Keeper of the Alphas - Complete (10 page)

Cami was halfway to the funeral. Jayce was trading a meal for a
meal
. And Pam—

Well. He didn’t even want to
think
what Pam was up to now.

The fox girl scampered through the woods on quick feet. Lightly, she bounded over mossy stones and logs. It’d been too long since she’d had a proper meal and the squirrel she was chasing looked to be just the thing—

A loud
snap!
echoed through the woods and the fox lurched and tumbled into an explosion of leaves.

Bones cracked.

The ginger woman lay panting in leaves and dirt. Naked, blood trickling down her foot. Even as her leg transformed, the bear trap just sunk deeper into her human skin.

The autumn leaves crunched underfoot. Pam walked up to the fox woman with her revolver in hand. She dropped a silver bullet in the barrel and snapped it into place.

“Keeper Lynn protects me!” the fox woman squeaked.

“Your precious Keeper is dead, sunshine,” Pam said, cocking her gun. “Ain’t no one protecting your furry ass now.”

The shot rang out.

Cami practiced breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth. Then in through her mouth and out through her nose. Then just
breathing, keep breathing
, because any second she felt like her heart might pound straight out of her chest and stop working.

The ceremony was simple. Quiet. Not small; her mother had plenty of people who at least pretended to care about her when she wasn’t looking. But it was steeped in tradition. The ceremony was set up in the small Catholic church where Cami’s grandfather once had served as pastor (back when he was still alive and Cami was very, very small). Most of the people streaming through the doors were hospital workers or loyalists to her family name.

Some, she knew. They shook her hand, smiled sadly, and gave condolences. Most, though, were either unfamiliar or unrecognizable. Most recognized her and averted their gaze or looked at her like she was a time bomb ready to explode.
Lynn’s crazy daughter. Lock her up before she makes a scene.

Cami couldn’t help scanning the room for a wild-haired man with a scar over his brow.

Although she did her best to keep any real emotion at bay (
Save it for your pillow, darling
, her mother used to say), fear still rattled in her bones. Hard to tell what was a dream anymore and what was reality. Maybe she would wake up from this, too, and return home to her mother chastising her for coming home so late.

(Straight home from school. Don’t play in the woods; take Jayce to the river instead. Cami, you’re muddied from head to toe, what did I tell you?)

She’d always assumed her mother was overbearing, overprotective. Now, she had an idea about what Lynn had tried to protect her from.

But to make your daughter feel crazy, though. Her heart was still riddled with resentment. Her head thumped badly, like wailing on a spring mattress with a soft mallet, and she felt a full-blown migraine impending.

It was all too much. Cami needed sleep. Pills. White padded walls. She needed to be carted away for even thinking this way. Bound wrist and ankle. Have the madness fucked out of her. It was outrageous. A mental lapse. Delusional.

But if it had all been in her head, how to explain the bruise—?

Thinking about it made it burn, itch, and Cami sat in her pew and adjusted Jenny’s scarf. His hands had been strong, so strong, his grip so tight. She felt like she was choking again, air barely scraping the dry cavity of her throat—

A hand squeezed her shoulder and Cami yelped, jumping in her place. Jayce flattened back at her reaction and tried a warm smile instead. “Sorry,” he whispered from his spot in the pew behind her. “And…sorry.”

His eyes were wet, his voice sincere. Like Aunt Sadie, he wore his emotions on his sleeve. Cami nodded dully and felt the sudden urge to crawl into his lap and cling to him like a little girl. “Thanks,” she said stiffly.

He closed the gap anyway, coming around to pull her into a hug. He smelled like sandalwood and smoke and her nails made dents in his back.

She pulled away first, sniffed, then sat back down again. He kept her hand, though, with his fingers interlaced with hers, and held it over the back of the pew. Even placed a small kiss to her fingers. She let him.

Aunt Sadie clung to her other hand and blubbered through the service. Jenny sat beside her mother, silent, but at least she wasn’t texting. Cami tried to listen to the priest, something about selflessness and God’s gift and taking care of others.

“All rise,” he said. The church thrummed with the sounds of feet tumbling onto the stone floors. Did nothing for her migraine and Cami winced against the noise.

