Bear Meets Girl

by Catherine Vale

  Angela wasn’t at all sure that was the case. Contrary to her being concerned that Cole would be uncomfortable sitting around a bunch of strange, new shifters, he seemed to be happily chomping away at his bacon with complete disregard for anyone else. And though the others at the table would occasionally glance at him – the children seemed especially taken with him – they didn’t bother him.

  “Enjoying your bacon?” she asked as she sat down beside him and began piling food onto her own plate.

  “Mmmhmmm.” He swallowed a mouthful. “These pancakes are really good, Mrs. Mason,” he called to her mother.

  She turned to smile at him. “Please, call me Genevieve. All my friends do.”

  A slight blush colored Cole’s cheeks before he returned to his food, and Angela had to suppress a snort. Men tended to develop instant crushes around her mother, and it seemed Cole was no exception. There was a few times where she would have even worried about it if not for the fact that her mother was irrevocably devoted to her father. Besides, the glint in Genevieve’s eyes told Angela that her mother was more interested in seeing if anything became of her and Cole – an interest she was certain her mother hadn’t discussed with her father as she didn’t remember hearing any explosions last night, or other sounds of the impending apocalypse.

  “Hey Mister?” Charlie, one of the foster children, piped up from around the edge of the table.

  It took a few seconds for Cole to realize that he was the one being spoken to. “Umm, yes?” He blinked owlishly.

  “Umm, why are your eyes purple?”

  “Charlie!” Genevieve scolded. “That’s not a polite question to ask, especially at the table.”

  “No, no, it’s alright.” Cole scratched his head a little and smiled at the child. “To be honest, I’m not really sure why my eyes are this color. I was born that way.”

  “Oh.” Charlie’s eyes were wide. “Did your dad have purple eyes?”

  “I’m not sure. I’ve never met him.”

  “Oh.” Charlie seemed to process that, and then he nodded. “I’ve never met my dad either. He died before I was born.” His face seemed to crumple a little.

  Angela’s heart melted as Cole placed his big hand on the little boy’s shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze. “I know what that’s like,” he said quietly. “But I’m sure your dad misses you, and that he’s grateful to know that you’re growing up and becoming bigger and stronger every day.” He peered around Charlie to Deena, the little girl sitting next to him. “And you too. I’m sure your father is very proud of both of you.”

  The children both smiled at him, and they finished the rest of the meal in comfortable silence. Angela was helping her mother clear the table when her father walked into the kitchen, looking very serious.

  “Angela, Cole. I have news for you.” His expression was grave, but his eyes betrayed absolutely nothing as to whether or not the news was good or bad.

  “Alright.” Angela set the pot she was carrying on the counter, then beckoned for Cole to follow her and her father into the study.

  “I was able to determine Garrison’s whereabouts,” he told them, settling into a dark brown leather chair behind a huge oak desk covered by ruthlessly organized stacks of paper. He pushed them all aside so that he could lay his forearms comfortably on the desk. “His clan is located in the Cascade mountains up in southern Oregon, near Mount Thielsen.”

  Cole let out a low whistle. “He’s not going to be easy to find, especially considering that it’s probably snowing up there, even now.”

  Her father nodded tightly. “You’re going to need to pack for the weather,” he told her. “I’m sure your mother has everything that you’ll need. And I’ll be sending two of my bears with you, as well.”

  “That isn’t necessary – ” Angela began.

  “It’s absolutely necessary,” her father said with a growl, “especially if you want me to give you the coordinates of their location. I won’t be sending one child off to go to war against another, not without protection.” He sighed. “I would go myself, but…”

  “No.” Angela bit back her protest; she’d much rather have two of her father’s shifters come along than have him put himself in harm’s way. “You need to be here to take care of the clan. I’ll accept the extra manpower, providing that they have their own transportation and that they won’t hinder the mission in any way.”

  “Done.”

  Angela stared at her father for a long time. He looked back at her, his expression completely unreadable. “You agreed to all of that way too quickly.”

