Mate Bond(16)

       
           



       

Around this bend, it was Felines, Jamie's family. The next, another  Lupine clan. Down the hill, the roofs visible from where Kenzie and Ryan  walked, Kenzie's clan's homes. The bears lived on the far side of  Shiftertown, their houses the largest. Bear clans tended to be  small-making up the lowest percentage of Shifters overall-but bears took  up a lot of room.

"Kenzie." A muscular man in sweats came jogging up out of the woods to fall into step with her. "Hello, Ryan."

"Uncle," Kenzie said cautiously around Ryan's more friendly "Hey, Uncle Cris."

Cristian Dimitru was Kenzie's mother's much older brother. Kenzie's  father had been a lone wolf, clanless, his small pack and clan having  been killed during the war the humans called World War II. Kenzie's dad  had been in a human army fighting the Nazi regime-the humans had not  known they'd had Shifters join them.

All that had proved, Cristian had said, was that bullets hurt Shifters  as much as they did humans. Cristian had come across Kenzie's father,  wounded and alone, and Cristian had carried him home, his clan taking  him in.

Kenzie's father had mated with Cristian's sister, and died just after  Kenzie had been born. His injuries and exposure to chemicals used in  wartime had sickened him, and he'd never fully recovered. Kenzie's  mother, grieving from the broken mate bond and exhausted from bringing  in Kenzie, had not lived much longer.

Kenzie therefore had been raised by Cristian and her grandmother, Afina.  They'd both loved her plenty, but she'd always known they'd considered  her father weak. A fool, Cristian had said, to join the humans.  Cristian's clan had hidden out in the mountains during the war, waiting  for the stupid humans to grow tired of killing one another.

That war had changed everything, though. Wild lands became fewer and  farther between as humans took them over to feed a growing population.  Automobile and airplane use became commonplace, erasing the quietude of  the wild. It became increasingly difficult for Shifters to hide their  true natures, simply because humans were everywhere, even in the lesser  populated areas of Eastern Europe. Living behind an iron curtain made  things even more difficult. A few of Kenzie's clan had gotten out to  Western Europe and the States, but they'd found themselves alone there.

Once the wall fell in Berlin, things had begun to change even more, and  Shifters had to make choices. Then Shifters had been outed. Kenzie's  clan was rounded up and shipped off to the States. They'd learned  English on the fly, and had found themselves dumped in a high school gym  in the state called North Carolina, where Kenzie had seen Bowman for  the first time.

Cristian spoke English with a thick accent, though his accent came and  went depending on who he talked to and how much he wanted to manipulate  them. When he was alone with his pack, he ceased bothering with English  altogether, as he did now.

"What happened last night?" he asked her in a dialect of the  Transylvanian mountains. Ryan, in a hurry to rejoin his friends, slipped  his hand from Kenzie's and jogged on down the road toward Cade's place.  "My Lupines are giving me garbled accounts, and Bowman's trackers won't  talk to me at all."

Probably because they didn't trust him. Neither did Kenzie. She loved  her uncle, but Cristian was slippery, had preferred the world when he  was leader, and wanted to be leader again. He was still alpha of his  pack, but he hated to be subordinate to anyone else.

"You're getting garbled accounts because we don't know what happened,"  Kenzie answered. "Whatever attacked us was huge and not normal. We don't  know what it was."

"And Bowman brought it down himself?" Cristian threw her a skeptical  look. His hair was dark, but brushed with gray, the same color as his  wolf's fur. His eyes were a deep gold, like Kenzie's and her  grandmother's. "Our fearless leader took down an animal ten times bigger  than any Shifter? By himself?"

"Yes, but with our help," Kenzie said, keeping her impatience in check.  "We attacked it, and Bowman got it after we harassed it a lot."

"Got it with what? His teeth? His claws? His body odor?"

"Don't be a shit," Kenzie told him in English. "With Cade's truck, and  I'm betting you already heard the story, so don't mess with me."

