Diamond Dust

by Vivian Arend

  The peace she exuded in far more rare moments—the part his human hungered for.

  The fight became a blur as he let his bear take charge, but pulled his human brain into a kind of side chamber so he could think things through. It was in that place he grasped ripping a chunk from Ainsworth’s throat and letting him bleed out on the deck would not be productive in the end.

  His bear complained it was unfair, but the realization was true. Change had to come to the bear clans without the winning answer being the old-fashioned urge to eviscerate their enemies.

  He’d just figured this out, the no-killing-Ainsworth bit, when the other shifter made a mistake and let his guard down for long enough that if Tyler had chosen, the fight would have been all over.

  Humanity, and Caroline’s lessons, held his claws and teeth in check. Ainsworth got to live.

  Tyler’s feet were knocked out from under him as a reward for his benevolence. His beast complained about the indignity of being toppled by someone like Ainsworth, not impressed at all, until Tyler pointed out it was Caroline’s idea, and his bear settled down.

  Another flash of memory had him smiling. Tyler had to agree with Caroline’s summation. His relationship with his shifted side? Was way weird.

  Then he wasn’t thinking about her or the new rules he needed to follow, but protecting his throat from Ainsworth’s fangs. Flat on his back wasn’t the way to win the fight, but there was nowhere to go. Ainsworth stepped on his lower limbs, knelt on his thighs and pressed a paw to his chest in such a way Tyler couldn’t get any leverage.

  He warded off a paw swipe that would have blinded him, scrambling his own claws down Ainsworth’s throat, but it wasn’t the best of circumstances. Tyler didn’t want to kill the other shifter anymore, and that knowledge made it difficult to protect himself.

  Damn it. Tyler didn’t want to lose—not with so much at stake—but winning and not leaving his enemy dead would take more pain to his bear than he’d like.

  Caroline stepped to the edge of the roof to examine the situation. Fighting had slowed. In some places, groups had single bears pinned to the ground, and those trapped were giving up the fight and shifting to human. It was easy to tell which were friends, as Takhini wolves had joined in and stood menacing the bears still struggling to escape.

  She couldn’t spot Tyler anywhere, and that made her concerned he was one of the two still clawing each other wildly near the very edge of the pool. A grizzly and an enormous brown bear, both bleeding profusely as they struggled.

  Everywhere she looked, signs of violence marked the ground. Blood, fur. The peaceful haven she’d grown up visiting had turned into a horrid bloodbath.

  A single bear lay to one side, motionless.

  Caroline’s breath caught in her throat, and she hurried down from the roof, using her makeshift ladder to get back into the storage room. She paused only long enough to grab the black hose off the wall, adjusting the nozzle to the tightest setting, then cranking the water to full.

  She jerked the door open and raced out, pulling the hose with her toward the pair still fighting.

  No more. Maybe they were bears, maybe they fought and killed without thinking, but not here. Not when she could stop them.

  The sound of helicopter propellers echoed in the air, but she was too focused on her task to even look up. She opened the water pressure all the way and aimed the tight stream at the brown bear who was preparing to take another swipe at the grizzly he had pinned beneath him.

  Out of nowhere, icy-cold water dripped onto his fur. Above him Ainsworth screamed his disapproval.

  Tyler stopped struggling while Ainsworth reared and twisted away, his head thrust forward and his angry scream echoing off the walls of the pool house.

  Ainsworth dropped to all fours and charged.

  In that second Tyler spotted Ainsworth’s target. Caroline stood on the deck, the high-pressure hose in her hands aimed straight at the bear who was narrowing the gap between them with frightening speed. Tyler shifted, shouting even as his vocal cords were in midtransition.

  “Jump.”

  How she’d heard or registered his meaning, he didn’t know, only she obeyed. Hands free of the hose, her slim body propelled into the air, seeming to hover over the surface of the pool.

  Tyler was back in his bear and after Ainsworth before Caroline had time to create a splash. He leapt from behind and wrapped his arms around the other shifter. Squeezed him tight, forcing the air from Ainsworth’s lungs. Instead of seizing him like a bear would, though, Tyler had also grabbed on like a man. One arm in a chokehold to the throat.

