Bear Bait (Hero Mine Book 1) Read online

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  Foreword

  Chapter One – Cade

  Chapter Two – Octavia

  Chapter Three – Cade

  Chapter Four – Octavia

  Chapter Five – Cade

  Chapter Six – Octavia

  Chapter Seven – Cade

  Chapter Eight – Octavia

  Chapter Nine – Cade

  Chapter Ten – Octavia

  Chapter Eleven – Cade

  Chapter Twelve – Octavia

  Chapter Thirteen – Cade

  Chapter Fourteen – Octavia

  Chapter Fifteen – Cade

  Chapter Sixteen – Octavia

  Chapter Seventeen – Cade

  Chapter Eighteen – Octavia

  Chapter Nineteen – Cade

  Chapter Twenty – Octavia

  Chapter Twenty-One – Cade

  Chapter Twenty-Two – Octavia

  Epilogue

  Get In Touch

  Also By Harmony Raines

  Bear Bait

  Hero Mine

  (Book One)

  ***

  All rights reserved. This book, or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner without the express written consent of the author or publisher.

  This is a work of fiction and is intended for mature audiences only. All characters within are eighteen years of age or older. Names, places, businesses, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, actual events or places is purely coincidental.

  © 2017 Harmony Raines

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  ***

  Bear Bait

  Hero Mine

  (Book One)

  Octavia had no idea the world of the Others existed, until she came face to face with a demon. On the run, she is given the address of a witch who can help her. But she soon learns that not everything she has been told is true, and people who she thought she could trust, are not all they seem.

  Bear shifter Cade Loveson finds Octavia in the woods. She is being hunted by a degetty, a demon pulled from the Underworld by the druids. He has no idea why she is being hunted. But he swears to her he will protect her. She is, after all, his mate.

  When danger closes in, and the real reason Octavia was forced into his world becomes apparent, can he work with the rest of the Loveson family to fight off the impending threat?

  Is it possible they can survive and live their own happy ever after, and wipe out the threat of the Templars? Find out in Bear Bait.

  Chapter One – Cade

  “We should have badges,” Seth Loveson said, as Kurt parked the Land Rover on the side of the road in the small village of Tolleridge, and the squad prepared to get out. They were on the trail of a suspected degetty sighting. It was the squad’s job to take down any degetty, a demon with glowing green eyes that had been brought from the Underworld.

  “Not this again,” Cade said, opening the back door of the Land Rover and jumping out, his boots hitting the ground with a thud. He stretched, his body filled with nervous energy, just like it was before every hunt.

  “Yes, this again. We have no name, no badges, no authority,” Seth continued.

  “Listen, son,” Eva said. “The only authority you need is the one in your head.”

  “That works, until I have to knock on a door and ask questions. Then people want to see a badge. Or at least some sort of ID.”

  “And you didn’t bring your library card?” Isaac asked.

  “And that is why we don’t get badges,” Seth said, exasperated. “You don’t take this seriously enough.”

  “Taking down a degetty is very serious. I aim to make it my life’s mission to rid the world of them all,” Isaac replied.

  “You are going to rid the world of them?” Tally asked. “Or do you mean I am going to get rid of them?” Tally was young, having taken over the local coven when her mom, Helena, began to act a little strange—and then a lot strange. Strange did not belong in the squad, it cost people’s lives, or in their case, it had cost one of the older members, Roman, the proper use of his right leg.

  “Right, because you chase down the degetty alone,” Isaac said, taunting Tally.

  “I might not chase them down, but I do put them down. And that is what counts.” Tally jumped down from the Land Rover, hooked her mom’s spell bag over her shoulder, and stood with her hands on her hips. “Ready.”

  Isaac opened his mouth to give a clever retort, but Cade shut him down with a commanding glare. Once he was sure he had everyone’s attention, Cade began to give out orders. “OK. Uncle Kurt, you and Mom go and knock on the door, you look the least threatening. Number 33 is the address. Find out exactly what happened, and what we are up against.” Cade pointed along the street and then gave instructions for the rest of the squad to wait by the Land Rover, until they had more information. “We do not want to go running around all over the village and attract attention. Not unless it’s critical.”

  “And if we had badges, we wouldn’t need to hide behind the Land Rover, because people would take us seriously,” Seth said under his breath.

  “Badges,” a voice said from across the street, and a man appeared, as if he had materialized from thin air. “Like one of these?” He took something out of his pocket and opened it up.

  “What the fuck! How did you get one of those, Kell?” Seth asked, walking across the street to the Night Hunter. Once sworn enemies of Others, which consisted of all those who were not a normal, mundane, non-magical human, including shifters, they had been working closer together since the rise of the Templars, their common foe.

  “I am officially a member of the Criminal Investigation Department,” Kell said smugly. “The cream always rises.”

  “You mean that isn’t fake?” Seth asked, looking more closely at Kell’s badge. “You are actually in the CID?”

  “Nope. Not fake.” Kell put his badge away. “You might still be grunts working for the Council, with all your magic and fluffy fur, but our elite leaders see a bigger, wider picture.”

