by Ivy Sinclair
Her comment surprised me. I wanted to ask more, but I had to be careful. If I was there playing the part of clan historian, then there were things that I was supposed to know already. Unless, I stretched the fabrication of Lukas’s fallacy a little bit further.
“Markus didn’t want the documentation skewed by his perceptions. He kept the information he shared with me to the bare minimum. That allows the narrative to grow organically and kept out any of his bias. He wanted it to reflect the opinions and attitudes of the clan.”
“Have you ever even seen a shifter phase from human into their bear before?” Marilee asked bluntly. My head shook slowly. “I know that Cal Kramer writes articles for your daddy’s newspaper all the time. It seems like he would have been the better choice for something like that. Cal knows all this stuff. Seems like it’s a waste of time having to repeat everything to an outsider.”
Cal Kramer was part of the clan, so of course that would make logical sense for her to suggest it. “Cal writes the fluff pieces that my dad knows I hate,” I said, trying to keep my tone neutral. “I went to school for journalism. Markus wanted a pro on this, and like I said, he wanted to keep the story neutral. It was better to bring in someone from the outside.” I had to be careful about how far I chose to embellish the story. I knew that it was always the little details that tripped up a liar.
“If I didn’t know better then, I’d say this was some elaborate scheme to circumvent the mating process,” Marilee said. She gave me another look.
There was a mating process? There was so much that I didn’t know, and Lukas had been woefully short on the details around any of that part of his plan. I wished now that I had taken him up on his offer to give me a few additional pointers before we arrived in the arena. I shifted uncomfortably under her gaze even as I drew my sweater closer around my shoulders. Lukas’s bite mark at the base of my collarbone seemed to burn beneath the fabric of my collar.
“Why would Lukas want to do that?” I decided it was best to play dumb. I needed to shift the focus of the conversation away from me. “You said that the council had already determined the alpha’s mate. Lukas wants to be alpha, so he’d know that. It’s not like he has a girlfriend or anything.”
I didn’t know if Lukas had a girlfriend back in the city or not. It was another detail about his current life that I hadn’t thought to ask about. His attention seemed to be focused on doing everything in his power to make sure he secured his alpha claim so that he could find out what really happened to his brother. If there was a girlfriend waiting for him somewhere out there, I had a feeling she was going to be waiting a long time for him to come back. Truth be told, that idea brought me a little bit of glee.
“Shhh. They’re getting ready to start,” Marilee said. Her voice trailed off, and it was as if she had forgotten I was even there.
My eyes were drawn back to the arena. I knew at least the start of what was about to happen. Lukas and the sheriff wouldn’t have been wearing next to nothing into the arena if they weren’t planning to shift into their bear forms. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to see what was about to happen, but now that the moment was upon me, I didn’t think I would have been able to draw my eyes away.
The three council members moved off to the side of the arena and took a seat on a slight outcropping of rock. It didn’t seem like it would be considered a safe distance from the action in my opinion, but then I realized that they probably wanted to be able to see everything.
Lukas and the sheriff retreated to opposite ends of the arena and faced each other. The tension and excitement sizzled in the air. Lukas stood tall with his chin up, and he radiated power and authority. Any inclination of earlier uncertainty had fallen away.
The sheriff wore a small smirk on his face. He rolled his shoulders and leaned his head from side to side in an attempt to loosen the muscles of his neck and back. He rocked back and forth on his heels as his hands tightened into fists and then released. He was a snake coiling up for an attack, and his target was Lukas.
Even though Lukas had told me not to worry, I was worried. Sheriff Monroe took over for Sheriff Nelson four years ago. It was just before I graduated from college and moved back to Greyelf. He came to town early in Markus’s political career and had quickly made himself indispensable to both Markus and the town. He had been the logical choice when Sheriff Nelson retired. Given he was a public figure, I knew surprisingly little about him. As far as I could tell, the man was married to his job. He felt it was his job to take over responsibility for the clan. For a man that took duty that seriously, it meant he wasn’t going to give up without one hell of a fight.
