by V. Vaughn
"Of course," says Trent. "I know this has been a shock and you need time to process. Let me walk you to your dorm."
"No," Madison gives me a weak smile. "I'm perfectly safe with Josie."
I hold my arm out to her as pride fills me. But so does uneasiness, because I wish I could tell Madison to stay far away from the werebear world. I know that her true-mate attraction to Trent makes it unlikely she'd listen to me. And she's the sweet kind of girl who would want to help werebear instead of seeing them as something dangerous.
Axe says, "Josie, we still need to talk."
"I know. But not tonight, okay? I think Madison and I need time to digest what's happened."
"Sure." He rakes a hand through his hair. "Text me. Please."
"I will." Wood crunches under my feet as I step through the hole I created in the door, and Madison follows me out. As we walk down the stairs, I notice girls talking behind their hands about us, and part of me wants to smack the grins off their faces. But I've got more important things on my mind. Like how I can possibly keep Madison safe.
When we get outside, Madison snakes an arm around my waist and leans her head on my shoulder. "Thank you, Josie. I don't know what I'd do without you." I wrap my arm around her shoulders and realize the fact I'm worried about her means I've gotten attached to this girl. For the first time since before the Eradicators changed my life forever, I've let myself care about another person, and it feels good. But considering what the two of us are up against, it's also scary as hell.
9
Madison
I'm part werebear. I stare at my hands and wonder how big they'd be as paws. I shiver, but it's not because my dorm room is cold. Josie walked me back from the frat party where Trent accidentally revealed his bear teeth and told me he's a shifter.
"Hey," Josie wraps a blanket around my shoulders. "Do you want to talk?"
I gaze up at her as tears fill my eyes. I swallow down the lump in my throat, because I bet my badass roommate thinks crying is a waste of time.
"Madison, it's okay to cry. I did when I found out too."
"What?" I take a moment to process what she said and to determine if she's telling the truth. Her expression is one of concern, and my roommate's not one to nurture, so I doubt she'd lie. "Is that how you know about them?" A small amount of relief rushes through me. It's truly horrible that it makes me happy Josie is part werebear, but if I have to be in this with anyone, she's definitely who I want by my side.
I flash to the way she kicked a hole right through Trent's door, and my body tenses in fear. "Wait. Can you— Are you?"
"No. I can't shift. I'm like you. My father was a werebear, and the genes are dormant in me."
"Is that why you're here?"
Josie nods. "Kind of." She sits on my bed and stares intently at me. "I came here to find my true mate because I want to become a werebear."
"Oh." Of course she does. Someone like Josie probably wants to live in a lawless world where the strongest survive. At least that's how I imagine they must live. "How does that happen?" As soon as I ask, I realize I know the answer. I envision the large teeth Trent had and shudder. "You need to be bitten. Right?"
"Yes. And it's a pretty hellacious process to change." Josie scowls and punches her fist into her palm. "You really believe Trent wouldn't do that to you?"
I shrug because I don't know what to believe. "He seemed sincere when he said he wouldn't."
She gets up and paces around the room, and I think it's to burn off the excess energy of her anger. I don't know how it was that luck put us together, but I feel as if Josie and I were meant to take care of each other. "Thank you for coming to my rescue tonight." I recall her excuse for breaking the door and chuckle. "A spider? Really?" I can't help my small laugh as she smiles.
"Think they believed it?"
"Probably. Besides, who's going to question a chick with abs like yours standing there in her bra and jeans?"
"Anyone with half a brain." Josie laughs for real, and I join her, but when we stop, she and I sober and my tears rush back. She says, "We need to talk about what's happening with you, Madison. Okay?"
I hold up my hand as I control my cry enough to speak. "I know. I've found my true mate, which explains why I think a guy who is probably a player is the most amazing man I've ever met."
"If he was a player, it's in the past. I'm pretty sure true-mate love means he doesn't want to be with anyone but you."
