Bear Territory (Bear Lodge Shifters Book 5) Read online

  “If you want to challenge me for Lodge Father, you had better show everyone that you can do a better job than I can. Because nobody's going to respect you if you warm your ass in the chair and 'delegate' all the actual work. This isn't one of your corporations. People here want and deserve a real leader, not a self-serving figurehead.”

  Paul spluttered, and Malik smirked, but many heads were nodding around the table now. Darrin looked around at them.

  “We have come up with some tasks that the Lodge needs completed for its benefit and that of its members. The three of us will divide them up. Over the course of the next month, we will show everyone else here how good we are at taking care of Lodge business. Then everyone will get to vote on who is the new Lodge Father.”

  “But that's not fair!” Paul's voice rose to an actual whine. “You have actual experience in handling these matters and we don't!”

  “So you're saying it's unfair that I'm a better qualified candidate than you?” The tiniest note of amusement entered Darrin's voice, and Paul went purple again. “Have you ever actually applied for a job out in the real world?”

  Malik let out a sharp laugh. “Oh, stop whining, Paul, the boy has a point. If you want respect in a position like this, you have to be competent, delegation or not.”

  Jake blinked at him. One minute the man was baiting Jake and Darrin by going along with what Paul had asserted, and now he had flipped and was baiting Paul by agreeing with them. Which is it? What is your game? He barely knew Malik; like a lot of the older Bears, he had kept Jake and his group at arm's length.

  He had been there when Helga had led the Lodge to their rescue, back when the splinter faction led by Jake's father had them cornered. He had not fled when the Hunters had been reported in town, but stayed, in a show of solidarity. But Jake couldn't remember him doing much of anything besides that.

  Malik looked between Darrin and Jake, and then nodded.

  “I'll take your challenge. Let's see the list.”

  Darrin passed down a copy— and then scowled as his phone vibrated again. He went back to his seat and pulled it out, looking down at it. Jake glanced over his shoulder and saw it was their ally, Mark Sanger, who lived in Jackson. Mark wasn't much of a telephone person - he only called when it was necessary. Darrin leaned over to Jake and muttered, “I need to take this, can you take over?”

  “Sure, man, go for it.” Jake watched him walk away, and then stood up again. “Anyway. You guys have any questions about the contest or want a copy of the list yourselves, let me know. Most of the stuff on that list are things you guys wanted done anyway. Like getting the group sauna expanded, and building a connecting path to the fire road. If things go well, the end result is, the contest actually puts us ahead in fixing up the place instead of taking up our time and putting us behind.” He looked around at the room. “Anyone?”

  He fielded a few questions, and handed out a few more copies of the list, but half his mind was on the phone call Darrin had walked off to take outside in the hallway. He felt his stomach tighten slightly in apprehension. Whatever was going on, it probably wasn't good. And they had problems in the wind that they had to anticipate. Problems like those three Hunter groups.

  No, no, no. Not now. Not now! Helga's gone, we're in chaos, we don't even have an interim leader yet besides me, and I can't do the job alone. The High Seat needs to be filled, and I can't sit there. Helga and my father divided power in the Lodge that way for a reason. I can't mess with that now. And if there's some crisis, how the hell do we handle it without a clear leader?

  He looked around at everyone, nodding slowly.

  “Okay, well, if no one has any other questions, I figure we'd better call it until tomorrow.”

  The other Bears started getting up, and Jake sagged back into his seat for a minute, trying to gather his wits.

  A small, soft hand landed on the back of his, and he looked over to see Anna gazing at him worriedly. He leaned over and kissed the top of her head.

  “It's okay, Baby, just too much crap at once. You know how it gets around here sometimes.”

  “And Mark's phone call?”

  Jake sighed through his nose and turned to look out the door that Darrin had disappeared behind.

  “I guess we'll know soon.”

  Chapter 3 -

  Storm Warning

  When Darrin came back in, one look at his expression sent Anna's heart leaping into her throat. Across the table from them, Gray shifted uneasily and draped a massive arm across pixieish blonde Julia's slim shoulders. Carly was on her own laptop, keeping busy, but when Darrin came in she stiffened and her head snapped, up, her eyes focusing solely on him.

