by J. K Harper
“Watch your mouth.” A snarl underscored Cortez's words. The snarl of his bear shoving through his throat, threatening to lunge out and draw blood from his own brother if he had to. Teetering on being out of control. “She's no spy, and that's no way to greet her. Apologize to her right this second, asshole."
Jessie had clutched Grant to her, as well as Riley's own children, wide-eyed from where she crouched on the floor. Even though she'd lived here for a year, even though her own mate and her own son were shifters, overt displays of shifter aggression still frightened her. Abby was aghast, her mouth open with one hand over it. Yet her eyes were laced with sympathy. She knew why Riley was being such a prick. They all knew. But Abby had more kindness in her than Cortez felt like sparing for his brother right now. Quentin swung his head sharply toward Riley, opening his mouth, but Abby reached out to catch him by the elbow. Cortez more sensed than saw her shake her head at her mate. For some reason, she didn't want him to interfere.
Riley yanked his shoulder away from Cortez, still not taking his eyes off Haley. She'd turned bone white, but didn't move an inch. Beautiful, bold, strong woman, even in the face of danger like this. Cortez snarled again, shoved his way forward to push his bulk between her and his brother. She had no idea what was going on. She wasn't a fair target for Riley's anger. “Back off," he warned again, now staring down Riley, cutting off his brother's glare at Haley. “She's not here to cause trouble. Mom and dad would've known. They vetted her within an inch of her life."
Ragged silence still held the room. Ugly and sad, it smothered everything and everyone there. Grant had stopped his giggling, and Laney and Finn, Riley's cubs, had also fallen silent, staring at their father. Cortez forced himself to take a breath. He needed to chill in order for this to go well. Leaning forward and lowering his voice, he grated out, "Riley, we get it, man. We all do. But she's not a bad human. Now apologize to her so we can have some fucking lunch like the civilized family we are.”
Laney suddenly giggled. "Cortez, you said fu—"
"Delaney Walker, knock it off,” Riley barked, though he didn't lower his baleful gaze from Cortez. “When you're older you can cuss up a blue storm, but not till then."
Finn snickered, causing Laney to elbow him in the ribs. Riley snapped again, a sharp, "Behave. Both of you." The cubs settled down.
For a long moment, Riley still stared hard at Cortez, who glared back, unmoving. Finally, Riley moved his gaze to Haley, leaning his head to the side so he could see her around Cortez. Another long, breathless moment of tension held the frozen room before he muttered, "I apologize, Haley.” His voice was short. "I don't trust human strangers in our town."
He sharply bit off any more words. Finally turning away from her, which made Cortez relax, Riley strode over to the counter where makings for sandwiches had been laid out. With jerky movements, he began making himself a sandwich, stepping away from the burst of tension he'd created.
Cortez held his temper, reined in his bear's roaring as best he could. This was as good as it was going to get for Riley. For his whole screwed up clan. Savagely, uselessly, he wished Haley hadn't seen this side of them. Maybe she would write about this kind of shit. Put it in her books or whatever.
Turning to look at her still-wide eyes, he somehow knew she wouldn't. Ever. She was a good person. She wasn't one to tell secrets that weren't hers to tell.
After another beat of heavy silence, Abby said in a determined tone, "Let's eat."
Haley still seemed shaken, face pinched. Cortez cursed Riley again in his head, though he managed not to say anything out loud. As everyone else began to chatter again, he looked right into her eyes, trying to read what was going on behind them. “You okay?”
Haley's teeth caught at her upper lip. Cortez couldn't help staring at those full lips before he yanked his gaze up to her eyes again. Such a pretty green and still big, they looked shadowed. She finally nodded, slowly. “Yes. Or I will be. He was scary,” she added in a whisper.
“He can hear you, you know,” Jessie piped up. Looking calmer now, she'd stood up again, still holding a wriggling Grant. "Their hearing is a lot better than yours and mine."
“We can fix that," said Shane, curving a possessive hand around his mate's waist. His tone was also relaxed, though he'd tensed up like everyone else. But looking at his mate and his son, he was calm. Cortez envied that sort of easy peace.
