by Maia Starr
“I can come in,” Tiffany said with a smile. “Let me unpack a little and I’ll be over in a jiffy. Again...thanks, Amanda. You’re incredible for helping me out like this.”
“It’s no problem! Just don’t be late tonight, yeah?”
With that, Tiffany’s boss stepped outside and vanished from her sight as the door swung closed. Tiffany’s smile faded, and she stood there waiting for a minute or two, her mind racing. Sighing once again, this time much heavier and drawn out, Tiffany turned to examine her new home with fresh eyes. It wasn’t that her initial love for the charm of the house was a lie, but once Tiffany remembered Jack, the house grew a lot colder and emptier. Groaning at herself, Tiffany walked into her bedroom, a little square room with a bed just big enough to fit her tucked into the corner. Placing her luggage by the door, Tiffany plopped down on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. She could hear her ex’s chuckling now as she stared up at the new roof over her head, the memory of his voice grating on her mind.
Tiffany’s new life was about to officially start in the charming and strange town of Salem, where shapeshifters and kidnappers supposedly hid in the shadows.
This was her new adventure, so why did Tiffany suddenly feel like crying?
Chapter Six
Kyle
Like all single alphas before him, Kyle began to pack his bag. Despite his promise to Emily, to hunt down the wolf shifters that murdered his best friend, Kyle had to focus his attention elsewhere.
He needed a mate. And he needed one now.
The night after Kyle had been named alpha, Kyle had drunk himself into a stupor, more to stave off his insanity than anything else. His mindless, feral side reared its ugly head again after he’d spoken to Emily, his mind wandering and becoming mushy whenever he tried to think of his plans for the future of his clan. The Woodland Bear Clan needed a strong leader; not that would lose himself to madness simply because he was still single.
Kyle could feel his blood heat with the growing insanity, the need to bury himself in a woman’s embrace growing with a burning intensity. He would have looked among his clan, but nearly all the women were already claimed, and the ones that weren’t were old and bitter and wouldn’t be able to satisfy his needs.
No, Kyle needed to look somewhere else for the time being. Finding a mate was his top priority, with his inner bear pacing frantically until he found her.
Grunting, Kyle sauntered around his meager home, sifting through crushed beer cans and books, rummaging through his wardrobe to pull out his remaining shirts and pants. Being a shifter wasn’t easy...more often than not, clothes would be destroyed, torn to shreds if a shifter shifted in a pinch. With the unease between the Woodland Bear Clan and the wolf shifters of the Gray Rock to the south of Salem, there were skirmishes more than Kyle would have liked.
Shutting his wardrobe door, Kyle snorted as his memories of Alexander threatened to haunt him again. It was the Gray Rock Wolves that mauled Alexander, and the sourness of the thought caused Kyle to chuck his pack onto the ground, a few breakfast bars and bottles of water being thrown onto the ground. Kyle’s fury at himself subsided a few moments later, and he crouched and grumbled as he picked up the breakfast bars and bottles and stuffed them back into his backpack. He’d need them since he wasn’t sure how long he’d be gone from Woodland Bear Clan territory. Salem was close, but it was still an hour’s trip away at least. If Kyle wanted a mate, he’d find her there at the so-called hub of shifters.
It wasn’t unheard of to take another type of shifter as his mate, but if there were a human woman he could find, he’d convince her in no time to become his.
Walking from his bedroom, nimbly sidestepping the numerous cans of beer on the ground, Kyle made his way to the living room.
If Emily could see how his home looked right now, she’d never even speak to him again. Kyle couldn’t have that. Not now, not ever. She may have been the wife of the previous alpha, but without Alexander, she was practically defenseless against less-than-savory shifters who decided it was their time to claim a younger woman like her. And she was human...humans usually didn’t fare too well against shifters like Kyle.
Hence the kidnappings in Salem, if the rumors were to be believed.
