by Maia Starr
“I…” Addison began, but her voice faltered.
“Sorry,” Flint said, but he didn’t sound sorry at all. “I couldn’t help myself. You’re too damn gorgeous.”
Addison forced herself to step out of his embrace, but even as she did, she couldn’t find the motivation to turn away, and so she just walked backward, clutching her arms behind her and smiling like a teenager who’d just secretly made out with her crush. Flint had to focus all his energy on rooting himself to the ground to keep the animal urge to chase after her from taking over his body.
“I’ll see you tonight, then,” Addison said, still backing away.
Flint nodded. “Tonight.”
Addison gave him one more long, lingering stare—which made him want to take her up against the nearest tree—and then turned and ran away. Flint balled his hands into fists as he watched her go, and only when she was out of sight was he able to relax.
As he turned back to his crew, they greeted him with knowing grins and smirks, a couple even making kissy faces at him. Rolling his eyes, Flint barked at his men to keep working, and so they did, but that didn’t stop them from patting him on the back as he joined them.
Even while he worked, Flint’s mind wandered back to Addison. He still couldn’t get over how beautiful she was: long, wavy brunette hair that matched her sweet hazel eyes, fair skin as smooth as silk, warm lips that tasted like sweet honey, and the lithe, graceful body of a goddess.
Addison was just what Flint needed at the moment, and everyone knew it. But was Addison what he needed in the long run? Every fiber of his wolf nature wanted him to claim her right this moment, to abandon his work and run off to indulge in her body once more, but May had warned him not to rush things, and a matriarch’s words of wisdom were nothing to scoff at.
And, of course, Addison had a secret, a past she was running from, and he wanted to find out what it was before he made any major moves. As the Alpha of his pack, his decision had more weight behind it than it might have otherwise had. But then, if Flint waited too long to claim a mate, his pack might ditch him for a more stable leader—perhaps his younger brother, Ash. An indecisive shifter who couldn’t balance his two natures was no leader, he knew.
But as Flint told his workers to take a break, his worries about how to proceed with Addison vanished; a smoky gray wolf came from the woods and shifted into his human form before jogging over to Flint where he sat on the tailgate of his crew’s truck. The shifter gasped for breath as he came to a stop before Flint. The eyes of the crew followed Flint’s movements as he stood.
“What’s wrong?” Flint asked as the man straightened.
“We have a messenger from the western side of the island, from the bear shifters.”
Flint’s crew all went wide-eyed, glancing at each other and murmuring amongst themselves.
Ignoring his crew’s reaction, Flint focused on the panting shifter. “Slow down. What do you mean?”
“Some burly guy we’ve never seen before showed up outside Wolf Den. Said he needed to speak with you. He’s waiting in the hall.”
Growling, Flint crossed his arms. “He’s in our home? Without my permission? Who the hell let him in?”
“May Silver,” the shifter answered, cowering at the rising anger in Flint’s voice. “May arrived at Wolf Den just before the messenger did. We thought it was weird when she arrived; you know she’s usually holed up at her inn, but then, the messenger arrived, and she barked at us to just let him in… we all figured if she said it was okay, then maybe you wouldn’t mind, either…”
“Of course I mind,” Flint snarled. “Wolf Den is for our people only. Never allow anyone else entry unless I specifically give the go-ahead.” The shifter flinched, but Flint just sighed. “Look, go back and tell May I’m on my way, okay?”
The shifter nodded and sprinted away, shifting into his wolf form as he bounded back into the forest.
His crew whispered behind him, restlessly awaiting Flint’s orders.
He turned to them. “You all stay here and keep working. Your shift ends at five. Looks like I won’t be coming back today.”
Nodding, they each turned and marched back to their spots to continue their work without complaint. Stretching his arms above his head, Flint walked away into the forest. Once behind a large tree, he stripped and shifted into his wolf form, picking up his clothes in his mouth and darting off into the woodland, wondering what the hell this was all about.
Even from a mile away, Flint noticed a strange new scent mingling with the familiar smell of Wolf Den. As he slowed to a walk and approached the entrance, he morphed back into his human form before tugging on his clothes and hurrying inside.
The other wolf shifters must have caught his scent, because as Flint walked in, all faces turned to him. A normal person might have freaked out at the sudden barrage of attention, but Flint was used to it.
Ignoring the stares of his fellow shifters, Flint made his way to the main hall, where a cluster of his pack members crowded around the entrance.
“Is the messenger inside?” Flint called out to no one in particular as he approached.
About half of the shifters nodded in response, eyes wide with excitement and confusion as they moved to either side of the door to let Flint through.
Mumbling his thanks and cracking his neck, Flint opened the door.
A mostly empty hall greeted him, and he noted the two shifters standing in the middle circle and the few others posted along the walls. In the middle of the room, the short, gray-haired May spoke in urgent whispers to a hulking man with windswept hair and a bushy mustache whom Flint had never seen before. Even from the entrance, he could tell the man was a shifter, but he smelled starkly different from Flint’s kin—like rotting food. Flint wrinkled his nose but marched forward.