Jessie arched a brow at Shane, though she smiled at him. She curved a hand up on his cheek.
“How could that be fixed?" Haley asked, less nervous. She shot a quick look at Riley's back. "I'm not fishing. I'm genuinely curious.”
Riley shrugged his shoulder, focused on making his sandwich. Another drop of tension welled, but it was quickly covered by Abby again ordering everyone to make their sandwich and have their soup before they had to get back to work. Low chatter started up again, getting louder as the cubs stampeded toward their father and pushed in to make their own lunches.
"Shane wants me to turn," Jessie answered Haley's question, jiggling Grant on her hip.
“Roast beef, babe?” Shane asked Jessie. Jessie nodded, and he went over to make a sandwich for his mate.
“Turn?" Haley looked at Jessie, clearly lost. She looked so innocent here, in the midst of his clan's craziness. Cortez felt the weirdest wave of possessive protection wash over him as he watched her.
“Be turned into a bear.” The words were simple, but enormous. Cortez knew that Jessie had been considering being turned for a year now, though she'd been hesitating. It was a huge step. But he looked at Haley to see her reaction.
“Ohhh,” Haley said, her eyes going even wider.
“Yeah,” Jessie agreed softly, smiling down at Grant. “Ohhh.”
“You'll be an amazing bear,” Shane called out as he squirted mustard onto his mate's sandwich.
Cortez watched Shane for a second, then looked at Haley again. “You hungry? I'll make your sandwich." He felt kind of bashful offering it, but she nodded, the side of her mouth curving faintly into a smile. Damn, now he felt all puffed up like it was the most important job he'd ever do.
“Yes. Thank you. Is there turkey?” Her voice was quiet, so quiet in the loud of this room. But less tense now.
“Hell yeah, there's turkey. I'm making Haley's sandwich,” Cortez announced to the room at large, like he'd been challenged. He marched over the counter and shoved both Riley and Shane. Riley glared at him but didn't press it. Cortez knew his brother was trying to keep calm in front of his children.
Abby, being a good-natured diplomat as usual, said, “That's nice of you, Cortez.” But there was a speculative undertone in her voice.
Cortez shrugged. “It's to make up for Riley being a dick.”
Shane laughed, eyeing Riley as he finished making lunch for his mate and himself. “Nothing can make up for that. Especially not making a sandwich.”
Riley had relaxed more. He elbowed Shane, hard. The two of them engaged in an elbowing, shoving, foot smashing battle for a minute, to the sound of the cubs laughing and Grant's baby giggle-shrieks. Even Abby laughed. The tension in the room dissolved completely away.
Cortez made a sandwich for himself once he finished Haley's, keeping out of the line of elbows and boots. His cousin Shane was good for the clan. He'd once been a big brawler, fighting on the underground shifter rings, but finding his mate and son had changed him. Softened his rougher edges. He liked to be a peacekeeper now. He'd definitely kept the peace a lot of times. Cortez really appreciated that he was doing it now.
Maybe someday he too would be as valuable to his clan, rather than just the fuck up they usually saw.
Carefully, he carried the sandwiches back to Haley, each one set onto a paper towel. He snagged two travel mugs of hot cocoa from the counter too. Abby usually put hot drinks into travel mugs because this time of year everyone liked to take them back out to whatever they'd been working on and enjoy them through the day.
Haley smiled at him in thanks, which
was pretty awesome and made the rest of the bullshit in the room disappear. Her smile was just so damn gorgeous. She took a couple bites of her sandwich, swallowed them, murmured how good it was. Her face, though, was still drawn, her laugh nowhere to be found. Cortez ate his own sandwich in silence for a few minutes, watching her carefully. She was still scared, and she shouldn't be. He frowned. Whatever was happening with her had to do with more than what had just happened here.
He glanced over the room, filled with his boisterous family, his family's mates and children. It was a bustle of energy and commotion, just like always. Everything had gotten back mostly to normal, though Abby and Jessie glanced over at Haley more than once, their expressions concerned.
Cortez made up his mind in a split second. He wrapped the rest of his sandwich in the paper towel, then stood up. Haley looked at him, puzzled. "Come on," he said. "This is great here and all, but you haven't seen the whole place yet, have you?"
