by V. Vaughn
“How are you feeling?” She cocks an eyebrow at me, and I chuckle. “Food will help.” I grab a mug, and steam rises from it as I pour her drink.
It thumps on the counter as I set it down, and she groans as she sits to lower her head to her hands. “Tequila is not my friend.”
I remove the bacon from the pan. “You thought so last night.” Eggs splatter when I pour them into the grease-coated pan I just emptied.
She moans. “I thought a lot of things I shouldn’t have.”
I wonder if she’s referring to her desire to find a true mate. “There’s nothing wrong with hope.”
Her eyes are hard when she looks at me. “Hope hurts.”
I shake my head as I recall nights of being so hungry I thought I’d be dead by morning. Sven, my husband at the time, gave me hope we’d survive, and I’m sure that’s what got me through the tough time. “It keeps you alive and moving forward. Don’t give up.” I set her breakfast down in front of her, and silverware clashes as I grab it from the drawer.
“Fine. I have hope I’m going to live through this hangover.” She forks food into her mouth and sighs.
I’m tempted to rush her through her meal so I can go join René, but I don’t want to make Caitlyn suspicious. I dig deep for patience. “I’m going to let you off the hook for training today. After you finish eating, I’ll drop you at home to recuperate.”
“Really?” She squints at me.
“Hey, I drank too much too and could use a day off.”
Her expression relaxes. “Thanks. I’d be worthless anyway.”
“Next time, we should drink wine.”
A small smile appears on her face, and I think she’s happy I want to be her friend. She speaks over a mouthful of food. “Good call.”
By the time I’ve cleaned the kitchen, Caitlyn is ready to go, and as soon as I drop her off, I communicate with René. “Caitlyn is home and under watch. Where are you?”
“You assume I’ll let you join in.”
“You think you can stop me?”
René chuckles. “No.” He gives me directions to the stakeout, and when I get to the edge of our territory, I leave my truck at a strip mall and enter the woods to shift. The familiar cracking and stretching fills my ears as my bear takes over. My senses become heightened, and I inhale the salt-infused air that is sweetened by wildflowers I can’t name. I also recognize the scent of my mate and follow my nose to find him and his team. Branches brush against me as I run, but nothing is a hindrance to my massive polar-bear body as I power my way through the forest.
I slow to a walk when I’m close, to avoid making noise, and René spots me first. “Nadia, you are the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen.”
I glance at the sexiest brown bear I know. “You say that to all your warriors?”
“Just the one who has rocked my world.”
He nuzzles me, and my heart gushes with my love for him, but we have a job to do, so I ask, “What do you know?”
“We picked up a fresh trail early this morning, and not long ago a woman entered the cave with food and then left a few minutes later.”
My polar-bear sense of smell is infinitely stronger than the Ouellette bears, and I inhale deeply to try to detect the odor of a human. I recognize the acrid scent of stale urine before sweat from a woman registers. I communicate with René and Jean Luc. “I think we’ve found her. I smell a human female.”
Jean Luc says to all of us, “Nadia goes in first as a human. Xavier and Marcel tail her but stay out of sight.”
I shift, and now I’m naked, but that doesn’t concern me since the plan is to get Kelsey out as quickly as possible. Small pebbles dig into the soles of my feet as I enter the cave. The temperature drops noticeably as the path descends steeply. I pad softly in case Kelsey isn’t who I find. I hear the soft breathing of someone sleeping, and when I enter an open area, I spot a metal cage that appears to be big enough for a large dog.
Even though the light is dim, I recognize the sleeping girl, and I tell Jean Luc and René, “Found her.” I lower myself to a crouch near her to whisper, “Kelsey. It’s Nadia.”
She jerks awake with a gasp. “Oh dear god.”
I notice a small backpack a few feet from the cage and say, “I’m going to get you out. Is there anyone I should worry about?”
“No. Nobody will be back until lunchtime.” I shift partially and grab onto the lock that holds the door of the cage shut. It groans as I bend it before it snaps, and the chain rattles as I remove it to let her out.
