by Lisa Ladew
***
Willow sighed as Bruin pulled into his driveway, anticipation lighting her up from the inside. It had been a long night and day, and she was ready for some quiet time.
But at the bottom of the steep driveway, before Bruin was able to turn the corner and make it around the boundary of bushes and trees that separated his house from the road, a woman appeared out of nowhere like a ghost, eyes wild, hair flying around her face like she was in her own personal windstorm. She was less than five feet from the truck and Bruin was going to run her over.
Willow yelped and pointed. “Bruin, stop!”
He slammed on the brakes. He hadn’t been going fast and he was able to stop just in time. The woman reached out a hand and touched the front of the truck. Mac and Rogue, in the truck behind them, slammed to their own stop, barely missing rear-ending Bruin and pushing the truck he was driving into the woman.
Willow twisted in her seat to see behind them. Mac turned off his vehicle and jumped out, striding up to Bruin’s window, his eyes on the woman in the middle of Bruin’s driveway.
Willow took the time to appraise her while she caught her breath. She was tall, with long, thick, brown hair that hung to her waist, and Polynesian features and coloring. Willow liked her immediately, even though she looked desperate and scared. She didn’t move, only held up her hands. “Wait,” she cried, no hint of an accent to her words. “You must wait here until it is over. It won’t be long.” Willow realized that the air around her shimmered, and behind her was not the rest of Bruin’s driveway, but rather a small, non-descript room, like she was really in another world, and they were seeing her holographic image projected on the very air. She looked so real, though.
Mac leaned in Bruin’s window, talking softly. “I’ve seen her before, exactly like this. She came to see Harlan last time. She might be a One True Mate. Leilani is her name.”
Willow leaned forward, ready to get out, to go talk to her, but before she could, the woman spoke again. “I’ve been sent to tell you that it was Bane and Zane who planted the bomb. Also, Grey is working with Khain. Do not underestimate them. I should not say more, lest you change too much. We are only to change this one thing.” She shimmered, like she was about to disappear. Panic crossed her face. “If I go, do not drive on! You’ll die! Swear to me that you won’t go to your house, Bruin.”
Mac and Bruin exchanged looks. Mac took a few steps toward her. “Who told you all of this?”
Leilani swung her gaze from Bruin to Mac and stared him straight in his face. “You did, Mac.”
Thunderous noise and light so bright it almost baked Willow’s eyes shredded through the quiet evening. She threw an arm over her eyes.
“Holy shit!” Mac yelled, as he fell to the ground, pressed by some invisible hand.
The truck they were in rocked backward by the percussion of the explosion, and the sound and smells of burning filled the air.
Hesitantly, Willow took her arm down from her face. Bruin had taken his seatbelt off and was touching her arms. “Are you ok?” he said. She nodded, her eardrums pulsing.
Bruin got out to help Mac, but Mac had already scrambled back to his truck to check on Rogue. Bruin stepped a few feet away from the truck so that he could see around the curve in the driveway, his mouth falling open.
Willow got out, joining him. Bruin’s house was fully engulfed, flames shooting out a massive hole that had eaten the entire front of it.
Willow realized that Leilani was gone. Winked out of existence the same way she had come in.
Mac and Rogue walked up to them, their faces shocked, their eyes on Bruin’s house, which would soon be nothing but a pile of smoking wood. “Motherfuck,” Mac breathed.
“Who did you piss off?” Rogue asked.
Bruin was quiet for a long time as he watched his house burn, then he turned to them all. “This ends now,” he said his voice unwavering. “Come on, we’ve got someone to talk to.”
Mac cursed. “Finally,” he said.
Rogue smiled happily. “Ooh, awesome. Someone is about to get terminated, aren’t they?”
Mac grinned. “Oh yeah, someone’s walking papers are about to get served.”
Rogue slashed her hand through the air. “Fired.”
Mac turned to Rogue. “Wait. You aren’t coming. Me and Bruin will handle this. You neither,” he said, turning to Willow. “We’ll take you back to Trevor’s first.”
