by Nalini Singh
--Anonymous
SILVER FINISHED THE last bit of work, shut everything down. Curious as to why her brother hadn't telepathed her to say he was in StoneWater territory, she looked to Yakov after she rose to her feet. "When did Arwen arrive?"
"Ten minutes ago, I think." He shrugged, his shoulders taut with muscle. "I swear my lunatic twin hasn't thrown him over his shoulder and run off pounding his chest."
Not certain she believed him, Silver nonetheless didn't reach out for Arwen. While he might be gentle, her brother could also take care of himself. So she was in no way surprised to reach the small forest clearing to find Arwen leaning against the front of his car, arms folded, while Pavel stood several feet away, his hands on his hips.
The bear scowled at Silver, light glancing off the clear lenses of his spectacles. "Why didn't you warn me he had claws?"
"You're a big bear." Silver walked to meet her brother. "May we have some privacy?"
Yakov hooked his arm around his twin's neck and all but hauled him away. "We'll be out of earshot but not far, just in case you're thinking of a hostile invasion!"
Waiting until the twins were indeed far enough away that they couldn't hear her and Arwen's conversation, she touched her fingers gently to her brother's clean-shaven jaw. Though she dropped her hand almost at once, Arwen swallowed at the contact. "How did you get here so quickly?"
"I haven't left Moscow since you were hurt. I . . . I thought you might need me."
Silver looked at this man who was the reason she'd never become cruel or without conscience. "I did," she said, admitting to need for the first time in her life. "Thank you for coming."
A shaky smile. "You want to sit with me awhile? I have a meeting with Grandmother that I have to drive back for soon."
Perching next to him against the front of the car, she didn't ask about the investigation. That could wait. "Pavel?"
Color touched Arwen's cheekbones. "Bears are the most irrational creatures I've ever met."
"Agreed."
"But there is something about them." His eyes flicked to where Yakov was ruffling his brother's hair while Pavel tried to kick him. "He found my call code. I don't know how. He sends me ridiculous messages."
"Do you reply?"
"He'd think he'd won if I didn't."
"I think they do that on purpose." Silver was starting to wonder if bears could be far more sneaky than she'd ever known. "Appeal to our competitive instincts."
Arwen crossed his legs at the ankles, his shoes shiny boots she recognized as being from an exclusive designer label. "He's very good at it."
"What will you do?"
"I'm a Mercant. I can out-strategize a bear." A searching look out of eyes the exact same shade as her own. "And you, Silver? What will you do?"
"Not turn back. Not until I know."
The Human Alpha
The peacemaker must have the strongest heart and the toughest will in the room.
--Words spoken by the alpha of the FireDawn Leopards, Daniel Emory; to Adrian Kenner, Peace Negotiator; on the day the Peace Accord was signed, ending the Territorial Wars. As noted in the official record of the historical signing. (Eighteenth century)
BO LOOKED AT the data on HAPMA that he and his people had collected. The news was bad. These fanatics knew the Psy needed humans to save their race, but they had a pathologically skewed idea of how to stop any manipulation that might be involved in achieving that aim.
"The message got through?" he asked Lily over their internal comm system.
"I got a read receipt. Old-fashioned, but it's a confirmation."
Bo glanced at his e-mail. He'd been given an e-mail address to contact HAPMA in the last message they'd sent him. He'd used that e-mail to tell them what Krychek had told him: that humans had to choose to be with Psy. He knew why the Ruling Coalition was holding on to that information, understood it was to stop panic, but HAPMA already knew--and Bo couldn't worry about hypothetical Psy panic.
Not when humans were dying.
He'd made it clear in his e-mail that he'd had the information direct from the highest sources and that he'd confirmed it by reaching out to a contact he trusted. That contact was Lucas Hunter. The leopard alpha's mate wasn't just Psy; her mother was on the Ruling Coalition. Bo wouldn't believe a word out of Nikita Duncan's mouth, but Sascha Duncan was a cardinal empath.
Even after over a century of hate and division, humans remembered empaths, remembered their hearts and how hard they'd fought for a better world. More recently, empaths were working to give peace to as many mentally hurt humans as Psy. Bo trusted Sascha in a way he'd never trust Krychek and his ilk.
