I didn’t say any of those things though, because I knew this world of shifters worked differently than the world of humans did. Liam had said what he did as a warning to the other shifters nearby. It was in an effort to keep me safe. I knew that, and I was grateful because the last thing I wanted was shifters to come out of the woodworks, trying to abduct me every second. I also knew that just because he said I was his didn’t mean that I was—unless I wanted to be.
Everything that would tie me to his clan—being turned or mated—would be my choice.
Looking into Liam’s eyes brightened by his bear, I knew this was true. He hadn’t stripped away any of my choices with his words. Instead, he’d ensured my safety until I could make a choice for myself.
“Will that hold them off for a while?” I asked.
“It should,” he said, bringing me my sandwich. He placed it on the table in front of me and then moved to sit across from me on the bench seat. “But there’s no telling for how long.”
My stomach dipped. “Right.”
“We’re amping up patrols,” Liam said as though this should bring me comfort.
It didn’t. All it did was make me think about how long they would be able to do that. Liam’s clan was small. They had jobs and families. I couldn’t ask them to risk their lives to protect me forever.
“I know the options I have to choose between, but I’m not ready for either. I need time.” The words clawed their way up my throat. I hated saying them, but I couldn’t rush into this either.
“No one is rushing you into anything, least of all me,” he said, his expression soft.
He should be, though. I’d seen the sickness that plagued them firsthand. I’d felt it seep into my body and threaten to destroy it. Every shifter dealt with this, not just Liam’s clan. I understood how motivating that could be. His warning might not last till the end of the night.
I was like the golden snitch in a serious quidditch match. Whoever caught me won.
Chapter Seven
Liam insisted that I finish my sandwich and take my time doing whatever I needed to before heading to his cabin for the clan meeting he was holding. I sent Penny another text, even though I knew she wouldn’t reply, on my way to the bathhouse for a quick shower.
I felt absolutely disgusting.
After I showered, I headed straight to Liam’s cabin. It was a little after 7 p.m., which still seemed impossible, and I was ready to help form a plan for Penny’s rescue. She’d been with Ezra and his pack for way too long.
The living room was already full when I stepped inside Liam’s cabin. A few people nodded to me while others smiled, but every one of them stepped to where I was and either squeezed my shoulder or touched me.
I realized then that touch must be a big thing with bears. Who would have thought? In my head, I pictured them as grumpy grizzlies who preferred to be alone. I’d been wrong.
“Rayna told us about what you did, how Tobin fell sick with the curse and you saved him,” a woman in her mid-forties said. Her eyes filled with tears, and I knew it was because she was close to them both. Was she a sister or best friend? Or was that just how this clan thing worked—they all felt like an actual family? “We’re thankful for you, and what you did.”
“I didn’t do anything anyone else in my situation wouldn’t have. He was just a kid. A sick kid. And I knew I was the only one who could save him. That doesn’t make me a hero,” I said, meaning it.
“To us it does,” a guy in the back said. The voice was familiar, but I couldn’t see who had spoken until he stepped from the back of the living room and into my line of view. Nash. “To me. You saved my life. And you saved Tobin’s. Isn’t that what heroes do—save lives?”
A cocky grin stretched across his face as he sauntered to me. His eyes were dark and wild, but there was a softness to them I’d never seen before. I wondered if this was the only time I would. Nash seemed too moody and brooding to reveal this side of himself often to anyone.
“Hey! I’m glad you’re okay. I haven’t had a chance to see you yet,” I said. It was great to see him without his throat ripped out and covered in his own blood. My gaze dipped to where his nasty wound had been. It had fully healed, but there was a slight scar.
“You’ve been too busy saving others, I hear. Hero.” He folded his arms over his chest and widened his stance beside me. His eyes brewed with trouble as his lips quirked into a full-fledged smile. “So, what are we going to do about these damn coyotes? They’re not going to stay away. Everyone knows coyotes don’t abide by anyone’s rules but their own. They’re among the assholes of the shifter world.”
