by Amy Star
Vincent flinched and turned away from the site of Vincenzo as he listened to his father finish up his conversation; he didn’t like looking into his stressful future as a leader. Vincent’s bluster had gotten him past the secretary and into his father’s office, but it hadn’t been enough to make Vincenzo hang up on his phone call. Vincent supposed this was a good thing though it was hard to rectify the action while he was so worked up. When Vincent heard the phone nestle back in its cradle, he turned around again to confront his father.
“Why didn’t you listen to me? There is no mistaking this fire as an attack and now we’ve lost lives. The clan doesn’t feel safe...we’ve failed them.” Vincent finished by banging a fist on the top of his father’s solid wood desk.
Vincenzo simply steepled his fingers and looked out at his son with calm caramel eyes. “Yes, that was unfortunate. While I’ll admit that your instinct was on point, your arguments failed you. They were too emotional, not grounded enough in fact or logic. Leaders don’t have the privilege of working off instinct alone. Political relations need to be considered just as heavily and crossing our nearest clan is not a smart move. Already it’s going to jeopardize the checks and balances of the entire inter-clan system.” Vincenzo finished with a sigh, his hand dropping down to pick a piece of lint off of his gray suit.
Vincent was slack-jawed. “How can you sound more upset about politics than the lives of our clan members?!”
Vincenzo’s eyes were sharp when they met Vincent’s again. “I am dismayed by the situation as a whole; both as a leader to a family who has died and as the reigning clan leader in the system. It’s a mess that could have been prevented if I’d had real support and not a child of a son.” Vincenzo was furious, seething anger. “You have to start thinking logically, you have to start concentrating. This is not a side job, this is your life, this affects the lives of your people!”
Vincent couldn’t take it a moment more. What did he think he was going to accomplish trying to tell his father “I told you so.” Vincent turned toward the door, planning to exit and not return for a long time. He’d keep connection to phone meetings alone. But he couldn’t resist a parting jab, “Well, Father, if I’m failing to become the leader you want, perhaps you should blame my teacher.” Vincent watched as his massive father deflated. Vincenzo’s shoulders went slack and his eyes drifted to the mountains beyond the strip, the same mountains that Vincent himself had been dreaming over that very morning.
For the second time that day, Vincent’s heart panged with an emotion...regret? longing? he wasn’t sure. He opened his mouth to backtrack his words, but his father cut him off. “Go.” The single word holding the tone of an order that couldn’t be denied, no matter how broken the man appeared at the moment physically. Vincent edged out the door, closing the gateway to his father with a soft click.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Sipping down the chocolate dregs of her caramel mocha, Jane checked her phone for the third time in as many minutes. Happily full on a chocolate and egg breakfast of her choosing, Jane’s frustration had all but disappeared. It was true that she’d taken the time before Midnight Ink opened for the day to drink her mocha and jot down a list of things she wanted to talk to Vincent about. The rational side of her saw that Vincent was only trying to show his love for her and as a man who was insanely wealthy he didn’t seem to have a filter for how much money was too much to spend on your lover of two days. Though, as Jane fiddled with the mother of pearl buttons on the bodice of her dress, she was at least grateful that the man had good taste.
Smoothing down the dress, she checked the schedule and saw the red flashing light on the werebear email account that signified the schedule was to be disregarded as an emergency was dealt with. Jane clicked over to the Google Hangout where the other assistants were throwing up details as they had them. Apparently, there had been another attack by the rival werebear clan and a family was dead. Jane didn’t know the family personally, but she did feel connected to the inner workings of this clan and her heart hurt for their loss. After the emotional surge of finding out what had happened, all Jane wanted was for Vincent to come through the door so she could apologize for that morning and ask how she could help. Jane hated to think that on top of it all he was probably wondering what was up with her.
Jane was broken from her musings as a client walked through the door. Pierced from head to toe, the girl still managed to look a little nervous walking into the parlor. Jane smiled and welcomed Xavier’s first client in and thought to herself that you really could never tell who took the experience of getting inked well, and who folded like a house of cards. Eyeing up piercing girl, Jane made a mental note to get a tray ready with some Gatorade, orange juice, and a few cookies. The electrolytes and sugar would boost her system so she didn’t faint from nervousness. A quick chat revealed that the girl was getting the beginnings of a sleeve done today and she was in for a six hour sitting. Jane didn’t blame her for being a little anxious about the event. That was a long time for anyone to sit in one of those chairs!
Following the first client, the rest of the artists’ patrons filed in, staggered in ten-minute increments so as not to overwhelm Jane or the artists themselves. The day moved quickly after that. Between clients, consultations, and the curious general public, Jane had her hands full.
Keeping one eye on her phone and regularly checking the werebear account and chat told her nothing, since everything remained silent. At her break, Jane dashed out for a sandwich and ate it in Vincent’s office, shameful that she was doing so only to surround herself with his scent. Jane rolled her eyes at her own expense thinking that she had it worse than she thought.
