“People are better than that. They’re only afraid of what they don’t know. We just have to make sure that we’re the ones talking to them, rather than the Sons!” Henry took a step forward, placing his hand on her arm.
Maggie shook her head, slowly at first, then more violently.
“No, I don’t accept that. And I can’t believe that someone who works in Blacke’s very own office would believe that either.”
“But she does. Gail does believe that. That’s what we’ve been working on together. To figure out a way to educate people!” Henry said.
“I don’t want to hear her name anymore.”
“Okay…” Henry squeezed Maggie’s arm. At least, she wasn’t retreating anymore.
“And I can’t accept these crazy ideas of yours.” Maggie bit her bottom lip.
“They’re not crazy. Just give it a chance, once we get support…”
“No. No way. I can’t.”
“Please, Mags. This is important to me,” Henry pleaded.
She shook her head again. “No. This is it. You have to decide what’s more important to you. This stupid plan or our relationship.”
Henry couldn’t believe his ears. He could understand that she had trouble seeing his side of things - she could be very stubborn after all. But to make him choose?
“I mean it, Henry. You pick. Me or this…” Maggie gestured at him. “This lunacy.”
Henry took a deep breath. That was it. He wouldn’t give up on Maggie. She was his mate.
So he had to bear another loss. To win the war.
Chapter Ten
Gail woke up early. But it wasn’t the same old visions of Henry that had roused her from her sleep; it was something else. A nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach. Something was wrong, and she couldn’t figure out what it was.
For hours, she tossed and turned, but that feeling never left her. Was she coming down with something? Or perhaps she was dreading going to work because of what had happened with Dumbarton yesterday?
The thought of him just made her angry, not anxious. She’d freed herself of him once; she’d do it again. No, something else was causing this.
Unfortunately, without knowing what it was, Gail couldn’t do anything about it. So she followed her usual routine and went to work as if nothing had happened.
By the ten o’clock, she was a nervous wreck. No matter what she tried, she couldn’t focus at all. What had started as an awkward sort of sensation in her stomach, had grown and evolved. Palpitations, cold sweats; it was as though she had a fever coming on, but with none of the usual symptoms of the season flu that had been going around.
Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore and hid herself away in the ladies’ room. The reflection looking back at her from the mirror didn’t look like her usual self. Normally, she never had dark circles, but this morning she did. Her skin had turned from its normal warm olive to a sickly sort of yellow even foundation couldn’t fix properly.
Gail was still staring at herself wondering what had happened to her overnight when her mobile rang, scaring her half to death.
She fumbled with her handbag and retrieved it as quickly as she could. Henry. Her chest tightened, breaths quickened. That was it. Something was wrong with him!
“Hello?” she answered, her voice trembling noticeably.
“Gail. What I’m about to ask of you isn’t fair, I know. But I have no other choice.” Henry’s voice sounded flat. Gail couldn’t detect emotion in his tone at all.
“What’s wrong? Something’s happened; I could feel it all morning!” she blurted out.
“It’s best not to dwell on things. The bottom line is, I can’t work with you anymore.”
Gail was speechless. That wasn’t what she expected him to say at all.
“You don’t want my help anymore?” she asked finally.
“No, no. Your help is more crucial than ever. I’m talking about my own involvement. I can’t-” Henry took a deep breath. “The New Alliance must go on without me.”
Gail turned her back against the wall and sank to the floor. This was it. The terrible black cloud that had been hanging over her. Henry was terminating their working relationship.
Why, though? There was only one reason that made sense. Somehow, Maggie must have found out about it and forced his hand.
“This was your project. Your idea. How will I continue on my own?” Gail whispered. How will I survive on my own if I never see you again?
Silent tears streamed down her face.
“It’s not my choice. My duty is to my mate first.”
So Maggie was the one who had inspired his sudden decision. Gail hated her with all her heart. How dare she interfere in the good work they were doing? The New Alliance would ensure the safety of generations of shifters to come.
At the very least, someone had to stop Blacke before he put his latest ideas into practice. The man was trying to secure his position, and it would be near impossible to get rid of him once he succeeded.
“Your duty isn’t to your people as well? Isn’t that why you took a job with the Alliance in the first place?” Gail argued.
“I’m sorry. I can’t do this anymore.” With those last words, Henry hung up.
Gail dropped the phone into her lap and rested her head in her hands. She couldn’t contain her despair anymore and started to sob, her whole body trembling as she released the heartache she felt.
It was like being cut in half. His duty was to his mate first, bah! That Maggie woman was only his mate in name. Their connection wasn’t real, it couldn’t be, not after everything Gail had felt in his presence.
He’d already discarded her as a lover from the moment they started working together, but as long as they kept in touch, there had been a glimmer of hope. One day he might see the truth for himself. One day he might understand that they were meant to be.
But now, this? After all she had done for him? The New Alliance wouldn’t have been possible without her help; he’d said so himself. And she’d believed in the cause as much as he did. How dare he leave her alone in this! How dare he!