Cristian lost his derision as he let out a real laugh. "No wonder Cade  snarled at me. He must be in mourning. He worshiped that stupid truck."

"It wasn't as funny as it sounds. Bowman was nearly crushed to death,  and even then the thing only ran off." She remembered her terror as  she'd rushed to Bowman lying bleeding under glass and bent metal. She'd  nearly wept in relief when she found him still alive. "That creature  didn't die. It's still out there."                       
       
           



       

"I know." Cristian stopped, turning a sharp gaze on Kenzie. "What is Bowman doing about it?"

"He's getting over being hurt first." Kenzie returned his look with a  scowl. "He doesn't want to rest, but I'm making him stay down for a  while. And you'll leave him alone while he recovers."

Cristian gave her an innocent look that Kenzie didn't believe for a  minute. "You think I would rush in while he's injured and try to take  over Shiftertown?"

"Yes," Kenzie said steadily.

"Give me credit for some honor, please, sweetling. When I fight him, we  will do so on equal footing. I would not creep up on him while he is  down and take him out." Cristian looked genuinely hurt that Kenzie would  think so, but Kenzie knew better. Her uncle would take any advantage he  could-he always did.

In his sweats, his skin sheened with perspiration, Cristian looked like  any other man out for a jog-any tall man in great shape. Cristian was a  hundred years older than Bowman and had a hundred and fifty on Kenzie,  but he was at the height of his strength. "My niece, when I do take  Bowman down, you must be ready to decide whose side you are on. I will  not let you get in my way. And if I defeat him, you must be prepared for  those consequences too."

Kenzie glowered at him. "Don't threaten me, Uncle Cris. You know I'm not  afraid of you, and you're just pissing me off." Not exactly true-she  did worry a lot about what Uncle Cristian got up to.

Cristian knew she did. "You share no mate bond with Bowman. We all know  this. If he dies, you will be free, not dead inside yourself. When that  day comes, I know you will be strong. I will need you."

"I'll stand by him," Kenzie said, her jaw so stiff it hurt. "He's my  mate. Unlike some people in this family, I know what loyalty means."

Cristian's lip curled. "If you refer to me killing my father to take  over the clan, he was very old and knew it was his time to die. He  fought well, and was grateful to go out with some dignity. He smiled at  me when the Guardian came to send him to dust. He knew I could well look  after the pack and Afina."

Kenzie had heard this version of the tale before. "So you've said."

"Times were different, Kenzie. All clan leaders gained their position by  the death of the leader before them. None of this politeness-Pardon me,  Dad, while I take over the clan, and you go live with your girlfriend."

Cristian was talking about the Austin Shiftertown, where leadership had  recently switched without bloodshed. The understanding the Morrissey  father and son had reached was, to Kenzie, much preferable to a fight to  the death. She certainly didn't want to think about Ryan and Bowman  trying to kill each other.

"It wasn't exactly like that," Kenzie began, but Cristian shook his head, not interested.

"I should lead this Shiftertown by right of hierarchy, not to mention  strength and experience. You're a sweet woman to stick by your mate, but  don't push me, Kenzie. I'm still your clan leader."

"Not anymore," Kenzie said. "I switched when I left to live with Bowman, remember?"

Cristian's hands went to her shoulders. "You never lose your  connections, niece. You're Dimitru pack, and always will be. The sooner  you understand that, the easier your life will be."

Kenzie's throat hurt. She'd made a pledge to the O'Donnell pack as soon  as she and Bowman had been mated under sun and moon. She was the flag of  truce between the packs, Ryan their hope of permanent unification. When  Ryan was leader, the clans would be one.

But Ryan, at the moment, was an innocent cub who only wanted to play with his friends.

"I have to catch up with my son," she said to Cristian. "Don't talk to  me anymore unless you're passing the time of day or telling me how  Grandma's doing. I'm tired of you trying to turn me against Bowman." She  made a gesture like a baseball ump signaling an out. "Not gonna  happen."