Chapter 40

The pack was all settled down now; the party was a huge success. Luna Adira was resting and hanging out with Marnie, telling her all the details of the things that went on while they were at the castle. Marnie was making sure that she took it easy from now on.

Not only had Marnie taken up the role as Adira’s personal lady guard, but apparently, the King sent three personal guards for her and for him. Duncan liked that Adira had extra security, but he hated it for himself.

He decided, since it was still a little early to sleep, he and Marco would go patrolling together along the borders. Of course, his three shadows had to tag along as well. One good thing about them was that they stayed out of the way.

Duncan was having a great run with Apollo; it was what they had needed the most: a good run in their own territory. They were heading to the western border when both of their wolves stopped, alert. They could sense that they were not alone and were being watched.

Duncan and Marco shifted back, grabbing shorts from a nearby stash. They stopped and pretended to just talk and catch up with each other, all the while moving closer and closer to the source of the energy they were feeling.

Duncan mind-linked his three shadows to come from different directions to the tree they were standing by.

As the guards approached, a very loud snarl could be heard. It was a big werecat. Duncan and Marco looked at each other, and Marco started walking around the tree, taunting the cat. “Here Kitty, Kitty.” It was working; the cat didn’t like taunting. They never did.

Just as they thought they were going to catch themselves a cat, it leaped with an angry growl onto another tree, then another, until it was gone. They didn’t bother to give chase, since it was no longer in their territory.

The werecat did expose itself long enough for them to get a good look at it. It was a leopard shifter. Everyone marked the smell of its scent to share with other guards and warriors. They also armed themselves as well. Cat shifters tend to like playing dirty. It’s best to just get them at a distance and kill them. Otherwise, you have to change into lycan form.

Either way, werecats are pains in the ass.

Duncan didn’t like that this one was so close. Usually, they get a drifter now and then. They will stay the night and then move on.

A few of them were really good guys and relayed information on rogues. Some were loners passing through. Once in a while, you get a real asshole and have to put him down.

Duncan mind-linked all his warriors, telling them of what they found and that there would be extra training for those who haven’t had to deal with werecats before.

He was going to have to give Jack a call and let him know that they have a stray cat problem.

Val sat in his office listening to his spies. They were not happy to be sent into bear territory. No one is ever happy to go into bear territory, not even other bears.

For now, they had been gathering human specimens; they were easy pickings. Humans with special abilities were coveted by his buyers. He wanted the real prize, though.

“Sir, are you sure you want to do this? These two packs are going to be a lot of trouble, if not deadly. We couldn’t even get far into the werebear clan's territory before a frickin’ grizzly came out of the bushes to investigate.”

“The werewolf clan was in some ways worse. His spy there couldn’t get inside the territory at all and was almost captured. Werewolves have one advantage over werecats. Werecats can mask their presence and their smell. Werewolves have one annoying ability though: they can sense their energy. Bears can smell them even when they mask their scent. The only way in would have to be a gap in their security. That isn’t going to happen there, though; that clan is much too large. They would have to wait and see when they left the safety of their territory to see if they could ambush them.”

As for the werewolves, he was going to have to come up with a really big distraction to deal with them.

Dang, he hated this kind of shit. Dealing with weak or corrupted packs were easy pickings; dealing with these two, however, was going to be a challenge.

He might have to call in some back up on this one. He would rather not, because it was less of a payday for him. However, if he was dead, he can’t enjoy the money anyway.

Lily couldn’t stop that damn nightmare. It would play over and over every time she shut her eyes. It was getting frustrating. It was like her mind was trying to find something but couldn’t, so it kept playing the same memory over and over till it did. Her therapist was trying to help her figure it all out. They even tried hypnosis. Again, it was the memory of that moment and those damn golden eyes. She was starting to feel that she was close to figuring it out. It was staying just out of reach.

Even if it's painful, she vowed to find out the whole memory.

Jack and Duncan met at the little coffee shop in town. They were discussing the things that had been happening and trying to figure out this next puzzle.

They picked up a local paper and found a possible link: several human girls and young boys have gone missing. Cops can’t find any suspects or even a hint of a clue. The town went into lock down. No one went out after dark; during the day, they never went anywhere alone.

It slowed things down; no new cases had been reported. That just means that they are laying low, waiting for their guards to drop, so they can continue again.

Jack decided it would be a good idea to give the town some added protection. Since they both now have extra warriors, they were going to assign some of them to the town itself.

They figured that it had to be a small group of cats. Werecats are the worst for getting along with each other, especially males. They only form groups if there is a family connection.

Stray females they will take in; males, though, are killed on sight. Any lone females that have young tend to stay away in fear that their cubs will be killed.

Sometimes, though—it is rare—a group of stray males will group together. It makes it easier to take over other family groups. When they attack, they kill all the males and male cubs, keeping the females.

Depending on the type of werecats, the females can be more deadly than the males, especially if they have young to protect. Jack had heard stories of one female weretiger that killed a whole group of wereleopards that tried to take her daughter.

Marnie was sitting in her room, looking at designs on her computer. She was put in charge of designing the pups nursery. She was enjoying herself. She loved Adira like the sister she’d always wanted.

Still, though, she was getting a bit lonely. It seemed like forever waiting for her mate to show up. In truth, she’d pretty much given up after a couple years passed by. At first, she hoped that it would be Marco, but it wasn’t. Still, she hoped.

She had been practicing her magical skills with the Mages. She can create fire and throw it. Her other skills though are really lacking. Still, it was something she could depend on, along with her fighting skills.

She’d been feeling restless lately. Not even going for runs with her wolf, Hera, had helped. Perhaps she should arrange for her and Adira to go shopping in town. Nothing elaborate, just a little outing.

Yes, that is just the thing she needed. Adira needs it too. She is getting bigger, and soon she won’t be going out too far to do anything. Maybe more baby clothes or perhaps some comfortable maternity clothes.

She jumped up from her room and skipped down the hall to her brother’s office. Time to see if her brother would allow Adira out of his sight for a couple of hours—not like we would be alone anyway, not with all the guards as their shadows.

Duncan was just finishing up some reports when his sister came barging in. He smiled to himself. What is she up to now?

“Duncan, I want permission to take Adira on a shopping trip, just into town. Not the city or big malls. Just some small shops and maybe have lunch. Soon, she isn’t going to be going too far; she still needs some maternity clothes and some small things for the pup.”

“Sooooo, can we go?” She was giving him those puppy dog eyes she has used ever since they were kids. Duncan though wasn’t sure if it was such a good idea. Things were calm right now and the borders had been silent, still he wasn’t sure.

“Alright, you can go, but you will not only take her personal guards, you will also take three of our warriors along, as well as a driver. You will both keep your cell phones in hand. If anything goes wrong, I want you both gone; let the guards and warriors handle it.”

“Also Marco and I will be meeting with Jack. He is bringing by a friend of his to help us with a new issue. You will be on your best behavior.”

“Understood?”

She stood up and hugged him, then saluted just before bouncing out the door.