The Truth About Kadenburg (13 page)

“Shouldn’t you be out there with my uncle and your
parents? I mean, that
is
a wolf out there.”

“They’ve got it under control,” Lorcan said passively
as he pushed open the back door and then led her onto the porch. “Sit.”

Presley stared at him for a moment, opening her mouth
as if to protest before she sank down upon the top step. She tilted her head
back to gaze at him while lifting a hand to shield her eyes from the sun. “You
could’ve said please.”

“
Please
,” he grinned. He crossed his arms over
his chest as he stood on the third step down, towering over her easily as he
glanced at the rooftop for a moment. There was no better place to start than
at the beginning, right?

“You’re familiar with the Civil War, right?”

Presley rolled her eyes. “Don’t insult my
intelligence, Orc. Of course I am.”

He smiled, bemused with her sudden spitfire attitude.
Sassy Presley was his favorite.

“How much do you know about the Battle of Shiloh?”

“I know that it was the bloodiest battle back then.”

“Do you know where it happened?”

She frowned as she tilted her head to the side. “Duh.
Mrs. Branham bragged about it as if she lived through it. It happened in Tennessee.”

“It did,” he nodded as he turned to move down the steps
before he stopped and rubbed the back of his neck. “The Confederate Army
thought they were going to win.”

“But they didn’t,” Presley stated matter-of-factly.
“The Union won that battle.”

Lorcan turned to face her with another grin playing at
his lips. “Do you know why they won?”

Presley blinked. “Because the Union Army had more
common sense than the prejudice bigots?”

“That’s a good theory, but no.”

Lorcan moved to sit beside of her on the top step as he
rested his elbows against his thighs. His hands dangled between his legs as he
gazed at the wooded scenery that rested directly behind the Goult house.

“A lot of immigrants back then weren’t given much of a
choice when it came to being recruited into the war,” he started in a more
serious voice. “A lot of them had to join. One of them was a Russian immigrant.
He was on the Union’s side,” he turned his head to gaze at her. “On the
morning of April seventh, while this battle was raging and a lot of men died,
he found himself outnumbered by over twenty Confederate soldiers.”

“That doesn’t seem like a very fair fight,” Presley
mumbled solemnly.

“It wasn’t,” Lorcan shrugged. “But he fell to his
knees and he started praying to his god. Do you know who Russians prayed to
back then?”

Presley shook her head slowly.

“Slavic deities aren’t any different from Zeus or
Horus. Each deity serves a purpose and has gifted the world with something.
In Slavic religion, Urseth is the god of the bears. He represents peace and
humility. The Russian soldier pleaded to Urseth to spare his life and Urseth
responded.”

He turned his head to gaze at Presley. She was
completely engrossed with the story as she rested her cheek against her palm.
She blinked and lifted her head, frowning. “What happened?”

“Urseth sent aid to the soldier in the form of eight
bears. Did you know that there are eight types of bears in existence?”

“I never took that much of an interest in learning what
types of bears exist,” Presley admitted. “Pandas, Grizzlies, and Polar bears
are the only types I know about.”

“The Grizzly is actually from the Brown bear family,”
Lorcan mused as he smiled at her. “That’s what we are.”

“We’re Grizzlies?” Presley questioned. “Well, that
makes a heap of difference, doesn’t it?”

Choosing to ignore her remark, Lorcan continued the
story. “The American Black Bear, the Brown Bear, the Polar Bear, the Giant
Panda Bear-”

“Yes, yes. I know those,” Presley interrupted.

“A plus for you,” Lorcan chuckled with a shake of his
head. “..The Asiatic Black Bear, the Sloth Bear, the Spectacled Bear, and the
Sun Bear are the eight types of bears. Those are the bears that came to the
Union soldier’s aid that day. As the sun crept over the hills and his enemies
moved in closer, the soldier caught sight of the majestic beasts and he asked,
‘Urseth, why have you sent these animals when the men who wish to kill me wield
weapons?’”

Presley leaned forward a little, the tip of her index
finger between her lips as she chewed at her fingernail. Her eyes were wide as
she lingered to every word spoken.

“Urseth proved his power as the eight bears transformed
into the strongest, most fierce warriors to ever live. They showed no mercy
against the Confederate soldiers, and they killed them with their bare hands,”
he held up his hands, curling his fingers against his palms to emphasize the
words he spoke. “The Union army celebrated their victory on that very same
day, and that Russian soldier lived to see his ninetieth birthday thanks to
Urseth and his warriors.”