I watch as she limps. “Are you okay to walk?”
“Yeah, just stiff.”
“Did they hurt you at all?”
“No. The leader, a man named Buck, came to see me once last night, but he didn’t want me to talk, and a woman named Linda came a couple times. She was even nice to me. What do you think they wanted with me?”
“I’m not sure,” I say. Kelsey’s gait has improved, and she’s walking normally when we leave the cave. She blinks in the bright light and takes a deep breath of the fresh air. Adrenaline is flowing through my veins as I listen and sniff for danger. I don’t find anything, but something is off about the situation.
I say to Jean Luc and René, “This is too easy. Kelsey said they weren’t looking for information from her and she wasn’t hurt.”
“Agreed,” says Jean Luc. “Let’s get her out of here quickly and figure out why.”
Jean Luc orders the rest of the warriors to get home and check the perimeter of our territory. Xavier and Marcel leave us before Jean Luc says to René and me, “Take her to my house. I’ll be there soon.”
I turn to Kelsey, whose eyes are wide as she stares at René in bear form, and I guess he makes the naked version of me seem normal. I ask, “Ever ride a bear?” She shakes her head. “Climb on René, grip his fur tight, and enjoy the ride.”
“Ah.” She frowns as if she’s not sure it’s going to be fun.
“It’s just until we get to my truck.”
“Okay,” she says. René lowers himself so she can get on, and once she’s set, she says, “Ready.”
I shift and lead the way. While I don’t sense immediate danger, I’m on high alert as we make our way out of the forest. It doesn’t make sense that Kelsey was so loosely guarded. We never got a ransom note, and she wasn’t interrogated. While she couldn’t escape her cage, the hunters had to have known we’d try to save her. This is bound to be a distraction, and I’m not going to rest easy until we figure out what for. Oh my god. The bag! It was just the right size for a surveillance camera, and I wonder if Kelsey was being watched. If she was, then they saw me rescue her.
“René, I think I know why this was so easy. I think the hunters are gathering information. I saw a bag in the cave, and it may have had a camera in it.”
“Good catch. I’ll get someone on it.”
A chill runs down my spine, and I pick up the pace of my run. I remember how hunters were on my tail when they discovered not only was I a famous model, but I was a werebear too. I managed to escape them in New York City and was sent to Canada to hide out. So much for that plan, though, because now I might be on film.
We’ve reached the edge of the woods near where I parked, and cars whoosh by as I retrieve my clothing and get dressed before I go to my truck to get something for René to wear. I gaze at him as he shifts into a human, and my heart throbs as I imagine losing my true mate. My bear stirs in me with determination, because I’ve been through too much to lose my happiness now, and I’m prepared to fight to hang on tight.
Chapter 14
Kelsey
I’ve just started to doze off when I’m startled by someone whispering my name. I bolt up in fear before I realize I’m being rescued by one of the warriors who hauled me in to Jean Luc a while back when I was mistaken for Caitlyn and a hunter. I notice tall and gorgeous white-blond Nadia is nude, and I imagine it’s because she shifted. I stare in awe as her limbs become polar bear, and she bends the lo
ck to snap it open as if it’s a twig.
My muscles groan as I limp out of the cave, and I discover I’m supposed to ride on the back of a bear to get out of the woods. Now, I know I plan to become one, but this seems crazy, and I’d think Nadia was joking if she wasn’t standing naked waiting for me to climb on. So I do.
I sit on the werebear named René as if I’m going to ride a horse. When I grip his fur, I realize it’s similar to holding onto a dog because the skin comes away from the body. It’s thick and has an oily texture, and while there is a distinct odor of wild animal, I’m not repulsed by it.
“Okay,” I say. “Ready.” But I’m not, because when René begins to run and follow Nadia in her polar bear form, I have to quickly press my chest against his back so I don’t get knocked off by a low branch. I also dig my nails into his skin a bit, but if he’s noticed, he doesn’t seem to care. The forest flies by me in a blur as my heart beats as quickly as if I’m the one running.