Gail wasn’t sure how long she’d sat there, waiting for the flow of tears to stop. Blacke would be wondering where she was… Gail got herself up off the cold bathroom floor and looked in the mirror.
In one morning, she’d aged a decade.
This just wasn’t right. Why couldn’t things just be simple, like they were supposed to be? They were supposed to be partners, and now she was alone. Gail couldn’t begin to think about how she’d handle things.
She bit her lip and took out a wet wipe from her handbag. If she had to go out there and face her boss, she couldn’t do it with streaks of mascara on her cheeks.
It took her a while, but by the end, Gail had eliminated most of the evidence of her breakdown. Of course, she couldn’t do much about the redness in her eyes or the puffiness…
She picked up her bag and left, keeping her eyes mostly on the polished wooden floor on the way to her office. Blacke never paid much attention to her, just barked orders through the intercom and expected her to quietly act on them. Hopefully, he wouldn’t take note of her today either.
“Gail,” Blacke’s voice made her flinch as she sat down at her desk.
“Yes, Sir?” she answered, with as steady a voice as she could.
“In here, if you please.”
Oh, crap. Had she done something wrong?
Gail pushed her chair back and got up again, her calves aching with every step.
Once inside, she folded her hands in front of her and kept her head down and gaze averted.
“Where have you been? I’ve been calling for you for the better part of an hour!” Blacke demanded. Damn, had she been hiding out for that long?
“I’m sorry, Sir. I was…” Gail sighed. She had nothing.
“If your work here is too demanding, do let me know. There are plenty of others who would jump at the opportunity to work here.” Blacke pushed his chair back
and folded his arms as he stared in her direction. He’d never looked at her directly for this long before.
“I understand, Sir. It’s not that.”
“Approach,” Blacke ordered.
Gail did as asked.
“Closer.”
She took another step towards Blacke’s desk, trying her best to remain calm. He wasn’t about to pull the same sort of crap she was getting from Dumbarton, was he?
“Are you coming down with something? Be honest,” Blacke asked.
Gail finally did look up only to find Blacke frowning at her. He wasn’t concerned about her wellbeing, was he? That wasn’t the Adrian Blacke she had grown accustomed to. She shrugged, not sure how to answer.
“Well, I can’t have you infecting anyone here. Not with all the important work we have going on. I think it would be best if you went home.”
Blacke picked up a diagram of something or other from his desk and started to focus on that. The conversation was clearly over.
So he had no concern for her after all. He was more worried about coming catching a little cold himself if she stuck around.
If that’s what he wanted, Gail wasn’t about to argue. She quietly left his office, packed up her things and made a beeline for the exit. After everything that had happened this morning, she needed time to think more than anything. She needed to regroup.
By the evening, Gail had received a number of emails from a generic Yahoo email address. They were unsigned, but she was pretty sure they could only be from Henry. His tone was concise, business-like. The entire thing read more like an Alliance field report than an email.
So this was it, the last time he’d communicate with her.
She fought the tears that tried to force their way out again and instead focused on the information detailed inside the emails. Despite getting out, Henry had compiled all the details she’d need to continue their work. There were names, scans of reports his agents had prepared about various shifters they suspected of illicit activities. A second set of files outlined families who had refused to participate in the tracker program.
Then there was something much more significant: an actual list of people Henry had already approached.
Gail pinched the bridge of her nose and read the list again. The first was Matthew Argyle, unsurprisingly. Along with his name, there was an address, a phone number, and a note in the form of a single word; reluctant.
There were a few more names, one of which stood out. Irene Finch. She was the one Henry had approached first. Gail remembered his message about it. Next to her name there was nothing of any use, just an exclamation mark.
The other names on the list did not seem familiar.
A muffled buzz startled Gail. Her phone. She picked up her handbag and looked for it. Maybe it was Henry, making sure she’d received the information.
If that were the case, she ought to not pick up. He couldn’t have it both ways; handing the work to her and then continuing his involvement. It was either all or nothing.
The number on the screen wasn’t Henry’s, though. It was a landline, Glasgow area code.
“Hello?” Gail answered reluctantly.
“Oh. Is this Gail McPherson?” It was a woman, on the other end.
“Yes, who is this?” Gail asked.
“Irene Finch. Agent Weston referred me to you. I want to help. Please let me know what I can do.”
Gail sighed and rested her head on her free hand. So that explained the note by her name.
“Very well,” Gail responded.
The woman’s insistence didn’t leave much room for arguments. And anyway, sitting at home feeling sorry for herself wasn’t going to do Gail much good.
They agreed to meet that evening, in a quiet country pub just outside the city boundary. The timing wasn’t ideal, but the movement had to live on.
When Gail arrived, she was surprised to find the place much fuller than she’d anticipated.
A woman who looked vaguely familiar approached her first.
“You’re Gail? Irene. Pleasure to meet you.”
Gail reluctantly shook her hand while scanning the room. Over a dozen people stood around the two as they met.
“I’ve taken the opportunity to invite a few like-minded folks I know.” Irene gestured around the crowd. “Bears, humans, wolves; everyone’s represented here. And we all feel that the world would be a better place if we all just work together.”