  If he’d been human it would have been easier, the way his elbow bent in his man far more conducive to cutting off an air supply. The bear elbow didn’t bend the right way.

  But it didn’t really matter. Tyler was a lot stronger in his bear than his human, and that was enough. Especially when he took one step to the left, off the pool deck and into the water.

  Ainsworth went insane with panic, struggling like a possessed demon. Tyler held tight and took a deep breath. He lifted his lower limbs and wrapped them around his opponent as well, dragging Ainsworth under the water.

  Sound cut off. The shrieks and the crying. The strange thumping sound that had begun right around the time Ainsworth had abandoned their fight to attack Caroline. There was nothing in Tyler’s ears but bubbles. His vision remained clear and sharp as he kept Ainsworth trapped. He checked for Caroline, pleased to see her at the opposite side of the pool, her long limbs vanishing as she exited the water.

  Good, she was safe.

  An extraordinary sense of peace came over him. It must have had something to do with knowing Caroline was all right. That she’d be able to move on after this event was over.

  Ainsworth wiggled. Tyler attempted to hang on, his breath of air nearly exhausted as the water grew sparkling bright around them. He couldn’t seem to hold his quarry anymore. Tyler fought the urge as long as possible before he could no longer resist. His arms opened, and Ainsworth floated away.

  Tyler drifted toward the bottom of the pool. It was rather peaceful down there. No one chewing on him, no one ripping his fur.

  A splash disturbed the surface, and slender legs came into view. Pretty legs, followed by a pretty body. His bear figured that human Tyler would like the bits and pieces more, so the animal part took the initiative to shift. Tyler’s humanity returned in a rush as Caroline swam down, her blonde hair waving in the water as if she was a beautiful and delicate mermaid. Her eyes blinked, her smile so…Caroline.

  Then she caught him by the hair and dragged him to the surface.

  Chapter Eighteen

  She’d spoken to Nadia before. Had heard about the petite lynx shifter’s abilities from Shaun and Gem, but Caroline had never seen anything like the Omega in action.

  Right about the time Caroline had leapt into the water, the pack helicopter landed on the roof of the building. By the time she’d swum across the pool width and scrambled back to dry ground, Nadia stood at the lip of the roof, shaking her head sadly. Caroline stared in amazement as the small blonde sat on the edge then jumped down, a massive man following at a short distance.

  Fighting between the wolves and bears slowed, the few lingering skirmishes drawing apart and the combatants either sitting peacefully or falling to the ground as Nadia walked the perimeter of the pool.

  Omega. A peace-bringer. As the lynx strolled through the war zone, it was as if an overdose of Valium flooded the area. Even Caroline was on the relaxed side, but figured that was more because of her rush of relief the bloodletting was done.

  Not seeing Tyler rise from the pool had been her final annoyance, though. Caroline jumped in and dragged him upward, thankful he had the sense to shift, because she doubted his rock of a bear would have been easy to budge.

  Tyler blinked as he hit the surface, grabbing the pool edge with one hand and catching her to him with the other. “Caroline. Watch out. It’s dangerous.”

 
She snorted. “You need to catch up, big guy. The fight is over, I brought in the cavalry.”

  A pair of pretty pink-painted toes stopped beside them as Nadia knelt to say hello. “This is the weirdest pool party I’ve ever seen a human host.”

  “I ordered guppies, but they didn’t arrive in time. We had to improvise.” Caroline wiggled free from Tyler and pushed herself up to sit on the edge. “Thank you for coming.”

  “No problem. I’m sorry I couldn’t make it sooner.” Nadia wrinkled her nose. “You’d think these guys would know to contact someone like me before organizing volatile gatherings.”

  Caroline shrugged. “They’re bears. They don’t think.”

  “True.”

  “Hey, be nice.” Tyler was up on the deck, bringing Caroline to her feet and offering a welcoming hand to Nadia. “Maybe it’s because your existence is nothing more than a rumour. Good to meet you. Omega?”

  “Cross-species. No one is safe from my mind-melds.” Nadia blinked appreciatively as she looked Tyler over. “And aren’t you a lovely looking specimen? If you ever need a personal favour, let me know.”

