Alpha Bear (8 page)

“That, we will have to see for ourselves, but
I think she’s going to enjoy this place and its people. She’s a
very forward-thinking woman and still in good health, despite her
age,” Peter said with obvious joy.

“You shifters live a lot longer than regular
folk, don’t you?” Urse asked.

“Most of us get a few centuries if we’re
lucky,” John confirmed. “How old is your granny, Pete? Two-fifty?
Two-sixty?”

“About that, but she won’t tell us the exact
date.” Peter laughed. “She only admits to being born during the
reign of Peter the Great. He reigned from 1672 to 1725.”

Urse was stunned, though the two shifters
seemed to take it in stride.

“Then she was around during the Russian
revolution?” Urse said, a bit of awe creeping into her tone.

“Oh, yes. But she was not a big fan of the
Soviets. Neither was I, in fact, though I started my career as a
soldier under the old system. Over time, as communism fell, things
changed, and I had to keep moving to outrun the records that would
have betrayed my true age to the wrong people in the government.
Eventually, I ended up under John’s command, and the rest, as they
say, is history.”

“I get the feeling this town is out of the
norm,” Mellie put in, taking the conversation in a different
direction. “Don’t bears usually like to roam alone?”

“It’s all a big social experiment,” Peter
agreed, nodding to John. “We follow the Alpha, though we’re not as
fanatical about it as some other species. Wolves, for example, will
do just about anything the top dog tells them with blind faith.
Bears are a little more discerning.” Both John and Peter
chuckled.

“Which is why you have a town council,” Urse
realized aloud. “You’re the Alpha bear, but you listen to your
people more, right?”

“That’s about the size of it,” John admitted
freely. “I may be the most Alpha of the guys, but I’m not a
tyrant.”

“To the benevolent despot.” Peter raised his
glass, smiling broadly. They all chuckled, but drank to the
toast.

The men took their leave not long after,
Peter heading out first, waving goodbye casually, though his gaze
seemed to linger just a bit on Mellie. Or maybe that was just
Urse’s imagination.

After Peter was gone, Mellie began cleaning
up, leaving Urse to see John out. She walked with him to the door,
but he paused, speaking to her in a low, almost intimate tone.

“I’ll be by to get you an hour before dawn.
Will that give you enough time to set up?” he asked.

“That’s enough,” she said, swallowing hard,
feeling a few nerves starting to jangle as time counted down to
when she would need to act.

“Don’t go outside without me,” he cautioned.
“Wait for me to come. I promise I’ll be here. You have my cell
number, right?”

She nodded. “You gave it to me when we first
arrived. It’s programmed into my phone, though I didn’t think I’d
ever really need it.”

“You feel free to use it any time, day or
night. I mean that, Ursula, okay?”

Again, she nodded. “Thanks.” Nerves were
starting to get to her a bit now. His serious tone made it hard to
forget that, in just a few hours, she would be facing off against
that awful creature again.

But this time, she knew what she was up
against. Mostly. She wasn’t sure how strong it was, or how it would
test her, but at least she knew of its existence now and was
prepared to fight back. That was something, right?

“Hey…” John took both of her hands in his,
and it was then she realized her hands were trembling, just the
tiniest bit. “It’s gonna be okay. I’ll be right there with you. I
won’t let anything bad happen. I promise.”

“How can you promise something like that? Did
you see the size of that thing?” She remembered her headlong flight
earlier that afternoon and looking back to see the gigantic scale
of the creature that literally made the earth shake with its
anger.

“Aw, hell. Come here.”

He pulled her into his arms, and she went
gladly, the fear taking over for just a few short moments. She
needed to get over this. She needed to be strong. Later. She had a
few precious hours before she had to be strong and face that
freaking monster again.

“Ssh,” he soothed her, rubbing one hand over
the back of her head, stroking her hair and then down her back,
only to start over again. The repetitive motion went a long way
toward calming her. “It’ll be okay. I promise.”

