“What the hell did you just say to me?”
“You heard me!”
Kent’s rage spiked and he lunged at Lawrence, the bear within him taking charge. Lawrence wasn’t fast enough to dodge the attack and soon both were on the ground, blood pouring from Lawrence’s nose and smeared on Kent’s fist.
“Come on you two, just break it up. Nobody’s going to benefit from that kind of senseless violence, you know?”
Kent growled at Tom, ever the mediator, and got to his feet.
“There’s no such thing as senseless violence,” Kent grumbled. But frankly, he had better things to do than beat Lawrence to a pulp. “I’m heading to the mine.”
Kent ran his hand through his hair and turned his back on the small group of shifters. They had been scoping the area all day in search of traces of intrusive dragon-shifters, and after finding nothing to speak of, it was time for him to report to the man in charge.
Kent shifted, needing a way to let off his steam and took off down the mountain toward the office. He popped into one of the small stations the shifters used to return to their human form. It could get awkward sometimes with humans around working at the company for a shifter who had just shifted back into his human form to strut around naked.
He dressed quickly and walked inside, heading straight to Blaine’s office.
“The West Quarter is clear,” Kent said.
“That’s good news,” Blaine said, looking at Kent with his wise eyes. “You free today?”
“Me?” Blaine asked, frowning. He didn’t have any more patrols to run on the mountainside, but the mines made him nervous, and he had a feeling that was exactly what Blaine was going to ask him. “Yeah.”
“I need you to keep an eye on one of the crews. There’s been a lot of tension lately. The dragon-shifters have everybody all riled up. There’s a tunnel we found that’s full of ancient dragon relics, and it looks like it’s been used recently. Men under serious strain tend to get pretty fed up with each other very quickly, you know. It’s not really a good situation for anybody. But you’re a strong guy. I know your background in martial arts. Can you mediate for me?”
“Do I have to go into the tunnels?” Kent asked. He wasn’t a huge fan of small spaces. The bear in him wanted always to be wild and free, at all costs.
“Just keep an ear out and if you hear a problem, go where the problem is. Think you can do that?”
“Sure,” Kent agreed. It wasn’t like he had anything better to do, and honestly, his blood was still pumping from the fight he’d had with Lawrence.
“Great. You’ll get a ride out to the mine with Lance. He’s on his way now.”
The ride was long and quiet and by the time they stopped, Kent was feeling restless.
“Thanks for the ride, man,” Kent said, getting quickly out of the car before Lance could answer.
He walked alone to the site where men were milling about hard at work. When they saw him approaching, most of them straightened their backs and gave him a menacing look. They must have thought he was encroaching on their turf. It was widely known he was considered one of the strongest bears on the mountain; his practice in martial arts had allowed him a lot of advantages when it came to fighting.
“What are you doing here?”
Kent stiffened at the sound of Jake’s voice. They had been friends as young men but as they had grown, the two of them had drifted apart. Things had become messy between them ever since a martial arts tournament, when Kent had kicked Jake’s ass quite thoroughly. The poor guy just didn’t have the type of skills he thought he had, and that was to the detriment of their relationship.
But that was okay. Kent was used to being alone. He had all sorts of resentment built up in him ever since he was orphaned. There had been a miscommunication with the dragon-shifters from Mount Argon, and they had been killed in the messy battle that had ensued. His parents had been strong, but they had also been outnumbered. One of his mentors had decided that it would be good to enroll him in martial arts as he recovered from his grief. He had consumed himself with it, learning as much as he could about discipline and staying centered.
“Blaine sent me,” Kent said. “Wanted me to keep things on track.”
“Of course he did,” Jake said bitterly.
Tension sparked between them and Kent glared at Jake.
“You have a problem with it, talk to Blaine.”
Jake sneered and turned his back on Kent. It was clear he wanted to start a fight, but he also knew which one of them would be finishing it. Kent shook his head and walked in the opposite direction.
“Sorry I’m late! Um… I’m in the right place, right?”
Kent was electrified by the most beautiful voice he had ever heard. He whipped around to find the source of the voice, only to be confronted by the dazzling smile of a young human woman.
