“Don’t be unreasonable,” Amir said. “We’ll just get ourselves in trouble doing that.”
Dax huffed. “Yeah, like they did? They kill our hive, set fire to our building, try to steal our business, and get off with nothing.”
“Must’ve been sleeping with the cops or something,” Knox said.
“Amir is right,” Slade said. “We have to start out by being reasonable. Let’s go over there and confront them. Maybe they just need to know that we’re not going to back down. They might have gotten off with no jail time, but that’s not the end. We’re not going to let it go.”
“And make them pay for the tires,” Dax said.
“Seriously,” Beck added.
“What are we going to say to them?” Amir asked.
“We have to be intimidating,” Knox said.
Slade nodded. “Intimidating and forceful. We’ll make it clear that this is their final warning. We’ll demand they stop coming after us.”
“What about our vehicles? I have sales appointments today,” Dax said.
“Can you make some calls?” Slade asked. “Get some people out here to fix them?”
Daxton nodded.
“I’m going to case the joint in a little while. Try to figure out who the leader is ahead of time so we’ll be prepared. I’d also like to get a look at their grounds and their honey processing building if I can. I want as much info going in as I can get.”
“I can go with you,” Knox said.
Slade nodded. “Sure. That’d be great.”
A little while later, Knox and Slade met in the living room to head out. They stripped down until they were wearing nothing, then walked outside and shifted. Whenever possible, they tried not to ruin their clothing. Sometimes they had to shift on the fly and it happened, but they went through so many shorts and shirts, it was crazy.
Slade loved the feeling of the transformation. He stood tall, stretched his arms into the hot air, then set them on the ground so he was on all fours. Knox did the same. They were all so used to the transformation, had been doing it so many years, it was now second nature. In the beginning, sometimes it took them a few moments to set their minds to change. But now, it was instant and almost no thought was required. It was as simple as wanting it, then the change started.
It was always his back first. The bones moved and shifted to form the back of a large bear, then the rest of his bones followed. It reminded him of going to the chiropractor, having his bones cracked and adjusted. It felt much the same. Then, somewhere toward the end of his bones moving and the skin loosening or tightening around his new skeleton, hair would pop out all over him, growing from his skin as if in a time lapse video. The last thing was the teeth and claws. They shot out of his mouth and paws, and he was now a fully-formed bear. From start to finish, the whole process took about two seconds.
They took off into the woods, running fast like they always did. They could run so much faster in bear form than human. The women’s clan lived many miles away. They tore through the forest, over a wide stream, scampered up part of a mountain. When they were close, they picked up their scent.
“Four?” Knox thought to Slade.
The best part about being a shifter and sharing a clan was the ability to share thoughts when they wanted to. Otherwise, communicating in bear form would be tricky.
“Five,” Slade thought back.
Knox nodded.
When the scent grew thicker, they slowed. Who knew if the women were in bear form themselves, running through the woods. If the Walkers were smelled, the women would know it was them. Not only did they already know their scents from being on their property, but the bear shifters smelled different than natural bears. Their humanness left its mark, no matter what form their bodies were in.
They came to a large house. It was much prettier than theirs. This house was cream and white, the shutters painted with simple flowers at the edges, the porch clean and peaceful looking with a swing in one corner.
They had a good bit of land. Maybe not as much as the Walker clan did, but enough. They circled around the premise first, to get an idea of what was located on the property.
Besides the house, there was a barn. Horses were kept there, from the smell and sounds of it. There was another large building, unmarked. Perhaps their processing building? They had a few bee hives, a full garden of vegetables and herbs, and a few smaller ones full of bright flowers. Maybe Slade should have one of the guys’ girlfriends plant some flowers. It would be good for the bees anyway.
Slade was the last lonely bear. All of his clanmates and business partners had found love over the last year. He didn’t know how they managed it. Anytime he was anywhere near anything that looked like a relationship, it freaked him out. He never trusted any woman enough to share his secret, and if he dated anyone, he constantly worried she would find out. That somehow, he’d end up having to change in front of her. More than one of the Walkers had a tale like that. In the end, it had worked out okay for all of them. But Slade had been burned once, and he’d never lived it down.
