by Eliza Gayle
She had to come up with a plan for getting her keys back from Bhric so she could leave and get back to her real life.
Another person sat down on a stool next to her, but she didn't bother to look. Whether it was Bhric or Sienna she didn't care. They were going to wait until she was good and ready to deal with them.
"Bartender, I'll take a--"
"Well, holy shit, look what the cat dragged in."
Okay she had to look. She turned to her left and found a brown haired very good-looking man sitting next to her and the blonde from the door standing next to him.
"Literally," the man said.
Calder grinned, grabbed a beer glass and pulled on one of the taps until the glass was full with a nice foam at the top. Marcy licked her lips. That looked really good.
"You want one?"
She nodded, pushing the hard liquor away. "What is it?" she asked.
"Something local. I think you'll like it."
"Okay." She took the offered glass and put the foam to her lips for a gentle taste. She detected an underlying fruity taste to it. "Is that orange?"
The bartender nodded. "Blood orange."
"Of course it is."
She took a sip and turned back away from the others at the bar. She didn't know them and didn't feel compelled to offer idle chit chat.
"So, Simon. What brings you here? Sienna?"
"Her too?" the pretty man said. "Jeez. Maybe I need to test the water here. You could save me a ton of research time."
Calder looked confused. "What do you mean too?"
"I'm pregnant too, you big doofus."
A huge grin spread across the big guy's face and Marcy couldn't help but feel some of the genuine joy spilling from the people in the room. It was both depressing and exhilarating.
"Actually I came here to see you," the pretty man had turned towards her, although it took her a moment to realize he was actually talking to her.
"Me?" she croaked, before clearing her throat. "I mean I don't know you."
"And I don't know you either. But apparently the shit is about to hit the fan and Bhric is worried about your brain. He's asked me to take a look."
She groaned. "You're a doctor."
"That's right. John Hopkins trained, but born and raised right here on the mountain." He turned back to the other woman. "Niki, is there somewhere I can go to examine Miss..."
"Marcy," she said.
"Bhric said to use his place. It's at the top of the stairs, end of the hallway."
"Where is Bhric anyway?"
She perked up at the bartender's question. He had conveniently disappeared.
The blonde answered, "His office and I wouldn't recommend going in there unless you'd like to lose a limb. He's pissed off and raging."
"Okay then, shall we go?” The doctor motioned for her to move.
"I don't know." Her stomach quivered. "I don't know any of you."
"I'll go with you."
Marcy whirled to find that Sienna had appeared conveniently behind her. Talk about being ambushed.
A sudden anger surged through her and she slammed her beer down on the bar. "You know what? I am not going anywhere with a single one of you until someone gives me some frigging answers. Do you hear me?" She pointed at Sienna. "You need to explain to me right now what you meant outside. How is Bhric responsible for my memory loss?"
"There's a lot more to it than that. Let Simon examine you and then I promise I will tell you everything."
Marcy shook her head. She didn't believe it. Her friend was as mixed up in it as the rest of them.
"Nope. I'm not letting this pretty man anywhere near me until I hear it all. All. Of. It."
"Fine. Let's go in the kitchen. We do not need an audience quite yet."
"Sienna..." the blonde woman spoke the word with a strong hint of a warning in it.
"No. She's right. It's my fault she's in this situation and your way didn't work. Now we do it my way. I trust her. We all can trust her."
"She's right. This is the only way."
Of course right at that moment Bhric would walk in. Might as well pile everyone in on her. Unable to look at him, she focused on Sienna instead. "Lead the way."
Sienna's tight frown deepened, but she reached forward and squeezed Marcy's hand. "They are good people. I promise. Just give them a chance. Everything up to this point was done simply to protect you and me. We're in this together."
Marcy held back a snort. She wasn't feeling much together anymore. But she let Sienna lead her away. One way or another she would find out what happened here that night.
Before she disappeared through the door she heard one last thing that actually made her smile.
"She thinks I'm the pretty man," the doctor said.
17
Bhric wanted to follow Marcy and beg her to believe him. But he couldn't do that. If there was one thing he learned from her example it was that he'd already acted like a selfish jackass. And not just with her.
Now he'd gathered his entire crew around him and he was about to get down to business. They had urgent matters that would have to take precedence over his mangled relationship with Marcy.
"I got a call when I was at the hospital with Marcy. Apparently, Galen was right when he warned me that the goose chase with her in Sweetwater looked like a distraction."
"Wait," Gage interrupted. "Did you say, Galen as in Ferguson?"
Bhric nodded, knowing this wasn't the best time for this either.
"The dragons are back?"
This created an uproar around the room. Everyone shouting their opinions about dragons, including that most shifters thought they were a myth in these parts."
"Enough," Bhric roared. "We don't have time for this right now. A dragon is a fickle creature. Just because one of them has dropped in unannounced doesn't mean they're back for good. So chill the fuck out. We have bigger problems at the moment."
The room quieted down, giving him the opportunity to continue. "Council members have gone missing. Both cougar and wolf."
"Oh shit," Greer said.
