Southern Shifters: Bearing the Ink (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Black & White Book 3) (3 page)

“They do?”

“Yeah.” Gus nodded and settled his arms on Bex’s shoulders. “We’ve had a couple come by, asking what was up with all the motorcycles and big, scary men. Wanted us to know this was a peaceful community.”

“What did you tell them?”

“That we’re here for all their daughters and single women,” Michael quipped. He stood at the stove, peeking under the lids of large pots. The back of his hand was smacked with a wooden spoon for his efforts.

“Just because this isn’t your home, doesn’t mean the same rules don’t apply. Hands off until dinner.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Where’re the wolves?”

“Around.”

Gus lifted his head at the unfamiliar voice. “Who the hell are you?” He wrapped his arms around Bex’s chest in a protective gesture and hugged her tight to his body.

“Derrick. Luke left me and a couple others here. He said you’d be a bit put out about it but to take it up with him when he returns.”

“Arrogant ass,” Michael muttered, shouldering past the wolf shifter.

“As long as y’all haven’t caused any trouble, we’re good.”

“We’ve been studying the maps and documents that were brought last time.”

“Find anything new?”

“Too many damn packs to even know where to begin,” Derrick muttered.

Gus nodded in agreement. “We may have a lead. We have to contact her again, but we ran into a wolf who’s looking for her missing brother. She overheard us talking to a human who happens to be her employer.”

“You talked to the Mayor?” Meryl asked. “What did you learn?”

“No. His son.”

“His son?”

“My mother’s fiancée.”

“Oh my God,” she gasped. “He’s still alive?”

“Yes. My mother thought he was dead all these years and he’s been living in the house he grew up in.” Bex slid out of Gus’s arms and left the kitchen the same way they’d come in.

“That poor girl. Had to be a shock for her.”

“For him too, I would imagine. I don’t know how to help her through this.”

“This isn’t something you can really help someone through, but something you can stand by them through.” She set the spoon down and flipped the knobs on the stove to off, then advanced on Gus. For as small as she was, his adoptive mother was formidable.

She took his hand and led him toward the back door. Bex was in the yard, sitting on the seat of a rope swing. She dug the toes of her shoes into the dirt, her head bowed, shoulders slumped. Gus’s heart broke. “She seems so lost.”

“Yes, but I think you’re her way back.”

“How so?”

“When you came to live with us all those years ago, you had that same look about you. Your circumstances were different, but you were just as lost.

“What do I do?”

“You be there for her, standing strong at her back, but you have to let her come around on her own. The more you push her, the more she’ll resist. She hasn’t had a chance to process things and whether she knows it or not, her mind is fighting the changes that are taking place.”

Gus understood what his mother was saying and he’d known deep down inside, that, no, he couldn’t help Bex. But he felt too helpless standing by, waiting.

“She’ll come around. I know it doesn’t seem that, but she will. She needs some downtime. Some time to relax.”

“Unfortunately, time like that isn’t something we have.”

“I know.”

“Do you think she’ll be able to shift, then?”

“I don’t know, but it’s possible. She has to feel safe and I can’t imagine that she feels too safe lately.”

Safe
. Gus remembered what it was like to not feel safe. He hadn’t felt that way for too many years after his real parents were killed. There were times as an adult that unless he was moving, riding, going from place to place, he didn’t feel safe.

He never liked to think he was running, but he knew that’s what it had always been.

He kissed the top of her head. “Thank you.” He’d take her advice and give Bex some space. Instead, he’d talk to the wolves. He’d see what he could learn from them and wait for Luke to show up again.

In the dining room, he found Michael with his cell phone out. “Are you calling her?” Gus asked, referring to the she wolf they’d met earlier.

“Yes.”

“Want privacy?”

“Why would I need privacy?”

Gus hid the smirk. “No reason.”

“Exactly.” Michael started to put the phone to his ear, but lowered it back to his side. “Do you think I should text her first? I mean, if there are cameras, I’m going to assume there’s audio too.”

Gus squatted on the floor next to the maps. He knew the mountains like the back of his hand. He’d been riding them, running through them all his life. He knew the caves and overlooks. He knew hiding places where no one would find them for weeks, maybe months.

And then he realized where his thoughts were going. He was formulating a plan to take Bex and run, to hide her away, to keep her safe.

