Bear the Burn (Fire Bears Book 2) (11 page)

“I think,” Quinn whispered, “we should say yes if they ask us to attend a town meeting and answer questions. People are afraid because they don’t understand you…us.” She inhaled deeply and looked shaken to her core. “If we can, I think we should be open with the public and put a stop to the rumors that are probably hurting any chance of us having a normal future.”

“She’s right,” Cody said from the doorway.

Aaron was cradled against his chest, and Rory stood with a blanket to cover her sleepy boy.

“I’ve talked to every crew we know of, and most of them are pissed, but that doesn’t change the fact that this could get worse and worse if we don’t cooperate. The Ashe Crew has thrown in their full support, along with the Boarlanders, Gray Backs, and twelve other crews across the country. They are willing to come out to the public if we can’t handle this alone. Safety in numbers and all. I’d rather it not get that far, though. My guess is that the government will make us register as shifters, but this was our choice, and the right to come out or not should be up to each individual crew. As of now, we’re on our own. I’ll call Cora Wright and see if she’ll cover our story. She seems like a shifter sympathizer who could be a good asset to us. I’ll start putting it in motion we are willing to attend the town meeting. Be aware it will gain national attention, though, so you’ll all have to be perfect. Not just okay, but relatable. The public has to feel safe around us.”

Dade inhaled deeply and nodded. “I say yes.”

“Yeah,” Gage said lifting his finger.

“Looks like we’re doing this,” Boone said, arms over his chest as if he’d do this shit, but wouldn’t like it.

The women nodded one by one.

“Okay, I’ll make the calls. Monroe has upped security around our property for tonight but be wary. Shayna slipped past them easy enough.”

“Shayna?” Rory asked in a horrified voice. “I thought she was in the wind.”

Now, she was probably in a shallow grave somewhere, but Dade wasn’t going to say that little gem out loud. Quinn had enough to deal with without Shayna’s demise on her mind. Damon Daye had called him earlier, and all he’d said was, “It is done.”

“You don’t have to worry about Shayna coming after you anymore, Rory. She won’t be hurting you or Quinn or anyone else.” Dade leveled Cody’s mate with a serious gaze and hoped she understood what he was really saying when he murmured, “She’s not a threat anymore.”

“Okay,” Rory whispered, shrinking back against Cody.

“Everyone get some rest tonight,” Cody said, authority in his words cracking against the quiet house. “Tomorrow, we take our lives back.”

“Are you okay?” Dade asked as he rubbed her leg and leveled her with a worried look.

Quinn swallowed her heaving breath and looked around the busy entrance to town hall. It seemed like the entire state of Colorado was outside, picketing or cheering, though she couldn’t figure out who was winning.

“Hey,” he said softly, turning down the country song that was playing on the radio. “You don’t even have to talk today. Cody just wants the entire crew there for moral support. Me and my brothers will handle all the questions, and you can just sit with Rory, Ma, and Leah.”

“And the cubs.” That was the part that worried her. The cubs would be subject to all of this chaos, and her bear got riled up just thinking about those little kiddos being in danger.

“Yeah,” he said, nodding slightly. “And the cubs. Quinn.”

“Hmm?” She arced her gaze away from the crowd that was ten seconds away from rocking the truck.

“I love you.”

The world melted away as she drowned in his slow smile. “I love you, too.”

“We’re going to be okay.”

A tremendous crash sounded, and window glass shattered inward. Quinn screamed as Dade shielded her with his body.

Quinn looked past Dade’s shoulder in shock as a man carrying a large rock was pushed back from the pickup by police.

“Go, go, go!” Monroe yelled, and Dade eased onto the gas and maneuvered through the crowd behind Mason’s SUV that was carrying the rest of the crew.

They were packed in there so tightly there hadn’t been room for her and Dade.

He drove through a security barricade that was opened for them and put the truck in park.

“Will it be safe here?” she asked. Dade loved his ride.

“It’ll be fine as long as the police are able to hold the protestors back. Come on. Let’s get inside so it can settle down out here.”

“I don’t understand,” she said as he helped her from the truck. “Why is everyone so angry? We haven’t done anything to them.”

“Because they don’t understand us. People fear what they don’t understand, and for humans, fear manifests as anger.” He jerked his head toward the protestors behind them. “The pack mentality here isn’t helping either.”

News crews were lined up along the steps, tossing out questions left and right. Quinn couldn’t begin to answer one before another one was asked, and she became overwhelmed under the blinding flashes of the cameras. Her instincts to flee buzzed constantly, and it was all she could do not to give into her inner animal, turn tail, and run back for the truck.

