by Dez Burke
By the time he reached the first cottage, Alex knew what he would find inside. One by one, he searched the small, sturdy houses, looking for signs of life. But all he found was death. From the looks of things, most of his clan members had been murdered in their beds, unaware that they were about to be slaughtered like cattle. The few shifters that had been awake appeared to be taken by surprise. Why hadn’t they sensed something was wrong?
Alex’s stomach churned as he stood outside his family’s cottage, unsure whether he had the courage to enter, even while knowing that he must. He suppressed the urge to weep like a child when he found the bloody, lifeless bodies of his mother, father, sister, and brother. Rage bubbled up from his soul and he roared long and loud, his grief pouring forth as he vowed to seek revenge. Before his body could complete its change, he heard something.
“Alexander.” His name was but a whisper in the wind, so faint that he wondered if he imagined it. Then he heard it again. “Alexander.”
There was one cottage left to search: the home of his grandfather, the clan’s Elder. With a final, silent good-bye to his family, Alex made his way to the Elder’s home. Entering without knocking, he found the old man in front of the fireplace and dropped to the ground next to him. The Elder’s breath was shallow and his pulse was weak and thready; it was obvious he didn’t have much time left.
“Alexander,” the Elder whispered as his eyelids fluttered open.
“I’m here, grandfather,” Alex responded, taking hold of the old man’s frail, furry hand. “Who did this?”
“The Hunters.”
Alex had never seen the Hunters, but he had been told of them. The small band of vigilante humans hated shifters, even the half-breed kind that were as much man as they were animal. Even though the Hunters were a well-funded underground network with significant resources, Alex’s people worked hard to blend into the background of rural Pacific Northwest life. How had they discovered that this small community was comprised of shifters? This was another question that would likely never be answered.
“This wouldn’t have happened if I had been here,” Alex said with anguish. He berated himself for going on such a long, selfish ride and leaving his clan to perish at the hands of the enemy.
“Nonsense,” his grandfather whispered. “If you had been here, you would be dead, too. Fate kept you away, my boy, so you could live to continue our lineage.”
“I will find the Hunters and make things right, grandfather. I swear to you!”
The Elder’s face contorted in pain as a raspy cough erupted from his blood-filled lungs. When the cough subsided, he spoke again. “Revenge is not your duty, Alexander.” His grandfather’s voice was so soft now that, even with his supernatural hearing, Alex had to lean close to hear what he was saying.
“Tell me what to do,” Alex said, knowing that shifter law would require him to follow the Elder’s orders, even if he didn’t agree with them.
“You must claim your mate before the Hunters find her. She has just enough bear blood in her veins to continue our line.” The Elder paused to catch his failing breath. “Once you have mated with her, head east to the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. There you will find another clan like ours. They will help you rebuild our clan.”
Alex’s head was spinning. There was so much he still needed to learn about being an Alpha, and now there would be no one left to teach him. He knew that other small clans of bear shifters existed, yet he wasn’t sure how to find them once he reached Colorado. He wasn’t sure how to find his mate so quickly either. Most were-bears took their time searching for their true mate, time that he didn’t have.
As if his grandfather could read his mind, the Elder pressed a small strip of torn cloth into Alex’s hand. “This is from a scarf that holds your mate’s scent. The Hunters grabbed it, but I managed to keep hold of this scrap. It will take them a while to source a scent-locator. Use this to find her first, Alexander. Claim her, protect her, mate with her. Do you understand?”
Alex nodded. He brought the cloth to his nose and inhaled deeply, committing the scent to memory. “How did you get her scarf?”
The Elder’s eyes fluttered closed. “It was given to me by a Guardian who told me to give it to you when the time is right. That time is now. The Guardian told me that your mate resides just outside the heart of the city. Head toward the city until you pick up her scent.”
As far as he knew, Alex had never seen a Guardian either, although they tended not to make their true presence known unless danger was near. The appearance of a Guardian was not to be taken lightly.
“Alexander, you must approach your mate with caution. She has no knowledge of shifters and our ways. She will need time to come to terms with what you tell her. Your bear will want to rise up and take her fast, perhaps even by force. That is not the ideal way to claim your mostly human mate.”
“What should I do if she resists?”
“Give her space. Retreat, if needed. Then return and try again.”
Alex vehemently shook his head. “Retreating is a sign of weakness! Alpha bears never run away from a fight or challenge.”
The Elder coughed again, and Alex noticed that the wheeze in his lungs had increased. “True Alphas know the difference between running away due to a weak spirit and demonstrating their leadership through strategic retreat. Besides, what did your mother teach you about bees and honey?”
Thinking of his mother made Alex’s heart even more heavy. “That a bear will catch more bees with honey than vinegar.”
His grandfather nodded and smiled weakly. When the old bear’s eyes closed, panic welled inside Alex. “Wait, grandfather! Once I have claimed my mate, how will I find the Colorado clan?”
“Trust your Alpha instincts, Alex, and let your bear lead the way.” With one final, ragged breath, the Elder slipped away.
