“Bastard!” she said, and had to fight the urge to squeeze off a shot.
Run, she told herself. The time to spring the trap had come.
Getting herself in gear, she ran toward the appointed spot. When she heard wings slicing the air behind her, she put her back against a tree until the eagle had gone by, then resumed her run. Another eagle came, then another. That one almost cut open her scalp again, but at the last moment she flung herself prostrate on the ground and it flew overhead, unleashing a furious cry as it winged back up.
She climbed back to her feet and sprinted forward. Almost there! The net she and Rick had rigged between two trees spanned the gap just up ahead. It was the same one he’d used to catch their breakfast and the very item that had sparked this plan. Hopefully it would work. If it didn’t, then she really might have to use the gun. And killing shifters, who would only revert back to their human forms upon death, and would thus appear to be naked and unarmed, probably wouldn’t help get Barbara her job back. In fact, it might land her in prison.
She dove below the net, then spun to see the first of the eagles slam into it. Screeching, it pumped its wings, but to no avail. It was caught securely. Another eagle flew into it and became enmeshed, then a third. The fourth saw the trap and tried to veer away, but before it could Rick rose up, huge in his bear form, and batted the eagle into the net just like a baseball player practicing his swing. There were only two eagles left, and when they saw Rick they circled a few times, then flew away, screeching angrily.
Barbara whooped.
“We did it!” she said. “Ha! Take that, eagles!”
She cut the cord and the net plummeted to the ground, squirming with feathery brown shapes. They snapped and clawed at the net, but when they couldn’t break free they seemed to give up. The air shimmered around them, and they changed forms, becoming human once more. Angry, frustrated faces, both male and female, glared at Barbara from behind the net.
Rick Shifted, becoming human again, too, and he joined Barbara in staring down at their prisoners.
“A fine haul,” he said. “A couple are a mite skinny. Might toss that one back,” he said, indicating one rail-thin man with a bald spot. “But on the whole, pretty good.”
“Bitch!” said one eagle shifter woman, a brunette with cold dark eyes and enormous breasts. Barbara hoped Rick wasn’t enjoying the show too much. “You won’t get away with this! When the others find out what you’ve done, you’ll wish we’d killed you!”
Barbara marched up and down the line of them like a drill sergeant. With a detachment that seemed to infuriate the brunette (which pleased Barbara just fine), Barbara said, “Let’s see, what have we here? Four shifters who have attempted on multiple occasions to murder an officer of the law, not to mention a civilian deputized into the service.”
“We were only defending our territory,” said a man with regal poise but rope burns on his face from the net. “You deserved what you got.”
“Shut it!” said Rick, evidently not appreciating his mate being spoken to in that way.
“It’s okay,” Barbara told him. “I want to know what these people have to say for themselves.” Peering at the fourth member of the net, a quiet-looking woman with intelligent blue eyes and graying hair, she said, “Who is your alpha? Or do eagle shifters have an alpha?”
After a moment, the graying woman said, “We do. He’s one of those who got away.” Her eyes flicked east, indicating the two birds that had flown off rather than face Rick’s wrath and Barbara’s bullets.
“He was the smart one,” said the skinny man. He grabbed a fist-full of net and shook it. “Can’t believe we fell for this.”
The woman with the huge ta-tas started to find the edge of the net and throw it off. Barbara drew out her sidearm and clicked the safety off with more drama than strictly necessary.
“You will stay where you are until I say otherwise,” Barbara said, and the woman glared at her but desisted in her efforts. “Now. I want to know why you stole the jewels.” Part of her thought, No! Read them their rights first. But she wasn’t sure if she was reading the situation correctly and wanted someone to confess first. She wouldn’t try to use it as evidence against them, but at least she’d know who to charge.
“We won’t tell you,” said the man with the rope burns on his face. “We’re not going to betray our own.”
“Screw that,” said the skinny man. “It was them that got us into this in the first place.” He shook the net again. “They brought the law on us, and for what? Nothing we did. They can go hang for all I care.”
