Alpha Bear (2 page)

“We’re hereditary witches from Italy. In the
States, I think you would call us magic users or mages,” Urse
explained. John’s brows furrowed as he frowned. “But we’re not
affiliated with any formal group or school in the U.S. We’re
solitary practitioners, for the most part, with the traditions
passed down through the family. We learned our skills from our
grandmother, who shares our gifts, and from special friends she
invited to teach us from time to time. But most importantly, we
serve the Mother of All and are on the side of Light.”

“Well, that’s the only good thing I’ve heard
so far.” John sighed, running a hand through his hair. Clearly, he
was upset.

“We’re also descendants of Francisco the
Great and his mate, the
strega
Violetta,” Mellie put in
helpfully. “Francisco was a Marsican bear shifter and protector of
the Apennine during the dark times of the Destroyer.”

“That was a long time ago,” John said,
looking at Mellie. “But it speaks in your favor that you’re
descended of a bear, even if you can’t shift.” He looked back at
Urse, meeting her gaze. “You can’t shift, can you?”

“No. Francisco’s gift passed to another
branch of the family. Our line took after his mate, Violetta,” Urse
admitted. “Look, John, I’m sorry. I wanted to talk to you about all
of this as soon as we realized practically everyone in town was a
shifter. On our first visit, we figured we just ran across a random
group of shifters, and the rest of the town would be human. Only
after we started moving in did we realize what we’d walked into
here. I apologize for not telling you sooner.”

“Why didn’t you?” John surprised her by
asking.

Mellie had the grace to blush. “That was my
fault,” she admitted bashfully. “I liked being around your people,
and I wanted to stay for a while before you kicked us out.”

“What makes you think I’m going to kick you
out?” John said in a quiet voice.

“Well, aren’t you?” Mellie looked up at him
with those big brown eyes that had been getting her out of trouble
since they were kids.

John sighed again. “Hell if I know. This
isn’t anything I was expecting, and frankly, I’m not sure what to
do about it. We started this town for shifters. We only just agreed
to let a few humans in. We never even considered magic users would
want to join us here, and we haven’t made any plans with that
situation in mind.”

“I’m sorry we’ve caused trouble for you,”
Urse said calmly. “If you want us to leave, we will. We should have
come clean when we first realized what this place was really all
about.”

“Yes, you should have,” John agreed. “But
you’re here now. And you already know about us. I think you should
just continue setting up your shop. We’re going to have to have a
meeting, and I’d like you both to be available if the council needs
to hear more about your origins, abilities and loyalties. For now,
though, just…carry on, I guess.” He ran that hand through his thick
hair again, clearly frustrated. “I’ll be in touch. Don’t go near
the water and don’t go into the woods. Stay in town. Okay?”

“All right, John. We’ll do as you ask.” Urse
walked with him toward the doorway as Mellie moved aside to let him
pass. “Please accept my apologies. We should have told you a lot
sooner.”

John paused in the middle of the store. “You
should have. I expect honesty from my people. If you stay, I’ll
expect that from both of you from now on. Clear?”

His gaze pinned Mellie first.

“Crystal,” Mellie replied quickly, hands
behind her back as she fidgeted under the weight of that
intimidating Alpha male stare.

John turned his attention to Urse, seeking
her agreement. She wasn’t as intimidated by his gaze. If he was an
Alpha male—and she was certain he was—then she was probably the
witch equivalent of an Alpha female. She could stand up to a guy
like him and not sweat it. Though she didn’t feel like opposing
John. No, not at all. She felt more like standing with him. By his
side.

Now where did
that
odd thought come
from? She almost shook herself. On very rare occasions, she almost
felt as if an inner bear spoke to her, down deep inside. That furry
hussie was seeing something she really,
really
liked when
she looked at the mayor. But it was more than just sexual
attraction. The beast hidden way down deep saw someone she could
trust. Someone who should be respected.

