by Amelia Jade
Kierra meant to say that she didn’t think that was a good idea. She meant to say that her schedule was full with other engagements. She meant to say no.
“How about two days from now? Tomorrow I’m likely going to be at the office late preparing a speech.”
Darren nodded, another smile crossing his face. His lips peeled back as it became a full-blown grin, exposing his perfect rows of white teeth to her. “Sounds great.”
They exchanged numbers quickly. Nash called her from the front door, but she waved a hand at him, shooing him off.
“Thank you for the interesting conversation, Darren,” she said, sticking out her hand.
“My pleasure Miss Valcke,” he purred, bringing her hand to his mouth and softly kissing the back of it. “My pleasure.”
She shivered, almost biting through her lip as he shot her a wink. His lips were so warm and tender. She briefly imagined what they might feel like pressed against her own. “Goodbye,” she whispered, reluctantly pulling her hand from his.
“I’ll call you,” he said, then gave her a slight “get going” gesture with his hands as she drifted away from him without turning her back. “Go,” he urged.
She smiled, then turned to go as a flame crept across her face, courtesy of her burning cheeks.
He’s a shifter you dummy.
Yeah but he’s so cute though!
***
“Morning Hannah!” she called to her campaign manager as she tossed her purse and keys down on the desk, before setting her mug of steaming coffee down somewhat more lovingly and tenderly to ensure she didn’t spill a drop.
“You sure seem chipper today,” Hannah replied with a snort as Kierra dropped heavily into one of the big leather high-backed office chairs that surrounded the large circular table. They were in the middle of the conference room that Kierra had taken over for the duration of her campaign as her operating headquarters.
The rectangular room wasn’t huge, she thought, looking around it once more. After all, Origin and Genesis Valley as a whole were only home to a little over two thousand people, and that included the shifters, who for the most part couldn’t—or didn’t, for those that were eligible—vote. Her entire campaign team consisted of her, Hannah, and her assistant Jenny.
“Slept like a baby, thanks for asking,” she replied, though she declined to explain just why that was the case. Hannah didn’t need to know about her boss’s dreams and what they contained.
Or who.
“I’ve got a few things lined up that we need to go over, including that speech for the Emergency Support Personnel meeting coming up,” Hannah said after dutifully waiting for Kierra to take that first long sip of fresh coffee.
The ESP composed the various police, fire, EMS, and medical professionals within town. It was an important speech, and Kierra knew that if she was going to have a hope of winning the election, she would have to convince them. They represented a large enough chunk of the population, and an influential one at that, that they could easily swing the vote in favor of whoever they decided had their best interests in mind.
“Okay, well, let’s take care of the small stuff first then. I have a few constituents scheduled for meetings today to listen to their concerns. The first of those is at...” she searched for her schedule. “Jenny, what time is my meeting with Roger? Eleven?”
“Quarter after, actually,” Jenny said, emerging from her cubicle in the back corner.
“Thank you,” she said graciously. “How are you doing this morning?” she added belatedly with an apologetic smile.
“I’m good, thank you,” Jenny said, brushing it off with one hand as she dropped a small folder in front of Kierra with the other. “This is the summary of their complaints, for each of your meetings. Eleven fifteen, one o’clock, and two thirty.”
“Got it. Thanks again.”
“Not a problem, that’s why they pay me the big bucks,” Jenny joked, grabbing another seat at the table with them. She wasn’t entirely joking either, Kierra knew. Like every position in town, it paid extremely well. Much of the money came from the LMC, which was a sore point with many residents, but they found it hard to complain. The salaries they made were several times what could be expected in other parts of the country, mainly due to the danger they faced working in such close proximity with the unreliable shifters who lived there.
“Anything new from Jordan’s camp?” she asked the other women.
“Nothing. Actually, less than nothing. It’s as if they’re maintaining radio silence over there. I don’t understand it, and I don’t like it. Something is not right.” Hannah emphasized the last two words to help drive her point home.
