“Nice work, Jonah. I think they really believed it.”
Jonah grinned quickly, but a sudden shadow wiped the smile off his face.
“Not quite,” Jonah growled. “Get down, Nichols!”
“Fucking wolves! You’ll never make it to the Serah Stone!”
Nichols dropped to the ground and Jonah reacted quickly, just as he had been taught to do in training. A piercing wail filled the air as the bullet from Jonah’s gun struck true and the bear shifter collapsed to the ground, writhing in agony before he grew still. The job was finished. It was time to return to base.
“You’re not getting away with this. Just because you’re SEALs doesn’t mean you can stop fate,” the shifter murmured just as he drew his final, shuddering breath. Jonah glanced down at Nichols, who happened to be a bear shifter himself, and offered his hand.
“You good?” Jonah asked, helping Nichols to his feet.
“Just grazed my back,” Nichols said, gesturing casually to his torn uniform and the three bleeding scratch marks that ran from his shoulder to his waist. “It’s really nothing.”
“Still, they’re going to want to have you checked out. Any link in the chain that isn’t at its strongest…”
“Is a liability, I know, man. You say that all the time.”
“I’m the leader of the squad, Nichols. I have to have a slogan.”
Jonah grinned at his friend, so fast it almost wasn’t even a smile at all, before getting back to business.
“All right, let’s get back then,” Jonah said. “We’ll make sure you’re square before we report what happened here.”
“It’s big, Jonah,” Nichols said, his dark brown eyes glittering nervously. “I don’t like how this feels.”
“Don’t worry, man, everything is going to be all right. We’re on it.”
“But this is going to change everything, Jonah. I’m pretty worried. I have a feeling this is deeper than we thought. They obviously don’t have the stone here.”
Jonah glowered. “I know.”
The Serah Stone was Stonybrooke’s pride and joy. It was a mystical, incredible mineral that had rich mythology and magical properties embedded in its sharp edges and luminous exterior. It had been stolen from its sacred altar from Jonah’s hometown just a few months ago, no doubt to serve the twisted agenda of the bear shifters. With the power of the Serah Stone in the bear’s hands, it was becoming chillingly clear that the enemy shifters, who were hell bent on destroying his home town, had the upper hand.
“When I was part of the Oaks, they often spoke of the rebel clans that had been kicked off Oak Mountain. Their plan was always to get back the sacred land and build a portal. That’s what they rumored to be the source of the stone’s power. They have this crazy idea that they could all have the same power that the stone has if they mine deeply enough.”
“Mine?” Jonah asked, staring at Nichols. Nichols was a huge, serious man, with a thick black beard and kind brown eyes. He was also strong. Incredibly strong. He almost put Jonah to shame. But then, they weren’t the same species. It was hard to compare. Apples and oranges.
Jonah had grown up in Stonybrooke all his life, where the only thing the wolf shifters were more prejudiced toward than humans were the bear shifters. But it was a survival instinct. Bears were always causing trouble, and now that Jonah knew the Serah Stone had always been the goal, it all made perfect sense why they were always after the people of Stonybrooke. They wanted the land. And more than that, they wanted the stone. And now they had it.
It was shocking to be so close to a bear shifter on his team; Jonah had always been taught to despise bears in all shapes and forms. But Nichols was a man with a mind of his own, raised far away from the bear settlement just outside of Stonybrooke, in a mystical place known as Oak Mountain, where Nichols swore the bear shifters there had no grudge against the wolves.
He would have to see it to believe it, but still, Jonah had grown to trust Nichols with his life. He was exceptionally talented and, somehow, had ultimately been recruited by the Navy SEALs. Jonah had met Nichols during training on the East Coast, and then bonded during deployment halfway around the world to track a group of bear shifters who had been stealing ancient wolf artifacts from museums.
It was easy to deduce that there was more to it than just a few missing items, but hearing the bear shifter speak of the Serah Stone had chilled him. Something bad was going on, and chances were high that he and his team were going to be sent to figure out just what it was. The mission was finally starting to make sense. And it all had to do with Jonah’s hometown. Stonybrooke.
“Yeah, mining,” Nichols continued. “We were told that there’s a special area where the rock fell from space and landed on Earth. When it was found, there was all this dark, swirling energy around it. The men who found it felt it. They were abnormally strong afterward.”
“Shit,” Jonah muttered.
“So the theory would be,” Nichols continued. “That the shifters in possession of the stone, upon performing a ritual, would be able to tap into the same strength the original crew had.”
“But that’s what began the first war,” Jonah growled. “We can’t let that happen again.”
“Well, it’s already happening, brother. We just have to find a way to stop it.”
“Right. We need to get in touch with Gregors. I’m sure he’ll know what to do.”
Nichols nodded, and the men continued on their way, leaving the corpse of the dead bear shifter behind them.
With possession of the stone and a mine leading to the sacred site, the bears were probably close to building a super army that would easily wipe out the entire city of Stonybrooke and the innocent people, both wolf shifter and human, living there.
“We can’t let the bears get away with this,” Jonah said, finally reaching his truck.
“Yeah,” Nichols said, shaking his head as they climbed into the vehicle they had been assigned to.
“Brace yourself, Nichols,” Jonah said, turning the engine. “This is going to get dangerous.”
