Unbreak My Heart: BWWM Romance (Brother From Money Book 20)

by Shanade White

  “Sled?” he asked curiously. “You mean you use dogs? Why not just come in by snowmobile?”

  “Oh, I have a really big family—well, I guess I’m not related to any of them, really, but we call each other that anyway,” she explained, stumbling nervously over her words as he stood up, towering over her at an exceptional height. “Anyway, it’s a group of scientists who all research together in a really big compound that we turned into a kind of apartment complex of sorts. Difficult to explain. We’re not really even on the map as anything but a business, even though the place is full of families. The people there are mostly natives, with a few white people, and a few more blacks. So I guess it would be easy to spot all the ones I’m not related to, huh?”

  “If I was looking there, I couldn’t possibly fail to spot a sweet piece of chocolate like you,” he smirked, reaching down to tuck one of her long, black curls into the parka she’d just pulled over her head.

  “Are you trying to flirt with me, sir?” she chuckled.

  “The name is Ted,” he supplied. “Actually, to be more accurate, it’s Theodore Antonius.”

  “Sounds Italian or something,” Betty commented.

  “Something like that,” he said, smirking again. “So, what about you? Who do I have the pleasure of speaking to?”

  “Oh, sorry,” she chuckled. “Betty Cummings.”

  “Well, Betty Cummings, where would a guy like me take a pretty lady like you out for a night on the town around here?”

  “Well, considering it's nighttime for quite a few more days, I suppose you could just as easily take her out for a dark day date,” Betty chuckled. “However, around here there’s not much to do other than go out to eat or maybe visit the Inupiat center and sit by the fire. Though I suppose I could bring you to the compound sometime if you’d like.”

  “You mean the scientific apartment complex?” he chuckled. “I don’t know…it sounds kind of intimidating. Maybe I should bring you back to my place?”

  “What, to hang around with your Dad?” Betty laughed. “That sounds real fun. Does he at least have cable television or anything?”

  “No, not really,” he smirked. “But he does have electricity upon occasion.”

  Betty chuckled. “The hazards of a Barrow lifestyle, I suppose. Are you sure you want to hang around this place?”

  “Of course I’m sure,” he smiled. “I grew up in Alaska. I don’t believe I could think of anywhere better to live in the world than here. Used to live down south in Wainwright for a time, but then I decided to stay in the Aleutians for the last ten years while working as a fisherman.”

  “You grew up in Alaska?” she smiled. “But Barrow is probably the coldest, most difficult city on the continent. And you had to have flown in to even be here.”

  “Sure I flew in, you know that,” he laughed. “Say, listen, when I come back here tomorrow, I want to take you out to the waterfront. What do you say?”

  “Are you crazy?” she scoffed. “It isn’t even going to be minus ten degrees tomorrow.”

  “Hmm, then maybe we would have to find ways to keep each other warm?” he teased.

  “Oh, I’ve completely forgotten the time!?” Betty gasped, realizing that she ought to have locked up by now. “I’ve really got to go. We will have to talk tomorrow, okay? Out, out, out!”

  “Sure, sure,” he laughed, running for the door as she pushed at his back to get him moving. “But can I just say one more thing?”

  Putting her hands on her hips as they stood by the door, she asked, “What is it?”

  “I love a woman who’s pushy,” he grinned.

  “Yeah? I’ll just bet you do,” she smirked.

  He turned and went to his snowmobile as she locked up, and then she went to another door and opened it, going in to prepare her four dogs before bringing them outside. Some people used more dogs on sleds than that, of course, but she didn’t really need to. As she patted and prepped the dogs, she heard Ted driving away outside. She caught herself smiling until Mina pushed her arm with her snout and barked at her.

  “Sorry,” she said sheepishly. “I suppose we’d best be on our way.”

  Chapter 2

  Betty wasn’t worried about hurrying as she guided her dogs towards home. It wasn’t like she was trying to get there before dark or anything, since it was dark all month long at this time of year. Naturally, her thoughts were on the handsome Ted as she went. She wondered why a fisherman would want to come to Barrow, resident father or not. He certainly wasn’t going to make a better paycheck around here, and it wouldn’t be nearly as exciting as the job he had left behind.

  Most outsiders couldn’t last around Barrow. Life was cold and harsh, and the natives didn’t tend to trust anyone they didn’t know, so half the population would look at him with suspicion until he’d proven he belonged. But despite all that, Betty found herself hoping he would stay.

  Raven Research compound came into view just as snow began to fall, making it difficult to see the gate with her own eyes. Luckily, the dogs knew where they were headed, and besides, there was no way Betty could lose her way. All she’d have to do was transform into a polar bear and she could easily survive the harsh elements that surrounded her home.

  As she entered the huge double doors that led to the main hall within, a bit of the harsh weather blew in with her. She rode the dogs straight in, and stopped just inside as the doors automatically closed behind her. She began to strip off her gear while two men came forward to unhitch the dogs and lead them off to their kennel.

  A tall, lithe white woman stepped over and raised her brow. “Betty? What took you so long to get home? You knew we were going to hold the ceremony this evening. Now you’ve made everyone have to wait.”

