They are family, her bear insisted. Don’t be nervous to be around them. They are here for the same reason you are.
I didn’t volunteer to fight, Presley shook her head furiously as she pulled open the door. “I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”
And with that, she made her way down the hallway, unsure of what she’d be greeted with once she made it back into the land of the living.
–––––—
The usually quiet atmosphere of the Bamey home was anything but as ten large and rowdy men stood around the living room, chatting amongst themselves as Mrs. Bamey scurried about in an attempt to serve refreshments.
Mr. Bamey was seated in his recliner, listening intently to a discussion about football as he took another drag from his cigar.
He doesn’t even smoke, Lorcan thought with a roll of his eyes.
“Look how much you’ve grown!” Another male stated as he patted Lorcan on the shoulder. “You barely came to my knee the last time I saw you.”
Lorcan forced a small smile as he glanced at Davey Berdine. The man was probably well into his sixties by now, and Lorcan honestly had no idea why he even returned. Didn’t he feel that he was a little too old to be getting involved with something like this?
The older male didn’t seem to be bothered with the age difference as he grinned a little more broadly, the crow’s feet around his sparkling blue eyes becoming prominent as he laughed. “Time flies,” he commented. “But I am glad to see you’re taller than that father of yours.”
Mr. Bamey grunted in response.
“Liam was taller,” Lorcan offered.
Silence immediately fell over the crowd of men, and Lorcan felt an awkward tension thickening in the air.
“I’m sorry about your brother,” Davey said after a moment. “We’re all very sorry about that.”
“It just gives us more motivation to do this,” Mrs. Bamey stated as she moved to stand near her husband. “We’re doing it for Liam, and for Pierce Carroll. We’re doing it for the future generations of our kind so they will not have to lead a life of fear as we have.”
All eyes were on the female ursithrope as her fingers dug into the back of the recliner. She frowned, allowing her gaze to move from one man to the next. “So many of you have fled from this town; I do not blame you, but this is our home. We should not have to leave because of them, or anyone for that matter. This is our town. This is where the great Urseth created our ancestors and what gives the werewolves the right to take it away?”
Various murmurs sounded around the room as she sucked in a sharp breath. “They took away my son, but I will not allow them to harm another ursithrope ever again. Last night they attacked Arnold Goult and his niece, Presley.”
Arnold Goult stood near the door, lowering his head as he frowned.
“Both are safe now, but what happens when the werewolves return? Breslin Connor will not stop until he sheds every last drop of ursithrope blood upon the ground of Kadenburg. My son’s blood stains the earth already. Pierce Carroll’s blood remains on that tree. Breslin will continue slaughtering our people until none remain. He must be stopped. That is why I asked you to return. We cannot do it on our own.”
Seconds passed by as Lorcan’s eyes scanned the room. He really hadn’t anticipated his mother giving a speech, but he was impressed with her gumption. Mama bears were always dependable for motivation, weren’t they? At least his was.
“How many wolves are we looking at?” Colin Grimes asked.
Lorcan remembered Colin; or at least he thought he did. Colin was only two years older than him, and he was fairly confident he could remember Liam playing with him in the backyard during the summer. The memories were a little fuzzy, but he was certain he remembered those hazel eyes and dimpled cheeks.
“At least fifteen or more,” Mr. Bamey finally answered as he exhaled the large cloud of smoke from between his lips. “Breslin’s been busy getting recruits. It’s much easier to make mutts anyway.”
Several grunts of agreement echoed around the room and Lorcan nodded. It was true. Werewolves had the benefit of being able to turn a human into one of their own with a simple bite, but it didn’t work that way for ursithropes. One had to be born into the lineage, and he wasn’t sure that many had been brought into the world as of late. Even if there were any new ursithropes, they were far too young to fight.
“We can take them,” Gregory Kress insisted as he crossed his large arms over his equally large chest. He was young, but just as massive as his fellow ursithropes.
