by Amelia Jade
“Okay, sit down over here,” he told Joel, helping him over to a folding chair.
With expert practice, he pulled and twisted on the other man’s shin, setting the bone back in place properly, while Joel grimaced and grunted softly in pain. Their injuries now fixed, the two of them looked glumly at their area, not enjoying the prospect of having to go and mine.
“Hey, is that what I think it is?” Russell asked as something caught his eye.
“Is what?” Joel asked, following the outstretched arm. “That looks rather warm, doesn’t it?”
“Come on, let’s take a look.” The two shifters grabbed their chisels and gently began to tap away some of the solid rock.
“Well shit, it is. Looks like a diamond one too. Nice!” Joel exclaimed as they extracted the stone from the wall with utmost care, placing it gently on a thick, padded blanket that they all carried specifically for this occasion.
“Go radio Garrett,” Russell ordered. “Tell him we found a stone.”
Joel nodded his head in appreciation. The stone was clearly on Russell’s side of the cave, but after his outburst earlier, the older shifter was going to split the discovery bonus with him.
The Kedyn brothers, the gryphon shifters that operated the mining consortium, paid a handsome bonus to the shifters who discovered stones. It wasn’t often that a shifter split it with another, even from within his own crew.
Moments later, Garrett rounded the corner, his long strides closing the distance. He looked at the two shifters for a moment before shaking his head.
“Of course it would be you two who found it, wouldn’t it?” he said wryly.
“Just trying to make up for things,” Joel said cheerfully.
Garrett snorted. “Like fuck. You two got lucky and you know it. Don’t think this gets you off my shitlist though. You both need to grow the fuck up. Especially you Russell,” he said, calling him out in front of the others.
Russell felt his temper rising once again, but he reined it in harshly, savagely pummeling it into submission. He wasn’t going to let it get the best of him this time.
“Just make the call,” he snarled at his Alpha.
Russell turned away while Garrett followed procedure. He wanted Gwen. Now. His blood was up, and the only thing he could think of was her curves, and how his strong hands longed to caress her soft skin. He hadn’t thought he would see her until later that night, but now, having found a stone, his crew were done for the day. Maybe he would get to see her sooner than that.
His bear growled its approval at the idea. Her full lips and depthless green eyes swam into vision in his mind as he grappled with his sudden longing for her. There was something about her that drove him wild. It had been a challenge to maintain his composure around her already, but that was going to look like child’s play the second he laid eyes on her next.
He only hoped that she felt the same. There was no longer any doubt in his brain that Gwen was his mate. It had all the signs and none of the problems he’d had with other girls he dated. For starters, Gwen was most definitely not a shifter groupie, set on wanting nothing but sex from him. If anything, she was more caught off guard by the strength of their blossoming relationship than he was, if he read her properly.
Pacing back and forth, he fought with his desire to rush off and see her. He couldn’t, and he knew it. The Stone Bears were on their way to collect the newfound dragon stone, and he had to be there when they arrived. That was protocol, and there was no getting around it. He wasn’t sure why there was so much security where the stones were concerned, as nobody seemed to have any interest in taking them.
Russell shrugged. That was probably several levels above his paygrade, and thus not worth worrying about. If the Kedyns wanted extra security, then not only would they get it, but there was probably a reason for it. So he would follow the rules that said once a stone was found, all mining must stop, and all crew members were put on guard detail until it was retrieved.
That didn’t mean he had to stand solemnly in one place, however, and his long strides quickly took him back and forth across the small chamber where he and Joel had freed the stone from where it had been held in its rocky prison for an untold amount of time.
“What’s your deal?” Corey asked. “You look like a caged animal just waiting to be unleashed.”
Russell looked up. The rest of the crew was staring at him with expressions ranging from curiosity to exasperation. He wanted to tell them, to say how happy he found himself with Gwen, and that he couldn’t wait to get out and see her again, talk to her, to just be around her.
But he couldn’t. So instead he nodded his head in apology and stopped pacing, leaning up against the uneven wall instead.
Twenty minutes later, as a phone call signaled Garrett that the pickup team had arrived, another thought flickered through Russell’s head. There was something else going on that he wasn’t sure about.
As Gabriel walked into view with two other bears, he frowned. Gabriel had been at the Tongue & Flame. He still didn’t know why he had been there to meet with Emma. Hell, he didn’t even have a clue as to why, let alone a full-blown answer. It irked him to be kept in the dark.
As the two Stone Bears who accompanied Gabriel gently placed the stone into a padded steel container and secured the lid with several different locks, he sidled up next to Garrett.
“A diamond one?” Gabriel was saying. “Impressive. Not too many of those out there. I know the Kedyns will be thrilled.”
Garrett simply grunted in return and signed the tablet e-form that Gabriel had handed him.
“Hello Gabriel,” Russell said.
“Russell,” Gabriel said by way of reply.
“Did you ever get a chance to have your meeting with Emma after all the unpleasantness the other day?” he asked, trying to be nonchalant about it.
Gabriel’s eyes focused on him sharply. It was obvious what Russell was trying to do, and he had picked up on it immediately. “No,” he said simply, before adding, “I did not. We rescheduled it.”
