The Bear Shifter's Second Chance

by Jasmine Wylder

  Chapter Thirteen

  Adela rocked slowly back and forth in the chair, reading the same children's book over and over again. Luci had long since fallen asleep, but she didn't want to disturb her. She needed this small bubble of peace, to remind herself why she was doing this.

  They didn't have much time. Marcus was already out, putting the plan into motion. Soon Adela would be leaving as well, and Luci would stay with Jasmine in the panic room until they returned. Isaias hadn't gotten back to her, and at this point it was too late even if he did. They had to trust Jasmine with Luci.

  Adela had asked her why she hadn't told her that she was a jaguar. Jasmine had told her it was because of bad past experiences. More than once she was fired without notice after an employer found out about her true nature. Adela could understand where she was coming from. Shifters had no employment protection.

  She became aware that she was staring at the clock, watching the seconds tick down, and turned back to her book just as Jasmine came into the room. She sat on the couch and tucked her long legs under her body. Adela was hit by a sudden jealousy at how graceful her curves her.

  Not that it was important. Just that her own frame was much pudgier than she wanted.

  "Can I ask you something?" Jasmine's voice was low.

  Adela nodded.

  "What changed? That night when you saw Marcus outside the house you said you were going to have nothing to do with him. The next thing I know, you two are together again. So, what happened? Was it just the sex?"

  Adela's eyes widened.

  "I'm a shifter." Jasmine smiled wryly. "I could smell what happened when I came in."

  "That's humiliating," Adela muttered. "As for me and Marcus… I don't know. It's complicated. A long story."

  Jasmine nodded. "I'm listening."

  Was now even a good time to start discussing this? "Why bring it up?"

  "I guess I'm worried. I want to make sure you're doing this for the right reasons. And that he's not using you or something."

  "Using me," Adela muttered. "No. It's not that. He loves me. And I love him. I guess that is where it starts. I fell in love with him the instant I saw him. And even after he hurt me, I was still in love with him. But I hurt him, too. I'm not sure which of us was the biggest idiot. In the end, though… In the end we decided to give it another shot."

  "That doesn't sound so complicated."

  "Maybe not." Adela ran her fingers through Luci's fine hair. If anything happened to her because of this, she would hunt down everybody who was responsible and burn their lives down. When her parents were murdered she had been young and had hidden inside herself. But now? She would hunt. She would kill. Her eyes flooded with tears as she handed her precious child over to the nanny. "Protect her with your life."

  Jasmine nodded, cradling the toddler against her chest. "I love her. You know that, right? I love her and I love you. You're like family to me and I won't let anything happen to her."

  "Thank you."

  Adela braced herself for what was to come. In the panic room, Jasmine and Luci would be safe from anything. Even if the house burned down around them, they'd be safe. The only people in danger from here on out were Marcus and herself.

  Would Luci be an orphan by the end of the night? Isaias and Becky would take care of her if that happened. But would she remember her mother if Adela just disappeared from her life?

  As she grabbed her keys and headed out, she thought of the promise Marcus had made, to keep her safe. She had to trust that he had read the situation properly and that he knew Lexa enough that this wasn't putting her in danger.

  Her hands shook as she started the car, but it was something she had to do. Yes, she could take Luci and run. She could get to the farthest corners of the earth and hide there. She could have cried and screamed until Marcus agreed to go with her. But in the end, she needed to create a better world for her daughter. She never thought that this is what she would end up doing, though. Planning a takedown of a drug king.

  The only thing was, if Lexa knew or suspected their plot, it was all over.

  She took the familiar route to the market, knowing that Lexa would find her. Her hands continued to tremble but she forced herself to push aside her doubting thoughts and focus on the plan. There was no room for anything else. Her hands tightened on the steering wheel as she guided her car through the streets, waiting.

  After some time, a car pulled up behind her. It passed her and then slowed down to nearly a stop before speeding up again and turning into a parking lot. It was a dark blue vehicle with tinted windows. Just the type of car that Lexa liked to drive.