“I’m sorry, who are you?” Kent asked, trying his best not to stammer.
“My name is Mary,” the woman responded, her crystal-blue eyes shining as she offered him her hand. “Are you Jake?”
“Oh, hell no,” Kent said with a chuckle. The woman smiled warmly and he held her gaze, each of them appearing to measure the other up. She was taller than many human women he had seen, reaching to about his shoulder. She had beautiful golden hair that was tied casually back, and her body was a wonderland of sensuous curves that immediately brought his senses to life. She was more woman than he would know what to do with, and it immediately brought his bear to life.
“Well then who can I say I have the honor of meeting?”
The woman quickly shuffled her binder and some other odds and ends into her other arm before reaching her hand out to take Kent’s.
“My name is Kent Black,” he said, grinning at her. Inside him, the ever-present bear was already measuring her up to stake his claim. “How do you do?”
The girl’s cheeks turned a deep red, which encouraged him to turn up the charm. He squeezed her hand meaningfully, causing the color in her cheeks to further deepen.
“I’m Adrian Hart,” she said, her eyes bright and full of life.
“What are you doing here, Adrian?” Kent asked, his gaze fixed upon her intently.
“I was told to come by the guy in charge. Blaine?”
“What did he want with you here?”
“I’m supposed to be getting experience out on the field. I was top of my class, so I was chosen to come and keep records. Kind of like an internship.”
“I see,” Kent said, suddenly realizing that he was still holding the girl’s hand. She seemed to realize it at the same time and drew back, looking shyly down at the ground.
The bear was bursting at the seams, telling him this was someone he should be pursuing. Right now. With no hesitation. The urge to claim her was overwhelming. How could this be when he had never felt this way about anyone before? And besides, she was just passing through. This was something fun for her to do for her class and to gain experience. All that would amount from it was brief gratification. Was that really something he was willing to succumb to? It seemed kind of sleazy.
“So, what do you do here?” Adrian asked him, her beautiful eyes studying him, lit with intrigue.
“I don’t really do anything here,” Kent admitted with a small laugh. “I’m just muscle. Keep the guys in line to make sure they get their shit done without any issues. I actually work as an independent contractor.”
He trailed off as his eyes caught commotion in the distance and a deep growl began to rise in his throat.
“Excuse me, ma’am,” he said, pushing past her and running to the spot where two miners were having a physical altercation.
“You stupid son of a…!” a man about a head smaller than Kent exclaimed, lunging at a taller man who was sneering.
“Just hold on a damn minute,” Kent demanded, pushing the smaller man away from the larger man and holding them both at bay. “What the hell is going on here?”
“Neville here seems to think I’m his omega or something!”
“Oh shut up, you little maggot! I don’t have anything to prove to you or anyone else.”
Kent glared at both men and they grew silent, uneasy looks settling on their faces. They all knew what Kent was capable of. They weren’t particularly fond of the idea of witnessing his brutality in person, particularly on themselves, so they grew wisely silent.
“I think you both know exactly what you’re supposed to be doing here,” Kent said evenly. “And I think you realize that you’re wasting everybody’s time right now. You either work together, or ignore each other. Either way, Blaine sent me here to keep an eye on your sorry asses so that’s what I’m going to do.”
“It’s just that—”
“I don’t care what you two are squabbling about,” Kent said, cutting the man off. “You can either keep fighting and get the hell out of here, or get your work done. What do you want me to tell Blaine?”
“All right, all right,” the smaller man mumbled. “But I don’t want to work with this asshole.”
Kent stared hard at the taller man, who sighed and shrugged. “Fine. I’ll go over here and do some sifting.”
Kent nodded and watched with a cold eye as the men went their separate ways. Once he was sure they were going to get on with their work, he shook his head and sighed deeply.
He caught Adrian’s eye from across the way and she smiled shyly at him before turned her gaze away. He had to do everything in his power not to race over to her and claim her right then and there. It was an intense feeling unlike anything he had ever experienced before, and in a way he was ashamed of himself for it. But he was able to restrain himself and looked away from her quickly. He was hoping against hope that soon her assignment would be over, and he would be able to move on without dealing with his feelings for this girl interfering with his life any more than it already had.