Steal the Sun: (Book 1)

by Stephanie Kelley

  “You believe him?”

  Remmy’s sideways glance said it all.

  “That kid. I swear if Dez didn’t make me keep him on I’d have sent him to town and told him to work at the docks the first week of the season.

  Remmy snorted. “He wouldn’t last there either. Dez just needs to send him down to the lower 48 to be with his mother, eh?”

  “Would be nice.” I said with a bit of a laugh. That nineteen year old had been a thorn in my side for twelve weeks now. “I’ve had more fights with Dez over that kid getting in the way, than any other issues here at Ordeneige. His uncle’s here today, so I’m guessing Connor will be minding his tongue.”

  “Don’t push it, Ravenwhite. Who knows if Sesi has this office bugged or not. He could be listening right now.”

  I about spit coffee out my nose at his bad joke. Dez and technology, that was a joke of a combination. He was old school all the way, didn’t want to change from the way things had been passed down in his family, including his distaste for Others. That included me, he knew I wasn't human. So did his brother.

  “You must really be beat to find that funny,” Remmy quipped as I tried to control my coughing laughter.

  I just shrugged my shoulders. But he was right, I was.

  “You going to send the guys to town for a break after this clean up tonight? Big Mount crew probably will be in town at Broken Tusk, it is Friday. Best place in town for darts, might be a good time for some friendly rivalry.”

  I didn’t want to mingle with those shifters from Big Mount. Too many shifters in one place was always a recipe for disaster. I’d run into a few lycans in my past who thought I’d be an easy meal if they caught me by surprise, the surprise had always been on them. The thought of my crew being gone for the night had appeal. I could go for a swim in the holding pond without fear of being found out.

  “Maybe, let's see how clean up tonight goes before we say anything. I don’t need any lip from Connor, or him not working his shift because he thinks we’re done already.

  “You joining us tonight if we do?”

  “No, I think I’ll drink myself into a stupor in my trailer while you are all gone. The quiet will be nice.”

  “You haven’t been to town once since the season started, Ravenwhite, I thought you grew up here.”

  I had. I’d also run from my mistakes instead of sticking around.

  “Yeah, pretty close with the Sesi clan too. Part of my contract says I stay out of town.” I breathed a heavy sigh, choosing my words carefully. “Dez said he didn't want me getting caught back up in my past. So I stay here. Just easier.

  Remmy raised an eyebrow over his thick glasses at me. “What the hell did you do that he’s got you on a tight leash?”

  I chugged the last of my coffee while the past raced through my mind. I wasn't sure I even wanted to answer Remmy. Part of me still regretted coming back, especially to work for a man who hunted my kind.

  The unmistakable sound of metal colliding with metal made it to us over the rumble of the heavy machinery. We bolted out the door in a full sprint towards the wash plant, still unable to see what had actually happened in the cloud of dust. I heard Carter, our mechanic, scream to turn off the water to the wash plant. Something had gone wrong with the machinery, and I prayed whatever ever had happened was a quick fix. We couldn’t afford the down time.

  I anticipated a storm, but not this.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Kodiak

  The evergreens never gave away the secret of when winter was coming, but the bright washes of color from the fireweed always tattled on the seasons. The closer I got to the mine, the higher the pink purple flowers bloomed on the stems. Winter would be here when the flowers reached the top of the stems. We didn’t have long. Czar woke up on my passenger seat as the sound of heavy machinery reached us. He’d managed to sleep the entire trip, even through my bad singing and the super bumpy road. As I got closer to camp, I saw a few trees with fresh gouges from bear claws. I was glad mining season was soon at an end. I didn’t want these guys in danger any more than my brothers did.

  I saw a relatively new dark blue Chevy Suburban with a bent rear bumper and thick scratches that exposed bare metal on the tailgate. The scratches looked like they had been caused by an excavator bucket trying to pick up the vehicle. These boys played hard, but the license plate intrigued me. FSH N AU. It took me a moment, but someone who knew chemistry was trying to be cute. AU was the chemical symbol for gold. The Washington license plate was meant to be read “fish and gold.” The miner probably got along with Kenai swimmingly.

