Kill humans? Adam thought, incredulously. For a shifter to go so far, it was almost unheard of.
He heard Emily gasp in shock, leaning to the side as Kelly began whispering something frantically in her ear. She nodded before Kelly raised her hand into the air like she did in grade school.
Without waiting for anyone to acknowledge her, she spoke. “So you’re saying this Dominic person is willing to go as far as killing everyone here—including humans—just to lay claim to one small town?” Adam could hear the doubt hanging heavily in her voice.
Something in Lucy’s gaze hardened. “I’m saying he has killed humans before just for the thrill of it, so he hardly needs a reason to do so again.”
“What Lucy is trying to say,” Nick interjected before things got too catty, “is that this has evolved past a simple turf war. Her brother won’t honor the laws here, or anywhere else. If he makes it past us, he’ll only grow stronger.”
“I was to understand that he was working under a leader in that pack,” Adam replied.
“He is, but we have reason to believe that he may be planning an overthrow of the Northern Wind’s current leader,” Tom explained.
“As I said earlier, he’s as weak as he’ll ever be right now,” Nick continued. “I won’t lie and say my main motivations right now are anything other than keeping my pack and my territory safe, but I’m not above admitting that stopping him right here and right now means protecting something far greater than my home.”
“Other packs think that our plea for help was just a selfish young bear getting in over his head and claiming more territory than he could protect,” Tom interjected with a scowl. “Plus, I’m not above believing that there was a bit of unjust discrimination involved as well, but Nick doesn’t want me to talk about that.” He waved away his brother’s glower.
“And sure, if Lucas and Dominic best us right now, it’s of little consequence to other packs, but how many humans will they allow to be enslaved or killed before they take action?” he continued, giving his head a single, angry shake. “We can’t let it get that far, but we also knew we’d almost certainly fail if we went about this alone. So again, thank you for looking past any possible prejudice or self-interest and deciding to help us out.”
David nodded in appreciation. “Like I said, your father was a good man. I can only believe that he raised good sons. Who you fall in love with is no business of mine, and so far as I can see, your claims are valid and address more than something as simple as self-preservation. I can admire that.”
His voice fell grim. “And let me tell ya, I’ve dealt with my fair share of bad bears in my long life, plenty of ‘Lucases’ for sure, but the more you all tell me about this Dominic fellow, the more concerned I get.” He shook his head forlornly. “He needs to be taken down.”
“As my father said, we’ll help in whatever way we can,” Adam chimed in. “What do you expect of our help? Do you need fighters?”
Nick shook his head. “No, not yet anyway. What we really need right now is to find out the full scope of the Northern Wind’s plans and protect our homes from all sides to prevent a surprise attack. But I do think we need to prepare for that, should things come to blows.”
“Oh, while we’re on the fighting front, Nick,” David interrupted, scratching his chin. “I don’t want the girls on the battleground. Not if we can help it.”
Kelly and—to Adam’s surprise—Emily both spoke up almost instantly.
“Dad, that’s totally not fair!” Kelly shouted.
“But I want to help,” Emily disagreed at the same time.
“Neither of you are fighters, nor are you alphas,” David clarified. “It’s mine and Adam’s job to keep you two safe. There are plenty of other ways to help out the Forest Haven pack without fighting.”
“I appreciate the concern, David, but I honestly don’t feel like this is your call.” Emily tried to keep her tone kind, but Adam could hear the fervor in her words as she spoke, a heat in her eyes, the likes of which he’d never seen before.
“Mine either,” Kelly agreed. “We’re all adults here. We make our own decisions.”
“You both would be a liability on the battlefield,” David argued. “We’re here to help this pack. I can’t do that properly if I’m trying to keep you girls safe.”
“I’m sure they can train us!” Kelly retorted. She turned to Savannah with an expectant glare. “You all fight, don’t you?”
“Everyone except Jo, ideally,” Savannah answered wearily, eyes flitting a moment to David as if she didn’t intend to offend.
