Sight of Love (A Rizer Pack Shifter Series Book 2) Read online

  Angeline pushed up off the ground and righted herself. She dusted off the dirt mumbling threats Killian knew she had no intention of following through with.

  “You asked for it,” Killian smiled.

  “Are all shifters like you? Angry for no reason and lacking in basic social skills?”

  Killian scowled down at the petite beauty. “You’d better watch that pretty mouth of yours, glass doll. You’re easily broken.”

  “Looks are deceiving,” she responded without hesitation.

  “Who is this?” Darian asked as he approached on the other side of the waterfall. “I like her.”

  Killian frowned. “Don’t you already have a human?”

  “I do, many of the do not. Who are you?” Darian asked Angeline.

  They waited but the stubborn little beauty didn’t answer.

  “She is called, Angeline,” Killian told the alpha of the pack. “She trespassed.”

  Darian nodded. “And the other one is hurt. You are keeping your promise?”

  “Yes, alpha.”

  “Good. I expect you to keep them both safe until the next moon full moon.”

  Ridiculous. He’s still punishing me for that damned woodsman.

  “Yes, Alpha.”

  “I will watch over them so that you can go and get your supplies.”

  Killian left without another word.

  Two weeks watching over two meddlesome, clumsy human women was going to be pure hell. How was he supposed to finish his experiments and studies if he was stuck watching little miss sharp-tongue pick dandelions all the live long day?

  Ian and Errol the twins raced up to join me as I sprinted back. I didn’t bother to shift back into my wolf. He’d only want to roam and right now I had to see to the woman’s injuries.

  “What are we doing?” Ian asked shifting mid run into his human form. His blond hair fell loose around his shoulders as he matched my pace. I could see him pushing himself to keep up. Ian wasn’t by any measure considered overweight. The man was, like his brother, solid, dense muscle.

  “Darian wants me to keep watch over a pair of humans.”

  Ian slowed a few steps as he threw his head back and laughed. Errol’s wolf was smiling too, showing Killian all of his teeth, his long pink tongue hanging out.

  “Maybe he’s sick of you always keeping such a careful eye on Cara.”

  “I haven’t been suspicious of her since she turned,” Killian snapped.

  Ian cackled again as they slowed outside the Rizer fortress. “I forgot about that. You think that when a man is changed into a shifter he grows valuable traits, loyalty and what honor?”

  Killian scowled at his wolf pack brother. “Anything you say in that tone sounds stupid. Of course. It’s necessary. They have to remain loyal to a pack or they’ll risk being hunted down by the extremists.”

  “Your views on humans and shifters has grown pessimistic, Killian. I miss the trusting, happy, lump of fur you used to be.”

  That lump of fur got Valor killed with his misplaced trust.

  “I’ve grown up. I suggest you and Errol do the same. Stop spying on the skinny dippers at the lake while you’re at it. They’re humans, have some self-respect.”

  “We’re meant to spy on werewolves only then?” Errol asked shifting. His hair was tied back in a neat cue at the back of his neck. “Where’s the fun in that? Our females are all mated. You’ll have the males of the pack ripping our throats out.”

  Killian shook his head. “Do whatever you like, you always do.”

  Ian and Errol laughed leaving Killian to return to the fortress alone. His medical bag was where he’d left it next to the door in his bedroom. He picked up the human medical books he had too and dropped them in the bag along with a few pairs of human pants.

  He wished he could stay and finish the study he was working on the life span of the mouse he’d infected with wolf’s blood. Aldrich had taken wolf’s blood and he’d not aged a day. He wasn’t the only one to steal wolf’s blood. It would be best to determine how long the blood would prolong a regular human life.

  No. Killian didn’t get to find answers to better protect the pack. Instead the alpha wanted to be amused by watching him protect the humans.

  Killian started back down the mountainside as the wind shifted.

  Another human on the mountain?

  This one smelled worse than the first.

