A Bear of a Reputation (6 page)

I turned the knob on the radio so music filled the cab and made it impossible to talk any further without yelling. Lukas knew what I was doing, but he didn’t say anything to tell me to turn it off, so I left it.

The rest of the ride to the edge of the park reserve seemed to take forever. I kept going over the words “alpha mate” in my mind. I wished that I had a pad of paper with me. Normally, I carried a pen and paper everywhere I went, but in my rush out the door, I had forgotten when I switched to my smaller purse. I was going to have to rely on my memory. I pulled out my phone and looked at the screen. As soon as we crossed the line into the reserve, I saw the screen flash to “No Service.”

“It wouldn’t kill you to get a cell tower out here,” I grumbled.

Lukas turned the radio down. “We try to preserve as much of the natural landscape as possible. Those towers are an eyesore.”

I had forgotten about Lukas’s freakishly good hearing. That was something he was able to do regardless of his form.

“So are you going to tell me anything before we get there? Anything an alpha’s intended mate should know?” I needed to keep this whole thing strictly business. Thinking about it as just another story helped some, but all I had to do was look at Lukas, and I started thinking other thoughts altogether.

“The easiest thing to do would be for you to keep your mouth shut,” Lukas said. “It isn’t completely unheard of for a grizzly shifter to choose a mate from the outside, but given the delicate nature of the situation, I think there’s going to be some tension.”

“Because of you, or because of me?”

“Both,” Lukas said. “I have blood rights to the alpha claim, but Sheriff Monroe has been actively campaigning for the clan council to overrule that claim and choose a new alpha bloodline altogether.”

“I’m surprised Markus didn’t get married, then,” I said. I saw Lukas’s head turn slightly toward me. “What? If bloodlines are so important, then why didn’t he lock his down? Isn’t that the manly thing to do anyway?”

Lukas sighed. “Markus was supposed to take a mate this past fall. He’d been putting it off for years, saying he was too busy for those kinds of things. The clan council finally said that if he didn’t choose a mate, they’d choose one for him, and that would be that.”

I blinked. Markus had been a good-looking guy and was never short of attention from the women of Greyelf. I was sure that he got that attention wherever he went, but I rarely saw him out with the same woman more than once or twice. With something like an alpha claim on the line, it seemed like it would have been critical to take care of that business. Then a light bulb went off in my mind. “Holy shit. Markus was gay, wasn’t he?”

Another long sigh was my answer. “Markus didn’t want to say anything because he was afraid the council would take away his claim to alpha on the spot, and he was the best thing that ever happened to the shifter community. I’ve been arguing with him for years just to get drunk and have a one-night stand to take care of business, but he wasn’t having any of it. Now, you can’t put anything about that in your story. That is strictly off the record.”

I bit my lower lip. This story was getting juicier by the minute. Then I mentally shook myself. I needed to play it cool. I had to take down all the facts, and the time for negotiating what went into my story and what didn’t would come later.

“I don’t think readers will care about that,” I said. “He was a shifter. He was gay. Big deal.”

“Prejudices still exist everywhere in every community,” Lukas said. “Those were two big obstacles that Markus had to overcome. I think that he was deathly afraid that if his secret got out, people would stop listening to him.”

That thought made me sad. As I ran over Lukas’s words again, something else struck me. “You said that you’ve been after Markus to tell the truth for years. I thought that the two of you were estranged.”

“Why do you say that?” Lukas’s tone was cautious.

“Because you said so that night at the hospital. Because he never talked about you. Bea never talked about you. Once you were gone, it was like you were just… gone,” I said. I felt a familiar tightening in my chest when I thought about that bleak time after I discovered that Lukas had moved away without saying goodbye. I wouldn’t admit it to anyone, but I’d cried myself to sleep for weeks. It was bad enough that I lost my virginity to him, but I had also lost my best friend. I had been nearly inconsolable.

“Just because my big brother chose not to talk about me, that didn’t mean that he didn’t talk to me,” Lukas said. “I didn’t run away from home.”