“How can you say that, John?” She pulled back
slightly to look at him. “We’re going up against something not even
of this realm. I’ve never done anything like this before. I have no
idea if I’m even ready to wield that kind of magic.”

“Your grandmother thinks you’re ready,” he
reminded her. “That’s got to count for something, right? I get the
impression she wouldn’t send you against this thing, if she didn’t
think you could handle it. Wouldn’t she be calling for the cavalry
right about now?”

Urse thought about that. “You know…” She
smiled up at him. “I never thought of that. You’re right.”

And just like that, her panic attack was no
more.
Damn.
The Alpha bear was magic. The past few minutes
proved that to her beyond the shadow of a doubt.

His arms were still around her, but she
didn’t really want him to let her go. No, it was incredibly
comfortable where she was, and oddly enough, she felt safe with
him, in ways she had never really felt before. Something about this
big, strong Alpha bear made her want to snuggle up against him and
just…stay there a while. A good long while.

And more. Though she didn’t think she was
ready to examine those somewhat scandalous feelings just yet.

But apparently he was.

Urse saw his kiss coming a mile away, but she
didn’t move. She didn’t dare breathe. She suddenly wanted his lips
on hers more than she’d ever wanted anything in her life.

He’d broadcast his intentions, and she’d all
but given him the green light. In fact, the light was blinking
green in Morse code saying,
take me now, big guy
.

And then, he did.

His lips touched hers, and everything
changed. Time slowed. The earth seemed to stop altogether, for just
that moment. His lips were warm and tender, then harder, more
demanding. Asking her to comply instead of ordering her compliance.
She liked that. She liked everything she had learned about him.
About the way he ruled his men and this town, and now, about the
way he kissed.

Like a dream. That’s what it was. He kissed
like the best dream she’d ever had.

It was all over far too quickly. His lips
lifted away, but his gaze tracked hers, his mouth smiling as she
felt the lethargy of passion lifting away like fog burning off in
the morning.

Damn.
He was potent. She felt drugged.
And all that from just a kiss.

“I’ll see you in a few hours,” he said, his
voice rumbling low now, making her belly clench.

Would he talk that way in the bedroom after
they’d made love? Wouldn’t she like to know?

As promised, John was back in the hour before
dawn. He was showered, his golden brown hair still glistening wet
in the sexiest way, and he looked good enough to eat. But that was
a thought Urse kept carefully to herself.

They went out into the darkness with great
caution. Armed men were all around, forming a cordon as she started
casting the circle. It would have to be a big circle to do the
trick. She started at one side and worked her way around. She’d
have to be careful when they neared the beach. She’d do that bit,
closest to the water, as fast as possible. Just in case.

“It would be best to keep your men outside
the circle, and away from the water,” she said to John in a low
voice as she worked.

He was right next to her, helping her. This
first part of the process was mostly mechanical. She’d said a
blessing over the big bag of rock salt they’d procured for her and
began to lay the thin line of salt that would form the circle. The
men were cognizant enough to keep clear of the line, once she’d
laid it.

It was slow work because this circle was
going to be the biggest she’d ever cast. But once it was complete,
it would—hopefully—shield her from whatever the leviathan was going
to throw at her. The men outside though… She had to impress upon
them just how dangerous this could be.

“The guys and I discussed this, but we don’t
really know what to expect, right?” John said. He was holding the
fifty-pound sack of salt for her as they made their way around the
perimeter, laying out the circle a few feet at a time.

“The minute this circle closes, expect all
hell to break loose,” she told him, speaking loud enough for the
men around them to hear. “You men should stay behind the circle.
Theoretically, anything inside—meaning me—should be okay.”

“And me,” John put in, his voice a deep
rumble next to her. “I’m staying in here with you, if that won’t
put you in more danger.”

She shook her head, totally surprised by his
intention to stay with her.

