Storm Bear

by Bianca D’Arc

  Ace saw Zak expertly applying zip ties to the man’s hands, now that the fire was all but out. A judicious tap to the temple sent the mage into unconsciousness where he couldn’t hurt anybody. Zak winked and melted back into the forest.

  All around, Ace heard screams cut short as the Grizzly Cove guys took care of business, taking out those that had been waiting to ambush them. But they didn’t get them all.

  Ace felt a bullet graze his shoulder, and he roared, spinning to assess the new threat. Three men had come out of the forest, holding military assault rifles. They smelled of blood magic to his sensitive bear nose, which put them on the wrong side of this battle. Ace charged, and they leveled their guns at him. This might hurt a bit, but bullets wouldn’t bring him down easily, and he could get to them before they did too much damage to him.

  He expected the sting of gunfire, but as he watched, their firearms were ripped from their grasp by localized winds. A mini tornado engulfed them, whipping their clothing and gear all over the place before lifting them off their feet and dumping them from about fifteen feet in the air, a few feet away.

  When they landed, Ace was there, roaring at them. One fool raised a knife. Ace bit his arm, breaking it with a satisfying crunch. The knife dropped to the pavement while the other two men limped away—right into the waiting arms of the Alpha bear and his friends, who were ready to accept their surrender.

  More magic made the air feel electric, but whatever it was the remaining mages were throwing at Sabrina, it never touched her. The barrier of wind that circled around her like an orb seemed to redirect every last mage-bolt. Ace watched with satisfaction, even as he scanned the area for more mundane attackers, as she sent the bolts back, with interest.

  Ace felt a bit of magic aimed at him, where he stood guard under Sabrina’s levitating form, but either she was deflecting most of the charge or it was simply sliding off his fur because the mages weren’t of that high caliber. Chances were good that the two fireball-wielding folks were their first string, and they’d been taken out early. What was left was strictly second-string. Not that they couldn’t do some damage of their own, but they were clearly no match for Ace’s natural protections—or for Sabrina.

  The growling and roaring in the woods went on for a while. Apparently, there’d been quite a large number of conventional fighters drafted into this confrontation. But they, too, had met their match in the elite fighting men of Grizzly Cove. Hardly a shot was fired, but within a few minutes, the enemy had been captured or otherwise neutralized.

  Ace stood guard as Sabrina continued to stand in the whirling, protective bubble of winds that kept her safe. Right now, that was the best place for her, even though no further attacks against them had been made for several minutes. He’d wait for Big John to sound the all-clear before he stood down from his alert pose, and even then, he wouldn’t take anything for granted. Sabrina was his to protect.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  About ten minutes after the noises ceased in the woods, Big John came out from the trees flanked by Brody and Zak, appearing like ghosts out of the mist. Not there one minute, walking toward Ace and Sabrina the next. Spooky. Even for shifters, these guys were impressive.

  “It’s safe to come down, now, ma’am,” John said quietly, addressing the air above Ace’s head where Sabrina still floated. Then, he looked at Ace. “We’ll form a protective ring around her while you get yourself together and check the bikes. I hope they’re not too damaged.” John frowned. “I’m sorry you two got hit. That definitely wasn’t part of our plan.”

  Ace grunted agreement and watched while John, Brody and Zak took up guard positions around him and Sabrina. They were turning their backs on him while he was in bear form and they were in their more vulnerable two-footed shape. It was a mark of trust that wasn’t lost on Ace.

  Still, Ace waited to shift until Sabrina was on the ground. They would be most vulnerable while he was shifting, though he’d pass through the battle form which was half-man, half-bear and all-badass, but he’d have to give that up to resume his human form. Naked. Exposed. Not totally without skills, but not quite as resistant to magical attack as when he wore his fur.

  With Sabrina on the ground, he let the change come. He paused in the battle form to take a look around. In this shape, he was taller than the other guys and could see out over their heads into the forest. His bear side sensed nothing hunting them. His human side saw that the threats had been dealt with. He allowed himself to slide into his fully human form and took Sabrina in his arms for a quick squeeze.