“Gahan would flay you for that,” said Big Boobs. The way she said it made Barbara think Gahan was the alpha, and that furthermore Big Boobs was his woman. Of course. That’s where she got her arrogance from.
“He won’t be able to flay me behind bars,” said the skinny guy with the bald spot, and crossed his arms sulkily over his chest.
“You said ‘them’,” Barbara said. “‘They’ stole the jewels. Who’s ‘them’?”
“None of your business, you slut!” said Big Boobs.
Look who’s talking, Barbara wanted to snap. She held herself back.
The skinny guy started to say something, but the other man elbowed him and he closed his mouth, though he retained his sulky demeanor.
“Don’t tell them anything,” Rope Burn said.
“I’ll tell them what I want,” Bald Spot said, but he didn’t go on.
The graying woman said nothing.
Frowning, Barbara turned to Rick. Her interrogation was going nowhere. Nodding, he cleared his throat and attention shifted to him.
“Shifter law says we don’t attack humans who aren’t attacking us,” he said. “You did. I could bring this before the Great Council if I wanted.”
“You wouldn’t!” said Big Boobs.
“I wouldn’t,” Rick agreed, nodding mildly. “My alpha would. And he will if you give me and Officer Thompson any more shit.”
“We were only defending our territory,” said Rope Burn.
Rick narrowed his eyes dangerously, and strange lights flickered in them. “You went beyond that,” he said, and Rope Burn swallowed and shut up. “Now here’s the deal. You tell us what we want to know and the Great Council doesn’t have to know. Also, I won’t kill you. You did try to kill my mate and I. Technically I’m within my rights to kill you in return. That’s shifter law,” he told Barbara.
She nodded. It had been her plan that had enabled them to catch the eagle shifters, but she knew she needed Rick to make good on it. He knew shifters and shifter law like she never would.
At last the graying woman spoke up: “It was Tom and Brytha.”
“Can it, oldtimer!” said Big Boobs.
The older woman, who was quite pretty, actually, did not bat an eye. “It was Tom and Brytha,” she said again.
“They stole the jewels,” Barbara said, just to be clear.
“No. It was Tom. He was the thief.”
“Stop talking!” said Rope Burn.
“Let her say what she wants,” said Bald Spot.
Rope Burn glared at him, but Rick cracked his knuckles, drawing attention to himself again—and his huge fists—and Rope Burn subsided, although he didn’t look happy about it. Bald Spot, however, almost smiled.
“Keep going,” Barbara told the silver fox.
“Tom’s not like us,” the older woman said. “He’s been corrupted by human ways. Sorry,” she added as an aside to Barbara. “But it’s true. We live in the forest, clean and pure. Some eagle shifters, it’s true, can find a balance with the human world, and some can live in their towns and cities, at least part of the time, but not us. We’re from an old clan, and we cleave to the ancient ways.”
“But not Tom.”
“Not Tom,” agreed the woman. “He was Turned when he was in his thirties, very unusual, and he couldn’t let the human world go. He’s full of greed, of wants and desires the human world has put into him. He infected Brytha
with it, too, and spun her tales of palaces and treasures. Some bird shifters of old, especially ravens, liked to line their nests with gaudy trinkets. Brytha got it into her head to line her nest with diamonds and pearls, and Tom, more fool he, set about doing it.”
“That’s why he stole those gems and things?” Rick said, and snorted. “He didn’t even want the money he could have made from them? He just wanted his mate to be able to sleep on them?”
The graying woman met his gaze. “Yes. Our alpha tried to dissuade him, but Tom was adamant, and Gahan went along with it under the condition that it not come back to us. That it not harm the convocation. But yesterday you came, and we knew our time was up in this area. We kicked Tom and Brytha out of the clan and half of our convocation is out even now scouring the mountains for a place to build a new home.”
Barbara blinked. “So that’s why the eagles were at the falls,” she said to Rick. “They weren’t hunting us at all! They were searching for an area to build new aeries in.”
