Spirit Bear

by D'Arc, Bianca

  Laura was drained, but she could feel something inside her trying to regroup and gather more strength, even as her spirit revolted against it and fought to maintain its own power. She would not be used in such a way again.

  “Seen enough?” Gus’s voice floated over her as if she was down some deep well.

  She looked up just enough to see Mellie’s horrified face at one end of the porch. The magic rose and wanted to strike out at her, but Laura was through being used. She fought it. Tooth and claw, her inner wolf fought against the compulsion.

  “Get me out of here,” she growled at Gus, just barely able to hang on as the power tried to build up enough again to strike out. “Now.” She hoped he understood the urgency of her wolf’s growl.

  “She’s fighting it.” Marilee’s voice came to Laura from the other side of the porch and sent a cooling shock over her singed senses. Her daughter. Her baby. She would not let the evil magic anywhere near her child.

  Laura was still doubled over, but she felt Gus’s arms slide around her middle, and she didn’t fight. She let him haul her backwards through the still-open door to the building.

  Thank heaven. He was taking her at her word and using his greater strength to pull her away from danger. Not danger to her—but the danger that she posed to everyone outside. Everyone, except Marilee, of course.

  Laura was grateful that the guesses of the magic circle had been correct. She felt the compulsion winding down inside her as the targets were removed. Or, rather, as she was removed from the targets. With any luck, she would revert to the state she’d been in before. A coiled spring, ready to strike when the opportunity arose.

  She just had to keep herself away from the opportunities.

  She had to go back to being a prisoner within her own apartment.

  Laura wanted to rage at the unfairness of it all, but she was too tired. As the energies pulled back and wound down, she was left limp and depressed all over again. Drained. Which was a relief, actually. She’d been so worried that, once triggered fully, she wouldn’t be able to revert back to her un-triggered state. They would’ve had to put her down if that was the case. She couldn’t have lived long in that condition.

  Gus didn’t let go of her once, for which she was grateful. He lifted her in his strong arms and carried her up the stairs and back into her apartment. Only then, did he let her go, placing her on the couch with a gentle touch and sitting down beside her.

  “That was some firepower,” he said, smiling at her. Why was he smiling at her? Hadn’t he just seen her try to kill one of his friends? “So… Do you feel like blasting me?”

  “No,” she answered weakly.

  Her wolf half was tired from fighting the power, but the power didn’t want to rise against Gus. Perhaps it knew she would never hurt Gus. She’d kill herself before she hurt him.

  “That’s good,” he replied, still smiling. “Looked like you calmed down when you saw Marilee, too. Don’t want to blast her either, I bet.”

  Laura shook her head tiredly. “No. I could never hurt my baby.”

  “The ones who crafted the spells to control your magic probably knew that and left a workaround to keep you viable as a sleeper agent,” Gus observed. He sounded cool now. Almost clinical. She couldn’t understand why he wasn’t more upset with her.

  She’d loosed terrible magics against his friend. Magics she didn’t even know she could command, to be honest. It wasn’t natural for a shifter to have that kind of firepower. Then again, she’d always lived as a shifter, but she had fey blood. She’d utilized that connection to escape her captors, as much as she could. She shouldn’t be surprised that they’d figured it out and used her ancestry against her.

  Somehow, they’d tapped into that hidden part of her and roused something she never would have otherwise detected. They’d found power inside her that could come out—though it hurt like a bitch. When that magic had ripped out of her, she’d felt something tear loose inside, and she almost believed that a rift had been created that would never be sealed. And, oh, how it had hurt.

  “I don’t think I’m ever going to be the same after today,” she whispered, trembling in the aftermath.

  “You won’t. You’ll be stronger,” he assured her. “When you survive this, you’ll be more than you were before.”

  She turned to look at him, nonplussed. “How could you know that?”

