by Juniper Hart
Epilogue
“Just breathe,” Frau Schiller insisted. “There’s no time to wait for an ambulance now. The baby is coming.”
“Nein!” Sabine cried, tears pouring down her cheeks. “No, not yet. Dex isn’t here!”
Frau Schiller raised her head from between Sabine’s knees and snorted.
“Dex is never here,” she reminded the woman. A pang of sadness shot through Sabine’s heart as she dropped her head back, blinking away the tears of pain.
“Push now, liebling. I can see his head.”
The door to the apartment flew open and Dex rushed inside, his face gleaming with sweat and exhaustion.
He flew here from the States, she realized. He made it here before the birth of our son.
“Sabby,” he choked, dropping to her side to squeeze her hand. “I came as fast as I could.”
“If you were already here, you wouldn’t need to rush here,” Frau Schiller snapped.
“Frau Schiller,” Sabine moaned. “Please.”
“Never mind that,” the neighbor grunted. “Just focus on the baby.”
Grinding her teeth together, Sabine pushed again.
“One more!”
With heavy rasps of breath, Sabine again pushed and suddenly the indignant wails of an infant filled the tiny apartment.
“Oh, let me see!” Sabine cried, struggling against Dex to see the small, scrunched-up face of her newborn son. Already, the pain in her body was diminishing but she was too entranced with the baby to worry that Frau Schiller might notice.
“One minute, let me wipe him,” Frau Schiller grumbled. Someone pounded on the apartment door.
“Ambulance!”
“Ha!” Frau Schiller snorted, ignoring the door and moving to allow Sabine to hold her child against her breast. “I told you we’d deliver the baby before they got here.”
“Send them away,” Sabine told Dex, who hurried to oblige. She barely heard the exchange between her mate and the paramedics, her eyes glued to the face of her boy.
“He’s beautiful, Sabine,” Frau Schiller sighed. “Just perfect.”
“He looks like his father,” Sabine said, noting the deep onyx of the baby’s eyes and mop of dark hair.
“He yells like you,” Dex replied, reclaiming his spot on the edge of the bed to smile down at his son. Sabine giggled, relief coursing through her body. It had been a long few months, alone as Dex remained in the States. They spoke every day, sometimes two or three times, but the toll of being alone during her pregnancy had begun to wear down her nerves those past few weeks.
“I’m doing this so that our family stays safe,” Dex reminded her time and again. Sabine knew his reasons and agreed with them but that didn’t mean she didn’t long to have Dex at her side during those sleepless nights.
Frau Schiller had been a huge help and Hans had promised to keep her job for her when she was ready to come back but even so, Sabine knew it was Dex that she wanted.
“Do you want to hold him?” Sabine asked, the emotion of seeing the people she loved best overtaking her.
“Yes…I mean, do you mind?”
“If you hold your son? No, I don’t mind,” she laughed.
She carefully placed the baby in his arms and exhaled as Dex stared intently at the child’s little face.
“Hello. I’m your papa. I’m your papa.”
Out of the corner of her eyes, Sabine saw Frau Schiller give Dex an appreciative look, despite her endless complaints about him.
She doesn’t dislike him. She just wishes he was around more. Like me.
But Sabine knew it was a tall order to fill with the mess they’d left in the States.
“I have something to show you,” Dex mumbled, perching on the edge of the bed as Frau Schiller ducked out of earshot. At first, Sabine thought he was talking to the baby. He looked at her.
“Sabine?”
“Oh. Me? Sure,” she agreed quickly. “What is it?”
“When you’re feeling well enough, I’ll take you for a little drive.”
Sabine chuckled and leaned in quietly so that the neighbor didn’t hear.
“I’m already healing,” she told him. “As soon as Frau Schiller leaves, we’ll go wherever you want.”
“There’s no rush,” he told her. “You must be exhausted.”
“If you think I’m going to waste a minute sleeping while you’re here, you’re out of your mind,” Sabine laughed. Dex cast her a long, adoring look.
“I love you, Sabine,” he told her simply. “I love how patient and kind and badass you are.”
She tittered.
“You’re just saying that because I birthed you the best-looking baby in the world,” she replied haughtily.
“No,” he replied earnestly, leaning down to brush a kiss over her forehead. “I’m saying that because it’s true. You are the best thing that ever happened to me and if I hadn’t met you, I would have never realized how blind I’ve been.”
“Well, you saved me from being murdered by a demon, so I guess we’re even.”
“Demons can’t kill you,” Dex reminded her dryly. “Stop brushing off perfectly heartfelt words.”
Sabine laughed and blushed.
“You’re right. I’m sorry. You were saying?”
He turned and met her eyes solemnly as Frau Schiller stayed deliberately out of earshot.
“I’m saying that you are amazing for all you’ve endured on your own without complaint or resentment. I promised you that we would be together when the dust settles and you accepted it.”
Sabine’s smile faded slightly.
“Well…that’s because I expect that there’s an end in sight, Dex. Is this your way of saying there isn’t one?”
