Bells rose up from the silence, and Sabine groaned with frustration. This had to stop happening. Rone pulled back and let her slip down his front. Embarrassed for the second time that day, she buried her face in his shoulder as he cradled her head with his large hand.
“It seems fate is trying to tell us something,” he whispered and maybe he was right.
“Hey, bro, sorry didn’t mean to interrupt your mojo making.”
Fire hotter than Hades’s own blue blazes licked up her cheeks as she turned to greet the newcomers.
Whoa. She blinked several times but it didn’t help.
It took everything in her not to say that out loud, but her inner vixen nearly doubled over from the surprise. Damn did Alaska know how to grow them, and now she knew where the world’s plaid collection had disappeared to. It was the only thing anyone ever wore here. These two favored the green version and it suited them perfectly. The dark color highlighted their identical pearly smiles and clung to their shoulders to abruptly end right below their belt line. Whatever woman ended up with these two would be a lucky girl indeed. If they went that route.
“Remind me to take your keys away.” Rone looked across the bar, shaking his head.
When they grabbed a stool Rone wrapped an arm around her and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. Then he reached across the bar to shake hands with the two men. Men that looked identical and carried similar traits to the Wylde men she’d already met. How many were there?
“Sabine, meet the Wylde firebears. The second set of twin brothers.”
“How many of you are there?”
“Too many by the count of our mom and too few by the count of the ladies.”
Playboys. Of course.
“Man, you gotta stop calling us that.” The one on the right with the easy grin grimaced.
He extended his hand to her. She took it hesitantly at first. The last time she shook a shifter’s hand… let’s just say she didn’t want to find out if that was a recurring event.
She slipped her hands into his and immediately relaxed. “Next he’ll start calling us the carebears. Don’t listen to him.” Twin one tightened his hold and the softness to his eyes made her smile. “I’m Jin and this is Rebel. Cool sweater. I gotta get me one of those.” Jin hooked his thumb over to his twin. “He’s the asshole, by the way, and I’m the charmer.”
“Not fair. Why do you always get to greet the girls first? Not like they’ll fall for your one-liners. Besides, I saw her first—you get your hands off.” Rebel challenged his twin, slapping him on the shoulder with a rueful grin.
“Both of you get your paws off my girl,” Rone jumped in, pulling her hand free of Jin’s.
Jin pulled back, raising his hands. “My bad, but baby, if you get tired of the broody, sulky brother, give us a call and we’ll take over.” He winked and elbowed his brother, who reached over and offered a hand too. Both of their palms were hotter against hers than a normal human’s and definitely warmer than Rone’s.
“Yeah, that’s enough of the pleasantries.” Rone threw his bar towel at the one named Rebel and she loved how he roared with laughter and flashed a broad smile that reached his eyes and charged the air with happy vibes. As if his laughter held magick. She smiled at that thought.
Jin dragged his stool closer. “Sorry for breaking up fun time right when the good stuff started.”
As she quickly noticed, not one to let his brother do all the talking, Rebel followed up his brother’s wisdom with a little of his own. “Gotta listen to the kids more, Rone. Told ya a nice date would make the holiday pass faster. It’s good to see you finally pulling out of your shell.”
“If that is what you are here for, you can march right out the same door you two sauntered in. Did Momma send you down here to tell me that?”
“Nah. But it’s the truth.” Both Jin and Rebel looked at her as if to say thank you, but for what she didn’t quite understand. “We just need to have a chat and then you guys can get back to your kissing game.”
She pulled away, but Rone held her close. Jin winked at her and patted her on the shoulder, which pulled a growl from Rone. What the hell was that about?
“Down, boy. We don't want your girl even if she is the sweetest candy in Claw Ridge.” Yep. That queued up the rise of heat in her and yep, there went that darn pesky blush. She braved a glance at Rone from beneath her lashes, pretending to read through her book.
“What’s up then, boys?”
She brushed past Rone to snag a couple of shot glasses and hook some of the good stuff from the top shelf.
“There’s been some rumblings in the witch communities. Thought we’d pass it along.”
“So I’ve heard.”
Both Rebel and Jin held up their glasses in salute before tossing them back. “Damn sweet kick. Thank you, Sabine.”
“What are they saying?” Rone pushed.
“It’s what they are doing that has our asses puckered,” Rebel offered. She wondered what he did to earn that moniker or if it was his given name.
Pushing her glasses up the ridge of her nose, she studied them closer. Both hiked their shirt sleeves to reveal thick forearms, and several buttons at the neck lay splayed open to show a tease of hair. Frankly, the brothers made it look like spring outside. Looking between them, she couldn’t tell them apart except for the tiny scar that sliced through Rebel’s eyebrow.
“They’ve put up fire wards. It’s a fucking mess. That crap burns through anything. Water, snow… it doesn’t matter.”
“It’s been giving us hell for days now.”
“I’ve heard of wards. Don’t they repel bad juju?” She propped a hip against the counter and added, “But that’s just one human’s thoughts.”
“Protection,” Rone went on. “But this protection is against otherworldlies that mess with black magick.”
“I see.” The expression on the twins’ faces told her the truth pained them. “Against their own people?”
