by Amelia Jade
He laughed yet again, the booming sound so genuine and filled with mirth that she couldn’t help but join in. It felt good to relax like that, to just let go.
“I might be like that now,” he said. “But it is definitely a learned skill, trust me.”
She snorted. “I don’t believe that for a moment.”
“Carrie, I was a little over five feet tall on my eleventh birthday. Six foot five by the time I was fifteen. I think you can imagine what growing that much in four years does to one’s coordination.”
She was forced to agree with him. That would be difficult.
“Then, on top of learning how to handle my human body, at fifteen I suddenly manifested a bear. Sounds cool, right?”
She nodded. “Absolutely. I’m sure it has its ups and downs, but in general, that’s one hell of a party trick,” she teased.
Jarvis smiled, looking down at her as they walked along. “Now, picture this. I’m a tall guy with lots of natural muscle, learning how to be coordinated on two feet. Then bam, all of a sudden I have to learn how to move a body on four feet. A body, that I’ll remind you, is like ten times bigger than my human one. If you wanna talk about embarrassing moments, trust me, I got ‘em.”
The two of them laughed again as Carrie imagined him trying to manage the two different halves of him, and falling on his face half the time.
“Okay, okay,” she said, putting her hands up. “Too bad there weren’t digital cameras back then.”
He smiled. “No, you’ve got it wrong. Thank goodness there weren’t digital cameras. I’ve never been so glad in my life that shifters are generally anti-technology. To my knowledge, there aren’t even old-style video camera recordings of that time.”
Carrie snapped her fingers. “Darn! That would have been excellent footage to play at birthdays and such to embarrass you.”
Jarvis wiped his brow to remove fake sweat as he sighed theatrically in relief. “Something for which I am very glad.”
He paused and pointed. “How about there?”
Carrie looked across the street at the sandwich shop he had indicated. “Sure. They serve a mean clubhouse. Fresh-roasted turkey, done in-store.”
Jarvis licked his lips. “Done. Let’s do it.”
With a quick glance for oncoming traffic, they walked swiftly across the road and she went inside as he held the door open for her.
“Oh that’s neat,” Jarvis said as he followed her in.
“What?” she asked, looking over her shoulder at him.
“The pictures,” he said, pointing at the wall on the left.
“Oh yeah,” she said. “High-res of some of the more notable places around town. Neat stuff. I guess I’ve just seen them before, but they certainly are beautiful, aren’t they?
He nodded. “What are they?”
Carrie followed his gaze once more. “Umm, well, the first is Goldman’s Caves, a beautiful cave system about twenty minutes south of town. It’s been cleaned up and lit. Takes about an hour and a half to walk through them all. So much fun. They do a wicked haunted house for Halloween,” she said, remembering trips there with friends.
“That’s the big waterfall north of town. Then you have Town Hall, The Mineshaft Motel before it was abandoned, and the hydro dam.” She shrugged. “Just prominent features around Cloud Lake.”
“Beautiful photos,” he said, looking at them for another long second. “But let’s eat!”
“I thought you would never ask,” she joked, pointing to the far end of the counter on their right where an Order Here sign hung. “Over there. Get the clubhouse, trust me.”
He raised an eyebrow. “All right, but if it’s terrible…”
“Then I’ll eat it for you,” she said, giving him a little shove. “Now order, I’m starving!”
***
She shoved her plate back a bit as she swallowed the last of her sandwich, having also ordered a clubhouse. To neither of their shock, Jarvis had finished his as well, pronouncing it as one of the best sandwiches he’d had in a long time. Carrie had simply given him a little “I told you so” look.
“So tell me,” she asked as they sat digesting. “Who, exactly are you people?”
His eyebrows furrowed. “Um, shifters?”
“Your organization, smart-ass,” she said dryly. “You’re very clearly not a random band of shifters. Too much organization. You’re a major? Are you the military?”
