by Amelia Jade
“And now?” she asked.
Russell looked over his shoulder at Garrett, almost remorsefully she thought, but the Alpha wasn’t getting irate with him yet. “Still waiting,” he said sadly.
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” she said, reaching out without thinking to rest her hand on his arm.
He glanced down at it, then back up at her. For a moment, Gwen thought that he was going to move it aside, or shut her down in some other way. But to her surprise, Russell didn’t say a word, and instead he just put his other humongous paw on top of hers and held it there for a moment.
“Thank you,” he said, trying to remain upbeat, though she could sense the hurt in him.
“How did it happen?” she asked softly. Having just lost her parents, Gwen knew she could sympathize with him.
“How did—” Russell cut himself off abruptly as he realized what she meant. “Oh, he didn’t die,” he said with a wince. “Sorry. Damn, I should have realized how that would come across. No, he’s still alive. He just... forgot, I guess?” he said sadly.
“Anytime now Russell,” Garrett called.
She watched as Russell twitched, then rose from his seat.
“Listen, I have no idea how long this will take, but if it takes too long, I’d like to see you again, if that’s okay? I know Emma said to show you around, but once I’m done filling this out, I think Garrett should take you and her home. I…I need to be alone for a bit,” he said softly.
“That’s fine,” she said, nodding in understanding, trying not to appear too eager to see him again. “When will that be?”
“Tomorrow,” Ferro said, intruding on their conversation. “When all of you come by to clean up.”
Russell stared at the bartender for a moment, then he looked back at her.
“Hey, how does tomorrow work? I know this great little bar, called the Tongue & Flame. Nice, peaceful place. Does that sound okay to you?”
Gwen giggled at him. “Go!” she shooed, doing her best not to bite her lip as he winked at her and headed over to his Alpha.
She watched him go, doing her best not to openly stare at his butt.
But those jeans make it look soooo good.
With a sigh of contentment, she sat back in her chair.
“What a first week,” she said softly, before finishing the rest of her drink in one shot.
Chapter Five
Russell
The next morning came early for him.
“Hnggh,” he growled at his alarm, slapping it repeatedly until it shut off.
It was next to impossible for a shifter to have a hangover. It was almost as hard for them to get good and wasted, though they could enjoy a nice buzz after a few beers, oddly enough. But that didn’t mean that Russell hadn’t given it the good ol’ college try. He and Corey had put aside their differences and drank into the late hours of the night as they filled out the reports Emma needed. The two women had left shortly after Russell had filled out his report. Garrett had taken them back to the lodge, leaving Corey without a ride, and Russell with the need to drink. He badly wanted to forget the day.
He had downplayed it hard with Gwen, not wanting to overwhelm her with the depths of his pain. But that didn’t mean it magically went away. He had drunk to the memory of his fellow shifter, fervently hoping that he wasn’t judging Russell for doing what he did. Ending another shifter was never a small thing. Despite how widespread their acceptance had become, they were still the next best thing to an endangered species, though their numbers were on the rise now that they could mate safely with humans without fear of reprisal.
Still, there couldn’t be more than three, maybe four times as many shifters in the rest of the country as there were in Genesis Valley. Compared to hundreds of millions of humans, they were like nothing. Which is why he hated himself for not being able to find a way to settle the conflict peacefully yesterday. It was one thing for shifters to fight. That happened all the time. Hell, it still happened within the Ridgebacks. Fighting was nothing.
But involving humans and being reckless about their safety was something else entirely. So the two shifters had raided Ferro’s supplies in the back, including the untapped keg—or had it been kegs?—that they had found.
Russell could confirm once again, if there had been any doubt, that shifters couldn’t get hangovers. Their metabolism was just too fast. But, he swore, that doesn’t mean they didn’t suffer from a lack of sleep, just like normal humans.
“Fuck. This. Shit.” He said, rolling onto his back as he groggily tried to pull his mind together. A shower would help, but he had to convince himself to get there first.
Sometimes he wished he got sick, so he could use a sick day. He didn’t want to be in the mines today. He wanted to be outside, doing anything but mining.
Wait a minute. He sat up straight, the sheet falling away from him. They weren’t going to the mines today. They were going over to Ferro’s to help clean up the damage they had done. Ferro had been insistent that they would rebuild it. He didn’t want to write it off.
“Score!” he hissed, jumping out of bed and heading for the showers. The best part of it was that he knew Gwen would be there too! As the water warmed up, he turned on the radio and began to sing along lustily, not giving a damn. Today was going to be a good day, and none of the ongoing bullshit he had to deal with was going to change that.
Feeling fresh and slightly more awake, he scarfed down some breakfast with the rest of his crew. Everyone was talking excitedly about having the day off and what had happened the day before. Thankfully none of them pressed him for answers. Lately he had been a bit standoffish, and although it pained him to do so, it worked in his favor right now as the others left him alone. No one was rude to him, but none of them were eager to engage him in conversation either.
He hoped that would change, and that he could eventually integrate himself with the others, but right now that wasn’t up to him, unfortunately. It was up to another, who didn’t show any signs of changing.
