This was my second night here, and their Zen attitude was beginning to get under my skin.
Beckett – the only real human in attendance – had chosen to come with me, taking a day off work to go ‘camping’ for a long weekend. But his true goal was to test himself and get better acclimated to the supernatural community.
And the bears thought the best introduction was to toss him in the ring with Claire, the newest, most unstable bear here – the one they had needed to take out of the city in case she lost control of her new shifter abilities. Granted, that had been about four months ago, but still. Where Beckett would enter the ring ready to do anything to win, Claire wouldn’t know when to stop. Although I agreed with Armor’s thoughts on sparring, this was the worst setup imaginable. But he was the Alpha here, and I couldn’t keep Beckett on apron strings if he didn’t want to be. I’d hoped that my bout with Kenai would signal the end of sparring for the day, especially after the long night of drinking we’d had.
But that wasn’t the case.
And to prove how good their judgment was, one of them had just stripped naked.
Chapter 3
Beckett had a hatchet in either hand as he stared down my best friend, a tiny hundred-pound blonde girl. Claire licked her lips absently, studying her adversary with a look that didn’t belong here in a sparring match. She looked hungry for a fresh hunk of man meat, which was currently on full display in a pair of light boxers. The Kansas City homicide detective looked entirely unaffected by the encounter, as if this were a totally normal happenstance for him. I dialed back my anger, which was out of check for some reason I didn’t want to admit. Beckett was well-experienced in the gym, judging by the slabs of muscle over his torso, especially his chiseled abs. His hair had grown longer since I first met him, and I had to admit that right now he looked delicious. Just needing some of that edible body-paint to show a girl a good time.
Claire shot a look at Armor who grunted as if he’d been waiting for it. Claire slowly began removing her clothes, staring at Beckett the whole while. He didn’t leer, but something about the intensity of his gaze affected her. When she was down to panties and bra, she turned to shed the rest of her clothing. Then she shifted into her Polar Bear form, a giant ten-foot tall monster before turning back to her opponent. Beckett didn’t even bat an eye.
He began spinning the hatchets in his palms, as if born with them as he approached in a crouch. Claire studied him on two feet, looking uncertain. Not with fear that he could win, but with the fear that she might go too far, like an adult suddenly in the ring with a toddler. Beckett advanced as if his life depended on it, grinning darkly as he came within striking distance. Claire’s shoulders tightened as she fell down to all fours, hiding her vulnerabilities. Beckett struck like a snake with his hatchets.
He slashed her shoulder and she lashed out with her opposite paw to bat him away, but he was suddenly spinning the opposite direction, striking her swiping paw with the back of his other hatchet, eliciting a sharp growl of pain as the flat of his hatchet struck bone.
Then his other hatchet bit into her foreleg, and she groaned in pain, her weight faltering as she struggled to dance back. Beckett didn’t give her the chance, though, suddenly sprinting after her as if anticipating it. He struck the same leg twice in quick succession, but suddenly slipped in the snow, falling on his ass.
Claire’s jaws opened wide in both pain, anger, and triumph.
Beckett pelted her with a fistful of snow right in the teeth and tried to kick himself free.
She snorted the snow out of her nose and shook her head. Her jaws flashed out like a snake and clamped down on his thigh. I shouted in alarm, not able to see clearly. The crowd of bears was silent. I sidestepped very slowly, trying to assess the damage. “Claire, release. You wo—”
“No. She didn’t,” Beckett said, sounding amused.
Then I saw it. Beckett had one hatchet resting against her throat and the other above her eyes, easily able to kill her. And her teeth hadn’t pierced his flesh. I had feared that her beast had taken control and that she had just turned Beckett into an amputee. But…
“Tie!” Armor bellowed, sounding amused, and proud. “Back down. The match is over.”
Claire was staring up at Beckett, blood painting her fur in several places from his strikes. She noticed how close her snout was to his magic stick and suddenly released, shuffling back a few steps, panting. Beckett grinned at her as he climbed to his feet. He kept that smile going for a few long seconds and then spun, hurling his hatchets with full force. The bears freaked the fuck out for a minute as the hatchets spun through the air. Then they struck a tree, burying within an inch of each other into the trunk, disgorging a heavy pile of snow from the branches.
Right beside Kenai.
He blinked at them, slowly turned his head to stare at Beckett for about five seconds, and then showed him his teeth. Beckett dipped his head before jogging back to his clothes. He did his best to look casual, but I could tell he was eager to get his clothes back on. Once his coat was in place, he finally walked back up to Claire, who was still watching him in her bear form.
She dipped her head, and then loped off into the woods by herself.
Beckett turned to me, his smile faltering.
I met his eyes, and honestly didn’t know how I felt. Was I proud of him? Hell yeah. Was I upset that Claire was apparently ashamed? Hell yeah. So…
I gave him a weak smile, scooped up Claire’s clothes, and then took off after her.
Sisters before Misters.
Claire Bear needed a hug.
Chapter 4
I walked away from the sounds of more bears gearing up to spar, pushing through the snow-laden branches to follow Claire’s tracks. I found a large polar bear sitting on a rock overlooking a snow-swept valley far below, watching a herd of elk.
