by Stormy Glenn
"I'm Sheriff Thomas Riley. I didn't catch your names."
Harvey refused to state that they hadn't given them. Instead, he waited to see what Rob would do. Technically, Rob was his alpha now. It was his choice whether to give out that information or not.
"Rob Colton, and this is my mate, Casey."
The rest of them introduced themselves, but strangely enough, not a one of them mentioned what rank they held in their little clan. Harvey wasn't quite sure why that was, and now was definitely not the time to ask. They needed to present a united front. Not a clan of people who looked as if they barely knew what they were doing, even if they didn't.
Being a bear and taking that extra year of schooling to learn how to be a better bear, plus growing up in a clan, they knew how to behave in a clan or in situations where they were faced with shifters who were not clan.
Being members of an inner circle of an incredibly small clan was a whole different ball game. There were different rules for one alpha meeting another alpha. As they had never thought to be in this position, they had never learned those rules.
Harvey really hoped his brother could bluff.
He tried to eat some of his food, simply because he knew he needed the nutrients. As the newly appointed beta of their clan, he was also hoping to reassure the others that he had things under control. He didn't, not by a long shot, but he could bluff, too.
"Silver Lake is a good place to be a bear," the sheriff said. "There's not another town within twenty-five miles of us, and we're really off the beaten path, which was why I knew about you all so fast. We don't get a lot of strangers up this way."
"Why can't I smell you?" Rob asked.
The sheriff smiled as he cupped his hands around his coffee cup. "I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to share that information with you, not quite yet."
"But you will?" Harvey asked.
The sheriff shrugged. "Depends on what my alpha says."
Okay then.
When Franny came over to clear their plates, Harvey asked for some more coffee. He suspected he was going to need the extra caffeine, especially when he saw the door open, and an older man walked in, flanked by two very big, burly men.
The sheriff immediately stood and walked over to the older man. Harvey watched the quiet exchange between the two men. He knew from the way the sheriff seemed to defer to the older man that he was the alpha.
"How are we going to play this?" Harvey asked Rob without taking his eyes off the alpha and sheriff.
"Let's just listen to what they have to say," Rob said. "They haven't threatened us so far."
True, but the day was still young.
Harvey moved closer to Dwayne when the four men walked toward their table. If any of them were intent on going after his alpha, his alpha mate, or his own mate, they'd have to go through him first.
The alpha took the chair the sheriff had been sitting in, but instead of straddling it like the sheriff had, he swung it around and sat down. The waitress set a cup of coffee down in front of him.
"My name is Albert Kersey. I'm alpha of the Silver Lake Clan."
"Rob Colton. I'm the alpha of…well, this mangy lot."
"My beta says you're from King City?"
Rob nodded.
"You were banished?"
Rob nodded again.
"May I ask why?"
Rob's lips thinned as he pressed them together. Harvey held his breath as he waited to see how his brother would answer Alpha Kersey. Letting anyone know just how special Casey was probably wasn't a good idea.
"Two alphas in the same clan isn't a good idea," Rob finally said. "Alpha Barker felt it was best if I left to find my own place."
"And your friends?" Alpha Kersey asked as he nodded to each of them.
"Like you said, they are my friends."
"Have you had any luck finding a place?"
"No." Rob shook his head. "Right now, we're just driving until we find some place that doesn't have a clan."
The alpha's head tilted with a curious frown on his face. "Why someplace with no clan?"
Rob's eyebrows lifted. "You do remember why we were banished. Why would I want to go through that again?"
The alpha took a sip of his coffee then leaned back in his chair. "I'll be honest here, I called Alpha Barker before I came to meet you."
Harvey tensed, ready to defend his alpha and fellow clan mates.
"He had nothing but good things to say about you."
Despite the man's words, Harvey still felt on edge. He couldn't figure out what the alpha's motives were here. He seemed to be after something. The question was, what?
"I'd like you to meet someone." Alpha Kersey snapped his fingers.