She shook her head, slowly wrapping her sandwich in her paper towel even though she still looked confused.
"I'll show you around. I know a good spot where we can finish our lunch. It's not windy today, not that cold right now. Bring your jacket and gloves and all that. Okay?" Carefully, he extended a hand to her.
Haley looked at his hand for a long moment, then up at him. She still seemed somewhat wary, but he knew it wasn't aimed at him. Finally, she nodded. "Okay."
Her voice was quiet, but when she reached her hand out to his, her grasp was certain. Grinning, Cortez gently tugged her up out of the chair. "If you want to stay up here, Jess,” he called out, "I'll take Haley back to town later."
Jessie nodded, a small smile playing across her face. But all she said was, "Sure. Have fun."
Cortez didn't let go of Haley's hand. This, he decided, felt damned good. Being with Haley felt good. He didn't know why, but she was someone he wanted to know.
Even more importantly, he wanted her to know him. Squeezing her hand gently, he led her outside. The way she let him do it, totally trusting him, made him feel like a fuckin' hero. Maybe for once, he wouldn't fuck something up.
5
When Cortez finally let go of her hand so she could shrug on her jacket just before they went outside, Haley's fingers tingled and felt kind of cold. Holding his hand felt good. Danger, her mind shouted at her. She shrugged her shoulders as she pulled on her jacket. So what? It was just holding hands. Just a physical thing, nothing more. It felt nice, like a good man should feel. No danger, she thought sternly back at herself. Then she giggled out loud because she was talking to herself in her mind.
Cortez glanced at her as he easily ranged by her side, gesturing toward a clear path that led toward the cute little cabins in the distance. A wide smile broke over his face. "What's funny?"
She liked the way his voice sounded. Every time he spoke, she enjoyed it. "Nothing really. Just having a conversation with myself in my head. It's kind of silly."
He grinned over at her and shook his head. "That's okay. We've got plenty of crazy around here. Trust me, you'll fit right in." His smile slid away a bit and his voice got more serious. "Sorry about that back there. It was a dick thing of him to do. It had nothing to do with you. Trust me, that's all Riley's—stuff."
Sunlight scattered around them as they walked through the bracing air. "He seemed really mad. I've never been that close to an angry bear shifter before."
"Have you even been that close to any angry shifter before?" He sounded genuinely curious.
Haley nodded. "Yeah, but not when they were angry at me. Was Riley—" she hesitated for a long moment, trying to frame the words right. Cortez didn't push, just waited in an easy way that made her feel relaxed. "It sounded like humans have caused some bad trouble here. For him in particular?" Cortez's knuckles just brushed the back of her hand as they walked side by side, warming her.
He sighed. "Yeah. A long time ago, when his cubs were about Grant's age."
As he spoke he gave her a long, assessing look. She looked back at him, quietly letting him examine her. She had no idea what he was about to say, so she shouldn't have anything to hide. Finally he blew out a long breath, one that mingled sadness as well as a hint of the anger that Riley carried like a brightly burning torch. "It was his mate. She was hunted down and shot by humans."
Haley gasped, stopping dead on the pathway to stare at Cortez in horror. He stopped too, looking at her steadily, his eyes darkening. "They were hunters,” he said in a careful, almost bland voice. “But not hunters like you think most humans are, like going out and shooting animals for food or for sport. These were shifter hunters. They're humans who know about us, hate us, and deliberately stalk us to kill. They don't want us to exist. Some of them somehow found out about Deep Hollow and came here. They flushed out Riley's mate when she was out alone with the cubs. We figured they must have been watching her for days."
Haley's blood ran cold even though Cortez's voice remained flat as he told the terrible story.
"She stashed the cubs in their bear form up in some ledges on the other side of the ridge. Told them not to move, not to make a sound, practically not to breathe until someone they knew, from their clan, came to get them. No one else. Then she ran, in her bear form, leading the hunters away from her cubs. She could have taken them on herself, easy, except they had guns. They shot her in cold blood. They knew what she was, and they murdered her. Luckily it was far away enough that the cubs didn't have to see it, but they heard the shot. It still haunts him sometimes in nightmares." As he said that part, Cortez's voice finally cracked.
