Chapter Two – Tyrell

He could hear Cynthia move around the kitchen, humming to herself as she cleaned up. She had already tidied the living room and had dusted everything. The place hadn’t looked this clean in months.

Tyrell hesitated as he sat at his computer, going over the books. Part of him wanted to invite her to just relax for a bit, the other part wanted to see what she was doing now. It was the day after Ruby had brought her to his home, and he wasn’t sure what to do with her. It wasn’t like he could just kick her out when she didn’t have anywhere to go.

He had argued with Ruby all night over it. His sister had shown him Cynthia’s resume and references, telling him over and over again that he needed someone like her in his life. If he had been looking for a nanny, she was the one he’d have picked.

But she wasn’t a shifter. She didn’t even know about shifters; Ruby hadn’t told her. What was he meant to do when Tamara, his daughter, started to shift? True, she hadn’t started yet, but Tamara was an early bloomer at almost anything. It wouldn’t surprise him if she started shifting soon. If he kept Cynthia on as a nanny and housekeeper, then he’d have to deal with a human woman freaking out after finding out that everybody on the island could turn into bears. Who needed that sort of stress?

Besides which, he didn’t need a nanny.

His radio beeped at him, and his alpha’s voice came over the line. “Tyrell, come in.”

Tyrell sighed. Out here, far off the coast of California, cell service was spotty on the best of days. Only a handful of the people on the island actually used cellphones. It was mostly landlines and radios. Right now, he wished he had left his radio turned off.

He answered anyway. “Hey, Ricky. What’s up?”

He could imagine the alpha rolling his eyes at that, but only smirked. As Ricky’s second, he could get away with a lot more than the others on the island, because Ricky knew he had his back no matter what.

“We need to inspect the herds. You forgot?”

He had. Tyrell let out a harsh curse and leaped to his feet. “I’ll be right there.”

He clipped the radio to his belt and turned off the computer, then headed for the stairs. It was still early in the morning, so he’d have to wake Tamara up and then make a travel cup of oatmeal for her, so he could get going to meet Ricky right away.

Tyrell slowed as more noise came from the kitchen. Cynthia was very qualified, and Tamara had been grumpier than usual lately… she could use more sleep. Did he dare leave her with a stranger though? The references Ruby had shoved in his face came back to him and he made up his mind. He turned on his heel and marched to the kitchen. To his surprise, he found that his heart was beating faster than normal.

“Cynthia,” he grunted when he entered. She looked up from what she was working on—buns?—and gave him a small smile. Tyrell shifted foot to foot. “Uh, so I have to go. I was hoping that it would be okay if I could get you to watch Tamara until I came back. This doesn’t mean that I’m hiring you.”

A flash of hope was quickly followed by disappointment. Cynthia brushed her dark hair from her face and smiled. For a moment he was lost in the depth of her eyes. When her gaze turned quizzical, he grunted out his thanks and turned on his heel. Dammit. Ruby had known exactly what she was doing. Now that Cynthia was here, and he knew she had nowhere to go and no money to get there, he couldn’t just turn her away.

So now the question was, how was he going to pay her?

He grabbed his hat and left the house, considering the question. Perhaps, if he gave her free room and board, then they’d be able to work something out. He didn’t have a lot of expendable money at the end of the month, but if he tightened up some areas… biked to work a little more often, or carpooled… he’d have to increase how much money was spent on food, though. He got a lot of what they needed out of the ground, but there were only so many potatoes one could eat.

How much would a reasonable salary look like? If she didn’t have any rent to pay and didn’t have to buy food, would then five hundred be enough? She would have to have her expenses. What would they be? Clothes, phone… gas, maybe.

Of course, there was the chance that Ruby didn’t want him to have a nanny for Tamara at all. Knowing his sister, this could very well be her trying to set him up with a mate.

The thought sent an unpleasant shiver down his spine. The image of Cynthia flashed through his mind again. Short, curled hair. Bright eyes. A smile that knocked the wind out of him simply by existing. Lips so full and red that he’d had a hard time not staring at them. If this was Ruby trying to set him up… he was in for the fight of his life.