"Oh." I'm glad to hear it because my heart wants him, and no way do I want to be involved with someone who isn't true to me. But I wonder what our connection means. "Do I have to become a werebear?"
"Hell, no!" Josie plops down in her desk chair. "Sorry. What happened tonight has me a little worked up. I was under the impression werebear had complete control over their shifting. But apparently not, and Trent should have told you what he was before you guys fu— had sex. He put you in a very dangerous situation."
I can't get the image of his teeth out of my mind, and I squeeze my eyes shut for a moment to try to erase it. "What happens now?"
"You have to decide if you want to be with Trent. You don't have to, and I really don't want you to be, but the choice is completely yours no matter what he says."
The thought of not seeing Trent again sends an icy rush of panic through my veins. "Josie, the way I feel—I can't describe it, but the idea of being without him doesn't seem optional."
Josie sighs with what might be exasperation, and I wish I wasn't disappointing her. She asks, "Do you understand that means you're going to have to become a werebear someday? Because let me tell you, the process can’t be pretty. How do you imagine it happens? I bet bones break, and I don’t even want to think about what it must feel like to stretch into a huge beast.” She makes a face of pain that’s more dramatic than I’d expect from Josie.
"God, that sounds horrible." I study my roommate for a moment and wonder if it's really true. She already said she's here to become a werebear, so is she telling me this because she doesn't think I can survive the process? "If it's so awful, why do you want to become one?"
Josie's brow knits, and she gets up to walk across the room before she turns to look at me. "I've never really fit in. I always knew that something about me was off, and when I found out I have the genes of a powerful being that can be both human and bear— It intrigued me. I asked more questions and found out its pretty amazing."
"Amazing how?"
"Well..." She pauses as if she's thinking about what to tell me. "They live in clans. It’s like a secret club nobody can kick you out of or something because everyone has each other's back."
"One big family? That does sound pretty great. So why shouldn't I become one too?"
"You're so normal, Madison." Josie walks over to my desk and picks up a photograph of me with my high school friends. "You live a charmed life of having friends, boyfriends. One day you'll get married and have babies. You'll be living the dream in a world that accepts you."
I get up and take the photograph from her to set it down with a thud. I haven't been in touch with those girls since high school. It's nothing more than a moment of the life I had before my mother got sick. "My life isn't so charmed Josie. You know about my mom, and the truth is I have no other family. Unless you count the ex-stepfather who never wanted me in the first place." I think about how Josie and I have become close and that both of us really only have each other. I'm good at making Josie show her likable side and building her self-confidence, and she's practically my body guard. I smile at her as excitement builds. "Josie, we could do this together."
She shakes her head. "This isn't like a shopping trip, Madison. There's more. The reason you've never heard of werebear is because it's not a safe thing to be."
I frown and sit down on my bed. I ponder the danger of being a shifter in a world that can't even handle different skin colors. And I can imagine that a minority also capable of tearing people to shreds isn't something most people would want to be around.
"Okay, but since I've never heard of one, they must be really good at hiding their identity."
"You'd think. But what about what Trent did tonight? Imagine what would happen if you went to the cops and told them what you saw." Josie turns away from me and walks over to her closet as she says, "I've heard that the FBI gets involved and they swoop in and take care of the situation in a way that nobody is ever the wiser." She yanks her hair down from her ponytail before turning back around to stare at me intently. "Are you sure you could keep what you are a secret? Because what do you think the government does to werebear when they get one in captivity?"
I frown, because while her information is plausible, Josie's talking a little faster than usual. Like she's hiding something. Or lying. But why? I look down at my feet to hide my skeptical expression as I wonder if her secretive past has anything to do with why she's telling me a story. And why she's so dead set on me not becoming a werebear while that's exactly what she plans to do.
"Hey," Josie squats down to peer into my eyes. "Are you worried about Trent?"
I nod and go with her explanation. "I love him already, and the idea of him being taken away and tortured is upsetting."
