The Truth About Kadenburg (12 page)

It was only upon seeing the red haired male who
followed behind him that Presley jumped to her feet. The cup of tea fell to
the carpeted floor, the mixture of alcohol and honey absorbing into the fabric
as Presley made a bee line for the kitchen. All three men froze mid-step as
they watched her.

Presley wasn’t entirely sure what she was thinking in
the moment. All she knew for sure was that her heart was hammering painfully
hard against her ribcage and the pressure in her head felt like every blood
vessel was about to burst open. She jerked open the drawer nearest to the
sink, grabbing for the largest knife she could as she held it up.

“
What
is he doing here?” she quaked, fingertips
trembling as they tightened around the handle of the knife.

Uncle Arnold frowned as he watched her, opening his
mouth to say something but Lorcan beat him to it.

“Presley, put that down,” he requested in a calm voice,
taking a step closer to her. “He’s not here to hurt you.”

“He is a wolf!” Presley declared as her eyes widened.
“He’s the bad guy.”

“Excuse
you
,” Dimitri frowned. “I’m on your
team.”

Uncle Arnold rubbed at the back of his neck as he
watched Lorcan cross into the kitchen. He kept his hands out in front of
himself and his eyes stayed on Presley.

“Look at me, Presley,” Lorcan demanded in a gentle
tone. “Look. At. Me.”

Presley’s eyes darted back and forth between Lorcan and
the wolf-guy. She could feel the energy surging through her body as goose
bumps rose on her flesh. It felt like her organs were being twisted in every
direction, her pulse was racing. Her left eye began to twitch as she frowned.

“
Presley,
” Lorcan said more firmly. “He’s not
here to harm you. You believe me, don’t you?”

Presley blinked, finally lifting her eyes to his. She
didn’t get it. Why was he trying to protect the monster that had tried to kill
her only hours before? Wasn’t this the wolf Uncle Arnold had been talking
about?

“Presley,” Lorcan repeated.

She was surprised to see that Lorcan was suddenly right
in front of her. His fingers were curled around her wrist as he gazed at her
with those gentle brown eyes. He was trying to pry her fingers from around the
thick wooden handle and for whatever reason, her fingers were complying.

“It’s okay,” Lorcan whispered as he took the knife from
her, tossing it into the sink as he wrapped his muscular arms around her.
“Everything’s fine. You’re not in danger.”

His gentle tone was comforting to her, and she didn’t
get it. She didn’t get any of this. One minute she was angry, the next she
was confused, and then she was ready to drive a blade through a man’s chest
because she knew he wasn’t really a man at all!

She relaxed in Lorcan’s embrace. He was warm and
surprisingly soft to be so burly. She kept her eyes on the red haired male as
she felt Lorcan’s fingers moving through her hair.

That feels so nice,
she thought to herself as
her heavily lidded eyes threatened to close.
And he smells good, too.

Lorcan
did
smell good.
His scent reminded her of a warm summer morning after a light rain fall. He
was like the first whispers of the day as the fog evaporated into thin air and
the sunshine kissed a person’s skin good morning. He was strong and rugged;
gentle and soft. He was a security blanket in the form of a man.

Every fiber of her being began to knit together,
blanketing over reason and fact as the bear within her made an impassioned plea
for Presley to accept what she was.

He is yours,
the bear whispered
.
He calms the storm in your mind and brings you great peace. He is the one.

It didn’t make much sense in
Presley’s mind as she relished in the feeling of Lorcan’s fingers tangled in
her hair. The soft strokes of his fingertips against her upper back easing her
into a state of tranquility. Her eyelids, which had previously felt as heavy
as anvils, slid closed as she finally gave in to the comfort Lorcan was trying
to provide.

“That’s it,” Lorcan whispered as his hot breath tickled
against the side of her neck. “No one’s going to hurt you, Presley. I
wouldn’t allow it.”

I believe you,
she wanted to say.
I
know you’re different because you’re not even fully human. You wouldn’t toss
me away like a broken toy like he did.

The words were right there, ready to spill from her
parted lips, but she knew she couldn’t. It didn’t matter what had happened in
the last few days. It didn’t matter what she’d seen, or heard, or
experienced. What mattered was what she was feeling because of Lorcan’s
embrace and the sheer terror that followed close behind. He was a man, sort
of, and he was just as capable of breaking her heart as Tim.

