Alpha Bear (20 page)

Nonna had also taken time to go over every
step of the ceremony Urse would perform the next evening. She
helped Urse rehearse the wording of her spell and discussed
potential countermeasures that might be required, if the leviathan
fought back directly as it had the first day.

Urse also described the spell song it had
used on her that afternoon. Nonna was very interested in how Urse
had been able to break away enough to stop walking toward the
water. Nonna seemed impressed that Urse had been able to do so,
even if she’d been frozen in place for a time. And Nonna was even
more interested in the way John’s shift had cut the magical cord
that had been pulling her toward the leviathan.

After she finished the long call with Nonna,
Urse called her sister and filled her in on everything that had
happened. The first thing she did was release the ward on the doors
to the bookstore so Mellie could get out if she wanted to leave.
She hadn’t meant to imprison her sister all afternoon. She’d have
to come up with a better solution from now on. It wasn’t fair to
Mellie to be trapped like that, and Urse both begged for
forgiveness and promised not to do it again.

Then came the question of when she was coming
home. Urse squirmed for a bit, not sure how Mellie was going to
take the news of her new relationship with John.

“Uh…would you mind if I stayed here at John’s
tonight? I could ask him to have some of his guys check on you if
you don’t want to be all alone there.”

“Wait a minute,” Mellie said. Urse could hear
her sister’s excited amusement through the phone line. “Do you mean
to tell me that you and the mayor are getting it on?”

“Well…”

“Holy shit!” Mellie nearly shouted into the
phone. Urse cringed and held the earpiece away from her head. “I
can’t believe it!” Mellie went on, gushing for a moment, then her
voice dropped. “Does he growl when he comes?”

“Amelia!” Shocked, Urse used her sister’s
full name, scolding even as she blushed.

“Come on, you can tell me,” Mellie wheedled,
but no way was Urse discussing this. Not now. It was still too
new.

“So that settles it then.” Urse ignored
Mellie’s question. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning. But I’ll need a
change of clothes…” She trailed off, thinking about logistics.

“I can pack a bag for you and have one of the
guys bring it over. They seem to have set up a watch on the street.
Every few minutes, one of the men strolls past, and it’s not
exactly casual.”

“They’re watching the store?” Urse grew
alarmed.

“Oh, no. They’re looking at the cove, mostly.
Patrolling up and down the street, not just in front of the
bookstore.” That made Urse feel a little better. “I’ll ask Peter
the next time he drifts by, if he can run your things up to John’s.
I’m pretty sure he won’t mind.”

“You’ve got that Russian bear wrapped around
your little finger already, don’t you?” Urse chuckled.

“Don’t I wish.” Mel sighed playfully.

“Be good and stay indoors,” Urse reminded her
sister. “That thing in the cove almost lured me in earlier today.
It has magic that can reach right through my wards. If it could get
to me, it can probably get to you too, so promise me you’ll be
careful. In fact, why don’t you see if you can go sleep over at the
bakery again? It’s not really safe to be alone.”

“I’ll do that,” Mellie agreed. “But you’re no
fun. I want to hear all about you and the sexy mayor when you get
back here tomorrow. I expect a full report.”

Urse blew a raspberry into the phone before
hanging up. Mellie knew Urse loved her, but no way was Urse going
to entertain her sister’s prurient curiosity about what John was
like in the sack. Not now. Probably not ever.

She must have dozed off because the next
thing Urse knew, she was being carried down the hallway in John’s
arms. She roused when he paused to open a door and looked around.
He’d brought her to a bedroom. It was huge, as was the bed, and
from the few belongings scattered around the neat room, she
realized it must be John’s.

He laid her on the bed and sat down beside
her. His fingers traced gently over her face as he gazed into her
eyes.

“How are you feeling?”

“Better.” She reached up to hold his hand
against her cheek. “Thank you for taking such good care of me.”

“Thank
you
for taking such good care
of my town. I had no idea when we started this that it would take
so much out of you. Are you sure you can do the next two ceremonies
in such short order?” His eyes narrowed, and a frown wrinkled his
brow.

