by Amelia Jade
What if he found himself in a situation where someone else, someone he wasn’t as close to, made a remark about her? Would he be able to contain himself? The fact that he couldn’t answer that question immediately scared Gabriel more than he was willing to admit. Some of what was going on in his brain must have shown, because Raphael’s expression turned serious instantly.
“Everything okay Gabriel?” It was rare that either of the other two Stone Bears used his full name in an informal setting such as this one. It meant that they were concerned, or trying to get his attention.
He looked up, meeting the green of his friend’s eyes, noting the inquiring look. Raphael wanted to know what was going on, but if Gabriel said everything was okay, he wouldn’t press him about it. That was one reason why he valued Raphael’s friendship so much.
“I think so.” He straightened, taking a deep breath and releasing his hand from the desk. “Yeah, I think so,” he repeated, looking around the room, unwilling to meet that emerald stare again. He was too worried that Raphael might see the truth, which at that moment meant that he had no fucking idea if he was going to be okay or not.
But then another thought penetrated his anger-fogged brain. Caia had stood up to Marcus. For him. She had defended him to her boss, who could be a very intimidating man when he was angry. Gabriel had seen Marcus angry before, and even he preferred to be somewhere else.
“Did Marcus believe her? Because it’s the truth. The last thing I wanted was to catch any shit over it, so I put him down as easily as I could.”
“From the sounds of it, yeah. And since you haven’t been called in there yet to answer for your sins, I’d say it worked.”
Gabriel flopped down heavily into the sturdy, steel-reinforced chair behind his own desk. The leather fabric still groaned and hissed as air fled from beneath his body weight.
“Well I’ll be damned. I owe that woman,” he said, a lopsided smile on his face as he pictured her correcting Marcus. “I almost wish I could have seen it. Marcus hates being corrected,” he said with a laugh, the others joining in after a moment.
The office they shared wasn’t that large, but it housed three desks in a flat U-shaped pattern. The door was on one end of the rectangular room, with Gabriel’s desk on the other, and Raphael and Uriel’s desk facing inward on each side. It was the lair of the Stone Bears, and where they spent much of their time between pickups, unless they were training in the on-site gym located next to their offices.
The phone on his desk began to ring.
Speaking of pickups…
The other shifters immediately shut up and looked over at Gabriel. That phone only ever rang for one reason. Gabriel reached down and put the receiver to his ear.
“Go,” he said simply.
“This is Michael. Requesting pickup, Shaft A, Side Corridor 1-C.”
“Pickup team is enroute. Whitepine. Shaft A, Side Corridor 1-C. Acknowledge.”
He waited for the person on the other end to repeat the information and then he hung up.
“Time to do our job,” he said, placing the phone down carefully.
Raphael and Uriel were already on their feet. They waited for Gabriel and fell into step behind him as they exited their office. The office itself wasn’t attached to the rest of the mansion complex. It was in fact a singled-off room inside the garage. This allowed them to easily and immediately leave for an extraction.
Three large, military-looking trucks were parked in a line, taking up a large portion of the garage. The rest was filled with their personal vehicles, supply crates, the office, and a fully equipped weight room and sparring mat, built to bear-shifter sizing.
“Where we going?” Raphael asked over the intra-truck communication system that linked the three vehicles together.
“Diamond mines today fellas. Michael says they have a stone ready for extraction at their main site, Shaft A.”
“Oh the Diamond boys. They sure do dig up a lot of dragon stones, don’t they!” Uriel said from his truck as he fired up the engine.
“That they do, that they do. We would be a lot poorer if they weren’t able to be so productive.”
The Diamond Crew, formally known as the Whitepines and lead by their Alpha Michael, were the most productive crew in the mountains. They held a fair lead over the Ruby Crew, and a sizeable one over the rest of the crews.
“Hey, do you guys ever wonder about all these stones?” Raphael asked as the trucks rolled forward, exiting the garage.
