by Meg Ripley
I gave him the finger and turned away, slamming the door shut behind me.
“There’s been an attack!” He shouted through the door. “I saw croc tracks. Got a turtle nest. Horrible damage. Killed a mother and destroyed her eggs.”
Okay, this sort of thing happened. It angered me, sure. The crocs knew better and this was a serious crime. I’d be calling the conclave if it was found to be true that the crocs had done it. But it wasn’t exactly an emergency if the turtle nest was already destroyed. If any turtles had been alive, the emergency would have been getting them to the vet, and he’d made no mention of that. So, what did it have to do with Addie?
“Not hearing any sort of emergency,” I said. “And you’ve been demoted. Tell Mason he’s my new second.”
“Hey! I’m just doing my job here, man! But fine, whatever. Maybe I don’t want to serve an Alpha who’s such a heartless jerk.”
I rolled my eyes.
“Well, anyway,” he said, undeterred. “I thought you’d want to know since there was a word written in the mud near the nest. A name. After all that’s happened, I wouldn’t just ignore it.”
“A name?”
“Addie. Whoever did it wrote ‘Addie’ in the mud near the nest. We don’t know if they were trying to set it up to make it look like she did it. I mean, it’s pretty stupid if they were because obviously, there are crocodile tracks and who would write their name where they committed a crime? Most of us think it’s a threat. To you.”
He waited, then continued when I didn’t say anything. “We also got a call from the conclave. The crocs are complaining that bears are coming on their land. Named you, specifically.”
Of course. When I’d gone to the party, I hadn’t been careful. I’d gotten close and they’d picked up on my scent. But crocs went places they weren’t meant to and we went places we shouldn’t all the time. No one ever bothered to say anything unless something happened. Nothing happened when I went to the party except I saw Aiden and Addie together. Maybe her rejecting him pissed him off and somehow, they connected her to me. If they’d been asking her about me, then there was some connection happening.
I pulled open the door. “Show me.”
Ezra nodded and pulled off his shirt. We shifted and ran through the woods. Almost the moment I changed, there was clatter in my head.
Owen! How are you? Hailey.
Glad you’re back, man. Mason.
Me too, Conner chimed in. Ezra can’t run this clan. Don’t ever die.
Hey! I’m here, too! Ezra added.
I’m only here to check on the situation, I thought back to them.
Let me know if you want help. Mason again. Good guy. He made a good third.
Ezra led me to the site of the attack. Sea turtles were highly protected in the park; all animals were protected, of course, but some who were close to being on the endangered list were protected differently. In this case, no one was allowed to disturb a sea turtle in any way. All the clans in the area knew this. This was a blatant attack, and a horrible sight.
Sea turtles made what we called a nest, but was really just a hole in the muddy sand near the water. They dug the hole, the females laid their eggs, and they stayed to incubate them until the eggs hatched. Whoever made this attack killed the mother turtle, smashed and feasted on the eggs, and left the hole of the nest decimated. And, just like Ezra had claimed, near the nest in the mud was written “Addie,” deliberately surrounded by crocodile tracks. It had to be shifters who did this.
I’m going to kill that asshole, I thought. Has anyone called the conclave yet? This is a punishable crime.
Not yet, Ezra thought to me. We were waiting for you. We thought it’d be better if you contacted them.
He was right. It was part of an Alpha’s duty to do those sorts of things.
Maybe in this case, seeing as how it’s so personal and all, I’ll just handle things on my own, I said.
On your own, with me to help, Ezra corrected.
No. Stand by, but I’m going to find that jerk. He wants a piece of me? He wants to taunt me like this? Then I’m going to take care of it myself.
I took off running back to my cabin. I could feel that Ezra was following me. I could feel the questions coming from the linked minds of the clan and Ezra’s gently urging of them to wait. Fine. He could take care of the clan.
And I’d take care of that asshole, Aiden, once and for all.
I dressed, put my gun in its holster at my side and slid my knife into the top of my boot. Then, I got in my car, took a moment to pound on the steering wheel to release my anger, and took off. Wearing only his shorts, Ezra stood on my porch and watched me leave. He’d probably follow me; a good second would. I wouldn’t stop him, but I also wasn’t going to get him involved in this fight. This was between me and Aiden, and it would be coming to an end that night.
I drove to the bar where Ezra, Mason and Conner had encountered the crocs many nights back. When I didn’t see Aiden, I asked around. How convenient that no one knew where he was. I then drove over to the airboat dock and had much better luck. As I pulled up, I saw Aiden walk toward the building.
It seemed that their tours were over for the day. I guessed it was hard to convince people they were seeing a rare sight if it was too dark to actually see. Night hadn’t quite fallen, but it was close.
I slammed my door shut, which made him look my way. Aiden paused with his hand on the door, watching me.
“We need to talk,” I said.
He laughed. “Oh, do we?”
“Was it you?”
“You’re going to have to be a little more specific if you’re going to accuse me of something.” He took his hand off the door and crossed his arms as he turned to face me.
“Did you come into the park and destroy a sea turtle nest?”
He put his hand to his chest and made a shocked face. “Why in the world would I do a horrible thing like that? They’re protected, you know.”