"Yeah, oh shit is right. I'm glad you finally made it back from your extended honeymoon or whatever when you did. I think we're going to need all hands on deck for this one."
"Is there a manhunt going on? Do they have any suspects?"
Bhric nodded. "Oh yeah. You don't even know. This fucking mess could turn into a witch hunt if it's not handled carefully enough. I have limited information at the moment though. Kane and Rafe are in charge. Kane, as the Guardian for the cougar clan, is in charge of finding the feline council members and Rafe, as the wolf alpha, is out hunting for his. The only thing I know for sure is that no bodies have been found, but there is a lot of blood in their homes. If they're alive it's going to be a miracle."
"How many are missing?" Calder asked.
"Eight."
"Jesus fuck. That is more than half."
Bhric nodded. "And without a council consensus on either side, we have no council."
The room fell silent as each and every one of his crew digested the fact that there might not be a ruling council for either clan any longer. And that this could plunge the clans into anarchy.
"What exactly does this mean for us?" Gage asked.
"I honestly don't know. Some of us have played the political game for many years, biding our time. Waiting for the chance to take over. But a massacre..."
"Someone is going to take the heat for this whether they are responsible or not."
Bhric turned to Calder's voice of reason. He could tell from looking at him that he'd already figured out where this was going. "Most of the clans have been sheltered from the shenanigans of the Blackwoods. They won't automatically leap to them as suspects. Fear is building fast and it won't be long before someone blames the hybrids."
That would put every one of them in the crosshairs of two angry clans. They'd have to get to the Blackwoods first and find out what happened to those council members.
"Look, I know wha
t you're thinking. We're all at risk now. So the first thing we need to do is move the women and children to a secure location."
"Where would that be? With the humans? That would be the only place out of council reach. No fucking way."
Bhric shook his head. "I have a place in mind. You're not going to like it, but it's big enough and secure enough. Not to mention no cougar or wolf would dare cross that land. Especially if they know Galen is back."
"You want us to move them to the dragon lands? Are you crazy?"
"It's our only choice at the moment. We don't have a lot of time before the investigation spills into the neutral zone. And I'm not going to take chances that Kane and Rafe will be able to do enough to protect us. We're going to have to take this fight to the Blackwoods and to do that I need to know every mate, child and child to be is safe."
"Agreed." Greer stood, taking his place next to Bhric. "My mate will go."
"As will mine," said Dean, his brother looking as grim as ever.
Several of the men snickered. "Good luck with that, brother."
Dean shrugged. "She's carrying another cub. If I have to tie her up and take her myself, so be it. Besides the women need her. That dragon may be damned near impossible to bear, but my woman is a scary thing when it comes to a fight."
All the men nodded in agreement.
"How can you be so sure it's the Blackwoods causing this?" Simon interrupted. "How do you know it's not the dragon?"
"I don't have any hard evidence yet, but I'm going to get it. They went to far too much trouble to keep us distracted and out of town to be anything other than a setup. I just have to find the link."
"Don't underestimate them," Simon walked farther into the room. "There's a lot of hate living in that group and since their Alpha died it has only gotten worse. And you, Bhric, they particularly resent you. They don't believe a hybrid should be in charge of anything. Not even this place."
For a moment, Bhric had forgotten that Simon could be a source of information for them. "I thought you worked on lab research for them?"
"I did--or do. However, when Shane died the pack fractured, putting my research on the back burner."
That information got Bhric to thinking about Marcy and her medical background. He might have found the perfect place for her.
He turned back to his men. "I've drawn a map and put copies on the bar. Study it, memorize it and then for God's sake burn the fucker. We need to get moving to get our families secure right now."
The men scattered and Bhric pulled Simon to the side. "How is she, Doc?"
"Pissed. Scared. A lot skeptical."
Bhric shoved his hands in his pocket. "I mean her head. Is the damage permanent?" His stomach turned at the mere thought he'd caused this.
"I need to run some tests on her blood to be sure, but I don't think so. I mean the memory loss from the spell is permanent, but you knew that. No way to reverse that crazy spell." The doc lowered his voice. "I need to know about the sex though. I asked her about it and she told me about something recent and I was hesitant to push any further. What about before the memory spell. Did you have unprotected sex with her then?"
He bristled at Simon's questions. The man had nerve he'd give him that. "I'm not getting into my sex life with you. That's none of your business."
Simon rolled his eyes at him. "God, shifters are all alike. I am not asking you about your sex with your mate because I'm a pervert looking for a thrill. I'm trying to help you with science, asshole."
Bhric growled, his claws bursting through his fingertips. The beast didn't much care for Simon's tone.
"Look, do you want me to help her or not?"
That question got his attention and gave him a little room to wrestle the animal under control. He took a deep calming breath and willed the claws and fur to recede.
"To answer your first question then. Yes, we did have unprotected sex the night Melena performed her spell."
"Good. Well, not really good, but that information does support my theory."
"Which is?" The good doctor was taking way too long to get to the point.