She rubs my arm. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you this way, but I need you to understand what being with Trent means." She sits back on her heels. "You know.” She pauses to scowl. “Look. I'm not one to get sappy, but Madison—” Josie opens her mouth and then shuts it again before she finally blurts out, “You're my best friend and,” she sighs, “I care about what happens to you."
"Thanks." A warm glow fills me, and I say what she can't. "You know I love you too, Josie. And I'll consider everything you've said, but I'm not sure I'm going to be able to deny the way I feel about Trent." It occurs to me that Axe is a werebear too. "You and Axe aren't true mates, are you?"
She shakes her head. "I was hoping, but after seeing you with Trent I'm pretty sure we aren't."
That seals it for me. She thinks I have a choice because she doesn't know what I do. "I'm not sure you fully understand what it would mean for me to stay away from Trent. Maybe I'm still in shock, or maybe I'm so in love I can't think straight, but I don't think I'm going to be able to deny the true-mate love Trent and I have."
She lets out a whoosh of air and switches to a cross-legged position on the floor. "Okay. Well." Josie gazes up at me with conviction. "Then we're in this together, Madison." And then concern clouds her face. "I just hope—" She shakes her head and gets up on her knees to grab my hand. "I'll try my hardest to protect you, Madison, but I can't make any guarantees."
The love I have for Trent fills my heart, and I know that he will protect me in ways Josie never could. I think that while I want to become part of the werebear world with Josie by my side, my true mate is going to be the one I can depend on no matter what. I smile as I squeeze her fingers. "I know you will. But I'm going to be just fine." I press my palm against my chest over my heart, where my feelings for Trent threaten to spill out. "I've never been more sure of anything in my life."
10
Max
Headlights flash toward me as I approach the first car I've seen in a while. It's three a.m., and I've made it to Orono, Maine. A search on the internet told me Audrey's clan is in the lumber business, and I know that their retail store is not far from here. However, her address was not on the web, and I don't know where she lives. But even if I knew where to find Audrey right now, her father, an alpha, would not take kindly to me showing up on their doorstep in the middle of the night.
I'm too jazzed on caffeine to sleep, so I'm in search of a place to hang out for a few hours before I can ask about Audrey at their gift shop. I spy a restaurant that looks like it’s open twenty-four hours or at least until the last of the college partying crowd leaves, and I pull over to park at the Pancake Place. I open my door to get out and stretch, and I notice the aroma of bacon and fried food in the air. My stomach growls, which is enough to entice me to get something to eat.
The place is a typical greasy spoon, and when I get inside I seat myself at a booth. The plastic-coated menu is sticky, and cheap breakfast food and grilled sandwiches dominate the pages. I have a feeling the only regulars are drunk college students, but its good enough for me.
A woman with a build that makes me think she could handle the rowdiest of frat boys comes over with a pot of coffee to take my order. I slide my cup over for her to fill it, and in a scratchy smoker's voice that tells me she and tobacco have been friends for a lifetime, she asks, "What'll it be?"
"The breakfast platter, please. With real maple syrup and orange juice." I'm tempted to make small talk with her to pass the time, but she walks away before I get a chance.
Glancing around the restaurant, I notice one table with a group of guys getting ready to leave and another table with an old man hovered over a coffee cup as if it can warm him all the way to his soul. The air surrounding him is sad as if he's suffered a great loss, and instinctively, because I'm often driven by my mother's compassion, I throw a seed of happiness his way. It will lodge itself into his heart, and as long as he gives it a chance, it will sprout with the potential to bring joy into his life.
I smile to myself. Happy, Mom? The memory of her laugh comes to me, and I think she is. I take a sip of my coffee, but the bitterness doesn't appeal to me. Considering how much caffeine I've had in the last twenty-four hours, it's no surprise, so I push it aside.