“What do you mean?” Gabriel was in the lead truck, making his way toward their destination with practiced ease.
“Well, think about it. We do a retrieval, on average, every other day, from the various crews.”
“So?” Uriel sounded completely confused, though Gabriel couldn’t blame him, since he didn’t have any better sense of where Raphael was going with his thoughts.
“That’s almost two hundred stones a year. That’s a lot of dragons. So, where are they?”
Gabriel frowned. That was a good question. The stones that they were tasked with retrieving, despite the precious-gem classification of the mining crews, were anything but. They were dragon stones. Whenever a dragon died or decided to relinquish their hold on life, they would assume their dragon form. As the life left them, they turned to rock. Encased in the middle of that rock was their heart stone.
Diamond, Ruby, Emerald, Jade, Onyx, Amethyst, Sapphire, Opal and more. They resembled the jewels visually, but when a shifter or someone with special eyewear saw them, it was obvious they were anything but. The stones radiated immense amounts of heat, even if the stone itself was cool to the touch.
Genesis Valley was rumored to be the birthplace of dragons, which is why there were so many stones found from dragons who had been born here and returned to die many thousands of years later.
“Well,” he said now into the silence as the others waited for him to speak. He was their senior, and had been at it for longer than they had by several years. “I’ve never had it absolutely confirmed to me that the dragons are able to turn the stones into eggs and hatch new dragons from them. We’ve just always assumed that’s what they do.” He finished speaking and swerved his truck to the left to avoid a large pothole.
“Of course. Why else would we get paid ridiculous amounts of... dammit!” Raphael swore as his truck hit the pothole. “Why else would we get paid so well to be glorified babysitters?” he finished, maneuvering his truck back into line.
“We may just be babysitters now,” Gabriel told him, “but it wasn’t that long ago that the last of the renegades were still trying to take the stones.
“That was what, thirty years ago now Gabe? Come on, you can’t still believe that there’s any threat now! Mirrnolax was killed. The dragons said so!”
“And we all know dragons to just be the completely truthful and forthcoming sort, don’t we Uriel?” Gabriel responded. The youngest member of the Stone Bears was a little bit too trusting for his liking. “How do we know they told us the truth about Mirrnolax? Maybe they just imprisoned him, assuming that would do the job. Or maybe there’s another renegade out there still.”
As if to put truth to his words, Gabriel began to scan the road and sky a little bit more carefully. If there truly was a renegade dragon out there, their jobs would be a lot more dangerous than they were now.
“You know, I never did understand the idea behind the renegades,” Uriel said, half-accepting his boss’s word, but still seeking more knowledge.
“Think of it this way, Uriel. Have you ever met a criminal before?”
“Sure. Hell, half the bears in the Valley are criminals fleeing from the rest of the country. Even we three don’t have clean sheets.”
“Exactly. We all did things we aren’t proud of. But we learned to accept the rules. The Dragon Council wants to work peacefully with the humans, like many of the shifters outside of the Valley. The renegades want to do as they please, and use their strength to rule the humans.”
&nbs
p; “Do you really think they could do something like that, Gabe? Rule over all the humans?”
“If they had enough dragons, of course they could Uriel.”
“And where do you think they get those dragons from?” Raphael chimed in.
“The stones,” Uriel replied, realization setting in. “So we have to protect the stones to prevent the renegades from getting their hands on them and raising an army.”
“When you boil it down, that’s exactly it,” Gabriel told him. “That’s why they put us through such rigorous training, and why we get paid so much money.”
“Hazard pay,” Raphael said solemnly.
“Exactly. So just because nothing has happened in a long time, let’s not also forget one more thing.”
“What’s that?” Uriel asked, curiosity mixing with unease.
“To a dragon, these past thirty years or so are nothing more than a heartbeat,” he said happily.
“Wow, you’re just full of good news today, aren’t you boss!” Raphael said.
“You don’t know the half of it boys. Starting soon it’s just going to be the two of you.”
