Jane

by Becca Fanning

  “Hey.”

  His chest tightened. She sounded so damn casual. Waltzing in damn near twenty-four hours after she’d gone out with no explanation, no apology, no sign she even cared. “You’ve been gone awhile.”

  “Mmm.” She took a take-out container out of the bag and tucked it in the fridge. When she went to drop the bag in the recycling, she noticed the pizza box and pop bottle. “Oh good, you found something to eat.”

  “And you?”

  “We ate out. I need a workout. I feel stiff.”

  “What? That’s it? Where were you?”

  “Excuse me?”

  There was a dangerous light dancing in her eyes and it brought him up short. He reigned in his own emotions and lowered his eyes. “Sorry. I was worried about you. I didn’t know where you were or when you were coming back.”

  “I was with a friend and I’m an adult so I can come and go from my own apartment as I please without reporting to anyone.”

  “Of course. That’s not going to stop me from worrying. What if Laurent had sent someone to look for me? What if they’d found you? What if something had happened to you?”

  “Do you really think Laurent is that dangerous?”

  “I’m looking for evidence that he’s involved with the Human Order, what do you think?”

  She actually stopped and considered that. “Okay, good point.”

  He hoped his smile wasn’t too smug.

  “Did you make some progress while I was gone?”

  “Oh yeah, tons. I think I’m almost done.”

  “Great.”

  “Uh, Jane. You know, we’ve barely talked since that first night I was here. You’re always busy.”

  “What is there to talk about? Unless you want to share some of your leads?”

  “How was work this week?”

  “It’s the weekend, I don’t want to talk about work.”

  “But you’ll hang out with that guy from work.”

  “That guy is my boyfriend and I’ll spend as much time with him as I want. I’m grabbing my headphones and working out. Don’t touch my leftovers.” She stormed out. When she came back in, the headphones were already in her ears and she was avoiding looking at him.

  He went to the kitchen and made himself a sandwich, watching her as she went through her workout in silence. I’m trying. She just won’t let me in.

  * * *

  For Jane and Bryce the week went by quickly. Working together was getting easier and not at all awkward as they’d both feared. They often walked out for lunch, or just walked around the block eating their sandwiches and talking, holding hands as they enjoyed the nice days between the rain. Some evenings Bryce spent with Karl fixing up the house and sometimes Jane went with him, though neither of them mentioned the drugs in the garage.

  On the rare evening that they didn’t have dinner together, or go out for a drink, or went to his place for a movie, Jane would do her workout, take a jog through the park, and eat sandwiches for dinner with Etienne who remained ever elusive about how much proof he had and how much more time he needed.

  Etienne spent very little time on the computer looking for proof. Most of the time he spent following Jane. It was a tricky business since he had to walk to her work and walk back without getting caught and be back before her. And he didn’t want her spotting him.

  He was coming to hate Bryce. He was small, skinny, weak, and yet Jane preferred this human to him. He was stronger, faster, and a werebear. Bryce disgusted him. When Friday rolled around and Jane got ready to go to Bryce’s again, it was all Etienne could do to hold his tongue and smile.

  Etienne waited up for her Friday night but again she didn’t come home. Frustrated, he sent out another text, grateful that she’d never bothered to snoop through his phone. He read the long reply carefully and nodded. Yes, that would work. He just had to time it right.

  * * *

  Jane rolled over and her shoulder bumped into Bryce’s. She smiled. It took a little wiggling to turn over so she could see him. Waking up next to him was still a new experience and she liked it. She could lie here all day and watch him sleep with his bedhead and the creases on his cheek where a wrinkle in the pillow case had pressed against his skin for too long. Sadly, the bathroom was calling her and she slipped out of the bed, careful not to wake him.

  When she returned, she could hear the change in his breathing though he didn’t appear to have moved. When she knelt on the edge of the bed. his eyes snapped open. “I thought maybe you’d already gone.”

  “Just as far as the washroom,” she said. She crawled over and kissed him. “How could I miss out on saying good morning to you.”

  “There’s always a phone.”

  She snuggled in close and pressed herself against him. “There are some things I can’t do over the phone.”

  They kissed and held each other close.

  “What did you want to do today?” he asked.

  She reached down between them and took him in hand.

  He laughed and gave her a quick kiss. “All right, but after that?”

  “Ask me afterwards.” They began kissing again and soon he rolled over, pinning her beneath him.

  She found she actually like this, being caught between him and the mattress, his arms on either side of her head. The first time she thought she’d feel trapped but she hadn’t. She’d felt connected to him, close and intimate, and safe.

  She spread her legs to make room for him and he slipped inside her. She wrapped her arms and legs around him and let him thrust into her while they kissed. He was quick this morning and collapsed beside her, panting. She wiggled in closer to him, tucking herself between his side and his arm and kissing his cheek.

  “I could do with a tea,” she said. “What about you?”

  “Coffee,” he muttered. “Just give me a minute.”

  “Something wrong?” she asked sweetly.

  “My legs don’t work.”