My bear is restless now that we're in Maine. The weight of whatever it is we'll have to do to save Audrey and her clan—all clans, likely—is settling over me. I crave a run to shake off the dread that comes with it, but because I can't, I bring up a memory of Audrey to entertain myself instead.
Picturing her on the sidewalk at the airport staring at me with a dazed look, I imagine that's when she realized she was in love with me. I think she hasn't been able to keep me out of her mind since, the way thoughts of Audrey slip into my consciousness at every opportunity too. She'd probably be horrified to know her alpha mate spent his long hours driving by planning our family, six kids and a big sprawling farmhouse in the country. While I picture her in my territory in Northwest Canada, I suspect getting her there will be a fight, and I smile imagining the powerful will of our two alphas going at it only to have the best makeup sex ever.
I drag myself from my fantasy when the waitress sets my meal down before me. Two eggs over easy grab my attention first, and I watch bright yellow yolk ooze out when I stab it with my fork to take a big bite. A driving need to devour the meal takes over, like it has for most of this trip, and it makes me wonder if I'm loading up for a time when I won't be able to eat or if it's my bear building as much strength as he can.
I'm smothering my pancakes with maple syrup when I hear the melodious laughter of two girls as they walk in the restaurant. They move toward a booth across the dining room from me. One girl is blond and curvy, while the other is dark and thinner with a sleek ponytail hanging down her back that reminds me of Cat, the waitress in Colorado.
I shift in my seat a little when I remember how Cat grabbed my balls and squeezed them when she told me a prophecy. Don't let your dick be your guide. I chuckle, because apparently that was the dumbed down version, but I still don't know for sure what it means. One possibility is that I'm supposed to avoid sleeping with Audrey again, which seems odd considering we're true mates. I was under strict orders not to let Audrey know who I was before I met her. While I didn't expect to run into her the night we met at the beach party, I pushed fate by cloaking my werebear status so she couldn't detect what I was and that I was her true mate. I thought it meant I was safe enough to allow myself to give in to her charms. But the next day it was clear to me she'd figure it out if she hadn't already. Still, none of that makes me want to bet money on my interpretation of the prophecy. They tend to be a you'll know it when you see it kind of thing.
Buttery sweetness fills my mouth as I eat my pancakes quickly before moving on to the hash browns, and I watch the girl
s between bites. I can see the blonde's face, and she's animated as she talks and shares things on her phone. She's clearly happy. Beyond it actually, and I think she's in love. Which is why I don't think much of her glancing at me more than once. I can't see the ponytail girl's face, but her body language is defensive. She's not exactly angry, but I sense the girl has secrets. And I get a strong message of her being concerned about her friend. Something about her makes me curious to know more, but I don't have time to approach strange women and chat them up to satisfy my need to understand what makes them tick.
When I've scraped up the last bit of potato and ketchup, I lean back and let out a sigh of satisfaction. The bill is on the table, and I check it before laying a twenty down. I still have a few hours to kill, and I pull out my phone to play a word game for as long as I can before the waitress gives me the stink eye letting me know it’s time to leave. But every time I try to concentrate on playing a word, I'm drawn to the girl with the ponytail, and I find myself looking over at her.
I have a strong urge to go over and sit down with the girls. It’s not like I'm too shy to do it, and I'm charming enough to pull it off, though I might have to throw around a little magic to soften the tough girl up. Aw, Hell. I'm bored. I move to get up when I notice that the brunette gets up too. Sitting back down I watch her walk to the bathroom, and I smile because now I have a plan.
I give her a moment before I get up and go to the bathroom too. Only I don't have any intention of using the facilities. As in most restaurants, the women’s and men’s restrooms are right next door. I lean against the wall to wait for ponytail girl.
When she opens the door, her eyes dart left and right before she looks at me as if she expected me to be waiting for her. "Who the fuck are you?"
I blink in surprise at her defensiveness. And her scent... I'm distracted for a moment by the seductive odor. "Max." I flash my sexy smile at her as my bear rubs his paws with his desire to have her. "You?"