  The mining crew was piling dirt up by the huge maze of steel and conveyor belts that made up our wash plant. But that nearly two story machine that was used for the sole purpose of washing gold from the dirt and rocks wasn’t running. What in the hell was going on? The scheduled shutdown to retrieve the gold from the machinery was still two days away.

  A dust covered young miner rolled up on a four wheeler beside my muddy truck on the passenger side. Before I could recognize who he was through the grime, out the window my dog went, jumping into his lap.

  “Czar!” I yelled after him.

  “Aunt Koda, what are you doing here?”

  I found myself half leaning out my window in the swirling dust to see my nineteen year old nephew.

  “Connor! Hey, where’s your uncle Ken?”

  “Uncle Kenai? He took the dozer up to the other end of the mine to clear some ground, left the new guy in charge of fixing the wash plant.”

  A laugh escaped me. The thought of Kenai actually doing something productive at the mine after last night was quiet commical. There was a better chance he was probably off taking a nap rather that working.

  Ken was a hunter through and through, and if he wasn’t hunting Others, he was out on a fishing boat. Ken was a lot like Poppa, but my brothers and I refused to give voice to the comparison not wanting to give Fate the idea of losing him at sea, too. Their lives didn’t need to be that much of a mirror. But this summer, we’d all done a lot more of things we wouldn't typically do as we avoided the anniversary of Poppa’s disappearance and assumed death. I found myself sleeping every moment I could. Kenai had yet to go fishing this summer. Dez had spent more time out of Alaska than in it. It had been ten years, and I think we were dealing with his passing worse this year than any since he had disappeared.

  “New guy? You mean the new foreman your dad hired? Michael?”

  “Micah. Yeah, he’s up on the wash plant now.”

  “What the hell happened?”

  “The conveyor belt ripped and jammed up pretty good. He’s been messing with it for a few hours to see if he can salvage it.”

  Damn it. For his sake, I hoped the new guy was as good as Dez had made him out to be. If they had to order a new belt it would take at least week or more before it arrived. We couldn't afford that, not this close to the end of the season and the freeze. Not with that creature lurking around camps either, they’d be easy pickings.

  “Show me where I can take these parts, Connor, then I want to go talk to this Micah person.”

  I recognized one of the two men working two stories up on the wash plant. Remmy had been on the crew a few seasons now. That meant the nice ass in tight faded jeans beside him, was the new foreman. Might as well enjoy the eye candy for a moment before I let them know I was there, right?

  Silhouetted against the sun from my vantage point I got a delicious view of Micah as he took a moment to stretch out his back, rolling his neck in the process, unruly waves of dark hair peaked out from under his hard hat. He wasn't afraid of the Alaskan cold either, his flannel shirt was sleeveless and I thanked whatever deity was in my favor today for those muscular arms. From where I stood some twenty feet below, I was able to see that his left arm was a full sleeve of tattoos as his skin caught the light, while on his right he had a tattooed cuff around his wrist that barely peeked out from the cuff of his leather work glove.

  I watched h
im work, every move a fluid motion, precise and efficient. I still couldn't make out his face because of the sun, but I wasn’t sure if I cared. Something about seeing him swing that sledge hammer to remove a bolt and his muscles rippling, struck a nerve deep in me that I didn't know still existed outside of drinking too much.

  When he finally was done and climbing down the ladder, I caught myself absently biting my lip as I realized his thighs were as well developed as his biceps. I wondered if it would be sexual harassment if I propositioned him, but I’d have to wait till the end of the mining season to even think about it. Dez would have a conniption as it was if I got involved with one of the crew, but right now we certainly needed all hands on deck because of the breakdown.

  “Do you know where Connor got to? I want him to help me pull the belt off now that it's unbolted.” Micah’s voice was vaguely familiar as he started down the ladder, it was similar to the voice in my dream.