She'd told him that she'd confirmed the details via multiple sources, including having had the information directly from Ivy Jane Zen.
Another empath.
The sources couldn't be more trustworthy. He'd made that clear in his message to HAPMA, not noting specific names but stating that his data had been verified by empaths who were independent thinkers. Sascha wouldn't lie for the Ruling Coalition, and while Ivy Jane Zen was on that Coalition, she had no reason to pander to anyone. Not when her mate was part of a powerful and deadly group that could take on even Krychek.
Bo had asked the fanatics to stop the violence, stop the killing.
Ping.
He opened their reply, swore.
Picking up the paperweight on his desk, he threw it at the opposing wall. It left a dent, falling to the floor with a dull thud.
Breath harsh, Bo's eyes went to the note again:
Your mind has clearly been MANIPULATED. That's not your fault. We will FREE you of their hold, but you must STEP DOWN as Security Chief for the good of the human race.
We are here now to FIGHT for our PEOPLE.
Chapter 26
Even the most open heart has its secrets.
--Adina Mercant, poet (b.1832, d.1901)
SILVER WAS LATE by two minutes to her meeting with Moira and Nova, but found only Moira at the main entrance to Denhome.
"Sorry I'm late." Nova's breathless voice breaking into their conversation, her feet clad in sparkly pink trainers, her body in the same creamy yellow dress she'd worn to breakfast. "Little Zhenya started throwing up. I was worried it was a stomach virus, but it turned out she'd eaten a mushroom she'd found outside in the minute her father was dealing with her brother.
"But"--Nova took a deep breath, released it--"she's fine, sleeping cuddled up in her daddy's arms, and Lizabeta is well able to handle any small matters that arise, so we can go for our walk."
Silver didn't speak much on the first part of that walk, the two StoneWater women carrying on the conversation. She didn't feel sidelined--she wasn't a huge talker by nature, and she had a deep interest in the still-unfamiliar flora around Denhome.
The women caught on to her interest, began telling her the names of plants and the seasons in which they grew the strongest. Before long, they'd passed the small lake Nova had mentioned and were nearing the den of wild bears.
"They won't react badly to me?" Silver asked. "They may have never scented a Psy before."
Nova laughed. "It's too late, Seelichka--you smell of us now. Mostly of Mishka, but a little of my Barnacle, hints of others who you've been around."
Silver realized she was at a sensory disadvantage in ways she hadn't truly comprehended before now. "There are no secrets when it comes to relationships within a clan?"
"Not really." Nova's glance was penetrating. "That bother you?"
Silver took time to think about it. "Only because I don't have the same advantage."
"Oh, that." Nova waved it off. "The information gets around so fast, you'd think we were the telepaths. Trust me, you'll never miss out on the freshest gossip."
Moira's laugh was cut off with a harsh suddenness. Moss-green eyes wide, she clutched her belly. "Nova."
Nova went from smiling clanmate to highly competent healer in a heartbeat. "Silver, watch for the wild bears. They won't harm us, but they may
get too curious. If that happens, growl and look big."
Silver had never growled in her life. "I'll make sure they don't get close." She took in Moira's position--the other woman had gone to the ground on her hands and knees, her face stark white.
"Do you want me to contact the clan, request help?" She had her satellite-linked phone in her pocket; had she left it behind, she'd have telepathed Arwen, had him make the call for her.
"Yes. Ask for Lizabeta," Nova said, her attention on Moira. "She'll know what to bring." Nova rattled off the comm code.
Silver did as asked, then kept watch on the bears who'd exited the den and were lingering nearby, until she heard Moira cry out. Going to the other woman's side without turning her back to the wild bears, she knelt down and put her hand on Moira's back, careful to watch for any sign the contact was unwelcome.
Moira didn't throw off her hand. Instead, she put one hand on Silver's thigh, bore down hard. "It's too early!" The words were a scream.
"Bear babies are tough," Nova said, her voice perfectly calm. "You just listen to your body and push when you feel the urge."