Gabriel paused to let his two associates voice their astonishment and disbelief before he explained what was going on with the new position and what it entailed.
“The Kedyns need someone to be able to act with a bit more freedom, and not be weighed down with the responsibility of this position,” he finished.
“So you’re no longer going to be a Stone Bear?” they asked almost in conjunction.
“That’s what I thought at first too, Raph. But as it turns out, it actually looks like the Stone Bears are going to be expanding and encompassing this Sentinel program as well. So I’ll be in charge of everything. I’ll still make pickups with you, though likely not as often. But you two will also have at least one new recruit, so Raph, you’ll be in charge of training them.”
Raphael acknowledged that idea thoughtfully. Gabriel knew he would. The other shifter had been with him for almost five years now, whereas Uriel was only in his second year with the Stone Bears. Those extra few years meant Raphael had begun itching for more command and responsibility. Until now, Gabriel had been unable to grant it to him. There simply wasn’t anything to do.
“Now you’re going to be in charge of organizing pickups as well as training the new guy,” he told Raph. “Think you can handle it?”
“I’ll give it everything I have,” came the answer, a mixture composed mostly of confidence, but still holding more than a few nerves.
“Good. You’ll also have to deal with Uri. He’s staying with you for now too.”
Both shifters complained loudly at that one, though there was no real malice in their voices. The Kedyns were meticulous about who they picked to go through the training to become a Stone Bear. Size, strength, and Alpha ability were all a necessity, but there was more to it than that. Some Alphas ruled through sheer strength alone. Others were leaders and could interact with their crews without worrying about losing stature.
It was those types of Alphas that were selected for the program, and they happened to be extremely rare. But it also meant that the trio of Stone Bears were all very good friends, able to be equals outside of their jobs, and work within the framework set in front of them while on the clock.
The trees parted and the ground leveled out in front of them as they arrived at the Whitepines main shaft. Because the Diamond crew had been established and running as a team for so long, they were also the largest crew, with well over a dozen bears mining. They expanded too, as shifters aged out, were ruled unfit for duty, or in a few rare cases, were killed in freak accidents. The sheer size of the crew meant that they actually had a secondary shaft as well. It was more to ensure that there weren’t too many bears in an enclosed space, rather than because the mine itself was too small. After several hundred years, even though they mined by hand with pickaxe and chisel, the shafts were still extensive.
That was why Michael, the Alpha of the Whitepines, had given him a location within the shaft.
“Okay boys, let’s do this, nice and easy by the book. Side Corridor 1-C Raph, lead us in,” Gabriel said as they dismounted, their trucks parked facing back the way they came, ready for a quick departure.
The directions meant that they were to take the first offshoot from the main trunk of the shaft, and then the third branch from there, and follow it to the end. The embedded rail system and strings of LED lights ensured high visibility, but the three Bears carried and used their high-powered flashlights regardless. If the power failed, it wouldn’t be the first time in the history of the shafts that it had been used as a precursor for an attack.
Raphael led the way, followed by Uriel, with Gabriel watching their rear. They descended without issue, and Gabriel strode to the front when Raphael announced contact over their radio.
He almost didn’t see it in time. The shifter came lunging out of the shadows to his right, swinging his pickaxe for Gabriel’s head. The sharp metal edge glinted in the dim light seconds before it impacted with his head. Gabriel wasn’t a Stone Bear in name only, however, and his head was already moving with the direction of the weapon, blunting the attack. As his weight took him off balance, Gabriel launched himself forward into a roll and came up running, ignoring the searing pain that erupted in his head as the weapon’s tip gouged a huge furrow in his forehead. Hot sticky liquid erupted across his face, and Gabriel could taste the metallic tang of his blood as his wound wept furiously.
The angry roar of a bear sounded behind him, paws crunching as it came closer. The shifter must have abandoned his initial idea and shifted as he came after Gabriel. He turned, and through his working eye he could see his team shifting to come to his aid.