  What are they doing up here? Rolling in dead animal carcasses? They’re vile and riddled with filth. Enough has to be enough.

  Killian changed directions. He meant to track down the humans and scare the hell out of them so much so that they would never set a foot upon Rizer soil again.

  CHAPTER THREE

  The alpha had no interest in watching Unis bathe but Angeline stood guard anyway, blocking his view as the woman bathed in the water.

  Angeline had not had much opportunity to get to know many of the locals yet in Freebasin but she’d heard enough to know that the woman on his side was Cara. The woman who’d convinced the town to take down a wall that used to serve as a barrier between the humans and the Rizer Shifters.

  It was impossible not to look at Cara.

  She appeared happy and content at the alpha’s side. Angeline observed no sign that the young woman regretted her decision to live with the Rizer pack and become one of them.

  I’d be angry if I had to endure my body bending and folding to make me into a creature that I wasn’t born to be.

  Angeline wasn’t a big fan of pain. It was probably because she seemed to be getting pain more and more often from her elder brother Barthos. He was the middle child of the three children in the Synet family. Herro, the eldest was nothing like Barthos. Herro was kind and patient like their mother.

  Barthos was bad tempered like their father. Angeline hated being compared to Barthos when she was described to others by her parents. Barthos took all the worst traits.

  While Angeline could admit to being short tempered, she wasn’t harsh like Barthos.

  Unis finished bathing.

  Angeline helped her to dress quickly and then began to wring out her hair. When that was finished and that dumb wolf still hadn’t arrived, Angeline washed her face, arms, and neck. She was tired and she was feeling out of control, having to wait around.

  “It is unlike him to take so long,” The alpha said in Angeline’s direction. “He is one of our fastest, he’ s also great with children.”

  Great with children? Who? That grumpy old wolf? I highly doubt that.

  “Not everyone is dying to have children,” Cara said to her husband the alpha. He smiled at her giving away their secret. Angeline considered scolding the pair for speaking so openly about Cara’s condition.

  When shifters decided to make their abilities public, it caused wars that tore apart nations. What was once a world of innovations and instant communication fell backward in leaps and bounds.

  Some of the bigger cities still stood, like Sacramento and Chicago. Some of the cities were for shifters only and others were for humans only. There were even some that were attempting to function as an all loving, all accepting society.

  No matter where the Synet family traveled, Angeline saw it. There was so much evil in the world it was difficult to understand why anyone would want to bring children to such a dark existence.

  “There you are, Killian,” Darian said before the man even arrived. Killian inclined his head as he approached. It must have been a sign of respect he was showing the alpha, Angeline decided. His face appeared angrier than the last she’d seen it.

  Darian eyed Killian. “What is it?”

  “I can’t speak of it in front of the humans,” Killian said his eyes landing on Angeline.

  As if I’d want to carry around more secrets. Keep your secrets.

  Killian’s eyes were dark blue like the indigo mountains. His tanned skin set off the blue as did the shiny black curls of his hair. His chest was bare and wide with thick walls of muscle. It was
difficult not to appreciate such strength.

  Killian’s better than everyone else attitude helped Angeline keep a reign on the flow of compliments that swamped her mind as she admired his arms again.

  They’re powerful enough to pull grown trees from the ground, I bet. What does he do with all that strength?

  “See to her injuries,” the alpha instructed.

  Killian brushed past Angeline as if he didn’t see her there, so small and insignificant was she. To the oh so impressive shifter.

  Please.

  Angeline looked up at the sky and winced. The sun was climbing. Her parents and brothers would be up by now. They were going to be furious with her.

  Unis sat down on a rock. Killian carefully smoothed her wet hair away from the gash on her scalp. He pulled a black bottle from his bag and poured a few drops of the red liquid onto a cotton ball. When he dabbed the liquid onto the gash, Unis gave a sigh of relief.

  Angeline drew closer. What was he using that relieved Unis’ pain so swiftly?