Silver stroked Moira's back through the contractions. When the laboring woman begged for distraction, Silver began to tell her of the current hot topics in the PsyNet news cycle.
"That is the most boring thing ever," Moira complained. "Don't Psy gossip?"
"Right now, the current hot topic is Silver Mercant's torrid affair with a bear. Most people believe I've either a, lost my mind; b, decided to attempt mind control on a notoriously uncontrollable race; or c, lost my mind."
Moira snorted with laughter that turned into a moan. "Nova?"
"You're doing fine, milaya moya. Better than fine. Just one more push."
Silver brushed Moira's sweat-damp hair out of her eyes. "Have you decided on a name for your child?"
"What?" Moira lifted a dazed face up to Silver, the moss green unfocused. "No, we're still thinking." Her breathing grew even more jagged. "Wanted to see him first. Name him so it suits. Like you with your eyes."
Silver didn't correct the other woman; yes, her name matched her eyes, but the name itself was a familial one born of the tendency for that eye color in their genetic line. "All newborns look like they've been squashed, so you'll have to wait some time."
Moira laughed, her eyes lighting up. "Silver, I think we're going to be friends."
Then there were no more words. The largest wild bear rumbled out of the trees in a beeline toward them, Silver did her best imitation of an alpha growl, and Moira screamed right before a child's thinner cry split the air. Collapsing against Silver, the other woman tore at the top of her dress so it split open, then held out her arms for the squalling child Nova held with firm tenderness.
The adult bear--who'd frozen at Silver's growl--took a few more steps forward, this time with cubs at her heels. Silver didn't need to scare them away this time. Two other bear changelings had just emerged from the woods. One of them was Valentin. He was sweaty, his hair wild from the run, and his grin at seeing his tiny new clanmate a dazzling thing.
Another man, almost as sweaty but with a far more bloodless face, collapsed onto his knees next to Moira. "Damn it, a chuisle mo chroi." A hard kiss as he spoke the latter words in a language Silver guessed might be Moira's native tongue. "You had to do it your way."
Laughing, Moira placed the baby into his arms. "Kiss our cub, handsome. Then we have to let Nova do her thing. He's come too early."
When Nova did reclaim the child within seconds, Valentin went to stand behind her, his thickly muscled arms cradling his sister's softer ones. As if he were giving her his strength in an unknown changeling way. In Nova's hold, the small baby gained a noticeably healthier glow before the healer tucked him back against his mother's chest.
"He looks like me." With that proud statement, which made Moira laugh, Moira's husky mate lifted mother and child both into his arms to put them on a stretcher two other clanmates had brought out in the interim.
Valentin, meanwhile, was leaning companionably against the large wild bear, the smaller bears padding along beside Moira's stretcher until their mother called them back with a low sound.
"Come on, Starlight." Valentin held out an arm after he'd petted both cubs. "I have to spend more time with my new clanmate, especially with him coming so early."
Silver rose to her feet at last, realized her legs were shaky.
"Whoa." Valentin tucked her close to the heated brawn of his body, his size comforting in a way she couldn't explain.
"Do you know what he said? A chuisle mo chroi?"
"A pulse of my heart, I think." Cuddling her in a possessive hold, Valentin added, "Leo drove us crazy repeating the Gaelic over and over when he was trying to learn it so he could shout it up to Moira's balcony on the second floor of a college hostel." A pause. "I climbed up a building for you," he said pointedly. "That's better than shouting love words from the street."
"Bears." The word came out shaky. "I've dealt with terrorist attacks without blinking," she said in an effort to find her equilibrium. "Why is this affecting me so intensely?"
"You saw a life come into the world. Even an alpha's heart beats harder, faster at that instant." He looked affectionately at the wild bears who'd decided to shadow them. "They're excited, too. Tonight's party will be zaebis, Starlichka. We'll blow off the roof."
"A party? With a premature infant in the clan?"
"He's a bear. He'll like it."
*
IT turned out that the infirmary section of Denhome was well insulated against noise--a fact Silver learned from Pavel after Valentin left to help settle the infant in the infirmary.
