Asylum_A Shifter Society Novel_A Reverse Harem Novel Page 4

  Kassi grumbled as she lay back on the bed. If only all her problems were as easy to sort as hunger. Time was ticking, she could feel the urgency to obey Conal’s command tugging at her, but she wanted one minute, just a minute to herself. The empty tray forgotten, she curled up knees to chest, and let herself admit what she was thinking. At least to herself. It was okay to be honest with herself right? Even if she didn’t want to admit it to others.

  Conal was going to make her leave. It made sense. If he sent her away, then he could take care of Dom on his own, without the added tension and trouble that having her around created. Now that she had time with her mind and body functioning, the odd dream came back to her. The argument between Jake and Conal. Not that she realized it at the time, but it was clear now. She was young, and she couldn’t seem to control herself. Always trying to be perfect, and stumbling so much that she caused more trouble than the twins did combined. And her desperation for even the smallest of touches… well it’s no wonder that Conal was trying to keep her isolated.

  It wasn’t like her to wallow and over-think things. Although a part of her knew she wasn’t wrong, that her actions were normal, another part of her, the human part, confirmed all her worst fears. She didn’t even fit in with her own kind.

  A knock sounded at the door, and before Kassi could call out, it opened, and the twins spilled in one after the other.

  “I told you-”, “I told you,” the two said simultaneously. Talia elbowed Tyler in the ribs, gave a satisfied smile when he grunted.

  “Kassi, you’ve got to get dressed,” she said. The tray was piled with the remnants of her meal and had been moved to the floor to make room for Talia to pile on the end of the bed.

  Tyler picked up his sister’s sentence as he took the other side of the bed. “Uncle won’t tell us what but there’s something big happening. Even Jake is in and he never does pack stuff, so it’s big.”

  “Yeah Jake said we need to be dressed functional. Like I know what that means,” Talia muttered.

  Tyler finished her sentence, “We’re going to be shifting.”

  Used to the way the two spoke over and with one another, Kassi nodded. Pulling herself back up in the bed to make more room for Tyler’s lanky form, she told them both what Conal had mentioned before she left his office. “Yeah Conal told me as much when I left his office a bit ago,” she explained. “I quote him here, ‘be ready to shift.’ But he didn’t say anything about why, and neither did Jake. And speaking of Jake, why the hell did you two just leave me there? Curled up like a damn puppy dog against him, of all the people in the pack, it had to be the stranger.”

  It was Tyler who spoke, the bed shaking with his laughter. “You are the only one around here who doesn’t get it. I guess it’s because you didn’t grow up in the pack. Jake isn’t a stranger at all Kass. He’s Uncle Conal’s twin. Being around him is nearly as good as being around Conal.”

  It wasn’t the same, Kassi thought before she could stop herself. Jake was safe, warm and comfortable. Cute even. Well, adorable. But Conal? Well her reaction to him was completely different.

  Talia raised a single perfectly arched black eyebrow at her. “You looked real comfortable curled up with Jake…” she teased. “Once you shifted back we moved, but you just got closer to Jake. His voice croaked at one point.”

  Tyler sat up, black drawstring pants hanging off his hips, and wagged a finger at the two females. “Nope. Not talking about that with you two. Shut it. We’ve got to get downstairs, and Kassi,” he said eyeing her up and down. “Get dressed.”

  She tossed the pillow at his head, and pulled the blanket tighter around her. “Go, Ty. I’m coming.”

  Talia jumped off the bed, her black sundress swirling around her knees, and Tyler smiled, preparing to dodge his sister’s blow. “I didn’t know I was that good.”

  Kassi groaned, and laughter spilled out. She heard Talia land a solid blow, and it was just what she needed. The door slammed close, and Kassi dropped the blanket.

  Her own shifting dress hung in the closet, a simple black one much like Talia’s, and she slipped it over her head. Kassi didn’t much care for dresses, never had, but shifting in clothes destroyed them. Wearing one item that was easy to remove just made more sense than wearing several. Her hair hung in long inky black strands, and Kassi didn’t bother to do anything with it. The state of her appearance was the least of her concerns. There wasn’t time for the shower, it would have to wait until later.

