Everly
Everly Smith rubbed the space between her eyebrows as she felt a headache creep up on her. She was tired, cold, and hungry. She was close to tears, and the last thing she wanted to do was argue with her cousin Fannie. And yet, here they were.
“Fannie, you can’t do this! This is our legacy. The only thing Granddad gave to us. Even if we did decide to sell it, why do you want to sell to that company?” Everly’s slim hands moved to her temples, hoping the impending headache could be nipped in the bud. She should have saved her breath. If there was something Fannie Hopkins wanted, she pushed until she got it.
Everly wasn’t completely against selling the acreage their grandfather had left them. She loved Silver Fells, but she wanted to finish college, too. Her share of the sale of twenty acres would let her finish getting her degree in commercial art and pay for an apartment in town for a few months. She’d still have to work part-time at the Lusty Leopard, but she liked her job at the shifter bar.
She just didn’t want to do it this way.
“Grandfather’s will was very clear. The first of us to get married inherits the house and land. Are you getting married any time soon?”
Everly detested the smug tone in her cousin’s voice.
“You know I’m not.” She began twirling one of her copper-colored curls to soothe some of her nervousness.
“Right. Because you keep hanging out with those animals.”
Anger burned in Everly. Pure and raw, she let it pulse through her.
She thought about the friends she’d made in Silver Fells, North Carolina. It was a small community of both civilians and former members of the Shifter Special Forces. Whether they heard of the town by word of mouth or the recent articles on the blog site Shifter Sightings, the town continued to grow.
“They aren’t animals,” Everly returned, keeping her voice even despite the rage that coursed through her. It would not help her cause to get emotional with her cousin. She thought of the shifter dating website her friend Luna convinced her to try. Plenty of Paws was brand new but getting new members signing up every day from all over the world.
“Right. If you say so.” Derision dripped from every syllable in Fannie’s voice burning through any goodwill Everly had towards her cousin.
Everly thought about Zane, the handsome bear shifter who she had a major crush on. Was twenty-two too young to have a crush? Too old? She didn’t think so, but the twenty-nine-year-old former soldier always treated her like a kid.
He was the epitome of tall, dark, and handsome but Everly knew he was out of her weight class. Zane was sex on four paws, and she was a waitress without any prospects.
“Fannie, the last thing this area needs is some land developer coming in setting up townhouses. It would change things too much.”
“Yes, it will. For the better. But don’t worry, cuz. It’s not like I would cut you out of your portion.”
The hairs on the back of Everly’s neck twitched. Her portion? Very specific wording. Not her half. “What are you saying, Fannie? Try English instead of euphemisms for a change.”
Fannie sighed as if talking to a simpleton. “I talked to a lawyer, Everly. Once I’m married, my husband and I have a full say in how the money is spent. Obviously, I’ll make sure you finish your little art credits. Don’t worry your head about that.”
“But. Fannie. We’re family. That’s just a few hundred dollars to finish up my certificate. You can’t do that to me!” A barrage of emotions slammed into Everly, and for the life of her, she didn’t know which one to deal with first. Hurt? Anger? Outrage? Betrayal? They were like a cesspool, threatening to pull her into their midst.
Not for the first time, Everly wished she weren’t dyslexic. She had tried reading Granddad’s will, but after the first few words, everything got jumbled. Even the part about needing a husband didn’t make sense to her.
Ordinarily, Everly wouldn’t have believed her cousin, but when she asked the lawyer to tell her the stipulations, he had been clear. If one of them got married, they got the land and the money.
“We may be family, but money is money. Granddad made his will very clear. The first one who marries gets control of the land.”
“But not the money. I read the will, too. And just remember, you aren’t married, yet, either. So, why don’t we agree on who to sell the land to and split it in half? After taxes, of course.”
Fannie’s airy laugh was guaranteed to set Everly’s teeth on edge. “Since your reading comprehension is on par with a Kindergartener, I’ll trust my lawyer, kay?”
Everly’s hands formed fists until she felt the bite of little half-moons in her palms. Oh, what she wouldn’t give to wipe the smug, superior sound out of Fannie’s voice.
“Besides, little cuz, do you really think it will take much time for me to find a husband? I’m young, beautiful, and come with prime acreage we can sell as soon as the paperwork is signed. Baby girl, I’m an heiress.”
