Black Gold (16 page)
Authors: Vivian Arend
Tags: #Paranormal Romance, #Fiction, #Romance, #Paranormal, #Suspense
Dark crew cut. Sparkling green eyes. Broad didn’t even start to describe his shoulders. He had a different scent to him—bear shifter all the way, but not one she was familiar with. A cocky smile played around his mouth, and he tipped his head politely. “Hey. You wanna dance?” An instant rejection shot to her lips, trapped when a repeat of Shaun’s laughter carried over and sealed her mouth shut. Pain rippled through her, and she fought the violent urge to be ill. No, no cowering in the corner allowed—this was a far better idea. She would see what Shaun thought of
her
stepping out on him.
If moving from woman to woman was what being mated meant here in the north, she wanted to know right now.
Handing him a little of his own medicine felt more than justified.
Gem put aside every instinct in her that screamed
noooo
and smiled sweetly at the giant. “I would love to.”
She placed her fingers in his and allowed him to guide her onto the crowded floor.
He was a decent enough lead, which let her totally ignore her footing. While she usually loved to dance, this time she was more interested in darting glances between the other bodies weaving around them.
Not that she wanted to see Shaun’s reaction when he realized someone was paying attention to her. No, she was totally uninterested.
The stranger placed a hand on her lower back and tugged her closer. Gem took a quick internal inventory, hoping to find a flicker of interest, some kind of sexual response to being in another man’s arms.
Nothing. It was like dancing with her grampa.
The big shifter was a good-looking fellow, but now that she’d met her mate, it was clear there was a downside to not being with Shaun. She simply didn’t want this man touching her. How could Shaun even think of being with another woman? It made no sense. Her partner guided her to the side to avoid a drunkard teetering past them.
“Sorry about that.” Her dance partner leaned down to speak into her ear. “That guy’s not from here.
Not sure what he’s doing.”
It seemed obvious to Gem. Falling down in the middle of the dance floor. Even the protective arm around her wasn’t enough to allow the butterflies of fear to settle as the noise level increased, loud shouts and insults traded between the drunk and another couple men at the bar. She peeked in Shaun’s direction again, hating that it was his embrace she wanted to be sheltered in.
Across the room, for a split second, they made eye contact. Shaun’s expression passed instantly from shock into sheer rage before disappearing behind the rising head of the drunken bear as he attempted to regain his feet.
90
Black Gold
“Hey, pretty lady. I like you.”
A big hand pawed the front of her dress before she could step back, her companion forcing an opening in the crowds to let them escape.
“Get your hands off my mate.” Shaun’s voice echoed off the roof, cutting through the dance music pounding the room.
Oh,
now
she was his mate? Gem sniffed and moved a step closer to her dance partner.
It was right about then that all hell broke lose.
Shaun stepped onto a bar stool and leapt into the air. The drunken bear made it to his feet just in time to become a landing pad for Shaun’s descending body, and they both tumbled back to the floor. A loud grunt of pain escaped the bear, screams rang in the background and Gem was pushed to her knees as a chair flew overhead.
“Crawl toward the exit,” her partner ordered, covering her with his body as bottles and plates crashed around them.
“Gem!”
She peeked out from under her protective block to see Shaun scrambling upright, only to have a hand snag his ankle and yank him off balance. He kicked backward, connecting a foot with the bear’s face. A roar of anger was followed by a violent swing of arms, and Shaun went down in a tangled mess with the flailing bear.
She was tugged away from the center of the room as the giant bear attempted to get her to safety.
Leaving Shaun behind—it was so wrong. Everything in her wanted to stay back and help him. Anger rose—why couldn’t she just turn and walk away? Why should she feel anxious for him when he’d been cheating on her, talking to another woman?
Because talking is one step away from sex, right?
Oh…pickles.
Maybe she’d misunderstood the situation. Even as guilt struck, a loud screeching sound rang from the left, and she glanced over to see a tall buffet descending toward her. There was no time to retreat, too many bodies between her and escape. She threw up her arms and hoped for the best.
Something hard and warm crashed into her, pulling her to the ground and rolling them both to safety under the feet of the roaming crowds.
