by Olivia Arran
Zane, Alpha for Team-N1 and fellow bear shifter stretched in his chair, as if waking from a long nap. “Screw you, Owen. We’d run your part of the fence if it didn’t always end up in a brawl with your wolves. I ain’t got time for that shit, and neither have my guys.”
The low growl from over where Jay glowered, the Alpha for Team-N2, said it all.
And that was the crux of the problem. Originally, the land had been split into four sections, with four perimeter teams patrolling quarters North, South, East, and West. Then the dragons had claimed the mountains in the East. Good for them; no bear wanted to run fucking mountains all day long, anyway. The land had then been redivided, two teams covering half each, taking opposing shifts, ergo North-One and North-Two. The rest of the land had been parceled out. Some groups liked to spread, claiming territory, and I got it, sure. It was what we did—protect our own little slice of the Heartsridge pie. Only the cats didn’t give a shit and they mostly stuck to the town and its suburbs. The wolves had claimed a fucking large slice, and in their eagerness to claim boundaries, had marked it out all the way up to the fucking fence. It hadn’t been a problem, until right now.
Who’s fault was it? The wolves.
“Zane’s right,” I added, throwing my weight in behind my brother by species. “You claimed it; you should have patrolled it.”
Owen’s eyes narrowed on me. I knew what he was thinking; they had patrolled it. He and I both knew that there was a traitor in his pack, but it wasn’t for me to call him out on it. Either way, he was screwed.
Law, Alpha for Team-S2 and a big motherfucker, added his fuck yeah of approval. Sitting forward in his chair, he was poised for action, his fingers drumming out a staccato beat on the chair arm. At the end of the day, if one team got the blame for this, we were all skinned and hung out for future shit slinging.
Carter rested his head in his hands, as if searching for inner strength. “It’s contained, you say?”
“Yes.” Short and sharp. So, Owen wasn’t going to spill. Not yet, anyway.
“Good. I’ll release a statement to hopefully minimize the damage, but be on the lookout for any increase in groupie sightings on your land. The Pride will watch the town.”
Groupie sightings. Translation: humans who wanted to be bitten and changed. Idiots. Who the hell in their right mind would sign up for a fifty-fifty chance they might die?
“Nice to see the dragons managed to drag their asses here,” Law commented with a distinct lack of humor. They never turned up for anything. Whether they thought they were too good for the general population or didn’t give a shit, who knew. We only knew they were still alive because of their huge bulks sailing through the sky and the occasional envoy into the town to gather supplies.
I was pretty sure Carter wanted to bang his head against the desk, but instead he pointed at the door. “Out. All of you. Report back if there’s anything I need to know.” As the other Alphas filed out, jostling each other in lighthearted displays of dominance. I paused at the door.
Carter dragged a hand over his face, his anger clearing to be replaced by exhaustion. Leaning over, he pressed a button. “Iesha, could you send me the files on all the wolf pack members and every tourist that has entered and exited Heartsridge in…” he hummed, eyes flicking to a pop up calendar on his desk, “…the last four weeks.” Loosening his tie, he undid the top button of his shirt and dragged a hand through his hair. He looked like a man settling in for the long haul, not one about to clock off and go home for some R&R.
For the first time since I’d known Carter I felt sorry for him, and the tiniest bit guilty for all the shit I’d given him over the years. He was trying to run this town—something no one honestly had a clue how to do, given that not so long ago, places like this didn’t exist—and it was a job I didn’t envy.
“What are you still doing here, Austin?” He didn’t turn around.
He was right. What the hell was I still doing here? I closed the door behind me. Sleep was calling me. Tomorrow I had a date with a beautiful woman. Step one in convincing Leona to be my mate started now.
Chapter Fifteen
Leona
The next day, curled up on Harper’s bed and surrounded by a pile of discarded magazines and candy wrappers, I rolled onto my back with my legs dangling down and brushing the floor. Tucking my arms behind my head to form a pillow, I stared at the ceiling, wishing, not for the first time, that it held all the answers. My sigh was loud enough that Harper groaned.
