by Ivy Sinclair
I felt my breath catch in my chest. My purse was as gone as my shoes, so I had no cell phone or any way to communicate where I was. I was in the middle of nowhere in a condemned, abandoned ghost town. I was in serious trouble; there was no doubt about it.
That was when I heard heavy footsteps outside the room. My heart started to race. My eyes darted around the room. There was no place to hide. There was nothing to use as a weapon. I was a sitting duck, and I watched in petrified horror as I heard the lock click and the knob start to turn. The door swung open, and I did the only thing I could think of. I ran full tilt at the doorway hoping beyond hope that I’d catch whoever was on the other side by surprise and knock them over.
My half-baked plan ended before it even got started. I hit a wall of what felt like hard rock on the other side of the door. The mammoth form on the other side completely filled the frame of the doorway and offered me no smidgeon of room to even think about squeezing around him even if I had managed to throw him off balance.
I felt rough fingers encircle my upper arm. A hard yank drew me up onto my tiptoes, and I bit back the yelp of pain that sprang up at the back of my throat.
“Where do you think you’re going, darlin’?” The voice was gruff and amused.
I looked up into dark brown eyes, but that was the only distinguishing characteristic that I could see because the rest of his face was covered by a bright red handkerchief. I didn’t answer because something told me there was no point. The man pulled me out of the room, and I saw I was in a larger room now with a huge brick fireplace that covered the far wall.
Another man stood beside the fireplace. He wasn’t nearly as large as the man next to me, but his face was similarly hidden from view by a handkerchief and a wide-brimmed hat pulled low on his head. There were gas lanterns in the four corners of the room that made it almost as bright as a regular overhead lamp. He looked up as the brute holding my arm pushed me into the center of the room. His eyes were blue. I tried to force my mind to stop noticing these kinds of details, but it was against my nature.
“Hello, Maren.” The voice sounded familiar, but I couldn’t place it. “I’m sorry for the quality of the accommodations, but it’s the best we were able to do on short notice.”
“I’d like to leave,’ I said, holding my chin up. My headache was going to have to wait. “You have brought me here against my will. If you let me leave now, I won’t press any charges.”
The man laughed. “You don’t even know who we are.”
He was almost right on that point. I didn’t know their identities specifically. But I had noticed the tattoo on the neck of the man who pulled me from the room, and I knew it. There was a matching one on the arm of the man in front of me. It was a skull with teeth and a fiery circle around it. Anyone who wasn’t familiar with shifter politics probably would think it was nothing but a normal gang tattoo, but I knew better. It was the symbol of the ‘Rally Against Claws’ anti-shifter group. In the last eighteen months, their group had claimed over half a dozen incidents of violence against shifters across the country. I had a very bad feeling about what they were up to in rural Minnesota on the eve of the shifter Summit.
The man, who I determined must be the leader, stepped closer to me. I took a step backward but ran into a wall of hard muscle mass. There was a rough shove to push me back toward the other man, and suddenly I had the vision of being a human pinball.
The leader looked me up and down, and I shifted uncomfortably in front of him. The dress I was wearing wasn’t my normal attire at all, and I knew what he was seeing. A red, shiny dress that was just a little bit too tight in the hips and bodice accentuating the plunging neckline that put my assets on full display. But at least my neck and arms were mostly covered. The hemline was modest, but there was a slit up the side to allow movement that I was fairly certain had ripped even further during the encounter in the woods. I had found frayed edges around a small missing piece near the hem that widened the slit even further during my earlier inspection. I fervently wished for my normal armor of flannel and jeans.
“I guess I can kind of see what the alpha sees in you.”
I had to struggle to keep my hands at my side. I had forgotten that these men knew about Lukas’s mating bite at the crook of my neck. It was the reason I was wearing the ridiculous dress to begin with. I couldn’t help but wonder what else they knew about me and about Lukas.
“I am documenting events for the clan’s historical society,” I said, totally making up a fictitious group. If they thought that I was important to Lukas, then there was a good chance they would try to use me to get at him in a bad way. “That’s all.”
“That little mark on your collarbone says differently,” the man said. I could hear the smirk in his voice.
“I’ve got sensitive skin. That’s nothing more than a minor skin irritation,” I said. I had the requisite fair complexion of a redhead, so that wasn’t that far from the truth. If I scratched myself wrong, I’d have the mark for days. “I don’t think you saw what you thought you saw. It was dark in the woods.”
He moved toward me, and I put out my hands in front of me. “Don’t touch me again.”
“Or what?” He mocked me now.
That was a good question. I couldn’t say what I wanted to say because otherwise I’d play right into his hands.
“My father is the editor in chief of the Greyelf newspaper. A lot of our stories get picked up at the national level,” I said. “If you let me go, I promise to publish whatever it is you want to say to the world in our next edition.”
“You do know who we are then.”
I had two choices. I could come clean about what I knew, or I could come clean about Lukas. I chose the lesser of two evils. I pointed at his tattoo. “I know what that is. Yes. I’ve been covering the Greyelf Grizzly clan and the other local clans for the last three years. We also report on national news. I’m aware of the stance and beliefs of RAC. I wouldn’t be much of a journalist if I didn’t.”