Harvey's eyes were drawn to the front door of the diner when it opened. A young man stepped inside, flanked by two rather large men. He cast a furtive glance around before hurrying to the alpha's side.
Alpha Kersey smiled up at him. Harvey instantly saw the resemblance between the two men when the younger one smiled back.
"This is my son, Jasper." Alpha Kersey patted his son's hand. "He is a special bear, much like your own mate."
Rob growled when the alpha's gaze went to Casey.
Alpha Kersey quickly held up his hand. "I mean your mate no harm."
"Casey is off limits," Rob snapped.
"Understood." The alpha's shoulders slumped. "I wish I could say the same for my own son."
Rob leaned closer. "What do you mean?"
"The alpha of the neighboring territory has his sights set on taking over my territory. I can't let that happen." The alpha's hands clenched for a moment. "He rules his clan with an iron fist, dispatching any who go against him."
"We've heard rumors that he hunts any who are different than him," Sheriff Riley added in. "Any who are gay or even who he suspects are gay are hunted until they are killed."
Casey gasped before burying his face in Rob's shoulder. Rob tucked him in close before glaring at the alpha and the sheriff. "Why are you telling me this?"
"I'm too old to fight him in a challenge, and my son is unable to fight him. He's just not strong enough or vicious enough. He'd lose any challenge. While I have a lot of strong men in my clan, you have to be alpha born in order to lead a clan."
"That's not true!" Casey explained as he lifted his head. He seemed to understand what he'd said almost immediately and pressed his lips together before burying his face back in Rob's shoulder.
"I won't force my son to mate with someone just to make them an alpha. He deserves to find his true mate just like any other bear."
Harvey was really surprised to hear an alpha say that. In his experience, alphas tended to do what they wanted, no matter how it affected others.
"I still don't understand why you're telling me this," Rob said. "I have no designs on your son. I have a mate."
"Like I told you, I spoke with your former alpha. He had nothing but good things to say about you…all of you."
"And?"
"You need a clan to lead, and I need an alpha to lead my clan."
Harvey's jaw dropped. He was pretty sure the rest of them were feeling the same shock, but he was too stunned to look away from Alpha Kersey to check.
"If you challenge me, I will submit to you and give you leadership of my clan if you agree to keep my clan safe from Alpha King and allow my son to mate with his true mate when he finds him."
"You can't be serious." Rob's words were whispered, almost as if he was afraid to speak louder. "You can't just give me your clan."
"I can, actually. Granted, you would have to officially challenge me, but I would submit without a fight." The alpha's sigh was heavy. It was clear the man was resigned to what was happening. "I've led the Silver Lake Clan for more than fifty years. It's a good clan, good people. I don't want to see anything happen to them."
"Alpha King is a monster," the man's son whispered as he shuddered. "His hatred for any who don't conform to his beliefs is beyond horrible."
&nbs
p; "Why hasn't anyone gone to the council about this?" Harvey asked. If this jackass was hunting people, he needed to be stopped.
"Because we have no proof," Sheriff Riley said. "Those he hunts don't live long, and those in his clan are too afraid of being hunted. No one will say a word against him."
"I can't let this man have my clan," Alpha Kersey said. "Not only would he decimate my clan, but he'd kill my son."
"Does he know your son is special?"
"I pray he doesn't, but I can't be sure. We kept it as secret as much as possible once we knew he was an omega, but people started to notice when he didn't shift, especially since my mate and I are both pure bears."
"I think there's something you need to understand," Rob said. "I have no experience leading a clan. I've been an alpha for all of about two weeks. Hell, I only graduated a few weeks ago. I may not be the alpha you're looking for."
"Maybe you should contact the council and have them send you an alpha who can lead," Harvey suggested.
Alpha Kersey shook his head. "There's no telling if an alpha they send would be understanding of my son's nature. You, who sit there with your omega mate at your side, understand."
