Jade Crew: Captive Bear (A BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance) (Ridgeback Bears Book 4) (4 page)

***

“Lunch call!” Darren yelled, setting down his tools and gear, signaling to the others that they should head for the surface.

Normally the shifters would be working in two separate parts of the mines, but with their manpower down to just four—Garrett and Russell were absent and Evan was in jail—Darren had decided that they would all work together.

“Last one up is buying beers!” the temporary Alpha yelled and then charged past the others, letting his bear flow to the surface in one smooth motion, maintaining his momentum.

He heard the others scramble to join after him, and in seconds there were four huge bears dashing up the main trunk of the mine shaft toward the surface. They normally took the powered carts to the surface, but Darren felt the need to exercise his animal today, and knew the others wouldn’t object. They worked hard, and it was nice to blow off some steam sometimes.

The finish line was in sight, and Darren put on an extra burst of speed, intending to be the first one out. Twenty feet from the opening to daylight however, Corey came flying by him. His bear was one of the smallest of the group, but he was universally acknowledged as the fastest. Still, none of the others could catch him, and he turned to watch Cole and Joel come crashing across the line together, the massive bears dissolving into a pile of laughter as the two shifted back.

“Guess you’re splitting the bill,” he said, clapping the two of them on the shoulder and helping them to their feet. They both protested that they had beat the other, but nobody was listening to them anymore.

“You’re sure in a good mood today,” Corey said, falling in step next to him as they walked the remaining distance to the trailer that served as their headquarters when they were on the job.

“Sure am,” Darren agreed, his boots crunching through the snow. Another inch had fallen while they were down in the shaft. Judging by the way the skies were turning grayer, there was still a lot to come before the storm blew over.

“Any particular occasion?” Corey asked. He seemed to be genuinely interested, and Darren decided to take it at face value. It could very well be Corey’s way of apologizing for being a dick earlier, and that was just fine with Darren. They all had a temper, and often it was easier to just move on and forget about what had happened than it was to have a big hashed-out apologetic discussion about it. He snorted mentally, thinking it probably had something to do with being male. They could do things simpler sometimes.

Don’t ever say that around Emma,
he thought, making a mental note.
Or Gwen. Or Trestin. Especially not Trestin. Pregnant hormones... she’ll probably kill you just because.

Feeling wiser, he turned his attention back to Corey.

“I have a date tomorrow night,” he proudly declared, elevating his chin ever so slightly, proclaiming his superiority.

“Oh yeah? With whom?” Joel asked as he and Cole caught up to the others.

“Wait, is it with that chick you were talking to last night?” Cole asked, chiming in.

“As a matter of fact, it is with ‘that chick,’” he said with a laugh. “Her name is Kierra, and she’s running for mayor of Genesis Valley.”

“Oh ho ho!” Corey exclaimed, putting an arm in front of Darren to stop him while the other three continued a step forward while turning to face him. “Look at mister bigshot here,” he teased, elbowing the two smaller shifters at his sides.

“Shut up!” Darren bellowed with a smile, pushing past the trio toward the trailer.

“Here we go,” Cole said. “He gets told he’s the boss for a week and now he thinks he can just tell us to shut up whenever he wants! This is going to be a long week boys, just—”

The snowball hit Cole square in the face, ending any more of his protests. Darren ducked inside before he could retaliate, but the sound of laughter reached his ears before the door closed behind him.

He pulled out his phone and checked it for messages. None yet.

“Hey,” he said as Corey came inside, followed by the others. “Where should I take her?”

“There’s not exactly a plethora of selections here in town,” Corey said dryly. “But you said she’s making a move for mayor?”

Darren nodded.

“In that case, you gotta go fancy.”

“Shift,” he said bluntly.

“Shift,” Cole agreed as he came inside, still brushing off some snow.

Shift on Main was the sole fancy restaurant in town. There was also the Café, but it wasn’t nearly as quiet or upscale. Darren was definitely interested in making an impression.

“Okay, Shift it is,” he declared, and sent Kierra a message letting her know.

Shift on Main. Seven thirty tomorrow. I’ll meet you at your place at seven?

“Well, this should be fun,” he said, cracking open his lunch and beginning to devour it.

***

He stabbed the red “end call” button on his phone’s display angrily and tossed it in his pocket. The urge to hurl it against the mountain face behind him was overwhelming, but then the phone would have to be replaced, and that was just a pain in the ass.