  “Sorry, Allie, I had trouble getting one of the customers to leave,” she replied, not intending to offer any further information than that. “And the weather wasn’t overly helpful on the way back either.”

  “Yes, so it would seem,” she smirked. “But you know the rules, child. I run a very tight ship around here, and you of all people I expect to obey. I practically raised you myself. Everyone looks to you as my second-in-command, of sorts. You wouldn’t want to give them the wrong idea about what they might be able to get away with, right?”

  “Of course not, Allie,” she agreed. “I’ll try to do better next time. Oh, tomorrow, I’m probably going to be late, but it shouldn’t be a problem then.”

  “Come on, hurry,” Allie said then. “There are four daughters waiting this year, as well you know. This is going to be really exciting for them. Don’t you remember your relic ceremony? I know how excited you were to be changed.”

  “That’s very true,” Betty agreed. “There’s no other feeling like it. These girls are very lucky to become a part of all that. Let’s go!”

  The huge complex was arranged much like a huge center surrounded by various living units, each of which housed a family. There were three floors and thirty units per side, with ten on each floor. Additionally, they also had a very large kitchen and sitting area with a huge hearth where the fire constantly burned. A lot of the fuel they used to keep it going was animal waste, since wood here was in scarce supply.

  Most of the food they ate, they harvested from the ocean itself. Whale, fish, sea birds, and other creatures were all fair game. Of course, a lot of that food was harvested by the women in the clan while they were in their polar bear forms. Polar bears didn’t have to produce hunting licenses.

  They went into the sitting area, where the roaring fireplace kept the room toasty warm. Most of the clan had gathered there—that is to say, about three hundred people. A great many of them were women and children, since many of the men who had been the fathers or spouses of these individuals had been hurt or killed while at war with the massive white lions who had been their enemies since before Betty was born.

  Lions were never native of the Alaskan lands at any time. It had become obvious that these lions—an unusual b
reed which many believed to have been a myth—had come here over two thousand years ago, bringing the strange artifact now in their possession along with them. Betty knew the story of how they’d obtained the Raven artifact all too well, of course, for her father had been killed that day too. Her mother had lived on for several years, but she had fallen in battle when Betty was only four. Allie had pretty much been taking care of her ever since.

  As she stood beside the woman now watching, four sixteen-year-old girls filed into the front of the room and arranged themselves around the statue which she had once touched as well. That had been half a lifetime ago for her now that she was twenty-four, since she herself had been twelve at the time. That was before Allie had deemed twelve to be too young and chosen sixteen instead.

  But for Betty, it had been a natural transition to touch the artifact—one which she had always know she was going to make. Because she was born to the woman who had first touched the statue, everyone had been excitedly awaiting her transformation that day, and it had been everything she could have imagined and more.

  “Bring forth the Raven,” called Allie then, and Betty stopped her woolgathering to watch. One by one, each girl touched the golden bird statue, and then they were transformed into polar bears. Even after so many years, Allie had not figured out why a bird statue had produced giant male lions whose mates were women who could not transform, whereas her clan had women polar bears with untransformed male mates. It seemed pretty weird to Betty as well, but she had formed her own opinions about it which she kept to herself.

  The four polar bears reveling near the statue finally returned to their human forms. The statue was once again taken away from the room and hidden away. Not even Betty knew on any given day where the statue might be housed. This was a safety precaution just in case anybody ever tried to convince one of the members of the clan to reveal its location. If one didn’t know it, they couldn’t possibly share it.

  One of the girls in the ceremony was a young woman named Crystal, who had also been raised by Allie. She came over to talk to Betty with an excited grin. “Betty! Is this what you meant by the feeling?” she asked with a blissful sigh. “I never knew anything could be like this. It’s no wonder you like being a warrior for the clan so much.”

  “Just remember, though, being a warrior for the clan is a position of great responsibility,” Betty told her. “The lions are constantly seeking ways to reclaim the Raven artifact, and we must always be on our guard because of it. We’ve lost more of our men than I care to think about because of their persistence, and quite a few of our fighters as well. Train hard, pay attention, and if you’re lucky you won’t be one of their number. Got that?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” she complained. “But can’t the work begin tomorrow? Can’t a girl enjoy at least one day before being worried about that?”

  “Well, I suppose so, as long as nobody comes roaring on our doorstep to interrupt. A few years ago on the solstice, the lions actually managed to get their paws on the artifact for a while, and there are some of us who suspect they may have initiated a large group of men and boys before we came to steal it away again. So now there’s no telling exactly how many lions there are, or even what they are likely to look like. So you be careful around strangers, okay?”

  “Yeah, Betty, you too,” she replied.

  “Don’t worry about me,” Betty scoffed. “I’m always careful. Besides, I’m the strongest warrior this clan has got. If some lion wanted to come at me, he had better bring his A game, and that’s a fact.”

  “You are so awesome, Betty!” she agreed. “Someday I want to be just like you!”

  “And I hope you get your chance,” she said with a smile. “Now off you go. You’ve still got to talk to Allie about your new duties and such. You know how much she hates it when people don’t obey her rules.”