Lorcan definitely remembered his last name. Greg’s parents had owned an ice cream shop right in the middle of town years before. Lorcan and Liam had enjoyed many treats there as youngsters. Things were never quite the same after they moved away.
“There are fifteen of us, right?” The 18 year old asked. “We’re bigger; stronger. We can defeat them easily.”
“They are faster,” Parson Downing argued. “And Breslin fights dirty; we all know that. He’ll kill us in our human forms if he can get away with it. We need more bodies.”
“We do need more bodies,” Mr. Bamey nodded. “But how are we going to convince anyone else to come back to Kadenburg? Those families moved away over a hundred years ago. Our fight is not their concern.”
“It is every ursithrope’s concern,” Parson muttered. “Kadenburg is basically the mecca of ursithropes. We need to fight to keep it.”
“And what about the wolf?” Kyle Frey asked.
All eyes moved to Dimitri then, who had remained relatively quiet in the kitchen. The muscle in Lorcan’s jaw tensed and relaxed; he wanted to hear about that, too.
“He is with us,” Mrs. Bamey stated firmly. “He was Liam’s mate, and he’s on our side.”
Murmurs of confusion started to grow louder, and Lorcan wanted to face-palm harder than ever before.
“My brother was gay. So what?” He finally said as he turned around to face the stunned ursithropes. “He was in love with another man. Who cares? He was still Liam, and he died because some asshole thought he didn’t deserve to be with this guy,” he glanced at Dimitri again. Their gazes connected and Lorcan felt the ache in his chest surge to life once more.
“Breslin Connor needs to be destroyed,” Lorcan added. “And I’ll die trying if I have to.”
Twenty
It was very weird to have so many pairs of eyes on her as she attempted to eat a cold breakfast. Presley timidly bit into a piece of bacon before lifting her gaze to meet piercing blue eyes. She supposed Gregory Kress was every bit as handsome as a man could be; given that he could turn into a ferocious, large beast at will.
Lorcan is handsome, too, her inner bear scowled. Lorcan is the one for us.
It doesn’t hurt to look. Presley responded as she swallowed the crisp meat and licked her lips. Besides, Lorcan and I aren’t together. Stop talking to me as if I’m in a committed relationship. He’s just trying to be nice to me.
Gregory being nice might have been an understatement. He’d been staring at her for the last five minutes and he was teetering on a thin line between flattering and creepy. She had to constantly remind herself that he was a great deal younger, and that made her creepy, too, didn’t it?
“So you like bacon, huh?” He asked after a moment.
“Doesn’t everyone?” Presley countered, lifting the glass of orange juice to her lips for a quick sip.
“My sister’s a vegetarian,” He stated matter-of-factly. “So I’m going to guess that she doesn’t like bacon.”
“Good for her,” Presley replied, unsure of what else she was supposed to say. She wasn’t necessarily in the mood for conversation, and her stomach was only interested in devouring every piece of food she could get her hands on at the moment.
“You’re new to the whole bear thing, huh?” He questioned as he tilted his head to the side. “How did you manage to go so long without bearing out?”
Presley blinked, placing her glass back on the table as she
shrugged. “I don’t know. It just never happened.”
“Don’t you think that’s weird?”
Oh my god. What is wrong with this dude? She thought as she stared at him quizzically.
“It’s not weird,” Mrs. Bamey commented as she passed by the table, moving to the sink so she could begin washing the mile high stack of dirty plates. “It just seems like our Presley has better self-control than the rest of us.”
There was something different about the way Mrs. Bamey said ‘our Presley’, and it made Presley wonder if the woman was trying to be possessive. What was even stranger for Presley, though, was the fact she didn’t mind the older ursithrope being possessive. It even made her smile a little as she poked at the cold eggs with her fork. Gross, she wasn’t going to eat cold eggs.
I guess that’ll teach me to wake up earlier.
“I don’t think I could’ve gone twenty something years without bearing out at least once,” Colin Grimes voiced in as he seated himself next to Greg and smiled at her.