  Darrin kept it together as he walked toward them, arms stiff at his sides and his face a mask of composure. Anna knew at once that he was forcing himself to look calm, to keep from showing vulnerability to the other Bears filing out of the room. But Malik gave him a curious look as he passed by, and lingered a moment in the doorway, before walking out and letting the door close behind him.

  “What is it?” Jake asked, body stiff beside her. She was still holding his hand for mutual support as they both braced themselves for Darrin's answer.

  “Mark and Esme found out that there's a caravan of heavy-duty campers headed past on the highway. He Stingrayed some of their phone conversations--”

  “Sorry, what?” Jake gave him a blank look.

  “Stingray. It's a device cops use to pick up on cell phone conversations.” Darrin settled into his seat, and Carly put a hand on his shoulder. He laid his own hand over it and then went on. “Don't know where Mark got his, but I'm glad of it.” Mark Sanger, a former Army specialist who had been picked up as a victim in the human hunt along with Anna, was amazingly skilled and resourceful. Together, he and Anna had survived the hunt, thanks in no small part to Mark's abilities. “They have a list of some of the Lodge members, including us, and they were discussing it on the phone. It's one of the Hunter groups those renegades contacted back in Denver a month ago. They're at least half again as big as the last group, and just as well-armed.”

  “Oh God.”

  Julia had to take a few deep breaths to calm down, and Gray growled.

  Anna herself felt cold to the tips of her toes. Not again. We can't deal with this crazy garbage again. Last time the Hunters had killed and replaced a local physician to get in close to Anna, intending to kidnap her as bait for Jake and then kill them both. They had kidnapped and tortured two Bears, and rescuing them had required a siege on the Hunter compound, involving huge amounts of risk for everyone.

  Jake spread his hands on the tabletop and lowered his head a moment, eyes squinted closed. His brows drew down and together and his mouth became a line. Anna watched him worriedly for a few moments as he stayed quiet. Finally he opened his eyes and looked around at them.

  “We'll need to arrange a meet with him and with Esme. Let's send the helicopter. We can't afford to be spied out at the airport by coming to Jackson ourselves.”

  “Way ahead of you. Talked to the pilot right before the meeting. He told me he'll have the shuttle fueled and ready to go in an hour.” Darrin rubbed his face and looked to Carly. “Sweetheart, we're gonna need your expertise on this one.”

  Carly just smiled.

  “You've got it. I'll confer with Mark and Esme on what they've got so far, and then see what systems these guys have that I can break into. Computers, phones... we'll just have to see what they've got.”

  The hacker, who had lost her best friend to Hunters as a child, had as much of a vendetta against them as any Bear. And as usual, she was almost cocky about her ability to do something about it, using her top-flight computer skills. She was even better than Darrin, and he broke into security systems regularly just to test them.

  “At least they'll have a hell of a time getting up here,” Anna sighed. Jake nodded and hugged her one-armed, sensing her distress.

  “Yeah, that's true. But we're going to have to talk to the s
huttle pilot and make sure that that remains the case.”

  Last time, frightened Bears kept abandoning the Lodge via the shuttle— while the Hunters were camped just outside Jackson and watching the airport. Every time the helicopter had gone into Jackson, there had been a risk of it being intercepted. And even though it hadn't, they had grabbed those two Bears by watching the airport.

  Darrin frowned at Carly's computer screen for a moment, then leaned back and looked up at them.

  “I'm gonna suggest that we reroute the shuttle to Idaho Falls.”

  “That's a ninety-mile detour, Darrin.” But Jake was looking thoughtful too. “I know they have a helipad. We used them when the Jackson Airport one went out of commission thanks to that giant snowstorm.”

  It would give them a chance to circumvent Jackson— and the Hunters— entirely, but it would require them to negotiate with the airport and the pilot.

  “I'll make the relevant calls,” Darrin said in a quick, businesslike voice.