I must be on René’s back about ten minutes before we come to the edge of the woods, where I notice the back of a strip mall, and I hear the moan of a truck’s air brakes. My legs shake when I unseat myself from my ride, and I watch Nadia shift back to a woman. Even though I saw Val shift once, this is so bizarre, it’s like I’m in the middle of a movie set and some technician is making her large polar-bear body morph into a human. If not for the strange noises, I’d swear it was a hologram. She picks up a pair of jeans as she says, “I’m going to go get René something to wear. You stay here.”
The same odd noise that includes what I think is bones cracking comes from behind me, but I don’t turn to watch René shift into a nude man. I think I’ve experienced enough of the werebear world for now and will leave my modesty intact for a little longer. “Got it.” I shake my head a little to make sure what I’m experiencing is real. How did my life become so unreal? Did I really just spend almost two days in a cage and then get away by riding on a bear?
When I’m inside Nadia’s truck, reality begins to set in, and even though the leather I’m sitting on is warm from the sun, I shiver. I tuck my feet up and wrap my arms around my knees. “Hey,” says René as he turns around from the front seat. He slowly moves his hand toward me as if he’s testing my reaction, and I think because I don’t flinch, he dares to place his palm on my arm. “You’re safe now.”
I nod. “Can you take me to Val?”
“He knows you’ve been rescued and will be waiting for you at Jean Luc’s.”
“We just got permission from Jean Luc to change me.” I have no idea why I said that, and tears begin to fall. I close my eyes and whisper, “I’m sorry.”
Nadia says, “You just experienced major trauma, Kelsey. It’s okay to cry.”
René squeezes my knee. “We’re only five minutes away.” He turns around and flips on the radio, and I guess it’s to let me hide my crying. We ride without talking.
The blinker ticks as Nadia slows down, and René looks at me with concern to say, “Jean Luc will ask you questions about what happened, and then Val can take you home.”
As we pull into Jean Luc’s driveway, I see Val waiting for me. I let out a shaky breath I didn’t know I was holding, and when the door creaks open, I practically shove Nadia out of the way to get to him.
“Kelsey.” Val lifts me off my feet into a hug so tight I can’t breathe, and I don’t care as the floodgates of my tears burst open. “It’s okay, sweetheart. Everything’s going to be okay.”
He holds me as I cry, and when I’m spent, I pull away and swipe my sleeve across my nose. I notice Nadia and René are gone, and I assume they’re inside.
Val says, “It was awful to wonder where you were and if you were okay.”
“It was awful to wonder if I’d ever see you again.” I clutch at his shirt as if it can keep anything bad from ever happening to me again.
He scans my body with his gaze. “They told me you weren’t hurt. Is that true?”
“It is. I swear. There was actually a woman who was really nice to me.” I frown as I think about Linda. She’s still trapped. “I don’t know what they wanted from me. Did they send a ransom note?”
Val scowls. “No. But let’s get inside so you can tell everything to Jean Luc and Henri.”
Our fingers twine together as we make our way into Jean Luc’s house, and when we walk toward the living room, I’m reminded of the day Izzy beat me up to see if I could get angry enough to shift. Jean Luc stands as I approach him, and he says, “It’s nice to have you back, Kelsey.”
“Thanks.”
My mother grabs me to hug me so tight I can’t breath. “Kelsey, my god.”
When she releases me I see tears in her eyes. “Mom,” I say as I blink to keep my tears from falling.
Henri gives me a quick kiss on the cheek. “Yes. It’s good to have you back.” His face is drawn, as if he hasn’t slept in a while, and my heart warms as I think about my father being worried about me.
Grace’s grandmotherly face is concerned when she asks, “Can I get you anything?”
“No.” I glance up at Val. “Let’s get this done so I can go home.”
“Very well,” says Jean Luc. “Take a seat, and tell us the whole story.”
I replay everything, from when my mother called me to meet her at the restaurant where I was kidnapped, to riding on René’s back to get out of the woods. I even talk about how nice Linda was and the fact I was trying to befriend her in case she could help me escape. When I’m done, Jean Luc says, “We’ve discussed how it might be wise for you to change as soon as possible. Is that something you still want to do?”
