by Leela Ash
When he arrived back at the house, Jonah let himself in and jogged up to his bedroom where he grabbed a change of clothes and then hopped in the shower. As much as he hated to, he had to wash the scent of Lyla off his body. As incredible as their night together had been, it was just going to serve as a distraction. Right now, he needed to keep his head in the game or he was going to risk his life and the lives of those he cared about the most.
When he’d finished with his shower, he walked outside, onto the back porch, and dialed the number for Gregors.
“What do you want, Lucas?”
Jonah grinned. It was obvious he had woken up his commanding officer.
“I have a report. Something…strange happened tonight.”
“Strange? Strange how?”
Jonah grimaced, remembering with a twinge of guilt just how hard it had been to hide the fact that he was more knowledgeable about the shifters in Stonybrooke than he had let on at first.
But once she had revealed who her grandfather was, it was all beginning to make more sense. According to his Intel, her grandfather had left Stonybrooke after accusing the Council of corruption. He’d suspected an infiltration by bear sympathizers, and even went so far as to say they had managed to get themselves onto the council. How, though, he had never been able to prove, and so he had been ostracized.
“We’re dealing with something more sinister than originally suspected. The bear shifters are not only using the Serah Stone to increase their strength using a ritual in the mines, but there are hybrids in Stonybrooke that are nearly impossible to detect until they shift.”
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Gregors grumbled. Jonah could picture the familiar annoyance on his commander’s face. He would have smiled if the whole situation hadn’t been so damn complicated.
“I don’t know how it all ties together yet, but something is going on.”
“How did you find this hybrid? What was it doing?”
Gregors was beginning to sound fully awake now, and Jonah could tell his mind was reeling a mile a minute as he began to contemplate the situation. It was comforting to know Gregors would do his best to make sure that Jonah’s men were safe, under any circumstances.
“It was attacking a girl, my sister’s friend. Her grandfather is Zed Winston. He was driven out for suspecting a conspiracy within the council. Infiltration of the bear shifters, perhaps on to the hybrids. They had him removed from Stonybrooke unceremoniously, and now that his granddaughter is back in town, I’m afraid…”
“You think they’re going to use her.”
Jonah swallowed hard. Many of the more horrific of ancient bear rituals involved a human sacrifice. They had failed to abduct Lyla that night, but who was to keep them from trying again.
“Yes. I’m concerned she is going to be the sacrifice for the ritual.”
“I’m having Nichols and three other men search the mines tomorrow. During that time, I want you in charge of guarding this girl. At all costs. Make sure nobody knows you’re there. Not even the girl herself. Is that understood?”
“Yes, sir,” Jonah said.
Gregors hung up and Jonah let out a long, deep sigh. How was it that everything managed to get so complicated so quickly? But it was no matter. He would protect Lyla from the hybrids. As if his life depended on it.
12.
Lyla woke up the next day, a strange feeling hanging over her. She remembered, suddenly, what had happened the night before with Jonah, and the knot in her stomach made sense. As much as she cared about him, she couldn’t be responsible for distracting him from his mission. He hadn’t told her a lot about it, but what he said had hit her hard. It was clear that there was something terrible going on. Something dangerous.
Lyla got up groggily and changed the sheets on her bed, dropping the used ones guiltily in the washing machine. She hadn’t wanted to be with Jonah; it felt like a betrayal to Betsy. And now that it had happened, she knew it just couldn’t happen again. No matter how much she liked him, it just wasn’t an ideal situation.
The phone rang and Lyla picked it up. It was Betsy’s number, and another twinge of guilt knotted her stomach. What had she gotten herself into?
“Hey Bets,” Lyla said, trying to disguise her emotions. Shifters had great senses, even over the phone, but Betsy had no reason to suspect anything and she seemed as cheerful as ever.
“Good morning, Lyla. I was wondering if you could come in early today. We have a lot to do, post-auction. There’s a ton of paperwork to do. We got so much money for the organization!”
“I know, it was amazing,” Lyla said, trying to keep the intrusive thoughts of the bear hybrid out of her mind. “I’m really amazed by how well it went.”
“It was unbelievable,” Betsy said with a dreamy sigh. Lyla couldn’t help but smile. It was clear she adored her brother, and much of their success was due to Jonah. She couldn’t help but feel warm thinking of the way his eyes had glittered during the event, and that warmth soon turned to fire as her mind turned back to the way he had looked at her the night before, when she had been so blissfully trapped underneath his body…
“It was. Very hard to believe,” Lyla said quickly, doing everything possible to push Jonah’s memory out of her mind. It would do her no good. She knew it couldn’t happen again. Not when he had to devote his time and focus to his mission. She refused to be a liability.
“Well, anyway, Jonah told me he was going to be gone all day, so I could really use the extra help in the office.”
“Of course, Betsy. You don’t have to explain. I’ll be in as soon as I can.”
“Great!” Betsy exclaimed. She sounded as if her day couldn’t get much better. That would probably change if she found out what had happened between her best friend and her brother the night before.
“Take care, Bets. See you soon.”
They hung up and with a tight chest, Lyla began to make herself breakfast. But as soon as the smell began to waft throughout the room, she realized she really wasn’t hungry. She was probably just feeling too anxious about what had happened to have an appetite.
