Wolf Tracks - Bianca D'Arc Page 0,88
to the monitors in the room, and likely outside, as well. Helen swatted at Jim’s arm to get him to move over so she could meet the Alpha bear with as much dignity as she could muster, under the circumstances.
“Helen Richards, this is John Marshall, Alpha bear of this town, as well as mayor. Most folks call him Big John.” Jim made the introductions.
“Thank you for your assistance, Mayor Marshall,” Helen said politely. “I’ve heard quite a bit about your town.”
John smiled broadly as he stood at the foot of her bed. “You’re welcome to stay until you’re better. Sven’s taken a liking to you, and for some reason, more than a few of my men seem to like this crazy wolf.” John put his hand on Jim’s shoulder. Jim just smiled. “In fact, you’re welcome to stay as long as you like, and we don’t usually extend that invitation to just anyone.” John tried to look grave but failed. Helen liked this bear who didn’t take himself too seriously. “My mate, in particular,” he went on, “wants a chance to talk to you about magical stuff. Her heritage is Italian witchcraft, and she’s really curious about Germanic-origin craft, as she calls it.”
“I’d be happy to meet her,” Helen said, meaning it. She didn’t often get to talk to practitioners of other styles of magic. This would be interesting.
Another man entered the room and moved to stand next to the Alpha. “Sorry to barge in, but I wanted to see how you were doing, ma’am. I’m Ezra Tate. That mission Jim—and you—were on was for my employer, SeaLife Enterprises. The owners wanted me to come down and see how you were. They would’ve come themselves, but Sven doesn’t like a crowd to gather in his clinic, so I was deputized. I’m glad to see you’re finally awake.”
“Pleased to meet you, Mr. Tate,” she said. “Thank you, and your employers, for checking on me. I’m feeling better all the time.” She smiled, feeling the truth in her words. “I hope the records Jim liberated will be of some use to you all.”
“Oh, they’ll keep us busy for months,” Ezra assured her, his expression growing serious. “Maybe even years. There are lots of leads to track down.” He cleared his throat and looked at Jim. “In fact, I wanted to make it clear, before too much more time had passed, that there’s a job here for you, Jim, if you want it. You’ve already proven you’ve got the right stuff for doing this kind of work, and Trevor and Beth wanted me to extend the invitation to join SeaLife full-time, if that’s what you want.”
Jim seemed surprised and pleased, if Helen was any judge of his expressions. He ducked his head, looked at her for a moment and then shifted his attention back to Ezra. “I’m flattered by the offer, and I’ll have an answer for you as soon as I figure out a few other things.”
“No rush,” Ezra assured him. “We all just wanted to make sure you knew you had a job here, if you wanted it.”
“Thanks,” Jim said. “Really. I’ll definitely have an answer for you within the next couple of days, if that’s all right.”
“Any time, is fine. Just think it over and let me know.” With that, Ezra took his leave and exited the room. These bears really did have big presences on the magical plane. If Helen was going to be around them more, she’d have to get used to that.
“There’s a hotel in town, and we’ve got a room reserved for you,” the Alpha said, taking charge of the conversation once more, speaking directly to Helen. “Once Sven gives the medical clearance, you can go rest up in private. We have a few more days of debriefing with Jim planned, but I think we’d like to hear your perspective on what you’ve just been through, as well, once you’re up to sharing it.”
“I’m at your disposal, Alpha,” she told him. “And I definitely want to get out of this hospital bed, nice as it is, and get back to normal as soon as possible. I want to be with my new mate.” She tugged on Jim’s hand and smiled up at him.
“What’s this? You’ve accepted him?” John asked, a wide smile on his face. “Here, we were taking bets on how long you two would take to finally get together. We all knew, from the moment we saw Jim, that he was a goner. I’m