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  Grinning with an idea, he lifted one mighty paw and pushed it down into Kven’s chest. The traitor screamed as the dust went through his shirt and penetrated his human skin far easier than it did that of the bears. Kirell ground his paw down, feeling the skin loosen and part under the force. His claws were digging deep as well.

  You lose. He let his gaze linger on Kven’s face until he saw the recognition.

  Then he lifted both front paws and crushed Kven’s chest nearly flat, killing him instantly as blood spontaneously spurted from his mouth and nose.

  Tired, Kirell shifted back to human, unable to completely control himself. A whimper of pain at the process escaped him as he staggered away from the corpse, hitting the wall and sliding down it, uncaring of the way the ancient wallpaper ripped against his exposed skin.

  “Kirell.”

  He looked up, expecting to see one of the guards. Instead, he locked gazes with the person he’d come to protect, the one person he needed to survive more than any other.

  His Queen.

  “My Queen!” he exclaimed, forcing himself up onto one knee and bowing his head in the best show of respect he could manage in his weakened state. “I hadn’t realized you were coming.”

  “Here.” To his surprise the Queen of High House Ursa knelt in front of him, handing him a pair of the ubiquitous brown sweatpants and sweatshirt so commonly seen around the manor. “Take these. You have done well.”

  The praise banished some of the pain, but not all.

  “It’s over, my Queen,” he said, not feeling confident that they had indeed dealt with the last of the traitors.

  “Perhaps.” She obviously felt the same way as he.

  “Any that remain have fled, or never openly professed themselves in favor of the rebellion. The next Captain will conduct an investigation. They’ll find those that remain for you, and they’ll kill them.” Kirell was confident of that much at least.

  “I’m glad to see your brain is still working.”

  “I’m tired, my Queen. And in pain. But I don’t think I took any blows to the head,” he managed with a smile.

  “A mirror would beg to differ with you.”

  They shared a quiet chuckle, while behind her, the Queen’s bodyguards faced outward, ready to intercept any threat. Kirell didn’t bother to ask about the other traitors, the ones gunned down. It was a stupid question, and there was only one possible outcome.

  “Why?” he asked sadly. “Why did they do it, Your Majesty? I don’t understand.”

  He was confused. And hurt. Not just physically, but mentally as well. His trust had been betrayed, the trust in his fellow Ursidae fractured and nearly broken. Only the fact that most of his close friends had remained loyal allowed Kirell to feel somewhat better about himself.

  “Power,” she replied. “It’s always about power, Kirell, as you will learn.”

  As he would learn?

  “What do you mean, my Queen?”

  “Our House is in disarray, Kirell. That much is obvious. Many of our Title Holders are dead. We have no Champion, no Captain, no Hunter or Knight, among others.” She hung her head sadly. “And we have no King.”

  Kirell kept silent, letting her mourn for her mate. The King had been the ruler of House Ursa for a long time. The Ursidae had no issues with a female ruler; it had happened before. It all came down to who was nominated to the position of Knight, heir to the House. That person would be the next ruler, with their mate by their side.

  Although she would now rule, after having been little more than a sounding board for her mate, Kirell doubted the Queen much cared. She would give it all up to have her mate back, he knew. The entire House had always been in awe of the love the pair showed for one another, holding it up like a shining beacon, something to strive for.

  Now, he was gone.

  “We will recover,” he said confidently.

  “I know. But I cannot appoint people to fill those positions yet,” the Queen said quietly. “Not until I’m convinced of their loyalty.”

  Kirell frowned, not sure why she was telling him this.

  “We cannot go without Title Holders,” he said eventually, finally sensing his part to play in the conversation and taking it.

  “No, we cannot. So, we must move quickly to ensure any who are appointed are loyal to the House. To me.” His Queen’s eyes bored into him.

  “Of course.” Kirell was confused about what it all meant.

  “Only the Captain can conduct such investigations, with the property authority.”

  Kirell had a bad feeling about this. “You are saying you must nominate a new Captain, and wait for them to approve of your next choices? Is that right?”