When she looked up, Dade’s eyes were a bright gold, his attention only for the door as he guided her past the throng of photographers. He looked so sure of himself, so stoic and immoveable. If she didn’t know what the inhuman color of his eyes meant, she would’ve thought him completely unaffected by the chaos around them.

One step through the door brought relief as her eyes landed on the rest of the Breck Crew who were waiting in the hallway for them. Rory’s wide green eyes made her look as overwhelmed as Quinn felt.

“What happened?” Boone asked, brushing her hair away from a stinging gash on the side of her face.

“They broke our window,” she uttered on a breath. “They just broke it…with a big rock.”

Ma pulled a package of tissues from her purse and began to dab her face, but Dade had been the one to take the brunt of the shattering glass. His neck was cut in several different places, and red swelled in little droplets against his cheek. “Ma, can you clean Dade up? I’m just going to fix myself up in the bathroom.”

“Of course. Rory, you go with her and make sure she is all right. Hurry, though. We only have ten minutes before we have to be in there.”

“I don’t want you away from me right now,” Dade said low.

How did she explain she was scared to death and needed a minute to calm her nerves in a bathroom stall? He’d think she was weak, and Dade deserved better. He deserved a strong mate. “The bathroom is right here,” she said pointing to the sign to their left. “Wait for me.”

Dade lifted his lip in a snarl, and a rumbling growl filled the space between them. “Come back to me quick.”

With a nod, Quinn bustled into the bathroom with Rory trailing. The mirror was one judgmental little skank. Quinn glared at her pallid reflection and colorless lips. The cut on her temple was already closing, but a smear of red remained. Thank heavens for bear shifter healing. Damp paper towel in hand, she washed her face gently, careful not to scrape off the heavy layer of make-up she’d slathered on to try to cover how scared she was. Apparently, that stupid plan wasn’t working.

“Here, let me,” Rory murmured. “You’re getting your hair all damp.” She snatched the cloth from Quinn’s hand and made quick work of fixing the damage. Then she rifled through her purse, handed Quinn a tube of pink lip gloss, and quickly combed the snarls from Quinn’s wavy tresses with practiced fingers. When she was satisfied, she turned to her own reflection and let off a frustrated sound.

Quinn bounded into a bathroom stall and shut the door behind her. She was breathing so fast she was going to pass out, and then what use would she be to the Breck Crew? She wouldn’t even be good moral support.

“You can do this,” she whispered to herself, wishing she’d figured out how to handle people staring at her when she’d taken a public speaking class in college. All she’d learned was that she could do worse by the end of the semester than in the beginning. She’d nearly peed her pants during the final, and in front of the entire lecture hall, then walked out halfway through her terribly enunciated speech on the use of technological devices in education. Her teacher had given her a C, probably so she wouldn’t retake the class. That, or she took pity because she thought Quinn was having a medical meltdown in front of everyone.

“Quinn? Are you all right?” Rory asked.

She took a steadying breath and opened the door, averting her eyes to hide her panic.

“Oooh.” Rory waved her hand around Quinn’s face. “You look like a bear.”

Quinn glanced at her reflection in the mirror and groaned. Well, now she and Dade could match monster eyes. “This is going to go awesome,” she said sarcastically.

“That’s the spirit,” Rory muttered, shoving her toward the door.

Dade waited with his hands behind his back, a formal gesture she’d never seen him do before. He looked sexy in his dark dress pants and blue button-up. His eyes seemed even brighter near the color of that fabric.

Onlookers were crowded in the hallway, but they were a different breed than the protestors outside. If they hated them, they showed it with dirty looks and whisper instead of rocks and hate-signage.

The Blue-Haired Ladies were there, talking to Cody and Rory, and bobbing their heads with the seriousness of whatever discussion they were entombed in.

“Quinn!” Dr. Voss called from down a hallway as they walked by. “Oh, good, I thought you’d go in before I caught you.” The vet took her hands in her own and squeezed them comfortingly. “I just wanted you to know you’ll have a friendly face in there.”

Relief flowed through Quinn, allowing her tense shoulders to relax by millimeters. “It’s so good to see you. I’m so sorry about your clinic.”

“Don’t be. We’ll rebuild with what insurance is giving us. It’s a frustrating inconvenience, but the important thing is that no one was hurt. I’m so glad you made it out of there.” Dr. Voss leaned closer. “And I’m so glad it was Dade and those Keller boys who found you. I’ll call you when the clinic re-opens and you can start right where you left off. No matter what happens today, you’ll have a job at my clinic if you want it.”

“Really?”

“Yes, of course.” Dr. Voss pointed to her chest. “Animal advocate, remember?”

“Oh, right.” Because she was part animal now.
Still really weird to think about.
Quinn gave her a grateful smile and thanked her, then she and Dade bustled after the rest of the Breck Crew.

