Page 35 of Bearing Secrets
He casually ripped the cork from a bottle and poured her a healthy glassful. Snatching up a pair of beers, he joined her in a nearby seat.
“Cheers to…learning new shit,” she said with a laugh, holding out her glass.
He clinked his beer bottle against it and took a big sip. Then another. Before he could arrange his thoughts, Natalia spoke again.
“I guess the million-dollar question, Kirell, is why thefuckdid you show me that? Assuming it’s not actually a magic trick, despite what you’ve been saying.”
Smiling into his beer, he took another long sip. Unceasingly she continued to surprise him with her mental fortitude and ability to adapt to new and unusual situations. So far, he hadn’t regretted letting her approach him the night before, and he was beginning to suspect she was exactly the sort of person he needed to pull his little charade off.
“I told you—because it’s a necessary thing to know if you’re going to help me out.”
Natalia drank deep. “And what if I go blabbing to everyone?”
Snorting, he raised his bottle in her direction again. “You are welcome to it. You have no proof. Everyone would call you crazy and you’d be committed to a psych ward.” He almost stopped there, but then continued after a moment. “Plus, I get a good vibe about you. I believe you’ll keep quiet.”
“And,” she prompted quietly.
Kirell hadn’t wanted to say the words, but if she needed to hear them, then so be it. “And if you don’t, you go back to your homeland.”
15
It wasn’t spoken as a threat, but that didn’t change a thing. He had her backed into a corner—and they both knew it.
Buying herself some time, she took another sip of the wine. It helped that it was extremely pleasant and had a full-bodied taste to it. She suspected in any other environment she’d get drunk off it far too easily.The hangover would be brutal, I’m sure.
“Is this real? Can you really do that? Shift, I mean.”
“Yes.”
Finally, she tore her gaze away from the fire and levelled it at him, watching his eyes for any sign of deceit or trickery. But the cobalt irises stayed locked firmly on her, never wavering. He was telling the truth.
“How the hell does nobody know about this? I mean…look at this place? How do you stay under the radar? Does the government know?”
Kirell shook his head. “No. Not to our knowledge at least. As to how? We keep the people who aren’t shifters but who know about us, veryverysmall. We take extreme measures to keep it that way.”
She shifted uncomfortably in her chair. This time, the threat had been very visible. Natalia didn’t need to ask what he’d meant by that; there was no need. She’d heard death threats before, back in her homeland. They were never phrased as such, but one learned to know what certain statements actually meant.
“I still don’t understand what this all has to do with me? Why do you need me to know about all this?”
She watched him drain the last of his beer, realizing it was actually his second.
“That’s where it gets more complicated. Refill?”
Nodding, she gave him her glass, waiting as patiently as possible while he topped it off, albeit with a smaller portion this time around. Apparently, he wasn’t the only one who recognized that if she kept drinking at the same pace, she’d be wasted in short order. Right now, being impaired was a bad idea. She made a note to ensure this glass lasted twice as long.
“What you need to know, is that when I refer to my House, I’m not talking about the building. I’m talking about the people.”
Leaning forward, she listened intently; this was probably the most information anyone who wasn’t a shifter had received about the Ursa family in who knew how long. Natalia couldn’t deny the fact she was somewhat thrilled and excited to be given a deep look into this supposedly secret society. What other secrets was she going to learn along the way?
“The people?”
“Yes. The Ursa family is not related by blood, in the traditional sense that you would think. There are multiple families as you know them, all bound by one thing.”
Natalia nodded in understanding now. “You’re all shifters. Hence Ursa, the bear constellation. But you’re not all directly related.”
“Precisely. The House is controlled by—I guess you’d call it a hierarchy. You can see how massive it is. We need people to oversee various aspects. The exact specifics of all of them don’t really matter. Whatdoesmatter, is that I’ve been nominated to the position of Captain. I’m in charge of the security of the House, the guards who maintain the safety of it and the people inside.” He paused. “Or at least, I will be if I’m appointed to the position.”
She recognized her cue. “Why wouldn’t you be?”
