by Bianca D'Arc
“Gresham isn’t too far south of here,” Moira observed, her expression thoughtful.
“I stayed in the wild for a long time after my escape. I lived off the land for the most part and only talked to other shifters that would cross my path on occasion. That’s how I heard about this place—from a wolf I shared a campfire with one night out in the Cascade Mountains. The wolf told me the Alpha here had put the call out for bear shifters, and I was hoping I could find some help, even though I’m not really a bear. I was ready to give up living rough and see if I could find a way to get back home.”
“What happened to the boy?” Moira asked.
Had she realized he’d been stalling? He didn’t want to see her eyes fill with disappointment in him, but he had to tell her truth. He owed her that—especially since she might be Eamon’s kin.
“We were hunted. The folks from the menagerie didn’t want to let us go that easily. I managed to keep us both one step ahead of pursuit, but late one night, we came up against a cliff and Eamon…fell. He fell right off the cliff, right in front of my eyes, and there was nothing I could do to stop him.”
Moira inhaled sharply. “Did he die?”
“I honestly don’t know.” Much to Seamus’s horror and shame, he hadn’t been able to search as thoroughly as he would have liked.
The hunters had been hot on his trail, and although he’d tried hard to discover what had become of his young friend, he hadn’t been able to find a single trace. Seamus shook his head, as if to banish the memory of that horrible night.
“Tell me what you recall,” Moira said in a calm voice. She was taking this better than he deserved.
He might’ve let that boy fall to his death, and he hadn’t been able to find out for certain. It was a shame he’d have to live with for the rest of his miserable life. Alphas were supposed to protect those who came under their care. He hadn’t protected Eamon, and that sad fact would never sit well with Seamus’s protective nature.
“It was dark, and there was the sound of rushing water far below.”
“Water? Were you above the river?” She sounded hopeful.
Seamus nodded. “As near as I could figure out later, when I had a chance to look at a map, I reckon the Columbia River was below us that night. My only hope is that the boy survived the fall and made it into the river.”
“He could swim out to the ocean from there,” Moira agreed. “I bet that’s just what he did. He could stay in seal form for as long as he had to, if he couldn’t find a way to come ashore and reach out to the Clan for help. About how old was he?”
“Early teens, I think. Maybe thirteen or fourteen?” Seamus told her.
“Then, if he’s from Clan Kinkaid—and there’s a ninety-nine point nine percent chance that any selkie in the States is part of my Clan—he’s probably old enough to have had survival training. It’s something our Alpha introduced for all the youngsters, and it’s proven very effective in limiting loss of young fools or those who just end up in unfortunate situations. I’d lay odds your young Eamon is all right. He’ll probably turn up sooner or later, if he hasn’t already. I’m more concerned about the lioness. Did you get her name, by any chance?”
“No, I didn’t. Sorry. It all happened really fast. We left the lioness in the forest the day after we escaped, and Eamon fell that night. We were being pursued the entire time and didn’t talk much for fear of being heard.” Seamus was a bit dumbfounded by her reaction. “I can’t believe you’re so calm about this. It’s been tearing me up for weeks. It’s one of the reasons I’ve been drinking so hard—to forget that boy disappearing over the edge of oblivion. I have nightmares about it almost every night.”
Moira patted his shoulder. “You’re an Alpha. That’s what Alphas do when they can’t protect everyone.” She gave him a tender smile. “Plus, with what you’ve been through, you’re not quite thinking straight yet, but you’ll get over this.”
“I wish I had your confidence.”
CHAPTER FOUR
“I really thought you’d hate me for losing the boy,” Seamus went on after a long pause.
Moira just waited him out, sensing he needed to come to terms with the trauma he’d been through. It wasn’t easy for an Alpha who had taken responsibility for someone’s safety to get over failing in some way.
“I don’t hate you, Seamus. Far from it. I think you were brave to flee that prison on your own and courageous to try to protect young Eamon when you didn’t even know him. If it helps, a selkie’s instincts are to seek the water. It could very well be that Eamon scented the water below and dove for it. If the situation was as tense as I suspect, he might not have been able to resist his seal’s urgings. I bet he’ll turn up—if he hasn’t already—safe and sound.” She patted his shoulder again. “In fact, I can check with the Clan. We try to keep track of our members, no matter how far-flung. I’ll see if I can get news of the lioness and young Eamon for you…to set your mind at ease.”
“I’m ashamed to admit, I’m almost afraid to find out what your Clan may or may not know,” Seamus said in a low tone.
“Well, I leave it up to you, but for what it’s worth, I think it’s probably better to know one way or another. Kinkaid may have no information about either of them. Or my Clan might know all about what happened to them. Either way, it’s probably better to have that information. And I have to report this. Somebody needs to be looking for them if they haven’t surfaced on their own already. But I’ll leave it up to you whether or not you want to hear anything I might learn.”
Seamus paused, and she just sat with him, waiting for him to reach a decision. She wouldn’t rush him, even though she really wanted to be on the phone right now, reporting the incident. Clan Kinkaid didn’t leave its people in trouble if it could be helped. The lion Alpha would want to know what had happened so he could send help.