My eyes were drawn back to Lukas. I wasn’t the only outcast in the crowd. His reputation proceeded him on all accounts. He had been Markus’s hellraising, out-of-control little brother. He didn’t care for authority or rules. He was a man who had grown up without the fetters of social norms and propriety. Lukas didn’t give one hoot if anyone liked him or not. At least, that had been the Lukas I knew ten years ago. The man he was now seemed to be someone completely different.
I allowed myself to see Lukas the way that he had presented himself over the course of the last week. He had returned for his brother’s funeral. He had made a nuisance of himself getting involved in the investigation of his brother’s death. He asked me to help him find out the truth. He was ready to endure a bear match to lay claim to what he thought was his. My fingers wandered up to the crook of my neck. The fabric of my sweater covered his mark, but it was there. He had claimed me in the process as well, and I had let him. The sheriff wasn’t the only one who was dangerous.
Doc Walden made his way to the center of the arena. He planted his feet and put his hands on his hips. The look on his face was stormy. I was having a hard time remembering the kindly visage that he presented to the people of Greyelf. He raised his hands then, and all voices around the arena fell silent.
“Now, we all know what we’re doing here this morning. We’ve got ourselves a bit of dilemma that needs to be resolved. I was hoping that we’d be able to do so without having to draw all of you into the mess, but, unfortunately, we’re here instead.” He glared in Lukas’s direction. I felt a bolt of indignation on Lukas’s behalf. “This is unprecedented, but we had a plan for it. Markus made sure of that.” He paused and bowed his head.
I heard an uproar of wails, soft moans and sniffles at the mention of Markus’s name. In my mind in the most logical sense, I understood their loss. But here inside the walls of White Oaks, I felt the morose sadness of the people of the clan more keenly, and it was oppressive. Tears welled in my eyes. I had only known Markus from a distance, but his impact on the world had been profound. It deserved the outpouring of respect and reverence that I saw on display.
The tightening of the corners of Lukas’s mouth was the only indication he gave of any semblance of emotion. He only had eyes for the sheriff. He was fully zeroed in on his prey, and I shivered.
Doc Walden continued, “No matter what the outcome this morning, the council remains intact and will continue to advise the new alpha as we move into the shifter summit that starts tonight with the full moon. The Greyelf Grizzly clan is strong, and the other clans won’t have any reason to doubt that.”
There was a gathering of the alphas of the different shifter clans every five years. It was called the Summit, and it was held just outside the Greyelf city limits. I wasn’t all that surprised to hear that there was a pecking order when it came to the clans. That was the way of the animal world. Someone was always at the top. I frowned as I wondered where the clans ranked us so called ‘full-blooded humans’. It was another question to add to my growing list.
“Markus Kasper was the alpha of this clan for eighteen years. Anyone stepping into his shoes will have a tough, it not impossible, act to follow. The Kasper bloodline extends to Markus’s younger brother, Lukas.” Doc Walden nodded his head in Lukas’s direction. “Normally, the alpha claim would pass to the next male blood relative of
the alpha family.” Murmurs rose from the crowd. I wasn’t sure if it was in agreement or disapproval; most likely it was a little of both. Doc Walden’s hands returned to his hips. His face twisted up in an expression of chagrin. “In this instance, there are concerns from many of the members of the clan as well as Sheriff Monroe about Lukas Kasper’s capabilities to be our alpha.”
A growl erupted into the air, and the hair on the back of my neck rose. The sound emanated from Lukas’s direction.
It didn’t seem to faze Doc Walden one bit. His head swung toward Lukas. “Lukas, you have the ability to rescind the alpha claim. If you do so, the council will appoint an alpha in your place.”
“The alpha claim is mine by rights,” Lukas’s voice, while clear and articulate, held a note of pure menace in it. “I am not rescinding it now or ever.”
Doc Walden sighed and shook his head. “So be it.” He returned his attention to the crowd. “Given that Lukas has been absent from White Oaks for the better part of the last decade, the council felt we have no choice but to give Sheriff Monroe an opportunity to state his case.”