May noticed Flint approaching, her eyes going wide at the anger twisting his features. “Flint, I know this looks bad, but I can explain—”
“Please do,” Flint snapped. “I’d like to know why you allowed a bear shifter into our home without my permission.”
“Listen, Flint,” May started. “We might have a problem… no, we have a problem; this man just confirmed my suspicions.”
Flint crossed his arms but gave the bear shifter a curious look. The man stared back, unblinking, and Flint turned back to May. “And what is this problem? It can’t be so bad that you would circumvent my status as Alpha, right, May? Just because I don’t have a mate yet doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want behind my back.”
May scowled but stayed silent as the bear shifter spoke.
“Your matriarch is right,” the man said. “There is a problem I’ve come to inform you about. Maybe it would be easier if we sat? This could take a while to explain.”
Biting his lip, Flint sighed and motioned to the closest seats. “Alright, fine. Sit. But first, what’s your name, bear?”
“Owen,” the man said as he sat.
May took a seat next to Owen, which frustrated Flint, but he tried not to let that frustration show on his face. Flint turned a chair around and sat, leaning forward and resting his arms on the backrest.
“I’m a messenger of my people,” Owen continued. “I came to inform you and others of the potential danger posed by a man we believe has recently come back to Silverwood Island.”
Intrigued, Flint focused his attention on Owen, narrowing his eyes. “Keep going.”
“A few years ago, a bear shifter named Maric Devoy murdered one of our own. We wanted to jail him, but when our elders voted, the majority decided to exile him from Silverwood Island, and he left a free man—which angered many of my people. But, he went free anyway, to start over, to get a second chance. We told him that if he ever wanted to come back to the island, he’d need our permission first.
“We didn’t think to warn your pack to look out for him, and you wouldn’t have recognized him anyway. He rarely left his home when he lived on the island; many of my kind had never even met him before
his trial and exile.”
Owen paused. “But your matriarch sent a messenger earlier with some… troubling news.”
May slapped Owen’s shoulder. “Stop calling me that! You might as well call me ‘granny’ if you plan to keep calling me ‘matriarch.’ I’m not an ancient bag of bones, ya know.”
“May,” Flint growled. “Get on with it.”
“Okay, okay!” May cleared her throat. “Earlier today, a strange man came into the Silver Inn. He was tall, burly, with short hair and a beard. He said he was new to the area and had just arrived. And he smelled… odd.”
“Let me guess,” Flint interjected. “It’s the same guy Owen was just talking about. This… Maric Devoy?”
Owen nodded. “It appears so. But we didn’t approve his return. We didn’t even know he wanted to come back. We don’t believe he’s here to resettle in the area, but rather for something else.”
“Someone else,” May corrected. “Flint, he was asking about a brunette woman from Seattle.”
Flint scowled, his fists clenching. “Addison… he was asking about her? Why?” May’s early speculation that there was more to Addison than met the eye appeared spot on. What was Addison hiding? How was she involved with this Maric Devoy?
May shrugged. “He didn’t say, and when I refused to give him any information, he said he’d find her eventually and then stalked off. If Addison’s mixed up with him, she might be in deep trouble.”
“Maric is very dangerous,” Owen chimed in. “If he’s looking for one of your own, I would advise keeping vigil. Don’t let anyone walk around alone, but especially not this woman he’s after.”
Flint’s wolf howled at the thought of something happening to Addison. He had just met her, yes, and he was still trying to figure out whether she was the right fit for him. But he couldn’t let anything or anyone harm her.
“Do you think he would take on a large group?” Flint asked, his mind racing. “Or is he more likely to wait until someone is alone to attack?”
Owen shook his head. “I don’t think he’d attack a group. He only ever murdered one person while here on the island—at least, to our knowledge. Over the years, we’ve had a few missing shifters—and some of them did disappear in groups—but we never had a reason to suspect Maric while he lived here, and we have no reason to believe he was involved in the disappearances after his exile. I doubt he’d take on more than one person at a time.
“Even if he does attack a group of your shifters, two or three should be enough to fend him off. However, since we bears are much bigger than you wolves, I caution you not to enter a fight with him blindly. Don’t rely on brute strength; try to outsmart him if he ever confronts your people.”
Flint nodded. “Thanks for the advice… if we run into him, and if he antagonizes us, do you care what happens to him?”
Owen stayed silent for a moment, but when he spoke, it was the most decisive statement Flint had heard from the guy. “No. If he attacks you, don’t hesitate to kill him. He disregarded the second chance we gave him, and now he must answer for it.”
Flint’s inner wolf bayed—a call for bloodshed—and paced, scratching away at Flint’s human control. His wolf wanted to rip Maric Devoy to pieces for even daring to think of harming Addison. To keep himself under control, Flint bit the side of his wrist, the twinge of pain bringing his thoughts back into focus.
Owen and May stared at him cautiously, but Flint smiled at them when he let go of his wrist, swiping at the trickle of blood that ran from his mouth and pressing his arm against his jeans.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “I think we’ll be able to handle this guy. I’ll keep packs out in search of him day and night until we find him.”
Both men stood, and Flint reached out to shake Owen’s hand. “I appreciate the heads up, Owen. We can take things from here. He’s in our territory, so let us deal with him.”