She sat up in the bed, facing him. “I recover
quickly. It’s just the immediate power drain that’s so hard on me.”
She tried her best to reassure him, but he was still frowning.
“Besides, I really have no other choice. The moon will be full
night after tomorrow, and every day I wait is a day the cove is
still in danger from the monster.”

John moved closer. “You do have a choice,
honey. You could always walk away and leave us to deal with this on
our own.”

Was he testing her? She thought he knew her
better than that by now.

“No, I couldn’t.” Her tone was hard, but he
was smiling now.

“I figured that’s what you’d say.” He placed
one big hand at the back of her head and drew her in for a quick,
hot kiss. “You’re fierce, babe. I love that about you.”

Her breath caught at his use of the L word,
but he didn’t give her time to think about it. He lowered his head
and kissed the living daylights out of her.

And before too long, all thought was
banished. Only sensations were left. The feel of his body pressing
down over hers. The sudden discovery that he had done away with
both of their clothes while he’d been kissing her. The slide of his
rough skin over her smoother bits. The sensual delight as he gently
claimed her body with his, coming into her in a slow, steady
wave.

Like the water lapping at the shore, he began
a rhythm that gradually increased, making her moan as he made love
to her. And it really did feel like love. There was something
different about this night as compared to last. Something familiar,
yet incredibly unique. Some melding of energies that turned the
building passion into an inferno of desire.

Before all coherent thought fled, she
registered the differences and did her best to try to keep up with
the raging ecstasy that wanted to break free.

And then, it did.

With a cry of his name, she came, realizing
he followed her into bliss only a few seconds later. They were
together in all things now, including the ultimate fulfillment. He
held her throughout, keeping them joined as the passion peaked,
then dropped, then peaked again.

She fell asleep again, his body still joined
to hers, and that was the last thing she knew until morning.

John lay awake for a long time, running his
finger lightly over the soft skin of her arm, wondering where this
relationship was going. She was his mate. He didn’t doubt that now.
But how could a powerful witch mate with an Alpha bear? John was
torn between the responsibility he felt toward his men, the town
they had all built together, and the deep-seated yearning for his
mate.

There was one factor in her favor though.
He’d spent a few minutes looking up information about her
ancestors. The bear shifter, in particular. Francisco. Turned out
he was quite the hero back in the day. Francisco and his mate,
Violetta, were both mentioned with great respect in the history of
their people.

Francisco and Violetta had worked
together—shifter and mage—to keep their people safe. John wanted
that with Ursula. Oh, he didn’t want to be famous or mentioned in
the histories. He just wanted to live a happy, fulfilled life, full
of joy and laughter, with his mate. He wanted her to be by his
side, his helpmate, as he would be to her.

He feared they were living in
interesting
times
, as the ancient curse went. Evil was stirring and
targeting his people. He would do all he could to defend this place
and the people who had made it their home. He liked that Ursula was
prepared to do the same. He liked the way they’d worked together
today and yesterday. He liked that she’d been able to draw on his
innate magical energy and use it to craft something that would
protect the cove for years to come.

He just plain liked everything about her. But
the question remained in his mind… Could they make this work like
her ancestors of old had? Could a bear shifter and a
strega
really be mates in this modern age?

He sincerely hoped so.

*

As they sat eating breakfast, looking out at
the view of the cove the next morning, John filled Urse in on the
people they were expecting to arrive that day. He seemed almost
excited to welcome them, and Urse could hear the pride in his voice
as he talked about showing them around town. Particularly the one
he called Red.

“Red is Steve Redstone,” John told her. “He’s
the second in command and second oldest of the Redstone brothers.
Both he and his older brother, Grif, served in Special Forces, but
Grif retired before Steve. They’re cougar shifters, but their Clan
encompasses all sorts of Packs, Clans and Tribes. You’ve heard of
Redstone Construction, right?”

