by Kimber White
At least I would have if they ever took me back.
Pain seared through my heart at the thought of how dim those prospects were. As far as I knew, no clan banishment had ever been reversed. Like it or not, I was on my own unless I could find another willing to take a chance on me.
“You ready?” Anya stood in the doorway with her hand on her hip. She wore that tight little dress that aroused and infuriated me all at once.
I growled my answer as I stood at the other end of the sidewalk under the porch light of the second apartment. We’d come to an agreement. I couldn’t stay under her roof. The temptation for both of us was way too strong. If she was bound and determined to carry out this plan of hers, the less contact she had with me the better. So, for now I stayed in the empty unit next door to hers. Luckily, she had an absentee landlord and neighbors who kept to themselves. I was careful not to be seen coming and going and never turned the lights on. I could see well enough without them even at night. Plus, it kept me close enough to her to sense any threat or intruders. It had been a week, and the bear I confronted in front of her house hadn’t come back. I also hadn’t seen him anywhere near the Bluelight.
“Come on.” Anya rolled her eyes. She walked around me and jutted a defiant chin in my direction as she pulled her keys out of her purse.
“How long are you planning on keeping this up?” I followed behind her. She’d drive by herself while I kept to the riverbanks on the edge of town. I was beginning to know every inch of the Blackfoot River. She turned on me, her eyes flashing. I knew what she was going to say before she said it.
“As long as it takes.”
I nodded. “You said nobody knows anything about Avery.”
“I said so far. But I’ve got a gut feeling, okay? I told you, Arkady said I looked familiar that first night. I know he knows something.”
I growled again. Arkady. He was definitely the Alpha bear in this group. I’ll just bet he recognized Anya. If we were right about her sister also being an Aram Cara, Arkady would have sensed her a mile away. A shudder went through me thinking about what that could have meant about her eventual fate. I hadn’t had the heart to tell Anya my suspicions just yet. But, with what Arkady’s group tried to pull with Anya that first night in the alley, chances were she got mixed up with something very bad. Not all bear clans believed in an Anam Cara’s right to choose.
Anya’s eyes narrowed and she took a step toward me. She was getting just as good at reading my thoughts from my expressions as I was with her.
“Just stay as far away from Arkady as you can,” I told her for about the thousandth time as she finally slid into the driver’s seat. She held the door open and looked up at me.
“You said you don’t think they’ll make a move on me in front of witnesses.”
I let out a sigh. “Right. I said I don’t think they will. The clientele inside that bar is mostly non-shifters. They probably don’t know what to make of you yet. They saw me with you that first night, and that asshole that stalked your apartment got a claw-ful of me across his chest. For now, it seems to be keeping you safe. It won’t forever.”
“I don’t get it. You said they won’t think of you as a threat if they know you don’t have a clan.”
I gritted my teeth. “Still. My guess is Arkady’s biding his time and making sure. He can’t afford to draw attention from any other clans. It’s not about me. They’re not supposed to be here. Blackfoot isn’t sanctioned.”
“Siberia, right. Or the North Pole or whatever. God, do you think that’s where Avery ended up?”
I swallowed past the hollow place in my heart. Instinct told me Avery was long gone. From the moment Anya had mentioned her, I think she feared the same. She talked about Avery in the past tense. But, she had to find out once and for all and seek justice if Avery’s fate wasn’t an accident. It wasn’t. I felt that in my guts too. Something sinister hovered over this town, and I’d bet my life it led straight back to Arkady Constantine.
“I think we don’t know anything more than we did a week ago. There has to be an end point, Anya. Arkady is hanging back. He’s watching and waiting. He’s smart. There’s a reason the others follow him. But, the longer you dangle yourself in front of him as bait, the harder it’s going to be for him not to take it.”
My eyes traveled over her bare shoulders. Her breath hitched and her breasts shook as she trembled. It got like this between us in the silences. The pull between us was strong enough to take her breath away. Mine too. I clenched my fists to my side and set my jaw. Standing this close to her for another second wasn’t good for either of us.