  He scowled. “It isn’t exactly as if I have much choice, is there?” He shooed them away with a waving motion from his hands. “Now go and get ready, before I change my mind.”

  “Are you sure this is such a good idea?” Cole muttered to Angela when they’d left the room. “I mean, can we trust your father to stay out of this long enough for us to rescue your partner?”

  Angela’s lips curved downward. “I wish I could say yes… but the truth is that when it comes to family, my father is just as irrational as anyone.” She squared her jaw as they headed back down the stairs. “We’ll just have to do our best, regardless.

  Her mother dug out winter gear for them from the attic – she kept extras of everything and even had a set that fit Cole – and also packed them a cooler full of food for the road. “You two be safe,” she said, kissing them both on the cheek.

  “Thanks. We will.” Angela grinned as Cole blushed, touching the spot on his cheek where her mother had kissed him.

  “You’re the best, mom.” She hugged her mother, who surprised Angela by hugging her back even more tightly.

  “Please make Garrison see reason,” she whispered in Angela’s ears, her voice tight with unshed tears. It startled Angela, because her mother was usually so serene… but then, Garrison was the first foster child she’d taken in, and he’d been a true part of their family up until the end. “If he won’t… or can’t… come home, I just want him to be at peace.”

  “I’ll do my best.” She gave her mother one last squeeze, then hefted the cooler off the counter.

  “I’ve got that.” Cole took the cooler off her hands before she could protest, then smiled at Angela’s mother. “I’ll take good care of her, Genevieve.”

  Her mother winked, the tears evaporating from her eyes like dew from leaves on a summer day. “You’d better, or you’re going to ruin my hopes of having a son-in-law.”

  Angela blushed, but to Cole’s credit he didn’t say anything to discourage or encourage her mother. They walked out to the porch, where they found two shifters waiting for them – a blonde and a redhead, one tall and lean and the other shorter and stockier, but with identical faces – strong jaws, intense blue eyes and roman noses that added up to a handsome visage. They were already packed, a Jeep parked just a few feet away and waiting for them to load up.

  “Ben! Jamie!” Angela smiled broadly as she moved to embrace them. They were cousins of hers, though she’d considered them uncles for a long time as they were several hundred years older than she was, and had already been full-grown when she was born. “I’m so glad dad picked you two to come along.”

  “It’s good to see you.” Ben’s whiskers tickled her cheek as he hugged her.

  “You don’t come to visit often enough,” Jamie complained as he embraced her, his cheek smooth and clean-shaven as it pressed against hers. “Who am I supposed to bully and harass when you’re not around?”

  “Sorry to disappoint.” Angela laughed. “I’ll try to be a more accommodating punching bag.” She turned to Cole. “These are my cousins, Ben and James Lancaster. Ben and Jamie, this is Cole Avery. He’s my partner on this mission.”

  The two brothers nodded, taking Cole’s measure. “You use magic?” Jamie asked.

  Cole nodded. “Most of the time, yes.”

  Jamie seemed to consider that, and then shrugged. “Alright, well as long as you don’t aim it at us, I’m okay
. No need to be turning me into a frog or anything like that.” He turned toward the steps. “I guess we’d better get a move on, huh? It’s a long drive to the Cascades.”

  “Nine hundred and forty six miles,” Cole said, not sounding too happy about it. “We’d better get started if we want to make it there before nightfall.”

  They loaded up their stuff and took off, Cole careful to keep her cousins in sight at all times, since he was following them. He didn’t speak at all until they were on the I-580. “Son-in-law?” he said, echoing her mother. “I think your mom might have her expectations set a little too high for me.”

  Angela shrugged. “My mom is very gently pushy,” she said, not quite looking him in the eye. She didn’t want to betray the hope that was fighting to blossom in her chest that he would take those words to heart, and stay. “Especially when it comes to matchmaking. She likes you.”

  “I know. And it’s throwing me off.” Cole’s lips curved downward as his brows drew together. “Even your father, who’s appropriately distrustful of me and protective of you, is throwing me off because he’s still being far nicer than I have any right to expect from a shifter. But your mother’s kindness and acceptance… it’s just unfathomable to me.”