A pang of pain shot through Kyle’s bloodstream as he nearly crumpled to the ground just in front of his front door. Gripping his head tightly, he slipped the backpack off his shoulders and bared his teeth, feeling another wave of his sanity disappear, leaving him with a deep, single-minded hunger. The feeling frightened Kyle, more so than anything else had ever experienced. With his head pounding, the new alpha of the Woodland Bear Clan slowly rose to his feet, noticed a still unopened can of beer resting quietly on a window sill, and snatched it the next second. Kyle nearly clawed their entire top of the can off in his ravenous desire to drink. His mouth foamed with cold liquid, and soon enough Kyle’s mind began to rid itself of the pain and confusion.
Crushing the can in his hand accidentally, Kyle tossed it somewhere behind him, hearing the clack of the can on the wooden floorboards. Rising to his feet, Kyle punched himself in the face and shook his head.
“All better…” he mused.
How long would it be before Kyle went completely feral? Months? Weeks? Days? Dammit, why was this happening now! He wasn't that old just yet; he should have had more time. And yet he had to accept it, didn’t he?
Alexander had once told Kyle something about the feeling. The guy had been younger than him, and yet he’d become alpha sooner than Kyle would have ever thought. He remembered the countless conversations about Emily, and about his own sanity. Alphas have it rough, Alexander had told him. Growling to himself, Kyle could feel the pressure of his inner bear crashing against its cage, and so he shook thoughts his friend out of his mind.
Think about him later, Kyle urged himself. Later, when you go after the mangy wolves that killed him.
Picking up his pack, Kyle edged to his door, shoving it open with such force it nearly came off its rusted hinges. He quickly took the front steps down to the sloped ground...and then sauntered back inside his house and into his kitchen. Stopping in front of his fridge, Kyle swung the door open much more carefully and grabbed the first can of beer he spotted. Slipping it into his backpack, Kyle imagined how Emily would react.
“Sorry, Emily,” he whispered and took off.
Kyle was alone when he shifted in front of his house, grizzly dark brown hair sprouting with his growing body. Picking up his backpack in his oversized mouth, Kyle chuffed and set off down the slope that led to his house. An hour’s trip was all he needed to get to Salem, the one place Kyle had a chance of finding a mate in time. He was alone when he left, but he wouldn’t be when he came back. Of that much, the new alpha of the Woodland Bear Clan was certain.
Chapter Seven
Tiffany
Time seemed to fly by in Salem, as by the time Tiffany’s eyes fluttered open next, the sun had dropped in the sky a bit, causing the reddish evening rays to filter through her bedroom window and heat her face while she remained laying in her new bed.
Blinking in sleepy confusion, Tiffany raised her phone above her face, careful not to let it slip and smack into her cheek or nose.
It had been an hour already. Swearing that she’d only just closed her eyes for a minute or two, Tiffany finally accepted the idea that she’d fallen asleep for a whole hour when an old carved clock rung somewhere in her new house, indicating the top of the hour. Not wanting to think about being late on the first night, not that Amanda would be the type to agonize over her tardiness, Tiffany rose quickly and began to strip herself clean, changing into fresh clothes for the night ahead.
A full-length mirror was situated in her room opposite her bed, and Tiffany took the opportunity to check herself out. Luckily for her, she didn’t appear as stressed as she’d thought she’d be. Sure, her light brown hair was a tad frizzy at the moment, and her curves were more pronounced than usual in the tight work clothes she’d put on,
but overall, she didn’t look half bad. She supposed it wouldn’t be so bad to flaunt herself a little, even if she was simply working tonight. She didn’t flaunt with Jack that much, so it would be a nice change of pace to have men drooling over her at Herbert’s...if there were any handsome single men in this town to begin with.
Tiffany supposed she would take her time getting to know the residents, learn who was taken and who wasn’t. Having someone to take her mind off of the past would be nice, after all, even if it didn’t lead anywhere serious.
Yawning as she collected her purse and keys, Tiffany sauntered outside, locked her front door, clambered into the rickety old car Amanda had given her, and began the short journey to Herbert’s.
She didn’t notice the wolves that loped alongside her in the forest as she drove in.
