The Truth About Kadenburg

by T. E. Ridener

  “You’re telling me,” Presley rolled her eyes. She lifted a hand to run through her unruly blond curls before she sucked her bottom lip between her teeth again. “I just don’t understand why it had to be me.”

  “How do you mean?” Lorcan pondered aloud as he leaned against the counter. His frown remained as he tried to read her current expression. She seemed calm, but there was a storm raging beneath the surface. For all he knew, it could’ve been a hurricane. One could never tell when it came to a female ursithrope.

  Presley gave a small roll of her shoulders before she rubbed her eyes and sighed. “This could’ve happened to anyone else, but it had to be me,” she replied as she gazed at him tiredly. “It wasn’t enough to put me through one thing-a million more had to be piled on top of it,” She rolled her eyes. “It’s like someone looked down from the sky and thought ‘Oh, you’re dealing with a personal crisis, Presley? That’s great! Let me add on the fact you can turn into Winnie the Pooh, too!’”

  Her laughter was bitter as she leaned against the stove, bowing her head as the anger radiated from her body. Lorcan was hesitant to approach her, despite the bear within being desperate to do so. He was always grateful to have that sixth sense about himself; to know what other people were feeling. It helped him to keep his mouth shut and out of trouble, or it signaled that he needed to be as understanding and comforting as he could be. He just wasn’t sure what to do for Presley at the moment, because every time he got close to her, he had an overwhelming desire to kiss her. That was bad.

  “It isn’t like he targeted you on purpose,” Lorcan offered.

  Presley lifted a thin eyebrow. “What?”

  “Urseth didn’t target you on purpose.”

  “Oh, him,” Presley crossed her arms over her chest as she stared at him, the left corner of her lips twitching. “The great and powerful Urseth, right? The guy who makes all the decisions for us? Spare me, Orc. I don’t want to hear about him.”

  “Don’t mock Urseth,” Lorcan frowned. “He is the reason we are here.”

  “No, he’s not.”

  “If it had not been for Urseth, you would only be a bear romping around in the forest right now. You’d never know what it is like to speak, or to have intelligence at a human’s level. You would miss out on what it is like to taste a beer, or to go to school. You would only be the one thing you seem to hate so much.”

  Lorcan wasn’t sure when it had happened, but he had Presley trapped between his body and the counter behind her. He was staring down into the wide eyes of a woman who had his full attention. The scent of anger turned to confusion, and damn it, he really needed to learn how to ease people into things.

  “What do you mean?” She asked quietly as her eyes drifted down to his lips before snapping up to his chocolate hues again.

  Lorcan didn’t step away as he gazed at her, taking in her appealing scent as his hand fell to rest against her waist. “I mean that if it had not been for the great and powerful Urseth, you never would’ve been human. None of us would. We would still be bears, living bear lives and doing bear things. You should be grateful that you get to be one of us instead of our furry relatives.”

  He listened to Presley’s heart rate as it quickened and her pink tongue swiped over her lips. Did he make her nervous?

  “Who says that I am grateful for being whatever this is, at all?” She asked. “What if I only want to be human? What if I only want to be normal?”

  Lorcan smirked as he dipped his head down a little, his eyes darting back and forth between hers as he spoke quietly. “Where is the fun in being normal, Presley? Don’t you enjoy being faster than the average human? Don’t you like being able to pick up on a conversation from across the room if you concentrate hard enough?”

  He could tell that he was getting through to her as her eyes widened in recognition of what he was saying. Even if she’d lived her life up until this point thinking she was human, she’d surely caught onto the fact she was slightly above average.

  “You’ve never wondered why you prefer fish sticks over pizza rolls, or going to Captain Shivers over Burger Hut?”

  Presley blinked rapidly before she gave a roll of her eyes. “A lot of people prefer seafood over other things, Lorcan. That’s not an uncommon thing,” she argued.

  “Maybe it’s not uncommon,” he replied as he tilted his head to the side. “But how many times have you preferred eating honey over a snack cake?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous!” Presley laughed dryly as she averted her gaze to the ceiling. “A lot of people enjoy eating honey over ding dongs and ho-hos. That doesn’t prove anything.”

