Primal Bonds (Shifters Unbound #2)(73)
Author: Jennifer Ashley

Andrea focused on the fur under her hands, soft as down yet wiry and tough, just like Ronan himself. Beneath the fur she sensed the threads of Ronan’s aura growing black and brittle, much as Jared’s had.

Smooth fabric dropped over Andrea’s shoulders. Andrea looked up in surprise as Fionn draped a cloak of light green silk around her body, its cool folds pooling in her lap.

“You needed to cover yourself, daughter.”

Andrea didn’t miss Dylan’s look of disgust. Shifters didn’t find nakedness shameful or embarrassing, but Fae did.

Fionn knelt next to Andrea and touched Ronan’s side. “He’s quite big. What is he?”

“Brown bear,” Dylan rumbled above them. “One of the biggest kind, from the Kodiak islands. Ursines breed closer to wild species than other Shifters.”

“What Fae was mad enough to make Shifters from these creatures?” Fionn said in wonder. “The Felines are bad enough.”

Dylan growled, and Andrea ground her teeth. “Please? Can we focus?” she said. “Those other Fae might be back any minute.”

Fionn removed a pouch from his cloak. “What other Fae?”

“The ones you shot at. Remember? You hit three in about two seconds.”

“I fired too slowly, I know, but I didn’t have time to adjust for the air currents on your world. Otherwise, I’d have taken the other two as well.”

“Your modesty amazes me. But the others will just come charging back through here, won’t they?”

Fionn looked puzzled a moment before his brow cleared. “Ah, I see your mistake. Have no fear, child. Whatever way they found to your world, it is leagues from here. They would never dare to try to cross into my territory.”

“What do you mean, leagues? It was twenty yards, if that.”

“Yes, along the ley line in your world,” Fionn said. “That gate will not necessarily lead to the same place as the one I use. Their gate will open to the lands of their clans, which is a three days’ journey from here.”

“Oh.” Andrea needed to adjust her thinking, that was certain. “What says they can’t dive in here through your gate?”

Fionn opened the pouch and sprinkled what looked like plain sand into his palm. “Because only I can activate it, just as only their leader can activate theirs.” He traced the sand with one finger. “This will heal your bear, but it will hurt him. Can you ensure that he will not turn and kill me?”

Andrea lifted Ronan’s head into her lap, and Ronan huffed an unhappy sigh. Andrea stroked his fur. “Did you hear that, Ronan? The big Fae warrior is afraid of a little teddy bear like you.”

“You do have your mother’s sense of humor,” Fionn said. “Yes, I am afraid of him. He is large and could decapitate me with one swipe of his paw. Please tell him to stay calm.”

Andrea scratched between Ronan’s eyes. “I’m sorry, Ronan,” she said. “He’ll help you, but I need you to promise to let him live. He’s my dad, and I haven’t had time to get to know him yet.”

Dylan knelt on Ronan’s other side, put his hand on the bear’s shoulder. “Easy, lad. Let the Fae bastard try. I want you back with us, my friend.”

Ronan heaved another sigh, opened his eyes, and gave Andrea a long-suffering look.

“He’ll be all right,” she said to Fionn.

Fionn finished smoothing out the sand until a thin layer coated his hand. Then he slammed the hand, palm down, onto Ronan’s side, right where the arrow had gone in.

Ronan’s eyes popped open and a stifled roar came out of his mouth. Fionn kept his hand solidly against Ronan’s fur, flattening his lips in concentration as Ronan’s body began to heave.

“Hold him steady,” Fionn said.

“What is it doing?” Dylan asked.

Andrea knew before Fionn answered. In her mind’s eye, she could see the magic of the dust leach into Ronan’s blood, muscles, and bones, searching for the taint of poison and then eating through it like acid burning away rust.

It had to hurt like hell. Ronan writhed under Andrea’s touch even as she laced her healing power down to help him, his moans of pain almost howls. As the counterspell traveled through him, Ronan’s movements grew stronger, until finally he shook off Fionn and Dylan and sprang to his feet. He roared as he rose on his hind legs, all twelve feet of him, and he morphed into his human form in midroar.

“Ow, that f**king hurts! Enough!”

Andrea pulled the silk wrap about her as she stood. The cloth was soft as air but opaque, hiding her completely in its smooth folds. “You all right?” she asked Ronan.

Ronan shuddered, hands coming up to scrub his face. “What the hell was that? It was like being eaten by ants from the inside out.”

“A very powerful magic charm,” Fionn said, dusting off his palms. “Without it, you’d have been dead.”

“Oh.” Ronan rearranged his expression. “Thanks. I mean that.”

“I’d not have bothered, but my daughter spoke well of you. I did it for her.”

“No, really, don’t keep explaining. I’m fine. Thanks, Andrea.”

Andrea squeezed his big body in a hug. “Anytime. You saved my life out there.”

“Plus, the Guardian’s not here, so it’s just as well I didn’t die.” Ronan glanced around, as though Sean would come crawling out from under the nearest fern. “Where is Sean? I thought he never strayed two feet from you.”

“He’s not here,” Dylan said grimly.

“We need to find him.” Andrea chewed on her thumbnail, her anxiousness returning full force.

Ronan looked from Andrea to Dylan. “What the hell happened to Sean?”

“We don’t know,” Dylan said. “We found blood …”

Fionn was the only one who didn’t look concerned. “You can find him, daughter.”

“How? Someone took him away, who knows where, and we don’t even know whether he’s alive.”

“You have the answer,” Fionn said. He gestured to the sword, which he’d left leaning against a tree.

Andrea glanced at it, waiting so patiently for the Guardian’s return. “What, I point it and say, find Sean?”

“It’s a magic blade, forged by a Shifter and a Fae, and the two of you are connected to those who made it. More importantly, you share the mate bond.”

She heard Ronan’s gasp of delight, but Andrea couldn’t look away from Fionn. Dylan rumbled behind her. “Is that true, Andrea? You and Sean have formed the bond?”