standing behind would conceal her—as long as she didn’t bolt.

Her breath caught when the black wolf suddenly shifted into his two-legged form.

The red wolf’s body shimmered as well and then a second man stood next to the first. Neither wore clothes. The grizzly snarled at the men and blocked Ella’s view of them with its massive body.

Oh mercy, but they are beautiful!

She recoiled internally from the surprising thought. Yet, even more disturbing, was the sudden desire to reveal herself. Had the creatures cast a spell on her? Did they have some strange pheromone that captivated human women?

A shudder of fear coursed through Jayden at the thought of losing control to a shifter, even as she drank in the sight before her.

She was so absorbed in their beauty and strength that she didn’t realize at first that Ella and the grizzly had moved further into the forest on the far side of the river.

The two shifters conversed for another minute by the shore, scanning the forest in her direction, before they shifted again and followed her friend and the beast.

It wasn’t until they too were hidden by the trees that she released a shuddering breath.

Fear and the instinct for survival was so engrained in her that she lifted her hand without thinking to hide the fog of her breath.

She waited for another five minutes before finally mustering the strength to move her heavy limbs.

“I will use your hide as my winter coat if you try to enchant me,” she vowed in a low voice, staring at the empty shoreline across from her. “I will wrap it around my body and show you that you have no hold on me.”

Bolstered by the threat, she turned and retraced the path through the forest back to her clan’s encampment. She would have to tell the elders what she had seen. They would be forced to move deeper into the mountains.

Grief filled her. They were dying. Her clan, the last humans she was aware of, were a dying species. The Others were about to win the battle they had started centuries before.

One they thought they had already won, she bitterly thought.

Van grabbed the clothes out of his pack and pulled them on. Despite being unfazed by the weather as a wolf, it could be a little uncomfortable when he changed back. It wasn’t the weather that was bothering him, though.

“You sensed something, too, didn’t you?”

Van grunted in response to his friend’s astute observation as he pulled on his pants. He had been wondering if Peterson had felt the same thing as well.

They hadn’t been alone. Someone or something had been watching them. It could have been another shifter, which worried him, but his wolf hadn’t reacted as though whoever had been there was a threat.

Peterson sat down on the log near the firepit in their camp.

In the background, Tracy was fussing over Ella while Ty got dressed.

Tracy Bearclaw was an anthropologist who happened to be the niece of Michaela Bearclaw-Kodiak, President of the United Species of North America.

Van and Peterson often worked with Tracy when she needed exceptional trackers.

Ty was her brother. He was the curator of the Washington State Animal Sanctuary, Research, and Observation Center.

Ella was Ty’s human mate. Van glanced over his shoulder.

Through the gap in the tent, he could see the human woman.

“It’s hard to believe that a human still exists. Do you think there are more?” Peterson continued.

Van scowled. He didn’t really know if he was scowling at Peterson, at the cold, at his wolf, or just at everything.

He felt… a nameless, urgent something . He pulled a forest green sweater over his head and tugged it down.

He sat down next to Peterson, focusing on drying his feet so he could put his socks and boots on.

What was it that Peterson had even asked him? Did he think there were more humans?

“Yeah, I think there are more. Ella had to come from somewhere and there is no way she could have survived this long on her own. The million-dollar question is: how many more humans are there, and where in the world have they been hiding?” he replied.

“That’s two questions. And the ‘where’ is obvious. The question I have is how? I mean, how could they stay hidden? It’s been centuries since the last one was seen.”

“I know. I took the same classes as you in school, remember?” Van said with a wry grin, elbowing Peterson and almost knocking him off the log.

“Classes? You mean the ones you talked me into skipping more than attending?” Peterson retorted with a chuckle.

“We attended the important ones.” He shook his head and pulled on his boots. “Yes, I think there are more humans, and?—”

His voice died and he stared into the flickering firelight.

Yes, there are more. The certainty replayed in his mind like a broken record, accompanied by the realization that the remaining humans would be in peril once the news of their presence got out.

He jerked back to the present when Peterson nudged him.

“And—?”

Van blinked as he tried to remember what he had been about to say. Releasing a long sigh, he shook his head. Peterson had sensed something, but was it the same thing as what he had experienced?

“And I think one of them was watching us,” he replied.

Peterson leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, and clasped his hands together.

Van studied the tense expression on Peterson’s face.

He always knew when Peterson wanted to say something but wasn’t sure how to phrase it.

It had been like that since they met when they were ten-years-old.

Peterson’s parents had just perished in a car accident while on their way to a pack summit.

Van’s parents, as leaders of the pack, had taken Peterson in, and there had been an instant connection between the two of them.

Stronger than normal. Even stronger than Van’s bond with his brothers.

“My wolf—” Peterson shook his head before he clenched his fists and continued. “My wolf sensed it—our—mate.”

Van stiffened. Was that what the unusual feeling had been?

His wolf had been confused, almost desperate.

That was why he had shifted back into his two-legged form.

At first, he wondered if it was because of Ella.

After all, shifters and humans had fought.

Wolves were guided by the instincts of their ancestors.

He was afraid there may have been a latent instinct to attack and kill her held deep within his wolf DNA. Now he understood.

“I thought it was because of Ella,” he murmured.

Peterson gripped his arm. “You felt it, too. Your wolf… it wanted to hunt?”

He nodded. “I only caught the scent for a second and whoever was there knew to stay still. The scent was too faint for me to lock on because of the snow. But, yeah, I felt it, too.”

“Goddess, you don’t know how glad I am that you said that. I thought I was going crazy,” Peterson replied with a strained laugh.

Van glanced at the tent. Ty was inside with Ella. They were talking quietly. His focus shifted to Tracy. She was staring out at the forest with a thoughtful expression.

That usually means trouble.

“Van… Van…”

He returned his attention to Peterson, who had a dark scowl on his face. He frowned. What had he missed now?

“What’s wrong?”

“ What’s wrong? I just told you that we found our mate and all you can say is ‘I felt it’? What are we going to do about it?” Peterson demanded.

Van stared out at the snow-covered forest with grim determination. Their mate was out there—somewhere. Their current priority was to make sure that Tracy, Ty, and Ella were safe, but after that, they would come back.

“We are going to find her,” he vowed.