“Probably scared of being discovered,” Ace said. “Do you think they know that there are polar bear shifters up here?”
Neal nodded again. “We know for sure that they saw some polar bears shifting out on the tundra. So they know that there are some of us up here, although we’re not sure if they know how many shifters there are, or where any of the clans are located. It’s clear that they came up here with intentions to find a poison that will work on shifter clans they were already aware of in the lower United States. They left a few pages of notes behind when they abandoned the warehouse. I’m no scientist, but it’s obvious that whatever formula they’re working on is extremely potent.”
Ace set his mouth in a grim line. “They’re working on something that will kill the panda alphas.”
Neal glanced over at him with a curious look on his face. “It’s true then? The legends about panda alphas being nearly invincible?”
“It’s true. Well, it used to be true. Modern science and technology seem to be making panda alphas less and less invincible. These scientists tried to wipe out all the pandas, alphas included, several years ago. They almost succeeded, too. The virus they spread was so strong that even many of the panda shifters with the alpha gene died. But four of us alphas managed to survive. We’ve been hiding out in the Coast Guard ever since, but I’ve been itching for a chance at revenge.”
“Well, I’d love if you could figure out a way to destroy them,” Neal said. “They’re nearly impossible to keep track of, though. They’re not dumb. They know we’re watching them, and that we’d take them down in an instant, given the chance.”
“Do you think they’re making progress on finding the caverns?” Ace asked.
Neal shrugged. “Hard to say. We’ve tried to keep an eye out on the caverns, just in case. But the underground system is huge, and it’s impossible to watch every entrance all the time. We do know they’ve been testing poisons, though.”
“How do you know that?” Ace asked.
Neal’s eyes darkened. “We’ve had reports from other clans of members that have gone missing, only to turn up dead out on the tundra days later. It hasn’t been very many bears, yet. But we’re worried about what’s to come. They’re obviously testing out some of their potions.”
Ace frowned. “Those bastards,” he said, his voice strained with anger. “What can we do to help?”
Neal shrugged. “Not much, at this point. We haven’t been able to do much ourselves. But we’re doing our best to find information. We’ll keep you informed. We’re also in contact with a group of black bear shifters in Northern California, the Burning Claws Clan. We’re just asking everyone to be ready to fight if necessary. We’re expecting an all out attack on the shifters at some point in the near future.”
“My boys and me are ready to fight,” Ace said. “Just say the word. I have connections who can approve leave time for me at a moment’s notice, and we can be up here in a day’s time to help. These scientists have to be stopped before more bears are killed.”
Neal nodded. “I agree. I just hope we can stay one step ahead of them,” he said, his voice ominous.
Ace stared off into the distance without replying. No response was necessary. He and Neal both knew that their whole way of life was at risk. Ace sighed when, without warning, Jade’s face flashed across his mind. He’d said for the last few years that he had nothing left to lose, but he had to face the truth. That wasn’t the case anymore. His bear had found something it would die to protect.
Chapter Seven
Jade’s mood was getting worse by the minute. Leave it to her to decide to fall in love with a guy just when he decided he was no longer interested in her. Because that appeared to be exactly what had just happened. She’d woken up three days ago and sprung out of bed with excitement because she knew Ace had the day off from his Coast Guard duties. This always meant that he spent the entire day at the rescue center, assisting with the animals. She’d arrived at work exceptionally early, just to be sure that she would be there when Ace showed up.
By mid-morning, however, he hadn’t shown up, and he hadn’t called to say he wasn’t coming. He wasn’t listed on any type of volunteer schedule, so it’s not like he was required to call in and let them know if he wasn’t coming. But since he had started volunteering, he had spent every free day here. Surely, if he wasn’t coming, he would have at least let her know.