  “Yes, Kirell. You must find me the rest of the traitors in our midst, and swiftly.”

  Frowning, Kirell shook his head. “But Your Majesty, you just said only the Captain has that authority.”

  “That I did, Kirell.” There was a glimmer of laughter in her eyes now.

  “But I am not…”

  “You are now. I hereby nominate you, Kirell Ursa, to be the next Captain of High House Ursa.”

  His jaw dropped. “My Queen, I am honored by your trust in me, I truly am. But I cannot be your Captain.” His eyes dropped. “I am unmated. To be nominated as a Title Holder, I must have a mate.”

  The Queen nodded slowly. “I am aware of this, Kirell. But in times of turmoil, we must do what needs to be done. You will be my next Captain. There isn’t time to spare.” Her gaze turned outward, down the Grand Hallway to the entrance of Ursidae Manor. “Something is coming, Kirell. Something big.” Her gaze switched back to him, hitting him with the full weight of her power. “We must be ready. All of us.”

  He thought about arguing again, but the Queen’s words had chilled him. What could possibly be coming that was worse than what they’d just endured?

  The idea of breaking the rules, of outright lying to the others… it rubbed him wrong. Kirell wasn’t happy about it, but how could he disobey his Queen, after all he’d done to support her as the rightful ruler? If he did that now, he was just as likely to be called a traitor as anything.

  “Is there no one else?” he asked.

  “It must be you, Kirell.”

  He took a deep breath and rose, looking his Queen in the eye. “Then I would be honored to fill the position of Captain.” He avoided glancing down at the still warm corpse of the last person to occupy that position.

  “Good,” his Queen said with a little smile. “Then I have your first command.”

  3

  “I can’t believe the year’s over already.”

  Eyeing her best friend, Natalia grabbed a pillow off her couch and chucked it at Loren. “Don’t say things like that, you mopey loser.”

  The pillow bounced off Loren’s face and fell to the ground, just out of reach for her friend to grab it and return fire. Giggling, Loren tossed her the finger instead.

  “Ouch. Better keep that, you’re gonna need it. Especially if you really did kick Jeremy to the curb.”

  “Rude! Besides, I don’t—”

  Cutting her off, Natalia threw up her hands. “I love you, but I don’t need to hear explicit details of your masturbation habits, you pervert!”

  Loren sighed noisily. “Only I would be best friends with a prude. Whatever; you’re just frustrated that I was getting some constantly for the past few months.”

  “Right.” Natalia made her voice as dry and sarcastic as possible. Truthfully, she didn’t care one way or another, except when the noises could be heard through the walls. “How did we get onto this subject again?”

  “You brought it up.”

  “So, did you get rid of Jeremy?”

  “Yes. He was getting too clingy. He wanted me to meet his family! Can you believe that?”

  Natalia frowned, sitting up. “Wait, that’s why you broke up with him? You guys were together for like four months, how is going to his parents’ place for dinner that big of a deal? You’r
e not fifteen anymore.”

  “Are you kidding? I would have been all over that when I was fifteen. My mom couldn’t cook worth a damn, bless her soul.”

  “You’re hopeless.” She wished there was another pillow to throw.

  The pair had been nearly inseparable since their first class of second year undergrad, and now—six years later—they were both finishing their grad school together. And they’d applied to the same companies, in the hopes of working together. Loren had gotten two job offers earlier in the week, but Natalia was still waiting.

  Before Loren could respond, there was a sound from the front door. It wasn’t a knock, but it was—

  “Mail’s here!” Loren yelped, bolting up from her seat and making a charge.

  Hot on her heels, Natalia had to skid to a stop to avoid slamming into her friend from behind as she bent over to get the mail lying on the floor.

  “Wow, easy there, tiger,” Loren teased. “Warm me up first if you’re gonna come charging in from behind.”

  “Oh, God. I’m calling Jeremy and telling him he left one job unfinished if you don’t cool it, you horndog.”