  The relief was a surprise. But Lexa had found her, which meant things could finally get rolling. The nerves settled somewhat, her mind sharpening to focus in the role she had to play now.

  Adela pulled into the parking lot after her. Greg smiled at her as he got out of his car. The bruises on her face and body seemed to all throb at once, making her gasp, but she climbed from her car. Keeping her shoulders back and head held high, she walked over.

  "Hey, cutie." He winked at her. "Lexa's waiting."

  He opened the door, and she slid in. Lexa was fixing her makeup in a compact mirror. She smiled a blood-red smile when Adela slid into the vehicle.

  "You found me," Adela said, successfully keeping her voice from trembling.

  Lexa arched a brow. "Were you trying to run?"

  "No. No, it wasn't that. Would I leave my daughter if I tried to run?"

  "Then what were you doing? I haven't heard from you in a while."

  "Luci dropped the phone you gave me into the toilet and I didn't have any way to contact you. So, I came out here because I knew you would find me."

  Lexa hummed and cocked her head to one side. "And you're just coming out now? It's been three days since our last communication. What took you so long?"

  "Marcus. He wouldn't let me leave the house. He's worried that you're going to do something to me… are you? He hasn't stopped his plans, he's still determined to take you down. Says that he wants to earn a place back in the clan." Adela pressed her hands together. The trick to lying, apparently, was to tell as much of the truth as she could. "Are you going to hurt me again?"

  "Would it stop him?"

  Adela stared in those cold eyes and shuddered. "No."

  "Then there's no point, is there? I don't want to turn my little bird against me, now do I?"

  Did she suspect? Adela twisted her hands. How well at reading people was Lexa? How sensitive were her senses? Could she smell the lies that she was hiding from her? Adela forced those thoughts from her mind. They'd only cause her to panic, and panicking would only cause further trouble. She closed her eyes and held her breath, counting to ten before she released it.

  "The last time we spoke, you said that dear Marcus was planning on gathering evidence of my business arrangements to try to get me arrested. What exactly is he planning on doing?"

  "He said that he was going to intercept a parcel. He knows the drop off location and he's going to steal it and take it to the FBI to prove that you're moving drugs through bear territory. Using high school students as your mules."

  Lexa yawned. Was it Adela's imagination, or did the bear's teeth look sharper than a normal human's? Lexa patted her mouth and smiled lazily. "Pardon me. His plan is to steal my merchandize and he thinks that will be enough?"

  "That's what he said he's going to do."

  Lexa started to laugh. Her eyes never moved from Adela, and the human's heart froze. She had been found out. Lexa knew what they were really doing and she was going to kill them all. There were rumors that she actually would eat the people who turned against her. While Adela had brushed those aside as exaggerated rumors based on the fact that she was a shifter, now that she was in this tiny space with her, it didn't seem to be so unlikely. Especially not with those sharp teeth staring at her.

  "Marcus thinks that he can steal from me and have me arrested? He's a bright man but he's de
sperate. Only someone who feels cornered would take on such a desperate plan." She clapped her hands again and sighed, still looking amused. "And that jaguar hanging around your place lately? Is she your bodyguard?"

  "She's a nanny."

  "Useless, then." Lexa leaned forward and pinched Adela's cheek. "Thank you, my dear. You have been most helpful. And you are going to continue to be helpful."

  "I don't—"

  "I need Marcus out in the open. His plan might be desperate but he's still smart. So, I want you to take that precious child of yours and run. Get out of here, to the next town over. Call him and tell him that you're at the Sunset motel on the outskirts of town. But if you're smart, you'll stay far away from that place."

  Adela's hands started to tremble. "What are you going to do?"

  "Nothing for you to concern yourself about. Just run away and never come back. I know that you have your friend and shop here, but you're smart enough. You'll figure out a way to get through all this and still give your daughter a good life."

  "What are you going to do?" she repeated, a note of panic in her voice this time.

  Lexa shook her head. "Don't think about it. Let Marcus disappear into the mist."