“What are they waiting for?” Kierra mused.
Jordan Immolt was the incumbent mayor of Genesis Valley. In fact, he had won the past four elections, and all but the first one had been landslide victories. Unseating him seemed to be an almost insurmountable task. Kierra was convinced he was paid off by the LMC to look the other way in regard to a number of incidents involving shifters as well, but she couldn’t prove it.
“They must feel safe. There’s no other reason they would have stopped all their efforts,” Jenny said, chiming in.
“Unless...” Kierra said, her brain whirring. “What if they’re nervous about us? If that were the case, they know they’ve got a solid platform. But maybe they’re waiting for us to do something.”
“Like what? Why would they stop everything on account of us?” Hannah asked.
“They think we’re going to screw up,” she said abruptly. “That’s why. They’re waiting for us to make our first mistake, then they’re going to pounce.”
The other women considered her point. The three of them knew they were the only real threat to Immolt’s re-election, which meant he knew it too. They weren’t the only two people running for office, but none of the others had a chance. Kierra considered them once again in her mind.
There was Taryn Sloan. She was a likeable young woman, very near in age to Kierra, in fact. But she was campaigning on a platform very similar to Immolt’s, which meant she had no chance at all. He was the favorite of the LMC, and until she could dislodge him somehow, nothing would come of her bid.
The only other candidate was John Locking, and his wasn’t a serious campaign. He wanted to see the shifters installed as the overlords of the Valley, making all humans subservient to them. Although he had an albeit very small following of shifters who liked him because of his sheer gall, none of them actually took him seriously.
Which meant it was down to Kierra and her anti-shifter, anti-LMC platform. She was the only one with a shot at winning the office and clearing the air in town.
“Well, let’s not screw up then,” Hannah said, and the three of them laughed.
The rest of the morning proceeded slowly, and despite the first meeting with Roger, Kierra felt herself becoming more distracted as time wore on. She began to check her phone repeatedly, draining the battery, despite her notifications being set to on. At one point, she zoned out completely while Hannah was going over the main talking points of her upcoming speech in two days’ time.
“Kierra? Kierra?”
She blinked, and the image of the tall man with his dress shirt rolled up to his elbows and tucked neatly into his blue jeans dissipated. The muscles and prior day’s scruff evaporated into thin air, leaving just Hannah.
“Yes?” she said, giving her head a shake to try and focus.
“I’ve been talking to you for the past ten minutes,” Hannah said sternly.
“I know,” she said, hoping to just keep going.
“Oh really?” Hannah said, crossing her arms. “In that case, care to tell me what I’ve been talking about?”
Shit. She was getting called out for her daydreaming. That was so not fair! She was supposed to the boss. Then you should have paid attention!
“Ladies and gentlemen…” Kierra said, before tapering off in her attempts to recite the speech.
Hannah snorted.
“First you come in here grinning from ear to ear. Now you can’t focus on anything. Spill,” she said, moving away from the whiteboard she had been standing next to and sitting back down at the table.
“Spill what?” Kierra asked nonchalantly, trying to act like she had no idea what was going on.
Unfortunately, Hannah was not only her campaign manager, but also a friend. She could read Kierra much better than that. Instead of saying anything, Hannah just leaned back in the chair, crossed her arms, and waited.
Kierra was ashamed of how quickly she caved on the standoff. Less than thirty seconds elapsed before she started talking. “So, Nash took me to the reopening of that bar last night,” she said, reminding Hannah of where she had been.
“Nash? No, please tell me there’s more to this story.” Hannah looked like she had bitten into a sour candy.
“Ew, no, not Nash. Yuck. But anyway, umm, well this is really awkward, and I still don’t know what to make of it.”
“But…” Jenny prompted from behind her, having just reentered the room. “Go on, don’t stop on account of me. I want to hear this juicy gossip too!” she said, her eyes sparkling with delight as she teased her boss.