“To get back at me?”
“I’m sorry.” He laughed. “I don’t even know your name. I’m Aiden Harvey. Nice to meet you.” He stuck out his hand as if I were actually going to shake it.
“Cut the shit, Harvey. You wrote Addie’s name by the nest. You asked her about me. What exactly is the problem? Aside from you being a sketchy croc.”
“Hey now,” he said. “Let’s not go calling people names. I’m sorry your little turtles had their nest destroyed. I truly, truly am. Wish I could get a sea turtle to stay over here where my adoring customers could appreciate it for all its glory. But you know, they just won’t nest here. Funny thing.”
“Maybe it’s because your operation is a big scam. I’m surprised you don’t have a sculpture of a sea turtle to go with your ‘baby gator.’” I made air quotes around the phrase.
“Well, now.” He shook his head. “I didn’t want to believe it when people told me you were a jerk. But coming over like this, calling me names, accusing me of things? That just won’t do. I never did a thing to you. I’m sure the conclave wouldn’t be happy to hear that you came over here, ready to attack me for some little grudge you’re holding on to.”
“I am going to say this one time, Harvey.” I was close enough to poke his chest, hard. “Stay off the park land. Stay away from those turtles. And most of all, stay far, far away from Addie. Do you understand me?”
He smirked and took a step back. “Oh sure. I understand you’re a sorry excuse for an Alpha. I understand that the conclave will be surprised by your actions here tonight.”
“You want to call the conclave? Go right ahead. You should know, they take attacks on protected species much more seriously than anything you’ll try to tell them about me.”
Aiden glared. “You have yourself a good night and just remember, I didn’t attack you.”
“Am I supposed to be thankful for that?”
“One day, the bears will not run this park, you mark my words. The crocs will. And when that day comes, your ass is
mine, Bailey. You just remember this moment as the moment you screwed over your whole clan. And Addie? She’ll see the truth, and she’ll come around. Then she’ll be mine. All you have will be mine.”
I shook my head and gave him the finger, then got back in my car and sped off.
11
Owen
When I got back home, Ezra had left. If he’d followed me, I hadn’t seen him. I slammed the door shut behind me and stripped off my clothes. I grabbed a fresh beer from the fridge and carried it into my room, drinking half of it before sliding under the covers and going back to sleep.
Apparently, sleep was not something I’d be enjoying tonight; the pounding on my door was incessant. I dug my phone out of the pile of clothing and glanced at the time. It was late, almost midnight, and I had many missed calls and unseen texts.
As I pulled myself out of bed, I heard someone come around to my bedroom side of the cabin and knock on the window.
“Owen, come out! It’s Addie!” Ezra shouted with his hands cupped to his mouth.
I growled and stormed over to the window, pushing it up with a loud bang. “What the fuck are you doing?”
“Dude, this time it’s serious. You’ve gotta get over to her tent. The crocs…” He stopped to breathe, putting his hands on his knees like he’d been running. “The crocs are up to something. I think she’s in danger.”
I was ready to rip him a new one until he said “Addie” and “danger” in the same sentence.
I slammed the window shut and hurried out the door. I was already undressed, so I jumped from my porch, shifting in mid-air. As soon as my paws hit the ground, I was running.
Ezra caught up quickly. One of the crocs called Mason. Told him that something was going down. Named you and Addie.
No one went to check on her?
I came to you first. We thought you’d want to take care of it personally.
Right. Thanks.
The distance passed quickly. I ran hard, not caring if I lost Ezra or not. I would take this guy down all alone if that’s what it came to. And I wasn’t worried about losing the fight. Aiden had nothing on me and my rage where Addie was concerned.
I saw her tent in the distance as we neared the camping area, and then, I smelled them. There had to be several crocs in the area. I slowed and made sure Ezra caught a whiff of them, too.
Stinks, he said.
On alert, I signaled to my clan, we may need backup.
I heard several confirmations in my mind as others shifted and headed our way. I wasn’t worried about losing a fight between Aiden and me. But I was worried that if there were a lot of crocs, I wouldn’t be able to protect Addie well enough.
They must’ve heard and smelled us. The crocs moved as we closed in.
From what I could see, there had to be at least ten of them surrounding Addie’s tent. I didn’t see her or her friends; hopefully, they were sleeping soundly and had no idea any of this was going on. I did see the car Addie had driven over to my cabin. Damn, I wished they’d chosen to stay out late that night.
I heard a rustling behind us, and when I turned my head, I smelled the crocs more sharply. They had us surrounded along with Addie and her friends.
I’m going to shift back to talk to them, I signaled to my second in command.
Ezra stayed at my side in bear form. He would need to communicate with the clan, and I needed him to be a second ahead of me if something went down. It didn’t take long to shift, but it was long enough when teeth and claws were coming at you.
I shifted to human form and stood tall. “Aiden, I assume?”
I watched the crocs, waiting. I ignored the fact that I was naked and standing in the park surrounded by crocodiles. It was a bad position to be in, but I couldn’t show any hint of fear or worry.
As I watched, one of the crocs whipped its tail, then shifted into human form. It was Aiden.
