by V. Vaughn
"The kind of woman who wouldn't jeopardize our future by getting herself killed by an assassin."
I want to laugh at his over-the-top fear, but he appears to be serious. "She tried to save me last night. Why would she do that if she wanted me dead?"
"You've got a point." His brow knits. "So, you aren't her mark."
"Look at you, using fancy terminology."
"Yeah." Trent chuckles. "Look at me spending way too much time watching spy movies." His expression turns serious. "What if she thinks you're onto her now, and she's threatened and needs to get you out of the way?"
"But now that I'm your true mate, she'd be taking on a clan of werebear if she killed me."
Trent lets out a low growl to confirm my thought, and I laugh, because the whole road we're taking sounds ridiculous. When Trent doesn't join me I say, "I'm sorry. I know you're only trying to protect me, but I really don't believe Josie's a killer. I think she's a troubled girl with a past that has made it hard for her to be normal. Honestly, what I need to do is be the friend who is there for her, even when she does things to push me away." Relief fills me because I figured out what to do. I climb on Trent again to push him down on the mattress. "Thank you for talking this out with me. I feel much better." I tuck a strand of hair behind my ear as I gaze down at my true mate with nothing more than physical pleasure on my mind. "Now, where were we?"
Trent scowls at me. "I'm not sure I feel better."
"No?" I grab the button of his jeans to undo it. "Then let me fix that."
"Madison," Trent lets out a moan when I release his cock. "Oh, god. We should—" I drag my tongue up his shaft, and he hisses with pleasure as he forgets whatever it was he was going to say.
Nine
Josie
Josie, we have a problem. I hear Link's voice in my memory as if he's with me as I walk to the gym, and it pisses me off. I'm not sure how I can be hundreds of miles away from the man and have him still in my head. I had just gotten rid of his nagging voice in my thoughts before he called to give me the information about Max's car. But even so, he's right. I do have a problem… in the form of Madison.
The bright light illuminating the walkway buzzes as I pass. My roommate is genuinely worried about me to the point she just tried to do some kind of intervention. I was tempted to knock her out to show her who she's messing with, but my need to stay undercover kept her from the painful lesson. Only I'm not sure how good a job I did of convincing her I'm okay. That girl's nose is too damn good, and so is her power of observation. I've really got to cover my tracks better, like shoving my sweaty clothes to the bottom of my laundry basket next time.
I quicken my pace to a light jog, but within two steps my calf cramps up. "Shit." It's painful, and I bend down to massage it. I deserve this for taking so much time off from my workout regime. I know my muscles are screaming from overuse, and I need to stop for today. I also need to get some supplements if I'm going to start working out hard again. Madison doesn't believe me, but I did eat lunch and dinner. And I got a few stares when I loaded up my plate with as much protein as I could. Even so, I need more.
As my cramp eases with my strong fingers digging into it, a memory of Link comes to me. He pounds on his flexed stomach and his taunting voice rings out. "A body like this doesn't make itself." It makes me stop massaging my calf and take a deep breath to prepare to work through the pain. I start jogging again, knowing I need to get another three miles in tonight before I can call it a day.
Morning sun glistens on the dewy lawn near my dorm, as I stretch my hamstrings in a lunge. I glance down at my phone to see I'm getting back about the same time I have all week after my morning run. Only today I got up an hour earlier to hit fifteen miles without Madison noticing I doubled my mileage. I may have underestimated her yesterday, but it won't happen again. I smile as I run through my plan. While Madison thinks I'm in class, I'll be working out. And I'm about to become a model student in her eyes because she's going to think I spend my free time during the day in the library instead of our room.
I swipe my key card to enter my dorm. The sour odor of garbage comes toward me as I walk by a woman rolling a large trash bin. Since I found Max, my grades this semester don't mean a thing because I won't be returning once I become his mate. Until then though, I need to keep my cover with Madison. Once I'm on my floor I take a deep breath to find my center and become poor Josie who is struggling with body issues.