He shook his head. His instincts were always to run and he had to change because if he didn’t, he was afraid he’d one day steal her away in the middle of the night and force her into a life of hiding from herself and her past, the way he did.

God. What a fucking mess he was when roots came into the picture.

“Gus? You listenin’, man?” Michael asked.

“Nah.” Gus shook himself out of his head. “Sorry, what?”

“Should I text her instead of calling? You know, what she said about the cameras around the house?”

“Might be best? Send a text, a code, something that if found wouldn’t mean anything to anyone but us and her? Shit, man. I’m out of my depths with all of this.”

“We all are,” Michael agreed. Gus watched for a second longer as Michael began typing with his big fingers on the small phone.

As Michael sent a text to Maxine, Gus studied the areas of the maps that had been circled, mostly in red, to denote locations where shifters had disappeared. Would more be added when Luke returned?

He ripped a piece of paper and wrote down a question, then slid it toward Michael. His brother nodded once he’d read it.

Michael’s phone rang within seconds. “Hello?”

Gus heard the faint female voice on the other end once Michael answered.

“Hey, it’s Michael. Yes. The bear.” Gus did smirk, then. Even if Michael denied it, Gus had noticed the interest that passed through Michael when the she wolf approached them.

“Look, we have something of a home base in Dandridge. Yep. That’s the place. Would you be willing to — Great. Right. We’re interested in hearing what happened to your brother. Uh… Yeah.”

Gus tried to decipher more of the conversation from the one side he could hear, but to get closer to eavesdrop, may tip Michael off that Gus knew of his attraction to the wolf.

“One more thing before you go… The general location where your brother disappeared? Do you know anything about the area? I’ll explain why I’m asking when I you get here. Okay.” The last word was clipped and when Michael turned to face Gus, his lips had thinned into an unsmiling and unwelcoming line. He said goodbye to the she wolf, and ended the call. “Her pack is up near Bristol. On the Virginia side. He disappeared about forty-five miles outside the town limits. He used to go fishing in a small pond and that was the last place anyone knew he was going that day.”

“A wolf that fishes?”

“Go figure. Catch and release, maybe?”

Gus grabbed an orange marker that was mixed in with all the maps and papers, and drew a circle around Bristol, Virginia. He put a W in the center of it. “She comin’?”

“Tomorrow afternoon.”

“You going to get her?”

“Nope.”

He wanted to rib Michael some more, but the wise thing would be to keep his mouth shut. Instead, he stared at the map, making mental inroads from all the various locations. In his head, he could see specific trails where people might hike. Most of the areas where shifters had disappeared were protected by Federal Law and were not hunting grounds. The Mayor had been a politician. Did he have connections higher up than the North Carolina government? Or was he truly acting on his own?

Gus wanted to make some sense of it, the circles here and there, the clusters and the spread out by hundreds of miles sites. “It’s random. All of it. Sometimes I think there’s a pattern, but then other times I don’t see anything except a hell of a lot of red circles, various elevations, and places a man with a bow and arrow or a gun could hide out, blend in.”

“I don’t think there is a pattern or any sense to make of it. They’re poachers. Murderers. You didn’t see the inside of that house, the heads on the walls. None looked familiar, but there were some that couldn’t be from this area. I’m sure we haven't seen the worst of it. They kill for sport and not for any other reason.”

“What do you mean some that couldn’t be from this area? What area?”

“South. There was a Kodiak bear rug in the entryway.”

“What the fuck are they doing with an Alaskan bear? Does this damn ring reach all the way to the other end of the country?” The idea that the Mayor’s crew could reach all the way to Alaska… His stomach churned at the thought.

“However far it reaches, is too damn far.”

“It must be hard for her to live there,” Gus remarked offhand, referencing the she-wolf. He needed to change the subject for a few minutes. He wanted to get a reaction about the wolf from his brother, and feeling sorry for the female would definitely be the way to get one.

“Yeah. Don’t start. She chose it.”

“Only because she was looking for information.”

“So she says. She’s wolf. Can’t always believe everything they say. Remember Little Red Riding Hood?”

Gus scoffed. “Don’t pretend you don’t feel something.”

“Again. She’s wolf.”