  *****

  It was no great surprise when the men sounded the alarm a few hours after the ceremony. Betty and fifty other women rallied to defend the Raven artifact yet again. Betty expected something like this to happen every solstice, but she still found herself just as angry about it now as she had ever been. She didn’t understand much about the artifact other than the fact that Allie and her parents had been among a group of scientists who had removed it from the possession of the lions, and they wanted it back.

  On one level, of course, Betty could understand how the lions must have felt when their prized artifact was stolen. After all, they had been the owners for countless centuries, and Allie readily admitted it didn’t really belong to her. Still, she and her people benefited greatly from its use. Not even half the food they brought in to feed the clan could have been caught compared to the amounts the polar bears could bring in. They needed the artifact to continue their way of life.

  So, even though she was ambivalent about the morality, Betty was in complete agreement about the need to keep the Raven artifact in their possession. Tonight was the winter solstice, and that seemed to be the only time the lions ever really tried to get their hands on the prize, so the researchers had eventually come to the conclusion that there was some significance to the day. In fact, they had even taken the artifact on solstice when it had been obtained.

  “Betty! It sounds like they’re trying to come in from the back of the complex as well as the front,” Allie shouted. “Take half the women back there and get shifting. We won’t be able to keep them out forever, but maybe we won’t have to.”

  “There seem to be a lot more of them than before,” Betty pointed out.

  “They must have made themselves an army after all,” Allie concluded. “No surprise since the artifact was in their camp for three days.”

  “It’s the only explanation I can think of,” Betty agreed. “Good luck up here, Allie. Stay safe.”

  “You too,” she replied, and then Betty and about twenty of the women—now shifted into polar bears—went barreling through the complex to protect the other end. The sounds of frightened children met their ears, and a few screams that suggested more than fear.

  The lions were already inside the walls, and they were attacking some of the people back there with a vengeance. There was no time to mourn losses once they arrived; the bears had to get straight down to business. Leading all of them into the fray, Betty had her jaws clamped to some lion’s neck even before the others had managed to arrive.

  A fierce yet decisive battle broke out. The lions outnumbered the bears roughly two to one, but that didn’t stop any of them from defending their home in the least. Somewhere down in the ice caves below them, Betty knew, the Raven artifact was being moved into a safer location by one of its three guardians. She didn’t know which guardian, and she didn’t know anything about the location itself, she just knew the statue would soon be as far from here as possible, and likely would not return to the compound itself again until the ritual of summer.

  Only the most powerful of the shifters could learn to speak with their minds, and Betty was one of them. Most of the lions knew this on instinct and tried to target her for capture. So far, they had never succeeded, but this time Betty became just a little worried. There were far more lions than ever before, and she had to fight hard just to keep them at bay.

  Fighting with such conviction, Betty Cummings, said a masculine voice within her head. You are indeed beautiful to behold.

  How do you know my name?

  I am aware of a great deal more than you know, the lion chuckled. I’ve been watching you. I have seen the places your people like to go, the ways in which your food is gathered. I understand your motives and desires, and yet it changes nothing. My own people are the owners of the artifact, and we will take back what belongs to us, if even at your peril.

  Betty looked around for the owner of the voice, examining the eyes of every enemy she faced. For a while he eluded her, but eventually he was there. Larger and whiter than all the rest, his blue mane flowing majestically down his back. Somehow she knew that he had been
born as a shifter, without the need to touch the statue at all. Which meant, of course, that he must be a direct descendant of the Romans who had brought it here.

  You may be an impressive specimen to behold, whoever you are, but that won’t stop me from doing my duty, she told him. My family needs to eat, and this artifact needs to be fully studied. I cannot let you discover its whereabouts. I cannot let it pass from our paws.

  Where have you hidden it? he insisted, moving so that their foreheads came together as they stared into each other’s eyes. I will find out, you know. These men my father employed to the task are all fools, but I am made of a much tougher mettle. I will get the information from you as requested, and there’s nothing you can do to prevent me.

  I don’t have the information, she told him, inwardly smirking. Warriors are never given that information. Surely your king has told you so.

  Most warriors don’t know, I’ll give you that, he agreed, and the tone of his voice suggested a smirk. However, you are not most warriors. You were raised by the leader of your clan. I’m certain that you, of all the warriors here, must have been told something more.

  You’re wasting your time, she told him. Even if you could manage to catch me, you’d never get me to tell you a thing. You may as well leave in defeat right now.

  Twenty more bears showed up to tear into the intruders. The lion’s brow rose slightly in annoyance at this, and he made one last terse reply: perhaps another time?

  Having said this, he turned and made for the door through which his forces had entered, walking for all the world as if he expected to remain unharmed. Betty didn’t bother to chase after him, and she called off the attack on the rest of the enemy with a grunt and a roar. She knew that they would not fight without their leader, and he was already outside.

  Another roar followed hers, but this one came from him. It was loud and clear, calling the lions back to his side. Just as quickly as they had come, all of them disappeared into the frigid night. Betty’s eyes narrowed as she watched them go.