“I’m fine,” Presley finally said as she forced herself
to snap out of the trance-like state she’d been in. “I’m not going to stab
anybody.” She lifted her gaze to the redhead who was looking at her in
bewilderment.

Uncle Arnold tried to push past the awkward silence by
clearing his throat, and then he turned his attention to the red haired male.

“I don’t suppose you’re here to inform me of a truce
from your alpha, are you?”

“No, Sir,” Dimitri immediately replied. “I’m actually
here to discuss the opposite.”

“I figured as much,” Arnold muttered as he looked back
to Presley and Lorcan. “We’ll just step outside to have a chat. Will you be
okay, Presley?”

Presley’s fingertips curled into the fabric of Lorcan’s
shirt as she focused her attention on her uncle. “Yeah,’ she nodded. “Yeah,
I’ll be fine. I am fine.”

“Good then,” Uncle Arnold said as he glanced out the
open door and quirked a brow. “Well ain’t that perfect timing?” He asked.

Presley felt as Lorcan’s body tensed beneath her touch
and she quickly brought her attention back to him. “What is it?” She asked
quietly. “What’s wrong? Is it the wolves?”

Lorcan’s jawline tightened as his brows joined together
on his forehead, a frown appearing on his face as he stared at her. “No, it’s
worse,” he responded in a lower voice. “My parents are here.”

Twelve

L
orcan wasn’t even sure if he wanted to be
present for the conversation that was about to take place. He knew what
Dimitri was determined to do, but he was raised to believe timing was
everything. Now was definitely not the time for the wolf to pull Liam out of
the closet. It also didn’t help that he still had his arms wound around
Presley’s body and her scent was scrambling his thought process.

Damn it,
he thought as he watched Dimitri and
Arnold exit through the front door. He could already hear his father’s grunt
of disapproval at the fact one of
them
was in his presence and he knew,
he just
knew
this conversation wasn’t going to be pleasant.

“Why is it bad that your parents are here?” Presley
asked as she peered up at him with her big emerald eyes.

It took a full ten seconds for her question to register
in his mind before Lorcan could respond. “Because they’re not going to like
what Dimitri has to say to them.”

“Dimitri,” she repeated. “That’s his name?”

“Yeah.”

“So, you’re friends with him?” Presley took on a
defensive tone as her eyes narrowed.

Lorcan hated that she was giving him that look. He
could practically see the walls building up around her and he didn’t like that
she was guarding herself against him.

I’m not your enemy,
he wanted to say.
I’m
trying to protect you and believe it or not, so is Dimitri.

He watched as her eyes darted
back and forth between his. He knew that she was questioning everything all at
once and he couldn’t imagine how confusing it was for her. He knew what he was
from day one. His introduction to the ursithrope ways of life had been steady
and nurtured; she was practically shoved into it without warning. It wasn’t
fair.

Then again, neither was the fact her scent was taunting
him at the moment. How cruel life could be.

“We’re not what you would call ‘friends’,” Lorcan said
hesitantly as he relaxed his grip on her. “It actually makes for one hell of a
story if you want to hear it.”

Presley sighed as she stepped away from him, hugging
her arms around herself as she shook her head. “I’m not sure I want to hear
any more stories today,” she admitted. “Uncle Arnold’s already told me a few
doozies and my brain needs to time to process them.”

“Among other things, I’m sure,” Lorcan offered. He
couldn’t stress it enough; how much he wanted to be there for her. He needed
her to know that he understood and he was trying to help her through it, but it
always led back to the same dilemma he’d been dealing with for years: she
didn’t see him as anything more than a sandbox friend.

“You’re telling me,” Presley rolled her eyes. She
lifted a hand to run through her unruly blond curls before she sucked her
bottom lip between her teeth again. “I just don’t understand why it had to be
me.”

“How do you mean?” Lorcan pondered aloud as he leaned
against the counter. His frown remained as he tried to read her current
expression. She seemed calm, but there was a storm raging beneath the
surface. For all he knew, it could’ve been a hurricane. One could never tell
when it came to a female ursithrope.