  "No." In that instant, it was like everything else disappeared. The plan, what Marcus had told her, everything. Even though they knew there was a high chance of this happening, the veiled threat made her lungs seize and her stomach churn. "No, please. Don't kill him. Please!"

  "I said don't think about it."

  "Please!"

  Lexa's eyes glittered coldly. "Think about it this way. Either Luci loses her father or she loses her mother. Which one do you think she will miss more, huh? And I'm not above threatening children, either. There is a high market value for toddlers. So many people dying to have a baby girl to call their own."

  Adela closed her eyes. She didn't have to try to look weak, because she felt it. Tears leaked from her eyes. "Why? Why do any of this? Putting your people at risk—"

  "My people?" Lexa barked out a laugh. "When has the clan done anything for me? There are two types of people in this world, Adela. There are the people who take what they want, and the people who lose. I lost when I was younger, and I am going to take everything that I want now. If you are wise you'll heed my warnings before you lose everything."

  "The Sunset motel," she repeated dully. "At the outskirts of town. Do you want me to call you to tell you when he'll arrive?"

  "I thought your phone fell in the toilet."

  Adela opened her eyes again. "I thought you'd probably give me a new one."

  Lexa chuckled and handed over another small cellphone. "Let me know when you tell him. I expect a call tonight."

  Chapter Fourteen

  Marcus didn't make a move until Adela called him and told him the plan. He had spent the day tailing one of Lexa's associates, well aware that he was being tailed in return. When he got the call about where the trap was being set, he ditched the tail and went straight to the bar where his club hung out. Most of them ignored him, although a few gave him hearty pats on the back and welcomed him back.

  One of the younger ones leaned in close to him and inhaled deeply. "Man, you've been getting it, huh? You gotta teach me how to get chicks."

  "Get a chicken coop if you want chickens. If you want to be with women, treat them like people not livestock," Marcus snapped back. He pushed through the last few barriers until he got to Alava. "Doc. You're developing a problem."

  Alava shrugged. "I'm not on duty."

  "Well, you will be soon. Something big is going down and we're going to need a doctor."

  The doctor glanced up. "What do you mean?"

  "We're going to take Lexa down."

  Alava's jaw dropped. Marcus turned back to the bar. He whistled sharply, causing the humdrum to die down, and threw his shoulders back to stand taller. David and other friends were in the crowd and he let out a soft breath. Good. He was going to need their support.

  "Why did we start this club?" He started, keeping his voice loud enough to be heard. "When we started out, was our plan to get drunk every day and hang around a bar shooting pool? Or drive around on our bikes making a nuisance of ourselves?"

  David snorted. "Are you drunk, man?"

  "No. Think about it. When was the last time any of us did anything worth doing? It's time to stop sulking around feeling sorry for ourselves and actually take a stand. We whine about the matriarch doing nothing while we drink and drink and… oh, yeah, drink!" Marcus strode through the crowd and slammed his hands into the pool table. "We joined together thinking that shifters shouldn’t hide. Do you still believe that?"

  There were some confused murmurs of assent.

  "Then it's time to do something about it. The reason shifters feel the need to hide is because they are afraid. We need to stand up and prove that we will protect our own."

  One of the guys that Marcus didn't know so well snorted as he lifted his beer to his mouth. "Not drunk? You're on something. Better stop whatever you're hitting. It's making you sound like a crazy person."

  Beside him, David nodded. "Speak so that we can actually understand you, man. You're making a grand speech about nothing."

  "Lexa Holmes." Marcus nearly shouted the name.

  The mutterings around the room stopped at once. Avala bent over his drink, muttering something. Marcus took a moment to make sure that he had all of their attention before he continued. His heart pounded, but the whole plan hinged on this. If his brothers failed him, then he was grabbing Adela and taking off. Moving to Ecuador or someplace like that.

  "We all know about Lexa," he continued. "How she takes down everybody who opposes her. But who has opposed her but lone men who can't fight against the tide? She has been terrorizing our streets and pulling our children to lives of crime. It's time to put an end to that."

