Juneau Heat Read online

  Chapter Six

  Shiya stood over her baggage, staring as if it would pack itself. She had decided to leave, to go back to San Diego and tell her dad she’d washed out. He’d be disappointed, but the situation couldn’t be helped. Her cell phone rang, and she picked it up to check the display. The muscles in her stomach tightened as she punched the connect button.

  “Hey, Kasen.”

  “Do you know where Marine Way and Franklin is?”

  She thought about it and remembered that was near the Red Dog Saloon, close to where the Juneau Public Library was located. She’d walked all along that area with Birk and Kotori. “Yes, I know.”

  “Be there in forty-five minutes.” He hung up, and she frowned. Who the hell did he think he was? She didn’t answer to Kasen. Well, not directly. Her dad had given her special permission to handle this job, and he did not say Kasen would be her leader.

  Shiya examined her outfit, jeans and layered tops that she could remove if the weather turned a bit warmer. She decided she didn’t need to change, and

  Kasen didn’t warrant a special outfit either way.

  After checking the clock on the nightstand, she figured she had enough time to complete her packing. While she did so, she thought about why Kasen had come down from Anchorage. Joe must have followed through with his threat to report what happened with the guys. The question remained what Kasen felt about it. Would he let it go and agree with her going home?

  She left the room, eyeing the handwork of the locksmith who had fixed her door. Not more than a couple hours passed before it was done, and the relief at not being tossed out on her ear had lifted a weight from her shoulders.

  When she reached the street, Joe met her and walked along beside her. She frowned at him. “I guess I have you to thank for arranging to get the door fixed? You moved fast. What did you tell the inn manager to keep them from throwing me on the street?”

  For a moment, Joe gave her a blank stare. He glanced over his shoulder toward the room, and then his face cleared. “Oh, uh, yeah, it was nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

  “I do worry about it, because I don’t want to owe you, Joe, and we still haven’t talked about you claiming to be my fiancé. We’re not involved, and we never will be again.”

  He slowed his gait, but she kept her speed. When he realized she wouldn’t slow down, he jogged to walk beside her again. “Can you stop a minute, Shiya?”

  “No, I’m meeting Kasen.”

  “Shiya.” He grabbed her arm, but she shook him off and whirled on him. “What’s your problem?”

  “What’s yours?” She glared at him, hands on her hips. “You expected me to thank you for telling Kasen what happened, that I failed? What, I was supposed to get back with you so you can tell my dad at least one plan went right—the one you orchestrated? I know, you thought you’d give this as evidence of why I should stay in the office and not do fieldwork, that you’re a hero because you saved his daughter from the big bad bears!”

  The incredulity in his expression served to piss her off even more because she knew he wasn’t real. He reached out to touch her arm again, but she scowled so hard, he withdrew as if she’d tried to bite him.

  “Shiya, I hate that you think of me that way. Wasn’t I there for you?”

  “Weren’t you there for every dinner party my father threw?” she countered.

  “Your dad invited me as your man, and as one of his leaders. Everyone else came, and you don’t think they had ulterior motives. Why is it so hard for you to believe I love you?”

  She shook her head sighing. “I believe you love me, Joe, I really do—in your own way. But you spent more time talking to me about what my dad said or did. You asked me more times than I can count what I thought he wanted. When I didn’t know, you told me to ask him and let you know. But you want to know what the real kicker is?”

  He compressed his lips, and red stained his handsome face. “I think you’ve said enough.”

  “No, not yet.” She moved closer to him and raised her chin. “The real treat is that you always preferred Shae.”

  Joe’s eyebrows disappeared into his hairline.

  “Oh yeah, Kasen was kind enough to tell me after I let you into my bed. He said you were joking around with the guys, like y’all do, and you said the real beauty in the family is Shae because she’s got a great combination between Shiya’s sweetness and Sakura’s ability to kick ass. She will make a man a great wife one day.” To her disgust and anger, tears filled her eyes.

