Shift (Castlerock Shifters Book 1) Read online

He shifted back to his human form and took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. Thinking logically, rather than with his animal instincts, he considered what had just happened.

  An intruder coming into their territory wasn’t completely unheard of, but it was certainly not a regular occurrence. However, this wolf had just threatened a human on their lands, and that was unacceptable.

  It didn’t matter whether he considered her his mate or not, he thought with irritation.

  Shifting back to his wolf form, he decided to follow the intruder long enough to ensure it left their territory and returned to its own pack. Knowing more about the foreign pack could potentially be important information, especially if they were growing brave enough to cross their border.

  Moving at a more normal pace, he continued to follow it as the sun moved through the sky. He was thankful the recent thunderstorms seemed to be over and the sky was clear. There would be no rain to wash away the scent as he followed, so he would not be hindered in his quest.

  It was nearly dusk when he reached his own pack’s border. It was clearly marked; the scent of the pack was saturated all around. There was no way the wolf would have missed their scent. Then, just beyond the border, the scent of the wolf changed somehow.

  It was… wrong. He could feel the hair on the back of his neck bristling. He paused warily and did a quick search for anything out of the ordinary, but found nothing of consequence, just the typical scents of scavengers and mountain animals. He couldn’t quite figure out why it was wrong, but something was definitely different.

  He continued following the scent more cautiously, officially over the line now. The scent led him north and then slightly to the west.

  He picked up on a wolf pack not far over the border, but it didn’t seem to be intertwined with the lone wolf. He followed as the scent skirted around a bit to avoid detection from that pack. The wolf had not crossed into the other pack’s territory on this side of the border. So, why had it crossed their border? It seemed too deliberate that it had come to theirs.

  It was also bothering Quinn that the scent had changed. He continued on, this mystery getting deeper and deeper, making Quinn more and more uneasy.

  He tracked on after the sun had set. He moved slightly slower, more cautiously, being in unfamiliar territory, but the trail remained strong, leading him forward to some unknown place.

  The moon rose not long after sunset, but was just a sliver, not that he needed the light to see well in the darkness. He was amazed the wolf had traveled so far into their territory, with its own pack so far away.

  Just when he was truly starting to question his choice to track the scent for such a distance, he picked up on another border. It had to be the pack the wolf had come from, as his scent went directly into that territory, but again, the scent was wrong. He was picking up on scents that should not have been intertwined. It made no sense.

  Anxious to get closer, he continued to follow the wolf’s scent. In the back of his mind, the scent kept nagging at him, making him more cautious. However, this was an ideal time to try for a look at the wolf’s pack. The cover of night would aid him.

  He had several other things beside darkness working in his favor to enter their marked territory. As a shifter, he could switch from wolf form to human as needed and he also had the option of leaving a scent or not. He chose not to.

  He didn’t want to draw any attention to himself if he could help it. True wolves had scent glands between their toes, on the tips of their tails and other places that left echoes of their passing – that was why Quinn had been able to track the wolf so far even though it had not marked anything specifically.

  And while it was true that he could get in and out undetected by scent, that didn’t lessen the ability of a wolf’s keen vision picking up movement in the forest, or keen hearing that would notice a twig snapping under his weight. He had to be cautious and take his time.

  If he were spotted or heard before he discovered the information he had come for, he would have to run. He was faster than normal wolves; that was not a worry, but if he ran, he would have to return again later. He really didn’t want to have to spend any more time on this search than needed.

  When the scent cut down into what looked like a valley, he skirted up and around, finally inching up to a low overhang of rocks. It was from this vantage point that his eyes settled on it. With disbelief, he took in a village that looked almost identical to his own. It was filled with bustling people moving about in the light of a large bonfire.

  He tried to count the number of dwellings, but as he did so, he caught sight of the wolf in the midst of them. In the middle of the village, near the fire, he watched as the wolf shifted.

  Everything clicked into place at that moment. The wolf had been a shifter, and the wrongness Quinn had picked up on, had been the partial human scent. It was still off though, not quite human enough to register as human; yet here was the proof as he watched as the wolf-shifter grabbed a few others and headed into a building.

  Quinn was shocked. He’d never have guessed that he’d been tracking a shifter. But no, that wasn’t right. It wasn’t a true shifter, though it was in the shape of a wolf. He searched his memory for any story or legend that had contained information regarding these others. But there were none… at least, not for centuries anyway. Surely these could not be those same ones. Those hadn’t been around since the power had been sealed in their valley. The only true shifter packs that remained, as far as their own history was concerned, were the Castlerock and Dragasani.

  He took several deep breaths, pulling in all the scents of the forest around him. He had never been to the Dragasani village, but their people had been to his many times over his lifetime; some had stayed and become part of his pack. He knew their scents well – this was not it. This was something new – something other.

  Watching, he caught sight of someone that shifted into the form of a mountain lion, before bounding out of the clearing to the east.

  He was stunned. His mind was having trouble wrapping around the concept that these could be the others – known as the Ishaks. They’d each had the ability to change into the shapes of different animals.