When he was just barely twenty, he met a gorgeous woman and fell head over heels. They were madly in love, planned for marriage, the whole thing. He knew he had to tell her. He waited until the moment seemed right, took her outside and told her, then showed her. She’d been so freaked out, she left her engagement ring and never spoke to him again. The heartbreak had been so severe, it damaged him permanently. Never again would he put himself through that. He’d rather be alone. He was perfectly happy alone.
Knox nudged his shoulder with his head. Slade looked in the direction he indicated by jerking his head and saw that someone was coming out of the house. Two women walked outside. They paused to talk and while they stood there, three more came out. So there were five then. A common number for a clan.
As they watched, one in particular did most of the talking. She was taller than the others, had long, dark hair flowing down her back. She had to be the leader, then. The leader of a clan tended to grow a few inches taller, like Slade was taller than his guys.
They were out of ear shot, even for their extended bear hearing. He wanted to move closer to hear, but that would be too close. That amount of movement would be heard and noticed.
So they watched, and after a time, the women started to scatter. The leader turned around and Slade’s heart jumped. He cursed in his mind, loudly, and Knox looked over at him. Slade shook his head and thought, “Nothing. Sorry.”
But the woman, the one who’d made him curse, was gorgeous. Her hair was only one part of it. Her face looked round and soft with dark lips and darker eyes. She was intriguing. She made his body hot and he wanted her.
He did a good job of ignoring women and not becoming attracted or interested. It was part of the whole not-being-tempted to-start-a-relationship thing. But he’d seen her and he was more than a little attracted. He wanted her. And that pissed him off big time.
Two of the women got into cars and drove off, while the other three went back inside. Knox and Slade watched for a while, but there was little else to see. They had gotten a view of the layout of the place and they knew who the leader was. It was all they could hope to get for now.
All that was left to do was wait. They’d go tonight, after the work day was done. They’d come, and hopefully, it wouldn’t break out into a fight. Hopefully, they’d be reasonable and things would be worked out.
* * *
Veronica Harper sat at her desk, moving around objects on her computer’s screen. She worked on a new ad for her line of honey products. This would be a flyer that they handed out with free samples of hand lotion. Across the top of the flyer, it said, “SheBear Honey” in swirly pink letters. She wanted to capitalize on the feminine name without making it too frilly.
When she felt satisfied with the design, she uploaded the file to the printer’s web site and went to check her email. Just a few emails later, there was a knock on her office door.
“Hey V? I think
you should come out here.” A slight pause. “Like, now.”
Veronica got up and went to the door. Robin stood there, glancing back and forth between the front door and her.
“What’s up?” Veronica stepped into the hallway and shut the door behind her.
“Umm, well. The Walkers are running here. All of them.”
Veronica dashed to the door, where Christina and Abby were watching out through the screen door.
“There’s five of them,” Christina said.
Veronica looked out and saw the five bears running toward their house. Christina pulled her t-shirt off, revealing her tank underneath. She unzipped her jeans, ready to push them down so she could transform into bear form without ruining her clothing.
But before she could, one of the men changed back into human form. He was tall and dark-haired. His eyes were hard and his face unsmiling. But the dimple in his right cheek softened his look ever so slightly.
Veronica tried not to react, but her eyes went wide at the sight of him. He covered himself with his hand, but that did little. She could see all of his muscles and the hair on his chest and arms and legs. He was exactly her type physically. And he was a bear shifter? Her mouth pulled into a sideways smile. Her heart raced and she refused to take her eyes off him.
But the other men changed, too, and one of them had brought a bag with shorts, which they pulled on.
“Let’s go,” Veronica said.
Her and her four clanmates walked out onto the porch, arms crossed, on the defensive. She knew why they were here. They’d been harassing them for the last two years since her and her ladies had moved into the area and discovered there was a male clan in the same business they were in—honey and moonshine.
And recently, they’d tried to press charges against them. Luckily, Veronica had talked to the officer in charge, the one who’d been in love with her sister, Valerie. She’d managed to get the arson charges against Christina dropped, and they agreed they’d be more careful not to get caught in the future. Veronica was sick of having to clean up their messes. Maybe the guys showing up would shake them up a bit.
Veronica stepped to the front of her group, and the tall male with the dimple did the same. So, he was the leader then. Perfect.
“You’re trespassing,” Veronica said.