  “You okay?” he asked, unable to stop himself from checking on her welfare.

  “I’m fine. What about you? Is this blood?” Her voice rose in alarm, making John turn his head to look over his shoulder as Sabrina drew back and started examining Ace’s shoulder.

  “Just a graze,” John observed, then turned back to his guard position.

  “John’s right,” Ace confirmed. “It just passed through my fur and grazed the top layer of skin. You won’t even know it was there by lunchtime.”

  Wanting to get back into the safety of the town, Ace walked a few paces away, reaching between Brody and Zak to grab his clothes from where they’d fallen on the pavement. He dressed quickly while Zak fetched Ace’s boots and brought them back to him. Ace nodded and put them on.

  “Thanks, guys. How did we come out?” Ace asked cautiously. He wasn’t sure if John wanted to share that intel, but Ace was really curious.

  “Everyone we were aware of, and quite a few we weren’t too sure about, have been neutralized. We have a lot of prisoners to send to the Lords and other friends of ours who might have an interest in interrogation. We also have quite a few mortal fighters that seem like they’re under compulsion to me. Gus will check them out before we figure out where to send them. It might be as simple as freeing them from whatever blood magic spell that was used on them. I suspect the grannies will have something to say about what we do with those people. If they’re innocent, of course, we have no reason to hold them further—except for the fact that they’ve now seen us in action. It poses a bit of a problem,” John paused, grimacing as he looked around, “but we’ll sort it out. Want some help with your bikes?”

  “Sure. Thanks,” Ace agreed, taking it as a positive sign that John had been so free with the information. Having John’s confidence would be a bit step toward being accepted among the rest of his Clan.

  “Just wait here a minute. I’ll get your bike, okay?” Ace said gently to Sabrina.

  She looked shaken, now that the confrontation was over, and he didn’t want to stress her any further. He watched to make sure Brody and Zak stayed with Sabrina while he and John tracked the bikes into the brush. They’d flown a good few yards away from where they got hit by that magical pow.

  John went for Ace’s bike while Ace made for Sabrina’s. He wanted to take a good look at her bike, especially, before he’d let her ride it back to town. If they had to, they could hitch a ride on one of the trucks that were just starting to pull up to pick up the other guys and their prisoners. Ace could always come back for the bikes later. Ezra had access to a truck with a trailer he could probably arrange to borrow.

  “I’m no expert, but everything seems to be okay with this one. Just cosmetic damage from what I can see,” John reported from a few yards away as he lifted Ace’s Harley up to a standing position and began to roll it toward the road.

  Ace fell in beside John, rolling Sabrina’s bike, which looked surprisingly good for having been blown off the road by a massive puff of magical energy. He suspected the bushes had cushioned the fall. Either that, or Sabrina had done something in the split seconds of the attack to help the bikes land softly. He’d have to ask her later.

  “You know, your lady is something special,” John said as they rolled the bikes slowly toward the road over the rough terrain of the forest floor. “Urse is hoping your Sabrina will decide to stay in town, for a while, and as far as we’re concerned, she’s alr
eady proven her mettle.”

  What was the Alpha bear saying? Ace stilled inwardly, even as he kept moving.

  “I think Sabrina will be relieved to hear that. I know she’s come to love it here, and she’s found friendship with your mate and the other members of the magic circle, as she calls it. They’ve been good to her.”

  John stopped moving, pausing with the bike just as they were about to break out onto the road. He turned his head to regard Ace, catching his gaze even while he held the bike’s handlebars.

  “What about you? Have you given any thought to settling down here?”

  Damn. John was asking rather than telling. Ace hoped the Alpha wasn’t about to crush his hopes, but he had to take a chance.

  “Lately, I’ve thought of little else,” Ace admitted. “Settling down, I mean. But it all depends on her.” He broke eye contact with John to turn his gaze to Sabrina. She looked so small between the two bear shifters who were guarding her at the moment, but she was mighty in all the ways that counted.