“All right,” Seamus said at last, releasing his held breath and shaking his head. “I reckon I need to be an adult about this and not an ostrich, hiding his head in the sand…or the bottle, as the case may be. I’ve wallowed long enough. Let’s do this.”
Moira smiled at him, rising from the picnic bench to retrieve her cell phone. Within moments, she was dialing the familiar number that would lead straight to the Alpha of her Clan. She moved off to the side a bit, looking out over the water as she filled billionaire Alpha, Samson Kinkaid, in on what she had learned from Seamus. Then, she listened.
Seamus held his breath as he listened to Moira’s side of the conversation. She summed up what he’d told her concisely and with no show of emotion, like a soldier giving a report. That thought struck him as odd at first, but then, he realized she was one of the lion king’s operatives. She was probably very used to providing summaries for her Alpha. Seamus’s respect for her grew even greater. She might be small of stature, but she was a force to be reckoned with, he was glad to learn.
As the conversation went on, and she finished her report, she fell silent, listening to what the man on the other end had to say. She was facing away from Seamus, but at one point, she spun on her heel, and a smile broke over her face as she met his gaze. Then, she said the words that took a heavy weight off his heart.
“So, Eamon’s okay?” she asked the Alpha lion, her face bright with happy emotion. “That’s great news,” she replied after receiving what must have been confirmation from the voice on the phone. She nodded at Seamus then. “I’ll tell him. He’ll be relieved to hear Eamon made it to safety and that the hunt is already on for his sister. Thanks, Sam.”
Relief flooded Seamus’s system, and he didn’t hear much of her conversation after that. He dropped his head into his hands and prayed a prayer of thanks to the Goddess for delivering that boy to the safety of his Clan. If Eamon was with his family, Seamus could finally rest easy about the boy’s fate and stop blaming himself for letting the youngster fall off a cliff.
Seamus dimly heard Moira wrapping up the call, and then, she was there, next to him, patting him on the
back. He stood, unable to contain his relief and freed himself from the picnic table. He turned and swept her into his arms. She went willingly as he lifted her and swung her around in pure, unfettered joy. Eamon was alive, and he was safe with his family. Thank the Mother of All!
“It’s just like I thought,” she said, breathless when Seamus put her down and reluctantly let her go. “He scented the water, and his instincts pushed him to dive over the edge. He couldn’t help himself. He was too scared. He felt bad about leaving you up there on your own, Seamus, but he had a route of escape, and he took it. He turned seal and swam down the river to the ocean. He actually swam down the coast to California, to a beach town he and his sister had been living in with some shifter friends, and was able to connect with them. They helped him get in touch with the Alpha, and once he alerted Kinkaid to what had happened, the search began for his sister. They haven’t found her yet, but the search only just started, and Sam is also looking into the menagerie and who might’ve been behind it. He won’t let them get away with what they did. You can be sure of that.”
This was better news than Seamus could have dared hope for. Samson Kinkaid was known around the world for his power and steadfastness. If he put the might of his Clan behind this, nothing and no one would stand in their way. Justice would be done, and the lioness—and all the others who were being held in that hellhole—would be rescued, if they were still alive. Seamus felt his heart lighten at the thought.
Alone, he hadn’t been able to do much. Even as Alpha of his people, he’d only had connections in his homeland. He’d never been to America before, and he hadn’t known anyone here. Finding sanctuary with the bears had been a desperate move on his part, but even here, he didn’t yet know who to trust, or how much he could trust them. He’d been hiding in the bottle for a while now, trying to get past the traumatic events of the past months.
Seamus knew he was damaged emotionally. Being caged for so long and stuck in his animal form had been hard. It was probably one of the harshest things that had ever happened to him and he hadn’t dealt with it well.
His beast half had been traumatized by the imprisonment and had been in hiding ever since. The only time it rose to the position it should occupy in his mind was when he was blind drunk. A shifter wasn’t whole without the consciousness of his spirit animal riding alongside his human mind, working in tandem, sharing the same soul. But the koala had been broken by the confinement, and it wasn’t really talking to Seamus’s human half. Not the way it should. Only when his inhibitions were lowered by excessive alcohol could he coax the shy spirit out into the light. It was another reason he’d been drinking so much, and he very much feared his fractured psyche might never heal.
Having to abandon the lioness had put a major dent in his soul. And then, losing Eamon in such a horrific way—or at least thinking he’d lost the boy—hadn’t helped. Not at all.
But now, he had hope. Eamon was safe, and the wealthiest Clan in the States was putting all their might behind finding the lioness. That was fantastic news, and it went a long way to beginning the repairs on Seamus’s battered soul. For the first time since escaping, he thought maybe he’d be able to find some sort of balance again. Some kind of normality.
“Eamon surfaced the day I left Houston,” Moira went on. “That’s why I didn’t hear of it. Kinkaid’s already mobilized his people in the area, and he’s calling in reinforcements from a shifter mercenary group we’ve used on occasion. All top men who are based in Wyoming. They’re already in Oregon, tearing up the mountains. Kinkaid asked that you speak with one of them. You might be able to give them valuable information about where you were being held and those you may have observed while there.”