I grinned while wondering what others fell into that category.
Coyotes had always reminded me of hyenas even though they more resembled a wolf. Wolves always seemed more regal. Coyotes seemed like troublemakers. And hyenas seemed like their drunk cousin.
“We’re going after them,” Liam insisted. He stood near the kitchen, a serious expression twisted onto his face. “We’re going to deliver their warning in person.”
“They’ll try to fight us on the spot before we even get a word out,” the guy to my left said. He had a neatly trimmed goatee and a scar above his right eyebrow. His arm was draped over the woman who’d first spoken to me. They seemed to be a couple.
Liam nodded. “I know.”
“Okay, so we’re going into battle with the coyotes,” Nash said, obviously pleased by the idea. I wondered if that was how he felt about fighting in general—always ready and waiting. “When?”
Liam’s eyes locked on me. “How far is their base from here? Have you been before?”
All eyes shifted to me. It was unsettling.
“About two-and-a-half hours. Three at most,” I said, trying to remember how long I’d driven for. My mind had been preoccupied during the drive here. All I’d cared about was putting distance between myself and Corbin. “And, we’re not only going to deliver a threat. I plan on rescuing my friend he’s abducted and any other girls he might have also been planning to bleed out in his search for the Mystic.”
“God, coyotes are so dumb,” Rhett said with a chuckle. “I can’t believe they think you can tap into a Mystic’s magic by bleeding them out. How do they not know it comes from a place deeper? That it’s magic, ancient magic?”
“I don’t know, but I can’t let them continue. I can’t let them hurt anyone else,” I said.
“If they already know you’re the Mystic, then why would they continue to bleed girls?” a guy asked. He had short-cropped dark hair, big muscles, and bright blue eyes. There was a tattoo of a bear on his bicep, its mouth hung open in a roar. If I had to guess his age, I’d say he was in his early thirties. “They know as well as all of us do that there’s only one Mystic in every generation. Even if they’re elders didn’t tell them anything more, they at least had to have told them that.”
“They can’t let the girls go. They can’t risk the trouble it would bring to them. The only thing left to do is kill them,” Liam said before I could. It sounded harsher coming from him than in my head. Goose bumps prickled across my skin and my pulse quickened. “We know word is traveling fast about the Mystic being activated, but we don’t know it’s made its way to the coyotes yet.”
It was true; we didn’t. Maybe that could play in our favor somehow.
“I say after everything she’s done for this clan, helping save her friend and any other girls these psycho coyotes have while delivering a warning is the least we can do,” a girl close to my age with shoulder-length blond hair said. She was tall and slim, but still had curves. “I’ll go. Tell me what the plan is.”
I liked her. She was straight to the point, and seemingly fearless.
“I agree, Billie,” Liam said to her. His gaze shifted to me next, before drifting to everyone else. “If Opal Pine is two and a half to three hours away, paying them a visit at daybreak might be our best bet. Chances are they’ll be doing patrol switches around that time. They might be di
stracted or tired even. Since we’re going with such a small number, it might be the best time to show up in case they attack on sight instead of letting me speak.”
“What are you going to say?” I asked, unsure of how he wanted to handle the situation from the start. Coming to Ezra with hostility right off the bat would cause friction instantaneously. He’d always been a hothead. His sister, Jessica, too.
“How much I don’t appreciate the unnecessary attack on my brother or the unexpected members who seem to come from his pack into my territory with ill intentions.”
For a moment, I’d forgotten someone had made their way to the campground already.
“Who was it?” I asked, curiosity getting the best of me.
“He said his name was Chase, that Corbin was his brother,” Liam said as the corner of his lips twisted into a snarl. Had Chase’s presence really irked him that badly?
Maybe bears were more territorial than I’d thought.
“Did you hurt him?” I didn’t ask because I worried about Chase’s well-being, I asked because I wanted someone to have hurt him.