  “It’s the strongest theory of the many we’ve batted around about you,” he admitted with a slight shrug. “But, more than that, it’s something I feel. An instinct. Intuition, if you will.” He paused, considering her. “I’m seldom wrong when I have this kind of feeling,” he told her in a low, steady voice that made her want to hope he was right.

  “Shifters don’t do magic,” she insisted quietly.

  “Some do,” he said, surprising her. “You might end up being one of them. But first, we have to see how this all plays out. Mellie and Urse got a good look at what happened down there just now. So did Sabrina and Marilee. They were watching your aura and the power that rose in you. They’re comparing notes, even as we speak, and I’m sure they’re going to come up with a strategy to help fix this. They won’t rest until they have a solution. You can be sure of that.”

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Gus had been unprepared for the harsh reality of what he had just seen. He hadn’t thought it would be quite that bad, or that powerful. Oh, he knew Laura had some fey blood somewhere back in her ancestry, but he hadn’t thought it would manifest quite so intensely. That had been some real power she’d been throwing out there, in the middle of Main Street.

  He didn’t want to let on to her just how shocked he’d been. Luckily, as a shaman, he’d had years to perfect his poker face. People often told him things that would shock others, seeking his help with various problems in their lives. He couldn’t react negatively when people trusted him with their deepest secrets. He couldn’t really react in any way at all. He’d learned to just take it in and let it flow over him, so he wouldn’t betray his inner thoughts in a way that might jeopardize his ability to help the person revealing themselves so deeply to him.

  Gus used that skill, now. It was clear that Laura was depressed enough as it was. He didn’t want to add to her burden. It was hard enough to counteract the lethargy—or whatever it was—that had been added to the layers of spells cast upon her. That lethargy seemed cruelly designed to stop her from doing anything about her situation, once she became aware of it. It was likely meant to make her wallow in self-pity and depression so that she wouldn’t seek help or even try to help herself.

  Gus was having none of that. He was happy to see that when push came to shove, Laura had fought against it. She wasn’t a normally passive person, and her captors must have realized that. They’d done what they could to subdue her normal warrior reaction—and they’d succeeded to some extent. She was definitely looking glum to Gus’s eyes, but she was also braver than she realized, and he knew even this kind of magic wouldn’t hold her down long.

  She had already begun to break the depression’s hold. He would point out to her that she’d held off releasing a third volley of magical energy through what had looked to him like a Herculean effort. She’d managed, though, which had to be counted as a victory. And not just a small victory. No, that had been a real accomplishment.

  There was a knock on the door, followed immediately by a familiar voice. “Mama? It’s me. Marilee.”

  Gus looked at Laura as he rose from the couch. “You okay to see her?” he asked gently, fully prepared to run interference if he had to, even between mother and child.

  Laura nodded tightly. “I couldn’t hurt her, even when the magic was high. You two are probably the only two people in this town that are safe around me right now.”

  She looked so forlorn, he really wanted to go over and give her a hug. Marilee was tapping on the door again, though, so it would have to wait. At least, for a little while.

  Gus went over and opened the door, letti
ng the younger woman in. Marilee didn’t waste any time. She ran right over to her mother and took her into that hug that Gus had wanted to provide, without hesitation. It was a bit of a marvel. Marilee was often a very timid little wolf, but she’d been learning to stand on her own two feet since mating with King. He supported her, encouraging her. It was a good match, and a true mating, and slowly, Marilee was starting to come into her own.

  “Are you okay? How do you feel?” Marilee asked her mother, breaking off the hug to hold Laura at arm’s length and get a good look at her.

  “Tired,” Laura answered. “Kind of wrung out.”

  “It hurt when the magic ripped out of you, didn’t it?” Marilee asked quietly, her tone solemn and concerned. “I saw it. Your aura changed.”

  “It hurt,” Laura confirmed, her expression grim. “It hurt a lot.”

