Bear Bait (Hero Mine Book 1) Read online

  Octavia kissed him on the lips, and as she pulled back, she said, “Thank you. I’d hate to have to ask one of the others to turn me.”

  “They wouldn’t.”

  “I can be very persuasive,” she said with a soft smile. “All it takes is leverage.”

  “Well, if you got Seth a badge, then he might do it.”

  “A badge?” Octavia asked, with a confused frown.

  “Yes, like a sheriff’s badge.” Cade shook his head. “You’ll see, since you will be one of us.”

  “A member of the squad?” Octavia asked.

  “If that’s what you want. Equality is rife amongst shifters.”

  “I like the idea of being a shifter already.”

  “You might not feel that way when you experience the change,” Cade said.

  “Tally gave me this.” She held up the small vial.

  “It will help, but you’re still going to feel like crap.”

  “Then let’s get it over with. Tomorrow night promises to be filled with trouble.”

  Cade wrapped her in his big bear hug and held her close. “Are you absolutely sure?”

  “Yes. This is my choice, my decision, and in accepting being a shifter, I’m accepting you, Cade. I’m yours, and you are mine. Joined together forever.”

  “Now, you are talking my language,” Cade said, but a wave of fear washed over him. He loved Octavia as she was, he would always love her as she was, because of the mating bond. But what if the change hurt her, damaged her system? How could he live with the knowledge he had inflicted this on her?

  “Then stop worrying,” Octavia said. “You have to believe in fate, utterly and completely. So you have to believe this is the right thing to do.”

  “I should listen to you. You sound more like a shifter than I do.” He took a deep breath and blew it out. “Fate decides. Let’s do this.”

  Octavia kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”

  “Thank you, Octavia, for coming into my life.”

  Cade took her hand and they went back to the sitting room, which had emptied. The only people remaining were Eva and his brothers, and Tally. “You are going through with it?” Tally asked.

  “Yes,” Octavia said.

  “Oh my,” Eva said. “I need to make some tea.”

  Eva left the room, and Cade let go of Octavia’s hand, hating to leave her, but needing to check on his mom. “Mom, are you OK?”

  “Yes.” Eva was filling the kettle and setting it to boil. “It’s just…” She fanned her face and then put her hand over her mouth. “I’m not going to say it.”

  “You wish Dad was here.”

  She nodded. “I miss him. It’s like I’m split in two. Part of me here and part of me wandering out there somewhere trying to find him.” She turned quickly to Cade. “I know he’s not dead.”

  “I know. And one day we will find him.” He moved to stand next to her. “But right now, Mom, I need you to be here with us. I need all of you to be here with us.”

  “I am. Or at least I will be.” Eva wiped her eyes and began to make the tea, pouring the water and stirring the cups. “It’s going to be hard to watch.”

  “I know.”

  “It tore your father apart, turning me. I don’t want you to feel the same guilt he did.”

  “The difference is, Octavia made the choice. Dad was forced to turn you.”

  “It will be hard watching her in pain,” Eva warned.

  “I can handle it, and Tally gave Octavia something to help.”

  Eva nodded. “Good, Helena gave me something, some potion. It helped. Put me to sleep and when I woke up the next morning, I still felt like crap, but it was over.”

  “Will Octavia be strong enough for tomorrow? Once Matthew calls, things will be set in motion.”

  “She’s strong. She will be.” Eva put her hand on Cade’s arm. “We will make sure she is strong enough. Even if I have to force Lucas to use his druid power.”

  “Do you think he will come through for us?”

  “Yes. He’s made his choice, and he won’t go back on his word.”

  “And you trust him?”

  “Yes. I trust him.”

  “The plan is good,” Cade conceded.

  “It’s very good,” Eva said. “We can do this, Cade.”

  Cade glanced to the doorway. “The hardest part starts now.”

  “I’ll be with you. We’ll all do what we can to help Octavia, she’s family now.”

  Cade went back to the sitting room, leaving Eva putting cups on a tray and cutting up cake. If there was one thing that showed she was nervous, it was feeding her family comfort food.

  “Are we ready?” Octavia asked as he entered the sitting room.

