by Tamara Hoffa
“I want to invite Alice to come down and meet you. Is that okay?”
“Of course. I’d love to meet your friend.”
Jenna hugged Bern’s arm, it felt so nice walking and talking with him. Maybe there really was something to this mate bond thing, because they just ‘clicked.’ Bern was so easy to talk to, he put her at ease, made her feel comfortable about herself. Safe. Secure…loved.
Too soon the brick façade of the school appeared. Bern escorted her right to the door and left her with a gentle kiss on the lips.
* * * *
Bern entered his office and as expected found Martin already there and trying to pace a hole in the hardwood floor. His lieutenant, Guiles was seated on the sofa, drinking a cup of coffee and eating a honey bun.
“I told him to sit down and relax,” Guiles said, “But, you know Martin. The world is coming to an end and if he just keeps pacing it will stall the inevitable.”
Bern laughed and reached for the pot of coffee on his desk, he poured a cup and added plenty of sugar and cream, then he sat down behind the desk and took a long sip before directing his attention to Martin.
“Zweite, sitzen sie! Second, sit. You are making me nervous!”
Martin sat on the edge of the arm chair facing Bern’s desk. “What are we going to do about Von Drake?”
“We aren’t going to do anything. Jenna and I will go to dinner, with a few guards of course as a precaution, and hopefully have a lovely time.”
“Are you insane? What if it’s a trap?”
Bern raised one eyebrow at Martin, and a low growl issued from his throat. The look in his eye guaranteed to quell the attitude coming from his subordinate.
“Um…I’m sorry, Sippe. I did not mean to question your judgment.”
“Von Drake is not a fool. If he wanted to set a trap for Jenna or me, he would not send out an invitation. Why not just paint a big red target on his own back? Everyone in our clan would know he was the culprit and none would stop until he was destroyed.” Bern rose and walked to Martin’s side, slamming his fingers against Martin’s temples. “Think man, think. He would have to be the insane one to try something like that.”
Martin looked down and to the left, baring his neck to his alpha. “You are right, sir.”
Bern leaned forward and hugged his second, placing his forehead to the other man’s for a moment. “I appreciate your concern, my friend. You are a good second, but you must learn to curb your hot head and think things through. You are young yet. Time will teach you well.”
Bern turned to Guiles, “Did you determine how the young wolf got through our defenses?”
“No, that is the part that has me stumped. It’s almost like he had a cloaking spell. None of our trackers could find any hint of his scent, either from his coming or his leaving.”
“I smelled his scent clearly enough in Andy’s store,” Bern interjected.
“I know, that’s what makes it so odd.”
“We searched the area, but couldn’t find any tracks or scent.” Guiles studied the pattern in the throw rug on the floor. “I’m sorry, sir. I don’t know what else to do.”
“Step up patrols in the area along the western border. Add some wolves to those patrolling that sector, maybe they’ll smell something we’re missing.”
“Yes, sir.”
Bern went back behind his desk and poured another cup of coffee. “Anything else I need to know about?”
Martin cleared his throat. “Janice Hilliard’s son, Boyd saw a man with an infrared scope and a tranq gun sneaking around the edge of town after dark last night. He followed him back to a camp about ten miles outside town. Boyd told his momma, and she told her friends and you know how that goes. Now the whole town is rumbling about, HUNTS Humans United Negation Team for Shifters.”
“Crap, that’s all we need.”
“It’s just rumors at this point, but I think we should check it out.”
“Definitely, better safe than sorry, but I don’t want any trouble. Send a recon team in first. Find out if these yahoos are even in the hate group to start with before we do anything. If they are, then we’ll have to decide what to do. For the moment, do not approach them. Investigate, only. Understand?”
Both men stood. “Yes, sir,” they answered together.
“We done for now?”
They nodded, “Dismissed.” Bern flipped on his computer and Guiles and Martin left the room.