I step into my room and find Madison has just returned from the shower. "Hey. Good night with Trent?" I pretended I was asleep when she got home last night so I wouldn't have to deal with her before I had fine-tuned my story.
"It was. How far did you run?"
I detect skepticism in her voice, and in case she has some idea of when I left, I say, "About the same as usual, but I walked most of it. I'm pretty sore from yesterday." I let out a chuckle. "You were right to be worried about me. Two workouts in one day wasn't one of my smarter ideas."
Madison gives me a sympathetic smile. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah. I should know better after working at fat camp all summer how unhealthy it is, but I get a little wigged out when I gain some weight. No need to worry, though. I’m in a better head space today." To reinforce everything is really okay with me, I say, "If you’ll give me ten minutes, I'll go to breakfast with you."
"I'd like that."
"Cool." I grab my shower things and leave, and my smile is big because I think Madison bought my story. Now I just have to remain vigilant in keeping my cover. When I return to the room, Madison is texting on her phone and smiling. I guess she's talking to Trent.
She glances up at me and asks, "I've been wondering, how do you know about werebear?"
I blink, caught off-guard by her question, and my bucket of shower supplies thuds on a shelf when I set it in my closet as I take a moment to make sure I give her my lie with confidence. "My mother. But unlike you, I have no desire to meet my father. He's a deadbeat dad who wanted nothing to do with me."
"I don't think it was that simple for them, Josie." Madison shrugs. "Imagine falling in love with a werebear but you couldn't become one? Werebear don't accept humans into their clan if they can't change."
"Oh." I grab my comb, and it tugs my hair as I pull it through the wet strands to slick back into a ponytail. There's an interesting tidbit I didn't know. Although it makes sense a clan wouldn't want a weak link. I say, "I'm sure your dad is a great guy."
"Yours probably is too."
"Maybe." I turn to my closet to find clothes and smile because it seems Madison is getting a crash course on all things werebear from Trent, and that makes her a wealth of knowledge for me. I shimmy into jeans as I ask, "What else have you found out? Because this is stuff I should know too."
"I got a little more information on changing. Did you know they won't let you use drugs?" I pull my shirt over my head in time to see Madison shudder, and then she laughs. "But there's incentive to change. Trent told me that if you get bitten during sex you experience a mind-blowing orgasm."
"What?" I laugh, imagining the smooth talker trying to convince her of that, and I'm afraid she might believe it. "Madison, he's pulling your leg."
"I thought that too, but he swears it's true. Something about the true-mate connection bonding feels amazing."
Interesting twist, and one that makes my insides warm up as the memory of Max's kiss makes my lips tingle. "Well, then. Something to look forward too, I guess. Now all I have to do is find Max." And I have every intention of doing that today.
"Yeah. About him. I got Trent to ask around, and he said that he doesn't think Max is from their kingdom. My god, these terms are so strange, aren't they? Werebear, true mates, clans, kingdoms. It’s like being in some ancient time."
I'm well-versed in the ruling structure of werebear. In Maine there is what's known as the Northeast Kingdom, and it contains four clans; the Veilleux, the Robichaux, the De Roziers, who relocated here from the Arctic about twenty-five years a
go, and the Le Roux. I frown thinking about Trent not knowing who Max is, and it makes me wonder if he's actually part of the Le Roux family. I would think one of the alpha's children or a relative would be someone everyone in the kingdom would know about. Maybe he's a family friend visiting. It doesn't matter. Max has got some connection to the Le Roux, and that is what's going to lead me to him.
I sling my backpack on. It’s full of extra workout gear and toiletries, as well as my laptop for show. Then I ask, "Ready? I'm hungry."
"Me too. I think Mondays are cinnamon roll day. Or was it Tuesday?" she asks as we walk down the hall. "I can't remember but I sure hope so. I'm craving one." Madison gasps and grabs my arm to look at me with concern. "Oh gosh, I'm sorry. Does me talking about food make things harder for you?"
"What? Oh." I shake my head as I remember to be pathetic Josie. "No. No, it helps to be normal."
"Okay good. But tell me if I do anything that you wish I wouldn't."
