by Amelia Jade
“We can’t beat him,” he gasped, doing his best to ignore the pain in his arm.
“This is ridiculous,” Cedric agreed with a wince as he looked at his leg. His shin was snapped. “Here, let me set your arm, then you can help me with my leg.”
Working quickly, the two of them helped set each other’s broken bones. Darren could already feel the healing taking place as his bones began to knit themselves back together with the typical speed of shifter healing. It would be an hour or three before the bone was full healed, but at least he could make his arm mobile, even if he couldn’t hit anybody with it for a bit.
The two of them spread out, helping other shifters as they gathered their strength. Under Darren’s direction, however, they also moved back toward the opening. Several of them with their legs broken were hobbling along as they tried to stay away from the bat shifter.
Unfortunately, he insisted on closing the pace, chasing them farther and farther from Kierra. Darren hated leaving her, but he knew they were terribly outclassed.
“Darren,” he heard, and turned. Cole was near the back of the pack, hidden from view of the bat shifter by the upright bodies of the rest of the group. Dropping back, he came to his side.
Cole didn’t speak, not wanting to say anything the bat shifter might have heard, but he made motions of pointing to the opening. Darren’s eyes flicked up, and he saw Joel near the entrance. His face was barely visible. Using a flurry of hand signals, Joel told him that he wanted the bat shifter to come out of the cavern. Apparently Joel and Cayleb had something planned.
He nodded once firmly and returned to the front of the pack.
“Let’s take this outdoors boys, where we can spread out and hit him properly.”
The other shifters looked at him oddly, unsure of his sudden confidence, but they didn’t voice any complaints.
“Don’t take too long now Victor,” Nash called as they came closer to the cavern opening.
“I suppose I shouldn’t toy with my food first,” Victor said politely, and swept forward.
The bears scrambled backward, dancing out of his way as best they could while continuing their movement.
They emerged suddenly into the open air of the mountain side.
“Time to end this,” Victor said, stalking forward.
And as swiftly as that, it was over.
The moment he cleared the opening, a figure plummeted from the sky next to their attacker. Whoever it was grabbed the back of Victor’s neck as he dropped to the ground next to him. Instead of landing on his feet, the new part went to one knee, using his momentum to force Victor’s head into the ground. Hard.
The bat shifter rebounded, his reflexes faster than Darren could follow as he turned to face the new threat.
“Not in my house,” the newcomer snarled as he rose, snatching Victor’s hand out of mid-air as he tried a swift punch. Bones snapped with paltry ease as he squeezed. A hard chop of the side of his flattened hand crushed Victor’s throat, and as the bat shifter fell to his knees, the tall man pirouetted smoothly, and his foot came around and down onto Victor’s neck, snapping it permanently this time.
Darren didn’t wait for more, charging hard back into the garage. As he flashed past the man who had just effortlessly dispatched Victor, his eyes widened in shock.
It was Valen Kedyn! One of the twins who ran the LMC had chosen to intervene. But Garrett had told him that they couldn’t, that someone had neutralized them. Darren wasn’t sure what the decision to become involved would cost Valen, but he knew it would be bad. The two exchanged a nod, but that was all the time they had before Darren flew by, intent on his target.
Nash’s goons rose to try and protect their boss, but it was no use. The enraged bears all but tore them to shreds as they formed a protective cordon around Kierra. Darren dropped to his knees next to her while Garrett and Gabriel went after Nash.
“Kierra,” he breathed, gathering her into his arms. His anxiety eased the moment he felt the warm touch of her cheek against his as she nuzzled into him, her arms squeezing harder than he thought she could. All was right in the world again. His mate was unharmed and safe in his arms. “It’s okay,” he assured her as he felt her body begin to tremble. The soft sounds of her cries made its way to his ears, but she never broke into outright sobs. He was proud of her, of the strength she must have shown while at Nash’s mercy.
The sounds of struggle reached his ears.
Speaking of Nash…
He stood up, still holding Kierra tightly to him. The formerly arrogant liaison was thrashing about wildly while Garrett and Gabriel each held one of his arms tightly. Their grips were like iron though, and the weasely little man was going nowhere.
“Fuck you,” Kierra said and spat in his face before anyone could say a thing.
Darren blinked in surprise as she turned and walked away, headed for the entrance and the night sky.
“What she said,” he told the assembled shifters, doing his best to fight back laughter at the look of utter shock and humiliation that was currently playing across Nash’s face.
Then he turned and jogged after Kierra.
“Hey,” he said quietly, coming up next to her. He expected her to keep walking and take his hand, or lean her head onto his, or any of a number of things to take advantage of his stolid presence and support.
“Get down here,” she snarled instead, grabbing his jacket collar and pulling him down to her.
“Yes ma’am,” he murmured softly just before their lips met.
