Jade Crew: Outcast Bear (Standalone Paranormal Romance) (Ridgeback Bears Book 5)

by Amelia Jade

  Chapter Seven

  Corey

  He couldn’t stop from whistling. The day had been long, and he had hated getting up at such an early hour and leaving Jenny behind. She had stirred as he departed the bed, and he had promised to see her again after he finished work for the day.

  Her texts had informed him she was working at Town Hall for a few hours, and the last he heard she was still there. The Jade Crew had found a Dragon Stone toward the end of the day, and Garrett had simply decided to give the crew an early finish. So now he was sneaking down the hallway toward Kierra’s office, which is where he expected to find Jenny.

  Though now that he thought about it, whistling was unlikely to make his approach all that stealthy.

  Oh well.

  “Knock knock,” he said through the open door as he spied her typing away on her laptop, thoroughly engrossed in some article or another.

  “Good afternoon,” she said absentmindedly as she finished up what she was working on.

  After whatever she was typing was complete Jenny spun in her chair and launched herself at Corey. He bent low and swooped her off her feet, twirling her in place as she giggled with delight.

  “You’re early,” she pronounced, before placing a kiss on his lips.

  “Surprise,” he told her, returning it with interest.

  “I do enjoy your surprises,” she told him with a wink.

  “Excuse me, we are in the civic office of the highly regarded town of Origin,” he reminded her. “I’ll ask you to keep your thoughts as pure as those who work here.”

  Jenny snorted, making no attempt to cover it up. “Something tells me that after a few more nights with you, I’m going to be anything but pure.”

  Corey felt himself blush at such a blunt statement, though he grinned at the same time.

  “You’re blaming me for corrupting your innocence?” he asked piously.

  “And how,” came the reply, followed up by another kiss. They held this one for longer, neither one wishing to part.

  “You must be Corey.” The voice that came from the hallway outside was dripping acid and contempt.

  He had been so focused on Jenny that he hadn’t heard the person approach. Startled, he almost dropped her, but he managed to recover at the last moment and put her down. His bear flared up inside him angrily and he spun to face the person with a deep growl.

  He blinked in surprise. It was the truck driver from the other day, up at the mines.

  “What the fuck are you doing here?” he asked menacingly.

  To his further surprise, the other party didn’t budge or even flinch. “I’m her brother.”

  “Johnny, what are you doing here?” Jenny asked, struggling to free herself from his arms. Now that Corey realized the person intended her no harm, he let Jenny go. She moved around him so that she could see her brother.

  “Mother and I decided to come by and say hello, since we knew you were working on a Saturday. We figured you would be occupied, but not with a shifter,” he sneered.

  “What?” Another voice from the hallway, getting louder as it approached.

  “That’s right Mama, she’s being used by a shifter!”

  Corey snarled and took a step toward him.

  “What are you going to do shifter boy, hit me? We all know how that’s going to end up,” he spat.

  “No, but I will if you don’t stop acting like a dick,” Jenny vowed, stepping past Corey and putting herself between them. Then she turned to face Corey and put a palm over his chest.

  “Get your hands off of her you filthy animal!” the other voice said again. It belonged to that of a woman in her late fifties, possibly sixties he noted as she stepped around Johnny.

  “Mother, you need to get a grip on yourself. Corey is a good man!” she protested.

  “He’s not a man, he’s a beast! A barbaric brute and nothing more. You come with us right now Jennifer Hardwick!”

  Jennifer? Corey had never realized Jenny was short for something. Now he felt like a bit of a dope.

  “How many times do I have to tell you, Mother, that I’m a grown woman? Don’t call me Jennifer anymore! Now calm down and let me introduce you to him. If you would put your claws away you’d see he’s actually a good person,” she said, trying again with more neutral language.

  “I will not!” her mother said, grabbing Jenny by the wrist and trying to pull her toward the door. “Your father would be heartbroken to see you like this. No member of his family will ever involve themselves with a filthy shifter!”

