by Roxie Noir
“You know him,” Coleman said. “He’s a fanatic. He thinks we still have to live by his rules even though we live two thousand miles away.”
“How did he know?” said Boone.
Jake just shrugged. “I wish I knew,” he said. “I know that as alpha, he has a sense of the pack all the time, but that specific? That far away? I don’t think so.”
“Did you tell anyone?” asked Coleman. “Has anyone seen you?”
“Not shifters,” said Jake.
“Are you sure?” said Boone.
Jake threw his hands in the air, exasperated. “Of course I’m not sure,” he said. “We go out, on dates, like normal people. Someone could have seen us. I’m not keeping it a secret.”
“Maybe you should,” Coleman said, darkly.
“Maybe you should—“ Jake started, but Boone held up his hand to ward off whatever Jake was about to say.
“This is a pointless fight,” Boone said. “Jake shouldn’t have to date people secretly. Brock is the one with the problem here.”
“Thank you,” Jake said.
“He’s afraid you’ll mate with this girl,” Boone said. “He doesn’t want humans in our bloodlines, but he also just doesn’t want them in his pack.”
Coleman frowned. “You mated with a human?”
Jake held up his hands. “We’ve been dating for two weeks,” he said. “We’re not that serious.”
“He wants to stop you before you mark her,” Boone said, darkly.
“He’s really premature, then, because we haven’t even had that talk yet.”
“Maybe you should.”
Jake let the silence hang in the air. He didn’t need these two to tell him how his relationship with Ariana should go. They were still in their infatuated, honeymoon phase, and as much as he desperately wanted to run back to his cabin, cover her with kisses, tell her he loved her and that he wanted her to be his for the rest of his life, he knew better.
“Where’d you see him?” Coleman asked, changing the subject.
“Lebanese Pines, that new Middle Eastern place,” Jake said.
“I thought I smelled shawarma,” said Coleman.
“What was he doing?”
“Nothing. He didn’t do anything, he just came in and sat at a table. Made eye contact with me. Violet was with him.”
“There’s two females,” interjected Coleman. Boone and Jake both looked at him. “The younger one’s in heat,” he said. “You can’t smell that?”
“Jake’s had his nose in other things,” teased Boone.
“I swear you’re still fifteen years old,” said Jake.
“Stop it,” said Coleman. “Look, we’ll be watching out for anything to happen, okay?”
“Okay,” said Jake.
Boone put one hand on Jake’s shoulder. “Be careful, brother,” he said.
All three men shifted back into bears, and walked off in three separate directions.
* * *
He walked back into the cabin a few minutes after shifting back. He tried to give himself a little while between shifting back to human and being near people, especially now that he knew he could get mistaken for Bigfoot.
When Ariana looked up, though, he was was still very hairy. She was standing at the kitchen counter, hungrily wolfing down Shawarma, wearing just his flannel shirt and her underwear.
“You okay?” she asked, licking sauce off of one finger.
Jake nodded. “It was just Boone and Coleman.”
“They know anything?”
“They said there’s a third bear, a younger female in — a younger female.”
Why tell Ariana that the female bear was in heat? He didn’t need to go into that right now. Besides, he suspected he knew exactly what was happening: Brock and Violet thought that maybe they could get him to mark and mate with another shifter, and then any relationship he had with Ariana would be a moot point.
“Maybe they’re trying to colonize the Cascades,” she said brightly.
“Probably not,” he said.
“Yours is still in the oven, on low,” she said. “They got a little crispy, but it still tastes good.”
Jake grabbed a towel and pulled his food out of the oven, setting it on a one of four mismatched plates that he owned.
“You know,” Ariana said, conversationally, “It’s a little weird that you don’t have silverware.”
“I’ve got a fork here somewhere,” Jake said, picking up his wrap and taking a huge bite. He was starving.
“I think that kind of underscores my point,” Ariana said, grinning wickedly. “If your comeback is, ‘No, I’ve got one fork,’ I think I win this argument.”
Jake didn’t laugh, but he tried to smile a little.
Ariana sighed and put her wrap down, leaning against the counter opposite him. Even though Jake was eating, he still took a moment to admire the swell of her hips and bosom, even though they were hidden by his huge flannel shirt.
“Talk to me,” she said. “What’s really going on?”
“I think they’re pretty serious,” he said. “Brock brought Violet, his mate, and Coleman said there’s a younger female, too. He could smell her.”
“How come you didn’t?”
“I haven’t been sniffing around for mates lately.”
Ariana blushed.
“One on hand, they’ll probably try to get me to leave you for her before they try to hurt you.”
Ariana stiffened, a strange, nervous look coming into her eyes.
“But,” Jake went on, softly, “When that doesn’t work, they might try to hurt you.”
She looked off to one side, like she couldn’t meet his eyes all of a sudden. Jake put his wrap back on the counter, then walked to Ariana and put his big arms around her. She buried her head in his chest.
“Maybe I should go if I’m causing this trouble,” she said, softly.
“Don’t,” he said.
“I’m afraid they’ll hurt you because of me.”
“You know what would hurt more?”
“What?”
“If you left.”