  “Can you stand somewhere else?” Killian asked raising those blue stone eyes to look at Angeline. “The scent on you is making me feel sick.”

  Angeline felt her cheeks burn with embarrassment. She shouldn’t be embarrassed. It was the smell of saving Unis from falling face first into the arms of the bad guy. Angeline carried the poor woman, drug her, and served as a crutch for her to get her out of harm’s way.

  “I can stand and shield you if you wish to bathe,” Cara offered standing closer than Angeline was aware.

  Angeline shook her head. “I’d rather make Killian throw up than lift a finger to make his duties any easier.”

  Cara smiled broadly. “I think he may have met his match in you,” she said.

  “Hardly,” Killian growled. He was sewing closed the gash in her scalp and Unis didn’t seem to feel a thing.

  The tug on the scalp skin was getting to Angeline, making her feel a bit dizzy. She wasn’t about to let Killian see that. Maybe he figured it out on his own though because he was really doing a thorough job of knotting the end shut.

  “Cara, can you watch over them?” Darian asked his wife. She nodded as Killian put away his supplies. Then the two raced off toward the mountain.

  “We’d better get back. My family will be worried by now. I’m sure Unis’ family will be too.”

  Cara nodded. “I will walk with you back to Freebasin.”

  “Thank you,” Unis smiled. “You’ve all been so kind. I don’t know what I would have done without Angeline and the rest of you.”

  Unis seemed a bit too happy to Angeline. “What did he give her?”

  “It’s one of his own concoctions. I imagine it works a little extra well on humans. She just needs to get up and start walking it off.”

  I hope you’re right. It won’t do me a lot of good to drop a drunk woman off at her father’s house. No one will believe her claims once the stuff wore off.

  Cara laughs, “Don’t worry it’ll wear off, Killian is the best doctor, healer, medicine man or whatever you want to call him. I’ve seen him work miracles that were unbelievable.”

  Angeline nods but she’s still worrying.

  “Hey,” Cara says after a few more yards of helping support Unis over the fallen trees and thorny shrubbery. “How did you find her? I mean, this is pretty deep in the forest. The people from Freebasin don’t like to get out past the waterfall.”

  Angeline grunted, acting as though Unis is quite heavy to buy herself a little more time. She can’t lie or she’ll pay the price. “I had a bad dream and I needed to get out of the house.”

  Cara starts nodding in an understanding way that Angeline was not expecting. “I can remember getting that claustrophobic feeling when I lived in Freebasin, well it was Aldrich town back then. I used to feel that way a lot.”

  “You don’t anymore?” Angeline asked.

  Cara lifted Unis over the next fallen tree on her own. “No, not anymore.”

  “Careful. You shouldn’t be lifting so much in your condition,” Angeline fussed trying to take more of Unis’ weight onto her shoulder. Unis was barely helping anymore. Her eyes were drooping shut, her head bobbing forward.

  She smiled, still showing no sign of being afraid to bring the baby into the world. Angeline didn’t know how she did it although she wished that she did. Going home to deal with her angry family was scary enough without thinking of adding a baby to the mix.

  “We’re nearly there. Do you think you can take her the rest of the way?” Cara asked Angeline.

  Listening now Angeline could hear the people of Freebasin moving around the town with their carts and bikes. The smell of smoke coming from someone’s chimney filled the air. They were cooking meat and it smelled very good. Glancing in Cara’s direction she could see that she was salivating.

  “Can we wake her and send her into town on her own?” Angeline asked. It was bad enough her family knew by now she’d responded to one of her visions again. If she was spotted taking Unis into town after what Unis went through, her family would probably pack up and leave before anyone decided to get suspicious of their family and Angeline’s ability.

  Cara tried to prop Unis on her own two feet with a hand in front and the other in back to catch her if she fell. Unis fell backward and both Angeline and Cara caught her. “It doesn’t look like she’s got enough steam to carry herself home. I’m sure it’s just exhaustion from the ordeal she went through.”