“And we’d be willing to train you all to the best of our ability, if needed,” Nick added helpfully. “I’m not sure how much time we have until the Northern Wind attacks, but we’d do our best to make sure you can hold your own. I know you generally don’t see a lot of action in the farmlands.”
“They can train, but my motion stands. Only as a last resort,” David amended.
“With all due respect, I think I’m much better suited for the battlegrounds,” Emily contended. “I know you’ve been like a father to me since I lost mine, but you don’t need to be one to me right now. I don’t need protecting. Not with this. Please, David. Let me help them.”
David and Emily exchanged a glare taut with stress and laced with a hint of desperation before the alpha finally sighed. “Very well, Emily. I suppose that’s fair.” Adam saw her shoulders visibly loosen in relief.
“And me?” Kelly prompted.
“My original statement still applies. Unlike with Emily, I actually am your father.”
“What the hell, this is so fucked up!” she shouted.
“Kelly, that’s enough,” Adam scolded.
“Like I said, we’ll train all of you as best we can,” Nick diffused, trying to bring the conversation back to the task at hand. “We’ll keep your girls in reserve, but I won’t promise they won’t fight.”
David sniffed, turning away from the daggered scowl on his daughter’s face. “Sounds good to me.”
Emily nodded earnestly at the compromise, but Kelly slumped in her seat, crossing her arms over her chest with a resentful expression on her face. Adam knew this wasn’t the last he’d hear of his father and sister bickering about this. If there was one thing Kelly was good at, it was arguing.
“Alright!” Nick concluded with a relieved smile. “Now that we’ve got all of that settled, I suppose I should let you guys get settled in.”
He pulled a ring of keys out of his back pocket, tossing them to David. “Those are for a house in town, but not too far from here. Lucy, Savannah, and Jo worked really hard to get the place fixed up nicely for your arrival. I hope you find it accommodating.”
“It’s fully renovated, and I made sure to stock the fridge up with food,” Jo added, scribbling the address on a scrap of paper. “If you’d rather have something warm, there’s a great Chinese takeout place nearby.”
“Get some rest,” Nick said as Jo handed the address over to Emily. “We’ll meet back here in the morning to start formulating a plan of defense.” He gave David’s hand one last shake as everyone stood. “Welcome to Woodhaven.”
Chapter Three
“I can’t believe they’re still arguing,” Emily sighed, rolling her eyes.
Adam grinned, listening to how Kelly and David spoke in low, angry tones as they walked ahead of them.
“I know,” he agreed, chuckling. “They won’t be done any time soon either, I can tell.”
Emily shrugged. “I mean, I guess I get it, on both sides. Kelly wants to help, which is cool, but she’s David’s only daughter.”
Adam scowled. “I’m not so sure Kelly wants to help, per se,” he grumbled. “She just has a penchant for a false sense of independence and generally hates being told what to do.” He glanced down at her. “And you, are you sure you’re honestly ready to fight?” He tried to keep his voice neutral, but even he could hear the hint of incredulity that seeped through in his words.
Emily’s eyes
narrowed slightly as she looked at him. “Of course,” she replied defensively. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
He immediately held up his hands in a placating gesture. “I didn’t mean it in a bad way, honest,” he backpedalled with a rueful smile. “It’s just… I expected a garish display of rebellion from Kelly. But from you, it’s just… surprising.”
She gave him a grim smile. “It’s like you said earlier, I’m strong—in more ways than even you know, apparently.”
“Oh, I know that, Ems,” he responded. “I—”
“Do you?” Emily interrupted, that fire from earlier returning to her eyes. “Do you really understand my reasoning for combatting David on this, despite having no fighting or battle experience?”
Going with his better judgment, Adam stayed quiet, only shaking his head in answer.
Emily sighed. “Because of that enemy bear, Dominic, I think.” Surprisingly, her hand balled into a fist as she spoke. “Shifters don’t bother humans, let alone kill them. Terrorizing another shifter group is just another Tuesday for us. Turf wars are a fact of life. To be honest, I wasn’t really much interested in helping another pack clean up their personal mess, though I know I didn’t have a say.