  “Shiya, I—”

  “What? You’re going to say Kasen lied? Go ahead, tell me how he lied, Kasen, who doesn’t give a crap who he hurts when he has something to say. You know what else?”

  “Damn it, Shiya, that’s enough!”

  She went on like he hadn’t spoken. “He said, ‘But aside from that, he’s a good man. Fights well and gets the job done. Wish he was black, but whatever, you should keep him.’ As if my future husband should be a man who fights well and gets the job done, nothing else being important.” She poked Joe in the chest and leaned in close to his face so he wouldn’t miss her seriousness. “The next time you decide to claim a woman as your fiancée, choose someone else, because it damn sure won’t be me. Oh, and Shae wouldn’t touch you if you were the last man on earth.”

  Shiya swung on her booted heel and strode away. That conversation was the last she would have with Joe. For years, she’d been a fool, accepting his mess because he was her first and because she loved him, but she deserved better than he had to give. When he showed up in Juneau, she had a moment of weakness because of fear of something new and because of how she still felt about him. No more.

  She checked the time. Joe had made her ten minutes late, and Kasen’s mood would likely reflect it. She picked up the pace and soon came to the street where he said to meet him. Pedestrians strode all around Kasen, but her brother stood stock-still, legs apart, arms folded over a muscular chest, and head bowed. Intimidated glances were tossed his way because of the frown on his face, but he didn’t appear to notice. Kasen was the second most single-minded man she knew, the first being her father. He had one goal in life, and that encompassed wiping out every shifter in existence.

  She’d always been surprised that he had time to find a wife and have a son of his own. Before she left San Diego, there were rumors his wife was pregnant again, with the oldest aged two, but neither Kasen nor Sheila had confirmed yet.

  “Hey, bro,” she called when she drew close enough. “How’s it going?”

  He looked up and raised a single brow, something only Kasen could do. A scar lined the right side of his jaw where a tiger shifter once got the better of him. A matching set stretched across his chest. They had almost lost him, but the experience made Kasen harder—and meaner.

  “Should you really be smiling at a time like this? Two confirmed—” He scanned the area around them. “Let’s walk.”

  Shiya hurried to catch up with him as he started off. He didn’t slow his gait at all to match hers. Maybe this was payback for her treatment of Joe earlier, or maybe rudeness ran in her family. They continued in silence for another few blocks, and then Kasen led her into a less populated area where they could speak more freely. He faced her, and she waited for his tirade. When he didn’t speak for a while, she took the plunge.

  “I’m sorry. I screwed up. I guess I’m not meant for fieldwork, or I need to shadow Shae or Sakura to get how it’s done.” She spread her hands to the side. “I don’t think I have that natural thing, that seduction ability that they have.”

  “Are you serious?” he snapped.

  “Thanks, but—”

  “I think you forgot who you are, Shiya.” While his words might hint at being a compliment, his tone of voice and the anger burning in his eyes told her she disgusted him. “You’re a Keith, and it’s time you start acting like one.”

  “Everbody’s not like you, Kasen. Besides, I’m damn good at what I do, gathering research, talking to peop
le—”

  “On the phone,” he interrupted. “On the computer.” His nostrils flared. “You fucked up the relationship with Joe, and the first chance you get, you whore yourself out to a couple of animals that aren’t even human.”

  She gasped. So Joe did tell him she slept with Birk and Kotori. Once again, she kicked herself for doing it at her place, and for that bastard Joe probably standing in the bushes watching her let them in. While she knew it was more than just her jumping into bed with Birk and Kotori, Joe’s attitude and her brother’s words had her feeling like what he accused her of, but she would not give him the satisfaction of knowing he made her feel that way.

  “Don’t get all holier than thou on me,” she snapped. “Everybody knows how wild you were before you met and married Sheila.”

  “Human is the operative word here. Human. Like I said, you forgot where you came from. Shae and Sakura would never sleep with a shape-shifter. They’ll be sickened to know you did.”