Jin nodded. “About five miles out from the Wylde land, out by Everett’s where the ice bear attack went down, there’s a group of witches. Pop has a truce with them and we’ve lived as friends for countless decades now. After the fire was reported out that way a couple of weeks ago, we come to find out that they’ve barricaded their lands with a fire ward and the neighbors are having a fucking hissy fit because they won’t share whatever rumblings they know.”
“Neighbors being?”
“Mainly the ice bears, but there are other shifters on our lands too that are under our protection.”
Jin pointed a finger at Rone. “Bingo.”
I assume this news is hard to swallow. I imagine before the wards they protected their lands, but now it’s like a huge keep-out sign. Must be hurtful.” She poured another round for all three men and added one for herself.
“Not so much us, but some shifters took it personally.”
It was faint, but she caught the subtle look Jin flashed her when Rone thanked her with a soft touch to the back of her hand as she poured his.
Rebel’s eyes filled with strain and worry. “That crap those High Council pricks pulled in Sweet Briar is spilling over into our territory.” Frustration etched deep lines between his brows, and he jerked a hand through his hair. “I can feel it in my blood.”
“You have any proof outside of rumors and your blood?”
“Do we need any more?” both brothers said in unison.
“What’s happening in Sweet Briar?” She looked between all three puzzled. Obviously, humans are not clued in on everything going on around them. Otherwise, a helluva lot more people would be jittery about the news she just heard.
“War. Remember the talk with Pop?” Rone asked.
She did. “And you think it has hit Claw Ridge? Or at least coming this way?”
“Well, the High Council won’t stop until they have full control. Adam’s trip to Sweet Briar must have made it up the ranks. Pissed off a few people and put us on their map.”
“That’s true,” Jin jumped in, slamming a fist down on the counter. “Son of a bitch. He painted a fucking bullseye on our asses the second he stepped foot into that town. How the hell did we not think of that?”
“We have to warn them.”
Sabine turned on her heel, dashed over to where her coat hung and pulled it on.
Rone quickly tugged on her elbow. “Wait, hold up, Angel. Warn who?”
She wrapped her scarf around her neck and pulled on her matching black gloves. “The ice bears, silly. Your family here in town. All the shifters out there so far away. Everyone!”
“They already know, sweetheart.”
Her heart hammered. Jin stood and took her hands in his larger ones. “But thank you.”
“For what—I haven’t done anything.”
“For caring. That means a lot more than you think.”
Oh. She thought on that for a solid heartbeat and realized one thing. Maybe her heart wasn’t as dead inside as she thought. But that didn’t change anything. It just meant her heart hadn’t turned solid black yet. And that one little trigger brought her thoughts back around to Houston and why she wouldn’t be graduating come spring.
“I think she has a point, though.” Rebel turned on his stool and stretched his long legs out. “Maybe we should make more rounds, head out there and keep an eye on things. Radio in if anything pings on the radar.”
Rone helped her out of the coat and pulled up a chair for her from a nearby table. With the windows at their back now, both firebear brothers had to turn. Morning quickly faded to late afternoon.
“Why do we not know any of this? Our government? Police? Can’t anyone help? I know there are task forces with shifters.”
Beside her Rone’s knee bounced. “Not that simple. The government is all show and no action. Not for us anyway.”
“Don’t listen to him. He’s still sour about the shit with the Russians.”
“Don’t go there, Jin,” Rone warned.
“It’s true.”
She knew there was a bigger story there and the Russian tattoos on his chest made a little more sense now but the way his mouth hardened into a thin line told her not to ask any questions. And she wouldn’t. His past was his to keep or share. Either way he didn’t owe her anything.
“Back to topic, though.”
Rone took her hand in his and gave a little squeeze for the rescue.
She continued, “So war? As in bombs, planes and raids.”
“No, Angel. As in underground, in the shadows, hidden from the human eye. At all costs if it's one thing all the Draeonians of the world agree on it is that the humans must never know of the conflict between us.”
Draeonians?”
“Yep. The originals. Our ancestors. Where it all began.”
“Oh.” She took a second to absorb that little nugget. “You know, the humans sure the hell don't keep quiet when they don't like their neighbors. Seems unfair you guys have to keep to the shadows when you could look for allies.”
“It just never worked that way, Angel. Humans are leery as part of their nature. If the humans saw us as weak, they could also declare war on us and then it would be us against them and us against ourselves. No one would survive.”
“I’m so sorry. When will all the violence stop? Isn’t Christmas supposed to be a time of reflection and love?”
“You have such a tender heart, Angel. But the High Council seems dead set on a path that will tear us all apart no matter the time of year.” Rone raked a hand through his hair and the frustrated sigh he let out sounded more like a growl. “The government of the witches lost a war to the shifters two hundred years ago. The loss stung their sizable egos so now they want a second go at it. Our cousins in Sweet Briar Hollow found that out the hard and deadly way.”
“When I used to live in Sweet Briar—”
“Wait. Hold up. You lived there?” Rebel asked shocked.
“Yep. It’s a quaint New England town nestled up to Sleepy Hollow and some really beautiful mountains in Maine.”