  “And have gone into law enforcement,” Cade said, as he joined his brother and Kell. “Good to see you, Kell.”

  The Night Hunter grunted, but gave a half smile. Kell had known the family for over a quarter of a century, ever since Cade’s parents had met. Kell and his Night Hunter partner, Jonah, had a fondness for the Loveson family, but Kell liked to hide it under his gruff exterior, and Cade was all right with that. Not everyone liked to show their emotions, not everyone liked to feel as if they belonged to something bigger.

  “Kell.” Kurt, Cade’s uncle, joined them, while the others hung back. “Got any information for us?”

  “Not much. There was a disturbance.” Kell pointed to the west of the village. “Three young men, late teens, found a box in the woods. And opened it.”

  “A box?” Cade asked. “What kind of box?”

  “That’s what I hoped you might be able to help me with,” Kell said. “Small, made of a dull metal, with some kind of carvings on the side.”

  “Druid Box,” Kurt said.

  “A what?” Kell asked.

  “A Druid Box. Druids like to pack all sorts of things into them. Think Doctor Who, and the Tardis. Only without the time travel.”

  “And do we know what came out of this one?�
� Cade asked, a bad feeling settling on his shoulders, the same feeling he got when a storm brewed above the forest.

  Kell read off his notes again, although he didn’t need to. The description was simple. “Big man, big fists, green eyes. Sound familiar?”

  “Degetty,” the others chorused.

  “OK, let’s go. We need to contain this before anyone gets hurt.” Cade led them along the quiet road. It was late evening, and there was no one else around, but he caught a couple of curtains twitching in his peripheral vision. “Let’s make this quick before we end up with an audience.”

  “There’s nothing like being an evening’s entertainment to villagers,” Seth agreed.

  As they joined the rest of the squad, Cade updated them on Kell’s scant information. “Kell has already interviewed the witnesses. We’re definitely dealing with a degetty. Be on your guard, we don’t know its strength.” He made eye contact with every member of the squad in turn, assessing their mood. The earlier taunting had passed, and each and every one of them had their game face on. “We move out. West, into the forest. The degetty we’re hunting came out of a Druid Box, as far as we know. Where it went, we have no idea.”

  “Who opened it?” Tally asked.

  Kell shrugged. “Three young men. Drinking. It’s a Friday night, end of the working week. As far as I can tell they were on a bender. It’s a nice evening, so they thought they would sit out in the forest, undisturbed. They found the box while collecting firewood for their campfire, picked it up, passed it around, until one of them managed to open it and the degetty came out.” He read from his notes. “Like a genie from a bottle. Then they ran home to their mommies.” Kell rated humans lower than shifters, if that was possible.

  “They live at home?” Seth asked with a grin. “So they thought they would go out in the forest for some peace and quiet.”

  “Most likely,” Kell said, looking across to Eva. “Sounds like you are speaking from experience, Seth. Your mom not let you drink at home?”

  “I have a sword, Kell,” Eva said, patting the sheath strapped to her waist. “And I am not afraid to use it.”

  Kell chuckled, a rare sound. “I know exactly what you are capable of, Evaine Talbot.”

  “Evaine Loveson,” she corrected him. “I’ve been married to Jack for long enough for a man with your detective skills to know that.”

  “You will always be Evaine Talbot to me, daughter of a great Night Hunter.”

  “If you’re done with the flattery,” Cade said. Since his father had been missing for so long, he thought it his duty to keep Kell under control where Eva was concerned, not that she would ever cheat on his father. They were bonded mates, and that was for life. Unless his father was dead already.

  “We don’t know who controls the degetty?” Tally asked, pulling him back to the present.

  “No,” Cade said.

  “Who controls it? You mean there is a druid here?” Kell asked.

  “Not necessarily,” Eva chimed in.

  “A spell might have been used to bind the degetty to the first person who opens the box. It’s a common way of shipping them to a new owner,” Tally said matter-of-factly.

  “Trading degetty? Druids have a lot to answer for,” Isaac said. “Our job would be so much easier if those arrogant bastards used a small amount of common sense.”

  “We agree on something, Isaac,” Tally said to him with a grin, which he flashed back in return.

  “A miracle has occurred,” Isaac said affectionately.

  “It will be a miracle the day the Druids police themselves. I know Lucas is trying to outlaw the raising of them. But even as leader of the Council, it appears to be an impossible mission.” Eva sighed. “Druids and their toys.”

  “I heard Druid Boxes were being used to trade black market magic,” Isaac said.

  “Like a degetty,” Kell said. “Why am I not surprised?”

  “Because you know druids. Slippery at best,” Isaac said.

  “Watch your mouth, son,” Kurt said. “You never know when one might be listening.” Kurt cracked a smile. “And we know how temperamental they are.”

  “Temperamental? One way of describing it,” Kell muttered. “OK, so are we going to do this, or stand around chit-chatting all night?”

  “I thought you liked our chit-chat, Kell?” Kurt asked.