  She laughed. “I’m not sure I want to apologize for that.”

  “You’re a wicked woman,” he said, turning so he could kiss her.

  Just then her phone rang in the other room. She frowned. “I should get that.”

  “Your family emergency?”

  “That’s the ringtone for it, yes. Hopefully nothing is wrong.” She untangled herself from him and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. She almost walked off just like that but the thought of talking to Etienne with no clothes on, even over the phone, disturbed her. She glanced around but nothing on this side of the bed seemed to belong to her. She grabbed a t-shirt and threw it on. It came halfway down to her knees.

  The phone stopped ringing, then started again. “Must be important,” she said.

  He watched her go. Somehow her disheveled hair and wearing one of his old shirts was sexier than her last night with her makeup and her lacy underwear. He forced himself out of bed and headed for the washroom. He came out in his bathrobe to find Jane scrambling into her clothes.

  “So it’s an emergency.”

  “Or nearly,” she said. She stopped in front of him, fully dressed from the waist down, her shirt in her hands, and kissed him. “I can’t find my bra so consider it a souvenir.”

  “Can’t I consider it a hostage?”

  “You don’t need to threaten my stuff to get me back here.”

  “If you’re coming back do I need a souvenir?”

  “Touche.”

  “So I guess I’ll see you at work on Monday?”

  “Do you have other plans this weekend?”

  “No, why?”

  “If this clears up, I’ll call you and maybe we can do something tomorrow.”

  “What? Can’t go a whole day without seeing me?”

  She kissed him passionately, dropping her shirt and wrapping her arms around him.

  When she stepped back he said, “Yeah, okay, call me tomorrow.”

  She laughed.

  “I owe you a tea.”

  “I’ll take that w
ith interest,” she said, letting her fingers drift down his chest, parting his robe. She stopped just below his belly button.

  “You’re teasing.”

  “I know.” She retrieved her shirt and pulled it on. “I’ll keep you up to date, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  She stepped away.

  “Hey!”

  “Yeah?” She looked back.

  “I hope everything’s okay.”

  “So do I.”

  He waited until she was out the door and then went back to the bathroom to take a shower.

  * * *

  Etienne was pacing when Jane burst into the apartment. “Where were you?” he questioned.

  “I was out with a friend,” she said. Her cheeks were flushed and he was sure it wasn’t just from running up the stairs. “What’s going on? What’s so important it couldn’t wait?”

  “I did wait! I’ve been waiting all night for you to come home.”

  “I’m an adult, Etienne, and you are not my roommate or my father. I don’t have to tell you where I’m going or when I’ll be home.” She dropped her purse beside the door. “What’s going on?”

  “I’m sorry. I was worried. After I found this information, I got scared for you. If it happened to them it could happen to you.”

  “What? What happened? To who?”

  “I need to sit down,” he said, suddenly changing direction and heading for the couch. “You need to sit down. Sit.”

  “Etienne, I swear to god, if you don’t …”

  “It’s about your parents, okay?”

  She stopped halfway through taking her shoes off and joined him on the couch. “My parents?” she said, her voice softer, distant.

  “Yeah.”

  “But how? What? I mean …”

  “A friend of mine contacted a friend of his who is with the police back home. He sent a little of the information that you and I wouldn’t have had access to when your parents died because we were just kids.”

  “Okay. But we know what happened. It was a hunting accident. They were bears, it was the full moon. Someone shot them and then panicked when the bodies turned back to humans. They never caught the person who did it.”

  “But what if that’s not what happened?”

  “What do you mean? They investigated. Laurent said so. He told me about it when I was twelve.”

  “Have you ever seen a werebear die before?”

  She shook her head.

  “Well, apparently police are starting to share more information with each other, especially where if concerns us and the wolves. When we were kids, the police had to believe that your parents were werebears and that they shifted back after they died because no one knew any better.”

  “Etienne, what are you saying?”

  “There was an attack concerning The Human Order, a werebear died.”

  “And?”

  “And he didn’t change back.”

  “What?”

  “They’re keeping it quiet. They want people to believe that shapeshifters will change back to humans if they’re killed in their beast form. They want people to believe the victim will be easy to identify.”

  “You’re telling me that my parents … but they were human. I saw them at the funeral. They were – oh god.” She bolted off the couch and straight to the bathroom. When she came back, she looked too pale and she was hugging herself. “It’s not possible,” she said.

  “I don’t know. That’s what my friend told me.”

  “Why would Laurent lie?”

  “I don’t know.”

  She took a deep shuddering breath. “You’re telling me there’s a chance my parents were still human when they were shot.”

  “That’s what it sounds like.”

  “It could still have been a hunting accident, right? It could have been an accident.”

  “Yeah, it could have been. Maybe Laurent just told you they were bears when they were shot because he thought it would be easier for you. We know it’s a risk we take, shifting in the woods. It’s easier to accept if you think someone shot a bear who happened to be your parent. For someone to shoot another person, even by accident …”

  “I think I need to go for a run,” she said.