  She didn’t know what Conal and Jake had planned, she just hoped she was ready for it.

  chapter four

  The Santiago Pack, known also as the Black Mountain Pack by the old ones, gathered around the ancient willow tree behind the Santiago Mansion, where water met land and land met mountain, affording both shelter and safety.

  Kassi stood in the center of the gathering facing the willow tree, it’s branches whispering against the ground, Talia and Tyler on either side of her. The Alpha and his twin faced them, the rest of the pack around them to the left and right, shoulder to shoulder in a circle. No one spoke, and every eye was pointed at the three youngest shifters standing in the center.

  The twins both clasped her hand, so that the three of them stood united against whatever was coming. Kassi waited, breath held and body strung so tight she thought one wrong move would send her pouncing. No one spoke, not the wolves around her, not the Alpha and his twin, who both stood watching with a predators focus.

  Standing side by side, with the waning moonlight filtering through the drooping branches, the two males were near identical. Shadows played along their faces as they stood shoulder to shoulder, their stances mirroring each other, Kassi realized she was an idiot for not seeing it sooner.

  Jake’s long, curly black hair had been pulled back, revealing his face, throwing his cheek bones into sharp relief. Their likeness was obvious as they stood with their arms crossed over their chests, the same amber eyes looking out from two different, yet very similar faces. It was obvious but she hadn’t seen it earlier. She’d known they were brothers, and had attributed any similarities to that. But they weren’t just brothers, they were twins. Nearly identical.

  Conal stepped forward first, with Jake stepping a half second later, and Conal’s voice rang out, strong and clear. “Tonight we greet strangers, with the hopes of becoming family. Part of being in a pack is knowing when to give comfort,” he began, with a nod to Tyler. “When to reprimand,” his eyes met Talia’s, and her mouth curved into a small grin. “And finally, when to take a stand.” His eyes rested on Kassi for a split second, dark and unreadable.

  Jake stepped around Conal, his face more serious than she’d known was possible for him. He usually appeared to be the smiling wolf, Conal the angry one. “Your enemy will not always be evil, he will not always be ugly and marked by his sins. He can be anyone: Someone you thought a friend, a lover, a pack member. It is your own choice whether to take the easy road, or take a stand and fight.”

  Magic poured from Conal, that elusive bond that tied him to his pack. Kassi felt it drift across the earth like silent snowflakes on a winter night, swirling around her and the twins.

  Kassi tightened her hand on Talia’s and Tyler's, opened herself and felt her beast ripple to the surface. Tyler’s shape blurred first, pain and power reforming him into a new being. His sister echoed his movements a split second later. Screams split the air with the force of the shift, and then it was Kassi’s turn. With a wild, panicked look at Conal and Jake, Kassi felt the wolf take over. Brutal pain blindsided her like never before. This was Alpha magic. Some part of her knew that what awaited her would change everything, that with dawn’s first light nothing would be the same.

  Kassi’s human side gave way to the ancient instinct of the beast. Here was thousands of years of instinct, primal and unfiltered by any of society’s labels. The silver wolf welcomed its sister and brother, meeting nose to nose, taking in all the scents around it. Now to wait, to sit obediently and listen for the Alpha to give an order.

  The human part of Kassi always contained self-doubt, too much energy, and a lack of patience. The animal was free in a way the human never could be. Finally. The beast knew what was expected of her, and what she needed. There was no hesitance in her steps, nothing human tangling her up mentally.

  The two powerful males raised their heads to the sky, gave thanks to the Mother Luna for her gift, then the one whose scent lingered on her skin even now, spoke. The Alpha’s brother. “For this night you do not belong to the Alpha. You do not belong to this pack. You do not belong to yourself. Tonight, you are mine and mine alone. When the Alpha gives the word, I hunt. You three before me now will not be hunting alongside me. No,” here he smiled wide, and the beast who housed the human Kassidy, understood that his beast would join them very soon. “Tonight, you are not the hunter at all, you are the prey. The only rules are that you must stay in the skin you are now in, and you must survive until dawn.”

