Nikos…
Fear gripped Ari in a tight fist. He felt as if he was sucked under a heavy wave, taken to the bottom. Drowning…
He let out a roar… and then his eyes popped open.
“It’s okay, my love.”
Ari’s stare flipped to Nikos, and he could finally drag in the much needed air to his lungs. His brother bear sat on the side of the bed, hovering over him. Ari lay there a few moments, just taking in the reassuring sight of Nikos and simply breathing until his lungs no longer screamed for oxygen.
He glanced around the room, confused. “Where are we?”
“The clinic,” Nikos said, brushing away the hair at his forehead. “In Bear Mountain.”
Memories came flooding back into Ari’s mind. The humans… the fight… the bullets… He lowered a hand to his abdomen, noting he didn’t feel the same seething pain he had the night before.
“They got them all out,” Nikos said, his voice was low. “You’re going to survive.”
Ari released a sigh before peeling back the hospital gown and examining his abdomen himself. There were faint marks where he’d been shot, or sliced into to retrieve the bullets, but otherwise, he saw no damage.
“Didn’t believe me?” Nikos asked, one brow rising.
“I did,” Ari whispered, his throat dry. “I just wanted to see how far I’d healed.”
“Sure.” Nikos grabbed the water pitcher from the bedside table and poured a cup before offering it to Ari. “Your throat sounds hoarse.”
Ari took the cup, his fingers grazing along Nikos’. He moved his other hand to capture the fingers he’d barely touched. Ari needed to feel Nikos’ skin against his. There was no better medicine for the soul. As he took a sip, he watched Nikos over the rim.
Nikos smiled, but then the smile faded some. “Are you okay?”
“Thanks to you.”
“Thanks to Bear Mountain’s doctors,” Nikos challenged.
Ari still wasn’t sure he believed the place existed… even if Nikos said they were here. It looked like any other average hospital room. Not that he’d seen one up close and personal before. TV was as close as he’d step foot into a human hospital. “If you hadn’t forced me to go, who knows where we’d be.”
Nikos’ smiled faded more. “But now that we’re here, what the hell do we do next?”
Ari had no idea how to answer that question. “Here? I’m still not fully convinced there is a Bear Mountain.”
“I saw it, Ari. As we came in. The dome… the shifters everywhere. Your surgeons were bear shifters. The nurses… everyone.” He paused, eyes wide. “I didn’t get much of a look through this town of theirs, but what I did see? It looked as if it was exactly as they said it was.”
Ari struggled to absorb that. “My grandfather used to tell me stories of Bear Mountain when I was younger. He claimed his great-grandfather had been born there, but their family had been exiled.” Ari inhaled. “My family.”
Nikos frowned. “You’ve never told me that before.”
“Didn’t seem important. Until now.” Ari smiled. “I would sit on his knee when I was a boy as he told me tall tales of wide open valleys where you could run free… mountain ranges fringing it as protection. A place the bear gods smiled down on and watched over.” He chuckled. “It sounded too perfect to be real. I thought he was making up stories to entertain me.”
“Why was your family exiled?”
Ari shrugged. “He would never tell me that part. But the fact I stopped believing him by the time I was old enough to dig, I just assumed it was part of the fantasy.” If his stories were actually true? “It might mean we wouldn’t be allowed in.” Ari paused. “I wouldn’t be let in.”
“If you can’t, we both can’t.”
Ari cupped the side of Nikos’ cheek. “But if you would be safe here?”
“We are bound together, Ari. If they don’t allow you in, we go to Midnight.”
“As if Midnight is safe? We’ve both heard the stories about that place. It’s why we’ve yet to go.” Ari paused, his mind racing. “If I knew you’d be safe here—I could run.”
“My protector,” Nikos said, glaring. “You took those bullets for me, didn’t you?”
Ari sensed there was anger behind that question.
“I can protect myself, Ari. You can’t keep sacrificing yourself for me. So no, I won’t stay here if you can’t. I won’t. We are one. Where you go, I go.”
He grinned, running his thumb along his brother bear’s lower lip. “I’m so lucky to have you at my side.”
“You are,” Nikos said with a grin before lowering his head to claim a kiss.
A cough interrupted it too soon.
Ari glanced over the room and saw a bear shifter standing at the door. “I’m sorry to bother you, but I’m from the office of the alpha. I need a moment of your time.”
“Please, come in,” Ari said as Nikos turned toward their visitor. This should be interesting.
The male crossed the room and offered a hand. A hint of a scent came to Ari’s nose, making him sit up a little straighter.
“My name’s Tyler. I’m the alpha’s assistant. He asked me to check in on our newest arrivals and get some basic information… and to, of course, welcome you to Bear Mountain.”
“We appreciate the welcome,” Ari murmured. Whatever the scent was, it wasn’t from this man. Tyler had picked it up in passing…
What the hell is it?
He felt his body tensing slightly, but it wasn’t unpleasant—neither the aroma nor the sensation.
Tyler withdrew a tablet from his satchel slung over his shoulder and pressed a few keys. “I’ve gotten your names from the hospital staff, but I needed to ask a few more questions, if that’s okay.”
“Shoot,” Nikos said.
“Do you plan on requesting sanctuary within the dome?” Tyler asked, not looking up from his tablet.
“We have no idea,” Ari said. “Not yet.”
Tyler lifted his stare and met Ari’s. “Well, we need to know if you’ll need temporary housing or if you plan to leave the valley once the doctors release you from their care. Which, seems to be tomorrow, from the sounds of it.”