Xavier swung in with an obligatory knock that seemed to follow him into the room rather than precede him. Half way into a “My man…” Xavier was pulled up short by the sight of Jane rather than Vincent.
“Is he still not back yet?” Xavier asked checking the time on his phone as he sat down in the chair across from Jane.
Mouth full of ham and cheese, Jane shook her head and swallowed before answering more fully. “I don’t have any information beyond what you probably already know. A family was killed just off the strip in one of the upper-class suburbs. It was a massive fire, intentionally set as far as the fire department can tell. But that’s all I know.”
“It’s frustrating, the bear in me does not like not knowing where my threat is going to come from,” Xavier intoned dragging his fingers through his blond mane.
Jane looked on thoughtfully, thinking that the way the action displayed his biceps to perfection should have had some type of effect on her. But the distant smell of Vincent affected her body far more than the Adonis in front of her. “Try being me. I spend all my time wishing that email account would just stop for a few minutes and now all I see is a blinking red light. The silence is killing me.” Jane sighed as she put down the rest of her sandwich. “I just wish I knew he was OK.”
Xavier’s eyes narrowed at Jane’s expression. There was real emotion there, she was hooked and hooked deep. Carrie was right, this was a mate match on both sides and while Xavier shuddered at the thought of finding his life partner, he was happy to see that Vincent had found his in this curvy, caring human. Vincent needed to transition from wild child to man. He wished his friend could see that fighting his destiny was not the route to take. This woman and the job of the leader of the clan were going to drag him into the future no matter what. It sure would be easier for everyone if Vincent didn’t do it kicking and screaming.
What Xavier needed to do was push the envelope a little. If he couldn’t nudge Vincent outright to take a stand on either issue, perhaps he could get the ball rolling through Jane. “You know, the good thing about it all is that the werebears were mated and both were in the house.” At Jane’s horrified expression, Xavier’s hunch that she knew nothing about mated bears was confirmed. With a fake sigh, Xavier continued, “Yeah, mated bears are weird like that - they might have both lived without their
children if one of them had been outside the house. Could you imagine living like that?”
Jane’s mouth drifted open, confusion entering her eyes, so Xavier layered it on. “Oh yeah, the mated bear relationship is once in a lifetime for most. You sustain each other, prolonging your lives until fate cuts the cord. It's a very close relationship. Most werebears are beyond overprotective...though I’ve heard the sex is pretty hot, too. Like inferno hot.”
Xavier flicked his eyes to Jane and watched as her expression turned red as a tomato and he’d decided he’d baited her with enough facts to get the ball rolling with Vincent. “So yeah, you should ask Vincent about it all. I’ve gotta go tattoo. But it’s interesting, culturally you know? See ya!” Xavier said with a mad dash back to the studio. Yup, that should do it, Xavier thought with a fist pump for himself.
***
That night, Jane didn’t see Vincent until after midnight when he slipped under the soft sheets of the king-sized bed naked. He wasn’t interested in sex, he seemed to just want to be close to her, and that’s all Jane wanted too. Vincent had texted her later in the day to say that he was doing OK and to clear his schedule for the next two days. Jane made the appropriate calls and one of the other tattoo artists had offered to take some of the tattoos if people were OK with switching artists.
The scheduling nightmare had taken a few hours of Jane’s time and Carrie had dropped off some dinner for her around seven. By eleven, Jane had been drifting off in bed and Vincent’s warmth had only woken her for a few minutes before it relaxed her off to sleep again.
It had been an overwhelming few days and Jane was happy for the breathing room they’d unexpectedly found. Vincent had become less intense and it felt nice for once to be the one taking care of him. Jane could see how addicting it could be to care for someone so intimately, and it gave her a view of how Vincent felt as he had been trying to care for her.
Jane and Vincent had spent most of their free time relaxing and chatting. Nights were spent cuddling in front of the TV, basking in the time alone. They had tried to keep things light at night because Vincent’s days were a grand mashup of decisions made between a rock and a hard place. But Jane hadn’t forgotten about Vincent’s promise to explain more about the werebear clan and she had been jotting down notes about questions that she had.
At the top of her list was the question about this whole mated bear thing. Carrie had mentioned the subject weeks ago and Xavier’s weird digression into the subject the other day had piqued her interest. For awhile, she’d been using the topic to scare Vincent away, but she was ready to find out what the deal was because it seemed to be an important part of the were culture.
Jane was also especially curious because it obviously had something to do with romantic relationships. Xavier had referred to the married couple that had died in the house fire as being “mated.” But from other mentions of the term it didn’t seem to necessitate marriage, just a joining or connection of two werebears. It seemed intense and a sneaking suspicion in her gut told her that the result of the conversation about mating would have an affect on her relationship with Vincent.
