Bear Their Secret: Wylde Den Three (Alaskan Den Men Book 12) Read online

  “This is Lorne. Something’s up. Shit’s getting real down here at the house.”

  A pause.

  “Yeah, could be but I haven’t seen any silver backs if that’s what you’re asking. The smoke is blacker than the devil’s ass. You know what that means. Tell my brothers.”

  The twins. Jin and Rebel. Well, other twins. Everett was a twin, but they’d lost Simon ten years ago in a battle with the ice bears. She met them a couple of times back at the summer solstice shindig Mama Wylde threw every June and last night. The two bears didn’t hang around much in Claw Ridge being firefighters in the next town over. “This has everything to do with Simon, doesn’t it?”

  Lorne nodded. “That’s when it all started. And Dad. The ice bear Elder never took kindly to being belittled by my father’s actions of taking in his bastard son.”

  Her brows climbed until they almost buried in her hairline and the house came into view. She sat up, hand perched on the dashboard. “What the fuck is that?” she shrieked. “Is that — Oh my God. There’s no way that smoke is normal.”

  Billowing clouds filled the sky as Lorne slammed the truck to a full stop. She dashed out in a dead run toward the house. The back of the house had yet to be consumed. If she could make it back there, she could grab her necklace. The only piece left of her mother she’d left behind yesterday by accident. She had to try.

  So didn’t even realize Lorne was on her until he had his arms around her, pinning her to his chest, taking the full force of her momentum like it was nothing.

  “Are you crazy? One lick of heat from that fire and it will consume you whole. No human can survive that fire. And no fucking shifter either.” His voice cracked, filled with fear and anger. His expression suffused with something akin to pure rage as he stared at her for a long moment. “What the hell are you thinking? This fire is bewitched. Charmed with a spell that if it touches you not even your fucking soul can be reaped by the devil or angels.”

  “What? How is that even a thing?” Tears welled and spilled down her cheeks and he thumbed them away, holding her face between his palms. “My mother’s necklace. I can’t lose it.”

  She pushed at his chest but she would have better luck moving a mountain than getting him to let go of her.

  Right when she would have reached the back door that led into the kitchen, an explosion rocked that side of the house, sending lethal projectiles of shattered glass in all directions beyond the wraparound porch.

  She ducked, but Lorne had his back already turned and blocking her before a single piece had the chance to reach her. He grunted and she knew they had hit him.

  So stupid. So stupid.

  “I am so sorry!” Raw fear buried in her gut at the thought of losing not the last piece of her mom, but what she could have lost if she had made it to that door. “Please forgive me.” She cupped his face, reality settling over her like a mammoth-sized boulder. Frustration ate at her gut from her stupidity and knee-jerk reaction.

  “Shh, sweetheart. I’m fine. I’ll heal. And damn, I’m the one that is sorry. I really am. I know that necklace meant a lot to you.” He tucked her beneath his chin as he moved them back from the heat of the flames. “More than you’ll ever know, but I can’t lose you. Not over a piece of jewelry. Not over anything. Besides, if something happens to you Kohl would maul me to death and then bury my remains on ice bear territory just to fuck with my ghost.”

  Cherry smiled against his chest. “Probably.” Her speech muffled.

  He pulled her back, his expression void, eyes steady on her. He’d erased the fear from his body and expression for her benefit but she saw past the mask as clearly as she could see the trees in the distance sway as if an earthquake rocked the ground they stood on.

  “Uh, Lorne.”

  Tremors rumbled through the round.

  Gaze afire, he pinned her in place. “Listen, Cherry. There’s something I want to tell you. Kohl and I, that is. I can’t wait, though. Shit is happening too fast and I can’t risk you not knowing.”

  “Yeah. I bet you want to hear mine first, though.” Her gaze darted around his shoulder. “Yep. I’m sure of it.”

  Chunks of earth flew through the air as entire trees were heaved aside. Gnarled roots ripped from the ground as if they were mere saplings.

