hurting him.”
Growls and pain-filled yelps came from ahead. The males were indeed fighting in animal form.
When he reached the clearing, he snarled. Up on hind legs, a seven-foot grizzly swung its arms at a wolf. Near the trees, Farrah was crying hysterically and clinging to Patrick. Karen ran across to join them.
The scents of anger and fear-and blood-hung heavy in the air. The wolf limped from a badly mangled hind leg and tried to retreat, but the stranger kept advancing. Wanting the kill.
The unknown grizzly remained in the center of the clearing, trying to regain its feet.
The bear growled when Calum grabbed it by the scruff of its neck. “Trawsfur,” Calum ordered, sending power into the animal. The tingle of shift and the touch of Herne mingled and then he threw the naked stranger, now in human form, sprawling on the ground.
The man was big, well-muscled, with dark hair and dark eyes. He pushed to his feet, wobbling slightly.
“Karen, the Healer’s inside. Get him, please,” Calum said, then stared at the stranger. Rage tightened his voice. “Your name?”
“I’m hurt,” the male whined, holding out an arm with bite marks across it. Shallow punctures, Calum noted. Chad had obeyed the Law of the Fight and done no permanent damage.
“Name,” Calum repeated, and his anger finally registered, for the stranger dropped to his knees.
“I… Andy. Andy Schoenberg. From Rainier Territory.”
“Do the Elders in your Territory not instruct their clan in the Laws?”
When Schoenberg cringed guiltily, repugnance roiled in Calum’s gut. Had the shifter no pride?
“I see you know the Law. Look at your opponent.” Calum pointed across the clearing. The wolf’s savaged leg was black with blood, and exposed bone glinted in the moonlight. “Do you have aught to say in your defense?
“She was ignoring me. I-I just wanted… I thought she’d choose me if I won.” His shoulders sagged. “No.”
“Then this doom I pronounce upon you. Marked as outcast, you will be shunned by shifters and OtherFolk until the marks of banishment are gone.”
Chapter Nine
Someone ran past the door. Vic roused. Beside her, Alec slept, sprawled over the green cushions. The reddish glow of the dying fire highlighted the long line of muscle down his back, the tight curve of his buttocks. He was absolutely beautiful.
And she was absolutely terrified.
A quick fuck wouldn’t have been a problem. No strings, no regrets, no future. This…this hadn’t been a simple fuck. He hadn’t permitted her to keep it that-and he’d not only satisfied her as no man had before, he’d touched a part of her she kept well-hidden. He’d created a tie between them, a connection where she’d had none. He’d become more than just-
In the hall, a woman spoke, and Vic tilted her head, trying to hear. “…need you. Chad’s been hurt. His wolf was no match for a werebear. Calum’s out there now.”
Vic’s breath hitched.
Dammit, she should have told Wells. But she hadn’t, so it was up to her to investigate. Her duty stood before her.
The hall was empty. Shoes in hand, she tiptoed down the stairs and followed the footsteps that seemed to have headed toward the back exit. But before the end of the hall, the door with industrial-strength locks stood open, and candles lit the tiny room. She stepped inside and pulled the door closed behind her. A gun safe occupied one corner of a small sitting room. Over the couch, a moose’s antlered head held two weapons. Vic walked closer and stopped, stunned. One was an antique Enfield that probably dated back to the Civil War, and the other a black- powder Shenandoah from even earlier. Lovely, lovely rifles.
No wonder Calum kept the room locked. Not only to keep his customers from stealing, but also for Jamie’s safety. Nothing…
No, this didn’t explain that conversation upstairs. As she frowned, a cold draft whispered against her face…in a windowless room with the door closed? She moved toward the closet, breathed in the frigid, dank air, and saw an opening in the back behind the hanging clothing. A secret door.
Oh hell, Calum must be part of this shifter stuff. Would have to be. Disappointment sliced through her heart like a dull knife.
No. An agent doesn’t have a heart; Wells had told her that again and again. A spy has only duty, and that duty now compelled her feet down the stone steps and into a cave as cold as the hollow left in her chest.
Pale moonlight spilled over the forest outside the cave. After a quick glance, Vic stepped out cautiously. No one was around, although anyone could lurk unseen under the dark trees. So where was the action?
As the chill wind tugged at her hair and clothing, she listened.
He stood over a naked man with a bleeding arm. Under the trees, a man and two women bent over a-
But this party had gone seriously bad. Calum’s face had set in dangerous lines, and when he spoke-damned if he wasn’t acting like some judge. Not only did the others let him, but the shivering wussy actually knelt. Calum grabbed the man’s hair and said, “Trawsfur” in an icy voice that sent shivers through Vic.
The man blurred-Vic’s teeth clenched. She remembered that weird shimmer.
Calum stripped, and her momentary admiration disappeared when his figure blurred.
She jumped when Calum-the cat-slashed the bear’s muzzle open. The poor bear just took it. As the grizzly staggered across the clearing, all the people-shaped people turned their heads away like they didn’t even see the animal. Vic felt a second of pity. She knew how it felt to be on the outside. The bear silently disappeared into the forest, and Calum changed back.
Vic’s fingernails had dug into the bark of the tree. Not surprising. Well, she’d found the shifters, and a lot more of them than she’d figured. She pulled her hand open with an effort. Just how many werebeasts lived on this mountain?
The thought made the tiny hairs on her nape raise. What if one was watching her now? Why the fuck hadn’t she worn her Glock? Of course, Alec might have noticed that little accessory as he stripped her.