“Yes,” Nikos said. “We’ll require temporary lodging.”
Ari eyed Nikos… who shrugged.
“And sanctuary?” Tyler asked as he typed on the screen of the tablet.
“Can we have time to get the feel of the place?” Ari asked. “Before today, I thought Bear Mountain was a tall tale.”
Tyler’s head flipped up again, and he frowned. “A tall tale? Is that what other shifters believe?”
“Some,” Ari said. “While there are likely others who haven’t heard of it at all.”
Tyler’s frown grew, but he went back to typing into his tablet. He asked a few more pertinent questions before asking, “What are your occupations?”
“Occupations?” Nikos asked.
Tyler’s head lifted again. “We would like to know if there are any skills you possess that could help the community. It would help the sanctuary process move along faster.”
“We haven’t decided that,” Nikos said.
“But if you do, I’ll have the information,” Tyler said.
Ari chuckled. “And if we were bums?”
“We all work here, to make this den better. If you were bums, and you want to return to being bums… you can do so. Outside the wall.” Tyler looked at them expectantly.
After a few seconds, Nikos sighed. “I’m an architectural draftsman,” Nikos said before pointing to Ari. “He’s a structural engineer.”
“As in, an architect?” Tyler asked Ari.
“Yes,” Ari murmured.
Tyler grinned as he typed into his tablet. “How fortunate.”
“And why’s that?” Nikos asked.
“I was just made aware that there will be a need for an architect,” Tyler said. “And with it, likely a draftsman, too. It’s as if the bear gods delivered you themselves.”
“Or it was just dumb luck,” Ari said. He didn’t put much stock into bear gods watching over them from the clouds.
“Do you not believe in fate?” Tyler asked.
“Fate? More instinct.”
Tyler shoved his tablet back into his satchel. “You stand beside your brother bear, who’s at your side thanks to fate.” Tyler’s eye narrowed onto Nikos. “I assumed that’s what you were, but perhaps I was wrong. Are you gamma?
“Instinct brought me to my brother bear, just as it will bring us a mate, if and when the time comes,” Ari said quickly before the bear got too nosy.
Tyler chuckled, turning away from Nikos. “This valley has been protected for centuries by the bear gods. We have weathered every storm and have a mystical dome that you went through to get here. You can believe or not believe, that is your prerogative, but one thing you will quickly come face to face with here—this place is magical. And that magic springs from something.”
Ari didn’t know how to answer that. He knew magic in some forms existed, but that didn’t necessarily mean there were higher beings watching over them and urging them in certain directions. He much rather liked to believe that everything was up to chance.
“I’ll have a cabin at the inn kept open for you. Once you’re released, ask the nurses to call a ride for you,” Tyler said. “Royce and Jared run the inn and can make sure you’re comfortable while you’re visiting.”
“We don’t have a considerable amount of money,” Nikos said. “We left without much more than the clothes on our backs. But we have accounts, if we could have access. Is there a bank here?”
“We have a bank, but it’s for shifters and has no connection to the human world. We trade in gold and silver. The only way to get to your funds would be to leave the dome, but even if you did, human money doesn’t go far here.” Tyler smiled.
“So how do we pay for a cabin?” Nikos asked.
“You’ll have to find a way to work it off, hmm?” Tyler said with a smile. “We won’t leave you homeless. Our office will be in touch with you soon. I have someone who can help show you around the valley once you’re released.” He took a few steps closer and laid a card on the hospital table. “If you need anything, call.”
“Thank you,” Nikos murmured.
Ari was silent as Tyler left the room.
“Does it feel like they’re sucking us in?” Ari asked when he was gone. “Sanctuary… working things off… asking what we do?”
Nikos shrugged. “A den is a family. Families need to work together. I see why they wanted to see where we might fit.” Nikos turned back to him. “If we stay.”
“Big if,” Ari murmured. “I haven’t even had time to check out the place and they’re asking if we’re moving in.”
“Did you scent that aroma on him or was it just me?” Nikos asked.
“I should’ve known you had with your nose. What was that?”
Nikos shook his head. “I don’t know… but as much as I liked it, I wonder…”
“Wonder what?”
Nikos looked away. “Never mind.”
Ari grabbed his brother bear’s arm and tugged him closer. “Tell me.”
Nikos met his stare. “You just said you don’t believe in fate.”
“It’s not that I don’t believe… it’s that I’m skeptical.”
“An understatement,” Nikos said, rolling his eyes.
“Tell me,” Ari cooed, smiling.
“I wonder… if that scent wasn’t our mate.”
The thought jolted Ari. Yet it wasn’t surprising at all. He’d noted the reaction he’d had to the scent…
Perhaps his brother bear was right. “If our mate is here, it doesn’t prove fate brought us together.”
“It doesn’t? We’re attacked and saved by these men… who just so happen to bring us to a place where our mate might be… a place that also happens to need men like us. You can’t admit that doesn’t feel like the tumblers of a lock falling into place?”
Ari shrugged. “A lot of mights there. Might be our mate. Might be a place we want to stay. Might not be dangerous and they might not want to kill us.”
“They went to a whole lot of trouble to save your ass if they only wanted to kill you.” Nikos leaned in closer. “Just make me a promise.”
Ari lifted a brow.
“Your cynical side is showing. If our mate is here, we need to stay long enough to find him, so reel it back a little, okay?”
“I’ll try,” Ari whispered.
“All I can ask,” Nikos said before lowering his head to claim a kiss.