Alpha Bear (10 page)

“Oh.” Her eyes blinked open. “Let me down,
and I’ll do it. This one is pretty strong, so I’m not sure it would
respond well to you trying this. Only the caster should uncast
something this big, I think.”

John lowered her legs so that her feet
touched the ground, but her knees were wobbly. He kept his arm
around her shoulders, and his other hand steadied her at her
waist.

“I need to reach down there,” she said,
pointing to the ground where the rock salt formed the base of the
barrier.

John didn’t want to let her go, so he lowered
them both to the ground. Her knees folded neatly beneath her as he
crouched, keeping his arm around her back for support.

“Is this okay?” he asked, his mouth near her
ear.

They were so close together, his inner bear
was getting a little drunk on the delicious scent of her skin. Like
flower nectar and the first breath of spring, her scent enticed his
wild side.

She reached down and spoke a prayer of thanks
to the Goddess for lending Her strength to this circle of
protection, then swept away a few inches of the salt, breaking the
line. John actually felt the barrier collapse around them, the
energy of it seeming to dissipate happily into the earth below as
if going home.

And just like that, the sounds of the world
came back to him. He could hear his men speaking in low voices to
one another, and hear the wind in the trees and the splash of water
on the rocky shore. It was as if the world had been unwrapped—or
maybe his senses had—and everything was fresh and new, crisp and
colorful.

John rose, lifting Ursula with him until they
were both standing, facing Zak Flambeau.

“Tell me what you saw,” John demanded,
knowing that of all his men, Zak was the one who most often saw
magic. He’d been raised in the bayous of Louisiana and knew more
about human magic and voodoo than any of them.

“Helluva light show,” Zak drawled. “Lit up
the beach and water for a good long way. That wasn’t a simple ward.
That was something special, John. Something profound.”

“Yeah,” John agreed. “Apparently, Ms.
Ricoletti is something a little different. She can cast permanent
wards.”

Zak whistled between his teeth, looking at
Ursula with new respect. He even tipped his imaginary hat to the
lady.

“We’re blessed to have you here, ma’am,” Zak
said to her with all seriousness. John was impressed.

Ursula seemed to blush, if John wasn’t
mistaken. “I’m glad I could help,” was all she said.

“I’m going to take her back to her place.
Post a watch and keep me informed of any developments,” John
ordered the small group of men who’d gathered closest.

He knew they’d keep him posted if there were
any changes. Every last one of them were men he’d fought and bled
alongside. They were brothers. Comrades in arms—and in their
fur.

That they let him lead never failed to humble
him. Bears weren’t easily led. Highly magical and highly volatile,
most bear shifters liked to roam alone, but this group—this special
group of men tested in the crucible of battle many times over—was
something very special. As was the woman in his arms, he was coming
to understand.

John had picked her up when she’d stumbled
and wasn’t about to put her down again until there was a soft place
to lay her. She was beat. He could see the fatigue written in her
half-closed eyes and limp muscles. She was drained both physically
and magically, and John grew concerned about the fact that they
were supposed to do this all again just a bit over twenty-four
hours from now.

The next ceremony was supposed to take place
at high noon the following day. Judging by the way she looked and
how much this dawn ceremony had taken out of her, John worried that
she wouldn’t be ready.

He wouldn’t push her either. If she had to
rest, she would rest. This could wait. No matter what her granny
had said. He wasn’t about to watch Ursula work herself to the
bone—and possibly put her own life in more danger than she should.
The whole project was inherently dangerous. Going into battle when
you were already depleted was foolhardy at best. He wouldn’t let
her do it. She was too precious.

Amelia was at the door of the shop when John
arrived with Ursula in his arms. She opened the door and held it
for them while he carried her older sister inside. She was hopping
from one foot to the other, looking worriedly at Ursula.

“Would you mind carrying her upstairs?” she
asked John, cringing with anxiety.

Did she think he was going to say no? He’d
have to teach her that he was one of the good guys. He wouldn’t
leave a lady, who was unconscious at this point, in the lurch.

