Wait, what?
My ears were buzzing and there was some sort of weird fuzziness descending over my eyes. What was happening? Was I having a breakdown or was this just shock? Had I heard him correctly?
Pain knocked the disorientation from me. I looked down to notice I'd half shifted my hands to claws and they were cutting into my palm, drawing blood. I heard Maximus grunt as the scent hit him. He'd told me on more than one occasion that my blood had a very distinct scent, one he'd never encountered from any other supernatural. Easy to recognize.
The black-haired female was hesitant, head down as she crossed the front stage. She looked small and nervous, shuffling across the floor to stand beside my father. As she lifted her face, I gasped. What the hell? She was a carbon copy of me, but instead of blue eyes hers were a light turquoise green.
Jonathon spoke over the murmurs from the crowd. "This is Mischa, my daughter and younger sister to Jessa." As the second bomb was dropped on me I barely noticed the multitude of faces that had turned in my direction.
Holy hell, knock me over with a feather. How was this possible? This wasn't just Lienda's daughter, it was Jonathon's also. I had a sister he'd never told me about. Her wide doe eyes scanned the crowd before landing on me. We stared at each other for an indefinable amount of time. Tearing myself from her gaze, I let out a howl and took off from the room.
Chapter 2
My wolf washed over me and I was shifted before I hit the edge of Stratford. I didn't think, I just ran and ran, tearing through the fallen and decaying undergrowth. I was not big for a shifter; my wolf was the size of a large human dog. My coat was the same blue-black as my hair, and since the sun was setting I blended right into the dark of the forest – the forest which my father had just laid down the law about running alone in.
Good thing I didn't care for his rules.
The canopy was thick in this wilderness. It was against our laws to tamper with our forest; it was allowed to grow free on its own. Though the magic users and fey often poured their energy into the land, which led to some unusual flora. As I dodged and darted through the dense undergrowth, the landscape was flashing in shades of black, gray, and green. In wolf form my senses were sharper, and I always relied heavily on scent and sound, sight was almost secondary. Before my very first shift I'd had fears of what it might be like to turn into an animal, but besides the fact I was guided by instinct more, it was still me. I didn't lose Jessa to gain the wolf, we coexisted and were really the same being. Two sides of the same coin.
I'd been shifting for over six years and now didn't even have to think about the process. It just happened when I called on the energy. My wolf stayed curled inside of me until I reached for her. On occasion she fought her cage but mostly we lived in harmony. But there was another small part deep inside that I didn't touch, an energy which frankly scared the shit out of me.
I called it the demon. My wolf and I had lived with the demon my entire life. When I was seventeen I'd tried to explain this dark energy to my father. I'd hedged around the fact that it was a large, unknown power hidden deep below my wolf. He'd had no idea what I was talking about. Despite my fear of this unknown energy, I treated it like my wolf, although I kept it caged permanently. So now the three of us sort of coexisted.
Dysfunctional-Relationships-Are-Us.
For the first time in a long time, though, I was struggling. My shock and energy were fuel for the demon. It was beating at the cage. How could my father have kept this from me? The fact I had a sister out there. A more innocent looking pup I'd never seen. She'd been terrified in the hall. I could smell her fear and I wasn't the only one. They were going to tear her apart. I wondered where she'd grown up. Had she known of her shifter abilities? Surely our bitch of a mother had at least clued her in. The first change was rough and if you didn't know it was coming … well, it would probably feel a lot like dying.
In wolf form my thoughts and emotions were simpler, which meant I knew without any doubt that I hated Lienda and was pissed with my father. But I wasn't sure how to feel about the sister, Mischa.
I needed more information.
A familiar scent flooded my nostrils, and even though I couldn't see anything I knew he was out there. Vampire was distinct, sort of a mix of dark, rich spices. Tantalizing with a hint of danger. Then as I rounded the corner, there he was leaning casually against a tree.
Maximus Compass.
"You about done yet, Jessa babe?" His pose still looked relaxed, but tension was radiating off him.
I knew that with his vampire speed he'd have caught up to me immediately. He'd been letting me have my run.
He straightened. "Time to change back, Jess, you're needed in town. We're having a little trouble with Brax. You might have to stop him before he kills your parents and burns Stratford to the ground."
Shit. Braxton didn't lose it much, but when he did … well, things got messy fast.
I decided not to shift back yet; I was quicker in my wolf form. I circled around and took off the way I'd just run.
Maximus kept pace with me. "It'll be faster if you let me carry you," he said.
He was right, and the only reason he hadn't just scooped me up was my wolf would have attacked him. Something he knew from experience. But it was okay if he gave me the choice. Without breaking stride I jumped into his arms. I decided not to shift back, no need to be naked. Sure, I wasn't shy of my body – I was a damn shifter, we were always naked – but I didn't need Maximus carting my naked butt around.