Instead, he bent down, grabbed a hefty rock the size of his head, and hurled it off the path into the forest with a roar.

“Everything okay?” Corey asked, moving up alongside Darren as they came down the path from the mine to their trucks.

He snarled silently. The rest of the day had passed quickly as he waited to hear back from Kierra. There was no service down in the mine, and only an emergency phone line connected them to the outside world, and theoretically only the LMC could use it. So he’d had to wait four hours to know if Kierra was okay with his chosen location.

“She cancelled on me,” he said.

“Why?”

“I don’t know,” he muttered angrily.

“What did she say?” Corey pressed, his tone regretful. Whatever had happened that morning was now long in the past between them. Darren was grateful for that, at least.

“She just stuttered and said it wouldn’t be a good idea.”

“What?” Corey shook his head in confusion. “That doesn’t make any sense. Why would she say that?”

“I don’t know,” he repeated. Then he pulled out his phone and punched up the voicemail, giving it to Corey.

The other shifter listened, his face contorting more and more as he listened to the brief message, before handing back the phone. “Something is up. That’s not the ‘I regret saying yes’ voice. She almost sounds... I don’t know. Pressured? Forced? As if it’s not her idea, you know?”

Darren nodded, though he wasn’t sure he believed his friend. “Well, that’s that I guess. I suppose I’ll be seeing you boys at Ferro’s tomorrow.”

Corey shook his head. “Maybe, but don’t give up yet. That was a weak-ass explanation. You should go find her, and just ask what changed.”

“Don’t you think that’s a little…I don’t know…over the top?” he said, looking questioningly at Corey.

“That’s up to you,” Corey said. “But from the dumbstruck look on your face when you were talking about her at lunch, it sounds to me that this woman hit a chord with you. Something more than just another pretty face. If that’s the case, you need to find out why she suddenly brushed you off. If she has a legitimate reason, then hey, you back off and that’s that. But if it’s some bullshit excuse like ‘Oh, my friend said you were no good for me because you work in the mines,’ then that’s a different story. She’s hiding something.”

Darren thought about what his friend was saying. There
had
been a connection between them. Of that he was positive. After listening to the others in his crew talk as they found mates, it hadn’t been the sort of lightning-rod strike that some of them had experienced. In fact, it had been….awkward. Confusing. But at the same time he was so absolutely sure that something had happened between them as they talked. He just couldn’t figure it out.

Maybe he should go down to the town hall and speak with her for five minutes. Perhaps she was operating under some sort of false assumption about him. Her message truly had sounded unbelievable.

“Okay,” he said at last. “I think I will go see her. Calmly. No brute force. Nothing to seem like I’m crazy, just asking for an honest reason.”

Corey nodded. “Exactly. This isn’t high school, we’re all adults here.”

Darren still felt odd about it, but he also felt a pull to Kierra.
Something
had made him get up out of his seat to go talk to her the night before. Whatever it was, he was going to listen to it for a second time.

“Well, wish me luck,” he said, climbing in to his truck.

“Blow her away champ,” Corey said, giving him a ridiculous dual thumbs-up support.

“Real encouraging,” he said with a shake of his head, and gunned the truck down the single-wide road that led down the mountain.

He pulled up in front of the town hall shortly thereafter. It was a small building, at least compared to similar places from other cities. Two stories tall, it was square-shaped, though the center was an open courtyard filled with well-tended gardens and a small fountain as well.

“Valcke...Valcke…Valcke,” he muttered to himself as he scanned the building directory, looking for her office location. “Ah, there we are. K. Valcke, Room 210-C.”

A look at the map of the building told him that it was on the upper floor, in C section. The four sides of the building were labelled A through D. “A” was where he had entered, which meant she was on the far side of the building and a floor up.

“Can I help you?” A young woman who had been walking down the hallway in front of him paused while she waited for a response.

“I think I’m okay, actually. I need to get to Room 210-C. Is there a preferred route to take?” he asked.

The initial look of courtesy and politeness on her face vanished, much to his surprise.

“May I ask who is inquiring? Miss Valcke is quite busy.”

Darren was taken aback. What had he done wrong?

“My name is Darren. I just need to speak with her for a moment.”