  Angeline nodded. She was probably right. It was amazing Unis hadn’t shut down earlier considering all she’d been through.

  “Is there any reason you don’t want to bring her into town? Are you afraid that whoever did this to her will target you?”

  I didn’t think of that.

  “Yeah, and my family is bound to be furious with me since I disappeared from my bed last night.”

  Cara rubbed her hand over her stomach in a circular protective motion. “I think I’d be upset if anyone in my family disappeared from their bed in the night. You should go home. I’ll take her to her house if you’ll just point it out to me. Okay?”

  “Thank you,” Angeline exhaled with relief. “This way.” It was the long way but it kept them out of sight. Cara kept looking at Angeline like she was trying to figure out what was going on with her, especially when Angeline stopped in the back yard of Unis’ house. It was closest to the forest and Angeline was still doing her best not to be seen or associated with the find of Unis.

  Cara nodded and hefted Unis’ limp body so that it was leaning heavily on her. “Good luck with your family, Angeline.”

  “Thank you.” Angeline watched Cara as she reached the door on the side of the house. Angeline knew she needed to get going but she was worried and feeling guilty that she’d put Cara in the position that she herself was avoiding.

  The door pulled open and the man who answered bellowed Unis’ name. He reached out sweeping Unis up into his arms. “What happened to her?”

  “She was abducted and found in the woods. She’ll be okay but she is pretty exhausted,” Cara said and started to walk away.

  “Hey, you’re Aldrich’s bride, aren’t you?”

  Cara stopped and looked over her shoulder at the man as if trying to recognize him. “I never married that horrible monster. I’m the one who escaped him.”

  From where Angeline was hiding she could see Unis’ father nod in response to what Cara told him, but as soon as she turned her back to him, his face twisted into one of disgust, and loathing.

  Oh no.

  Cara looked right at Angeline in her hiding place behind the thick bushes and gave her a shooing motion with a tender smile on her face.

  Guilt filled Angeline. She couldn’t go home without warning Cara first of what she’d seen in the Unis’ father. It could mean trouble for her the way he looked at her. Angeline walked along the inner forest line until, meeting up with Cara.

  “Why haven’t you left yet? Your family will be beside themselves by now.�
�

  Angeline nodded as she shifted her weight between her feet. “When you were walking away, Unis’ father, he was looking at you like-”

  “I know. It took me a moment to recognize him but I do. He was once a man with an important job under Aldrich. He, I imagine was not happy when the wall came down and Aldrich was no longer running this town.”

  Angeline heard a lot of things about the way Aldrich town was run. She didn’t ask Cara if what she heard was true because she could see a sadness in her eyes as she remembered it.

  “I’m sorry I involved you in returning Unis to her family. I can see it is just as dangerous for you as it is for me.”

  Cara tilted her head slightly. Her golden blond hair ending along her jaw line shining with the sun as she did. “Why would it be dangerous for you?”

  I’ve said too much.

  “I’ve noticed that people are often in search of others to blame. That’s all. You were right. I’d better go.” Angeline turned and ran. She knew Cara could catch up to her if she wanted to, but Angeline was hoping Cara wouldn’t push the issue of what she’d almost let slip.

  There was trouble coming. Angeline could feel it in the vibrations in the air. It was a hostile energy that was emanating from Angeline’s house.

  Yes, her family was definitely angry and they had every right to be.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  “This has been going on right under our noses,” Darian growled as he looked down at the grave Killian found on his way back to the waterfall from the Rizer compound. The grave was in one of the caves on the low side of the mountain. It was deep, but whoever dug the grave kept unburying it to add in additional bodies.

  The skeletons on the bottom were in a state of decay that suggested they were older than the bodies on top of them as they were in different stages of decomposition.

  As the grave was added to, the bodies were getting nearer the top of the hole until it was shallow enough that animals dug it up and began to feed on what was left. While they were feeding, they drug the bodies toward the opening of the cave and that was what led Killian to the cave.