“Hold on to me,” Shaun shouted above the noise, and Gem’s heart pounded as she obeyed. She snapped one arm around his neck, clinging tight as he cradled her to his body and plunged them forward through the masses toward where the cooler night air poured in the open front door.
She cried as a blow landed on her side. Shaun rolled them again, blocking her from the attack even as he managed to get them free from the mess and out into the relative calm of the street.
91
Vivian Arend
There were shifters everywhere, in human and animal form. The fights continued, but the scene around them blurred as Gem clutched Shaun with a death grip and allowed him to sweep her up in his arms to carry her away.
“Are you okay?” He paused outside a shop to run a quick gaze over her. “Damn it, Gem, when I saw you go down, I thought I would die.”
Her side ached, but the look in his eyes made things infinitely better. Then she noticed he was bleeding.
“I’m okay, but your face—”
He’d been hit, a ribbon of blood trickling from the cut on his forehead. “Those damn bears. I’ll be fine, but they are acting awfully weird—even for grizzlies.”
“You bastard. Ready to take your medicine?”
Raucous shouts rose from the street behind them, and Gem cowered against Shaun’s side as he cradled her protectively. A crowd of dark bodies had surrounded one figure—the man she’d been dancing with. Two of the group smacked him on the back and sent him sprawling to his knees. He rolled, but couldn’t escape before another shifter landed on top of him and began to systematically pound blows against his unprotected face.
Gem’s throat tightened. She had no idea what was going on, but didn’t think anyone deserved this kind of abuse. She tugged on Shaun’s arm.
“He’s all by himself, seven against one? What could he have done? I didn’t see him do anything wrong.”
Shaun nodded once. “Even if he did, this isn’t the way to deal with it.” He squeezed her tight before turning toward the street.
Gem stepped after him. “Should I…?”
He twirled to face her. “You stay out of it, okay?”
“But I can—”
“Stay out of it.” He clamped onto her arms and stared her in the eye. “I can’t fight if I’m worried about you. Please.”
It only took a second for her to nod, and when he pointed to a nearby doorway, she fled in obedience.
It didn’t matter how strong she was as a wolf, not when other kinds of shifters were involved.
From the safety of the entranceway, she turned to watch as he waded back into the fray. Fists flying, feet kicking. The match was hard and dirty, but Shaun moved with an easy grace, mowing down bodies in his path one by one until he reached the centre of the fight and peeled the two main opponents apart.
“Is he your mate?” a feminine voice asked from beside her.
Gem refused to look away, cringing as a blow rocked Shaun. “Yes. What’s happening?” 92
Black Gold
“The bears have some kind of territorial battle brooding. There is supposed to be a peaceful gathering in Dawson, but a few side agendas seem to be heating up their blood. Martin—the one getting the shit kicked out of him—he’s local. I’m surprised he’s involved, he’s not usually into politics.”
“Is there someone who can stop this?” Martin was back on his feet, standing shoulder to shoulder with Shaun as the circling group of bears took random swings and lunges their direction.
“Like the police?”
“Yes.” Gem slammed a hand over her mouth to capture her gasp of fear. Shaun ducked at the last moment before landing a solid punch on another attacker.
“There are times it’s better to let the guys beat each other senseless. Being shifters and all, it gets messy when they think they’re being bossed around, especially by us females.” Gem snuck a quick peek to her side and finally saw who stood next to her. “Oh. It’s you.” The lynx shifter who had been with Shaun in the bar eyed her curiously. “You have an issue with me, sweetie?”
The intensity of Gem’s simmering fear as it burst into blazing anger surprised her. “Hands off my mate from now on, okay?”
The woman backed up. “Hey, I’m all about the peaceful stuff. No problem.” Someone called out
Nadia
, and the lynx turned, waving her hand at the summons as if annoyed. Gem spotted an abandoned walking stick leaning against the wall beside the door, and desperation sent a terrible idea into her head.
She snatched up the stick. Her mate was in trouble, and she was not going to stand there and watch.
“What are you doing?” Nadia asked.
Besides shaking with fear?
“Letting them fight is not the way to solve matters. Fighting is childish and unproductive.”