Lynn’s coffin was black, sleek, like a bullet at the end of the church. People began filing up to pay their respects. Cami’s heart butterflied in her throat when Aunt Sadie’s hand latched onto hers and urged her to the front of the line. Jayce attempted to fall back, but Cami gripped his hand even tighter and pulled him along the chain with her. No way in hell she was doing this alone.

The coffin was framed with an explosion of purple, white, and pink carnations and weeping hyacinths—no doubt Aunt Sadie’s doing. Gothic, burgundy calla lilies lined the front (Jenny’s attempt, maybe, to remind her Aunt Sadie that this was a
funeral
, not a rainforest). With every step, Cami’s heart fluttered harder in her chest, making her break into a sweat. She could see her mother’s face, small nose, cream-white skin. Her hair, tied back tightly in a bun—

Cami dashed out of the church. She turned and just started running; her shoes clicked unevenly on the hard floor. She heard Jayce say her name as she shoved past him, but she didn’t stop. She burst through the heavy church doors and bent over with her hands on her knees, catching her breath. She felt dizzy, sleepless, like she might be sick. There was that man-bear in the back of her mind again, that reopened fear that made her quiver all over—

A hand on her shoulder. Cami whipped around and then let out a sigh of frustration. “Jesus, Jayce, you can’t—”

“You want to get out of here?” he asked. Big, puppy dog eyes.

She nodded. Her mouth felt dry. “Please.”

Cami’s migraine was so deafening, she didn’t even hear the growl of Jayce’s Camaro cut short.

“We’re here,” Jayce said, snapping her out of it.

“Oh. Thanks.” Distracted, Cami started to untangle herself from her seatbelt.

“Do you want me to come in?” Jayce’s eyes were soft, full of concern.

Any other day, she’d say
fuck yes
and ride him six ways to Sunday. Right now, her head felt like it was going to split in two.

Plus, there was the whole matter of the man-bear sprawled across her kitchen table.

She shook her head then leaned in and pressed a kiss to the side of his face. “Thanks for the ride,” she said and got out, shutting his car door behind him.

By time Cami unlocked the door and got inside, Marcus had already moved from his place on the table, mobile. Looking
human
. Even put on a pair of loose grey pants (to her disappointment, she realized. It made a nice centerpiece). He was crouched over the fireplace, poking at the flames. It had risen to a nice low burn. His radio—propped up on the mantelpiece—crooned lightly.

“Hey,” he said when his eyes met hers, his voice low.

She dropped her purse on the couch. “You’re alive.”

He nodded. “Seems so.”

He was quieter, lacked his stubborn and blunt aggression. She couldn’t blame him for being awkward, not really. It was probably his attempt at being soft with her, after the past twenty-four hours. Attacked by a grizzly.
Saved
by a grizzly. Put her estranged mother in the ground. It was more than enough to make her head spin and throb.

“How’s the bandage?” she asked.

His shoulders rolled back when he shrugged. She noticed the muscles of his back flex. “It’s fine.”

When she stepped closer, she could see the dirt-brown stain his dried blood had made on the white cloth. “Let me change it,” she offered. With that, Cami stepped into kitchen and grabbed the gauze tape. The towels were still smattered across the table, one bunched up on the floor, but she’d take care of that later. She didn’t have the energy to deal with something like
cleaning
. She stepped back into the den and pointed to the couch. “Sit.” He did, wincing as he moved, and she crouched down in front of him and moved her fingers to the bandage, carefully unwrapping it.

“Did your mother teach you to do this?” he asked.

Now it was Cami’s turn to shrug. “Yeah. A little.”

A silence lapsed between them, filled by the crackle of the fireplace and the hum of something jazzy on the radio. The bullet wound still looked
bad
, dark and angry, but at least the webs of black surrounding it had faded somewhat. She started to unfurl a few strip of gauze and said, “I want answers.”

He exhaled. Tempered. “You could just go home, you know,” he said. “Forget about all of this.”

“And who would take care of you?” she asked.

“I’m fine,” he said, his voice dropping firmly. He moved his hand to her arm to get her attention and said, “It’s not safe for you here.”

“Who was the bear?” Cami asked. “And why did he come after me?”