Harvey knew his brother couldn't argue with that.
Rob sighed before rubbing his hands over his face then looking across to Alpha Kersey. "I need to speak to my clan before I can give you an answer."
Alpha Kersey nodded then stood. "I'll be waiting."
He walked away with his son, the sheriff, and the other men who'd accompanied him. They stopped at a booth close to the front door. Far enough away that they wouldn't hear what was said if the words were spoken in low tones, but close enough that Rob could call him back when needed.
"So." Rob glanced at each of them left at the table. "Should I challenge for the Silver Lake Clan?"
Chapter Four
Holy shit!
Dwayne opened his mouth to say something then realized he didn't know what to say. Rob had just been offered an entire clan on a silver platter. Things like that just didn't happen.
"Do you think he's for real?" he asked.
"He seems to be," Rob replied. "I just have to wonder how the rest of his clan will take a new alpha."
"Not to mention a new inner circle," Harvey added.
"Fuck, man." Rob ran his hand through his hair. "If you hadn't demanded I name my inner circle before he arrived to talk to us, I'd have had to take on his inner circle." Ron shot Harvey a confused look. "How'd you know?"
"I didn't." Harvey shrugged. "It was just a feeling I got in my gut, and I learned to follow my gut when I was overseas. It kept me alive."
Dwayne drew in a slow breath through his nose. He'd tried not to think about the things Harvey went through while he was serving their country, but it had been hard not to. He pretty much thought about Harvey every second of every day.
"I think we need to know a little more about the Silver Lake Clan before you agree to anything," Harvey continued. "Like, how they are hiding their scents from us."
Dwayne jerked, having forgotten about that part. They should have been able to smell the alpha at the very least. "If this whole town is shifter territory, it's safe to reason everyone who lives here is either a shifter or they know about them."
Casey chuckled. "Could you imagine living someplace where we didn't have to hide who we are?"
Actually, no, Dwayne couldn't. It just didn't seem possible. "The alpha did say the place was kind of off the beaten path. I don't suppose they get a lot of visitors out this way, despite our presence here."
"I can't just toss you guys into this without knowing more," Rob started. "If you want to take off until—"
"We'd follow you anywhere, Rob," Jeb said. "You know that."
"You're our alpha now," Billy Ray added in. "You need to start owning that."
"He's right, Rob," Harvey said. "We committed to follow you when we left King City. You accepted us not twenty minutes ago at this very table. It's time for you to step up and be the alpha we all know you can be."
It was all Dwayne could do to keep his jaw from dropping at Harvey's words. He never thought the man would willingly follow his baby brother. He had kind of expected Harvey to challenge Rob to be the alpha of their little clan.
Rob sighed heavily then glanced around at all of them. "I guess we tell Alpha Kersey we want to know more about the Silver Lake Clan then."
Dwayne wasn't sure if that was a good idea, but he didn't have a better one. Continuing on their journey sounded like a good idea except for two problems. One, they had no idea where they were going and all of them were tired of being on the road.
And two, according to the sheriff, they would have to travel through Alpha King's territory to get anywhere unless they wanted to backtrack several hours. Dwayne had to wonder just how dangerous it would be if they drove straight through. How would Alpha King even know they were shifters, especially if they didn't stop?
"Harvey, would you bring Alpha Kersey back over here?" Rob asked.
Harvey got up and walked over to where the alpha stood with his beta and enforcers. He said something to them, and a moment later, they all headed back toward the table.
Once the alpha sat down, Rob said, "I'm not saying no to your proposal and I'm not saying yes. I need to know more about your clan before I can make a decision one way or another."
The alpha looked disappointed. "I suppose I can understand that. What can I tell you?"
"Well, you can start by telling why I can't scent you."
Alpha Kersey smirked. "Picked up on that, did you?"
Rob's eyes rounded. "Uh, yeah."
"As much as I would like to share that bit of information with you, I cannot. Not unless you decide to challenge me. It is a secret known only to the members of the Silver Lake Clan."
