Shifting Resolve (Shifter Lords #5)

Chapter 1

Chapter

One

No one ever noticed a wren.

I could have become a snake or a rat or even a tiny gnat, but those were all scary, annoying things people noticed right away. But a pretty bird with a stunning song? Even if they noticed, no one batted an eye, chalking the presence up to a random blessing or a spot of good fortune.

It helped that I was shadowed underneath a lush canopy of leaves and branches, perched in an abandoned nest. If anyone questioned the presence of a wren at night, the nest made it all make sense.

As long as they weren’t an ornithologist, but since we were spying on one of the Lords, I thought we could skip that fear. For now.

Caelan was somewhere close, crouched low to the ground, ears pricked in anticipation of this going to absolute shit.

To be fair, when I was involved, the odds of something going to shit were approximately 80 percent in favor of the shitshow.

One of the Lords had encroached on the territory I’d claimed after our battle with Donovan. I wasn’t all that mad about it because what was I going to do with pieces of several states when I had enough shit keeping me busy here?

Caelan was not of the same opinion. Thus, why we were here spying when I would rather be snuggled up against my Lord. His take was we kept the territory until we got a good read on the other Lords. Then, if I was ready to give it up, we could pass it to the one least likely to use it against us.

My argument was that I only liked Rowan so far. Soren was up in the air, but Moira was still pissed off at him, and it was friend code that I had to be pissed off too.

I’d only give the territory to Rowan, but he was entirely uninterested.

Caelan and I had gone back and forth over this until we agreed to see for ourselves what was happening.

Technically, no Lord could “steal” the land I’d claimed.

It wasn’t mine in a legal ownership way, but every time I claimed land for my own, it boosted my power.

I was pretty darn powerful on my own, but when I was on land soaked with my magic, I had the advantage over most opponents who challenged me.

Caelan had tracked the encroacher to this massive mansion on a large plot of land in Montana. It was cold as fuck out here, and if I had teeth, they’d be chattering.

There weren’t that many trees on the property, making it difficult to disguise ourselves, though it was easier for me than Caelan. A big ass wolf was a little harder to hide than a tiny bird, and we were on the eastern side of the state, where wolf sightings weren’t as common as in the west.

And since this Lord was being shady, he’d no doubt be on the lookout for the other Lords, especially Caelan. I could sneak in much easier than he could since I had the ability to shift into pretty much anything.

But I also didn’t want to tangle with another Lord. To be honest, I was sick of the Council and sick of every Lord except Rowan and Caelan. Stealing the land was par for the course with these asshats, and I had to agree with Caelan on one point.

Encroaching on claimed land was the Lord thumbing his nose at me and my power.

I’d questioned Caelan about how a Lord would know about my claim, and he told me they could feel my magic. Every time he stepped on my land, he knew the ground belonged to me.

Odd, but I believed him, which meant one of these assholes was playing a dangerous game.

Had they learned nothing from the last time?

We weren’t sure which one of the Lords, if any, had betrayed me, or if the fae had done all that on their own.

I suspected Ethan because he was a massive dick, but Caelan told me that was too easy.

What did I know? Someone lured me to the Hall of Fae, attacked me and my father, and while we were distracted by that, they tore down my property wards and had the Lords square off against Caelan, Rowan, and Ben, while another forced a spelled crown on my head that damn near killed me.

Smelled like collusion to me.

We’d been trying to find the culprits since and kept hitting a dead end around every corner. But Caelan and I kept trying, the Lord maybe a little more than me. Watching me die had broken something inside him, and he was out for blood.

I still mostly wanted to be left alone, but I’d come to the conclusion that wasn’t in the cards for me. Not since Cernunnos had claimed me as his heir and I’d destroyed a sacred fae tree.

Okay. The sacred fae tree.

Cernunnos was the only fae that I knew of who could travel to all the realms. Everyone else relied on the tree’s power like a magical elevator. Even when the tree died, it left a seed behind with someone worthy who would then plant it. Rinse and repeat.

Tree dies. Seed grows. Yay, another tree.

Except it didn’t count on one Evie Quinn (meeeee) swallowing the seed, which pissed off ancient powers and ancient fae, and said seed decided to come out in an untimely manner and way, leading me to give birth to a tree on Caelan’s property.

Then someone or something decided the best way to kill me was to force me into the tree where my powers could slowly be drained over eternity.

Except…they didn’t know about the Chimera part of me or expect my sheer will to survive.

Not only had I come out of the tree furious, I’d burned the thing to the ground, not giving it time to produce a seed.

Ding dong. The wicked tree is dead.

Now I was the gate to the other fae realms. Whether anyone realized it yet was up in the air. I could transport people over before the tree had decided to go all supervillain on me, but I’d absorbed even more of its power.

No fae had been brave enough to approach me yet. Especially not with the new and handy burn-things-to-an-unrecognizable-crisp power I’d discovered once the tree was forced to spit me out.

Things had been suspiciously quiet for months now, and even Caelan was getting antsy.

The Lords hadn’t moved against us, and they’d stopped pressuring Caelan to “get me in line.” Laughable of them to think he ever could, though I was way more willing to play ball with Caelan than any of the other Lords.

Except Rowan.

Besides Caelan, he was my favorite.

But before my time in the tree, Rowan and Caelan were neck and neck for my favorite.

Now Caelan was far ahead of the pack. He’d changed. I’d changed.

We’d both stopped being neurotic overthinkers and possessive nutcases (ahem, Caelan) and realized we were better together.