Marcus’s expression looked torn for a second, but finally his shoulders dropped, relenting. “Aldric,” he said, clearly. “He’s been the Alpha of these woods for some time. He’s always had a violent streak, but Lynn had him tamed, enough to keep him away from the town, at least.”

“Until he killed her.”

A small nod from Marcus.

“So let me get this straight. There are guys—like you—normal-looking people, who just…change into bears and live in the woods all year round?”

“They have dens. Families.”

“What about you?”

The question made him bristle and he said, “I’m sure you have other things you’d rather know about.”

“No, I want to know about you. Why don’t you live with your bear family in the woods?”

“Aldric is not my family.” His words came out acidic. “He’s a tyrannical alpha who thinks shapeshifters are some superior race. He rules with fear and kills anything that gets in his way. Not all wolves need packs and not all bears need clans. I’m just fine on my own.”

Clearly, she’d hit a sore spot. Still, Cami could relate. Abandon your toxic family. Make it on your own. She knew what it was like to feel like there was no one in your corner, like you had no one to turn to except yourself. “Must get lonely,” she said, speaking from experience.

His eyes met hers. “I get by.”

But that tugged at a thread of thought in the back of her head, something that had been nagging her since the day she’d arrived. “So you and my mom…”

He blinked at her, frowned. “It’s incredibly frustrating when you don’t finish your sentence.”

“Were you ever…a thing? You know. Love? Sex? Caught in the throes of mating season?”

A horrified expression slid over his face. “No. It wasn’t like that at all. Your mother was a healer. A protector. She took me in. Gave me shelter.”

“But why
you
?” Maybe there was more raw pain in her voice than she wanted at that. Really, though. It was infuriating to think that her mother had thrown her own daughter out in the rain and then brought in some…bear-man? “What made you so special?”

“Nothing,” he said plainly. “It was her duty as Keeper to protect humans from the supernatural and the supernatural from the humans.”

“You can turn into a bear,” she said flatly. “With fangs. And claws. I don’t think there’s a lot you need protecting from.”

He looked exhausted by her line of questioning. “There are hunters,” he explained, “who would like nothing more than to kill off every beast one by one. Your mother protected me from them and I, in turn, provided her extra protection from the things in the woods. She took it. And when she left this place, I patrolled the line between the woods and the town myself.” A pause, and then he added, “Aldric was getting stronger and bolder by the day. This place wasn’t safe for her. Or you.”

There was that sinking feeling. The memory of walking up to the bear in the middle of the night, her tiny feet padding against soft ground. Her dream always stopped after the bear’s roar, as though she’d blocked out the rest of the memory. What had
really
happened that night?

“Right,” Cami said, disbelieving. “If this is another
Your mom sent you away because she was trying to protect you
thing…”

“She was,” he said abruptly.

Hot anger rippled through her. “She made me feel insane. As if puberty wasn’t bad enough, I grew up thinking there was something seriously wrong with me. I thought I was a basket case. Do you know what that does to a person? I don’t trust people, I don’t trust myself…”

“There’s nothing wrong with you, Cami,” he said. His voice was low, firm. Confident. She hadn’t heard those words in a long time, especially not with such conviction. It made her eyes sting unexpectedly.

Cami swallowed back emotion and looked back up at him. “What else don’t I know?”

Now he looked hesitant. He leaned in and said, carefully, “You can still walk away from this. Get a plane ticket. Go back to your life in New York.”

“And go back to feeling insane? Yeah, fat chance.” She curled up on the rug, her arms around her knees, and she said, “You’re going to start talking. Now.”

The fire glowed on his face. He nodded once, and then said, “Lynn was a Keeper. A very talented one, too.”

“And Keepers…keep the humans and the supernatural apart. Right?”

His mouth drew into a tight smile. “You catch on quick.”

“Yeah, well, I’m crazy, I have a great imagination. Are there any other Keepers?”

He nodded once. “I’m looking at one.”

Her heart stopped in her chest. Cami stared at him like he’d grown another head. “Now you’re the one that sounds crazy,” she said.

“It’s passed through the women in your family. Your mother was a Keeper. Your aunt. Your cousin. And so are you.”

“But I don’t want it,” she said, feeling suddenly very small and very childish.

“You’ve had your powers all your life. You just didn’t know it.”