Evan sat in one corner, quiet and brooding as he purposefully ate his breakfast. If the crew gave Russell a wide berth, they outright avoided Evan unless absolutely necessary. Which seemed to be just fine to the other shifter, Russell noted.
“Man, I can’t believe Ferro’s is gone,” Joel said, shaking his head.
“It’s not gone, you idiot. That’s where we’re going today,” Cole said, cuffing him over the head lightly.
“Yeah I know, I just meant that we can’t go drinking there anymore.”
“Why not? Corey and Russ seemed to manage it okay yesterday,” Evan sneered from his corner, trying to throw the other two under the bus.
Russell noted the way Evan directed most of it at Cole. Ever since the smaller shifter had found his mate, and especially since he had proclaimed it to everyone the other day, Evan’s attitude toward him had taken a decisive and nasty turn for the worse. Cole, he had decided, was now just like the rest of them. Even Russell was a target in this latest attack, though that was unusual for Evan. The two didn’t see eye to eye, but Evan had so far refrained from truly going after him.
“Give it a break, Evan,” Russell said now, entering the conversation for the first time. The other shifters kept quiet. They knew that he had the best chance of placating Evan when he was in one of his moods.
“Fuck off. I don’t see why half of you are so eager to go repair damage that you didn’t cause. That’s rather ludicrous if you ask me.”
“Ferro’s is like home, Evan,” Darren said, as if that should have been common knowledge.
“Like hell it is. It’s a goddamned bar, that you idiots,” he motioned at Russell and then Corey, “had to go and destroy because you couldn’t control that big idiot Ajax.”
Russell just stared at Evan.
“Are you losing your mind?” he asked. “They attacked us, in case you haven’t heard by now.”
“From what I heard, Ajax threw the first punch,” Evan said, standing up a
nd sauntering for the door. “Have fun cleaning up his mess,” he said over his shoulder.
“Where are you going? Garrett said the whole crew is going.” Corey asked suspiciously.
“I have other places I have to be. Now go on,” Evan retorted, before exiting the common room.
“What an asshole,” one of them muttered, and the rest agreed.
Nothing is going to bother you. Russell had to grit his teeth as he repeated his mantra for the day, but already it was tough.
Several moments later, Garrett entered the hallway, then looked around at the dour demeanor of everyone.
“What did I miss?” he asked, helping himself to some food and coming over to the long table at which everyone was sitting.
“Oh, just Evan pretending like he has more important things to do than help out at Ferro’s,” Darren said, rolling his eyes.
“Speaking of which,” Garrett said, his only response to what Darren had said a slow nod of his head. “We’re probably going to be spending a lot of time over there. So we’ll be putting some of the projects here on hold as well. Our efforts need to go into getting it repaired and a roof over his head before winter.”
“What happened to the roof that was there?” Russell asked. “It was still up last night.”
“Apparently at some point in the middle of the night, the far half of the bar came down. So now there’s a gaping hole in the roof.”
“Shit,” he replied dully as Garrett settled down in a seat next to him. He felt his body tense up at his Alpha’s presence, but Garrett didn’t seem to notice it.
“So,” Garrett said, turning slightly to face Russell as the others started up conversations again. “Are you going to see Gwen again today?”
“I don’t know. I’m not sure it would be that good of an idea,” he said.
“What? Why not? You two seemed to hit it off really well last night.”
Russell just shook his head. He couldn’t explain it to Garrett. Not yet. He felt bad, lying to his Alpha about his feelings, but it was for the best at the moment.
“Very well,” Garrett said, apparently not willing to press the issue yet, much to Russell’s relief. “Let’s get going than, shall we?” he said, wolfing down the last bites of his pancakes.
***
“So Cole, I have a question for you,” Russell said as he and the smaller shifter lugged another heavy load of debris out to the waiting dumpster. The bins they carried were filled to the brim with broken chairs, tables, and drywall. They had only been at it for half an hour, but already they were beginning to see progress. The extra strength and endurance of a shifter really showed as they took heavier loads than any human, and did so at a faster rate.
“What’s that?”
“Yesterday was the first fight to my knowledge that has happened inside Ferro’s,” he said slowly.
“Okay, so?” Cole replied, looking at him as if to say, “That’s it?”
“So why did Ferro never fight? He’s a dragon shifter, right? He could have made mincemeat out of these guys, saved himself a lot of damage. But he didn’t. He took Gwen into the back room, and closed the door behind him. Why would he do that?”
“Why are you asking me this? I wasn’t there, I have no idea!” Cole said, exasperated.
“Well, because I figured you—”
“Listen! Just because he talked to me once when I needed advice doesn’t mean he and I are best friends. I don’t know what’s going on in his head. But do you know who does?” Cole asked, sarcastically. “He does. So go ask him.”
Russell watched the closest thing to a friend he had in the Ridgebacks walk back inside. He let him get just far enough, and then…
“So you’re saying you don’t know?” he asked innocently, smiling at the snarl of rage that came through the hole in the siding of the building as Cole reacted. Ever since Cole had told the others about his conversation with Ferro, they had teased him about it constantly, in only the way that a bear shifter crew could. Russell felt it was his duty to continue that.
