Seven Years

outings at the Shifter bar, he mostly hung out at the pool tables. He flirted like nobody’s business, but was too damn selective to get serious. Who knows, maybe he didn’t think they were good enough for him. Denver was only fifteen years older than Austin, although he looked younger.

“You wanna head back?” Denver asked.

“Yeah.” Something was bothering Austin, so he picked up Reno’s phone and dialed Lexi.

No answer.

Maybe she’d gone outside and left the phone on the counter, but Lexi had promised to keep it with her at all times. Something didn’t feel right, and he couldn’t put his finger on it. Everyone has intuition to some degree and most people blow it off.

Austin wasn’t about to be most people.

“Heading out,” he announced.

“I’ll come with,” Denver called out from behind, jogging across the dirt with wet feet.

“Why don’t you stay behind and help clean up?”

Denver snagged a handful of Austin’s shirt and yanked him back. “Because I feel that shit too. Something ain’t right.”

Austin tossed Reno’s phone at Denver. “Call Wheeler and tell him what’s up. I want them to sit tight, lock the doors, and watch the women.”

Austin barely remembered getting in the car and starting the engine, but the next thing he knew, they were flying down the main road with rubber chewing up asphalt. The low afternoon sun splintered through the windshield and he squinted, having left his sunglasses at the house.

“Still no answer,” Denver said after the fifth attempt at calling Lexi.

Who the hell could be on his property? “I want you to get Lorenzo Church on the phone.” Austin recited the number while Denver handed him the phone.

“This is Church.”

“Stay away from Lexi,” Austin growled. “I want you and your men to back off.”

“Hold on, is this Cole?” Laughter on the other end, and it only kindled the fire. “Good God, you are paranoid.”

“You think I’m fucking with you? Try me.” Austin gripped the steering wheel so hard it could have snapped. “Touch her and I’ll break every finger on your hand. Take her, and I’ll break your neck.”

“What is this call about? You’re wasting my time. I no longer have a man assigned to guard her, if that’s what you’re asking. That was her wish, and I will not force myself on any woman.”

“It’s not him,” Austin said, glancing at Denver.

“Tell me what’s going on,” Church snapped, all humor erased from his voice.

Austin hung up and his foot became a cinderblock on the gas pedal. He dialed Prince, but it went to voicemail.

When they arrived at the turnoff, he slammed on the brakes and took off on foot. If someone was there, he didn’t want to tip him off. Every muscle burned as adrenaline rocketed him up the road until the house came into view.

So did another scene.

A gun.

A wolf.

Blood.

A scream.

His heart almost stopped.

* * *

Maizy remained motionless in front of McNeal, sucking her thumb with a vacant stare in her eyes. I kept my focus on the Mage, ignoring my father’s shouts. They got into a heated argument and my arm was on fire from the gunshot, but the only thing that existed in my world was my little sister.

I knelt down and noticed her eyes were fixed on the blood trickling down my arm. “Come on, sweetie. It’s okay. You’re not in trouble. Come over here and let me give you a big squeeze, ’kay?”

“Maybe if I put a little shock into her, that’ll wake her up.” McNeal laughed, holding out his hands.

I had no idea what a Mage could do, but Austin had told me enough that it had me on my feet in less than a second. Before I could lunge, my father looped his belt around my neck and ran the strap through the buckle, yanking me back as if I were on a leash. The cold barrel of a gun pressed against my right temple.

That’s when I saw the big picture. A large black-and-grey wolf bared its teeth at McNeal, stalking forward from the right. I could tell it was Prince from his unique multicolored eyes.

Austin and Denver looked like soldiers charging into battle as they sprinted up the driveway.

The Mage twisted around, and seeing the imminent danger coming at him from all sides, he reached for Maizy.

Prince’s wolf lunged, driving his sharp teeth into McNeal’s arm and thrashing about in violent motions. The Mage put his right hand on the wolf’s head and he yelped, but didn’t let go.

Maizy started to wail.

In a split second, Denver shifted mid-run. Clothes fell to the ground and in a blur of movement, his grey- and-white wolf charged toward Maizy.

I screamed, not able to comprehend seeing my little sister torn to pieces in front of me.

My father could barely maintain a grip as I struggled against him, reaching for my Maizy.

Oh God. Please, no.

My legs gave way, my father called me an ugly name, and that’s when I witnessed the unimaginable.

Denver’s wolf wrapped his body around Maizy, protecting her from the attack that ensued before her eyes between the Mage and Packmaster’s wolf.

Austin approached at a steady pace and his blue eyes were electric.

“Get back or I’ll shoot her,” my dad warned. “All of you freaks get back.”

At the edge of the woods, a pack of wolves stood like soldiers awaiting orders. They watched their Packmaster with the sapphire and brown eyes as he savagely attacked McNeal.

Dizzy and panting, I looked at Maizy and saw Denver’s wolf taking slow steps, pushing her farther away from the violence. He faced the action and bared his teeth, but his sole purpose was to guard Maizy. I’d never seen anything like it. Austin had warned me Denver’s wolf had a vicious and unpredictable nature, one that couldn’t be trusted.

Except with a six-year-old little girl who adored him.

McNeal made a guttural moan as the wolf’s canines pierced into his other arm, rendering them useless for harnessing energy as a weapon. His left arm had been jerked from the socket, and large chunks of flesh were stripped to the bone. The Mage kept reaching for slices of sunlight filtering through the tangled branches that would allow him to heal, but the trees were tall and the sun was low.

“Let her go, Nelson. Lexi’s your daughter, whether she came from your body or not,” Austin said in a steady voice, slowing his pace as he neared. “You raised her, fed her, and looked after her as one of your own. Don’t do anything irrational because of greed or fear.”

Austin’s eyes flicked briefly to my bleeding arm and he flexed his jaw. Strange things drifted in my head. Like, why was he shirtless with wet pants? What was the story behind his tattoos? Had he ever thought about me in the years since Wes’s death? Did he still like to eat Cheetos with cheese dip? Would I ever get to know these things, or was the gun against my head the last thing I’d experience in my life?

And when his frosty eyes lingered on me, I wanted to tell him I loved him. Loved him since I could remember, and now I knew without a doubt what I felt was more than a childhood crush or an attraction to my own kind. Austin didn’t feel the same way, but it didn’t erase how I felt. He had once vowed to kill the man responsible for ordering Wes’s death, but Austin didn’t flinch as a wolf took the honors and tore that man apart.

“I just want to get out of here,” my father said. “Let me through and you can keep the fucking diamonds. I only wanted to get this guy off my ass. It’s more trouble than it’s worth. Now that you have him, feel free to take him out for me. That bastard killed my boy.”

Austin inched forward. “I’ve spent the last seven years wanting to find the person responsible for killing