When he stopped, Presley perked up. “And?”

“And what?”

“What happened to the bear warriors?”

Lorcan grinned. “So you want to hear about our family
history?”

Presley rolled her eyes. “Don’t say it like that,” she
sulked. “Besides, you can’t
not
finish the story.”

“All right,” he chortled. “As the great bear warriors
peered at the blood on their hands and the flesh beneath their fingernails, the
Sun Bear questioned Urseth. He said, ‘What is to become of us? You have given
us the bodies of men and the ability to speak. Do you wish to take these gifts
from us?’ To which Urseth replied, ‘No. You may keep your human form under one
condition.’

‘Anything!’ The Polar Bear shouted. ‘What is it that
you ask of us, Urseth?’” He stopped briefly to study Presley.

“Well what was the condition?” Presley asked
impatiently.

“They had to live by the laws of the Ursithrope.”

“Can you elaborate on those?”

Lorcan sighed. “You really don’t know
anything
about us, do you?”

“Obviously not,” Presley snapped as she moved her
fingers through her golden hair. “Apparently I’ve been living under a rock for
the majority of my life while you and my uncle frolicked in the woods with
Smokey the bear.”

Lorcan had to turn his head in order not to burst out
into laughter. Yep. Sassy Presley was definitely his favorite.

“The laws of the Ursithrope are pretty simple,” he
stated as he pushed himself up from the steps and then hopped off onto the
grass below. He whirled around to gaze up at her. “We respect our women. We
never let humans in on our secret. We don’t hurt humans unless there’s a damn
good reason to. We embrace our inner bear and live as one with him,” he
blinked. “Or her, in your case,” He was holding up four fingers as he gazed at
her, watching as she chewed at her lower lip.

“So I guess I’ve broken that rule,” she commented as
she shifted uncomfortably. “Are there any other laws?”

“Not that were given by Urseth,” Lorcan shrugged as he
watched her get up from the steps. As she made her way down to him, he offered
his hand.

She didn’t take it.

“There have been rules that generations before us tried
to make, but none of them ever stick.”

“What happens if you break the rules?” Presley asked,
peering up at him.

“Most are punishable by death,” Lorcan answered
honestly as he heard footsteps approaching. He knew right away that it was his
father and he was glowering on the inside because he enjoyed being alone with
Presley, even if all he was doing was educating her.

“That’s a little extreme, isn’t it?” Presley
questioned.

Before he had time to answer, his father appeared from
around the corner of the house, and he didn’t look too happy.

“We’ve got trouble,” his father said lowly. “You need
to get Presley inside.”

Lorcan’s brows lifted on his forehead before he
laughed. “If this is about Dimitri, you’ve got the wrong-”

“No,” his father shook his head. “It’s his pack.”

Thirteen

D
imitri had envisioned meeting Liam’s parents for
the first time to go a little differently. He imagined that a nice dinner
would be involved, and then the process of easing them into the acceptance that
their son was a man in love with another man would go swimmingly. It was
something he and Liam had discussed many times. All they wanted was to be seen
as two men who cared about one another, not two forces on opposing sides that
were supposed to hate each other.

You’re doing this for Liam,
he reminded himself
as he gazed back and forth between the two overprotective ursithropes standing
before him. The young female’s uncle stood at his side, but Dimitri understood
he wasn’t doing so in an effort to protect him. He was in a dangerous
situation, no matter his status with Liam. It didn’t matter that he saved the
girl, or that he wanted to help. The stench of judgment dulled his brain and
slowed his heart rate as he shoved his hands into the front pockets of his
jeans.

“What is
he
doing here?” Richard Bamey asked in
a low voice.

“Heck if I know,” Arnold replied as he scratched the
top of his head. “He came here with your boy even though I’m pretty sure he
knows that was a stupid idea.”

The woman placed her hand over her mouth as she stared
at Dimitri, and he wondered if she was going to push herself past stroke
level.

“Why the hell was Lorcan with him?” Richard asked. “I
don’t see any chains on him. He’s not a captive,” he said the last part in a
way that made Dimitri wonder if he was actually serious.

Dimitri rolled his eyes. “With all due respect, Sir,”
he started. “This is the twenty first century. I don’t see any need for
putting me in chains-which I could break free from easily, just so you know.”

“Bite your tongue,” Mr. Bamey frowned. “I don’t guess
I should expect anything better from a wolf.”