If it was some long-lost ancestral trait, or
merely instinct, Urse had learned to trust the female intuition—or
bear sense—when it decided to speak to her. Come to think of it,
that feeling had become more common since they’d moved. Maybe
something about Grizzly Cove was awakening that part of her
lineage? Or maybe…it was contact with John that was doing it.
Either way, she would pay attention.

“Honesty, John. Now and forevermore,” she
intoned, knowing some of her magic was leaking out into her words.
That happened sometimes.

John started, looking deep into her eyes. He
seemed to recognize the vow she’d just made—and reinforced with her
own power. Maybe he recognized the kindred bear spirit that was
awakening inside her? Or maybe that was all just her
imagination.

“Good.” He nodded once. “I’ll be in touch
soon.”

He turned and strode forcefully out the door,
turning right onto Main Street. She watched until he disappeared
from view.

“Holy crap, I’m sorry,” Mellie whined,
cringing as she looked at Urse.

“Yeah, me too.” Urse said, slapping the dust
from her jeans. “That could’ve gone a whole lot better, but at
least he didn’t try to bite one of us.”

“That is one scary bear,” Mellie agreed,
watching the street where John had disappeared.

“He’s the Alpha. Of course he’s scary, but
lucky for us, he’s as controlled as he is powerful. Otherwise, we’d
be toast. As it is, I’m not sure they’re going to let us stay.”

“I’m really sorry.” Her sister tried looking
pathetic, but Urse wasn’t buying it.

The way she saw it, they had a really slim
chance of the town council being willing to let them stay, now that
the cat was out of the bag. Why that disappointed her so very much,
Urse wasn’t exactly sure, but she suspected it had a lot to do with
the Alpha male who had just walked out the door…and possibly out of
her life, for good.

Damn.
That was a really shitty
thought.

John fumed as he stalked down Main Street
toward his office. Of all the things the Ricoletti sisters could
have been, mages was right there at the top of the list of no-no’s.
Shifters didn’t mix with other magical races. They barely
cooperated among other shifter groups.

John figured he’d been asking a lot of his
people to work with the vampire master out of Seattle, but that
long-distance relationship seemed to be going well for both sides.
They were all still wary, though. He might have established a
working rapport with the bloodsucker, but that didn’t mean his
people trusted the guy.

And the master vampire stayed on his own
turf, in Seattle. He didn’t come out to Grizzly Cove without
specific invitation to view progress on the restaurant in which he
was now—rather ironically, since he couldn’t ingest food—a silent
partner.

But witches…living
in
town? Part of
the community? He didn’t think his people would go for it. It was
one thing to let the odd human in. The three sisters they’d allowed
to open a bakery several months before had all ended up mated to
bears, so that had worked out really well. With that success under
their belts, they’d decided to allow more humans in.

The key word there was
humans
. Nowhere
on their business application had the Ricoletti sisters indicated
that they were magic users. Of course, that wasn’t the kind of
thing one just bandied about. Mages were still as secretive as
shifters and vamps about their existence. The human world just
rolled along…mostly unaware of the magical beings coexisting
alongside them.

John liked it that way. Sure, allowing humans
to settle in the cove had its risks, but that was why each
applicant was so carefully vetted.

How in the world had the witch sisters gotten
past the background checks? John didn’t know, but he was definitely
going to find out. He punched a few numbers into his cell phone as
he stalked along Main Street.

The guy in charge of the background checks
was also the town’s lawyer, Tom. He’d mated recently, to the middle
Baker sister, who was also an attorney. She picked up the phone,
and John had to school himself not to growl out his frustrations to
her. It wasn’t Ashley’s fault that her mate had been fooled by two
Italian-American witches.

“Is Tom there?” John asked, his temper
running close to the surface.

“He’s at your office, John,” Ashley answered
promptly. “He had some candidates he wanted to run past you.”

John really wanted to growl, but he bit it
back. Again.

“Thanks, Ashley. I’ll catch him there.”

He rang off as politely as he could manage
under the circumstances and took the steps into City Hall two at a
time. He stomped into his office at the back of the building, and
sure enough, there he was. Tom. Asshole of the hour.