  Loren was…an active bedroom participant, to say the least. And she liked to talk about it. A lot. Though Natalia wasn’t the prude she’d been accused of being, there was a distinct difference between the two. Both in their appetites, and their…openness…about it.

  “No, if you want that, don’t call him, call…” Loren’s voice trailed off.

  “What? Call who?”

  “It’s for you.”

  “Me? Listen, I’m flattered, but I’m not interested in women.”

  Loren exploded into coughing laughter. “Not that, you twit, though we both know that’s a lie. I remember one—”

  “Okay, enough! What did you mean?”

  Still laughing, Loren handed her an envelope. On it was the familiar logo of the local university hospital, and it was addressed from their mental health department. Two days earlier, Loren had gotten one exactly like it, offering her a position on their staff.

  “Do you think?” she asked nervously, unable to even finish the question.

  “Looks an awfully lot like the one I got.” Loren squeezed the envelope. “Maybe even a bit thicker. Open it!’ she said, waving the rest of the mail at her friend.

  “Okay, okay. I will. Relax.”

  Shaky fingers slid down the opening, nearly giving her a paper cut as she flicked the top open, revealing several folded papers inside. Taking a deep breath, she withdrew them, but that was as far as her willpower extended.

  “I can’t.” She went back over to the couch in the other room, half sitting, half flopping onto it, fingers still clutching the papers.

  “There are only two options. Your resume was better than mine anyway. If they took me, I can’t see why they’d deny you. So just open it!” Loren urged, sitting on the edge of the sofa next to her. “Otherwise, I will.”

  “Like hell you will.” She flipped open the top letter and started reading.

  “Well? What does it say?” Loren was bouncing up and down.

  Natalia kept reading the letter in silence, until she got to the end. “They want to hire me,” she said quietly.

  “But?” Loren was frowning at her. “You would be far happier if there wasn’t a but in there.” Tapping her chin thoughtfully, she looked at the ceiling. “It’s the visa thing, isn’t it?”

  Nodding, Natalia sank back into the couch, a black cloud of despair coming over her. “They’re willing to hire me if I can get a work visa, but they won’t sponsor me or pay for it themselves. They don’t have the funds in their budget, apparently.” She tossed the letters onto the coffee table.

  “That’s such bullshit!”

  “Yeah.” Crying wouldn’t solve anything, but it certainly was how she felt just then.

  Two weeks earlier, she’d gotten a letter from the government stating that her student visa would be expiring at the end of the next month, and to ensure that she had arrangements to return home.

  The idea of going back overseas to her shithole of a home left Natalia shuddering in her friend’s arms as Loren wrapped her up in a comforting embrace.

  “I’m not going back there,” she stated with conviction. “But how do I not? What can I do to stay here if the government won’t give me the visa?”

  Loren stayed silent. “I don’t…”

  The way her friend stopped speaking snagged Natalia’s attention immediately. “What is it? You have an idea, don’t you? Come on. Tell me. Please. I can’t go back there. I need to stay here. I want this job. It’s what I’ve worked for, just like you!”

  Biting her lip, Loren looked away. “It’s crazy, Nat. Really crazy.”

  “I don’t care. Whatever it takes for me to stay here. How do I do it? Spill. Unless you won’t miss me if I’m going?” she asked, fake pouting at her friend.

  “Stop it.”

  They shared a tension-relieving laugh, but Natalia wasn’t giving up that easily. “Give. Me. The. Details.”

  “Remember, I told you it was crazy.”

  “Yeah. I know. Now, what is it?”

  Loren licked her lips, eyes flicking from the ground and the room around them. Anywhere but focusing on Natalia for several long seconds. “Get hitched.”

  “Pardon?”

  “Hitched. Married. Find a man. Marry his ass and get yourself a Green Card.”

  Natalia stared at her friend. “You’re insane, you know that, right?”

  “Hey, I warned you! I warned you it was crazy.”

  “Yeah but—”

  Loren poked her in the knee. “But it will work.”

