by Amelia Jade
“Walk me to my car?” she asked.
“With pleasure,” he replied. This time she grabbed his arm before he even offered it, enjoying being tucked in alongside him. She knew it was too soon to consider him “hers,” but the idea didn’t sound all that terrible either.
“I would like to see you again soon,” she told him, proud of herself for working up the nerve to say it.
Corey gave her a sideways look, and she realized he hadn’t understood the evening was over.
“Sorry, I’m supposed to go over to my mother’s tonight for a family dinner,” she explained. “But I’m free this weekend!” She tried to hide the eagerness in her voice, though to her ears it didn’t seem like she came close to succeeding.
“This weekend it is,” he replied without hesitation, squeezing his arm tightly to his side so that she was pulled in closer to him.
***
She didn’t even make it completely through the door before her mother’s eyes narrowed.
“Jenny,” she said slowly, drawing it out into one long word.
“Yes Mother?” she replied, shedding her coat and boots as she entered her mother’s little bungalow.
“Don’t give me that,” her mother scolded her with a smile. “Tell me what happened, what’s changed, whatever it is.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“You have a smile about you that isn’t fading. Something has made you very happy. Don’t think I wouldn’t see it. I am your mother after all,” she said, sweeping her daughter up in a hug.
Jenny swallowed hard. She hadn’t thought of the catastrophic consequences of telling her mother about Corey. She’d been there less than thirty seconds and her mother was already grilling her.
Well, she didn’t have to know everything about him…
“I met a man,” she said, deciding to charge headlong into the inevitable. If she didn’t avoid the subject and instead carried the conversation, hopefully she could steer it where she wanted it to go and avoid any potential mines.
“What? Details!” her mother cried, pulling Jenny along with her into the kitchen.
She immediately procured two wine glasses and moments later a bottle magically appeared in her hands from somewhere as she poured the pink rose into the glasses. The pair swirled it around gently, both enjoying the aroma for a moment before taking a sip. Jenny let out a contended sigh. Whatever her mother’s faults, she knew her wines.
“He’s way out of my league,” she said with a laugh, “and before you ask for more detail, I don’t have all that much to tell you. We only met briefly yesterday, and then today we saw each other for a short period before I came here. So you’re getting in on this at ground level, Mother. Which means that there isn’t a whole lot I can tell you about him. We’re still getting to know each other.”
“Yes, yes,” her mother said with a wave of her hand. “But who is he? Tell me!”
Jenny had to admit that the sheer joy she saw in her mother’s eyes at the fact that she had even met a man was both entertaining and sad. She knew that it was only such a big deal because she had never “met a man” before. The last boy she had kissed had been years ago, and her mother hadn’t even known about him!
Her mother wanted grandkids, and it didn’t seem like her brother was going to travel that path anytime soon, so Jenny was the sole hope. She had been under more and more mounting pressure to “settle down and find a nice man” lately, both from her mother and the rest of her family when she saw them.
The pressure was getting to Jenny, though she tried her best to grin and bear it. The worst part was that Jenny wanted kids! She longed to be a mother, despite all the trials she knew would come from it. Unfortunately that took two parties, and until recently, Jenny hadn’t held out much hope that she would ever find someone interested in helping her do that.
“He lives here in town. He’s tall, so I fit nicely alongside him,” she said with a smile at the memory. “And before you ask,” she pressed on as her mother opened her mouth again. “His name is Corey.”
Her mother’s jaw snapped closed and she smiled at her daughter. “That is a good name,” she pronounced. “A strong name.”
Jenny remembered the way he had held her aloft with ease. “Yes, it is a strong name,” she agreed.
“What does he do with his life?”
“Like most people in town, he’s an employee up at the Mining Consortium,” she said, trying to make it sound as dull as possible. Internally she braced, waiting for the outburst from her mother.
“The Consortium! Oh dear, come on, you can do better than that! That filthy company and all of its employees. Terrible!” she tuned out the rest as her mother went off on a tirade. She had known it was coming, and she tried to head it off.
“Mother, over twenty-five percent of the entire town works for the company. Hell, Johnny works for it!” she yelled. Johnny was her brother. “It’s not a big deal, so calm down.”
“He better not be friendly with those shifters,” her mother continued. “Your father would roll over in his grave if that was the case!”
The comment hit Jenny like a runaway freight train, right in her gut. She had known her mother wouldn’t approve, but knowing it and experiencing her feelings first hand were two very different things. Could Jenny put up with this sort of constant emotional output from her mother? Especially once she found out about Corey…
Chapter Five
Corey
“You’re still at work?” he asked incredulously.
“Excuse me?”
Uh-oh. You pissed off the pregnant lady. Backtrack! Backtrack!
“I mean, you look fabulous and it’s very admirable of you that you’re so devoted to your job,” he said to the waitress.
“Hmph. I still have two months to go,” Trestin said, wiping a table down with practiced ease. As she stood up, he really noticed the growing bump in her stomach.
Corey had decided to go somewhere a little different on the off-day for the crew. It had been a long time since he had ventured into the town of Origin for anything besides supplies or the night before to see Jenny. Even going to Ferro’s was barely considered “in town,” as it sat on the outskirts.