Gail smiled. She hadn’t wanted to come here tonight while her loss still felt so raw. But now, she was glad that she’d agreed.
Chapter Eleven
The days following that last phone call to Gail had not been easy for Henry. He’d agreed to stop his involvement with the New Alliance at Maggie’s insistence, but that didn’t mean he had to be happy about it. In fact, it was like a part of him had died.
The New Alliance had been his idea, his brainchild. It wasn’t so much that he wanted credit… He wouldn’t be able to see it grow first hand or ensure its success. He couldn’t do the one thing he had vowed to always do: work as hard as he could to keep his people safe.
In trying to make Maggie happy, he’d betrayed his conscience. And that had taken its toll.
What was worse, Maggie hadn’t been particularly cheerful either. She’d grudgingly let him back into the house, but insisted he sleep in the living room. Every time he left the house for whatever reason, he could feel her suspicious stares boring holes in his back.
And the atmosphere around the office wasn’t any better. Perhaps his mind was only playing tricks on him, but sometimes he could swear that his agents were suddenly a lot less eager to take orders from him than in the past.
His capitulation had lost him something significant.
But it was all for the best, to save his relationship with Maggie. She could only be angry with him for so long, right?
During another one of those long, bleak days at the Alliance base, Henry tried his best to stay positive. HQ had been busy, too busy to send an official order for Henry’s people to go out and arrest the people they had identified as being involved with someone human. The only thing halfway relevant that he’d received was an unsigned memo - probably from Gail - specifically instructing every Alliance branch to not just investigate shifters fraternizing with humans, but also those who had chosen to mate outside their own shifter subspecies.
He put the paper down and scratched his chin. What was the point of this? Weren’t they all on the same side? How did it matter whether someone got involved with a different shifter? That didn’t violate the secrecy rules at all.
“Boss. HQ is on the line,” one of his team members, agent Carlisle interrupted.
HQ. That meant Gail.
He wasn’t ready for that.
“Take a message. I’m not in,” Henry picked up his coat as well as the offending memo and stormed out.
What the hell was he doing? Was he actually running from the woman?
Pathetic.
He paused, but then followed through on his original plan and left the office. No matter how he felt about everything, he was pretty sure Maggie wouldn’t take kindly to him chatting with Gail over the phone even if it was official business for a change. Of course, he couldn’t avoid her forever, but for now, it was a necessary precaution.
Henry wasn’t quite sure where he was going, so he just got into his car and drove off. After navigating the streets around the Alliance office aimlessly for a few minutes, he found himself heading towards the motorway. He only stayed on for a few miles before taking an exit.
His muscles were painfully tight, and he could feel himself get more riled up with every breath. He needed fresh air, space. Preferably without onlookers. He needed to be alone, in order to be himself.
Had Maggie done the same when she’d suspected him of cheating on her? Had she run off into the wild to let her animal side out?
For some reason, his instincts had brought him to Gartcosh, the small suburban settlement where Matth
ew Argyle lived. But Henry wasn’t headed to his house. Instead, he bypassed the town and headed straight to the neighboring nature reserve.
Henry pulled into the first available parking space he could find near one of the entrances to the reserve. He didn’t waste any time, grabbing his phone from the center console and almost jogging into the park. It was raining, and he was the only one crazy enough to go for a nature park in this weather.
He was about to strip and hide his belonging in the undergrowth when his mobile rang. God, now what?
Henry half expected it to be Maggie checking up on where he was, but it wasn’t her name on the screen. Gail.
Oh hell no.
He disconnected the call. It had been difficult enough to cut all ties with her last week. He would not get into a rematch with her.
Henry shoved his phone back into the pocket of his jeans and did what he had come here for: go for a run to blow off steam.
By the time Henry got back to the office, he’d had three further missed calls from Gail. This was unacceptable. Didn’t she realize she was jeopardizing everything? If he spoke to her and Maggie found out about it, she wouldn’t take it lightly. What if she turned Gail into Blacke and his goons? The entire movement could go down because of stupid behavior like this.
Henry switched off his phone and removed the battery, stashing everything in his desk drawer. Now he could breathe easier.
The office was quiet, as it had been lately. People were out in the field for the most part. There was only one agent in the house; Maggie, who had eyed him from the moment he’d come in.
As soon as Henry sat down, the walls started to close in on him again. His little excursion had done him some good, but it hadn’t been enough. The switchboard rang.
“Henry. There’s a call for you,” Maggie said. He analyzed her voice. She sounded gruff, but that was nothing unusual. It was unlikely to be Gail then, or he would have been able to detect jealousy in her tone.
“Who is it?” Henry asked.
“Your mother.” Maggie pressed a few buttons, transferring the call to his desk.
“Hello?” Henry said.
“Son. I need you to come.” His mother’s voice was low and serious. She didn’t sound like her usual, cheerful self. Something was wrong.
Scottish Werebear: A Painful Dilemma: A BBW Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance (Scottish Werebears Book 5) Page 7