“No!” he yelled at them, a snarl appearing on his face as he stared down the rushing bear. The speed of Gabriel’s movement must have stunned the attacker, because there was still fifteen feet between the two of them.
Plenty of time.
Gabriel flexed his legs and launched himself at the animal. He changed on the move, his bear ripping from his skin while he was still mid-air. The massive beasts collided together with bone-snapping force. Gabriel felt something give in his chest, but he simply grunted and brushed aside the new source of pain, focusing on the loud snap he had heard from one of his opponent’s front legs.
The crazed bear didn’t even make a noise. It simply continued its wild, frenzied attack. Great tears opened in Gabriel’s skin as the massive paws continued to move underneath him. Rolling off his opponent, Gabriel waited for him to try and stand. As the other shifter rolled toward him, he swung a huge paw straight at the oncoming head of his attacker. Bone crunched. His claws dug into the side of its head and crushed its eye, blinding it from one side. Warmth flowed down Gabriel’s paw as he was coated in blood from the horrific wound he had just inflicted.
It was a cheap shot that he wouldn’t have taken in a normal brawl, but this was different, and he had no compunctions about doing what it took to win. A sliver of his brain spoke to him, saying something about taking him alive, but it was too late by then. Gabriel was in full battle-rage, his bear roaring its anger at being blindsided as his paws descended on the hapless shifter’s head again and again, until it finally let out a squeal and shivered before lying still.
Gabriel hauled back on his bear, pulling it back from the edge and containing its rage using his sheer mental strength to overwhelm it. Then he put it away, shifting back into his human form, his lungs heaving for breath as he grabbed the dead or unconscious shifter by the neck and hauled it after him, using his free hand to wipe away the blood running into his eye. Head wounds were the worst, and it would be another quarter hour or so before the blood fully stopped flowing, though it had already slowed substantially.
“What the fuck is this?” he yelled, throwing the sack of bones and skin ten feet in front of him to land in front of Michael, who was standing with the rest of his crew. “Since when do you greet us with a
pickaxe to the fucking head?” he roared, his long legs carrying him right up to the Alpha.
He noticed one or two of the other shifters tremble as he yelled at their leader, and he picked out the most rambunctious looking one and pointed a finger at him. “Don’t make the same mistake as your friend here,” he said, his voice promising the same treatment.
“Now, explain,” he spat at Michael, uncaring that some of his blood flecked off and landed on the other shifter’s clothing. He had been attacked, dammit. There was going to be hell to pay for this!
The truth was, he was just glad that Caia wasn’t there. The attack had reminded him of how truly dangerous life could be in Genesis Valley. Part of his anger was encased in the fear of what might happen to her, and knowing that he could do nothing about it. She was a grown woman, and any attempt by him to shelter her from the realities of the world she had just stepped into would result in her becoming angry at him, at a minimum. He had to allow her to do what she wanted to do, no matter how much he hated it.
So he took his anger out on those assembled in front of him.
“Is this one of yours?” he asked Michael, watching him very carefully.
The Alpha didn’t flinch. “Yes. Or rather should I say, he was one of ours. If he’s still alive,” Michael looked down skeptically, “he won’t be for long.”
Gabriel noted one of the other assembled shifters from the Whitepines looking on. His face gave away nothing, but through his peripheral vision, Gabriel could see his hands slowly closing into a fist.
Interesting. Let’s see what happens if I push just a little further.
“He had better not. This is a disgrace,” he said venomously.
The other shifter had been standing behind and to the left of Michael. He had a clear line of attack at Gabriel, and he took it.
This time, however, it wasn’t Gabriel who stopped it. Michael must have sensed it was coming, because he spun on the spot, and a massive fist connected solidly just as the attacker began to shift. The force of the blow drove its head into the wall two feet away, where it snapped back suddenly, the noise echoing down the corridor. The body slid to the floor lifelessly.
