Black Magic Bear: Tales of the Were (Grizzly Cove Book 16)

  Tales of the Were ~ Grizzly Cove

  Black Magic Bear

  by

  Bianca D’Arc

  Copyright © 2020 Bianca D’Arc

  Published by Hawk Publishing, LLC

  New York

  All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any or by any means, or stored in a database retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the Author.

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  www.biancadarc.com

  OFFICIAL BIANCA D’ARC NEWSLETTER

  Tales of the Were – Grizzly Cove #16

  On a mission, Jack finds a lot more than he bargains for, including witchcraft, black magic, a spooky fey garden, and a woman who just might be his mate.

  And then, there was one…

  Jack is happy to see his two older brothers mated and settled in Grizzly Cove, but he’s definitely the odd man out—the lone bachelor of their tight-knit family. He takes a job and a mission to track down the problems at a paper plant in Pennsylvania. There’s magic afoot there, and Jack’s special sensitivity to the dark arts will help him crack the case where others have failed.

  She’s a practical girl…

  Kiki is trying to adjust to her new job, but when she stumbles on something that sets her senses tingling in warning, she doesn’t know where to turn…or, who to trust. Her down-home upbringing in the traditions of the farm folk of the area, she knows simple ways to protect herself from evil, but will it be enough?

  Together, can they shine a light against the darkness?

  The new guy from corporate is altogether too handsome for Kiki’s peace of mind, and he actually seems interested in her. Dare she trust him? Jack isn’t sure about anyone at the plant, but something about Kiki makes him want to believe in her innocence. When her life is put in mortal peril, they will have to work together to end the evil threat and save not only their own lives, but that of nearly every person who works in the plant. Can they do it? Or, will the darkness win and douse their light forevermore?

  Dedication

  To my family, for sticking by me through all the ups and downs of this crazy artistic career.

  And to those readers who have become dear friends over the years. Particularly, Peggy McChesney, who has offered opinions when they were most needed. Her insights have always been incredibly helpful.

  I’d also like to thank Staci Thacker for lending her nickname to the heroine in this book. Thanks for reading and thanks for supporting my work!

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Excerpt from Perfect

  About the Author

  Other Books by Bianca D’Arc

  Prologue

  “Here’s another one.” Sheriff Brody flipped through some reports as he wrapped up his weekly presentation to the Town Council of Grizzly Cove. “A request that we keep our eyes peeled and information sources tapped in the disappearance of a seven-year-old bear shifter girl in Pennsylvania.” Brody shook his head. “Not sure why they’d think we’d have any better luck than anyone else in finding her, but there it is. Somehow, Grizzly Cove has become the epicenter for all things bear related.”

  “Personally, I don’t mind that in the least,” John Marshall said. He was the Alpha of the town, the strategic thinker all the others followed by choice. “I like the idea of knowing what’s going on in the wider world of bear shifters, and I’d like them to think that they could come to us if they need help.”

  “Are you changing our mission, John?” Brody asked, while the rest of the Town Council looked on with interest.

  They were all old friends and comrades from the days they’d spent in a very unique Special Forces unit, fighting evil in every corner of the world. They had each decided to follow John’s lead when he’d laid out the plans for this new town and retirement from active duty.

  “The town mission remains, as it has been, to build a place for us to settle and find mates, and welcome Others who need a sanctuary from the evil that stalks us.” John shook his head. “I didn’t anticipate the full furor of what’s come at us here, and I sure didn’t realize we’d be stirring up things in the ocean, but we’ve adapted and overcome. We’ll continue to do the same. The thing is, I’ve come to conclusion that the time for us to keep acting without regard to other bear shifters is at an end. The enemy could pick the rest of our kind off easily, one by one, if we stick to that path.”

  “Like the little girl.” Brody nodded at the paper in front of him. “She was abducted from the playground at her school during recess.”

  “It’s a sad state of affairs when cubs aren’t safe in their schoolyards,” John said, shaking his head. “I think, more and more, we’re all going to have to help keep track of each other. I’ve spoken to the Lords about this, and I’m going to give them another call once we finish here. I want to propose that we volunteer to be the clearing house for bear shifter issues. We all know Rocky Garibaldi has been doing the job for years, but he’s got a family now, which is rightly, his first priority. Plus, incidents have escalated beyond what he can handle on his own. We have the manpower, the technology, and the experience to keep track of any problems our fellow bear shifters might encounter. We also have skilled personnel we can deploy to help solve those problems, if necessary, and a pretty broad network that seems to grow every day. So, what do you guys think?”

  “Would it be just for grizzly and brown bears?” Sven, the town’s doctor and resident polar bear, wanted to know.