“You come out at midnight,” I said. “Not a second later or I’m coming in after you.”
She gave me a salute and slammed her car door. I headed for the river as she pulled out of her driveway. Now would begin the torturous seven-hour wait while she walked straight into Arkady’s lair.
***
I found a perfect hiding spot tonight a few hundred yards away but in sight of the bar. At the end of Main Street, Blackfoot had an abandoned mall. The building had been leveled and vegetation sprouted through cracks in the concrete parking lot as nature slowly reclaimed the land. I crouched out of view in a drainage ditch. I could still see the blue glow of the neon sign in front of the bar. When I lifted my head, I could scent Anya clearly. She was calm tonight. Moving fast, but nothing scared her.
Fearless or foolish. My Anya was a little of both. My Anya. Again it tugged at my heart that I knew I had no right to claim her. What would a life with me be like for her? The moment I marked her, she’d be a target for every other werebear we encountered. And they’d come out in droves. I’d be lucky if I’d survive a year without an all-out challenge from a rival clan. Hell, maybe even my own clan would come out to join. The truth was, women like Anya were so rare, most bears never found a mate. Full-blooded she-bears were even rarer. Besides my mother, I’d never even met one. But, I’d seen the love between an Anam Cara and her bear mate. I yearned for it like sustenance. No matter what happened from here on out … whether I ever got the chance to act on my feelings for Anya, she was part of my life now. Even if it got me killed.
There was movement in the alley on the north side of the bar. I tracked Anya to the other side of the bar. She was serving drinks to human customers. Her lilting laughter reached me and warmed my blood. But there was trouble just outside the door.
Arkady and two of his clan walked outside. I crouched even lower, careful to position myself so my scent wasn’t carried by the cool breeze. I pressed my ear to the ground. I could sense every movement, every sound they made. They spoke Russian to each other. Though I couldn’t translate their words, their mood and meaning transmitted straight to me.
The two clan members were frustrated, impatient. Feral lust poured off them and I knew the object of it. God, I could smell Anya on one of them. He must have gotten close to her within the last few minutes. I concentrated on keeping my breathing still even though simmering rage bubbled just beneath it.
Arkady was calm. His posture was threatening as he towered over the other two bears. One was a polar bear like him, the other a grizzly like me. I still hadn’t seen or sensed so much as a trace from the bear who’d fought with me at Anya’s place. Had he reported back to Arkady or just disappeared into the night? I hadn’t thought his wounds were fatal. Even if they were, Arkady as his Alpha would have sensed his death. There would have been all-out war against me, no matter how much attention that drew. You can’t kill a clan member without facing the clan. Period.
Anya. Arkady uttered her name and thick, dark fur sprouted down my back. My body vibrated with the force of my impending shift. I had to suppress it. I couldn’t risk them scenting me, and if I went full bear, there’d be no way to stop it. In human form I could mask myself better. As a bear, all bets were off.
They wanted her. Arkady thought of her as his. His find. His right. His decision. The others didn’t like it. They’d been patient. They felt
Arkady owed them. Something sinister brewed between them. The grizzly made a move. He let out a growl and his bear eyes flashed. My own eyes widened at the threatening posture he struck. Feet apart, shoulders squared, teeth bared.
Arkady’s judgment was swift. Before the grizzly could take his next breath, Arkady lashed out and grabbed him by the head. It was over in an instant. The crack of his spine echoed through the alley, covered by street sounds. But, it reached my ears plainly. I dug my fingers into the earth to literally ground myself. Every cell in my body wanted to shift, to fight, to grab Anya and get her the hell out of there.
Arkady was waiting for something, but the desperate hunger in his bears boiled over. How many of them could he kill for wanting to act on it? Each time he did something like that, he would risk weakening his position within the pack. There was just a handful of them out here in a foreign territory. It didn’t make any sense why he’d take extreme measures like that to keep clan order. It also meant Anya may be in graver danger than I realized if Arkady couldn’t control the members of his own clan.