  Anna watched his face carefully - his family had been murdered by Hunters, and nothing put her friend on edge like they did. But despite his pallor, his expression was resolute.

  “What about supply runs?” Anna asked softly. “Those copters come from Jackson too, don't they?”

  “Crap, you're right. I hadn't even thought of those. Thanks, Baby.” Jake ran a hand back through his hair. “I'll check when the next deliveries are and ask if they can be rerouted somehow. Don't want to get a shipment of Hunters with our steaks and hamburger.”

  “Me neither,” said Darrin quietly. His smart phone chimed, and he checked it. “Mark just texted. He and Esme are ready to go in an hour. He's asking if they can stay at the Lodge for Esme's sake.”

  Esme was a shifter herself— not a Bear, but a Crow.

  “I don't see why not.” Jake looked around at the others, who nodded, a few of them shrugging. “She's got her own wings. She could go spy on the Hunters and then come back to safety here. Not like they could follow her. Chances are they wouldn't even notice her.”

  “And that way they can't find out where she lives, and kick in her door while she's sleeping.” Darrin's voice was flat and tired, and Carly rubbed his back supportively. He texted Mark back, and nodded, fiddling restlessly with his phone. “With the refueling we'll be seeing them in about two hours.”

  *****

  “It's like a goddamn convention out in Jackson. They took over part of a trailer park. Must have paid the owner off. They're squatting their headquarters in the middle of a bunch of poor people's homes. Using them as meat shields. If bullets start flying over there, we will end up with a lot of innocent blood being spilled.” Mark stood in Helga's office, which was slowly becoming Darrin's, hands behind his back as he looked over Darrin's shoulder at his laptop screen. He was a tall, well-built African American man who always wore Army surplus, though he had layered a leather jacket over it in the chill. His hair was still regulation short and his face clean-shaven, just as if he was still on active duty. His voice was a clipped rumble.

  Beside him, Esme, a small Roma woman with depthless black eyes and tousled blue-black hair to her shoulders, munched idly on the contents of a bag of chips.

  She was dressed like a motorcyclist, all black leather and clunky boots, and had her own laptop open on one corner of the desk Darrin sat behind.

  “Word must have gotten out about how we took down the last guys,” she said in a disgusted tone. “So now these guys want to use civilian meat shields.”

  “Yeah, it's Afghanistan all over again. But excuse me if I don't agree that any amount of civilian casualties are worth it,” Mark muttered in his angry-burnt-out-vet voice. The others all nodded agreement. “Anyway, point is, they took a page from a typical terrorist's play-book. We go in, we put people's kids at risk. And they know we won't do that.”

  “That's just priceless,” Jake growled. He was standing near the room's one window, which overlooked the ice-festooned falls that ran down one side of the gorge. Anna stood beside him, a gentle hand on his arm. His muscles were rock hard with tension under her palm, and now and again a shudder went through him as he struggled to contain his frustration. “Okay, well, then, we can't bring the fight to their headquarters this time. What can we do?”

  “Lead them into a trap,” Gray rasped softly. He was crouched near the window himself, Julia next to him, his body language just as tense as Jake's. “We know the woods here. They do not.”

  “That's true,” said Julia, a forest ranger trainee.

  “If we can find a way to lure them into the forest, we can pick them off. The deciduous trees and bushes are bare, but there are enough pines to give us cover. And the land around the Lodge is too rugged for anyone but experienced hikers.”

  “There's an interesting idea. But what do we do about bait? I don't feel particularly good about putting any of us at risk.”

  Jake looked around at them.

  Darrin looked up.

  “It will probably be easier to make a plan involving luring and ambush once we know more about the group, their methods of working and their specific goals. Otherwise we won't even know what bait will work best for them.”

  Anna hesitated, but she had to bring it up.

  “Guys, is anyone going to tell the other Bears about the problem?”

  Jake rubbed his face.

  “We're going to have to. We owe them the warning, even if it means a lot of them bail on us. At least this time we can send the evacuees to Idaho Falls and out of danger.”