“I’m Hannah, I work for Miss Valcke. I can relay any message you may have for her.”

He raised an eyebrow. “It’s rather personal. Is there some reason you don’t want me to go up to Kierra’s office?”

“Like I said, Miss Valcke is very busy.”

Darren didn’t miss the purposeful use of her formal title by the woman in front of him.

“Very well, I’ll come back another time,” he said, not wanting to cause a scene.

“I’ll let her know you called. If she wants to talk to you, she’ll call you,” Hannah said, then disappeared down the hallway.

Darren stood still, blinking in confusion as he replayed the conversation in his head.

What the hell did I do to these people?

He couldn’t think of a damn thing. As far as he was aware, he had never met Kierra until the night before, and this Hannah woman until a few minutes ago. None of it made any sense.

Striding forward, he peered down the hallway to his left. Hannah was no longer in sight. Frowning, and wondering more and more what the problem was, he turned and took the hallway to the right. After all, it was a square building, which meant there were two ways to get to Kierra’s office.

As he took the stairs three at a time, his long, powerful legs easily propelling him up the two flights, something clicked in his mind. Was Hannah the reason for Kierra canceling? Certainly the tone of voice just now versus the message Kierra had left were complete opposites. Hannah seemed to hate him, while Kierra seemed to be reluctantly following someone else’s advice.

Reaching the top of the stairs in section C, he headed to his right, before realizing the numbers started at 215-C and were going up. Feeling silly, he spun around to head down the hallway going the other way.

She was there.

Kierra.

He swallowed hard as he looked upon her once more. She was tall, with a slight tan to her skin that hinted of a possible Latina background. Darren hoped to be able to ask her that, to find out where was she from. Who was she? He wanted to run his fingers through the thick, sunset-red hair that cascaded down past her shoulders, stopping just shy of her thick, rounded thighs.

The buttoned vest with plain white shirt and form-fitting—but not quite skin-tight—dress pants she wore set his blood boiling. The way her calves flexed in her high heels made him want to growl out his desire right then and there.

First, though. First he had to speak.

Anything.

Something.

But his brain refused to cooperate.

Kierra

He had emerged from the stairwell and hung a right immediately, his legs moving him so fast it was a half-walk, half-jog gait. The floors were still carpeted on the upper level of the building, and they absorbed most of the noise he made, but his large frame still added a solid thud each time his feet came down on the old floors.

Part of her wanted to call out his name and run toward him. Another part was frantically looking for the nearest room to duck into. The combo meant she was standing absolutely still apart from her frantically searching eyes as he turned around.

Gulp.

“Kierra,” he said eventually. The single word echoed down the hallway as a reminder that she couldn’t escape him now. He had taken a long time to speak, the silence while they stared at each other having stretched on for what seemed like an eternity. But now he had spoken and she had to reply.

“Hi.”

“Hey,” he replied, slowly closing the distance between them. It reminded her of a lion stalking its prey on the savannah. Thankfully he stopped well short of her personal space, leaving a bubble of at least ten to fifteen feet between them.

She wasn’t sure what to say to him now that he was actually present in the flesh. It had been one thing to tell him via a message over the phone that she didn’t want to see him anymore.

“Can we talk?”

Kierra nodded, not trusting her voice.

He looked at her for a moment. “Maybe, outside of the hallway?” he suggested.

“Right,” she said blinking rapidly as her wits returned in a flash. “My office is just down the hallway,” she told him, turning to head back the way she had come.

“Thank you for not just brushing me off,” he said as she closed the door behind them.

She gestured to a chair in front of her desk and then moved around behind it to seat herself, while looking at him and waiting for Darren to make the first move. He looked around awkwardly, but then began to speak.

“Listen, I just want to know what I did wrong. I could have sworn there was a bit of something between us last night. I don’t think I was the only one to feel it. So then today, when I got your message, it just seemed... off. Like you didn’t completely believe it. I came down here to find out the real reason. I’m not here to beg you to reconsider. I just want the honest answer.”

“Darren,” she began, then stopped, gathering her words before starting again. “You know I’m running for mayor, right?”

He nodded. That wasn’t groundbreaking news because they had talked about it the night before.

“Well, the campaign I’m running on, the way I’ve built a following... I’ve never been a fan of shifters before you see. As a result, a lot of the support I’ve acquired over the years aren’t huge fans either.”