  “As we’re ever going to be. My mom is bringing tea and chocolate cake.”

  “Then I’ll stay for a while longer,” Tally said, sitting herself down next to Seth.

  “What are you going to do with Zinan overnight?” Seth asked.

  “Park him in the back yard, I guess. There’s a shed there.” She took a piece of chocolate cake off the tray when Eva offered it to her. “Thanks, Eva.”

  “Do they eat?” Seth asked. “Thanks, Mom.”

  “You know, I’ve never asked one,” Eva said. “Do you boys know?”

  “No idea. I’ve never had a conversation with one, particularly about what it likes for dinner.”

  “I’ll ask him,” Tally said.

  “Don’t get too attached, Tally,” Cade warned.

  “I’m not,” Tally insisted. “But don’t you see, this is a great opportunity to find out more about them.”

  “More about them?” Cade asked, eating his cake, but it stuck in his throat; he was too nervous about turning Octavia to appreciate his mom’s baking.

  “Yes. It could help when we hunt them.”

  “I’m not sure how,” Eva said.

  “We can understand how they attack, and if we can work out how strong they are by any telltale signs.”

  “Tally could write the first guide to how to tame your degetty,” Seth said, earning himself a hard punch in the arm. “I wasn’t joking.”

  “Yes, you were,” Tally said, punching him again.

  “I don’t hit girls, so you shouldn’t hit me,” Seth said.

  Tally brushed the crumbs off her cloak and stood up. “I should go. I have school tomorrow, and then tomorrow night is going to be busy.”

  “An understatement,” Tobias said.

  Tally looked around the room. “Try to sleep. And good luck, Octavia.”

  “Thanks, Tally.” Octavia hadn’t eaten her cake, or drunk her tea.

  “I’ll walk you home,” Seth said, getting up.

  “Me too,” Tobias said.

  “I don’t need protecting,” Tally said.

  “You might,” Seth said. “And anyway, we need to stretch our legs.”

  Cade smiled his thanks to his brothers. He wouldn’t have wanted Tally to walk home on her own. Even with her degetty by her side. Had she forgotten she had bound him not to hurt anyone? That would likely include all Others and humans alike.

  “It’s time,” Cade said, holding out his hand to Octavia.

  She didn’t answer, but put her cup and plate down on the tray, still untouched, and took his hand. Cade folded his hand around hers, giving it a comforting squeeze. Then they left the room, leaving Eva alone.

  “Will Eva be OK alone?” Octavia asked.

  “Yes. She’ll be around if we need her. You might want to take the potion now. And then we’ll begin.”

  “You make it sound like an operation,” Octavia said nervously.

  “I wish it was that clinical,” Cade said, running his tongue along the inside of his lip. His teeth were not protruding, and he was worried he might not be able to perform and Octavia would have to ask one of his brothers to do the deed.

  “What do I have to do?” Octavia asked, standing in the middle of his room, next to his bed.

  “Nothing. Exce
pt lie down.”

  Octavia moved to the bed, and sat on the edge. “Are you OK?”

  “Nervous,” he said.

  “Don’t be. It will be fine.” She took the vial out of her pocket and pulled out the stopper. “Cheers.”

  Octavia tilted her head back and poured the liquid down her throat in one gulp. Placing the vial on the nightstand, she shrugged. “Ready when you are.” Her voice was light, but Cade could see the nervousness on her face. She had seemed so eager, he feared she hadn’t considered exactly what was going to happen, but looking at her eyes, dark with worry, he knew she had completely taken on the enormity of what he was about to do.

  The protector in Cade awoke. He had to be there for her, had to be strong for her. He might not have wanted things to play out this way, but Octavia was right, you did the best you could. And his best was to make this as quick and as painless as possible.

  Sitting next to his mate, Cade stroked her face, and then kissed her lips. The tips of his teeth elongated, and a primal need to sink them into his mate’s neck overtook him. As if in a dream, Octavia bent her head away from him, exposing her creamy soft flesh to him. With eyes dilated, he leaned in, scenting her skin, and then slowly, deliberately, sunk his teeth into her, claiming her in the same way shifters had claimed their mates since time began.