Lyla sighed heavily. It was going to be fine. All she had to do was keep her calm.
***
Betsy hadn’t been joking. The office was swamped with paperwork, and people from all over town were calling in asking how they could help with the homeless shifter crisis in Stonybrooke, though most of them wanted to speak to Jonah, who clearly wasn’t there. It was bizarre, really, how everybody who hadn’t cared at all before suddenly cared when Betsy’s decorated brother spoke up on behalf of the people she was trying to help.
“Are you all right?” Betsy asked suddenly as they were eating lunch together.
“What? Sure, why?” Lyla said. She hated to lie, and Betsy could probably tell it was a lie, but shifters weren’t mind readers. Lyla could keep her secrets.
“You just seem…different,” Betsy said vaguely. But there was something strange about her response. As if she knew more than she was letting on. Could Betsy smell Jonah on her? That would be humiliating.
“Well, something strange happened last night. It shook me up a little, but I’m fine now.”
“Strange how? Was somebody fresh with you at the auction?”
Betsy was standing suddenly, a fierce, protective look on her face that reminded Lyla of Jonah. It was surprising; she had never seen an aggressive side to Betsy.
“No, it was nothing like that. Something just ran in front of my car and got me a bit scared.”
Betsy relaxed visibly and sat back down to continue eating.
“Did you hit it?” Betsy asked.
Lyla hesitated. She hadn’t hit it, exactly, but anyone who saw her car would know that something had happened to it.
“Yes,” Lyla said decidedly. It was easier to lie about that than to tell the truth about the hybrid shifter that had, for some reason, chosen to attack her after the auction.
“All right,” Betsy said, though her eyes were
still and serious. The woman could see right through her. But telling Betsy could somehow give away something about Jonah’s mission. That could be dangerous. “Well, if you ever want to talk to me about it, I’m here to listen.”
“Thanks,” Lyla said. The knot in her stomach tightened. She had never regretted an impulsive decision as much as she was beginning to regret spending the night with Jonah. No matter how much she liked him, it had been a mistake.
The rest of the day went by quickly, and both Betsy and Lyla left late that night, exhausted.
“Come over for dinner,” Betsy said. “I’d like to thank you and Jonah for being there for me when I needed you the most.”
Lyla was about to refuse, but somehow, she couldn’t. Not only did she want to see Jonah again, but the idea of disappointing Betsy after spending so much of the day lying to her felt terrible.
“All right,” Lyla said. “I’d love to.”
It was another lie, but really, she couldn’t think of a way she would be able to naturally confront Jonah again. As weird as it was going to be, it was nothing compared to how much worse it might be if they saw one another again accidentally. At least, with Betsy there, they wouldn’t have to talk about what had happened.
“Great,” Betsy said. “You call Randy to come out and look at your car yet?”
Lyla nodded.
“Yeah, he replaced the windshield sometime late last night while I was sleeping.”
“Good. Let’s go then.”
Lyla agreed and they headed out. As they drove through the dark streets of Stonybrooke, Lyla couldn’t help but feel nervous. The last time she was driving at night, she had been attacked by the bear hybrid. And now, she just couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being watched. Because of her ancestry, she knew her senses were sharp enough that they wouldn’t lie to her, and right now, they were telling her that somebody was out there. What did the bear clan want from her?
She was deeply relieved when they finally made it to the Lucas household, and Betsy invited her inside. The phone rang almost as soon as they stepped through the door and Betsy’s face lit up in a way that Lyla had never seen. Betsy rushed upstairs, for some reason bypassing the phone beside the door, and disappeared into the bedroom.
Lyla showed herself into the living room and poured herself a drink.
“Hello again,” Jonah said, his deep voice filling the room around her. Lyla’s heart thudded hard and she turned to face him.
“Jonah,” she said. “I don’t know why I’m surprised to see you. You live here.”
They both laughed quietly.
“It’s good to see you,” Jonah said, his handsome face still and serious. “How are you feeling?”
“How am I feeling?” Lyla asked. “I’m not the one who got all torn up-”
“Shh,” Jonah said, his dark eyes flickering to the staircase where his sister had disappeared. “Betsy doesn’t need to know anything about that. It would only worry her.”
“All right,” Lyla said, looking down at her hands. “I understand. I’m sorry.”
Suddenly, Jonah was standing right in front of her, his strong hands on her shoulders and his eyes peering down into hers intently. “Don’t apologize for things that aren’t your fault. It shows weakness.”
Lyla opened and closed her mouth, unsure of what to say as a reply, but before she could, they heard the stairs creak as Betsy made her way down. She was grinning privately to herself and walked into the kitchen without even acknowledging Jonah.
“That’s strange,” Lyla said. “Something’s going on with her.”
“Are you kidding? It’s Betsy!” Jonah said. “She’s always strange.”
They followed Betsy into the kitchen and Lyla laughed.
“Spoken like a true little brother.”
13.
Jonah watched Lyla from across the table. He had been just an arm’s length away from her all day. It was surprisingly difficult for him to stay hidden when all he wanted to do was go to her. Somehow, she always managed to make him want to be near her; to bask under the radiance of her smiling eyes and just be.
