Snake Charmer: Shifter Squad, #6

By J.C. Diem

Defying the cycle of the moon that binds all shape shifters, Lexi transforms into her alter ego in an attempt to flee from her sorrow and anguish. Little does she know that no matter how far or fast she runs, she can't escape from her grief at being abandoned by her mate.

 

Locked in her werewolf form, it takes a catastrophe to force her to become human again. Stepping back into her normal life isn't easy, but Lexi must set aside her personal problems when one of her friends goes missing during their next mission. The team needs her to step up and become an alpha in deed rather than just in name.

 

Even during her prolonged time spent as a werewolf, the vampirism has been insidiously spreading through her. The time is coming when Lexi will reach the point of no return. Soon, she will become the very thing that the Shifter Squad hunts down and destroys.  

• Language: English
• Publisher: Seize The Night Agency
• Release date: Sep 1, 2015
• ISBN: 9781516346158

Book preview

Chapter One

OUTCAST AND ALONE, I loped away from my chosen hunting grounds. I sensed the three humans and their dog watching me as I headed towards the nearby forest. They were safely behind a barrier that would mean death for me if I touched it. I should have ripped their throats out and feasted on their flesh while I’d had the chance, but hunting was far from my mind. I was too full of sorrow to think about food.

Sadness wasn’t the only emotion that was weighing on me. I was confused and disturbed to find myself in this form. The moon was still several weeks away from its ascension, but instead of being cloaked by darkness, the bright sun shone down on me. I was exposed to the view of anyone who happened by and my instincts told me to hide.

I’d never changed during daylight hours before. It was an unsettling occurrence that I had no explanation for. My grief and despair were deep, but changing into a werewolf at this time of the moon’s cycle was unprecedented and shouldn’t have been possible.

Once I entered the woods and became hidden by the dense trees, I was torn with indecision. I couldn’t stay here, yet I had nowhere else to go. A nameless urge drove me to head upwards towards the top of the mountain range.

I maintained a steady pace until the sun went down. When darkness took over, still I didn’t stop. Night was when my kind was most active and the fatigue that had been slowing me down disappeared. Picking up speed, I dodged between trees and leaped over any obstacles that tried to bar my path.

Smelling prey, I deviated from my route. A raccoon had made an unfortunate nighttime foray from its hiding place. I snatched it up with one hand while still on the run. It barely had time to squeal before I bit its head off. Eating quickly, I discarded the bones and continued onwards without stopping.

I ran until dawn light filtered through the trees and fatigue washed over me again. I felt far weaker than usual and assumed it was due to being in my wolf form when it wasn’t the right time. My loneliness increased when I realized I was the only werewolf in existence right now. The rest of my kind were currently in their human forms. While I was still fairly new to being a werewolf, I was acutely aware that I wasn’t normal. Even my fur was strange. Instead of being silver, it was as black as the night. Unfortunately, the color of my fur was the least of what set me apart from my kin.

During a fight with a nest of vampires not that long ago, one of the creatures had sunk his fangs into me. A bite from the soulless was supposed to result in death for my kind. Instead of dying horribly and painfully, I’d shrugged off the toxin as if it had been no more dangerous than a mosquito bite.

Dimly recalling that an undead creature had fed on me when I’d been a baby, I realized that I’d been infected by the soulless long ago. That had set me on a path to becoming what I was now; a freak of nature. I feared my strangeness was why my mate had rejected me and had chosen another.

Thinking about being abandoned hurt too much, so I pushed my thoughts aside. It was better to concentrate on survival than to dwell on my sorrow.

My breath steamed in the early morning chill, but I was far from cold. My fur was thick enough to protect me from the elements. I was tired after running for so long, but my journey was far from over. Finding a deadfall, I burrowed my way inside the jumble of branches and succumbed to sleep.

Dark dreams plagued me, making my slumber restless and unsatisfying. I dreamt of a female that was cloaked in deep shadows. They were impenetrable even to my sharp eyes. While I couldn’t see her face, I could sense her assessing me. I didn’t know who she was, or what she wanted, but she made me uneasy. I sensed that she wasn’t any kind of creature that I’d ever seen before.

