When they pulled up to the building, Russ and another shifter Addy didn't recognize were out front, waiting. The other shifter was large, almost as large as Marcus, but with a thick head of hair down to his shoulders.
“Addy, this is Clive,” Marcus said.
“Hello,” Addy said, extending a hand.
“It's a pleasure to meet you,” Clive said, his voice rough and deep. I'm glad to have this man on our side, she thought.
“So what's the plan?” Marcus asked, immediately down to business.
“Joe, Foster, and Lockwood are here,” Russ answered. “Clive and I aren't on good terms with Joe, so we'll wait outside, but we'll be listening and we'll be close. You two head inside and talk things over with Joe and the Elders. It might be possible to come to a peaceful resolution, now that his assassination attempts have failed, I'm not holding my breath. He may feel trapped and attack.”
“If that happens, we're prepared to move in. Jace and Emma are inside, waiting and ready to arrest Joe. Not our usual style, but we want to avoid as much trouble as possible.”
“Emma?” Addy asked, surprised to learn another woman was involved in their plans.
“She's a police officer. Dating Jace,” Marcus said. Relieved to find that everything seemed to be under control, Addy smiled. The shifters had a well thought out plan ready to go. Things are going to go smooth, she knew.
“Of course, she's in civilian clothes. Joe and the others have no idea that she's in on our plan. Things are going to go smooth. If they don't, Zoe is standing by with our medical gear.”
“Zoe?” Addy was liking the plan more and more.
“Russ's girlfriend. Another doctor,” Marcus offered.
“And how does your girlfriend fit into this?” Addy asked, the question directed at Clive, knowing that somehow, he had a girlfriend involved.
“She's a lawyer. She's going to ensure that Joe and the others wind up in jail if they decide to break the peace.”
“It sounds like we're prepared,” said Addy, ready to get the meeting over with.
The meeting room was decently sized, a bit larger than her father's. Nearly 20 chairs surrounded the large conference table in the middle. Joe sat at the far end, windows illuminating his shape. With the light behind him, Addy couldn't see his expressions very well. On the sides of the table next to Joe sat the two Elders, Foster and Lockwood. As far as Elders went, they were some of the younger ones Addy had met, though they were still older than most shifters. They still have the same air of arrogance, she noticed.
Elders were well respected members of bear shifter Clans. Getting old wasn't enough to become an Elder. An Elder had to be knowledgeable of Clan politics, full of wisdom of the old ways, and cunning. They were dangerous, even if they didn't look it in their old age.
On the far end of the table sat Marcus and Addy. Addy was close to Marcus, though she tried not to look nervous and dependent on him. Her father had taught her the art of calmness and how to get what would benefit their Clan. She hoped it would work here. She recognized that they were balanced precariously on a knife edge: Joe had already made an attempt on her life, so another wasn't out of the question. But everything she'd learned of him had told her that he was a cautious man by nature. In a situation like this, it's extremely possible that he'll agree to the deal, if for no other reason to save his own pelt, she hoped.
“Marcus. I'm glad you're okay. When I heard that you'd been attacked… I didn't know what I would do if I lost my only nephew,” Joe began. “And you, Miss Croft, how could I ever forgive myself if you were injured before we had a chance to discuss our Clans working together?”
Well, that didn't take long, Addy thought. He's already acting like he had no part in the attack. Covering himself. Smart, but it won't work.
“Joe, do you or the Elders have any idea who is behind the attack?” Marcus asked, playing along. Addy gave Joe a worried look, showing that with everything going on, she was concerned.
“We think it was Ramsey and what's left of his Clan. I have men looking for him even now.”
“Why would Ramsey attack Addy?” Marcus asked. Addy watched Joe raise his eyebrow at Marcus's use of her name. “Why would he attack me?”
“He's set in his old ways, against shifters working with humans. It's pathetic, but we'll find him, and we'll get to the bottom of this. For now, Miss Croft, be assured that you're safe here. There are plenty of shifters here willing to protect you. My nephew seems to have an interest in you, and he'll keep you safe. Most of all, I'm here to keep you safe.”
Addy felt the innuendo hidden in Joe's words, but she ignored them. “That's good to hear. Let's get down to business, Mr. King.”
“Ah,” Joe said, leaning back in his chair. “A woman who wants to get down to business. I respect that. I like you.” Addy nearly shivered at that last sentence. Beside her, Marcus tensed up. She could practically hear him growling a threat aimed at Joe. Carefully, she moved a hand underneath the table and squeezed his knee. At her touch, he visibly relaxed, though she could tell he was still on edge.