I hesitated to claim things were good, really good, because that’s when the sky would open and rain holy mortal hell down upon us.

The house looming several feet away was a three-story monstrosity, complete with those old columns typical of a southern home by the front door.

White and marble, they rose from the porch to the roof.

Sometimes they gave a house character. Other times, as was the case with this house, all they did was add to the aloofness of the place.

This was no home. The landscaping was covered with a fine dusting of snow, but even underneath I could tell there were no well-loved plants here, only the builder’s landscaping.

Whatever was cheap and easy to maintain, the builders had placed it and whoever bought the house never bothered to change anything.

No hanging baskets hung from hooks on the large porch. No rocking chairs or side tables or planters beckoned a welcome for guests. There wasn’t even a welcome mat, only a generic fiber mat to wipe your shoes.

This place was stark and bare. A pretty home when you took a critical look at its bones, but devoid of soul.

A perfect home for someone like Ethan.

Caelan had cautioned me against assuming Ethan was the Lord who lived here, but this house practically screamed his name. Devoid of personality, icy, and not a spot of color in sight…

Yup. That’s Ethan.

No one had moved for an hour, and I was freezing my tail off.

With a whisper of wings, I flitted from the nest to the roof.

I knew where Caelan was lying, but he was so well blended into the brush I couldn’t make him out.

I hopped over the top of the roof and down the back to see what kind of patio the house had.

It wasn’t common for a bird like me to be out during the winter, so I didn’t want to get caught, but most people wouldn’t think too much of a bird sighting.

If I were an actual fairy wren, I wouldn’t even be in this country.

When a quick peek over the side of the roof revealed lots of cozy places to hide, I took a chance and hopped onto the large smoker, quickly disguising myself behind a large grill glove.

Still no sign of movement.

A bad feeling was building in my gut. I poked my head up and looked through the gauzy curtains. Wealthy people rarely thought about the back view when it came to people looking in. They felt safe and secure in their bubbles. I could see into most of the downstairs area.

The living room was a large, open space, furnished with high-end, modern couches and what looked like a carved, solid-wood coffee table. A television was on, but the sound was off. Fresh flowers sat on the dining table, a mix of expensive peonies and dahlias dotted with the occasional white lily.

But that wasn’t the most interesting thing about the scene. As my eyes trailed over the living room and dining room, I blinked in stunned shock at the scene I spotted next.

Ethan sat in a chair in the kitchen. Unremarkable unless you counted the fact that he was tied and gagged. I took a step back and almost fell off the smoker.

Throwing out a wing to balance myself, I flitted closer, perching on the arm of the wicker patio couch. Ethan’s eyes were wide with horror, his feet planted firmly on the floor, but his body pushed back, as if he were trying to get away from whatever or whoever stood in front of him.

There was no way for me to get closer to see who it was without giving myself away.

I leapt off the couch and flew as fast as I could, my heart beating a hundred miles a minute as I searched for Caelan.

The wolf, seeing my frantic dash, rose high enough for me to spot him. I dove and shifted, crouching low to the ground.

When I shifted to my fae form, my clothes stayed on.

When I used my chimera magic to fuel a shift, bye bye clothing.

No rhyme or reason to it, but I made sure I either shifted in the nude or didn’t care about what I was wearing.

Tonight was a little different. We were in Montana in December, and it was colder than a mofo out here.

Using my wren form was advantageous for spying, but I could keep my clothes on when I did. The thought of being naked out here sent a shudder down my spine.

“Ethan is in there,” I said. “Someone or something has him tied up.”

Caelan’s eyes flashed gold. Seconds later, he shifted, reaching for the bag that had fallen from around his neck. “He’s not trying to get away?”

I’d thought of that, too. “No. I’m not sure if someone is using magic to keep him in the chair or if he’s too afraid to try to escape, but we need to decide what we’re going to do.”

Caelan’s teeth flashed in the dark. “You think we should leave him there?”

My first instinct was to say yes. The asshole had damn near gotten me killed a few months ago.

Caelan’s wicked chuckle made me grin. “I didn’t think you had it in you.”

“How bad would it be if we did leave him there?”

Caelan shrugged. “We’re already down an extra Lord without Donovan. No one has moved to replace him yet. Ben is brand new. If Ethan gets taken out, it could signal a breakdown in leadership.”

“Which means someone might step in and try to start some trouble?” I finished.

“Exactly. I won’t say no if you want to leave. No one knows we’re here, so no one will know we saw him.”

I sighed. “Dammit.”

Caelan dressed quickly, but the clothing he had was not suitable for the weather. Wolves were naturally resistant to the cold, shifters even more so, but we lived in Texas, and the cold there was not the bone-deep chill of a Montana winter.

I chewed on the edge of my thumb. “Will he owe us a favor if we help him?”

Caelan glanced at me with surprise. “The time in that cursed tree has changed you, Evangeline.”

Not a hint of disapproval in his tone. The opposite, in fact.

“The only Lords who gave a shit about me disappearing were you and Rowan. The rest can go fuck themselves.”

He snagged me with an arm and pulled me into an embrace. “Don’t count Thorvin out so fast. He has grieved from the moment you went in.”

I stilled. “He doesn’t even know me.”

“Doesn’t mean he wanted to do you harm.” He pressed a kiss to my temple and pulled away. “Thorvin is a complicated individual.”

“If you say so,” I grumbled, glancing over at the house. “Think he’s dead yet?”

Caelan snorted. “It’s hard to kill one of us. If you’d like, we can time it.”

I snickered. “Let’s go save Ethan’s sorry ass.”