“So? It’s been known to happen.” While what he said was true, the mating of two different animal types was rare as far as he knew.

“Wouldn’t and will never work. I’m not interested.”

“Right. Even Bex sensed it.”

“Just because y’all are in love doesn’t mean everyone else is. Not all of us are wearing rose colored glasses.”

“Not all of us are blind to the obvious, either.”

“Shut up.”

“Oh, now there’s a retort.”

“I’ll beat the hell out of you and you know it.”

Gus grinned and stood to his full height. Michael wasn’t short, but he wasn’t as big as Gus, in height or breadth. Michael laughed, but met Gus’s stance. “You can’t best me.”

“I could if I wanted.”

“You’ve never been able to before.”

“You want a have a bit of a go round? I’ll slam your ass into the wall.”

“And uh, you’re sure you don’t have a little, tiny thing for the wolf? Cause, your aggression is showing.”

“Fuck you.”

“Not my type.”

“Well, lookie here.”

Gus turned his head slightly to find Luke Blackwood standing behind him. He also found himself with a right hook upside his jaw. “Shit, Michael.”

“Thanks for the distraction, Blackwood.”

“Don’t mention it.”

“Fuck the both of you.”

“You couldn’t handle it, Bear.”

Gus worked his jaw back and forth. At least nothing was broken this time around. “You want to find out just who could handle what?”

“Damn. Pissing match a thing with all bears, or do I just bring out the animal in you both?”

Michael shook his head. “More like the whole family. So, what say we get down to business. What did you find out?”

Chapter Three

Bex spun herself in a slow circle, twisting the ropes as they hung from the tree limbs. She stared upward, watching as they tightened around each other, creaking. It became harder and harder to spin each time, until she couldn’t anymore, until the ropes were as wound as they were going to get.

How long could she hold the position? How long could she keep her muscles coiled and rope wrapped around rope before she let go? How long would the tension last before it gave way and spun out of control?

The sky was so blue, so beautiful, so clear.

And clear was the one thing she wasn’t. Clear was the one thing she couldn’t see. She knew she needed to suck it up and get on with the business of her business. She didn’t have unlimited cash sitting in the bank. She had to work. She had bills and a mortgage and a house to finish renovating. She had goals and priorities. None of what was currently going on was part of that. She hadn’t made provisions for love or family or enemies.

She wanted to scream. She wanted to run. She wanted to be alone with herself, her thoughts, her life.

But how was she supposed to do that when there were so many other things up in the air? How did she do any of it when her life now consisted of love, and family, and enemies?

“How did you cope all those years, Mom?” Bex whispered to the sky. What she wouldn’t give for her mother to send down some wisdom from above.

Of course, her mother hadn’t known Bex was part bear. She hadn’t know Beck was still alive, either. She may not have been able to handle all of that so well, or any better than Bex was doing. Maybe ignorance really was bliss.

At the tops of the trees, where the sun hit them, she could see the changing colors of the leaves. Fall was starting to take over, cool weather could be felt later in the day, and somewhere football was being played. Normal everyday activity was happening outside her little world. But nothing was normal for Bex this year. Nothing had been normal since her mother got sick. Nothing had been normal since her mother died.

A scream clogged her throat and she wanted nothing more than to let it out. If she could just let go of some of the anger and pain inside her, maybe she could think more clearly. As it was, she didn’t think a scream in her quiet little neighborhood would do anything more than alert the neighbors more than they already were to the goings on at the old Victorian.

She felt trapped.

She needed to get out.

She lifted her toes from where she’d dug them into the dirt to hold the swing’s position. Hands tight around the ropes, she closed her eyes and let the swing spin. Her stomach tied itself into knots at the speed of the swing twisting, but as soon as she came to a stop, Bex jumped off the seat and staggered, dizzy into the house.

Gus and Michael were in the dining room with Luke Blackwood All three looked at her at the same moment. Gus took a step in her direction, concern deep in his eyes. “Bex?”

“I need you to take me somewhere.” She really needed to get that little truck she’d been thinking about. She needed to know she was going to be making some money soon to cover what she’d need to take out of the bank, but she needed that small measure of freedom.

He looked as though he wanted to say something more, but didn’t. He simply kissed her on the top of the head, took her hand, and walked her out the way she’d come in. No more words, just action. She could depend on him and a little bit of the coiled emotion inside her chest eased.