“But then Nick explained the whole story to us, and the full scope of the danger that this enemy pack presents to the humans in this town and everywhere else, too.” Her eyes fell to the sidewalk they walked on and her voice softened. “Humans shouldn’t be subjected to something so savage simply because not enough people dared help a fellow shifter out. No one deserves to feel a loss that brutal. And I’ll do everything in my power to make sure it never becomes a reality.”
Silence fell between them, and Adam could see the scenes of the day’s meeting playing across Emily’s face, along with something deeper and darker that likely had something to do with her own history of loss. A part of him thought that because she had such a profound understanding of loss and how it breaks a person, she should understand the position it put his father—their leader—in.
Emily may have loopholed her way out of a complete rejection on the grounds of no blood relation, but she was as much a daughter to David as Kelly was. His father would never admit it, because he didn’t want Emily to think he was trying too hard to fill the bottomless hole in her heart that losing her parents had left behind, but there was no denying it either.
If she got caught, hurt, or killed, David would never be able to forgive himself.
Of course, it wasn’t Adam’s decision to make. As he saw the flames of resolve burning in her eyes and the strength of the grip in her fisted hands, he could tell that what she had spoken aloud was her truth. There would be no swaying her from this path of obligation and protection. He’d protect her as best he could; he just hoped she truly understood what she was agreeing to.
With a sigh, he lightly nudged her shoulder to stop their walk. “Look, I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean to put you down like that.”
She gave him a tight smile, trying for the kind girl he knew she was, but landing somewhere slightly different. “I’m not that teenager anymore, Adam.”
“I know that,” he replied, honestly. “I knew it before tonight, and I know it now. I wasn’t lying earlier when I said you were one of the strongest shifters I ever met. I just had a moment where I couldn’t express that accurately. It won’t happen again.”
Slowly, her hard gaze melted into something loosely resembling the Emily he’d come to know. “Thank you.”
“No problem at all,” he grinned.
Silence returned between them as they began their walk to the house once more, but it wasn’t tense like before for which Adam was grateful. He recalled how the man Dan had said that there might be more to Emily than Adam originally thought. Maybe he was on to something there.
Of course, Dan had also mistaken Emily for Adam’s mate, so exactly how much of his advice could Adam take to heart? He stole a quick glace down at her, but she was already looking up at him. When their eyes met, she quickly turned her gaze back to the road ahead, chewing the inside of her cheek. He opened his mouth, intending to ask if she needed something.
“Do you guys want takeout?” Kelly interrupted. “Or do you want to go see what the human girl put in the fridge for us?”
Adam took an inconspicuous step back from Emily, noticing that they’d gotten pretty close to one another during the walk. “Wouldn’t it be easier to get to the house first and see what’s there to eat?” he rebutted.
Kelly shrugged. “We’re practically already there,” she said, motioning down the road a ways to where a brown house sat in a small yard. “From Jo’s directions, the takeout place isn’t too far from here.” Her eyes narrowed as she took in the two of them. “Is everything okay?”
“Everything is fine,” Adam replied, gruffly. “I’ll have my usual.”
Kelly narrowed her eyes. “What if they don’t have it?”
“What Chinese dive in America wouldn’t have chicken Chow Mein?” he retorted.
“He’s right, you know,” Emily agreed. “I’ll have the same, by the way. I’m sure what Jo stocked will be great for the mornings, but after days of non-perishable rations on the drive over, I could really use a hot meal right now.”
Kelly grumbled softly. “You’re not supposed to take his side, you know,” she pouted, but her voice was light, making Emily laugh. Something tense in Adam’s heart lifted at the sound.
“Sorry, Kells. The hunger must be getting to me. I’ll try not to do it again,” Emily promised. “You need me to come with?”
Kelly shook her head. “Nah. Dad and me are still arguing about what a total nob he’s being, so he should be enough for a lousy trip to the Chinese takeout place. Set up while we’re gone?”