Why do they keep getting closer and closer? Presley wondered as she pulled a biscuit apart and lathered a generous amount of butter in the center. It’s like I’m fascinating or something.
You –are-fascinating, her bear offered. You are a female ursithrope and all unattached males will be interested in us. They like our scent.
Presley nearly choked on the bite of biscuit she’d just taken as she heard her bear’s words. They liked her scent?
“Presley, are you all right, dear?” Mrs. Bamey asked as she turned away from the sink and frowned.
A gentle pat against the back caused Presley to jump, and she turned her head quickly to see her uncle staring down at her with an amused expression on his face. “Did it go down the wrong pipe?” He asked.
She coughed and sputtered, quickly taking another drink of her orange juice as three worried sets of eyes stayed focused on her.
“I’m fine,” she managed to say after another moment. “It just went down the wrong pipe, like Uncle Arnold said.”
How was she supposed to get through this day if she couldn’t even get through breakfast?
––––––—
He didn’t like it. He didn’t like it at all. Ever since Presley had entered the kitchen earlier that morning, Greg and Colin acted like she was a shiny new toy and they couldn’t wait to play with her. Nope. He didn’t like it.
It didn’t help matters when his father asked him to join the older ursithropes in a short trip around Kadenburg to see if any werewolves had been in the area within the last little while. He didn’t like the thought of being away from Presley. He wasn’t fond of giving them the opportunity to catch her interest.
She is ours, his bear stated confidently as Lorcan’s gaze watched the scenery pass by. He was riding back to the Bamey house with Davey, and it seriously wasn’t helping to ease his mind at all.
“So Pierce’s daughter has grown into a fine looking young lady, hasn’t she?” He asked, glancing Lorcan’s way occasionally as he gripped the steering wheel.
“Yeah,” Lorcan agreed as he pressed his forehead against the cool glass of the passenger side window. “She’s beautiful.”
Davey chuckled as he flipped on his turn signal, waiting for a few cars to pass by before he turned left turn onto Jessen Bend Road. “If only I was forty years younger…”
Over my dead body, Lorcan scowled. A frown tugged at his lips as he turned his head to stare at the older ursithrope. “I don’t think your wife would like that too much.”
“No, she wouldn’t,” Davey laughed. “She’d probably skin me alive and put me in the dog house for a few months,” his eyes sparkled as he turned his head to gaze at Lorcan again. “Don’t worry, little Bamey. I’m not going to stray from the good woman I’ve got back home. I love her.”
Lorcan suddenly felt stupid for getting jealous so easily. That wasn’t like him at all. But it wasn’t him, was it?
She will see we are meant for her, his bear concluded. Soon, she will see.
She will choose whoever she wants to choose, Lorcan responded as he pressed his forehead against the glass again. His brown eyes watched the scenery blur as they passed by the river. They were almost back to his house now, and his father was right behind them.
“So, Lorcan, when do you think you two will get mar-”
Davey’s question was cut short as a thunderous roar rang in the air. It was so loud and so powerful that Lorcan couldn’t even see straight. His shoulder slammed into the door before he had time to realize what was happening, and he hissed out in pain. He caught a glimpse of dark black fur before the car swerved off the road. Davey cursed as they headed for the woods and quickly brought Lorcan back into reality as he tried to focus his vision.
“Hold on, Lorcan!” Davey shouted as he attempted to regain control of the vehicle. He pressed his heavy boot against the brake pedal and grabbed for the gear shift. Shifting down into second, he pumped the brake a few more times. “Damn piece of shi-”
Lorcan turned his head, watching the expression of horror that overcame Davey’s aged face. There was something very wrong.
“I think we just lost our brakes,” Davey said in a grave tone. “Don’t hold your breath.”
Lorcan wasn’t sure what holding his breath had to do with their current situation, but his grip on the door handle was evidence enough of the fear he was currently feeling. The hard plastic was crushing between his fingers as he clenched his teeth together.
“Oh shit,” Davey muttered. “Lorcan, I want you to jump.”
