Mated to a Bear (Legends of Black Salmon Falls Book 3)

by Lauren Lively

  “He really makes it too easy,” Riley said between fits of laughter.

  “Indeed he does,” Vink said.

  “Keep this up,” I said. “And my first act as king will be to have you two loaded up into a ship and shot into the nearest black hole.”

  That only made them laugh all the harder. All I could do was shake my head, though I had to admit that I may have cracked a smile. Eventually, the laughter tapered off and they stood before me, both giving me warm smiles, expressions on their faces I couldn't quite make out.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  Vink reached out and clapped me on the shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. “I just want to say that I'm proud of you. Proud of serving you,” he said. “And I will be proud to serve you until my dying day.”

  Riley nodded and then stood on her tip toes and planted a soft kiss on my cheeks. “I'm proud of you too,” she said. “I know you're going to do great things.”

  What I felt in that moment was indescribable. I feared that I would let them both down. But I also felt a fiery determination not to. I honestly had no idea what sort of king I was going to make. I was a soldier. I'd never been anything more, nor anything less. All I could hope for in that moment was to be up to the task before me.

  I gave them both a grateful smile. “Thank you both for being here,” he said. “There is nobody I would rather have by my side than the both of you.”

  We stood there in an awkward silence for a moment when the bells in the bell tower outside began to chime.

  “It's time,” Vink said.

  “I'll see you after,” Riley added.

  It was strange. I'd never gotten butterflies before going into battle – and yet, as I prepared to walk through a room where I wasn't facing certain death, my stomach was churning and my heart was thundering within my chest.

  “Let's get this over with,” I said.

  ~ooo000ooo~

  The throne room was packed with people. And yet, the murmured conversations were so low, I could barely hear them. It was so quiet within the throne room that I could clearly hear the music being played by the group of musicians positioned near the rear of the hall.

  As I strode down the aisle that cut through the middle of the room – Vink on one side of me, his right hand man, Turneh on the other – I discretely scanned the faces in the crowd. Part of me was searching out threats – it was the trained soldier in me – and the other part of me was simply looking at the faces of the people. Some of them I knew, most I didn't. And all of them looked back at me with a sort of curiosity on their faces.

  As I looked at the crowd, I couldn't help but again wonder what sort of king I was going to make. Would I be good? Would I be just? Would I be incompetent? And would I do more harm than good for the people of Optorio? Would I leave this world worse off than when I found it?

  I had no answers to the questions. Only time would tell. And as I strode down the aisle, I vowed to myself at that moment, that I would leave Optorio a better place. I would give it back to the people. And I would do everything within my power to make them proud – to justify the pride Riley and Vink already had in me.

  The music swelled to a crescendo and then faded away as I mounted the steps to the throne. Our Chief Magister stood there waiting. His robes were purple, trimmed with black – much like his hair – and he was a portly but good natured man. He'd been a friend of my father's, so I'd known him since I was a kid. He was a good man and I was glad that it would be him overseeing the coronation.

  The Magister gave me a small smile and a wink as I stood before him. A child with the same shade of hair – likely, the Magister's son – stood off to the side with the crown of my new office resting upon a plush, black velvet pillow.

  Nobody in the room spoke and the air was absent the buzz of conversation one would expect of such a large gathering. In Earth parlance, you could hear a pin drop. I shot a quick look up at the seats in the gallery and spotted Riley sitting alone. A couple of Vink's men guarded the entrance to the area where she sat, but other than that, she was alone. It really drove home the point she'd been trying to make the other day – that she had no friends here. That she really was – alone. I vowed that was something I would change. I never wanted Riley to feel like she had nobody.

  “Optorions,” the Magister intoned. “We gather today to crown our new king. A man I've known for most of his life. A good man. A man who will return Optorio to its former greatness.”

  Polite applause rippled through the crowd. These people didn't know me. I wasn't from one of our world's leading families. My father had been a diplomat and I was a soldier. We weren't one of Optorio's most well-connected or glamorous families.