"My thorough olfactory examination gave me a strong hypothesis of her issues. One, she is human but maybe not one hundred percent. Her DNA scent doesn't quite fit. Two, if she has shifter blood in her, even latent shifter blood, then her reaction to a mate could and likely would be different during sexual intercourse at certain times of her cycle. And three, this leads me to a preliminary conclusion that you've managed to mark this woman as a mate causing a chemical and often physical reaction in her that has gone unresolved for some time. Her body is trying to repair itself, but without shifter healing it is going to take her quite some time."
"Bottom line it for me, Doc. Is she going to recover?"
He sighed. "In time, I believe she will. If you make the mating permanent with a bite it would be sooner rather than later."
"And you could tell all of that by sniffing her? That's fucking weird."
"I have a highly developed sense of smell."
"I hate to break it to you, Doc, but we all do."
"Bhric, you may be the big, bad alpha around here and you may only see me as an Omega to Rafe. But you clearly don't know shit about Omegas and the things we can do."
"I just hope you're right."
"I'll know more once I can get to my lab and run some tests." He patted his pocket. "I need conclusive scientific evidence to confirm."
Bhric shuddered at the thought of this guy carrying around Marcy's blood. In the wrong hands her personal information could be dangerous. "And you'll be able to tell if she's part shifter?"
"Depends on how far down she is from the shifter lineage. Although I will be able to tell if she's not one hundred percent human."
"Anyone ever tell you that you're kind of creepy?"
Simon laughed. "I might have heard that a time or two."
Bhric relaxed a fraction. He had plenty to be tense about, but at least he knew that Marcy would be okay—eventually.
He held out his hand to the doctor, who took his in a firm grip. "Thank you for coming. I know your position with the Blackwoods made it difficult for you to get here. Do you need any help returning?"
He shook his head. "No, like I said. The pack is in chaos and for once no one is paying attention to me. I should be fine."
When Simon slipped out the back door and disappeared into the woods, Bhric sincerely hoped the wolf was right. He was by far the geekiest shifter he'd ever met, but his skills were handy as fuck.
Now he just had to convince his mate to be that she had nothing to fear from him. Oh and by the way, I'm taking you back to Galen's house because your life is in danger.
This was not going to be fun.
18
"I don't see why I can't just go home?" Ever since Bhric told her she needed to return to Galen's house for her safety she'd been doing her level best to talk him out of it. "If this whole thing between you and I was simply a distraction then I'll be fine far away from here." Some alone time sounded really good right about now anyway. These people were insane. Even Sienna had bought into their nonsense.
"I'm not willing to take that chance. You can be pissed and hysterical all you want, but I'm not going to allow you to put yourself at risk because you didn't like hearing the truth."
"Pfft. You people wouldn't know what the truth was if it bit you on the ass. I sure as hell don't understand how you think telling me some farcical story about how you all turn into animals is going to get you anything. As far as I'm concerned that's a one way trip to a straight jacket." She took a good long breath before continuing. "Oh and I don't care whether you want to 'let' me do anything. This is my life and I'll damn well choose on my own who I'm going to marry."
Shit. That hadn't been what she'd meant to say.
"That's what this is about? You're pissed about the mate thing?"
"Only because I think it's horse shit. If you can't be with me without a made up excuse, then you should hi
t the road already. I don't know what's really going on or why you need a mate, but I'm not going to be part of some shotgun wedding."
She crossed her arms over her chest and turned to stare out the window. It wouldn't take them long to get back to Galen's house so she had to make her point quick.
"It's not that simple. And it's not exactly a wedding," he said.
She turned and glared at him. "I don't care. Cause it's not ever going to happen. I talked to my boss earlier and my promotion offer is still good. I'm moving to Memphis as soon as I can pack up my apartment."
"Then I'll go with you."
"What?! Are you-- Nope. Never mind. That's a stupid question because I already know that answer. You can't go to Memphis. You have a family here. People who count on you for their safety. Or at least that's what you and everyone else keeps telling me."
"Maybe I'll open a bar in Memphis and we'll bring all of them with us. Then neither of us has to make any difficult choices."
He wasn't serious. He couldn't be. Sienna had an adorable bakery that she loved and Calder's woman worked there too. Half of them were expecting babies. She shook her head. "No. That wouldn't be fair to them. They've all got lives and from what I understand they all like it there.
Bhric frowned at her. "You really are going to argue every point of every discussion we have today, aren't you?"
"Probably. It's my defense mechanism."
"Why do you need to defend yourself with me? I would never hurt you."
"I don't know that. I've only known you a short time. Trust takes time and right now all I know is how you lied to me."
He reached over and squeezed her hand. "It does take time and I've had a lot of time to think about us."
"You shouldn't have let someone mess with my memories. Witch or not. Anything that alters the brain on a chemical or cellular level is quite dangerous."
"I like when you talk all sciencey. It's way more sexy than when Simon does it. But wait. Does that mean you do believe what happened?"
She looked out the window again and tried to wrap her mind around the possibility that witches and shapeshifters were real. What else could be true? If she took the leap to belief, then she'd have to also accept that everything she knew about the world is wrong.