“Ah, glad to hear it,” Russell replied, trying to sound like he meant it. “You let me know if there’s any way I can help, okay?”
“I’ll be sure to keep that in mind,” Gabriel said, clearly not meaning a word of it.
Russell wanted to say more, but he could sense Garrett at his side, and realized he should leave it at that.
“Hopefully we’ll see you soon,” he said to the Stone Bear in parting. Nobody could fault him for saying that, because he did mean it. More stones meant more money for the crew. Everybody won.
“Hopefully,” Gabriel said with false pleasantness, before motioning for the other two guards to precede him up the shaft to the surface.
Russell waved politely at their backs.
“What the fuck was that?” Garrett asked abruptly after dismissing the rest of the crew for the day.
“What?”
“That conversation with Gabriel. Don’t act like a fucking idiot. I know you aren’t.”
“Ah, that. I take it you didn’t know he was meeting with Emma then?”
“No, I didn’t. And that was a cute way of trying to ensure that I found out about it too,” Garrett said. He shook his head at Russell.
“Well, I figure whatever they have to talk about can’t be good, especially if you don’t know about it. I know we aren’t the Diamond Crew,” Russell said, using the informal name. “But damn, I didn’t think we’d fucked up anywhere near badly enough for a Stone Bear to get involved with us.”
Garrett took a moment to respond. His eyes were unfocused, and Russell realized he was thinking through the various possibilities. “Unless,” his Alpha said eventually. “Unless it’s not about the crew.”
“What do you mean?” Russell frowned, not seeing what Garrett was getting at.
“Crew politics are generally a liaison issue. But from what I’ve been told and heard, the Stone Bears get involved when a shifter is acting dangerously apart from hi
s crew in a planned manner. You’ve been in Genesis Valley longer than I have, and you can remember this stuff,” Garrett said with a grimace. “That sounds correct to you, right?”
Russell fought with all his will to keep his face steady and not to betray the pain he felt at that comment. “Yes, that’s about right. It doesn’t happen often, but there have been at least two occurrences of shifters trying to start up some sort of criminal enterprise in town. The Kedyns used the Stone Bears to shut it down both times. Violently.”
“No mercy, in other words,” Garrett said, translating the comment.
“No mercy,” Russell confirmed.
“So who are they after?” his Alpha asked. Both of them knew the answer, even if neither of them wanted to admit it.
“Shit,” Russell said with a sigh. “Okay, I’ll try and find out.”
“Thank you,” Garrett said.
“I’m not doing this for you, I’m doing this for Evan,” he replied, not wanting Garrett to see this as a declaration of support for his leadership. That would effectively ruin any chance he had of getting in with Evan and finding out what was going on.
Before his Alpha could reply, Russell grabbed his tools and headed for the surface. Gwen was waiting, and he didn’t want to waste a single second more.
Chapter Eight
Gwen
“What do you think about these chairs?”
“Are they comfortable, or for show?” Ferro asked without looking up from the folding table he had set up with building plans on top of it.
“Comfort, of course! I don’t want to make this into some sort of ritzy human upscale club. This is a bar for bear shifters. Big, muscly, bear shifters, who need chairs that won’t break under them but are also comfortable enough to sit in for hours on end, so that they spend more money at your bar.”
Now Ferro did look up. “You have the mind of a dragon,” he said, giving her one of his rare smiles.
“Why thank you,” Gwen replied. “Though you probably won’t feel the same when you see the bill,” she told him. Wincing, she covered up the price as he tried to get a glimpse at the catalog she was browsing on a laptop.
“It’s all about investment for the future. As long as it pays itself off in a reasonable timeframe, that’s all that matters,” he said, burying his nose in the plans once more.
“You’re extremely engrossed in those,” she said, eyeing him askance. “Is it really that difficult?”
“Everything must be done to code,” he said, still not looking up as he reviewed measurements. “Luthor and I have had to redo these plans twice now to ensure that all the changes work.”
“What other changes are you making besides enlarging the windows over there and there?” she asked, pointing at the two walls that faced east and south, which would let in the most sunlight.
“We’re going to widen the doorway for starters,” the other man standing next to Ferro said. “Plus, I think we’re going to put in a patio off the back.”
“I like the idea of a doublewide door, Luthor,” she said, nodding along as he pointed out the larger entranceway on the blueprints.
Luthor was a friend of Ferro’s. That was all she knew, but he had seemed nice enough so far.
Although it was just past noon, she was surprised when several trucks began to rumble into the parking lot. Emma had told her that none of the shifters would be available to help today. Going forward the Emerald and Jade crews would be alternating days to help after receiving special permission from the Mining Consortium head office.
Gwen was still having trouble keeping up with the dual names of the crews. Emma flipped back and forth between Emerald and Silvertip or Jade and Ridgeback as if it were nothing, but she had been at it a lot longer. Gwen understood that when she was out in Origin, using the Emerald or Jade names would be appropriate, but when she was talking to the crew themselves, that it would be better to call them Silvertips or Ridgebacks.