  Sunlight glinted off ghostly white eyes. “You still have your guns under the seat of the truck?”

  “What? Yes.” He turned her to the truck. “We need to get in now and get out of here. This place isn’t—”

  She swiveled her head to the side. His words fell off as he took in what she was seeing.

  “Told ya.”

  Fur, white as an Arctic ice cap, burst through the tree line. The beasts reared back, their teeth visible from fifty yards out.

  She half laughed half shrieked. “I should have caught that plane after all.”

  “The keys are in the truck. Get outta here while you can.”

  “Fuck that.” Shit just got real and deadly. “It hurts you think so little of me. No Texan ever backed down from a fight and I’m not about to start now.”

  “Woman!” He turned on her and she read his intent the second he laid eyes on her.

  Grass crunched underfoot as she put several paces between them and made her way to the truck. But not for the reasons he wanted. “You try to do the He-man shoulder sling crap again, buster, and those ice shifters won’t be your only trouble.”

  “Keep wagging that finger at me and I’ll use rope too, if it will keep you safe.”

  She narrowed her eyes into slits. “Just try it, werebear.”

  Lorne expelled a huff of frustration. “You stay close and don’t even think of engaging.”

  She brushed off the words he left unsaid and answered with a sly grin, “What are we up against?”

  “Teeth, claws and pissed off fucking ice bears. You saw how Everett and the rest of us looked after the brawl.”

  She nodded. The ice bears stood in the distance taunting them, swaying in place and pounding the earth. And their roar… ear shattering.

  “Do you see Reaper?”

  “Don’t know. I can’t scent him, that’s for sure.” He took a couple of steps back and drew in a lung full of air. He let it out on a deep guttural growl that scared her. She’d never seen his eyes reflect so much hatred. “But I can tell you who I do smell.”

  “So Reaper failed.” Just great. She flicked the handle and swung the door open to the truck. “Everett riles ‘em up and we get the backlash. You think Everett and Pepper came back last night?”

  “If Kohl doesn’t find them back at their cabin, then they could be out again taking samples of water to see how much more possible damage Brax did to the local water supply. Or they stayed close to town with his gunshot wound. Either is possible with those two.” Lorne tore off his shorts. Standing before her naked, he turned to her and dropped to all fours. “Leave while you can, Cherry. This shit will get ugly.”

  No doubt, but she was no coward. She understood she could get hurt but to drive away and leave him here with Kohl? That was too much to ask.

  Within seconds, skin shifted to reveal a thick pelt of black-brown fur. Rage fed into the shafts of amber that slashed through his irises as he peered down at her.

  “Okay then. We’re doing this.”

  A gun. She needed a gun. A girl didn’t grow up in the inner city alone and not know how to shoot a gun. Not that she ever used it, but she kept one in her and her sister’s apartment.

  Dry grass crunched underfoot and cinders scattered through the weeds, causing small pockets of fire to spread along the empty field. She dodged around the flames. But it didn’t help.

  As if alive and able to sense her, they spread to every piece of earth she touched.

  “Uhh, Lorne.” But she was too late, he was already barreling through the field as the ice bears advanced.

  She flung open the truck door and jerked her feet back. Feeling around under the seat, she palmed the cool steel and
brought it up. With quick movements she held the lever and flicked the cylinder open to check the rounds.

  “Fully loaded.” Didn’t expect anything less from her overprotective bears.

  The white of the rushing bears were nearly visible, and she made quick work of finding the extra gun and tucked it in the back of her jean shorts.

  Over the ledge of small hills, a blur of dust kicked up about a mile out. She turned the engine over and held down the clutch.

  “Saddle up, boys. The cavalry just arrived.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Guttural roars were so powerful they crossed the expanse of the field to rattle her chest.

  With a bare foot against the accelerator, Cherry popped the clutch and hit third on the gearshift in record time. “Thank you, Billy.” Her high school sweetheart had a deep affection for open fields and showing off. She’d learned a thing or two that last summer before he headed off to boot camp. Just how big the back seat was in his Mustang and how to drive stick.