  Marilee hugged Laura again, rubbing her back with a reassuring hand. “I’m so sorry,” Marilee crooned, offering comfort, “but we learned so much.” Her tone grew more excited, and she drew back, again, to look at Laura and Gus. “Everybody is meeting, right now, to discuss everything, but I wanted to come check on you, first. Urse and Mellie both seemed really positive that they could do something to break a lot of the spells laid on you. They wanted me to tell you that it’ll probably be tomorrow morning before they’re ready to try anything. For one thing, they want you to rest and recuperate. A lot of that magical energy came right out of your being, Urse said. She thinks you need to eat and sleep, in that order, so you’ll be ready in the morning to fight against the spells, while Urse and Mellie try to break them in various ways. They’re going to work through the night on different strategies, I think.”

  “Please tell them both—tell all of them—that I’m very grateful for their efforts on my behalf. And please…apologize to Peter. I really didn’t want to blast him.” Laura cringed. “I feel just awful about that.”

  Marilee laughed. “Oh, don’t worry about him. I heard him laughing with Mellie and talking about how much fun it was.” Marilee shook her head. “I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to the way these bears think. My mate thinks fighting six guys at one time was just a warm up, and he didn’t even blink when the final two guys pulled guns on him.” Marilee shook her head.

  Gus laughed at her reaction. “Ladies, the things we saw in the service probably make us a little different than most other people—even shifters. Some of the stuff that went down was pretty insane,” he admitted, shaking his head. “I served with Peter, and he always had a berserker streak. We still tease him about it.” Gus sat down in the chair at a right angle to the couch the women shared. “If anyone would find facing down mage bolts of uncertain strength fun, it’s him.”

  Marilee bounced up from her seat on the couch and smiled lovingly at her mother. “I just came to make sure you were okay. I’m going to go back and listen in on what they all saw and what they’re planning. If there are any major changes, I’ll call…or…well…I’m sure the guys will keep Gus informed. I know they have better communications options.” She winked at Gus, and he had to laugh. Her mate had probably been telling her all about their tac radios and hand signals. Special Forces teams all had many unique ways of communicating important information without using civilian channels or devices. “Oh! I forgot,” Marilee exclaimed as her cell phone buzzed in her jeans pocket. She reached back for it and headed for the door. “Nell, Ash and Tina sent food over from the bakery with King. I’m going to meet him at the stairs and bring it in, then I’ll get out of your hair.”

  “Please, thank them all for me,” Laura said in a subdued tone. She looked…haggard. That was the only word for her depleted condition. Laura leaned her head back to rest on the top of the couch and closed her eyes.

  Marilee sent Gus a worried look, but he tried to reassure her with his calm expression. It seemed to work as she took one last glance at her mother then fled out of the apartment to fetch the food delivery. She was back in less than a minute and put the bags on the kitchen island, then went to the couch to give her mother another hug and kiss.

  “Call me if you need me,” she said, then looked up at Gus until he nodded. “Try not to worry,” she said softly to her mother. “Everyone wants to make this better. I won’t accept any other outcome.”

  That got a small chuckle out of Laura as she sat up straighter on the couch and looked at her daughter with loving, but sad eyes. “That may not be possible, sweetie. It’s not completely under our control.”

  Marilee’s expression became fierce. “It will be,” she promised, leaning forward to kiss her cheek again, before getting up and leaving the apartment.

  She closed the door behind her, and Gus got up to lock it, just in case. While it wasn’t truly necessary to lock doors in Grizzly Cove, in this case, the more obstacles between anyone accidentally encountering Laura in her current state, the better. Of course, locking the door from this side was meant more as a reminder to anyone who might be on the other side of the door that the place was off-limits, for now.

  Everybody knew that, so Gus’s gesture was more symbolic than anything. He was locking the world out, not necessarily locking Laura in. She had the ability to turn the latch and leave, but she wouldn’t. Not unless there was some further component to the spells laid on her by her captors that he didn’t yet know about. But that was highly unlikely, and Gus would be with her at all times. He wasn’t about to let her out of his sight for a moment. He cared too much about what happened to her.