  “I thought so,” John said with satisfaction, drawing Ace’s gaze back to meet the Alpha’s. “She’s your mate.” John’s smile held a sort of benevolent joy that lifted Ace’s hope for the future. No wonder so many followed this Alpha. He truly cared about people. That much was clear.

  “I believe she is, but she’s got to feel it, too.” Ace frowned. “How do you manage being mated to a mage? How do you know she feels the same bond? It’s not like it is for shifters, right?”

  “We shifters just know, of course,” John allowed. “Each species has their own ways of knowing, and each individual may be more attuned to their fate than others, but mages have their ways, too. They’re mysterious to us, but I feel my mate in my heart. In my soul. I know she feels as much as I do, and once you both admit it to each other, you’ll know whether your bond is fully reciprocated. Trust me.”

  Ace sighed. “I hope you’re right.”

  John chuckled and started rolling the bike onto the asphalt. “You’ll be fine. Just find your balls, pluck up your courage, and tell the woman how you feel.” Thankfully, he kept his tone low enough that their conversation was private. “Trust in Sabrina if you don’t trust me. It’s pretty obvious she’s crazy about you. And, in case you’re wondering, Brody already ran our standard background checks on you and your brothers. You passed.”

  There was no opportunity to speak further as they rolled the bikes closer to where Sabrina and her two bodyguards waited. Ace didn’t have time to puzzle over the Alpha’s revelations. He was too busy watching the alignment of each wheel, trying to judge whether they were safe to ride back into town or not.

  He gave the bikes as thorough a check as he could under the circumstances and deemed them safe enough if they kept the speed down. Sabrina looked relieved to be able to reclaim her bike and head it back toward town. Ace was right there with her, and they took off with a convoy of trucks filled with John’s men. The vans full of prisoners would be dealt with separately. Frankly, Ace was fine to let John and his team handle that stuff. All Ace was concerned with, right now, was Sabrina.

  They drove back a lot slower than they’d ridden out, but they weren’t all that far from the ward, and once they were within the safety of it, Ace felt himself breathing a bit easier. Some of their escort turned back at that point, leaving them with only one truck following them into town.

  Sabrina was trembling a bit from what they’d just been through, but riding her bike—albeit slowly—through town, and right into the hotel parking lot, helped settle her nerves. The truck that had escorted them back to town had left them as they drove down Main Street. The truck went into the town hall parking area, and the bikes continued on their own down the street to the hotel. It was safe enough. They were in the heart of Grizzly Cove, after all. Sabrina suspected Big John had taken the opportunity to come back and start placing sensitive phone calls to their allies. But that wasn’t her problem. Right now, she just had to stop shaking.

  When she shut off the engine, she sat there for a moment, getting her bearings and trying to still the fine tremors coursing through her limbs. She was very much afraid that, if she tried to stand up, her knees would buckle.

  “Okay?” Ace’s low voice came to her from just a couple of feet away.

  He’d parked his Harley and come over to her, all without making a sound. She met his gaze and saw the gentle concern in his eyes. Suddenly, she wanted nothing more than to be in his arms. She got off her bike and stood on wobbly legs, reaching for him. Ace got the message, closing the distance between them and taking her into his arms.

  “I feel like such a wimp, falling apart like this, now,” she whispered, her cheek pressed to the reassuring beat of his heart. She could just hear it faintly under the layer of thin fabric covering his chest.

  “Hey, now is the best time to fall apart. After the action is over, and everyone is safe. You did good, sweetheart. Real good,” he crooned, swaying just the tiniest bit from side to side in a rocking motion that seemed to help calm her.

  “I was scared,” she admitted. “I was so scared I was going to let you down, and you’d get hurt.” She rubbed her cheek against his chest, clinging to him as her nerves steadied. It felt like she could tell him her deepest secrets after what they’d been through together. “You were so brave and so amazing. I love your bear form, Ace.” She took a deep breath. “Just as much as I love your human form.” She lifted her head and sought his gaze. “I…just…love you, Ace.”

