Laura's Secret (24 page)

Deciding that magic was best fought with magic, Laura decided she needed Incanta. As she shifted in to her enormous dragon, the truck flipped over. She flashed her memories of the last few minutes through her head in case Incanta wasn’t aware of what was happening.

She and Incanta were fighting for their life. Unfortunately, the sorcerer already had magic and he had stolen Jason’s so he was strong. '
Incanta, we must defeat this sorcerer,'
Laura cried out in her mind
.

'Do not worry, little one, I will not allow this pretender to harm our eggs!'
growled Incanta. The dragon rose up towering over the sorcerer. He aimed his wand and a blast of magic hit the dragon, attempting to siphon off her power.

Laura could feel the slow drain and fed all her energy to Incanta. The dragon rose and roared her anger at the man. While he faced her, she swung her spiked tail around and impaled him. He screamed as the razor sharp spikes drove through him. Flexing her tail, she flicked the dead body into a tree. Gathering up the unconscious Jason in one large claw, Incanta flexed her wings and leapt into the sky.

The trip over the mountain to where her house was didn’t take very long when you were a dragon. She landed on the road in front of the garage, sending a magical command the main doors opened and she walked in. Another magical command closed them behind her.

Everything suddenly became too much for Laura and she lost contact with Incanta, letting herself slip into the dark. Incanta felt the pull when Laura went to sleep. Her own energies dimmed, but Laura’s magic was strong and so Incanta as the personification of that magic had all that strength. When the sorcerer died, all the magic he had stolen left him. Incanta as a purely magical creature soaked it up, making her even more magically stronger.

Stretching her neck, she checked to see if the wolf shifter was okay. Then curled herself into ball protectively around the life forces resting inside her. At the same time she sent out a telepathic call to Alex letting him know his mate needed him.

*****

Frieda stayed behind at the pack house after lunch. She was spending time with Mara teaching her about her magic. Frieda believed Mara was closer to the changeling bloodline than most shifters. It was why her magic was stronger than others, and she was the Priestess of the Lady for the region. She had never had proper training and didn’t know all she should about her power. Frieda had taken it upon herself to make up for the lack.

While the women were working, the wolves were patrolling. Marc Hunter, the alpha, was in temporary charge of the territory with both Marshall and Alex out of town handling an emergency in Canada. Taking his duties seriously, he had extended the patrol perimeter around the changeling's house. Hours later, one of the perimeter guards came running back frothing at the mouth.

Shifting, he bent over hands on his knees to catch his breath. “I scented the rogue, Roland Gantry, on the hill opposite the changeling’s house. The scent was strong, he’s been watching her,” he panted.

Marc stood up fast. “Shit! I want four guards to intercept Laura; she should be heading back home about now. Then let’s get a hunting party together to find this asshole once and for all. He’s dead meat!”

The wolves jump to follow the command. The entire shifter community knew the value of having the changeling here; they weren’t going to let anything happen to her! About twenty minutes later half the pack was combing the woods while a large group of enforcers sped to meet up with the changeling and put her under their protection. With their heads to the ground, they missed the dragon flying swiftly over their heads; it was just a shadow passing over, like a cloud.

When they came upon the two wrecked cars and three dead bodies, they went into a panic. The changeling wasn’t there but they could read the carnage at the scene all too well.

Chapter Twenty-Five

As Alex and Marshall were returning home, they came upon the crumpled cars and dead bodies in the road. The local sheriff, a bobcat shifter, was going over the scene while his two deputies took care of any traffic that came along. Wanting to know what was going on, Marshall stopped his car and waited for a deputy to come to him. Currently there were no other vehicles waiting to pass.

“Sam, what happened here?” asked Marshall.

The deputy paled when he saw the two alphas sitting in the car. They still hadn’t located his mate and he wasn’t looking forward to giving them the news.

“What we’ve been able to discover is two or more men created an ambush for Alpha Laura…”

Before he could continue, Alex yelled in anguish and jumped out of the vehicle. He quickly stripped off his clothes so he could shift into his bear. He knew in his bear form that he would have a better chance of scenting her, especially if she had been taken through the woods.

