Feral Northern Shifters 2

could turn to in order to understand what had become of Ethan.
After one last sweep of the scene, making sure his nose hadn’t missed any clues, Bram began his long trek back to the house he and Ethan shared. It took him all night and it felt like the longest night of his life, running under the cloudy sky and through drizzle. He couldn’t stop fearing the worst, that Ethan had been captured by those who wanted to do him harm, who wanted to kill him.
When Bram finally arrived home, the house was not empty. He’d held on to the futile wish that Ethan was somehow safely home. But no cat shifter was here. Only two wolves, and Trey’s and Liam’s presence did not bode well.
Trey opened the back door to Bram’s bark and without preamble said, “Shift so we can talk. Ethan’s in serious trouble and we need your help.”
Exhausted, Bram nevertheless dragged himself into their room and crawled into Ethan’s bed, surrounding himself with his lover’s smell. His body resisted the shift but his mind forced it. For Ethan’s sake, he had to push through this change as quickly as possible. Bram worked so that his entire focus went into his shift. Though it took forever, he pushed his bones and muscle towards human, and refused to give in to his despair. Finally he moved through the painful change and faded out.
“Bram. Bram.” When he woke, his limbs felt heavy, as if he couldn’t move, and it took him a while to realize someone was repeating his name, had been for some time. “ Bram .” His name came again.
“Is he all right?” A second voice, recognizable, but from where?
“I think so.” That was Trey’s voice and Trey knew something about Ethan. Bram forced his eyes open.
“How many times have you shifted in the last day or two?” Trey was frowning. At a guess, this was the alpha’s way of showing concern.
“Four,” Bram croaked.
“You need to drink, eat and sleep, in that order.”
“I think he probably knows that, Trey,” Liam said wryly as he took Bram’s arm to help him sit. He was shivering but he wasn’t cold. “Rustle up some food for him.” Liam jerked his head towards the kitchen and, to Bram’s surprise, Trey left.
Doug would never have accepted being given a directive like that. Trey was no kind of alpha Bram understood, which was something of a relief.
It was a little embarrassing that he almost fell over twice while getting dressed. But all Liam said was, “We’re really not made to shift this often, are we?”
Bram grunted. He made his way to the kitchen and shoveled in as much food and drink as possible. He barely noticed what it was.
Trey took a seat opposite him, eyeing him carefully. “You need to sleep, but first, tell me what happened. I want to know everything you know.”
Bram made himself go over the events as thoroughly as he could, while Trey questioned him on the details. By the time he was asking if Bram was sure that he’d smelled eight men at the last scene, Bram was listing to the right and almost fell off his chair.
Abruptly, Trey stopped with the questions. “Okay, that’s enough. Bed. But we’ll definitely talk again.”
“Ethan.” Bram shook his head to keep himself awake. “We need to find Ethan.”
“We need to find Ethan,” Trey repeated grimly while Liam led him out of the kitchen. Bram didn’t remember hitting the mattress.
~ * ~
    This time Bram knew where he was when he woke, because he’d been sleeping, not shifting. He even knew that Ethan was gone, and that knowledge felt like a ragged hole in his chest.
It was hard to know how long he’d slept, but he dragged himself into the shower to wake up and get his brain working. When he walked into the kitchen, he expected more grim looks but instead Trey was, well, not smiling, but there was a look of satisfaction on his face.
“They called,” he said.
“ They ? Doug?”
Trey shook his head. “This isn’t Doug, though he may well have precipitated this week’s events. This is my old job. One of my ex-colleagues called because they need my help.” His voice went deadpan. “They have a cat shifter they can’t handle, and they think I can help.” His mouth quirked. “It’s known that I have a way with shifters.”
Bram lurched from the table and Trey immediately rapped out, “Sit. Eat.”
Bram’s first instinct was to obey but he didn’t want to so he stood there, glaring, and Trey’s face softened. “I’ll fill you in while you eat, but we don’t have much time, and you have to