Claire’s shoulders were tight, and I wondered if she was hungry, or if she was just staring through the herd in a daze, rehashing the match. Claire had always had a thing for animals, an affinity. It was why she had become a veterinarian. But now she was a shifter, and part of her craved the hunt.
She shifted slightly, letting me know she had heard or sensed me. Without a word, she scooted over on her rock, making room. I sat down beside her, but didn’t speak, watching the animals below instead. Part of me wanted to nestle up against her thick fur, but I wisely chose not to. Sometimes simply being near your friend when she was frustrated was enough. Advice was not always… advisable.
I knew she was probably embarrassed to suffer a draw in her matchup with a human. Here she was, a big, badass polar bear, and a naked dude without powers had gotten the better of her.
Or she was having issues with her new powers – being a shifter bear. Angry at her loss, and suddenly battling a craving for fresh blood. Like the elk down below.
Or she was angry, and trying to bottle that up like any proper woman did.
Really, it could be any number of things, and until she decided to say something I was simply there for her comfort, to do whatever I could to fix what was bothering her. She saw the clothes in my lap, shook her fur violently, and suddenly a naked babe grabbed them out of my hands.
“I need to have sex. Hard, violent, angry sex,” she muttered, wiggling into her clothes.
Oh. Well that was definitely going above and beyond the standard best friend duties.
I glanced at her, feeling a slow smile tugging at my cheeks, wondering if she was just trying to ease the tension. She turned to look at me and I almost flinched back at the intensity I saw burning in her eyes.
“No, Callie. I really need sex,” she growled as she tugged on her boots.
I tried not to burst out laughing at her vehemence. “I’m sure you could have a line waiting for you if you put up a sign that said this blonde needs a good pounding or something outside your cave…” I said lightly, hoping to crack the tension. “Kenai would probably slap your ass to kingdom come—”
“What abo
ut Beckett?” she asked, looking up as if she hadn’t been listening to me.
And a little fire of my own roared to life deep inside me. I instantly squashed it down, careful to keep my face from flushing red. He wasn’t mine. But I suddenly knew that Beckett had played a very clever card when sparring with Claire. Armor had reminded them that sparring was more mental than it was physical. I had wondered why he had stripped down before the match. There had literally been no reason to do so, and every reason not to do so.
I wondered if he was as clever as he thought he was, or if he had been playing another game of some kind.
“Well, I’m not his pimp,” I said, sharper than I intended.
Claire sighed. “Sorry, Callie. I don’t mean to poach. I literally just want to get this out of my system. Several times. Hard times. Angry, violent, no holds-barr—”
“Jesus, Claire! I get it, you freaking masochist,” I cried out, holding up my hands and shaking my head clear of the image of her and Beckett bumping uglies. This time she did blush, as if hearing her words for the first time. Then she thought about it harder and shrugged.
“What’s a girl got to do to get some pole around here?” she finally muttered, and then shot me a playful look out of the corner of her eye.
I heard a commotion behind us as a branch dislodged some snow. Beckett appeared, waving at us. “I’ll have you two know that I’m an excellent sounding board. I can literally talk about the first thing that pops up without hesitation,” he said, smiling lightly.
I burst out laughing. He had no idea what he had walked into and how perfect his line was.
Claire grumbled hungrily. “This rock is cold, and that conversation would go better if I was sitting on his lap,” she whispered to me, grinning. She watched the innocent man approach. “Or I could sit on his face. I really don’t care at this point,” she added, eyes growing darker.
I smacked her arm and she flinched, snapping out of it. Beckett noticed the whispers and stopped, frowning from a dozen feet away. “Do you two need some girl time?” he asked warily. “I just wanted to congratulate you, Claire. We all know in a real fight you would have repeatedly slammed my head into the back of a woodpile as you bore down on me,” he admitted.
Claire’s body shifted subconsciously, her hips rocking at the mental image as she turned to fully face him. “Mommy want…” she whispered under her breath, soft enough that only I could hear. I carefully reached over to scoop up a handful of snow.
Then I reached behind her to shove it down the back of her pants. She squealed, jumping to her feet and cursing at me. “What the hell, Callie?!” she snapped, dancing up and down, trying to shake the snow out of her underwear. This made Beckett pay very close attention, realizing he had stumbled onto something he didn’t fully understand. His analytical eyes studied the effects of gravity on Claire’s chest as she hopped up and down.
“Leave, now. We’ll talk to you soon, Beckett,” I said, shooting him a glare.
He turned to me, puzzled. “I know how hard it can—”
“You have no idea how much that is not helping right now,” I all but shouted, pointing a finger for him to leave.
Claire had stopped jumping and actually licked her lips at him, taking a step forward.
“Now!” I shouted at Beckett.
He turned and ran at the tone in my voice. “I’m at your disposal!” he called out.
Claire had taken another step, eyes only for her fleeing prey. I blindsided her, tackling her to the ground where we rolled in the snow. I did my best to dump as much of it down her coat and pants as I could. She shrieked angrily, struggling to bat my hands away while trying to scoop out the snow touching her skin. After a few seconds she began to laugh, and was shoving as much snow as she could down my own clothes until we were both giggling as we rolled around in the snow. Then I had her straddled, sitting on her hips with snow in either fist, grinning down at her. “Say mercy,” I warned.