  As the Magister spoke, I stole another glance out at the crowd. I wanted to believe that most were willing to give me a chance. Most wanted me to succeed. Most believed I was the right man to help turn Optorio around? I had to believe that. Otherwise, what was I doing there in the first place? Why had I agreed to take the throne?

  Insecurity and uncertainty weren't things I allowed myself to feel very often. But in that moment, both were rampaging through my body in equal measures. Vink looked at me, giving me a small smile and a nod of the head. As if he could read my thoughts. He probably could.

  “And so, it is with great confidence in the man he is and the king he will be – ” the Magister intoned.

  It was then that I heard gasps and muffled shrieks coming from the people behind me. I turned to see four men wearing masks, all well armed and armored emerge from the crowd. Vink and Turneh were already moving, putting themselves between me and the gunmen.

  “Jendrish, down!” Vink screamed. “Now!”

  The gunmen opened fire and that seemed to break the stunned paralysis of the crowd. Pandemonium erupted as the crowd screamed as one, their voices echoing around the hall. I saw them turning and running, pushing past one another as everybody scrambled for the exits.

  It seemed that everything was in slow motion as I watched blue lasers burst from the barrel of their guns and headed straight toward me. I felt a hand on my shoulder and it pressed me down, buckling me at the knees. I hit the hard steps of the dais and felt a thick, heavy body land on top of me, driving the breath from my lungs. Craning my neck, I saw Vink and Turneh return fire, their green lasers lancing out toward the gunmen.

  All around me was sheer chaos as the crowd pushed and jostled each other, desperately trying to get away from the gunfire. It was as loud as any battlefield I'd ever been on. I watched as Vink's fire hit their targets, the bodies two of the gunmen jerking before falling to the ground. Turneh took a shot to his leg and dropped, screaming in pain as his blue blood spilled out onto the stairs.

  Vink calmly turned and opened fire on the other two gunmen. His shots went high and wide, but he kept on firing. I saw other soldiers – Vink's men – struggling to get through the thick crush of bodies fighting to get free of the throne room. In that moment, I was kicking myself. Vink had wanted to station additional guards near the dais, but I'd said no. I refused to believe that anything like this could happen.

  I'd been stupid. So, so, stupid. And now, people were dying because of my naivete.

  Vink kept firing as the gunmen turned on him. My breathing was labored and ragged and there was a searing pain in my body, but I remained focused on the battle playing out in front of me. Vink's men finally managed to free themselves and were rushing toward the gunmen, opening fire as they did so. I watched as green lasers cut through them, their screams of pain audible above the shouting of the panicked crowd.

  And then I saw Vink's body spasm as he took a shot. I couldn't see where he'd been hit, but I watched in horror as he fell to the ground. I tried to free myself from the weight on top of me. Craning my neck, I saw that it was the Magister. I looked at the wound in his neck, saw the blue blood pouring out of him, and knew that he was dead.

  “Vink!” I called.

  I watched as some of the other Guardsmen stood ove
r the bodies of the gunmen, while others rushed over to us. They tended to Turneh, another dropping to a knee beside Vink, his expression grim, while another pair of men helped pull me out from under the body of the Magister.

  “Are you okay, Your Majesty?” one of them asked me, his expression one of concern.

  I looked at him and opened my mouth to speak, but then closed it again. I surveyed the room, looked at all of the bodies, and shook my head. I looked down at Vink, saw his eyes flutter and felt an immediate surge of gratefulness. He was alive.

  “Vink,” I said, my voice thick. “Is he okay?”

  “I don't know, Majesty,” the soldier said. “He took a bad wound. We need to get him to the hospital.”

  “We need to get you there as well, Your Majesty,” said the Guardsman on the other side of me.

  “I – I'm okay,” I protested. “I need to – ”

  “You're not okay, Majesty,” he insisted. “You are wounded. You need to get to the hospital as well.”