He shook his head and smiled.
“Just the opposite,” he said sincerely. “The end is in sight. In fact, we’re at the end. I quit the compound last week. I’ve been in the States wrapping up some loose ends and looking at properties out here.”
Sabine gaped at him.
“You what?” she choked. He nodded.
“I think Anatoli was just sick of being glowered at by me and welcomed letting me out of my contract anyway.”
“But…” Sabine’s voice dropped slightly. “What about all the intel you were gathering to bring her down?”
Dex’s smile widened.
“I think I have more than enough now. That’s a matter for another time, though. Right now, my focus is this family and the new house I just bought.”
“You bought a house?”
“A little country house, just on the outskirts of Hude. There’s lots of room for animals and for our son to run.”
He paused.
“Lots of room for lots of pitter-pattering,” he said suggestively. Sabine laughed but her heart sang with happiness.
“How about we name this kid first before we start talking about having another one, all right?”
“Deal!” Dex agreed and Sabine laughed, drawing her head up to kiss Dex’s lips sweetly. Dex pulled away and smiled with wide, love-filled eyes. “Anatoli and the compound be damned for now. Right now, I only have time for our family.”
Bear’s Growl
Shifters Confidential
Bear’s Growl: Shifter’s Confidential
Text Copyright © 2020 by Juniper Hart
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictionally. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events or locales is entirely coincidental.
First printing, 2020
Publisher
Secret Woods Books
[email protected]
www.SecretWoodsBooks.com
Prologue
Lucien’s dark eyes flashed with anger, his snout elongating to release a snarl. The sudden change didn’t shock anyone at the table, each family member well accustomed to his outbursts. Damon could read his father’s expression well before he had shifted, the younger bear’s back tensing as he prepared to do the same.
Don’t, a logical inner voice warned him. You’ll only make matters worse. Just let him have his temper tantrum and carry on with your night.
The thought did nothing to alleviate his anxiety, logical as it was. He shot a glance around the room to take in the almost bemused looks on his siblings’ faces.
“How dare you?” Lucien hissed, spittle spraying from his lips as he pounced onto the table, the weight of his massive, grizzly body causing the wood to shift and creak below him. “Do you know what’s at risk? Have you not heard any of what I’ve been telling you? You are spoiled, entitled, the lot of you!”
“Dad,” Cass said in her reasonable tone, rolling her dark eyes heavenward. “We’re agreeing with you, not fighting with you. Settle down.”
She flipped her golden hair over her shoulder and shot her other siblings a half-smirk as their father paused to consider her words. Like magic had fallen over the room, Lucien sank back into his human form, his eyes still glittering.
She’s the only one of us who can get away with talking to him like that. If any of us tried…
Damon didn’t need to be told what would happen.
“It certainly doesn’t sound like you agree,” Lucien snapped but with less anger now as he sat back into his chair. “It sounds like you don’t understand the gravity of what’s happening in the world right now, like you don’t know what’s coming even though I have tried to drill it into you.”
“Dad,” Cass sighed. “How could we not? You’ve been babbling about this since infancy. The bears are losing their stronghold. We need to reclaim our place. The world is falling apart.”
She didn’t add, “blah, blah, blah…” but Damon knew she was thinking it.
“We never had a true stronghold!” Lucien countered, slamming his meaty fists down to shake the table. “You see? You’re not paying attention!”
Why must every family meal eventually lead into talk of politics? Damon thought miserably. I would kill for one night of peace.
“We do okay,” Orion chuckled, flopping back in his own chair, tossing his dinner napkin onto the table. “I mean, it could be worse. We could be fairies.”
Their father was understandably not amused by his son’s retort.
“It could also be better!” Lucien roared, apparently ready to shift again.
“Dad,” Cass said reasonably. “All Orion is saying is that we’re not bad off in the hierarchy of enchanted beings. Come on. Do we have to do this right now?”
“We could be humans!” Laz joked but their father didn’t see the humor.
“You are young and stupid,” Lucien barked at his four offspring. “One day, you’ll understand how important it is for us to reign above all others. You’ll understand how much I sacrifice for you and appreciate all I’ve done to keep you in comfort.”
“Enough with this bear supremacy talk at the table,” Ava said gently, speaking up for the first time since dinner had begun. Her own eyes flashed as they met her mate’s and for a silent moment, the two seemed to have an unspoken battle of wills. To Damon’s surprise, his stubborn father relented first.
Well, that’s a first, he thought. Mom getting the last word.
But of course that wasn’t true.
“Fine,” Lucien muttered. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Damon exhaled a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding when Lucien’s shoulders relaxed slightly. The brunt of the lecture was over. They could return to their meal now.
“He really needs to retire,” Cass muttered in a low voice to Damon. “Being pack leader is sucking the life out of him—not to mention his other responsibilities. He’s having a hard time balancing between the two.”
Damon eyed her warily, knowing what she was going to say next.
Oh, not now, Cass. Just give it a rest.