  Angela smiled. “My mother’s a rarity,” she admitted softly. “She’s got a backbone of steel, but a heart filled with sweetness and fluff. She’s the kind of person that would strike you down if you tried to threaten her family, and then patch you up afterwards and send you on your way if she thought you had a good heart. And her instincts are always spot-on in that area.”

  “Always?” Cole asked softly. “What about your brother, then? What did her instincts say about him?”

  Pain and guilt lanced through Angela’s chest as she turned her head sharply to face Cole. “I don’t care for the way you’re phrasing that,” she snapped.

  Cole’s gaze was unreadable as he looked at her, and in that moment she saw him as the cold, ruthless mercenary that he was, and not the tender, passionate lover who’d held her last night and gasped her name in pleasure as though it were a sacred prayer. “I’m just trying to understand whether or not he’d always had leanings toward vengeance and darkness and if your mother knew that when she took him in, or if it was something he developed later on in life.”

  “Garrison was barely older than a toddler when my parents took him in,” Angela bit out. “I doubt he had anything other than confusion and grief in his heart at that age, and his pain would have called out to my mother like a beacon. She was pregnant with me when she took him in, so I don’t know how he was then, or how and when he developed his ill will toward mages, or how long it took him to get to the breaking point. But I do know my mother wouldn’t have shunned him just for developing darker feelings. She nurtured him as best as she could. It’s not her fault that it wasn’t enough for him.”

  Cole reached out and squeezed her hand. “I’m sorry if I offended you,” he said quietly. “I know family is a touchy subject.” He paused. “But… do you think it’s possible that someone else could have been influencing him?”

  Angela pursed her lips. “You mean egging him on? I can’t see why anyone in our clan would do that.”

  “I know it’s hard for you to fathom anyone in your clan being disloyal,” Cole said gently. “But really, is there nobody that Garrison looked up to? Spent a lot of time with?”

  “My father and mother, of course, but they would never put him on such a destructive path.” But suddenly the thought of Ben and Jamie popped into her head. They’d spent a lot of time with Garrison growing up. But that was just to fill in for her father and help teach him how to hunt and fish and all the other important things a male bear shifter needed to know to survive. They weren’t off teaching him how to hate. “I really don’t think there’s any point in discussing this further.”

  “Alright.” Cole gazed doubtfully at her, but to his credit he didn’t press the matter. Sighing, Angela settled back into her seat, struggling to let go of the confusion and anger that had bubbled up inside of her. She couldn’t let it distract her – she needed to be rested and ready by the time they got to the Black Moon Clan.

  By the time they crossed the border into Oregon, the sun was more than halfway towards the horizon and Angela was feeling positively groggy. “Maybe we should make a pit stop soon,” Angela groaned, struggling to sit up. Her ass felt like it had fossilized, or turned into a boulder. “I’ve gotta stretch out, get some life back into these limbs before we go charging into danger.”

  “Looks like your cousins agree with you,” Cole said tightly, his eyes fixed straight ahead.

  “Huh?” Angela followed his gaze to see that Ben and Jamie were getting off at an exit that was far too early. Pulling out her cell phone from her jacket pocket, she dialed them. “Hello?”

  “Hey Angie. What’s up?”

  “Why are we getting off here? We’re not even close to the mountains yet.”

  “Oh, we’re just making a quick stop for some supplies,” Ben said nonchalantly. “Shouldn’t take more than fifteen minutes off our trip.”

  “Oh. Okay.” She frowned. “You didn’t mention this before we left.”

  She could almost hear Ben shrug on the other side of the line. “We didn’t really discuss the itinerary at all, to be honest. I didn’t think it was that important. Really, it’ll be a very quick stop.”

  “Okay.” Sighing, she hung up the phone. “I guess we’re making a quick stop for supplies.”

  The lines around Cole’s eyes tightened. “Just what kind of ‘supplies’ would your cousins need to stop for? I thought we packed everything we needed already.”