He jogged after Cole.
“All joking aside though, does it strike you as weird that he did that or am I reading too much into it?”
Cole stopped walking and looked at him. “Maybe dragon shifters have rules as well? I mean, if a bear hurts a human, that’s it. Maybe it’s the same thing if dragons do that to the other shifters?”
Russell blinked in surprise. He hadn’t even considered anything like that. Which would make a lot of sense, actually. Except…
“I could buy that, if it weren’t for one thing.”
“What’s that?” Cole asked.
“He helped carry out the sentence, without hesitation. Hell Cole, he didn’t even shift, he just used his hands to do it.”
“Okay, yeah, that would seem to throw that out the window then,” Cole seemed to be pondering saying something.
“What is it?” Russell pressed, looking around to ensure the dragon shifter wasn’t nearby.
“Well, it’s just that when I was talking with Ferro at one point, he mentioned that everyone in Genesis Valley was a ‘fuck-up.’ Which, fine, I can agree with that. But he specifically said ‘we’ are all fuck-ups here. As in, he is too. Which I didn’t really clue in on until a few minutes later. But now that you mention this, I gotta wonder if there’s something more going on with Ferro.”
“Interesting,” Russell muttered, processing the new information.
His thoughts were interrupted by the door swinging open from an energetic push.
“Morning boys, the party is here!” Emma crowed as she and Gwen walked in, carefully threading their way through the wreckage.
“There’s another mystery,” he told Cole quietly.
“What do you mean?” the other shifter said, following his eyes in the direction of the two women.
“Did you hear that Gabriel was here yesterday?” Russell asked.
“Yeah, that made its rounds.”
“Did you hear that he was here to meet with Emma at her request?”
“I did not hear that,” Cole said slowly, straightening as he dropped another pile of debris into his bucket. “Why would she need a meeting with one of the Stone Bears? We’ve been pretty good lately, haven’t we?”
“I thought so too,” Russell replied. “But clearly, something must be going on that we’re oblivious to.”
Cole looked around the room again, at the various people helping out. “Genesis Valley isn’t that big though. Don’t you think we’d have heard a rumor if the LMC was going to crack down on us again? I know they aren’t overly thrilled with Emma and Garrett being together, but shit, we’re finding stones on the regular now, so they can’t be too upset.”
Russell nodded his agreement. It was weird.
“What did they talk about?” Cole asked.
“They didn’t get a chance. Things blew up pretty much the instant Emma and Gwen walked in.”
He watched as Gwen walked away from Emma, heading to the table that had been set up with equipment. While she was grabbing gloves and such, Russell decided he would go for it.
“Emma,” he said, coming up alongside her at the bar itself.
“Yes Russell?” she replied politely, if not warmly. The two of them were polite and respectful to each other, but they weren’t outright friends, which he did regret. He knew anyone who could get Garrett’s attention had to be an interesting person.
“Have we done something wrong?”
“What do you mean?” she asked, turning to look at him, confusion written on her face.
“Well, it’s just that you were meeting with Gabriel yesterday. And since you’re the Ridgeback liaison, I couldn’t help but wonder if it had anything to do with us.”
Emma’s look of confusion turned to one of suspicion, before relaxing into a soft smile. “Nothing for you to worry about Russ,” she said, using the short form of his name for the first time that he could recall.
Obviously she was trying to get her p
oint across that she was telling the truth, but he was still unsure about it all. He opened his mouth to press her for more information, but she kept talking, her steely-eyed liaison persona pushing through. Her shoulders straightened, her chin came up a bit, and any remaining warmth left her eyes.
“And also nothing that I can discuss with you,” she said, all professional. “LMC internal business.”
“Okay, thanks Em,” he said, hoping she would catch the reference.
“No problem,” she replied, the liaison gone, replaced simply with his Alpha’s mate.
With a sharp nod he turned. Then something else occurred to him.
“Hey, did you ever find out anything more about what caused all of this?” he said, arms wide, encompassing the damaged building.
“Not much,” she said with a grimace. “Head office confirmed that they were the Opal Crew, obviously brand new. I asked how come no one had heard of them, but I couldn’t get a straight answer from Layla, the head liaison.”
Russell frowned. He didn’t like hearing that. The formation of a new crew was usually something to be celebrated and announced ahead of time. The fact that they had not only founded a crew, but put them to mining and they had found a stone, all without anyone knowing, was very odd indeed.
“I even called up Michael and Marcel,” she continued, naming the heads of the Diamond and Ruby Crews respectively. “Neither of them were aware of it either.”
“I’m not surprised with Marcel,” Russell replied. “He and his polar bears avoid everyone if they can. But Michael? I mean, how does he not know about it?”
Michael was the Alpha of the Whitepines, the preeminent mining crew in Genesis Valley. They had been around the longest, and were by far the most successful and well-polished crew. There was very little that happened that he didn’t know about.
“So other than that,” Emma said, “little else to report. The survivors have been labeled as Unfound. That’s probably it.”
“Unfound, really?” Russell said, his eyebrows arching in surprise. “That’s a pretty serious label to be applied, don’t you think?”