“Lead the way,” he told her, trying to sound
as gentle as possible even though he knew a bit of a growl came
through in his tone. He couldn’t help it. All his protective
instincts were in play now, and the idea that Amelia thought he
wouldn’t see her sister safely upstairs irked him.

She’d learn, though. John decided at that
moment that he was going to stick around until both of the
Ricoletti sisters learned what he was made of. Ursula, most of
all.

Her opinion mattered to him…and to his bear.
Now that was something different.

Never before had the bear really registered
an opinion about a female—shifter or human. Suddenly, his furry
half was sitting up and taking notice of every little move this
magic woman made.
Strange.

John, with his delicate burden, followed
Amelia up the stairs and down the hall. He took only a cursory look
around the apartment. He’d seen it unfurnished, of course. He’d
been part of the building crew for this structure and had approved
the blueprints, of course. He knew the layout, but he hadn’t seen
what the girls had done to the place since they moved in just a few
short days ago.

He got the impression of color and light.
Comfortable furniture and dainty knickknacks. A feminine, cozy
space that invited rather than repulsed him.

But Amelia was leading him down the hall to
the front bedroom. That must be the one Ursula had claimed. It was
only slightly larger than the bedroom that sat next to it, but it
was right on the street, overlooking the cove. It had the best
view.

Sure enough, she opened the door and led him
into the room. Amelia pulled back the covers on Ursula’s bed before
John set her down on the pale lilac sheets. The faint scent of
flowers and fresh linen hit his nose, making him want to smile. It
was an innocent smell that reminded him of fresh meadows and
clothes drying on the line when he was a cub. It was a happy scent
that brought back good memories.

John laid Ursula down and stepped back,
allowing Amelia room to check on her sister. She looked worried as
she put one hand over her sister’s forehead and closed her own
eyes, seeming to mutter a bit just under her breath, so low that
not even John’s shifter-sharp hearing could hear what she said.

A moment later, Amelia opened her eyes and
smiled. She looked up at John, a relieved expression on her
face.

“She’s okay. She just needs to sleep it off
for a while.” Amelia got up and walked toward the door to the
bedroom. “Can I offer you a cup of tea? Or something stronger?” she
asked politely.

John didn’t want to leave. In fact, he didn’t
want to leave Ursula’s bedroom, but he couldn’t very well just sit
there and watch her sleep. Amelia’s invitation gave him an excuse
to stay in the apartment at least. He’d take what he could get.

Tea would take time to brew, so tea it
was.

“That sounds great,” he said quietly, so as
not to disturb Ursula’s sleep.

He followed Amelia out the door and down the
hall, back toward the kitchen that was at the other end of the
apartment. There were still boxes everywhere, but the important
parts of the household had already been unpacked, and the kitchen
looked like it was fully equipped.

He’d been in the kitchen before, of course,
when they’d had dinner, but he hadn’t seen much of the rest of the
apartment before. The sisters had done a nice job with their
decorating, and John said as much to Amelia, earning a smile from
her as she bustled around, making the tea.

When they were both seated around the small
kitchen table, holding mugs of steaming tea, she finally seemed to
relax a bit.

“It went well, Amelia,” he told her. “You
should’ve seen her go. The power she called up was really
impressive.” He hoped that by stating his impressions about what
her sister had done, he would get Amelia to open up a bit more to
him.

“Yeah, I could feel the whammy when she
released it from the circle. I couldn’t go out because sister dear
warded the doors and windows specifically against my leaving before
she returned. She locked me in,” she said, sounding horribly
offended.

John tried unsuccessfully to smother his
smile.

“Don’t you laugh,” she scolded with some
humor. “I wanted to be there for her, but she made it so I couldn’t
even get out of the building. The stinker.”

“She loves you.” John shrugged, thinking it
was obvious. “She wanted to protect you.”

“I get it, but it still stinks,” Amelia
groused. “First Nonna tells me not to help, and then, Urse goes one
further as if I’m not to be trusted.”