“I’d be glad to talk to them,” Seamus answered immediately. “Anything I can do to help find the rest of the captives and shut down the captors for good, I’ll gladly do.”
“Good.” She gave him another one of those heart-melting smiles. She was good at those. “I have to talk to the bear Alpha and figure out logistics. I think a lot of the bears here worked with the guys from Wyoming when they were in the armed forces. They probably all know each other, which will help.”
“Why is that?” Seamus wanted to know. He wasn’t quite following her thinking.
“Oh. Kinkaid thought it would be better if you didn’t go back to Oregon right now. He thought it would be safer for all concerned if you didn’t mind staying here in Grizzly Cove until they caught those responsible for the menagerie. If you were targeted as a shifter, they probably know what you look like in human form, so your presence in Oregon could tip them off that they’re being hunted.”
“If they’re still there,” Seamus added. He didn’t like being told what to do, but he saw the sense in what she was saying.
Moira nodded. “Yeah, there’s a good chance they’re long gone, but there’s still the possibility they think they’re safe enough in the woods. And they may have lower-level accomplices that are local to Gresham. Kinkaid wants to get everyone involved, from the janitor to the top dog. This kind of thing can’t be allowed to go unpunished at any level.”
Seamus liked the sound of that. “All right. I’ll stay put for now, but we’ll have to give full disclosure to Big John. He was kind enough to take me in, but I don’t want to bring any more trouble to his town.”
“Then let’s go talk to him right now,” she said, already beginning to clean up the trash from their lunch.
Clean up. Yeah, he needed to do that before he met with the Alpha. It was only the respectful thing to do.
“Listen, Moira, I uh… I need to grab a shower and a change before I seek out Big John. I’m sorry I didn’t do it before, but I wasn’t thinking straight.” He shrugged, hoping she would understand.
She offered him a kind smile as she stilled for a moment. “It’s all right. I understand.” And heaven help him, she really did seem to understand. How had he been so blessed to have this amazing woman find him on the beach?
Seamus had written off the fact that his mother had always claimed he’d been born under a lucky star. He hadn’t felt very lucky lately, that was for sure. Getting captured and imprisoned in a private zoo hadn’t been lucky at all. Then again… It had brought him here. To this moment. And this woman.
Maybe his so-called luck—what he would classify as bad luck to this point—had been bringing him to better things. Maybe he’d had to go through all that shit just to come out on the other side and find himself in America, of all places, with a gorgeous woman named Moira Kinkaid. It was something to think about.
But he’d leave those deep thoughts for later. Right now, he had an appointment with a shower that must be kept before he could go any farther down his path to redemption.
*
Moira was appalled to learn that the bears had been making Seamus stay at the jail. As she walked with him down Main Street, heading for the sheriff’s office, which was located adjacent to town hall, she felt her anger rise.
“No, really, Moira. It’s okay. There aren’t any hotels in town yet, and though a couple of the bears offered me a room, I didn’t want to be in anybody else’s space. I needed to be alone, so the jail cell suited me just fine,” Seamus insisted as they walked.
“It’s a jail, Seamus. Way to make a guy feel welcome in town. Let him sleep in a jail cell,” she muttered, angry even if his words did make a certain bit of sense.
“They don’t lock me in at night. In fact, Brody gave me the key to the cells and the office. I have the run of the place, and I help out when they need a hand in the office.”
Seamus sounded like the eternal optimist to her. She couldn’t believe he was so calm about going from one kind of prison to another.
“Doesn’t it bring back bad memories?” she ventured to ask.
He looked at her as if she was speaking in tongues for a moment, then he seemed to understand. She couldn’t believe he hadn’t made the connection between his imprisonment and sleeping in a jail cell.
“Tease you how, exactly?” Moira wanted to know. She’d kill anyone who dared hurt Seamus, even with a practical joke.
“Mostly it’s eucalyptus jokes. Brody offered me a cough drop the other day. Then, Zak got a few of those decorative stalks of eucalyptus that florists use sometimes, and he put them in a vase on the bedside table in my cell. I put tooth marks on every leaf and put them on his desk to find the next day.” Seamus laughed aloud at that, and she started to relax just a tiny bit. It sounded like typical male bonding behavior, if what he said was the extent of it, but she’d still be watching those guys like a hawk.
“Wait, there’s a bedside table in your cell?” That didn’t really fit the image she had in her mind of what a jail cell would look like.
“Yeah. Double bed. Bedside table. Reading lamp. Shelf full of books. Satellite TV. Phone. Stocked mini fridge. Coffee maker. Attached bathroom with shaving gear and a medicine chest complete with first aid kit. It’s more like a guest room than a cell, to be honest. I think they built it with shifters in mind. There’s another cell that looks like something out of an old western in another part of the building. I think that one’s there for tourists. Come on in. I’ll show you.” Seamus opened the front door to the sheriff’s office and held it for her.
They’d arrived, and she hadn’t even realized it. She’d been so incensed by the idea he’d been staying in a cell all this time that she’d lost track of their position. She was intrigued enough by his words that she wanted to see if what he described was as accommodating as it sounded.