“We meet again,” he said.
“You want to tell me what all this is about?”
“It’s about time, Owen. That’s what this is about.”
I glared at him and balled my hands into fists at my sides. At least I knew that neither of us had traditional weapons. We were both stark naked in the moonlight.
“The crocs have lived under bear rule for long enough,” Aiden said. “We’re stick of it. You all think you run this whole area. You show up at our bars, you take our women, you try to control us, to keep us out. You’re affecting our business. We all just want to make a decent living, and yet, you and your bears won’t allow it. I don’t think we’re asking too much.”
The crocs around him hissed in agreement. Ezra let out a low rumble of a growl.
“The only problem is,” I started, “you think you own the bars that we all go to. You think you own some female that my bear hooked up with? Well, I guess she made her choice, didn’t she? And she saw that bears are the better option. We’re not in the way of your business, if you can call it that. I don’t like people getting scammed, and that’s all you do. But still, we’ve had a peaceful existence here, both of us living in the area. Well, that was until you killed a member of an endangered species and her nest for no reason. Until you got Addie involved in this mess. She has nothing to do with any of this.”
“Oh, yes she does.” His mouth stretched into a broad, toothy smile. “She’s our ticket to getting you to cooperate. You should know that right now, I have my entire clan of crocs surrounding her tent. It will take only seconds for them to move in, tear it down and devour her and her friends. Unless, of course, you want to give up your territory. Give up control of the park and let us run things. Then, your precious girl will be left untouched.”
“I’m not giving anything to you.”
“Then we have no choice.”
Aiden raised his fist in the air. He watched me, giving me every chance to change my mind. When his fingers started to open, I shouted to my clan, Now!
12
Addie
At first, there was just a rustling sound. I groaned. Had we left the trash or some food out for a raccoon to get into? I didn’t worry about animal attacks, especially not from such a small animal, but I didn’t want our things to be destroyed. And I’d hate to think we’d attracted bears or something big to the area where other people might be endangered.
I felt around for the flashlight. When I couldn’t find it, I crept to the edge of the tent.
“What’s going on?” Emma asked, half awake.
“Might be a raccoon outside. I’m going to check.”
“You’re crazy,” she mumbled, then fell back asleep.
The rustling had become louder in the time it took me to move closer to the tent door. I thought I heard voices, too. Maybe campers were setting up a tent nearby. Or someone out hiking had gotten lost.
I peeled down enough of the zipper to peek out, just a tiny bit since I didn’t know what awaited us. If it were something big, like a bear, that would require different actions on my part versus a raccoon. And if there were people out there…
I grabbed my knife and stuck it in my sock. When I pulled down the flap, I squinted in the darkness. Then I saw eyes. Many eyes.
Everywhere I looked, I saw crocodiles. I sat back down, my mind spinning. This was not right. Crocodiles didn’t group like this. They didn’t move into areas and surround people.
I heard the voices again. Were people out there with all these crocs? My heart raced as I peeled the tent flap back again. There was one voice I’d know anywhere. I’d spent years listening to it and years thinking of it. Owen’s voice spoke into the night.
I couldn’t make out what was being said, but he didn’t sound happy. Someone else was with him, someone he was arguing with.
“What are you doing?” Julie asked.
“Stay here. Something’s going on.”
“Don’t go out there!” she insisted.
“No, it’s okay. It’s…Owen.”
“Oh.” She fell back down on her sleeping bag. “Ha
ve fun.”
I’d been sleeping in sweatpants and a t-shirt. My flip flops sat right by the door and I quietly moved to slide my feet into them. Then, I unzipped the door even more, going very slowly. I didn’t want to wake Emma and Julie again, and I didn’t want to alert these crocs that I was here and awake.
As I stepped out of the tent, many scaly heads turned my way. I couldn’t count all the crocs surrounding me. My heart raced. What was going on? What would make them act this way?
Then, two men turned to face me, Owen and Aiden. What the hell?
“Owen?”
He looked terrified. Then I noticed that he was naked. And so was Aiden.
In that second, something clicked in my mind. I drew in a slow, deep breath, letting my instincts do their thing. I’d been stupid before. I hadn’t noticed. How could I not have noticed what was going on with Aiden?
Everything made sense now—well, not everything. But one thing was for certain: Owen and I were in a bad position. I didn’t know if I could protect us both. I knew I could take down many of the crocs myself, but I didn’t know if it would be enough.
Owen didn’t make sense to me at all in this moment. Why was he naked? He couldn’t be part of this. I’d offended Aiden, that was clear. Maybe he and Owen had had words after I talked with Owen and they were coming to confront me.
Aiden held out his arm to me, smiling. “Here she is.”
I glared at him. I looked at Owen for some explanation of what was going on. He mouthed, “Run!”
I had a decision to make, and many things ran through my mind in that split second. Several sides to consider, several people I might anger, depending on how I chose. Several lives I might endanger.
I could do as Owen said and run. That would leave him there to fight the crocs and would leave my friends in peril. If I followed my instincts, I could protect everyone—or try—but I would risk something much bigger falling apart.
I looked at Owen’s face, stretched in terror, and made my choice.