Bern tried to concentrate on the invoices for his lumber company, but he couldn’t get the thought of the possible threat to his clan out of his mind. Were the campers in the woods really from the HUNTS group or was his clan merely being paranoid?
Shifters had never been a threat to the human race. While by nature shifters were violent, violence against humans had never been tolerated. It was a death sentence to a shifter to attack a human. Before they had come out, it was necessary to keep their secret, now it was necessary to keep the peace that balanced on the head of a pin.
Shifters were stronger and faster than humans, they healed faster and lived longer, but in one area they were seriously lacking. Numbers. Shifters were outnumbered by humans by millions to one. If the human population decided they truly were a threat they would end up in cages or worse.
Shifters would be forced to go back into hiding, living in the wild, or in a cage. Not much of a choice. While Bern loved his bear, he loved his human half too. He had no desire to live a feral life. He liked living in a house, shopping in stores and eating cooked food. Hey, he was a civilized bear.
If however, the men in the woods turned out to be from HUNTS there was no reason they couldn’t just ‘disappear.’ His bear murmured his approval.
Bern turned his attention back to his computer and the invoices. The day passed quickly and before he knew it the alarm on his wristwatch was dinging, three o’clock. Time to go and pick up his pretty Jenna.
* * * *
John Reed drove deep into the Smokey Mountains. The location of the research facility was hidden from everyone, it couldn’t even be found on satellite as it was buried deep underneath the mountain. He wanted to check on the status of the wolf cubs they had acquired, aka kidnapped, one last week and one a month ago.
He pulled up to what looked like a solid rock wall and stopped his truck. Exiting he found the hidden panel and entered the code that opened the wall. The shifters knew of the existence of HUNTS, but what they didn’t know, what most of the members of HUNTS didn’t even know, was that a secret branch of the government was funding the organization. They had their own agenda, and John was part of that plan. A former Special Forces operative, he knew the secrets others only dreamed about, or found in their worst nightmares, depending on your perspective.
A massive compound thrived inside the mountain. John parked just outside the elevators to the lower levels. He swiped his security pass and descended to the seventh level, Doctor Montrose’s laboratory.
The elevator doors swung open to reveal a pristine laboratory, complicated machines and gadgets covered every surface, gleaming stainless steel tables, and glass fronted cabinets. White coated technicians scurried about, doing who knows what, but what drew John’s attention were the glass cages along the wall containing the specimens he and his brethren had collected.
Six of the cages were now full, they needed a total of ten to complete the testing. Doctor Montrose looked up from her microscope and spotted him. “John, how good to see you.”
“Hello, Doc. How are things going?”
“Wonderful, the testing is going well. I think we are really on to something this time,” she replied.
“No problems with the new specimens?” he asked.
“Oh, the usual. We are keeping them sedated at the moment. How are you coming on the acquisition of the bears?” she asked.
“We should have them within the next week,” he answered.
“Good, good. That will only leave us in need of the lions. Do you have a lead on where we can acquir
e them?”
“Yes, I have found a Pride in Arizona. We will be heading there when we leave West Virginia,” John said.
“That’s wonderful.”
“So, you’ve made progress on the serum?”
“You know I’m not at liberty to discuss the results of the tests in progress with you, John,” Doctor Montrose said with a note of censure.
“And you know what I want to know, Elizabeth! Have there been any more accidents?”
Doctor Montrose flushed bright red. Whether in anger or embarrassment it was impossible to tell. “No, John. No more accidents.”
John nodded. “I’ll be going then. I’ll be back in a few days with the bears.”
He drove back to his camp deep in thought about what was to come.
Five men sat around a camp fire ten miles west of Honey Corners. They didn’t bother to hide their location, if anyone came by they would claim to be fisherman on a camping trip.
John, addressed the men, “What did you find out last night, Scott?”