Val is still holding my hand as we sit on the sofa beside each other, and I squeeze his fingers as I gaze at him. “Yes. Very much so.”
Grace says, “We figured you’d say that, so Jean Luc had me contact Annie De Rozier to come help us with this. She’s on her way. She’s had experience with a few changes, and I think she’ll help make it a smooth process. How does tonight sound?”
Tonight? My heart skips a beat, but it’s a knee-jerk reaction to the idea of experiencing pain, because I’ve never been so sure of a decision in my entire life. “That’s perfect.” I think I’m about to be dismissed, and as much as I can’t wait to get a shower and possibly a nap, Linda is on my mind. I say, “This is probably not something that can happen, but I want to find a way to help Linda. I don’t think she’s an Eradicator by choice.”
Henri says, “You’re a kind girl, Kelsey. I think we can look into that for you.”
“Perhaps we can ask Caitlyn what she thinks since Linda said they were close.” I shrug. “I know it’s crazy to want to take in a hunter, but I can’t stop thinking about her.”
Jean Luc says, “We will. Now go spend time with Val and do something completely human one last time.”
I offer a wry smile. “I think getting kidnapped because I wasn’t strong enough to fight back was enough. I can’t wait to let my bear out.”
As we stand, Val says, “C’mon, let’s get you cleaned up and fed.”
I lean into him as we walk out, and I’m overcome with desire for him. I whisper, “I need to be with you.”
We’ve stepped outside, and he grabs my hips to pull me against his body. A low rumble comes from him as he leans down to press his nose against mine. “I need you too.” He sears my mouth with a kiss that reaches all the way down to my toes, and I’m trembling when Val finally releases me.
I look into the face of the man I plan to spend every day of my life with. “You are why I didn’t fall apart in that cage, Val. I kept thinking about how much I love you, and it gave me the strength to want to fight.”
“I love you that much too, Kelsey. I was going crazy with worry about you, but I knew you’d come back to me. I refused to believe destiny would tear you away from me so soon.”
I reach up, and the stubble of his two-day beard is rough under my fingers as I place my hand on his face. “Take me home.”
Val scoops m
e up and carries me in his arms. “Today we’ll make love.” Val’s footsteps pound with purpose, and when his fangs extend, he licks his lips as if he’s about to bite into a juicy steak. “Tonight I’ll make you mine forever.”
I imagine the burning pain of his teeth sinking into me, but I don’t feel fear. My heart is leaping with joy instead, and I let my true mate carry me home.
Chapter 15
Izzy
I’m on my way back from seeing Tally in Maine. Jean Luc let me know that Kelsey had been rescued. While I’m relieved the girl is fine, it also put my mind at ease because our warriors can focus fully on saving Tally now. The two warriors I brought to keep me safe are quietly watching the scenery as we drive. I gaze out at the countryside to see tall pines standing proud against the blue sky, and fluffy white clouds float as the sun heats up my Hummer enough I have the air conditioning on. We’re past the Canadian border and almost home.
I recall how I came here the first time to retrieve my bipolar mother from her latest adventure. It ended with me killing her and almost killing myself. It feels like a lifetime ago even though it’s been less than a year. Jean Luc broke my family curse by being my true mate, but I can’t help placing my hand on my round stomach and listening to my babies’ hearts beat. One of my triplets is a girl, and the possibility she could be bipolar scares me. While Tally assures me it won’t happen, how can anyone really know what some ancient medicine woman was capable of spelling? I spent my life with temper tantrums and rages I couldn’t control. Now that they’ve gone, I realize just how bad it was, and I’d never wish that on my worst enemy, let alone my daughter.
A tractor-trailer whooshes by as I shake my thoughts and focus on the matter at hand--Tally. My friend is hanging on to life by a thread, and Victor needs to be found so we can put a stop to him draining her dry. I know Jean Luc won’t let me lead a mission in my pregnant state, but I think he’s going to need my magic, and I plan to be on hand for whatever I can do.