  Caroline nudged the blonde out of the way even as she laughed. She’d been warned about Nadia’s tendency to flirt. “Stop it, no dallying with my boyfriend.”

  “Oh, he’s taken? Too bad.”

  Tyler adjusted his grin of delight to a more serious expression in the nick of time before Caroline stomped on his toes. He glanced around the pool. “Dammit, we were terrible.”

  “You were bears.” Nadia patted his chest, her eyes widening as she spotted the scratches and bite marks marring his skin. “And yes, you were terrible.”

  Caroline blushed as the particular mark Nadia focused on was one Caroline had caused. “Come on, now that you’ve got them calmed down, perhaps we can convince them to hire you to hang out for a few more days.”

  Nadia nodded.

  Cleanup took less time than anyone expected. The message Caroline had sent off brought a full emergency-response team—all shifters or humans with shifters in their families. There were medical attendants and RCMP. She’d even alerted her media contacts, and the newspaper was there to interview the campers and a few key well-schooled actors regarding the excitement of “filming in a northern location”.

  No mention of bloodshed or injuries. Just a typical day in the Yukon.

  Typical. Caroline wasn’t sure if she should laugh or cry.

  Damage Control 101. She was good at it after all these years, sadly. That beach beckoned again. A sun lounge, a fruity drink with a double dose of alcohol…

  Except for the women who gathered their things to head back into Whitehorse, each of them stopping to give her a bear hug and offer support.

  By the time Shelley had finished examining Tyler’s wounds, the pool area was nearly empty, everyone having moved toward the parking lot and their cars. “You were far luckier than you could have been. Just saying.”

  “I’m a bear. I can take it.” Tyler frowned, his annoyance turned on Chase who was staring at Caroline in disgust. “What’s your problem?”

  Caroline pressed her lips together, trying not to smile.

  “Go on, laugh it up. I’ll get my revenge.” Chase plopped on the bench beside his mate and nuzzled her under the ear. “You were wonderful though.”

  Caroline pulled Tyler aside before he could make any other demands, handing him the pair of pants she’d found. “You need to come talk to Jim Halcyon and the RCMP rep. They’re asking what to do with Ainsworth.”

  “And you didn’t have any proposals?”

  Her blood steamed. “I suggested abandoning him on a drifting iceberg, but they didn’t take me seriously.”

  “Let’s not inflict him on the Hawaiian shifters, if the ice lasted that long.”

  Sergeant Major Graham, a black bear she’d learned was affiliated with Clan Halcyon, waited beside a picnic table. Todd Ainsworth was seated on the wooden bench and refused to make eye contact with her.

  “Caroline.”

  “Sergeant Major. Thanks for coming.”

  He switched his gaze to Tyler. “We have a problem. I’m obviously not going to arrest Ainsworth for anything that occurred at the pool this afternoon related to conclave.”

  Tyler nodded. “Business meeting.”

  Caroline snorted. She couldn’t help it.

  Tyler caught her fingers and squeezed them.

  Jim Halcyon spoke from his position on the opposite side of the table. “The issue is whether charges should be brought for spousal abuse.”

  Todd Ainsworth reared to his feet. “See here—”

  “Shut up, Todd.” Even the pressure of Tyler’s hand on hers couldn’t stop Caroline from responding. “This is not your decision.”

  “Agreed.” Graham gestured to the parking lot where Amanda Ainsworth was slipping into the Harrison limo, Justin at her side. “Unfortunately, there is no clear precedent. Amanda said she had no idea what she’d experienced wasn’t simply a shifter’s lot. All she wants is out.”

  “Taking Ainsworth from his clan isn’t a terrible thing, but caging the bear?” Jim shook his head. “I’m not willing to make that decision.”

  “If she doesn’t press charges, I can’t book him through the human courts,” Graham explained, his gaze meeting Caroline’s with apologies in the depths.

  Dammit. “Well, that sucks.”

  Tyler tugged her to his side and held her tightly. “I have an idea how to deal with this. Can you escort our guest to the Moonshine Inn? If she’s willing to stay with us.”

