Scottish Werebear: A Second Chance: A BBW Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance (Scottish Werebears Book 6) (6 page)

"What are you trying to say?" she asked.

"This is my chance to make it up to you. And then, who knows? Perhaps we could try again?" he asked. His eyes had widened now; he had gone from remorseful to excited and full of hope.

Charlie couldn't believe her ears, neither could she keep up with his strange, mixed signals. The wounds he'd left were still too fresh, despite the years that had passed in between. And when she'd decided to track him down, getting a second shot at a relationship with him had been the last thing on her mind. No, she was here to get a story. Perhaps some closure as well.

An apology and short explanation about how they were supposed to live in secret wouldn't do. It wasn't enough to rebuild what they'd lost.

James had been the only guy she'd ever allowed close to her, and it had backfired spectacularly. His disappearance had made her swear off love and go down a different path for herself. He was the reason she'd gone out on her own and made a career for herself.

Charlie shook her head. This wasn't how today was supposed to go.

"Think it over," James said, with a twinkle in his eye.

He pulled his plate closer again and picked up the sandwich.

No way.
She didn't know quite how to respond.

And anyway, he wouldn't have said that if he knew why she was actually here. This time, he wasn't the one with the secret, she was.

"You've got some guts," Charlie mumbled, as she watched him take a big bite of his lunch.

"You have no idea," he responded.

Behind them, some of the other customers started speaking up.

"Hey, someone, can you turn that up?" someone said.

"Yes, turn it up!" Another customer chimed in.

Charlie turned around to find a group of city people in suits, crowding around the counter to watch the TV on the wall.

The bored looking waitress picked up the remote and increased the volume enough so Charlie could hear.

"The latest development in the New Alliance reveal... Our reporter, Rachel Kinsey is in the field."

"Oh bloody hell," James mumbled. "It was only a matter of time before those people got involved."

Charlie turned to find him staring in the direction of the TV with a horrified expression on his face.

Things had been going so well between the two of them, James thought. And then, just like last night, a single TV appearance changed everything.

As James watched the coverage of one reporter's visit to an anti-shifter protest in Glasgow, a sort of catharsis washed over him. This completed the list of players.

The New Alliance, as well as Adrian Blacke and his people, had always shared an enemy. The Sons of Domnall were getting in on the action.

The camera panned across hundreds of people who had gathered in Glasgow's city center. Some were carrying placards with slogans; others held up pictures of what James presumed were loved ones who had been captured or eliminated by the Alliance over the years. It was a scarily one-sided picture, which would no doubt sway public opinion against the New Alliance and the shifter world.

A middle-aged man with salt and pepper hair stepped up onto a makeshift podium and started addressing the crowd, as well as the camera. Underneath him on the screen appeared a white banner with a name that made James do a double-take. Victor Domnall, leader of the Sons of Domnall. In all the years the Alliance had fought against the Sons of Domnall, they had never seen or heard of an official leader. It seemed that the reveal had inspired everyone else to embrace transparency too.

"For too many years, we've struggled against these monsters in the shadows. For too many years, we have sacrificed our sons and daughters for the safety of the human race. It is time for our fight to enter the limelight. These
shifters-"
he spat out the word and made the quotation mark gesture with his fingers, "They talk of peace and harmony, but you've seen their claws. Their sharp teeth. They are not our friends. There is a reason ancient man hunted the predators of the animal kingdom to extinction in these parts. To keep our families safe. Just because these mutants have evolved some form of higher intelligence and the ability to disguise themselves as humans, does not change their true nature. In fact, it makes them all the more dangerous. They are beasts, meant to be conquered and tamed. We are The Sons, and our resistance serves you all."

James glanced at Charlie who sat across from him. She was intently watching the screen and didn't take notice of him. The rest of the customers in the cafe did the same. This man was bloody convincing; a brilliant orator. Just with those relatively few words, he might have swayed some of these people into supporting his cause.

The Sons of Domnall had always operated in secret, simply because most people probably wouldn't have believed in shifters unless they had seen one themselves. Now, this was no longer necessary. Except for those inevitable few who thought the reveal had been some kind of hoax or conspiracy, most people believed.

It wouldn't be difficult for the Sons to start recruiting new members. Not just those fringe elements of society who were suspicious of outsiders by nature, but regular, sensible people, who couldn't see past the predator exterior of the shifters.

The New Alliance had to step up their efforts to appeal to common people, or they would lose this battle before it had even begun.

This wasn't a holiday. He had accompanied Henry and Gail to London for serious work, not fun and games. Now, it was time to get back to it.

"I have to go," James said, while he fumbled with his wallet, leaving a few notes on the table to cover their lunch.

"What?" Charlie turned around.

"I have to get back to my people."

She looked at him in silence. Those bright blue eyes of hers could capture him just as they had done so many years ago. She finally nodded.

"Can I have your number?" she asked.

James smiled. "Only if I can have yours."

His heart meanwhile hammered away in his chest; as hard as he tried to cover it up, he couldn't ignore the danger they faced. The speech they'd just watched was a ticking time bomb. They couldn't afford for the Sons to gain momentum now while they were most vulnerable.

