Full Moon-Appalachian Shifters

Chapter Twenty-One Gideon

Bella’s mates may have finally tracked down the one I was supposed to be with. I still don’t know where they took her sister though. They assured me that she was safe and no longer in the mine. It was odd because they said they smelled a wolf all over the place.

There were no wolves in this area, at least there were none that were living in the forests. I was not feeling good though. I felt heavy as if there was a weight on my shoulders that just kept weighing me down.

I started feeling horrible after Bella’s friend came to visit. She performed some ceremony on the property and it felt as if something dark was sticking to me like tar. I tried telling Bella and her mates that something was wrong but they just laughed at me.

Feline shifters were a strange bunch, I once went drinking with a bear shifter and he wasn’t half as strange as the feline shifters. Shuddering, a tingle went down my spine when I stopped in front of the dive bar.

It reeked of cheap beer, m*******a, and the chemical smell of other drugs. My limbs trembled and sweat started pouring down my back as I made my way into the bar. The sickening sweet stink of blood and decay hung in the air next to the alley.

Only vampires and ghouls had that stench that clung to them. This was not the territory I wanted to be caught in. Maybe if I had a few pack members with me we could take on humans on drugs and vampires, but a lone fox was no match for them.

Staggering into the bar I could feel the familiar prickles of unease up and down my arms. My vision was growing blurry as well. Someone was watching me, and it wasn’t the burly ruffians seated at the bar.

I waved the bartender over but he ignored me as I leaned heavily on the sticky bar. I caught the scent of coyotes in the bar and tensed up. I hoped they weren’t going to pick a fight; I did not have it in me to fight anyone.

My gaze fell on a woman in a dark corner sitting next to a coyote shifter. He seemed to radiate power meaning he was more than just a normal shifter. I heard about the Gods that the Native Americans used to worship and he had the aura of an old God.

The woman had strawberry blonde hair with white-blonde highlights and she had golden eyes. She was stunning and something in my soul seemed to connect with her. Could she be the one I was looking for?

She was suddenly leaving with the male shifter and a female coyote shifter. Something about the two screamed twins, was unusual in litters as well. A tall male with an imposing presence came up beside me and he was watching me.

Another male stalked over to my other side. One was a coyote shifter as well and the other had a strange scent. It was almost as if he were disguising his true scent. My limbs suddenly felt cold and I almost collapsed onto the dirty floor.

“Ok friend, we are going to get you out of here. Our mate said there was something wrong with you and my shaman friend here agrees with her.” I wanted to fight these men, why would I go with complete strangers?

“Please do not fight, you are very sick. Someone has put a curse on you, my friend. We mean you no harm.” I let out a weak laugh. They always said that before someone gutted you. Wasn’t that a favorite line for serial killers?

“I’m sure that is what Ted Bundy said to his victims or any serial killer for that matter.” I coughed and put a hand over my mouth. My eyes widened when I pulled my hand away and saw blackish-looking blood.

The world spun around me and I was being dragged out of the bar by the two men. I didn’t care if they killed me, what I just coughed up was not normal. Was I going to die? What was wrong with me?