Alpha Bear (17 page)

Panic was a mild word for what she was
feeling.

She strove for calm. And she began to pray.
She prayed as she had never prayed before, asking for the Mother of
All to send help and if not help, then a quick and painless
end.

A throaty growl sounded from behind her along
with the sounds of a big body crashing through the undergrowth. It
had to be a bear, but was it a regular ol’ bear or one of the
shifters? And if it was a shifter—which was likely—who was it? Was
it someone who would help her? Or was it someone who really hated
magic users and would rather see her gone?

A tear worked its way past her eye and down
her cheek as she waited to learn her fate.

John whuffed a sigh of relief when he found
Ursula standing in the forest. But something was still wrong. She
wasn’t moving. He approached cautiously.

He’d followed her trail easily enough. She
hadn’t tried to hide her steps. It had been a puzzling trail
though. She sort of meandered through the woods until she turned
sharply toward the cove, following a parallel path northward around
the upper arc of the cove itself.

She had stopped at the point where she was
turning toward the water. Her parallel path had brought her around
the cove to an area that wasn’t covered by the ward of protections
she’d cast today and yesterday. If she approached the beach here,
the leviathan and its minions could still get to her.

What was she doing? She had stopped, so if
the leviathan’s evil magic was drawing her in, she was fighting it.
She looked frozen in place, unable to move.

He growled a question, wondering if she’d
understand.

“Whoever you are, I can’t move. So either be
merciful and end me fast, or come over here and show yourself.” Her
voice shook with emotion, but he admired the way she was standing
tall, facing her fate.

He walked up to her on all fours, placing
himself in front of her. Would she recognize him in this form?

“John?” Her voice was tentative, but a thread
of relief sounded through her tone. He sat on his haunches, trying
to look non-threatening. “John, that is you, isn’t it?” He nodded
his bear-shaped head, and she sighed in relief. “Thank the
Lady.”

He shifted, flowing from his bear into his
human form. He might be naked and unarmed, but he figured she
needed his words of reassurance more than anything else right now.
And he was a strong enough bear that he could shift back into his
more lethal form—or the most dangerous form of all, the half-shift
battle form—in the blink of an eye.

“Are you all right?” He wanted desperately to
take her in his arms, but he wasn’t sure if that would cause more
problems right now. Whatever was holding her in place, it had to be
magic, and she was the resident expert on that stuff.

She solved his dilemma by launching herself
into his arms. He caught her with a small
oof
of expelled
air as she hit him, but his arms went around her and held
tight.

“I couldn’t break its spell, but your
shift—the shifter magic interceded and cut the cord that tied me to
the leviathan. Thank the Lady you came along when you did.” She was
speaking rapid fire, near panicked as she hugged him tight and
placed little kisses of relief all along the side of his face. “I
don’t know if I could have held out for much longer.”

He drew back to look downward, meeting her
gaze. “You were fighting it. I could see that. You would have
prevailed. You’re stronger than it, honey. You’re the strongest
woman I know.”

He gave in to impulse and kissed her lips,
keeping it short because they were standing in the middle of the
forest and the leviathan was still out there. Who knew what other
tricks it had up its…uh…tentacles?

“We’re not too far from my place,” he
whispered as he ended the kiss. “Are you okay now? Free of
it—whatever it was—completely?”

She nodded. “Yeah. You broke the spell when
you shifted right in front of me. Your magic must’ve short
circuited the connection.”

“Come on then. Let’s go home.” He turned her,
keeping one arm over her shoulders and headed off through the
woods.

The house was two stories built into the side
of the hill, overlooking the cove. It was high enough that it was
well away from the water, and they’d had to climb quite a ways
uphill to get to it. Inside John’s mind, his bear was doing mental
cartwheels in joy that he was bringing her to its den. John tried
to be a little more circumspect…though being naked for the journey
through the forest on two feet wasn’t exactly
circumspect
.

When they were still about twenty yards out
from the house, John stopped suddenly. He smelled something. It was
like ozone and unearthly flowers. He’d scented it before. Just
once.

