by T. S. Joyce
“Because Riker told him. You look mad.”
“Run,” Joanna advised from the side of her mouth.
“Wait, wait, wait,” Corin said, shaking her head to clear it. “How would Riker know, when Hannah obviously doesn’t?”
“She tastes pregnant when he eats her out.”
Joanna’s eyes rolled back in her head. “Jesus, Juan.”
Corin bit her lip hard so she wouldn’t laugh. The man got an A plus for bluntness.
“Who all knows?” Anya asked in a dangerous voice. “I mean, Hannah should probably know first, then her mate, then her friends, but apparently the knowledge has only been reserved for big dumb gossiping idiots.” She yelled the last word, and Chase turned from his place talking to a group of shifters near his jeep.
“What did I do?” he called.
“Hannah,” was all Anya said.
Chase slid a pissed off glare to Juan. “Thanks a lot, man.”
Juan shrugged. “She puked.”
Like that explained anything.
Chase arched his ruddy eyebrow and turned his hat backward like he was contemplating battle strategies. “Brody knows, too.”
“What?” Joanna said, casting a narrowed gaze at her mate.
Brody was pulling an iron skillet of stew off of a fire a few tents away, and cast Juan the same irritated expression Chase had.
Juan winked at Corin with a wicked grin, like he’d known what he was doing all along. She was actually impressed with how not dumb he was. Snickering and backing away from the group new embroiled in an argument that would only make her laugh harder and piss someone off, she turned and stopped dead in her tracks.
A man stood on the edge of the camp, lit only by firelight in the shadows of the evening. His raven black hair was short on the sides and styled longer on top. His eyes were bottomless, as black as pitch.
Corin stumbled forward as a strangled sound wrenched from her throat.
It couldn’t be him. He looked different and the same all at once. The fourteen year old boy was no more. In his place was a man. He wore a white thermal sweater that clung to his muscled torso like a second skin. Dark wash jeans hung from narrow hips and encased powerful legs. He was tall, much taller than she remembered, but it was his coal black eyes that she would never mistake on anyone else.
“Daniel?” Her face crumpled and tears stung her eyes.
Rushing forward, she threw her arms around his waist and sobbed against the familiar scent of his skin. All these years, she thought she’d never smell him again. He was so warm, and she absorbed his heat greedily.
She couldn’t believe it. He was here. He was alive.
She’d never let go, not when it felt so damned right to be in his arms again.
But…
She wasn’t really in his arms. The arms in question were jutted stiffly by his side, not touching her, and he was stretching his neck away from her. When she eased away and whispered his name again questioningly, he dipped an empty gaze to hers.
“I’m not Daniel. My name is Brooks and I’m looking for Riker, alpha of Bear Valley.”
“Who are you?” Juan asked from behind Corin.
Brooks’ expression cooled, and a hollow smile touched his lips. “I’m the alpha of the Long Claws.”
Chapter Five
Daniel was the alpha of the Long Claws?
“No,” she breathed. Horror filled her veins, congealing her blood until her arms felt heavy and weak.
“I don’t understand,” she said. “You’re Daniel. Daniel Butler.”
His eyes narrowed and power rocketed from his body, almost bowling her over. Her legs buckled, and she fought the urge to fall to her knees in front of him.
He approached slowly and with each step he took, she bowed under the rage that electrified her body. Her mouth went dry and she closed her eyes against the urge to submit. It was too much. Instinct won against her heart’s desire, and she pitched forward on her hands and knees. He stood over her, domineering, with a cruel twist to his lips. Whomever he was, Brooks or Daniel, this wasn’t the boy she had known.
“You don’t know me, and I’ve never laid eyes on you before today,” he growled. “You disrespect the treaty by touching me unbidden. Do it again, and I’ll cut you down where you stand.”
“Please, Daniel—”
“Enough! I’m not who you think I am, woman.”
She lunged for his hand, desperate to touch him again, but he flinched away like she held a branding iron. His eyes were filled with such hatred, and another lament bubbled from her throat.