  With those final words, he dropped the loose cloth covering his skin and human gave way to beast. The twins move to greet him, this beast who was their mother’s brother, but Kassi’s beast knew better. She let out a sharp note, and the two others halted their forward movements. The way they survived was to stick together until dawn.

  Only the pack survives.

  They were pack.

  The three took off, and Kassi’s beast fell naturally to the point position with a twin on each side, their long loping strides eating the distance. It was a strange wolf hunting her. The human part of her knew his human half, but she’d never been around his beast before. To the two sibling wolves running at her flank, he wasn’t strange at all, but Kassi’s beast had never hunted with him, had no knowledge of any weaknesses he might have.

  Instead of focusing on what she couldn’t change, she put all her energy into distancing herself from the hunter. This wouldn’t be a permanent plan, but it would gain her precious time.

  She wasn’t subtle. There was no finesse in her movements. Tree limbs snapped behind her, the ground thudded with the sound of her footsteps. Time. That was the important aspect of tonight’s hunt. Had she managed to gain a second on him? How long had he waited in the clearing before taking off after them? Two seconds? If she was lucky she got a second or two, but she couldn't count on that. Tyler jumped the small stream that separated the land surrounding the house from the foothills of the mountain, and with a grunt of effort, the two other wolves followed.

  Weaving in and out of the thick trees and underbrush gave them an advantage at least. The denseness of their surrounding slowed them down a bit, but would slow him down as well. A long drawn out howl went up into the air. A call. The wolves didn’t use words, not in the beast form, but they didn’t need to. That single call told her more than enough.

  Did he think her that stupid? That’d she answer him and give herself away? Talia didn’t get the memo that answering wasn’t smart.

  Talia, black and bathed in waning moonlight, answered his call. Blood to blood, she obeyed. The more Kassi’s beast saw Talia in action, the more she realized that the female tended to answer the call of her blood rather than using her beast’s instincts. Tyler jumped at her, silencing her, but it was too late. The damage was done. It didn’t matter that the one who hunted them wouldn’t harm them, it was an idiotic move to let heart ties to kin overwhelm common sense and gut instinct.

  Kassi snarled towards Talia, but the sound of thunder, of pounding paws heading in their direction, cut her off. Not a moment to spare to be annoyed with her now. Kassi’s heart raced and her mind began sorting through possible means of escape. There was no verbal communication between the three of them, but with one shared look they all came to an understanding. Instead of running away, she backtracked and left Tyler to do the same on the opposite side while Talia took the highest point as lookout. No way was she going to let one mistake cost her the only chance she might get at being welcomed into the pack.

  Running wouldn’t work. Kassi realized they couldn’t run until dawn, as much as she loved the idea of planning a counterattack, they simply didn’t have the time. Instead, as was likely the point in the hunt, the three of them were required to think on their feet, depend on themselves.

  Tyler shuffled down into the brush surrounding the roots of an oak tree, the brambles tangling in his fur, but his large body blended into the shadows with ease. Talia, ears down and body alert, slunk to the top of the next plateau, and watched as Kassi got into position. Any minute the Alpha’s brother, the one who hunted, would come barreling toward them.

  No running, no splitting up. Both would work, but neither of those plans was right. She could hear him coming, he could mask the sound of his footsteps, but he couldn’t stop his heartbeat, which approached at an alarming speed. There were two more thundering hearts other than her own, the twins, and the third that approached was louder by the second. His scent was one more thing he couldn’t hide. And be it her own human’s close proximity before, or the fact that her wolf had been standing in front of him only moments before, his scent was familiar. Intoxicatingly familiar.

  ‘Patience, the perfect moment is worth waiting for.’