Jarvis nodded slowly. “Sort of. Remember how I told you that when my bear manifested, I was awkward as all hell in that form?”
She nodded.
“Well, it’s like that for all shifters. When we first learn to change, we have no idea how to control our animals, to move in them, walk in them. It’s far more foreign than when you used to run around on all fours as kids.”
“I believe that,” she said with a smile.
“Well, some shifters don’t end up mastering it, they get to the point where they can walk, and that’s about it. For some of the flighted shifters, many of them don’t put in the effort to even learn how to fly. And of those that can, most can barely do so.”
“Interesting. I never really thought through what you said. I just figured everyone learned it fairly quickly and became badasses.”
His lips quirked. “No. In fact, very few do. Each race has a school, an academy, where some of the most talented go. There they’re taught how to truly master their animal. To move with it as if they were one. To fight it. To fly like a bird, if you happen to be one of those races.”
“So you’re the school?” she asked.
“The graduates, yes,” he said. “Bears are the most populous species, though the wolves are starting to challenge for that. So, we naturally have the biggest academy. Ours is simply called Base Camp. We go there to train, to learn. We treat ourselves as a military organization, and those who graduate become the Green Bearets.”
Carrie grinned as she realized the play on words evident in the title.
“I know, I know. But anyway, due to our numbers, we have ranks and an entire structure. It keeps everything in line, to make it all easy to track. So, here in Cloud Lake I command the detachment of Green Bearets present here.”
“So do you partner up with the other schools then?” she asked. “How does that work?”
“We do, yes. The Green Bearets are simply the bear shifter warriors that have graduated from Base Camp. But the Guardians of Cadia are the multi-species force that patrols the borders and such.”
“The Guardians of Cadia,” she said, rolling the title around on her tongue. “Sounds fancy.”
Jarvis nodded. “It is. They only accept a fraction of the Green Bearets into their ranks. The best of the best.”
“Are you a Guardian?” she asked.
“Yes, I am.”
She knew it. Jarvis was a badass! “So how come you’re with the Green Bearets then, instead of with the Guardians?” It wasn’t meant as an insult; she was simply curious about the inner workings of the shifter world. She’d learned more about them today than her entire adult life till then.
“I am.” He frowned. “Sort of. You see, the Guardians aren’t numerous enough to conduct this war on their own. There are perhaps two hundred bear shifter Guardians. Compared to nearly two thousand Green Bearets.”
“Two thousand?” she echoed. “That doesn’t seem like very many.”
“Perhaps not. But then again, there are only a little more than ten thousand of us in Cadia as a whole. That’s all shifters. Perhaps four to five thousand of which are bear shifters. Another twenty-five hundred wolves, and so on. So, it’s actually a high percentage.”
He look unhappy. “Although truth be told, I’m including many of the current recruits in that number. We’ve expanded majorly since the war began. Fenris is coming at us hard, and they’ve mostly had us on the defensive.”
Anger flashed behind his eyes, and without thinking, she reached out and grabbed his hand, giving it a squeeze before letting go. “L
et’s not get upset over anything right now, okay?” she asked, trying to deflect his attention.
“Sorry, that’s a bit of a sore spot with me,” he said, shaking his head.
“Why did the war start in the first place?”
“Fenris attacked us,” he said bluntly. “They started sending mercenaries to attack us, and then they outright declared war by invading Cloud Lake and killing many of the shifters who were here at the time. Then not long after that, they managed to get a raiding party in the eastern border and attacked Base Camp itself. And I’m sure you know about the Battle of the Cavern?”
Carrie nodded. All of Cloud Lake had heard how a major shifter battle had occurred out in the mountains nearby. One of their own had been instrumental in thwarting that attack. Though rumor was she was now living with the shifters.
“Whatever happened to the human woman who helped you with that?” she asked.
Jarvis’s eyes clouded over, defenses rising into place. “She’s fine. Alive.” He paused. “You may not have heard that she fell in love with one of my men. She’s currently in Cadia, protected, so that Fenris can’t get to her and use her as leverage.”