Tyrell shook those thoughts from his head as he arrived. Ricky was already waiting for him. His alpha gave him an annoyed glance, and then they took Ricky’s truck to go out and check the herds of cattle. There wasn’t a lot of room on the island for pasture, and so they circulated which fields grew crops or were used for the cattle year by year.

“Kyra caught the bull in with the heifers this morning,” Ricky said once they arrived. “Again. He already got that one pregnant. We’ll have to watch carefully to see if any of the others got pregnant, too.”

Inexplicably, the image of Cynthia, her belly round and hard with pregnancy, floated through his mind.

“Tyrell?”

He jumped and turned to his alpha. “Yes.”

Ricky arched a brow. “Really? You’re going to pretend like you didn’t just space out?”

“Uh…” Heat crept up his cheeks and he kicked the ground. “Sorry. Ruby’s gone and hired me a nanny. I think she’s trying to set me up.”

Ricky burst out laughing. Tyrell ground his teeth. Ever since his alpha had gotten his mates, he’d been a much more relaxed and humorous guy. It was nice. He hadn’t lost his temper once, especially after their son was born. Either way, Tyrell didn’t appreciate getting laughed at in this situation.

“Sorry.” Ricky rubbed his eyes, still chuckling. “Ruby was telling Diana and Kurtis the other day that you didn’t have a proper helper. Still. A nanny? I thought she’d already cycled through all the women on the island.”

“She did,” Tyrell said dryly. “This woman she got, she’s from New York. And she’s human.”

Ricky’s expression sobered. “Human? Dammit, that’s the sort of thing we alphas needed to know about. Does the human know that we’re shifters?”

“No. Ruby said she didn’t tell her.”

Ricky thought for a moment, then shook his head. “I’ll have to bring this to the other alphas. Ruby’s gone too far. Setting you up is one thing, but bringing a human to the island without her knowing that we’re shifters? Not that there are many options left for bachelors here,” he added with a thoughtful expression. “And Diana took the news of shifters well… Hmm. Having a human mate might be something to consider.”

“Don’t say you’re going to try to make me take a mate, too!” Tyrell groaned. “I don’t need to settle down. I get what I need when I go to the mainland. Human women are great and all, but I don’t want a mate.”

A flash crossed his alpha’s face, but it was gone in an instant. “Having a mate is… very satisfying. There are things you do with each other that you can’t really do with a stranger.”

“Like you’d know what you can do with a stranger. You’ve only slept with two people in your whole life and they’re both your mates.”

Ricky’s face flushed darker but he grinned, flashing his teeth. “Maybe I should have you talk with the other alphas, then. Kurtis went to the mainland every weekend before Diana came into our lives.”

“And now he’s got two mates himself. Or four. I’m still not sure how this whole thing with you and the queen works.” Tyrell shook his head. Diana was the queen of the island, mated to the four alphas of the four clans. It had been good for the island. The bears of the separate clans were slowly integrating into one giant clan. Still, sharing one woman with three other guys? He didn’t understand it at all. “And you don’t even know who fathered the child.”

“I don’t need to know. He’s my son, just as much as he’s the others’ son.” Ricky grinned toward the herd now. “There is nothing like fatherhood.”

Some of the tension in Tyrell’s body eased. “I’ll give you that. I don’t know what I’d be if I didn’t have Tamara. She’s the one steady bright light in my life.”

Ricky nodded. There was a soft smile on his face that had been there almost permanently since the little boy had been born. For a moment, the two men stood there in their own thoughts. Tamara’s mother had been a fling. His parents had recently been lost at sea; Angela had given him some solace, a warm body to hold at night to keep the nightmares at bay. Love had never been in either of their minds.

At least, he hadn’t thought it was. For Angela, their fling had meant more. And that was how she ended up on a boat in the middle of a storm. Yet another life claimed by the sea. There had been many, many deaths due to the ocean over the years. When he was still in his teens, nearly all bears his age had been orphaned. They had struggled, with the few adults left, to continue on their island. It was only now that they were actually figuring how to really progress instead of fighting not to starve to death.

