Chapter 13

Chapter

Thirteen

" D amn it. Aunt Grace, are you all right?" asked Jed, ducking under the rotor blades.

"I've got her, Jed. Get after Kat," called his uncle.

Jed switched directions and headed back to the chopper. Once inside he strapped himself in, lifted off, and began to search the city streets. The city itself would not be a good option for her. As a wolf, she would be hunted by animal control and tons of idiots wanting to take videos on their damn cell phones. As a human, she'd have to find clothes since the shifting process would leave her naked.

Kat was smart. Of course she would know all that. He banked the chopper toward the bay. There were parks all along the coastline, including the Presidio. Jed stayed out over the water but remained as close to the shore as he could get. Once it was fully dark, he used a search light to try and find her.

He heard the sound of the ferry's horn over the din of the chopper blades. Might she go to Alcatraz? Why had she run in the first place? And what was happening to his mate? He moved farther out over the water and hovered the helicopter, trying to reach out to her through their connection as fated mates. There was nothing anywhere along the waterfront. He turned toward Alcatraz and closed in on a place on the windward side of the island, closer to the parade grounds than the cell block.

Jed positioned the helicopter closer to the water at the very tip of the island and began scanning the dense vegetation with the search light. He could see some movement in the bushes. The foliage was large enough and dense enough, that what he was seeing could be anything. He increased his altitude and swept the entire island, but something drew him back to the southwestern side. As he banked, his comm buzzed.

"Jed? It's Linc. Any sign of her? There's been some reports of people seeing a wolf in the streets headed for the Presidio. The newscasters are having a field day reminding people that the city isn't normally home to wolves, just coyotes."

"She's not there. I think she's at Alcatraz, but I have no way to know unless I land, which is prohibited."

"Come back to the hotel. I'll join you and drop you on the shore."

"On my way."

" Y ou're sure you saw the Italian bitch get on the ferry?" she heard one man say.

"I'm telling you, I thought I spotted a wolf amongst the parked cars and then I saw a woman sneaking out of the lot. I thought it was odd and realized she was the one we that we heard about—you know, the one they talked about in that email," replied a second man.

Feed me. Feed me. Feed me.

Hunters. They picked the wrong she-wolf to mess with. She continued with her plan to find a place to stow her things and shift back to her wolf. Finding a suitable spot that would afford her privacy, she buried her clothes and money, placing a heavy rock over the spot. Kat shook her head to clear it of the buzzing that was once more assailing her senses. With one more attempt to shove down the rising nausea, she called forth her wolf.

The air around her was full of electricity and magick as it sparked and crackled, and woman became wolf. She lifted her head, scenting the wind. Wolves, especially lone wolves who were hunting alone, were stealth predators. Crouching low, she hid her approach in the foliage and crept up to the two men, cutting them off from the docked ferry and crowds of tourists.

She moved out from the brush, placed herself in the middle of the path, and listened, closing her eyes and focusing on the sound of their hearts. She had never been able to do this before that night in Louisiana. Somehow she'd become stronger, and in many ways also weaker. She growled so that they could hear her.

"Holy shit!" screamed one as he turned to run.

The voice of the other man and the throbbing of their racing heartbeats was drowned out by the chopper blades whirling overhead. The helicopter dropped low enough that she could feel the rush of air created by the spinning rotors. The sound of something heavy hit the path behind her and the chopper lifted off.

She glanced over her shoulder. Jed. I must not let him interfere.

Feed me. Feed me. Feed me.

She charged toward the man closest to her, knocking him down as he screamed and curled himself into a fetal ball. He had brought his arms up to protect himself, but she grabbed one of his wrists in her powerful jaws, crunching down and wrenching it away to expose his neck.

"Kat, no!" shouted Jed. He pushed his command at her with a powerful alpha roll that sent her tumbling over her prey. She whirled around, snatching the downed man and pinning him under her front feet as she growled at the human form of the male alpha wolf.

Feed me. Feed me. Feed me.

Leaping over the injured man, she launched herself at Jed who still didn't shift. Instead, he grabbed her by the scruff of the neck and her hindquarters and pulled her onto the ground, rolling with her and trapping her under his body.

"Shift, Kat. Do you hear me?" he roared at her.

She struggled and squirmed and when that did her no good, she went limp. He relaxed his hold, and she bit his wrist. When he pulled away, she was up and headed back to her earlier target, Jed scrambling behind her. Kat knocked the first Hunter down a second time and galloped past him in search of the other, hoping Jed would be distracted by the fallen figure.