Carrie didn’t entirely believe him. She didn’t suspect him of lying, but neither was he telling her the complete truth. Jarvis was purposefully omitting some information.
Whatever, she decided, he was allowed to have his secrets. He hadn’t been lying when she said she was alive and okay. Of that Carrie was convinced, and that was all that really mattered, she supposed.
“Listen,” he said, leaning in. “I really hate to cut this short, but I do have to get back to the motel.”
“Oh, yeah of course!” she said, startled. “I’m probably keeping you from work.”
“Paperwork is more like it,” he grumbled. “But it’s part of the territory, unfortunately.”
She smiled, rising from her seat. “Well, thank you for lunch. It was relaxing. I, um, I needed that.”
Her throat was constricting as they walked to the front door.
“I’ll escort you home, and then be on my way, if that’s okay?” he asked, falling in step beside her as she headed for her sister’s place.
“Sure,” she replied just a bit too quickly for her own comfort. Carrie didn’t want to appear too eager to spend more time with him. “And tomorrow, or whenever works, I’ll meet you at Angelo’s place. I think I’ll be okay with that now.”
Jarvis looked away, something flashing in his eyes.
“Yeah, that sounds good. Same time?”
“Sure,” she replied.
What the heck was that all about?
***
Jarvis
He tried not to stalk away after ensuring that Carrie had made it safely to her sister’s place, but it was hard.
Very hard.
Lunch had been such a nice, enjoyable occasion. They’d talked a little, but mostly about non-important things. Small talk. But it had been fun.
Then she’d reminded him she had a boyfriend, just when he’d offered to walk her home. He’d done his best to keep a smile on his face, but it had been hard. Very hard.
This is all your own fault too.
It was true. He hadn’t had to invite her to lunch, or offer to walk her home. That wasn’t necessary, and they both knew it. But he had, because he couldn’t control himself. He was treading on another man’s turf—not that he thought anyone actually owned Carrie; she was far too independent for that—and that was rude.
He needed to mind his manners, and act how he would want someone to act around the woman he would hopefully take as his mate. Someday.
Green Bearets scattered from his path as he reached the motel that served as his headquarters in Cloud Lake. Clearly they could read him like a book, and knew that he was in a foul mood.
Knowing when to make yourself scarce when an angry superior officer was around was one of the quickest lessons a recruit learned, and one they never forgot as they rose up in the ranks.
“Sir!”
He paused as the Green Bearet approached him, evidently unafraid.
“Yes, Lance Corporal?” he asked, wondering what was prompting this man to be so brave.
“Sir,” the soldier said, coming to attention as he stopped two feet away. “Colonel Richter has requested your presence.”
Jarvis arched an eyebrow. “I’m to report back to Base Camp?”
“Ah, no sir. The colonel is here, sir. Um, in your office.”
Well, that explained the soldier’s boldness. The only thing worse than an angry superior officer was his superior officer.
Poor guy.
Jarvis almost felt sorry for him. Caught between a rock and a hard place, and without the ability to even say no. After all, orders were orders.
“Has the colonel been here long?” he asked, glancing down the hallway to where the door to his office was firmly shut.
“No sir. Perhaps an hour, but he did spend much of that time viewing our base here.”
“Thank you Lance Corporal, I’ll take it from here,” Jarvis said in a distracted tone, dismissing the much younger shifter.
This was odd. Colonel Garrin Richter was the second-in-command of the Green Bearets, behind only the commandant himself. His position was back at Base Camp, ensuring that everything ran smoothly, including getting Jarvis the reinforcements he kept asking for.
All his prior requests for more men since the Battle of the Cavern had been denied. Had the colonel come all this way just to deny the last one in person and to tell him to stop asking? That seemed unlike him. The two had an excellent relationship, and he considered Garrin to be one of his friends when they were off duty.
So what the fuck was going on?
