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Chapter Eighteen
All those who could get out of work or school had come, and they were seated across the hardened forest floor. Some wore light jackets, others were in t-shirts. Some kneeled. A few stood. Most sat.
Espie situated herself off to the far side of the gathering with Maria, not wanting to distract Miguel from his duty. He hadn’t brought his fated mate Clarissa with him this time, and her absence told Espie that this was a serious matter. Even Copper and Taymond were on their best behavior, with not a joke to be made at any point during the meeting. While the residents of Angel Fire had been worked up, shouting and fighting in the streets with the miners, the clan had an eerie calm over it, and it seemed as though everyone sat waiting for the storm to hit.
But the death of two men under such suspicious circumstances wasn’t the so-called storm. It couldn’t be. The real storm was still on the way, and the clan needed to decide what to do, under Miguel’s leadership and guidance, to avoid placing themselves in any unnecessary danger.
“As you all know, two men were killed at the foot of our mountain last night,” Miguel announced, his voice bearing the weight of a true alpha in the face of disaster as a hush fell over the clan. “As expected, the town folks are distraught over the deaths. One was the gardener at my family’s resort. The other was a miner. Both were found with no vital signs, their bodies mauled.”
Ursalina kept their sacred space protected, but it made sense not to climb the mountain to the caves today, even disguised in bear form, as that was bound to draw unwanted attention their way. This location, situated in the heart of bear territory on her family’s resort land, was deep within the forest. A few bears patrolled in shifted form, on the lookout for any spies or overly interested critters intent on listening in on their meeting. Security was tight. Tensions ran high. The crowd waited for their alpha’s verdict.
“Under no circumstances are we to engage in any fighting ourselves, with either the miners or the folks in town,” Miguel ordered. “There was a brawl in the street by Sammy’s today. No one was seriously hurt, but I don’t want any bear involved with the fallout from this incident. Tempers will be high. People will point fingers on both sides. We need to stay calm, cool, and collected. Most of all, we need to stay united.”
The clan responded with heated murmurs. Some sounded to be in agreement, while others, the more hushed and hissing kind, seemed to be against Miguel’s wishes. Espie shot a narrowed look to the bears around her, wordlessly demanding they respect her brother’s decrees. He was their alpha, and he had spoken.
As alpha, Miguel had the power to bend every person there to his will if he chose to do it, but he wasn’t the kind of bear who would force others to bow unless it was the only way to keep the clan safe. On the other side of the cave, Espie noticed Ivo watching the proceedings with crossed arms and a furrowed brow. If anyone was going to stir the pot and encourage action, it was him.
“Now, our brother Clive on the police force has shared some privileged information with me,” Miguel continued, and Espie saw his hands ball up into fists. “He says the bodies were in brutal condition, and it appeared that the blows responsible for the deaths appeared to be both animal and human in nature.”
Espie’s eyes widened as the news sunk in. Humans and animals seldom worked together in a coordinated attack. As far as she knew, Ilya wasn’t a shifter, and though she couldn’t speak for the miner, she had a feeling they were both human. Therefore, as Miguel and the rest of the clan rightly suspected, shifters must have been involved.
Her head whipped around, taking in their reactions, wondering if any of her clan, her family, could have been responsible for what happened. But that was unthinkable. No one would act so violently without Miguel’s go-ahead: of that she was certain.
“In Clive’s opinion, the tracks and claw marks on and around the bodies suggest a predator species. We’ll need more information from the ME to make a verdict on exactly what kind of animal it was.” He paused with a slight shake of his head. “Both Clive and I are in agreement—it wasn’t an animal. It was most likely an Angel Fire shifter.”
“That’s so crazy,” Espie said with a shake of her head. “How are you so sure this shifter is from Angel Fire? It certainly wouldn’t benefit the rams to kill anyone, and there’s no way any member of the clan would have mauled Ilya since he was a friend to us. And without Miguel giving the order, none of us would have attacked the miner, either. It had to be an outsider.”
“The only outsiders we’ve scented in town are two miners,” said Julio. “An eagle, who anyone would agree couldn’t have done this either, and a rogue bear.”
Shocked and heated whispers broke out at his statement.
“Rogue bear?” Espie repeated. Her blood ran cold at the mention of Luther. His bear form’s scent must have been all over these woods from the day he saved her from that cougar. It had been only a matter of time before the rest of the clan caught wind. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Maria’s face etched with worry.
“Clanless bears are dangerous bears,” Miguel declared. “That bear’s scent does suggest he is the only one of his kind in the area. It’s not much of a stretch to imagine he killed Ilya after things went sour between him and that miner.”
“Clearly, his clan is the mining corporation, if he’d be willing to do that,” Ivo scoffed.
Espie surged to her feet, overcome by a powerful need to defend her mate. She wasn’t ready to tell her clan that little piece of information just yet, but she wasn’t about to let them blame an innocent man for someone else’s wrong doing.
“Listen to you,” she scoffed. “All of you so ready to condemn a man just because he’s a little different than you. Luther is a good man. Just because he’s new here doesn’t make him a killer. He wouldn’t have done something like this, especially not to one of his own. Have you forgotten that a miner was killed as well?”
“How do we know it wasn’t some kind of a murder-suicide?” Julio pointed out.
Espie’s ire grew. “Have any of you ever even met the guy? Talked to him? How can you just pin everything on a man without even getting to know his nature first?”
“Sounds like Espie’s sweet on a miner,” Ivo sneered.
“I have met that bear, yes,” she told him. “And that’s why I know he didn’t do it. Why would he, anyway? What could possibly motivate him in the first place? The guy’s just here to earn a living, same as everyone here. He’s got no reason to kill anybody.”
“A rogue bear can become jaded,” Julio pointed out. “They lack the guidance of an alpha and might just kill for fun.”
“I’m not gonna stay here and listen to this,” Espie protested hotly. “Miguel, I’m going to borrow your truck and go cool down. If this is the kind of meeting you want to hold, you can count me out.”
Miguel’s eyes met hers, but he didn’t try to stop her. He didn’t say a word against her decision like most alphas would have done. Instead, he just tossed her a set of keys. Espie caught them, casting Maria a look before she turned on her heels and ran off into the trees.
She could only hope that her friend would continue to defend Luther in her stead as she bolted down the forest path and finally reached the resort parking lot, where the large pick-up with the canopy that belonged to her brother waited for her.
After escaping the clan meeting, Espie drove around aimlessly for a while. It was clear that the clan saw Luther as a threat. There had been anger in their voices as they flung accusations back and forth. They didn’t even want to give him a chance to explain himself.
Espie hadn’t seen Luther since they’d bonded last week, and she had to admit his background was mysterious, but they were fated mates, and yet they were already bonded. She had to trust that fate would never have sent her a murderer.
His background was shrouded in the secrecy of stories he refused to tell, and she had seen his aggressive side when he’d run off the cougar; yet he’d only acted that way to protect her. Sure, he had flaws – including the fact that he was a miner – but she just knew, deep in her soul, that her people were wrong about him.
But unlike the others, she refused to simply accuse someone just because he or she was different. She wasn’t afraid to simply ask.