“It’s high time that the oldest son took his place, don’t you think?” Cass purred, clearly not reading his naked pain. Damon choked on air and began to cough, causing the rest of his family to stare at him.
“Oh darling!” Ava cried, jumping up to pound him on the back. “Are you all right?”
Damon held up a hand and nodded, waving her away.
“I’m fine,” he assured her, regaining his composure. “It just went down the wrong tube.”
Reassured that her oldest child was fine, Ava retreated to her seat at the far end of the long table. Cass waited until she was out of earshot to continue on her thoughts.
“Come on, Dame. You know he should have bequeathed the title to you already,” Cass said urgently. “Look how unpredictable he’s becoming. These outbursts are becoming nightly occurrences. It’s time to pass the torch.”
Damon said nothing, feeling the heat of upset rising inside him again. It wasn’t the first time his sister had roused the subject of taking their father’s place, but he wished she would give it a rest. He knew he had no place as leader of the pack, particularly not this pack. It wasn’t just that the Wilders were the strongest clan of bears, leaving Damon with huge shoes to fill. He had always known what was expected of him, even before he’d fully understood the magnitude of what was happening in the world around him. And of his father’s hypocrisy.
Even for the oldest child, Damon had been slightly sheltered from the animus that seemed to enshroud the realm beyond the walls of the estate in which he and his siblings had been reared. Perhaps Lucien had done that by design, keeping his children at arm’s length to the hostilities unfolding around them.
More likely he did that to keep us all from finding out his true nature and what a liar he is. Too bad he couldn’t keep that hidden forever, Damon thought.
Damon was well into his early adulthood before he understood just how tense matters had become between the shifters and other enchanted beings.
No, it wasn’t fear of taking over leadership that troubled Damon. It was what that leadership entailed. He knew he would be expected to uphold the same biases as his father and grandfather before him. It was the Wilder way, after all. Promote the divide—even though they truly didn’t believe in it.
We’ve been fighting long enough. There are no winners in a war of this magnitude, he thought grimly, pretending to ignore his sister’s whisperings, but Cass would not stop.
“Just think about it,” she insisted. “We need a fresh pair of dark eyes on this.”
Damon could not help but wonder what Cass had to gain from all this. She was eternally pushing him toward something he didn’t quite understand. Damon wasn’t sure he wanted to either. From what he knew of his father, Damon also knew that after two hundred and ten years, it was better not to involve himself in his siblings’ matters. It kept his conscience clear and his gut from flipping.
“What are you two whispering about over there?” Laz asked, grinning lazily at them from the far side of the table.
“No doubt your brother is trying to convince Cass of his bleeding heart, partisan ways,” Lucien growled. Damon’s skin prickled but he deliberately picked up his fork and continued to eat his steak without rising to the bait.
“Not at all,” Cass interjected smoothly. “In fact, we were just discussing work. I was asking Damon if he intends to re-enlist.”
Damon eyed his sister.
She lies so well, he mused. Maybe she should consider taking over the leadership. She’d be much better at it than me.
Damon stifled a groan, his appetite entirely ruined now as he ran a hand through his thick, blue-black waves. There would be no reprieve for this supper.
“Oh. That is an interesting question,” Orion agreed, leaning forward with interest.
“He just got home from the wars,” Ava cried, her face ashen at the
prospect. “Why would you want to see him back out there again? And to what end?”
The sadness in her voice pierced Damon and he shot her a grateful look but he was smart enough to know that this wasn’t going to be the end of it.
“I’m not re-enlisting right now,” Damon assured her quickly, hoping to wipe the stricken look from her face. “I need some time to get my head back on straight.”
“Good,” Lucien said, shocking everyone. All eyes turned to him questioningly. He was the last person they would have expected not to push Damon back out onto the battlefield.
“Good?” Cass echoed in disbelief. “I would have thought that you of all people would want to see him back out there.”
“It just so happens that we’re working on a new strategy in this conflict,” Damon replied smoothly but he carefully avoiding meeting anyone’s steadfast gaze. “I could use Damon’s experiences in the field to help me.”
A shudder of revulsion shot through Damon and for a fleeting moment, he considered lying and saying he was rejoining the Bear Army. It had to be better than working at the front lines for a cause that he didn’t believe in.
And I wouldn’t even know which cause I’m working for, he thought bitterly.
“I’m not sure how much help I can be,” Damon muttered. “My posts were fairly tame.”
Something you arranged, or have you forgotten? he thought while eyeing his father.
As power hungry as his father was, Lucien was not about to send his eldest and next in line to die. So he had pulled some strings to ensure that Damon was uncomfortable but not apt to be killed.
“Yeah, but you had a battle with the vampires,” Laz piped up. “Surely you learned some of their weaknesses.”
“And that overtaking of the village in—” Cass started to say but Damon’s fist came down onto the table as hard as Lucien’s had just minutes before. The memories were not something Damon wanted to recall at the dinner table. The entire family gaped at him, startled.
