by Amelia Jade
Joel was happy to see all of them, but his attention was immediately drawn to the figure that stood out the most. In the midst of all those giants was a medium-height woman with pitch-black hair pulled back into a ponytail, blue jeans, and a black jacket that hugged the curves of her waist. And sitting casually on her hips was a belt with two guns, as if she had worn one every day.
“Your mate is a badass, by the way,” Darren said with a smile, noticing the same scene.
“Yes, yes she is,” Joel said, though he barely heard him. His mate had turned to face him, and the smile breaking out on her face was the best thing he had seen all day. Jogging forward he ran to her, intent on gathering her into his arms and holding as tightly as he dared, never wanting to let her go again.
He stopped short, however, remembering that he was covered in blood.
“Uh, hi,” he said awkwardly, looking down at himself, well aware that everyone was watching the two of them just then.
“You’re a mess,” she proclaimed sternly. “I can’t take you anywhere, Joel Murray.”
“She used your full name!” Cole said with laughter. “You’re in trouble now!”
The gathered shifters roared with good-natured laughter. Even Joel felt himself chuckling along with them.
“You’re okay?” she asked in a softer voice as the others turned away to give them the illusion of privacy. In reality, they couldn’t stop their shifter hearing from making every word they spoke audible.
Joel nodded. “What about you?”
Courtenay slowly dipped her head, though he could see in her eyes that she wasn’t entirely sure. “I think so. I’ve never witnessed such, such, such carnage before!” she said, stuttering over her word choice.
He stepped closer, but she put up her hand to stop him. “Not yet. I need to get this out first,” she said.
Joel paused, once again struck by the sheer strength his mate possessed. She could flop into his arms and feel safe if she wanted, but when there was something she had to do, she was the most fiercely independent female he had ever met.
It drove him wild.
“Is it always like this when you clash with others?”
“Yes,” he said, his voice full of regret. “They don’t give quarter, and they never surrender, so we’re forced to do the same. We just don’t have the numbers to do otherwise.”
“I’m not sure how I would be coping right now if I wasn’t used to cutting people open and seeing their insides,” she explained, waving her hand at the ripped and torn bodies that lay across the open courtyard.
“It’s my fervent hope that you won’t ever have to deal with this again,” he told her earnestly. “I will do everything in my power to prevent that.”
She frowned. “How are you going to do that when you don’t even know who is behind all this? Until you know that, and can deal with them, this could happen anywhere. I love you Joel, but I’m not that naïve. I know the danger. Which is why Uriel has allowed me to keep these,” she said, patting the weapons holstered at her side.
His first reaction was one of anger. How dare someone else allow his mate to carry around weapons? But he tamped that down immediately, realizing the logic of it. In fact, if they had taken advantage of that option earlier, things might be a little different. Shifters generally hated using guns on each other. They would rather use their natural weapons. It was just the way they were.
But why couldn’t they arm their mates? Especially after the way their enemy had shown no mercy when it came to threatening the women? Joel suddenly realized he would feel a lot better if Courtenay had access to a tranq gun.
“Okay,” he said instead. “But I know who it is.”
The other shifters spun to face him.
“How do you know that?” Garrett asked intensely. Gabriel shouldered his way past the other shifters to stand next to Joel’s Alpha.
“Something they said to me when I woke up,” he told them, indicating the dead shifters. “They said that their ‘True Form’ had been among us for months, and that we’d seen and interacted with him.”
Garrett and Gabriel both reared back slightly, their spines going straight and their eyes becoming unfocused as they ran through a list of candidates in their heads, just like he had done. They both arrived at the same conclusion within milliseconds of each other.
“Oh shit,” Gabriel swore.
“Luthor,” Garrett breathed.
“He’s assembling an army,” Joel said.
The group of shifters looked at each other at that revelation.
Garrett pursed his lips as he came to the same conclusion Joel had.
“We’re going to need more bears.”
Chapter Thirteen
“You’re doing what?” Courtenay yelped.
“We have no choice,” he explained, trying to push past this topic. He had something else he needed to tell her. Or, more precisely, to ask her. “We need more shifters willing to fight on our side. They’ve been locked away for weeks now. That’s plenty of time for them to arrive at the conclusion they were on the wrong side. If they give us their word, we’ll let them out.”
“This sounds like a terrible idea after everything you’ve told me about him.”
“I wasn’t exactly thrilled at first either,” he admitted. “But it makes sense. And like I said, we need them. We can’t fight this on our own. Gabriel is even going to seek out the Ruby Crew as well. Marcel, their Alpha, will have to understand. I hope.”
Joel shook his head, pulling Courtenay away from the fire somewhat. It was three days after the fight, and they were having a barbecue at the Ridgeback Lodge. Tensions were high though, and the celebration was muted.
“What are you going to do about Luthor?” she asked.
He sighed. “I don’t know. Valen said he was working on it, but I’m not holding out hope.”
