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Chapter Twenty-Three

Are You Sure About That, Nana?

Bellamy

No surprise Clover had veered wildly from my original plan. The unexpected was part of the job in this business, and it went double for this woman. We hadn’t decided what criteria we’d use to deem this visit a success, and what we’d do with the information we’d gathered here was still up for debate, but seeing the way Sage reacted to her sister’s return was all the confirmation I needed to know that this was the right decision.

“What are you doing with Nana’s ring?” Sage’s eyes were round and unblinking as Clover pulled the cursed piece of jewelry off her finger.

The elder sister backed away like she’d been offered a scorpion.

There was no way she could deny feeling its power, and it scared the shit out of her.

It should.

Clover’s face lit up. “You remember it?”

“Of course I do. I just don’t understand why you have it.” Sage took a step back.

“I found it,” Clover said, like it hadn’t completely knocked her on her ass only two hours before. “Wanna see if it fits?”

I prepared myself to catch Sage before she fell to the ground…

Sage waved her hand. If I didn’t know better, I’d think she was trying to break a spell. “No way.”

“Why are you acting weird about it? It’s just Nana’s ring.” Clover moved the ring up and down her finger.

While I watched the exchange with great curiosity, my focus wasn’t only on the sisters. My bear’s senses were on overdrive, being on clan land after so long away. The sights and smells were still as familiar as if I’d been here yesterday, and they were fucking overwhelming. I couldn’t let them lull me into a false sense of security, or worse, submission. Especially since the vibration was totally unfamiliar. Almost chaotic. This exchange was nothing more than a distraction, but I wanted to see where Clover went with it.

And what Sage was trying to hide.

But for now, she still hadn’t taken her eyes off the stone. “It’s powerful.”

“Have you ever heard the saying, you can’t feel power you don’t have?” Clover asked, winking at me. My mate was coyer than I had given her credit for.

“Nope, that’s definitely a first.” Sage let out a perturbed sigh.

Clover slipped the ring back on her finger. “You have magic, Sage. Just like I do.”

“Get rid of it. It’s dangerous.” Sage shuddered.

“You just said it belonged to our grandmother,” I reminded her. “But you’re afraid of the ring.”

“I’m not afraid of it, but something’s not right.”

The door in the kitchen creaked open, and my bear wanted to burst through my human skin.

“No, something isn’t right at all,” Shirley stood in the doorway, her arms crossed, her presence much larger than her human frame.

Clover gasped and covered the ring with her other hand. The movement was futile, because Shirley would pick up on the ring’s power.

“Hey, Nana.” Clover gave an award-worthy performance as she beamed at her grandmother and kissed her cheek. “How was your meeting?”

“Very eventful.” Shirley’s gaze landed squarely on me. “There’s a lot of buzz about Bellamy Laredo being back on clan land for the first time in fifteen years.”

“Nobody’s more surprised about this visit than I am.” I grinned at the old woman, but I knew better than to let my guard down. “What are they saying?”

It would be good to see everyone before we left.

“They’re preparing for a fight,” she said. “Rumor has it you’re here to challenge the alpha.”

“Can’t imagine where that rumor would’ve started.” It was my turn to step closer to Shirley, doing my best to mask the conflicting feelings of disappointment and pure fucking rage.

“Why would anyone want to fight Bellamy?” Clover groaned as she brought her ringed hand to her forehead. “He wasn’t on bad terms with anybody when he left.”

“He was supposed to be clan alpha. They think he’s here for a challenge.” Shirley narrowed her eyes. “Is that my ring?”

“Don’t go near it, Nana,” Sage said quickly. “They did something to it.”

“What could they possibly do to it?” Shirley shook her head and held out her hand. “It’s been ages since I wore that ring. Have you had it this whole time?”

She has no idea what’s been taken , my bear warned. Why is she only looking for this locket when this ring obviously holds tremendous power?

Good question.

“It might not be yours.” Clover pulled her hand closer to her body, not willing to give the ring up. “We found it on the sidewalk in Coeur d’Alene.”

Shirley frowned. “This doesn’t make any sense. What were you doing there?”

“We were looking for someone we thought might help us find your locket.” Clover came over to me and hooked her arm in mine. “Have you ever heard of someone named Anders Lynwood?”

Shirley shook her head and frowned. “No, I haven’t.”

“Are you sure about that?” Clover crossed her arms, and the shine coming off that ring was blinding. “Because I heard a really juicy rumor that he was meant to claim you.”

The old woman’s lips parted, but only for a second before she schooled her features. “The only bear who I ever had eyes for was your grandfather.”

