Page 21 of Silver Claw

It wouldn’t matter so much that I couldn’t shift into her. My shapeshifter would make me stronger, just as my wolf did. Shifted or not, I would be better able to deal with damage, quicker to heal, and much, much stronger than if I weren’t a shapeshifter.

Because shapeshifters were stronger even than wolves. They just were, and that didn’t bother me to admit. Both shifters would give me a much better chance of coming out on top when the siphoner and I tangled again.

The night of cleaning houses went smoothly. There were no huge complications, for once. No assholes or monstrous killers or powerful spirits—simply insubstantial ghosts stuck for various and easily resolved reasons. I severed their tethers so they could cross over, and in record time, Sam and I were headed home to Huntersburg.

Joe had left half an hour earlier, because dawn would soon be upon us and it’d take him a little while to get to Huntersburg. He hated it, but that was one of the trade-offs for not dying. He understood and was coming to accept his limitations, though they still pissed him off.

Sam surprised me by staying with me the entire time. I could have taken time to pull into an empty parking lot to test my shapeshifter, but I wanted to get the night’s jobs done first. Shapeshifting wasn’t difficult for me to do when I was in abattle and flying high on adrenaline, but I’d never attempted to shapeshift just for the hell of it.

And unlike my wolf, my shapeshifter somewhat depleted my energy. I didn’t want to spend the rest of the night exhausted when I dealt with the ghosts and the homeowners—who, unfortunately, were sometimes harder to handle than the tethered spirits.

I also still wasn’t totally back to my full strength. I could feel it, though I didn’t want to admit it to anyone. And it wasn’t only because my magic was gone. I still felt sore, flinching, ginger in my movements. I simply wasn’t entirely healed from what Anika had done to me.

My deep fear was that I never would be.

But finally, the jobs were completed, the ghosts had cooperated, the homeowners had been polite, and I was on my way home. Dawn was chasing away the night.

I was eager to pet my dog, eat a huge meal, see if I still had my shapeshifter, and sleep. Unfortunately but not surprisingly, things didn’t go as planned.

Shocker.

Lucy called when we were still half an hour away from Huntersburg.

“Kait,” she yelled, before I had a chance to say a word. “Wolves are attacking Silverwood. Where are you?”

In the background, I heard the hounds braying, Ash barking, and glass breaking. There were thumps, too, as though the attacking wolves were flinging themselves against my house.

“Get into the safe room with Joe,” I said, keeping my voice calm despite my panic. “I’m on my way.”

“I’m heading there now with Ash,” she said. “Remy picked up his car and left early. I’ll call him and Zach.” She ended the call.

“Fuck,” Sam yelled, slapping the dashboard. “Kick it, Kait.”

I called Jared, because I had no doubt who was attacking Silverwood. He didn’t answer, and I wasn’t really surprised. Jared was likely fighting some of the same pack I was about to battle, and he would be shifted into his wolf.

And that was okay. We could handle the attackers.

I called Zach.

“Lucy just called,” he answered. “I was already on my way to the house. I’ll be there in five minutes.”

“Be careful,” I told him. “Sam and I will be there as soon as we can.”

“Lucy couldn’t get Remy,” he said. “Want me to call him?”

“No. Just get to Silverwood. I’ll call Remy.” The boogeyman would always answer when I called, because he knew I would only ever call him if bad things were happening.

He took the call. “Kait,” he said, his voice smooth and almost soft. “I just left you a few hours ago. You in trouble already?” Funny how a note of hope crept into his voice.

I didn’t ask him what he was doing. “Silverwood is being attacked by Voss’s fucking wolves,” I said. “Lucy’s there alone.”

“I can be there in twenty minutes. Fifteen if I try real hard. Did you call Zach?”

“Lucy did. He’s going to get there before either of us.” I hesitated. “He won’t have backup, Remy.”

He ended the call without another word, and I knew he’d get there in fifteen minutes. Probably less, knowing Remy. “Dammit,” I muttered. I for damn sure didn’t want to be the last one to the fight. I swerved off the highway, parked the car, and had shifted almost before the door slammed shut behind me. My wolf would get me there a hell of a lot faster than the car.

I didn’t have to see him to know that Sam was running as well. He wanted to get to Lucy. Wolf shifters were moredangerous when they shifted. Shapeshifters were dangerous all the time—they were always changing.