  The Alpha’s lessons had paid off. Even if the human ignored him, focused on the things she didn’t need to, the beast had learned; had taken every lesson and filed it away for future use, as she should. Now, those lessons the human found annoying were going to pay off in a big way.

  The male hunter hit the small area where they were hidden. A second, wait for the perfect moment, two more seconds ticked by, and then his body lined up in the correct spot. Simultaneously Kassi’s beast and Tyler’s wolf leaped from their hiding spots. As if it had been planned, Tyler went for large russet wolf’s flank, while Kassi aimed her open maw for his throat. While the hunter may hold back, they weren’t going to. In her opinion, the hunter had age and experience. If he couldn’t prevent his own death from two young beasts, then he didn’t deserve the title he carried. Snarls rippled through the area, bouncing off the trees and mountains, reverberating the sounds into the valley below.

  He threw the wolf at his throat off first. Smaller and leaner, Kassi’s body mass was easier to toss away. The young male on the hunters flank, Tyler, managed to take a quick snap at the long muscular hip before he jerked back, circled around to crouch down in front of Kassi’s beast as the hunter stalked closer, giving her a chance to gain her bearings. She rose up on shaking legs, slunk alongside her packmate, eyeing the hunter and searching for any sign of weakness.

  There were none.

  All traces of the happy human with the smile she found attractive was gone. The animal in front of her was massive, teeth gleaming, ears pinned back. His back legs bunched, Kassi and Tyler copied the movement, each body springing into action. The three beasts met in a flurry of action. Claws raked through fur, razor sharp teeth struggled to find purchase.

  They couldn’t take him. They weren’t strong enough. Tyler’s wolf whimpered, and the hunter’s jaws tightened around the soft underside of Tyler’s throat, silencing him. The young wolf’s paws scrambled against the earth, ripping up soil and moss, then shoving futilely against the older male.

  Kassi skidded around, waited for the hunter to let Tyler go and declare they’d failed. He didn’t. Blood ran down into Tyler’s fur, staining his skin. This didn’t feel like a game. Would he kill his own blood? The son of his sister? Kassi’s beast didn’t know, but this wasn’t a game anymore.

  A violent growl ripped out of her, pushed passed logic, she barreled into the larger wolf, her body aiming to upset his position. She needed, wanted, to keep her brother safe while her sister watched from above, protecting their backs. Adrenaline drove her, and using every weapon she had, teeth, claws, agility, and speed, the two went end over end. Tyler dropped like a rock from the hunter’s jaws and Talia edged closer from her vantage point. Kassi’s wolf could see her eyes flashing, but she wasn’t supposed to leave. Her job was to ensure no one else, like the Alpha, snuck up from another point and attacked while they were distracted. Talia’s wolf body vibrated, and her eyes never left her brother. His sides heaved with his breathing, but Kassi’s beast couldn’t stop to check.

  Everything in her wanted to prevent the hunter from hurting Tyler. He whimpered, but Kassi heard the leaves rustling behind her as he gained his feet. She backed up, with Jake advancing on her in slow precise steps. Kassi felt Tyler brush against her, effectively letting her know he was alright, and he had her back.

  What was the point of this exercise again? To withstand any onslaught until dawn? To run, escape any attack? That didn’t make sense. No, she wasn't running, and this wasn’t a game she would play anymore.

  Talia gave out a warning howl that ricocheted around the clearing and in a completely spontaneous move Tyler and Kassi launched their bodies into Jake with perfect synchronization. A flurry of claws and teeth, the wolves on the ground met and exploded into action. Defend. Protect. Fight.

  Talia howled again, and Kassi heard two sets of paws thundering in her direction. A scent hit her nostrils, all at once driving her to fight harder. Push more. And she did, with Tyler on one side of the hunter, and her on the other, he was the prey now. Talia joined them, immediately throwing her lithe form onto his back, her teeth ripping into an ear. The familiar scent that drove her, drove them, came closer and the hunter howled out a warning of his own. He shook the three young wolves off him like water, scattering bodies as if they were no more than raindrops that clung to his fur.