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But he didn’t want to get ahead of himself.
Instead, they strapped on their snow and ice shoes. They began the treacherous journey through the blistering wind and the below-average temperatures. The trek was easy. Well, as easy as it could be in the freezing weather.
Cyrus constantly checked on Mila. She continuously reassured him that she was warm and fine. Although he did have to walk slower than what his polar bear was used to. Her stamina was amazing but not as strong as his. She was correct when she told him the Fates provided him with a mate who could keep up with him.
Soon, they entered the cave. “We’re here.” Excitement and nervous energy bounced inside Cyrus. He couldn’t control his feet and was glad for the ice shoes they wore.
Mila’s safety gave him focus.
After an hour of following tunnels he’d found on a map at his parent’s house, they came across two very tattered skeletons that appeared to be holding hands.
Tears sprang into Cyrus’s eyes immediately as he recognized the clothes the skeletons wore. Sadness and grief cracked his emotions open. He fell to his knees, and his hands shook to touch the smaller-looking bones.
These were his parents.
Comforting hands wrapped around his shoulders. Cyrus half waited for Mila to tell him to get up, but the words never came. Instead, she held him as he cried into his hands. Then as he moved into her lap. And finally, the tears stopped flowing.
At least now he knew that his parents had died together. Neither had been alone.
He wiped off his cheeks and began to focus on the surroundings.
At first, he saw nothing and was disappointed that his parents had died in vain. He focused his bear eyes, and his gaze landed on a lock box in the shadows of the cavern.
Cyrus stood and walked over to it. “What is it?” Mila’s voice echoed off the walls.
Cyrus opened the box, and inside were pictures, articles, and information, all with a man’s name. “It looks like this man, Sheldon Irving, had been kidnapping, killing, and absorbing power from other shifters like me for years.”
Cyrus swallowed.
“This information implicates him in the murder of over a dozen polar bear shifters.” He looked toward his parents’ remains. “And probably my parents too.” A sob escaped his lips.
“Cyrus, look,” Mila pointed at something placed in the nook of a wall. The figurine was small and iodized green, which meant that it was originally copper.
“Oh. Wow.” He walked over and carefully picked up the item. The metal image was of a couple, both with bear heads and human bodies, holding hands like mates usually do.
“That doesn’t look very powerful,” she said, looking over his shoulder. “Does it feel different?”
He shook his head. “I don’t feel anything from it. Maybe it’s not what we’re looking for.”
Behind them, he heard boots scraping the tunnel ground. He turned to see two men. One was the intruder in the hotel room. The other looked like an aged Sheldon Irving standing in front of them.
“Cyrus Bechtel,” Irving said. “Thank you so very much. You have done me a solid favor by finding what I’ve searched my whole life for. I knew you’d be the one to lead me here. Because of your parents, of course.” He nodded toward the skeletons.
“What could you possibly know about my parents,” he snarked back, dragging Mila behind him.
The man scoffed. “I know they were looking for the legend. And they had the financial backing to do it. All I had to do was tag along for the ride.”
“So, you did kill them,” Mila hollered at them, causing Cyrus to tense even more than what his bear had him tensing.
A chuckle echoed through the tunnel. “Darlin’, they weren’t the first, and they won’t be the last.” His evil grin definitely told of his intentions.
“If you killed them here, why didn’t you take the statue?” That was something Cyrus didn’t understand.
“We didn’t fight here, dumbass,” Irving spat. “They scented me behind them, and we fought before they got here. I lost track of them in the blizzard and had to wait for their idiotic son to take up the calling. And my patience paid off. We now know where they went. And stayed, apparently.”
The bastard kicked the bones with his boot, scattering his parents’ remains. “Now, hand over the statue, and I’ll let you live.”
Cyrus knew neither of those things would happen and didn’t wait.
