Page 20

Chapter Twenty

This Card Has Trouble Written All Over It

Clover

“I have a weird feeling in my gut,” I said as we approached the alleged home of Anders Lynwood. “Something I’ve never felt before.”

Bellamy raised a brow. “Tell me about it.”

This magic stuff was something I never wanted to admit. Fucking scary. Fear wasn’t an emotion I usually let myself get up close and personal with.

“It’s almost like a dead zone. I’m not sure I have words for it.”

Bellamy chuckled. “That’s a first.”

“Don’t laugh at me. It’s freaking me out.” I paused so I could try to make sense of it. “There’s no vibration here.”

He nodded. “Someone could be trying to spell you.”

“Do you feel it?” I asked. He’d had the same weird exposure to magic that I had growing up. All the secrets, the half-truths, and separation. Clan land had always felt special, and it was why I spent so much time there, even though I was always threatening to leave. Nothing else compared. But this was… “It almost feels suffocating.”

“Everything seems normal to me,” he said as he activated the app on his phone that scrambled the signal at the front door. The lock clicked, and he grinned smugly before yanking it open. Sweet moon, he was so fucking hot. I followed him up the stairs and admired the view. His T-shirt strained against his shoulder blades. His triceps were tense, like he was expecting a fight. And that ass was pure perfection.

He knocked hard on the door. Before we came, we’d texted Major and coordinated that we’d deliver the bad news to Anders about his bike.

“It feels even weirder in here,” I whispered. “It’s so still.”

Bellamy knocked again, hard enough for one of the neighbors to open the door and glare at us.

She looked like someone who prided herself on knowing absolutely everything about other people’s business.

I gave her my biggest smile as I walked over to her. “I’m so glad you came out. We need your help.”

Bellamy groaned, but I ignored him. He had his way of solving crimes, and I had mine.

“This is a private building.”

“Of course. So we’ll be quick.” Now that I seemed to have magic, it would be really helpful if I knew how to use it. Because a spell would work wonders on this sourpuss. “We’re here to see Anders Lynwood. Has he been around lately?”

She furrowed her brow. Worry lines were deeply ingrained in her skin. “I don’t know anyone by that name.”

“That’s odd.” I feigned surprise. “Because he told us he lived here.”

“I’ve been here for thirty-two years. I can assure you he’s never lived here.” She peered past me, considering Bellamy. “The girl who lives there has a boyfriend, though.”

“We know her.” It was sort of true. “She comes to my spa. Is her boyfriend a little older?”

The woman scowled. “If she’s got someone living there?—”

“We don’t want to cause any trouble.” Bellamy came up behind me and handed the woman a business card.

“Are you sure? Because this card’s got trouble written all over it.”

“Positive. We’ll head out now, but if you see anything unusual happening in the building, don’t hesitate to give me a call.” He gave her a nod and put his hand on my back.

I was about to protest that we were leaving empty-handed once again, but I was happy to get out of here. The woman was either going to be a nightmare or our biggest asset—no in between.

“Now what?” I asked once we got outside, fully aware the sourpuss was watching us out her window. “That was our entire plan.”

“Let’s comb the area and see what we find.” Bellamy’s hand was still on my back.

“You feel it too,” I said.

“Something’s off here, and I’m not sure what.” He turned to me. “Was that woman familiar to you at all?”

“I don’t think so.” My mouth dropped. “Do you think she was one of the Lynwoods?”

“Wouldn’t surprise me,” Bellamy rumbled. “He could’ve given the wrong apartment number on purpose.”

I didn’t have the luxury of closing my eyes since we were on the move. I did my best to recall Alba’s image, but the neighbor was too fresh in my mind.

“It’s possible. But I hate that it adds more questions instead of answering them.”

“Welcome to private investigation. Nothing makes sense until it does.” He chuckled. “Let’s take a walk around downtown. Get something to eat. Maybe you can convince me to buy you something from one of those cute little stores.”

“I’m perfectly capable of buying myself whatever I want, but I won’t stop you from buying me gifts.” I sauntered ahead of him. “Maybe we’ll find a lingerie store.”

A low hum resonated in his throat. “Maybe you could try a few things on.”

“A gift is supposed to be a surprise,” I reminded him. “You’ll get to see it if you’re a good bear.”

“I think you’d rather me be a bad bear.”

I stopped, because something was glimmering on the sidewalk. Kneeling down to get a closer look, I felt the same vibration that had come from the stones in the tent. Warmth tangled with electricity.

“What did you find?” Bellamy asked.

“The force field around it is so strong, it’s like it doesn’t want to me to pick it up.” But I’d brave the pinpricks that felt like hundreds of tiny shocks against my arm to see what this was.

Got it.

For a small, powerful stone, it was heavy. The weight changed, and the electricity subsided as I stood up. Bellamy watched me with a quizzical look on his face. The whole thing was so weird I wasn’t even sure what to tell him.

I gasped as the magic fell away and fully revealed the object. “What a gorgeous ring.”

“That’s moonstone, right?” Bellamy asked.

“Very good. I wouldn’t expect a rough and tumble bear like you to know your gemstones.”

“I paid attention when the elders spoke,” he said, coming closer to get a better look. “Looks antique.”

“It does.” I took a closer look. The silver filigree pattern with smaller stones woven in, the perfect circular shape of the moonstone…this wasn’t the first time I’d seen it. “This is Nana’s ring.”

Bellamy cocked a brow. “Are you sure?”

