The Truth About Kadenburg (10 page)

“Get away from me!” She shrieked before crying out in
agony. “Get away!”

Dimitri’s heart was pumping more blood through his veins
in anticipation of his change. He moved his hands to cup her face. “Please
listen to me. You can’t change right now. You’ve got to fight it, do you
understand? You’ve got to calm down.”

He watched as she gazed at him with such intense fear
in her eyes. She reminded him of a puppy who just heard thunder for the first
time.

“What’s happening to me?” She asked weakly as tears
rolled down her reddened cheeks.

It was then that realization donned on Dimitri and his
hands dropped from her face. A frown formed on his lips as he shook his head
slowly.

“You really don’t have any idea what you are, do you?”
He asked.

The girl couldn’t respond and he understood why. She
was fighting the beast that longed to take control, and he knew all too well
how hard of a fight that could be.

“Just focus on something else,” he said calmly as he
reached his hand out to rest against her shoulder. He could feel her body as
it trembled violently and the muscles beneath were tightening. He imagined it
was painful for her.

“What’s happening to me?!” She screamed as she threw
herself forward, fingertips digging into the dirt as she clawed at the ground’s
surface. “It hurts!”

“I know,” he whispered as he tried to massage the
muscles of her shoulder. He knew it probably didn’t help, but he was trying.
“Just focus on something else. Something that will keep you grounded. What
about your mate? Tell me about your mate.”

“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about,” she
gasped as the bones in her hands began to crack. “
Make it stop
.”

“I don’t know how to make it stop,” he confessed as he
frowned. “Don’t you have a mate?”

“No!” She bellowed as she suddenly fell to the ground,
curling up into the fetal position as the tips of her fingers broke open and
long claws began to protrude through. “Oh God, make it stop!” She screamed.
“What’s happening?”

Dimitri was at a loss for words as he saw the thick
white fur growing on her arms. Her skin was beginning to swell and he knew the
change was going to happen no matter what. He also understood it was partially
his fault for not being able to keep her calm. He was messing up left and
right, wasn’t he?

He’d almost forgotten his own battle until he felt his
spine breaking and he let out a grunt, collapsing against the cave floor. He
slammed his fist through a nearby stone and felt it break from the force.
No,
no. I have to stay human for her!
He pleaded with the wolf, trying to
reason with him as the bones in his legs began to break and shift.
Please
don’t do this. She’s not our enemy!

A low growl sounded from deep
within his chest as he turned his head away from her, still clinging to the
last bit of humanity in his mind as his incisors extended. He could hear the
whines escaping from the she-bear as her transition neared completion and as
much as he wanted to look at her, he couldn’t. He could still fight the wolf.
He could still
win
.

Listen to me,
he begged.
She means us no
harm. She is new to all of this just as I once was. She needs to harmonize
with her beast as I have done with you. Give her the chance. Give
me
the chance to right the wrongs our pack has done against her kind.

I am protecting us,
his
wolf insisted.
I cannot defend you if you keep me locked away. She
isn’t able to control her urges.

He knew the wolf had a point, and it was with that
reasoning that he finally allowed the wolf to envelope his soul. Within only a
few seconds, the large red wolf was standing proudly before the white bear who
cowered against the cave wall. She was much bigger than him, but she was
terrified.

The scent of her fear was stronger than any other smell
in the moment, which explained why Dimitri didn’t notice they weren’t alone.
His ears perked up immediately when he heard the angry growls coming from the
entrance of the cave.

The red wolf turned his head to see the two enormous
bears standing there, and they looked very, very angry.

Ten

T
his was not how Mrs. Bamey imagined Presley’s
homecoming turning out. Her recent spike in blood pressure could most
certainly be blamed on the tension between her husband and Arnold Goult, though
she wasn’t sure why Arnold was so apprehensive about revealing the girl’s
heritage to her. She’d been patient and understanding when Pierce passed away,
and she’d been beyond livid when Caroline abandoned her only cub. What sort of
mother could do that? Mrs. Bamey had never been able to come up with a
reasonable explanation as to why her childhood friend had done such a thing.
It was common for humans, perhaps, but
never
for an ursithrope. Cubs
were the most crucial part of their existence. Charlotte would’ve never given
up her boys.

Her precious boys. Her heart still ached for Liam and
there was a sadness deeply embedded within her soul; a sadness that would never
go away. Losing one of her cubs damn near killed her. Of course she was angry
at the ones responsible for his death, but she had to remain strong for
Lorcan’s sake. She couldn’t let her son see her be weak when he depended on
her to be so strong. It was what a good mother would do for her child.

Their numbers had dwindled in Kadenburg over the last few
years, and it seemed that only Charlotte and her husband were concerned about
it. The ursithropes, at one time, flourished in the small town, but that
changed drastically when the threat of lycanthropes became real. Charlotte had
never gone head to head with one before, but she remembered seeing them at
‘town meetings’. She could remember the judgment in their eyes and how cold
they had been towards her and her fellow ursithropes. She knew the dangers
that always followed close behind the wolves, and she had hoped her sons would
never have to deal with the brutal, blood-thirsty monsters.