Gem slipped toward the street. In the short time she’d had her attention elsewhere, Shaun and Martin had knocked another couple of the gang to the ground, but there was blood pouring down Martin’s arm, and more smeared across Shaun’s face. Gem swallowed hard. Getting involved wasn’t what Shaun had asked for, but she simply couldn’t stand there and watch him be outnumbered.
She raced forward and swung with all her might.
Of course, if she hadn’t squeezed her eyes shut, she would have had a better chance of hitting any one. The sudden
thunk
as the stick made contact with something surprised her enough her eyes popped open just in time to see one of the bears go down with a satisfying crash.
That’s when she realized she was a touch too close to the continuing action, and twirled to race out of reach.
A cooling mist floated past her.
93
Vivian Arend
Gem stared at the sky in confusion, looking for a cloud, or barring that, a water hose being used on the fighters, but there was nothing. Still, her heart rate slowed, and the stick grew impossibly heavy. The impromptu weapon slipped from her fingers as the blonde lynx walked past.
Nadia stepped over the prone bodies to stare in disgust. “What a waste of energy, boys. You want to fight, do it properly. Give us time to organize bets and make it a real evening’s entertainment. Otherwise, you simply piss off the locals, and that’s no fun for anyone.” One of the men snarled at her, and she planted her fists on her hips and glared harder.
He dropped to his knees without another sound.
“See, that’s what I mean. When you’re all growly and stuff? No one likes you.” She clapped her hands and motioned to the bar with her head. “Everyone, time to cool down. Grab a broom, get that dance floor cleaned up and go back to relaxing. No more fights tonight. Got it?” A steady stream of curse words spilled from the lips of one of the fallen bears. Shaun pointed toward him. “You have a first aid center in town? That one needs more than a beer.” Nadia motioned at the crowd, and a couple stepped forward to pull the bear away, his heels dragging on the ground. All the tension in the air simply dissipated, and understanding finally hit Gem. She turned to stare at the lynx in wonder.
“You’re an Omega—and you can control all the shifters.” Gem had never heard of pack hierarchy crossing shifter species boundaries before.
The blonde blinked at her. “And you’re black.”
Gem paused, taken aback for a moment. “What’s that—?”
“Getting described like that is rather offensive, isn’t it? Because that’s not all you are. Don’t define me by the obvious.”
Shaun had a supporting arm around Martin, and a disapproving frown on his face as they paced forward. “Cut her some slack, Nadia. She didn’t mean anything by it.” A smile twisted the corner of Nadia’s mouth. “So the mighty Shaun is mated. I’m interested to hear how this turns out.”
“You know each other?” Gem eyed them suspiciously.
The blonde batted her eyelashes. “No worries, it was a long time ago. He’s all yours now. Really, I don’t poach.”
Gem jerked back, moving toward her mate instinctively.
Martin pushed off Shaun’s assistance. “Thanks for calming things down.”
“Part of the job, you know.” The blonde held up her hands like they were guns, blew smoke from the tips and pretended to holster them.
“Sheriff Nadia. Good one.”
She turned and walked away.
94
Black Gold
Martin sighed, then faced Shaun. Gem slipped in close, tucking herself against his torso. Her pounding heart matched the tempo of his.
The bear shifter held out his hand and Shaun shook it. “Thank you. There’s bad blood between that clan and mine. I appreciated your help.”
“No worries. Shit this bad happen around here often?”
The big shifter laughed, the sound turning into a groan as he wrapped an arm around his ribs. “The fights? Off and on all winter. Typical shifter stuff. But with territorial debates going on, tempers amongst the bears are running shorter than usual. The ballots close in a month or so. Until then, there’s a lot of maneuvering happening. Plus, the more unscrupulous clans are going after the undecided with intimidation, or buying their votes outright.”
“I’ll say it again, you bears have weird ways.” Shaun squeezed her shoulders, his touch reassuring.
Most of the discussion washed over Gem. All she wanted to do was to haul Shaun aside and make sure he was okay.
It seemed to take forever to get back to their hotel room after they said their farewells to Martin, the big man rumbling down the street, small clusters of shifters moving away as he passed.