Alpha Bear by Bianca D'Arc Read Free Book Online Page A

going to work. He will stand for
all his people during the daytime ceremonies, but at night, it
would be best to have a small gathering in a sacred place, as close
to the beach as you dare. I saw…” Nonna trailed off,
uncharacteristically uncertain. “There was a circle of stones. Not
big standing stones, but something that looked more natural, but
wasn’t. A sacred circle, hidden in plain sight. On a rocky point
where sea spray can reach, but not consume—at least not normally.
You must be careful. It is a dangerous place that calls to good and
evil alike. You can use this power for good. The evil thing will
seek its power to devour it. It will attack, but you must stand
strong. You all must stand strong. Or you all fail.”
    “Fail?” Urse croaked. Failure in magical
circles often equaled death.
    “We will not fail, ma’am. Not with my town on
the line. Not with my people holding the line. You should know that
most of us are retired soldiers,” John revealed, surprising Urse.
“We never run from a fight.”
    “Seems I wasn’t the only one keeping
secrets,” Urse muttered. “Do you know the place Nonna is talking
about?”
    John looked grim as he nodded. “I know it.
It’s not an easy hike, and it’ll be dangerous at night.”
    “But you must go there,” Nonna said
stridently through the phone. “It is the only way to fully protect
your land-based shifters from the leviathan. It is the only place
that can channel enough power. Ursula, make him understand. Teach
him about our ways, if you must, to convince him.”
    John’s eyebrows rose, right along with
Urse’s. Never had her Nonna instructed her to divulge family
secrets to a non-mage before. This was serious.
    “Are you sure?” Urse double-checked.
    “Positive. It is the only way,” her
grandmother said at once.
    “Well, if you say so,” Urse agreed somewhat
reluctantly. This was big. Bigger than she’d even imagined.
    “And get Amelia to call me tomorrow morning.
I have instructions for her as well, though it is not yet time for
her to participate,” Nonna ordered quickly. “Now, you have
preparations to make. I send all my love to you, Ursula, and to
you, Johnny. If all goes well, we will meet one day, and I will see
your handsome face in person.”
    John’s lips quirked up in a crooked smile.
“Yes, ma’am. I look forward to it. Thank you for your help.”
    “All of us who serve the Light must help each
other now. I will pray for you, figlio mio , and all of the
people you protect and serve.”
    Urse was surprised by her grandmother’s warm
tone for the man who had so easily gotten under Urse’s skin with
his attitude about magic—or more specifically, his distrust of her
now that he knew she was a strega .
    “ Ciao, Nonna. Ti voglio molto bene. I’ll call you tomorrow and let you know how the dawn ceremony
goes.”
    “See that you do,” Nonna said with mock
sternness.
    She gave Urse a few more words of caution and
encouragement before she let the call end with a long-distance
blessing that called on the Mother of All and a few of her favorite
saints thrown in for good measure. Nonna had a strange way of
looking at the two religions the strega had blended
together, but she made it work. Somehow.
    Silence fell in the front office of town hall
for a moment after the call ended. Urse had punched the button to
end the call, then sat back, nonplussed. So much had happened in
such a short time. When she’d risen this morning, she hadn’t
expected all this excitement. And now she had a mission—and a heck
of a lot of magic to do over the next four days.
    She looked up to find John staring at her.
She did her best not to fidget under his warm chocolate gaze,
remembering belatedly that she still wasn’t wearing any makeup and
she was probably a mess from both the dust in the store and her
headlong flight across the sand.
    “Sounds like we’ve got our work cut out for
us. Tell me what you need from me, Ms. Ricoletti, and I’ll