  “You know I’m more than willing to help polar bears and even pandas if they want it, but aside from our one and only token town koala—who is, by definition, a marsupial and not a bear—I think we’ll limit it to actual bears. Brown, black, white, or any combination is okay with me.”

  There were nods of agreement all around when Zak, a black bear and owner of the town’s premier restaurant, spoke up. “What about the other species that have joined us here in recent months?”

  “I can’t speak for the mer, but if they want to do the same for their people, I don’t see a problem with it. They, as you know, have stockpiled a lot of money and power in the human world, but they lack any real military skills or contacts on land. I anticipate they may reach out to us for he
lp if a situation arises—which is already happening on a small scale as Trevor and his mate, Beth, try to sort out the mess her stepfather left behind with SeaLife Enterprises.” John mentioned the giant conglomerate that had been turned to evil by Beth’s late stepfather, which was now in the process of cleaning house. “I also know that a few of our comrades are already working for SeaLife, troubleshooting problems around the country. I think we can do the same on a bigger scale, if needed. As a group, we have more military and ex-military connections we can call on, if the mer want to foot the bill. Especially if we need to hire mercenaries.”

  The former Special Forces soldiers all around the large table nodded their agreement. John was glad to see they were all taking this as seriously as he was. They’d had a good time in the idle after they’d all retired and moved to Grizzly Cove to build the town, but evil had caught up with them sooner than he’d expected. They’d dealt with it as best they could, and the town was still standing. John counted that as a victory, though there was still a lot of work to do.

  Getting back into the game—even in this small way—was another step toward making Grizzly Cove the place where all bears could find help and sanctuary. He wanted the place to be more than just a town. More than just an escape. He wanted it to be a place that served their fellow shifters and the Light. Bringing aid to those who needed it and keeping track of the innocents that might otherwise get lost in the shuffle.

  They had a quick vote just to satisfy the democratic requirements they had imposed upon themselves, and the motion passed unanimously. John closed the meeting with a lighter heart, though the idea of that little girl, snatched from her schoolyard in Pennsylvania, still laid heavily on his mind. He couldn’t help her. Not from way out here in Washington State, but he hoped that they’d get to a point, in the not too distant future, where such things were possible.

  “I’ll call Rocky and the Lords this afternoon and let them know we’re ready to step up,” he told his friends, and the meeting broke up soon after. Grizzly Cove was about to put themselves on the shifter map, so to speak. Officially. It was a big step, and John counted it as a positive one.

  Chapter One

  “Jack, my friend, I have a little job we need doing that’s perfect for you.” Ezra Tate eyed one of his oldest friends from across the table at Flambeau’s Restaurant in the heart of Grizzly Cove.

  Jack had traveled to the town to rejoin his two older brothers and meet their new mates. The three brothers had traveled through life together, for the most part, but had gone their separate ways a few months back, each heading out to a different solo adventure in a different part of the country. The only commonality was that they had each been traveling by motorcycle.

  They’d been working as mechanics for the past couple of years, but his older brothers had been exhibiting signs of restlessness for the past year or two. Jack felt it, too. They had good lives, but there was something missing.

  His brothers, Ace and King, had found their missing pieces. They both had found good women, meant to be theirs, the matings blessed by the Goddess. Only Jack was still a bachelor. He figured that state of affairs would probably last for a while, since he was the youngest. He had a good few centuries left in him—bear shifter that he was—and he hoped, at some point, he’d meet, and mate, his other half, but he wasn’t in any hurry.

  Ace and King had won the lottery and found their mates against all odds. Jack wouldn’t be so lucky. Not so soon after the other two. Mates weren’t that easy to find. The whole concept behind this town had been a way for a bunch of old bachelor bear shifters who had served together in the Special Forces to find a way to attract female shifters—preferably bears—to come to their town so they might be able to find a mate or two among those who answered the call.

  It hadn’t quite worked out that way. Lady bears hadn’t come in droves, exactly, and other kinds of magical beings had been attracted to the new bear shifter community—some not so friendly. They had a sea monster problem, at the moment, that they were still trying to deal with. An evil creature attracted to magic, it tried to feed on anyone stupid enough to be caught out on the water where it lurked.

  An entire pod of mer people had come to the cove waters, and the town, for safety. A trio of human sisters had come to open a bakery, and all three had found their mates among the bears of Grizzly Cove. Two other sisters—highly magical sisters—had opened a bookshop, and they’d also found mates. Those two Strega witches had also gone a long way toward protecting the cove and its people with their magic.

  More people were joining the community every day, but except for a few older ladies, not many of them were female bear shifters. Yet, the plan was working. The men of that Special Forces unit were finding mates. They just weren’t always shifters.

