Steal the Sun: (Book 1)

by Stephanie Kelley

  “To get to us before he got back.” I finished. Damn Ken, he had know Rhen was a shifter, that’s why he had wanted to get to the mine so quickly after our run in with that thing.

  “Yeah. And you guys are naked.” So now he noticed. “Who went into the river?”

  “Who do you think?” I asked as I attempted to reach for the quilt without flashing my own brother.

  My brother snorted at me.

  “Figured. I will bring coffee and some dry clothes from the truck.” And with that Ken just walked away, pulling the door shut behind him. We just stared until we heard the front door of the cabin pulled closed.

  “I’m not ready to get out of this tub yet, I don’t want you back out in that cold.” Rhen managed as I left go of the quilt and snuggled back against him. He slipped the gold chain from around his neck and over my head. “This was always supposed to be yours.”

  “I can’t - “

  He kissed my forehead. “Then just hold it for me, ok? It’s been with me long enough.”

  I kissed his chest and closed my hand around the ring that was still warm from laying against his skin.

  “I've got the coffee,” Kenai said from the other side of the door as he opened it, not bothering to knock this time either. “And beef jerky. Sorry, I'm straight out of smoked salmon. I saw fresh tracks so I'm going to check that out, hopefully it's not an ambush.”

  Rhen only nodded as he took the thermos and a plastic bag of dried beef. “Warm up, both of you. And eat something.”

  I shook my head as my brother walked away again, both doors roughly being pulled shut. Rhen sighed heavily drawing my attention.

  “I know you said he hasn’t been right, what happened?”

  I shook my head, “He won’t sleep, he hasn’t taken any fishing jobs this summer. Taking a lot more dangerous jobs when Dez doesn’t have him swamped with his own errands.”

  “But what happened?”

  “River.”

  “River? River Morgan? From town? She never even gave him so much as the time of day in school. First one to call him a freak.”

  “They were apparently together for years, kept it all a secret. No one really knew until after-” I sighed heavily, cutting myself off.

  “After what?”

  I brought it up, so I needed to finish it. “The last blizzard River went missing. Come the thaw they found her body near the lake, throat slit. They tried to blame Kenai.”

  “You think he did it?”

  “I honestly don’t know.”

  I couldn’t even have faith enough in my brother to think he wouldn’t have killed his girlfriend. How messed up was my family?

  I kissed his hair before leaving the bathroom. He’d asked for some time to himself, and who was I to deny him? I knew I needed some time to sort out my thoughts too, but I was just glad to be feeling warm again. I was still nowhere near ready to be taking on any sort of beast that wanted to eat me, I was certainly glad Kenai had showed up. We needed to take care of this before Dez returned from his trip. I felt decent enough to try to at least find us some sort of food that Kenai might have stashed for emergencies.

  I heard my phone beep where it lay on the table. I was sure by now there were a bunch of messages from Snow that I didn’t want to deal with, and probably at least one from Dez. I wasn’t ready for that reality. I could follow Rhen’s lead and throw my phone in the fire, but there was no way that would stop whatever Snow was trying to do, whoever they were. So for now, I’d steal a few more moments of whatever peace I’d found. The world would creep back in on its own soon enough.

  I found some soups, while the same time berating myself for not being better prepared. Neither of us had been thinking clearly at all, and this just drove the point home. I heard the water slosh in the tub in the other room and found myself smiling a bit. One step at a time, our lives were still in danger, but that was an every day occurrence for us.

  Boots stomped outside the door. I reached for my knife even though I knew to expect Kenai’s return. I was nothing if not paranoid. The last thing I needed was for the loup garou to show up in human form asking for dinner.

  The door flew open and slammed into the chair. My oldest brother filled the doorway, snow in his short black hair. His heavy Carhart coat adding to his bulk. Those dark circles did nothing but make his deep set eyes more sunken and angry as he ducked through the door. His rough beard looked as if he hadn’t shaved in a week. I swallowed hard as my heartbeat pounded in my ears.