“I’m going bear. Whatever happens, stay
behind me.”

“What is it?” He knew he was scaring her, but
he couldn’t help it.

“No time. Stay behind…” His words faded into
a low growl as he went down onto all fours. His shoulder was about
the same height as hers, which meant his bear was big enough to
shield her, should it become necessary. He hoped it wouldn’t be
necessary.

He approached the house slowly. There was a
deck off the side of the house, and that was his angle of approach.
The door there would be accessible. It had an electronic combo
lock, which would work even when he was naked and had no keys.

He paced slowly forward, growling low until
he could see the stranger sitting on the wooden steps that led up
to the deck. And what he saw made him sit back on his haunches in
sheer surprise.

With Ursula’s hand on his shoulder, the
vision in front of him was enhanced. It took the shape of a
man…

A man in glowing armor, a shining sword held
point down, its tip touching the earth as the knight’s hands rested
on the pommel. His head hung down, but it rose as John went silent
in shock.

“I mean ye no harm, laddie. I am here to
learn what strange magics are in play in this hidden cove of yours,
and as I believe is proper among your people, I come to the Alpha
first, to make my presence known.” He bowed his head again, holding
John’s gaze, and then, his focus went to Ursula. “And I came now
because of your prayers, lass. The Lady sent me, but I see your
grizzly friend has already rescued you.”

“Are you a…a knight, sir? A Knight of the
Light?” Ursula whispered from behind John’s furry ear.

“Is that how you see me?” The man gave them a
lopsided smile.

John noted how the sword point sent out
tendrils of pure golden energy into the earth. It was welcomed by
the land around his home, as if it was a blessing. And it felt that
way to John too. This guy was something out of John’s realm of
experience, but he knew that scent…

“Armor, glowing sword…” Ursula whispered.

And just like that, the glowing image winked
out, leaving the same man dressed in jeans and a leather bomber
jacket. The sword was gone, though the man’s elbows still rested on
his knees, his hands held together in front of him, where the sword
hilt had been. John blinked. Then he growled.

The man’s hands rose, palms outward in a
gesture of calm. “Be at ease, my friend. You were seeing something
few are ever granted leave to see. I don’t really know why, but I
suspect it has to do with the magic you’ve both been exposed to in
recent hours. I’ve come to learn what passes here on behalf of
Others who would be allies with those on the side of Light.”

“I think I speak for John when I say, we can
use all the allies we can get. The leviathan almost got me just
now, and I still have two more rituals to perform before my magic
is maxed out here.”

“Then you are the lady mage among these
shifters,” the stranger said, rising to his feet and coming down
the steps to stand in front of them.

John got back on his feet, ready to defend
Ursula, should it be necessary. He wanted to talk to this guy, but
he also couldn’t shift into his naked, vulnerable human form with
an unknown quantity like the glowing knight/bomber jacket guy so
close. John growled in frustration.

“Who are you?” Ursula asked instead of
confirming the man’s suspicions.
Good girl.

“Forgive me.” The man gave a charming smile.
“My name is Cameron. Perhaps I should go stand over there for a bit
while the Alpha has a chance to shift and dress so we can talk.” He
stepped back, giving John and Ursula a wide berth, letting John
pivot to keep the guy in sight while he moved away from the
house.

John didn’t hesitate. He nudged Ursula up the
steps and toward the door, sniffing for all he was worth. Nothing
had been tampered with on the deck or near the house. Cameron had
only been sitting on the steps and before that…? John had no idea.
There was no other trace of scent, but then again, maybe he’d
missed it on the way to the steps. He’d check again later, but for
now, he wanted to get his clothes and his weapons. Not necessarily
in that order.

John hit the combo with one carefully placed
claw, keeping Ursula behind him, John’s body a shield between her
and the stranger. The door popped open, and he urged her to enter,
kicking the door shut behind him with his hind foot.

John shifted as he walked, grabbing spare
clothes he’d left over the couch when he’d sorted his laundry a few
days ago. The housekeeping duties had taken a backseat lately,
which turned out to be a good thing right now.