  Remmy’s gaze traveled to my truck, hand shading his eyes from the sun. “Well, I see a big red truck and a white and gray dog. So big boss sis is here. He's probably with her.”

  “Shit.”

  Micah turned and followed Remmy’s gaze. The sun light caught his eyes making them glitter gold. There was no mistaking those amber eyes and faded v shaped scar on his cheek. I knew exactly who he was.

  I hadn’t seen him in seven years, but I still saw red.

  Dezi was gonna get an earful when he got back into town. Kenai too the next time I saw him. I freed my knife from its sheath without a second thought and whistled for my dog. Both men turned to face me in their shock.

  “Koda.”

  “Yeah, no shit. So who's idea was it not to tell me that he hired you, Micah? Yours or one of my brothers?”

  His name wasn’t Micah. He was Rhen Micah Ravenwhite. And seven years ago that bastard had been my world.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Rhen

  I thought the conveyor belt shredding was the worst thing that I could have imagined happening in my day. I hadn’t been that wrong in a long time. When I turned and saw her standing near the wash plant, knife in hand, I couldn’t breathe. My chest had tightened when I saw that pained look on her face. It was a moment frozen in time for me that I had tried to put out of my mind. Last time she had run to her brothers. Now she screamed at me, that damn husky had come running to her side.

  “Seven years, you bastard, seven years. And now you think you can just waltz back in and work for my family?” The cracking in her voice tightened the grip on my throat.

  “Koda, this isn't the time or place.” I had managed. I didn't need her starting a fight in front of my crew. “Let's go in the office and talk.”

  “No!” She yelled, her voice raspy. “I don't want to deal with the memories. I already have the scars.”

  “Don’t do this,” I watched her flip the knife in her fingers. “I will come to town and we can talk about this after I fix the wash plant.”

  “No! You’ll just run away again! Maybe if you would have stuck around time this wouldn't be happening.”

  She was right. I should have stayed and explained myself, maybe hoped for her forgiveness back then, but I hadn’t. I had left Cordova and in doing so turned her world upside down. I had left her with nothing to hold on to. Both of her parents dead. Dezi had been too busy trying to run the family businesses to be involved in his own son’s life. Kenai was away on fishing vessels hoping against hope that their father was still alive on another ship and just refusing to come home

  This was not my nineteen year old Koda I had left that stood before me with sun darkened freckles and sparkling dual coloured eyes. This was a gorgeous creature with wild hair and a curvy body, full of fire and ready to fight me for the scars I had left on both our hearts. And I deserved every one of them.

  That damn dog was beside her and growling in my direction as he stayed by her side. His eyes matched her’s, one blue, one brown, and he was larger than I expected. And in traditional canine fashion did not like me as a shifter.

  Koda had trained him well but I made the mistake of taking a step towards her. The husky lunged at me, snapping and snarling while she continued to scream words at me that I’d stopped comprehending. I already bore a scar on my face from a run in with one of her family’s dogs as a child, I didn't need a second one as an adult.

  My crew had ran towards us when we’d started screaming. They hadn't expected me to start screaming back at her about getting the dog under control. I had a reputation for being cool under fire even in the worst circumstances. I had nerves of steel and unshakable.

  I was the one that never lost my calm.

  This woman had undone me in the matter of a few breaths. She would forever be my weakness no matter how much time had passed.

  Remmy had managed to get the knife out of her hand while Connor got control of the dog. When they managed to convince Koda to walk away, they let her go. She hurled a few more insults my direction. Asshole, bastard, manwhore, coward. I couldn’t argue with the latter. I had indeed been a coward when it came to telling her the truth.

  I laughed when she said she’d skin me if she ever saw me again. She didn’t know that her oldest brother had already made that threat. But Koda hadn’t said hide, or seal skin. She still thought of me as human. Dez hadn't told her or Kenai my secret. A tiny part of me was glad she still didn’t know. At least I couldn’t screw up all her memories of us.