“Once the circle is closed, it should be
self-sustaining unless someone or something breaks it. You can stay
with me, but John…” She paused a moment to touch his arm. “You
really shouldn’t. This will be the focal point for the beast’s
wrath. I’ll be protected from its magical attacks—in theory—inside
the circle, but I’ll also be launching magic of my own outward.
That’s the nature of the circle I’m casting here. It keeps magical
things out but allows my magic to cross the barrier. There may be a
bit of a buildup in here before I launch. It could get
uncomfortable.”

“I have quite a bit of magic of my own,
Ursula. Bears are among the most magical of all werecreatures. I’ll
help you if I can. It’s my home. The whole town was my idea. I
should bear some of the burden of protecting it. This shouldn’t be
all on you.”

Once again surprised by his gentle tone and
deep thoughts, she thought about how she could make this work. And
then, the men on the outside of the line she’d been drawing with
salt had their spokesman come over.

“We’ve been listening in,” Sheriff Brody said
in that urgent soldier voice of his. “We can do our part outside
too, ma’am.”

“What?” She honestly hadn’t expected this.
Since last night, she’d been so worried that she’d be all on her
own, but here were allies. Strong allies, if she wasn’t much
mistaken.

“None of us are proper mages, but we’re
experienced with the use of magical barriers and fortifications.
We’ve used them in the field a few times, when no humans were
around to see what we were doing.” Brody winked at her while he and
John chuckled.

Why were they laughing? Didn’t they know they
were about to face down a giant fucking sea serpent?

“Who
are
you people?” She heard the
words come out of her mouth, too late to stop them.

Now they were all laughing.

“Oh, honey,” John said between chuckles. “You
knew a lot of us were soldiers, right? I guess you didn’t realize
that up ‘til very recently we were all part of one of Uncle Sam’s
elite Special Forces teams. We’re used to this kind of thing.”

“Well…” Brody put in from the other side of
the salt line. “Maybe not this exact sort of thing, but we’re used
to danger and stopping bad guys. It’s actually kind of nice to be
back in the real world again, doing stuff that matters.”

She couldn’t really argue with that. This
mattered. This was a battle for their hometown. What could be more
important than the fight of good against evil?

“I didn’t realize…” she whispered, trying to
think how best to use their abilities. “This isn’t a traditional
fight. You can’t beat this thing. It can’t be killed in this
realm.”

“Yeah, John told us,” Brody said. “We’ve got
specialized help coming—eventually—but until they can get here,
we’re it, so we’d better make this good.”

Until a few minutes ago, she’d thought she
was
it
, as the sheriff had put it. But this could work. In
fact, this could
really
work.

“I didn’t realize I was going to have help,”
she told them honestly as she resumed pouring the salt line. They
had to get the circle cast before dawn, or this would all be for
naught. “Do you guys want to come inside the circle with me?”

“Better not,” Brody said after looking at
John for a moment. “We’re better if we’re mobile. The Alpha will
watch your back from inside. We’ll back you up from outside.”

“Okay, but I don’t want any of you down by
the water. You need to stay out of physical reach of the creature,
and those tentacles are
freaking
long.” She shuddered as she
remembered the day before. “Don’t go any closer than halfway down
the circle. And whatever you do,
do
not
touch the
salt. If the circle breaks, I’m toast.”

“So we guard the perimeter,” Brody agreed,
nodding. “We can also distract the creature with our magic while
you work yours.”

“I’ll be channeling the energy of the sunrise
and the blessings of the Goddess to protect this section of the
cove. If you can distract the leviathan without putting yourselves
in too much danger, it would be a big help. You’ll probably be able
to see the Light of dawn gather inside the circle before I release
it. The leviathan shouldn’t be able to see it until the last
moment, but since you’re the good guys, you might be able to see
the glow of it. That’s the critical point. I’ll need time to gather
it and release it at its zenith, when the dawn breaks.”

“Roger that,” Brody said. “I’ll brief the
team. Lady be with you both.”

“You too, sheriff,” she said as she realized
they were nearing the tricky part of the beach.

“Keep watch now,” John directed Brody. “We’re
going to go fast over this section, and when we hit the point where
we started, I expect things will start happening fast, right?”