Chapter 1
“You might as well just talk to him, Lad.”
“Yeah, ‘cause I’m so good at small talk.”
“No, because he helped convince the Enforcer and his Mate not to come along.”
“Well, shit, when you put it that way...”
And just then, Luke’s deep grumbling, rumbling mumble echoed across the frozen mountainside as if he’d yelled.
Cyrus knew he should strike up a conversation.
At least, attempt small talk- something he’d never been able to do.
Maybe he could talk about American football.
He’d seen the Dallas Cowboys memorabilia all over Luke’s room when they stopped to grab his go bag. The Black Bear was a serious fan.
Searching his mind for the last time he’d actually been able to sit down and pay attention to SportsCenter, Cyrus tried to remember if Luke’s favorite team was having a winning season or not. If they weren’t, the conversation would die a horrible death before it even got started.
But Luke Jackson, always quick and aware, foiled the Dragon Guardsman’s plan.
Stomping so hard the ground shook, the massive Black Bear’s rolling Southern accent boomed, “Enough of your shit, Cyrus MacDonald. Either you tell me who Vanessa is and why you turned whiter than Aunt Ida’s sheets hangin’ on the line in the summer sun, or I’mma call Ruairí and Tamsyn and have them come see what’s going on. ”
“No!” The word flew from his mouth a full second before his brain caught up.
Eyes meeting Luke’s, the Dragon knew he’d lost the battle before it had even started.
There would be no talk of football or anything else mundane.
The Black Bear was on a mission. Not only was there a twinkle in his eye that hadn’t been there a second before, but the knowing grin that lifted the corner of his thick, black beard had Cyrus shaking his head and cursing under his breath, “Son of a bitch.”
“Yep,” Luke happily nodded. “I gotcha now, don’t I? I’m quicker than the average bear, ya’ know?”
“I see that.” Unsure if he was more irritated with himself for opening his mouth or the Black Bear for looking way too satisfied, Cyrus added, “You got me alright.” Sighing, he relented quicker than any other time in his life and said, “Yeah, okay, why not. You’re gonna meet her soon enough anyway.
” Shrugging, he went on, “Vanessa and I dated for a while. Everything was great, then it wasn’t.
In the end, it got really bad, really quickly. ”
“What did you do? Look at another woman in front of her or say something stupid like ‘women should stay home’?” Inhaling sharply, he leaned forward, attempting a whisper. “You didn’t tell her butt looked big, did you? Even I know that’s the kiss of death, my friend.”
No.” Cyrus adamantly shook his head. “Nothing like that at all. I would never. Even a hundred or so years ago, my mom fought right beside my dad. She was one helluva warrior and also had time to teach me manners. Not to mention, all the Mates of my Brethren I’ve met over the last decade or so.
They’re fiercer than ten of us, and don’t let a guy get away with anything. ”
“You got that right.” Luke snorted a chuckle.
“Hell, I grew up with Tamsyn. She’s kicked my ass more times than I can count.
She might be tiny, but she is mighty.” Snorting again, he added with a smile, “I mean, who else would tell us to cut down a Christmas tree on our way back home from a rescue?”
Thinking about the Bobcat Queen who’d just Mated one of the long-lost Enforcers who’d recently been found, the Guardsman smiled.
Tamsyn Ryder-O’Clery was a powerhouse of intelligence, Magic, and tenacity that was only matched by the one woman who made Cyrus believe in happily ever after- Vanessa Bryant.
Slowly nodding, he chuckled, “Nobody I know. Tamsyn sure is a one-woman powerhouse. I knew it from the moment I read the email she sent Carrick. Then again, she was made by the Universe for the man who trained a bunch of other young Dragon Shifters and me to be a Guardsman. That man is one of the toughest SOBs I’ve ever known.
He took shit from no one and made us work from sunup to sundown every day.
I’m pretty sure his strength and unwillingness to give up were why he became an Enforcer.
They knew he wouldn’t stop until he was dead, and even then, he’d be yellin’ orders from the Heavens. ”
Laughing out loud, Luke joked, “I believe you, but have you seen the way Ruairí damn near swoons when Tams is anywhere nearby? Now, that’s a man in love.”
“It is,” Cyrus wistfully agreed.
“Makes ya’ think, doesn’t it?”
“It damn sure does.”
“Okay, out with it. What happened between you and Vanessa? What did you do?”
Shrugging and shaking his head, the Guardsman honestly answered, “I really have no freakin’ clue. We were sitting around the fire pit I’d built behind her house, just having a beer and talking.”