Lorcan glanced up, understanding why Davey had made such an insane request as the huge pine tree got closer and closer. They were going to hit it. It wouldn’t matter which way they turned. One way would put them on course for the river, and the other would send them over a deep ravine; the tree definitely had to be the best option.
“On the count of three, open your door and jump out,” Davey instructed as he shifted the vehicle into neutral. “One…”
I can do this, Lorcan thought as sweat trickled down his temple.
“Two…” Davey grabbed for his door handle as he relaxed his grip on the steering wheel.
“Three!”
Lorcan felt like he was in an action film as he shoved his door open and pressed his boots against the floorboard. He didn’t even look at where he was going. All he could see were thousands of dead leaves on the ground, blurring with the speed of the vehicle as he hurled himself forward and shut his eyes as tightly as possible.
The movies definitely made it look easier. He anticipated that he would simply hit the ground and roll a few times, but instead he found himself barreling down the embankment as the vehicle roared past him.
One roll, two rolls, three rolls, four rolls, and then his back slammed into the trunk of a tree and the air was knocked out of his lungs.
Definitely not like the movies, he thought with a wince. Lorcan rolled onto his stomach, attempting to push himself up from the ground as his palms began to burn. He cried out, clenching his jaw. What in the hell?
It felt as if liquid hellfire was consuming his entire body. It didn’t matter which way he turned, the burning sensation seemed to be everywhere.
“Lorcan!” Davey called out. “Lorcan, you have to get up! Now!”
Releasing a small growl, Lorcan forced his hands against the earth again and pushed upwards with every last ounce of strength he had. Once he was on his feet, the burning went away. He examined his palms and it didn’t take a rocket scientist to understand why his flesh was blistered. Pepper.
This wasn’t just a random accident, and the wolf suddenly appearing in the middle of the road should have been proof enough. However, the pepper covering the ground now was definitely sufficient enough to cause the alarms to go off in his mind. This wasn’t good.
“Lorcan,” Davey panted as he approached him, resting his hands against his knees as he doubled over. The poor old man was out of breath and the gash on his forehead wa
sn’t healing.
Nothing will heal while we’re surrounded by pepper, Lorcan frowned.
“We need to get the hell out of here,” Davey commented as he finally straightened up. “This ain’t good, son.”
“No, it’s not,” Lorcan agreed as his dark eyes scanned the area. Davey’s car was smashed into the tree, head on, and smoke billowed from beneath the bent metal of the hood. The wheels were still spinning but they had no place to go.
At least we weren’t in there, Lorcan thought to himself as he lifted his hands to gaze at them again. The blisters were raw and painful, but he couldn’t do a damn thing about them until they were clear of the woods. They had to get back to the main road-and fast.
“You, too, huh?” Davey asked with a frown. “Those sum-bitches.”
Despite the pain and frustration he felt, Lorcan snickered. Davey was still the same guy he remembered from childhood, blunt and colorful.
“Lorcan!”
He could hear his father’s frantic shouting from the top of the embankment, but Lorcan wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say. He knew that the werewolves were lurking nearby. In fact, he could smell their stench and it was strong. What were they waiting for, exactly?
If I shout back to him, there’s a chance they will go after him, Lorcan thought with a frown. But if I don’t respond, he’ll come down here anyway.
Stupidly stubborn father.
“I’m fine!” Lorcan finally said, though he kept a close eye on his surroundings as he licked his dry lips. “We’re both fine, Dad.”
“I ain’t so sure about that,” Davey commented in a lower voice.
Lorcan met the older male’s gaze, but quickly realized Davey was looking past him. He slowly turned his head to follow his gaze and determined he was in agreement.
Four large werewolves stalked towards them, baring their fangs as their vicious growls grew louder. Lorcan could see the saliva dripping from their mouths as they got closer.
“I don’t know about you,” Davey muttered. “But I ain’t really aiming to be dinner today.”
The Truth About Kadenburg Page 17