AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Thirty
Espie couldn’t remember a time when the entire clan had fit comfortably in the mouth of their sacred cave. The numbers fluctuated with each meeting. Sometimes emergency gatherings were called, and many of the members couldn’t find a good enough excuse to get out of school or work, and the alpha always understood that. But today, the meeting was pretty much mandatory. Today they needed to decide, as a clan, how they were going to deal with Willard Vesper and the cougars.
It was nice how yesterday Miguel and Luther had made amends, and today he was simply a member of the clan, bypassing any ritual or ceremony that would normally be used to induct him. He just showed up, tagging along with Miguel and his fated mate, Clarissa, hand-in-hand with Espie, and that was that. While nothing was formally said, it was obvious that the other bears felt Miguel’s calmness and acceptance of Luther, and therefore there was nothing to discuss.
While Ivo gave Espie’s mate a narrowed once-over, arms crossed and face pinched in a frown, no one else said a single word against him. In fact, when they arrived, most members had come up and introduced themselves properly, welcoming Luther to the clan with tentative smiles and firm handshakes.
When it became clear that there was no one else coming, Miguel began the meeting by filling everyone in on the truth. “If even just half of murders, vandalism, and violence now happening around Angel Fire had been caused by Vesper, it’d be a real problem, but he seems to be responsible for it all. As it is, most of us who’ve discussed this issue have agreed that the man must be stopped. Not just to help Angel Fire, but to prevent him from doing the same thing to anybody else. His reign of terror must be stopped, here and now.”
“A lot of our bears have left Angel Fire, at your orders, until the trouble is over, Miguel,” Ivo reminded him. “We are maybe only twenty strong, the warriors here all young and capable, but we don’t even know how many cougars we’re dealing with here.”
“At a glance, I’d say twenty to thirty were in the cave the other night,” Luther offered. “But a cougar shifter is no match for a bear. We should be easily able to take down several each, so it doesn’t matter that we are outnumbered.”
“From what I’ve seen, brother, you could take half of them down yourself,” said Miguel with a chuckle.
“And you could easily take down the other,” Luther replied, making the others in the cave with them laugh. Espie was pleased to see that they were all accepting her mate so easily, especially after all the hatred they’d been spreading his way before.
“How do we even know Vesper is truly involved?” someone in the back asked. “Why couldn’t the cougars have just created some bullshit because they knew Luther and Espie were listening in?”
“There’s no way they knew we were there,” Espie insisted. “We were downwind and silent. The fact that they caught us in the end was just because we were sloppy. Vesper is definitely involved.”
“Didn’t any of you see the news this morning?” Copper asked, over the steadily rising voices. “Willard Vesper was featured. Tay, pull it up on your phone.”
Taymond whipped out his cell and started scrolling through. The clan waited with bated breath—which, really, was kind of a silly picture: a whole bunch of bears watching some kid on a phone—until Taymond found what he was looking for; then all gathered around him to watch on his tiny screen.
Sure enough, there was Vesper, decked out in an expensive suit with flashy cuffs he made sure the camera caught. He had prime airtime with Angel Fire’s local morning news station, and as everyone watched the video, you could hear a pin drop.
“You know, it’s of course very unfortunate about all that’s been happening around Angel Fire these days.” Willard’s eyes glistened with crocodile tears, and Espie’s inner bear growled: even her grizzly could scent out a faker. “The loss of lives is sad, and my heart goes out to the friends and family of those who have lost people in these senseless attacks.” Then, without missing a beat, his lips twitched into a smile as he added, “But I really think it will help the local environment, in the long run, to be rid of the mining corporation and the Ruiz Resort. Both are environmental catastrophes that need to be put down before more of Mother Earth’s children perish.”
A rush of anger shot through her. Just the sight of his face was enough to set Espie off, but hearing his words? If it hadn’t been for Luther’s hand on her shoulder, a comforting presence weighing her down, she might have lost it right then and there.
“What a load of garbage,” someone muttered, which was followed by a prompt chorus of agreements, Espie among them.
“We have to do something about him.”
“Did you see the look in his eyes? He’s a total psychopath.”
“No empathy there.”
“We’ll take out the cougars first,” Miguel announced, his voice low and dangerous—yet all those present heard every word perfectly. “Then we’ll remove Willard Vesper from Angel Fire…by any means necessary.”
Espie glanced up at Luther, taking in his grim expression as she squared her shoulders. This was the fight she’d been waiting for. And with her brother and fated mate by her side, it was one they were going to win.