Parking just behind the diner, Tiffany made her way inside, Amanda nowhere to be seen yet finding herself in the middle of a crowded restaurant. With her jaw-dropped, her openly stared at the sheer amount of people, mostly elderly folks, packed into the booths and tables scattered along the main room. Patrons began, one and all, to turn and study her as she remained within the doorway, their eyes widening as if they were staring at an alien that just landed outside the diner.
Suddenly flustered, Tiffany shut her mouth and walked over to the counter, leaning over to ring the tiny bell placed beside the register. Amanda’s head popped out from the kitchen at the sound, her face simply blinking before recognition crossed her face. “Oh! Tiff! Thank goodness you came. I thought you maybe decided to stay home tonight.”
“No, I accidentally fell asleep though, hence why I’m late,” Tiffany said, struggling to remain calm under the myriad of eyes ogling her. “Listen, can I hurry up and start helping or something? I’m not used to just standing around.”
“Yeah, of course. Just let me get your name tag, and then I’ll introduce you to the whole restaurant, so people know who you are.” Before Tiffany could reply, Amanda ducked back into the kitchen, returning quickly with a simple sticker that she pressed against Tiffany's chest. “Look’s good! Let’s get that introduction under way, yeah?”
The next half hour went by quickly. Amanda clapped her hands to get the entire restaurant's attention fixed on Tiffany. The crowd had welcomed her warmly, each greeting her individually when they came up to the counter to pay their bills. Tiffany’s nerves subsided as soon as Amanda showed her how to work the register and the like, teaching her the menu and the prices and what to say to Edward when she took someone’s order. Her first night wasn’t perfect by any means, but it was a strong start, and Tiffany already felt a part of the community, even if there weren’t many people around her age hanging out at Herbert’s. There were a few married men who had stared at her or tried to strike up daring conversations with her until their wives angrily pulled them away. It was like Tiffany was a magnet, making her heart ebb and flow with every person that came to speak with her. The few people she took orders from tried to keep her to themselves, asking all sorts of questions that quickly got too personal.
She was comfortable until a duo of odd men waltzed into the diner, their wolf-like eyes locking onto Tiffany instantly and watching her the whole way to their seats in a booth at the corner end of the restaurant. Unease rippled through Tiffany as she made her way over to them. Their eyes flickered between each other and her when she stopped in front of them, clicking her pen and bringing up the pad of notepaper Amanda had given her.
“Can I start you guys off with something to drink?” she asked calmly. A quiet shared look passed between the two men before the one on her left answered.
“Waters...for both of us.”
“Okay...waters. And you wouldn’t be ready to order, would you?”
The one on the right spoke now, his muscles bulging beneath his shirt. Normally, Tiffany didn’t mind the eye candy or the tease of a nicely shaped body beneath a thin t-shirt, but right now she watched the two men carefully. There was something familiar about them both, as if she had seen them somewhere before. “Actually, we are. We usually get the same thing here. The fish and chips,” he said.
“One for each of us,” the one on the left said.
The one on the right chuckled. “Obviously, man.”
“Okay, well, I’ll go put that in for you two gentlemen,” Tiffany said, turning on her heel to march away.
The hairs on her body shot up under the pressure of their leering eyes. “Gentlemen!” she heard the one on the left exclaim. “She called us gentlemen!”
Arriving back at the counter, Amanda trudged out from the kitchen at the exact moment Tiffany placed the order in front of Edward. “Ah, I’m exhausted! I wouldn’t mind going out for a beer after work...how about you, Tiff?”
Smiling, Tiffany shook her head. “Not tonight. I’m pretty tired myself you know. It took me all day to get here, and I’ve already started working.”
Waving away Tiffany’s claim, Amanda leaned over to look at the ticket Tiffany had placed in front of Edward. “So who’s that for?”
Tiffany pointed. “The two guys that just came in, in that back corner?”
“Ah, really? Well, let me just…”
For the first time all day, Amanda’s voice trailed off. It did so the moment she spotted the two men in the back, their eyes continuing to glance over at them. She smiled at the men silently, which Tiffany didn’t think was humanly possible for Amanda, but then her new boss grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the kitchen.