  She pulled Jenny closer to the door, but Jenny twisted her wrist and broke the grip.

  “Jennifer Jean Hardwick, if you do not leave right this instant, you’ll never be welcome in my house again,” her mother threatened.

  Corey’s eyes flew open at the vehemence in her mother’s voice. How could someone speak to their own flesh and blood like that? He still had no idea why her family seemed to hate his kind so much, but it unfortunately was not the first time he had ever encountered such hatred.

  Jenny took a step toward him and her mother opened her mouth to speak again.

  “Oh for fuck’s sake Mother, I have to get my purse and my jacket. Don’t have another hissy fit.”

  She stepped close to Corey. “I’m sorry,” she said softly. “This is my fight, let me handle it, okay?” Her eyes pleaded with him to understand.

  He was shocked and unsure of how to respond. Instead he just nodded, letting her gather her belongings and go as he stood there, rooted to the spot and impotent against everything that had just happened.

  Johnny had been right; there was nothing he could have done to prevent it. Not without breaking the biggest rule of them all and finding himself sentenced to being ended. That didn’t stop him from wanting to break something right then and there. The audacity of her mother, to accuse him of being undeserving of her daughter in front of her! He didn’t consider himself a saint, but Corey also knew that he would never hurt Jenny.

  Every part of him and his bear screamed at him to go after her and chase her down. But he couldn’t. Not without breaking her trust. Jenny had told him that she intended to handle it, that she would address the situation. If he tried to intervene, it would show that he didn’t trust her, that he didn’t believe in her, and that would be more damaging than anything her family could say to him.

  Corey was surprised at how calm he was through the entire thing, however. Yes, he wanted to punch something, but overall, he was more stunned than angry. It had all happened so fast! One moment they were enjoying a nice romantic kiss, the next Jenny was being dragged from the room by her crazed mother.

  What happened to make them hate us so much?

  With a sigh, he hit the light switch and left the room, closing the door behind him.

  What the fuck did he do now? His path took him out of the building and across the street to the park where they had shared their first kiss. A brisk breeze hit him as he left the protection of the lee of the town hall building. It wasn’t chilly, but he stuffed his hands into his zip-up sweatshirt anyway.

  His left hand encountered a crumpled-up piece of paper.

  “Holy shit,” he exclaimed, his mind suddenly remembering the note Ferro had slipped him. How the hell had he forgotten about that? Shaking his head in anger at himself he yanked his hand out, unfolding the paper as carefully as he could. There was a single line of text on it.

  Sometimes things are not as they seem.

  That was it. That was the complete message.

  “What the fuck?” he muttered, his brain working extra hard as he tried to think of what it might mean.

  The problem was, it could mean so many things. It could be referring to him, or to something he knew about the Jade Crew, or maybe the Valley as a whole. Dammit! He knew that Caia, Gabriel’s mate had gotten a strange reaction from Ferro at one point, but they hadn’t been able to find anything more, if he recalled correctly. Something about him not involving himself in what was going
on. Everyone had assumed that was because he was a dragon, but what if there was more to it than that, like his note indicated?

  Determined, he left the park behind and made a beeline for his truck. Garrett would likely still be at the lodge, and he needed to see him immediately. Jenny wasn’t forgotten, but right now this was something Corey could do something about. Hell, it was something he should have done something about later that very same night. Except he hadn’t, he’d managed to forget all about the note as he tried to drink enough beer to get him drunk.

  Cursing his self-centered stupidity he went to see his Alpha.

  ***

  “So Ferro palmed this to you while giving you a beer?” Garrett asked again for the benefit of the others.

  Corey nodded. He’d tracked Garrett down immediately and told him the story. Garrett had called in Russell and also told Ajax and Gabriel, the leader of the Stone Bears, to come join them. Now that they had arrived, he had Corey tell the story all over again.

  “Can you recall what it might have been in regard to?” Ajax asked.

