She frowned unhappily at that, staring at her hands as if expecting to see a sudden change. “But… what if I become a monster? You hunt monsters.” She sounded disgusted with herself.
I wrapped her up in a bear hug, no longer caring about being cautious. “Becoming a shifter doesn’t make you into something you’re not.”
She squeezed back. “Except sometimes it does,” she argued, sobbing into my shoulder.
“No. We’ll get through this together… Claire Bear.” She laughed and cried at the same time, still clutching my shoulder tightly. Now that I knew what to look for, I realized she was squeezing much harder than usual. Stronger. “Is this why you’ve been calling in sick at work?” I asked, pulling away, but smiling at her as I remained close, wanting to reaffirm that I wasn’t scared of her, for her, or for those around us. She wasn’t dangerous.
She nodded back sadly. “I kept seeing them as food…” she said miserably. Then she grunted. “Well, except for the bears, I guess. But seeing them in cages did make me angry,” she added thoughtfully.
Her entire demeanor was like gasoline to the fire of my rage. Someone had hurt my best friend… to get to me. The fucking bears had made good on their vague promise. It was the only thing that made sense. But I needed to be sure. “It was outside your house, wasn’t it?” I asked sympathetically.
She nodded. “It was the strangest thing. This guy, hairy as I’ve ever seen—”
“Wait. You said it was a group of guys…” I argued. “You said you Maced them.”
She sighed loudly, staring down at her lap, shaking her head. “I was embarrassed… I’m sorry, Callie. It was just one man. He cut my arm and told me he would see me soon. Then he just walked away. I tried running to my house, but it was like I ran into a brick wall. I think it knocked me out… Next thing I know, Nate was waking me up, asking if I was okay…” She glanced up at me sharply. “I almost told him the truth, but then he said he couldn’t find you. That you were missing. He looked so scared. So, I lied to him, embarrassed by the truth. Then we did find you, and you were unconscious. Nate had to carry you to the car, Callie…” she said, sobbing softly. “And then I heard Gabriel was killed.” She pounded a fist on the table angrily, spilling her coffee. “I wasn’t about to complain about some random guy scratching me and then walking away. So, I stuck with the lie. The truth sounded too stupid.”
I growled angrily. Not at her, but at what they had done. “It was one of the bears,” I said, recognizing her description, although I didn’t know his name. “That’s why you couldn’t walk through the ward we put around your house. Even though you weren’t changed yet, you had the venom inside you. Or however it works. I’m not really sure, to be honest. I know bites do it, but sometimes claws can as well. Roland will know what to do.”
“He’s coming,” she said in a soft tone, sounding scared. “To take me in, isn’t he?”
I nodded. “Just to make sure you’re safe. I’m going to have some… words with the bears, and then I’ll come back to you. I promise. You’re not alone, Claire. I will not leave you behind just because you were attacked by Winnie the Shit.”
She laughed miserably. Just then, the bell above the door jingled, and I looked up to see Roland enter the coffee shop. Mr. Light Eyes was gone, although I didn’t remember hearing the bell. Maybe he had left when I was on the phone. The church women instantly approached him, handing him a flyer. He took it absently, responded politely, but detoured around them as he spotted us.
They carefully watched his ass as he passed by, and I couldn’t help but smile.
Sin catches us all, folks.
Claire looked ready to bolt, so I placed a comforting hand on her thigh.
Roland stepped up to her with a sad smile, and then knelt before her. “It’s okay, girl. You’re safe with me. I hear all women turn to monsters a dozen times a year,” he said with a rare, mischievous grin. Claire punched him in the shoulder, unable to stop the laugh that bubbled up at his comment. Roland toppled over and I squeezed Claire’s thigh excitedly.
She whirled as if I was about to yell at her. I held out my hand for a high five.
She stared at me for a second, and then down at Roland. A slow smile spread across her tear-stained cheeks as she slapped my palm thoughtfully. Roland glared at our grins, muttering under his breath about women in general. The trio of church women perked up at that, saw him climbing to his feet, Claire and I laughing, and silently decided that he had gotten no less than he deserved. But they did very thoroughly verify that his ass was intact as he stood.
“I’ll be back soon, Claire,” I said. “I’m going to get to the bottom of this.”
“I should go with you,” Roland argued, sounding torn about which of us to protect.
I held up a hand. “No, you really shouldn’t. I kind of feel like sinning.”
“That’s exactly why I should go with you,” he pressed.
“You’re going to make sure my friend is safe, comfortable, and happy as a baby after a bottle of warm milk. Or else I’ll be coming to have a talk with you, too,” I warned him with an arched brow. Claire folded her arms, backing me up as I snatched my jacket from the table.
He threw up his hands, frustrated. “You realize you’re getting angry with me for trying to help you, right?”
“Even though we lesser creatures look dainty, I promise you…” I leaned forward, shoving him lightly. “We ain't.” I stormed past him, imagining crushing bear testicles under each foot as I did.
The trio of churchwomen clapped as I walked past the table and out of the coffee shop.