  “What sort of job are you talking about?” Jack asked Ezra as he sipped his beer.

  Ezra was a former bounty hunter and current troubleshooter for SeaLife Enterprises, the company that had originally belonged to a Pacific Coast mer pod that had been all but annihilated by a shark shifter who had held one of the new grizzly mates captive as a youngster. Beth was her name. She was now mated to a total badass Special Forces retiree named Trevor. They had taken back control of the company and had been slowly putting to rights everything that the shark shifter—an unlamented bastard named Jonathon—had put very, very wrong.

  Jonathon had turned the legitimate investments of SeaLife into shady, and in some cases, even criminal, enterprises all over the country. They’d already stopped cases of human trafficking and prostitution. They’d busted drug rings and car theft chop shops. They’d done as much as they could with the resources they had, hiring Ezra to help. Ezra, in turn, was hiring others who could travel more freely and go undercover where he, and his employers, could not.

  Jack knew that if Ezra was offering him one of those very special jobs for SeaLife, the stakes could be very high, but he trusted Ezra—and Trevor and Beth—implicitly. They wouldn’t send him off without every last scrap of intel they had. And they wouldn’t leave him hanging, if they could help it. Beth was a very wealthy woman, now that she had control of SeaLife. The company had been her father’s, but he’d been the leader of his pod, and the money that had gone in to start the conglomerate had come from the pod as a whole.

  Beth had put out a call for any scattered members of the decimated mer pod to come to Grizzly Cove, with the Alpha bear’s permission, but Jonathon had done his best to kill them all when he’d killed Beth’s father, and so far, no one had come to reclaim the share of the giant company that was rightfully theirs.

  Jack had heard that Beth was still hoping some would find their way to Grizzly Cove, but until then, she was solely in charge of a substantial fortune. It was also a substantial headache as she and her mate tried to turn the investments back to the right side of the law…and the Light.

  “Well, I know you’ve got more of a nose for magic than the average bear,” Ezra said, leaning back in his chair as they lingered over their drinks after a delicious meal. “We’ve got an operation back east that defies all logic. I’ve had others go check into it quietly, but they can’t seem to get a handle on what’s wrong there. The place reeks of magic, but nobody can tell me where it’s coming from or what they’re doing with it.”

  Jack frowned. “You know I like a challenge, but what makes you so sure I’m the guy for this job?”

  “I sent in Wiklow,” Ezra admitted.

  “I thought he was strictly on the disabled list these days.”

  “He is, but I honestly didn’t think this would be anything too difficult. Turned out, it was way more than he could handle, in his state. Something chased him off, and he got all spooky on me when I questioned him about it,” Ezra admitted with a grimace. “I think I set back his recovery by a decade. Damn it.”

  “Tough break.”

  Jack had liked Arthur Wiklow. He’d worked with him in the service. Art had been the kind of guy who could always be depended on
to meet a crisis with humor, but injury and tragedy in recent years had left him a shell of the man he’d once been. At least, that’s what Jack had heard. He hadn’t actually seen Wiklow in person since their military days.

  “The gist of it is, he swears there’s both good and evil present. He started ranting about black magic and how I needed to get a specialist. Someone who could sense magic but still had the necessary skills to do the job. Someone like you, Jack.”

  Jack hung his head. “Yeah.” He realized he couldn’t say no.

  Much as he’d like to stick around in Grizzly Cove and bask in his brothers’ happiness, that wasn’t how his life was meant to be spent. Jack was a born protector. Something deep inside him drove him to right the wrongs he saw in the world. He was both bigger and more magical than his two older brothers. They had always helped him when he’d gotten in over his head, but now that they were mated, he was on his own. Things had changed. He’d have to get used to that sooner rather than later.

  He couldn’t change who he was or his basic drive to help, but he’d have to figure out how to do it as a solo bear, without the two older brothers who had ridden to his aid all his life. He wouldn’t put them at risk like that again. Not now that they both had bright futures with loving mates by their sides.

  No, Jack had to learn how to be a solo act, from now on. No time like the present—and Ezra’s proposed mission—to start figuring that out. Jack looked up at his old friend and nodded.

  “I’m in. Where do you need me to go?”

  *

  Kiki Richards wasn’t really sure what to do about her situation. She only knew that she had to hang on until something changed. Surely, this couldn’t go on forever?

  This being the very odd happenings in the warehouse associated with her new place of employment. It was a paper-making facility with a large production area and attached warehouse. She worked in the front office, collating test reports for the overseeing authority. It was her job to clean up the test lab reports and put them into the format required by the government. That was the first part of her job. Her boss had said she’d be given additional tasks after she proved herself with that one.