  Lorcan released a low breath as he licked his lips and then he grinned. It was actually pretty amusing to watch Presley counter everything he said with some sort of logic, but she wasn’t going to win this round.

  “You’re absolutely right. Humans like honey just as much as we do, but how many of them go out on a hot summer day and trespass onto someone else’s land just to break into a beehive?”

  Presley’s gaze immediately connected with Lorcan’s as she frowned. “How do you know about that?”

  Lorcan chuckled inaudibly as he shook his head. “I was at Larry Johnson’s playing basketball and I saw you climb over the fence to get into Mr. Fox’s backyard.”

  Presley’s eyes narrowed as she frowned. “I was ten!”

  “You trespassed onto the lawn of a man who owned a shot gun, Pretz. You could’ve been shot.”

  “He wasn’t home.”

  “It doesn’t matter. You still risked a lot just for a few scoops of honey.”

  Presley let out a low breath as she crossed her arms over her chest, glaring up at him.

  She’s beautiful when she’s mad, he thought humorously.

  “Uncle Arnold didn’t buy any for me, okay?” She explained. “It was a Sunday and the store was already closed. I didn’t know it was a crime to sneak a taste.”

  “No, but it’s a crime to trespass on private property and break open a beehive. It was like watching a bank heist.”

  “Shut up!” Presley scowled. “So what? I stole some honey, okay? Are you going to have me arrested?”

  “No,” he responded lowly as he leaned down to be at eye level with her. “But don’t you think it’s a little peculiar that the bees didn’t sting you?”

  Presley stared at him, her eyebrows furrowing slightly. “What?”

  “The bees. Mr. Fox always wore that funny suit with the face protection to prevent being stung. Do you remember that?”

  “I do,” Presley responded.

  He could practically see the gears working in her mind. Her confusion was turning into curiosity as his fingertips dug into the fabric of her jeans. He took a step closer, placing one of his heavy boots between her bare feet.

  “They didn’t bother you, Presley. They didn’t even try to attack you. Don’t you think that’s odd?”

  “That’s stupid, Lorcan,” she glowered as she tried to move past him, but Lorcan didn’t budge. “You act like I’m some sort of bee whisperer or something. Did my magical bear powers protect me?”

  “No. Bees try to attack bears but they can’t because of the thick fur. That’s what flummoxes me about you.”

  They were nose to nose as he continued speaking quietly, his eyes moving back and forth between hers as their noses nearly bumped together from their close proximity.

  “The bees didn’t even try to hurt you, Presley. They respected you and allowed you to take what you wanted.”

  Presley’s heart rate quickened as she nearly went cross eyed from staring at his nose. “You’re stupid,” she managed to say. Her voice was barely above a whisper as her palm pressed flat against his chest. “I suspect your mama dropped you on your head as a baby, Lorcan. It was a hard hit.”

  Lorcan tried to bite back the laughter that wanted to escape his throat, but it proved to be inevitable as a chuckle managed to slip. It only made Presley more agitated than she’d been befor
e as the harsh smack sounded against his arm.

  “None of this is funny!” She said as she frowned. “I’m so glad you’re getting amusement out of my misery. What is wrong with you people?”

  “There’s nothing wrong with us, Pretz,” he insisted as he curled his fingers around her wrist as she tried to smack his shoulder. He pulled her hand against his chest as the tips of their noses touched. “And there’s nothing wrong with you either. You’re perfect, and I hope you’ll see that sooner rather than later.”

  He could see the goose bumps rising on her soft skin as she took in a sharp breath. Her eyes stayed on his as he smirked. The tension between them was growing thicker by the second and Lorcan could sense her peaking curiosity and apprehension. Was she afraid of him? Sometimes she was a little difficult to read.

  “I’m not perfect,” she argued quietly, her breath fanning against his lips as her lashes touched her cheeks briefly. “And I don’t want any part of this.”