At a signal from Marshall, the deputy continued speaking fast, “We found three bodies, the first was one of her guards, he’d been shot in the head. The other two were attackers and they both show signs of being killed by large animals. The second guard and Alpha Laura are missing.”

At this point, the sheriff, having spotted them, came over. “Alphas, the two men killed here were the only attackers. One of them was the rogue, Roland Gantry. We can’t scent any others here. Just in case, we’re combing the woods all around. My understanding is Frieda, the older changeling, is performing some kind of locator spell to find Alpha Laura. The second guard, Jason, is also missing. Our current theory is he is protecting the Alpha,” explained the sheriff.

“She didn’t use her cell phone to call for help?” asked Marshall. Alex, standing on his hind legs, towered over the truck. His bear was scenting the air in all directions. With a loud roar he ran off into the woods.

“Her phone was left at the house,” he said and then went on to explain about Laura’s tracking lesson and her lunch at the pack house. Every available shifter was combing through the woods looking for them. They had started looking for the rogue and then their task changed after the crushed cars and dead bodies had been discovered. They were passing it off to the local full humans as a traffic accident. There weren’t many full humans living in this immediate area, the land was owned entirely by shifters so the full humans only drove through this area periodically anyway.

Marshall decided to drive up to Laura’s house. The facility she set up underground was perfect for this situation. There was a command room with a huge electronic map they could use to coordinate the search. All of Alex’s clothes were on the passenger seat so Marshall reached over, closed the door, and drove off at the highest safe speed.

Alex was running through the woods as fast as his bear could go, dodging through the big trees, plowing through the smaller ones, and jumping over fallen logs. The scent he caught was one he had only scented once before,
Incanta
. If Laura had shifted into her dragon out in the open, then she was in terrible danger.

As the miles fell away he grew tired, Kodiak bears weren’t made for running long distances. He ran anyway, the worry about his mate drove him on he used the fear to push his bear. As he approached the mountain south of Laura’s, he scented wolves nearby. Roaring again he let them know he was there. He was calmer now and able to think more clearly, the run and the scent of his mate's dragon growing closer, easing his system somewhat. He wouldn't relax fully until he laid eyes on his mate but it would keep him from maybe tearing into anyone who got in his way.

Calling out again, he stopped to catch his breath. The wolves howled out a response. He could hear them coming. While he waited, he shifted back into his human form. Two large wolves were the first to appear in the clearing where he stood. They shifted form. Marc Hunter and his beta approached and nodded their heads in a short bow to acknowledge Alex’s dominance.

“Alpha, we haven’t been able to scent your mate. We will keep looking until she is found. I blame myself, I should have put more guards with her,” said Marc.

“None of us were aware the rogue would try to retaliate against her. I can’t scent her, but I can scent her dragon. She must have been and may still be in danger if she hasn’t shifted back. Incanta, however, does like to keep her form when she can. The scent is coming from the direction of her house. You and your wolves come there with me. We don’t know what kind of trouble we’ll find,” said Alex before he shifted and started running again, the men followed after shifting.

The wolves streamed down the mountain behind him and all around him. They called out to their pack mates to join them in the hunt.

Back at the site of the ambush, flatbed tow trucks had arrived along with the local undertaker’s hearse. The undertaker was also the coroner. There was a small line of cars stuck waiting for the road to clear. The second car back was a rental out of Billings with two men in it.

“Can you see how long we’ll be held up?” asked Josh from the passenger seat.

“They loaded up a body so the wreck must have been a bad one. The two trucks are totally demolished. One is flipped on its side and looks as if it’s been stepped on and the other one looks even more smashed up. It’ll take a while to load them on the flatbeds. We’ll be stuck for another half hour at least,” answered Evan.

“Those are local deputies dealing with the traffic. It may take even longer to ask questions about area residents. The population here is really sparse too and Laura grew up in a city. What do you say we move west and loop back around?” Josh suggested.