“So why… never mind,” I mumbled. “I don’t want to know.”

“You say it doesn’t matter why I left, and yet I know that you are dying to know,” Lukas said softly. “Would it make any difference if I told you that Markus sent me away? He told me that I needed to grow up and that he wasn’t putting up with my shit anymore. He said he’d pay for me to go to school, but I had to leave. Right then. He caught me sneaking back into my room that night, and he knew what had happened. He said that I would ruin your life if I stayed. He sent me packing, and if I wanted him to help support me, I had to stay away until he told me that I could come back.”

I didn’t believe it. “Why would you agree to such a thing?”

“He was my alpha. His word was gospel. To stay against his command would have meant he would have had to punish me.”

“What does that mean?”

“We’re almost there,” Lukas said, deflecting my question. He closed up again. “Look, like I said, just keep quiet and follow my lead. I don’t know exactly what we’re going to walk into, and I can’t be distracted. I’m not planning on announcing anything about us yet. Just play it cool.”

“I’m not going to distract you,” I said heatedly.

“Just looking at you is a distraction,” Lukas said. He guided the truck up to a massive wall. I couldn’t help but shiver. I had heard the stories about the tall walls of White Oaks, but seeing them up close was surreal. “You ready for this?”

I tossed my hair over my shoulder. “I am always ready for a story.”

Lukas shook his head, and then he hit the button on what looked like a garage door opener.

I saw the gate slowly start to open, and for a moment I wondered if we were going back in time. But then the truck slid through the opening, and I saw that we were on a street that could have been a street in any other small town, USA. The houses were small and squat, but the yards were well tended from what I could see under the row of streetlights. We continued deeper into the small community, and I could see the flashing lights of squad cars ahead as we crested a small hill. I knew that there were at least two hundred shifters that made their home in Greyelf. I’d just had no idea that they were thriving out here in the wilderness.

The squad cars were parked in front of a low, long building that seemed to be the epicenter of the community. “This is the lodge,” Lukas said. “First impressions of White Oaks?”

“Why haven’t you gone all out and built your own storefronts?” I swiveled my head, looking to see if I had missed any signs of retail shops. “It seems like this setup is conducive to that, and obviously, if you are living all the way out here, you don’t want to mingle too much with the civilians.”

“When shifters first came out, there was a lot of anxiety and concern for their safety,” Lukas said as he brought the truck to a stop next to the squad cars. I looked down at them from my perch in the cab. They were empty. “It made them feel safe to be here with their own kind, and Markus was glad to oblige. But he also wanted to ensure that we didn’t hole up out here and raise any concern for the broader community of Greyelf. It was important that we still participate with all the species. That’s why he never allowed any building permits for shops or restaurants out here. There’s a small convenience store inside the lodge for regular necessities, but otherwise we shop in Greyelf for everything we need.”

It hadn’t escaped my notice that Lukas had started using a plural “we” when talking about himself and the shifters of White Oaks.

“So people aren’t forced to live here?”

Lukas snorted. “I lived next door to you for eight years. Bea’s been in her house for twenty-five years. Even after coming out, she preferred to be in town. It’s just a lifestyle choice. It’s easier to go native out here, and there’s a certain freedom that you feel being able to shift at will whenever you want.”

This was yet another side of Lukas that I had never seen. When we were young, he had constantly battled the fact that he was a shifter. He said he never wanted to be born that way, and he was angry to have been burdened with that fate. Now it seemed as if he had reconciled himself to it and was even comfortable with it.

He caught me looking at him with my questioning gaze before I could drop my eyes. “Look, I know I was an adolescent prick about the whole thing, but it really is amazing when you think about it. I’ll show you sometime if you’d like.”

The idea of seeing Lukas in his bear form had crossed my mind more than once. I wasn’t sure if I would be afraid or attracted to him even more. It was a gamble that I hadn’t been willing to take when I was younger, but if I was going to get the real inside scoop of what it was like to be a Grizzly, I’d need to see someone shift.