Rogue was about to protest, when Bruin spoke quietly, flames dancing in his eyes. “They come, both of them.”
Mac turned to him, about to argue but Bruin cut him off, more new lines settling into his face, bringing wisdom and surety. “They’re as much a part of this as we are. We fool ourselves by thinking we are protecting them when we hide them away, lock them up and protect them with our lives. They may need to be the protectors one day. Life comes. We cannot hide from it.”
The truth of her mate’s words washed over Willow. They were all in this together.
Chapter 30
Willow watched as the sun dropped below the horizon, painting the sky with orange and lavender streaks. They drove directly into the sunset, Bruin at the wheel of the police truck, something in his manner keeping the rest of them quiet, as each contemplated just who they were gunning for.
Willow thought she knew, and she was scared for her mate. He made turns seemingly at random, even though she knew they weren’t, and before the sky was dark, they arrived at a gate on the side of the road, farmland stretching all around. Bruin stopped and punched a code into the box outside his window.
It beeped negatively and Bruin frowned, then tried again. Still no. The gate stayed shut. “They changed the code and didn’t tell me,” he said, his tone saying this was a very big deal.
“Where are we?”
Bruin motioned up the dirt road, which they couldn’t see the end of because of a forest surrounding it. “This is the fire chief’s estate.”
Rogue jumped out. “I got you, Bru-bru.” She went to the box, laying her hand on it. The back popped open and she peered inside. “You got any tools?”
“Of course.” Bruin retrieved his tool bag from the back and held it open for her. She selected his largest screwdriver, positioned it behind one of the computer boards inside the box, and pried. A pop sounded, then smoke drifted to the sky. Rogue went to the gate and pushed it open easily, then got back in the truck.
Mac pulled her close to him in the back seat. “Handy,” he murmured, then kissed his mate.
Willow glanced at Bruin and saw him watching her darkly, then he slid to her, hooking a hand around her hip and pulling her just as close as Mac and Rogue were. He purred, the first one she’d heard in a while, but her body responded immediately, her lips swelling like he’d said he was going to make her come with just his words. “If they’re kissing…” he said, shrugging, and then he fell on her mouth, taking it almost savagely, no longer her innocent Bru. Sweet yes, but with a purpose.
Bruin kissed her hard, thoroughly, and then he returned her to her seat, sliding back behind the wheel and driving through the gate. Willow could only stare at him, her brain scrambled with unfulfilled want.
They breached the trees, and what lay beyond startled them all, even Bruin. A sea of bearen, big males, three hundred or more deep, some of them in fire uniforms, all of them clustered around a large tent that looked to have been erected recently. That’s why there hadn’t been many bearen at the births. They were all here.
Five big males stood in the road, blocking their way. Bruin stopped the truck and they all got out, their four facing the bearen five.
One male held up a hand and eyed them suspiciously. “What in the hell are you doing here, Bruin? I know you weren’t invited. And how dare you bring wolves onto bearen land.”
Mac snorted. “You talk like we aren’t all in this together.”
The big male stared Mac down. “In this together? Is that what you tell yourselves so that you can sleep at night? So you can shif
t the blame onto the rest of us?”
Bruin addressed the male while Mac snarled. “Arthur, there are things you don’t know. That’s why I’m here.”
Mac cut him off, taking a step forward. “Wait a second, so that we can sleep at night? Just what blame are we talking about?”
Arthur stood toe to toe with Mac, his massive bulk overshadowing Mac, although Willow had to wonder who would win in a fight. Mac looked like he fought mean and quick and dirty if he had to, while this other guy only threw lumbering powerhouse rights and danced around in a regulation waltz. Arthur shook his head. “We all know that the wolven could have stopped Khain’s poisoning of our females if they would have moved faster.”
Mac looked genuinely confused. “What in the hell are you talking about?”
Bruin held up a hand. “I didn’t come here to argue. I want to see the chief.”
Arthur snorted. “You can go up, but your wolf friend and your girlfriends have to stay here. This is bearen business. No wolven allowed.”