She scribbled her digits on a piece of paper. Meanwhile, he did the same.

"You'll get back okay?" James asked.

She hesitated for a moment and smiled awkwardly. "Yeah, no problem."

Her response gave him pause. "That didn't sound convincing."

"Yeah, no, it'll be fine." Charlie put the note with his phone number into her wallet, which she stuffed into the shoulder bag she'd been carrying.

"You don't live here in the city, do you?" James sat back and observed her.

She slowly shook her head.

"Do you have anywhere to stay?" he followed up his question.

She kept her gaze locked on the leftover sandwiches on the table between them and shook her head again.

James' protective instincts kicked in. He couldn't very well invite her along to Eric's place, but he could make sure that she was safe and comfortable.

He pulled out his wallet again and took out a few notes.

"Whoa, I don't want your money!" Charlie protested.

"Just find yourself a decent hotel somewhere at least!" James insisted.

She looked at the money and up into his eyes again. "I'll pay you back."

James smiled. "Sure. If that's what you want."

"Yes, that's what I want," Charlie spoke resolutely.

She finally accepted the money, her fingers brushing past his in the process. The first time they'd touched, the sensation had been intense. This time, it was even stronger.

James looked into her eyes and knew she felt it too.

Everything seemed to be falling apart around them, and yet his instincts told him to make her his. Of course, she hadn't forgiven him for what he'd done; for leaving her. He hadn't forgiven himself either.

James couldn't stop his mind from racing as they said their goodbyes. He wasn't sure how they'd ended up running into one another today, in what seemed to be a strange city for both of them. It had to be fate, as silly as that sounded.

She represented his one regret in life. He'd never even looked at another woman the way he was looking at her now.

They nodded at each other awkwardly and mumbled their goodbyes. Just as well they hadn't shaken hands or hugged; he wouldn't have been able to let her go.

This wasn't goodbye. He was certain he'd see Charlie again, and he wouldn't have to wait for ten years this time.

"Henry," James greeted his leader as the latter opened the door to Eric's flat.

"James. We have a lot of work to do."

James nodded and stepped inside.

"You've seen the Sons protest?" James asked. The flickering TV in the corner of the living room suggested his question was superfluous.

"He was good, wasn't he?" Gail, who sat on one of the sofas, asked. "I still can't believe we'd never heard of this guy..."

"Yes, he was. Their rhetoric has always been seductive. A certain proportion of the populace will identify with it." James took off his coat and pulled up a chair.

"You know what they say," Henry said. "Know your enemy."

Except for Henry, Gail, and Eric, there were a few new faces in their midst. Members of the London crew.

"So what's our next step?" Eric asked, looking at Henry expectantly.

"Our plan has been to educate from the start. We'll have to step it up if we want to avoid pushing people towards the Sons."

"They had names, pictures. Do we have a list of our own?" James asked. "I know we had some files over at Blacke's office of deaths and abductions which potentially linked back to the Sons, but they were far from complete."

Henry leaned forward and rested his chin on his hands. "The Glasgow office certainly did when I was in charge. I'm pretty sure the Edinburgh office had quite a collection too. I'll check in with Jamie." He sat up straight again and looked in Eric's direction.

"Can you reach out to anyone you might know in the London Alliance for this information? Perhaps someone who might be on the fence about whether to continue following Blacke? If the Sons ramp up their activities, it'll be bad for all of us anyway."

Eric nodded and got up to make the call.

James, meanwhile, pulled out his notes on Blacke and started to strategize. Education was definitely the only way forward. "How's our web campaign doing?" he asked.

"I'll get Kyle's report within the hour," Henry responded.

"And we might as well bring all this up tomorrow," James suggested. Whatever happened, they still
did
have a meeting with the Home Secretary's people in the morning.

"Actually, what we need the most," James thought aloud, "is a face. Someone with real skin in the game. Someone who has lost someone perhaps... Someone sympathetic."

James looked up at Henry, who returned his gaze. "Alison," both spoke together.

"Do you think she'll be up for it? She'd have to go public about her involvement with Jamie," James said.

Henry shrugged. "Only one way to find out."

"Why just her? How about the whole family? Jamie and especially his brother Matthew have quite a story to tell." Gail suggested from across the room.

James didn't know them too well, so he had no way of predicting if they'd be up for this. But the Brown child abduction case was well known in their circles. If they could somehow get Alison on record to speak about why she switched sides, and Matthew to share his experiences being kidnapped as a child and growing up in a strange environment without his brother and his parents... Perhaps they could even involve the parents as well!

That would make for an amazing story; one few people could simply brush away.

The truth was, there was heartache and loss on both sides, but the Sons had forced the shifter world to protect themselves by any means necessary. This was another reason why coming out into the open had been the only way forward. They had to stop the endless cycle of violence and hate somehow.

"That could work," James finally said. "We do need a way to legitimize our story, though. If we simply post it on our website, the Sons will brush it away as propaganda and lies."