Jade finally broke down and asked Mary at the front desk if she’d heard anything from Ace. Mary hadn’t, and Jade hadn’t wanted to push the issue and seem overly obvious. The day ended with no word from Ace, and Jade went home feeling a mixture of annoyance and worry. When Ace didn’t call or show up again the next day, Jade became truly worried. She called him a few times, but his phone kept going straight to voicemail, which only made her surer that something was wrong. Trying to keep herself from panicking, she looked up the emergency contact information on Ace’s volunteer sheet and called the person listed, a guy named Lance. Jade had recognized the name from Ace’s conversations about the guys on his Coast Guard rescue team, and she had called the number. Lance had seemed surprised to know that Ace had been volunteering at the rescue center, and had told Jade that he was fine, just away on business.
Jade had gone from worried to annoyed again. Sure, Ace didn’t technically have a commitment to show up to volunteer on any specific day, so Jade didn’t really have a right to be angry. Especially when she had been the one to consistently push away his romantic advances. But still, she’d thought they had become good friends lately. Why had he just stopped showing up without warning? He could have at least called.
Now, it was the end of the third day of Ace’s three days off. Jade’s heart sank as she realized that she wouldn’t get to see him again for at least five days, since he’d be busy at the Coast Guard station. Jade frowned as she swept the floor of the charting room, and told herself to stop being ridiculous. He was busy, and she had given him no reason to think that she would care if he took a few days off from volunteering. She just needed to be patient and wait until he came back from whatever business he was taking care of.
Jade continued sweeping, forcing herself to hum one of her favorite pop songs to try to lighten her mood. Halfway through the chorus, her phone started vibrating in her pocket. She stopped sweeping and pulled it out to look at it, nearly dropping it on the floor when she saw Ace’s name come up on the caller I.D. She leaned the broom against the wall, took a deep breath, and answered the call.
“Hello?”
“Jade? Hey, it’s Ace. Lance told me you called.”
Jade suddenly felt embarrassed. Ace must know that she had found Lance’s number from his emergency contact information. In retrospect, she had probably overreacted a bit by calling just because Ace missed two days of volunteering that he hadn’t even been officially scheduled for. “Uh, yeah. I was surprised when you didn’t show up to volunteer and wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry for disappearing. I had something kind of urgent come up in Alaska. My cell phone didn’t get service up there.”
“Alaska?” Jade asked, unable to keep the surprise from her voice.
“Yeah. It’s a, uh, really long story. But, anyway, sorry for not showing up the last few days. I’ll be back next week.”
“You don’t have to apologize,” Jade said. “I’m just glad you’re alright.”
There was a long pause, and Jade held her breath while she waited for Ace to speak. She wanted to launch into an explanation of how she had realized that she was falling for him, and that she wanted to know if he still had feelings for her. But he sounded tired, and she wasn’t going to see him for almost another full week. She should probably just wait to talk to him in person.
“Well, anyway, I just wanted to call you back,” Ace finally said. “I’ll see you next week, okay?”
“I changed my mind,” Jade blurted out before she could think about it or stop herself.
“W
hat?” Ace asked, suddenly sounding a little less tired.
“I changed my mind. About going on a date with you. I think…I think I’m falling for you,” Jade said. Her heart had started pounding so quickly with nervous anticipation that she felt like it was going to beat right out of her chest.
“Jade, really?” Ace said. His voice sounded like a strange mixture of hopefulness and sadness. “I don’t want to put pressure on you if—”
“Come over,” Jade said, interrupting him.
“What?”
“Come over. Please. I know you’re tired, but I have to see you. I have to talk to you, in person. I don’t want to wait until next week. I can text you my address.”
There was a long pause again, and Jade squeezed her eyes shut in anguish. Come on, Ace, she said to herself. Don’t leave me hanging, feeling like a complete idiot.
“Okay,” he said. “Text me the address.”
Jade felt her stomach fill with butterflies at his words. She felt like a high school girl who had just found out that the captain of the football team liked her. Her head was warning her to take things slowly, but her heart was encouraging her to charge full steam ahead.
And she was done listening to her head.