He’d helped shove me in Ezra’s trunk. He’d help tie my hands behind my back. He’d watched as his brother hit me and did nothing.
He deserved a little pain.
“Liam didn’t,” the guy with the goatee and scar above his right brow said with satisfaction. “But I did.”
I nodded to him in approval. “Good.”
“And then we sent him back to his pack with his brother’s body,” the guy with the goatee said.
Corbin. It was still so surreal to me that he was dead. An image of him taking his final breath surfaced, but I shoved it away. I refused to feel bad for him. He’d planned on taking me back and killing me.
“Can you show those coming a picture of Penny, or can you give a physical description of her?” Liam asked, pulling me from my thoughts.
“You won’t need either because we already agreed I’m coming with you,” I said, holding his gaze. Had he forgotten our conversation about this already?
I hadn’t.
He flashed me a crooked grin—one that sent butterflies through my lower stomach. “I remember. And, I’m still planning on sticking to my word, but it would be nice if those coming knew what your friend looked like.”
Murmurs of shock rippled through the clan at the mention of me going.
“She can’t go,” the older woman standing next to the man with the goatee said. “She’s not claimed by the clan or mated. They’ll smell it on her. It’s too much of a risk.”
Others seemed to share her concern like I knew they would. Liam started to say something, but I cut him off.
“I’m going because I know these coyotes. I know the area. I know where they’ll be. And, I’m an asset to the plan because of it.” My voice was firm and steady. I dared anyone to tell me any different, my gaze drifting from face to face. “Also, they have my friend. I can’t hang here at the campground while you guys go. I have to help end all of this.”
“You’ll be handing yourself to them on a silver platter,” the woman said.
“Natalie,” the guy with the goatee standing beside her said almost in a scolding way. They locked eyes with one another and a secret conversation happened between them without any words. “Honey, you’re not going to change her mind on this. I can tell.”
He was right. No one would be able to change my mind about going.
“But that’s what she’d be doing if she goes as she is. She’d be handing herself over to them on a silver platter.” She shifted her attention back to me. “Any one of them could bite you to claim you for their pack. You’d turn and become one of them. Is that what you want?” Natalie asked. There was a frantic edge to her words that had chills creeping up my spine and my chest tightening.
“No, of course not,” I said, meaning it. “The last thing I want is to become a member of Ezra’s pack.” I prepared myself to be bombarded with requests to allow one of them to claim me for the clan, to turn me, as well as requests for me to mate with their alpha before leaving.
None came.
“I don’t know,” Rafe said. “I’m sort of with Natalie on this. It’s dangerous. Risky.”
“Then come with us,” Liam said. “Help me make sure that doesn’t happen.”
Rafe looked from me to Liam and then gave him a nod. “All right. Fine. I’ll go,” he insisted.
“‘Bout time you got off your ass and did something,” Nash teased.
“Yeah, he’s taking your place,” Liam insisted.
“What?” Nash spun to look at Liam. Daggers shot from his eyes.
Liam held his stare, his expression serious. “You heard me. I need you here. You and Rhett.”
“Fuck that,” Nash snapped.
Liam’s eyes grew bright as his bear surfaced. “You’re staying. That’s an order. I need you safe in case this thing goes sideways. You’re next in line.”
My throat grew dry. I knew what he meant—that Nash was next in line as alpha if something happened to him. I hated the thought. I pushed it away, reminding myself that I would do everything in my power to make sure that didn’t happen.
“Fine,” Nash insisted as he made his way to the front door of the cabin. He swung it open with more force than was necessary before he stomped onto the porch and took off.
“Who else is coming with Rafe, Tris, and me?” Liam asked, his gaze drifting around the room. Clearly, he was ignoring Nash’s dramatic exit. “I only need two more. Someone to confront Ezra and his pack with Rafe and me when I deliver my warning, and someone to help Tris with getting her friend and any others out.”
“I already said I’d go,” the girl with the shoulder-length blond hair reminded him.