But when Cole had mentioned his wife, Trestin, and how she was still at work at the Origin Café, it had sounded like just the place for Corey. He was upbeat and in a good mood after his “date,” even if it had been cut shorter than he would have liked. So the nice, airy, and brightly lit café was the perfect stop. A cup of coffee and a freshly made sandwich had gone a long way as well.
He leaned back in his chair, careful to do so gently as he felt the thin metal poles that made up the frame groan in protest.
“You’d think that with these rickety chairs you were trying to discourage shifters or something,” he teased as Trestin raised an eyebrow at the protests of the chair.
“Maybe we are. It just so happens you aren’t listening.”
He laughed, reaching for the steaming mug of deliciousness in front of him. He didn’t indulge in coffee often, but he loved it nonetheless.
The days were getting both longer and warmer as spring began to inch nearer, though it would still be a month yet before the snow started to melt. It was just the first signs of it, but the bright rays of daylight streaming through the large windows along both walls brightened his mood some more. The café was on the corner of the two main streets in town, and it got sun all day long.
He closed his eyes, taking another sip, inhaling deeply and letting everything flow out of him as he exhaled.
His serenity was interrupted by a shadow blocking his view. It was swiftly followed by the sounds of a chair scraping the floor as someone sat across from him.
“If your name isn’t Jenny, leave me alone,” he muttered, not opening his eyes.
“My name isn’t Jenny, but it is good to see you again.”
Corey’s eyes flew open wide in surprise before just as sharply narrowing in suspicion as he sat forward.
> “Hello Travis,” he said warily. Sitting back in his seat, he allowed his eyes to casually survey the room. To his surprise, it looked like Travis had come alone.
“Is there a problem?” the tall shifter seated across from him asked, his lip peeling back slightly as he tried to not to sneer at those around them as he glanced over the restaurant.
“It’s not every day you come looking for me,” Corey replied.
Travis was the second-in-command of the Whitepines. The Diamond Crew. The undisputed number one crew in the Valley. They found more stones than anyone else, and they did so with a consistency that put the others to shame.
“Listen, it wasn’t my choice what happened. So why are you still holding it against me?” Travis asked, splaying his hands wide, as if that absolved him of all responsibility. “It was Michael’s decision. I’m not going to go against him, just like anyone else. Including you. You know how he can get, and what he’s like when he’s made up his mind.”
Corey nodded slowly. He did know what the Diamond Alpha could be like. Listening to Garrett the other night at the bar had confirmed to him that some things just never changed. Michael was one of them.
“Most of us didn’t like it either,” Travis continued. “We don’t come into town much, so I haven’t really had the chance to see you. Half the time that I’m here, you aren’t. And you know Michael would kill me if I tried to come to your lodge.”
The bear shifter crews in Genesis Valley were all given a place to call their home along with a surrounding swath of territory, so that both their humans and bears could be comfortable. It was forbidden for a bear to enter the territory of another crew without express permission.
The Jade Crew had converted an old, abandoned single-story motel into the “Ridgeback Lodge.” It wasn’t a five-star all-inclusive resort, but it was—after they did a lot of backbreaking renovation to it—solid, modern, and built to house shifters with enough room for a mate, if they were to be so lucky. Corey hadn’t found a woman just yet, though he had an inkling that things with Jenny were far more serious than he had yet acknowledged. Mentally shaking his head, he got back on track, paying attention to Travis.
“What do you want?” he asked, doing his best to remain polite. He didn’t hate Travis; in fact, the two had once been fairly close. But times changed, and Corey no longer knew what their relationship was like.
“Things are different now,” Travis replied. “It was so much better before. I wanted to come see how you were fitting in and just talk to you, make sure you were okay. See if life in the Ridgebacks is treating you all right. You didn’t respond to my text message the other day, so I came to check on you in person”
“It’s okay,” Corey replied, remembering the message he had gotten while at the Tongue & Flame. It had been that message which had prompted him to get up and go speak to Jenny. The thought that he might owe thanks to Travis for that crossed his mind. “I actually should thank you for sending that message,” he said with a chuckle, feeling more at ease now around his old friend.
“Why’s that?”
“I wasn’t really feeling welcome at the party I was at, and the message from you out of the blue, reminding me of the past, spurred me to get up and go talk to a rather nice woman,” he said, his eyes focusing distantly as he recalled his first kiss with Jenny. He could feel her lips against his even now.
“Glad I could be of help,” Travis said cheerfully. “Though I’m sorry to hear things aren’t working out with your crew. Any particular reason why?”
“It’s just not the same,” Corey said. “They all knew each other coming into it, even if they hated each other at the start. I spent all of my time up in the mountains secluded with the crew.”
He didn’t need to specify to Travis which crew he meant when he said “the crew”. Before Travis had become second-in-command of the Diamonds, another shifter had held that position.
“That rule was as much your doing as it was Michael’s,” Travis said.