“Nothing we didn’t expect. We are definitely not going to be able to get ahold of a kid outside at night. I swear they roll up the sidewalks in this town at dark. Mr. and Mrs. Bear sit on their front porch drinking tea and rocking in their chairs, while Johnny Bearcat is down at the lake spooning with his girl and the three little bears are tucked up in their den watching TV. It’s like a rerun of fucking Mayberry RFD. It isn’t fair that these abominations are out here living the American dream while I had to watch my beautiful wife die of ovarian cancer at thirty-five! Why don’t they get sick? Why do they live so long? It just isn’t fair!”
John patted him on the back. “I know friend. I know.”
Scott looked up at him with tear filled eyes. “But I don’t want to turn into one of those monsters. I don’t want to be an animal or, God forbid, one of those mutant creatures that the first experiments created.”
“Yeah or die,” Kyle muttered.
“That’s not going to happen,” John said. “It has to be an antibody in the blood, not something in the DNA sequencing, we just have to isolate it. I know the team of scientists we have put together now can do it. Soon we will eradicate cancer from the world.”
“And those degenerate shifters too,” Scott murmured.
“In time,” John agreed. “We have to make sure we have all the answers, before we eliminate the source of the antibodies.”
“Okay, so what’s the plan?” Kyle asked.
“We’ll stick with what we did in the wolf den. Gas the house while the bears are sleeping, and be done before they wake up.”
“Do you have enough of that scent blocker to cover our tracks?” Scott asked.
“I’ve got plenty,” John replied. “Let’s do a recon mission into town tomorrow and then we can plan the abduction. Maybe we can even pick out a target.” The man was practically rubbing his hands together in anticipation.
He had been planning this mission for two long years and nothing was going to stand in his way. He was going to capture a shifter child and they were going to find out the secret to these shifters long lives and health if it was the last thing he did on this earth.
Chapter Six
As the students filed out of the classroom at the end of the day, Sarah came up to Jenna’s desk. Her brown hair was fashioned into long braids on either side of her round little face, freckles sprinkled across her pert nose. She looked down at her Maryjanes and rocked from heel to toe.
Jenna squatted down so they were face to face. “What’s up, Miss Sarah?”
“My mommy said you’re gonna be my new aunt, Miss Raynes. That you’re Unca Bern’s mate, is that true?”
Jenna laughed a little self-consciously. “Um, yes. Your uncle and I are mates. Is that okay with you?”
Sarah beamed up at her. “That’s super cool! I love Unca Bern, he’s my favrotist. All my other uncas are only my aunt’s husbands, ya know,” she whispered. “Unca Bern is my real unca.”
Jenna wasn’t quite sure what to say to this revelation, she certainly didn’t want to get into family politics already, or step on any toes. Thank goodness Bern walked in the door at just that moment.
“Well, lookie here, my two favorite girls, in one place,” he said, walking over and kissing Jenna sweetly and then hoisting Sarah high in the air and twirling her in a circle. She threw her arms around his neck and peppered kisses all over his face.
“I loves you, Unca Bern.”
“I love you too, sweet Sarah. Where’s your momma?”
“I don’t know, she must be late. You know she’s always late,” the little girl replied.
“That she is,” Bern said, turning to Jenna. “Julia was even born late. I swear that woman is never on time for anything.”
Julia rushed into the room, a toddler on her hip, a diaper bag and a purse hanging off her shoulder, her hair falling out of a messy bun on the top of her head and looking like she’d had a day from hell. “Oh my God, Miss Raynes, I’m so sorry! Jimmy is sick and I was at the pharmacy picking up his medicine. The line was terrible. I hope I didn’t hold you up.”
“Not at all. Sarah and I were just chatting until Bern got here, and please call me Jenna.”
The baby in her arms started to fuss and Bern reached out and plucked the boy from her hip. “What’s the matter little man? You not feeling well?” Bern arched a brow at his sister.
“He’s teething.”
“Oh, that explains it. Little bears have some big teeth to come in at his age. I know you’ve met before, but Jenna, this is my sister, Julia.”
“I’m so happy Bern has finally met his mate, and I couldn’t be happier to welcome you to the family. We’ll have to all get together soon and have a big family dinner.”