Ariana didn’t say anything for a long time, and Jake just held her tight.
“I feel like I’m in over my head,” she said at last.
“I will not let them hurt you,” he said. “Ariana, I promise. I’d die before I let them hurt you, because I—“ He stopped for a second and swallowed what he’d been about to say. Then he tossed caution to the wind, and went ahead.
“Because I love you,” he said, softly.
Ariana squeezed him a little tighter, but didn’t say anything.
Chapter Four
Ariana didn’t wake up until Jake put a cup of coffee down on the nightstand, right next to her head. Her eyes still bleary, she looked up at him, uncomprehending. Then, she registered the amount of light coming in through the windows and the fact that Jake was fully dressed already, and sat up straight.
“What time is it?” she asked. She still wore the flannel shirt she’d borrowed from Jake last night, and the sleeves reached almost to her fingertips, like she was a kid playing dress up.
“Nine-ish,” Jake said, sitting on the bed.
Ariana rubbed her eyes. “It’s dark out here,” she said. “I slept like a log.”
“One of the perks of country living,” he said.
She took the mug in her hands and savored the moment: about to drink delicious coffee in bed, served to her by the sexiest man she’d ever laid eyes on.
Ariana took a sip. It was terrible. She forced herself not to make a face.
“Thanks,” she said. She couldn’t help but notice that Jake wasn’t drinking any coffee.
“Is it bad?” he said.
Ariana didn’t say anything.
“I found a jar of instant coffee in my cupboard,” he said. “You can tell me if it’s bad.”
“It’s awful,” she admitted.
“Damn,” he said, taking the mug from her. “Well, I tried. We can get co
ffee supplies today.”
Ariana felt something warm and fluttery inside her. She knew better than to take things so fast with Jake, especially after she’d broken up with Graham a total of two weeks previously, when she’d discovered him cheating on her, but he just couldn’t help it. She liked the way he said we, the way he assumed she’d be around for long enough to justify him buying coffee equipment for her.
The way he protected her and brought her coffee in the morning, even if the coffee was terrible. The way he’d said he loved her the night before, and how he didn’t seem upset that she hadn’t said it back right away.
She would, she thought. She just needed a little time.
Ariana yawned and stretched. “Can you drop me at my place on the way to work?” she asked.
Jake frowned, dumping out the coffee into his kitchen sink.
“I thought maybe you could come to my office with me,” he said.
Ariana crossed her legs in the bed. “What, is it ‘bring your girlfriend to work’ day?”
“I just want to keep you safe,” he said.
Irritation and fear mixed in Ariana. On the one hand, he was right — she’d heard that story about the dead girl whose only crime had been making out with a shifter in a movie theater. On the other hand, Ariana was a grown woman, and she had an idea of what she was up against.
“Okay,” she said. “What if I work in the library?”
Jake looked thoughtful as he washed and dried the mug.
“It’s full of people, plus there’s internet,” she said. “No one is going to turn into a bear and murder me in full sight of all those humans and kids, are they?”
“Probably not,” conceded Jake. “At least because they don’t want humans knowing they’re real.”
“Perfect,” said Ariana, getting out of bed finally, going to her backpack and pulling out fresh clothes. “You can drop me at the coffee place, I still need some caffeine.”
“You’ll walk along the main sidewalk?” Jake asked.
“I promise.”
“And you won’t go in the woods?”
She took off his flannel shirt and tossed it onto the bed. Jake walked over and took her, half-dressed, in his arms. He was warm even through his clothing, and for a moment, Ariana thought about telling her boss David that she was sick and taking the day off.
“I won’t go in the woods,” she said, and Jake bent down and kissed her, his warm, firm lips moving against her own. For a moment Ariana forgot about everything — the danger, her fear, her slight uncertainty that Jake wasn’t a psycho — and just existed in that moment, kissing her boyfriend.
Then he pulled away from her and slapped her ass.
“Hey!” she said. Jake backed away, grinning.
“We leave in five minutes,” he said. “Get a move on.”
* * *
She stood in line at the Coffee Hut, looking at the hand-lettered menu and trying to decide between the medium and the large coffee. How tired was she, exactly? Would a large make her more alert, better able to fend off any attackers, or would she just have to pee more?
“Good morning welcome to the coffee hut how can I help you?” asked the barista, a young woman no more than twenty with a blue streak in her hair.
“Large drip coffee, please,” said Ariana, having finally made up her mind.
“Two fifty,” the girl said without looking up.
“Actually,” said a woman’s voice behind Ariana, “We’re together. I’ll take a small latte with a double shot of espresso, made with whole milk, please.”
The barista shrugged and typed on the register. Ariana’s breath caught in her throat as she turned to look at the woman behind her.
It was the woman who’d winked at her in the Lebanese restaurant, of course.
“Seven fifteen,” said the barista, totally oblivious to the drama taking place in front of her.
The tall woman stepped in front of Ariana and paid, putting a couple of dollars in the tip jar. The barista handed Ariana her drip coffee, and told the other woman she could wait over by the counter for her drink.