  Gray rumbled irritatedly.

  “Many will run. They are cowards and selfish.”

  “They are. But we owe them a warning anyway. We can't trick them into staying and fighting any more than we can force them. It isn't right.”

  “I wish we could,” Darrin said bluntly.

  “They're already getting on my last nerve, the lot of them. Last thing we need right now is everyone out there adding to the problem, by bailing when the Lodge needs them again.”

  “They should not be allowed,” Gray snarled.

  Julia didn't even flinch as the man-mountain next to her made such a terrifying noise. She just murmured to him soothingly, until he tilted his head and relaxed a little.

  “I agree,” murmured Anna. “But I don't think we can actually force them to fight off Hunters against their will and call ourselves good people.”

  “Survival is more important than whether we were nice to them,” Gray growled, and Jake offered him a tight little smile.

  “Yes, yes, it is. But it is also true that we can't put others in harm's way to get ourselves out of danger.” Darrin's lip curled up on one side wryly. “Otherwise we would have to live with ourselves after.”

  “And that's no goddamned picnic,” Mark added, his tone absolutely flat.

  He had scars from Afghanistan that he wore on his skin, and others that he wore on his heart. Anna knew that regrets from following his orders in Fallujah had been part of that.

  “Makes me a little crazy that they put us in a position where our consciences end up being a handicap.” Carly rattled away at her own computer at the desk corner across from Esme. “But then again, I guess to a fanatic, that's what conscience is anyway.”

  “Yep.” Mark didn't say more than that, just folded his arms and focused on watching Esme's computer screen.

  “So, what's the plan, babe?”

  Carly looked to Darrin, who flashed her a brief smile.

  “For now, find as many ways to mess with these people as we can without revealing ourselves.” Darrin hit a few keys and hit return. “Hack into their utility accounts and have their water and power shut off. Hack their Internet connections. Put GPS trackers on their cars.”

  “I can do that last one easy, I have a bunch of them at home.”

  Esme smirked at her screen as she typed a few notes.

  “Did they have any off-road vehicles?” Julia asked.

  “Couple of Jeeps outfitted for off-road. No
t enough to carry them all, though, so I'm not sure what they plan to use to carry everyone else.” Mark frowned in frustration. “I honestly wish I could read their damn minds and just figure it all out for us.”

  Anna smiled a little. It was refreshing but strange to hear Mark referring to a group of shifters and their mates as ‘us’. Not too long ago, he had nearly joined the Hunters himself, out of bitterness over being caught up in the human hunt. Several things had snapped him out of it - the Hunters going after Anna, and his meeting Esme, chief among them.

  Now, with everything crazy going on, she could still take comfort in the fact that Mark was finally on their side— still critical, still a little paranoid, but wholeheartedly.

  “Okay, so,” Jake walked back over to the desk, Anna trailing a little behind him, “right now, we spy on them, we gather intelligence on them, we make their lives harder. But no contact. I don't want them to even see any of us.”

  “Oh hell, honey, they may see me, but crows are a dime a dozen in Jackson, even in winter.” Esme winked, and Mark glanced at her a little worriedly. He probably didn't like the idea of her going to tag the Hunters' cars on her own. “I'll be fine,” she reassured, reading his concern immediately. “They don't even know you have a Crow helping you. Most shifter species don't mix, remember?”

  “I understand. I just remember what the last guys were like.” He shuddered slightly. “I spent two afternoons with them and I have to tell you, it was exactly like keeping company with a goddamn terrorist cell. Same rhetoric, same lack of any kind of morality, same self-righteousness. Same casual display of loaded firearms with their safeties off, for that matter.”

  “Sound like charmers,” Carly said dryly. “So I managed to set up a remote Stingray out of that gear you brought, Mark. Basically, if we hide this thing close enough to their base of operations, we'll keep picking up their phone conversations, which will go straight to our laptops. They'll have to stay in range, but with the weather being a freezing bastard out there, they'll probably stick close to HQ until they have some kind of lead.”