  Quinn was desperate to know how long they had been in this little valley, and more importantly, what that wolf shifter had really been doing in their territory. It had clearly had a destination in mind when it crossed their border. Had it been aiming for the girl or was it headed to their village? Was it possible the black wolf had only wanted to meet them? His memory shot back a resounding no to that. It had been obvious he was going to attack the girl. So then, had he been sent for some reason?

  He was deeply disturbed by this new information. His mind flooded with questions regarding these strangers. He had thought he would get some answers and now had only discovered a bigger mystery.

  The most disturbing thing of all was that this unknown pack of shifters had come into their territory unnoticed. It had clearly been able to cover its human scent, as Quinn hadn’t picked up on that odd scent until after the shifter had left their territory. It was as though the shifter had felt safe enough in uncovering the human side at that point; clearly not realizing that Quinn was following. Or perhaps, Quinn mused, it was a struggle for them to maintain that masking. It didn’t seem that they could cover their animal scent at all, but then that wasn’t very helpful in identifying an actual animal compared to these others; these Ishaks – if that’s what they really were. That wolf had left behind the scent exactly as a true wolf would have.

  Quinn’s feelings of security for his little village vanished in that moment and he realized he needed to warn them - needed to get back immediately. Whatever their reason for sending one of their own, surely, they would be back again.

  He took an unbelievably long time inching back the way he had come; his frustration mounting with each small distance covered. When he was near enough to their border that he didn’t think he would be discovered, he ran. Faster than he had ever run be
fore, he cut a direct path back to his territory.

  He didn’t bother skirting any marked borders; he was not leaving any scent. Nothing would know he had passed. If something caught sight of him, he would vanish into the dark and be long gone before they could even think to pursue.

  He was extremely grateful now, for the ability to leave no scent behind. These Ishaks would not know he had been to see them; that might give them a slight advantage in preparing for whatever was to come. And although he didn’t know what it was, he was sure of one thing… something was coming.

  Six

  Jaisey

  Jaisey paused at the edge of the narrow driveway when she saw the person on her porch. There was no vehicle other than Yellow Jeep. She hesitated, and the person turned to face her – a boy, maybe a teenager. He had long dark hair pulled back in a ponytail. He was wearing a blue t-shirt, cut-off jeans, and hi-top sneakers – typical teenager clothing. He had dark, well-tanned skin and dark hair, but very light brown, almost golden eyes, vivid even from a distance.

  He smiled as soon as he saw her. His bright eyes were crinkled with lines that showed it was something he did a lot. It was reassuring to see that smile go right to his eyes. Her dad had always said a person’s eyes could tell you who they were before they ever said a word.

  “Hey,” he called with a wave. It was such a casual greeting, and yet it held so much information. The voice was deeper than she would have thought, but still a boy. It also held no malice. It was the friendliest possible voice that came from this kid.

  Jack started wagging his tail.

  Interesting – he rarely took to strangers but was a good judge of character, so Jaisey was put further at ease.

  “Hello,” she replied with a slight raise of her eyebrows, meant to question his presence. He got it.

  “I didn’t mean to just barge in on you like this. I hope I didn’t scare you. I just wanted to come by and see who was here,” he explained in a rush. Again, the smile went right to his eyes.

  She returned the smile and started moving again toward the cabin. Jack bounded over to the kid and gave him several good sniffs.

  “My name’s Seff,” the kid said with a chuckle, as he bent to scratch Jack behind the ear.

  Unusual name, she thought.

  “I’m Jaisey, and that’s Jack,” she said, with a head tip to the dog. She had crossed the short distance to him, and he held his hand up to shake hers, so she obliged. His hand was rough and calloused and quite large. He stood only a bit shorter than her five feet, five inches. And though he was definitely a boy, he was right on the verge of manhood. If she had to guess, she would say he would shoot past her before the summer’s end. She was reminded of how her brothers had gone from lanky and awkward to full grown and muscular over what had seemed like only a few months.

  “It’s great to meet you Jaisey,” he said with yet another smile.

  “How long have you been here?” she inquired. She knew it couldn’t have been too long, but it felt like an easy way to start a conversation. She glanced around the clearing and didn’t see anyone else.

  “Not long,” he said. He glanced at the forest behind her in question.

  “I just hiked up to the ranger station,” she explained with a smile. “I didn’t know it was abandoned.”

  “Yeah, no one has been up there since they packed it up a few summers back,” he said. He seemed like he wanted to say something else, but he stopped there.

  “I guess I just didn’t expect that,” she said. “There was always a ranger here in the summers when we came up.”

  “So, you’ve been here before?” he asked with a rush of relief. She could tell he wanted to ask her something else, but he stopped again.

  “Yes… this cabin belongs to my family. We used to spend every summer up here, but we haven’t been here for the last… well, I guess it’s been ten years,” she said. She silently wondered why she had felt the need to tell him all that.