  She flicked her gaze to the rearview mirror and saw Jin and Rebel pull up in the spot she left behind decked out in red and yellow gear and not much else. No fancy rig or axes. How they would kill a fire that hunted like an animal puzzled her. She would leave the supernatural firefighting to the pros.

  Peeling out through the long grass, Cherry slammed her palm against the wheel but her frustration didn’t help the truck go any faster. Fire, smoke, the ice bears—how could they win against so many opponents?

  Smoke boiled low across the field like thick fog and limited her vision. From above she could see the crowns of the trees part and clash together as if Godzilla had a hand in this fight too.

  That couldn’t be good. One against how many?

  A flash of brown caught her eye. To the left of her Kohl busted out of the woods and before she could fully break he was on her and diving into the front seat.

  “Woman. We’re are gonna have a talk about you getting in the middle of a fight when we are supposed to protect you.”

  “Yep. We can talk all you want, but later.” White-knuckled, she jerked the wheel to the right, narrowly missing a stump.

  “Where’s Lorne?”

  She pointed out over the hood, reaching for her gun. “Heading there now.”

  “How many?” he asked, already out of the cab on all fours tearing up the earth between here and where Lorne fought off the invasion singlehandedly.

  “Five or six.” Her words fell on the ears of his bear.

  She wrenched around and her mouth fell to the floorboards. “Freaking Greek fire supped up on steroids.” From behind her the fire grew, fighting the firebears as she liked to call the twins.

  Scary. What if they couldn’t put it out? It would consume the entire territory and they would be fighting over what? Charred ash?

  From beside the house she watched Jin and Rebel manipulate the fire. The beast of a flame reared up, fighting the hold of their magick. That’s how Lorne had explained it once. A rare trait among shifters to possess magical powers. How they never explained, but she made a note to ask the next time she had a chance. At this distance all she could see were waves of energy leaving their outstretched palms and their faces scrunched from concentration.

  If they survived today she’d dig for details. Right now she killed the engine, grabbed the gun from the front seat and leaned into the door.

  An abrasive wind and a blur of white were her only warnings before she tasted blood and the red painted metal of the old truck.

  She was thrown across the truck to hit the passenger door. Cherry peeled her face off the side paneling and wiped at the blood with the back of her hand. That would bruise come morning, seeing how it already throbbed.

  An ice bear pinned her with a death glare through the driver’s side window. Or what used to be a window. Metal buckled in the middle to form a Ford door taco.

  She cringed as pain ricocheted through her shoulder and the right side of her head. Huffs of anger flooded the cab, and she drew her legs up fast but too late. A massive paw with lethal claws tore into the soft skin of her calf, blood swelling to spill down the side of her leg.

  With all the force she had, Cherry brought up her other leg and sank all her power into the heel of her other foot.

  The bear’s hold slipped enough and she sat up to stare into pale white eyes boring into her as if hungry to tear her soul from her body through the smashed window. Horror gripped her heart but instead of crumbling she siphoned off the fake bravado pumping through her body and did something she never in her life thought possible.

  With as much force as she could muster she belted out a whooping holler, pulled back and brought down the butt of the gun against the bridge of the bear’s snout and smiled in satisfaction at the crack of bone.

  The bear threw himself back from the surprised shock, but it didn’t last long.

  This time she saw the attack coming and braced for impact as the massive bear slammed into the side of the truck.

  Tucking her chin into her chest she locked her hands and feet against the sides of the small cab like a suction cup toy stuck on a windshield.

  Everything blurred as the truck rolled like a burrito across the field toward the line of trees. Why she didn’t know, but the bear gave the truck another push and over she went again until it came to a stop with the wheels up and her down.

  For a long second it was hard to tell which way was left and which was right. She turned an ankle, and from the way her legs shook, it was safe to guess nothing was broken.

  Trees snapped and gruesome roars set her spine rigid.