“That’s your reason?” he said, interrupting her before she could finish explaining.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were a member of the Jade Crew?” she asked, the question coming out in a rush.

Darren looked at her. “You didn’t ask, and I didn’t figure it made a difference,” he replied in a clipped tone. “Does it matter what crew I’m from? Does it make a difference?” Anger tinged his voice as he continued to speak, becoming more irate with her.

“I have to think of the way it would look for my campaign. If my constituents found out I went on a date with a Jade Crew shifter, I would lose all sorts of support. You aren’t exactly known for being a peaceful and easygoing crew you know!” she shot back.

He shook his head. “You didn’t judge me before you knew what crew I was with. You agreed to dinner before that, based solely on what you felt with me, not because of who I am. But now that there’s a label attached, all of a sudden I’m nothing but trash?”

“You aren’t trash!” she protested.

“Tell Hannah that. She was there when I walked in, looking at me like I was absolute garbage. I’ve never even met the girl before! Clearly somebody must have made her think that about me.” His tone left no doubt on who he thought must have done that.

“Darren, you’re a nice guy, and there was a spark,” she said awkwardly, trying to end the conversation. “But I really need to think of my campaign first. I’ve put a lot of time and effort into that.”

He rolled his eyes and stood. “Don’t. Just don’t, okay? Save your pre-fabricated political bullshit for someone who cares. I liked you, the real you. Not,” he gestured at her, “this. Whatever it is.”

“Wait, Darren!” she called as he left the room, but he didn’t turn back. “Fuck!” she exclaimed, slamming herself back into the chair. That was
not
the ending she had wanted to her afternoon. She felt so
stupid
too. Listening to her tell him the reasons for canceling made her realize how terrible they sounded. Kierra didn’t blame Darren one bit for being frustrated with her. She sounded so petty and uncaring.

Angrily she threw herself out of the chair and headed back to the conference room which had been her original destination before her afternoon had exploded. Evening, she corrected as the clock in the room showed her it was now half past five. She tossed the folder that was tucked in the crook of her arm onto the desk, the contents spilling out as she sat down grumpily in a chair.

The other two women stared at her but she ignored them, intent on wallowing in her own misery and self-directed anger for a few minutes more.

Was she really full of political bullshit? Or was there actual validity in her reasoning for turning him away? And in the end, even if there was, did Kierra want that to be the way she lived her life? Political necessity over feelings of the heart?

It reminded her of how many in the medieval and ancient world hadn’t married for love. Instead they had joined together in a political union for the good of the state. Is that really how she wanted to view her love life? It wasn’t anywhere near the same extreme, but she was only
campaigning
for an elected position and already she was analyzing her entire life to gain the most meager political advantage through her actions.

Finally looking up, she saw both Jenny and Hannah focused on her

“What the hell happened out there?” Jenny asked bluntly.

Kierra looked back and forth between her and Hannah. She had left the conference room to get the notes for a speech which she had forgotten in her desk drawer. Before leaving the two of them had been joking and all smiles, a slight contrast to the mood that now occupied the room.

She took her time forming her words. “Do you ever do something that seemed smart at the time, but once you actually spoke it aloud you realized how utterly stupid it made you seem?”

The two women looked first at each other then back at Kierra. It was Hannah who spoke first.

“Darren found you, didn’t he?”

“He did, actually. And thank you for telling me that he came by,” she said allowing a hint of anger to enter her voice. Kierra was a grown woman; the last thing she needed was someone deciding who did or did not get an opportunity to speak to her.

Hannah had the good graces to look abashed but Kierra noted that she also did not apologize for her actions either. She didn’t like what that hinted at. Perhaps a stronger word—in private–would be necessary with her campaign manager. Kierra filed that away for further thought.

“So what happened?” Jenny asked, looking back and forth at the two of them as if she sensed the unspoken rift that had opened all of a sudden.

“He came asking about why I called off our date for tomorrow,” she explained.

“What did you say?” her assistant said, looking interested.

“I told him the truth,” she snapped. “That’s when I realized how stupid I sounded. How utterly political and uncaring our—” she stopped herself. Despite everything, it wasn’t fair to blame the others. In the end it had been her decision. “—
my
reasoning was,” she finished, emphasizing that fact for the others.

“Oh.” Jenny looked away awkwardly, unsure of what else to say.