  I looked down and saw the hole in the armor I'd been wearing. I saw blue blood – my blood – pouring from the hole. I was puzzled, not realizing I'd even been shot. I hadn't felt it.

  “So, that's the pain I felt,” I said lamely. “I don't even recall being hit.”

  As if acknowledging it gave it permission to hurt, a searing bolt of pain tore through my entire body. I gritted my teeth, but couldn't completely contain the growl of pain that escaped me.

  “We'll get you to a doctor, Majesty.”

  I barely heard him and was dimly aware of the two Guardsmen carrying me out of the hall. As the sunlight of the day hit my face, I felt a wave of dizziness accompanying the pain.

  And then my whole world went black.

  Chapter Nine

  Riley

  Jendrish had been back home for the last two weeks – after spending two weeks in the hospital. But it was like he'd never come home at all. He wasn't the same man. Not by a long shot. He was still in pain at times, although he never complained – but then, he wasn't saying much of anything anymore.

  Most days, he sat in a chair out on the balcony by himself. He refused to see anybody. He barely even acknowledged that I was there. I had no idea what he was thinking or feeling. He just sat outside, staring out at the ocean below.

  Which was where I found him that morning.

  “Jendrish,” I said, as I stepped out onto the balcony, carrying a tray of food. “I've brought you breakfast.”

  I set the tray down on the small table next to him and uncovered it. Though the food arrayed on the dishes looked strange, it smelled heavenly. But Jendrish didn't seem to notice. Or care. It had been the same routine since he'd come home – I'd bring him food and try to engage him, and he'd ignore everything.

  I sat down in the chair beside him. “I spoke to your doctors,” I said. “They said you will make a full recovery. Nothing vital was damaged during the attack. They said your body will naturally heal itself.”

  Nothing.

  “They also said that although Vink's injuries were serious, that he was going to recover as well,” I said. “It's just going to take a little time, but he'll be back on his feet again.”

  Still nothing.

  “It's a beautiful day out,” I said. “Maybe we can go for a walk down on the beach?”

  I sighed. If he even heard me, he gave no indication of it. I was growing frustrated. Angry. I wanted and needed him back. Optorio needed him back. But he simply sat there day after day in sullen silence. I'd been trying to tiptoe around him. I'd been walking on eggshells as he recovered from his wounds. What happened had been terrible.

  But it happened. It was over. He'd survived. And now, it was time to get on with living. It was time to get on with finding out who did this and put a stop to it. I looked at him as he simply stared vacantly out at the ocean, not reacting to my voice – or to anything.

  “Jendrish, this has to stop,” I finally said. “There are people depending on you. You need to snap yourself out of this.”

  The waves crashing upon the shore below was the only sound that filled the air between us. I didn't know what it was going to take to snap him out of his funk, but I needed to figure out what it was. And soon.

  “Do you think Vink would want to see you like this?” I snapped, my voice rising. “Do you think this is why he very nearly gave his life for you? So you could sit here and pout?”

  I watched as he clenched his jaw and balled his hands into fists. He was angry. Good. That was good. At least he was feeling something. Although, honestly, I was more than a little surprised. After two weeks of non-responsiveness, I had sort of come to expect that he'd continue to ignore me. So, when I saw the first stirrings of a reaction from him, I wasn't sure what to do at first.

  Slowly, he turned his head and looked at me – the first time he'd looked at me in two weeks. I could see the anger in his eyes. And though ordinarily, that might have hurt my feelings, in that moment, it didn't. I knew most of his anger wasn't directed at me. Oh, he was going to take it out on me, but I was willing to take one for the team. As long as it snapped him out of his near catatonic stupor, I was willing to endure his anger for a little while.

  Optorio needed him. I needed him.

  “Don't you dare use Vink's name,” he hissed. “You don't even know – ”

  “Know what? That he's lying in a hospital bed because he believes in you enough to put himself in harm's way?” I asked. “How do you think he'd feel knowing you're sitting out here brooding – and have been for the last two weeks?”