“But you’re a sympathizer.” The man straightened and crossed his arms.
“I’m a reporter,” I parried. “I report what people want to know about.”
“But if you’re documenting shit for the Grizzlies, then you’re definitely a shifter sympathizer.”
“I like getting paid,” I said. I tried hard to appear nonchalant. “I’ve worked for my father for three years and haven’t gotten a raise, and there isn’t much call for what I do anywhere else around here. I do some freelancing on the side to stash some extra cash.” Now that I was all about the lying, it was amazing how quickly the lies rolled off my tongue. I could see the appeal.
“Perhaps you can do a little freelancing for us then,” the man said.
“Sure, whatever you want,” I said. “As long as you let me go.”
“Oh, I never said anything about that,” the man said. “But maybe we can collaborate on a little love letter for your alpha that will bring him running. I’ve been looking to bag me an alpha for a long time. I think with your help, I’ll finally score one.”
I felt my blood run cold. I wasn’t sure how Lukas felt about me, but I did know there was no way he wouldn’t come for me when he discovered what happened. He’d walk right into a trap, and the way that the man said “bag” made me feel ill. I had to find a way to escape before that happened. I was mad and hurt as hell, but I wasn’t going to put his life in danger. I just needed to put my thinking cap on and find another way.
CHAPTER THREE - Lukas
It was times like this that I found myself alternating between thanking and cursing Markus. Schmoozing and glad-handing were always his thing, not mine. I had a completely different style than my brother, but I understood the importance of keeping up appearances. I didn’t want to necessarily lead by domination, but there was definitely a component of that sentiment that seemed to be growing inside of me by the moment.
Markus had explained the delicate balance between force of will and artful negotiati
on to me once when I was younger, and I wished that I had paid better attention. No doubt he intended there to be a refresher on the lesson later on. I don’t think either of us expected that I would be assuming the alpha role so soon. There was something about being proclaimed the alpha of a clan that changed all the dynamics of engaging with the members of the clan.
It wasn’t something widely publicized, but if a shifter joined a clan there were certain requirements that needed to be fulfilled. One of them required a ceremony and an exchange of blood with the alpha. I couldn’t explain how all of the blood bindings passed from Markus to me any more than I could explain how I was born to be a shifter to begin with. There was a slight fantastical element to all of it that still surprised me even though I had known about shifters my entire life.
Markus marked the Kasper bloodline as the alpha bloodline of the Greyelf Grizzly clan. All of that passed to me when he died. That was part of my beef with the sheriff thinking that he could just come in and usurp me. The alpha claim was my blood right. These bonds meant that I could bend any one of the clan members to my will if I chose to do so. It was kind of heady to think about. It was the reason that I had been forced to leave Greyelf ten years ago. My brother had commanded it, and to disobey would have meant that I would have been banished from the clan.
The bonds gave me a swagger that Maren would probably say did nothing but add to my already high level of arrogance and feelings of self-importance. It was funny how critical I was of myself whenever I thought of how I must look through her eyes. Maren had never shied away from telling me exactly what she thought about me and my antics, and it had been refreshing to find out that hadn’t changed in the ten years since I had last seen her. She was the voice of logic and reason in my head. That was simply one of the many reasons I needed her.
I had been hoping that she would come back to the reception after taking some time to cool off, if even to rip me a new asshole over the engagement announcement. But as the night wore on, she didn’t appear. I found that strange and more than a little unsettling. I felt as if she was slipping away from me with every minute that passed. I needed the whole thing to be over so I could go find her.
“How about a dance?” a voice purred next to my ear.
I had been doing my best to duck Vivian all night. Leave it to a moment of distraction for her to pounce. I hadn’t been paying attention to the music or the mood on the dance floor, but now I realized that the lights had dimmed. I heard the first few notes of a slow song.
“I was just about to…” my voice trailed off as I saw her eyes narrow. Over her shoulder, I saw her father watching our interaction closely. I had managed to keep the man appeased so far, but he kept trying to turn our conversation to when the official mating ceremony with his daughter could be scheduled. This was one apple cart I couldn’t upset. Not yet. “Find you to ask you the same question.” I smiled at her with my best shit-eating grin and then almost felt bad when I saw her eyes light up. Women were sometimes awkwardly predictable, with the exception of one. I never knew what way Maren was going to go no matter how thick I laid down the charm.
I offered Vivian my arm, and she slipped hers through it. I felt the eyes on us as I led her onto the dance floor. I wondered if this was what it felt like to be a media celebrity. I had a feeling that it was something I was going to have to get used to, and my time was going to be even less my own than before.
One thing I did pride myself on was my ability to move on the dance floor. I was big, but I had received more than one compliment over the years about my gracefulness despite that shortcoming. I was light on my feet, but I think that came more from trying to avoid getting caught in the various rabble-rousing activities of my youth than anything else. I had learned how to be stealthy at a young age.
