by Amelia Jade
“Well, you know how I told you that Garrett and I didn’t know when we were getting married yet?”
“Yes…” she answered, suddenly realizing where the conversation was heading as her mind whirred. “You’re getting married soon, aren’t you?” she asked.
Emma nodded reluctantly.
“And, if that’s the case, because I was incommunicado for almost three months, you had to plan it without me, right?”
Another nod.
“Which means, that despite being your longest friend, I’m not part of the wedding, right?”
Emma winced, but nodded nonetheless, still not speaking.
“You’re adorable,” she told her friend, enjoying the look of shock on her face.
“You’re not mad?”
“Hell no. It is my own fault you silly woman. Actually wait, I am mad about something.”
“What?” Emma said suspiciously.
“You didn’t tell me when I first arrived. You cost me two days of trying to find a dress!” she said with a laugh, enveloping her best friend in a hug. “You should have just told me dummy! I’m smart enough to figure out that you couldn’t have planned this all in three months and just hope that I might show up to be a part of your wedding party.” Gwen paused for a moment as she thought. “Wait, I am allowed to attend though, right?”
Emma laughed. “Of course! That was never in question. And yes, a dress. I didn’t think that you would have brought one with you.”
“I didn’t. Not good Emma. Not good,” she said. “Also, I’m so happy for you. Seeing you two together, I understand why you’re not opposed to moving quickly. The chemistry there is just…magical.”
Emma blushed. “Thank you,” she said appreciatively. “Now let me go steal Garrett’s truck, and you and I will go downtown, pick up Trestin, and go dress shopping!”
“Trestin is…Cole’s mate?” Gwen asked tentatively. She still hadn’t formally had a chance to meet most of the crew. The first night in town she hadn’t met anyone other than Garrett. They had offered to billet her at the Lodge, but she had declined, insisting that she stay at the hotel in town. The next day she had to wait for Emma to be done with her work with the Ridgebacks, and the two of them had spent it getting caught up. Then yesterday had been rather…eventful. So she was still trying to learn, but Trestin had come up a couple of times before in conversation.
“Right. She works at a restaurant downtown, so we can grab a late lunch there. By the time we’re finished she should be done,” Emma said, looking at her phone for the time.
“Sounds good, let’s go,” Gwen said, taking a quick few pictures of the bar on her phone, in case she saw anything great in town.
***
“Okay, where do you want to go?” Trestin asked as they piled into Garrett’s truck, fed and ready to shop. “Have you been anywhere yet?”
“Nope. We were busy over at Ferro’s all morning with the crew cleaning up the mess from the fight.”
“Oh right, Cole was talking about that last night,” she agreed. Then she frowned.
“What is it?” Gwen asked, since Emma, who was driving, hadn’t been paying attention to her friend.
“I was just wondering. If you guys were over at Ferro’s all morning, why did I see Evan earlier?”
“You know,” Emma said slowly as she thought about it. “I never did see him at Ferro’s today, now that you bring him up. I should have picked up on that fact when the only cranky person was Russell.” Emma and Trestin laughed.
“Who was he with in town?” Emma asked, while Gwen looked back and forth, trying to understand why that was so funny.
Russell had never struck her as cranky. Sure, he didn’t seem the most talkative of the group, but from what little interaction between them that she had seen, he seemed fairly normal. Once they finished the conversation about Evan, she would have to ask. If there was something about him that she didn’t know yet, perhaps now would be the best time to learn it, before anything else happened with him.
“Well, he didn’t stay for long, but he did come in when Ben Groll was in there with two of his jerks,” Trestin said unhappily.
“Who’s that?” Gwen asked, interjecting.
“Ben is the Alpha of the Sapphires, another mining crew. You might also hear them referred to as the Windglades. Similar to how Garrett is Alpha of the Ridgebacks, who are also known as the Jade Crew. Typically we don’t call them by their official names. That’s something they only tend to use. Anyway,” Trestin said, explaining it politely for her, “the Sapphire Crew are generally a bunch of arrogant assholes. They’re also the only crew that is allowed to actually live within Origin, which makes them frequent pains in the ass.”
