Annie Nicholas: Scent of Salvation

A snarl escaped Ahote. “But I’m not interested in a permanent mate.”

Kele fought to control a grin at his expression. Ahote could use a little humility. “I know. That’s why it has to be you until I find out more about her.”

He grimaced. “Fine, but you can’t hold it against me if I play with her. This is your idea, not mine.”

“Fair enough.”

Something cold and wet nudged Susan’s face. Grimacing, she shoved it away. A dog must be loose. She blinked, trying to focus on the dark mass inches from her.

Her blood pressure rocketed into the danger zone, and she slapped away the muzzle. She scurried to her feet, then searched her surroundings.

The pale blonde woman who had rescued her nodded. “Are you better?”

Huge werewolves, right out of a horror movie, surrounded them. Bipedal, they stood well over seven feet tall. Fur covered their well-muscled, human-like limbs, and they each bore a wolfish head. They had claws.

And teeth.

Sharp ones.

Susan swallowed and then glanced at the top of the hill where she’d tumbled down head-over-heels. The silver-haired werewolf lay unconscious in his human form not far from where she stood. Ropes bound his wrists and ankles. “He changed shape.”

The blonde approached her with two of the monsters flanking each side as if they were guards. “They can all shift from civil form to feral form.”

“And you?” Susan straightened her jacket and attempted to brush off the dirt. Enough freaking out—she needed to deal. Panic never accomplished anything. She had wanted to explore other dimensions, and here she was. To begin, she needed to collect data. What kind of technology did these creatures have? Maybe she could rebuild DOUG and find a way to open the Gate again. She bit back a scream of frustration. It only had taken her ten years the first time around. Who knows—she could cross over to another dimension where the dinosaurs had evolved to be sentient.

She was so screwed.

Blondie’s eyes narrowed. “I cannot shift. Not yet.”

The midnight black werewolf standing next to the blonde snorted and shook the thick mane of hair hanging around his neck almost as if he was laughing.

She elbowed him hard in the side.

Nice going. Susan had mocked her only ally. Maybe next time she should poke her in the eye first.

Detonating DOUG had bought Susan a one-way ticket on The Twilight Zone express, and she was stuck here.

These creatures spoke English. With a slight accent, but it meant the dimensional fold couldn’t be that far from her Earth. And what was with the werewolf thing? What happened in this planet’s history to make them? And hadn’t Silver Mane said something about vampires?

Most importantly, where were the humans? Her gut dropped like an anchor. He hadn’t known what a human was. None of them seemed to have heard of one.

“My name is Kele.” The blonde offered the inside of her wrist to Susan’s nose.

She stared at it, having a sci-fi movie moment. “I’m Susan.” And returned the gesture.

The blonde sniffed her wrist then pressed hers closer to Susan’s face.

She sniffed it, not really smelling anything special. “Are you like them—a werewolf?” Susan pointed to the other beasts.

“Yes, we’re of the Payami pack. We prefer being called shifters though. Werewolf is more of an ethnic slur.”

“Oh, sorry. I’m not from here.” She tried to smile but her bottom lip kept trembling. It probably looked twisted and dim-witted.

“I’ve noticed.” Kele slipped her petite hand around Susan’s. “The one who chased you is from another pack. You’ll be my guest.”

Glancing at the four beasts accompanying Kele, she didn’t think she had much choice. “Is being a guest a good thing?”

One of Kele’s eyebrows shot up. “Would you rather spend the night in the forest?”

“No, of course not.” She shook her head. Her situation kept getting worse, and she needed to stop the trend. She’d gone from one werewolf to five. “I never met any were—umm—shifters before. I’m still trying to figure out if I’m on the menu.” Could this all be some terrible delusion? A side effect from DOUG exploding? Maybe she was really in some mental institution, drooling on her hospital gown. “What about him?” She pointed at Silver Mane.

“He’s a prisoner. Our alpha will decide Sorin’s fate for trespassing.”

One of the beasts nudged Susan’s shoulder with its muzzle then slid it so his head rubbed against her.

Stiff as a board, she remained planted to the spot. She didn’t know the rights or wrongs of this culture. Her dreams to explore other dimensions seemed naïve now. Or downright stupid. Up to this point everything she’d done led to disaster. It was time to go against sanity. Closing her eyes, she touched the soft fur on its head and stroked gently.

A sharp snarl sounded from behind.

Her eyes popped open and she jumped straight up in the air. Glancing back, she came face-to-face with the midnight black shifter. She’d done something to piss him off.

Stalking around her, the dark beast shoved the one she had petted away from her and knocked him to the ground.

Kele yanked her out of the way then led them through the forest ferns as the dark one leaped with teeth bared and claws exposed to attack.

The other two beasts followed, carrying Sorin between them. They swung their heads back and forth in slow arcs as if scanning the area for potential danger. What would be fool enough to harass them?

Susan glanced over her shoulder. She’d never seen anyone attack another person—beast—whatever before.

The large, black shifter pinned the other to the ground and held it there. His bright blue eyes met hers and sent a cold shiver down her spine.

“Don’t encourage them, Susan.”

She twisted to face her hostess. “I didn’t mean to. Why are they fighting?”

Kele raised a delicate eyebrow again. “Do you have a mate?”

“Mate?”

“A lover? A male?”

“No!” She didn’t have time for men and wasn’t any good around them, especially the really hot ones.

“You’re unclaimed and young—”

“And pretty,” an accompanying guard commented.

Glaring at the beast, Kele continued, “They’re showing off for you. Especially Ahote, the dark one. He plans to court you.”

Susan stopped midstride and was almost trampled by a guard. “What does court mean among your people?” The idea of being given over to a male made her stomach sour. She’d been ready to die to protect DOUG from military abuse. Was she ready to die to avoid her own abuse as well?

“I can smell your fear. It’s thick in the air. You’re going to need to control it if you want to survive.” The petite blonde caressed the closest beast. “None of them would ever take you against your will.”

“We’re not Apisi dogs,” someone mumbled under his breath.

“None of that. Now that the old alpha is dead, the Apisi will change. Sorin has promise.” She pointed to Silver Mane’s unconscious form.

The midnight-black shifter approached the group, not a scratch on him from what Susan could see. “Didn’t look that way to me the way Sorin chased this one down the hill. She could have been hurt.” He placed a huge, clawed hand over his chest. “I’m Ahote.” He nudged her to continue walking. “Our home is close but it’s still dangerous to be in civil form in the forest. Keep moving.”

Had the black beast won the fight? She searched for the beast she initially petted.

He straggled behind, his head hung low. Glancing at her, he shrugged.

Ahote, the winner, dwarfed her with his shadow. Any of these beasts did. Human boyfriends were difficult to deal with. Why would she want a shifter? She didn’t even like body hair. But how did you refuse a guy who could eat you for dinner?