  He grimaced at the question. “I’ve been trying, but I was not in a good place that day, and my memory isn’t cooperating with me.”

  Ajax nodded, remembering the talk the two of them had had.

  “Caia once tried to enlist Ferro’s help in our cause,” Gabriel said slowly. “He wouldn’t speak openly to her either, but she got the impression that he wasn’t willing to do so. I asked her just now to think about it, to try and remember what gave her that impression, and the only thing she could recall was that he may have glanced at someone else in the bar.”

  “Luthor,” Corey said without hesitation.

  Ajax nodded, his eyes focusing intently on the Jade shifter. “Exactly.”

  “I got a very weird vibe from him as well that night. I do recall that.”

  “He stomped out of our little party earlier this week too,” Russell said, and they all commented on remembering that.

  “Do we go have a little chat with Luthor?” Corey asked, eager to do something.

  “Not just yet,” Garrett said. “We have no idea who, or what, he is. He could be dangerous. What if he’s a dragon shifter?”

  The others nodded. Their group wouldn’t be able to withstand an attack from Luthor if he got mad at them. If he was one of their foes, as some of their hints seemed to suggest, they would have to tread very carefully indeed.

  “So what do we do?” Russell asked.

  “Let me see if perhaps I can convince Marcus to finally do something and provide us with an answer to who Luthor is, if he knows.”

  Marcus Kedyn was one of the twin gryphon shifters who owned and operated LMC. Most of them were convinced that the two of them wished to side with the shifters of the Jade and Emerald Crew. Something had prevented them from doing so, until recently.

  When Kierra, Darren’s mate, had been kidnapped by Nash, a corrupt member of the LMC, the bears had rallied to go and rescue her. Unfortunately he’d had the assistance of a powerful bat shifter, who would have been more than a match for the assembled bears.

  Not wanting to see any more death, Valen Kedyn, the other twin, had intervened. As a gryphon shifter he had overpowered their enemy and saved the day. To maintain his position of neutrality, Marcus had unfortunately been forced to declare his brother an outlaw or risk angering whoever it was that held control over him. Since then, he had made himself effectively unreachable to the shifters.

  Most of them were getting tired of his reluctance to become involved in what seemed to be an inevitable clash between forces, but without truly knowing what was going on, there was nothing they could do.

  “Are you sure you wish to press the issue with him?” Ajax asked.

  “Yes,” Gabriel said fiercely, “and frankly I think it’s past damn time too. He can’t just sit there and pretend like none of this is going on. This is his valley too dammit, and he can’t sit on the sidelines and stay out of this one!”

  The others applauded Gabriel’s spirit, though they admonished him to be careful. None of them had heard from Valen since he had been declared an outlaw, and they worried that perhaps he’d been caught by the forces trying to control the valley.

  “Well, until we hear back from Gabriel, I think we should just stay the course and try to pretend like nothing is going on,” Garrett said as the group calmed once more.

  “I agree,” said Ajax. “Stay wary, but don’t push anything. Things have been quiet lately, but they’ll make another move before long, I’m sure.”

  Corey frowned. He wondered if he should bring up the overtures the Diamond Crew had been making his way. That would involve him having to explain his past to everyone, though, and he wasn’t sure he was ready for that sort of discrimination. After all, if Michael changed his mind, the Diamonds might be willing to take him back. He would do just about anything to feel wanted and not out of place any longer.

  His phone buzzed and he pulled it out to see who it was as the others left Garrett’s office. It was Travis, and he wondered at the timing of the message.

  Travis: Hearing some rumors of a shifter meeting going on tonight. You know anything about that? None of us were invited.

  He frowned. How the hell had they known about the meeting? Next to nobody knew about it besides those gathered here.

  Someone must have mentioned it, though he wasn’t sure how word had gotten to Travis so quickly.

  “Everything okay?” Garrett asked.