Their relationship had moved fast and furious into the territory of “serious” though, if Jane had to classify it in Facebook terms, it would probably fall under “It’s Complicated.” Jane drummed her fingers on the kitchen table in Vincent’s suite. Perhaps it was time to have a real conversation. She wanted to know where this relationship was going before they got too deep and Jane was terrified that she’d already lost her heart to the big man. And it wasn’t fair to her if she’d have to call it all off because he was “mated” to someone else. Or, and Jane was scared of this, if the were community wasn’t a good fit for her. Currently, she was dealing with it all because she knew these people only as humans, but there was a whole other side, literally, to them that she had no basis of knowledge for.
Jane slapped her anxious hand down on the table to jar herself out of the downward spiral of thoughts. She was a woman of action. She’d wanted to live in Las Vegas and she made it work; if she wanted this man, she was going to have to make it work. Decision made, she hopped up and grabbed her purse. Jane wanted to surprise Vincent and she wanted to do it on her own dime. It was time to be an active participant in this relationship.
***
Vincent walked through the door around seven and took a deep breath, filtering the delicious scents wafting through the apartment. He smelled roasting chicken and vegetables, an open bottle of red wine, and the faint aroma of his mate’s scent coming to him from the bedroom. Vincent let the homey smells waft over him, easing the stress and strain of the past few days. An official warning had been issued to the rival clan, through the proper channels in the inter-clan political system. A memorial had been set up for the family who had passed in the arson case and the werebears who set the fire were being held for questioning.
The last few days had been wonderful for him; Jane had given him the space to leave his work at the door, only encouraging him to talk about it when he wanted to. It was a relief to find that Jane was as sensitive to his needs as he tried to be to hers. Maybe he could just keep her in this corner of his life. A woman to work within the tattoo space and come home to at night. He could give in to his mated instincts that much to keep them relatively pacified and still stay strong and single in the other areas of his life. It would have the added advantage of keeping Jane safe, too.
Vincent looked up as the woman in question came out of the bedroom. Her hair was still a little damp and she was barefoot, wearing a pair of boyfriend fit jeans and a peacock colored scoop necked t-shirt. The effect was casual and comfortable while still showing off her best assets. Moving forward, Vincent leaned down and gave Jane a welcoming kiss.
“Mmm, something smells good. What is the occasion?” Vincent asked as he stepped back from Jane and moved to take off his shoes.
Jane moved past him and into the kitchen. “Oh, I was tired of room service and thought you might be, too. I’ve missed cooking since I moved to Las Vegas. I’m no chef, but I like to prepare a meal every now and then. Roast chickens were on sale.”
Vincent nodded and made a mental note to get Jane a card for a shared account. He didn’t want her basing their meals off of what was on sale. Plus, if she was going to cook for the two of them, he wanted to foot the bill. “I’ll get you a card for a household account. That way if you want to cook for us, or buy something for the suite, you can use that money.”
Jane paused in her salad preparations. “I don’t mind using my own money. I like helping out. Since I pay no rent now, I’m flush with disposable income.” There, that sounded happy and reasonable, even the Alpha-with-a-capital-A that Vincent was couldn’t argue with that. Risking a glance over her chopped tomatoes Jane could see that one side of Vincent’s mouth was downturned, but he had accepted her statement.
Heartened, she continued, “Actually, I was wondering if you had time for my questions about werebears? I don’t want to stress you out if you’re not up to it tonight, but I was hoping to find out more about your community and culture.”
Vincent visibly brightened at this idea. “Yeah, I’d love to answer any questions you have. I’d been wondering when you would be ready to ask them.”
“I’ll admit it took me awhile to be in a place where I felt like I wanted to. But knowing that you and most of my friends are werebears hasn’t scared me off. If anything, I’m finding myself pulled deeper and deeper, and I want to know what I’m jumping into.” Jane said as she scraped salad toppings from her cutting board into the bowl.
Vincent moved to sit on a barstool tucked under the countertop across from Jane. “Did you know what you wanted to start with?”
Jane’s eyes flicked up to Vincent and back to the salad and decided she was going straight for the kill. “Uhm, well, Carrie and Xavier have both mentioned that the ‘mated’ thing was very important to understanding the werebear community. Do you mind telling me more about that?”
“Well, Carrie didn’t say much at all actually, just that it was important for the community. Xavier was more descriptive but confusing.” Jane rolled her eyes. “You know how Xavier can get. He’s all half-finished thoughts and ideas,” she said twirling a spoon in the air to underscore Xavier’s ADD type personality. “He mentioned stuff about intense emotions, sex, and something about affecting lifespan. The whole thing came up with him because he said those two werebears that died were mated, and it was lucky that they were together when they died. I tried not to think about it too much, because the possibilities that statement brought up made my head hurt. I figured I’d let you explain it better.”
Vincent decided to attack the life thing first. It was less emotional and more biological. “When a werebear is mated, the two life forces feed off one another. It doesn’t make people invincible, but often a werebear can’t die unless their mate dies, too.”