Chapter 13
GRAYSON
The prowler's trail ends at the northern caves where the rocks are too porous to hold scent and the tide has washed away whatever evidence might have remained.
Declan crouches near the cave mouth, studying marks in the stone that could be claw scratches or could be nothing.
Rafe prowls the perimeter, his panther's instincts making him twitchy in ways that set my bear on edge.
"Whatever was here is long gone." Declan straightens, frustration evident in every line of his body. "Covered their tracks too well. Professional work."
"Or supernatural work." Rafe's attention stays fixed on the cave entrance. "The kind that knows how to hide from other predators."
My phone buzzes in my pocket. Jax's name flashes across the screen, and something about the urgency of the vibration sends adrenaline flooding through my veins. I answer before the second buzz.
"Grayson." Jax's voice is rough, strained in ways I've rarely heard. "You need to get back here. Now."
"What happened?" But I'm already moving, breaking into a run that has Declan and Rafe falling in behind me without question.
"Isla's cottage was attacked. Professional team. Supernatural. They came for her." He pauses, and I hear something that might be pain or might be awe. "She fought them off. Water everywhere. One of them through the door. Another over the cliff. And then she ran for the ocean."
My heart stops. The ocean. She ran into the water with attackers chasing her, with no way to defend herself once she hit the waves. Claws prick the inside of my skin, my bear demanding I move faster, get there now, find her before it's too late.
"Is she—" I can't finish the question. Can't voice the fear that's clawing through my chest.
"I don't know." Jax's words are clipped, controlled. "She dove in. They followed but came back empty. Said the water itself fought them. I've been watching for her to surface, but there's been nothing. Grayson, it's been too long. Even a strong swimmer couldn't—"
I end the call and run. The path from the northern caves stretches for miles of rough terrain, but I'm not walking and I'm not human.
Grey mist erupts around me as thunder rumbles across the island.
Silver light flares, and my bear takes over.
Four legs eat up the distance with speed human form could never match.
Declan and Rafe follow in their own forms. A wolf and a panther racing behind a bear through morning light that suddenly feels too bright, too normal for what might be happening. The world should be dark if Isla is hurt. The sun shouldn't shine if she's—
No. I refuse to finish that thought. She's alive. She has to be alive. The alternative is unacceptable.
The cottage comes into view, and the destruction stops me in my tracks.
The front door hangs off its hinges. Windows are shattered.
Water damage stains the wooden floors, and the acrid smell of fear-sweat and supernatural violence permeates everything.
Jax stands near the tree line in human form, silver burns visible on his throat where someone used a chain on him.
I force myself back to human form. Mist swirls as thunder cracks, blue light fading. The transformation leaves me naked and shaking with adrenaline, but I don't care about modesty. I only care about one thing.
"Where?" My voice is barely human.
Jax points toward the cliffs. "She ran that way. Dove off the rocks near the south point. I saw her go under, but I couldn't follow. Too many of them between us, and by the time I fought clear, the water was too disturbed to track her scent."
I'm moving before he finishes speaking. My human nose isn't as sharp as my bear's, but Isla's scent is burned into my memory.
Lavender and salt and something uniquely her that makes my beast recognize its mate.
I follow it through the destroyed cottage, across the cliff path, down toward the rocks where the ocean meets land in violent collision.
The scent trail ends at the edge. She went into the water here, just like Jax said. But there's something else. Something that makes my breath catch in my throat despite the fear still churning through my gut.
Magic. Strong magic, the kind that accompanies transformation. Silver and blue light has left residue on the rocks, fading but unmistakable. And underneath it, a scent that's both Isla and not Isla. Still her at the core but changed somehow. Wilder. More ocean than land.
"Grayson." Declan's voice comes from behind me. He's human again, and his expression carries the weight of someone who understands what I'm seeing. "She shifted."
"That's not possible." But even as I say it, I know it's true. The evidence is right here, written in magic and scent. "She's never done it before. Didn't even know she could."
"Happens sometimes." Rafe joins us, also human now. His tone is matter-of-fact, like he's discussing the weather instead of impossible survival. "The animal takes over when you're about to die. Instinct."