  “You can’t just make it go away, Presley,” Lorcan whispered as his lips ghosted dangerously close to hers. “It is what it is. You can’t change that.”

  “No?” She challenged, though he could tell her opposition was weak. “I can control it. I don’t have to bear out just because some stupid bear deity decided to turn a few of us into humans. I have a choice.”

  Lorcan let out a long sigh as his nose bumped against hers again and then he straightened up to his full height. “While I don’t really like that you’re desecrating our creator, I’ll admit that you do have a choice. But,” he lifted his hand to push a curl away from her cheek before dropping it back to his side. “Are you even familiar with how we came to be? Did your uncle touch base on that?”

  He already had his response by the expression on Presley’s face. He could tell she hadn’t heard that part yet, and who better to tell her than him?

  “Come on,” he said, taking her hand into his own as he moved towards the backdoor.

  “Where are we going?” She asked.

  “It’s story time,” he quipped as he curled his fingers around hers. It felt nice to hold her hand. It was such a simple thing, but he’d always wanted to do it. He liked how small her hand felt in comparison to his, and he was secretly glad she didn’t pull her hand away.

  “Shouldn’t you be out there with my uncle and your parents? I mean, that is a wolf out there.”

  “They’ve got it under control,” Lorcan said passively as he pushed open the back door and then led her onto the porch. “Sit.”

  Presley stared at him for a moment, opening her mouth as if to protest before she sank down upon the top step. She tilted her head back to gaze at him while lifting a hand to shield her eyes from the sun. “You could’ve said please.”

  “Please,” he grinned. He crossed his arms over his chest as he stood on the third step down, towering over her easily as he glanced at the rooftop for a moment. There was no better place to start than at the beginning, right?

  “You’re familiar with the Civil War, right?”

  Presley rolled her eyes. “Don’t insult my intelligence, Orc. Of course I am.”

  He smiled, bemused with her sudden spitfire attitude. Sassy Presley was his favorite.

  “How much do you know about the Battle of Shiloh?”

  “I know that it was the bloodiest battle back then.”

  “Do you know where it happened?”

  She frowned as she tilted her head to the side. “Duh. Mrs. Branham bragged about it as if she lived through it. It happened in Tennessee.”

  “It did,” he nodded as he turned to move down the steps before he stopped and rubbed the back of his neck. “The Confederate Army thought they were going to win.”

  “But they didn’t,” Presley stated matter-of-factly. “The Union won that battle.”

  Lorcan turned to face her with another grin playing at his lips. “Do you know why they won?”

  Presley blinked. “Because the Union Army had more common sense than the prejudice bigots?”

  “That’s a good theory, but no.”

  Lorcan moved to sit beside of her on the top step as he rested his elbows against his thighs. His hands dangled between his legs as he gazed at the wooded scenery that rested directly behind the Goult house.

  “A lot of immigrants back then weren’t given much of a choice when it came to being recruited into the war,” he started in a more serious voice. “A lot of them had to join. One of them was a Russian immigrant. He was on the Union’s side,” he turned his head to gaze at her. “On the morning of April seventh, while this battle was raging and a lot of men died, he found himself outnumbered by over twenty Confederate soldiers.”

  “That doesn’t seem like a very fair fight,” Presley mumbled solemnly.

  “It wasn’t,” Lorcan shrugged. “But he fell to his knees and he started praying to his god. Do you know who Russians prayed to back then?”

  Presley shook her head slowly.

  “Slavic deities aren’t any different from Zeus or Horus. Each deity serves a purpose and has gifted the world with something. In Slavic religion, Urseth is the god of the bears. He represents peace and humility. The Russian soldier pleaded to Urseth to spare his life and Urseth responded.”

  He turned his head to gaze at Presley. She was completely engrossed with the story as she rested her cheek against her palm. She blinked and lifted her head, frowning. “What happened?”

  “Urseth sent aid to the soldier in the form of eight bears. Did you know that there are eight types of bears in existence?”

  “I never took that much of an interest in learning what types of bears exist,” Presley admitted. “Pandas, Grizzlies, and Polar bears are the only types I know about.”