“Well. Let’s get going.” Ricky jerked his head toward the herd.

They continued, inspecting all the herds to make sure they were in good health. By the time they were finished, the sun was high in the sky, hovering directly overhead. Things were looking as they normally did, although the fact that the bull had gotten in with the heifers—young females that hadn’t had calves yet and were still too young to safely give birth—was worrisome.

As they discussed what they would do if any of the heifers had gotten pregnant, a black Cadillac suddenly came roaring up the road. The cattle headed deeper into pasture, disturbed by the noise. Tyrell frowned as he saw who it was. James Smith. He was one of the few older men who had survived the storms that claimed most of the islanders’ parents.

Tyrell tensed, his muscles hardening, when James pulled to a stop beside them. James’ face was twisted in hatred as he jumped from the car. His nostrils flared as he marched over to the two of them.

“You!” He pointed at Tyrell. “You brought a human onto the island.”

“What of it?” Tyrell wasn’t about to say that it was Ruby, not him.

Not when dealing with this guy. When the alphas announced that they were all going to mate the same human woman, Smith had tried to get the clans to mutiny against them. He’d stirred up a lot of shit, and it was only because the alphas were so well respected and Diana was so supportive of their traditions and culture that his actions never went anywhere.

“You brought a human onto our island,” Smith repeated, spitting in fury. “Humans drove us out of our homes and stole our lives all throughout history, and you think it’s a good idea to bring one onto the island? As if it’s not bad enough to have one mated to our alphas!”

Here Ricky growled.

Tyrell flexed his muscles and stepped closer to Smith. “Yeah. One is mated to our alphas. She is our queen. My human is here on a trial basis. She doesn’t know about shifters yet and it’s going to stay that way. At least for now.”

“How dare you—”

“We have almost three times as many men on this island than women,” Tyrell snarled. He didn’t like Smith’s general attitude, and he certainly wasn’t going to leave Cynthia open for any sort of attack by this idiot. “The shifter gene is dominant. If one parent is a shifter, the child is a shifter. If we’re going to survive as a culture and community, we’re going to have to integrate human women into our society.”

Smith stared at him, aghast. He turned to Ricky. “Is this what the alphas are up to? Destroying our bloodlines with… with… that?”

Tyrell continued before Ricky could speak. Of course, there had been no discussion at all about human women being brought to the island. Smith didn’t need to know that, though. He pushed the older bear back.

“Cynthia Jones is my guest and my employee.” His bear growled protectively. “And you’re not to go anywhere near her. Understood?”

Smith snarled under his breath, bristling. He didn’t speak, though. Good for him. Tyrell wasn’t sure he’d have been able to hold back if Smith had said anything else about Cynthia being human—as if that made her somehow inherently dangerous!

“Goodbye,” Ricky said, his voice rumbling.

Tyrell glared at Smith as he stormed back to his Cadillac. Ricky patted his shoulder as Smith drove away. They inspected a couple of fields and were careful not to talk about the incident any more. Especially, about how protective Tyrell had been towards Cynthia. Nor about the implications of a human-bear mating program.

He was still tense when he arrived home, though, and only got tenser when he found Cynthia sitting with Rex Tesla next to her on the porch swing. A growl ripped from Tyrell’s throat and his bear snarled, batting against his ribs. He jumped from the truck and stalked to his porch. The door was open and he saw Tamara inside, playing with her toy hotrods. Seeing her helped relax him a smidgen, but he still glared at Rex.

“What are you doing here?” he demanded of the other bear. His muscles coiled.

Rex shrugged. “I came to see how Miss Jones was settling in. I wanted to make sure that everything was alright.”

“And how do you know her?”

“Rex ferried me over here.” Cynthia beamed at Rex, a soft light in her eye.