“That’s funny. You didn’t seem to have a problem with trespassing when you came to kill our hive, then set fire to our building, and now slash our tires. Funny you should care now.”
Slash their tires? What had those crazy girls done now? She hadn’t approved that. She wanted to leave these guys alone. To find other areas of the honey market to expand into where they didn’t have product. That was the purpose of the new lotion line. The Walkers didn’t have any lotion in their lineup. She hoped getting a start in the market first would keep it that way.
“You have no proof of anything,” she said. “Obviously. Or the police wouldn’t have let us go.”
One of the other men huffed at that.
“And you need to get off our property,” Christina said, stepping up beside Veronica. “We have every right to shoot you right now.”
Veronica nudged her inconspicuously. There was no way they were going to shoot these guys. Was she nuts?
“Relax,” he said. “We’re here to talk. I’m Slade. I’m the clan leader. And you are?”
He looked pointedly at Veronica only.
“Veronica.”
“Nice to meet you.” He stepped forward and held out his hand.
She glared at him for a moment, but finally stepped forward and shook it. If she wanted to make any sort of arrangement with them, she’d have to start somewhere. The only problem was, she didn’t want to be so close to him. Her heart raced even faster. She was afraid she wouldn’t be able to think straight being so near him.
“Talk,” Veronica said. “We have things to do, so let’s make it quick.”
“You had plenty of time to get in our way,” the man who’d huffed said. “I’m sure you can make time now.”
She glared at him.
“Could we maybe step inside?” Slade asked.
Veronica opened her mouth to speak, but Christina jumped in. “I don’t think so.”
She would need to talk to her again about that. Being second in command didn’t give her the right make decisions like that and step in whenever she felt like it. Worst part was, Veronica had to go along with it. Had to back her up, or it’d look like they weren’t a solid team. She couldn’t show these guys any weakness.
“Fine,” Slade said. He moved his feet to widen his stance. “We’re here to call a truce. I don’t know why you found it necessary to come after us. The Walker clan has been in this area for over twenty years. If I recall, you’ve been here about two. You cannot just move into an area and think you can destroy our business.”
“We have every right to be here,” Veronica said. But she knew he was right. It was the same thing she’d said to them two and a half years ago. She didn’t want to move to the Ozarks to begin with. Why not find somewhere with no competition? But they’d all agreed that it was the best location, and they could just push out the competition.
“Sure. But you don’t have a right to destroy our property and do unethical things to steal business from us.”
“It’s just some healthy competition,” Abby said.
Veronica could sense her starting to get mad. Anytime there was a fight, Abby got worked up. She liked to argue with anyone about anything.
“Not when you damage property,” another of the men said.
“Look.” Slade turned his gaze at her and held it. “I’m sure we can find a way to work together on this. There’s plenty of room in the market for us both. We’re just asking you to stay off our property and we’ll stay off yours.”
“And you think coming onto our property now is the best way to prove that?” Christina asked. “If you don’t get your hairy asses off our yard in the next two seconds, I am going to shoot every one of you.”
Veronica gritted her teeth. “I can’t make any promises,” she said quickly, trying to override what Christina said. “But we’ll be less damaging.”
“Less damaging?” Slade scoffed. “Does that mean you’ll pay for the damage you’ve done so far? The building? The hive? The tires?”
“You can’t prove it was us,” Veronica said.
“We have you on video,” one of the other men said. “My girlfriend saw you do it.”
“Well, the cops didn’t agree,” Veronica said. Which was a lie. Christina should be in jail right now for that.
“Come on,” Slade said. “Stop playing games. We know it was you. You know it was you. Pay up and don’t do it again. This stops now. Or next time, we won’t just be talking.”
“Like I said,” Veronica said. “I can’t make any promises. But we’ll try.”
“Or, you could make it easy on yourselves and just leave,” Christina said. “Hell, we’d even come and help you pack.”
“Nice try.” Slade said. “We’re not going anywhere, and certainly not because of you.”
“Then I guess you’ll just have to deal with it,” Christina said.
Oh, how she wanted to slap her right now. Shut up, Christina! If only they were in bear form, she could send thoughts to her and not have to worry about anyone overhearing.
“Well, then at least get out of the honey business,” Christina said. “And leave the moonshine up to us, too.”
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