by W. H. Vega
At least Zane had gotten a glimpse of her.
He spent the next several hours patrolling the grounds of her apartment building, along with Sam and Tommy. The longer he spent as a bear, the more animalistic he felt. It was frightening how easily his humanity fell away, and in just a few hours time he felt more like a beast than a man.
As night approached, Zane vowed to remain just as vigilant, if not more so. Suddenly the quick sound of an approaching bear sent him into protection mode. He relaxed once he recognized Quentin.
He watched as Quentin changed into human form, his body shaking and shuddering as it condensed and the hair recoiled into his skin. He stood before Zane, naked.
“One of the elders claims to know something. Michael wanted me to tell you so you could return to hear it.”
After relaying the message, he quickly shifted back into bear form, the shift fast and seamless because he spent so little time as a human.
Zane looked longingly up at Gabby’s window. He didn’t like leaving her alone, though she wasn’t really alone with Sam and Tommy. And he did want to hear what the elder had to say.
Reluctantly, he turned to follow Quentin, who was already a hundred yards away. This elder had better have some real information, or Zane was going to be pissed that he was called away from Gabby’s apartment.
He ran quickly through the dark forest, the moon not visible through the dense trees and leaves. It was mere minutes before he was back in the parklands, and he ran faster once he was within sight of the park building.
Michael came out to greet him, and Zane changed back to his human form, grabbing his clothes, which he had stored along the side of the building.
“Which elder is it?” Zane asked, starting to throw his clothes on. “Is he here?”
Michael shook his head. “It’s Jeffries. And no, he isn’t here. He refuses to come here. He says,” and his face twisted as if he had tasted something sour, “that we’re a bunch of idiots running around here.” Michael burst out with a hard laugh, but Zane could tell he was annoyed. “Alicia and Quentin are there,” Michael added as he began to stride towards the parking lot. “They’re waiting for us. Let’s go.”
Zane hopped into his shoes and quickly followed Michael toward the parking lot.
“And Grayson?” Zane couldn’t help asking.
“I don’t have time for him. Jeffries wouldn’t talk if Grayson was there, you should know that. I sent Grayson over with Sam and Tommy.” He walked directly towards Zane’s Hummer, so Zane figured that he was driving.
The men got in the car, and Zane sped towards Jeffries’ house. Zane wasn’t sure how old Jeffries was, but he knew Jeffries had been around for a long, long time. He lived in a small cabin deep in the woods, and Zane couldn’t recall the last time Jeffries had left his house.
He wound his way through the dark forest roads, knowing at one point that they would have to abandon the car and travel the rest of the way on foot or paw.
The ride was bumpy and the Hummer’s headlights flashed in the dark, lighting up the brush as small animals skittered out of the way.
“I hope Jeffries isn’t a dead end,” Michael muttered.
Zane reached the end of the dirt road, and the men got out of the car and began making their way through the dark forest.
“Should we shift?” Zane asked as he swatted at a branch in his face and nearly tripped over a cluster of roots.
“It shouldn’t be much further,” Michael explained. “There.” Up ahead was the small cabin, a tiny light the only sign that anyone lived there.
Taking long purposeful strides, Zane made his way towards the house. He wondered what, if anything, Jeffries would be able to tell them and what it might mean for Gabby.
Michael knocked loudly, and Alicia opened the door.
Zane tried to forget about what loving Alicia had been like. It was easier to ignore those feelings when he was a bear. He didn’t like being around Alicia in human form.
Quentin was standing in the back of the room, and nodded when the men walked in.
The cabin was nearly dark, and it took a moment for Zane’s eyes to adjust. The cabin was dusty and poorly kept, and it dawned on Zane that Jeffries probably spent most of his time in bear form rather than human.
There in the corner of the cabin, which was essentially one large room, sat a weathered old man who seemed permanently twisted into a hunchback position.
“Jeffries,” Michael said, moving towards the man and kneeling down so he was on his level. “The clan appreciates your help.”
Jeffries nodded, pulling his gnarled, weathered hands together on his lap. “Did you know,” he began in a scratchy baritone, jumping right in, “that bear kings once roamed the land?”
There was a pause, and Zane wanted to scoff aloud. What he thought might be informative now seemed silly. Clearly, Jeffries was not of sound mind. What the hell was a bear king? But with shock, he noticed Michael nodding in agreement.
Huh?
How did Zane not know about this? He wanted to interrupt, but Michael shot him a look that was so deadly, he snapped his mouth shut.
Jeffries continued. “There was an ancient bear dynasty. It was believed that they came from Siberia, thousands of years ago, crossing the Bering Strait and settling in Alaska before making their way down into Washington.”
This was making no sense to Zane.
“However,” Jeffries cleared his throat, “There is a record of at least one of these bear kings leaving Washington and settling in Oregon. When I was a young boy, there were whisperings that the leader of Cruentus was the Bear King. No one believed it, but he had unparalleled strength, superior senses, and we quickly learned that it was true. A bear king still existed, and not only that, but the royalty was among us.”
Michael shook his head in disbelief, as Alicia and Quentin hung on every word. Was everyone really buying this bullshit?