Presley gave a small roll of her shoulders before she
rubbed her eyes and sighed. “This could’ve happened to anyone else, but it had
to be me,” she replied as she gazed at him tiredly. “It wasn’t enough to put
me through one thing-a million more had to be piled on top of it,” She rolled
her eyes. “It’s like someone looked down from the sky and thought ‘Oh, you’re
dealing with a personal crisis, Presley? That’s great! Let me add on the fact
you can turn into Winnie the Pooh, too!’”

Her laughter was bitter as she leaned against the
stove, bowing her head as the anger radiated from her body. Lorcan was
hesitant to approach her, despite the bear within being desperate to do so. He
was always grateful to have that sixth sense about himself; to know what other
people were feeling. It helped him to keep his mouth shut and out of trouble,
or it signaled that he needed to be as understanding and comforting as he could
be. He just wasn’t sure what to do for Presley at the moment, because every
time he got close to her, he had an overwhelming desire to kiss her.
That
was bad.

“It isn’t like he targeted you
on purpose,” Lorcan offered.

Presley lifted a thin eyebrow. “What?”

“Urseth didn’t target you on purpose.”

“Oh, him,” Presley crossed her arms over her chest as
she stared at him, the left corner of her lips twitching. “The great and
powerful Urseth, right? The guy who makes all the decisions for us? Spare me,
Orc. I don’t want to hear about him.”

“Don’t mock Urseth,” Lorcan frowned. “He is the reason
we are here.”

“
No,
he’s not.”

“If it had not been for Urseth, you would only be a
bear romping around in the forest right now. You’d never know what it is like
to speak, or to have intelligence at a human’s level. You would miss out on
what it is like to taste a beer, or to go to school. You would only be the one
thing you seem to hate so much.”

Lorcan wasn’t sure when it had happened, but he had
Presley trapped between his body and the counter behind her. He was staring
down into the wide eyes of a woman who had his full attention. The scent of
anger turned to confusion, and damn it, he really needed to learn how to ease
people into things.

“What do you mean?” She asked quietly as her eyes
drifted down to his lips before snapping up to his chocolate hues again.

Lorcan didn’t step away as he gazed at her, taking in
her appealing scent as his hand fell to rest against her waist. “I mean that
if it had not been for the
great and powerful Urseth
, you never would’ve
been human. None of us would. We would still be bears, living bear lives and
doing bear things. You should be grateful that you get to be one of us instead
of our furry relatives.”

He listened to Presley’s heart rate as it quickened and
her pink tongue swiped over her lips. Did he make her nervous?

“Who says that I am grateful for being whatever this
is, at all?” She asked. “What if I only want to be human? What if I only want
to be normal?”

Lorcan smirked as he dipped his head down a little, his
eyes darting back and forth between hers as he spoke quietly. “Where is the
fun in being normal, Presley? Don’t you enjoy being faster than the average
human? Don’t you like being able to pick up on a conversation from across the
room if you concentrate hard enough?”

He could tell that he was getting through to her as her
eyes widened in recognition of what he was saying. Even if she’d lived her
life up until this point thinking she was human, she’d surely caught onto the
fact she was
slightly
above average.

“You’ve never wondered why you prefer fish sticks over
pizza rolls, or going to Captain Shivers over Burger Hut?”

Presley blinked rapidly before she gave a roll of her
eyes. “A lot of people prefer seafood over other things, Lorcan. That’s not
an uncommon thing,” she argued.

“Maybe it’s not uncommon,” he replied as he tilted his
head to the side. “But how many times have you preferred eating honey over a
snack cake?”

“Don’t be ridiculous!” Presley laughed dryly as she
averted her gaze to the ceiling. “A lot of people enjoy eating honey over ding
dongs and ho-hos. That doesn’t prove
anything.
”

Lorcan released a low breath as he licked his lips and
then he grinned. It was actually pretty amusing to watch Presley counter
everything he said with some sort of logic, but she wasn’t going to win this
round.

“You’re absolutely right. Humans like honey just as
much as we do, but how many of them go out on a hot summer day and trespass
onto someone else’s land just to break into a beehive?”

Presley’s gaze immediately connected with Lorcan’s as
she frowned. “How do you know about that?”

Lorcan chuckled inaudibly as he shook his head. “I
was at Larry Johnson’s playing basketball and I saw you climb over the fence to
get into Mr. Fox’s backyard.”

Presley’s eyes narrowed as she frowned. “I was ten!”

“You trespassed onto the lawn of a man who owned a shot
gun, Pretz. You could’ve been shot.”