“That doesn’t mean another bear didn’t have his eyes on you.”

“Men respect powerful women.” Now Shirley’s gaze was squarely on me. “They can’t stay away from them.”

“We think this Anders Lynwood might know where that locket is,” I said. The key to playing with Shirley was to remember that she made the rules to this game. “But this guy is like a ghost. He has a habit of coming and going without a trace.”

“I thought you were the best in the business,” she said quietly. I almost believed she didn’t have any connection to Anders.

“Sawtooth Security has a great track record because we ask questions instead of letting leads become dead ends.” I wouldn’t let her rattle me. “Did you tell your alpha you asked for my help?”

“Didn’t see any reason to.”

I nodded. “This misunderstanding could be easily fixed if you’d tell him why I was here. I could do the same, but things could get a little complicated.”

Sage chuckled grimly. “Do you even know who our alpha is?”

I shook my head. “Only person who’d been in line after me was my child.”

Clover sighed. “I should’ve told you this before, but we’ve been a little preoccupied. Edgar is our alpha.”

“You’re shitting me.” He’d been my best friend since we were both cubs.

“And my mate,” Sage added, delivering another shocker. Edgar has been courting another bear when I left.

“What he’s done for our clan has been very impressive,” Shirley added with a smug grin. I had no illusions about who was really in charge. “Like he’d been born for the role.”

“Didn’t think this clan cared much about birthright,” I rumbled.

“Bellamy, no one asked you to leave this clan,” Shirley said. “A smart bear like you had to realize there would be consequences to his actions.”

“Yes, that’s exactly what a smart bear would think. Where is he?”

Clover gasped. “Bellamy! No.”

“Out by the central green.” Shirley ignored her granddaughter.

“He’s expecting you,” Sage boasted.

It was almost a relief to leave Shirley’s cabin. My skin burned, and my bear was begging me to let him out.

“Bellamy!” Clover called as the gravel crunched frantically beneath her feet as she caught up to me. “Don’t do this.”

“I’m just going to talk. Fill in some of the blanks for him.”

She managed to get in front of me. “Edgar’s changed since you saw him last.”

“Power does that to a bear.” I stepped around her and kept going.

It didn’t take us long to get to the central green, and even though it had been upgraded from the primitive firepit it had been when Clover had rejected me, all those feelings from that night came rushing back.

Edgar sat in one of the chairs, legs spread out, his attention on his phone. Bears I hadn’t seen in fifteen years stood around him, all in their human form, some with gray in their beards, some of them young men.

The most surprising were the ones I didn’t know.

I glanced at Clover, and she threw her hands up. “I tried to warn you.”

One of the bears behind Edgar grunted.

He looked up from his phone, and a genuine smile spread across his face as he rose from his seat.

“Bellamy.” He held out his hand to me as he approached. “This is a surprise.”

“Congratulations,” I said as I took his hand. “It’s good to see you in charge.”

“It is,” Edgar said. “You’ve been gone a long time. Things have changed.”

I drew my hand away from his. “Tell me about it.”

Edgar scrubbed his hand over his forehead. Heat poured from his body. It was only a matter of time before his bear burst through his skin. He could play it cool, but his animal was betraying him. He considered me a threat.

“This is uncharted territory. We’ve never had an heired alpha abandon their clan. The bears who remember you feel you betrayed them. There was chaos after your departure. An uncertain future. A clan without an alpha is weak.”

“How well do you know the history of this clan?” I asked.

Edgar scoffed. “My only concerns are the present and the future.”

Foolish bear. The past was about to come back and bite him in the ass.

“I’m not interested in being alpha anymore,” I growled. “But I won’t be run from this land when your healer called me here.”

His lips parted, giving confirmation that Shirley hadn’t told anyone but Clover about her missing jewelry. “I have to consider that a challenge, Bellamy.”

“If you want to fight me, make it fair,” I said. “Show me what kind of alpha you are.”

“No!” Clover appeared between us and spread her arms. The air thickened as she formed a force field between me and the bear I’d once trusted with my life.

She gasped, and the sound was muffled. The wind had come to a standstill like the earth had stopped moving.

“What the fuck is that?” one of the bears said. “It’s like she cast a spell.”

“None of the healers have ever done anything like that,” another said.

Inside the bubble, Clover’s mouth was open, her eyes wide. The magic was growing, pushing Edgar and those bears back. Some of them ran.

But not Edgar. Shirley and Sage appeared behind him, looking sinister in the magical glow.

I wasn’t a bear who backed down from a challenge, but I had to get my mate to safety.