Everly snorted with startled laughter. “A broken down farm doesn’t make you an heiress.” The roof leaked, there were concrete blocks where the porch steps once occupied, and there was a mouse under the kitchen sink she’d affectionately named Mickey.
Fannie sniffed with disdain. “You know, maybe I’ll try that new website, Plenty of Paws. Find me one of those shifters to marry.”
Everly rolled her eyes. Like Fannie would ever want to “reduce” herself to dating men she considered animals.
Fannie continued, “I hear the owner is trying to recruit the Bear Knuckle Brawlers to join. Wasn’t there a heavyweight champion living in your area?”
Everly rubbed the spot over her chest. Zane. Fannie had to be wrong. She’d never be happy with a brawler like Zane. But she didn’t want to let Fannie know she’d hit a tender spot. “It’s still not legal to marry them.”
“Oh, please. I looked at that little blogger’s exposé. The Shifter Marriage Equality Act is all but a sure thing. I’m sure the court will agree, and in the meantime, I can find me a rich as fuck shifter to marry. How about that?” Fannie’s voice lifted at the end in an obvious challenge.
Everly ran her thumbnail along the worn Formica top and fought back a fresh spate of tears. She was overwhelmed and feeling exceptionally fragile. “You’d never be happy with one of the shifters,” Everly finally stated. “They came to Silver Fells for a reason. To get away from the world that judges them for agreeing to have their DNA spliced.”
“Money overcomes a lot of judgment.” Fannie’s words were so confident, Everly almost believed her.
“If you say so.” Everly quietly hung the phone up on the wall mount in the kitchen. She stared around Granddad’s ancient but serviceable kitchen. The cupboards were bare, fall was heading in fast, and Everly was out of any good options.
She pulled out the last piece of bread and scooped peanut butter on it. She checked the time. She should have just enough time to bike down to the food bank before they closed for the weekend. She put on her grandfather’s army green jacket and a knit cap. A storm was coming, and Everly wanted to be safely inside when it did.
Zane
Zane sat picking the label off the bottle of beer cradled between his hands.
“I think it’s dead,” Jason Fox, the bartender at the Lusty Leopard said from his spot near the TV.
“Huh? What?”
“The beer, man. You didn’t even drink more than half. What’s up?”
Zane shrugged and looked up, but his attention was taken up by the cage fighting match. “Isn’t that last month’s match-up? T-bird Rodriguez v. The Scottish Cat?”
Jason nodded. “Yeah, well. Boss is too cheap for Pay-Per-View. I have to wait for them to be shown on the Fight Channel.” Jason poured Zane a cup of coffee and settled in. “You ever think of heading back into the ring?”
“I don’t know. Retirement feels really good. Besides, I get a kick out of teaching the rest of you at my gym.”
“You’re only twenty-nine. What’s this about retirement?”
“I’ve been fighting since Day One,” Zane said, thinking back to when he’d first agreed to join the Shifter Special Forces and have his DNA spliced with a Eurasian Brown Bear. “My injuries were adding up.”
“How’re your wrists and thumbs?”
Zane flexed his wrists in response. “Better when I don’t shift,” he admitted.
“You were in the early days of the BKB, right?” Jason asked as he cleaned the bar.
Zane nodded, hands cradling the cup of black coffee. “My bear wouldn’t settle at first. It was always trying to claw at me, desperate to be free. So, my DI set up cage matches for me. I’d had some fighting background, had a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu when I was seventeen.”
“That must have been like some kind of cockfighting.”
“Got it in one. Don’t get me wrong, it was great training. My bear finally learned to settle down. But there I was taking on all comers. Hawks, grizzlies, even one giant as hell rhino shifter named Denny.” Zane shuddered.
Jason whistled. He’d been studying under Zane for a few months but was nowhere near as skilled. “That must have been a huge cage.”
Zane’s gaze grew distant as he looked at the past. “Like some kind of Roman Coliseum. I was to fight whoever was sent out.” It seemed like forever ago, the rush of adrenaline through his system. The power of feeling his fist connect to his opponent’s body. The thrill of setting a trap and snaring his prey.
Jason refreshed Zane’s cup and poured one for himself. “Did you ever see any action?”