“What?” I muttered.
Kneeling up, she waved her phone in the air, directly above my head. “Look him up, already.” Free of her restraints, the infirmary staff had given us both a big lecture about warning signs and what to do if it looked like Harper was going to freak out and lose it. Aka: change. Into a freaking fox! So far, she’d been fine, but we’d taken it easy, laughing and poking fun at the latest celebrity and daydreaming about what we’d spend a million dollars on if we ever won the lottery.
I caught the phone before it bounced off my nose. “I shouldn’t.” But my thumb was already swiping open the screen and accessing the internet.
Crashing down next to me, she giggled, burying her face in my shoulder as if we were doing something super naughty. “I can’t believe you haven’t already! He’s hot, Lenny!”
I tapped in the address for Heartridge’s online site. “He is, isn’t he?” The now familiar town logo popped up, the screen filing with information for visitors and highlighting the town’s leisure facilities.
“There.” Harper’s finger tapped on the screen and a new page loaded. “Team-S1,” I read out loud, “Bear Shifters. Led by Alpha Austin Ford. There was a little photo of Austin grimacing at the camera. Next to him stood the guys I’d already met. It was exactly as Austin had described, a bio about the team and nothing more.
“Who are they?” she asked, her eyes brightening with interest.
“The rest of the team. Cade Ayers, Brent Casey, Nate Dean, and Jake Hunter,” I read their names from the screen.
“Which one’s Jake Hunter?” she asked, then carried on before I got a chance to answer, “I think I can guess. The one with the sexy scowl and bulging muscles?”
I glanced at her. I couldn’t tell if she was kidding, or not. “Uh, Harp, they’ve all got—”
She burst out laughing. “Yeah, I know. They sure grow them big out here, don’t they?”
“And sexy,” I added. “Though, you were bitten, right? Which means that not all shifters were born this way. Do you think that makes a difference?”
She frowned, and when she bounded off the bed I was sure I’d put my big foot in it.
I sat up. “Harp, I’m—”
She waved off my apology with a grin and tossed her long dark hair back over her shoulder, revealing the short spiky buzz cut that she’d cut in underneath on a whim. “Whaddya think?” she declared, popping her hands on her hips.
“Uh…”
She peered at me as if I was the one who’d lost it. “Have I turned into a sexpot? Am I oozing sex appeal?” Her eyes widened with what looked like horror, then she sprinted over to a floor length mirror. “Shit. Thank fuck.”
“What?”
“Just checking for bulging muscles.” She flexed a bicep. It appeared to be normal looking—for Harper anyway. Spindly with a little bump in the middle. “Phew! Okay. So I only inherited the sexy gene.” She winked at me and skipped back over to the bed, throwing herself back down.
I chose my next words carefully, turning them over and over inside my head before finally blurting them out, “Are you okay with it, then?”
Snagging the phone out of my hands, she zoomed in on the picture, studying it intently. Knowing her, she was probably critically analyzing everything from perspective to setting to lighting, and not just ogling the hot guys. “It is what it is,” she eventually replied, tacking on a small smile when I nudged her. “Hey, it’s not like I have a time machine.” She nudged me back, her eyes softening
. “It could be worse; I could be dead.”
And that was the Harper I knew. Always optimistic and looking for the good in life.
“That one,” I eventually said, once the lump in my throat had dislodged. I tapped the screen and the photograph zoomed in up close.
“The big brooding one? Figures,” she scoffed, but her eyes had narrowed on Jake’s face. She tapped the screen, indicating one of the other guys. “This one here looks a lot more my type. Approachable and like he knows how to laugh and have a good time.”
I steered her hand so I could see the screen. “Who? Nate?”
“You called?” a masculine voice drawled from over by the door.
We both looked up.
A man lounged against the door frame, light brown hair cut short and brown eyes laughing at us. A wicked smile graced full lips. Nate. My escort, from the looks of things.
“Let me just tidy…” My voice trailed off when I realized I didn’t hold one scrap of his attention anymore.