After all, Jonah thought, he couldn’t think of anything scarier than going home.
***
“Sit down, Lucas,” Lieutenant Gregors commanded.
Jonah sat, bracing himself for the details of the next mission. Nichols had just been discharged from the medic’s tent, and Gregors hadn’t been happy to hear about the possibility of mines infiltrating Stonybrooke. Especially, with the Serah stone missing. Jonah had the unpleasant feeling that he was right about the bears attempting to create an army of hyper-strong shifters, and it was obvious this was the same conclusion his commanding officer had drawn as well.
“Phone your family. Let them know you’re coming down for a visit. A month. Maybe two. I’m going to have Cameron Nichols do the same. We will have the rest of the troops stationed in the Stonybrooke Inn. But nobody is to know about this. If anybody finds out, it could incite a panic and get in the way of completing the mission successfully. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir,” Jonah said. He hadn’t been home in three years. The idea of finally getting a chance to see his family gave him mixed feelings. Jonah wasn’t the emotional type. His sister Betsy, however, was. And after the death of their parents, he had been restless and unable to feel at home anywhere, while Betsy had needed the stability of an emotionally connected family unit. When he’d left with the SEALs, it had been one of the hardest things he’d ever done, just because of the lost look on her face as she saw him off. He had abandoned her, possibly when she needed him the most.
But the offer to join the SEALs wasn’t something that would last forever. If he had turned it down, who knew what kind of menial jobs he would be doing right now? At least, this way, he could protect Stonybrooke from the same threat that had killed his parents.
“You will leave first thing in the morning, so be ready. Make sure the other men are ready as well. You’ll all be going at the same time.”
“Yes, sir.”
Gregors gave him a quick nod and dismissed him, and Jonah returned to his bunk, his chest tight. He had to call his sister. It would be about 5:00 in the evening in Stonybrooke if he called her now. It would certainly be surprising. Hopefully, Betsy was up to that kind of a surprise right now.
With a deep breath, Jonah dialed the number that he’d had memorized since he was in kindergarten; the number to his parents’ homestead. The place that was now full of ghosts rather than pleasant memories.
“Hello?” Betsy’s cautious voice answered, making Jonah’s breath catch in his throat. She sounded so much older now.
“Betsy, it’s me. Jonah.”
The line was silent for a moment as Betsy let the news sink in.
“Jonah? Really?”
“Yeah, sis,” Jonah said. “Have you been getting my letters?”
“Well, yeah,” Betsy stammered. “But…”
“I know, there’s never really a place to send any back. I’m sorry about that. I’m part of the SEALs, you know. Super-secret, right?”
“Well, I guess so,” Betsy said, finally seeming to collect herself. “How are you?”
“I’m good. Actually, I’m great. They’re letting me come for a visit back home.”
“Seriously?” Betsy asked, the excitement in her voice unmistakable. “You’re coming home?”
“I am,” Jonah said, pleased to hear the happiness in his sister’s voice. He felt terrible about leaving her the way he had. But family had been something that was too hard for him to think about. He’d put himself first, and had never been more glad he had. It had made a man out of him.
“That’s great! When?”
“Tomorrow, actually. I’m leaving first thing.”
“Oh my…” Betsy was beside herself with joy and Jonah couldn’t help but smile. It would be good to see her again. He’d had enough time, by now, to adjust to the loss of his parents. Nothing had been the same after that fateful night, and home had only left him feeling empty.
Still, it was the one familiar thing in his life; his bedrock. Knowing that Betsy was still there, taking care of things and keeping them just the way his mother had, was just one more thing to give him comfort on his long, dangerous missions. Every day he had to risk his life, and every day he realized more and more just how valuable Stonybrooke was to him. He did it all for Stonybrooke and its people. For Betsy.
“Well, anyway Bets, I’m just letting you know that you can probably set an extra place at the table for me tomorrow,” Jonah said, trying to get the image of his sister, loyally keeping up with the huge house, living all by herself in the big place for so long, out of his head. “Or not, you know. I don’t mean you have to cook for me. I know I don’t exactly deserve it…I could pick up pizza or something on the way home.”
Betsy laughed dismissively. “Hell no. I’m going to make you something special. Home-cooked. Mom’s recipe.”
Jonah’s heart panged painfully, but he surprised himself by smiling. Nothing in the universe sounded better to him in that moment than being at home, eating the familiar foods of his youth.
“That sounds amazing,” he said. And then, reluctantly, “I missed you.”
“I missed you too,” Betsy said. “But that’s going to change tomorrow! I’m going to get your bedroom all fixed up for you. I should go. There’s a lot to do now!”
“Don’t make a fuss over me,” Jonah said, feeling guiltier than ever that his sister was going to go out of her way for him. “I really don’t need anything special. Just a man-sized space on the floor is all.”
“Jonah Michael Lucas, you must not know me very well.”
Jonah grinned. He was going to be taken care of, whether he liked it or not.
“Take care, sis.”
“You too!”
They hung up and Jonah leaned against the wall and sighed. It had been so long since he’d been home, but maybe it was exactly what he needed to keep his morale up high. If he was going to destroy the bear shifters, despite whatever advantages the Serah Stone had given them, he was going to have to keep in his mind, front and center, just what it was that he was fighting for.