Corey remembered. As the second-in-command of the Diamonds, he had actually been the one to suggest that they begin to hold themselves apart from the town. Living a more reclusive lifestyle would be good for them, he had argued. To his surprise, Michael hadn’t needed much convincing, and in the end, had become a far stricter adherent to the idea than Corey had ever been.
“I never expected him to take it that far though,” he said softly.
“Neither did I,” Travis said. “But I can’t say that it’s done any bad things for us. Things have been better than ever now that we stay out of town except for supplies. Michael is even looking in to paying someone to bring things out to us, to have them delivered. Then we’ll be free from this place!”
The fervor with which Travis spoke caught Corey somewhat off guard, but he couldn’t disagree. The Diamond Crew had always been strong, but from what he’d heard, they had gotten even stronger since he’d left.
“Sounds nice,” he said. He meant it too. The idea of being with a crew that he felt at home around was enticing.
“Well,” Travis said slowly. “If an opportunity ever arose, would you want me to let Michael know?”
Corey hesitated. He would love to go back home to the Diamonds, to do away with becoming involved in the problems troubling Origin. But was that real life, or was it just fantasy? He wasn’t sure, caught in a landslide of thoughts. Corey had never been the type to need an escape from reality.
“Maybe,” he said slowly, not really sure what he was doing or committing to. Had Travis come all the way into town just to find Corey and offer him a spot back in the Diamond Crew?
“Well, I have to get going now. I’ll be in touch though, okay? Can’t stand being in town for much longer anyway.” Travis nastily glanced at a pair of Emerald shifters a few tables over.
Corey nodded and watched him go. His old friend had given him a lot to think about. At the moment, his mind raced back to the formation of the Jade Crew. The remnants of two former crews, who had been decimated in number by a large fight and the resulting punishment from the Mining Consortium, had been forced to merge together. Corey had been removed from the Diamond Crew, and the powers that be thought it a perfect fit to just jam him in with the others.
It hadn’t been, and Corey had felt lost ever since. None of the current Jade Crew knew about his past, or where he had come from. He didn’t like to talk about it, and none of them had asked.
He put his elbows on the table in front of him and buried his head in his hands. He had a lot to think about all of a sudden. Including Jenny. He was going to see her tomorrow, though she didn’t know it. He wanted to properly surprise her this time.
After several minutes of futile thought, Corey knew he wasn’t going to get any more done at the Café. So, after dropping some money on the table to pay his bill and ensure a hefty tip, he left the happy little restaurant behind and headed to the outskirts of town, to a place much better suited for his current mood.
Gravel crunched under his tires as he turned off the main road, following the curving road down for a few hundred feet until it opened up into the familiar flat gravel parking lot of the Tongue & Flame.
The large wooden building beckoned him in, and as always, Corey took the time to admire the thick cedar planking that formed the external walls of the bar. Although it was still buried under a foot or so of snow, the large patio out front reminded him of the fun evenings to come that would be spent here long into the night once summer arrived.
Pushing open the door in a much more gentle fashion than his last entrance, Corey swept his eyes around quickly to see who was there. His eyes first flicked to the left, where the nominally reserved seating for the Jade Crew was located. It was currently empty, and for that he breathed a sigh of relief. It likely wouldn’t be much longer before they showed up, but at least he could have a beer alone with his thoughts first.
“Hello Ferro, how are things today?” he said as the bartender dipped his head slightly in the shift
er’s direction.
There was no response, but like usual, Corey hadn’t expected one. He noticed the other normal staple at the bar, Luthor, was also there. He was nursing a beer as he looked at something on his phone.
The doors were located at an angle in one corner of the building. The bar was on the far left wall, with seating for the Jade Crew, and in the far right corner was the area where the Emeralds normally gathered. There were a few there now, but none that he knew overly well. In between were several tables and two pool tables. Threading his way through them Corey walked up to the bar and sat down.
He was careful to grab a coaster from a stack before Ferro had the chance to do it for him. The bartender did notice, however, and gave him an approving glance.
“You know I didn’t mean to last time Ferro,” he said in response. “You got a pretty bartop here, and I wouldn’t want to mark it up. The thing looks immaculate.” He scanned the bar itself. “In fact, the entire place looks great today,” he said with conviction, paying the bartender an honest compliment.
Ferro just looked at him. There was something in his look, but it only lasted a split second. If Corey had blinked he would have missed it, but it was definitely there. Something Corey had just said had affected Ferro somehow. The damn dragon shifter never spoke, so Corey was unlikely to understand it, but he filed it away in case he ever got the chance to ask him. Somehow, just speaking up now with others around didn’t seem the right time to do it.
Besides, Corey had plenty of things going on in his own life that needed sorting.
“Something bothering you?”
Corey turned at the unexpected voice.
“Oh, hey Ajax. I didn’t see you in here.”
“Washroom,” the larger shifter explained with a grunt, pointing over his shoulder with his thumb. Ajax was the Alpha of the Emerald Crew. Corey hadn’t spoken with him one-on-one before, though they had interacted on several occasions.
Corey nodded, gesturing for the other shifter to sit down, if he so desired. Ajax took a seat and accepted a beer from Ferro.