She nodded. “They’re like one of the biggest
construction firms in the country.”

“That’s the one. The brothers run it. Five
werecats with majorly Alpha tendencies, and somehow, they make it
work.” John sounded like he admired the set up. “Cats aren’t that
dissimilar to us. They like to roam alone from time to time, just
like bears.”

Urse was interested in all the information
John was sharing. Something had definitely changed overnight. He’d
been forthcoming with her before, but now, he was letting her in on
the inner workings of his mind and telling her things about his
people that he probably wouldn’t have told her just a day or two
ago. She liked it. She felt like he trusted her, and she really,
really
liked that.

It was a sign of a strengthening of their
relationship. It was a sign of commitment. A sign that she meant
more to him than just a momentary fling.

“So seeing what they’d accomplished gave you
inspiration for what you’re doing here?” she asked, curious.

“In a way. If a bunch of Alpha cats can
subdue their dominance in favor of working with their family, I
figured me and my guys—who are just like family to me—could do it
too. Bears are better than cats, right?” He grinned in a way that
told her he was definitely teasing.

“I bet that’s exactly the sales pitch you
used.” She shot him a grin.

“Guilty as charged.” He smiled as he went
back to eating the mountain of scrambled eggs and bacon he’d
made.

Urse had taken about a quarter of the plate
he’d originally set before her and shoveled the rest onto his
plate. He’d frowned a bit until she told him there was no way in
hell she’d ever eat that much in one sitting. From all appearances,
he had no problem eating her portion in addition to the giant one
he’d served himself.

“So who else is coming?” she asked, curious
about the other new shifters who would be coming to town with
Cam.

The very idea that Cam could transport both
himself and others magically still boggled her mind, but this was
her first encounter with a real live fey. Who knew, really, how
deep their magic ran? She’d heard all sorts of fantastical stories
about fey since she was a child, but she wasn’t sure what was real
and what was just exaggeration.

“An owl shifter named Joe Nightwing,” John
surprised her by saying. “I don’t know him personally, but I’ve
heard good things about him.”

“I didn’t know there was such a thing as an
owl shifter,” she admitted.

“They’re a great help with aerial recon,” was
John’s rather prosaic comment. “The third guy is a fellow I know by
reputation. He’s a mercenary. He leads a group that’s a mixed bag
of various kinds of shifters. His name is Seth, and they call him
The Golden Jackal.”

“Is that some kind of code name?” Urse asked,
intrigued by the mysterious moniker.

John snorted. “Yeah, but it’s also what he
is—his beast half is a golden jackal. He’s Turkish, I think. I
always thought it was kind of stupid to advertise what he was like
that, but they say Seth has a rather ironic sense of humor. It’d be
like me calling my group Papa Bear and the Grizzlies.” He snorted
again, laughing into his coffee mug.

“Sounds like a 50’s doo wop group,” she
joked, chuckling with him.

“I was surprised he was here in the States,
actually. Seth is one of those guys who operates in the Middle East
most of the time. He speaks a bunch of languages and can infiltrate
where we Westerners can’t always go. Seems he’s been in the States
for a while now and had traveled to Las Vegas to share intel with
the Redstones. He was heading to Wyoming next, but he was willing
to stop off here first and help with our little problem.” John
finished off the last of his coffee. “He’s probably interested in
gathering intel here too. The Jackal’s specialty is recon, so I’m
not surprised he’s in the middle of this—whatever this turns out to
be. I suspect if the Destroyer is really back in this realm, he’d
be the first to know for sure and have proof.”

“When do you expect them to arrive?” The
question was no sooner out of her mouth than she felt a big fanfare
of magic flaring, as if the sounding of magical trumpets. “Never
mind,” she said, shaking her head. “They’re here.”

John’s phone rang before he could even ask
her how she knew. He picked it up, giving her a raised eyebrow
look.

Urse went into action, clearing the empty
breakfast dishes and loading the dishwasher while John held a
conversation with the sheriff. It looked like their busy day had
just begun.