“My father wants to propose a sort of business arrangement. A type of merger. As you know, our Clan focuses almost exclusively on running protection for businesses, such as clubs, construction sites, and the like. We realize that we're missing out on a large portion of protection services. Likewise, your Clan focuses on providing protection to individual clients. My father believes we can benefit from each other's experiences.”
“And how does he propose we do that?” Joe asked, though she could that he didn't really care. He's just playing along, leading me along.
“He wants our Clans to combine our resources together.”
“No,” the Elder called Lockwood grated.
“Now, Lockwood. Don't be hasty,” Joe said, smiling at Addy. “She may be on to something.”
“Our Clans will still remain independent of each other. You'll be able to run your Clan how you see fit. But we'd like to send some of our shifters over to you to learn how you guys run your Clan. And you can send some of your men to our Clan. They'll learn valuable information on how we run our protection services.”
“Learn our secrets, you mean,” Foster bit off.
“No,” Addy started, but was cut off by Lockwood.
“We're not interested in giving up our methods. What would stop you from learning our business and putting us out of business?”
“My father eventually wants to combine our businesses. His idea is one gigantic protection service business, run by our two Clans with joint leadership. If we pooled our resources, we could service a larger area. Expand. Bring other Clans into the fold. It's time for us to stop living in the shadows. We could make a successful push to show that shifters can integrate into society.”
“It does sound like a good idea,” Joe agreed, though contempt blazed in his eyes. “But I'll leave the decision up to my most trusted advisers. Lockwood?”
“No.”
“Foster?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Marcus?”
Beside her, Marcus noticeably jerked. And she suddenly realized what Joe was doing: he was putting more trust in Marcus, making him a trusted part of the Clan, trying to sway him over to his side.
“Yes,” he answered, surprising even her. The two Elders let out deep growls, the hackles on the back of their necks standing up. Even in their old age, Addy knew that these were dangerous shifters.
“Well, the Elders outnumber your vote two to one. I'm sorry, Miss Croft, but I don't think our Clan is ready to work with outsiders.”
“I know it was you,” Marcus growled, his golden eyes brighter than she'd ever seen before. Joe visibly stiffened and the Elder's growls died in their throats.
“Excuse me?” Joe asked, though he knew exactly what Marcus meant.
“You ordered Judge and others to kill Addy and me. I know it was you.”
Joe was on his feet in an instant, hands spread flat on the table and lea
ning forward. Rage was building in his face. “How dare you accuse me of that! I told you that Ramsey is behind what happened to you!”
“You're in league with Ramsey, Joe. Don't try to deny it anymore. I don't want to be a part of this Clan. My father would be disgraced to learn what you've turned it into.”
“So that's how it's going to be, Nephew?”
“It is, Uncle,” Marcus answered.
Joe looked like he was going to sit back down, but at the last second, he lunged forward. Before Addy or Marcus had a chance to react, Joe was halfway across the table, shifting into a bear. His clothes shredded as his claws left gouges in the table, closing in on Addy with blinding speed.
“Russ!” was all Marcus had time to bellow before Joe was on them. He pushed Addy to the side. She fell, hard, knocking the wind out of her. Marcus was trying to shift, but Joe was already on him. On the other end of the table, the two Elders were shifting. Addy caught a glimpse of the one on her side of the table, Lockwood: pelt gray, heavily scarred, and dangerous as he rushed at her.
She scrambled up, pushing a chair uselessly in front of the bear's path. The doors exploded open, splinters of wood spraying across the length of the room. Two bears rushed in immediately, followed by Russ and a woman with a large gun. She raised the rifle, pointing it at Lockwood. With an extremely quiet shot from a gun so large, Lockwood dropped to the ground. Addy looked at his still form, a tranquilizer dart buried deep in his neck.
One of the shifters crashed into Foster, the two bears crushing the table under their weight. More wood exploded as the two bears wrestled, crushing chairs as they fought. Fangs and fur flew everywhere. Addy dove to the side as they crashed down exactly where she'd been standing a split second earlier.
“Marcus!” she screamed, turning back to him. The second shifter tackled Joe, both bears tumbling away. As they rolled off of Marcus, Addy dropped to her knees. He hadn't had time to shift before Joe had got to him. One of his forearms was shredded, blood covering his entire body, but he didn't appear to be hurt anywhere else.
“Russ! He needs a doctor!” she yelled. Russ and another woman, who she assumed was Zoe, were next to him in a split second. The woman pushed her away, both of the doctors dropping to either side of Marcus. “Is he going to be okay?”
“He's going to be fine!” Russ yelled, and Addy realized she was crying. She had thought she had lost him for a split second. She was sure that when Marcus had pushed her out of Joe's path, he had signed his death warrant.
