CHAPTER EIGHT
The next morning, Thea was gone from the bed when Ezra woke. The spot next to him was still warm from her body heat, so she couldn’t have been gone long. He heard the water start up in the shower, and the mystery was solved. He wondered for a moment if he should join her, but then, he looked at the clock and realized they’d slept in. He had work to do today if he was going to avert a werewolf disaster tonight.
The relationship was new, too. He didn’t want to presume things or push her too far, too fast. It was enough that they had admitted their feelings for each other last night. In time, he’d get to learn what she was comfortable with from him and vice versa. For now, he’d give her a little bit of space. Not much. His bear wouldn’t allow him to let her roam free or too far away from him. But he could give her a solo shower, though he sorely wanted to share it with her.
Ezra rolled out of bed and headed for the kitchenette to get the coffee going. If he wasn’t going to waylay her in the sudsy water, the least he could do was provide breakfast for his mate.
Mate. Mmm. He liked the way that sounded.
He’d almost given up on ever finding that one woman who could share the rest of his days. And then, he’d found her. Thea. Bloody and nearly broken, locked inside a cage in a dingy basement. His heart had known her the moment he’d seen her, but he had also known that she would need time—probably a lot of it—before she was ready to be with him. He’d despaired of her ever being ready, but Fate had been kind and thrown them together again.
This time, they were both ready for the consequences of recognizing and claiming their mate. They might have a few battles to fight as they rolled along in life, but from now on, they’d do it together. He loved that idea.
Ezra’s phone rang as he was pulling out the ingredients from the small refrigerator to make breakfast. He answered, still setting things up even as he took the call.
“Jack and Ace are down at the shop,” King told Ezra as soon as they’d exchanged greetings. “I’m on a parts run, so Ace asked me to check in with you. Jack’s about losing his mind. He hasn’t been able to tell us much, but judging by the expression on his face, there’s a heavy load of magic going down at the shop today. He doesn’t look happy.”
“Tell him to get out of there if it gets to be too much. Are you sure you and Ace aren’t affected by whatever it is that’s got the wolves?” Ezra asked bluntly.
“Nah, it just slides right off my fur, whatever it is. I mean, I feel something in the air, but it’s like a cloud of gnats and just as easily ignored. Ace said the same. Jack feels it more than we do, but he’s always been more sensitive than either of us,” King replied. “But his sensitivity also makes him more resistant, so I wouldn’t worry about us three. It’s the wolves that are about to go ape shit.”
Ezra had stopped moving as King gave his report. Thea came out of her bedroom, dressed in tight jeans and a stretchy top that made him want to tug it off and lick her all over. Ezra cleared his throat and tried to get his mind off his luscious mate and back on business.
“I plan to do some scouting of the two wolf Packs today,” he said, stalling for time as Thea sashayed over. She placed her hands on his shoulder and arm then stretched up to kiss his cheek.
“You’ll probably find the local Alpha, and a good portion of the Pack that isn’t at the garage, down at the pool hall over on the north side of town. Top dog’s name is Chase Rivers. This time of year, he’s pretty much there all day. He and his Pack bought the joint a few years back, and they cater to the tourists for the income, though usually they don’t mix much with outsiders.”
During King’s revelations, Thea had relieved Ezra of the frying pan that he’d been holding and sauntered to the stove to pick up breakfast prep. Just like that.
One part of Ezra’s brain spun with the changes in his life. He had a mate now. Someone to pick up the slack when he got distracted by things like business phone calls. He’d wanted to make breakfast to show Thea that he cared and would provide for her. The sharing of food was important to his bear side. But Thea was doing the cooking now, and she was showing him the same, in reverse.
The thought of it hit him right in his heart, where a little piece melted and winged its way over to her. He realized that love was a two-way street. He loved her and wanted to take care of her, but she wanted to care for him in return.
It had been a very long time since anyone had wanted to take care of Ezra. It had been a very long time since he’d wanted anyone to do so. But, with Thea, everything was new and shiny. Special and intense.
The part of his mind that wasn’t blown by her casual actions tried really hard to regroup and concentrate on what King was telling him. Luckily, the other man didn’t seem to notice Ezra’s inattention.
“The visiting Pack is on the east end of town. They take over a good portion of a small motel with a roadhouse next door down by the highway. They hail from Iowa, and their Alpha is named Brock Hanson. Word is, he’s always been a reasonable sort of fellow, and the two Packs enjoyed a good relationship in years past, but this year, everything’s different. Nobody can tell me exactly what the Iowa Pack did to piss the locals off, but they all claim whatever it was is unforgivable and requires a blood price be paid. Preferably by every single member of that Pack. The locals are definitely on the warpath, and it’s going to take some fancy footwork to stop this before it becomes pitched battle.”
Able to focus a little better by deliberately not watching Thea’s butt wiggling as she stood in front of the small stove, Ezra sat down at the table with his back to the kitchenette. He thought through what King had told him.
“All right. This is what we’ll do. Thea and I will swing by the local Pack’s place this morning and introduce ourselves to the Alpha. See if he can be reasoned with and check him out for ourselves. Then, we’ll head to that roadhouse you mentioned next to the visiting Pack’s motel and see if we can’t do the same with them. It’s time for some serious recon,” Ezra said, knowing Thea could hear his side of the conversation and would know he wasn’t shutting her out of his plans. They were a team now, and he had to give her the choice of whether or not she wanted to be part of this op or not.
He’d prefer she stay on the sidelines, somewhere safe, but he also sensed she probably needed this. She needed to confront her worst fear and rise above it. This was a good opportunity—with him at her side and the three powerful brothers as backup, plus whoever else could make it here in time, as the cavalry—to face down evil and some of her past issues in as safe a manner as possible.