  I watched as he took in the room while I waited for the impending storm. The crows feet at the corner of his eyes deepened as his dark chocolate eyes lost their light. Whatever his thoughts were, were probably not too far from the truth. When his eyes met mine I knew everything was about to go to hell. You don’t sleep with those who play on the other side. I could only hang on to my knife and wait for the avalanche that was my brother to engulf the cabin.

  “What is this Koda?” He fumed, the dark undertones of his anger spilling into his words. He brought with him an oppressive presence wherever he went and true to form. He sucked the air out of the room. He always had, didn’t matter where he was. “Rhen’s SUV is a shredded hunk of metal and broken glass and neither of you could pick up your goddamn phones to call me? There are fucking tracks all over the snow and the two of you are up here playing house? Where the hell is the damn shifter anyway? And where is Kenai?”

  Shit, Kenai hadn’t said a word about the vehicle. Rhen was going to be pissed. My anger ratcheted up a degree. Hearing him call Rhen a shifter reminded me that he had known and not told me.

  “Kenai is out looking for the creature that attacked us. Rhen pulled me from the river. He’s in the back.” I said sharply. Dez didn’t even flinch at the mention that I had plunged into the river. He was too angry to care. There was no need to try to bait my brother. He’d do enough for both of us with the mood he was in.

  He tried to stomp past me. I side stepped and blocked his way. I was not letting him into the bathroom. I flipped my knife in my grip, edge of the blade facing out just like he had taught me. I didn’t care if he was my blood or not right now. He wasn’t getting to Rhen, not after he just saved my life.

  “Really, little sister?” He snarled in my face. “You want to protect a shifter even after everything he’s done to screw up your life? He’s just like the rest of them. His damn hide belongs on these walls!”

  I may have doubted whether or not one brother killed his lover, but I knew sure as the sun rose, that given the opportunity, Dez would kill mine unless I could redirect his anger.

  “Like hell it does. And when were you going to tell me he was a shifter, Dez?” I yelled back as I tried to push him away. “When? Because until a few hours ago, I had no idea just why you hated him so much. But Willow? Did you know she was a shifter then? Back when we kept your secret?”

  “You don’t question me. You told me I was wrong to worry, that you wouldn’t go back to him. I should have known when he answered your phone and just sent Kenai after him. Cayce was bad enough. But Rhen? A second time? Where the hell is your head, Kodiak?”

  He didn’t even hesitate in his response to my accusation. Dez had known they were selkies all those years ago. It was a slap in the face coming from the hypocritical patriarch of our family. Back then Dez’s reasoning from keeping it from Rhen was that the relationship was nothing more than friends with benefits. But if Dez knew then, what else had he lied about through the years?

  I didn’t think, I just reacted in my anger. I heard the cartilage in his nose snap as I took a cheap shot with my knife hand. It didn't even phase him as blood began to trickle down his face. In the space of a breath Dez grabbed my wrist and twisted my arm behind my back. He pried the knife from my hand and threw it at the bathroom door. The knife was now wedged it in the thick wooden door. If Rhen hadn’t heard our voices, he would have heard that.

  I tried to yank my arm from his grasp and he only held me tighter. He caught my other ar
m as I swung at him. My body still wasn’t anywhere near recovered from the dip in the freezing water. He hadn’t been able to have control of me like this in years.

  “Keep protecting him and I will make you watch while I skin him with your knife. Either bring him out, or I go in after him.” His voice was barely above a harsh whisper in my ear, it felt the same as being licked by a cat. “I’m tired of the both of you right now.”

  He unceremoniously shoved me away from him. A bit of a snarl leaving him in the motion.

  I turned to stare him down. His brow furrowed, jaw was tight as the muscles in his neck flexed. If I looked hard enough I could have seen his pulse. He had probably driven straight here after getting back from the airport, pissed off and stewing the entire ride because no one was answering their phones. He would have thought the worst the entire trip. I tried not to focus on his trembling lip as he fought a snarl. I knew his ticks, just like he knew mine. This was the side of Dez that no one wanted to see. This was the side where you knew someone was going to get hurt.

  Or in this case, hurt worse than you’d hurt him.