Rising up to his full human height of six-feet-three-inches, Alex roared long and loud before dousing each cottage in gasoline and setting them on fire. He wasn’t able to save his clan, but he could ensure that their bodies wouldn’t be left for the Hunters to come back and desecrate.
Only when the entire village was engulfed in flames did Alex allow his bear to rumble to the surface of his skin. Stripping off his clothes and tossing them aside, he threw his head back and released a mighty roar. The sound of his voice echoed through the clearing as his bones began to crackle, grow, and elongate.
The ripple effect of shifting caused thick brown fur to erupt from his skin as his face flattened out. His nose transformed into a snout, his teeth grew large, long and sharp, and his ears became rounded and slid up toward the top of his mammoth head. His fingernails morphed into claws and the pads of each digit became tough and rough. All the while, his musculature tripled in size as his shoulders expanded and his height soared above seven feet.
When his transition from man to bear was complete, Alex raised himself up on his hind legs and clawed at the air, his voice rumbling up from the depths of his despair, filling his burning village with the raw sounds of grief, pain, and anger.
He heard the shot whiz through the smoke-filled air before he felt the bullet pierce his side with a sudden, sharp pain. Looking down at the blood that instantly matted his fur, he pressed a paw against the wound to try and stem the bleeding.
Dropping to the ground so he wasn’t such an easy target, Alex assessed his wound. The bullet was a through and through. A few inches higher and it would have hit his heart. A few inches toward the center of his body and it would have hit one of his other vital organs.
He needed to get away before the shooter got him back in his sights and before the fire department arrived to put out the fire he had started, which was quickly spreading beyond his village to the surrounding woods. Scooping up his clothes, he lumbered on all fours toward his hidden motorcycle. In the shelter of the trees, he retracted his bear, shifted back into human form, and quickly pulled on his clothing and leathers.
With his mate’s scent firmly embedde
d in his memory, he hopped on his bike and rode, full throttle, away from his home and toward the city.
Chapter 2
When the Guardian felt her pendant vibrate against her chest, she knew something had gone wrong with her assignment. She swore under her breath, which was probably not appropriate, but which felt acceptable considering the circumstances.
She opened the locket and read the alert, which directed her to get to the were-bear village ASAP. Evidently, the enemy was about to steal the scarf from the Elder before he had a chance to give it to the Alpha. But nowhere in the alert did it say that she would be walking into a bloodbath.
She couldn’t stop the human Hunters from slaughtering the clan; free will was beyond her control. She could try to reason with them, but they didn’t appear to be reasonable types. And revealing her identity to a band of murderers didn’t seem like the prudent thing to do. So the Guardian went to the Elder’s cottage to warn him, even if she couldn’t save him.
When the Hunter tried to wrestle the scarf from the Elder’s grip, the Guardian managed to energetically rip a small piece of the fabric from the enemy’s clutches from her hiding place. Then, when the Hunter left, leaving the Elder for dead, she had kept him alive until the Alpha arrived, at which time she ducked back out of sight.
Watching the teary exchange between grandfather and grandson hadn’t been easy for the Guardian. But she had refused to leave until she was positive that the Alpha had everything he needed to find his mate. Only then did she slip away, relieved that her assignment was back on track, but sad that she couldn’t save the clan.
Chapter 3
“Happy Friday, ladies!”
Nina heard the syrupy sweet voice before she saw Hannah, the petite, perky blonde it belonged to.
Her best friend Liz leaned closer to her and whispered, “Who invited her?”
“I have no idea,” Nina whispered back. “But happy hour is officially over, at least for me. I’m out of here.”
“If you leave, she wins,” Liz warned, running a hand through her own dark blonde hair, which wasn’t nearly as thick and shiny as Hannah’s long locks. Liz was pretty, but her looks paled in comparison to Hannah.
Nina finished her drink, threw enough cash on the table to cover her tab, and stood to go. “She already did.”
The curvy brunette held back her tears until she was out of the bar and inside her car a block down the road. After sliding into the driver’s seat, she allowed herself to cry, even though she was angry with herself for doing it.
As sobs wracked her body, Nina pounded the steering wheel with her palms. Life was so cruel. First, Hannah had landed a promotion that should have gone to her. Then the blonde bimbo stole Bruce, Nina’s boyfriend of two years, who then proposed to her after they had been dating for only three months. And now Hannah was trying to hone in on her small circle of friends?
It was all too much to take!
Nina and Bruce met at work and had bonded over bad burgers in the Building 3 cafeteria. At the time, they were both new employees at the giant software company. She worked in the human resources department in Building 3. He was in sales, which was located on the other side of the city, but had stopped by HR to fill out some paperwork.
When Bruce offered to cook dinner for Nina and grill her up a burger she’d never forget, she accepted. One thing led to another, and soon they were regularly dating. Although he wasn’t her first boyfriend, he was the first guy she had ever loved.
So what if the sex wasn’t the ‘rock your world’ variety, and his wiry runner’s build and clean-shaven style was a little too metrosexual for Nina’s true tastes? Even though she would have preferred a rugged man with more muscles and chest hair, she appreciated Bruce’s well-groomed appearance, even if his trim, suit-wearing frame made her big-girl build and casual style look lumpy, frumpy, and just plain large.
