by Amelia Jade
"Thanks," she said, serious once more.
"No problem. Don't waste your time either. Go to him before it's too late," Trestin urged.
"Too late? What's going to happen?" she said, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion.
"You never know, so just don't waste any more time."
"Okay, okay. I'll sit him down tonight and tell him how I feel. Hopefully he doesn't reject me," she said, chewing on her lower lip in nervous anticipation of what was to come.
"If he does, I'll kick his ass," Trestin promised. The two of them laughed, relieving much of the tension. "Listen though, I need to get back to work. Call me, let me know how it goes!"
"I will," Emma promised, giving her friend a hug and watching as the door closed behind her.
She started to walk around the front of the building to head for her car, but a ringing noise from her purse stopped her. Frowning, she pulled out her cell, looking at the caller ID to see who it was. The number was blocked, which was even stranger.
"Hello?" she said, deciding to pick it up.
"Hello Emma," came the icy greeting.
"Layla," she said, her tone just as frigid as she recognized the voice on the other end. It was the Layla Cronkite, the liaison overseer. She was the head of the entire division, and in Emma's mind, one of the worst human beings on the planet.
"I received several reports on the Ridgebacks Emma, including your own. After analyzing them, I wanted to tell you that you're being reassigned back to the office. As of this conversation, you are not to have any further contact with the Ridgebacks in any capacity as a liaison for LMC. Am I clear?"
"What? Why? What's going on Layla?" she protested, shocked by the sudden turn of events.
"It has come to my attention that certain parts of your reports may be...compromised," her superior said nastily, taking extreme pleasure in the situation. "Thus, we have sent Nash out there to replace you."
A knot of fear formed in Emma's stomach. Nash was the most feared liaison for LMC. Wherever he went, he seemed to uncover "wrongdoings" which resulted in an abnormally high amount of shifters sentenced to death. If he was sent to the Ridgebacks under Layla's instructions, he would surely report Garrett as unsuitable for Alpha.
"This is ridiculous Layla. I can handle the situation. Recall Nash now," she said into the phone.
"The decision has already been made. Be at the office no later than nine tomorrow morning."
Click.
Emma stared at her phone for a moment before stuffing it back into her purse in frustration.
Trestin had been right. Things could change in an instant. Had changed in an instant. But how? Her reports hadn't given any indication of anything going on. So who else had been filing reports to them about the Ridgebacks?
The answer came to her. It must have been Ajax, the head of the Silvertips. Garrett had even said as much when he received a phone call the other day. It must have come to Layla's attention at some point, in which case she would have taken great pleasure in making Emma's life miserable.
Anger surged inside of her. How could Ajax have done something so cold and callous? That did not strike her as normal for him, but then again, most of the Alphas had a duty to do that they took very seriously. If he had seen something wrong in what was going on, she doubted he would have hesitated in reporting it. Still, she would have hoped he would have said something to her or Garrett first, instead of just informing on them.
She needed to know exactly what he had said, to find out how much danger Garrett was in.
***
Thirty minutes later, she turned off the main road into the Silverlake Resort. The Silvertips had commandeered the place for their own use half a decade back when they had first been formed. The row of wood cottages along a small, manmade lake was a slice of heaven that had the other crews in a state of perpetual jealousy. Even now, the beauty of it cut through her anger.
She slammed on the brakes as a shifter walked out into the road, and threw the vehicle into park and hopped out.
"Who are y—"
"Where's Ajax?" she snapped, showing the unknown bear shifter her LMC identification before he could finish speaking.
Seeing the liaison badge, the shifter mutely pointed toward one of the buildings. Without another word she stormed off toward it.
Ajax opened the door after her first connected solidly with the wood twice, his huge bulk filling the doorway as he stared down at her.
"Yes, Miss Labelle? What may I do for you?" he said, his words polite, but his tone anything but.
"I need to know what you said in your report to the Kedyns about the Ridgebacks," she said without preamble.
Ajax blinked.
It was the last thing she had expected from him. He shouldn't have found it surprising that she knew about his reports; that was fairly standard procedure for the LMC. But the look of confusion that crossed his face was either some of the best acting she had ever seen or completely genuine.
"I have no idea what you're referring to," he rumbled, irritation coloring his voice.
"Don't lie to me," she snapped. "They called Garrett and specifically told him that you had filed a report."
"What?" Ajax took a step forward, his fierce blue eyes focused more intently on her than was comfortable.
"Are you saying you didn't file a report at all?" she said incredulously.
"That's exactly what I'm saying," he said stiffly, and she could see him doing his best to contain his anger.
"So why would the Kedyns tell Garrett you had? They don't play games like that," she said firmly, to which Ajax nodded. The Kedyns weren't interested in acting like that. If they said something, it was the truth to the best of their knowledge. Which meant that if they said Ajax had filed a report, then...
"Someone filed a report with your name on it," she said in shock.
Ajax stiffened as he too came to the same conclusion, and Emma took a step back as a strong feeling of foreboding came over her. The Alpha in front of her had taken on a look that she had only seen once before, but it was not a pleasant.
"Alex!" he roared at the top of his lungs, summoning one of his crew.
