“Ahem.”
Goose bumps broke over her. The deep, growly voice rolling in her ears belonged to only one person.
She and Evan turned together to discover that the enormous shifter who’d strolled into Whitehorse and spun everything upside down had joined them, and now stood inches away. His big body close enough to heat her.
Caroline swallowed hard.
Tyler’s expression was dark, none of his usual levelheaded diplomacy visible. “Good friends who don’t
Evan shrugged. “No problem. Got it.”
Tyler stared for a long moment. Nodded. Then shifted his gaze to meet Caroline’s. “You ready?”
He held out his arm, elbow raised high. She pulled herself together once more and rested her hand on his tuxedo-clad arm. Left Evan standing behind as she and Tyler walked up the short flight to the dais. Left her old life behind.
Oh Lordy, what had she done?
Chapter One
“We’ll be landing soon.” Justin plopped himself into the oversized seat opposite Tyler and buckled himself in. “Should be no delays at the airport—I arranged our arrival so we land well ahead of the commercial flight the other delegates are traveling on.”
“Of course you did.” Tyler sipped the last of his wine and stared out the window, mentally ordering the next couple hours according to the least frustrating tasks he could remove from his list quickly. “Transportation organized?”
“Limo for the first days.”
A growl of annoyance escaped before he caught himself.
“I know, I know, but play along for a bit, okay?” Justin tugged the empty wine glass from his fingers and handed it to a male secretary walking in the aisle. “We have to stick with standard protocol until we get things lined up and all the security has been double-checked—”
“Justin. I wrote the security handbook. I know what’s in there.”
“Right.” Justin tapped his fingers on the armrest. “We’ve booked in at the Moonshine Inn. Your suite is —”
Tyler lifted a hand to interrupt the man. “I swear you’re nervous or something, because you’re rambling. You’ve already gone through the details of our accommodation as well as the schedule for the first two days of conclave. Verbally once plus you left me three copies to read.”
“Sorry.”
Pressure changed as the plane started its descent. Tyler examined his best friend, who happened to also be his personal advisor and bodyguard.
As if he, a bear shifter, needed a guard, but traditions weren’t easy to break. So long as Tyler didn’t have to put up with sycophants, he had no problem spending time with his friend as they dealt with the issues of clan security.
Still, there had to be something wrong. Justin was normally far more relaxed. “You got word of trouble brewing?”
Justin blinked then shook his head. “A bad feeling is all. There’s been nothing but problems for the first two weeks of conclave between kidnapping and extortion, and plain old stupidity on the part of a few clans. I don’t expect anything will get better for the final set of votes merely because we’ve shifted locations from Dawson City to Whitehorse.”
“Of course there’s still trouble coming.” Tyler thought back through the notes he’d read on the previous territory-distribution talks. The events weren’t held often, but the opportunity for an orderly exchange of resources and ideas was still the best way to stop the overaggressive bear shifters from methodically taking out most of their population and ninety percent of the other shifters in the north.
Bears on a rampage weren’t a pretty sight.
“We’ll deal with the troubles in a civilized manner. We aren’t dogs to fight over a bone.” Tyler spoke louder as the props on his private plane increased in volume. “Speaking of which, did you find more information regarding the wolf pack in Whitehorse?”
Justin laughed. “Yes, from the strangest source, actually. You’ll never guess who.”
Tyler was tempted to make him lay a wager, but nabbing money from his best friend on a sure bet was far too unsportsmanlike. If he was going to gamble, he wanted the risk to mean something. “I’d never in a million years guess you spoke to my brother, Frank.”
Justin’s expression twisted in disgust. “You’re not a lot of fun at times.”
“I know everything…”
They both laughed as the plane touched down with a gentle kiss of the wheels to the tarmac. “Yeah, you have more resources than a gopher has holes. How did you figure out Frank was in town?”
“He texted me.”
“Frank?” Justin’s tone of voice was somewhere along the lines of hearing that Lady Gaga had flown a solo trip to the moon.
“Well, someone must have texted for him because I doubt he has a phone or a computer, but he’s staying with the Takhini pack.” Shocking information in and of itself, but true.
“You don’t need my report, then?” Justin stood as the pilot smoothly taxied the plane toward the terminal.
“Oh, I need it. Frank was his usual loquacious self. ‘At the Takhini pack house. See you for dinner. You’re buying.’ This makes me even more curious what kind of pack Whitehorse has that they welcome outcast bears into their midst.”
“Curious situation to be sure. And it’s two packs, not one.”
This got stranger by the minute. “There are two wolf packs in the city? What kind of masochists are they? They must have total control over the media because I haven’t seen any weekly reports of bloodshed in the streets.”
Tyler joined his guard at the exit door. They waited briefly until the path was cleared, then Justin stepped out and looked around before giving the go-ahead. “Word is Takhini is in charge and Canyon has gone into hiding. We’re staying at the hotel owned by the Takhini pack. Current Alpha is originally from the Hudson Bay pack.”
Tyler whistled. “Impressive.”
“Yeah, name of Evan Stone—took over about a year ago and seems to be controlling them okay. The other pack, all I could find was a name, Sam, and a lot of fuzzy rumours.”
The mid-July sunshine caused heat waves to shimmer above the runway. The short walk to the waiting limo was long enough for Tyler to wish he wasn’t headed for formal meetings, but finding somewhere comfortable along the river to ease back and relax. Maybe with someone soft and curvy to help pass the time.
The limo took off, the unfamiliar Alaskan highway disappearing rapidly as they headed into downtown. Tyler hadn’t been to Whitehorse very often. His business trips tended to take him farther south into the US, or over to London or Europe. Staying in the smaller towns in northern Canada over the past couple of months had been a refreshing change from his long-range excursions to exotic or formal settings. “What did Frank tell you?”
“He likes them, that much was clear. He’s been in town for a few days and he’s still a guest in the pack house, so they’re either very tolerant, or Frank has improved his manners since he used to live in Yellowknife.” Justin peered out the windows, remaining alert as they traveled. “Also, he mentioned there was someone you simply had to meet.”
“That sounds like a woman comment.” Which was all kinds of impossible. “Don’t tell me Frank’s broken heart has healed.”
“Don’t think that’s what he was implying.” Justin grinned as they stopped at a set of lights. “Your brother
