Gareth chuckled in agreement. “True, but the bears Brandi’s referring to aren’t natural shifters. They were created like she and her pack were. They aren’t typical shifters and haven’t been shifters for very long. They’re also having a similar problem in trying to stay off the radar of ambitious mad scientists. Before they were turned into science experiments, they were a quirky human environmental group living off-grid. Learning to live as bears has been quite the challenge for them. But like Brandi and her pack, the bears have done what they needed to in order to protect themselves.”
Reed blew out a breath, hoping it would let his resignation settle into place. “My first instinct is to say it could never work, but with my people in constant danger of being abducted, I don’t have the luxury of being close-minded. How many bear shifters are we talking about?”
Reed directed the question to Gareth, but Brandi answered for her mate. “Their group contains thirty-ish shifters plus their human children. Last time I took an actual head count, the group had close to fifty people total living in it. This includes a still human teacher and another guy who wasn’t there when the other adults got abducted.”
Human adults and human children weren’t the problem. Reed ignored everything but the thing that was. “Thirty bears shifters are a lot of bears running around a wolf pack.”
Brandi laughed a bit nervously as her mate lifted an eyebrow. She knew this would be a hard sell. She’d admitted as much to Gareth on the trip here. “If it helps, most of the bears are normal-sized black or brown bears like the kind you find natively in Alaska. They’d likely blend in with the real bears here. Only two are different.”
“I’m afraid to ask, but I have to. What are they?” Reed asked.
Brandi ran a hand through her recently cut and very short hair that grew six inches every time she shifted as she searched for words. “The leader got injected with a DNA cocktail comprising multiple bear species. Mostly he’s an enormous Russian Big Brown. Last time I saw him, Jon’s shifted form was already larger than any natural bear on record, including Polar Bears and other Russian Browns. His wife is also a Russian Brown, but not nearly the same size as him.”
“How can I contemplate doing this, Brandi? You’re talking about over-sized, recently converted, very dangerous bears who one day could decide werewolves are prey instead of fellow predators.”
Brandi barked out a laugh. Jon and Susan eating wolves was not out of the question, but it was highly, highly unlikely given they were vegetarians when in human form. Both had said the only food they ate in bear form was fish. If Reed said yes, she’d tell him this. Right now, her alpha prime couldn’t hear anything that clearly.
“Look… I’m not suggesting you take them all into your pack as members, Reed. I mean, they’re not wolves. They’re bears. That’s unnatural, right?”
Reed snorted. “Unnatural is an understatement… but you do want me to offer them all asylum like Matt did for the three of you.”
Gareth stepped close to his mate before turning to look at the most reasonable alpha he’d ever met. If Reed was this concerned about the mere suggestion of letting the bears live with his pack, they’d have to convince him long before he’d ever let the bears anywhere near his people.
“There’s also another good reason to let them visit your pack that Brandi hasn’t mentioned.”
Reed lifted an eyebrow. “My instincts just went on high alert, Gareth.”
“You’re wise to trust them, which is why I want to tell you upfront,” Gareth admitted. He looked at Brandi who nodded before he looked back at Reed. “Having the bears here would help the people Brandi and I work for to not have to divide their protection efforts between the bears in their Colorado location and your pack here in the wilds of Alaska. With the bears here with your people, we could ask for a few agents to be assigned here to protect everyone until this is all over. They’d be hybrids too—not full human. I’d get as many werewolves as possible and put as few prey species here as we could. However, most of the prey hybrids are intelligence workers and they’re necessary too.”
Reed stared at Gareth for a long time, then finally nodded. “I’m not keen on having anyone here from the government, but I can see how the logistics of having us all in one place would make sense to the people you work for. Before I can give you an answer about the bears, I need to think about this more—and talk to the pack. I can’t imagine how my already frightened people will react to living alongside bears for any reason.”
Brandi smiled at the male who was like a father to her. “If you don’t want to bring them here, temporary relocation of your pack somewhere else is another option. For example, we could reverse things. We can move all your pack out to Colorado—maybe to a Native American reservation near the bears. That would still allow us to protect everyone at once.”
Reed nodded but didn’t reply.
Brandi sighed. “I appreciate that you’re at least willing to listen to the idea. Don’t worry. We’ll come up with something you can live with, Reed. Whatever you decide is good for the Black Wolf pack, Gareth and I want you to know that you don’t have to fight the bad guys alone. Your grandsons may have created this mess, but we will help you end it.”
“Okay. I’ll try to think of the positives,” Reed promised, and hugged Brandi before slipping out the door to take a walk.
The room was silent while they watched Reed leave.
Katarina eventually turned to Brandi after she was sure the Black Wolf alpha was well out of hearing range. “Reed’s guilt is like large dark cloud over his alpha good judgment. Those of his blood brought harm to the rest of his people, and he cannot see beyond that fact. This shame I understand. My sister was taken by Travis only because I escaped him. What is good for one is often not good for the many.”
Brandy nodded as she stared at the door where Reed had exited. “Maybe that’s true about how Reed’s feeling at the moment, but a wolf with his blood also saved his people from the tyranny of his evil alpha grandsons. Did Ariel tell you this story?”
“Da. But I never tire of hearing that good wins out over evil. It helps me keep faith,” Katarina admitted.
“Because they looked identical, each took a turn being alpha and inflicting torment on the pack. Ariel killed Hanuk—the alpha at the time—in an open challenge for the alpha role. Reed’s hope that Travis could be saved prevented his death, but later Heidi killed Travis when he left her no choice. Both Hanuk and Travis were driving the Black Wolf pack into the ground with their violent dictates. Reed was trying not to destroy them because they were family. Unfortunately, no one’s gene pool comes with a guarantee of goodness.”
Katarina grunted in agreement. “Violent alphas must have been terrible burden for a village full of such peaceful wolves.”
Brandi frowned as she nodded in agreement. “By pack law, Ariel killing Hanuk earned her the right to be the next Black Wolf alpha of this pack. Reed only took pack leadership back so Ariel could go live with Matt in the Gray Wolf pack. He doesn’t want to lead anymore, but there’s no choice. Werewolf politics aren’t any easier here in Alaska than they are where you come from.”