  Others don't make friends with the hunters. Others don't get romantically involved with the hunters. I knew first hand her family had the same rules, but her oldest brother had pushed down his hatred for Others to ask me to run his mine given my reputation for finding and recovering gold. The agreement Dezi and I had was not ideal, but it was lucrative. And gold won out over reason.

  Waiting for Valdez Sesi to pick up his phone was the icing on the cake for my day. My hard won calm from being back in Alaska had been fractured by the encounter with his sister and I wasn’t sure I could get it back. My skin itched, I wanted to go for a swim, to burn off my stress, but I was cooped up in Dezi’s office, waiting for a voice on the other end of the line.

  Four calls and two dozen rings later.

  “Sesi.”

  “She still doesn’t know I’m a shifter does she?”

  “What does it matter Ravenwhite? Do you really want her to know?”

  I fought the rumble in my chest and changed the subject. He was right. I didn’t want her to know, but at the same time, I was tired of hiding it.

  “I have a bag of frozen peas on my damn eye, Dez.” I barked into my phone. “Why was Koda up here?”

  “Whoa, calm down. Koda was at the mine?”

  “Yeah, that's what I just said,” I yelled at him, my voice echoing off the walls of the tiny office space and into the phone. “She brought the parts for the machines. You were supposed to be bringing them when you got back into town. You told me she stayed away from the mine, that I’d never have to worry about seeing her unless I went into town. That's why I agreed to do this for you. I haven’t left this place in three months.”

  “Shit. I figured she'd call me to pick them up.”

  “You figured she’d call you? You’re out of town!” I fumed, punching the wall of his office. And adding to the luck of my day, I had managed to find a stud in the wall. Now I needed more frozen peas. “She brought them herself. Told Connor she needed to meet the new guy.”

  “Why didn’t you send one of the newbies she didn't know, like we planned if this ever happened?”

  “I was up on the wash plant fixing what your son broke. I couldn't very well send someone else in my place when Connor pointed me out.”

  “Dude, I'm sorry.” He wasn’t doing a good job of hiding the laughter in his voice. Gods he was a dick.

  “You’re sorry? There is no sorry about it. She was throwing rocks at me!” The siding on the trailer rattled as the wind kicked up. I cringed, I had to keep it together.

  “She hit you in the
eye with a rock? Please tell me you’re on the way to the hospital.”

  “No, Dezi. Koda can’t throw. Connor popped me when I told him to stay out of my business with Koda. If I wanted this much family drama I would have gone and worked at SeaWorld with my cousin.”

  Dezi snorted. “And what? Balance a ball on your nose?”

  “I'm a seal, not a sea lion.” Now he just laughed at me. “Screw you Dez. Fix this.”

  “No.”

  “No? What do you mean no?”

  “This is your problem. I’m going to have enough trouble smoothing this over with her. That's enough for me to deal with. You’re out of Cordova in three weeks. I paid for your plane ticket back here. The agreement was you stay away from Koda or your hide will be on my wall.”

  There was the damn Sesi leash I had around my neck. Work for them or be hunted.

  “Dez-”

  “I may have given you a second chance because you came clean with me about being a shifter, but don’t think for a minute that I like the thought of your shifter ass being around my family, especially my sister. No matter who instigated it. I’ve kept your damn secret. Figure out how to settle your conscious, Flipper, you've got a gold mine to run. I’ve got shit to take care of here.”

  “You’ve only kept my secret-” the line went dead before I could finish my sentence. He’d only kept my secret because it was profitable to him. He’d always been a opportunistic asshole, some things never changed.

  I never should have come back.

  I looked at my phone debating running it over with the dozer, but instead I dialed a number I knew by heart. I didn’t expect an answer, but I tried anyway.

  “Holy shit, you have reception.”

  The tightness in my chest loosened at the sound of my sister’s voice. Part of me wondered if she had suspected I’d be calling. She’d always had a bit of psychic ability when it came to things that concerned us as twins. Me on the other hand, nothing. Willow always teased I didn’t have it because my “magic” was linked to the weather.