“Well, if she hadn’t sealed you in, would you
have been out there, where you probably shouldn’t have been?” John
challenged with a grin.

“Yeah, okay. I probably would have.” She
looked chagrined as she sipped at her tea.

“Believe me, she couldn’t afford the
distraction of worrying about you,” he told her, not unkindly.
“That spell was like nothing I’ve ever seen before.”

“You saw it?” She sounded intrigued.

“I was in the circle with her,” he
admitted.

“Really?” Amelia shot him an impressed
expression. “I’m surprised, but glad you were there for her. She
always tries to protect everyone else and takes too much on
herself.”

John had to chuckle. “I’ve been accused of
that very same thing once or twice myself.”

“The two of you are a pair,” she said
absently, but the words made him stop and think.

Were they? Meant to be a pair? Hmm.

Possibly.

They sipped their tea in silence for a few
minutes before Amelia put her empty mug down on the table and sat
up straight. She looked at him, as if wondering how far she could
trespass on his good nature.

“Do you think you can stay here for a few
more minutes and keep an eye on Urse? I don’t want her to wake up
and have nobody here. She’ll worry about me, and she doesn’t need
to do that right now,” she said in a nervous rush. “I want to go
over to the bakery and get some of her favorite breads and pastries
for when she wakes up. Believe it or not, this kind of magical work
can burn a lot of calories, and it’s important to keep her fueled
up if she’s going to do this again tomorrow.”

“I’ll stay. Take your time. I’ll look out for
her.”

“Great. The wards came down when she crossed
the threshold, so I can finally get out of here for a few minutes.”
Amelia was gathering her bag and cleaning up the tea stuff,
bustling around before she headed out. “Everything is where you
would expect it in here. If you’re hungry, help yourself to
anything in the fridge or cupboards. I’ll be back in about twenty
minutes.”

“It’s okay,” John told her. “I’m in no hurry.
In fact, I’d like to talk to your sister when she wakes up, just to
satisfy myself that she’s okay, so don’t rush.”

“She may not wake up for a while,” Amelia
said, a worried expression on her face.

“That’s okay.” John shrugged. “If she does,
I’d like to talk to her if she’s up to it. If not, I’ll come back
later when she is awake, if that’s okay.”

“Oh, sure,” Amelia immediately agreed.
“She’ll probably want to talk to you about the plan for tomorrow’s
ceremony anyway, so that’ll work.” Amelia headed for the door to
the stairs and headed out. “See you in a bit. And thanks.”

John just nodded, watching her go.

He cleaned up his half-finished mug of tea,
draining the rest of it down the sink before he felt the pull
toward the front bedroom again that had never quite left since he’d
placed Ursula on her bed. Why he was suddenly picturing her there,
wearing quite a bit less than the jeans and sweater she’d been
wearing that morning, he really didn’t want to examine.

He only knew he had to go check on her.

Following the pull, he walked silently up the
hall, to the door at the end that beckoned.

Urse was just opening her eyes as the door to
her bedroom opened and John was there. Was she dreaming? She
blinked a few times as he walked closer.

“John?” she asked, her voice a bit weaker
than she liked.

He came closer. “I’m right here, honey. How
are you feeling?”

“Like I got run over. But it’s to be
expected.” She sat up in bed, realizing only then that she was in
her own bedroom. The last thing she remembered, he’d been carrying
her and they were outside. “Fill me in on what I missed.”

“Nothing much,” he said, surprising her by
sitting on the side of her bed, facing her. It was close…intimate.
More than she’d expected. “I carried you in. Your sister complained
about you warding the doors and windows, but apparently the wards
dropped when you came through. She went down to the bakery to get
some treats she said you deserved, and I agreed to keep an eye on
you so you wouldn’t wake up alone. No news from my guys, which
means everything is just as we left it.” He took one of her hands,
gripping it lightly. “That was a hell of a thing you did out there.
I had no idea you were that powerful.”

She felt a bit of discomfort. “I don’t
suppose that’s a good thing. You probably want us gone even more
now, right?”