Emily patted the pocket where she’d stashed the keys Jo had given her. “Will do. The brown house a ways down there, right?”
“Yep,” Kelly confirmed, pulling a small overnight backpack off her shoulders and handing it to Emily. “Just dump my shit in a room with a bed and I’ll deal with it later.”
“Is the language really necessary?” Adam asked begrudgingly.
“No it fucking isn’t, yet here we fucking are,” Kelly replied with a smug grin.
“Ugh, let’s go, Emily,” he replied, tossing his sister a distasteful look as they walked passed her. He honestly didn’t understand why she insisted on maintaining the mentality of a teenager. She’d have to grow up one day; he just hoped she did so before anyone got hurt in one of her acts of immaturity.
“Don’t worry, brother. I’ll try not to say any bad words around your precious Chow Mein,” Kelly called to Adam as they made their departure. “You know how impressionable Chinese cuisine can be!”
Emily giggled, obviously enthused by his sister’s quips, but he elected to ignore her entirely.
“So what do you think of Forest Haven so far?” Emily asked, changing the subject. “I didn’t get to talk to the alphas much, but Savannah, Jo, and Lucy were really nice. And the man that greeted us, Dan, he seemed kind too. They didn’t hesitate to make sure we felt welcome and safe here. I liked that.”
Adam nodded. “I’m looking forward to getting to know them better over the course of our stay,” he replied. “They seem like a really strong pack, accepting and obliging to boot. It’s a wonder why no other pack wanted to help.”
“I don’t doubt that it had something to do with self-interest, like they’d said, but there was that bit Tom mentioned about prejudice,” Emily pondered. “Do you honestly think other shifters denied them aid because of Jo?”
Adam shrugged. “I honestly wouldn’t be surprised,” he admitted. “Though a crazy bear vowing a massacre of humans certainly takes the cake on this trip, falling in love with them isn’t exactly the norm, either. I don’t think there’s a single group of beings alive that hate change more than we shifters do.”
She smiled up at him with resolve in her eyes. “Well, I’m really glad we came,” she declared proudly.
“Though, they seem like the polar opposites from us. In our pack, arguing is a custom, as they learned today during the meeting. I just hope we can learn to mesh well in all this.”
Adam chuckled. “Emily, I can count on one hand the amount of times I’ve ever heard you argue in all the five years we’ve known each other.”
“Hey, I said arguing was the custom, not that I was any good at it,” she rebutted lightly.
They allowed for a pause in the conversation as they ascended the stairs of what was supposed to be their living quarters.
“This one, right?” Adam asked, scrutinizing the number etched onto the middle of the front door.
“Looks like it. Come on,” Emily beckoned, sliding a key in the door animatedly. “I get first pick of the bedrooms!” she declared, throwing the door wide and bounding inside without pulling the key from the lock.
Adam shook his head. Now she was acting immature, too. At least on Emily it looks cute, he thought, startling himself. What?
“Wow,” Emily breathed, eyes taking in the sights as she dumped the backpacks she’d worn onto the floor in awe. “They said it was renovated, but I wasn’t expecting this.”
Adam couldn’t help but agree. When they said they’d prepared a house, he wasn’t expecting anything especially large, but from what he could tell, this place was bigger than he’d expected. The living room was spacious and bright with no shortage of comfortable looking furniture to sit upon. There was a large TV hanging on the wall. In the back, he could see an open-plan kitchen, and it looked pretty much new with stainless steel appliances and some kind of stone countertop that he couldn’t place.
“If David doesn’t keep me in check, I might just stay here forever,” Emily joked, bounding up the stairs. Adam heard a chorus of doors opening and closing before she called, “The rooms up here are huge! And the bathtub is to die for.”
“There are rooms down here, too,” Adam called back as she jogged down the stairs. “Enough for everyone.”
“And look at this reading nook!” Emily gasped, rounding the staircase and finding the large bookcase that sat behind it. “This is amazing!”
Crush on the Alpha Bear Page 3