He handed her a helmet, then put his own on. He was on the bike waiting for her by the time she got hers fastened. “Where to?” he asked as she took her place behind him.

“Away. The forest. A mountain. I don’t care. I just need some space that isn’t populated.” She sounded desperate and her voice shook with a need she wasn’t familiar with, but that seemed to be her constant companion the last few months.

She’d vowed earlier to be as strong for Gus as he had been for her since they first met, but until she got some of what was bottled up out, she couldn’t take care of him any better than she could take care of herself.

He patted her hands and rolled the bike to the edge of the driveway, pushed the start button, and they were off down the street. He turned west, then took a side road south. There was nothing around that she could make out other than trees every now and then a clearing, followed by more trees. Abandoned buildings, ruins of barns, and trailers dotted the landscape at odd intervals, but every bit of it still felt like home. The country suited her. The mountains called to her soul. She’d gone to college in Knoxville, but she had longed for places less full of people and noise in environments she couldn’t control.

Gus veered left at a small, two lane road that looked like it had seen better days. The pavement was less than smooth, some parts of it worn away, down to the dirt. He pulled off at the edge of a dense patch of trees and maneuvered the bike to keep it hidden from the road. “Where are we?” she asked when he cut the engine.

“Someplace private. It’s what you wanted. C’mon.”

They left the helmets on the bike seat and Gus led her deep into the woods. They didn’t follow a path, yet Gus seemed to know where he was going. A small stream trickled close by and ahead, a pond appeared. It was idyllic. “How did you know about this place?”

“I’ve run through the surrounding areas of Dandridge when I can’t sleep.” How had she not known he left their bed?

“That’s dangerous, Gus.”

“Yes. But it’s my way of trying to keep you safe. I need to know what is and isn’t out there. I need to know the easiest and quickest escape routes if we need them.”

“I appreciate that, but if something had happened to you on one of these little jaunts…” She didn’t want to think about what that would mean.

“You’d be well taken care of, trust me. But I have no intention of anything happening to me. I’m trying to take care of you, pretty girl.”

“I know. I didn’t ask that of you, though.”

“No. You didn’t. I’m doing it anyway.”

“Are we alone out here?”

“I don’t sense anyone around. I don’t see or hear anything out of the ordinary. I’d know if we were being watched, so, yes. We’re alone.”

“Good.”

“Why are we out here?” he asked. “Why did you need to get away?”

“Give me a second and I’ll show you.” Bex stepped back, several feet from Gus. He stared, a puzzled look on his face. She didn’t blame him. Her behavior had to seem strange to him. “Completely alone?”

Gus nodded. “Completely.”

“Okay.” Bex smiled, brought her shoulders back, tilted her head until she was facing the sky, and let out a long, loud scream. She could hear the tail end of it. She took a deep breath and did it again. And again. She screamed until her voice began to crack and waver. She screamed until there was nothing left, until all the tension left her body and she was left with a sore throat and tears streaming down her cheeks.

Screaming had been something she’d done when she and her mom didn’t get along as Bex was growing up. She’d slam her door, fall on the bed, bury her face in her pillow, and scream herself hoarse. She’d sleep it off after, and when she woke, she’d have a clearer head.

Gus had moved closer to her and when she opened her eyes, he was there, taking her in his arms. She clung to him, her fists bunching his shirt, and cried against his chest, but the aches and tightness and knots were gone from her shoulders and back. She felt lighter, more at ease and relaxed, something she hadn’t felt in longer than she could remember.

“It’s not warm out, but you’re sweating. How about a dip in the pond?”

“Is it safe?”

Gus pulled his shirt over head and the first sight of his tattoos made her hunger. “It’s safe.” She nodded, not trusting herself to utter anything other than something dirty and to the point of what she wanted to do that had nothing to do with going for a dip in the pond.

He shucked the rest of his clothes and Bex swallowed, following the trail of hair from his chest, down his belly, to the thatch between his legs.

He was her wet dream. Every inch of him. She was unremarkable, but he was every bit the opposite. She quickly undressed and Gus scooped her up in his arms and ran. She didn’t even have time to catch her breath as the cold water surrounded her. Goosebumps covered her skin and her nipples pebbled beneath the surface. “Shit,” she gasped.