Since their creation in the late 1800’s, the
ursithropes decided to migrate in large groups to different parts of the world,
where they could exist peacefully among humans and uphold the laws of Urseth.
Unlike the bears that lived before them, they decided solitary lifestyles would
be too dangerous for an individual ursithrope-either male or female. The
continuation of their kind depended on families inhabiting the same areas, and mating
their sons and daughters together.

That’s why it was crucial for Presley to know who she
was. Charlotte had always hoped she would end up with either Liam or Lorcan,
and it saddened her to know that Liam would never have the opportunity to know
a love like his parents shared.

She heaved a sigh, placing the dish towel on the
counter as she gazed out the window towards the vast, open field that rested
behind their home. She could remember Liam and Lorcan playing cowboys and
Indians as if it were only yesterday. Her eyes became misty as she smiled
sadly.

In the beginning, there had been ten ursithrope
families living in Kadenburg; hers was among them. Charlotte’s father and
Richard’s mother had been best friends in childhood and after finding their
mates, they made sure their offspring would be around each other as much as
possible. It was just the way of the ursithropes. Nearly one third of
childhood friendships in humans resulted in marriage, but there was a one
hundred percent success rate within the ursithrope community.

Charlotte always knew she could not force Presley to be
with one of her sons, though she did hope for it. All ursithropes mated to
others of their kind. She couldn’t recall any before her who had successfully
mated to a human and as much as she wanted to warn Presley before she left for
Florida, Arnold told her to keep her nose out of it.

Poor Presley,
Charlotte thought as she stirred
the boiling pot of home-made pudding. Huckleberry was Lorcan’s favorite, and
she presumed he would enjoy it once this little debacle was over. Such sweets
always helped to calm them down after stressful situations.

She shouldn’t have run away. She’s only going to
be more confused.

Charlotte moved her fingers
through her thick, graying hair as she closed her eyes. If only there was more
she could do. She felt like her hands were tied and there wasn’t a clear
solution to the problems they faced. The growing threat of lycanthropes and
seeking justice for Liam’s death had put everyone on edge, but Presley’s situation
was the icing on the cake.

The poor dear has been left in the dark for too
long,
she decided as she pursed her lips together.
If Arnold doesn’t
tell her soon, I’ll do it myself. She deserves to know.

Lifting the large wooden spoon
once more to stir the huckleberry pudding, Charlotte suddenly caught a whiff of
something that was neither bubbling berries or her husband’s cologne. It was a
scent she remembered from her 20’s, a scent that carried terror and disaster
with it.

Her face paled significantly as the spoon slipped from
her grip, hitting the floor. Yes. She remembered that scent. It belonged to
one particular being and it struck a chord of grief in her chest as she hurried
to the back door and pushed it open. Her eyes scanned the wooded area as her
nostrils flared and then her brows furrowed.

It wasn’t just any lycanthrope she smelled, no. It was
him. The one who murdered Pierce Carroll in the fall of 1986; the one who
drove seven other ursithrope families from the mountains of Tennessee; the one
they had battled once before and he promised it was not over.

“Oh, sweet Urseth,” she whispered before she turned to
rush back into the house, shutting the door and locking it quickly.

It was Breslin Connor, and he wasn’t alone.

______________________

They had him cornered. Lorcan was trying to listen to
reason as his eyes narrowed in on the red wolf, but any rational thoughts he’d
previously had were thrown out the window when he picked up on Presley’s scent
mixed with a lycanthrope’s. He’d shifted almost instantaneously and Arnold
Goult wasn’t far behind.

He should have known he couldn’t trust the wolf. No
wolf was trustworthy in any sense, even one that claimed to love his brother.
It didn’t help matters that Presley was stubborn, and it was worse that she was
clueless about their kind. How was he supposed to protect a woman who was so
oblivious to the danger surrounding her?

His eyes didn’t move away from the wolf as he bared his
large incisors to show he meant business. If Dimitri thought this was some
sort of game, it was a mistake that would get him killed.

Arnold approached his very confused niece as he nudged
his snout against the side of her head. She was visibly trembling as she turned
to gaze at Arnold with wide green eyes.

It’s okay,
Arnold said gently as he moved his
head up and down.
I’m here now and nothing is going to happen to you,
Presley. Do you hear me?

Uncle Arnold?
She
squeaked as her mouth fell open and she released a distressed bawl like a cub.

Lorcan didn’t mean to listen in on their conversation,
but he wanted to make sure she would be all right. He’d honestly hoped her
first time shifting wouldn’t be brought on by the possibility of danger, and
more so, he never imagined it would happen because of another shifter
threatening them.

I don’t understand,
Presley’s cry echoed in
Lorcan’s mind as he frowned on the inside.
What’s happening, Uncle Arnold?
Why has this happened to me? It’s not normal!