“You must be Harper?”
My sister rolled off the bed with a grace that was unusual for her. This was the girl who struggled not to fall over her own feet most of the time. “Yep, that’s me. And you’re Nate.” She strolled toward him, a roll in her hips that had me wondering where the hell my sister had gone. Harper was confident and outgoing, sure, but she wasn’t a man eater. The woman prowling across the room was a different person completely. She pulled up short, tilting her head and cocking her hip. “My, my, you’re a pretty one, aren’t you?” she murmured.
Nate had stiffened, wariness flickering through his eyes and his grin fading. “Shit. Sorry.” He aimed that at me.
Harper’s hand shot out.
He grabbed her wrist, her fingers grazing the front of his shirt. His eyes softened with understanding. “You’re newly bitten and turned. Your hormones will be messed up for a while until you fully join with your beast.” He chuckled, but it was dry and lacking humor. “I should have remembered that. Easy there, sugar,” Nate murmured, closing his large hand over Harper’s and lowering it down.
I approached them slowly. Harper’s eyes glowed an otherworldly gold, oblivious to me being near, her face frozen in a battle of wills that none of us were a party to.
She took a deep breath, as if coming out of a trance. Her eyes flickered back to brown.
“Well done.” Nate’s voice was full of approval. “You’ll have it under control in no time.”
I gave my sister a hug, squeezing her as hard as I could. “I’ll be back tomorrow,” I whispered, not wanting to leave, but I knew that I had to. The infirmary staff had informed me earlier that one of the reasons I couldn’t stay 24/7 all week was because Harper had to practice her control. They were working with her so when she changed for the first time, she wouldn’t fragment and lose it.
Also, for the first time in forever, I had a date.
Chapter Sixteen
Austin
My hand hovered over the door. I could hear her moving around inside the room, her soft humming as she clinked bottles and padded around in bare feet. Her sweet scent drifted through the closed door, wrapping around me and stiffening my cock in a matter of seconds. What I wouldn’t give for her to answer the door wrapped only in a towel, her skin wet and glistening from the shower, ready for me to play chase the droplet with my tongue.
I adjusted my rock hard shaft, begging it to behave, but it had a mind of its own, and it was fast taking over mine. Images of pinning her to the wall and loosening her towel with my teeth flashed in front of my eyes. She’d moan and beg me to fuck her, little greedy pleas for me to bury my cock inside her.
I leaned forward, eyes squeezed tight as need throbbed through me, demanding and urging me on. Claim my mate. Make her mine. Fuck her until she can’t leave my bed; until she doesn’t want to. My forehead touched cool wood as I wrestled man logic vs. bear logic.
The door swung open and I nearly fell through the gap, catching myself at the last moment.
“Austin!” Leona blinked at me in shock, her fingers twisting in the strap of her purse that was slung over her shoulder. Her dark hair hung in soft waves down her chest and her eyes were lined with that smudgy black stuff that I’d noticed some women liked to wear.
“Uh … hi,” I replied, successfully untwisting my tongue. Then it clicked. “Going somewhere?” I wasn’t late, was I?
She smiled and it sucked the breath from me. “I was going to leave a message with Danny for you; I thought I’d pop out and have a look at that little store just down the road. Pass the time a little.”
“The gift shop?” I managed to choke it out, hoping to hell she was kidding.
“Yes, that’s the one!” Sliding her arm through mine, she tilted her head back to look up at me. “Now that you’re here we could go together?” She sounded so hopeful, I didn’t have the heart to say no.
I bit back a wince. How bad could it be? “Sure thing, sweetheart, so long as my reward is a fat, juicy steak.”
Her soft giggle had my dick twitching to attention. My gaze zeroed in on the bed behind her. Did we really need to go out?
She closed the door, tugging on my arm to get me moving.
Looked like we were going shopping.
Leona hugged her small fuzzy bear to her chest and a fucking ridiculous flare of jealousy shot through me. One, I wanted to be the only bear she pressed against her gorgeous breasts, and two, that fuzzy bear was an insult to my eyes. It had brown fur, for fucks sake! A brown fucking bear.