“Maybe later,” I said with a weak smile.

A shadow crossed Lukas’s face, and he nodded. He climbed down out of the truck and somehow managed to make it to my side before I even had my door all the way open. He put his hand up for me to hold as I got down, and I was planning to ignore it, but as I shifted my weight and started to move downward, I felt a rush of dizziness that had to be the aftereffect of the wine.

Lukas grabbed my waist and gently guided me to the ground. I stood there for a moment dumbly staring up into his eyes, and I knew that I wanted him to kiss me again.

“Easy does it,” he said. Then he pushed me gently aside so that he could shut the door. “Stay behind me, and like I said, don’t say anything.” He turned on his heel and headed for the door to the lodge. I had no choice but to follow. I cleared my throat and tried to swipe a hand over my hair. I wished that I had a minute to stop by the ladies’ room. I was certain that after the little make-out session in the truck on the way over, I appeared as if I had been thoroughly kissed. Then I realized with a start that it was okay. I was supposed to be with Lukas, after all.

I didn’t think about the full implications of that until I was standing slightly behind him a few minutes later as he confronted Sheriff Monroe in what appeared to be the lodge’s lobby area. I saw that Billy had already arrived and was standing off to the side with a quizzical look on his face when he saw me. I wasn’t sure when he’d had time to change, but he was wearing his official Greyelf police uniform. I had to admit that he looked good in it, but even that wasn’t enough to spark any kind of physical desire inside me. I cursed myself again for being such a loser that I couldn’t be attracted to a hot, good guy for once. Nope. Instead, I was intensely aware of my proximity to the man who stood next to me.

“What brings you out to White Oaks, Lukas?” Sheriff Monroe asked casually. “Thought you were content staying in town for the duration of your visit.”

“I told you my stay was indefinite, Sheriff. I’ll be moving into Markus’s house tomorrow,” Lukas said, equally casual in his tone. Although his stance appeared relaxed on the surface, I knew better. He was a coiled bundle of muscles ready to strike. “I heard there was some trouble. It’s good to know what’s happening in my community and to see how I can help.”

“Things are under control,” the sheriff said. He crossed his arms over his broad chest. Sheriff Monroe grew up in Greyelf. He had been Markus’s right-hand man in the clan for years, but I never sensed a warmth between the two men. He was known to be efficient and fair. My dad believed that the sheriff was far more political than he had ever let on. After watching events unfold over the course of the last week since Markus’s passing, I was inclined to agree with him.

Lukas and the sheriff stood there, glaring at each other. I noticed that the sheriff had straightened to his full height, which amused me because, even then, Lukas still had at least two to three inches on him.

“Sheriff?” A woman’s voice broke the silence from behind us. I turned and saw Marilee Wilson standing there. Marilee was two years older than me, and we had hung out several times in high school before she went through her first phase. After that, she had preferred the company of the other shifter girls, and I couldn’t really blame her. I saw her eyes widen as she recognized me, and I saw her glance dart between me and Lukas.

The sheriff moved around us toward Marilee. He put his hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry, Marilee. I’ve got three officers out patrolling the woods. We’re checking the usual places. He didn’t go far.” He looked over his shoulder and cocked his head toward the parking lot. “Miller, you’re with me. Let’s go.” Then he moved toward the door without looking at Lukas again.

I saw Billy glance at me as he passed by me. I gave him a little shrug. I wasn’t sure what I was doing there at the moment either. Everything was so confusing.

A few moments later, it was just me, Lukas, and Marilee left standing in the lobby.

“What’s going on, Marilee?” Lukas asked.

“I checked his room an hour ago, and Cody was gone,” Marilee said. I saw the tight lines of worry on her face. “I couldn’t find him anywhere.” Marilee had gotten pregnant her senior year. I heard that she was mated to one of the clan members a short time later, but he had died a few years ago, leaving Marilee a young, attractive widow. “It’s not like him to sneak out. What with the Summit starting in a few days and all, I’m scared witless.”