responsible for what happened to
my place. I know that, Jax.”
I wished I could tell her they were. The truth was, Damon might have
planned that very thing. But, it was bears who got there first. I scented them
well before I got there. Simon’s crew, mostly. He’d done a shitty job of hiding
his intentions back at the company store. Thank God Nora hadn’t been there when
they got there.
“No.” She answered her own question before I could. “Those were
people…people like you. Part bear. I could…sense it somehow.”
My pulse raced. She’s just a girl. Just a girl. All the
declarations I’d made to Cullen and the others seemed to disintegrate and blow
away like dust in the wind. No regular girl could sense shifters like she did.
No regular girl would have ventured so far into the forest and found me where I
slept. No regular girl would have trusted me enough to come here with me when
all I did was ask her to. Now, she’d called me out without me even having to
say a word. I don’t know how she knew, but she did. And she hadn’t run away.
“Shifters, yes,” I said. I owed her the truth, all of it, no matter the
risk.
“Shifters.” She got up. Rubbing her hands together, she paced in front
of the windows. “You’re a bear.”
“Yes.”
“There are others like you, and they’re afraid of me? Why?”
I let out a breath. “They think you pose a threat. All human outsiders
do. There aren’t many of us left. We don’t…don’t trust easily.”
Nora nodded but kept pacing. “But you. You trust me?”
“So far.”
She smiled. “Right. How many. I mean, how many other shifters are
there?”
It was dangerous to tell her. The more she knew, the more risk to her
if I wasn’t here to keep her safe. Shifters had died trying to protect the
answer to her question.
“There are seven clans here on the ridge. There are some in other places
too, but not in this country.”
“You run the mines. Shifters…run the mines.”
“Yes.”
“And I got too close. That’s why they’re looking for me, the other
shifters?”
“Yes.”
Nora kept nodding. She ran a hand through her hair and her blonde curls
bounced around her shoulders. I rose slowly from the couch and took a few
tentative steps toward her. My heart raced, and the bear stirred inside of me.
She was getting so close to the one question that meant everything.
“I’m not trying to do anything against any of you,” she said. “I was
there taking pictures for a nature calendar. That’s all. I promise you.”
“I believe you. But Nora, you weren’t there on your own. I’m afraid I
have some questions I need to ask you too.”
“Okay. Yeah. I get it.”
“Damon Spence is not a friend to us. He has tried for years to find
ways to interfere with our operations and get access to the land. His family
has been after ours for generations. If I had to guess, he might be looking to
take over the mines. He’s filed unfounded complaints with the EPA against us
before that amounted to nothing. I think the Vista Foundation is just his
latest front to come after us.”
“Does he know? I mean…who you are? What you are?” Nora’s eyes
widened as understanding and fear settled over her. I couldn’t read her
thoughts, but she had the kind of face that concealed nothing. At least, not
from me.
“I’m not sure. I suspect so.”
“He was using me.”
“Probably. It was a smart plan. Send a woman into the woods by herself
to get the evidence he thinks he needs. If you’d been caught, there wouldn’t
have been anything you could have told us.”
Nora’s eyes flashed with fire and she stopped pacing. “You could have
killed me, Jax.”
I shuddered as the memory of those few seconds before I was fully awake
in the woods. She was right. The bear had been pure wild. I wouldn’t have
wanted to hurt her. and neither would he. But, without me awake to temper him,
he might have reached for her and broken her neck with one powerful swipe of
my place. I know that, Jax.”
I wished I could tell her they were. The truth was, Damon might have
planned that very thing. But, it was bears who got there first. I scented them
well before I got there. Simon’s crew, mostly. He’d done a shitty job of hiding
his intentions back at the company store. Thank God Nora hadn’t been there when
they got there.
“No.” She answered her own question before I could. “Those were
people…people like you. Part bear. I could…sense it somehow.”
My pulse raced. She’s just a girl. Just a girl. All the
declarations I’d made to Cullen and the others seemed to disintegrate and blow
away like dust in the wind. No regular girl could sense shifters like she did.
No regular girl would have ventured so far into the forest and found me where I
slept. No regular girl would have trusted me enough to come here with me when
all I did was ask her to. Now, she’d called me out without me even having to
say a word. I don’t know how she knew, but she did. And she hadn’t run away.
“Shifters, yes,” I said. I owed her the truth, all of it, no matter the
risk.
“Shifters.” She got up. Rubbing her hands together, she paced in front
of the windows. “You’re a bear.”
“Yes.”
“There are others like you, and they’re afraid of me? Why?”
I let out a breath. “They think you pose a threat. All human outsiders
do. There aren’t many of us left. We don’t…don’t trust easily.”
Nora nodded but kept pacing. “But you. You trust me?”
“So far.”
She smiled. “Right. How many. I mean, how many other shifters are
there?”
It was dangerous to tell her. The more she knew, the more risk to her
if I wasn’t here to keep her safe. Shifters had died trying to protect the
answer to her question.
“There are seven clans here on the ridge. There are some in other places
too, but not in this country.”
“You run the mines. Shifters…run the mines.”
“Yes.”
“And I got too close. That’s why they’re looking for me, the other
shifters?”
“Yes.”
Nora kept nodding. She ran a hand through her hair and her blonde curls
bounced around her shoulders. I rose slowly from the couch and took a few
tentative steps toward her. My heart raced, and the bear stirred inside of me.
She was getting so close to the one question that meant everything.
“I’m not trying to do anything against any of you,” she said. “I was
there taking pictures for a nature calendar. That’s all. I promise you.”
“I believe you. But Nora, you weren’t there on your own. I’m afraid I
have some questions I need to ask you too.”
“Okay. Yeah. I get it.”
“Damon Spence is not a friend to us. He has tried for years to find
ways to interfere with our operations and get access to the land. His family
has been after ours for generations. If I had to guess, he might be looking to
take over the mines. He’s filed unfounded complaints with the EPA against us
before that amounted to nothing. I think the Vista Foundation is just his
latest front to come after us.”
“Does he know? I mean…who you are? What you are?” Nora’s eyes
widened as understanding and fear settled over her. I couldn’t read her
thoughts, but she had the kind of face that concealed nothing. At least, not
from me.
“I’m not sure. I suspect so.”
“He was using me.”
“Probably. It was a smart plan. Send a woman into the woods by herself
to get the evidence he thinks he needs. If you’d been caught, there wouldn’t
have been anything you could have told us.”
Nora’s eyes flashed with fire and she stopped pacing. “You could have
killed me, Jax.”
I shuddered as the memory of those few seconds before I was fully awake
in the woods. She was right. The bear had been pure wild. I wouldn’t have
wanted to hurt her. and neither would he. But, without me awake to temper him,
he might have reached for her and broken her neck with one powerful swipe of
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