Prologue
January
Lake Gemini, Ontario
JOHNPage was in deep shit. They were taking him out to the woods to kill him.
At least that was the impression made by Royal Hill’s goons as they dragged him off the road into town toward the forest at the edge of Royal’s property. Although John was a sizable man, these two were bigger. Both Seb and Vadim towered over him. Even if he managed to make a run for it, they’d outrun him and overpower him.
As he stumbled through the snowy undergrowth, his regrets confronted him like multiple slaps in the face. He’d always wanted to travel and see the world. Right now, he could barely see through the trees they were so thick. He’d always wanted to make some money. Real money, the sort that made hot women throw themselves at you. He would have found a nice hacienda by the beach and thrown some cash at a few Mexican honeys. Yeah, that would have been the life.
Not much chance of that now.
“Pick up your feet, you crybaby,” Seb muttered. “Walk like a man.”
“And try not to piss yourself in front of Mr. Hill,” said Vadim. “He’s hunting and wouldn’t want your stench to give his position away.”
“I’m not crying, and I haven’t pissed myself.”
Vadim’s laugh held a bit too much mirth for John’s liking. “Give it time.”
“Look.” John tried to sound cool, but he heard the quaver in his own voice. “We’re all bear shifters here. Brothers, in a sense. I think you can trust me to walk on my own. I won’t run.”
The men tightened their grip. Clearly, they didn’t buy the whole bear brotherhood routine. He couldn’t blame them. He wouldn’t have bought it either.
He knew some shape shifters liked to believe they were all part of some holy communion of supernatural beings. What did his good-for-nothing older brother Howard used to say?
We look after our own.
Yeah. Bullshit.
No one had ever looked after him, not even Howard. When John had first started having issues with gambling, he’d gone to his brother and Howard had turned him away. Granted, he’d spotted him a bit of money to get over the first hump, but he could have done more.
I gave you that cash for groceries and rent, not so you could lose it at the card table. You’re cut off now.
John worked, but he’d frittered away most of his pay. Even the generous wages supplied by his boss, Ryland Snow, weren’t enough to cover all his debts. John worked as a waiter at the Ursa Resort on Gemini Island, a resort for shape shifters. He’d recently asked Ryland for an advance on his wages, but the man had refused.
“Sorry, John,” Ryland had said. “I’ve helped you out a couple of times already. I can’t do it again.” He’d taken a moment to choose his next words. “Someone on the team told me they’ve seen you at the casino. Several times. If you need to talk to someone about your gambling, I can make the arrangements.”
“I don’t have a gambling problem.”
Only today it appeared he did.
Ryland might like to pretend he was some sort of do-gooder, but he hadn’t done John much good. He didn’t want to attend some stupid meeting so he could talk to a bunch of losers about his feelings. He just needed some cash.
“Thanks for nothing, Ryland,” he said under his breath.
“You praying, little man?” Vadim’s lips curled. “You’re not as dumb as you look.”
A single gunshot ripped apart the morning silence. John tensed, but the men just pulled him along.
What was that? A fucking practice shot?
“Come on,” said Seb. “Mr. Hill is just up ahead. Let’s get this over with.”
John lowered his head as they walked, recounting his sins and measuring his good deeds against them. Even to his own eyes, his random acts of kindness were sadly lacking in number. He was a screw-up and always had been a screw-up.
Why had he ever gone to Royal Hill in the first place? He should have been able to foresee this day. Unfortunately, the lure of easy money had been too hard to ignore. Once his debts starting racking up, he’d had no choice. The bank didn’t exactly fork over loans to cover gambling debts.