Luthor had disappeared, and nobody knew where. Even Ferro, who wouldn’t say anything and seemed reluctant to speak, had no idea where he went. In Courtenay’s mind, this was the eye of the storm, where there was a moment of calm before all hell broke loose. It scared her, and judging by the soft-spoken conversations going on around the fire, she wasn’t the only one feeling the effects of it.
“Can you beat him?” she asked.
The other conversations stopped as the question that everyone wanted to know was brought up.
Joel’s shoulders shrugged. From where she sat perched in his lap, the motion caused her to bob up and down slightly.
“I don’t know,” he said at last. “Probably not.”
The tension ratcheted up another notch.
“But we’re going to try,” he added fiercely to the answering growls of agreement from the other shifters around the fire. “Even if it’s the last thing I do, I will do my best to ensure he is unable to threaten you, or anyone else, ever again.”
She listened to his voice rise as he spoke, becoming firmer and more powerful as he reached the conclusion of his promise. A shiver ran down her spine, and she snuggled deeper into his lap as the other shifters echoed his sentiment and banged their fists onto the chairs.
Her eyes moved around the circle, meeting the looks of the other mates: Emma, Gwen, Trestin, Kiera, Jenny. The six of them had chatted a little bit, and they all wanted to help and do something, but they didn’t know what. Three of them were pregnant, and two very much so, which would hinder anything they came up with. Still, Courtenay was fired up and determined to help in any way she could. This was her home now, and she would help defend it.
“Hey,” Joel said, interrupting her thoughts as he shifted in his seat in a way that told her he wanted up. She stood up to let him do whatever it was he needed to do. Her hand lingered in his, however, and she pretended to tug on it, as if he needed her help to stand.
Instead of following her, however, Joel slipped down to the ground, landing on one knee.
“What are you doing?” she asked, her heart racing.
“Doctor Courtenay J
ean Laurel,” he began, and her jaw dropped as she realized what he was doing.
“Since the moment I first met you, you’ve never left my thoughts. In just a short matter of time, you’ve come to mean more to me than I ever thought anyone could. You complete me. You’re my other half. You’re my support when I need it to hold me up, and you’re my anchor when I need to be pulled back down to earth. Although I don’t know what the future holds in store for us, I do know that I would be much stronger with you by my side. Will you do me the tremendous honor of becoming both my mate and my wife?”
She felt tears spring into the corner of her eyes, and several rogue tears even made their way down her cheek as he pulled out a black box and flipped the top up to reveal a sleek, gorgeous diamond ring that glittered.
“Get up,” she said with a jerky laugh. “You’re going to stain those pants. Get up here and kiss me. Yes, yes, a thousand times yes, I accept.”
The other shifters broke out into clapping and cheers as he slipped the ring onto her finger and rose to his feet, taking the time to wipe dirt from the knee of his pants, much to everyone’s amusement.
Then he kissed her.
THE END
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Genesis Valley - Recommended Reading Order
Jade Crew: Alpha Bear
Jade Crew: Haunted Bear
Jade Crew: Forgotten Bear
Stone Bear: Sentinel
Jade Crew: Captive Bear
Stone Bear: Phoenix
Jade Crew: Outcast Bear
Jade Crew: Hunted Bear
Want More of These Characters?
Ridgeback Bears
Jade Crew: Alpha Bear (Book 1)
Jade Crew: Haunted Bear (Book 2)
Jade Crew: Forgotten Bear (Book 3)
Jade Crew: Captive Bear (Book 4)
Jade Crew: Outcast Bear (Book 5)
Jade Crew: Hunted Bear (Book 6)
Stone Bears (Genesis Valley Shifters)
Stone Bear: Sentinel (Book 1) – Gabriel
Stone Bear: Phoenix (Book 2) - Uriel
Bluff Bears
Rogue Bear (Book 1)
Outlaw Bear (Book 2)
Broken Bear (Book 3)
Junkyard Bear (Book 4)
Other Series by Amelia Jade
The Wolf Wanderers (w/Terra Wolf)
Cinder Wolf (Book 1)
Feral Wolf (Book 2)
Rebel Wolf (Book 3)
Noble Wolf (Book 4)
About the Author
Amelia Jade
Amelia Jade loves to write the stories of tall, growly shifter men and the women who come to love them. Living out in the backcountry near the mountains, she keeps her own alpha male close by to keep the bears away and keep her warm. In her downtime (which is rare), she loves to read science-fiction with a dash of fantasy. You can often find her curled up in front of the real wood-burning fireplace, her nose firmly buried in a book or her favorite e-reader. The cold can’t bother her there!
For more information about Amelia Jade and her work, find her on Facebook.
Profile: Amelia Jade
Author Page
Contents
Copyright
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
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Genesis Valley - Recommended Reading Order
Want More of These Characters?
Stone Bears (Genesis Valley Shifters)
Other Series by Amelia Jade
About the Author