  “Go get him before I drag you in there with me, Koda!” His words vibrated off the cabin walls.

  I slipped into the small bathroom with dry clothing I had fished out of one of Rhen’s duffle bags. Dez had stared me down cursing under his breath the entire time. Instead of a naked tattooed man resting his head on the edge of the old tub like I left him, there was a silver, heavily spotted harbor seal.

  Fuck me.

  I shut the door and locked it in my haste to keep my brother from barreling through the door. Dez would have killed him on site. Hand over my mouth to keep from saying anything stupid, I watched him enjoying what he could of the water in the tub, ducking below the water level and blowing bubbles. My brain was reeling, I couldn’t process what I was seeing. His partial shift early had proved he was otherworldly, but this, this made it so I couldn’t deny it anymore. He was indeed a shifter.

  When Rhen noticed me staring he tried to hide his head beneath the side of the tub. I didn't know how much of him was still in there when I looked into those dark eyes. Part of me knew this is not now he wanted me to see him, not the first time at least. He was vulnerable right now in his shifted form, especially in that old tub. If we were going to trust each other again, there was no better moment to start. I knelt by the tub and let him come to me, hoping he understood my intention.

  He was silver and spotted, his muzzle almost completely black it was so heavily covered with spots, fading to more of the silver steel color further along his body. The only indication I had it was my Rhen was the missing patch of fur in a v shape on his face. He did not look like either of the seals in the photo that had been sent to him. Maybe it really was Willow in that photo.

  I held out my hand, wanting to touch him, but waiting for him to make the first move. His wet muzzle nudged my hand, much like my husky did when I found the right spot he wanted scratched. His slick fur was so soft and not what I expected. I found myself smiling as he warmed up to me. His nose touched mine as the door rattled from the outside bringing me back to reality.

  “Dez is here.”

  He nodded in understanding. I kissed him on the top of the head, there wasn’t much else I could say or do.

  The dark force that was my brother leaned against the fire place, phone in one hand. He stared down at me from his over six foot height. He hadn’t bothered to wipe the blood from his broken nose off his face, but his coat was on the back of the chair. Those dark eyes of his bored into me as I pulled the door tight. I fought for a moment to yank my knife out of the door. I wanted the comfort of it in my hand, but I slipped it back into the sheath on my thigh. I knew the biting words were coming, and I could only wait.

  “Czar’s birthday, real creative, sis,” Dez said as he casually waved the phone in my direction. He’d figured out my password. “Care to tell me what the hell Cayce means by ‘SW no go, 713 not Amaroq, send pics.’ And these pictures of you and the seal disgust me. You hire someone to photograph your escapade?”

  What was Snow sending now?

  “Fuck off, Dez. You're not Poppa, you don't get to run my life.” Caleb was a little late with the information, but I was thankful for the confirmation that it was not the Amaroq.

  He snorted, a flash of pain racing through his eyes, a tiny bit of calm forced into his demeanor. “I don't think he'd be too proud of his only daughter shacked up with a shifter. What did the message from Caleb mean?”

  “Nothing to you.” Rhen’s voice rolled like thunder across the room. Dez’s eyes snapped to over my shoulder.

  There was the warmth of the sun on my back, as Dez flexed his jaw while those dark eyes narrowed. I ventured a glance over my shoulder. Rhen had walked out in only his jeans, bare chest showing his scars and tattoos. I saw his nose twitch as he smelled blood. The last of his ghostly silver fur rippling away replaced by his tanned skin as he scrubbed the towel through his hair. His eyes still black as an empty night sky.

  Dez wasn’t pleased.

  I was stuck between two opposing powers, caught in a static charge that flowed over my skin and caused the hair on my body to stand on end. Rhen, as he came to stand by my side, his warm hand finding the small of my back. My whole world turned upside down once again, all because of him.

  They just stared at each other. Was this what it was like that day all those years ago when Rhen left?

  “You want something Valdez?” Rhen broke the silence.

  “Your hide.”

  “That threat is getting really old.”

  I felt Rhen’s fingers pressing harder against me as he tensed.