  “Not as much as I like my nice warm bed. I have to go back and make a report once this is done. So let’s do it clean and quick.” He eyed Tally nervously. “I see you still can’t afford a grown-up witch.”

  If Tally was a cat, her fur would have been sticking up on end and her back arched, with a spit and a hiss coming out of her mouth instead of, “I might be a kid to you, but how many times have I saved your uniquely mundane human ass?”

  “Enough,” Cade snapped. “We’re professionals. Act like it.” He glanced around at his squad of professionals. All trustworthy, all battle hardened. His eyes lingered on Tally the longest; Kell was right, she was far too young to be out here with them. At seventeen she should be out eating pizza with her friends, not about to take on a degetty, whose strength and agility none of them knew.

  “Mom, you hang back with Tally.” Eva nodded at Cade’s instructions and drew her sword, but kept it low by her side so that it could not be seen.

  “Understood,” Eva said, a look crossing her face that said, I wish your dad was here. But he wasn’t there, and so it was down to Cade to lead the squad. He prided himself on not having a single failed mission under his belt. And tonight was not going to be the first. Still, a prickling of hairs along the back of his neck made him nervous.

  “Seth, Isaac, with me. Kurt, you stay with Kell.”

  “Stay where exactly?” Kurt asked. They were about to have their usual pre-combat discussion. It always started the same, it always ended the same. But they always went there: Cade understood it was a matter of pride for his uncle.

  “When we enter the forest, we will fan out and try to catch the scent of the degetty. I want you and Kell to be the second line of defense. Let’s stop this degetty from approaching the houses.”

  “If that is its intention,” Kurt said.

  “If that is its intention,” Cade agreed. “But mainly I want you to protect Tally.”

  “Who does not need protecting,” Tally interjected.

  “Tally, you are the weakest member of the group,” Eva said gently.

  “Er, I don’t think so. Who is going to put this demon back where it belongs?” Tally said with all the self-assuredness of a seventeen-year-old.

  “And whose sons are you going to put at risk if you don’t follow orders?” Eva rounded on Tally, her protective mother instinct a hot flash of temper. “Sorry, Tally.” Eva placed her hand on the young witch’s arm. “I should have said—whose children are you going to put at risk. You are as much one of my kids as these two. You too, Isaac.”

  “I know, Aunt Eva,” Isaac said, glancing up at his father. Kurt’s face showed a strained smile.

  “We’re all family.” Kurt said. “We all work together, and we all follow you, Cade.”

  “Great,” Kell said, slapping his hands together. “I’m glad we got the required family drama out of the way. Does that mean you can pull yourselves together to do this?”

  “Yes,” Cade said wearily. This would be so much easier if his squad did not consist of his family. He would be able to lay down the law and they would have to follow his orders, or be kicked off the squad.

  Not true, his bear said. Family makes the squad stronger.

  Cade didn’t reply. Instead, he headed along the road, cutting through to the trail that led into the open forest. They’d taken so long to get into position, and been so loud about it, that he was sure the degetty would have heard them coming, and run. This promised to be a long night.

  A long night spent in the forest, his bear said. I can think of worse things to do. Now, if we had a mate…

  Cade cut his bear off mid-sentence; he didn�
��t need the distraction of thinking about the mate he didn’t have. “Once we get into the denser trees, we shift and try to pick up a scent.”

  “We’re looking for this Druid Box too?” asked Seth.

  “Yes, although our first priority is the degetty. We can sweep the area after we’ve taken it down.”

  “You mean after Tally has taken it down,” Seth said and earned himself a scowl from Isaac.

  “She’s right. But don’t let her know I said that,” Isaac admitted.

  “I won’t, she’s too full of herself as it is,” Seth said.

  “And you weren’t at that age?” Cade asked.

  “And loverboy jumps in to defend her, as always,” Seth said.

  Cade’s temper rose a couple of degrees. “She doesn’t need any encouragement there either. She knows she is not my mate.”

  “No, she’s hoping that when she hits eighteen she’ll show up on your shifter radar as your true mate,” Isaac replied.

  Cade cursed under his breath. “I thought I’d set her straight.”

  “Come on, she’s a teenager, they all have crushes,” Isaac said.

  “Don’t I know it,” Seth answered.

  “And take advantage of it,” Isaac said.

  “It’s not my fault I was the voted the most swoonworthy guy at school.” Seth chuckled, no doubt remembering his schooldays with a fondness none of the others shared. Cade had always felt awkward, out of place, and the attention of girls made it worse. How could you be sincere, when you knew they were not the one for you?

  But Seth, the youngest of Cade’s siblings, had figured it out. Teenagers didn’t expect to fall in love and settle down with the person they were going out with. Yes, they might get caught up in the romance of it all, but they fell in and out of love so often, it was expected. So Seth had played the field. And for Seth, it was a big field.

  “Swoonworthy,” Isaac repeated. “Is that even a word?”

  “OK. Time to go bear.” Cade didn’t want another argument flaring up. It was time for action. They were far enough into the forest that no one should see them. Cade had purposefully led them off the trail and into a dense stand of trees. There they shifted, and the hunt began.