* * *
Ace gripped the steering wheel tightly for the whole drive over to Jade’s apartment. He should be feeling triumphant. After all, he had gotten what he wanted, right? He’d been trying to woo Jade for weeks, and his persistence had finally paid off. But he didn’t feel triumphant. He felt apprehensive. Because he realized that he couldn’t in good conscience agree to a relationship with Jade unless he told her exactly what that would entail. Which meant revealing to her that he was a panda shifter.
Over the last several weeks, his attraction to her had continued to grow. Not only was she beautiful on the outside, she had a beautiful heart. She had become one of his best friends, and he didn’t want to take a chance on doing anything that might hurt her. He didn’t want to mate with her without telling her who he really was. And he wanted to make her fully aware that he had very real enemies out there—enemies who might take their hatred of him out on her, if they knew he loved her.
Love. Ace let the word roll around in his mind for a few moments. It was a strong word, but he felt strongly toward Jade. He would lay everything out for her tonight, and he would hope that she still wanted to take a chance on a relationship with him.
Ace climbed the stairs to Jade’s apartment and rapped on the front door a few times. Jade opened it seconds later, wearing a pair of navy sweatpants and a gray long-sleeved t-shirt. Her hair was pulled back into a tight bun, like it frequently was when she was working.
“Hey,” she said softly. She sounded nervous and unsure of herself, which was unusual for her. She was used to being in charge and taking decisive action. Ace had often thought that she would have made a good alpha, if only she had been born into a shifter clan.
She’d make a good lifemate to an alpha, Ace’s bear whispered to him. He pushed away the thought. Before he started making lifemate plans, he needed to find out if she was willing to accept the idea of dating a shifter in the first place.
“Can I come in?” Ace asked. A silly question, but he somehow felt weird walking in without an official invitation.
Jade nodded, and Ace followed her into the tiny apartment. Ace had to hide his surprise at how small the place was. He knew the rescue center was a nonprofit organization, but, still—Jade was head of rescue operations there. Surely, they paid her enough to afford something a little more spacious than this.
Jade gestured to the couch, and Ace sat down. Jade sat in an armchair across from him, bouncing her foot up and down in a nervous, rapid rhythm.
“Jade,” Ace said. “I have a few things I need to tell you.”
Jade stood up and held up her hand. “Wait. Me first,” she said, then started pacing the room. Ace forced himself to shut up and let her take her time deciding what to say.
“I wanted to explain why I was so resistant to dating you at first, and why I changed my mind,” she said.
“You don’t have to explain anything to me,” Ace said. “I’ve respected your decision from the beginning.”
Jade shook her head. “No, I need to explain this. It’s a big part of who I am. If we’re going to be together, then I need you to understand some things about me.”
Ace sighed. “Fair enough,” he said. He had a feeling that whatever it was that Jade wanted him to understand wasn’t going to be nearly as difficult to swallow as what he was going to tell her in a few minutes.
Jade stopped pacing for a moment and took a deep breath. “I was engaged before, to a guy named Mike,” she said, then started pacing again.
Ace frowned in confusion. Was that her big confession? “Jade, it’s okay. We all have exes. As long as you’re not currently with Mike, your past with him is none of my business.”
Jade stopped and stared at Ace, her eyes full of anguish. “No, you’re not understanding. I’m not worried what you think about my exes. But I wanted to explain to you that I’m not currently with Mike, because Mike is dead. He died a month before our wedding.”
Ace’s own heart clenched in his chest at the look of pain on Jade’s face. “Oh, Jade. I’m so sorry.”