  “You do?”

  His eyes swirled with shifter energy, and she knew she was talking to both the bear and the man. She nodded, feeling hopeful, though they’d never made such open declarations to each other. She nodded and held her breath. Waiting.

  “That’s good to know, darlin’,” he told her, grinning as her heart soared in anticipation. “Because I love you, too. I’ve been agonizing for days to figure out how to tell you.” He leaned closer and whispered low so that the words were just between them and the wind. “You’re my mate.”

  Joy flooded her, and the winds around her rejoiced. Or, maybe, they were just dancing to her own happy feelings as her spirit floated on the air around them.

  “I am?” She had to be one hundred percent certain. “I mean… I know shifters mate for life. Is that what you want? To be my mate…forever?”

  Ace nodded slowly, his grin lighting her world. “Forever, Sabrina. You are my mate, my life and my hope for a happy future. Will you consent to share your life with me?” He dropped to one knee and smiled up at her. “I think this is the way humans do it, right?” She laughed, happy tears gathering in her eyes as he went the extra mile for her. “Will you marry me, Sabrina?”

  “Yes! Oh, yes!” She reached for him, and he sprang back to his feet, taking her in his arms and lifting her off her feet. He swung her around in exuberant joy as she laughed and tried to hold onto this moment to remember forever. The moment she found true love. Forever.

  She felt like she was floating on air, and then, she realized…she was. Or, rather, they were. She’d been so caught up in the moment, she must have allowed her power to wrap around them both and lift them into the air. Sabrina giggled a little self-consciously. She looked around and saw a few people in the lobby of the hotel, staring at them out the big front window.

  “Sorry,” she told Ace. “I’ll fix this.”

  “No worries, babe. I like flying with you.” His sexy smile might’ve caused her to lift them higher if it hadn’t been for the audience watching them.

  “I’d like to get better at the whole flying thing before I take you up with me. I’d die if anything happened to you.” And, just like that, they landed gently back on the ground.

  “Same goes for me, Sabrina,” Ace told her. “From now on, we have each other to consider whenever we think about doing potentially risky things. Promise me you’ll remember that.”

  He looked so serious. She reached up to rub his deliciously muscular shoulders. “I will if you will,
but to be honest, I never intended to do anything dangerous. It all just sort of happened.”

  He gave her a quick kiss that felt like approval. “And you handled everything that came at you with style and aplomb, but now that you’ve had a taste of danger, I hope you won’t seek it out.”

  “Are you kidding me?” She shook her head. “I thought you knew me better than that by now.”

  Ace gave her an appraising look. “I do. And…I don’t. We haven’t been together all that long as humans count time, but that’s what happens, sometimes, when you find your perfect mate. We get to spend the rest of our lives learning every nuance of each other’s personalities.” He started walking, his arm around her waist as he guided them both into the hotel. “For my part, I can’t wait to get started.”

  She giggled, again, as he lifted her in his arms and carried her across the threshold. For a shifter, he certainly had covered all the human traditions. She loved that he was making such an effort to meet her halfway. She’d do the same for him, she vowed.

  But, first, she was going to make love to her mate. These moments were the start of the rest of their lives together and she wanted to mark it with a tender, wild, delicious mating.

  Ace carried her all the way to the big bed and lay her down upon it. He then spent the next ten minute alternately teasing her, kissing her, undressing her, and then tasting the skin he uncovered, bit by bit. Her body ached with need by the time he stood next to the bed and removed all his clothing. She’d tried to push it away, but her efforts had been thwarted by his focus on her. She didn’t mind, of course, but she wanted to feel his skin against hers.

  She didn’t want to wait any longer. She’d gone from shaky with fear and delayed reaction to being shaky with need for her one true love. Her mate. She still couldn’t quite believe it. He’d been feeling the same undeniable attraction. It all started to make sense to her, knowing what she now knew. The instant liking. The magnetism. She understood why she’d been powerless to stop herself falling in love with him. She couldn’t stop Fate. It was destiny that they be together.