“Regular coffee,” the woman said. She had piercing blue eyes, dark hair and bangs, and a low husky voice. “I admire simplicity in a person. I’m so rarely somewhere with good coffee that when I come somewhere with a milk foamer, I just have to order something fancy.”
She smiled at Ariana, who didn’t say anything. The smile wasn’t particularly a pleasant one.
“I’m Violet,” she said, holding out one hand. Ariana shook it, noticing that she had a very strong grip and short nails that almost looked like they’d been chewed off. It was at odds with the rest of her: tight, dark blue jeans tucked into knee-high black leather boots and a black leather jacket over a fashionably old t-shirt.
“Ariana,” said Ariana, shaking the offered hand a little reluctantly.
“I think you know my godson,” said Violet.
“Small double latte?” shouted a different barista, and Violet stepped forward to take the coffee.
“Mind if we talk outside?” she asked, smiling that smile again.
“Sure,” said Ariana, fear gripping her from the inside. She tried to calm herself: outside was still public, after all.
“After you,” Violet said, gesturing with her coffee cup. As she walked, Ariana clutched the messenger bag that held her computer, wishing it could somehow anchor her down, keep her safe in whatever she’d gotten herself into.
There were a few tables outside, a little damp from being in the Pacific Northwest, and Ariana sat at one, the seat of her jeans getting wet.
“Now that we’re alone, I’ll just get down to it,” Violet said. “You’ve been fucking a member of my pack and I’d like it to stop.”
Ariana blinked. This other woman was certainly direct.
Violet leaned forward across the table, her blue eyes flashing angrily. Despite herself, Ariana leaned back in her chair, away from her.
“Jacob is a member of a very ancient, pure, and noble bloodline,” she said. “He has a life you’ll never understand. He has urges you’ll never understand. You can’t know our customs, or our ways, and you never will.”
“I know your husband or whatever beat him up and left him for dead,” Ariana said. “If that’s what your customs are, I don’t blame him for wanting out.”
The woman rolled her eyes and sipped her drink. “See? You don’t understand.”
“I understand that you’re a bunch of racists,” said Ariana. “Or species-ist, whatever, I don’t know.”
The woman jabbed a finger in the air at her. “We protect our way of life,” she said. “What do you think would happen to us if people knew? We’d all be dead in months,” she said. “How many species have gone extinct because of humans?”
“What, we don’t have passenger pigeons anymore so I can’t love whoever I want?” Ariana said.
Love? Said a tiny voice in her head.
“We would be hunted down, murdered,” said Violet. “All we want is to be left alone.”
“And to brutally punish anyone who doesn’t fall into line, even if they’re teenagers,” said Ariana.
Violet shook her head. “You can’t possibly understand.”
Ariana stood up and shouldered her bag, feeling very brave. “Jake left you of his own accord, years and years ago, but now that he’s actually found some happiness, suddenly you want him back. This isn’t about me, or him, or humans and bears. You’re mad because you’re an asshole and he disobeyed you, that’s all.”
“Don’t you walk away from this conversation,” said Violet mildly. She leaned back in her chair but still managed to look threatening.
“Watch me,” said Ariana and she grabbed her coffee, turned around, and began walking.
“He belongs with his own kind,” the woman called after her. “He belongs with a shifter. You’ll never be enough for him.”
For a moment, Ariana wavered, her breath catching in her throat. She hadn’t even thought abo
ut that aspect of it: what if she couldn’t give him everything a shifter could? What if Jake would never be truly satisfied with her?
She shook her head and continued walking the mile to the library. She was half furious and half terrified, but she was sure about one thing: Jake had chosen her, and she wouldn’t leave Jake without a fight. A hard fight.
Chapter Five
Around ten in the morning, there was a knock on Jake’s office door. His heart leapt for a moment, and wild flights of fancy ran through his head: had Ariana been killed? Kidnapped? Threatened? He should never have let her out of his sight.
“Come in,” he called, trying to make his voice sound normal.
The door opened and Ken, Jake’s boss, walked in. Well, technically, Ken was Jake’s boss. In reality, everyone at the ranger station just sort of worked in tandem on everything. Not a lot of managing went on.
“Hey,” Ken said. “Are you busy today?”
Jake looked at his desk and shrugged. “I was working on putting together the summer calendar for the amphitheater. Nature programs and stuff. It’s not urgent, though.”
“Some hikers just got in who reported that the backbone trail got washed out a little, just about two miles from the trailhead,” he said. “Normally, I’d put it on the schedule for trail work, but since it’s pretty minor and so close, I wondered if you’d be able to just go fix it right now instead of waiting, it being a pretty popular trail and all.”
Jake was already standing, putting on his jacket. “Sure, no problem,” he said. “Give me five minutes to round up my gear and I’ll be off.”
“It doesn’t need to be right this second,” Ken said, trailing off at the end.
“No problem,” said Jake, smiling at the older man. “You know me, any opportunity to get out of that office chair.”
It was true — even knowing that Brock was out there, somewhere, and that Jake was outnumbered three to one, he felt desperate for some fresh air and solitude to clear his head. The only thing that worried him was Ariana. Two miles in, there was no cell signal at all — what if she got into trouble and needed him? What if something happened?