I gave Vivian a little tug and pulled her into my arms with a small twirl. I heard her breath catch in surprise, and then she grinned at me again. This charade was going to be exhausting.
“I didn’t realize that you were such a wonderful dancer,” she said as I began to lead her across the floor.
“There are a lot of things that people underestimate when it comes to me,” I said. I kept my eyes over her shoulder. Doc Walden and Mr. Reddon stood watching us from across the room. I saw them turn inwards as if having a private chat. That was something else that I was going to have to nip in the bud. I had council members who thought a bit too highly of themselves and their positions. It was a problem that I know Markus struggled with too, but he traveled so much that it wasn’t something he had figured out how to address. I wasn’t planning to play political tug-of-war in my own clan.
“I know the feeling,” Vivian said with a small sigh.
Her words brought my eyes back to her face. I saw something there that I didn’t expect. Sympathy. That was a surprise.
“You’ve got quite the impressive reputation,” I said. “It seems like it would be difficult for anyone to underestimate you.”
“Like you, people think they pegged me a long time ago,” Vivian said. She caught my eyebrow raise. “Oh, I know all about you, Lukas Kasper. The Greyelf Grizzly bad boy turned good. Or maybe you never were really all that bad to begin with.”
I chuckled, but it wasn’t really with any sort of amusement. “Oh, I was. Every story you’ve heard is probably true, and likely still doesn’t have the full sordid details. If there was a mess anywhere in Greyelf back then, I was guaranteed to be in the middle of it. If I wasn’t in trouble, I was out looking for it. It was kind of my thing.”
“Some psychiatrist out there would probably have a field day with you then,” she said.
“I’m sure I have a whole host of psychological issues,” I agreed. I wondered if I played up the angle of being fucked up if that would make her question my desirability as a mate. But as I looked into her face, I realized that the stories about my bad boy reputation might have just had the opposite effect. I needed a new plan.
“It seems to me that a bright, beautiful woman like you would have taken issue with being auctioned off in an arranged mating like a piece of property,” I said.
“No matter how far I went from my clan, the fact that I was my father’s daughter went with me. My family’s reputation always proceeded me. And my father has never let me forget that duty to the clan trumps everything else.”
“Sounds familiar,” I grumbled.
“It might surprise you to know that my father always held your brother in high regard,” Vivian said. She was right. That did surprise me, and I said so. “Being an alpha isn’t a job I think I’d ever want even if the clans ever changed their archaic rules of only allowing males to have claim to it.”
“That’s actually on the agenda for the Summit,” I said.
“Who do you think put it there?” Vivian chuckled. “I told my father that it’s silly that I’m out there arguing for equal rights for shifters in the world of humans when our own laws don’t adhere to the same standards.”
I couldn’t help it. I found that I liked this woman a little bit. She reminded me of Maren. I didn’t think most female clan members in her position would have been so forthcoming with their beliefs. They’d be falling all over themselves trying to impress me, or worse, trying to coerce me into their beds sooner rather than later. It was a phenomenon that I had encountered ever since I reached maturity simply by being related to the alpha.
“So I go back to what I said before. I’m surprised that you agreed to do this,” I said.
“Why wouldn’t I? Once we’re mated, I have the power of the two strongest shifter clans behind me to help drive my own agenda. I hope you aren’t expecting some simpering dolt as your mate. I thought that if anything, you’d appreciate someone who had a strong personality and ability to influence and negotiate.”
I absolutely did. It was just I didn’t want that mate to be Vivian Reddon. I was saved from answering by the last note of the song playing. The next chord of the following song indicated that the beat was pic
king up. “How about I get you a drink?”
“Gin and tonic,” she said.
“Sure.” I left her on the dance floor and headed for the bar. I definitely hadn’t had enough to drink yet. As I reached the end of the bar and signaled the bartender, I found myself next to another person that I had no interest in talking either.
“The big boss man is drinking gin and tonics?” Billy Miller was a council member, acting sheriff and had recently been my competition for Maren’s affections. I thought I had squashed that piece of it, but with recent events I had to wonder if Billy figured he was back in the game.
“It isn’t for me,” I said.
“Oh, that’s right. I heard your new fiancé likes her gin,” Billy said.
“Have you seen Maren?” As much as I hated bringing attention to the biggest source of tension between us, Billy was running the security detail at the event. He had eyes and ears everywhere.
“You mean after she hightailed it out of here right after the announcement of your exciting news? No, I haven’t.”
I felt my bear growling at the man’s tone, and while I wholeheartedly agreed, I needed to keep my cool. “That’s not like her,” I said, sidestepping his insinuation. I couldn’t out and out tell him to keep his paws off Maren because she was mine. Part of that was because she wasn’t mine yet, and the other being it put both of us in a dangerous predicament if I did. “She’s working this story. It just seems odd that she wouldn’t have come back yet.”
“Her car is still out in the parking lot,” Billy said. He took a long sip of his drink. “She probably just needed to cool off. I think she’s been under a lot of pressure the last week or so.”
I turned toward the man. I was losing patience being nice. “You have something to say?”