Being a large, powerful wolf had advantages over those who were merely human. She was able to close the distance between herself and the man who'd gotten away relatively easily. He'd veered off the path, but she could hear him crashing through the bushes. Jed had not taken the bait and was still pursuing her.

Her quarry had almost made it to the Agave Trail before she overtook him. Putting on a burst of speed allowed her to tackle him, sending them both rolling down the hill.

"Kat!" Jed shouted with more concern than anger.

She had just regained her feet and was trying to force down the sounds that threatened to destroy her—her own blood rushing through her veins, heartbeats in terrifying rhythms, a thousand bees flooding her brain. Nausea and disorientation rushed to the fore and she found it difficult to focus on anything but standing upright. Just as she did, Jed's massive form sailed through the air to bring her down once again.

In that instant the soothing rumble she had come to know reached through the fog of her brain and touched something at her core. She suddenly felt as though a gripping force was wrenched away from her. Only as it loosened its grip did she realize it had been wrapped around her spine, coiled there, with its tendrils reaching out to all her vital organs.

An enormous, gaseous mass came spewing out of her nose and mouth and swirled, turning the air around them fetid and black. It seemed to fight Jed for possession of her body and soul.

"You can't have her," Jed roared.

The cloud hissed as it departed, leaving her body limp and exhausted. The oily dark mass spun in a tight circle like a whirling dervish and a demonic face appeared, snarling and spitting at them. It finally gave up possession of her body and fled to the unconscious figure of the fallen Hunter.

She could see the man was still alive and barely breathing, but she could no longer hear the sound of her own or anyone else's heartbeat over that of the waves breaking against the rocks.

The shadow that had possessed her seized its new victim, encompassing his entire body, making it arch into an unnatural angle and lifting it off the ground. The Hunter tried to scream but no sound came out. The dark haze seemed to consume him, desiccating his body. Feeding.

The sound of footsteps came pounding down the path. The other Hunter had come for his companion. She watched in horror as the body of the man enclosed in the black fog began to wither. The mass entered his nostrils and mouth and suddenly burst through his ribcage, leaving nothing behind but a dry hole in a parched shell of a human.

Just as it broke free, the other Hunter reached his fallen comrade and the cloud swirled into gelatinous ropes of black ooze. It spiraled around the standing Hunter's neck. His fingers clawed at the ominous coils, but he failed to keep it from invading his body. The Hunter looked as though he was suffocating.

She heard a helicopter dropping low behind them and felt the whirling air from the rotors as Jed scooped her up and rushed toward it. He made sure they were well underneath the deadly spinning blades and heaved them both up into the back of the chopper before it banked away. He strapped them into the back seats, placed comm sets on their heads, and ensured she was safe and that he had control of her.

"What the fuck was that?" shouted Linc.

"I don't know, but whatever it was, it had Kat."

"The man it has now is a Hunter," she rasped.

"Shit. We have to follow him and see where he goes," called Jed.

"No time for that," said Linc as he killed the running lights and flew the chopper low and fast away from the island as search and flood lights lit up on some of the buildings.

Jed picked up a pair of binoculars and looked toward Alcatraz. "The Hunter was clear when the authorities came. They aren't looking in our direction."

"How can you tell?" asked Linc.

Jed held up the device. "Infrared. He's headed back to the ferry along the lower trail. If he makes it, it'll be just as it pulls out and he'll probably get away."

"Is she okay?" asked Linc in a calmer voice.

"I think so but fly us home to Luna de Lobo and let them know we need a medical team when we land." Jed turned to her, rumbling softly, "You're safe, sweetheart. I think that thing decided it was no match for a she-wolf."

She nodded, numb from all that had happened. For the first time since that night she'd shifted in Louisiana, she did not fear sleep. She curled up next to Jed as they flew into the night.

F inally it had left the wolf-shifter. She had been the most difficult host in its existence. It had been a long existence and there had been many hosts, but never had the Darkness encountered one with her strength and will. It had been able to overwhelm, terrorize, and control countless others before her, but this time she had prevailed.

When it thought she might succumb, the wolf who completed her soul found her and loaned her his strength and courage until she found her own and rallied. It had separated her from her mate and almost forced her to do its bidding, but her mate had been relentless in his pursuit, found them and stolen her away.

The Darkness had left her and consumed the weaker human host as the other approached, using strength from its feeding to enthrall its next acolyte. This one showed real promise, thinking only of getting away as the authorities began to pursue. He seemed to know a lot about these shifter beings. Perhaps it could use this host to feed on them.

She was the first to survive being possessed. She would also be the last, and she would pay the price for her ability to survive. It would have its revenge… and it would consume her and taste her terror in a far more visceral way than it had in her dreams.