Page 27

Chapter Twenty-Seven

We Make Danger Look Good

Bellamy

“Why do I feel like I’ll be seeing a lot of you two?” Chandra Lowe chuckled as she set my broken arm. The shift had done some of the healing work, but the break had been clean, and the bone hadn’t completely come back together. “Seems like you have a way of attracting danger.”

“We make danger look good.” Clover put her hand on her hip. She looked irresistible this morning, in the fuzzy sweater and jeans that hugged her curves. Her hair was braided, and she’d pushed it over her shoulder.

“Are these the same bears responsible for your last visit?” she asked.

“Even worse. This was our clan,” Clover said. “Our alpha. Bellamy’s former best friend.”

Chandra gasped. “No! That’s terrible. I’m so sorry. It’s so stressful when there’s strife in the pack. When I came here, everything was a mess. I’d like to tell you it will get better, but you’re here, so…”

“It’s better already,” I said. Strangely, the visit, as fucked up as it was, made me feel better. I was familiar with the Sawtooth pack’s tumultuous history, and the era of prosperity that had followed. “We’re ready for a fresh start.”

“That’s the attitude, and Granger Falls is a great place to do it. The town is growing, and its shifter friendly.” She slipped a cast on my arm. “This soft wrap should give you the support you need. You should heal pretty quickly, as long as you stay out of trouble.”

“No guarantees.” The support from the wrap felt good. “I have some questions for you, if you have a minute.”

“Of course.” Chandra settled on the stool, her brow furrowed with concern.

“We’ve been looking for someone named Anders Lynwood. We’re pretty sure he’s the same person who commissioned the motorcycle that went missing.”

“And magically reappeared,” Clover added.

“Is that name familiar to you? Possibly someone named Alba too?” I asked.

“The missing motorcycle was a big deal, and it reappearing like it was never gone was really strange. X never mentioned who placed the order, only that it would be a pain in the ass to source some of those parts again, because it was a high end, custom, vintage job. That bike cost a fortune.”

“Are you familiar with the name Lynwood?” Clover asked.

Chandra shook her head. “I’ll ask around. Some of the pack had concerns when the Sawtooth Security bears came to the area, suggesting there might be conflict. But I try to keep out of drama.”

Clover and I shared a glance. This was the first I’d heard of this, and we needed to find out why there was a concern.

“Do any of your wolves have magic?” Clover asked. “You’re much more than a traditional healer, but is there a magic keeper that we could talk to?”

“Doesn’t get more magical than me in the Sawtooth pack.” Chandra laughed. “I take it this means you’re sticking around.”

“I’m down for girls’ night anytime.”

“I love this.” I kissed Clover’s cheek. “I want this to be your home.”

After the ladies exchanged information, we headed back out to the truck.

“I’m driving. You’re healing.” Clover pushed my good arm as I headed to the driver’s side. “And riding shotgun.”

“The new girl in town is already taking over.” I chuckled as I opened the door for her.

“Would you expect anything less?”

“Hell no.”

“As the new girl, I need directions,” she said after we got settled. “I could use GPS but I’d rather rely on bear instinct.”

“There’s only one main road. Head north like you’re going…” It was on the tip of my tongue to say home, but we couldn’t go back to clan land. It was time to create our own. “To my cabin.”

She nodded, but didn’t start driving.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I’ve just been thinking.”

Fuck. “Have you changed your mind about me?”

“No. But I have a theory about why the clan wanted to keep us apart,” she said. “The magic came back once we were together. And I think that scares them. I just don’t know why.”

“You might be right, but if that was true, why would your nana ask us to find the locket?” I’d been wondering about it the entire time. “She had to know what would happen when we came together.”

“Maybe whoever took the locket is scarier than our magic,” she suggested with a shudder. “Or she didn’t think I could get my magic back.”

“Nothing about this case makes sense.” I scrubbed my face. “Anders has got to come and pick up the bike. Sounds like he spent a fortune on it. We can arrange to be there when it happens. Take the next left. Things should look familiar after that.”

“The first time I came here, I was scared shitless to face you. And I left in a red hot rage. So I didn’t remember details, because I never expected to come back.”

Same, Clover, same. I was a fool to think I’d never see her again once she’d stormed out of the office. And I’d never been so glad to be wrong in my life.

“You’ll see the sign out front.” I motioned to the left, and my mouth dropped. “My boss is here.”

She cocked a brow. “I thought you were the boss.”

“I was just filling in while he was on his mate moon.” I scrubbed my good hand over my beard, trying to get myself back in the game. “Your magic has a way of making me lose track of time.”

“It only lasted for a few minutes,” she said.

“You cast a spell over me the day you were born, Clover Crowley. Nothing can ever change that.” I leaned in and kissed her cheek.

“I hope I didn’t cause trouble with your boss.”