That was alarming. Never in his life had he wanted to stay still. He had always been the type to go, go, go. Betsy was the one who liked to stay in one place and keep the home a home. Being around Lyla was dangerous. She almost made him wish he wouldn’t have joined an organization that kept him roaming the world in search of the next most dangerous thing he could possibly get himself into. Still, he wouldn’t trade his job for anything.
“So what were you up to all day, Jonah?” Betsy asked as she began to serve dinner.
Jonah was caught off guard. He hadn’t come up with a reason he had been gone. In fact, all he could think about was Lyla.
“I thought I’d just…walk around. See the sights. It’s been a while, you know.”
It was vague enough that Betsy accepted it. It hadn’t been a lie. He had been walking around. And god was Lyla a sight to see.
“Everybody was asking for you at the office,” Betsy said. “I think you’ve single-handedly improved Shifters United by showing up.”
“Oh please, this place is just a big rumor mill. Everyone just wants the gossip,” Jonah said. “It would have been the same way if you had gotten Old Sal to do the speech.”
“Fat chance getting him out of his house,” Lyla muttered.
Jonah grinned and Betsy laughed. “That may just be true.”
The phone rang again and the smile immediately left Betsy’s face. “Excuse me,” she said, running back up the stairs to answer the phone.
Jonah and Lyla exchanged looks.
“She’s acting weird,” Lyla said.
Jonah nodded. In all of his days, he had never seen his sister get up from the dinner table to answer the phone. She was an old fashioned sort of girl who believed in eating at the same time every day, and that family should be the center of the conversation. Their father had refused to answer phones or even doorbells during the dinner hour. And Betsy had supported him one hundred percent.
“I have half a mind to listen in on the conversation,” Jonah said, though he knew he wouldn’t. He respected his sister more than he could ever say. He would give her the privacy she so obviously desired, no matter how confounding it happened to be to him. At least it gave him a few precious moments alone with Lyla. He wouldn’t be able to justify having many more of these. Not when he had a job to do.
“I wonder who it could be,” Lyla asked, shaking her head slowly. But Jonah didn’t have an answer. He had barely spoken with his sister in three whole years. It could be anyone talking to her about anything.
“If it’s important enough, she’ll tell us,” Jonah said decidedly. He couldn’t afford to worry about anything else right now. At the moment, Nichols and the mission that Gregors had sent him on was on his mind. Jonah wouldn’t know how it had gone until that night, when he was going to call Nichols to make sure nothing had gone wrong. If he couldn’t get in touch with him, it would mean backup was needed.
“I’m back,” Betsy said, her voice a surprising sing-song.
Jonah watched his sister as she walked cheerfully through the dining room and took her place, her head clearly a million miles away. It was strange. It really was. But somehow, he knew better than to stick his nose in where it didn’t belong. If she wanted him included, she would include him.
“Shall we eat?” Betsy asked, as if confused by Lyla and Jonah’s silence.
Lyla and Jonah exchanged a privately amused look, and Lyla’s heart-stopping smile shone out over the dinner table.
“Let’s,” she said, her radiant voice electrifying Jonah. The wolf wanted her. But more alarming was the fact that he wanted her too.
Jonah sighed inwardly. No matter what happened, he was going to have to stay focused. Falling for the first pretty girl he saw after deployment was absolutely not the way to do that.
As if on cue, his phone rang and Jonah’s heart lurched.
“Excuse
me, Bets,” Jonah said, ignoring Lyla’s concerned eyes as they followed him from the room. He knew Betsy wouldn’t act on the disapproval she was so obviously feeling about Jonah leaving the dinner table, but considering she had done the same herself, he was able to get out of the house without any questions.
“What’s going on?” Jonah asked when he answered the phone.
“Lucas, we need some backup down here,” Nichols said. He was out of breath, and in the background he could hear shouting and the deep growls of angry bear shifters.
“I’m on my way,” Jonah said. Gregors had been doing his best to make sure Jonah had enough time with his family to convince them nothing was going on, but it would do nobody any good if he lost any members of his team.
Jonah didn’t think twice about leaving; he just found himself running full speed in his wolf form until he caught the scent of Nichols and his boys. He found himself in a dimly lit cave that smelled strongly of fresh earth and bear. A roar echoed throughout the cave and Jonah’s hackles rose. It was unmistakably Nichols’ voice.
Jonah bounded into the dark, and arrived just in time for a bear’s limp body to narrowly miss slamming into him. Nichols met his eye and glanced to the left, where one last bear was striding toward them. Jonah scanned the area until he spotted Nichols’ partner, a wolf shifter named Erik. He looked mildly injured, but was starting to get to his feet.
Wordlessly, he signaled to Nichols, and a pleased gleam in his eye signaled to Jonah that he was ready.
On three, the three men charged the bear that was still standing, tearing into him until he was forced back into his human form.
“Don’t kill!” Jonah commanded, shifting back into his human form as well. Nichols and Erik followed Jonah’s lead, and soon, they were all standing over the man, who was shuddering in fear, blood pouring out of his body.