“Now, where does she live? Across the pond?”
“No,” Cyrus shook his head. “Actually, she grew up less than fifty miles from Valentine, Texas, where Bonnie Sampson lives.” At the mention of the Alpha She-Wolf, the Black Bear’s eyes took on a dreamy look.
Cyrus thought about teasing him but decided he would hold onto that little nugget of information for another time.
“Well, anyway, we were talking about taking a trip to my home on the Isle of Skye. I wanted her to see it before I asked her to move in with me. She wondered about the Clans that call the Isle home and if there were any of her people there.”
“Who are her people?” Luke asked, genuine curiosity giving a lilt to his already lyrical, Southern accent.
“Oh, sorry, I thought you knew. She’s a Polar Bear Shifter. I just figured…”
“No freakin’ way!” Luke cheered. “I’ve never met a Polar Bear.
Mind you, it’s the only kinda Bear I haven’t had the pleasure of becoming acquainted with.
That is freakin’…” Voice trailing off, the Black Bear lowered his voice and in a hushed tone asked, “And she lives in South Texas? Where it’s hot pretty much all the damned time? How in the hell does that work?”
“Ya’ know,” Cyrus admitted. “I never thought about it. I knew what she was from the moment we met, and I guess…” Scratching the stubble on his jaw, he slowly nodded. “Well, I guess I just never thought about asking her if it was hard for a cold-weather Shifter to live in the desert.”
“Yeah,” Luke snickered. “I guess you had other things on your mind.” Winking right before he burst out laughing, the Black Bear held up his hands in mock surrender. “Just teasin’. Couldn’t resist.”
Chuckling along, Cyrus freely admitted for the first time ever, “Oh, I had lots of other things on my mind, but not what you’re thinking.
” Realizing what he’d done, the Guardsman hurried on, “To answer your original question, we were just talking, and from one second to the next, her whole demeanor changed. She jumped to her feet, spun around like a ballerina who’s had too much coffee, and slammed those tiny fists on her hips with a fury I’d never before seen.
Before I could ask what the hell was happening, she told me in no uncertain terms that I was a stubborn Neanderthal who refused to change. ”
“And you said?”
“Well, I, umm…” Stammering, wondering how he could save face, Cyrus huffed and exasperated breath and admitted, “Well, I did what I always do. I lost my cool and showed my ass, if you must know the truth. I said she was the hardest-headed woman on the face of the earth and was gonna get herself killed one day if she didn’t stop trying to save every person who crossed her path. ”
“Where the hell did that come from?” Luke asked, a shocked expression on his face.
“I truly have no idea.” Throwing his hands in the air, he spread his feet shoulder-width apart and tucked his hands in his pockets the minute they touched his jeans.
“Just like I have no clue how I went from the man she wanted to live with to a stubborn Neanderthal.” Huffing out a long breath, he added, “I mean, yes, we’d had loud discussions over… ”
“Loud discussions, huh?”
“Okay, we had fought over my rather archaic ways of thinking and her way of rushing in to help anyone and everyone, whether they had a splinter in their little finger or they were on the run from a loan shark.”
“On the run from a loan shark?”
“Yep, she literally stood up to a Bull Shark Shifter and his whole Shiver of gangsters for a Red Fox Vixen who they were bleeding dry. I damned near lost my mind when I found out, but by the time I got there, Nessy had them all tied up and was waiting for the Sheriff.”
“Damn! She and Tams are gonna be like two peas in a pod, and that’s before Tamsyn’s sister, Peaches, gets involved.”
“Don’t I know it.” Cyrus smiled. “I am sure they will be friends at first sight. Goddess help us all.”
Taking a step forward, the Black Bear narrowed his eyes and directly inquired, “Okay, so drop the other shoe. What happened next?”
Once again, the Guardsman scratched at the stubble on his chin. “Well, she stomped off, and the next thing I heard was her truck peeling out of the driveway.”
“But you were at her house.”
“Yeah, I know.” Cyrus nodded, feeling his eyes get almost as wide as Luke’s were narrow.
“What did you do?”
“I sat there for about an hour. I was sure she would come back. She always had before.”
“Y’all are all fire and passion, huh?”
“Yeah,” Cyrus sarcastically snorted. Inhaling deeply, he thought about that night for the first time in a long time. Then he continued, “But she didn’t come back. So, I put out the fire, locked up her house, and left.”
“You didn’t go after her?”