  Shiya crossed her arms over her chest and looked away from him. She refused to be goaded into begging him not to tell the others. He could do what the hell he wanted, and all of them could think what they wanted.

  When she ignored him, Kasen seemed to calm down. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled something out she didn’t see. He paced past her, but she stayed facing the way she was. The next thing she knew, pain erupted from several points on her head. Kasen had grabbed her hair, knotting his fingers in it, and gave it a sharp yank. She grasped his hands, crying out in pain. No matter how hard she tried to get free, he held on. The more she struggled, the more he pulled, until she stopped resisting.

  “Let me go, Kasen. I don’t want to fight you.”

  He laughed, a harsh sound that grated on her ears. “You fight me? That’s funny.” He held up his other hand, and she just caught the glimpse of a picture. He jerked her head around to see it clearly. “Look at it and remember who you are, bitch.”

  Shiya cried out again, and tears sprung to her eyes and spilled down her face. “Why do you have that?”

  “To remind me,” he snarled in her ear, “that the things we’re dealing with aren’t to be tolerated or made into friends. They aren’t potential fuck buddies. They are the enemy.”

  Shiya lowered her gaze from the picture, but her brother gave her hair another yank.

  “Look at it! See in detail what they did to our mother, how they ripped her body to shreds and left her for dead. Animal attack, the police said. Yeah, it was an animal attack, all right, a calculated murder. He hunted her for days, and when he caught up, he killed her. Not right away, though. No, he made her suffer for a while, bleeding to death.”

  “Stop.” Her voice came out hoarse.

  “Why? So you can keep the rosy picture you have in your head of those two polar bears? No, you’re going to do what you came here to do, and me and my men are going to do what we do.”

  Shiya had had enough. She drove the side of her fist into her brother’s testicles and stomped on his instep. His hold loosened, and she moved out of reach, both hands up to defend herself if need be.

  “Damn it, Shiya,” he roared, bent over and holding his junk.

  She glared at him. “Oh, you can hurt me, but I can’t hurt you?”

  “You’re going to pay for that.”

  “Why don’t I ask Dad if it’s okay for you to manhandle me, no matter what decisions I’ve made.”

  He paced back and forth a few steps, limping and muttering. When the pain seemed to have lessened, he straightened and then spotted the picture of their mother lying on the ground. Shiya averted her gaze from it without taking her eyes off Kasen, but he didn’t attempt to approach her. She knew she didn’t stand a chance against him in a normal fight. Hell, getting the drop on him when he least expected it had proved unsuccessful every other time, but she figured the subject itself—their mother’s death—got to him as much as it did her, maybe more.

  “It’s over. Since Birk and Kotori know I’m a Keith, and they know we’re hunters, I don’t see any reason to continue this farce.”

  Her brother’s nostrils flared. He tucked the picture into his coat. “You wouldn’t. Nothing’s over. You’re going to continue as you were.”

  Shiya’s eyes widened. She could not believe him. Did he care so little about her that he didn’t mind Birk and Kotori killing her? He didn’t get to burst in when they least expected it. So what? Kasen needed to get over himself.

  “I guess you don’t see how much they hate me? They’ll kill me on sight.”

  “This is why men use you, Shiya.”

  She flipped him off, and he jerked her closer, his fingers biting into her arm.

  “Kasen.”

  “You will respect me, Shiya.”

  She said nothing, and he shoved her away from him.

  “If they wanted you dead, you already would be. Ever think of that?”

  She blinked at him, and he swore, pinching the bridge of his nose.

  “The one thing in common among all shifters, no matter their species, is what?”

  “High sex drive?”

  “That, and?” he demanded.

  She searched her mind for information. Rubbing the spot where her brother had grabbed her, she ran through everything she knew, but none of it applied to her.

  “Why don’t you try spelling it out since I’m not getting it?”

  “A mate.”

  She blinked again.

  “Those two beasts have marked you as their mate. You obviously don’t know it, and sometimes even the shifter doesn’t recognize it. They knew who you were from the beginning. By their laws, they should have killed you. Even if you do nothing else, they will come to you—here or in San Diego. They will find you and make you theirs because, in their minds, you are their mate.”