Waking when the sun went down, I gladly put the dream behind me and resumed my journey. I didn’t have a set destination in mind, yet I felt a sense of urgency. I was running to somewhere unknown, searching for somewhere new to make my home while knowing I would never find one.

I ran for two full nights, making my way along the mountain range as I sought somewhere far from civilization. Few humans braved the wilds and I eventually found an area where I couldn’t sense, or smell any signs of them at all.

Catching a faint, yet tantalizing scent of large prey, I followed it through the woods. Hungry after running for so long, I was in the mood to eat something more substantial than the small animals that I’d been snacking on.

Breaking through the trees to a path, the smell of bear drew me to the top of the mountain. The beast had marked his territory by clawing trees and rubbing his fur on the bark. He had warned all other animals to stay away while he retreated to a cave where he would be hibernating for the winter.

Light snores came from inside the cavern. The bear was fast asleep and was unaware that an intruder was prowling around outside. I scouted the area and pondered whether this location would be suitable for me to while away the long winter ahead. The cave faced away from the edge of a precipice. Moving to stand next to the cliff, I saw that I hadn’t left civilization behind after all. Bright lights glinted in the pre-dawn light far below. Even deep in the wilds, humans had carved out a town.

The small town was nestled in a valley and was protected from the worst of the weather. The humans were closer than I liked, but I was tired of running. Deciding that this place would serve as a temporary home, I turned back towards the opening of the cave. It was time to evict the current occupant.

Entering the cavern, my eyes quickly adjusted to the lack of light. It was larger than I’d expected inside. There was enough room for a whole family of bears. The walls were covered in lichen and it was slightly damp, but it would be adequate for my needs.

A black bear was curled up in a tight ball in the center of the cave. Even scrunched up, he was large. It would have been all too easy to creep up on him and slash his spinal cord with my claws and render him helpless. Unwilling to make a mess where I’d be sleeping for the next few weeks or months, I opted to remove him before killing him.

He didn’t wake when I approached him. He didn’t even flinch when my hand closed around his ankle. Only when I dragged him outside and into the snow did he finally begin to rouse. I looked back over my shoulder to see him open his eyes and blink at me in confusion. For a second, he thought I was another bear. I could understand his mistake. I was far larger than most animals in this forest and I was covered in fur that was similar in color and texture to his.

He looked into my eyes and realized that I was something far more dangerous and unnatural than his kin. Still groggy, he thrashed his back legs, trying to tear me open with his claws. I let him go and crouched down as he struggled to his feet. Grunting in warning, he lowered his head and tried to intimidate me. His mind was too alien for me to be able to understand his thoughts, but his intentions were clear. I hadn’t just invaded his territory, I’d dragged him out of his sleep and out of his home. I was a threat and he was going to eliminate me.

Standing up on his hind legs, he roared a challenge. I stood as well and he faltered when he saw that we were the same height. While his bulk was easily three times the size of mine, there was one major difference between us. I was a monster who had only one purpose; to hunt and kill.

He swiped a paw at me and I ducked under it easily. My claws raked across his stomach and he shrieked in pain and anger. Blood flowed from the deep wounds and excitement flared inside me. Finally, I was facing a foe that could fight back. He wouldn’t meekly allow me to end his life. He would be a worthy opponent.

Moving far more quickly than I’d anticipated, he swiped at me again. This time he used both paws and I couldn’t quite avoid both of them. His claws tore into my left arm, almost severing it completely. In retaliation, I took a step back and kicked him as hard as I could in the stomach. Flying backwards, he hit a tree and smashed it to kindling.

By the time he’d struggled to his feet, my wound had healed and my arm was whole again. He stared at me in bewilderment as he tried to get his breath back. I looked like a beast, yet I’d just fought like a human. We were both disturbed by this contradiction. I still didn’t know everything about my kind, but I was fairly certain werewolves didn’t usually fight like this.

Realizing he wasn’t going to be able to subdue me easily, the bear went on an all-out attack. He lumbered towards me, picking up speed as he went. I expected him to try to plow into me, but he surprised me by rearing up onto his hind legs at the last moment. His arms wrapped around me and began to squeeze. His claws dug into my back, cutting deep furrows into my flesh.