  “You hit my kid.”

  “Connor is an adult. He shouldn't start things he can't finish. Guess you didn't teach him all that well.”

  Dez’s dark eyes and the lines on his face caught the fire light. He looked like something I should have been hunting.

  “You walk off Ordeneige, leaving machinery in pieces,” his every word was clipped and precise with his anger. “Now you’re up here screwing my sister rather than hunting. I don’t like how you're taking advantage of my family, shifter.”

  My hand closed around the handle of my knife again, the coolness of the antler warming in my palm till it melded with me. Poppa had known what he was doing when he created them.

  “Talk to your son about the equipment being in pieces. He shouldn’t have been in the excavator in the first place and he knew it. You're the one exploiting your family and me, threatening everyone into doing what you want. I’m willing to believe that you’re the one sending Koda the cryptic messages to keep her in line while I’ve been back.”

  “When I said watch my sister, I didn't mean sleep with her, only thing Koda has to worry about being threatened by is you.” Dez turned his attention towards me. “I seriously thought you had better sense than this, Koda.”

  “You’ve got no right to say anything about my life, Dez.” I was in my brother’s face when I felt Rhen lightly grab at the back of my shirt. “I don’t need you.”

  Dez scoffed at my response, arms crossed over that broad flanneled chest.

  “Really? You don’t need me? And what are you going to do for work? You know hunting doesn't pay, and you're not all that good at it without me or Ken. Everytime I turn around your heart is bleeding for them or you're sleeping with them. And maybe, just to prove a point, I’ll buy Broken Tusk and fire you. You need me, Koda. You need the family.”

  “Pretty sure it's not for sale, especially to you. Leave Rhen out of this.” I felt Rhen’s fingers pulling harder on my shirt as he realized that my brother didn’t know I owned the bar.

  “Everything has a price, Koda. And since when do you really give a shit about him? He fucked your best friend and left!” Those dark eyes made my stomach sour as his face went still. Last time I’d seen Dez like this, he and Ken had gotten into a fight. They had broken the kitchen table, a window, and the front door of Dez’s house
. Both of them had needed dozens of stitches.

  I didn't stand a chance with my body still recovering from the plunge into the lake. He’d tear through us both in this tiny cabin.

  I gritted my teeth and squeezed the handle of my knife. It would be what it would be.

  “Since I realized my own blood was keeping things from me.”

  Dez reached out, brushed my hair away from my neck. I felt the anger rolling off him anew as he saw the bite. His eyes cut to Rhen.

  “You sure that's what it is, Koda? You sure that not you just coming down off the high from a good fuck?”

  Rhen wasn't quick enough to grab the waistband of my jeans as I caught Dez in the jaw with another quick punch, with my knife hand. I didn’t really like hitting my brother, but if I waited for him to come after me, I was beyond screwed. I nicked his cheek with the blade as Rhen pulled me back. Dez didn't miss the opportunity to swing at Rhen, connecting in nearly the same spot where I had slapped Rhen earlier.

  My brother was more focused on Rhen then me. Dez reached over me to get to Rhen. Rhen tried to separate Dez and I, but it wasn’t much use, Dez still kept coming. I managed to kick my brother’s already bad left knee sending him crashing to the floor. He grabbed at Rhen’s ankle, taking him to the floor as well.

  Dez grabbed at Rhen’s throat and he caught me in the process. We ended up on the floor in a pile of bodies. The cabin was way to small for us to fight in. We couldn’t get away from each other. I managed to catch my own knee on the bed frame on my way down. I felt something give in my leg and I saw stars. This fighting needed stopped before one of us ended up dead.

  I threw myself on Dez’s back, one arm around his neck, my knife reaching to slash his forearm. I was greeted by a hiss as air hit the wound, Dez tried to sit up and throw me off. I held on. I didn’t have a choice. When Dez felt the wet cold steel against his throat he froze. His breath coming in shallow pants that he tried to control himself. He knew how sharp that blade, too deep a breath and he would have a cut that would leave him bleeding out in a matter of seconds.