Now free of distractions, my fury pulsed behind my ears, tainting my vision in a dark, slightly red hue, and I noticed that my knuckles were crackling with white arcs of electricity. One of the benefits of the Angel’s blood, although I really didn’t understand it, yet. I let my magic go with a calming breath.
Claire had been turned as a consequence for me beating the alpha bear in a one-on-one fight. And he had used one of his minions to get his revenge. I had met the man Claire described as her attacker – a wild, ridiculously hairy guy with a chip on his shoulder.
I decided it was time to put a very real chip on his shoulder. And on the alpha, too.
I entered an empty alley just as the clouds began to pour down with lukewarm rain, and I Shadow Walked to a familiar home that I had once invaded with Nate Temple. I wasn’t concerned about hiding this time. I strolled right up to the front door.
And kicked the motherfucker down.
Chapter 6
I scanned the very wide hallway before me, not having seen it before since my last visit had been when I Shadow Walked into an upstairs bedroom with Nate – after which I summarily kicked the alpha bear’s ass. We hadn’t had time to exchange names, believe it or not.
The walls, floor, and ceiling were all wood, and varied hunting décor decorated the walls, like a luxurious hunter’s lodge in the woods. Everything seemed spaced accordingly, in case they happened to be in their bear form, making me feel much smaller than I was. A subtle reminder that these creatures could be up to twelve-feet-tall and weigh over half a ton.
I stood in the entryway, trying to get my breathing under control, glancing over at the broken door I had just kicked in. I didn’t hear any cries of alarm, but that didn’t mean I was alone. After a few seconds, I was more or less level-headed, enough to listen clearly for sounds of movement.
I had come here to make a very decisive statement, and to make the bears pay for attacking a Regular as opposed to coming after me. But I wasn’t going to do anything too stupid. If I found myself against overwhelming odds, I would heroically Shadow Walk my ass to safety.
And then plot my return. Rinse and repeat as necessary.
But there was something to be said about being bold and decisive. And if you did something ridiculously bold, it was often the case that your enemy would assume you had the cavalry waiting outside as backup, because surely, no one person would ever do any
thing that insane. Like one tiny woman kicking down the front door of a pack of shifter bears who were double her height with ten times the weight. I idly wondered if they called themselves a pack, or had some other name.
Regardless, it would hopefully give them pause. Essentially, it was a bluff.
And I hoped that bluff – coupled with my very real anger – would be enough.
No one came barreling down the stairs to demand what the hell I was doing, so I began to walk, listening acutely. Maybe they weren’t home and were out hunting. Or collecting honey. Or whatever bears did. Hell, it was only just past sunrise, so they might be napping upstairs.
“Christina Robin requests your presence, you fat, hairy dingle-berries!” I called out, my voice reverberating off the wooden tunnel of the hallway. I waited for a shout of alarm, or a wave of padded feet pounding across the floor above me. But only silence answered me.
They should have heard me by now. With a calm breath, I used a whisper of magic to mask my scent. Then I used another spell to settle some magic around my body like a cloak. I lifted my hand and saw only a faint smear – like water-color – where my hand should be, blending in with my surroundings. An impromptu camouflage. Not that it would give me too much of an edge if their sense of smell was up to par, like the other shifter breeds.
I began to walk with stealthy steps, since the wooden tunnel of the hall was basically a megaphone, marking my position if the bears were simply being sneaky and pretending not to hear my shout, so as to coordinate an attack at their own time and location. I tried to step carefully, focusing on where the joints and nails appeared, trying to prevent a creaking sound that would give me away. But the bears were apparently master craftsmen, because the wood didn’t make a single sound.
I walked down the hallway, peering around corners into darkened rooms, and although I smelled fresh coffee, I saw no one, heard no one, and smelled no one. I began to grow uneasy as I meandered the halls. Then I finally heard a sound, just as I was entertaining heading upstairs.
The sound was faint, but it came from a door just ahead of me. Peering underneath the crack, I saw faint light, and then a shadow moved. I froze, waiting, but the shadow remained still. Something was on the other side of the door, but I couldn’t hear any voices.
I knocked.
There was a startled gasp and then the door flew open. My foot had already been drawn back, and I extended it with every fiber of strength I could muster, striking a surprised man right in the stomach.
What I hadn’t known was that he was standing at the top of stairs that led down into a basement, so he tumbled and rolled, flipping head over heels before crashing into a shelving unit at the base of the stairs where he struck his head and fell into the wet towel yoga position.
“Well…” I said under my breath, watching to make sure he wasn’t faking it. He didn’t get up, so he must have knocked himself out. He wasn’t as large as the other bears I had seen, looking almost like a teenager. I waited for another bear to burst into view, wondering what had caused all the noise, but again, I was disappointed.
“I should probably not go down the creepy stairs into the bears’ basement,” I murmured under my breath. “Because that would be really stupid.”
I leaned out over the stairs, trying to get a view of the area below. All I saw were stone walls, like an unfinished basement. I took a step, waiting. Then another. And another. Then I lightly raced down the steps, my magic forming a black feathered fan that hovered before me.
A shield.