Owen smiled. “I’m just glad we could warn you about him before anything bad happened. I think I’ll head home now; if he wanders into our territory, we’ll let you know.”
Flint nodded and watched as Owen strode toward the entrance to the hall. As the bear shifter opened the door, the swarm of shifters waiting outside stumbled over themselves to allow Owen through, but Owen didn’t seem to care enough to notice.
May padded up beside Flint. “So? What’s your plan?”
Flint crossed his arms. “Simple. I’ll get packs to roam the island and search for him while I bring Addison back to Wolf Den. If he is after her, this is the safest place for her. I was planning on taking her out for dinner, but I guess we could have dinner here.”
“Want me to plan a barbecue tonight for all of us? It would be a convenient excuse to bring her here.”
Flint smiled at May. “Please… and thanks.”
May’s brows shot up. “Thanks for what?”
“For protecting Addison. If that man means to harm her, then I have you to thank for preempting any attack he might have planned. Thanks for alerting me to the danger. Sorry if I snapped at you earlier.”
May shook her head. “Ah, it’s no big deal. Just remember to give little old me some love, too, son.” Flint rolled his eyes, but May bellowed with laughter. “Go! Get started already! I’ll head back to the inn.”
Flint turned to walk away. “Let me know if you spot him again,” he called over his shoulder.
“Yeah, yeah.”
As Flint exited the hall, the assembled shifters stared at him, searching for answers,
“Listen up!” he barked. “Looks like we have a killer on our land. He’s a bear shifter, exiled and not supposed to be back without permission, but he’s here anyway. I’m going to form a few packs to sniff him out.”
Ash shouldered his way through the crowd and stepped up, puffing out his chest. “Let me lead the search. It’s the least I can do for you, brother.”
Flint smiled and put his younger brother into a headlock.
“Hey!” Ash grumbled. “Stop it, man! This is embarrassing, stop!”
The shifters that circled them laughed, and Flint let Ash go, joining in their laughter. “Easy there, Ash. I was just greeting you.”
Ash mumbled something under his breath, but Flint ignored it.
“Alright, Ash will lead the search,” Flint announced, causing Ash to grin just a little. “I’ll fill him in on all the details, so you all need to listen to him. But before that, I want to make something clear to everyone. This man could be dangerous and might attack if you find him. However, if he doesn’t attack, don’t initiate a confrontation. If he does attack, be prepared to use lethal force. The bears have given us the go-ahead to kill him if necessary.”
Some shifters looked at each other uneasily, obviously uncomfortable with the idea, but most nodded in response.
“Now that that’s over, disband. I’ll call for you all after I speak with Ash.”
The next few hours went by quicker than Flint had thought they would. Once he explained to Ash everything he needed to know, they went about forming teams and packs to comb the forests and town, making sure everyone knew Maric Devoy’s description.
By the time Flint left Wolf Den, the daylight had begun to bleed into night. With his plan in motion, Flint relaxed, his thoughts drifting back to his date with Addison that night. The thought of spending the evening with her sent his heart racing and his wolf pacing restlessly—despite the potential killer bear loose on Silverwood Island. On that note…
How the hell was Addison connected to Maric Devoy? What could she possibly have to do with a murderous bear shifter?
Flint supposed the only way to get the truth was to ask for it.
Chapter Nine
The New Florist
“So, what should I do first?” Addison asked.
Addison’s new boss, a middle-aged woman named Robin, smiled at her while she tended to a plant. “Well, why don’t you start off by watering all the plants in the store? I normally start the day by giving them each a little
bit of water before I open, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet today. A lot of customers rushed in right off the bat—a whole ten of them!”
“Right, so… where’s the watering can?”
“Here, I’ll show you.”
Explaining to her new boss that she had been a few minutes late because she’d been busy flirting had been a unique form of torture. Luckily, Robin, the only florist in town, was easy-going, and, if a rush of customers was only ten people, not in dire need of the extra help.
Addison followed Robin to the back of the store and through a door that led to a room of three-tiered shelves. Each shelf housed a variety of gardening and floral tools (many of which Addison didn’t recognize), fertilizers, vases, spools of ribbon, and, at the back, watering cans.
Robin grabbed a can with sunflowers painted on it and handed it to Addison with a smile on her face. “Now, just fill it up from the sink in here and water away! Just be careful not to give them too much water or water them too quickly. That’ll drown the roots.”
Addison nodded, thinking there must be more to do than just water the plants. “I’ll finish this up soon so I can help you manage customers.”
Robin—whose smile seemed fixed in place—shook her head. “Oh, no, dear. Don’t worry about that. I can manage. I’ve been doing it for years now. Please, take your time.”
“Take my… time?” Addison stared at the can in her hands. Addison, the workaholic, take her time? Did she even know the meaning of taking her time? Strangely, the idea of strolling around the shop with nothing to do but ensure she poured the right amount of water on each plant made her nervous. “Are you sure?”
“Yep!”
An awkward silence followed as Addison stood there holding the watering can and Robin simply smiled at her.
After a moment, Addison took a deep breath and turned to fill up the can. “Okay then, I’ll get started.”