“Ah,” Gwen said in understanding.
“So yeah, he came in and talked briefly with Ben, then he left. I didn’t think of it at the time, but not long after, Ben and his goons left too. They were done with their food, so I just figured they were leaving. But now, perhaps they had intended that all along?”
“Maybe,” Emma said.
“I don’t get it, why does it matter? Sorry for all the questions,” Gwen said, “I feel like an idiot.”
“It’s okay,” Trestin said with a smile.
Gwen liked her. She was super nice, and she felt that they would get along well, which was a relief. She had assumed that anyone that Emma counted as a friend she would likely find nice, but it was always good to have that confirmed.
“It matters more to me than either of you,” Emma explained, “because I do still work as the liaison to the Ridgebacks from LMC. So it’s my job to report things such as the second of a shifter crew refusing to do as his Alpha requested, and skulking around meeting with the heads of other crews. That’s pretty heavily frowned upon, and he’s already on a very, very short leash.”
Gwen thought back to the story Emma had told her of how the Ridgebacks had been formed. How Evan had led his crew in a fight against another mining crew, resulting in the death of several humans and a number of bears as well.
“Is there always so much fighting and death here?” she asked gloomily as Emma pulled up in front of a store that read Origin Fashion in cursive. Her friend must have made an executive decision on where they were going while they talked.
“Um, it’s a pretty rough place Gwen, there’s no doubt about it. The shifters that live here are generally ruled as much by their animals as they are by their human side. Unlike a lot of the ones you meet elsewhere, they’re rather uncivilized. It’s almost like a point of pride,” Trestin said with a chuckle.
“But life among them,” she said, pushing the topic a little closer to her thoughts than she would have preferred. “Is it, I don’t know, worth it, I guess?”
“Oh, absolutely,” Trestin replied with a grin. “Finding a mate and being accepted by a crew has been awesome. I mean, the start was a little rocky,” she said with a laugh, “but even though I’ve only been back with Cole for a week or so now, it just seems…right. If that makes any sense?”
“I think I understand,” she said with a nod, thinking about how just being around Russell made her feel relaxed and calm, and at peace with herself. Although when his muscles flexed, she had to admit that he affected her in other ways too. Part of her hoped that their next meeting went well, because it had been some time since Gwen had had sex, and her body was starting to awaken to that fact now that she was around Russell.
“I agree completely,” Emma said. “They can be ferocious and scary, and you certainly have to learn the way to act around them, but once they welcome you into their family, they can be some of the nicest, warmest, and friendliest people you’ll ever meet. They aren’t human, and they don’t let you forget it, but if you can accept that, it’s a great life.”
Gwen smiled, feeling reassured by the happiness she heard in both of their voices.
“Yeah, just avoid Evan and Russell, and you’ll be fine,” Trestin said with a smile.
“Yeah, I get Evan,”
Gwen said, “but why Russell?”
“Russell is an odd one. I don’t quite understand him,” Emma said. “I feel like there’s something he’s not telling folks, and that the secret is tearing him in half.”
She explained to Gwen how Russell had originally been in Evan’s old crew, and had sided with him at the start, until Garrett had kicked his ass. That had, in some way, seemed to bring him around.
“Or so I thought. But he has never openly come out to support Garrett, and sometimes he’ll even defend Evan. But other times, he’ll fight Evan when he’s being an asshole. I’m not sure what to make of him,” Emma said, giving her friend a knowing glance, telling her to be careful with him.
“What’s that look for?” Trestin asked as they wandered the store, looking at some of the dresses in stock, trying to find one that would work for Gwen’s long figure.
“This one would work if I didn’t have any hips,” Gwen said with a snort, holding up a royal blue number against herself in a mirror.