Zane’s eyebrows lifted. “You mean in uniform? No. They started having those exhibition matches. Come see what our shifters can do. Big money started changing hands, and the challengers kept lining up.”
“But that spun off into the Bear Knuckled Brawler matches.”
Zane stared into the myriad of colorful bottles stacked behind the bar. “Yeah, at first it was just for fun. Then there were promoters and wild purses. It’s crazy how much people were willing to pay for tickets to see two shifters go at it.”
“Isn’t that how it goes?” Jason asked with a snort.
“What about you?”
“I was on the ground,” Jason admitted. “I always thought with my size, I could have made a good Brawler.”
“You’ve been doing well in class. You’re still young enough if you wanted to join but you’d need a lot more training. Brute strength and size are good but.” Zane shook his head. “It just seems like the fighters shift too soon in the match. Lots of unnecessary injuries that way.”
Jason shrugged. “The money is watching our animals fight. Otherwise, they’d just watch regular boxing or MMA fights.”
“Yeah, I guess.” Zane took another sip of coffee. He looked around, wondering where Everly was. He hadn’t seen her the last few times he’d been to the bar.
“You staying for the poker game tonight?”
Zane rubbed the area over his heart with the palm of one hand. “I don’t know. Did Everly quit? I haven’t seen her for a while.”
Realization lit Jason’s eyes, and Zane called himself all kinds of a fool for admitting his interest in the young waitress. But it wasn’t like he could get the information without asking.
“No, not exactly. Everly had some bad news the last month and has been trying to get through it. And something about a cousin giving her a hard time. Luna even saw her at the food bank stocking up on food last month.”
Zane stilled. They hadn’t exactly been dating, but he’d made his interest in her known. Why hadn’t she told him she was having problems? “Anything else?”
Jason shrugged. “It really is her place to tell you. Not mine.”
Zane lifted an eyebrow in disbelief. “You’re a bartender. That’s as close to a therapist as Silver Fells has. Out with it.”
The door behind them opened, carrying in a gust of cold wind. Zane looked up from his coffee as his bear-senses began tingling. Sheriff Kyle Winters sauntered in, chin set in a line that indicated he was looking for trouble.
“Hey, Sheriff,” Jason greeted the man with casual ease. He poured another cup of coffee and emptied the carafe before filling it again.
“Zane.” The sheriff nodded.
Zane resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He didn’t know what the sheriff had against him, exactly. But whatever it was, it must be core deep.
“You been drinking, son?”
Zane was pretty sure the single swallow of beer he’d taken at lunchtime had worked its way through his system. “Just coffee.”
“Didn’t see your horse outside.”
“As you’re well aware, you threatened to have me arrested for daring to have a horse inside town limits. Besides, there’s a storm blowing in. I’m not taking Archer out in this kind of weather.”
Sheriff snorted. “Yeah, saw your crazy waitress out on her bike earlier today in town. Getting groceries at the food bank.”
Zane felt his shoulders tense. What was the crazy little fool doing on a bike in this cold with a snowstorm coming in?
“She ever get the electricity turned back on?” Sheriff Winters turned to Jason.
Jason shot an apologetic look at Zane. “Not sure, Sheriff. The utilities were a mess because her grandfather had everything in his name. I don’t think she can get anything turned back on until she paid what was owed.”
“Fool man, leaving that young girl up in the mountains alone like that. With that stupid will.”
Zane resisted the urge to go all bear on the slowness of the conversation between Winters and Jason. But he wasn’t against staring at Jason intently until the bartender caved.
“Her grandfather had some crazy will drawn up. The property is to be sold and split between his two granddaughters. But, if one gets married first, she gets it all. The cousin has been in a full court press trying to get anyone to marry her so she can kick Everly off the land.”
“Chamorro couldn’t help?” Zane asked. Rafael Chamorro was a local realtor and jaguar shifter. He’d been collecting land in the area to set aside for a bobcat sanctuary. Everly’s land seemed gift wrapped and perfect for him.
“Only if Everly gets married first.” Jason’s brown eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “I wonder how her dating profile is working. Luna signed her up as one of the first females for her dating website Plenty of Paws. She said there’s been lots of activity.”
Zane finished the last swallow of coffee and set the cup down with exaggerated carefulness. If Everly wanted a bear shifter so bad, he knew where one highly interested one lived.