“You’ve got a lot of explaining to do,” John
said without preamble as Tom stood by the visitor’s chair in front
of John’s desk.

“What’s wrong?” Tom asked.

He was one of John’s go-to men for a reason.
Tom was a problem solver, which was normally something John
respected, but Tom had fucked up royally, and John was pissed.

“How about two witches opening a bookstore in
the middle of town? And, oh yeah, they recognized all of us as
shifters without even breaking a sweat.” John paced behind his
desk, unable to sit still as his anger peaked.

“What?” Tom looked dumbfounded, then
concerned, followed swiftly by anger and a flush of
embarrassment.

It wasn’t often Tom was caught flatfooted,
but John saw all the signs of it now. Damn. He wanted to be angry
with his friend and lieutenant, but he knew Tom was a straight
shooter. He’d messed up, but he was just as troubled as he ought to
be by the situation. Maybe even more so—since it was his fault the
strega
sisters had gotten this far.

“Those nice Ricoletti girls just informed me
that they’re both magic users. Apparently, they come from a long
line of Italian
strega
.”

“
Strega
, huh?” Tom looked thoughtful
as he obviously recognized the word.

“You know about
strega
?” John
countered quickly. He needed reliable information, and he needed it
yesterday.

“Yeah, I crossed paths with a
strega
once. A long time ago.” Tom’s tone turned contemplative. “She saved
my life, actually.”

That took a bit of the wind out of John’s
sails. He found enough calm to sit.

“Tell me all,” he invited, though it was more
like an order.

“It was before I hooked up with your unit,
John,” Tom began. “Me and two other guys were detached to protect
the U.S. ambassador on a trip to Rome. Remember the terrorist
attack? I was in the middle of it and took five bullets to the
abdomen before we could save the ambassador’s bacon and get him out
of there. The team assumed I was wearing a vest, but you know how I
hate the way those things chafe. I was bleeding, but I told them it
was only a graze, and in the confusion of the scene, I got away
with it. Until I couldn’t anymore. I collapsed in a back alley near
the Vatican while pursuing the perps. Our radios were shit with all
the chaos and crossed signals, so nobody missed me.”

“I knew you were in the thick of that action,
but I didn’t know you’d been injured,” John said, encouraging his
friend to go on.

It was clear that Tom was reluctant to talk
about whatever had happened. He was probably embarrassed, but he’d
have to get over that. John needed to know what he knew about
strega
.

“A priest found me and somehow recognized
what I was. He contacted a woman he knew, and she took me into her
home. She was a
strega
. I was pretty far gone. One of the
bullets had hit something important, and even with our natural
healing abilities, I was close to death. I thought, at the time,
that I’d just asked too much of my body, but the lady—the witch—set
me straight. One of those bullets had been cursed, she claimed
later, and I was in no position to argue. She did some magic, and I
woke up in the middle of it. There was a really intense golden
light. I could see the woman and the priest through this sheen of
the most beautiful light I’ve ever been exposed to. It felt like
the sun—the most intense sun you’ve ever felt—on a warm summer day.
Good and golden and pure.”

Tom’s eyes had lost their focus on the here
and now, and John listened with great interest to the story. He
hadn’t had a lot of experience with Catholic priests, but John had
long held the belief that most people who dedicated their lives to
serving their chosen deity in a non-violent way, and helping
others, were probably on the right side of things.

It sounded like the priest who had found Tom
knew things about the unseen world, if he’d realized Tom was a
shifter. The thought intrigued him, but it was for later
consideration. What he needed to know about right now was the
woman. The
strega
.

“She healed me with her magic. I could feel
the bullets popping out of my body and hear them clattering on the
floor. I’d counted five hits, but there were more pieces than that
coming out of me. Some of those bullets had fragged, which helped
explain why I was so badly injured, but even that shouldn’t have
put me down. I mean, I fell like a rock. Hard. I’ve never been so
out of it before, or since.” Tom seemed to reflect for a moment,
and John didn’t rush him.