Not that there wouldn’t be danger. There would. Plenty of it. But they were bears. They were tough. Rugged. And Thea had to get a feel for her new strength under battlefield conditions. She had to learn how far she could trust herself and her new mate. He wanted her to be strong and to know herself as well as she possibly could. Only then could she heal from her past horrors completely.
“After lunch, we’ll probably head over to the garage and confer with your guys,” Ezra went on as Thea came over to the table and started putting out dishes.
“Sounds good,” King replied, going on to iron out a few more details.
Meanwhile, Thea finished cooking breakfast and began serving it up. Ezra smiled his thanks at her even as he finished talking with King and ended the call a few minutes later.
“Sorry about that. I meant to make you breakfast,” he told her, taking her hand as she sat down at the place next to him.
“No problem,” she replied with a shy sort of smile that made him think about the night they’d spent in each other’s arms. “I’m not the world’s greatest cook, but I think I make okay omelets.” She gestured toward his plate as he let go of her hand and picked up the fork she’d laid out for him.
“This looks great.” He began eating and then was sure to compliment her on each facet of the meal. The fact was, she’d gone out of her way to make breakfast for them both, and he was touched more than he could say by the simple gesture.
After breakfast, Ezra took a quick shower, and then, the two of them headed across town for their first recon stop of the day. The pool hall wasn’t busy at this time of the morning, which was perfect, as far as Ezra was concerned. He’d come here to meet the local wolf Alpha face to face—something that was best done without a bunch of humans around.
When he walked into the pool hall with Thea at his side, he immediately felt the scrutiny of more than a dozen sets of wolf shifter eyes. The Alpha was seated at the bar along one wall, sipping coffee while perusing some kind of ledger book spread out on the bar top in front of him. He turned to look at them as they approached.
“Well, will you look what the cat dragged in,” the man said, standing from the bar stool.
He was as tall as Ezra, though not nearly as wide. The werewolf’s frame was rangy and lean, muscular but lithe in a way Ezra’s bear bulk couldn’t match. Ezra didn’t mind in the least. He liked being able to pound just about anyone or anything into the ground.
“I hear you’re the top dog in this town,” Ezra said, knowing some of the Pack would take offense at the words but wanting to gauge their reactions for himself.
He wasn’t afraid of any piddling little werewolf. Even a dozen of them wasn’t cause for concern. It’s only when the Packs went hunting as a whole that any bears in the vicinity might sit up and take notice.
The Alpha of the Southern Buttes Pack just stood his ground, looking Ezra up and down as if considering whether or not he could take him. Good.
So far, the local Alpha didn’t seem like a total hothead, even if his eyes were a bit glassier than Ezra would’ve liked to see them. A quick glance at the werewolves in various positions around the big room told him they all held the glassy eyes of the bespelled. Not good.
“What brings you here, Teddy?” the Alpha wolf asked, being just as disrespectful as Ezra had been. Well, the boy had some balls to stand up to a grizzly bear—that was a good sign in one way.
“Name’s Ezra Tate. I’m a bounty hunter. It’s my habit to check in with the local Alpha whenever I hit a new town. Just in case they take exception to my profession,” Ezra said in a reasonable tone of voice.
“You on the hunt here?” the Alpha challenged, his strong chin jutting upward.
“No,” Ezra replied. “Just on vacation with my lady. We’re newly mated. This is Thea.” Ezra turned to Thea and smiled at her, winking as he introduced her so that she smiled, as well. Who could resist beautiful Thea’s smile?
“Congratulations,” the Alpha wolf said with genuine warmth in his tone. “May the blessings of the Goddess be upon your union,” he added, a strange, somewhat confused look coming into his eyes as he said the ritualistic words. As if mention of the Mother of All was somehow trying to dull the evil magic that had been perpetrated on the Alpha wolf.
But it wasn’t enough. Ezra could see the glazed look return almost immediately. They were going to need something big to break the mage’s hold on these poor wolves. But what?
“I’m Chase Rivers, Alpha of the Southern Buttes Pack. You’re welcome in town as long as you don’t cause trouble for me and my Pack,” the Alpha added, reaching out for a handshake with each of them in turn.
“We don’t intend to cause any trouble. Just looking to have a good time,” Ezra reassured the man. “Thing is, I heard some whispers that you were in conflict with another Pack of your kind, and there’s a scent of unwelcome magic all over this town. I wanted to ask you, Alpha to Alpha, what was happening and if there’s any way conflict could be averted—or at least delayed until all the visiting humans leave town.”
Chase’s gaze hardened. “White Oaks needs to bleed. We won’t do it in sight of the humans, but it’s going to happen. There’s nothing that can stop it now.”
They spent a good twenty minutes talking with the Alpha, trying to learn what the problem was, but he wasn’t very clear on it at all. He just kept repeating the need to kill as many White Oaks wolves as he could and that nothing was going to prevent it.
Otherwise coherent and seemingly normal, Chase was like a robot when it came to the subject of the other Pack, giving rote answers to any question Ezra or Thea posed. All answers leading to the end point that White Oaks had to die.
Eventually, Ezra gave up. He’d learned everything he was going to learn here. Even Thea’s gentler interrogation methods had failed to elicit anything other than the canned response. They were beating a dead horse here, and he knew it.
Ezra extricated them from the pool hall as politely as possible, leaving on good terms with the local Pack and its Alpha. They headed back to where they’d parked their bikes in silence. Only when Thea was straddling her hog did she say anything.
“That was truly bizarre,” she muttered.
Ezra turned to her and swept in for a quick kiss. “Those people are in trouble, for sure,” he whispered in agreement, unsure if any of the people on the street were werewolves with superior hearing.
“I hope we can figure out a way to help them,” she whispered back. Then, he kissed her again. His Thea with the soft heart. How he loved her.