He approached the door—his door—and rapped on it smartly three times.
“Enter,” came the deceivingly relaxed order.
“Sir, this is an unexpected pleasure,” Jarvis said as he entered, closing the door behind him.
“Don’t bullshit me, Jarvis. You’re antsy as fuck to find out why I’m here, and you hate that I’m stepping on your toes.”
Jarvis grinned. “Well, sir. I’m sure I could find a much more diplomatic way to put it.”
“I’m sure you could also find a much more vulgar way to say it too,” Garrin said, rising from where he’d been sitting behind Jarvis’s desk and coming around to shake his hand. “Good to see you though.”
“And you as well, sir. It does an officer good to get out of Base Camp every now and then. I should have remembered that before I was deployed here.”
Garrin smiled. “Yes, I have to agree. Though my staff and security were none too pleased with my decision.”
“Would that be because you didn’t give them any warning, sir? Again?”
The two men laughed and the colonel gestured for him to sit in a chair. “They’re Green Bearets. Twenty minutes’ warning should be enough for them to do the job three times over.”
“What can I do for you, Colonel?” Jarvis asked as they both sat down.
“Two things. First, I have to give you bad news and make you want to yell. Then, once you’re off duty for the night, you can show me the best place to get a beer around here. I secured myself a twenty-four-hour pass. I don’t have to be back until noon tomorrow.”
Jarvis grinned. The Commandant was a good person, and he understood everyone needed time off here and there, especially his senior officers. It was unlikely Garrin had had to argue all that hard to get a day pass. He so rarely took time off that it was likely the commandant had tried to make it forty-eight hours, even in the middle of a war!
“I can manage the second one, but the quality of said beer is going to depend on just how bad this news is, sir.”
Colonel Richter sobered. “It’s not good.”
“I take it no more Green Bearets are being deployed to Cloud Lake?”
“You’ll get the next training company once it’s finished its training. But that’s not for two more months. You�
��ll also be getting a couple of squads of wolves and a mixed squad of big cats. After that, who knows how much longer until I can get you more reinforcements.”
Jarvis grimaced unhappily. “While I’m grateful for the eventual two extra companies, sir, it’s not enough. We lost more than that at the cavern, dammit!”
“I know, Major. I know. But the raid on Base Camp, and then the near success of Fenris’s attack into downtown Cadia has all sorts of people worried. They’re demanding huge amounts of troops to be stationed in and around the town, and even beefier border patrols.”
“Are you kidding me?” Jarvis exclaimed, shooting to his feet, his fist smacking angrily on the folding table, making it jump from the impact. “That’s a recipe for disaster. Sir, if we don’t get reinforcements here, and soon, Fenris is going to be able to waltz into here and kick us out. You don’t think they’ve been reinforcing themselves here either? Sir, we need to take this fight to their continent.”
“I’m aware of that, Jarvis. The commandant and I are working on it, and we have some powerful allies in that fight. There are things being planned.”
“Like what?” he shot back.
“Well, I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but for whatever reason, the gryphons—or some of them at least, under the leadership of Andrew Raskell, who I believe you’ve worked with several times—are starting to come around. They and some others are planning a long-range strike. A raid on Fenris itself.”
“What others?” He sat down, intrigued by the notion that the gryphons, notoriously reclusive and dismissive of other shifters, were interested in working together.
Probably because this will allow them to kill a bunch of shifters without repercussion.
Jarvis knew Andrew, and despite his prejudices, found that he actually trusted the man. But that was an individual. Trusting a group, even one led by him, was a whole different matter. He was glad he didn’t have anything to do with that particular mission, as much as taking the fight to Fenris appealed to him.
“I really can’t tell you more. It’s extremely classified, I’m sorry,” Colonel Richter said, giving a helpless shrug.
Jarvis just dipped his head. He understood; operational security was everything. It was unlikely Fenris had managed to turn anyone in Cadia, but then again, stranger things had happened.