That look made Tyrell’s stomach twist. What was going on here? “Rex, you know that you—”

“I was checking up on the lady,” he repeated. “Because she and I connected on the boat ride over. You can’t imagine how shocked I was, hearing that someone off the island was coming to be your daughter’s nanny.”

Tyrell didn’t respond to that. He understood what Rex was really saying. He was shocked that a human, a non-shifter, would be brought in to be Tamara’s nanny. Just like Smith. His knuckles cracked from clenching his fist so tightly. “Yes, well. I was surprised as well.”

Rex grinned toothily at him. “Can’t say I’m surprised.”

Cynthia looked between them, the smile fading off her face. Clearly, the mounting tension was getting to her. He thought about asking her to wait inside but rejected it. It wasn’t as though things were going to get violent. Rex might taunt and push and try to provoke him, but Tyrell was level-headed enough to deal with him.

“Surprised by…?” Tyrell arched a brow.

“By Ruby. I’m not surprised to hear that she lied to this lovely young lady about why she’s here.”

“Ruby was just trying to help,” Tyrell snarled. Okay, maybe his head wasn’t as level as it should be. But taking potshots at his sister? That was low, even for Rex.

Cynthia broke in. “Honestly, it’s not that big of a deal. It’s unexpected, but I’ll be fine.”

But Rex ignored her and continued. “Maybe Ruby was trying to help you but she certainly didn’t help Cynthia. Luckily, I know that there are plenty of people looking for childcare. She and I were just talking about a job possibility in town and me—”

“That won’t be necessary.” Tyrell barely stopped himself from growling again.

His hands clenched, and he released a breath, forcing himself to calm down. He looked at Cynthia, trying to ignore Rex altogether. Her eyes were wide, her mouth an ‘o’. Between Smith and now Rex, he had made up his mind. Cynthia was in a vulnerable enough position here on the island already, not knowing anybody and with no money. He wasn’t about to let her be in a situation where she was even more vulnerable, one where she’d be in debt to the likes of Rex.

“Not necessary?” She cocked her head, waiting.

“I gave it a lot of thought today, and I think it would be good for Tamara to have another woman in her life. I can’t keep relying on Ruby all the time. And with my schedule, I’ll have to drag her around everywhere with me. But she needs to have something steadier. Someone who can help her with homework…”

Rex hissed under his breath, but Tyrell didn’t look at him.

Cynthia’s eyes had lit up and she clasped her hands tightly. “Oh, thank you! I promise you’re not going to regret this. Thank you so much!”

“Cynthia—” Rex’s voice was harsh, but when she gave him a startled look, he smiled and shrugged. “Call me if you need anything. I’ll always be here for you.”

With a final glare at Tyrell, Rex stalked away. Tyrell glared at him, waiting until he was gone before he turned to Cynthia. The smile was still on her face, oblivious to the tension between him and Rex. He counted to ten, and when he spoke he kept his voice low enough that Tamara wouldn’t be able to hear him.

“Cynthia, in the future I don’t want Rex around here.”

Her smile faded, and a confused look flashed in her eyes. “Why not?”

He glanced at Tamara. “He and I have… a history. Let’s just say that he blames me for something. He’s not entirely wrong, but the way he’s gone about it concerns me. I don’t want my daughter exposed to that sort of negativity. So please. If he comes around the house again, tell him to go.”

“Well…” Cynthia cocked her head to one side, looking confused and curious. Eventually, she nodded. “I guess, yeah. If that’s what you want.”

“Thank you.” He breathed a sigh of relief. “Now… if you still want to work for me, let’s go inside and talk about expectations on both sides.”

Cynthia nodded. He put a hand on the small of her back as they went back inside and he caught a whiff of cinnamon and ginger. It made him want to bury his face in her hair and inhale until he had no breath left. Something warm flashed under his skin and he pulled back. Heat began to crawl up his neck and he tried to ignore the uncomfortable sensation in his pants. Clearly, he was in need of a trip to the mainland. That’s all it was.

Something inside of him tightened as she smiled at him, though. Something that had him wondering if maybe it was a good idea to start looking into a human-bear mating program.