I looked up at the moon. It was just a sliver of light against an almost starless sky. Anya had another hour before her shift ended, but I wanted her the hell out of there. If I could get to her, I’d tell her to feign sickness. Have Tracy or one of the other waitresses cover for her. I fumbled for my cell phone. She kept hers in her purse while she was working. My best hope was that she’d take a break in the next few minutes and see my message.
I pulled her number up and gripped the phone so tight while I waited it’s a wonder I didn’t crush the thing into a powder. After three rings, I got her voicemail. I called three more times, hoping for the best, but she never answered.
Arkady and the other polar bear leaned against the alley wall as if nothing had ever happened. Still, I couldn’t understand their words, but Arkady’s orders reached me on a preternatural level. It would be the other polar bear’s job to dispose of the grizzly’s body. His Alpha’s message was clear. If anyone else stepped out of line, they’d meet the same fate. The polar bear grumbled his assent. He looked around the alley. The wind shifted and I froze. Arkady went back into the bar, but the other polar bear lifted his head; his nose twitching, he turned his body to face my position.
Shit. A strong breeze kicked up as the wind changed direction again. My near shift sent off a burst of scents that threatened to reveal my presence. If I stayed here any longer, I risked bringing the rest of Arkady’s clan down on me. I punched my fist into the ground and slid further down the embankment. As much as it pained me to do it, the best way to protect Anya right now was to put some distance between us. The irony was, Arkady’s actions probably made her safer than mine had right now.
I pulled out my phone last time and texted Anya. She’d at least see it before she left for the evening.
Trouble. Will explain later. Go straight home after your shift. Keep Martha ready and be safe.
Cursing, I climbed up the other side of the embankment and started to run. I’d go far east tonight, staying close to the river. If I’d been right. If Arkady’s man sensed even the trace of me, going back to Anya’s would put her in jeopardy if they decided to investigate. Even though Arkady warned them to stay away from her, I couldn’t trust that any of them could keep to that if he weren’t right beside them to keep them in line. A lone bear in the presence of an Anam Cara with no opposition could be too powerful a temptation for any of them to resist. I should know; I’d been dealing with it myself for far too long.
Thinking about it made my vision cloud with blood rage. My bear eyes darkened. It made me careless. It was the last thing I could afford to be, but I couldn’t help it. I should have sensed the wind shifting again. I was so focused on Anya’s scent to the north I didn’t pay much attention to anything come at me from the west.
When the hammer blow came, it sent waves of pain crashing through my skull. I smelled Yukon. Then the world went dark. As my knees buckled and the ground came up beneath me, I heard Anya’s name carried on the wind. Then I could swear I heard her scream.
Chapter Seven
Anya
Earlier that evening…
Arkady kept his distance tonight. But, something was definitely off with him. He usually kept a casual banter going with the other werebears who worked for him. There was Stefan, who Cullen told me was another polar bear underneath his skin. Mikhail was a grizzly like Cullen, that I seemed to sense on my own. At first, it was nothing I could put my finger on, but Mikhail’s eyes were more like Cullen’s. When he didn’t think I noticed, I saw them flash dark brown the same way Cullen’s did. Stefan and Arkady’s went an odd color, black but with a ruby tinge near the corners. Plus, Arkady’s hair was almost completely white. Stefan’s was black but with that same shade of white, almost translucent along both of his temples.
Tracy called in sick. Arkady called in someone new to fill in for her. Well, she wasn’t new to the bar, but new to me. Her name was Gloria. In her mid-thirties, she’d worked for the Bluelight for years I later found out. The moment she saw me, everything shifted. Gloria had bright green eyes that widened in shock as she looked me up and down. Arkady stood between us and made the introductions. I kept a neutral smile on my face. All color drained from Gloria’s.
