Feral Northern Shifters 2

him while a wolf stood watching, eyes brown, fur black.
It was like before. Years ago, the wolves had liked to watch him when he was down.
Ethan felt sick. It would happen again. They’d ripped him open a few times, waited for him to heal, and repeated their not-quite-lethal attacks. A terrible sort of play. A punishment. But for what this time? He hadn’t consorted with one of theirs or attacked anyone. Revenge couldn’t be a motive. Perhaps they simply wanted to toy with him.
They’d drugged him, he recognized, a dart in his right flank immobilizing him. So this episode was different. As was the dark wolf’s somber appearance and his strange, unhappy whine. Last time, the wolves would have laughed at his helplessness by now.
They were wolves with different weapons and perhaps a changed agenda. One he couldn’t guess at and one he feared. Ethan had never returned to his human form after the terror. He didn’t know how long it had been since he’d become feral and didn’t want to know. The point was, the point to cling to—he refused to turn human. His human was weak and would reach for solace, for companionship, for contact. Ethan simply could not afford it, or survive it.
Joely Skye
    He should close his eyes, shut out the dark wolf, but the anger in him wouldn’t let go of that brown gaze, would not look away, even though he could no longer hold up his head.
The wolf whined again, as if in greeting. Lila used to whine, Ethan remembered rather hopelessly, though he’d spent so many years trying not to think about her. The wolf came closer, approaching Ethan’s neck, and he braced himself for the attack.
The wolf nuzzled Ethan. Lightly.
What the fuck?
“Get back, Bram.” The voice came out of nowhere, a warning, and the wolf obeyed by retreating a few steps.
Bram. Ethan remembered that name. His cat remembered all the names. Not a different pack then, though Bram had been a youngster last time. So the same pack had somehow tracked Ethan down. But why ? He’d have felt sickened if the drug hadn’t taken hold, allowing him to float in a painless, cloudless space full of only curiosity and anger—and even those emotions were becoming distant. Panic was completely at bay.
Bram stood between Ethan and the second wolf, and growled. Under other circumstances, Ethan would have felt like Bram was protecting him, which didn’t make sense. Evidently, the drug was confusing him.
“Jesus, Bram, I could wring your neck.” That gravelly voice sounded angry and alpha-ish. Somewhere deep inside himself, Ethan cringed. “What the hell were you thinking going one-on-one with a feral cat? He could have sliced you open. He’s done it before.”
Despite his best efforts, Ethan’s eyelids drifted shut. He didn’t entirely lose consciousness, but he wasn’t aware of time passing. He kept his focus on himself, on his cat. He was only cat, not human. No shifting, not ever again. He had to keep a stranglehold on his ability to shift so he didn’t give in to his weaker side.
“This was a hunt , Doug.” A new, reproachful voice jerked Ethan back to the present. The words were spoken low, uncertain, and someone stood very near Ethan.
“What the hell else could it be after he ran from us?” the one named Doug answered. “It took me three shots to bring him down. This cat was fast, twisting and turning like a mad thing. I missed twice.”
There was a long silence, and if Ethan had had the energy, he would have lifted his head to see the two shifter humans. But he could only listen.
“Bram, look at me,” Doug demanded.
“Sorry.” Sorry for what? Ethan didn’t know. He only knew that brown-eyed Bram-the-dark-wolf was no longer a wolf. He must have shifted to human while Ethan had drifted along in his drug-induced haze. God knew how long they’d been here.
But why turn from wolf to human? And why didn’t they attack? What were they waiting for? For him to shift too? The worst thing was that they called to him, these shifters, standing nearby in their human forms. They called to Ethan the human, and he was scared he wouldn’t be able to resist the pull.
“Get the fuck back.” Doug spoke again, still annoyed. “You’re not even wolf and he’s still cougar.”
Ethan would stay cougar. He was not going to change for them. As if from far away, he heard himself snarling.
“Bram,” Doug warned. “If you can’t act responsibly, I will not keep you on this job.”
“He’s down.” Bram’s voice filled with