Helplessly, she whispered, “I can’t lose you again.”
“Where’s your alpha?”
“I’m here,” Riker said in a rumbling voice that sounded more animal than human. “Come. We’ll speak on neutral ground.”
The lash of dominance against her skin diminished as Brooks’ gaze left hers. From every angle he looked like her Daniel, but he couldn’t be. There was no soul in his eyes. His jaw was shadowed with short dark whiskers and the thick cords of his throat moved when he spoke. If it were him, the boy she’d known had died long ago, and the tragedy of that day was like a shard of glass through her middle. She hunched over the pain as he stepped around her.
“I know your bear,” she whispered as a warm tear made a pat sound against the dirt near her knees.
“What did you say?” Brooks demanded, turning to level her with a look so furious, it heated her cheeks.
Be brave. “Your bear is ancient. Short nose. Long legs. You saved me once.”
Something slashed across his ebony eyes. Some emotion, here and gone so fast she couldn’t identify it. With his cruel mask back in place, he looked down upon her as if she were nothing. “I’ve never saved anything in my life.”
He turned and followed Riker through the trees and she crumpled to the ground.
The chatter of the gathering crowd was only a dull hum against her eardrums. If that man was Daniel, she wished he had died that day instead of turning into the cruel creature he’d become. She wished she’d never laid eyes on him like this, and she clutched tighter to her wavering memories of the boy she had loved.
“I don’t understand you. Are you trying to get yourself killed before the battle even starts?” Juan asked, helping her to her feet.
Sagging against him, she cried against his chest for all she’d lost. It had been so much sadder than she’d even realized. Something terrible had happened to Daniel. Something worse than death. Now, he was a monster because of the sacrifice he’d made ten years ago. Her Daniel was dead, and his body walked on, soulless and broken, and killing bear shifters in battles he would’ve never approved had he been allowed to grow to manhood with the good clan he’d been born into.
“Who was he to you?” Juan asked, patting her back roughly like she was a fellow football player.
Sniffling, she pulled away. “I thought he was the boy who saved me from the Long Claws, but maybe I was wrong. Maybe I just wanted him to be.” Her memory of Daniel blurred. Had Brooks really looked like him, or had the ghost in the woods just prepared her mind to see similarities that weren’t really there? God, she hoped she’d been wrong.
Dark hair and dark eyes, but lots of men had those. Maybe he really wasn’t who she thought he was. It became increasingly easy to convince herself when he wasn’t right in front of her.
The crowd was milling and staring at her like she was one notch shy of psychotic, so she eased into the shadows of the woods. Oh, she’d heard Chase just fine when he’d said to find an escort, so she wasn’t going too far. Just far enough to escape the direct line of sight of most of the curious bystanders.
The soft murmur of voices sounded up ahead, and through the trees, she could make out Riker’s tense back and the stoic face of Brooks. He stood facing her, arms crossed and flexed with tension.
“I want to know exactly what happened to him,” Brooks demanded. “You owe me that, and if I smell a lie, I swear on his grave you�
�ll regret it.”
“I have no reason to lie. Nathan accepted my mate from Merit, and let one of his clan members abuse her. Joanna Penn freed Hannah, and Nathan tried to kill her. That was why we attacked, to save my kidnapped mate and Joanna, who had been claimed as one of my councilmen’s mates. He sent Anya to spy on us, and when she couldn’t do as he asked, he tried to claim her against her will, and then kill her. She was trying to escape to Bear Valley land, but a fence had her trapped and he scarred her—ruined her face on one side trying to kill her.” Riker shifted his weight. “We don’t want this war, Brooks. You are a new alpha and are looking for vengeance for a man who didn’t deserve the honor. Nathan was so focused on Hannah, Anya and Jo that he put every one of us at risk. He wasn’t right. Surely you could see he was slipping.”
“That’s one side of the story, Riker. Mine is that I have an entire clan mourning the death of their late alpha and seeking retribution. You may not have wanted this war, but you made it impossible for anyone to back out. You brought this on yourself.” Brooks turned and strode away.