They ignored the catcalls and whistles from the other shifters, though he felt her lips curve upward into a smile at the same time his did.
“I missed you,” he managed to get out between frenzied kisses.
“Me too,” she whispered, holding him tighter.
Footsteps on the floor notified him of another presence. He turned in his embrace to see who it was.
Valen Kedyn dipped his head in greeting once again.
“Thank you,” Darren said, standing up straight. The man in front of him deserved his utmost respect. “But why did you do it? I thought—”
He cut himself off, not wanting to reveal more than he had to. The Kedyns were still an unknown factor in all of the goings-on. Everyone so far had assumed they would side with the mining crews, but nobody knew for certain.
“There are limits to what I am willing to accept,” Valen said. His voice was dark and brooding. “A massacre of those trying to do the right thing, in my own home no less, is not one of them.” His tone went from angry to hardened steel as he spoke.
“What will you do now?” Kierra asked.
“For now I will have to leave. I’m afraid that my actions will have escalated things to another level. Marcus will have to officially outlaw me and proclaim me of Unfound status. That should hopefully tide over our enemies in the near term. Allowing me to operate without being watched will also allow me to become more heavily involved.””
Darren blinked, having forgotten for a moment that someone held sway over the Kedyns. Whoever that person was, and whatever threat they were using, it had been enough to keep both of the Kedyns from acting in the growing conflict. That appeared to have changed tonight. As a consequence, however, Valen was going to have to go on the run. Doing so would allow Marcus to remain in power, and hopefully mitigate the response of whoever had the knife to his throat.
Darren shook his head. Unfound status was nothing to joke about. It meant that Valen was now designated as “Kill on Sight” to any shifter who came across him. It was one of the few things that applied outside the Valley as well. Word would get out, and Valen would find himself hunted. It wasn’t fair that he should have to go through with this, but Darren found it hard for him to regret that Valen had intervened when he did. After all, they would all be dead by now if he hadn’t.
“What is going on? Why is this happening in the first place?” His thoughts were on Kierra. If more conflict and strife were coming to Genesis Valley, he w
anted her gone. The two of them could pack up and move somewhere that would keep her safe. Darren was not going to risk losing her a second time.
Valen frowned. “I don’t know for certain,” he admitted. “Whoever is behind this has been extraordinarily adept at keeping themselves hidden in the shadows, despite the power he—or they, I suppose—seem to be able to wield. But my suspicion is that they are after the stones.”
“The what?” Kierra asked.
Darren briefly explained to her about the dragon stones, and how they were used to hatch new dragons.
“Oh. So if they get their hands on these stones, they can breed dragons?”
Valen shook his head. “They would need a mature dragon to do that. Only the fire of a mature dragon can breathe new life into a dragon stone.” He pursed his lips in thought for a moment. “And there are very few mature dragons left,” he finished at last.
It was Darren’s turn to speak. “But just breeding dragons alone wouldn’t be enough. Whoever is behind this would have to raise them and find a way to ensure that all the new dragons they created would become as evil as them. The Dragon Council would intervene before then, wouldn’t they?”
Valen’s head dropped slightly as he shook it. “Neither Marcus nor I have heard from the Dragon Council in months. I have my fears that something may have happened to them. If that is the case, we are on our own,” he said heavily.
“This just gets better and better,” Darren muttered angrily, still contemplating leaving town.
“Why are you telling me all this?” Kierra asked. “I’ve been trying for years to find out what’s going on in the mountains, and now I know more than ever in less than five minutes of talking to you!”
Valen smiled thinly. “You are his mate. You won’t betray his confidence and trust.”
Her eyebrows rose. “That’s it? It’s that simple?”
Darren chuckled. “Finding your mate is no easy task,” he told her, squeezing her tightly to him once more.
Valen nodded in agreement. “Now that you’ve found each other, your bond will grow swiftly. Just look to the others for proof.” His arm swung out to point at Garrett, Russell, and Cole, all Jade Crew shifters who had found their mates recently. “There is likely a reason why so many mated pairs have been formed recently,” he said serenely. “You will need each other’s support in the coming days I am sure.”
“Where will you go?” Darren asked as Valen made to take his leave.
“Marcus and I have other friends out there. Now that I am free to act, it’s about time I reminded them of that fact,” Valen said with a grin that no one would have called pleasant.
He bowed his head and left the cavern.
The two of them watched him go. Beside him Kierra gasped as Valen shifted, and in a stroke of his powerful wings, launched his animal form high into the sky.
“Wow,” his mate said, her gaze lingering on the quickly disappearing form. As Valen’s gryphon faded into the clouds, she turned to him.
“I want to go now,” she said. It was the first time he had heard anything that sounded like a complaint from her.
“Absolutely. Home?” he inquired.