"Little guy will be fine," Pavel reassured her. "When Yasha and I were born, they put us in baskets in the center of the Cavern and put up a disco ball so bright it permanently damaged my eyes." His grin turned into an "Ouch!" when a tall woman with aqua-green eyes identical to his, her hair a silken fall of red, slapped the back of his head.
"Pavel Mayakovskevich Stepyrev," she said, eyes flinty, "are you accusing your parents of mistreatment?"
"Aw, Mama, no." Pavel wrapped his arms around his mother. "I was just--"
"Being a bear," Silver inserted.
The other woman's lips twitched. "You want the truth? My mate and I had to carry this menace and his twin strapped to our chests for weeks. They'd howl like banshees anytime we dared put them down."
Pavel, still holding her, kissed his mother on the cheek. "I love you as much today as I did then, Mama."
His mother gave an exasperated shake of her head. "My charming troublemaker." Pulling him down by the ears, she kissed him on both cheeks. "Go find Yasha and tell him I expect you both at the family quarters for dinner tomorrow."
Nodding a friendly good-bye at Silver, the older woman continued on her way. Pavel rubbed the back of his neck, looking more like a sheepish toddler than a grown dominant. "Your parents still treat you like you're five?"
"No." Silver didn't have that type of relationship with her mother and father. "My grandmother, on the other hand, occasionally forgets I can look after myself." As now, with the investigation into who had tried to kill her.
"What about your brother?"
"You hurt him and I'll turn your brain to soup without blinking."
Rocking back on his heels, Pavel scowled. "I'm the one who needs protecting--he totally fooled me with his sweet pretty-faced exterior."
"You seem to have survived."
"I'm a bear. I can handle claws made of ice." With that, Pavel jerked his head toward where a group of people were bringing out boxes. "Want to help with the party setup?"
Silver nodded, though she felt as if she'd lost a layer of protection out there with Moira, a layer of shielding she hadn't even been aware existed.
She was put to work untangling the strings of lights the clan intended to put up as decorations. She'd just finished when Valentin walked back into the Cavern. He was stopped by several of his clanmates, all
clamoring for information about the newest member of the clan.
Grinning, he put two fingers to his mouth, let out that piercing whistle. "The cub is fine," he said in the ensuing hush. "Healthy and cuddled up to his mother. He's going to need a little extra care for a while, so Nova will be less available for nonemergency matters. Visitors will be permitted from tomorrow in small groups. Lizabeta will put up a list outside the infirmary where you can sign up."
"What's his name?" Pieter asked in a quiet voice that nonetheless carried.
"That's up to Moira and Leo to announce," Valentin said, then clapped his hands. "Back to work now. And I don't mean party prep if you're assigned to other duties."
Silver was still looking in Valentin's direction when the knot of people around him dispersed, so she saw the small dark-haired woman who went to him. Unlike everyone else, her face wasn't suffused with joy. This emotion was bleaker. Going into Valentin's arms, she just held on tight as he held her in return, his own joy fading away like water rolling off a slope to leave only craggy rock.
Silver looked away from the silent tableau to give Valentin and the dark-haired woman some privacy. Others were doing the same--and she saw pain mirrored on more than one face. Even Pavel, the always laughing joker, had a brutal tension to his jawline as he worked with single-minded focus.
And Silver still didn't have the right to know what would take the laughter out of a clan of bears who never seemed to stop smiling.
That irrefutable fact settled in her gut like a rock.
In an effort to distract herself, she decided to get an update on the investigation into her poisoning. Arwen.
Her brother took a few minutes to reply. I was in a meeting with three of our cousins, he told her. All were present when the poison was planted.
Do you believe it was one of them?
All three are ambitious, particularly Hunter.
He's very loyal to the family.
He was against Kaleb's inclusion.
Yes. Hunter Mercant had argued that they could trust only blood, that Kaleb Krychek was too ruthless a predator to allow into their midst. He wasn't the only one who didn't agree with that decision. Even you remain uncertain of Kaleb.
Yet I backed you when you made the call--I trust you to know him far better than any of us. Hunter didn't back you. He voted against Krychek.
