Slow Shift by Nazarea Andrews (best ereader for pdf .TXT) 📗

not interested in you, Mia. I’m not interested in anything but taking care of my fucking catatonic brother and living my life.”

Mia hums and tilts her head consideringly. “And your pet Shaman? What about him?”

Tyler’s gaze flicks away and he falls back a step, giving ground and hating himself for it. “Humans don’t stay in Packs, Mia. Not for long. They find a better offer with a coven, or they get tired of the supernatural.”

Her smile is bright and sharp. Tyler has to force himself to remain still as she leans in and places a lingering kiss on his cheek. His side warms, runes aching along his flesh. He doesn’t bolt when she pulls away.

“Good boy,” she murmurs, then laughs and saunters past him into the bakery.

Tyler slips into his Mustang and starts driving. He makes it four whole blocks before he has to pull over, vomiting up his breakfast all over the side of the road.

~*~

When he spills out of the Mustang in front of the house, Chase is there to catch him, arms tight around him. Tyler whines into his throat, burrowing close, and Chase lets him, lets him push him into the wet leaves on the cold ground and rub against him until the shaking eases.

“So good, baby, you did so good,” Chase whispers, and Tyler makes a choked noise in his throat.

“Get him inside,” Lucas says, and Chase peers up at him. There’s a shadow of regret in Lucas’s eyes, but he doesn’t apologize. He wouldn’t.

Chase nods. They wrestle Tyler, limp and shivering now, into the house and a hot shower. Lucas watches as Tyler clings to Chase, watches as Chase gentles him with a hand on his neck and their foreheads pressed together, a constant murmur of reassurance spilling from his lips.

“Stay with him, pup,” Lucas says.

He gets to the door when Chase says, “It’s worth it, right?”

Lucas glances back and his mouth is a tight unhappy line. He leaves without answering.

~*~

He feels empty.

He goes to his father’s house and stays there, distancing himself from the Pack. He ignores the magic humming under his skin, the siren song of the Standing Stones. He avoids Ben and Mia.

“Do I want to know?” his Dad asks, and Chase shakes his head. He sighs. “Will someone die?”

Chase shrugs. “You probably shouldn’t ask questions that I can’t answer.”

~*~

He wakes to the scent of ash and aconite, to searing heat, the press of wards, and a pounding heart. The fire hasn’t taken the whole house yet, but he can feel the heat. He howls, furious and heartbroken, and throws himself at the door.

It explodes into the night under his weight and he howls again, terror leaking in as he slams into a warded barrier.

Mia grins from the driveway, eyes shining and hungry. Three of her sisters stand behind her, chanting.

“Don’t—” Tyler chokes out. “Don’t, Mia, don’t do this!”

“Aww, Tyler,” she coos, “You had to know I would eventually. You weren’t supposed to survive, sweetie. It would have been easier on you that way, you know. A nice little puppy like you, what are you going to do without a Pack? You’ll go feral.” Her eyes are flat now, hard and cold, and he howls again, flames licking along the floorboards and over the couch where he likes to cuddle Chase.

“You’re a dog, Tyler, and dogs like you—they’re dangerous. Gotta put them down.”

“You psychotic bitch,” Tyler snarls and she tuts, disapproving. “You won’t get away with this!”

She smiles, slow and cruel. “Ty, sweetie. Who the hell is going to stop me? Your Alpha that doesn’t want you? The Shaman that left you? Lucas? You’re all alone. No one cares.”

Tyler smiles then and she goes still, eyes narrowing.

“You’re wrong,” he says, eyes glinting like steel as a Medusa screams and the forest explodes around her.

~*~

As much it itches along his skin, waiting and keeping his magic leashed, not killing Mia Drake where she stands—this isn’t his to do, so Chase stands near the tree line and simply watches, Aurora leaning against him.

It’s fast.

It’s so fucking fast it feels almost anticlimactic. Lucas uses Mia’s confusion to dart across the glade, slamming into her. A gun goes off and Aurora makes a pained whimper, turning into his shoulder, but she doesn’t scream. Lucas’s howl is vicious and victorious as he holds Mia down. A white hot flare of magic slams into the three witches that came with her, and the wards shatter as they go down screaming.

“Chase,” Tyler snarls, and Mia’s gaze snaps to him as Chase steps away from Aurora, moving into the firelit clearing. He brushes the remaining wards aside and Tyler spills out with a wet snarl, stalking to his brother’s side. He pauses, almost matter of fact about it as he rips open the throats of the witches writhing in pain on the ground. Chase pauses to send a pulse of magic toward the house, banking the fire.

“You—” Mia chokes under Lucas’s grip and her gaze, shocked and a little bit pleased, flicks to Tyler. “You lied to me.”

“Seemed appropriate,” Lucas murmurs.

She laughs, a wet gurgle. “My grandfather will kill you for this,” she hisses.

Chase shakes his head. “He really won’t.”

Tyler crouches and smiles a mean mouthful of fangs at Mia, and she flinches. “He’s dead, Mia. We killed him three days ago, when he had dinner with Brielle’s sweet new fiancé. The poison will kill him by morning.”

Chase grins. “Ben can’t cook. It’s not hard, not really—but Ben? He’s the worst. So I offered to make dinner. A little poison in the casserole? Bet he didn’t come tonight because he’s been throwing up and feverish, right?”

There’s a slow dawning horror in her eyes, and Chase smiles coldly.

“You little shit, you killed Brielle.”

Chase snorts and looks away. The fire is almost out now, his magic burning in his veins as it smoothers the heat. “Brielle and Ben have been warded since I knew what runes were for. Do you really think I’d hurt them? Brielle might be a Drake but