“Powers?” she said weakly. “Can I teleport? Turn invisible?”
Invisibility would feel
great
about now.

“Not to my knowledge, no.”

“Then what
can
I do?”

Now it was his turn to look uncomfortable. His eyes dropped briefly, elbows resting on his splayed legs, and he said, “It’s…hard to explain.”

“Try saying it in tiny words, then.”

He shot her a glare and then let out a sigh. “I can’t say what your powers are for sure. You’ll have to find that out yourself. Your mother had a knack for healing and calming a stressful situation. All Keepers have the ability to tame beasts. It’s the only way to keep them in line.”

“So, what, I get to put a collar on you or something?”

His jaw set tightly and his eyes darkened. “If you’re not going to take this seriously…”

“Finish your sentence,” she chided.

“I don’t know why I’m telling you this.” He looked away.

Cami got up and sat on the couch beside him. She curled one leg underneath her and put a hand on the side of his face, forcing him to look at her. The scruff on his jaw prickled against her palm. “Because I need to know. My mother brought me back and gave me this stupid house to make sure I’d stay here. She knew you’d be here. She wanted me to know. She’s chickenshit for not telling me when she was alive and you can blame her for the fact that you have to tell me now. As much as I hate playing into her hand, face it. She wanted this. I wouldn’t be here otherwise.”

Her words seemed to tame him somewhat and he finally sighed, then added, “You have the power to…subdue beasts. Control them. It’s a…pheromone thing. Without even trying, you release pheromones that make the Beast want to protect you instead of kill you.”

“That’s comforting, I guess. What kind of pheromones?”

“It’s…calming. Enthralling. Arousing.”

“Now look who’s not taking this seriously,” Cami scoffed.

The look in his eyes told her otherwise.

“So…what. Are you telling me I…turn you on?”

“Your
scent
,” he corrected.

“And my mother…”

“Your mother,” he snapped, “knew how to control her powers. My beast was always tame around her. She never had to use her powers to snare me.”

“So you were like her big puppy dog.”

His jaw set again.

“Did she have a nickname for you? Like Cubby? Or Teddy? Oooh!” She leaned in and took his chin in her hand, rubbing her thumb over his scruff. “Can I call you Teddy?”

“No.” He took the fun out of everything, tilting his head out of her grasp almost too abruptly.

She watched him, and then a thought occurred to her. She parted her legs just a little and slipped a foot in his lap. “What. Feeling a little turned on there, champ?”

He grabbed her ankle though she heard him inhale, sharply, breathing in her…sex-scent, perhaps? “Control yourself,” he demanded.

Her foot flexed and pointed playfully and brushed against something hard between his legs. His sweatpants were loose, but they still couldn’t hide the growing bulge.

“I think your beast wants to come out and play,” she purred, feeling suddenly wild, as though her very blood was vibrating.

He grabbed her by the hair suddenly and yanked her forward uncomfortably, making her squeak. “I’m not your pet to tame,” he growled at her.

“So don’t let me,” she said, her eyes meeting his in a challenge.

And then he did something unexpected. He grabbed her by the back of her neck and lifted her over his lap. Cami fell over him with a small noise of surprise, her face in the couch cushions, her hips in his lap, her legs spread out to the other side of the couch. She tried to get up, onto her hands and knees at least, but his strong hand pressed her head back down, pinning her there.

His free hand ripped up her dress.
Oh God.
Fear rippled through her, and excitement. One second, she was the one taunting, the next, she was helpless over his lap, her panties exposed in full view.

His hand came down, then. It smacked her ass, hard, and she yelped in surprise. And then another, and another, hard, full palm slaps against her panties. It made her ass sting and her thoughts scattered. She could feel his hard erection against her belly and his strong hand on her rear. It was too much—her nipples hardened, chafing against her dress, and she could feel her pussy lips swell and leak. Could he see the wet spot she was leaving on her panties? She felt lewd, exposed, even though she was still technically fully clothed, and it just made her want more.

“Are you going to behave now?” His voice was musty like a dark beer but also smoother now. As though he was in his element here. She realized just how much he’d been acting for her before, holding himself back for…what. Her safety? She was tired of being protected like a china doll. And now he had her where he wanted her. Ass in the air across his lap, helpless.