I stared into his eyes as he bellowed at me in triumph. Several of my ribs snapped as he tightened his hold. He thought he’d won and that he’d bested me, but the fight wasn’t over yet. I roared back and he blinked at my ferocity and rage. A hint of fear flickered across his face when I forced his arms open. He’d never encountered anything stronger than him before and it occurred to him that he might not end up as the victor this time.

The tears in my flesh healed and I didn’t give him the opportunity to create more. My teeth closed around his throat and he gave a garbled scream. He fell sideways and I followed him down with my jaws still clamped tightly around his neck. He began to weaken far more rapidly than I’d expected. I realized why a few seconds later. Instead of eating his flesh, I was drinking his blood.

Horrified, I pulled back and watched as the life drained out of him. I’d consumed so much of his blood that my stomach was full and I felt no need to eat his flesh. Disturbed by my unnatural hunger, I backed a few steps away from the corpse. Turning away, I trotted over to the cave that I’d won the right to claim through battle.

I curled up on the spot that had been vacated by the bear and brooded about what I’d just done. I’d known for some time that there was something very wrong with me. Before he’d cast me aside, my mate had told me that there was a sickness inside us both. While we didn’t shy away from blood, we didn’t usually drink it in such large quantities. That was something our mortal enemies consumed to survive. It worried me that I now had something in common with the soulless.

The darkness was changing me in ways that shouldn’t have been possible. My mate had told me there was a cure for what was wrong with us. I now suspected that the cure would be for him alone. It had something to do with him bonding with the pure born female who would soon be replacing me. That was the sacrifice he’d told me about, but I was the only one who would pay the price. Feeling more alone than ever, I wondered what was to become of me.

When I woke the next night, I emerged from the cave and approached the dead bear. A light dusting of snow blanketed him. Kneeling beside the carcass, I took a tentative bite of his flesh. My strange hunger for blood seemed to be gone for now. Relieved that his meat would satisfy my hunger, I took steps to make sure he wouldn’t freeze so solidly that he would become impossible to eat.

Digging out a hollow in the ground, I shoved his body into it and covered it with branches. He would feed me for at least a week, which meant I wouldn’t have to hunt for a while. Usually, I lived for the excitement of the chase, but now I spent most of my time brooding about my future. I longed to forget my past and to leave my memories behind, but I couldn’t. Something was tethering me to the life that I’d left behind.

Finally, after almost three weeks of contemplation, I realized what was holding me back. I was still bonded to my mate. He had abandoned me to my fate, but he hadn’t cut his ties with me yet. I reached out to him to try to figure out why, forgetting that he was still in human form. I could sense him dimly, but his mind was closed to me. The full moon was only one night away now. When it rose, I would try to make contact with him. I would ask him why he was still holding on to me after he’d so cruelly cast me aside.

Chapter Two

ANTICIPATION HAD ME pacing impatiently around the cave. The moon would shortly rise and I could feel it calling to me. Since I was already in wolf form, there would be no magical transformation or pain for me when the moon reached its zenith. I had no idea what to expect this time.

I stepped out of the cave into the silver light and power swept through me. I howled in sheer joy. Only now did I realize how miserable I’d been being the only one of my kind. Reveling in the swell of power, I reached out with my mind and searched for my kin.

Hoping to sense even one werewolf just so I didn’t feel so alone anymore, I was shocked when I encountered far more than that. For a few moments, I was connected to thousands of my kin. Spread out all over the country, they were momentarily joined to me. My mind somehow worked as a conduit and they could also sense each other.

I shared their wonder that they were part of something greater than their small individual packs. Then the sensation faded and only one mind remained open to me. My mate was far to the east, which meant that he’d transformed before me. One glimpse into his mind told me that something was terribly wrong.

It took me a while to sort through the barrage of images that I picked up from him. I was disturbed to discover that he was caged. Incoherent with rage, he leaped at the bars that held him prisoner and snarled when they burned his flesh. The metal had been coated in paint that was laced with silver. There wasn’t enough of the deadly metal to kill him, or to leave permanent injuries, but there was enough of it to make it impossible for him to escape.

Who has taken you captive? My question was met with a roar of fury at my invasion of his mind. The intelligent mate I knew was gone. He didn’t seem to recognize me at all. The same hunger that had taken me over when I’d fed on the bear had taken him as well. Denied being able to feed, his unnatural craving for blood was driving him mad.