“You’re growling again.” She was laughing at me, not outright, but her eyes were.
I reached across the table and plucked the offending soft toy out of her arms.
“Hey!” She reached for it, grabbing its little paw in a tug of war. “Give Barney back!”
I raised an eyebrow, relinquishing the toy back to its owner. I’d sneak it when she wasn’t looking. “Barney?”
“Barney the Bear,” she replied, stroking between the bear’s ears.
Damn thing looked like it was smirking at me. “What’s wrong with the black bears?”
“Nothing, but this one was so cute!”
I didn’t want to tell her, I really didn’t, but she was petting the damn thing and… “You do know you’re stroking a miniature Zane, don’t you?”
“Zane?” Her nose wrinkled in confusion.
“The Alpha of Team-N1.”
Her hand froze. “Wh—What?”
“I’m sure he’d be very happy to hear that you think he’s cute—” I nearly choked on the word, “—but I’m about ten seconds away from ripping his fuzzy head off.” Which was totally unreasonable. Absolutely fucking nuts! But, I couldn’t help it.
She placed the small bear on the table, nudging it toward me with her finger. “You now owe me a bear.”
I grabbed it and tossed it over my shoulder, not caring if it landed in someone’s soup. “Deal.”
“An Austin one.”
Crap.
“I’m presuming since there were Zane teddy bears, then Austin ones exist?” She pursed her lips around a bendy straw and took a sip of the sickly sweet cocktail she’d ordered. She snapped her fingers, her eyes narrowing. “That’s why you were steering me around the shop like a man on a secret mission!”
Busted. I’d managed to swerve her out of the way of the Team-S paraphernalia that Carter insisted the gift shop stock. She’d only managed to grab the Zane teddy bear because she’d stuck out her hand at the right—wrong—moment. If only she knew… “Sure,” I eventually forced out. Time to change the subject. “What do you think of this place?” I’d brought her up into shifter territory, to the BBQ Shack that the Pride ran just outside of town. Tourists were discouraged here, unless they were invited and someone was keeping a close eye on them.
“It’s wonderful,” she replied, already having spent half of the evening people watching with unblinking eyes. Up here, people didn’t always stick to their human form, and big cats, wolves, and even the
odd bear had wandered through the outdoor restaurant, bumping people out of the way with their big heads and lounging by tables. Fairy lights hung from the canopy above, swinging in the humid evening air and casting twinkling beams of light over the proceedings. All around us people gathered; some sitting in cozy pairs like us, their fingers intertwined and eyes only for each other; then there were the larger groups, more raucous and spread out. “There’s a real sense of community here,” she whispered, though she might as well not have bothered lowering her voice. Every single person in here—the shifter ones, anyway—could hear her clear as a bell, and her attendance had not gone unnoticed. It had only taken an hour for the heckling and encouraging whispers to quiet down, not that Leona had been aware of any of it. There had been several jokers who’d found it funny that my future mate had been spotted cuddling a Zane bear and I was pretty sure news would have traveled back to the man himself, by now.
I slid my hand over the table, twining my fingers with hers and reclaiming my rightful place. “Here we can relax. We don’t have to worry about how we look and act. We’re accepted as we are.”
She frowned, the displeasure creasing her brow. “As you should be, no matter where you are.”
“People are still ignorant and that’s why we have places like Heartsridge. To give us a safe place to live and work and raise our families.”
“And it’s not like that in the outside world?”
Damn. She was still clinging to the hope that one day Harper would be able to leave. “No one is forced to stay here. In fact, no one has to be here at all. We all chose to come, to put down roots and stuff.”
“Oh.” Her eyes slid away.
“Sweetheart,” I didn’t want to say it, but she had to know the reality, “Some people still think it’s okay to hunt us. Kill us. Take our fur. Put us in cages.” It got worse, but she didn’t need to know the full on grim reality of my world.
She sucked in a breath, her fingers tightening on mine. “But, they can’t do that!”
