Page 9 of Bear Protector
“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 isyourChancellor,notmine. 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?” she asked with no warning.
Returning his attention to her, Xander found her staring at him with her mouth slightly open. “How did I do what exactly?”
“Your eyes were glowing, and your skin…it started to… it shimmered for a moment.”
“Not to worry. I am fine now.”
“Is that what happens when you are about to…to…”
“Before I shift? Yes…among other things.”
“Like what?”
Xander leaned down toward her until his face was only inches from hers. “Are you certain you want to know?” She must have picked up on his tone, because she gulped hard, and did not dare answer. “Let’s focus on shifting for now,” he said, straightening up to his full height again. “Please, sit.”
They had been sitting for too long, the way he saw it. They could have probably made more headway if he could just get her on her back. Naked and breathless with her legs wrapped around his waist.
Kiera nodded. “I have never seen anyone take on their Kodiak bear form.”
“That’s because we do not make a habit of shifting in front of humans…or witches…or familiars, for that matter.”
“I am curious…to see that in person.”
“You may…if you undertake the spell in nine days.”
“Don’t you meanwhenI cast the spell?”
“Sure. When.”
She chewed her bottom lip again, driving his intrigue up a notch. If she kept it up, he might have a bulge to cover, or to do something else about it—something that included him and Kiera right here on this table. She did not strike him as the type, though. Looking at her now, the way she reacted to him, he was sure she had never been with a man.
He groaned.