Rick rubbed his chin, then nodded. “But that means …” To the graying woman, he said, “Tom and Brytha are homeless now, and on the loose?”
“That’s right.”
“And the jewels?” said Barbara.
The older woman’s gaze moved up to the tops of the trees. “In Brytha’s nest where she left them. We kicked them out, like I said, and Gahan was in no mood to reward them bringing the outside world to us by allowing them to take off with their stolen goods.”
Rick grinned at Barbara. “A cache of treasure no one knows about. Could be mighty tempting …”
She cleared her throat. “Could be,” she said, making it clear that it couldn’t be.
He laughed. “Just a thought.” He frowned, analyzing the aeries. “So how are we gonna get the jewels down? And I’m guessing we are, right?”
Barbara thought about it. They hadn’t apprehended the culprits—at least, if one were to believe the silver fox. Barbara did, though, which meant she still hadn’t saved her job. If she could bring back the stolen diamonds, gems, rubies and pearls, though …
“Do you think you could climb that high?” she asked Rick. “I mean, don’t do it if it’s dangerous, but if you can …”
“Hell yeah I can! Watch this, Officer Hotpants.” Then, to the graying woman: “Which nest?”
The woman pointed. “That one.”
“Kiss for luck?” Rick asked Barbara. Then, before she could stop him, he swept in for a nice, lingering kiss, ignoring the swears of Big Boobs and the eye rolling of Rope Burn. “Be right back,” he said, and Shifted.
As an enormous grizzly bear, he ascended the tall conifer, and Barbara cringed as the tree swayed back and forth under his enormous weight. It was a big tree, though, ancient and sturdy, and proved able to bear his weight quite well. When he reached the nest at the top, Rick paused, as if unsure how best to bring the jewels down. Then he reached out a big paw and, with some effort, folded one end of the nest over the other like Barbara’s mom had folded omelets. He mashed the ends tight, then, being surprisingly careful for such a huge creature, swept the eagle nest out of the treetops. It spun end over end toward the ground, and Barbara was sure that it would erupt in diamonds and pearls when it reached earth. If that happened, many of the stolen goods would be lost for all time and suspicion would doubtlessly fall on Barbara. That wouldn’t help her career any.
She realized she was holding her breath. Please don’t break, she thought. Please don’t break.
Miraculously, the nest touched down relatively gently. It bounced once, then settled, the omelet-fold still intact—and the precious gems safe. Barbara wanted to rush over and inspect them, but she had to keep her eyes on the prisoners. What should she do with them? Release them? They had tried to kill her and Rick. She was debating it when Rick reached the bottom of the great tree, Shifted, went to the nest and dragged it over to her. The nest was bigger than she would have thought. Bending down, she unfolded it, though it took some effort. Sure enough, diamonds and other jewels winked back at her from amidst the twigs, branches and downy eagle feathers that lined it.
She sucked in a breath. “They’re beautiful.”
“They really are,” Rick said.
How was Barb going to move the jewels? She needed a bag or …
She sighed. There was only one way. Shucking off her shirt—to the hooting of Rope Burn—she spread it flat against the ground, then scooped all the jewels onto it. She pulled the ends together and tied them off, then stood, holding the jewels in their temporary home in one hand and her pistol in the other. Of course, now she was shirtless. Great. So professional, Barb. But at least she was still the most-dressed person here.
Rick’s admiring gaze swung from her to the prisoners, who were regarding him and Barbara coolly. “What about them?”
“Release us,” said Big Boobs.
Barbara let out a breath. To Rick, she said, “I’m inclined to let them go.”
“Go with that!” said Bald Spot.
Rick drew Barb aside. In a quiet, serious tone, he said, “Shifters have their own laws. I would appreciate it if you let me handle whatever needs to be done. With them, anyway. The thief and his woman are yours.”
She had never seen Rick so serious before. Or at least so … mature. He wasn’t speaking on behalf of Rick Barnes, playboy man-ho bear shifter at the moment. He was speaking on behalf of all shifter-dom. Somehow that was quite sexy.