“The king was a quiet man and kept to himself. He had a son, but it was clear that his son was not taken with our shifter lifestyle. As the older bears began to die out, less and less knew about the bear king. The king was killed in battle, though if you ask the few of us that remember, it seemed like sabotage by the Atrocitas because they had discovered the knowledge of the king.”
Jeffries inhaled sharply, his frail body shaking. This story was taking a huge toll on him.
“The cub became king, but it was clear he was afraid of being a shifter. I don’t remember the boy much because he and his mother kept to themselves. He led the Cruentus, but barely. From what I remember, he allowed other members of the clan to take over.” Jeffries paused, taking a ragged breath. “He wasted it!” he burst out, his pale, puckered skin turning pink.
Zane and the others stood back, watching Jeffries. “He was the last king,” he wheezed, “and he wasted it away. He bore no sons, only daughters,” his mouth twisted. “And not only that, but he married a non-shifter.”
Zane knew what that meant. The chance of having shifter offspring was slight when a shifter married a non-shifter.
Yet, Zane still wasn’t seeing the connection to Gabby.
“Then came the accident,” Jeffries whispered. “I still don’t know what actually happened. No one I have met knows the truth. And only a very few of us even know that the bear had been the last of the king dynasty. All I know is that roughly twenty years ago, he was found killed in the woods, at a spot on Cruentus land, just yards from our own borders. There were scents of our tribe and the Cruentus tribe, but none of the Atrocitas. No culprit was ever found, so we will never know. Perhaps it was someone from his own tribe who realized what he truly was.” Jeffries sighed loudly. “The Cruentus members found him, and the only thing they said was that the strength of the bear that had killed him seemed unusual.”
“Meaning what?” Zane cut in, sounding sharper than he had intended.
Jeffries turned around to stare at him.
Really stare at him.
Zane’s stomach
turned at the site of Jeffries’ cloudy eyes; the man had to be blind.
“Meaning,” Jeffries rattled, “the bear that killed him didn’t seem to know his own strength.”
A sickening feeling had begun to grow in the pit of Zane’s stomach, and he tried to focus all his energy on keeping his thoughts calm. At the same time, he felt his bear clawing at his insides, desperate to get out, desperate to run.
“But,” Alicia prodded gently, forcing Zane’s mind back to the story, “What’s the connection to this young woman?”
“Ahh, yes, the young woman,” Jeffries cleared his throat again, “I believe she is the daughter of this king.”
The room erupted in noise, but everything sounded far away and hollow to Zane. Michael shot him a look, and Zane knew that Michael knew.
“Quiet!” Michael finally barked. “We must discover that for ourselves.” He turned to Jeffries. “We appreciate your wisdom more than words can express,” he said, his voice full of gratitude. He bowed before Jeffries to show his respect. “But tell us, please. How would we know if this woman is the daughter of the king?”
Jeffries nodded at Michael to rise. “You will know when she is pursued by other bears, particularly the Cruentus. They will sense it; something in their bones will alert them to her presence if she is near their border.”
Every puzzle piece was falling into place. Everything was making sense.
“She will be wanted by not only her tribe, but other tribes as well. Her blood is,” he paused, “extremely powerful.” He brought a shaking hand to his mouth and coughed a wet cough. “Should she mate with a shifter, she will produce cubs.” He paused again and then dropped his voice. “Yet if she is killed, her blood will make her killer stronger and more powerful that before.”
Zane couldn’t stop himself. “Would that have happened with her father’s blood?”
Again, Jeffries fixed his unseeing eyes on Zane, causing him to shudder. “Oh, yes. Whoever killed the king has gained superior strength and power from spilling his blood.”
Wordlessly, Zane nodded.
“Protect her,” Jeffries wheezed, turning in the direction of Michael. “If you want my advice—bring her into the tribe, protect her and give her no choice but to mate. She will strengthen the gene pool.”
Michael nodded. “We are indebted to you. We will not take up more of your time.” He looked to the others. “Let’s go and leave Jeffries in peace.”
The others nodded, quietly following Michael out into the night. Zane brought up the rear, feeling Jeffries eyes follow him.
Did Jeffries know?
Could he feel Zane’s secret?
Gabby was exhausted, and she ran a hand through her long, wet hair before twisting it on top of her head and kicking her feet up on the couch. She had just finished dinner and had taken a shower. She should have checked in with Lucy, but it was just too much in one day. She was planning on watching some bad reality TV and hopefully falling asleep on the couch.
She stretched out, grabbed the remote control and managed to find a reality show where a bunch of women vied for the affections of a man who claimed he was searching for his wife.
Perfect.
As she watched the women talk about each other behind their backs and prance around in bikinis, she began to feel her eyelids get heavy. Just as she was about to sink into blissful sleep, a loud knocking at her door jolted her awake.
She jumped up, her heart pounding wildly. Who would be knocking at her door this late? A quick glance at her watch told her it was nearly ten o’clock. She paced back and forth in front of her couch, debating if she should answer it or not.
Another loud pounding and she jumped nearly three feet.
What the hell?
Who could it be?
She tiptoed to the door, willing the person to just leave.