“What do you think?” Ursula asked in a low
voice as he moved around inside.

John grabbed a spare handgun from its hidden
compartment in the ottoman and tucked it into the spot at the small
of his back where it belonged.

“I’m not sure what to think at this point,
but I know that scent. That guy is more magical than you and I put
together.”

“He’s a knight,” she said, as if he was
supposed to recognize what she meant.

“What kind of knight? And why should I trust
that means he’s on our side in all this?” John asked as he peeked
out the window to see the stranger still standing at the edge of
the deck, his hands in his pockets.

“Haven’t you ever heard of the
Chevalier
de la Lumiere
? Knights of the Light? They’re the ultra good
guys. They are chosen by the Mother of All to serve Her directly.
They are rare and good through and through. They fight evil and
answer pleas for help on behalf of the Goddess.” Ursula made a
sound of surprise, and when John looked over at her, one hand was
covering her mouth and her eyes were wide. “I prayed, John.” She
met his gaze, blinking. “I prayed to the Lady. And then, he showed
up…” She turned to look out the window.

John was suspicious. “Could be a
coincidence,” he offered, watching her reaction carefully.

“I don’t think it was,” she said slowly, her
gaze going from the man in the backyard back to John. “I think he
came here because I asked the Lady for help.”

Ursula’s eyes closed as she clasped her hands
together, seeming to direct a quick prayer heavenward. Perhaps it
was a prayer of thanks, John thought, impressed with her piety but
still very suspicious of the newcomer.

It was time to figure out what was going on
with the guy. Cameron. And that brogue? What was that all
about?

“Will you do me a favor and stay inside, just
until I know what we’re up against?” John asked her.

Ursula regarded him with a serious gaze.
“I’ll stand by, but for the record, I think he’s okay. I think he
was sent.”

“Let me just try to make sure, okay?” John
hugged her close for just a moment, placing a quick kiss on the top
of her head.

“Okay. I bow to the Alpha. You’ve got your
Clan to think about, and I suppose it’s only right that you’re
cautious.” She kissed him on the cheek and stepped back.

John went out to meet the stranger, all his
senses on alert.

“You’re fey,” he said before Cameron could
speak. John hoped to put the other man on the defensive by going on
offense, but it didn’t quite work out that way.

“Aye,” Cameron admitted freely, which was
something John hadn’t quite expected. “Fey and sworn to the service
of the Lady since the last time the Destroyer walked in this
realm.” He nodded as if he felt the weight of every one of those
many years. Centuries. “Sharp of you to notice. Ye’ve met my kind
before then?”

“Once,” was all John would say on the matter.
His last run-in with a fey wasn’t something he liked to talk about.
“That one encounter left me with a bad impression.” John scowled,
but it didn’t seem to affect Cameron.

“Sorry to hear that, laddie. I truly am, but
as in all races, we have our good eggs and our bad apples. And a
whole lot of regular folk just trying to live their lives in peace,
in between.”

“Is that what you’re doing? Just trying to
live your life?” John challenged.

“Och, no. I’m one of those, like you, who
fight for those who just want to live in peace. Some of us have to
stand up or we all fall, is that not so?”

John had to admit he heard the ring of truth
in the fey’s words. He’d play along a little further.

“So what brings you here, to my little corner
of the world?” John asked, folding his arms casually as he leaned
against a tree.

He was aware of movement in the woods. His
guys were circling back. He hadn’t had time to tell them he’d found
Ursula yet, but they were regrouping around him, according to plan.
His casual air would tell them to hang back and watch. Frankly, he
was glad of the backup at this particular moment. Fey were powerful
and could be very unpredictable.

“The magic you’ve been throwing around up
here for the past two days has left ripples through space and time.
Permanent wards affect more than just this realm, and aren’t ever
cast lightly. That you have someone with that kind of power up here
has drawn attention,” Cameron answered candidly. “The fact that
such wards are needing to be cast, and the decidedly other-realm
magic being launched by the other side drew even more
attention.”