by Amelia Jade
“I wish I knew what was constantly setting Darren off,” Corey complained.
“What do you mean?” Garrett asked, focusing on the shifter who was quickly becoming his right-hand man, even if Evan was technically the "second" in the crew.
“You haven’t noticed it?”
He shook his head, wondering what Corey had noticed that had completely escaped him. “Noticed what?”
“Darren starts it, every time. At least lately. I don’t recall everything up until recently though.”
“I’ve seen Russell start it before,” Joel chimed in, “but not recently, now that you mention it.”
“Russell has seemed to come around a little bit,” Garrett said to the other two, wondering what their thoughts were on that observation.
“Agreed. I don’t know what it was, but while he doesn’t seem happy yet, he’s definitely acting out less, and trying to work better up here. That part is for sure,” Corey confirmed.
"So why does Darren keep going after him?" he mused, trying to understand. It was at times like this that he would usually bounce his ideas off of Emma to see what she could read from an outsider's perspective. Unfortunately, thanks to Evan, it would appear he was going to be deprived of that resource.
Before any of the others could respond, Russell walked into view, bleeding from numerous places, his clothing all but ruined. Normally Garrett would have ignored him, but with the confirmation that it no longer seemed to be Russell that was the issue, he decided to break stride with that policy.
"You good?" he asked gruffly, stepping slightly away from the other two as Russell came alongside them.
The other shifter stopped, unable to completely hide the surprise at Garrett's words. After a brief narrowing of his eyes, he stood up straight and nodded. "Good as I'm going to be." He seemed ready to say more, but then decided against it. "I should be getting back to work."
"Very well," Garrett said, moving back a step to let him pass. He didn't want to make the other man any more uncomfortable than he likely already was.
Only a few seconds after Russell disappeared from view around a bend, Darren came into view. Judging by the blood-drenched clothing and the massive swelling around his left eye, Darren had not won this round. Noticing the looks of all three of them on him, he came to a halt.
"Am I on trial?" he asked.
"No," Garrett said, answering for everyone. "But that doesn't mean you can go just yet either."
Darren stopped his forward movement, having resumed it after the first word. He looked at Corey and Joel, then over at Garrett. None of the three shifters spoke, waiting for the beaten and bloodied bear to speak.
"What?" he asked gruffly after a lengthy pause.
"You know what," Corey said, irritation flickering across his face.
"Russell hasn't done anything the past few days, yet you seem to fight him every day. Every other day at best! What the hell is going on, Darren?"
The big burly bear shifter looked back and forth between three of them for a moment, his temper flaring. Then, as abruptly as it came it faded, his entire body deflating as he admitted his wrongdoing without uttering a word.
"I don't know," he said nervously after another pause.
"You're going to have to do better than that," Garrett told him, unimpressed with the answer.
"I can't. Wait!" he cried, throwing up his arms as Garrett opened his mouth again. "I don't know why. It's not me, it's my bear. There's something about him, something there that it sees that I can't. I don't know what it is, but out of nowhere it just goes crazy and overwhelms me and rushes him. At first I figured it was just because he was a convenient target."
Garrett watched as Darren shifted back and forth on his feet, shaking his head in obvious distress. He looked up at his Alpha, and Garrett did his best not to be startled by the look in his eyes.
"Am I losing it?" the other man asked plaintively. "I can't even control my bear anymore. I don't understand," he finished in a whisper.
It hurt Garrett to see one of his bears so hurting and vulnerable. He wasn't sure what to do at that point, though he knew he had to do or say something.
"I'm glad you brought it up," he said, trying not to sound condescending. "Now that I know, we can talk about it, try to work through it. Is it only Russell that it goes after?"
Darren nodded unhappily.
"Well, I think you can rest easy then. If you were losing it, you'd be going after anyone and everyone. So it must just be something between the two of you. We can sort that shit out," he said, trying to act more jovial than he felt.
Still, it heartened him to see hope on Darren's face. The situation could still be salvaged, he hoped.
"I need you to be on guard from now on," he said more seriously. "We're falling way behind, and we need to work as a team. So I'm going to change the schedule, and you'll no longer work the same areas as Russell. In addition, I'm going to split us up for lunch breaks. Corey, you and Cole will take one break, and then the rest of us will take a second. That way, we do our best to avoid each other. Once we get the LMC off our backs, then we can truly sit down and resolve whatever is going on. Can you make that work?" he asked.
Darren nodded firmly, firm resolve in his expression. Garrett knew he would do his damndest to help the team work together.
"I'm counting on you," he said, letting Darren know he trusted him. "Russell is over in Section C today, so why don't you and Joel here go try Section E. That'll keep you two apart, and the two of you can try a new area that we haven't gotten to yet."
"Sounds good boss," Joel said, and the two of them set off, determined steps swiftly carrying them out of sight.
"We might just pull this out of our asses after all," Corey said as they resumed their walk toward Section B, their designated work area for the afternoon.
"If we don't, we're damn well going to give it our all until they pull the rug out from under us," Garrett growled.