  Corey looked up, realizing that everyone was gone now and he was the only one still in the office.

  “Oh, yeah. Sorry. Got sidetracked by a message, didn’t realize I was keeping you.” He stood abruptly and moved toward the door.

  “All right,” Garrett said, clearly not believing him. “If you ever want to talk, my door is open.” He looked directly into Corey’s eyes. “So is the door of every other member of the Jade Crew,” he said meaningfully.

  Corey knew he was trying to make a point, but it fell flat. Garrett might think the others welcomed Corey and would be willing to help him, but he knew better. They didn’t hate him, but he wasn’t one of them either.

  “Uh, thanks,” Corey said and made his way from the office as fast as he could, eager to escape the awkward situation.

  His phone buzzed again as he closed the door behind him.

  Travis: I talked to Michael some more. He’s open to the idea of you coming home, but he doesn’t trust your current crew. Says they’re jumpy and going to get us all in trouble. Wants to know what they’re planning before he does anything more.

  Corey grimaced and shoved his phone back into his pocket, his brain in turmoil. He wanted to go back to the Diamond Crew. He wanted to feel at home again, instead of the sideways glances he always seemed to get while among the Jade Crew. But they wanted information from him, information he wasn’t even supposed to have, let alone share.

  His phone buzzed again.

  And again.

  He ignored it, figuring to read the messages later. As it kept vibrating against his leg though he realized it was a phone call, not a text. Pulling it from his pocket he tried to punch the answer button, but he’d left it for too long and it went to his voicemail.

  “Dammit,” he swore as he saw who it was on the caller ID.

  Jenny Hardwick.

  He waited a few seconds and then punched redial.

  “Hey,” came the reply after two rings.

  “Everything, um, okay?” he asked, realizing how lame the words sounded after what had happened earlier.

  “Where are you?” she asked, ignoring his question.

  “I’m at my place,” he said slowly. Did she want to come see him? That could bode well.

  Or very badly, if she’s ending things with you but wants to do so in person.

  Right. Thanks brain, hadn’t considered that depressing angle.

  Shaking his head, he focused on what Jenny was saying.

  “Give me directions, I’m coming to
see you.” She paused. “If that’s okay, I mean.”

  He assured her it was, and gave her directions to the lodge the Jade Crew called home. Now all he had to do was wait for her to show up and hope she would tell him what was going on, and that they would be able to find a way to keep seeing each other, all while he dealt with the problems going on within his mind.

  He passed Cole and Joel as they headed around back of the lodge to the fire pit, where he could hear a massive blaze roaring in the evening quiet. Corey stood still, debating on whether he should join them there. He liked the fires they had, for the peace of it all, but also because the fire was soothing.

  Perhaps it would help distract him from his problems. Corey was an introvert by nature, but he’d never found it this hard to socialize before. He could be very social if needed, though he had a limited battery charge that when down to empty would require him to recharge alone. Frustrated, he went to his room and sat on the edge of the bed to wait for Jenny to arrive, trying to work up the courage to go out and talk to his crew.

  Instead, he didn’t move until the headlights of her SUV turned into the parking lot. Lowering his head in shame, he got off the bed and went to go see her.

  He opened his mouth to say hi, but a flying blur slammed itself into his chest before he had the chance. Her arms wrapped around him and squeezed tight.

  “I am so sorry,” she said, her voice muffled by her jacket as she held on for dear life.

  “Hey, it’s okay,” he assured her.

  “No, it’s not,” she said firmly, meeting his look for the first time. “Not at all. I appreciate you saying so, but it’s not. That whole scene was rude, unsubstantiated, and completely uncalled for.”

  Corey hesitated, unsure of how to reply to her statement. It was all truth, but he didn’t want her to feel guilty. He was used to being ostracized, by her kind and his own. So instead, he let her continue to speak.

  “Can we go somewhere to sit down? I feel like I owe you an explanation of what that was all about. Maybe then you can forgive me.”