“Arkady?” she said, looking from me to him and back again.
“You’ll get along fine,” he said, waving a dismissive hand at us. “Anya can show you the new computer system. Come see me at the end of the night. Depending on how long Tracy plans to be out, I might have more work for you if you want it.” He pounded his fist against the bar and disappeared back into his office, leaving Gloria gaping at me.
I held out my hand to shake hers, but Gloria’s was already trembling.
“Anya.” She bent her head low and narrowed her eyes.
I nodded. “That’s right. Anya Parker. I just started here a few weeks ago.”
She recognized me. At least, she thought she did. My heart raced as I wanted to take Gloria aside and ask her if Avery had been here the last time she worked. I knew she’d tell me yes. It was the only thing that could explain how unsettled she was by seeing me. A cold pit formed in my stomach as I realized she must think she saw a ghost.
I didn’t get the chance to corner Gloria then. A rowdy group streamed in through the front door. Even with Gloria substituting for Tracy, we were still short staffed. Mercifully, none of Arkady’s friends took up space at the back tables. Mikhail worked behind the bar and Stefan straight up prowled the floor, hovering over me most of the night.
While Gloria relearned the computer system, I got the big group. They pushed three tables together near the back entrance and kept me hopping all night racking up a four-figure tab. Every time I thought I’d get a break, one of them snapped their fingers and asked for another pitcher or bottle of something. They were friendly, for the most part. Two dozen businessmen who’d attended some seminar near Wickliffe. How they found their way to Blackfoot was up for some debate. But, one of them knew of the Bluelight by reputation and they thought it was worth the trip. I only hoped they tipped as well as they drank. If not, my entire evening would be a bust. Arkady didn’t believe in adding the gratuity automatically. He said it was un-American. I supposed he should know.
Stefan’s watchful eye rattled me. He stood against one of the far walls in shadow with his hands crossed in front of him. His eyes glinted with unnatural light. Bear light. It made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. As often as I could, I stole a glance out of the front window of the bar. Just past the streetlamps, I could see the tall grass surrounding the riverbank swaying in the breeze. Cullen was out there somewhere watching and waiting. If Stefan or Arkady made a move, would he be fast enough to do anything about it?
Later in the night, when I came back to refill the draft pitchers for about the third time, a hand shot out, grabbing me on the ass. One of the businessmen got bold. I think I’d heard one of the others call him Gabe. Gabe suffered from
male pattern baldness and the top of his head flaked and peeled. I jumped, spilling a tray of empty glasses.
“Come on, sweetie,” Gabe said, “You’ve been looking my way all night. I’m too drunk to drive. How about you give me a ride home?” He snickered. To their credit, most of his friends looked embarrassed for him. When I tried to pull away, Gabe gripped my leg harder.
What happened next was hard to describe. It was though a wind kicked up inside the building. I looked toward the front door expecting to see Cullen barreling through it. Instead, it was Arkady. He appeared out of nowhere. His eyes flashed so fast, I doubt anyone but me noticed. He had two strong hands on Gabe’s shoulders, pressing down so hard Gabe’s spine buckled. He let go of me and a cold sweat broke out across my back. I didn’t like being this close to Arkady. I moved away and motioned for one of the busboys to come and pick up the glass.
Arkady put his lips against Gabe’s ear and whispered something that made the man’s eyes bulge practically out of their sockets. He nodded, making him look like a businessman bobble head. Arkady shot his companions a wicked smile and straightened. Then, Arkady turned to me and snapped his fingers.
“Give these gentleman one more round on me, then cash them out. They’re done for the night.”
“Sure thing, boss,” I said, practically stumbling over my feet wanting to put distance between us. I had one more hour to go before I could leave. I carried out Arkady’s orders, put the bill in front of Gabe, then got the hell away from them. With any luck, I’d be able to corner Gloria before she left for the night. If I’d been trying to avoid Arkady it seemed like she’d been trying to avoid me.
