Isabella

“You’re driving too damn fast.”

Isabella could barely hear herself over the roar of the engine and the wind whipping around her helmet. But luckily, her shifter hearing allowed her the ability to collect her thoughts. She knew that Sam could hear her as well, but it wasn’t like he was paying attention. She clasped her hands around his waist and squeezed to get his attention. “Did you hear me, Lucas? You’re driving too fast. This is a tiny town, and we don’t want to pull in any unwanted attention.”

Isabella had hardly ever been on a motorcycle in her entire life. While she liked to have a good time with her friends, she was always the type of person to play it safe. And motorcycles weren’t safe. Neither was Lucas, but that sure as hell didn’t stop her from ending her family vacation early just to spend more time with him.

Sure, she had a duty to the family, but she felt like Liam was being a child. For him not to tell Cole that someone was considering making a move on the clan’s leadership was stupid. And she wasn’t just going to sit around and let her family battle it out because Liam was refusing to act like an adult. He was the one who wanted to host the weekend for all of their family and friends, and most of the clan was there, so why would he suddenly decide to not leave? It just didn’t make any sense to her. So they were traveling to Crescent Valley—the adorable little town that had the darkest secrets.

As they weaved in and out of cars, Isabella knew the townspeople were watching. Her blonde hair flowed out from beneath the helmet. It was freezing in the middle of winter, but Lucas had given her his leather jacket, and he didn’t seem to mind just having long sleeves in the winter air.

He was hot, all the time. Both temperature wise and I want rip your clothes off wise. And Isabella could hardly get enough. Part of the reason she was going to tell Cole about the family vacation was just to spend more time with Lucas, she knew that. But any time spent with Lucas was time well spent. So she was prepared for whatever type of questions were about to come at her.

Besides, she had questions of her own. Her cousin Olivia had taken off on some random solo vacation and come back with a nomad named Sam. No one had any idea what the hell was going on there. But that was just how things were with the Bradwick family—drama followed them wherever they went. This time, she was bringing the drama with her. She was a Bradwick girl after all, cousin to what most shifters considering royal family. She wasn’t in the royal bloodline herself, but still the Bradwick drama followed her where ever she went. Her cousins used to tease her, calling her trouble. But so much had changed since those carefree summers as children.

Ever since Bianca had died, things had been different. There was no denying that. Joy and Alan, the alpha and the queen of the clan, had taken refuge in some cabin. No one truly knew where they were hiding out and dealing with their grief. And they had every right to, as losing a child so quickly would shake anyone to their core.

But even Isabella was surprised that they’d left Bradwick Castle and left Cole in charge. Sure, he was the eldest and the next in line to be alpha, but he wasn’t really the leader type. If anyone, it was Olivia, before she decided to break free of the family and come home with a random stranger. But everyone was having their moment of weakness since Bianca had died. At least Cole was levelheaded and steady. He was loyal to a fault, unlike Liam, who was being a self-serving little shit. All he wanted was to get the family together and spend a little time in the woods as a bear rolling around some girl. Not that Isabella expected any less from him—he was the youngest after all. And he wasn’t even the wild child of the family.

Once again, she tightened her arms around Lucas’s hard body and realized that she really hadn’t prepared him for what he was walking into. The Bradwick clan was kind of a mess.

Lucas slowed the motorcycle as they rode into the heart of town. Crescent Valley was a tiny little place, with only six streets and one streetlight. But it wasn’t the exceptionally quiet downtown that made it such a prime location for shifters, it was the history. Isabella loosened her grip on Lucas’s body for a moment to pop her head up and look around. It had been years since she’d been here.

“Is this the place?”

Isabella nodded before she realized that Lucas couldn’t turn around to see her. “Yep. Welcome to Crescent Valley. You’re going to go straight down Main Street into town, that’s when you’ll hit the main square. Make a left and we’ll pass the only bar right next to the only church, and then you’ll find yourself on winding roads leading out of town. We have to head up into the mountains to get to the manor house.”

Everyone called Bradwick clan house a castle, because it was fashioned after a famous Irish castle from the 1200s, but really, it was more of a manor house. It was gigantic, and it still didn’t have room for everyone. There were several cottages and cabins on the property as well some one hundred and twenty-five acres in all.