“Gwen may have a thing for Russell. We’re not sure yet,” Emma told Trestin with a smirk.
“Oh fuck off. He’s been nothing but nice to me so far, and I’ve been the same,” she said, trying not to blush as the two of them raised their eyebrows. Neither of them believed her, but she maintained the charade nonetheless. “Nothing has happened.”
“Yet,” Emma supplied.
“Yet,” she confirmed, hanging the dress up and walking away toward another section as her friends giggled behind her back.
“So,” Trestin asked. “When are you two going on your next date?”
Gwen rolled her eyes.
“If you do, make sure you fuck him. They’re incredible in bed!” Emma blurted out.
“Oh my God!” Gwen said as she laughed at her friend.
“Tell me that you haven’t thought about having his big, strong arms wrapped around your waist as he lowers you onto the bed,” Emma said.
“Or holds you up against the wall,” Trestin added, dreamily biting her lower lip.
Gwen hesitated, unable to deny her thoughts.
Chapter Seven
Russell
The truck door slammed closed behind him.
Finally.
The drive up from Ridgeback Lodge to the mine shaft had been one of the more excruciatingly uncomfortable situations that Russell had been involved in in recent memory. For some odd reason, Garrett had asked him to go with him today. Not one to outright refuse such a simple request from his Alpha, Russell had gone along. However, it was only the two of them the entire way up.
“Beautiful day,” Garrett rumbled as the two of them headed up to the mobile trailer that served as a base for them.
“Indeed,” Russell replied, and he meant it. Although it was November, the sun was shining brightly and there wasn’t a cloud in sight. The temperature had risen a few degrees as well—although the cold didn’t affect the shifters very much—which still made everyone a little bit happier.
He looked at the landscape around them. The trucks were parked in a small semicircle at the end of the road. A wide, well-worn path ran farther up the mountain. The trailer was parked to the left of the trail, which was marked with bright red guide posts every ten feet, so that when the winter snows came, the shifters would be able to clear paths up to the shaft itself.
Very little forest had been cleared away, which was something that Russell was glad to see. The road had been cleared, of course, as well as the parking for half a dozen trucks and the trailer, as well as the path up to the opening. But that was it. There was no massive complex, no huge footprint. They even used a cave entrance that had been reinforced to prevent cave-ins as their entry into the mountain.
Now, as he looked around, seeing the last vestiges of golden-brown and amber leaves among the branches mixed with the green of the deciduous trees, Russell felt relaxed. His bear loved being out among the wildlife. That was his other home besides the lodge. The rustling mountain breeze infused his nostrils with its fresh, light scent as he inhaled deeply. In the distance, a bird called. It was answered swiftly by the cry of a falcon or an eagle.
“Russell,” Garrett said as the others meandered their way up the path after dropping off their lunches in the trailer.
“Yes?” he asked stiffly as his Alpha addressed him for the first time all morning.
“Look at me.”
Reluctantly he turned to face Garrett. Piercing green eyes stared back at him, making Russell uneasy. They were so familiar, and yet they looked at him as if they barely knew him. It hurt, but he forced himself to meet the gaze without shrinking away from it.
“Is there anything bothering you that you’d like to talk about?” Garrett prompted.
“Such as?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” his Alpha said irritably. “Maybe why you keep flip-flopping back and forth between supporting me and continuing to give Evan a leg to stand on for his antics?”
Russell wanted to tell him the truth, to bring everything into the open and finally reveal what it was that he knew. It was tempting to speak up right then. But he couldn’t. The last thing he wanted on his conscience was another death. Besides, Russell had already lost his brother in a manner of speaking, and he didn’t want to lose the next best thing to another one in one of his crew. As much as he might hate them sometimes or fight with them, they were still family. They were all he had left.
“Is that an order?” he gritted out. Why did Garrett have to confront him so blatantly about it? His irritation—not with his Alpha, but with the unreliability of the crew as whole, including himself—rose. So much for today being a good day.