The knocking came again, louder than before and Gabby squeezed her eyes shut and bit her lower lip.
No, no, no. She could not handle this.
“Damn it, Gabby. Open up.”
Her eyes flew open.
What the hell?
Feeling braver, she moved towards the door and peeped through the peep hole. Sure enough, there was Zane.
Fear gave way to anger and she slid the deadbolt across and yanked the door open in annoyance.
“What are you doing here?” she demanded. “And how the hell did you know where I lived?”
She took in Zane’s appearance and noticed that he looked somewhat disheveled. And his somewhat wild hair was even wilder.
And there was something else.
Wait.
He wasn’t dressed in his ranger uniform.
Wow.
He was wearing faded, worn jeans and a dark, long-sleeve shirt, which could not hide his bulging biceps or his broad chest.
She shook her head, trying to focus on Zane standing at her door and not the fact that he looked deliciously, mouth-wateringly sexy.
“I—I looked your address up,” he said, though Gabby didn’t quite believe him. “I needed to know that you were okay. I had to check on you.” And his voice was so urgent and so worried that she couldn’t help but believe him.
“I’m fine,” she said carefully. “I really appreciate you checking on me, but you know that it’s ten o’clock at night.”
“Shit. I wasn’t paying attention to the time. I probably scared the crap out of you.”
“Yes. You did.” She stood in the doorway, still unsure of how to proceed. She wanted to be angry with him, but a part of her was touched that he actually came to check on her. “So, you really just wanted to check on me?”
“Yes. I just needed to make sure that you were okay. After everything today, and then me taking you back to the park office,” his voice trailed off, and the memories of that afternoon came rushing back to Gabby.
“Yes,” she said feeling all fired up, “that was a real dickhead move. Those people, whoever they were, were assholes!”
Zane nodded. “You’re right. Most of them are assholes.”
Oh. Well. She didn’t expect him to agree with her.
“I’ll get going. I see that you’re okay, so I’ll get out of your way. You probably have to go to bed soon, too.”
He started to head down the hall, but something inside her made her call out to him.
“Zane. Wait.”
What was she doing?
He paused and turned around. She couldn’t place it, but something was different about Zane. He was off somehow. There seemed to be a bit of panic about him, a wildness she hadn’t quite noticed before.
“I need to go,” he explained, but he didn’t move.
Oh god, she was going to regret this.
“I have to get up early for work, but do you want to come in for a few minutes?”
He hesitated for only a moment. “Sure. A few minutes.”
Gabby stepped back, allowing Zane to enter.
She nervously watched as he looked around her sparsely furnished apartment. It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t great. The living room was small, and she had saved up for three months for the plush couch and armchair, but the coffee table and the end tables were from a thrift store, and her TV was nothing special. A few photos and pieces of art lined the walls, and she had splurged on a few nice pillows to dress up the room.
There was a small nook between the living room and the tiny kitchen which housed a weathered kitchen table and chairs, but she had taken the time to repaint the table, and she had to admit, it looked nice.
But sparse or not, it was all hers and she wasn’t going to feel ashamed for being able to support herself. She stood up a little straighter, waiting for Zane to make a smart-ass comment.
“It’s really nice,” he observed.
Gabby wasn’t prepared for that. She wavered a bit, unsure of what to say. Usually she and Zane seemed to spar back and forth.
“Oh, thanks,” she paused, “Can I get you something to drink?”
Zane di
dn’t answer right away, and she realized that he was checking her out.
Damn!
She had forgotten that she was dressed in a tight tank top and a pair of running shorts.
“Hello?” she snapped, “A drink?”
“Oh! Right,” he grinned sheepishly. “Some water is fine, thanks.”
“Unbelievable,” she muttered as she stalked into the kitchen and filled up a glass with water. She had half the mind to spit in it.
She placed it down in front of Zane, a tad too hard, and sat on the armchair. Zane followed her lead and sat down on the couch.
“So, any particular reason you felt the need to come by this late at night?” she asked.
Zane was quiet for a moment. “A lot happened today. I just had to check on you.”
“So you said. Why do you care?” she couldn’t help asking. “I mean, we barely know each other.”
He furrowed his brow. “I know,” he said darkly, “yet we seem to keep running into each other.”
They sat there in awkward silence, and Gabby realized she was stupid for inviting him inside. There was no reason for him to be sitting in her living room. And for all she knew he could be an ax murderer.
Sexy biceps or not.
“Well, I really should get to bed,” she said quickly, standing up. She felt like a fool and for some reason the room suddenly felt hotter. She needed some fresh air. She went to grab Zane’s glass of water, which he had only taken a small sip from, but instead, Zane grabbed her wrist.
“What are you doing?” she accused, trying to snatch her wrist back.
“Stop,” he pleaded, his voice husky.
Oh crap.
He tugged her down so she was on his lap, and she was too stunned to fight back. She couldn’t deny the attraction between them.
True story.
It was there, and both of them knew it.
She could say something sassy and try to resist, but what was the point?
“This is crazy,” she muttered, but Zane’s hand was already in her hair and then he cupped her cheek, pulling her towards him as he kissed her.
She kissed him back, and then pulled away. “Is this why you came here tonight?”