“He wasn’t home.”

“It doesn’t matter. You still risked a lot just for a
few scoops of honey.”

Presley let out a low breath as she crossed her arms
over her chest, glaring up at him.

She’s beautiful when she’s mad,
he thought
humorously.

“Uncle Arnold didn’t buy any for me, okay?” She
explained. “It was a Sunday and the store was already closed. I didn’t know
it was a crime to sneak a taste.”

“No, but it’s a crime to trespass on private property
and break open a beehive. It was like watching a bank heist.”

“Shut up!” Presley scowled. “So what? I stole some
honey, okay? Are you going to have me arrested?”

“No,” he responded lowly as he leaned down to be at eye
level with her. “But don’t you think it’s a little peculiar that the bees
didn’t sting you?”

Presley stared at him, her eyebrows furrowing
slightly. “What?”

“The bees. Mr. Fox always wore that funny suit with
the face protection to prevent being stung. Do you remember that?”

“I do,” Presley responded.

He could practically see the gears working in her
mind. Her confusion was turning into curiosity as his fingertips dug into the
fabric of her jeans. He took a step closer, placing one of his heavy boots
between her bare feet.

“They didn’t bother you, Presley. They didn’t even try
to attack you. Don’t you think that’s odd?”

“That’s stupid, Lorcan,” she glowered as she tried to
move past him, but Lorcan didn’t budge. “You act like I’m some sort of bee
whisperer or something. Did my magical bear powers protect me?”

“No. Bees try to attack bears but they can’t because
of the thick fur. That’s what flummoxes me about you.”

They were nose to nose as he continued speaking
quietly, his eyes moving back and forth between hers as their noses nearly
bumped together from their close proximity.

“The bees didn’t even try to hurt you, Presley. They
respected you and allowed you to take what you wanted.”

Presley’s heart rate quickened as she nearly went cross
eyed from staring at his nose. “You’re stupid,” she managed to say. Her voice
was barely above a whisper as her palm pressed flat against his chest. “I
suspect your mama dropped you on your head as a baby, Lorcan. It was a hard
hit.”

Lorcan tried to bite back the laughter that wanted to
escape his throat, but it proved to be inevitable as a chuckle managed to
slip. It only made Presley more agitated than she’d been before as the harsh
smack sounded against his arm.

“None of this is funny!” She said as she frowned. “I’m
so glad you’re getting amusement out of my misery. What is
wrong
with
you people?”

“There’s nothing wrong with us, Pretz,” he insisted as
he curled his fingers around her wrist as she tried to smack his shoulder. He
pulled her hand against his chest as the tips of their noses touched. “And
there’s nothing wrong with you either. You’re perfect, and I hope you’ll see
that sooner rather than later.”

He could see the goose bumps rising on her soft skin as
she took in a sharp breath. Her eyes stayed on his as he smirked. The tension
between them was growing thicker by the second and Lorcan could sense her
peaking curiosity and apprehension. Was she afraid of him? Sometimes she was
a little difficult to read.

“I’m not perfect,” she argued quietly, her breath fanning
against his lips as her lashes touched her cheeks briefly. “And I don’t want
any part of this.”

“You can’t just make it go away, Presley,” Lorcan
whispered as his lips ghosted dangerously close to hers. “It is what it is.
You can’t change that.”

“No?” She challenged, though he could tell her
opposition was weak. “I can control it. I don’t have to bear out just because
some stupid bear deity decided to turn a few of us into humans. I have a
choice.”

Lorcan let out a long sigh as his nose bumped against
hers again and then he straightened up to his full height. “While I don’t
really like that you’re desecrating our creator, I’ll admit that you
do
have a choice. But,” he lifted his hand to push a curl away from her cheek
before dropping it back to his side. “Are you even familiar with how we came
to be? Did your uncle touch base on that?”

He already had his response by the expression on
Presley’s face. He could tell she hadn’t heard that part yet, and who better
to tell her than him?

“Come on,” he said, taking her hand into his own as he
moved towards the backdoor.

“Where are we going?” She asked.

“It’s story time,” he quipped as he curled his fingers
around hers. It felt nice to hold her hand. It was such a simple thing, but
he’d always wanted to do it. He liked how small her hand felt in comparison to
his, and he was secretly glad she didn’t pull her hand away.