“No,” Riker said. Brooks turned and narrowed his eyes, waiting. “You Long Claws have had this coming for a long time. You’ve killed too many of our kind to go unpunished. I don’t want this war because there are so few bear shifters left and it’s a waste of life. Don’t get it confused though, Brooks.” Riker’s voice dipped dangerously low and took on a gravelly tone. “I’m not scared of war with a clan who deserves to fall. I just believe more thought should be put into annihilating half of our species in one fucking morning. Tomorrow you’ll all die, and justice will finally be served to all of the clans you’re people have destroyed. You’re a new alpha, and you have come into this leadership at a dire time for your people. Is vengeance more important to you than the survival of your clan? If so, continue on this path. Or you could become the alpha that Nathan and all of the other Long Claw alphas before you failed to be. You could lead your people into peace. This time, right now, is where you choose what kind of leader you’re going to be. You’ve seen it. Long Claw alphas go mad, and their term is short. You have such a need to kill as many as possible, to acquire as much land as you can, and for what? So you can leave your legacy as the greatest murderer? So you can outdo the murderers before you? Your bear will buckle under that kind of power and blood lust in three years, tops. Why don’t you surprise us all, and be better than the alphas before you.”
Corin was shaking so bad, she tried not to touch the tree. The waves of dominance that snaked through the woods made it hard to stand upright, and any movement would give away her position now. The men had moved too close for her to escape unnoticed.
“What kind of leader would I be if I didn’t avenge the fallen alpha before me?” Brooks asked in a cool, steady voice.
Closing her eyes, she tried to match Brooks’ voice to Daniel’s but failed. They were too different. Maybe he really wasn’t who she thought he was. Confusion swirled around in her head until she was dizzy.
Silence stretched on and on, and finally Brooks said, “Dawn.”
“Dawn,” Riker agreed.
Shuffling leaves said Brooks was leaving, and a tiny sigh of relief escape her lips.
Seconds passed and a hand clamped on her shoulder. Corin gasped, but it was just Riker’s furious face that was thrust inches from hers.
“What are you doing here?” he asked.
“Hiding?” she squeaked. Obviously. She was crouched in a bush that looked suspiciously poisonous. Her skin itched all over just thinking about it.
Gently pushing her forward, he said, “Come on.”
“At least he didn’t know I was here—Brooks.” The name sounded foreign on her tongue.
She turned around and swallowed a scream as two glowing eyes stared at her from the shadows.
“Yeah, he did. Any shifter with decent hearing would’ve known you were here. You were panting like you were having a panic attack.” Riker stepped in front of her and led her farther away from Brooks and his eerie eyes. “You need to get ahold of yourself, Corin. Even now, your heartbeat is going fast enough to make you pass out.”
Why did Riker have to walk so damned fast? It was dark and she couldn’t see very well, and the breathing trouble he had so insensitively pointed out was making her even dizzier. “I’ll have you know, I don’t swoon, if that’s what you are implying.” She tripped over a branch and went sprawling face first, and right before she hit the ground, an arm snaked out and wrapped around her middle, saving her from a fern to the eye.
Gasping, she was jerked backward and set upright. Brooks’ eyes, intense and as dark as the sky above, devoured her. His eyebrows lowered slowly as his eyes drifted to her lips. He seemed confused when his gaze lifted to hers again.
If she didn’t talk now, she’d never get a chance again. “You can kiss me. You’ve done it before.” Part of her wished he would, because then she’d know for sure. Part of her was terrified of him leaning down and brushing his lips to hers. Every fiber of her being knew with certainty that he was dangerous.
Drawing air through his teeth, his expression turned pained and he flinched away from her like she’d burned him. “Don’t.”
He turned and strode for the woods, then cast her a dark glance over his shoulder. Pausing, he turned and canted his head as his dark eyebrows furrowed. He looked lost.
She ached to reassure him and took a step forward.
Holding his ground, he shifted his weight like he was about to bolt at any moment.