  “Where’s the rest of your family?” he asked. Then he took a step back and said, “I mean, I don’t mean to pry… I don’t want you to think anything bad, or whatever… I just… this isn’t coming out right,” he stammered, looking down at his feet.

  “Seff… is it?” she asked, confirming his name.

  “Yeah,” he replied still looking down.

  “Tell you what. Let me get us some drinks and we can talk. How would that be?” she asked.

  He lifted his eyes to meet hers and grinned, “That’d be great.”

  “I’ll be right back. Is a soda all right?”

  “Sure, thanks.”

  She went in and dropped off her small pack and walking stick, then grabbed two sodas and headed back out to the porch. He’d taken a seat back on the stairs and was looking at Yellow Jeep, absently petting Jack who had flopped down next to him.

  What a weird day, she thought. Her dog simply did not take to strangers.

  He turned to look at her when she came out and accepted the soda she offered him with thanks. She joined him on the steps.

  “So, do you live around here?” she asked.

  “Well, sort of,” he replied. He sounded guarded and she wondered if maybe he was a vagrant or something. He seemed too well fed to be homeless though.

  He didn’t offer any more information; instead, he took a long drink. She decided he must want her to share first. She couldn’t see him as ever being a threat to anyone or anything, so she figured she would tell him whatever he wanted to know.

  “So… like I said, I used to come up here every summer with my family. My grandparents had the cabin built sometime back in the sixties. Anyway, my mom used to come up every summer with her parents and when my parents had us, they started bringing us up in the summer. My parents were both college professors and usually took summers off. But after that last summer, we lost my dad. After that, my mom started teaching a summer class back east, so we quit coming,” she sighed, hearing the sadness creeping into her voice.

  “Anyway, I think it would have made mom too sad to come up anyway without dad. So then just after Christmas last year, my mom and I were in a car accident and she didn’t make it,” she paused to clear the emotion from her voice. “My brothers and my sister stayed with me while I was in the hospital and we had a service to say goodbye to mom, but they decided to let me take care of her ashes. I thought about it and really this was her most favorite place in the world. So, I decided that this would be the best place to put her to rest,” she finished with an even bigger sigh. She had managed not to cry during her explanation, but the tears were close.

  “I’m sorry about your mom,” he said, “and your dad too.”

  He sounded so sincere. She just nodded.

  “Since the rangers quit coming up, my family sort of took over keeping an eye on things. We have a place down in the valley a way off. It’s not very close actually.” He seemed guarded still. She didn’t know what he was hiding, but it didn’t bother her, oddly enough.

  “Well, that’s really nice of you,” she replied. “I have to admit, when I pulled in the other night, I half expected to find the place vandalized. It’s been so long since we’ve been here. But, as you can see, it’s in great shape.”

  “Yeah, this is a great place,” he agreed with a smile.

  “Anyway, I was thinking about scattering her ashes from the bluff. She used to love hiking up there and camping out,” she said.

  “The bluff?” he asked.

  She nodded and pointed her thumb back behind them toward the cabin, “It’s in the north, almost to the top of that first ridge.”

  “Ah, Windy Peak,” he responded, apparently using the correct name for the location.

  She smiled, “I don’t think I ever heard her call it that. Well anyway, I figured I’d hike up there to say a final goodbye.”

  “That’s a pretty long hike. It’ll take you a good day from here,” he said doubtfully.

  “I remember it was a bit much for us when we were little, so
we turned it into a two-day hike to get there. I’m sure I can handle it now though,” she said confidently. As she said the words, she started to wonder if she could do such a long hike alone; but she shook it off immediately. This was the most important part of her trip. She’d do it. And she still had Jack by her side.

  “You like hiking and camping?” he asked, pulling her from her thoughts. He seemed genuinely surprised by that fact.

  “Yes,” she replied immediately. “I guess I didn’t mention that my parents taught nature and wildlife courses. So naturally, growing up with parents that loved this,” she gestured to the surrounding area, “more than anything, it was bound to rub off.”

  “Yeah, I can see that. I just never really met a girl who liked the outdoors much,” he said with a chuckle.

  She laughed too. There was truth in that. So many of her friends from school had thought she was weird for preferring camping and hiking with her mom on weekends to the more mundane teenager activities. She hadn’t done sleepovers with friends, or football games and dances – that had been Jasmyn. No, Jaisey definitely preferred solitude and nature, obviously.

  Thinking about who she was, she acknowledged that she was definitely a reflection of both parents. But, having been so close to her mother, it made sense she’d become more like her over the years. It was more than the superficial looks she’d inherited – the dark hair and light eyes. She was now realizing how much more of her mother she had in her. There were beliefs and traits and loves that had been instilled in her because of her mother. It felt so good to think of her mom living on because those things now lived in Jaisey. She smiled, her eyes tearing up a bit from the epiphany.

  Seff adjusted his position, bringing her back to the present.

  “Sorry,” she mumbled. The poor kid surely didn’t come to hear all of this.

  “No, don’t be. I think you must’ve had an incredible mother. It’s right that you miss her. I think she’d be happy that you chose this mountain for her final resting place,” he said softly.