  “There has to be another way. Has to be. I can’t just find a stranger to marry them before this job offer expires.”

  “So, tell them you already found it,” Loren said. “Say the issue is already being settled because you are engaged now—say it was a surprise thing from your boyfriend—and should be official soon. Then you get your ass out there and find a man to marry.”

  “I don’t know Lore…how am I supposed to do that?”

  Loren choked. “Are you serious?”

  Shrugging uncomfortably, she didn’t reply.

  “Come here.” Snatching up her wrist, Loren dragged Natalia across the room to a wall-mounted mirror. “Look at your sexy self. Sexy chocolatey brown hair. You’re even smart and grow it out past your shoulders. Put it up in a ponytail and it’s perfect for being pulled on while someone spanks that big ass of yours.”

  Natalia yelped as her friend turned her to the side, giving her a profile of her “big ass”. She had to admit, it looked decent in the jeans she was wearing. High, round. It was certainly better than the mosquito bites she had for tits.

  “Yeah but I’m no supermodel…That’s what it takes to find a wife without really knowing her.”

  “Oh, come on. Look at these cheek bones. High. Firm. Big ol’ lips, nice and fun to kiss.” Loren winked at her. “I know.”

  Blushing, Natalia tried to turn away but she apparently wasn’t done being ogled by her friend.

  “Legs that go on forever, you tall-ass bitch. Those are gonna be some killer assets for you. A nice hourglass shape.”

  That last part was a bit of a stretch, but she didn’t call her friend out on it. Natalia had hips, yes, but her waist wasn’t anywhere near slim enough to give her an hourglass shape.

  “Trust me, girl, we’ll find you a man. We just need to go to the right place.”

  Rolling her eyes again, Natalia moved out of the mirror. “Lore, we live in a small university town. There aren’t loads of fancy rich businessmen lining up to marry girls in their mid-twenties just looking for a Green Card.”

  Loren waved off her objections. “Sure, there are. We’ll just have to visit a different haunt.”

  “Right. Where?”

  “Para.”

  “Para.” She took in a breath. “How are you gonna get us access there? It’s pretty exclusive.”

>   “Jeremy knows one of the security guys. I guess they played football together or something, I don’t know.”

  She pulled her eyebrows together. “But I thought you got rid of Jeremy?”

  Loren smiled. “If it means getting my best friend a job in the country, I suppose I could take him for a tumble. I mean, he has a gorgeous—”

  “Enough!” Natalia shouted, putting both hands up while her friend dissolved into howls of laughter.

  Loren enjoyed egging her on, making sex jokes as raunchy as she could. The boys loved her for it, but sometimes Natalia just wanted to have a conversation that didn’t involve Loren talking about her dick-of-the-day.

  “So, does that mean you’re in?”

  Natalia got up and paced the length of the room several times. “Are we really talking about this?”

  “It’s a means to an end. It’s not like your goal in life was to go find a husband to get a Green Card, right? It’s to avoid going back home, so you can stay here, take that job, and make the difference in the lives of some little kids.”

  “You’re telling me to engage in a fake marriage for some kids?”

  “Plenty of people do that,” Loren shot back.

  “Yeah but those people actually loved each other first!” she countered, knowing where her friend was coming from, based on her own personal life.

  Natalia’s parents had stayed together until she’d finished her undergrad, before they split; it had apparently been obvious long before then, though, that they were faking it.

  “Perhaps.”

  “Plus, these aren’t my kids.”

  “You and I both know you’ll think of them as such after the first week of working with them.”

  Natalia kept her mouth shut. They’d both managed to secure their placement for final year at the same place, working in the children’s ward, and they absolutely viewed the kids as their own, in a sense.

  “I can’t believe we’re actually discussing this.”

  “Well, do you want to go back home?”

  “No,” she said quickly. Too quickly. Home was…just a country. Her parents were gone, her mother passed away from a disease and her father and brother killed in one conflict or another over the years. It wasn’t a pleasant place to be, especially for a pretty young woman. Natalia knew that from first-hand experience.