Sheriff Monroe stepped forward. He smiled grimly at the crowd. “I look into the faces of all of you here, and I see friends who are also my family. You’ve been my family since the day that I arrived in Greyelf. I served Markus faithfully, and I was proud to stand by his side. But this,” his hand swept toward Lukas, “this is something that we cannot tolerate. Markus never intended to his brother to become the alpha. His spirit is no doubt rolling over in his grave at the very idea. I have been here serving the clan every day for the last eighteen years. Markus was forced to send his brother away to save face and embarrassment for Lukas’s misdeeds and behavior. This is not the right man to lead you. I have no choice but to contest the Kasper bloodline claim because it is the right thing to do, not for me, but for the clan.”
A small burst of cheers and clapping went up as the sheriff let his words sink in. I looked at Lukas then.
“Isn’t he going to say anything?” I didn’t realize I had spoken the words out loud until I heard Marilee’s sigh.
“He’s been here less than a week, Maren. Nobody knows him anymore. What could he say? The time for words is over.”
I knew she was right, but I fumed inside.
Lukas stepped forward then. His attention had never wavered from the sheriff. “Guess we’re going to have to agree to disagree then. If you think you’ve got what it takes to be alpha, let’s see it.”
Then it was as if the air rippled, and everything that I thought I knew about the world changed.
CHAPTER THREE
Phased was such a simple word that was wholly inadequate for the metamorphosis that I watched happen before my eyes. They might as well have called it magic because what I observed didn’t fit any reality that I knew until that moment.
Lukas’s limbs lengthened, and his face contorted as his jaw bones changed. His handsome face morphed into a snout and teeth filled jaws. A wild roar broke into the air. Then time sped up. Lukas was already moving toward the sheriff even as a thick pelt of pitch black hair sprang into existence covering every inch of his muscular body.
One minute, he was a man. The next minute, he was a grizzly bear. I gasped even as my brain processed just how fast the phase had happened. As my mind was trying to wrap itself around the fact that this was still Lukas, he catapulted himself at the sheriff. It hadn’t even registered with me that the sheriff had already phased as well.
The two massive forms hit each other hard and then locked into a tight bear grip. I could have been amused by my mind’s quip and feeble attempt to understand what was happening, but there was no time for it. Lukas and the sheriff stood on their hind legs with their front paws wrapped around each other’s neck. As they struggled and twisted with each other trying to gain additional purchase, their snarls told everyone that despite any bluster on the sheriff’s end, the two seemed fairly evenly matched.
My eyes danced over Lukas’s form. He had to be over seven feet tall in his bear form, and the sheriff appeared only an inch or so shy of that height himself. These were the nuances that I forced myself to pay attention to because they were the ones that would matter to those who read the story later. Whether for the clan’s posterity or national news, readers would want to know every gory detail.
It was easy to tell them apart. The sheriff’s pelt was a faded, burnished black and tan, and there were shots of gray decorating parts of his back and shoulders. The sheriff was in his forties but given he didn’t have a gray hair on his human head, these were curious markings. I made a mental note to ask Lukas if there was anything different about shifter biology when it came to the aging process.
Then the sheriff seemed to gain the upper hand, and their bodies tilted in unison. Lukas fell backward even as the sheriff took the opportunity to pull his body up on top of him. I felt a small whisper of a moan escape my lips when I saw the sheriff’s strong jaws lock onto Lukas’s shoulder. His roar of pain bit at some part of me deep inside as if the sheriff’s teeth had sunk into my own flesh.
“You didn’t think someone was going to come out of this without bleeding, did you?” Marilee hissed at me. “Get a grip, girlfriend. This is the big leagues.”
I had a sharp retort on my lips, but then I saw the slightly frenetic look on her face and the sweat that shone across her brow. A ripple of fear crawled up my spine as I recognized the same look on all of the faces around me. It was as if they were holding onto whatever small shred of humanity they could, because there was a war of emotions raging inside of them. The spectacle in front of them had heightened some kind of primal excitement. If they all phased into their bear forms at the same time, I had a feeling that I wouldn’t be safe; not even for a moment.