Chapter Ten
Emma
It was going to be nice to have some fresh fruit out at the Lodge finally she thought, looking down at the colorful spread of berries, bananas, and apples piled high in the trunk of her SUV. The men would never have bought it on their own, and she snorted to herself at their likely reaction to seeing it all in the fridge. Apparently Cole had bought the berries she had had in her waffles the other day just for her.
She wasn't sure what to make of him. He was the smallest and junior-most of the shifters, and at the start, had seemed to outright hate her. Now she wasn't sure though. If Evan was around, he still seemed very irritated by her presence, but any time they were alone or otherwise, he treated her quite differently. She couldn't make heads nor tails of it, and hadn't had time to ask him about it either.
Eyeing all the food one last time, she shut the trunk just as her stomach growled. It was a good forty minutes to the Lodge, so she wanted to eat beforehand. Thankfully, one of her favorite cafes was right across the street, and she dodged a car easily as she crossed to the other side.
The neon-yellow sign read Origin Sandwiches and Cafe in blinking lights that went on and off, then scrolled through the letters one by one. Emma loved going there for several reasons, not the least of which was the fact that her friend Trestin worked there. Emma had made very few friends since she had moved to town, mainly because her job occupied so much of her time.
In fact, if she was honest, she hadn't even made friends with Trestin, but the waitress had made friends with her. She had sat down for lunch one day, opened her laptop to do some work, and the next thing she knew, it was three hours later and her cold soup was still sitting on the table. Trestin had noticed and come over, forcing her to eat. Ever since then, the two had been great friends.
"James, you need to leave. You can either get up and do it yourself, or Marcel will escort you out."
The firm, no-nonsense words cut easily through the din as she opened the door to the cafe. Emma's eyebrows rose immediately as she took in the
so far non-violent confrontation between Trestin and one of the more notorious bear shifters in town, James Marsh. Emma's first reaction was to move forward out of the crowd and toward her friend, to use her status as a liaison for LMC to help defuse the situation, but she paused after the first step.
Trestin was a grown woman, and this was her turf. Things hadn't gotten too far yet, and her friend would prefer to handle it herself, if at all possible. So, ready and waiting at the edge of the crowd, Emma watched her friend in action.
"Come on Tres, it wasn't like that!" the shifter said, his words slurred.
That got Emma's attention. It took an enormous amount of alcohol in a short period of time, or a very few, very illegal drugs to give a shifter a high.
"Don't give me that bullshit James. You know what and how it was. Now just leave before something else happens, okay?" Trestin folded her arms in front of her and waited.
"This is bullssshit" James said, forcing the last word out as if it gave him trouble.
"I agree," Trestin said unemotionally, "but you started it, and therefore it's your bullshit. Just leave." There was a little more of an edge to her voice this time, which cut through some of the fog surrounding James.
Oh shit, Emma thought as his head snapped up. Time to intervene.
"Are you threatening me?" James said, taking a small step closer to Trestin.
The crowd tensed, unsure of what might happen next, but Emma was already moving. Trestin was strong and unafraid, but Emma wasn't about to take any chances where her friend's life was concerned. All it would take is one flick of the wrist from James and Trestin wouldn't know what hit her. In the condition he was in, it wasn't just her duty as a friend to intervene, but it was her job as liaison.
"No she isn't Marsh, but if you take another step forward, I am," she said firmly, stepping forward from the crowd and revealing her presence to the two at last.
The effect on James was instant. "Aww, come on Bella, don't be like that," he pleaded as his eyes focused in recognition.
"Call me that one more time and I'll put you in front of the Kedyns," she said coolly, enough steel in her voice to cut through his high with ease. There were few things that would make her instantly resort to that level of threat, but nobody called her Bella in public, especially not a useless creep like him.
"All right, all right!" he cried, throwing up his hands in surrender. "I'm leaving."
"Good," Trestin said as he moved toward the door.
"And Marsh?" Emma called after him, "Don't ever step foot in here again. This place is now off-limits to you. You know what that means, don't you?" she said sweetly.
He glared at her, but she just stared him down until he gave up, nodding once to confirm he understood before pushing his way outside.
"What an asshole," Trestin muttered, turning to face her friend. "Thanks for that. I wasn't sure what to do when he got aggressive."
"I'm sure Marcel would have handled it. Wouldn't you?" Emma said, winking over at the head of the Ruby Crew who was sitting at a nearby table.
"If it came to that," the quiet-spoken Alpha of the Frostclaws replied.
Emma studied him for a moment. The Frostclaws were all polar bears who operated the highest shafts on the mountains. They were a sturdy, if not overly social crew, named after their first stone they had found several years back—a massive dragon ruby. It was unusual for them to come into town; they generally preferred to keep their own company. It was extremely fortunate that he was around she noted.
"Okay everyone, show's over for today," Trestin announced to a round of relieved laughter as patrons returned to their seats or filed outside now that the way was cleared.
"I was just going on break," she said as the place quieted down. "I think I'm going to take a slightly longer one now. Join me?"
"Of course," Emma replied, ignoring the fact that her friend was already dragging her along, not giving her a choice. "I am hungry though. Starved, really," she said emphatically.
