Bear Protector - Bella Love-Wins Page 0,12

intimidating he might look now that he towering over her. “Why should our ability to protect the region preclude us from holding on to our freedom? Can we not choose? And tell me something. I do not understand how a slew of scientists, scribes, researchers and so many witch covens cannot come up with other ways to fight them. You’re all intelligent, resourceful and powerful, and yet creating an army of slaves makes the most logical sense to you?”

Kiera looked up at him. Her eyes were full of fear. He needed to regain a level of control. Taking a seat again, he centered his thoughts. The last thing this sweet, innocent, young witch in training needed was to be scared to death by a full-grown Kodiak bear roaring in her face if he lost control and turned.

“I apologize for the outburst,” he added before she could respond. “My intention was not to frighten you. What I’m trying to say is this. Nine years ago, we were all willing, but we were deceived. And each subsequent year, the men were forced to be turned. Now, we want the choice to join or to abstain, and we must no longer be treated as beasts of burden. Back then, transforming men into shifters was the first solution. It worked during the Big Storm. We made our stand against the destroyers outside the walls, and it has worked since then, but nine years have passed, Knowledge has advanced, yet we are still the only line of defense to support the physical barriers and the Nauru’s containment spells. What if I were to tell you that there is already a new and proven enchantment for defending our borders, one that is much more efficient, and less taxing on our resources, except that Minassus has refused to implement it?”

Kira looked down at her hands, then returned her gaze to him. “I imagine I would ask the Chancellor why we have not put those measures in place,” she said after some time.

He shook his head. “And if he said it was his choice?”

She shifted around in her chair. “I do not know…”

“Which is the real problem with our region. Why does he get to dictate what happens to each citizen? Why does he answer to no one? We had a council of fifteen witches and humans before the first shifters were turned. Or maybe you are too young to remember.”

“I do remember.”

“Then you know that the region was governed in a fair and equitable manner until he disbanded the council. What will it take to get rational men and women, and witches like you, to wake up and demand logic and reason? When will all men, women, witches and shifters be equal and valued for the individual contributions we choose to give to our world?”

4

Xander

Xander smiled inwardly when Kiera got to her feet and put her hands on her hips.

“I’m telling you that I value you, and you won’t stop repeating what I can only call the mantra of a traitor!” she shouted.

Her chest heaved and her nostrils were flaring. The ferocity in her eyes made it clear he had gotten his point across. Seeing her so out of control helped him keep his composure when he stood to face her. “A traitor? Since when has freedom been treachery? Ah, yes. I recall. Since Minassus took away our freedom and made it so.”

“Is this why you do not refer to him as the Chancellor?”

“He is your Chancellor, not mine. That warlock bastard has shown us nothing but disrespect.”

She hissed out a breath of frustration. God, she was the sexiest thing he’d ever seen.

Down, boy.

Something about her brought a memory to the surface. After Xander had first been turned to a shifter nine years ago, it took him months to control his basic urges. Every instinct and emotion were heightened, making him feel like a pre-teen boy all over again. There were inconvenient bulges, unpredictable bursts of anger, and added to the mix was the new, unavoidable act of shifting to Kodiak bear form. It took much practice to overcome these primal, impulsive behaviors and regain control. Their first alpha, Commander Ashborn, had helped him and the other turned shifters. In the years to come, after Ashborn was killed and Xander became alpha, he and the more experienced shifters had passed the knowledge on to the newer batches that came after him. Right now, seeing Kiera this keyed up got him worked up too.

“How did you do that?”