The Bradwick property was practically a nature reserve. At least that was what they told everyone—that way, no one questioned all the bears prowling about. Isabella figured that most of the townspeople had some idea of what they were because there had always been rumors. Especially since the Bradwicks always happened to be ridiculously attractive young people who aged extremely slowly. Joy and Alan had been forced to tell everyone that their children weren’t actually theirs. Even though they all had a strikingly similar resemblance to one another. But it was the only way to throw people off their scent. Humans had the tendency to ignore things they didn’t understand, and that was lucky for the Bradwicks.

Bears weren’t immortal, no shifter was. That was something that was reserved specifically for certain types of phantoms, or witches. But many shifters aged slowly; it was part of their unique healing process. Isabella knew that was one of the reasons that her parents were so keen on her and Lucas—they wanted her to settle down with a nice shifter boy. If only they’d noticed the tattoos and motorcycle, they might not have let her run away with him as readily as they did. It wasn’t like she really asked for permission though, either.

“There’s only one bar?” he asked as they drove by the small building with neon lights in the window.

“Yep, just one.”

“I couldn’t live here.”

She laughed as Lucas sped up. They exited the small town and rode up through the hills towards the mountainside. Pine trees were dotted along the road, which became more and more narrow. As they climbed towards the castle, Isabella looked down to see the Crescent Valley Lake, exactly what the town was named for. It was in the perfect shape of a crescent moon, with a tiny island located right in the middle. A lot of townspeople went swimming the lake, some would fish, and a few boats would be on it at a time. But everyone stayed away from the island; Isabella could remember as a child that her parents had warned her to never go there. And in the middle of winter, with no vibrant colors dotted along the edge of the water, the island seemed ominous, darker than she’d ever remembered before.

That was also the lake that Bianca had drowned in. So maybe her emotions were getting the best of her, clouding her true vision. It wouldn’t have been the first time.

Isabella felt the vibrations of the motorcycle once again slow to a calm drone as they approached two large iron gates. On either side were stone pillars with statues of bears on the top. Someone had a dramatic flair for decorating back in the day when the place was built nearly two hundred years ago. Alan was just a child when his parents settled here and bought up most of the property in the town.

“Subtle, isn’t it?” she asked, smiling.

Lucas slowed the bike to a halt before shutting it off beneath them. “Is this the Bradwick clan house?”

Isabella swung her leg off the bike and took off her helmet, walking up beside him. “Pretty impressive, isn’t it?”

Lucas’s mouth was gaping open. “I knew y’all had money, but this is not just having money.”

“You haven’t even seen the house yet. Or any of the outbuildings, this is just the gate.” She took her finger and placed it under his chin so that his mouth closed before laying a sweet kiss on his lips. “Just make sure that you don’t act too star struck in front of them. I know that you’ve met Liam, but Dax has a bit of an ego.”

“You mean to tell me that Liam’s brother has a bigger ego than he does? How do they stay in the same room with one another?”

Isabella rolled her eyes. “Honestly? I have no idea. But at least you only have one of them to deal with, that is until Liam gets back.”

She knew that leaving Liam back at the Lodge with the rest of the clan had been a bad idea. He was going to feel so betrayed. But she didn’t care. Cole deserved to know that someone was considering making a move for power. Liam was an idiot for not telling him.

Isabella felt gravel crunch beneath her boots as she walked up to the gate. On the right-hand side, there was a camera, and she smiled and waved in her bubbly way. Hopefully Olivia would be the one to see her. She would let her in without a problem.

“Identify yourself,” a robotic voice commanded as she continued to wave.

“Isabella Bradwick.”

“Step back please,” the robotic voice said, and as soon as Isabella began to move away, the gate opened towards them. Lucas used his feet to pull the bike back slowly. “Should we ride up there or walk?”

“It’s another probably another ten-minute drive from here. They like to keep guests pretty far away.”

She put the helmet back on her head and got back on the bike once again, wrapping her arms around Lucas. “Just remember, they don’t bite.”

Lucas’s bike kicked to life and they were off, swiftly moving towards the residence.