Second Preview: The Blackstone She-Bear

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The Blackstone She-Bear
Preview 2

 

Present day …

Amelia Walker tossed the wadded up paper towel into the trashcan and gave herself one last cursory glance in the mirror before turning away and walking out of the ladies room of The Den.

It was a Friday night, so the shifter bar was packed. Amelia was glad to see that despite the growth of Blackstone and all the other bars and restaurants she’d seen popping around town, the people here still patronized The Den. It took a while before she finally feel comfortable enough to step foot inside, but she wasn’t going to let one bad thing ruin a lifetime’s worth of good memories of this place. Her parents had their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary here. Dad took her here for her first beer. Various friends had their birthday or engagement parties here. No way she was going to let that one bad thing dictate what she could do or where she could go.

Which was why she decided to come back to Blackstone. Living in Messina Springs for the last four years had been good for her—not only for herself, but for her career. After graduating with her architectural degree, she needed to do a couple years of training anyway. The Moore and Jenkins Architectural firm gave her more than enough hours of hands-on training on drafting, rendering, modeling, and other things she needed before applying to take the tests to get her license.

But, she knew she was needed here in Blackstone. Her family needed her. With everything that had happened in the last few months, Amelia wanted to be here, to protect her family and be right here with them if shit ever went down again. And nothing, not even one bad thing, would stop her.

“Do you think the proposal went well?” Amelia asked as she arrived back at their table.

Sybil Lennox was deep in conversation with Dutchy Forrester. While Sybil was her oldest friend, Dutchy had only been in town for a few months. Warm and friendly, Dutchy had easily been accepted into the fold and they all hung out regularly. Amelia thought she’d be more jealous of having a newcomer into their circle, but her friends never made her feel like she was being replaced.

Well, if she was jealous of Dutchy, it was because the petite redhead was just so cute and dainty, while Amelia felt like a clumsy giant to her. Her towering height had always made her feel insecure, especially throughout middle school when she was as tall or taller than most boys her age.

“They’re not back yet,” Sybil answered with an eye roll. “So I can only imagine—” Her expression soured. “Never mind. I don’t want to imagine.”

“You know Kate will tell us in detail anyway,” Dutchy said with a giggle.

Amelia grinned. “I’m glad for her.” She could never begrudge Kate any happiness, especially considering what had happened to the she-wolf in the past.

“Hopefully she’ll mellow down,” Sybil said. But, when she and Amelia looked at each other, they both burst out laughing.

“Hell will freeze over first,” Amelia said, wiping the tears from the corner of her eyes.

“Or Petros will—” Sybil’s expression changed, her mouth shutting and her lips forming a thin line.

“Sybil?” Amelia frowned and waved a hand in front of her friend’s face. “Are you all right?”

Smoke began to curl out of Sybil’s nose and a flash of gold scales rippled over her arms before disappearing back into skin. Uh-oh. Not a good sign. Dutchy gave Amelia a nervous glance. “Sybil? Are you okay?”

“Whatever you do, don’t turn around.” Sybil’s teeth were gritted together and Amelia could feel her trying to control her dragon.

“Why not?” Of course now, she had to turn around. And then she figured out the reason for Sybil’s outrage.

Despite the fact that he was hunched over the bar and she could only partially see his face, Amelia knew that figure anywhere. Mason Grimes. The one bad thing. Or rather, the cause of the one bad thing. Just her luck he would be here tonight, her first Friday back in town. She squared her shoulders. “So what?”

“So what?” Sybil asked, her voice half snarling. “What do you mean so what? That man—”

“Is nothing,” Amelia completed. “He’s nothing.”

“He was your ex—”

“Boyfriend. If you could call him that.” Amelia tossed her hair over her shoulder and crossed her arms over her chest.

“That’s your ex?” Dutchy asked, her eyes widening.

“I know, right?” she laughed, making it lighthearted enough so it didn’t sound too forced. Mason looked exactly the same as he did when she first met him—thick beard, gray beanie on his head, tattoos curling out from under his tight white shirt, jeans tucked into black riding boots. He was the very definition of a bad boy. “But, what can I say? We all make mistakes. And then we move on.” She hoped her friends would get the message that she didn’t want to talk about him. There was no way she was going to let Goddamn Mason Grimes ruin her night.

“Guys! Guys!” Kate’s boisterous voice made all three women turn their heads. “Petros asked me to marry him! And I said yes!” Her grin was as wide as the Brooklyn Bridge, but when her eyes landed on Sybil, her expression faltered. “Oh no.” She then turned to Amelia. “You know.”

“Know?”

Kate bit her lip, then glanced around. When she saw Mason by the bar, her shoulders sank. “I’m sorry, Amelia.”

“Sorry?” Now she was confused. “Sorry about what?”

Kate looked at Petros, who then put his arm around her. “I … ran into Mason a while back.”

So, Kate had seen Mason in town and didn’t tell me. “You did?” Amelia controlled the tone of her voice so she sounded surprised, instead of angry.

“He saved her life,” Petros added. “When Milos tried to kidnap her.”

The she-wolf nodded. “I was in trouble and he came in and scared Milos off. And then … he told me he was moving here. Oh and that’s he’s divorced.”

“Oh.”

Kate threw her arms around Amelia. “I’m sorry! I should have told you, but I was being selfish. I just wanted you back here and if you found out he was here too—”

“Kate, it’s fine.” She disentangled the other woman’s arms, freeing herself from Kate’s octopus-like grip. “It’s not your fault.”

“But he’s—”

“I said, it’s fine.” The fact the news that Mason was also moving back to Blackstone hadn’t fully sunk in yet, but she would deal with that later. “He’s free to do whatever he wants.”

“He’s also free to jump off a bridge,” Sybil muttered. “Do you want me to burn him? Or eat him?”

Amelia forced a chuckled. “Sybil, you’ve never burned, much less eaten anyone in your entire life. Don’t waste your dragon fire and your appetite.” She shrugged, just to emphasize she wasn’t affected. “Blackstone is big enough for the both of us. Now,” she turned to Petros, “tell us all about the proposal.”

Petros nodded, and Amelia was glad he was smart enough to understand that she wanted to change the subject. “As I told you, I was able to track down the seller of the car Kate wanted ….”

Amelia pasted a smile on her face as she listened to Petros relay the story of how he planned the whole thing with buying the Chevelle Kate had been wanting and then using it to propose to her in lieu of a ring.

The hairs on the back of her neck suddenly raised, and she knew that someone was looking at her. She didn’t even bother to turn around, despite knowing who that someone was.

She spent the rest of the night laughing, drinking, and joking with her friends, enjoying the evening, and celebrating with the happy couple. Soon, Petros and Kate declared that they wanted to go home, and so they all decided to close their tab and leave.

There was a slight chill in the air as they all piled out into The Den’s parking lot. They waved goodbye to Petros and Kate as they walked off to the far end of the lot. Dutchy had parked her car on the other end and separated from Amelia and Sybil, who had ridden together in the latter’s Prius.

Amelia was tired. So very tired. She had become a good actress after all these years, and convinced everyone she knew that she was okay. That her life was fine and everything was great. After a couple of hours of that charade, she felt the control starting to slip.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Sybil asked, stopping them before they got any further.

“I am, really, I’m fine.” She put her hands on her friend’s shoulders. “That whole thing happened a million years ago.” Amelia looked Sybil straight in the eyes, just to show her she meant it.

“How do you feel?” Sybil asked, concern marring her face.

“Nothing. Really, I’m so over it.” She glanced back toward the doors. It was true. She felt nothing. She stopped feel anything all those years ago when Mason broke her heart and their mating bond.