Jade started pacing again, and her words spilled out faster and faster. “He was a police officer, and got shot during an armed robbery. It was awful. I was supposed to be meeting him for dinner that night, but he never showed up. I never got a chance to say goodbye. After he died, it took years before I was even interested in dating again. And even then, I swore I would never date anyone with a dangerous job again. I didn’t want to spend every day worried about someone I loved. That’s why I refused to date you at first. In all honesty, I was attracted to you from the moment I met you. But you work as a search and rescue crew member for the Coast Guard. Your life is on the line every single day. Which is amazing, and so selfless of you. But I just didn’t want to be with you when it would mean constant worry. The thing is, though, as we became friends. I realized I was worrying about you anyways. And I realized I was so tied up by fear that I wasn’t really living. I was just kind of existing. So, I guess, I just wanted you to understand all of that. And I wanted you to know that I might worry a lot. I can’t help it. But it’s because I care about you. And because I’ve had some tough shit in my life.”
Jade finally stopped talking and pacing. She stood still, looking at Ace with a hopeful expression on her face. She looked lighter already, as though just saying all of that out loud to him had lifted a great weight off of her shoulders.
Ace didn’t share her sense of relief, though. As he processed the full weight of what she had just told him, he realized that the amount of worrying she was going to do if she dated him was much greater than she realized. His heart felt heavy as he realized that he was probably going to be giving up a chance at dating her by telling her the extent of the dangers facing him.
“Ace?” Jade asked. “You look upset. I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you all of that from the beginning of our friendship. I just really didn’t think it mattered because I didn’t think I’d ever want to date you. I didn’t realize how much I would come to care about you.”
“No, don’t apologize,” Ace said. “I’m not upset with you. I’m upset because I have something I have to tell you, too. And, unfortunately, it’s going to make you realize that the risks of my dangerous job pale in comparison to the other dangers I have to worry about.”
A shadow crossed over Jade’s face, but she didn’t say anything. She just stood there, waiting for Ace to continue.
“You’re probably going to want to sit down for this,” Ace said. Jade raised an eyebrow, and then went to sit down in the armchair again.
“Okay,” she said. “I’m sitting.”
Ace took a deep breath, and rubbed his forehead. “It’s hard to even know where to begin,” he said. “I hope this is all going to somewhat make sense to you.
Are you familiar with shapeshifters?”
Jade raised her eyebrow further. “Shapeshifters? Like people who change into animals?”
“Yes, like that. You’re familiar with the concept?”
“Well, yes. I’m not sure where you’re going with this. It seems a little bit off topic. But I am familiar with the concept.”
“Well, there’s not really a delicate way to put this. I’m a shapeshifter. A panda bear shifter, to be exact.”
The silence in the room was palpable. Jade stared at Ace for a full minute, her eyes wide, as though she didn’t know whether to believe him and be shocked, or disbelieve him and be angry that he was making a joke out of a serious moment. Finally, she managed to squeak out one question.
“I’m sorry, what?”
Ace continued to hold her gaze. This might be a lot for her to swallow, and he understood that. But he would not apologize for who he was, or cower in fear. If they were fated to be together, then she would learn to accept this. If not, then it was better he found that out sooner rather than later.
“I’m a panda bear shifter,” he repeated. “I can change into a panda bear at will. Watch.”
Ace held up his right hand, let out a low growl, and let his human skin turn to the thick skin of a bear, and the black fur of a panda paw. Long, sharp claws extended from where his fingernails had been moments before. Jade’s eyes widened, and Ace decided to continue the show. What the heck, the cat was out of the bag, anyway. He might as well really make his point. He let out another growl, and then let his face morph into a bear face. White fur, interrupted by black ears and black fur around his eyes, replaced the peach color of Ace’s human face. His teeth grew long and sharp, and he bared them to show Jade just how sharp they were.
Make no mistake, his bear was saying. I am anything but cute and cuddly. I’m an alpha panda. And I will fight to the death to defend the ones I love.
Ace watched Jade carefully. Her eyes continued to widen, but she didn’t say anything and she didn’t move. When he was satisfied that she had gotten the point, Ace let his face and hand morph back into human form. Ace and Jade stared at each other without speaking for a long time. The only sound in the room was the ticking of a clock
An Alpha's Lightning (Water Bear Shifters 2) Page 5
