fast as ferrets, she thought, throwing another from her arm.
Samantha’s shoulder burned. A glance told her that she bled from several gashes. She pressed a hand to her shoulder and concentrated, sending healing energy to the wound. It would do to stanch some of the blood until she had time for a proper healing ceremony.
Something swooped from above her. She leaped back to see the petroleum-black smoke materializing, taking shape. Alon now stood naked with his back to her, facing the little Halflings who emerged from the underbrush to circle them, standing erect, long hairy arms relaxed so the vicious claws grazed the ground. Samantha gasped. There were so many. Six, and even though they stood only three feet high, their numbers made her throat close as if someone squeezed her windpipe. Too many to defeat, she knew.
She inched closer to Alon, hating herself for having to depend on him to protect her. But she saw no gap in the attacking circle, no spot where she might break free, and she already knew how fast they could move. Would Alon fight with her or just hand her over?
“This one is mine,” he said to the horde, who all stared up at them with the biopic focus of all predators.
His? No. She was not. Not now or ever. She would never give herself to the enemy of her people.
She recalled their kiss and her ears went hot.
“Mine,” he said again.
Samantha turned to stare at Alon, joining the rest as stunned silence filled the clearing where she thought to meet her end.
“She is under my protection.”
The tallest pointed at Samantha and made a guttural, tortured sound.
“No,” roared Alon. He took a threatening step forward, the muscles of his back bunching. The challenger retreated to join the others. “She is not enemy! She is my woman.”
The largest snarled and made a gurgling sound, then nodded. The others nodded, as well. The leader made a series of sounds, its long tongue lolling and then twisting, darting from behind the rows of sharp teeth in a tortured gesture. What was it doing? To Samantha, the movement looked both obscene and mocking.
Samantha glanced to Alon for understanding.
“Yes, like mother. Skinwalker. But not enemy. She is our guest.”
Speech. Was the thing trying to speak? Samantha listened harder and this time she thought she heard the word guest amid the snapping and snarling.
“A guest is a welcome visitor, an honored visitor. Not food.”
They bobbed their heads.
“Mother wants you all to come with me. This territory is no longer safe for you.”
The pack shook their heads and disappeared into the underbrush. She listened to their retreat. Her shoulder began to throb like a persistent toothache. Blood ran from the wound. She pressed a hand over the injury, sending healing energy to slow the bleeding. She needed a circle to properly heal the gashes.
Alon still had his attention on the retreating Delta Pack. “Damn it.” At last he turned to her. “I can’t get them to come, and I can’t leave them to bring you to her.”
She didn’t like either of those options.
“Are they... Are they...?” she asked, feeling sure she knew since they were like the ones who attacked her dad, only smaller.
“My kin,” he confirmed. “The youngest. That’s the Delta Pack, each set of twins born of other human mothers and Nagi. We are always born in twins.”
Where was his twin?
He broke eye contact, staring away in the direction they had gone as if he could not meet her gaze. His translucent skin flushed. He glanced at the clothing, some folded beside the tree.
He slipped into his jeans then dragged on his gray sweater. It took him several minutes to locate his loafers. Once he had removed all that rippling male flesh from her sight, she found her thoughts were easier to gather.
“Those are the creatures that attacked my family. Only they were bigger.” She pointed in the direction the Deltas had gone.
“Nagi’s recruits. That’s why my family has been so busy. It’s a race to find more of my kind before Nagi does. They won’t come to Skinwalkers or Spirit Children. That’s why my parents brought most of the Alpha Pack with them. If they locate any newborns, the Alphas will be there.”
“I didn’t understand. It’s important.”
She said so only because she knew her family would have to face any Ghostling that they didn’t find first. He shouldn’t care what she thought, but her understanding mattered to him.
“That’s why Aldara and I need to bring the Beta,