“To be honest, I feel like I’ve gone completely crazy ever since I walked into your office, but this ring is so familiar. I remember tracing over the silver and loving the way the light shone off the main stone. Nana said it came straight from the moon, and I believed her.” I chuckled sadly. There was a time I would’ve believed anything she said, and a terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach made me think every word out of her mouth might have been a lie. “But what would it be doing here? Did she follow us?”

“Wouldn’t put it past her.” Bellamy’s voice had a hint of a protective growl, and it vibrated deep in my core.

Was it the ring making him have even more of an effect on me? Sweet moon, I was in trouble. I hadn’t even put it on yet. I almost tossed the damn thing, but didn’t, because a girl could have a little fun while we were in the middle of a wild ghost bear goose chase.

“Didn’t expect her to make an appearance at the bakery,” he added when I was too bedazzled by magic and his existence to form a coherent sentence. “We went straight to Choppers by Lowe from there. She could’ve overheard the conversation.”

“It’s possible.” I went through the scenarios in my head. “But that’s extra, even for Nana. If this is her ring, she loves it. She wouldn’t leave it out here as bait.”

“Or would she?”

“I don’t know anything anymore.” I sighed. “Has she always been this overbearing?”

“Kinda.” Bellamy lowered his gaze, like it pained him to come to this awful realization too. “Honestly, I didn’t want to be alpha because I knew I’d never be in full control of the clan. I would have always been answering to her.”

“Maybe you weren’t powerful enough back then to stand up to her. But now, I think the clan would be ready to follow you.” I went up on my tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “What would you change about the clan if you were alpha?”

His eyes glittered almost as much as the stone. “I’m sure a lot has changed since I’ve been there?—”

“Not really,” I scoffed.

“Well, then we’d have a lot of work to do.” His lips spread in a dreamy grin. “I’d have a talk with everyone about what they wanted. No one likes it when someone comes in and tries to change everything. But one thing I’d definitely do is build stronger connections to the local packs.”

“And you said you didn’t want to be alpha.” I nudged him.

“I said I didn’t want to compete with your grandmother for control of the pack.” He took the ring from me and considered it. “Maybe we should see how this fits.”

He positioned the ring, and I held out my hand. Butterflies went absolutely berserk in my belly as he easily slipped it onto my ring finger. Like he knew exactly what he’d do if he were alpha, I’d dreamed of this moment too. The two of us together, surrounded by our loved ones, with lots of flowers and string lights illuminating the twilight.

And maybe this was the closest I’d ever get to that moment, standing on a sidewalk in downtown Coeur d’Alene.

He lifted my hand so we could both admire how pretty it looked, and I staggered, like something slammed into me. All I saw was an explosion of colors like the ones that had illuminated from the stone. But they were coming from me, the sight of the impact. I wanted to scream for Bellamy, because all the sudden he felt like he was a million miles away, but the sound was trapped my throat.

The colors faded, and I was no longer on that sidewalk, about to kiss that gorgeous bear. I was in a tent, and there was a newborn baby crying. All the clan elders were around her, fussing—no, arguing. The baby felt so familiar, like I’d known her for a lifetime.

Was she…our daughter?

My heart was about to burst at the thought. Somehow, I was still aware that I was under the influence of the most powerful magic I’d ever knowingly encountered. Which made this weird, because it was like watching a movie I was starring in at the same time. I wanted to hold the baby, get her away from this chaos, but I couldn’t, because my mother had snatched her away from Nana.

Mom had been gone since I was a little girl. She looked the same as I always remembered her. Young, healthy, and free. I came by my wild streak honestly. Oh, how I wished this was real so I could talk to her. I talked to her all the time, when I was by myself, but to have her answer me…

Wait, was I looking up at her, like I was the one in that swaddling?

“No!” My mother cried. “You can’t do this.”

“It’s not by choice.” Nana’s voice sounded different. Smoother. She didn’t look that much different, but I could tell her hair was still naturally red, and not the knockoff shade that came from a box. “The spirits want her.”

Mom hugged me tightly against her cheek, and if it weren’t for her arms around me, I would’ve freefallen at the realization that I was witnessing this scene through my newborn eyes.

“Don’t take my baby from me.” I could barely hear the words over her frantic heartbeat. “You can’t raise her on lies.”

“This was the plan.” Nana tried her damnedest to pry Mom’s arms free. “You knew this when you chose your mate?—”

The words faded and my tiny body was absorbed back into my mother’s…and now she was standing in front of the entire clan. She was nervous and pissed off. She wanted to run but she didn’t have any place to go.

She didn’t want to mate with this bear. But he was powerful, and he worked closely with Nana.

It all seemed so normal, yet I knew from my mother’s panic flowing through my veins something was very, very wrong.

“Yes, that’s right,” my mother said, and we were in our house. My sister was playing with her dolls on the living room floor, but I was sitting with my mom, with stones in front of me. Candles in the middle of the table. “You can never tell anyone about this. Promise?”

I nodded, and power began flowing between us, I could see it. It was almost like strings of taffy. I desperately wanted a taste, but it was no longer mine.

“No!” I cried.

“You promised,” my mother reminded me.

I wanted to get Sage’s attention, but I couldn’t. That taffy was taking my voice, my power. How did my sister not notice? My mother was taking my magic!

Had she done the same to Sage? She’d always been a good little bear, and she’d married a dreadfully boring son of a powerful bear who worked closely with Nana…

In that moment, I realized I might not have been the one who’d gotten set up. Instead it was Bellamy, who had the pack stolen from him, and I’d played right into everyone’s hands.