“No,” Garrett snapped. “Although I am tempted, I won’t do that. I just want you to know that you can trust me, if you need to.”
“I know,” Russell said, surprising himself with the softness of his reply. “That is something you’ll never have to convince me of—” He cut himself off before he said anything more, and stormed off toward the beckoning shaft.
He snatched up his tools from their rack just inside the opening, hooking them into his harness as he headed down to his designated dig area. Tensions among the Ridgebacks were rising again, and he knew it. He wished that whatever Evan was doing, he would just do it already. Russell was getting tired of covering for him. But he owed him that much. Evan had defended Russell once, when Russell had made a bad choice in their old crew. Now he was repaying the favor, although his patience was beginning to wear thin.
“Hi Russell!” Joel said with over-the-top joviality as he turned off the main spine of the tunnel and into a secondary area, where they were currently digging.
“Fuck off,” he snarled, not in the mood.
“Hey, what the fuck is your problem?” the other shifter snapped back, turning to face Russell.
“You are, if you don’t shut the fuck up,” he replied, taking his pickaxe and swinging it into the rock with all the force he could muster.
“Listen, dickhead, I don’t know what crawled up your ass last night, but fuck you,” Joel growled, swinging away with gusto as well.
“What the fuck did you just say?” he said, giving the other shifter a cross-check with the handle of his pickaxe, sending him stumbling across the opening.
Joel’s lips peeled back, baring his teeth as he growled. Then, in the blink of an eye, his bear ripped from his skin, roaring with anger as he charged.
Eager for the chance to blow off some steam, Russell called up his own bear, and the massive brown beast replied instantly, spoiling for a fight.
The two bears collided. Joel had momentum, and Russell had size, which almost evened out in the end, although Russell came off worse for wear as they growled and batted at each other with their paws, opening wounds all over each other’s shoulders, limbs, and faces. Snarling in agony as one of Joel’s claws came dangerously close to his eye, Russell charged forward, overwhelming the smaller shifter. He heaved, and the other bear flew back, slamming into the wall hard.
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As he stood looking down at the other shifter, Russell heard someone coming. Corey appeared around the corner, followed swiftly by Garrett. He saw the anger in his Alpha’s eyes a moment before the huge bear erupted forth, shouldering Corey out of the way as he bore down on Russell.
Like last time, Russell didn’t fight back as his Alpha smacked him around, taking the beating in stride. He should have fought back, at least for a moment, but he couldn’t. It wasn’t right, but he couldn’t tell anyone why, either. So as he lay on the ground, shoulder dislocated and bleeding profusely, he simply sucked it up and changed back.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Garrett snarled as he shifted as well.
Russell didn’t reply, clamping down hard on his response.
One day you’ll understand.
“Get back to work. And if I hear anything more from either of you today, I’m putting you on report.” With that he spun and headed down the hallway.
Russell stood up, shaking his head to clear the cobwebs. The ringing was subsiding as his healing began to kick in. He looked down at his shoulder with a grimace. “Damn. This is going to hurt.”
He moved over to Joel, who was still sitting on the floor, his back against the wall.
“Here,” he said, offering the other shifter his good arm to help him up.
“Oh, so what, now you’re mister nice guy?” Joel said, batting the arm away.
“No, I’m making a deal,” Russell said, still sticking his hand out.
“What do you mean?”
“You put my arm back into place, then I’ll set that broken bone in your shin.”
Joel looked down at his leg, as if seeing the injury for the first time.
“Fuck. Okay,” he said without further argument. Setting broken bones quickly was important so that they didn’t heal improperly. Otherwise they’d have to be rebroken or surgery would be needed to fix it, which was extremely awkward to do, since anesthetic didn’t work on shifters.
Joel took the hand, and stood up on his good leg. He grasped Russell’s arm, and gave it a sharp tug while forcing it upward and back into its socket. There was an audible pop, and then Russell felt movement and more feeling return to his arm as he shook it gently and moved it around.