“My place, from what I understand, is a wreck,” she said wryly. “Can I crash with you for a bit?”
He smiled. “Only if we can discuss turning that ‘bit’ into forever,” he said, leaning down to tenderly brush his lips against her cheek.
Leaving the cleanup to Gabriel and the others, Darren and Kierra got in his truck and began the drive down the mountain.
Kierra was asleep before they were halfway.
Epilogue
“I hope Valen is safe,” Kierra said as they watched Marcus Kedyn pound his gavel down.
From the front of the room came the strangled cry of one former LMC liaison Nash Wrigley.
The smiles on Darren and Kierra’s faces did not extend into their eyes. They watched humorlessly as Nash was escorted from the room by an iron-faced Raphael, who took no pains to be overly gentle with his charge.
Unfortunately, as Nash was not a shifter, he could not be sentenced to ending. Darren rather regretted that, but he would take life in prison with no chance of parole.
“He will be,” Darren assured her.
Like Valen had predicted, Marcus had been forced to outlaw his twin brother, proclaiming him Unfound. It had taken two days for that pronouncement to happen, however, and in that time Valen had made himself vanish. Darren hoped he stayed that way.
“I still can’t believe that people will believe that Nash was able to do all of this on his own,” she said, the disbelief evident in her voice. The court had ruled that Nash had been responsible for everything. No mention had been made of Victor or the dead bodies at Gabriel’s mountain chalet. Those had been quietly disposed of.
Darren felt bad. Kierra had both been exposed to a lot of hardship recently, but she had also been forced to absorb a lot of knowledge about the inner workings of the shifter world. It had opened her eyes, and she hadn’t liked all of it. Several days after being rescued she had withdrawn from the local election, no longer interested in being an active part of that world.
Today marked two weeks to the day since Valen had saved them, and many of those nights she had spent with tears rolling down her face as she came to grips with the brutal world he lived in.
He couldn’t completely begrudge that fact however, for each and every one of those nights had been spent in his arms. Fourteen days straight he had held his mate as she fell asleep, and for fourteen straight mornings he had awoken next to her beautiful face.
Their relationship had blossomed, and the two of them had found a surprisingly steady rock in each other. He understood perfectly now how Garrett and Emma had made the decision to get married so quickly. There was simply nothing that he would rather have in the world than Kierra Valcke standing by his side.
In fact, he thought, his hand closing around an object wrapped in black velvet within his pocket, he very much hoped to make that a reality later that night.
THE END
New Release Newsletter Sign-Up
All of my new releases are priced at $0.99 for the first week after release. Sign up for Amelia Jade's newsletter to ensure you don't miss another deal and to get first access to exclusive sneak peeks and giveaways!
Amelia Jade's
Newsletter Sign-Up
Flip the Page for the Next book in the Genesis Valley story!
Up Next in Genesis Valley
Stone Bear: Phoenix (Uriel)
Genesis Valley - Recommended Reading Order
Jade Crew: Alpha Bear
Jade Crew: Haunted Bear
Jade Crew: Forgotten Bear
Stone Bear: Sentinel
Jade Crew: Captive Bear
Stone Bear: Phoenix
Want More of These Characters?
Ridgeback Bears
Jade Crew: Alpha Bear (Book 1)
Jade Crew: Haunted Bear (Book 2)
Jade Crew: Forgotten Bear (Book 3)
Jade Crew: Captive Bear (Book 4)
Stone Bears (Genesis Valley Shifters)
Stone Bear: Sentinel (Book 1) – Gabriel
Stone Bear: Phoenix (Book 2) - Uriel
Bluff Bears
Rogue Bear (Book 1)
Outlaw Bear (Book 2)
Broken Bear (Book 3)
Junkyard Bear (Book 4)
Other Series by Amelia Jade
The Wolf Wanderers (w/Terra Wolf)
Cinder Wolf (Book 1)
Feral Wolf (Book 2)
Rebel Wolf (Book 3)
Noble Wolf (Book 4)
About the Author
Amelia Jade
Amelia Jade loves to write the stories of tall, growly shifter men and the women who come to love them. Living out in the backcountry near the mountains, she keeps her own alpha male close by to keep the bears away and keep her warm. In her downtime (which is rare), she loves to read science-fiction with a dash of fantasy. You can
often find her curled up in front of the real wood-burning fireplace, her nose firmly buried in a book or her favorite e-reader. The cold can’t bother her there!
For more information about Amelia Jade and her work, find her on Facebook.
Profile: Amelia Jade
Author Page
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Epilogue
New Release Newsletter Sign-Up
Up Next in Genesis Valley
Genesis Valley - Recommended Reading Order
Want More of These Characters?
Stone Bears (Genesis Valley Shifters)
Bluff Bears
Other Series by Amelia Jade
About the Author