Bigger girls like Nina didn’t have the option to be overly picky. Even though she was a busty young woman with a pretty face, big brown eyes, and long lustrous hair, most guys couldn’t get past her thick waist and fleshy thighs. Maybe she was just being delusional, but Nina truly thought that she and Bruce would get married someday. But that dream had been shattered when Hannah was transferred from the Los Angeles office to the Seattle area and was given the cubicle next to hers in Building 3.
Hannah was Nina’s opposite in nearly every way. She was a teeny tiny bubbly blonde with blue eyes, and she had an outgoing personality and a flair for fashion. Even though Nina hated to admit it, Hannah was also...nice...which made it hard to hate her. Still, she was surprised when a recruiting position opened up and the company gave the promotion to Hannah, even though Nina was more qualified.
Shortly after that, Bruce had applied for a different sales position and Hannah did his interview. To make a long sad story short, Bruce got the job, Hannah got Bruce, and Nina got dumped.
In her car, Nina only allowed herself to cry for a few minutes. After that, she wiped away her tears, took a deep breath, and turned the key in the ignition. Her economy sedan sputtered before coming to life and the check engine light came on. She would need to have a mechanic look at her car before it died on her. Putting the automatic transmission into drive, she cranked the wheel and pulled away from the curb.
Although the rush hour traffic had thinned out some, it still took her nearly 30 minutes to get home, even though she only lived a few miles from the technology corridor. “Great, just great,” she muttered as she approached the rental townhouse she used to share with Bruce. Some jerk had crashed his motorcycle in her driveway and had left it there for her to deal with. At least the idiot hadn’t smashed through her garage door.
After pulling into the driveway far enough to get her small car off the street, she grabbed a pen and paper from her purse and got out to jot down the motorcycle’s license plate so she could call the police and a tow truck. That was when she saw the leather-clad rider pinned beneath the bike.
In the waning light, she hadn’t seen him there at first. His helmet was off, tossed aside. Dropping the pen and paper, she rushed to his side, hoping that he wasn’t dead. Kneeling down on the cement, she pressed her fingers against his thick neck. To her relief, her fingertips met warm flesh and she found a strong, steady pulse. Then, to her horror, she saw a pool of blood near the rider’s midsection.
“Hang in there, buddy,” Nina said softly, unsure whether the unconscious guy could even hear her. “I’m going to call 911. Help will be here soon.”
Before she could get up and head back to her car to retrieve her cell phone, the biker growled. His arm shot out and his large hand gripped her wrist like a vise. “No cops,” he said without opening his eyes.
Trying not to panic, Nina tried to get her wrist free, but the biker held on tight. The guy must be in trouble with the law. Maybe he was even being chased by the police when he crashed into her driveway! “Okay, sure, no cops. You’re bleeding from the crash, though, so how about I call an ambulance?”
“No ambulance,” the biker responded with his eyes still closed.
“Listen buddy, from the looks of things, you’ve lost a lot of blood. Unless you want to die, I suggest you see a doctor pronto.”
“Alex,” he said.
“What’s that? You want me to call someone named Alex?”
“No. My name’s not Buddy, it’s Alex.”
The injured biker was about to bleed out in her driveway and he wanted to exchange pleasantries? The guy must be delirious from the loss of blood. “Nice to meet you, Alex. I’m Nina. If you won’t let me call an ambulance, at least let go of my wrist so I can drive you to the hospital.”
“Nina,” he said, his lids fluttered open.
His eyes took her breath away. She had never seen eyes like his before. They were large and dark with flecks of gold that seemed to almost glow in the dim light of dusk. Surprisingly, his gaze was sharp and piercing rather than glazed over from blood loss.
“No hospital,” he mumble
d, and his grip on Nina’s wrist tightened.
A shiver went up her spine. What did he want her to do? “I can’t just leave you here to die in my driveway.”
“That’s not going to happen if you patch me up. Can you do that, Nina?” She nodded yes, although she wasn’t at all sure that she could. “Good. But before you do that, I need you to help me up so we can hide my bike. Is there room in your garage?”
“Yes,” she responded. The lease on the townhouse she had been renting with Bruce was almost up, and she couldn’t afford to stay there on her salary alone. Nina had been parking in the driveway because she was slowly boxing up her things and stacking them in the garage for her inevitable move.
Alex shifted positions slightly and groaned as his pinned leg twisted in a painful direction. “If you promise you won’t run, I’ll let go of your arm.”
“I promise,” Nina whispered. Even though Alex was probably a fugitive from the law, there was something about him that stopped her from doing something logical, like running away or screaming for help. Maybe she was in the mood for a spontaneous adventure. Or maybe it was the way her name rolled off his tongue like a seductive caress.
He released her wrist and she massaged it gently, smoothing out the indentations in her soft flesh left by his strong grasp. “Grab the handlebars and lift my bike up a few inches,” Alex instructed.
Getting up from the ground, Nina did as he directed. The motorcycle was heavier than it looked, but she managed to lift it high enough and long enough for Alex to pull his pinned leg free. He grimaced slightly from the movement.