Lorcan stayed in a defensive
stance as he watched the red wolf’s eyes moving from him to Presley, and then
to Arnold before returning to him once more. If that wolf made one wrong move…

We’re not normal, Presley,
Arnold replied.
I
should have told you this a lot sooner but I honestly just wanted to give you
the chance at a human life.

I
am
human!
Presley exclaimed as she took a few steps backwards until her backside hit the
cave wall. Her green eyes shifted from Arnold to the wolf before she sobbed
inwardly.
This must be another bad dream. It has to be.

It’s not,
Lorcan offered, though
he remained vigilant to the wolf as he towered over him. Though ursithropes
were significantly larger than lycanthropes, the wolf predecessors had an
advantage with their speed while transformed. Lorcan didn’t want to take the
risk of letting his enemy find a window of opportunity.
This isn’t a dream,
Presley. This is what we are.

Lorcan!
She gasped in surprise.

Yes, Pretz, it’s me.

There was a brief moment of
silence before Presley’s small voice sounded in his head again.

We’re bears?
Presley questioned as she tried to
inch further away from her uncle.
I really need to stop drinking…

As much as Lorcan wanted to laugh
at her last remark, the moment was too serious for humor. He needed to focus
on keeping the wolf at bay. How naïve of him to think he could actually
trust
what Dimitri had stated during their first encounter. He was no better than
the rest of them. Lycans couldn’t wait to dig their claws into someone’s
back-or their throats.

I need you to trust me now, Presley,
Arnold
stated gently as he released a low growl that was meant to comfort her. Lorcan
could tell by the tone in which the growl was delivered.
I can help you
through this, but you’re going to have to trust everything I’ve got to say. Do
you understand?

This is too much…
Presley admitted as she stared back and forth between her uncle and Lorcan.
What
about that wolf thing? I don’t understand. Are you saying that werewolves are
real, too?

And a real problem,
Uncle
Arnold replied as he turned his large head to glare towards the red wolf.
I
need you to leave this cave with me now, Presley. There’s much to discuss and
I’m afraid we don’t have much time. There’s something much worse headed our
way besides one measly fleabag.

What could be worse?
Presley
asked sarcastically as she bared her teeth.

A whole pack of measly fleabags,
Arnold
retorted.
I just need you to trust me, Presley. It’s all I’m asking.

Lorcan glanced towards the two
of them as Arnold finally convinced the timid white bear to leave with him and
once they were gone, it was just him and Dimitri. He was trying, with much
difficultly, to remember the red wolf was his brother’s mate. It was with that
thought alone that he was able to shift back into his human form.

As his muscles quivered beneath glistening skin, Lorcan
kept his eyes on the nude man standing in front of him. They were both
breathing heavily, trying to give their bodies time to adjust to flesh and
healing bones as the minutes passed by. Neither spoke a word as Dimitri bent
down to pick up his tattered jeans, mumbling about how it was a waste of good
denim.

The silence became unbearable for Lorcan. He couldn’t
stay quiet any longer. He pushed raven locks away from his forehead as he
frowned.

“What the hell were you thinking?” He asked. “You
just made her shift for the first time in her life-out of fear!”

Dimitri lifted his eyes to Lorcan’s as he shrugged his
shoulders, trying to tug what was left of his trousers over his muscular
thighs. “I didn’t know she was ignorant to her heritage.”

Anger flashed in Lorcan’s eyes as his upper lip curled
back. “She is
not
ignorant!” He bellowed.

“Whoa! Hey,” Dimitri lifted his hands up as if to
signal his surrender. “I’m not saying
she’s
ignorant. I’m just saying
the truth has been hidden away from her, which in itself, is an ignorant
thing.”

Was this guy for real? Lorcan’s jawline began to
tighten as he glared daggers at him, wondering if his desire to punch him in
the face would be justified. The fact that Liam had loved him was beginning to
lose its influence over Lorcan’s conscience.

“Look, I saved her,” Dimitri threw a hand out in front
of himself as he spoke. “Thomas would have killed her had I not intervened. I
killed one of my own to keep one of yours alive. Don’t get any ideas.”

Lorcan smirked, rolling his eyes as he put his hands on
his hips. “Is that supposed to have some sort of significant meaning for me?
You saved her so that makes everything okay between us? Is that supposed to
excuse what just happened?”

Dimitri stared at him in disbelief as he crossed his
arms over his bare chest. “I’m not trying to make excuses for what just
happened. She shifted-OKAY. Big deal! It would have happened sooner or
later. At least her uncle can take care of her now.”

“Oh right, at least her uncle can take care of her
now,” Lorcan mocked. “She could have killed you if her mind had been clear
enough for her to concentrate on her instincts. Or you could’ve killed her,
seeing as you handled your own urges so well.”

“Don’t try to put the blame on me here. I shifted in
an effort to protect myself. I’m not fond of the fact that your kind thinks my
scent is tasty.”