  They had admitted their love to one another, but they hadn’t taken that final leap to the topic of a mating between them. Gus had never been mated, so he didn’t know exactly what to expect, but he thought privately—and had for a while now—that Laura was his one true mate. For her part, Gus knew that Laura was very confused about what she’d thought had been a true mating between herself and Marilee’s father, Roger, the human mage.

  The very fact that Gus believed Laura to be his mate negated the validity of that prior, so-called, mating. They’d talked about it a bit, but no decisions or declarations had been made. Gus had wanted to give Laura time to come to grips with all the new information. He knew it had to hurt her to think that she’d either deluded herself or been bamboozled by Roger into believing that he was her true mate.

  With everything that had happened to Laura recently, he’d wanted to give her space to really think things through before he put her on the spot and asked her to share the rest of her life with him. He knew in his heart that they were meant to be together. He just had to time it right so that she was in a place emotionally that she could not only accept that—accept him—but welcome a new mate into her life.

  It would be another big adjustment in a string of them that had hit Laura lately. Gus was trying to be patient, but sleeping with her…making love with her…wasn’t enough to satisfy his soul. He wanted the commitment, the surety that mating would give them both. His inner bear demanded it, and that grouchy grizzly was growing ever more impatient to claim his pretty white wolf for all time.

  Gus and Laura shared the thick sandwiches that the Baker sisters had sent over. Gus was gratified to see Laura eat an entire sandwich and some chips. Her strength had been depleted by the confrontation, and she would need the calories to help repair any damage done to the inner fabric of her being. Sleep was the other thing she needed. Desperately.

  When she finished with her sandwich, and her eyes started drifting closed right there at the table, Gus picked her up in his arms and carried her to the bedroom. He helped her undress and tucked her in before leaving the bedroom to quickly tidy up the food and put the leftovers in the fridge. She might wake in the middle of the night and want a midnight snack. It would be a shame to let the food spoil when it would come in handy later.

  After cleaning up and setting up coffee for the morning, Gus rejoined Laura in the bedroom. She was sound asleep and didn’t wake when he climbed beneath the covers with her. He would hold her through the night and pray for a
good outcome tomorrow.

  Laura woke sometime later. It felt like hours had passed, and judging from the lack of even the faintest light filtering in through the window, it was sometime in the middle of the night. A quick glance at the bedside clock told her it was a little after three in the morning. She took stock, silently, lying in bed, staring up at the ceiling. She still felt groggy, but a slight buzzing in the background of her mind wouldn’t allow her to go back to sleep. Not at the moment, anyway.

  Slowly, she moved her legs over the side of the bed. She had a robe by her feet on top of the covers, where she habitually kept it. She reached for it, gratified to find it was still there. She wrapped herself in its soft silkiness and got up. She knew there was probably no way to rise from the bed without also waking Gus, but it couldn’t be helped. She couldn’t stay there any longer. The quiet and darkness was getting to her. She needed light and color. She needed to see for herself that she wasn’t still in a dark box, unable to leave.

  Silently, she padded out into the living area on bare feet. She was aware of Gus and the rustling of the sheets behind her as she left the bedroom, but he followed at a slower pace, which didn’t seem threatening. He wasn’t her jailor. He was, instead, a companion, his calm presence expressing, without words, his concern for her safety and well-being. She was okay with that. More than okay, if truth be told. She loved having him show her in so many unspoken ways that he truly did love her.

  The more that happened to them—and the more he stayed beside her, helping, not hemming her in emotionally, though she had no other choice than to keep herself physically separate from the rest of the townsfolk—the more she felt his love. He was such a good man. Such a supportive partner. She would have been within her rights to not trust the declarations of love they had both made. She’d been burned before by a man who spoke of love.

  But, with Gus, it was all different. Her wariness couldn’t stand in the face of his silent, supportive presence. He was there for her in a way that Roger never had been. Laura could feel Gus’s care and concern with every fiber of her being. Now that she thought back on it, she hadn’t ever felt that with Roger.