Rone looked at her quizzically from her other side.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw his brain kick that piece of info around a bit before he asked, “How long ago?”
“I was eleven or so. Some foster parents were from there. It didn't work out obviously.” Rone’s brows pinched and he grew quiet as the firebear brothers continued.
“We can ignore that the underworld is buzzing with some bad shit, man. The kidnappings, bodies and black magick. Man, it’s enough to get the Draegonstones involved.”
“Yeah, I heard the dragon boys were back in the fold. That doesn't bode well for any of us.”
“Why? Who are the Draegonstones anyway?” she had to sound completely ignorant to them, but they humored her anyway.
“Ancient order of dragons. Thought to be gone, extinct.”
“Now they're not.” Jin rounded the bar and snagged another bottle of hooch and poured another round for everyone.
“Never were, idiot.” Rebel corrected.
“Underworld? You mean like the dark web for otherworldlies.”
Jin smiled and if she’d met him on the street with no introduction in that instant, she’d be able to peg him as a Wylde bother. That damn sexy half smile. She had no idea a smile could be genetic but the proof stood out from every Wylde man’s lips she’d met in this small mountainside town.
“Bingo, sweetheart. I like you.” And he liked to wink. A lot.
Rone growled. He liked to do that a lot.
She smiled. She didn't know what was up with Rone, but she liked the little possessiveness he played over her. It was nice. Even if for a short while. “Can we get back on topic here. Everett was in here earlier. Said there were traces of magick in the woods back on the easier slopes. And now you're saying the dragon boys are involved.”
“Yeah, we heard the dragon boys were back in the fold. That doesn't bode well for any of us.”
The more they talked the more questions she had. “Dragons? Doesn’t seem real somehow.” She didn’t know why that shocked her as much as it did, but dragons were a myth among the human stories and not once had she ever hear any otherworldly talk about winged shifters. Then again, she didn’t know many shifters before coming here.
“Yep. Apparently they can travel through time or control it, I can’t remember exactly, and now the High Council is putting big money on being able to take it from them.”
“Well, go big or go home. Isn't that the American motto.”
“In this case I do believe they’ve adopted the phrase.”
Rone sat up in his chair and rested his elbow on his knees. “They should have stayed where they were. Hidden and just let the world go on without them. Their blood has slipped into the wrong hands in the underworld, and the High Council of douche bags is using it to compel shifters over to their side,” Rone explained with a hand on her knee.
“Compel, my ass.” Jin stood up abruptly and his stool scraped along the hardwood with an ear-piercing shriek of metal. “You don't need to sugarcoat the damn truth. They are outright brainwashing shifters to do their dirty work. They did it two hundred years ago, and they are doing it again. Too fucking proper to get their hands bloody.”
Rebel stood, slower than his brother, obviously the calmer of the twins.
“So what does this have to do with Claw Ridge?”
“Angel, don't you get it. Who the fuck would miss a community of werebears in the Arctic Circle?”
Her heart nearly dropped to the floor along with her chin.
“We can feel the filth, the taint and acidic burn of black magick.” Both men stood side by side now and from this side of the bar she could see more differences between the two. Jin stood half an inch taller than his brother while Rebel sported the scar on his left eyebrow. Both preferred to stand with their hands in their pockets, but Jin had a darker edge to him that Rebel lacked. It radiated out of him, and she’d missed it at first. As if something touched him
and left a stain on his soul.
“How is that possible? You’re shifter.”
Jin held his hands up as though he cupped an invisible bowl. A flash of blue sparked in the center of the imaginary bowl followed by an eruption of orange light.
Flames danced between his palms and then he tossed it to his brother like a freaking ball.
She stood, drawn to the flame like a moth to light. The center glowed, unlike anything she’d ever witnessed before.
“How?”
Rone wrapped an arm around her center and pulled her flush to his front. As he answered her question, his chest vibrated along her back and she loved the soothing effect. “Our mother is part witch as is her mother. Our great-grandmother was a full-fledged witch. Some of us were bound to get juiced with the magick powers.”
“Our luck it’s us.” Rebel smiled and morphed the bright orange flame between his palms into a dragon with flapping wings then a bear rearing up.
“Oh my God, that is so cool. Now I get it. Firebears. Very fitting.” She laughed until the weight of the world felt like it lifted if only for a fraction of a minute.
Rebel groaned. “Not you too!”
Sabine cocked her head to the side. “And you can still shift?”
Pushing her behind him, Rone growled. “Don’t even think about it.”
Jin, looking sheepish as he rebuttoned the top three buttons of his shirt. “In my defense the lady asked.”
Sabine cupped her hands over her mouth and laughed even harder. Rebel leaned in quickly while his brother was occupied with Jin and gave her a peck on the cheek and a brief hug.
“Out. Both of you!”
Sabine watched as Rone chased his brother out the door into the snowstorm that had kicked into high gear since this morning, all three wearing that devilish smile.
What the heck did she get herself into?
Another fact took root in that instant. She was in some real deep crap.
Snowbound With Her Christmas Bear: Wylde Den #4 (Alaskan Den Men Book 16) Page 11