  Jim spoke up. “Lillie and I would love to have Amanda at our home as well. We have plenty of room.”

  “As long as the bastard can’t get at her ever again.” Caroline nodded. “Fine, Tyler, your call. I’ll go talk to Amanda and see what she’d like. Because it really should be her choice.”

  Before she could go, though, Tyler lifted her chin and full-out kissed her. A cop, a billionaire and a bastard observing from a few feet away.

  She didn’t care one bit they had an audience.

  The fear and fire that had sustained her during the fight was washed away with the sweet caring of his touch. A new kind of fire rose as his tongue stroked hers, and small sparks burst into flames like warning beacons shining from mountaintop after mountaintop.

  Reality slowly set in—she was in a bikini rubbing rather wantonly against a nearly naked man. She separated them before anything else could rise.

  “Trust me,” he whispered in her ear.

  She walked away, past the staff scrubbing blood from the deck. Past the wolf from the paper taking more “promo” shots who smiled at her.

  Caroline walked as she let it sink in.

  Trust him? With her life.

  His fingers itched to wipe the smirk from Todd Ainsworth’s face. “Jim, go find that lynx shifter. Nadia.”

  Jim nodded and stepped away, leaving Tyler with the RCMP and Ainsworth.

  “You have a suggestion how to deal with this?” The sergeant major remained alert even though it was pretty clear any attempt by Todd to run would be squashed in an instant.

  “Unfortunately, you’re right. For some things we have to work within the human rules, and if Amanda doesn’t press charges, you have nothing to go on.” Tyler crossed his arms and fixed Ainsworth with a look of death. “So I suggest we do this the shifter way. Following the results of conclave, the new leader will decide his punishment.”

  “Damn.” Graham shook his head in disbelief. “You want me to simply let him go?”

  Tyler gestured across the observation area to the little blonde, her protective escort only one step behind as she rapidly closed the distance between them.

  “He’ll show up when requested by the clans if Nadia stays close by. If you’re willing, that is?” Tyler turned the question to the lynx. “We’ll need you to stay with Ainsworth for the next few days to make sure he sticks around and behaves himself. Can you do that?”

  She nodded, her
nose turned up as if Ainsworth smelt funny. “If I have to.”

  Her guard, a huge brute of a bear even larger than Tyler, dipped his head briefly. “I’ll take care of her.”

  That brought a smile to Nadia’s face. “Right. Lovely.”

  Sergeant Major Graham nodded, backing off. “I’ll escort the three of them to a hotel, then wait to hear from conclave.”

  Tyler didn’t pay any further attention to Ainsworth. Instead, he slipped from the observation deck, desperate to rejoin Caroline at the hotel. He wanted to disappear, maybe get a start on those hours of solitude she’d suggested they take.

  He found his way blocked, though, by a gathering of his contemporaries. Serious faces on the lot of them as they observed Ainsworth being escorted away by Nadia and company.

  “I thought you’d all be long gone,” Tyler admitted. “Don’t you think we’ve caused enough trouble here?”

  Nakusp stepped forward. “We were about to leave, but none of the ladies would let us go until we’d talked to you.”

  Oh really. Tyler made sure his jaw wasn’t swinging in the wind. The familiar faces he’d seen during the conclave events expanded to include their partners, the ladies’ eyes fixed on him. “Is there something I can help you with?”

  Shockingly, it was Lynn Nakusp who stepped forward, her hand on her husband’s arm. He smiled supportively then waited for her to speak. “We have a say in this event as well, and we’re in agreement. Clans Halcyon and Nakusp will withdraw from the next vote, leaving Harrison versus Ainsworth. And right now even the idiots in Lucerne wouldn’t vote for Todd.”

  One of the older leaders standing at attention cleared his throat. “That would be my clan, and we are idiots, but we’re not fools. You’re a fair man, Harrison. We’ll accept your leadership.”

  “Except, and the ladies insist on this.” Nakusp shook his finger at Tyler. “We accept Clan Harrison as long as both sides remain represented. You for the men, and Caroline for the women.”

  Oh no, and oh yes. “You want Caroline as part of the deal?”