Trestin stopped and looked at her for a second, before laughing quickly. "Of course! Where are my manners?" She pulled Emma along into the kitchen. "What do you want? Anthony, make Emma here your best... well? What do you want girl? Tell the man," she motioned to the short, slightly heavyset man with a chef's hat behind a counter.
"Oh, one of your club sandwiches would be fabulous today Anthony, thank you."
"And make sure you get someone to bring it to us out back, would you please darling?" Trestin said over her shoulder as she forced Emma outside.
As soon as the door closed behind them, her friend slid down to the ground, all sense of the tough iron-willed woman fading. Emma sank down next to her, putting her arm over her friend's shoulder.
"It's okay," she said as Trestin began to cry quietly.
"I know," she said after a moment, looking up and blinking her eyes. "I just can't stand bear shifters anymore. They're driving me insane. Yet I keep finding myself attracted to them. It's ridiculous," she said with a laugh. "Thank you."
Emma rose, using her hand to help the other woman back to her feet.
"That was just so nerve-racking. He's never been quite such an asshole to me before, and then when his eyes got angry? I thought he was about to kill me," she confessed as Emma listened silently.
"Yeah, James is a problem we're going to have to deal with sooner or later," Emma confirmed, speaking in her LMC capacity.
"But, enough about me!" Trestin said with a shake, composing herself. "It's good to see you! What brings you by today? I haven't seen you in what feels like forever!"
"I've been on assignment, actually," Emma replied, and told her all about her experiences with the Ridgebacks, carefully leaving out her involvement with Garrett.
"That sounds dangerous. So how come you're in town alone today?" her friend asked, eyes narrowing.
Emma paused, stumbling over her reply.
"What else is going on Em? What aren't you telling me?" Trestin said, grilling her mercilessly as she recognized that Emma was holding something back.
"Damnit," she sighed, giving in without much of a fight. After all, she hadn't had anyone to talk to about what was going on, so perhaps opening up would be good. The two of them moved from the wall to a table for employees as a busboy brought out her lunch and set it down. She thanked him and took a deep bite, using the time she was chewing to decide how best to tell her friend.
"So, there's a guy," she said awkwardly after a minute. "He and I have kind of been... involved I guess?"
"Kind of?" her friend said, the quotes around the words all but visible in her tone.
"Okay, so we've been together for a bit now."
"Who is he? One of the Ridgebacks?"
Emma nodded reluctantly.
"That's great though. I don't see the problem. Nobody said you can't start seeing one of them. The only way that would be a problem is if it's the—"
Trestin stopped speaking, and Emma could see her following that train of thought as her eyes narrowed while she studied her friend.
"Oh my God. It's the Alpha, isn't it? You're fucking the Alpha of the Ridgebacks? You must be insane!" Her friend dissolved into giggles as Emma tried to glare at her, but the look had no power and Trestin knew it.
"Stop laughing!" she demanded, pushing her friend. Trestin, however, had no intentions of doing any such thing.
"You must be stupid. Oh I love you Emma, but what were you thinking?" her friend said as she calmed down.
"I didn't exactly choose it, you know. It just felt right. We clicked. Things worked out like that." She took another bite of the sandwich, waiting for Trestin to reply.
"Wait. How serious is this?"
"I don't know."
"Has he..." Trestin trailed off.
"Has he what?" What was her friend getting at all of a sudden?
"You know, claimed you? As his mate?"
"No," she said firmly. "He told me very clearly that he cared for me a lot, and he also very clearly did no
t claim me as his mate or say the word in any way shape or form. It was quite obvious that he purposefully did not."
"Really? I wonder why he would be so clear about that?" her friend mused.
"Because he knows I'm not?" Emma said, bewildered. That seemed like the most straightforward reason.
"Bullshit. I've been working this town longer than you by a long shot dear. Alphas don't just 'get involved' with women. They either screw their brains out for a night and then leave, or they mate. There is no in-between."
"Well, he did do the first, but he hasn't left me yet either," she said slowly. "So, maybe you're wrong?"
"Or maybe he's waiting on you to realize that that's how you feel?"
Emma felt like she'd been punched in the gut.
"Is that how I feel?" she said out loud, though it wasn't directed at anyone. When Trestin didn't reply, she continued talking. "I don't know if I feel that way about him. I mean, there's definitely something going on, no doubt about that. But his mate? Me?"
"Don't sell yourself short. You're a great catch. In fact," Trestin told her, "I'm surprised you haven't been snapped up by another shifter yet. So perhaps there was a reason for that."
Emma blushed, but she didn't say anything. She didn't know what to say, either.
"I don't know if you can see it, but I can. Whenever you mentioned him in your story today, your voice changed. So did your eyes. I think you're just scared," Trestin said softly.
"What do you mean?"
"It's happening quickly, which is how it always does with shifters, and you weren't expecting it, so you're keeping up your guard. Let it down, Emma. Let him in. Trust me on this one."
She looked into Trestin's eyes, seeing the heartfelt honesty of her friend laid bare.
"Oh hell, you're probably right," she said with a sigh. "Actually no, I know you are. I just couldn't come around to tell myself that. I needed a swift kick in the ass."
"You can be pretty blind sometimes," came the teasing response.