Liam nodded to her. “And Billie. Who else?”
“Count me in,” the guy with the bear tattoo said. His arms were folded over his chest, making him look intimidating.
“Okay. It’s settled then. Tris, Billie, Cato, and Rafe are coming with me,” Liam said. “We leave four hours before daybreak. That gives us all time to rest and get things in order. Can I count on the rest of you to help hold down the fort while we’re gone? Nash and Rhett will need help, I’m sure,” Liam teased.
A few laughed, but others nodded their heads in agreement.
“You be careful, okay?” Natalie stepped to me and pulled me in for a hug. “We don’t want anything happening to you.” Her words were from the heart. It was becoming clear to me that these people cared for me.
“Thanks,” I said as I returned her hug. She smelled of ylang-ylang, which I loved.
“I mean that,” she said when she released me. Her blue eyes locked with mine. “Not just because you’re the Mystic, but because of who you are. You’re a good person, Tris. You’re kind and compassionate. And between you and me, I think you’re going to keep our alpha on his toes.” A knowing smirk twisted her lips before she glanced in Liam’s direction. “Something tells me he’s going to be just fine with that.”
I allowed my gaze to drift to him. He was talking with Rhett. His eyes shifted to me instantly as though he could feel my eyes on him and his lips twisted into the sexy, crooked grin I adored.
Butterflies erupted into flight in the pit of my stomach and I looked away, but Natalie’s words lingered.
Chapter Eight
Time passed too slow. Daybreak felt like it would never come. I’d headed back to Ruby after leaving the meeting at Liam’s to drink some chamomile tea left by a previous renter and mindlessly eat the food Rayna had filled the mini-fridge with. It was all to kill time before leaving for Opal Pine.
The guilt of not rushing to Penny’s aid immediately ate at me. I’d already lost more than enough time. However, I understood Liam’s reasoning for waiting until daybreak. It was safer, and it gave everyone time to prepare.
I checked the time on my cell as I ate cherry tomatoes from the carton. There was still too much time between now and when we would leave. I tried not to t
hink about what Penny might be going through or if she was okay, but that was where my mind kept venturing. Thoughts of her being held down and her veins being sliced open to be bled filled my mind. The message she left me drifted through my head again.
Again, I kicked myself for not having told her everything sooner. If I had, all of this would have been avoided. Penny would be fine. She’d be safe.
On instinct, my thumb tapped Penny’s name. It rang, and I waited on pins and needles for her to answer, but she never did. When her voicemail picked up, I didn’t leave a message. There was no point.
I closed the container of tomatoes and placed them back in the mini-fridge. My copy of The Great Gatsby stared at me from the table. I grabbed it and headed to the bed. The book cover was soft, buttery, and well-worn against my fingertips. I’d lost count of how many times I had read the novel. It was my favorite, but as I stared at the pages, I found that I couldn’t focus on the words. My mind was too jumbled. So, I slipped on my Converse, piled my hair into a bun, and headed out for a walk.
There were still sections of the campground to explore. The gem mining area being one. While I knew I wouldn’t be able to sift through a bucket of dirt at this time of night, it still would be cool to see the setup they had going on.
The air held a slight chill to it while I walked, but it felt good against my heated skin. The more frantic my thoughts were, the more worked up I allowed myself to become and the hotter I got. It was a vicious cycle. The night air was soothing. Plus, walking had always helped clear my mind.
Gravel crunched beneath my shoes as I cut past the bathhouse and headed toward the pond. While it wasn’t huge—and was clearly man-made—it was nice. A statue of a brown bear stood near the edge wearing a fishing vest and hat. He held a fishing pole, one that had been cast into the pond. A slight smile was carved onto his face as though he were enjoying himself. I smiled, thinking it was comical how actual bears owned the place and still played homage to their shifter side through decorations and even their logo.
CAPTURED: GEM CREEK BEARS, BOOK TWO Page 6