His warmth beckoned her, and she took another step toward him.
His dark eyes darted over her shoulder, and in an instant, he changed completely. No longer was he confused or apprehensive. His focus was drawn inward and he straightened his spine. A cruel smile transformed his face into something unfamiliar. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
That one careless sentence broke something hopeful in her. He would see her tomorrow—on the battlefield. His threat wasn’t even veiled, and he chuckled darkly as he walked away. The sound bounced off the trees and chilled her blood.
Breath lifted the fine hairs on the back of her neck and she spun. Riker was staring at her like he’d never seen her before. “I couldn’t figure out whether I needed to protect you, or give you two some privacy. What the hell was that?”
Sadly, Corin looked at the grove of trees Brooks had disappeared behind. “I think I loved him once.”
Chapter Six
Corin couldn’t sleep.
How could she when in a few short hours, she was going to draw her last breath out in that meadow? She was so scared, her hands trembled more with every passing minute. Thank goodness everyone seemed to be asleep and not as witnesses to her freak-out.
All alone. That’s how she felt. No one else even seemed nervous about tomorrow as they slept soundly, and she was wide awake and chugging breath like a spooked racehorse.
A shadow passed in front of her tent and she propped up on her elbows. Should she wake Chase? He was asleep beside her, big spooning Anya. And Brody was an arm’s length away too. The slow zip of the tent door had her reaching out, hovering the palm of her hand over Chase’s shoulder.
Hannah poked her head in.
“Holy shit,” Corin breathed. Her heart was still trying to wiggle its way out of her throat, but at least Hannah probably wouldn’t try to kill her the rest of the way.
The alpha’s mate gestured her outside and quietly, Corin ducked out of the tent flap, then slowly zipped it back. The sleeping shifters inside could thank her in the morning when they weren’t covered in blister bugs and ants.
“What’s wrong,” Corin asked as soon as they were a safe distance away.
“I’m pregnant.”
“I asked what’s wrong, not what’s awesome.” She pulled Hannah in and squeezed her until one of the little human’s vertebrae cracked. Oops. Right. Tone down the bear hugs. “Congratulations,” she whispered, pulling back. “Wait.” She wicked a tear away from Hannah’s cheek
and frowned. “Why are you crying?”
“I’m pregnant, and the father of my baby is about to go to war.”
Corin gusted an exhale and pulled her in again. Resting her chin on Hannah’s shoulder, she said, “Yes, but he’ll be fine. Riker is stronger than anyone. He’ll make it.”
“What if he doesn’t though? And what about you and Anya and Joanna. Chase and Brody? My child can’t grow up without a support system. I need all of you.” Hannah’s shoulders shook, and she buried her face against Corin’s shoulder.
The tragic truth of it was that, no, they probably wouldn’t all be together after tomorrow. They couldn’t expect one hundred percent Long Claw losses and zero percent Bear Valley deaths. It wasn’t the way war worked.
Everything was so sad. Her budding friendship with Hannah had started right before fate would rip them apart. Meeting Brooks and realizing a destiny worse than death had found Daniel. All of the loss that would come tomorrow. It was all so overwhelming. What words of encouragement could she give Hannah? She had little hope herself.
“Corin, if you could save us from this war, would you?”
“Of course.” It was an easy promise.
“How far would you go to stop it?” Hannah asked in a careful tone.
It was a strange question, but okay. “Probably death without torture, but not prostitution.”
Hannah eased back and quirked one eyebrow. “That was supposed to be a rhetorical question, but thank you for your honestly. So prostitution is a hard no?” Her eyes danced in the flickering light of the campfires with an edge of humor. She looked as if she were hatching up a plan.
“What do you need?”
“You know the alpha of the Long Claws, right?” Hannah asked.
“Uh, no. I thought I did, but he’d basically a demon walking around in a body that looks like a boy I used to know.”
“Riker said you shared a weird moment with him.”
“Weird, yes.”
“I have no right to ask you, but if I don’t, we’ll never know if this could’ve been stopped. Go talk to him.”