“Barrett knows when a case can’t wait.” He was a great boss, and we’d worked closely together for years.

This was the first time he’d put me in charge, and I wanted to make him proud. The company had grown bigger than the two of us could have ever imagined. But still, walking into the office felt like I was about to get busted for skipping class. Clover’s energy changed too, her nerves evident with her shaky breath.

Barrett was at his desk, his gaze fixed on his laptop screen.

“Sorry I’m late. Had a little incident I had to take care of.” I held up my arm with the arm cast.

Barrett’s eyes widened as he looked up. “So it is true.”

I laughed. “I’m not answering that until you elaborate.”

“I missed you, man.” He rose from his chair and clapped his hand on my shoulder. “First, tell me what you did to the other guy.”

“He kicked his ass, obviously.” Clover held her hand out. “Hi, you must be Barrett. I’ve heard so much about you. How was your mate moon?”

“It was fantastic. Thanks for asking.” Barrett grinned. “So you’re the one with the hot car that Bellamy dropped everything to save from a ghost bear cult clan in the middle of the forest.”

“I take it you talked to Beau.” I groaned.

“To hear him tell it, you left him in charge of the whole operation while you went to woo your mate.” Barrett sized up Clover. “So far, I’m not detecting the lie.”

“That wasn’t exactly how it happened,” Clover said before I had a chance to speak. “First, I asked him to help me, and he sent me packing. Then I got abducted.”

“This is Clover,” I said, most likely in a futile attempt to regain control of this situation. “And that’s a loose interpretation of the truth. From everyone. The case didn’t seem like something we’d take, until Clover went missing, and things got more interesting from there.”

“Can’t wait to hear the details,” Barrett said. “Since it looks like you’re catching up with me, Brad’s case came to a resolution last night, and to hear Beau tell it, you left him in charge of things.”

“I did make him temporary second-in-command to give him a chance to step up. Everyone was great. They picked up the slack when this case took some unexpected twists.”

“I might have another one. A woman came in looking for you. She said you’d know what this was about”—Barrett picked a Post-it note and squinted at it— “Does the name Alba Lynwood mean anything to you?”

Clover’s expression had to mirror mine, with her eyes wide and mouth open.

“No fucking way,” I said under my breath as I reached for the note.

Barrett narrowed his gaze. “Care to elaborate?”

“She’s one of the ghost bears!” Clover exclaimed. “The one who I think might have spelled me in the middle of the woods. What happened? What did she say? Tell us everything, including what she looked like so we can confirm it’s the same person.”

“Older woman. Gray hair in a grandmotherly bun.” Barrett shrugged. “She wore a long red dress that seemed kind of bohemian. I was pretty sure she was a shifter, but there was something strange about her energy.”

Clover gasped. “She might have spelled you.”

“Do you feel any different since she was here?” I asked.

“What the fuck are you two talking about?”

“The ghost bear cult clan. She’s their healer,” Clover said, and then let out an exasperated sigh when none of the what the fuck faded from Barrett’s expression. “We’re pretty sure Alba Lynwood is my Nana’s rival. Which would make perfect sense, but as far as we know, Alba’s been dead for decades.”

I pulled my laptop out of my bag and set it up on Barrett’s desk. The family tree research was still in my browser history, and I pulled it up quickly. “When I found Clover in the forest, she was alone, but she said that she was taken by bears, and they shared their names.” I tapped the screen where the clan tree had been forever fractured. “You can see here that they have a clear link to her grandmother. This Anders, who should’ve claimed her grandmother, has also ordered a motorcycle from Choppers by Lowe, that briefly went missing. But unless there’s an extreme coincidence that another person with the same name is in Granger Falls, or we’re dealing with ghosts.”

Barrett whistled low. “Alba seemed pretty real to me.”

“Right?” Clover said excitedly and then recounted what happened to her for my boss. I listened carefully, making sure the details of the story didn’t change since she told them to me. Not that I didn’t trust her, but if she’d been spelled, it could’ve messed with her memory. Every detail was the exact same. “The camp seemed like it was fully operational, but Bellamy said it was abandoned when he found me, no sign of other bears.”

Barrett ran his hand over his beard like he often did when he was thinking a case through. “If they’re long dead and they’re connected to your grandmother…”

“Yeah, we questioned that too,” I said. “Shirley’s date of birth on this document makes her much older than she claims to be.”

“Nana would never tell us how old she was.” Clover shook her head. “All she would say was that women blossomed as they got older.”

“She hasn’t aged a day since we were kids.”

“Is there any other significance to those names?” Barrett asked. “If the Lynwoods are dead, maybe someone is using their names to get your attention.”

“Oh, he’s good,” Clover said. “We didn’t think of that.”

“It’s possible,” I said. “Did Alba leave any contact information?”

Barrett grinned. “She said you’d know where to find her.”