Moments later, the unknown shifter appeared at the foot of the small deck that the two of them were standing on. Ajax trembled with rage, his power barely contained as he addressed his crew member.
"Three days ago you went to the Consortium's head office. You told me it was for personal business."
"That's right Ajax," Alex said, his eyes darting back and forth.
"I did not pry at the time because I decided to trust you, despite your actions thus far. But now I find out that someone filed a report in my name. I know it did not go through my e-mail, or I would have received a confirmation. Which means it was handed in on paper. If I recall, you had an envelope in your hand when you left. Is that correct?" he rumbled, a dangerous note to his voice.
Alex was shaking now as he tried to sputter out a defense. Emma, unsure of what might happen, stepped aside so that she was no longer between the two shifters. This was the first she had heard of any issues with the Emerald Crew.
"Listen, boss, it wasn't supposed to—"
"Did you file that report in my name?" Ajax asked, his voice a near whisper.
"Yes, but—" Alex tried to reply.
Ajax didn't give him time. Emma watched in horror as the Alpha discharged his duty. Lunging forward, his bear ripped from his skin, the massive beast landing on Alex before the other shifter had a chance to react. In one swift move, the Alpha clamped his jaws over the smaller shifter's head and twisted savagely. There was a snap that sent shivers down her spine, and then Alex lay still.
Emma cried out, turning away from the corpse of the man who had just moments before been standing in front of her.
"I am sorry," Ajax said, his large hand settling on her shoulder. "You should not have had to witness that. It was, however, necessary."
"Necessary?" she cried, shaking his hand off her as she sto
rmed into the cottage. There were two entrances to each and she made a beeline for the one on the opposite side of the house. "How can you say it was necessary? Killing is never necessary!"
"Listen to me, Emma Labelle," Ajax said firmly, his long strides positioning him between her and the exit. "You are in bear shifter territory now. We may look like humans in this form, but do not make that assumption. We. Are. Not. This is our society, these are our rules."
Emma stared at him in horror, truly realizing for the first time what she had always heard about the shifters. They were a savage, ferocious lot. Despite an elongated lifespan compared to humans, they did not value life in the same way. At least, she thought, not their own.
Ajax sighed. "I do not like it. Fuck," he swore. "I hate killing. It is by far the least desired and most despised part of my role."
She opened her mouth to speak, but he shook his head.
"But I have a duty, to myself and to the rest of my crew. That duty must be carried out sometimes. Alex could not be trusted. He was a danger not only to my shifters, but to their mates, and their cubs. I have three cubs living in Silverlake now, Emma. I would do anything to protect them, and Alex had already pushed his chances to the limit. Impersonating me—besides being a punishable offense on its own—was his last mistake, and he had been warned."
Emma wasn't sure what to say, her mouth opening and closing as she searched for words.
"I guess I understand," she said finally, though she hated the way the words tasted. "But that doesn't make it any easier to accept."
"Morgan. Edward. Jason. Alex," Ajax said softly. "Those are the names of the four I have ended. I see their faces in my dreams, in my nightmares. I will take the shame of not being able to save them with me for as long as I live. I do what I do because I must. Not because I like it."
She stared at him, surprised at the window into his soul she was being given. It was very strange for an Alpha to open up to anyone, she knew. They were a very private group.
"Just like Garrett will do what he must, even if does not like it."
"Garrett would never—" she cut herself off quickly, but it was too late; the emotion in her voice had betrayed her.
"Do not worry," Ajax said, his deep basso voice soothing to her ears. "I can see the link between the two of you, but I will not say a word. That being said," his voice hardened, "do not doubt for an instant that if he must, Garrett would do the same thing."
She wanted to protest, but in her heart, she knew he was right. If she was to be with Garrett, this was part of what she was going to have to accept. The shifters of Genesis Valley were an entirely different breed than the ones in the rest of the world, and this was just the beginning of the differences.
"Now, you should get back to him," Ajax urged.
"I can't, he's up on the mountain," she said automatically. "Wait. Why aren't you mining?" she asked, realizing all of a sudden that the crew should have been working.
Ajax chuckled. "Cayleb's mate gave birth today, so we were granted the day off," he said, a huge beaming smile breaking out across his face. The pride in the Silvertips crew was overwhelming at that moment. It was so apparent that she felt herself smiling in return. Perhaps, a part of her thought, one day this will be the way the Ridgebacks would act. All they needed was a little help.
"Ajax," she said suddenly, an idea forming in her mind. "Can I ask a personal favor of you?"
Chapter Eleven
Garrett
"Another day without a stone, guys," Joel said as they walked into the fading afternoon daylight, another day without results. "Not good."
"No shit," Evan sneered at the smaller, younger shifter. "Thank you for your brilliant observation of our situation."
"Lay off him, Evan," Corey said, his own voice hard.
"Bite me."
"Why did they give us such a shitty area to mine anyway?" Russell griped.
"Because they just want to get rid of us," Cole replied unhappily.
It had been that way all day. Everyone was at each other's throats, and the overall morale was plummeting. Garrett knew he had to do something to head off the downward spiral of his crew.
