Bear Protector - Bella Love-Wins Page 0,34
square miles of island is a big place to search.”
“You are not running away, dear, and you know it.”
“Okay. Whatever. I just cannot believe you are so chipper about the fact that I will not live to see my next birthday, or another Christmas, or anything after next week.”
“I am not chipper about it. I’m not happy at all. Trust me, I would fight to get that man to stop using witches the way he does.”
“And why haven’t you?”
“Because everything comes at a price…and sometimes, that cost is too high. Let me explain what I mean. Let us say you decide to run, and you end up doing one hell of a job tucking yourself away. Minassus has seven days to find you. If he does not, and can’t replace you with another one of the Chosen, the destroyers will decimate the troops, and eventually all of the lands. If he does find you, and you refuse to perform the spell, well, you will live, but not for long. He would probably have you killed, but then again, he may throw you to the region. You will be the most hated person on the island. So my real task is not to save a Chosen’s life…not even yours, dear, and you know I love you to pieces. That goal is too short-sighted. What we need to do is bring about change. Find better ways to protect the region from the destroyers, then expose the truth about Minassus, and hopefully, he will be the next one to meet his demise. Until then, we do our parts.”
“So my life does not matter. Is that what you’re saying?”
“You know what he always says…sacrifice the one to save the many, and all that jazz. Look, it is the hardest thing for me to tell you all this, but at the same time, think of my position too. Ryan is going to be turned during your shifter transformation ceremony. My only brother. There is nothing I would like to do more than to stop that from happening. Who is to say if he will live to see the end of winter? So I work on the big picture plan. And between you and me, love, I am so close I can taste it.”
“Close as in under seven days?”
Reena laughed. “Who knows. Just keep doing whatever you are doing.” She gripped Kiera’s shoulders playfully. “Speaking of which, can we dispense with all this talk of death and revolution long enough so you can tell me about your date? Were you a complete whore today or what? Tell me everything.”
10
Kiera
“I’m glad you made it.” Xander’s deep voice floated out at her.
Kiera kept her eyes on him as he sat on his bed and pulled her to stand in front of him. She stood with her back to the fireplace, where fresh logs crackled and caused even more warmth to spread out from between her legs.
“I am too.”
“Is it warm enough for you?”
“It is perfect.”
He ran his hands up her arms. “I don’t feel the cold the way you do.”
“I never considered all the ways shifter magic altered men, but I guess that makes sense.”
“Are you hungry?” He looked up into her eyes and smiled playfully. “For dinner, I mean.”
“Sure. Let us have supper,” she said, looking over at the large basket of food she had brought with her. “I have missed so many meals at the fortress, the cooks did not think twice about preparing a basket with no questions asked. My friend, Reena slipped it out of the fortress for me.”
“Nice. Thanks for thinking of me.”
She pulled him over to the table and opened the basket. “Is this enough food?”
“More than.”
She placed the dishes on the table while Xander set out two plates and cutlery. They sat to eat, and she marveled at the way he dug into the thick, juicy steaks.
“Oh, this is good,” he said between bites. “It has been a while since I enjoyed this much meat at one sitting.”
“Glad you like it. You mentioned the camp is supplied with food from the fortress, correct?”
He nodded. “Every few days there’s a delivery of meat, milk, that sort of thing. Food that spoils quickly. Fruit and vegetables come once a week. Grain once every two or three weeks, depending on how much we’ve gone through. There is never enough meat.”
“Do you hunt for food while in shifter form? I am only curious because Coco does. In the warmer months, that is. She cannot go