“Exactly. Then Darren called me out for being full of political bullshit and stormed out,” she finished, nodding thoughtfully to herself as she replayed the exchange in her head yet again.

“Kierra…” Hannah started to say but Kierra cut her off with a swift chop of her hand.

“Don’t. Just don’t.” She didn’t want to hear anything about she had made the “right decision” or any other similar phrases. Not just then. She was still doing her best to determine that for herself and Kierra did not want any outside voice influencing her decision.

Jenny spoke next. “Whatever you decide, you should probably see this first,” she said, sliding an envelope across the table.

“What is it?”

“Just look,” her assistant urged.

The handwriting on the front of the envelope killed any further questions from Kierra. She had seen it before, perhaps half a dozen times at best. It was the handwriting of their contact inside LMC. She thought that perhaps “informant” would be the better word as they never actually made contact with the person. Several months earlier, the mysterious envelopes had started showing up in Kierra’s work mailbox. There was absolutely zero clue as to who they were from. The letters were typed on plain printer paper. The only clue was the handwriting on the front, but all it ever said was “Kierra Valcke.” Even the address portion of it looked typed, which was odd.

“Why go to the effort of handwriting my name, when they clearly have the ability to print address information on the front of the envelope? I don’t understand that.”

Jenny and Hannah shook their heads. The three of them had discussed that subject several times before, without ever coming up with a reason. The closest they could get was “because they wanted to.” Which as far as reasons went was rather weak. Kierra was convinced that there
was
a reason, but no genius idea had presented itself yet and she was beginning to wonder if it ever would.

“Well, I suppose we may as well see what this one contains,” she said and smoothly broke the seal.

The letter was folded into thirds and she opened it gently before smoothing it down on the table, and began to read.

KV,

News that has not been shared to you. The “Stone Bear” program is being expanded. Code name: “Sentinel.” Likely to be muscle for the puppet masters when the time comes to rise up. The original trio believe it is being done for their benefit. They are wrong.

The stink of corruption is stronger than ever, but I know not what else to do. I hope you are making good use of what I have been able to tell you.

–Unity

“Phew,” she said with a gush of breath. Kierra sat back into her chair, holding the letter in one hand as she stuck her tongue between her upper lip and teeth, deep in thought over the unwelcome news.

“This is not good,” Hannah said at last, breaking the silence.

“No shit,” Kierra agreed. Although she hadn’t forgotten Darren, he had been pushed to the side for the moment. Not that she was likely to be able to push his large, muscular frame anywhere he didn’t want to go. The bulging muscles of his arms would easily brush her aside.

Or wrap tightly around her, his strong fingers grabbing her waist…

She shook her head and tried to focus on the letter.

“Sentinel program. A new force of shifters in the Valley?” Hannah said, talking it through. The letters were usually short and cryptic, as if whoever typed them had very little time in which to do it.

“It says as muscle for the puppet masters. And that the original Stone Bears, Gabriel and his friends, are in the dark about it,” Kierra said. “That is really, really not good news.”

“Why?” Jenny asked, not quite keeping up.

“So far what have we been reporting on and running our campaign around?” Kierra pressed. She wanted Jenny to think it through and see the logic she had used to arrive at her conclusion instead of just handing her the answer.

“The corruption and power abuses of the LMC and its shifters,” Jenny said easily.

“Exactly. Who has the LMC been abusing and taking advantage of?”

“Us.” Jenny meant the human portion of the Valley residents.

“Precisely.
Not
each other. But now whoever is running things is keeping their internal police force in the dark about what they’re doing.”

Jenny nodded, but Kierra could see that the light of understanding still hadn’t gone on.

“Jenny, there are multiple factions within the LMC. One of whom is preparing now to take on the others, whoever that may be.”

She watched as Jenny’s eyes flew open in surprise and horror. “Oh, that is definitely not good.”

“Not good at all. The real question is, who are they trying to take out by expanding the Stone Bear program?”

“The miners,” Hannah said slowly, as if working it through in her mind as she spoke. “It has to be. They’re the only cohesive ‘force’ here in the valley that might actually stick up for us.”

“This is way bigger than just some misuse of money and power. If we’re following this right, it sounds like all-out
war
is coming to Genesis Valley,” Kierra said, holding her head in her hands as she stared down at the table and the damning letter.