Alpha Bear by Bianca D'Arc Page A

my spells will
ultimately have.”
    John met her gaze and leaned back in his
chair. They’d moved into his office to do their planning. It was
just them, with John using his phone a lot to contact various
people as the plan developed.
    “One thing any old soldier will tell you is
that the mission plan seldom survives the first engagement. But
don’t worry. We’re experienced at this sort of thing. Well, maybe
not dealing with sea monsters, in particular, but with
unpredictable enemies and less-than-ideal circumstances. My men and
I know what to do, and more than that, we’ll have your back,
Ursula.”
    She felt the impact of his statement down to
her bones. Just like that, she felt more solid about what they were
planning to do tomorrow. All the while they’d been talking about
it, she’d felt very exposed by the plan. She was going to be the
focal point, after all. The only magic user, surrounded by shifters
who may or may not care if she lived or died. At least, that’s what
she’d thought until about two seconds ago.
    Urse saw the seriousness in his gaze, and she
felt the pull of his words and his intentions. He was going to
protect her to the best of his ability. Suddenly, she felt warm.
Like the sun had come out on a rainy Pacific Northwest winter
day.
    “Thank you for that, John,” she replied
quietly, with the utmost sincerity. “It makes me feel a lot better
to know that I won’t be all alone, even if I am the only one
wielding magic tomorrow.” She thought about that for a moment.
“Well, besides the leviathan.”
    And just like that, the nerves were back. She
forced them down. She wouldn’t show weakness. Not now. Not
ever.
    “I’m still not clear on why your sister can’t
help,” John said, standing as she did the same.
    “Because her kind of magic is quite different
and distinct from my own. Plus, Nonna said she was going to be busy
brewing potions to purify the water, when the time comes. I’m the
one who’s supposed to deal with the land.” She stretched a bit,
feeling a tiny bit of soreness from her headlong run earlier. “And
Nonna’s never wrong about who does what. We learned that early on
when we were learning our craft from her. Any time we switched up
tasks she had set for us, we screwed up royally. Nonna knows our
skills almost better than we do ourselves. Trust me, John. She’s
been at this for a very long time. Nobody argues with Nonna.” She
smiled as she turned toward the door to his office.
    “She sounds like a formidable woman,” he said
kindly, which made her look up at his handsome face. He was smiling
that crooked grin of his that was fast becoming her favorite of his
many expressions. Probably because it was so rare.
    “If she’d ever been in an army, she’d be a
four-star general,” Urse quipped.
    “I bet…” his voice dropped to an intimate
level as they stood only a few feet apart by the door, “…you take
after her.”
    Urse couldn’t hold back her laughter. “Oh,
man.” She continued to chuckle as she moved through the doorway
into the hall. “I have to admit, the older I get the more I see the
signs.” She went down the hall, toward the front reception area of
the new town hall building. “Mellie takes more after our mom,
whereas I greatly fear I’m turning into my grandmother.”
    Urse found herself enjoying the light rumble
of his laughter as they entered the open reception area. She turned
slightly, expecting him to say goodbye and send her on her way, but
he surprised her by walking past her to open the door and gesture
for her to precede him.
    “I hope you don’t mind if I walk you home.
With everything that’s happened today, I want to make sure you get
there safely,” he said, but she immediately became suspicious.
    “Is this just a friendly gesture, or is it
because you want me watched at all times?” Her resentment came
through her tone, and she didn’t really care if he noticed.
    “For now, just call it a friendly