Hearing the rasp in her voice, she said, “Will they honor a promise?”
“An official promise made before witnesses? Yes, I believe so. They cleave to the old ways, like they said, and honor will mean a great deal to them.”
She approached the netted figures. It pained her to do this, but she addressed Big Boobs. She was the alpha’s mate and her word would probably carry more weight than the others. The First Lady of the Sky. Or at least of the convocation.
“I’m prepared to release you,” Barbara said, “but only if you swear not to attack humans again.”
Big Boobs drew back her upper lip. “Even if they invade our territory?”
“Even if.”
Big Boobs glanced to Rope Burn, then Silver Fox. At last she swore and said, “I promise to do my best to persuade our alpha to uphold that principle—that’s the best I can do.”
It would have to serve. “And one other thing,” Barbara said.
“Now what? And this better be the last!”
“It is. If you find out where the thieves are located, you’ll inform me. I work out of the PD in Pine Ridge. Barbara Thompson.”
“Now we know whose house to shit on,” said Rope Burn, and Big Boobs grinned.
“Do I have your word?” Barbara pressed.
Big Boobs flipped a lock of hair out of her face impatiently. “Yes yes, you have my word. Those assholes don’t deserve our loyalty anyway. Look what’s become of us because of them!”
“Very well, then.”
Barbara and Rick each took hold of the net from opposite sides and ripped it upward, off of the imprisoned eagle shifters. There was some grumbling and swearing as the four rose, and Barb kept her hand on the butt of her pistol, which she’d shoved back in its sheath. No reason to provoke them or menace them unnecessarily.
“That net stinks of fish,” said Rope Burn, and Rick actually chuckled.
Silver Fox approached Barbara. “You have my thanks,” she said.
Barbara inclined her head. “You have mine.”
With that, Big Boobs Shifted, and the others followed suit. In seconds all four brown-feathered eagles were winging their way up toward the canopy of trees, then passing the leafy roof and sweeping gracefully away.
“That’s too bad,” Rick said. “I mean, it seems like Tom and Brytha have gotten away.”
Barbara tapped her chin, then smiled. “Nope,” she said.
“No?”
“No. I’ve got a plan.”
“A plan,” he said, sounding both amused and impressed. “To ca
tch the thieves?”
“You know it.”
Barbara glanced down from following the eagles’ progress to see Rick watching her. His eyes were still somewhat sober, mature, but there was something else there, too. A heat. Desire was plain in his face, but more than that. Could it really be … love? Yes, she thought it really was. Her heart beat faster as she realized she felt it, too, like a burning inside her.
“You were really something back there,” he said, coming closer to her. He came so close she could smell his slightly musky man-bear odor, along with the barest hint of sweat. “The way you told those eagle shifters what for.”
“I, er …”
He enfolded one of her hands in his. She was staring up at his face, deep into his eyes. Not only could she smell him now, she could feel the heat coming off his body as if he were a furnace on two legs. All that power, and with looks and heart, too.
She bit her lower lip. “You were something, too. I was scared when you climbed that tree. It was so high. I know bears climb, but not that high. It had to be a hundred feet up! Or more!”
One corner of his mouth quirked up, and he ran a hand through her hair. His mouth came very close to hers and brushed hers, just slightly. She wanted to give in. She had denied him too much as it was. She couldn’t stand doing it again. And she had promised him that once they resolved the situation he would finally get some more nookie. As Luke as her witness. And it was resolved, more or less. There were still some loose ends, but those could be tied up soon. But to make love here, out in the open? The eagle shifters could be watching them.
As if realizing the problem, Rick said, “The caves aren’t far. It will be private there.”
“Caves? But … the bears …”
“Only some of them are occupied.”
Suddenly she grinned. “Okay.”
He raised his eyebrows, sounding surprised. “Really?”
“Really!”
He laughed. Squeezing her hand, he led off through the trees, and she followed.
Chapter 11
Bear Mated: A BBW Bear Shifter Paranomal Romance (Pine Ridge BBW Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance Series Book 2) Page 8