Like when she saw Russell later that night. Her stomach did a flip at the thought as a sudden bout of nerves hit her. Tonight they were officially meeting, and a big part of her hoped that things would go well so they could explore their relationship a little more.
You want him to “explore” you, don’t lie, she thought. Which was true, she wanted him. Badly. He was gorgeous. She loved the constant day-old stubble that decorated his face, and the way his eyes bore into hers with interest anytime she talked. Or his eyes, that deep brown, the color of the earth that he mined.
The sounds of doors closing caught her attention, reminding her of the trucks she had heard coming closer. Taking a glance through one of the gaping holes in the walls, she realized that one of the bears was Garrett. The Jade crew—no, the Ridgebacks, she corrected herself—must have gotten off early for the day, though she had no idea how they would have managed that.
Doing her best to be discreet, she looked to see if Russell was one of them. She couldn’t spot him, but she held out hope that maybe he was running a bit behind. Shrugging, she turned back to the laptop in front of her. One thing Emma had taught her right away was that she had to become very adept at going with the flow. The bears were not ones for ridged schedules and structures.
Thankfully, neither was Gwen. She considered herself fairly laid back and able to change plans easily. As long as Russell showed up, she would be happy. A part of her—that smallest sliver of insecurity that resided in everyone—told her that the reason Russell wasn’t there was that he didn’t want to see her.
Bullshit, she told that part of herself, ignoring it, using work as a distraction.
The other shifters worked away the afternoon, the hours passing by swiftly. Gwen picked out several other varieties of chairs, two couches, larger tables, and even some décor that she thought would go well with the place. The Tongue & Flame catered to miners. She felt it should have that earthy, solid feeling to it. It would make them feel at home, she was certain.
“Hello Gwen,” a husky voice said from behind her.
She jumped, hands latching onto the laptop so it didn’t hit the ground as she almost fell right out of her chair.
“Hello Russell,” she said, placing the laptop on the table in front of her and smoothing out the slight jumble in her hair from the sudden movement. Purposefully she remained facing the direction she was, just to make him move around her.
“Sorry if I disturbed you.” He came around to her left side, his chocolate-colored eyes twinkling with laughter as he fought to hold back a smile.
“No you aren’t. Besides, you didn’t scare me. You make as much noise as an elephant moving around,” she said airily, pretending as if nothing had happened.
Russell took a seat on a barstool nearby, not at the table where she was sitting. Gwen frowned slightly, but decided to ignore it for the time being. She could see several of the other shifters packing up and getting ready to call it an evening.
“I do not,” he protested. “Maybe a horse, but not an elephant!”
Gwen laughed. “Okay, okay, I take it back. You’re a noisy mule!”
Now it was Russell’s turn to laugh, though he kept it soft, so that the noise wouldn’t carry, she noticed. He was very particular about not wanting to seem too interested in her around the others. She was very intrigued by why, and hoped it was for a good reason, not because of something dark.
Like, oh I don’t know, the fact that they think he’s seeing someone else, perhaps? She shoved that thought away. From what Emma had told her, shifters didn’t cheat. That just wasn’t in their vocabulary. They spent their lives looking for a mate, until they found one, then that was it. Locked in.
Her stomach fluttered at the idea that perhaps she was Russell’s mate.
Russell looked up as the other shifters called his name.
“No, Ajax asked me to meet him here tonight. Wanted to talk about what happened I guess,” he told them with a shrug as they first gave him shit for not helping, and then asked if he was coming back for dinner. The oth
ers nodded and then departed for the evening, saying farewell to Ferro on their way out.
“I don’t recall you mentioning anything about Ajax.”
“That’s cause there wasn’t anything,” he said with a grin as he turned back to face her.
“Oh.” Her face flushed a little red as she realized he had made that up as an excuse to spend time with her. “So why couldn’t you just tell them the truth?”
Russell frowned, pursing his lips, before he stood up and came and sat in the chair next to her, turning to face her.
“Okay, you deserve to know that. It’s easy to grasp what I’m about to say intellectually, but you might have a hard time truly understanding it.”
Gwen braced herself, not liking where he was going.
“It’s not bad,” he said, picking up on her reaction.
“The crew is on edge right now,” he said, sitting back into his chair as the words began to flow. “We’re a new crew. There was a big fight between two existing crews. A number of members of each were killed, or sentenced to be ended, as several humans died as well. Those of us that were left from both crews were merged into the Ridgebacks.”
Gwen’s eyebrows rose. “That sounds like a recipe for disaster!”
Russell grimaced. “And you know what, it’s not changed too much. Three of us came from one crew. Two came from another. One more was added, though I don’t know his backstory. Then we were all placed under Garrett.”
She picked up on that same strange tone in Russell’s voice when he said that name, but she didn’t push it any further.
“He’s kept us together, but barely. My old Alpha, Evan, is the second in the Ridgebacks. He’s also made it no secret that he feels he should be Alpha. Really, he’s also been a huge dick about the whole thing, and doesn’t seem to be changing. But,” Russell sighed in frustration, “I owe him. He saved my life.”