He slammed a door shut between us, locking me out of his mind. I could still feel him and knew I’d be able to find him if I were to search. I also knew I’d never reach him in time before he changed back into a human again. If he hadn’t cast me aside, I’d have gone to his rescue despite knowing I would arrive too late to help him. Even if I were to go to his aid, there was no guarantee that he’d want me to.

In the brief glimpse I’d had of his mind, I sensed that he hadn’t bonded with his chosen mate yet. I also saw that his life with his pack wasn’t as ideal as he’d hoped it would be. His mother was an alpha and she should have been strong enough to control him rather than keeping him captive. Then again, the darkness that was within us both had nothing to do with us being werewolves. She obviously wasn’t certain that she’d be able to stop him from hunting humans if he were to be set loose.

It was troubling to see that we shared the same quandary. For the first time, I was relieved that I’d changed into a werewolf before the appointed time. Doing so had helped me to avoid turning into a mindless beast that only fed on blood. Without my mate here at my side, I couldn’t help but wonder how much longer I would be able to retain control of myself.

Tilting my head back, I howled mournfully at the moon, wistfully wishing there would be a response. There was, but the yips came from a pack of coyotes rather than from my kin. They knew I wasn’t a natural born animal and they were doing their best to warn me away. Turning my back on them, I loped off in search of food. I felt a stab of hurt that even lesser dogs shunned me.

For three nights, I immersed myself in the hunt, pursuing anything that caught my eye. Lost in the thrill of the chase, I didn’t realize how close I’d come to the small town until I bounded out onto a road while chasing a fleeing goat.

A vehicle appeared right in front of us and swerved to avoid a collision. For a moment, I was blinded by the headlights and my shadow was thrown into stark relief behind me. Exposed to view, I abandoned the chase and leapt off the road.

I sprinted into the trees, but it was too late. I’d been spotted. The truck screeched to a halt and two male humans spilled out. Both were armed with rifles. One fired at me, but his shot went wide. From the smell of alcohol wafting off them, they were hopefully too drunk to understand what they’d seen. With luck, they would think I was just a normal, if larger than usual, wolf.

Slinking away from the road, I retreated back to my lair. As I neared my cave, I picked up the strangely familiar scent of a dog and my territorial instincts kicked in. I could hardly believe it when the tracks led straight to my home.

Growling low in my throat, I stepped inside the cave to confront the intruder. My growl died before it could turn into a roar of challenge. Now I could see why the scent had been so familiar. The Rottweiler that I thought I’d left behind for good had somehow managed to track me down. His ears drooped at my unwelcoming glare. Sensing that I was close to violence, he did what any lesser dog would do and rolled onto his back to show me his belly.

Stalking closer, I felt a faint connection to him that baffled me. Looming over him, I spoke into his mind. I do not want you here! Go home! His mind was more primitive than mine and he couldn’t form actual words. He communicated with emotion instead and his response astonished me. According to him, I was his home. He’d left his comfortable life behind because he loved me far more than food, shelter or his favorite game of fetch.

Sitting back on my haunches in surprise, I didn’t try to stop him when he scrambled to his feet. Moving cautiously, he sidled up to me and leaned his head against my chest. My claws could easily have swiped his head from his shoulders and my teeth could have snapped him in half with no effort at all. Despite this, he trusted me unconditionally. I in no way resembled the human that I used to be, yet he was willing to accept me as I was.

To my utter astonishment, I found myself stroking his head. I noticed that he now wore a collar. It was black and had metal spikes on it that were designed to stop other dogs from savaging his throat. It had a familiar, yet faded, human scent on it. For a moment, I felt nostalgic for my old life.

Why are you here? I asked and he opened his mind to me. Just like with my mate, a barrage of images hit me. Through him, I saw myself as a human and was reminded of the people that I’d left behind. I thought I’d lost everything when my mate had chosen another, but the Rottweiler was proof that I hadn’t. He’d used the link between us to follow me and it had led him straight to my lair.

Zeus, I growled out loud, astonished that I could speak at all. Only my mate had been able to form human words before. Pain washed through me at being reminded of him. My human half had allowed me to take over because she thought our suffering would be less. She’d been wrong. In some respects, I hurt even worse now. At