The room was in shambles. The table and most of the chairs had been undeniably destroyed. Lockwood lay in his bear form, tranquilized and out. Emma was crouched down beside the bear, ensuring he was knocked out. Jace, naked, knelt next to Foster. He was dead. Joe had fled through a broken window. Clive stood at the window, looking out.
“I can't believe he attacked us,” Marcus said, getting to his feet with the help of Russ and Zoe. “I had an uneasy feeling the whole time while he was lying to us, but I never expected him to explode like that. I hadn't seen him shift for nearly 10 years. Since before he took over the Clan. Guess he still has it in him.”
Addy rushed over to him, wrapping her arms tightly around his huge chest. He wrapped his good arm around her, holding the other out to the side as Russ bandaged it.
“He's gone. Should I follow him?” Clive asked.
“No, let him go,” Marcus answered.
“We'll lose his scent, Marcus.”
“I know. But we're family. I know where he's going to go.”
Marcus had initially said no, but Addy was persistent in joining him to find his Uncle. Now, she sat next to him in an old car, driving silently down the road. She wanted to talk to him, to help him, but she knew that he was dealing with what had just happened in his own way.
After all, his only surviving family member had betrayed him. She knew it was one thing to suspect it, but it was an altogether different thing to actually have him leap across the table and attempt to kill Marcus himself. She knew shifter life wasn't always easy and was often very dangerous, but seeing it up close shook her, too.
She was still reeling from her own decision to step back from her Clan, something that had ruled her whole life up to this point. She wondered what opportunities in life she had missed out on. Then she looked over at Marcus, and realized it didn't matter. Everything had led her to Marcus, the man who she had not only helped, but who had helped her.
“Thank you for coming with me,” Marcus said, eyes focus on the road. His bandaged arm rested in his lap. They were driving slowly, as if Marcus was in no rush to confront his Uncle.
“I thought you didn't want me to,” Addy asked.
“I don't want to put you in harm's way, but I didn't want to have to do this alone. You're the only one who understands what I'm going through, trying to take a step back from the Clan. It's not something any of the other guys would understand. Betrayed by my own Uncle and friends. For what? All because they don't want any outside influence? Times are changing, and Joe just can't accept that.”
“A lot of shifters oppose change. Only the brave accept it.”
Addy placed her hand softly on his hand, linking her fingers over his. He squeezed gently, but even with his injured arm, she could sense the strength in him. Marcus was ready for whatever was to come.
“So what is the plan?” she asked.
“Not many other shifters know it, but Joe owns a bar up the road. It was always a place for him to lay low when Clan business got to be too much and he needed to hide out from my father. After he took over as Clan Leader, he stopped going. I'm sure that's where he went to hide out for a while. He has an office in the back.”
“What are we going to do once we get there?” Addy wondered out loud. She had a terrible feeling that Marcus would take all of his anger, pain, and frustration out on Joe and end up going too far. She'd known of shifters going too far – and once many of them crossed that threshold, there was no going back. She remembered Judge. The man was dangerous, but she suspected he hadn't always been like that. He'd pushed himself too far and hadn't been able to turn back.
In response, Marcus reached behind the seat, pulling up the tranquilizer gun that Emma had used on Lockwood only hours earlier. “We're going to throw the book at him. He'll want to die, but that's letting him off too easy for what he's done. We're taking him down and taking him to jail.”
“Glad to hear it,” Addy responded, relieved that Marcus was thinking clearly. At that moment, Marcus turned the car off of the road, gliding up to an old bar. The neon lights, those that weren't burned out, showed a martini glass with an olive. There were few cars in the dirt parking lot and the building was made of dirty cement blocks painted an off white years ago.
“This is the place,” Marcus said simply, getting out of the car and grabbing the gun. He rummaged around in the back seat, grabbing a pair of hand cuffs and holding them out to Addy. “Think you can handle the cuffing?”
“Give me those,” she said, snatching them out of her hand, ready to get Joe into custody. She thought, the sooner he's behind bars, the sooner we can start our life.
They entered the bar, a bouncer immediately moving to block their entrance. The second he saw the gun, however, he backed off.
“Where's Joe?” Marcus growled, motioning with the gun.
“He's not here,” the bouncer stammered, though his eyes flickered to a door towards the back.
“I'm not going to ask again.”
“In the back, through that door,” said the bouncer, pointing with a fat finger.
“We'll be in and out. Don't bother calling the cops,” Marcus said, walking through the bar. Addy held up the cuffs, as if saying, Don't bother, I am the cops! and the bouncer backed off.
Joel (BBW Bear Shifter Wedding Romance) (Grizzly Groomsmen Book 5) Page 116