  Angela pursed her lips, feeling uneasy. “I don’t really know.”

  “And you didn’t think to ask?”

  She sat up and glared at him. “You want me to interrogate my own cousins? They’re on our side, you know.”

  “Hmm.” Cole only tightened his grip on the steering wheel and kept his eye firmly on the Jeep.

  Fuming, Angela threw herself back into her seat and clenched her jaw. But as they followed her cousins off the highway, through a town, and then down a winding dirt road, her sense of unease grew. Pine trees began cropping up around them, until the dirt road became more of a forest trail, with the very occasional property coming into view.

  “I don’t see what they could possibly be picking up out here,” Cole muttered between clenched teeth.

  “Maybe they’re picking up something from another clan that lives out here.” That sounded like a pathetic excuse, even to her, the doubt in her voice almost palpable.

  “Right.” They crested a hill to see two men waiting for them in the middle of the road. The Jeep pulled off to the shoulder and came to a complete stop. Cole stopped the Camaro in the middle of the road, but left it running. “Wait here.”

  He jumped out of the car, and Angela came right after him, not even remotely considering the idea of letting Cole go head to head with her cousins. What if something happened? She wouldn’t be able to forgive herself if any of them got hurt, especially over a misunderstanding.

  “Hey guys,” she said as Ben and Jessie came around the side of the Jeep. “What’s going on?”

  “Hey Angie.” Ben took a step forward, then stopped when Cole shot him a lethal glare. He stopped, and instead gestured to the two men standing in the middle of the road. They were both young looking and muscular, dressed tight shirts and not-as-tight jeans. From this distance, Angela could smell that they were shifters “This is Jack and Brian. They’re from the Freedom Group.”

  Cole’s expression turned thunderous. “You guys are rebels.”

  Angela scowled. “What? That can’t be right. No.” She turned to Jamie. “Explain this. Immediately.”

  Jamie gave her an apologetic look. “Sorry, cuz, but it’s for your own good. We’ve got to keep you out of the way until Garrison finishes what he started.”

  The blood rushed straight out of Angela’s head a
nd down somewhere into her feet. “No,” she gasped, taking a step back. “No, no, no.” Her knees went out from under her, and she collapsed to the ground, too shocked to be embarrassed about the show of weakness. Cole immediately ran to her side, shielding her from attack, and she stared blankly up at Jamie. “Not you too. Garrison was bad enough, but not both of you too.”

  “Sorry Angie.” Ben stepped forward, a grim look on his face. “But we’re the ones who recruited Garrison in the first place. And if you don’t step out of the way, we’re going to have to take you out.”

  Chapter Eleven

  “Like hell you are,” Cole growled, stepping forward. He raised his hand and fire lit in his palm. “We’re not going to go down for scum like you. You’re the ones who should get out of our way, before you get hurt.”

  “Those are some pretty big words coming from someone who’s out numbered two to one,” one of the newcomers sneered – he thought it was Jack.

  “And pretty hypocritical, in my opinion,” Brian added, baring his fangs. “I mean look at you. You’re a hybrid. You’ve been abused by the current regime more than most, probably, and yet you still fight for it.” He laughed. “Sounds pretty pathetic if you ask me.”

  “I don’t think anyone was.” Cole took another step forward, holding the flame aloft. “And considering that we’re putting my ability against yours, I’m pretty sure that you’re the ones who are really outnumbered.”

  “Pah! Parlor trick!” Jack scoffed, but fear shone in his eyes as he glanced at the flame – a fear that was mirrored in the eyes of the others, Cole noticed. So they weren’t entirely stupid after all. “You’re not going to scare us, hybrid. You’re an abomination that should have been put down a long time ago. We may as well take care of the favor and just do it now.”

  They all launched themselves at Cole at once, who prepared to lob the first fireball at them. But Angela sprang in front of him, in full bear form, and let out an enormous roar that echoed throughout the clearing and caused birds to scatter from the treetops as they burst into flight.