“What’s up?” Tiffany blinked.
“Try not to talk to those guys too much,” Amanda suddenly said, her tone sharper than Tiffany had ever heard it. “They’re trouble.”
“What? Why?”
“It’s just a hunch, Tiff, but those two always hang around Herbert’s when someone new comes in...specifically when a woman comes around.”
Tiffany’s gazed widened. “What are you saying, Amanda?”
Amanda’s expression grew taut and swung back to Tiffany. “It’s simple, isn’t it? I think they have some connection to the kidnappings.”
Chapter Eight
Kyle
It had only taken an hour to reach Salem from the Woodland Bear Clan’s territory, yet it had taken days to look for a mate in the godforsaken town, and the hunt was still ongoing.
The days were slowing, becoming blurred for Kyle as he stalked the streets of downtown Salem. It had been years since he’d visited, the last time with Alexander and Emily, yet now that he was alone, the whole town seemed...different. It was hard to put a finger on what exactly threw him off. Maybe it was just his growing insanity that put Kyle on edge, the fact that his search for a mate grew more desperate with each passing day. Since arriving in town, Kyle had spent two nights in a rundown motel just outside of town, and every morning he awoke to claw marks running the length of his bed, his sheets torn and pillows ripped open to allow the feathers inside to scatter all over the room. On the mornings Kyle had found his clothes in tatters, and he assumed the worst.
Word of mouth reached him the second morning, confirming his fears. A grizzly bear’s growl could be heard coming from his room every night, along with the sounds of ripping and tearing of sheets, and the hard thuds of padded feet. Evidently, Kyle had shifted unconsciously during the nights, and so he added the idea to his growing list of worries. Surprisingly, and luckily, no one seemed to want to approach him about the noises.
But still...shifting during his sleep? He’d never heard of something like that before. Was it a symptom of his growing madness? Kyle couldn’t have been sure. There hadn’t been any cases of Woodland bear shifters going feral in years, the last one turning when Kyle had been just a cub in his mother’s arms. Kyle seemingly had it bad. Worse than others in his clan, and worse than Alexander once had when he had been alpha.
It didn’t help that the chances of Kyle finding a mate grew slimmer each day. Salem was small, easy enough to explore within a single day if someone wanted to. If there were a si
ngle human woman about, he’d thought he’d have found her by now. It’s not like humans lived in the woods like the Woodland Bear Clan or the Gray Rock Wolves. So why were they so damn hard to find? Even the few bars that populated the town were seemingly devoid of single people, and more crowded with couples than ever before. Each night he’d gone to the bars, drinking to keep his insanity at bay, and scowling at his inability to find the one for him.
It was even worse during the day, when he walked around the streets and the back alleys, going from store to store on the main thoroughfare, finding no one that would settle his stomach and mind.
None of it made any sense! Shifters from all walks of life came to Salem regularly to find mates on the basis of “work,” but clearly something had seriously changed. Salem was like a wide river that once flowed endlessly, only to be nothing more than a dry creek bed nowadays. Were those rumors about kidnappers scaring people away? Or were there real kidnappings happening that Kyle was unaware of? He couldn’t be sure, yet it didn’t matter one way or another. There were no women in Salem, it seemed.
As Kyle trudged down an alley, he thought of the next closest town. The trip over would be a few hours, but would Kyle even last that long? Even if he did arrive, wouldn’t he just go wild, unleashing his bear in the worst way possible?
But then the pressured returned with a vengeance, and Kyle crumpled to his knees at the surge of pain flaring in the back of his skull. His bit his lip so hard out of reflex that he began to bleed out of his mouth. Holding his stomach, Kyle strained to reign his bear in. He could feel the cage inside bend, weaken. No, not here! Not yet! I won’t run rampaging through Salem like a feral beast! Yet his thoughts weren’t enough to calm the tide washing over him, meaning he wasn’t aware of the set of sly footsteps that slunk their way forward in the alley. It wasn’t until the man spoke that Kyle realized he wasn’t alone.