The exchange with Dr. Voss made her feel better. Not all humans would accept them, but some would. Some were good and understanding and accepting—like the Blue-Haired Ladies and the group of bystanders near the window who
weren’t
shooting death lasers at her with their eyes. And Dr. Voss. And Moira. As Quinn passed, she waved to the doctor, dressed in a coral business suit and nude pumps.

Quinn’s high heels echoed off the tile floors, and as she came to a stop with the rest of her crew in front of towering double doors, she smoothed the wrinkles form her mint green dress. All she had to do was sit in there next to Rory and show her solidarity. This wasn’t so bad. It was cake—if she could forget all the cameras trained on her.

The seats were filling up inside the sprawling room, and the volume of murmuring increased the second Cody walked across the threshold. Dade’s strong hand on her lower back was the only thing keeping her knees from buckling against the forward movement.

Cody led the crew to a long table up front, angled to face both the large room and a similar table where seven older men and women sat. If the name plates were anything to go by, it was the mayor and town council members.

She took a seat between Dade and Rory, who was cuddling Aaron close in her lap.

“Good evening,” Mayor Randolph said in a booming, authoritative voice that silenced the crowd as they took their seats in rows of plastic chairs. “We are here tonight to speak candidly with a new and emerging group of people who are members of our town. The decision on what to do about them is ultimately up to our great government, but as for this meeting, we can open up lines of communication and begin to understand one another so that we can assure you that Breckenridge is still a safe place to live.” Mayor Randolph’s dark hair shone in the fluorescent lighting as he turned his steely gray eyes on Cody. “Our main concern is all of the negative attention we are receiving in the media. As you know, this is a town that thrives on tourism. If the tourism isn’t there for us, we lose jobs, residents, and funding for schools.”

“That’s bull-honkey and you know it,” Rory’s Aunt Leona spoke up. “I call it now. This skiing season will be the best one yet. Everyone will flock here to try to get a glimpse of the bear shifters. Already, two of the condos are booked through the entire winter and into spring.”

Mayor Randolph narrowed his eyes. “In an attempt to keep some semblance of order today, I’ll ask that you refrain from speaking until asked to do so.”

Aunt Leona glared but sat down beside the other Blue-Haired Ladies and zipped her lips.

“Great,” Randolph muttered. “Now, I think we should start this meeting with the shifters introducing themselves and giving us a brief history of their kind.”

Cody cleared his throat and nodded, then stood and addressed the room. “My name is Cody Keller. Some of you know me as one of the town firefighters, along with my brothers, Gage,”—he pointed—“Boone, and Dade. We are third generation firefighters. Some of you knew our father, Titus Keller, who presumably died fighting a fire right inside city limits when I was fifteen. This is my mate, Rory, and our son Aaron. Rory is human. Aaron is like me.”

“Why do you call her your mate instead of your wife?” a woman in a purple dress asked.

Mayor Randolph looked annoyed, but allowed it.

“Marriage is a human tradition that we only sometimes participate in. For us, pairing up and claiming a mate is the equivalent of marriage. We bond with one mate for life. The rate of infidelity for bear shifters is almost none because our animals simply won’t allow it.”

“But bears in real life mate with several partners.”

“Yes, true, but we don’t. It’s not how we are wired,” Cody explained.

“But you’ll still spit on the sanctity of marriage and raise families never being married,” the woman in the purple dress called out.

“Ma’am, with all due respect, there are lots of people in this society who aren’t allowed to get married, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t a family. Rory and Aaron are my family. Gage is mated to Leah, and they have twin cubs, and they are a family. We aren’t aiming to smite out marriage, and in fact, Rory and I are planning a ceremony in the winter to bind us legally. But it isn’t necessary for us. It’s just a different culture. Being mated is equivalent to being married. My brother Dade is a prime example of it. Dade?”

Dade slid his hand off Quinn’s thigh and stood. “Some bear shifters go their entire lives without the urge to settle on one mate, and then some of us are lucky enough to form a bond. In Rory and Quinn’s case, they were both human when Cody and I fell for them, so it isn’t dependent on them also being shifters. For Leah, however, she was born a bear shifter, and Gage knew instantly they were it for each other. For our kind, it works very fast. It’s a very powerful motivator to want to please our mates because their happiness allows us to be happy. It’s like…first love, but all those months it takes to form that bond wrapped up into an instant. With Quinn, I knew the second I set eyes on her she was mine.”

“And what if the woman doesn’t want you back? What then? Does your animal side force them?” a man called out.

“Absolutely not,” Boone said, standing. “Women in our culture are revered and make their own decisions. If they don’t feel the bond, it’s their choice to tell us to fuck off.”