  Pinned against the right door, she shifted sideways to take find her bearings. It was her only way out. Well, the best option if she didn’t want to wrestle a pissed off ice bear stalking the left side of the truck like a shark hooked on the scent of blood.

  The windshield had cracked during the roll, which forced stalactite shaped shards of glass to protrude inward waiting to kabob her.

  Option A it was then.

  With her heart nearly choking her Cherry rolled to her knees, keeping her head low to miss jagged pieces of metal that could have skewered her in the tumble.

  Glass from the windshield caught various spots on her bare legs, but she would worry about the scratches later. At the moment she was worried more about becoming bear chow.

  Her eyes went wide as the crazy ass ice bear pushed through the windshield like it was a wet paper towel. His head smashed through, making a large hole big enough for his paw with surprisingly accurate claws to reach her.

  She scrambled out of reach, took aim down the barrel of her gun and pulled back on the trigger.

  Birds roosting in the grass scattered. Their wings the only sound as the devil of a white beast disappeared from sight. She liked it better when she could see it.

  Nervously she waited, counted to ten and then dared a peek.

  Nothing. Slowly she edged out one foot at a time, keeping low to the ground.

  Free of the confined space also known as her death trap, Cherry jerked back and rested against the side of the truck. Now her only shield from the battlefield. White paws stuck out from around the side of the rolled truck. Unmoving. She didn’t need to look to know her shot hit dead center.

  Her heart tore from her chest and she swallowed down the bile that burned the back of her throat. “Oh, God. What did I do? What did I do?”

  “Cherry.”

  She turned, looking down the barrel of her shotgun. “Whoa. Whoa there, Cherry. It’s me. It’s me.” Rone backtracked and dove to the side.

  “Thank God.” She lowered her gun. As shafts of sunlight glinted off the garnet liquid splatters across his chest.

  “Are you okay?” He grabbed her leg and turned it over lightly before he reached in and grabbed Lorne’s shirt. He shook off the shattered chunks of glass and made quick work of making it into a bandage. Scarlet bloomed across the white cotton but she could already feel the blood slow.

  “How di
d you get here?”

  “Came in with Jin and Rebel. Stay here. I’ll let Lorne and Kohl know where you are.”

  She nodded, but as usual he was already back into the fray, wisps of smoke hiding the real truth of the bloody battle from sight.

  Stranded between the edge of the woods and the truck, she risked her safety and made a run for the trees. She didn’t know much about shifters, but she did know they had a heightened senses. One of those ice bears smelled the blood of a brother and she’d have another problem to deal with. At least that was one more bear that couldn’t hurt her family.

  One step and she drew up short.

  “A little human left all alone. Tasty.” A man older than Lorne’s father with deep crease lines marring pale skin stepped out from behind the massive tree with a trunk bigger than her now smashed truck.

  Pinned, she spread her legs for balance and took point-blank aim. “I’ve already dropped one of your ass-hat assassin wannabes today, Elder.” Added emphasis on his status. She didn’t have to know the man personally to know today was all on him. “You don’t want to find out if I can pull the trigger again.” Please don’t make me find out either. She didn’t want another body on her conscience, but she would if it meant a member of her family would be saved.

  She took a deep breath and tried to cope with the waves of emotion bombarding her. Love, loyalty and a massive case of pissed off woman clouded her judgment. She wrung every drop of fear flooding her veins from her voice and unleashed it over the soul-shattering roars surrounding her. “One twitch from you and it’s adios, partner.”

  His nostrils flared. “Bravado on a woman always gives me a hard-on.” The old man licked his lips and snaked a hand over his crotch to give it a squeeze. “I hear you like gangs. I have one of my own, a whole den full. When I’m through with you, you can have all the fun they can handle.”

  Sweat made her gun slip, and she fumbled backward until the cool steel of the truck pressed against her back.

  He advanced a step and she wavered.

  Damn. Damn. Damn. She didn’t want to do this.