Movement catches my eye further down the shore. Someone is climbing the cliff path, moving slowly like every step costs them. The wind carries the scent, and recognition slams through me with the force of a physical blow.
Isla. Alive. Climbing toward us with exhaustion evident in every movement.
I'm running before conscious thought catches up. The path is treacherous, loose stones and sharp drops, but I navigate it with the sure-footedness of someone who has walked these cliffs since childhood. When I reach her, she's leaning against a boulder with her eyes closed and her chest heaving.
"Isla." Her name comes out reverent, desperate.
Her eyes open, and something in their depths makes the world tilt sideways. They're still human, but there's a quality to them that wasn't there before. Like she's seen things no human should see and brought some of that ancient knowledge back with her.
"Grayson." Her shoulders drop, tension draining from her frame. "You're back."
I want to grab her, hold her, make sure she's real and whole. But my hands hover uncertainly because I don't know what she needs right now. Touch or space. Comfort or room to process whatever just happened.
She makes the choice for me, stepping into my arms with a sound that's half sob, half laugh. I wrap around her carefully, feeling how she's trembling. How her skin is colder than it should be.
"Jax." Her first word is urgent, worried. "Is he okay? He fought them to give me time to run. There were so many of them."
"He's fine. Silver burns on his throat from a chain they used, but nothing that won't heal." I stroke her wet hair. "He got away clean once you hit the water. They went after you instead."
Relief shudders through her body. "Good. That's good." Then she pulls back enough to look up at me. "I shifted. Dove into the water and just... changed. I was a seal. Grayson, I was a seal."
"I know." I press my face into her wet hair, breathing in the scent that's both familiar and changed. "The magic residue is all over the rocks. Your scent changed."
"It was..." She pulls back enough to look up at me, and her eyes are wide, lips parted. "It was perfect. Like coming home. Like every piece of me that never made sense suddenly fit together exactly right."
Not terror. Not horror. Wonder. She transformed for the first time in a moment of mortal danger, and instead of being traumatized, she's glowing with discovery.
Heat blooms in my chest, fierce and possessive. Mate understands. Mate accepts what she is. Mate is ours completely now.
"We need to get you inside and warm. Make sure you're not hurt."
"I'm not hurt." But she leans into me anyway, letting me take some of her weight as we navigate back up the path. "Exhausted. Shifting twice in quick succession drains something important. But not hurt."
Two shifts. She went to seal and came back to human, both in the span of less than an hour. Most shifters need years to master control like that, and she did it instinctively her first time.
Declan and Rafe wait at the top of the cliff. Declan's expression goes from concern to calculation. Rafe's goes carefully blank in the way it does when he's processing new information and deciding what it means.
"The cottage is destroyed." Declan's tone is matter-of-fact as he tosses us both blankets, but tension runs underneath like a current. "Whatever attacked knew what they were looking for and came prepared for supernatural resistance."
"Carrick's people." Isla's voice is steady despite the exhaustion. "Professional team. They weren't trying to kill me. They wanted to capture me." She pauses. "They chained Jax with silver. Had equipment designed for containing shifters. They knew exactly what they'd face."
"Which means they've been watching longer than we thought." Rafe's attention moves to scan the surrounding area. "Gathering intelligence. Waiting for the right moment."
"And they picked today because they knew Grayson would be gone." Isla's insight is sharp despite her exhaustion. "Someone told them about the patrol schedule. About when I'd be most vulnerable."
The weight of betrayal presses down on all of us.
Someone on the island is feeding information to Carrick.
Someone who knows enough about the brotherhood's movements to betray them effectively.
The prowler we tracked this morning could have been a distraction to draw me away from Isla precisely when she'd need me most.
"We deal with the traitor later." Declan's declaration cuts through the speculation. "Right now, we need to get Isla somewhere safe. Assess the damage. Figure out our next move."
"The tower." I don't wait for approval. My mate needs sanctuary, and Warden's Tower has stood against threats for centuries. "I'm taking her there. Jax can stand watch. The rest of you secure the cottage and see what evidence you can salvage."