  “That’s BS,” she snapped. “They hate me.” Birk and Kotori had told her they’d shared women before. She had no reason to think she, above all others, was special, and Kasen and his notions could accept it.

  “Who do you think fixed your door, Shiya?”

  “How did you know about that?”

  “Who?” he insisted.

  “Joe? You?”

  He said nothing.

  When she delayed letting the manager of the inn know about the damage, she did so because she needed to make preparations if they pressed charges or if they just tossed her out. When the locksmith came and fixed everything, she thought they’d found out and just dealt with it. She had been ready to inform all her online buddies about the inn to choose when in Juneau. Then Joe claimed responsibility, and she let the matter drop. Now, Kasen was telling her Birk and Kotori made the arrangements.

  “I don’t understand why you’re pushing this either way. Even Joe can attest that both Birk and Kotori are shifters. All you have to do is . . .” Pain tightened her chest, making it hard to breathe. She waved a hand like the rest didn’t need to be said, but her brother cast her a knowing look that pissed her off. She turned away from him.

  “I want them all.”

  She peered back at him. “What are you talking about?”

  “Mother, father, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Every single person in their families.”

  Shiya’s mouth went dry. “Y-You can’t be serious, Kasen.”

  “Oh, I’m dead serious. They’re not of the human race. That means killing them is no different than hunting wild game and putting one between its eyes.”

  His deep hatred was palpable, weighing her down until she panted. “You know some of them are not shifters. In fact, most aren’t.”

  He nodded. The gleam in his eyes terrified her more than any physical assault he had done so far. “We’ve been going at this all wrong. We know that a few generations in the future, any shifter’s family can, and does, produce new shifters. So we end up having to go back over the same territory. If we kill every one of them, we destroy the gene.”

  Horror clogged Shiya’s throat, making it difficu
lt to speak. “But they’re innocent.”

  “No carrier of the shifter gene is innocent!”

  “Dad can’t agree—”

  “Oh, he agrees. In fact, he commended me, said he doesn’t know why our ancestors didn’t think of this before.” Kasen reached into his coat and brought out the picture, but he didn’t turn it around so she would see anything. The reminder was enough. “You’re going to let them pick up your scent and know you didn’t flee Juneau, and you’re going to get them to tell you all about their families, every detail. I don’t care if you have to shake your ass or give up your ass. You’re going to do it, Shiya, because you are a Keith and because it’s the least that Mom deserves.”

  Chapter Seven

  Kotori stretched his arms over his head and stood at the water’s edge. The chilly temperature served to cool his anger, but only so much. He kept replaying the incidents that happened in Shiya’s suite. What stuck out in his mind most—the part that threatened to send him into a rage—was when that stupid human claimed to be Shiya’s fiancé. Breathing deep and stepping farther into the water was the only thing that would keep him from hunting the man and killing him. Kotori glanced down at the wound on his arm, which Birk had stitched. Already it was healing, and if he shifted into his bear form, it would go much faster.

  He stared out at the water, his lips compressed, unmoving except his chest as it rose and fell with each heavy breath. Maybe they should have killed her, too, because she had led Joe there and because it was likely the rest would come to hunt him and Birk, maybe even pose a threat to the rest of his family. When he considered Shiya’s death, though, he couldn’t fathom it. He wouldn’t. Something inside rose up and insisted on protecting her instead. The emotion angered him, unsettling his thoughts even more than they already were.

  He yanked his shirt over his head and tossed it aside. His pants and boxers followed. He’d already removed his boots and socks. Now that he stood naked, he let the wind and cold whip about his body. Goose bumps rose on his skin, but they soon gave way to the change. Silvery white hair sprouted from every follicle, and his skin darkened to the shade natural to the polar bear. His body grew several times its human size, and he dropped forward onto all fours. Curved black claws sprang from his fingertips and from his toes. He raised his nose to the sky and let a roar rip through the air.