“I agree,” said Evan as he pulled a U-turn on the road. “We’ll put this area last on our list. You should probably text home and let them update the search map.”

“Roger that,” said Josh as he pulled out his cell phone.

As the two men turned their car to search for their sister to the west, east of their position, Alex and the wolves were converging on the scent of Laura’s dragon, Incanta. His fear for her safety diminished when he realized the scent seemed to be coming from Laura’s large garage. The garage was surrounded with wolves when Alex’s bear broke through the trees and crossed the road. As Alex shifted to open the side door, Marshall roared up in his truck, and Frieda came running down the walkway.

“She’s in the garage!” she called out before she saw Alex. “Oh, you know.”

Alex opened the door after he had waved all the others back. He stepped inside and saw the dragon curled up in the center of the garage. A body was on the ground and he assumed it was the missing wolf shifter, Jason. Incanta had turned her massive head to look when the door opened.

'I can sense all of those outside. Where were they when we were attacked?'
He heard the dragon ask in his head.

“You will never be in such danger again if I can prevent it. I need to hold my mate. Laura, why aren’t you speaking to me?” Alex asked.

'She is not damaged, I am keeping them all safe. She has
crawled inside her mind from killing the evil one. You will need to wake her up. She is not talking to me, you have to fix this! We can’t lose our eggs!'

“I will wake her up, I can’t lose her, Incanta, she’s my whole life. But I don’t understand, what eggs?” Alex asked.

'We have two younglings growing. We have to care for them
.'

“Please change back and let me take care of my mate,” he begged.

'And the younglings, you must take care of them too!'

“With my life, I will protect them all with my life,” he swore.

There was a flash of sparkling light and where the dragon had been a blood-covered Laura now lay on the floor. Rushing over he picked her up. When he exited the garage, Frieda, Marshall, and Marc Hunter all came forward. Alex couldn’t help the growl that came from his throat. He wanted them all to stay back from his mate.

“Your guard is inside,” was all he said before he strode for the path to the house.

He went to the kitchen door because it was the shortest route to their bedroom. He wanted to get the blood washed away from her body. The door opened before he got there. Lola held it open with tears pooling in her eyes.

“Is she going to be alright?” she asked in a shaky voice.

“Yes!” was all he could say. She had to be all right, he wouldn’t survive if she didn’t. She had become his whole world in such a short time. When he reached the room they shared, he didn’t stop until he’d passed through into the bathroom.

“The tub has been filled, I was able to add Laura’s favorite bath salts. Is there anything else you would like me to do? Shall I monitor her pulse and respiration?” asked Maggie the house.

“She’s pregnant, are you able to tell if the babies are okay?” he asked as she stripped off her clothes.

“At this time I am unable to monitor any offspring.” Maggie the house went on to explain what she’d need to do to further monitor Laura’s health. Alex tuned her out after the first sentence. All of his attention was on his mate. He absently agreed to let Maggie watch over Laura and then told her to be quiet. He was still nude from his own shift so stepped into the tub holding her in his arms. Most of the blood had been on her clothes but there was some in her hair and on her skin.

Very gently he washed her body. She was still unconscious so he had to hold her up with one arm while he washed her with the other. There were many who would have volunteered to help but until she woke, and he was satisfied she was okay, he and his bear were not going to let anyone near.

Carefully climbing out of the tub, he walked dripping water back to the bedroom. Someone, most likely Lola, had laid out several large bath towels on the bed. After he laid her down, wrapping the towels around her so she wouldn’t get a chill, he quickly dried himself, never moving his eyes away from her face. She was still unresponsive and he was worried.

He liked to watch her sit and comb out her long white-blonde hair. After blotting it dry, he found her comb and went to work on the tangles. “Laura, I’m combing your hair. Have I ever told you how much I love your hair? It’s so soft and feels like silk in my hands. Please wake up and talk to me, I need you,” he crooned to her as he slowly and carefully took care of her hair.