Bern bounced Jimmy on his hip and the baby seemed perfectly happy now. Seeing him with Sarah and now Jimmy made her think he’d be a wonderful father. Whoa, slow down girl, let’s not put the cart before the horse, but she couldn’t help smiling at the thought of Bern holding a tiny baby in his big bear paws.
“That sounds great. Call me later in the week and we can set up a date.”
“Wonderful. Bern would you mind helping me get these two out to the car?”
Bern looked at Jenna, she nodded. “Sure, no problem.” He linked his free hand with hers and they strolled out to the parking lot.
Bern strapped Jimmy into his car seat while Julia loaded Sarah into hers. He kissed his sister on the cheek and patted the top of the SUV before she drove away.
“Are you ready to go?”
“Sure,” she said.
“Well, I’m not.” He pulled her into the shadow of a tall oak tree and crushed her body to his. Capturing her head in his hands he held her in place as his mouth took possession of hers in a most carnal way. His tongue swept in, stealing her breath, he tasted of brown sugar and maple. She melted into him, sliding her arms around his thick neck to twine in the long hair at his nape.
When he finally came up for air, she was panting for breath and could barely stand on legs that felt like over-cooked spaghetti. “I’ve been waiting to do that all day, little one. God, how I’ve missed you,” Bern growled.
“Wow, a girl could get used to a hello like that, big guy.”
“Mmm, you better,” he said, with another quick peck to her lips, “because I plan to kiss you like that every day for the rest of our lives.”
Now that was a promise Jenna certainly hoped he kept. Bern stepped back and took her hand. They started walking toward the outskirts of town. She wondered if he owned a car, he seemed to walk everywhere, just like she did.
They walked for quite a while in silence, but it was a companionable silence. The fall day was beautiful, cool but not cold. Colored leaves covered the trees and drifted to the ground, crunching under their feet occasionally as they walked along.
The trail began a steady uphill grade, until finally they reached the top of a high hill. There sat what Jenna could only describe as a mansion.
A sprawling Tudor mansion, with massive oak front doors, surrounded by beautiful forest. It was perhaps the most beautiful house she had ever seen.
She stopped dead in her tracks and her hands came up to cover her mouth. “Oh my God.”
Bern turned to her, worry evident on his face. “What’s the matter?”
“It’s beautiful,” she said in an awed voice. “You really live here? It’s a freakin’ mansion.”
Bern shook his head. “It’s not a mansion. It’s just a house. A big house, yes, but just a house.” He tugged her hand to get her moving again. “Come inside and let me show it to you.”
Jenna hesitated, pulling against his hand. “I don’t know. Maybe I should just stay here and look from outside. I don’t want to break anything.”
Bern cocked a brow at her. “Are you kidding me? I am a ten foot grizzly bear, if I haven’t broken it already, you certainly aren’t going to break it.”
Jenna laughed. Bern knew how to break the tension. He was right, she was being silly. She followed him into the house and tried her best to keep her exclamations of awe to herself, but damn, this place was something else.
From the stained glass windows in the foyer, to the kitchen that looked like something out of Better Homes and Gardens magazine, Jenna was completely out of her element. Her parents weren’t poor by any stretch of the imagination, they were middle class, but this…this was, well she wasn’t quite sure what this was, but it was definitely high class and then some.
Bern seemed to sense her nervousness and he led her into a cozy den. Ha ha, den for a bear, I think I’m getting slaphappy.
“How about a glass of wine? I’ve got a nice white zinfandel in the fridge.”
“That sounds good,” Jenna said.
Bern crossed to the bar on the side of the room and reached into the small refrigerator, he pulled out a bottle of white zinfandel and using a corkscrew from on top of the bar uncorked the wine. He poured two glasses and crossed to Jenna with the glasses in hand.
He sat beside her on the small couch and placed the glass in her hand, then he clinked their glasses together. “To a life time of nights together,” he said as he brought the glass to his lips.