A snippy comment comes to me, and I open my mouth. But the feeling is quickly taken over by guilt, making me stop. Anger takes over in another abrupt emotion shift, and I'm mad at myself for caring about Madison's feelings. My stomach swirls with acid as if I'm seasick, and I let out a small groan.
"Josie?" Madison asks as she stops walking. "Are you okay?"
I stop too and bend over to take a deep breath to clear my head. My mood swings are like I'm on a rollercoaster ride, and it's freaking me out. Whatever it was seems to have passed now, and I say, "Yeah. I'm a little light-headed. Must be because I need food. I'm good."
"Okay." Madison frowns, and I have to resist cringing when she links her arm through mine as if she wants to make sure she's got me if I fall. "I have granola bars and other healthy snacks in the room, and you're welcome to them anytime you need."
I paste on a smile and she gives me a genuine smile back. "Thanks, Madison," I say as if I'm actually grateful. "I really lucked out in the roommate department."
"Aww." She chuckles. "Careful. You being sweet like this might make me think something is seriously wrong."
I laugh a little, pretending it's a joke. But unfortunately for Madison, she's spot-on.
Ten
Josie
When I graduated from high school, my mother bought me a used mom-van. I hated it at first, until I got to my college campus as a freshman and discovered half the students were driving one too. While I never loved it, I’d give anything to be driving it right now.
The engine of my current vehicle chugs slowly, painfully, as if it would rather die on the spot. I stop its pitiful cry and would like to punch something, but knowing this car, whatever I hit would fall off. The Eradicators had a different idea of transportation for me. Link actually laughed when he handed me a set of keys to a Volvo and said I should be grateful I got a luxury vehicle. I'm sure at one time it was. Forty years ago. And I gave him quite the show when I jerked away driving a stick shift for the first time.
I lean back and close my eyes to try to find a calm place as I wait for the gasoline I flooded the engine with to dissipate. ‘Give me a motorcycle,’ I’d said. But that would have made me look cool, and my cover is one of a girl who is down on her luck and scraping to get by. Nothing screams barely making it louder than a rusty red Volvo spewing black smoke out the exhaust pipe as it rattles by. It's definitely not how I want to arrive at the Le Roux house for the first time either. I'm going to look like a gold digger showing up asking for Max. But I'm too impatient to stalk him and pretend we stumbled on each other again in some public place.
I check the map on my phone one more time to solidify the location of the Le Roux house in my mind, as well as escape routes. Although escaping, if it were necessary, would be tricky. A human doesn’t stand a chance against a bear in the woods, and with my piece-of-crap car, I wouldn't exactly be able to race away in that either. Besides which, once I'm on Le Roux land, warriors will be aware of my presence. I'm not sure if they actually track strangers' movements, but, considering how impenetrable their clan has been to the Eradicators over the last few decades, I wouldn't be surprised to find out they do.
I try starting my car again, and when it sputters to life I step on the clutch and tug the cracked plastic gear shift into reverse. Black smoke billows behind me like an ominous cloud, leaving a stench that would make Madison crinkle her nose. I glance down to check the oil indicator and see that it’s low. No surprise there, but it means I have to stop to fill up the tank if I want this heap to make it to my destination without the engine seizing. I smile as I think of the perfect place to go.
There's a gas station that is just inside the Northeast Kingdom territory. I may not be arriving in style, but I'm sure going to make an entrance, and I might as well milk my moment for all it's worth. Let those Le Roux warriors discount me as nothing to worry about, because when I stare at them with death in my eyes, they'll be sorry they underestimated me.
Once I leave campus, my skin begins to tingle with the excitement of what I'm about to do. My training prepared me to be patient and expect things to take months to happen. Of course, I wanted to prove to Link and everyone else they were wrong about me, but the reason for my good fortune isn't because of my skills. It's dumb luck, and I know it. If I were Madison I'd squeal over the fact I'm going to get inside the Le Roux mansion so quickly. Instead I flip on the radio to a rock station and crank it up loud before I yell, "Hell, yeah!"