Gus chuckled, then gently laid her out and she floated loosely across his arms. His skin still radiated heat and the sensations of hot and cold fought for supremacy.

She looked up at him, more in love by the second, and fearful all at the same time that Gus could be snatched away from her in a matter of seconds. “Do you think he’ll come for us? The Mayor, I mean? Do you think he’ll hunt us down now that we’ve been to his house and found out about his son?” She was naked with the most amazing man she’d ever known and all she could think to ask was if they were going to die soon?

“Yes.” Gus’s fingers danced across her back where he held her. “I think he will. I think he’s probably already on our trail.”

“How could he be?”

“They use hunting dogs. I smelled them outside his house. They know how to track, probably as well as we do, but in different ways. They’ve honed their skills as hunters and marksmen and they know the woods just like we do.”

Gus’s words didn’t bring her any comfort. How was she supposed to protect him or anyone else when she couldn’t fight, couldn’t shift? Hell, how was she supposed to protect herself?

She closed her eyes again and tried to clear her head. Easier said than done, but she wanted to try. The water caressed her. Gus’s arms kept her steady. The longer she floated in the water, the more she was lulled into a sense of security, of safety. She hadn’t felt like that in weeks. But then, she only really felt it when Gus was around.

Her body relaxed, almost to the point of a sinking sensation, and she had the strangest feeling of heaviness, but only on the inside. Her arms and legs tingled and her stomach began cramping.

What. The. Hell? “Gus?” She tried to keep the panic out of her voice, but she heard the edge of it and it just ramped up the feeling of unease.

“Let it happen.” What did he mean? Let what happen? He sounded far away and she couldn’t quite focus on him, but he was still there, still holding her up.

Painful stinging lit through her toes, as though they had been asleep and blood was rushing back into them. Her fingers felt the exact same way and still, her body continued to get heavier.

Gus moved with her toward the edge of the pond, but when she tried to stand her legs gave out from under her. She couldn’t form words. Her vision sharpened, more than it had ever been and her hearing…? She could hear everything; From a bird miles away, to the rustle of the leaves in the nearby trees, to small creatures rustling through the forest floor.

To her right, Gus was on all fours in the water, and she watched as he changed, as he shifted from human to bear right before her eyes.

Tension eased back into her shoulders, but it wasn’t the same tension as before. This was different, like she was too big, too much for her skin to handle and contain.

And that’s when she knew, when she realized what was happening. Her body was trying to shift. Alarm raced through her, but then Gus pressed his muzzle against the side of her neck and she sighed. He knew and he was letting her know he was there for her. Every step of the way.

She loved him. Deeply. Completely.

Fur sprouted along her arms and she was swamped with that being heavier on the inside feeling again. The bear. It was her bear trying to get out. Only she didn’t know how to let it out.

Gus had told her to let it happen and that’s what she did. She hung her head and did her damnedest to simply breathe. In and out. Slow and steady. Until she couldn’t anymore. Until the force and will of the animal that was part of her, yanked her head back, popped every bone in her body, and stood tall.

She was a bear.

Wobbly. Off balance. And quite a bit queasy.

But a bear nonetheless.

She looked down into the water, down at her reflection. How was it possible?

How was it possible she looked like a bear, but thought as a human?

She had a snout and really large teeth. Round eyes and claws that could kill anyone, anything that came close enough. She felt human, but not.

She was bigger. Definitely hairier. But, the bigger part…? Yeah, she didn’t really understand. She was still small inside, like the bear was a costume, only it wasn’t. It was her. She thought about opening her mouth and the bear’s mouth opened. She thought about slicing her paw through the air and the bear’s paw lifted and took a swipe in front of her face.

She looked around and found Gus still there, still watching her. His presence was comforting because she was just shy of freaking out.

She. Was. A. Bear.

They’d figured she must be. They’d all talked about it. None of them had been sure she’d ever shift. Her animal came out in the form of sexual aggression.

Had it simply just taken her body relaxing for her to shift? Or was it more? She wanted to ask Gus, but in bear form, she couldn’t. She guessed she could open her mouth and let out whatever sound came out of bears, but she figured he probably wouldn’t understand what she was trying to say.