  "And she'll put an end to us," David said. "Dude, you are seriously drunk. Go home and get sober before you get yourself killed."

  "So, you want Lexa to keep using high school students to run drugs to the rich humans that live in the cities?"

  More mutterings.

  Marcus waited for a moment. Grand speeches werern't exactly his strong suit and it was showing. He ground his teeth together. It wasn't going to end like this. He wasn't going to allow it to. "Listen to me! Humans think that we're violent and mindless, that we're thugs and criminals. People like Lexa Holmes make those lies true. If those kids get caught, will it be the humans they're delivering to that will get punished? Do you want the clan to end up in jail from the time they're twelve years old? Lexa is powerful because nobody has banded against her. We want the freedom to be ourselves, and before we can do that, she must be taken down."

  "Why should we? We're not part of the clan," another man said, his voice bitter. "After I was kicked out, I couldn't live with my mate and children or they'd be ostracized, too. The clan doesn't care about us, they only care about keeping their pretty little dreams. So why should we care?"

  "I spoke with the matriarch. If we can take down Lexa, then she might allow us back into the clan."

  A few of the men looked interested in that. A couple of them even stood and walked closer, as though they were anxious to hear more. Marcus walked through the crowd, making eye contact with everybody he could. Most of them appeared like he was convincing them. No doubt they, as he had been, were wanting to do something. Wanting to change.

  The only problem was if they didn't all stand together then those few of them who did stand would be washed away. Lexa couldn't take down the whole club, but she could take down individuals. They needed a final push. A final reason to do this.

  "I have a daughter. I know many of you have children. The matriarch will allow us back in the clan once we've taken care of Lexa Holmes. And if she doesn't? Then screw her! We'll start our own clan and we will ride the country and make sure all shifters everywhere know that we will not be free until we stop hiding!"

  "You'll start a clan?" Alava
was the one who spoke. "They say that you've got blood from the old alphas in you. Is that true?"

  Marcus nodded. "It is. And that blood is in my daughter, too. But we can't stand up for all the shifters in the country if we can't stand up for this community. Will we ride?"

  A cheer rose up. The men clapped their hands and stomped their feet. Adrenaline poured through Marcus' body and he continued to move through the crowd, accepting their pledges and encouraging them. Was this how it felt in the old days? When the matriarchs would take the alphas as mates and they would prepare their clans for battle?

  "Ride! Ride! Ride!" the club chanted as he got back to the bar and grabbed a beer. He needed just a touch of courage for what was going to happen next. "Ride! Ride! Ride!"

  Alava leaned over to him. The doctor's eyes were soft. "I hope you know what you are doing."

  "I do," Marcus returned. "I'm protecting my own."

  ***

  The night was warm and still. It made the dilapidated little motel that only the most desperate people went to all the more sinister. Trees stretched around it on both sides of the road. The perfect place for a murder. Marcus parked his bike and took off his helmet. It was expensive and he didn't want to ruin it when he inevitably shifted. He inhaled deeply in the night, but couldn't smell anything other than what smelled like a bottle of cheap perfume had been spread all over the parking lot.

  He headed toward the motel entrance when a car passed by on the road. It slowed down and a man, pearly white in the yellow light of the streetlamps, leaned out of the window. There was one burst of fire before the roaring from the trees overwhelmed the gunfire. Two huge bears pounced on the car. Working together, they flipped it over. The tires spun uselessly.

  More vehicles shot across the street and more bears came to meet them. Marcus saw Lexa's private car and he shifted, letting his clothes burst from his body, and charged towards her.

  Two other bears pounced on the vehicle just as Marcus reached it. He caught a glimpse of Lexa's face in the backseat as he crashed through the windshield. He grabbed the man sitting in the front seat and dragged him out. The man screamed and punched at him, but didn't shift. Human. Marcus tossed him to another bear, who turned him onto his stomach and pressed down on his back, pinning him in place.