"Okay, listen. It's no secret that shit's been tough lately. But that doesn't mean that we're giving up hope. There are stones here—we proved that on day one. There have been much, much longer periods of time where crews haven't found a stone."
"There have?" Darren said, speaking up for the first time. He'd been very quiet and reserved ever since Garrett had spoken to him.
"Yes. The Diamond Crew has twice had periods of over a month between discoveries."
He let that little fact settle in. The Diamond Crew were the rock stars of the miner world. They were untouchable and everyone knew it. So to hear that even they had troubles from time to time was extremely reassuring to his crew.
"So I don't know about you guys, but I think I need a nice cold beer, courtesy of Ferro. How does that sound?"
Everyone perked up at that suggestion, even Evan. Since the last incident there, Garrett had not allowed them back at all, effectively grounding them. They still had beers at the Lodge, but it was always nice to go somewhere different, and the house brew at the Tongue and Flame was extra delicious, and only available there.
"But," he said loudly, so that everyone would hear. "Yes, there is a 'but.' We're going to play nice, and we're going to ignore everyone else. One peep from any of you, and I'll set Ferro's as off-limits for a month."
Everyone began to protest at once.
"Enough!" he said, letting a hint of command slip into his voice. The others quieted quickly, although Evan seemed ready to continue going on until Russell glared at him. Garrett filed that little tidbit away for future use, before speaking again.
"I'm sure someone will poke fun at one of you. I mean shit, we are shifters after all. But today, we won't rise to the bait."
"We can't just sit around and do nothing," Evan spat.
"Agreed."
That got everyone's attention once more.
"So what we're going to do is use a little reverse psychology today."
"What's that mean?" Darren asked.
"Every time one of the Silvertips, or anyone else who happens to be there today, pokes fun at us, insults us, or anything besides normal talking, we're going to buy them a beer."
"What?" Evan looked at him like he had gone insane.
"We buy them a beer, and we smile. Don't say a single word, just have a beer sent to their table. Put them all on my tab. Don't worry about that."
"Oh man," Russell said with a smile. "They are going to be flipping out trying to figure out what the hell we're up to!"
Smiles began to break out around the group as they looked at each other, realizing just how evil the plan was. Trading barbs and insults was common practice between shifters. So for the Ridgebacks to turn the practice on its head for an evening would throw everyone off, and have them all wondering just what the Ridgebacks were planning.
"So remember, no mouthing off. None. Smiles and beers, no words at all. Got it?"
"Got it," came the semi-unified reply as the group broke up and headed for their trucks.
Evan turned to go as well, but Garrett reached out and grabbed the man's shoulder before he could get far. The other shifter spun, anger flaring in his eyes, until he realized Garrett wasn't trying to start something.
"Listen," the Alpha began. "You hate me. I know it, you know it, hell, everyone knows it. But right now, I'm the Alpha, and we're in trouble."
"What do you mean?" Evan said, suspicion evident in his voice as he searched for the trap.
"This liaison Nash is bad news. Seriously bad news. I don't know how he got here but he's here now."
There was a flash of something in Evan's eyes, but the other shifter couldn't cover it up in time.
"What the hell did you do Evan?" he demanded, his earlier topic of conversation forgotten.
"Nothing."
"Don't bullshit me. Yo
u're terrible at it. What the fuck did you do?" Garrett stepped forward until he was inches away from the other shifter.
Evan tried to meet his glare, but Garrett knew memories of his defeat the other night were running through his mind. He eventually capitulated, shoulders sagging ever so slightly.
"I made a deal with Alex Porter."
"What kind of deal?" Garrett ground out, his patience evaporating.
"I told him that in exchange for him filing a fake report on Ajax's behalf, I wouldn't tell anyone about his drug problem."
Garrett sighed. "You idiot. If Ajax finds out about this, he's going to kill both of you, and I'll be powerless to stop him."
Evan stared at him in surprise."You aren't going to tell him?"
"You may not understand this or you may not believe me, but you're family Evan, even if you're an idiot asshole. I'm not in the habit of wanting to see family dead. Besides, the damage is already done. If throwing Nash at us is the worst that comes from your stupidity in trying to have me removed, then I can deal with that."
Evan didn't say a word.
"You can hate me all you want, Evan. I really don't care. What I do care about is the way that your actions influence and affect the rest of the Ridgebacks. So here's what's going to happen. You're going to stop trying to cause my downfall every step of the way. If there comes a time where I fuck up, then I promise you can be the one that ends me. But until then, you quit trying to break the Ridgebacks up. Understood?"
Evan looked at him like he didn't believe a single word he had just heard. But after a moment he nodded. "Understood."
Garrett nodded. "Besides, if we stop working against each other, we can turn this crew into something good. Then the next time they decide to expand, you'll have a decent shot at Alpha."
He didn't wait for Evan's response to that, and instead pushed past his second and hopped in his truck. A million other things were going wrong, and Evan was the least of his worries. Right now he needed to figure out a way to keep Emma around. He had one, but Garrett had a feeling it would backfire on him if he told her, which is why he hadn't brought it up just yet.