Mac started to argue but Bruin held up his hand. “We’ll be fine. You wait here. I don’t think we’ll be long.” Turning to Arthur, he motioned to Willow. “This is my mate, and she’ll be coming with me.”
Arthur’s eyes widened and he paled. “You don’t mean…”
Bruin nodded. “I do mean.” He curled an arm around Willow and shouldered his way through the males. “Now if you’ll excuse me.” They parted, and Bruin and Willow were through, walking up to the tent, having to wind their way through crowds of bearen within only a few feet.
Mac cursed, but stood down. “We’ll be right here, Bruin. I’m calling in the cavalry, so you just say the word if you need help in there.”
Bruin didn’t turn, but he did speak, loud enough so that Mac could hear him. “I know, Mac. You’re a good wolf, and a better friend. Go easy.”
As the males saw Willow and Bruin coming, they parted, making them a little path. Word spread quickly, and Willow heard the words One True Mate spoken again and again, in hushed whispers. The emotions of the crowd pulled at her, hopeful, yet forsaken. She blocked as much as she could, staying close to Bruin, taking in his calm, pure, uplifting energy. It helped.
When they got close to the tent, Bruin stopped to question a male. “James, what are they doing in there?” he asked, lifting his chin to the opening flap. The look James gave Bruin was one of pure contempt, but he answered the question. “B3 is getting us our renqua back. He’s redeemed us.”
Willow stared at the male, unable to believe what she was seeing. Bruin frowned and pulled her closer to the tent, but Willow stopped him. “Bruin, James thinks you had something to do with all the females being killed.”
Bruin nodded heavily. “My father has told many lies in his madness, but those are two of the worst, and no one can quite separate the two. He rails equally against me, his firstborn, and the wolven, the protectors of all of us, so much so that the bearen confuse who was supposed to have done what. They think I colluded with Khain, and someone told the wolven, and no one did anything to stop either. B3 is convincing in his madness.”
Willow couldn’t believe it. “Wait, your father, B3, and the fire chief are all the same person?”
Someone inside the tent raised his voice, like a speech was starting. Bruin pulled her that way. “Bruin Berard Bloom the Third. Yes. He was a strong and solid leader before the females died, the most powerful Citlali the bearen have ever seen. I believe he went mad when we lost our matriarchs, and all of those around him followed him there. He’s been our loudest voice for so long.”
“But why does he think you had anything to do with it?”
Bruin stopped for long enough to answer her question before he pulled her inside. “Because I foretold it.”
***
Bruin stepped aside immediately to the right of the opening, glad all the males in the room were just as big as him. He didn’t stand out here. Willow did, but he backed her up against the canvas wall of the tent and stood slightly in front of her.
His father was on stage pacing, unused microphone in hand, looking tough and experienced in his dress uniform, his medals on his chest, his face grizzled and showing his age and his belligerence. Also on the stage were Bruin’s three younger brothers, triplets. Twins and triplets were common among bearen, while wolven and felen sometimes had even larger litters.
He pointed out the three males sitting at the covered table. “That’s Beirne, Hartz, and Mato, my brothers. Each of them is in charge of a different facet of operations under my father.”
Conri came in from the back, then slid into the fourth chair. B3 nodded at him, then strode to the podium, about to begin.
“You’ve met Conri. He’s recently been promoted to deputy chief. He’ll take over when my father retires.”
B3 looked around the room, his face shining, like he was proud of the males gathered there.
Willow pulled at Bruin’s sleeve. “What were you in charge of?”
Bruin shook his head and stared at his father as he spoke. “My father painted me as a traitor for years, before he tried to drive me out of Serenity. He convinced my own captain to put me in for a transfer to Chicago. I was about to accept it, mostly because someone was taking pot shots at me, trying to scare me, but then I met Mac and remembered that my place was here.”
Willow squeezed Bruin’s hand. “Mac’s special.”
Bruin nodded, his eyes on his father. “He is. They all are, but especially him.”
B3 raised his hands wide and spoke, his voice carrying over the crowd, no microphone needed. “Desperate times demand a return to what has worked before.”