Instead, she bucked her hips, much stronger than I had expected, lifting me into the air. With shifter strength, she latched onto my jacket and flung me six feet through the air before I fell through a snowdrift, instantly buried.
I shrieked at the sudden cold, thrashing wildly to get out of the drift and finally came to my feet scowling at Claire for good measure. She was brushing off snow and giggling.
Once we were both composed, I flung a ball of fire at the rock we had been sitting on, letting the flames wash over it, melting the snow in seconds. I heard faint whispers and cocked my head, trying to place it. Was it just the wind howling through the trees? It faded, so I dismissed it. I let the fire burn until the melted water was gone and the rock had warmed up. Then I cut it off.
Claire walked over to it, placing a careful hand on it. She grunted satisfactorily and then sat down, squirming as if to get the maximum ass to warm stone ratio. Then she slapped the space beside her.
“Just for the record, I’m not going to bone you, Claire,” I said, joining her.
She rolled her eyes, but I could tell the topic was still on her mind. Good god. Had it been that long or was this a bear thing?
I let that silent question sit there, knowing she had to sense it. She finally sighed. “Everything is just so primal now. On the tip of my mind. If I want something, I really want it. And sparring always gets my blood hot. Especially with him taking his damned clothes off beforehand. He did it on purpose, didn’t he?” she asked softly, sounding as if the idea had only just come to her.
I shrugged, considering how to respond. “If he did, he’s very clever. But I don’t think he was trying to seduce you. I’m betting it was just something to make you pause. Giving your opponent a random variable to factor in, something that doesn’t make sense. It’s a great tactic when sparring. Or in anything, really. They get so annoyed with the subtle question that they aren’t focused on the matter at hand.” I shrugged.
The silence stretched a little longer. “Can I sex the detective? I’ll be gentle. Well, kind of.”
I didn’t dare turn to her, trying to keep my own flash of anger out of view. Because I had no justification for being angry. Beckett wasn’t my plaything. If he wanted to slap ass with Claire, that was between them. But… I realized it bothered me. Very much.
But on a personal level, not with concern over one of them casually using the other.
I had never spoken to Beckett romantically, so it wasn’t fair for me to insert myself into the equation. If he wanted to shag Claire, that was ultimately up to him. “Like I said, I’m not his pimp. You’d have to check with him,” I said through gritted teeth. Because I wasn’t going to put myself in the middle of two friends, especially when I had no right to think Beckett and I were anything other than friends. Work friends.
It still sucked.
Claire must have noticed. “If he’s yours, just say the word. I don’t fancy any of the bears. Not really. And I want something more normal. Something where I won’t feel like such a rookie. If I do anything with the bears, all I can think about is like I’m some kind of charity, and that I’m an apprentice to the ways of their world. I want to take something of my own. Run a man to exhaustion, and see that look of wonder in his eyes. Not feel like I was banging my college professor and learning something he was already very familiar with.” She kicked at the snow.
I let out a long sigh. “That’s between you two. He’s not mine. But I do have to work with him, so if you’re just looking for fun…”
Claire nodded, not turning to me.
I muttered dark things in my mind. I should have just left the bastard back in Kansas City.
Chapter 5
The night sky was clear, showing us a beautiful view of the Northern Lights. I tried to use them to clear my head. They looked like ribbons of magic, making me smile. I finally turned back to my best friend, feeling more composed.
I cleared my throat. “You did well today. It must be hard trying to figure out your new limits.”
Claire chuckled.
“Understatement. Trying to figure out how to control myself is the issue. I know how to kill. It’s like I’ve known it all along. But sparring with a human? That sucked. I felt like I was going to kill him by accident.” She muttered again, under her breath. “And that hesitation cost me the fight.”
I nodded. “That’s the hardest part of any new power. Control. Learning to destroy things is much easier than learning precision. Being able to destroy everything around you doesn’t make you a good person to have in a fight. Unless it’s a war where everyone around you is a bad guy.”
“I’ll get better,” she finally said.
I smiled. “You kicked Yuri’s ass. Hardcore.”
A ghost of a frown crossed her pale features. “Yeah, but I almost didn’t. He had more endurance. Almost got you killed.”
I squeezed her thigh. “But it didn’t.”
She nodded, smiling to herself. “Yeah. You’re right. Not sure why I’m so grouchy. Just frustrating trying to figure all this stuff out.” She paused, leaning back on her palms as she kicked her feet at the snow again. “I turned in my notice at the zoo,” she said softly.
I flinched. I knew the obvious reasons why she might do so, but had expected her to fight it harder. Being around animals as a shifter could get difficult if she became hungry. And killing a tiger or something was probably a felony of some kind. But I had assumed the other bears had normal jobs, and that Claire might get to keep hers after she gained more control.
“Did Armor make you quit?” I asked warily, not sure if I was overstepping myself. He was her Alpha now, and maybe he held that kind of control.
Whispers: Feathers and Fire Book 3 Page 2