Kierra gave a rather exaggerated sigh.
“I had a really nice conversation with someone there. It didn’t seem like it at the time. It almost seemed business-like. But it’s weird. The more I thought of it, and thought of him, the more I appreciated his ability to discuss work things with me. Oddly enough, I think we were flirting. I mean, he was certainly gorgeous, but it was… I’m not really sure how to describe it. It wasn’t your typical flirting. I don’t think.”
“So who was he?” Jenny pressed.
“And are you seeing him again?” Hannah asked, a big smile on her face.
Kierra appreciated the way her coworkers and friends wanted her to go out on a date. She hadn’t been on one in a number of years, so this was kind of a big deal.
“We’re going to dinner tomorrow?” she said, her voice rising toward the end as if she were unsure if it was a good idea.
“What’s the problem?” Hannah said, picking up on what was bothering her right away.
Kierra closed her eyes. “He’s a shifter.”
“Shit.” Hannah said. “You can’t. Can’t do it.”
“I know,” she moaned. “But he was so polite, and smart, and did I say stunningly sexy?”
“I thought you hated shifters,” Jenny told her.
“I do? I did? Fuck,” she said bitterly, unsure of what else to say.
“Is he a miner? Or just a resident? If it’s a resident, maybe we can pull it off.” Hannah was always thinking about how to turn something into a positive, her brain already working to find a way to salvage it.
“He’s a miner,” she said glumly.
“Oh,” Hannah said awkwardly. “Um, what crew? Maybe if he’s from the Diamond Crew we can skew it as being a positive, establishing relations with the shifters on the ground, or something?”
“I’m not sure,” she said. Darren had never told her outright the night before, and she hadn’t asked.
“But it was the Tongue & Flame bar you were at, right?” Jenny pressed.
“Yes, so what?”
“Well, only two crews go there. The Emeralds, which wouldn’t be great, and the Jade Crew.
“The Jade Crew?” Hannah all but shouted. “Kierra! Come on girl. You know better than this. They’re just a bunch of misfits, always causing trouble of some sort or another. Absolutely not. You can’t.”
“Where are you going to dinner with him?” Jenny asked.
Kierra’s phone chose that moment to vibrate, notifying her of an incoming text. She checked it.
“Shift on Main?” she said weakly, reading the text from Darren.
Shift on Main. Seven thirty tomorrow. I’ll meet you at your place at seven?
“Don’t reply,” Hannah said. “You need to think about this seriously Kierra. If the town finds out that you’re dating a Jade Crew shifter, this campaign is all but over. Sure, you’ll probably still beat the other two, but there will be no hope of beating Jordan. Your entire campaign is built on attracting the folks who think you’re going to stand up to Lionshead and the shifters. If it’s revealed you’re dating one, the entire premise of your campaign is done. Over. So think this through carefully.”
Kierra stood up from the table, running her hands through her hair. She was stressed. “I know. Holy hell I know. I knew last night when he asked, and I meant to say no. I tried to say no. The only word that came out of my mouth though was yes.”
She turned to look at her friends. “What do I do now?”
Hannah had a firm look on her face. “Either you accept your campaign is over, and in that case, text him ‘Okay.’ Or, you call him up, and tell him that you have to cancel. Permanently.”
Kierra sat back down. Her elbows rested on the table and she put her head in her hands. Life should not be this complicated. Still, she had put a lot of time and effort into this campaign. There was only another few weeks left. Perhaps if she didn’t manage to win, she could call Darren up then, and they could go for dinner?
“Damn,” she whispered, knowing what she had to do.
Snatching the phone off the table, she walked out of the conference room and into the hallway. The city hall wasn’t huge, but there were still several places she could go to be alone while she phoned Darren.
The phone rang, and she almost hit the red button to end the call before it connected. But she summoned her courage, and let it ring. It kept going until it hit dial tone. He must be back in the mines, she thought idly as the beep sounded in her ear, letting her know it was time to start speaking.