  “The Grizzly is actually from the Brown bear family,” Lorcan mused as he smiled at her. “That’s what we are.”

  “We’re Grizzlies?” Presley questioned. “Well, that makes a heap of difference, doesn’t it?”

  Choosing to ignore her remark, Lorcan continued the story. “The American Black Bear, the Brown Bear, the Polar Bear, the Giant Panda Bear-”

  “Yes, yes. I know those,” Presley interrupted.

  “A plus for you,” Lorcan chuckled with a shake of his head. “..The Asiatic Black Bear, the Sloth Bear, the Spectacled Bear, and the Sun Bear are the eight types of bears. Those are the bears that came to the Union soldier’s aid that day. As the sun crept over the hills and his enemies moved in closer, the soldier caught sight of the majestic beasts and he asked, ‘Urseth, why have you sent these animals when the men who wish to kill me wield weapons?’”

  Presley leaned forward a little, the tip of her index finger between her lips as she chewed at her fingernail. Her eyes were wide as she lingered to every word spoken.

  “Urseth proved his power as the eight bears transformed into the strongest, most fierce warriors to ever live. They showed no mercy against the Confederate soldiers, and they killed them with their bare hands,” he held up his hands, curling his fingers against his palms to emphasize the words he spoke. “The Union army celebrated their victory on that very same day, and that Russian soldier lived to see his ninetieth birthday thanks to Urseth and his warriors.”

  When he stopped, Presley perked up. “And?”

  “And what?”

  “What happened to the bear warriors?”

  Lorcan grinned. “So you want to hear about our family history?”

  Presley rolled her eyes. “Don’t say it like that,” she sulked. “Besides, you can’t not finish the story.”

  “All right,” he chortled. “As the great bear warriors peered at the blood on their hands and the flesh beneath their fingernails, the Sun Bear questioned Urseth. He said, ‘What is to become of us? You have given us the bodies of men and the ability to speak. Do you wish to take these gifts from us?’ To which Urseth replied, ‘No. You may keep your human form under one condition.’

  ‘Anything!’ The Polar Bear shouted. ‘What is it that you ask of us, U
rseth?’” He stopped briefly to study Presley.

  “Well what was the condition?” Presley asked impatiently.

  “They had to live by the laws of the Ursithrope.”

  “Can you elaborate on those?”

  Lorcan sighed. “You really don’t know anything about us, do you?”

  “Obviously not,” Presley snapped as she moved her fingers through her golden hair. “Apparently I’ve been living under a rock for the majority of my life while you and my uncle frolicked in the woods with Smokey the bear.”

  Lorcan had to turn his head in order not to burst out into laughter. Yep. Sassy Presley was definitely his favorite.

  “The laws of the Ursithrope are pretty simple,” he stated as he pushed himself up from the steps and then hopped off onto the grass below. He whirled around to gaze up at her. “We respect our women. We never let humans in on our secret. We don’t hurt humans unless there’s a damn good reason to. We embrace our inner bear and live as one with him,” he blinked. “Or her, in your case,” He was holding up four fingers as he gazed at her, watching as she chewed at her lower lip.

  “So I guess I’ve broken that rule,” she commented as she shifted uncomfortably. “Are there any other laws?”

  “Not that were given by Urseth,” Lorcan shrugged as he watched her get up from the steps. As she made her way down to him, he offered his hand.

  She didn’t take it.

  “There have been rules that generations before us tried to make, but none of them ever stick.”

  “What happens if you break the rules?” Presley asked, peering up at him.

  “Most are punishable by death,” Lorcan answered honestly as he heard footsteps approaching. He knew right away that it was his father and he was glowering on the inside because he enjoyed being alone with Presley, even if all he was doing was educating her.

  “That’s a little extreme, isn’t it?” Presley questioned.

  Before he had time to answer, his father appeared from around the corner of the house, and he didn’t look too happy.

  “We’ve got trouble,” his father said lowly. “You need to get Presley inside.”