  Chapter Twenty – Octavia

  The sound of screaming echoed around her head. She knew it was the sound of her own voice, but she had become detached to it. These screams were a residue from last night. Last night when she had been a normal human.

  Today she was an Other.

  “How are you feeling?” Cade asked Octavia for the fiftieth time that day.

  “Better,” Octavia answered, thankful that this time her words were not a lie.

  “You should eat.” Cade set a plate of food down in front of her. “It smells different.” She looked down at the steak and potatoes, the scent playing over her taste buds.

  “It might take a few days to get used to, but once you do, it will seem natural. You’ll forget what it was like before,” Eva said, sitting opposite her at the table. “You need to eat too, Cade.”

  Cade sat down next to Octavia, but didn’t pick up his knife and fork.

  “If you sit and stare at me, I will not be able to eat,” Octavia said. “It is the one thing I do not need an audience for.”

  “Sorry,” Cade said, and began to eat.

  “Tell me what’s been happening while I was out of it,” Octavia said. She kept glancing nervously at her phone. Matthew had said he would call tonight, now it was late afternoon, and nerves were building, not just in Octavia, but in the other people sitting around the table too.

  They all knew that once Octavia got the call, and told Matthew they had the Dragon’s Tear, they would have little time before Taro came knocking on the door.

  “We are all ready to act. Lucas is over at Kurt’s house, and so is Tally. They are trying to persuade Locke to stay with Helena.”

  “Someone has to stay, and watch over Zinan. Since I don’t want Locke mixed up in this, it should be him,” Cade said. “He’s been through enough.”

  Eva set her knife and fork down on her plate, and then got up. “Sorry. I need a moment.” She left the room, and Cade and his brothers all looked at each other, worried expressions on their faces.

  “Mom shouldn’t come either,” Tobias said.

  “She won’t stay, I’ve asked her,” Cade said. “And don’t tell me to command her, because that won’t work and you all know it. I might lead the squad, but Mom leads this family.”

  Octavia placed her hand over Cade’s. “I know how she feels, she needs to protect those she loves.”

  “And you will do that too,” Seth said. “New bear claws and all.”

  Cade glanced at Octavia, and smiled, a haunted look in his eyes. “How do you feel now?”

  “Hungry,” Octavia said, and started to eat again.

  Eva came back to the room, and sat down. “Eat up, I have made dessert.”

  “No fighting on an empty stomach, that’s my mom’s number one rule,” Tobias said to Octavia.

  “That is a good rule,” Octavia answered, and they all finished in a subdued silence, wrapped up in their own thoughts of how the day was going to end.

  ***

  When Octavia’s phone finally rang, they were all standing outside, huddled together in a small group. Zinan had been sent to wait in the workshop, where they hoped the smell of varnish and lacquer would disguise his scent.

  “Ready?” Cade asked, giving Octavia a nod.

  “Ready.” She took the phone from her pocket, and swiped to unlock it. “Hello, Matthew.”

  “Hello. I hope you are all well. I’m sure you have a little posse rounded up, but let me tell you that my degetty is one of the strongest you will ever meet, and you will not tame him. So, let’s all do this in a civilized manner, and then we can go on with our lives.”

  “So that’s it, you get the Dragon’s Tear, and then you leave us alone?” Octavia asked.

  “Well. For now. We can’t all expect a happy ever after, so just make do with being happy for now. After all, now is all we have,” Matthew said. “I’m sure you and your mate have babies to make.” He sighed audibly. “I should have prolonged our relationship a little longer and bedded you, Octavia. That would be quite a notch on my bedpost, and one I’m sure Cade would always remember every time he rutted with you.”

  “Get to the point, Matthew,” Octavia said.

  Matthew chuckled down the phone. “Put Eva on.”

  Octavia, her face hot with embarrassment, handed the phone to Eva. “Hello.”

  “Eva. Do you have the Dragon’s Tear?”

  “I do.”

  “Then take it to the place you first retrieved it. Do you remember? Of course you do. Go now. You have thirty minutes. And I would tell you to go alone, but I’m sure you have some kind of plan. So let me warn you, if you take anyone else with you, there will be casualties, and those casualties will be on you. Not me. You.” The line went dead.

