Running with Raiders: (Alphas of Black Fortune: Part 5) BBW Werebear Shifter Menage by Scarlett Rhone Read Free Book Online

“Me? But…can you do that?”
    “I’m the Keeper of the Jewel.” Cressida laughed quietly. “I think logically that means I can do what I like. Only we will be going on a long voyage, and a perilous one, and I don’t want to risk losing it.” She held it out to Prija. “Will you guard it?”
    “But I have not been judged worthy,” Prija said.
    “ I judge you worthy,” Cressida told her. “And you’re like me, I think. Your heart is wild, and your will is free, and you won’t be swayed by anyone. I want you to protect the jewel for me while I’m gone, and the bears who stay behind to build, and the sanctuary itself. You can turn me down, of course, but you’re the one I choose to hold my place.”
    There was a long moment when Prija simply gazed at her, astonished perhaps and overwhelmed and processing it all. Then, suddenly, she smiled.
    “I always wanted a life that was bigger than a single island,” she told Cressida, eyes bright with delight.
    “Me too,” Cressida told her, laughing. “Different island. Same idea.”
    Prija came forward and took the jewel from Cressida’s hand. Its light flickered, changed, dimmed and went out, but pops of color and light like falling stars still shot through the stone. Prija looped the chain around her neck and settled it between her breasts, turning it in her fingertips.
    “It doesn’t shine for me.” She sighed.
    “Maybe it will one day.” Cressida shrugged, but she felt a great emptiness in her heart now, a warmth fled from her veins without the stone. Then she blinked, and laughed softly, because Prija had spoken in English. Or Cressida had heard her in English, because though the jewel’s light was dimmed, its power was not. “Thank you.”
    Prija covered the jewel with one hand. “I’ll guard it for you until you return. Safe travels, Keeper.”
    They sat together for a little while, until Reza returned with Kamala. He was startled to find Prija wearing the jewel, but when Cressida explained her reasoning, he offered no argument. It wasn’t until they were back in the dinghy rowing towards the ship that, in between strokes of the oar, he apparently became unable to help himself.
    “Are you sure that was the right decision?” he asked.
    Cressida frowned. “It was my decision. I never know if I’m making the right one, I suppose.”
    “The jewel gives you great power, Cressida.” He frowned back at her.
    “I know. But it also belongs here. And I don’t think I should take it traipsing about the globe with us. It’s precious. It should stay in the home we intend to make.”
    She watched him row, saw his expression change as she spoke of making the island their home. She wondered if he hadn’t believed her before, if he’d thought she would never come back to this place. At last, he looked at her again, and he smiled a little.
    “You are very brave,” he told her.
    She smirked. “Or very stupid. I just try to do what’s right. Well—and to get what I want. And I never, ever want to lose the jewel in some terrible sea storm or something. Prija will take care of it until I return for it. Until we return for it with the others, for good.”
    Reza squinted. “You really think you could be happy on the island, forever?”
    She shrugged. “I’m not saying I won’t want to go on the occasional adventure here and there, but it’s a much better place than most. With you and Kelly, I think I will happy just about anywhere. I will try desperately to be happy wherever you are, anywhere that you are.”
    Reza’s smile seemed to broaden. “I think maybe you’ve saved us all.”
    Cressida laughed. “Wouldn’t that be mad?”
    Reza just shook his head and rowed the rest of the way in silence. Later that evening, in bed, he showed her just how very safe he felt, and between the panting breaths and gasping cries, Cressida perceived his gratitude that their incredible, insane journey together should end in such promise, such bliss.
    And then it