Kate Daniels 04.6 - Curran POV, Vol II

of this door." I held his gaze for another long moment to make sure I had his attention. "No one."
    "Yes, m'lord."
    I opened the door and Mahon and I walked outside. The cold air hit my lungs.
    The door shut behind us.
    Darkness had fallen. The sky was black and vast, and the small lights of stars pierced it with cold light. Behind us the grey towers of the Keep blocked the moon, but it was there, spilling light on the snow-strewn clearing around the Keep. Beyond it, black woods rose.
    The balcony stretched before us, covered with untouched, white snow. Before this was over, we'd paint it red.
    "How do you fancy doing it?" Mahon asked.
    "Not like this and your half form sucks," I told him. "I want you at your best. You better bear out."
    "In that case, you better come at me in your warrior form. It will give you a better chance."
    "No need," I answered.
    He laid his hand on my shoulder and said quietly, "My son, if you hesitate or hold back, I will break you."
    You will try. "No more talk."
    I let go. Heat flooded me. There was a tremendous warmth. It was like being stretched on a rack while being set on fire. And then everything pulled: bones, tendons, muscles, skin stretched tight. The hazy veil I didn't notice fell away and suddenly the world was painfully clear. I smelled it all, the wind from the icy sky, the hint of smoke from the Keep's kitchen, the dry stone, the clean snow, and the fur of a huge bear waiting to break my back.
    Bear. Familiar scent. Safe. The same scent I smelled years ago, when I had no place to go and Mahon told me I had a home. He was huge then, big and rough, taller than me by almost a foot. "You can stay here, boy. We'll treat you like our own. You don't have to call me Dad. Just Mahon will do."
    Across the balcony, the Kodiak shook his head. He was huge, nearly twelve feet tall, and he weighed almost a ton.
    Going toe to toe with him was out of the question. I shook, testing the shift. Everything had fallen into place. I wasn't at full power, but that was fine. I was too pissed to take a rain check on this fight.
    The shaggy giant beast reared up onto his hind legs and roared at me. That's right show me that big soft belly. I opened my mouth and roared back, drowning him out. Bring it, fat boy.
    My best bet would be to bleed him. Dart in, bite or claw, then out again before those big paws can connect. Don't let him grab or hold me. If he could, Mahon would pull me into a hug and crush my head between his jaws. And if I was really lucky, he'd come at me just like this, on hind legs, gut out.
    I dug the snow, testing the ground. My paw found ice sheathing the stones. Slick.
    Come on, Bear. Come at me.
    He dropped to all fours and shuffled toward me with his head lowered. Damn it.
    If I let him, he would try to muscle me to the ground. I'd killed a bear before, and it was the hardest fight of my life.
    Mahon kept moving, head down, shifting in, rocking from side to side. The bear shamble. It looked clumsy, but it let him use the thick layer of fur and fat that sheathed his forward quarters like a shield. And a flank attack wouldn't go unpunished. Shambling or not, he was fast.
    We never fought, not like this, but I had been watching him kill for the last fifteen years, and I knew that he would use that big head like a sledgehammer. Getting head-butted by a bear was like being kicked by a horse. He'd knock me down and then put all of that weight on me.
    It was time to dance. I let him get within five feet of me. Mahon lunged. I dodged to the side and buried my claws in his head and neck. Mostly what I got was fur and fat, but it hurt him. The Bear shook, trying to fling me off. I hung on and took a big bite out of his ear. The familiar taste of blood flooded my mouth.
    Mahon bellowed in pain.
    Yeah, that's gonna leave a mark.
    Suddenly my paws left the ground, and then we were moving. He drove me back, like hammer drives a nail. God, he was fucking strong.
    There was nothing I could do about it, except to let go. I released my hold. Too late. The wall slammed my back and the full bulk of the Bear smashed into me.
    Ouch.
    "
    The wall shook. On the other side of that wall Curran was getting a beat-down and he'd locked me out and left the boy wonder in position by the door to make sure it stayed shut.
    The room was full of shapeshifters. The alphas, the betas, anyone with any sort of rank had shouldered their way in.
    Jim loomed over Derek. The boy wonder had grown, but Jim still had about