Then I realized that if the sheriff won the match, there was no certainty that he would let me go after having seen what was transpiring in front of me. Tendrils of icy dread wove themselves around my ribcage, and I felt like it was hard to catch a deep breath.
“C’mon, Lukas,” I whispered under my breath. I channeled every thought I could toward the direction of the bear lying on the ground in front of me. I saw the sheriff’s jaws clamp down for another full bite just above the wound that he had already created. I heard the sounds of clapping hands and squeals of joy from the crowd that masked whatever verbal reaction Lukas unleashed in response to the attack.
It was disgusting. Lukas was trying to leverage his broad form to get himself out from underneath the sheriff, but he had hundreds of pounds of solid muscle hammering down on his chest even as the sheriff continued to ravage his shoulder. A thick pool of blood formed on the ground beneath him, and I felt faint. Things couldn’t end this way between us. No matter what I thought before, I wasn’t going to let Lukas die in front of me.
No way. No how.
I didn’t know what to do. But something broke inside of me then. I pushed my way around the bodies in front of me ignoring the snarled curses being hurled in my direction. I had to get closer to him. I knew it would be my funeral if I tried to interfere in the match itself, but I needed to do something. Marilee shouted my name, but I ignored her too. This might be their way, but that didn’t mean I had to go along with it. I wasn’t a part of their clan. Their rules didn’t apply to me.
Once I reached the ground, I found that it was difficult to see what was happening in front of me without the vantage point of being further up the wall. Here, men from the clan gathered in clusters. I wasn’t sure if it was to ensure that the spectators stayed away from the match or to have the best view of the match itself. Probably a little bit of both.
I couldn’t go through them, so I did the only thing I could think of. I ducked down and forced my body between two of them. There was a heavy smell of sweat and dirt that unsettled me far more than I’d like. I was in the middle of the woods surrounded by bear shifters. I should be committed because it was certifiably crazy. But I lasered in on the reason that I was willing to risk i
t all, and I felt as if it wasn’t soon enough.
Somehow, Lukas managed to squeeze out from under most of the sheriff’s bulky form. The sheriff was fighting him every inch of the way and had his paws locked around Lukas’s throat. There was a heavy bounce of their bodies upwards and a shift, and Lukas almost got away. I gasped. It felt as if my heart leaped into my throat. But the sheriff hadn’t released his hold, and now he held Lukas in a bear hold from behind.
In that instant, Lukas’s eyes locked on me, and I felt a searing ripple of anguish, pain, and anger roll through my body. It was as if we were connected on an entirely different level. I didn’t understand it, and there certainly wasn’t time to question it. But I did know that my bear needed me and my strength. I would gladly give it to him.
The reality of the whole thing was this wasn’t the first time I had been forced to sit on the sidelines and watch Lukas in a fight. Those earlier scrimmages had been with other boys at school or kids from neighboring schools who wandered over to Greyelf curious to see what a shifter looked like. Lukas’s temper practically guaranteed that if they ran across him, there was sure to be a clash. I used to give him a hard time about it. The thing was that in all that time, I had never seen him give up, even on the rare occasion that he ended up on the losing end of the fight.
Lukas Kasper was a fighter. In the past ten years, he might have tried to temper those emotions and hide them underneath the exterior of a successful businessman. He had done his part to fit in with the humans and probably led a semi-normal life. But that wasn’t the person that he needed to be here in Greyelf. I saw that now. If he wanted to be the alpha, he needed to fight.
For a split second, everything came into sharp focus, and it all made perfect sense. Alphas didn’t take shit from anyone, and there couldn’t be any cause for question or uncertainty. I knew then the sheriff would kill Lukas to win. It was the only way to guarantee his victory while sending a message that didn’t need any interpretation. But Lukas couldn’t do the same because whether he liked it or not, he needed the sheriff. He needed to know what the sheriff knew about Markus’s final days and to find out what was being hidden from him around Markus’s death.