  “Somebody tried to kill me,” he said, his voice low and menacing. “And they very nearly killed Vink to get to me. How am I supposed to feel?”

  “Pissed off,” I said. “You should be angry about it.”

  “Good, because I am.”

  “And what are you going to do about it?”

  “What am I supposed to do about it, Riley?” he asked.

  “Something, Jendrish,” I shouted. “Anything. Pull your head out of your ass and do something. Get off of this balcony. Track down the people responsible for the attack and do something about it.”

  Jendrish looked at me, his eyes slightly widened, as if he were shocked I'd dare speak to him the way I was. But, I couldn't just sit back and do nothing. If I had to shock him out of his stupor, I was going to do it.

  “It's so easy for you to sit there and criticize me,” he said. “It's not your blood being spilled.”

  “You're right, it's not my blood,” I said. “But I would spill it if it meant I was defending what I loved. One thing I can tell you is that if I survived an attack like that, I sure as hell wouldn't be sitting on my ass moping about it.”

  Jendrish winced a bit, but he got to his feet and stared me down, his eyes blazing with anger. “Who do you think you are?”

  “I'm the woman who's supposed to be your wife, Jendrish,” I snapped back.

  He looked at me a long moment, the anger not abating in the least. “Yeah, maybe we should re-think that.”

  I felt like he'd slapped me across the face. Those six little words had driven the air out of my lungs. I looked at him, feeling my head spinning.

  “You don't mean that,” I said.

  “Don't I?” he replied. “You said to do something. Maybe this is me doing something. Maybe I'm finally realizing that bringing you here was a mistake.”

  “Jendrish, you don't mean that.”

  “Maybe I do,” he said. “Perhaps I've allowed myself to become too complacent. My senses and instincts too dulled. Maybe if I'd been on top of my game, I would have seen the attack coming. Maybe I wouldn't have been hurt. Maybe Vink – ”

  I took his hand and gave it a firm squeeze. “Listen to yourself, Jendrish,” I said. “You're not making any sense. How does what we have impact – ”

  “And what do we have?” he asked.

  “Love,” I said. “We have love.”

  He snorted. “We barely know each other,” he said an
d shook his head. “This was a mistake. A big mistake.”

  He pulled his hand away from me and turned to walk back into our chambers. I ran after him, grabbing his arm and turning him to face me. Though my head was still spinning in stunned disbelief, my anger was also rising. I'd expected to bear the brunt of his hurt and frustration, but I'd never expected – this.

  “You know that's not true, you son of a bitch,” I hissed. “You know what we have is good. What we have is right.”

  “I don't know anything anymore,” he said, sounding deflated. “The only thing I do know for certain is that I must get my house in order. I have a lot of work to do here.”

  “Then let me help you,” I said. “We're in this together, Jendrish.”

  He looked at me a long moment and I thought that perhaps, finally I was getting through to him. That he would see what he was doing and pull back from it. But those hopes were dashed a second later when he shook his head.

  “I'm sorry,” he said. “I can't. We can't do this.”

  “What are you saying?”

  “I'm going to arrange to have you transported back to Earth,” he said. “I can't have you here any longer.”

  “Jendrish – ”

  He shook his head again. “No, I'm sorry,” he said. “I will have you transported home as soon as possible.”

  With that, he turned and left our chambers. And my whole world collapsed around me.

  ~ooo000ooo~

  When he'd said as soon as possible, he hadn't been kidding. Jendrish's Guardsmen had come early the next morning to escort me to the hangar where my transport back to Earth was waiting. As I boarded the ship, I felt my heart shattering into a million tiny pieces. I couldn't believe this was happening.

  I hadn't had the chance to say goodbye to Ynora before I was forced to leave. But as I looked out the window of the ship, I saw her standing in the hangar. Tears rolled down her cheeks and she held her stomach like she was going to be sick. I understood the feeling all too well.

  Pressing my hand to the window, I mouthed the word “goodbye” to her as my own tears began to fall.