Lynx Northern Shifters 3

thing to say as Trey watched him reach for another piece of firewood and whip it at Trey. Again he caught it with two hands, let it drop to the floor.
Jonah scrabbled for more and Trey, with two strides, was upon him. It wasn’t how he’d wanted this first meeting to go and Jonah was strong, going after him with teeth and hands and feet. But Trey had practice in this, long practice, and he easily wrestled Jonah stomach-down, hands behind his back, Trey’s weight on him without hurting him.
“Jonah, I need you to calm down.”
The lynx’s breathing rasped in and out, and Trey could hear the too-rapid heartbeat. He no longer knew how to communicate with this man, though they were now both human.

Chapter Three
“I am not here to hurt you.”
    Fuck you . Aaron always talked as if he didn’t intend to hurt him. It was such bullshit . And when he didn’t hit Jonah, Aaron hit Craig or his mother instead.
“Jonah.”
It was the same as always, Aaron making him completely helpless before the beating began. Jonah pulled in a huge breath, preparing to fight again, and…
What the fuck? He was losing it. He wasn’t at the old house. Craig wasn’t here. This isn’t even Aaron .
Jonah couldn’t breathe. Aaron wasn’t here, but the panic was.
“It’s okay.”
No it wasn’t okay. They were all dead, dead, dead.
A hand went to Jonah’s temple, palm smoothing his hair back. Very strange. Weirdly calming.
He could only conclude that he’d finally snapped.
“Jonah.” A stranger’s voice, and then the stranger stepped away. Jonah wasn’t sure what to do. Aaron would have already informed him he couldn’t move. But Aaron was dead .
After a moment, Jonah rolled onto his side. Nothing happened. He took a breath and launched himself to standing.
“Let’s not start again, okay?” said the stranger.
Jonah could barely think straight. There was a large man in his room, staring at him and taking yet another step back. Jonah remembered to breathe and smelled…he smelled the wolf. Sort of.
He decided he’d better start listening to the words, because the stranger was speaking, his mouth was moving, but Jonah wasn’t able to understand much beyond his name, not with the loud buzzing in his ears. He could not pass out. He focused, narrowed his eyes, became determined to get himself under control, and the buzzing receded enough for the words to make their way through.
“I’m sorry, Jonah.”
How the hell did this asshole know his name? Something was desperately wrong. Aaron had betrayed them again. From beyond the grave? Was it possible?
“Sit down.” The stranger gestured to the cot. “You’re white as a sheet.” The invader hunkered down on his own haunches, as if to demonstrate how one lowered one’s body.
Jonah considered the advice and sank back onto the bed. Better than crashing to the floor unconscious.
“Breathe, Jonah.” Like a puppet Jonah obeyed, dragging in needed breaths, trying to stave off the lightheadedness and the godawful buzzing. Why did he smell Enigma and not see him? Was the wolf okay?
“Look at me.”
Not yet. Jonah clenched his fists, stared down and tried to get his head together, though it was still full of Aaron, despite the stranger’s presence.
“Jonah.” The word was soft, coaxing, and before this morning, it had been such a long while since anyone had said his name aloud. He couldn’t resist, and reluctantly Jonah met the stranger’s blue familiar gaze. How could anyone be familiar?
“You know my name?” The words were high and thin, and the question stupid. Obviously this guy knew his name. He’d said it repeatedly since Jonah had awakened. Embarrassment heated his face.
The stranger didn’t use his weakness against him, didn’t laugh. His expression was concerned, sympathetic and, perhaps most unsettling, showed intense interest. “You told me your name.”
Jonah didn’t remember that, which was too scary to understand. He latched on to something else. “Where’s Enigma? Is he okay?”
The man simply stared—with Enigma’s brilliant eyes—and Jonah felt the blood draining from his brain again.
“Jonah.” He had told Enigma his name, introduced himself, but a wolf turning into a man…? Impossible. Such a thing didn’t exist. Despite all his efforts to keep it together, Jonah slumped over.
    Trey slid forward, catching Jonah before he hit the floor, then lifted him back on the cot. He was out for less than a minute while Trey gazed down, rather guiltily, at