Rob's eyes narrowed, a sure sign he was not happy with that answer, but Dwayne understood it. Keeping the secret of shifters from humans kept them all alive. If Alpha Kersey had found some way to make his clan members blend in even better, he'd want to keep it secret, too. Not because he wouldn't want to share it with other shifters, but to keep humans from finding out and fixing it so it no longer worked.
"Do you have a lot of problems with humans?" Dwayne asked.
Alpha Kersey turned to look at him. "We get the occasional tourist passing through, but other than that, not really. This is a shifter town. Everyone who lives here either knows about shifters or is a shifter themselves. We don't exactly shift and walk through the middle of town, but we don't typically have to hide who we are."
Dwayne just couldn't imagine that. It was almost a dream come true for shifters. "We had to be very careful back in King City. While the clan had been there for years, there were still a lot of humans who lived there who had no idea about shifters."
The alpha nodded as if he understood exactly what Dwayne was saying. "I was a young boy when my grandfather moved us out here. He bought up all the land for miles in every direction so he could establish a shifter town."
"I don't understand how you kept it shifter only," Rob said.
"It's actually clan law. No one may rent to or sell to anyone who isn't a shifter or related to a shifter in some manner, and all new residents have to be approved by the alpha."
"Related?" Rob asked. "Like a cousin or something?"
"Something like that." The alpha smiled. "That area is a little gray, but most everyone here understands the need to keep to our own so it isn't a problem."
"Keep to your own?" Dwayne shot Rob a look of panic. Rob and Casey had gone through hell when they thought he was a human. "You mean no humans?"
"No, no," Alpha Kersey said quickly. "I mean someone who isn't aware of shifters."
"Do you allow bears to mate with humans?"
"As long as they know about us, yes." The alphas shrugged as if it was no big deal. "A mate is a mate. It doesn't matter who they are."
Dwayne glanced at Harvey when he snorted. "You have something to add to th
at?"
"Me?" Harvey shook his head. "No."
Dwayne narrowed his eyes.
"How many members are there in the Silver Lake Clan?"
The smile fell off Alpha Kersey's face. His sigh was heavy. "Technically, there are just around twenty members. We're a rather small clan."
Technically?
What in the hell did that mean?
"Explain," Rob demanded.
"We told you about Alpha King."
Rob nodded.
"In the last year, we've given sanctuary to nearly fifty members of his clan."
Dwayne's jaw dropped. "Fifty?"
"Some have moved on to other clans, but some decided to stay and set down roots here." Alpha Kersey sighed again then rubbed his hands over his face before dropping them on the table. "You have to understand, this man is a monster in every sense of the word. He kills humans and shifters alike."
Dwayne gasped. "How can he get away with that?"
"Remember those hunts I told you about?"
Dwayne swallowed the bile rising in his throat. "He hunts humans?"
"A couple of hikers up in the woods, attacked and killed by a bear? Who's going to say it's murder? If the authorities come looking for a bear, Alpha King organizes a hunt and gives them one, and the authorities go away thinking they have saved everyone from a vicious bear."
"Shit!" Rob exclaimed. "He needs to be stopped."
Dwayne agreed, but he wasn't sure they were the ones to do it.
"Why hasn't the council done something about this?" Dwayne asked.
"No proof," Sheriff Riley replied.
"What about all those people you gave sanctuary to?"
The sheriff shook his head. "It's their word against his, and his clan fears him enough that they'd say or do anything he wanted if questioned by the council."
"No wonder you don't want him to take over your clan," Rob stated. "I wouldn't either."
"I'm not strong enough to beat this guy," the alpha said. "He'll kill me and take over my clan, decimating it. No one will be safe. Not my clan, not my son, and certainly not the people we've taken in. He'll kill them all because he can."
Rob winced as he stared across the table at the alpha. "You're not exactly selling me on doing this, Alpha Kersey."