I stood in a vast open space devoid of any real furniture. Just a textured concrete floor with smooth concrete walls. Only one exit left the area, and it looked to have been designed by merely breaking down the concrete wall. Steel I-Beams surrounded the jagged opening, bolted into the concrete and above the doorway to connect with the open wooden support beams on the ceiling.
The opening was lit with Christmas lights attached to an extension cord plugged into a makeshift outlet hastily mounted on the ceiling. My black fan swayed before me, back and forth, feathers rippling at the gentle motion, obviously detecting nothing, even though I heard faint voices from deep within the tunnel.
With nowhere else to go, I entered the tunnel, which quickly began to feel more like a cave. Which figured, because you know, bears. I kept my magic up as I slipped between the rough rock walls, keeping my eyes down – away from the string of lights – looking for openings in the walls that might hide a bear, or spider, or something equally sinister.
The hallway ran longer than I had thought, but finally opened up just ahead of me into a large open space, where I saw two bears sitting on their haunches on the opposite side, not in human form, but full-on bear. They were black with tan noses, and their fur looked so fluffy I could have died, wanting to wrap them up in a hug and take them home. Luckily, I was using magic to mask my scent, and the distortion spell kept my silhouette from attracting their attention.
The bears stood on either side of a large, ancient-looking wooden door with carvings etched into the surface. Nothing fancy, but heartfelt – almost as if taken from an old Viking’s cabin. Lovingly made, but not by a particularly skilled hand. I slowly slipped closer, trying to get a wider view of the room before the door, not wanting to discover – too late – that half a dozen more bears stood in the room, maybe guarding either side of the tunnel I was currently in.
I got close enough to confirm they were the only guards, and took a deep breath.
I strode out of the hallway, forming crackling tomahawks in either fist, my body still a water-colored blur. The bears flinched in startled surprise, and then bounded up to meet me. I flung both tomahawks and hit them each in a thigh, sending them crashing to the ground as their bodies convulsed with the current of electricity I was now pouring into them. Then I was standing over them, casting twin bars of light against their throats to pin them down.
“Play dead or you die,” I said softly, verifying the door was the only other exit than the tunnel I had used. “My quarrel isn’t with you… yet.”
One of them snarled back at me, straining to break my restraint and I made a small gesture with one hand, which they likely couldn’t see since I was just an indistinct blur in their eyes. Chains of solidified air suddenly bound his ankles and neck, behind his back, so that as he continued to struggle, he only succeeded in choking himself out.
The other watched this with his lips curled back to reveal long, white teeth, and then he settled a very dark glare my way, but obviously not wanting the same chains as his pal. “What do you want, Callie?” he snarled. I was very surprised that he recognized me, but even more surprised that he could talk in bear form. It had long since been a general understanding that only the strongest of shifters could talk when in animal form, but more and more over recent years I had heard mention of all sorts of shifters talking without trouble. Maybe they had found a loophole.
Or it had been a lie from the very beginning. I would ask Roland about it.
I placed a hand over my chest and let my concealment spell drop. “You know me,” I smiled at him. “Should I be flattered?”
“Armor has been expecting you. Go on in. We bears are known for our hospitality.” He shot me a toothy sneer. I assumed Armor was the alpha bear’s name. I nodded and bound him the same way I had bound his partner, who wasn’t struggling as intensely anymore, but the murder shining in his eyes was still alive and well.
“Consider it a compliment.”
“Doubting a bear’s integrity is not a compliment. We would never attack your back,” he spat.
I rolled my eyes. “Well, considering that I’m here because one of you shit-stains lacks honor, you really shouldn’t be too surprised that I don’t trust you.”
He began to growl and rattle at his ephemeral chains, arguing that no bear would ever lack honor. I ignored him and approached the door. Still, his words struck a chord in me. He had sounded genuine. I had bested him, and that was that. He wouldn’t have attacke
d me from behind, and was offended I had restrained him after my victory. I still didn’t trust him, but it was something to consider. I honestly knew next to nothing about werebears.
I placed my hands on the handles – great iron rings – and shoved the door open, using a boost of magic to hopefully send them slamming into either wall with a loud fuck you factor.
Chapter 7
Instead, the doors struck two very solid objects on the way before hammering into the wall with an odd sound. I strode into the room a few steps, deciding it was better to always be moving. I was in a gargantuan cavern, and two groups of bears massed about a hundred feet away from me before three very large, raised thrones. Spears of sunlight filtered down from natural holes in the ceiling, illuminating the space, and I heard a faint gurgling as if from a waterfall nearby.
Finally clear of the doors, I glanced back to see two polar bears moaning on the ground – briefly knocked senseless where the doors had struck them – and then slammed them into the stone walls of the cavern. Good thing I had used magic to help me with the heavy doors, or I would have just ended up giving them the equivalent of an ass slap in a dingy bar.
I brushed my hands together, and turned back to the silent bears before me, continuing on in a measured pace, looking confident and at ease, I hoped. Three bears sat on the thrones.
About a dozen bears sat in pockets on the ground before the thrones, turning to face my entrance. They didn’t look surprised, but they did look angry. At realizing that one slip of a girl had just taken out five of their guards. And the majority of them had been taken down with doors, I thought to myself smugly.
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