Free Destiny (The Chosen One Trilogy:Book Three) by Mireille Chester Page B

find Hayden, or they
are here to kill Rainen.”
    Rainen and I looked at each other before
climbing up the tree. Jasper glanced up. “If they’re humans, feel
annoyed. If they’re shifters then just get out of the tree.” I
nodded and sent a feeling of how much I loved him for good luck.
His gaze softened and he smiled before turning back to the rest of
our pack.
    “Alright. Dodge saw fourteen of them. As far
as they know, there are six of us. We wait until I get a sign from
Hayden. If they’re human, go for the kill. If they’re shifters,
we’ll see what they want. Dodge, see those boulders behind us?”
    I do.
    “Get behind them. If things go wrong you grab
those three and fly them to Howel.”
    My horse snorted and nodded then trotted off
toward the boulders.
    Jasper glanced up the tree as he felt my
objection to his plan. “If things go wrong, you get the hell out of
here, do you understand?” He didn’t wait for my reply.
    “Hello, camp!”
    Everyone looked in the direction of the call.
Harold stepped forward.
    “Who calls?”
    “Collin of Trach.” A tall dark haired man
wove his way through the woods. The rest of his pack followed close
behind him. I scanned them quickly and breathed a sigh of
relief.
    “All clear,” I whispered to Rainen.
    “I’m glad to hear it,” she answered back.
“He’s one of my best captains.” We made our way down the tree.
    “Rainen.” Collin saluted his sorceress. His
gaze moved to me and his hazel eyes widened.
    “Collin, I would like you to meet
Hayden.”
    He nodded slowly then looked quickly to
Jasper. Recognition crossed his features and a growl made its way
up his throat. Rainen put a hand on his shoulder.
    “Stand down, Collin. They saved my life.”
    Gina and Harold came to stand behind us
protectively. Collin and his pack looked from Rainen to the two
Majs standing guard over their enemy. Dodge came walking back to
the group. A few of the dogs in Collin’s pack sensed the tension in
the air and shifted.
    Jasper broke the silence. He reached into his
pocket, pulled out Brice’s shifting stone and tossed it to a
surprised Collin.
    “Have you come across any shifters carrying
one of these?”
    “I don’t have time to check when I’m
fighting.”
    Jasper raised an eyebrow at him. “I mean
afterwards.”
    “I don’t loot bodies.”
    Matthew snorted but managed to keep any
comments he might have wanted to make to himself.
    “By the moons, Collin, answer the question.
Have you ever found one of these stones?” Rainen looked at the
captain impatiently. The look on his face made me glad she wasn’t
looking at me.
    “We have.”
    “How many?” asked Matthew.
    “I’m not sure.” He looked back to his pack.
“Raymond? Where are you?”
    A short man with dirty blond hair and brown
eyes stepped toward the front of the group and came to stand beside
Collin. “Sir?”
    “How many of those strange stones have we
found?”
    Raymond untied a pouch from his belt and
looked into it. “We have nine of them, sir.”
    “How long have you been collecting them?”
asked Jasper. Raymond looked to Rainen who nodded.
    “Chad noticed them about three weeks ago.
There were four in one pack, two in the other, and three in the
last one we ran into.”
    “Were they cats or dogs?” I asked.
    Collin frowned. “Are you suggesting we would
kill our own?”
    “They’re not your own,” I said. “They’re
human.”
    “Humans can’t shift.”
    “They can with stones that have a shifter’s
animal trapped in them.”
    He looked down at the green stone Jasper had
tossed him. “How?”
    “Steven, William, and Emelly. Would you mind
showing the skeptical man how you can shift?” Everyone watched as
they shifted and changed back. “These three are human. Check them
for a mark if you want.”
    Matthew tensed as Collin checked behind
Emelly’s ears for a shifter’s mark and didn’t relax until she was
leaning back against his chest. When the inspection was