Discovered (The Shalean Moon) by J. Lilley Page A

stones that the water had washed from the sides of the road, and were now sticking between his claws.
    He sniffed the air again—a female Shalean. It was difficult to identify the scent in the wind as it swirled around like fallen leaves in the autumn. He was close now, very close. He slowed and began to scan the sides of the road, looking between the tufts of grass that edged the tarmac, and checking out anything that didn’t seem to fit its surroundings.
    There, a black shape darker than the grass; the tree behind it covering and sheltering.
    He moved forward, and the shape moved.
    ‘What is it? Oh hell, Leira.’ Donny had arrived close behind him, his fur dripping, and his eyes gleaming amber; the look in them enough to frighten any wrongdoer out of their pelt.
    ‘Bri, is Rach here? Are they okay?’
    Trust Leira to think of Rach first.
    He projected to Donny. ‘Rach isn’t here, take care of Leira, and tell mum she’s fine. Let Rach’s dad know what’s going on. I need to find Rach. Tell him I won’t stop until I find her.’
    He hoped that didn’t send her dad running to the police to find him .
    ‘Bri, he took her. He said he’d killed her. I tried to stop him and he pushed me into the ditch. By the time I got out they had gone. Oh Bri, I’m sorry.’ Leira now shifted back into human form. She was crying; her face was white and blotchy. If he’d been in human form he’d have cuddled her, but there wasn’t time for him to shift; not if he was going to find Rach.
    ‘I’ll find her, she’s not dead.’
    She couldn’t be, surely he’d have sensed it? He took off at a run. His pace slowed as he tried to sense her; sense anything. With an almighty shower of sparks the electricity line along the side of the road burst into flames.
    It sparked and fizzled out as the rain overpowered the flames. Another bolt of lightning hit off to his side clearly illuminating his surroundings. Brios could see the old ruined barn just past the end of his dad’s land a few yards ahead. Its outline was dark against the horizon. His pace quickened and he moved back into a steady lope. She was there, he was sure of it.
    ‘De—ead! De—ead.’ The voice seemed as if it was in the wind; in his mind; everywhere.
    Drop dead yourself. Brios thought as he thanked the Gods he’d shifted; otherwise the nettles would have played havoc with his legs. He made his way through weeds that would have been waist-high if he was walking; even as a leopard they almost engulfed him. He came to the old dilapidated building. The only solid bit about it was the door. He wondered whose land this was. His dad had been trying to buy it for years, but nobody seemed to know anything about it. The barn had become steadily more and more run-down; there were holes in the roof, and no glass in the one small window; But, it did have a new barred door.
    Strange.
    The door was also padlocked.
    Brios prowled around the walls; his senses alert for danger.
    Nothing .
    He sensed Struan was not far way. He made a full circle and he realized the tiny window was his only option. At least there was no glass to jump through. He moved back, stretched and leaped; his front paws scrambling at the window ledge before he was able to claw his way over and jump lithely through. He landed on all fours and spun in a complete circle.
    There was nothing; no movement; no noise; nothing.
    He knew Rach had to be here. His eyes scanned the interior slowly. It was almost empty, and it smelt musty. His nose had caught a faint whiff of human—of Rach, he was sure of it. He couldn’t be sure where it was coming from. The floor was compacted earth; hard and solid from years of use. Piles of old dead leaves were heaped up where the wind had carried them. He looked closely, but none were deep enough to hide a body. A few bits of farm machinery and pieces of wood were scattered randomly about; in the darkness it was hard to see exactly what they were. The flickering silver light of