Bruin kept his eyes on Conri, watching his brother’s expression for clues to what B3 was up to. Conri’s face was stricken, and he was shaking his head slowly, no, no.
Bruin needed to stop this, whatever this was, but Conri met his eyes, then, signaling to him to stay in the back. Willow grabbed at his arm. “Bruin, Conri is scared for you. Scared of what the bears will do to you if they see you. He says things have changed and you wouldn’t recognize them.”
Bruin stayed against the wall. He would wait this out a bit more, if he just knew what B3 was up to…
B3 spoke again, punctuating his words with punches to the air. “We are redeemed, and we will be getting our renquas back tonight. We have been declared worthy!” He looked over the crowd, frowning slightly at their subdued reaction. Had he expected applause? Probably. Anything other than this quiet skepticism.
Conri leaned forward, searching for someone in the crowd.
A male stood up and addressed B3 like a reporter at a press conference. “What about the Bear of Great Insight? Surely you remember that prophecy.”
Bruin leaned over and whispered to his mate, “That’s McMahon, Conri’s best friend.”
B3 snarled, and McMahon quickly dropped into his seat. B3 flung his arms out above the crowd. “Of course I remember that prophecy. Who spoke that prophecy?” He glared at the audience, then walloped himself in the chest with a closed fist. “Me, that’s who!”
He closed his eyes, letting words flow out of him.
“The bearen have lost their way and now they will pay. Only the Bear of Great Insight can renew them, make them worthy again. Through the strength and purity of his choices and the caring of his One True Mate, all bearen will be restored to their former glory, able to work as one again.”
His eyes shot open and he hit himself on the chest again. “I am surprised that no one has seen the connection. The Bear of Great Insight is I! We are one and the same.”
Another male in the crowd stood. “Then where is your mate?”
B3 snarled again, his face murderous. “She is coming,” he thundered. Then his voice dropped. “She must be.”
Two males and a female entered from the same door behind B3 that Conri had come through. The males brought the female onto the stage and left her there. The woman was small, bent, wizened, her face a mass of wrinkles, wearing a
smart orange pantsuit and a domed hat. Around her shoulders was a fox stole, a fox fur with the mouth biting the tail. She looked like someone’s shrewd and maybe mischievous nan. And still, she radiated power. She crossed her hands and waited for someone to address her, her eyes on the canvas ceiling.
Bruin swallowed hard. This was what his father was up to? This was what has worked before?
He recognized the woman at once, because of the work he had done with the wolves when Crew had rescued Dahlia from another world. Mrs. White was her name. Her granddaughter had been stolen by Khain and used as bait to lure Dahlia to her death, and subsequent return to life.
Mrs. White. Clever. His father and his nan had always believed in the Women of the White, which is a story for another time.
Bruin leaned over to whisper in his mate’s ear. “I have to stop this. I think I know what my father is up to and it can’t possibly end well.”
B3 was speaking into Mrs. White’s ear on the stage, quiet enough that Bruin couldn’t hear, but when Mrs. White answered, she spoke loud enough that her words carried easily. “You know where my power comes from. Is that the kind of help you want?”
B3 nodded once, sharply, and Mrs. White bowed slightly, then turned and walked off the stage. Bruin stepped forward boldly, but before he could say a word, Conri addressed their father. “Dad, you have finally gone too far. You must stop this. You are not the BOGI, and that witch can bring back no renquas!”
B3 rounded on his second oldest. “I always knew you doubted me. I should have turned you out like your brother. I disown you.”
Conri shot to his feet to address the crowd. “B3 is not the BOGI. Bruin, my brother is the BOGI. B3 has told you many lies about him.”
The males in the crowd murmured, some of them noticing Bruin standing in the back. A few pointed at Willow. Bruin saw the confusion, anger, and pain in their eyes, but still knew he was safe from them. Bearen were not like wolven, or even humans. They saved lives, they didn’t take them. A mob scene was the last thing he had to worry about. Being eternally shunned? Bears turning their faces away from him and pretending they didn’t hear him when he spoke? That seemed more likely.