Tears burned in Haley's eyes and her throat choked. Her voice also a cracked whisper, she forced out, "No wonder he looked at me like he might hate me." She remembered the cold, haunted look in Riley's eyes as he'd glared at her.
Cortez shook his head, hard, reaching his hands out to gently grasp her arms. His grip was warm, strong and sheltering. "No way. He doesn't hate you. He doesn't even know you. It's just like he said, he has a hard time trusting anyone anymore. It's been years, but he can't shake it. He barely trusts the humans here now, even though he knows not a single one of them would ever do anything to expose us. Half the humans in town are mated to shifters anyway. But knowing that you're a writer, and that you already know about shifters—"
Haley shook her head. "I would never, ever write about shifters. I don't even know much of anything about them. My one shifter friend told me a lot of stuff, but not about bear shifters. I don't know anything about bear shifters." The shocking pain of the awful story still iced through her. "I don't know anything about you and your kind, Cortez. And I don't even like saying it that way."
He gently squeezed her arms, then let go. But his eyes still held her. "Saying it what way?"
"Your kind. Like you're different than me. Like you're other." She looked into his eyes, searching for the bear in them. But all she could see was the strong yet gentle man. Riley hadn't been right about her. She wasn't here to spy on shifters. But she somehow desperately wanted Cortez to know all her secrets.
Cortez crooked up the side of his mouth and one eyebrow, turning and gesturing up the path with his chin that they should keep walking. "We are different, Haley. That's why you got scared. He scared Jessie, too. It's one of the reasons why Shane wants her to turn. So she'll be stronger, so she can protect herself if she needs to. But he won't force it. It'll only happen if she wants to."
They walked in easy silence for another minute before Haley ventured, "Is that common? Like if a human gets together with a shifter, the human eventually wants to become a shifter too?"
Cortez shrugged. "A lot of them do. It can be easier that way.”
Haley watched her footsteps for several strides, letting herself get lost in the way they crunched the snow and kicked up a few flakes of it now and then. "I thought about it a lot. I mean," she stumbled, "not that I would actually do it. But I have tried to imagine what it would be like.” Her voice was wistful. “To be able to shift into somet
hing that wild and free and fierce. It would be so incredible. Even though it also seems really intense."
"It is, sometimes. Here." Cortez stopped suddenly at a narrow, snow beaten-down path that led off deep into the woods. “We're going this way."
Haley stared down the path somewhat suspiciously. "Where are you taking me?"
He laughed, that deep, easy rumble of sound that seemed to roll over her very skin. Ooh, she liked it. A lot. "An overlook. You'll really like it. We can finish our lunch there." The path was just wide enough for two people abreast. He started down it, reaching down again for her hand, gently tugging her forward.
A smile rippled over her face. Cortez was a giant, yes. He was a big, ferocious bear shifter. But despite that, she instinctively felt completely safe around him. She trusted him with wherever he was taking her.
As they walked through the tall pines, some of which Haley recognized as Engelmann spruce with their blue-tipped needles and the towering ponderosas with trunks huge enough that even a long chain of people would barely be able to put their arms around them, she listened to the quiet sounds around them. Their feet crunching on the snow, the occasional light, warbled call of a bird in the distance, one or two muted bursts of sound from behind them that might've been vehicles starting up or doors slamming or people laughing. The sharp air held the crisp, clean scent of the outdoors that she'd come to love during the past week she'd been here. She was already in love with the little town below, and now she thought she also could fall in love with these wild, big mountains.
"It is so beautiful up here." She used a hushed voice, not wanting to break the silence, but unable keep her happiness at the simple moment to herself. “Do you live up here? Or in town?"
"I've got a place in town, but it's just a rental. I'm working on building my house."
She was impressed. "A man of many talents. Is your house down in town too?"
Cortez shook his head, the shadowed light that cut through the branches of the trees overhead glinting on his hair. "It's halfway between town and up here. It's great up here and all that, but I never worked full-time at the lodge like the others do. I wanted some distance."