“Hi, Darren. It’s me. Kierra, I mean. From last night. At the bar? Umm, listen. I know we talked about dinner. But, umm, I’m going to have to cancel. It’s just,” she hesitated, unsure of what to say. Say something. Hurry up. Just do it.
“It’s just not a good idea,” she rushed out, then hung up.
There. It’s done. I don’t have to worry about that anymore.
Chapter Three
Darren
“Perfect,” he muttered. The door closed behind him, leaving Darren alone to deal with what had prompted his sarcastic response.
The cold, biting wind blew unceasingly across the open stretch of land in front of Ridgeback Lodge, creating a miniature vortex before abruptly finding itself swirling to the right as the building jogged at a ninety-degree angle toward the road. The L-shaped building created the perfect conditions for blowing snow to pile up. Unfortunately for Darren, he hadn’t bothered to look outside before leaving his room.
Shaking his head at the bleak outlook for the day, he stomped down the deck that ran parallel to the building. A good amount of snow had accumulated overnight, up past ankle-height in some places. Some of the drifts were over a foot high already. By the time the day was done, winter would well and truly have arrived in Genesis Valley.
Thankfully we got the snow tires put on the trucks two weeks ago. Otherwise getting up the mountain today would have been…interesting.
He passed by Garrett’s office on his way to the common room, intent on feeding his ravenous appetite. Although he couldn’t smell it, the idea of fresh bacon and eggs was making his mouth water in anticipation. They had ketchup again too, after a frightful morning the day before when they realized they were out.
It had been bad. Joel and Corey had almost gotten into a scrap over the remnants they tried to scrape from the bottom of the bottle. Ketchup was as essential as beer or bacon in Darren’s mind. It was one of those things that simply could not be allowed to run out.
Although the wind was noisy, it didn’t prevent Darren’s acute hearing from picking up the sounds from Garrett’s office. He paused and listened closer. He couldn’t make out what was being said, but it was clearly the sounds of shouting.
Darren frowned. There was nothing special going on that day besides the snowstorm.
So what reason did Garrett have to shout at anyone? It didn’t make sense, and any time things didn’t make sense lately, something bad was going on.
He contemplated knocking at the door to see if he could be of assistance, but before he could decide, the door flew open and a body came charging out. Darren snarled as Corey barreled into him, trying to push the larger shifter aside.
“What the hell is your problem?” he snapped, grabbing Corey by the shoulder and spinning him around as he moved past.
“Piss off,” Corey growled.
Darren rolled his eyes, the feel-good mood of the morning all but gone. He didn’t have time for this bullshit.
“No,” Darren said, and followed up with a right hook to Corey’s face. The blow rocked the other shifter backward. As he came forward, fur ripped from Corey’s skin as he summoned his bear.
“Great,” Darren muttered, unable to avoid the sudden increase in size as over a ton and a half of bear suddenly appeared. The bear hit him solidly, pinwheeling him into a support post for the awning that covered half the deck. The four-by-four post cracked and shattered under his impact.
Fuck this, he thought, and his own bear exploded forth to meet the onrushing small golden brown beast. The bone-white fur of his animal blended in with the snow, but there was no mistaking the loud battle-cry that erupted from his lungs as he slammed full force into the irate smaller bear.
Although Corey had the momentum, Darren had a rather large size advantage. After Garrett and Evan, he was the next largest shifter in the crew, although Russell would probably have something to say about that claim. The two were rather close in size. In this case, Corey’s momentum wasn’t enough to overcome the size. Corey went sliding back, his claws gouging long lines into the deck.
Dammit Corey, you idiot. Now we’re going to have to re-do this portion of the deck come springtime. What the hell has gotten into you?
Corey dipped, trying to get underneath Darren, but the larger shifter simply dropped his weight. As a paw smashed into the side of his head, however, Darren realized Corey had been ready for that all along.