  “Jane, I don’t think you should be alone right now. You look distressed.”

  “I can’t be in here. It’s too small, too close. I need to get out, I need to run.”

  “Then let me come with you.”

  “No. I need to clear my head, not talk, not remember. Excuse me.” She went out, not stopping to tie her shoes until she was in the elevator.

  Etienne was waiting in the lobby. “The stairs really are faster,” he said.

  “You can’t come with me, I don’t have the keys.”

  He uncrossed one arm to show that he had grabbed them. “I don’t want you to be alone right now.”

  “That’s not up to you.” She snatched the keys from his hand.

  “I’m not a prisoner here. I can leave this building if I want to.”

  “Good luck not getting scented out by another shape shifter since you don’t know who they are or where they work. Or I could go tell Remy now and be done with it. I need space, Etienne. Everything I believed about my parents might be wrong. I need to think. I’m not going to do something stupid and I’m perfectly safe out there.”

  “All right, fine. But I’m waiting right here for you.”

  “Whatever.”

  * * *

  Sunday Jane and Bryce had gone to a nearby park for a jog and Bryce had found her quiet unsettling. When he’d asked about the phone call, she’d shut down and picked up her pace. He had a hard time keeping up with her.

  Monday at work she was apologetic and even brought him a coffee. “It was bad news,” she said. “I just need a bit of time to process it. I shouldn’t have called you yesterday.”

  He kissed her forehead. “I’m glad you did. I don’t mind when you act like a bitch.”

  “Don’t let Carter catch you talking like that,” she said and like that things were back to normal between them.

  They went to paint kitchen baseboards on Wednesday. The house was nearly complete and Jane was completely taken with the place. “I’ll never be able to afford it,” she moaned. “You just bring me here to torture me.”

  “And to get cheap labor out of you,” Bryce said. “What do you want on your sub?”

  She’d laughed and put in her order. After the work was done for the day he said, “So, dinner tomorrow?”

  “Sorry. I have plans for tomorrow. But Friday I am all yours. Okay?”

  “Got another boyfriend I should be worried about?”

  “Nope. Just friends. And don’t worry, not one of them is my type.”

  “Well then, I shan’t worry. Come on, I’ll drive you home.”

  Thursday after work she found a chocolate bar in her lunch bag and she laughed. She wanted to say something to Bryce about it but he’d already left.

  * * *

  “Are you sure you know where you’re going?”

  “For the tenth time, yes,” Etienne said. The first time she’d been helpful, the next few times her concern was cute, now it was wearing on him. “Would you stop pacing?”

  “Okay, take my car. Stay on the route I marked for you so you don’t cross paths with the clan or the pack.”

  “We’ve been over this Jane. I don’t plan on getting caught now.”

  “You’re a long way away from your Clan Chief. Are you going to be okay?”

  “Yes. I’m strong enough to control the bear. No one will get hurt. You need to get going, too.”

  She nodded. “I’ll meet you back here at dawn.”

  “Go.”

  She took her keys and jogged down to the lobby. The cab she’d called while getting ready was just pulling into the parking lot. She slipped into the back seat and gave the cabbie directions to the gas station at the corner four blocks from the warehouse – the same gas station Philippe had
walked from last month.

  She paid the cab driver and waited for him to pull away before turning up the street and jogging towards the warehouse. The parking lot was full of cars but devoid of people when she arrived. She keyed her code at the door and slipped inside.

  The men were already gathered in the middle of the warehouse and they all watched her approach.

  “Problems?” Remy said.

  “Left my light on in the car,” she said. “Dead battery. Didn’t notice until last minute so I hailed a cab. Sorry I’m cutting it close.”

  “And what about two weeks ago?”

  “Two weeks? The meeting.”

  Remy nodded. “You forgot?”

  “I’m not about to skip a meeting on purpose,” she said. “Things have just been busy lately. Works been stressful. I’m fine, I just forgot. It could happen to anyone.” She didn’t like the way Remy was studying her. “I’m here. If I missed anything important you can fill me in before I go home. Okay?”

  “Of course. We’ve already covered any pressing business today, and you are cutting it close. So I invite you all to shift with me before the moon.”

  It was odd undressing in front of them. None of them were looking at her, and if they did glance her way it was just happenstance, not an attempt to check her out. She wasn’t their type, and they weren’t hers. They’d been undressing in front of each other every month for years. And yet today was different.

  She kept her back turned the entire time and willed her change to come quickly. Once furry, everything changed. The way she saw, what she could hear, how the air smelled; she was used to those sensory changes but this time there was more. She could sense the tension in the room. It lacked aggression but it felt wary and almost sad. The other bears seemed standoffish, often turning their backs on her.

  Bears were never concerned with keeping up appearances or being polite.

  When they shifted back, she scrambled into her clothing and waited for the others to finish. Jules and Brock headed for the door, laughing and joking about their women waiting for them. Remy and Philippe were quietly discussing something. So, she waited.

  When Philippe had finally gone Remy, turned to her. “Last month you mentioned a new friend. Still seeing him?”