  “Damn it,” Cade said. “I thought he would send Taro here.”

  “We need to move,” Eva said. “Deadman’s Gully is a good twenty-minute drive from here.”

  “We’ll split up. Uncle Kurt, you drive the Land Rover. I’ll take my truck.”

  “He wants you to go alone. Turning up in two vehicles is going to tip him off.”

  “What do you have in mind, Lucas?” Eva asked.

  “We only take the Land Rover,” Lucas said.

  “We won’t all fit,” Kurt reminded him.

  “We might,” Lucas said.

  “Magic?” Eva asked.

  “Of course,” Lucas answered. “Why have a druid on your squad if you aren’t going to use him?”

  “Good point,” Cade said.

  “We all go in the Land Rover, but if anyone is watching they will only see Eva. And Kurt of course, but Kurt will stay in the Land Rover and act as a lookout.”

  “I can fight.”

  “You are getting on, my old friend,” Lucas said. “Sit this one out.”

  “And you are not old?” Kurt threw back.

  “I don’t run around on four paws.”

  “There is no time for this,” Cade said. “Whatever your plan is, we’ll go with it.”

  “Here, Eva, you take this. It’s a fake, but it’s the best we have if we plan to buy you some time.” Lucas handed Eva a small stone that shimmered in the gathering dusk.

  “It’s beautiful,” Octavia said, mesmerized by the stone, which looked to be made of dragon scales.

  “It’s a replica of the real Dragon’s Tear. It’s good enough to fool someone for a short time, but it lacks heat and power.”

  “We can look at it later.” Lucas ushered them to the Land Rover. Eva climbed in the passenger seat, while the rest of them went to the back. As they climbed in, Lucas uttered a word and they turned into rabbits.

  “What the h
ell?” Octavia asked, more shocked about this, than everything else she had discovered. “A rabbit!”

  “You won’t be seen, you won’t be smelled. And you will all fit. I will turn you back as soon as it’s safe to do so,” Lucas promised.

  “Never trust a druid, that is what my dad always said,” Isaac mumbled as Lucas turned him into a black and white bunny.

  “You won’t feel any different,” Lucas promised. “It’s like a glamor, only one step further.”

  Octavia stepped forward, and then stepped back. “What if something goes wrong?”

  “I am the leader of the druid Council. I don’t do wrong,” Lucas said haughtily.

  “It’s fine, Octavia. I promise, and if it’s not we can make Lucas’s life hell by eating our way through his garden.”

  “Mature,” Lucas said, and then tapped his wrist. “Tick tock.”

  Octavia stepped forward. “Do it.” Being a rabbit could not be any worse than being turned into a shifter, surely.

  Lucas lifted his hand, waggled his fingers and said a couple of words she didn’t understand. “Get in.”

  “It didn’t work,” Octavia said.

  “Yes, it did. It’s a glamor. Not a transformation spell,” he said, as if she were an idiot.

  “But…” Octavia peered into the back of the Land Rover, and saw the other rabbits sitting in the back.

  “They see you as a rabbit, they see themselves as a person. Now get in,” Lucas said.

  Octavia climbed in, and sat down next to a white rabbit, whom she guessed was Tally, since she was so pale and small. The others were an assortment of colors and sizes. When the last rabbit popped in, she couldn’t mistake it for anyone other than Cade, when she looked into its eyes. She never thought she would call Cade cute, but when he twitched his nose, and his whiskers moved, he sure did look like a cute bunny.

  Good enough to eat, said a voice in her head.

  Octavia jumped, and turned her mind inwards. Are you my bear?

  Yes, just as you are my human, the voice answered. From out of the shadows, a large bear ambled and sat down. When this is over, we will run free.

  We will, Octavia said excitedly.

  As the Land Rover lurched forward, Octavia had this odd feeling that perhaps she was still back at the house, lying in Cade’s bed, hallucinating under the influence of the venom Cade had injected into her body. Because that made a whole lot more sense than sitting in the back of a Land Rover with a half-dozen rabbits.