Dimitri refrained from making a snide remark, despite
the overwhelming need to do so. So this was the man who would’ve been his
future father-in-law, huh?

How charming,
he thought.

“If you’re done insulting me, Sir, I’d like to finish
the conversation I was trying to have,” Dimitri spoke up after a few seconds of
tension rolled by. He turned his attention back to the girl’s uncle. “My
alpha will be back.”

“I figured as much,” Richard interrupted as he
scratched the scruff on his cheek. “Charlotte caught your alpha’s scent just
an hour ago. He’s putting his long nose where it doesn’t belong, but I
shouldn’t expect any different from your kind. It ain’t like you to just leave
well enough alone. If you kill one, you gotta kill them all, right? You like
the taste of blood. You can’t get enough of it.”

Dimitri’s jawline tightened. Even if that was true for
most wolves, it wasn’t true for him. He’d tasted the blood of many creatures
in his time, but the blood lust wasn’t so consuming that he’d destroy anything
and everything in his path to get it.

“If you’re quite finished,” Dimitri said more sternly
than before. “I’d like to speak.”

“Let the boy talk,” Arnold said, glancing at his
friend. Mr. Bamey scowled as Arnold turned to face Dimitri again. “What do
you have to say?”

Dimitri hesitated for a few seconds as his mind
betrayed him. For weeks, he’d had this speech planned out. He knew exactly
what he was going to say to Liam’s parents and now his mind was blank. Was it
the stress from his alpha being a complete ass? That was a damn good
possibility at this point.

He exhaled loudly as he let his eyes move back to the
woman. She was peering at him with timid curiosity. He could see who Liam got
his nose from. A sharp ache in his chest caused his eyebrows to furrow as he
tore his gaze from her. This was a hell of a lot harder than he anticipated.

“Well?” Her husband asked impatiently.

“It was my fault,” Dimitri finally stated. He lifted
his gaze to meet Mr. Bamey’s. “It’s my fault your son is dead.”

Making that confession temporarily paralyzed Dimitri
and it left him vulnerable to the sudden outburst of rage that came from Liam’s
dad.

“You son of a bitch!” He bellowed.

Before Dimitri could comprehend what was happening, he
was tackled to the ground and the unrelenting force of a steel fist against his
jaw had him seeing stars.

“You killed my boy?!” Liam’s father quaked. “You took
my son away from me, you bastard!”

“Richard, stop!” Arnold said as he attempted to drag
his friend off Dimitri. “Damn it, Richard. I said stop!”

Dimitri didn’t even try to shield his face. This was
what he deserved. He deserved to be beaten into a pulp for what had happened
to Liam. He deserved to feel every ounce of pain Mr. Bamey unleashed upon him
for failing to save Liam from his alpha.

I’m sorry, Liam,
Dimitri thought as his eyes
watered from the strikes to his face, mixing with the blood that escaped the
fresh cuts on his cheeks from the impact of Mr. Bamey’s knuckles. He could
hear the woman shouting and the other man was cussing as they tried to pull
Liam’s father off him again.

“STOP!” Mrs. Bamey barked. “Richard, stop! You
can’t
do that!”

“The hell I can’t!” Mr. Bamey argued. “Don’t tell me I
can’t do it, Charlotte. He deserves to pay for what happened to our boy.”

“Richard, you
can’t
. He’s
protected.
”

Mr. Bamey had his bloodied fist pulled back, ready to
strike again when he heard his wife’s words. He froze in mid-air before he
turned his head to look at her. “What’d you say?”

Dimitri opened the eye that wasn’t swollen shut to gaze
at the woman who was staring at him with wide eyes. It was like she’d seen a
ghost.

“I can smell it,” she said softly as tears glistened in
her eyes. “I can smell Liam on him.”

“What are you talking about?” Mr. Bamey asked in a
trembling voice. “I don’t smell anything but wolf.”

Mrs. Bamey moved closer, kneeling down beside of
Dimitri’s head as she reached her hand out to trace her thumb over a reddening
bruise upon his forehead.

“I can smell him on you,” she sobbed as her voice
cracked. “I can smell Liam’s…” Her lower lip began to tremble as a tear rolled
down her cheek. She shook her head slowly.

Dimitri blinked in confusion as the woman cupped his
face between her extremely warm hands. It was an odd comfort for him. A chill
ran down his spine from the familiar heat of an ursithrope’s touch. If he
closed his eyes, he was willing to bet he’d mistake her for Liam, which was
crazy.