My drive to werebear territory is only twenty minutes, and I'm almost there when my phone rings. It's Link. "Aww, you're calling to give me a pep talk," I say as a greeting.
"Fuck this up and you're dead."
I laugh. "Motivational. Any other advice?"
"You're an Eradicator. You will stop at nothing, Josie."
"I'm an Eradicator. I will stop at nothing." As the words come from my mouth, I pull into the gas station just inside territory lines. Two guys who look like they might be in their thirties are standing on the other side of the fuel island from me as I park. Judging by their size, I'm sure they're werebear, and hate swirls in me. They watch me like I'm here to entertain them, and when I get out of my car, I glare in their direction.
"Looks like you got an oil problem, miss," one guy says.
I ignore him as I move to my trunk to grab a few spare quarts of oil from it. But on the inside, I begin to seethe with anger.
"Looks to me like she knows about it," says the other guy, and he laughs.
"Nothing hotter than a woman who knows cars," says the first guy.
My hood creaks loudly as I pull it up, and my mind races with the best way to incapacitate the men. Unfortunately, that's not the best thing to do upon entering enemy territory. Especially since I'm supposed to be making them think I'm harmless. So I pull the dip stick out and place a quart of oil upside down in the neck of the tank to drain while I move to the pump to fill up with gas too.
"Where'd you learn so much about cars?" asks the second guy.
I'm dangerously close to showing him more important things I've learned, but I still don't answer.
"You know what, Jed?" The first guy asks, "I think she's new in town."
"Must be. Otherwise she'd know we're just being friendly."
I know exactly what they're being. A werebear clan's version of the welcome wagon. My guess is these two are warriors who get to spend their day monitoring a section of the Northeast Kingdom's border. And it's probably boring as hell, so as much as I'd like to start something to help entertain them for a while, I bite my tongue. But I do make an effort to ram one of them with my shoulder as I walk by him toward the store to get a bottle of water. I'm rewarded with him saying, "Bitch," under his breath, and I laugh to myself as I go inside.
So much for staying off their radar. As I pay for my water, I think about how I just secured myself a couple of escorts for my drive to the Le Roux mansion, and I smile to myself because I sure wish I could see the look on their faces when someone lets me in. But even more satisfying is going to be t
he look on Max's face when he sees me, his true mate. He's going to think I'm the best thing that's ever happened to him, while in reality, he's about to set in motion the best thing for humanity.
When I get back outside to my car, the two guys are gone. At least visibly. But when I start driving again, I catch a glimpse of something dark in the woods that line the road, and I'm sure it's my escorts. Part of me wants to stop to see the guys in their bear forms. I'm still fascinated with the idea of someone who appears very human becoming a bear, and I'm not going to lie; I really want to see a shift happen. But my curiosity is going to have to wait, because I can't tip my hand with these guys, and I drive along as if I have no idea what's going on.
When I get to the long road that is the driveway to the Le Roux house, I chug up the hill slowly. The pine trees on either side jut up into the sky so high the tops might be in the clouds, and the iron gate is unusually high too. I notice it's decorated with bear silhouettes. When the forest opens up I see the gardens I expected. We had satellite photos of the property, but I had no idea the gardens would be so beautiful. A lot of time and care must go into them.
Off to the left is a large rectangular building, but what’s most impressive is the house before me. It's supersized, but not as a stately mansion. It's as if someone took a Montana mountain cabin and gave it fertilizer. I park in the empty driveway that's the size of a small parking lot as I take in the six-bay garage and fortress-like home before me. Iron grates with the same bear design as the fence protect the windows, and the front door must be ten feet high. I bet I can't kick my foot through that sucker, and I wouldn't be surprised to learn it's reinforced with steel.
My car shudders and clunks a few times after I turn off the ignition before it finally gives up, and I climb out, still a bit awestruck by what I'm seeing. I glance down at my jeans and tug my tank top smooth before straightening my flannel shirt. I feel drastically underdressed for my introduction, but there's not much I can do about it now. Even the dead had to have heard my arrival.
