“Doesn't change our past. You need to leave now.” Power radiated through my body and the bond's silvery gold hue wrapped around my body like a vice. The comfort from the glow replenished my strength.
Thankfully, Mitch started to walk away before I glimmered like one of those girly vampires in the movies. But should I let him leave? What would Liam do? He would hear him out.
“Fine, you have five minutes.” I gritted my teeth and prayed that I wouldn't hit him during his explanation.
Turning around, he ran a hand through his hair, the bleached highlights reflecting the sun. Why any man gets highlights is beyond me.
“Luna's special,” he said, pacing back and forth. His nervous energy rolled off him in waves.
I thought of the silver wolf and the woman with platinum hair. Of course, she was special. “We all are.”
“Ha, ha!”
My skin chilled with his evil laugh. A satanic snicker that would make Gabriel wince. Mitch had fallen off his rocker. A perfect Jekyll and Hyde. He ran another hand through his hair, causing the short tendrils to stand on end.
“I don't understand. She's a shifter. I get that. What makes her so special?” I braced myself, preparing for a fight if Mr. Hyde made his appearance.
“Huh, Gabriel would never produce one as ordinary as a shifter.” Mitch's face turned red, and the vein in his neck throbbed.
I wasn't sure if he aimed his anger at me, shifters, or himself. How had Bryn had ever been friends with him? I just didn't see it.
“She's one of a kind. Her moth—” Mitch staggered backwards and clawed his throat. “Moth—” He choked.
“Hey!” I stepped forward, trying to reach for him, but couldn't get within ten feet of him before my body was slammed backward from an invisible force field.
He gasped for air, and his face turned blue. His hands squeezed his throat.
I tried again. A whoosh of air escaped through the barrier. After a final pop, I was able to approach Mitch. I tried to pull his hands away, but he screeched. Mr. Hyde came to play.
A high pitch whistle squawked. I slapped my hands over my ears.
Mitch gulped. Slowly, he moved his hands from his neck and shied back. “He…is…here.”
His gaze darted around the woods, then back to the burning cabin. His stance straightened as if nothing had happened. Did he lose Dr. Jekyll's serum? Or did he have more personalities to surprise me even more.
“Who? Gabriel?” I asked.
“Who else would do this?” He pointed to Aylin's destroyed home.
You?
She would be devastated. Her life had been in that home. Now, she possessed nothing. Just the clothes on her back. I wanted to punch something. Someone.
Mr. Hyde squeaked again. No reason for me to do anything. He was doing enough damage to himself without my intervention. The man was certifiably crazy.
“Will you stop choking yourself?” I asked.
“Not. Me.” He spoke between rasps. He swung his hands forward then twined them behind his back as if doing some strange stretches.
“O. Kay.” I spoke each syllable slowly and looked around. I saw no one but Mitch.
The color returned to his face, but his tightened posture and clenched jaw indicated that he still fought whatever power had overtaken him. I wanted to ask who would have the power to control him. To almost strangle him, but I didn't want the answer. Only one being would want to kill him. Gabriel.
I switched gears, because now, I was curious. Was Mitch controlled because he tried to reveal what Luna was, or was that just a coincidence? “So, Luna's special, huh?”
“Yes, very. I have to go. He's coming.” Mitch started to run. He leaped. His body contorted as he started to shift. Before the transition was complete, a flaming arrow pierced his half-man, half-mountain lion body.
The lion's gut-wrenching hiss turned my blood to ice. The howl of the dying sickened me. At the edge of the woods, a dark figure vanished into thin air. But Mitch's moan prevented me from chasing the intruder.
I ran forward. The flame from the arrow burned the skin around the lion's heart. Blood seeped from the wound to coat the frosty ground. “Shift back. The magic of the shift may slow the wound's progress.”
The mountain lion turned eyes full of pain on me. He laid his head on the ground.
“Fuck, man! Don't give up.” I tried not to yell, but damn if my voice wasn't a little higher than normal.
Moments ago, the bond's tendrils had mended me, healing all the aches and pains from the explosion. And I had witnessed Bryn's healing powers. That's how she had saved Aylin months ago after the accident.
The wreck.
That Mitch had caused.
The shifter's breathing became rapid. I was screwed either way. With my right hand, I yanked the arrow free. Then, I placed my left hand over the wound and tried to call forth the magic of my bond.
The imprint glowed. The tendrils circled around my hand, but wouldn't move toward Mitch. I cursed. I chanted. I prayed.
Nothing worked. I slammed my hand to the ground.
“Damn it, shift!” I screamed and shook Mitch.
Bryn would be upset if he died. Hell, I was upset, and I didn't even like him.
The thready beat of his heart slowed.
Crap!
The cat's neck quivered.
“C'mon, someone help.” I wasn't sure to whom I spoke, but I pleaded anyway. I couldn't save him. I was a shifter. Not a healer. I wasn't Bryn. I wasn't Aylin. I was just me—a man who accidently became bonded. What power did I have?
“Well, isn't this a sight?” a cheerful voice sang as her towering hair wobbled.
“Nadia?” Was she like my fairy godmother or something? She had a tendency to show up whenever needed.
“In the flesh, my child. It appears you've gotten into quite the mess.” She glanced from the cabin to Mitch's dying body. Her eyes softened.
“Can you help?” Sweat burned my eyes as I continued to call forth any magic I might possess.
“An Augur is never supposed to interfere