“What the hell do you smell?” Mr. Bamey asked as he
watched his wife in bewilderment. “Why are you acting so funny, Charlotte?”

Dimitri watched as the older woman opened her eyes and
then she smiled gently at him. There was a prominent tenderness in her smile,
and it broke his heart to realize Liam had inherited that from her, too. He
couldn’t look away from her as she lifted a hand to wipe her tears away.

“Liam’s love,” she responded quietly. “I smell Liam’s
love on him.”

Dimitri’s eyes drifted from Mrs. Bamey to her husband,
watching as it began to register in the man’s mind. Dimitri was still flat on
his back with all of Mr. Bamey’s weight crushing down against him. His lungs
ached and his face was throbbing in more than one place. He swiped his tongue
over his lower lip and tasted the metallic flavored liquid collecting there.

Mr. Bamey sure knows how to fight,
he thought.

The air rushed back into his lungs as Liam’s father
pulled away from him, straightening up and then taking a few steps away from
them. Dimitri watched him in silence as Arnold offered a hand to him. Dimitri
pulled himself up with Arnold’s help, but kept his eyes on Mr. Bamey’s back.

“Richard,” his wife whispered. “Richard, we need to-”

“Give me a minute, Charlotte,” he said hoarsely as he
placed his hands on his waist and gazed up towards the sky. “Just give me a
gosh darn minute here.”

Mrs. Bamey nodded her head before she turned to face
Dimitri again. There was an expression of sadness on her face, yet her eyes
held another emotion. Dimitri couldn’t figure out what that emotion was just
yet.

The wolf flinched when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
He turned his head quickly to meet Arnold’s gaze.

“Don’t you think you could have warned me about how
this conversation was going to unfold?” He asked.

“I’m sorry,” Dimitri shrugged, wiping at his lower
lip. He pulled his fingers away to see the bright red crimson. It would heal
quickly, but he’d not soon forget the ass kicking he’d just received from an
old ursithrope. “I didn’t exactly plan for it to work out that way.”

His eyes moved back to Liam’s mother as she stepped
towards him again and his brows furrowed as he watched her. She was struggling
with her own emotions. He could tell by the way she fidgeted with the loose
threads on her blouse. He could sense her confusion and her sadness, as well as
her…happiness?

“I knew there was someone in his life,” she said softly
as she smiled. The tears still glistened in her eyes, but the sadness that
lingered there only moments before had dispersed. The middle aged woman was
quick to wrap her arms around his neck in a surprise hug, and Dimitri didn’t
know how to react.

It felt nice to be hugged like that.

“I didn’t know,” she said. Her voice was muffled
against his shoulder as her arms squeezed around him. “I’m so sorry I didn’t
know.”

Dimitri could feel the oxygen leaving his brain as her
grip seemed to get tighter and tighter. Ursithropes definitely had to be the
reigning champions of bear hugs, and for good reason.

He was still trying to figure out how she even
knew
,
but then he recalled a particular night during a steamy situation when Liam bit
him harder than usual.

He marked me,
Dimitri thought. There was a
thrill of pride that ran through him, but it was overclouded by sadness. Mrs.
Bamey was accepting him as her son’s mate, but Liam wasn’t there to celebrate
the joyous occasion with them.

Mr. Bamey still had his back to them and Dimitri knew
it wouldn’t be a good idea to try to approach the man. He could sense his
anger. He felt betrayed by his son. He was hurt. He was sad.

Dimitri felt guilty for spilling the beans during such a
critical time. His pack was on the way, he just knew it, and he had to protect
these people somehow. Why couldn’t he have waited until after this was over?

They needed to know now. They needed to understand
why this is happening. It’s because I loved their son and he loved me. I have
to keep Breslin from hurting them. I won’t let him get to them like he did
Liam,
he promised himself mentally as he wrapped an arm around Mrs. Bamey.

Just as Dimitri began to allow himself to enjoy the
embrace of a maternal figure, a surge of panic ran down his spine and his eyes
snapped open. He went rigid in Mrs. Bamey’s arms and the woman pulled back
when she realized the change in his demeanor.

“What is it?” She asked, catching her husband’s
attention by the grave tone of her voice.

Dimitri frowned. He turned his gaze towards the wooded
area before he looked back to her, and then to Arnold.

“They’re coming,” Dimitri said lowly. “They’re almost
here.”