Page 99 of Bruised MC Bear
“They served their purpose, so yes, that part is correct. So you don’t know they are… dead?”
Angered by his lies, Kiera got to her feet. “We need this meeting, Commander Oslo, but that does not mean I must subject myself to your outrageous fabrications. Of course they are not dead.”
“Ask the Regent when you return. In fact, ask your familiar. They are all dead.”
“But…why? What is it that leads you to believe the eight Chosen have passed on?”
“That is another question to ask your Regent.”
“Are you suggesting that his Eminence killed them?”
“Perhaps you should ask him yourself, or have an honest conversation with that immortal shifter witch waiting outside. Getting back to the point, men with the 236-k gene are also chosen, in a manner of speaking. We are taken from our families, and we are no longer given a choice to accept or reject the transformation process. We are forced. Dissenters are caught and punished, sometimes tortured until they agree to accept the transformation into shifters. Those who try to run away are eventually captured and killed. Minassus makes it all sound like it’s an honor to serve, but the truth is we have no choice. And if that weren’t enough, we are separated from the people we care about, kept trapped in shifter-only quarters, under-clothed, underfed and treated like animals…because Minassus would love nothing more than for everyone to view us as he does…as a sub-human species.” He crossed his arms. “You can parrot all his inspirational words in any way you like, but the fact is, you also view us as being inferior.”
“Do not think you can speak for me, Commander Oslo,” she shouted.
Her face burned, her heart raced, blood pounded in her ears, and bile threatened to rise up into her throat. This man was the rudest, most difficult person she had ever met. He made such atrocious accusations. It was ludicrous. No wonder the Regent chose to abstain from the meeting. For a moment, the question of why crossed her mind. Why would Regent Minassus allow her to meet with a man who practically accused him of murder? And why would Xander want to start a fight with her when they had only just met? They were supposed to be learning from each other and establishing a rapport, forming a bond which was necessary for her transformation spell to work.
Kiera took a deep breath, reminding herself of her power. Regent Minassus had warned her that something like this could happen. Commander Oslo was an alpha, but she could be strong too.
With that in mind, she took a seat again. She placed her shaking hands on the table and found her calmest, most evenly-measured voice. “I think we have gotten off to a poor start. I take responsibility for allowing our discussion to get off the rails, and I am prepared to refocus us, starting now. We are here today because we do not have much time before the first winter storm of the season. I am committed to carrying out my role as the Chosen. As you know, I will cast a spell that will transform this year’s selected men to polar bear shifters, which will ensure the Sector has enough of your kind. You and I will work together to minimize any unforeseen obstacles.”
The Commander leaned back in his chair, folding massive arms over an equally broad chest, assessing her, yet closed off from her. He had probably heard that one aspect of Kiera’s ability as a witch was that she was an empath—able to sense emotions, and intuitively read into them in order to delve into another person’s thoughts. She had possessed this ability for as long as she could remember. It was the trait which first clued her mother in that Kiera was a witch. Her ability was not as attuned as the Regent. He could read the most unwilling of minds. Kiera on the other hand would receive impressions, some emotional cues, and fleeting images. Nothing concrete. Xander’s mind, however, was a locked door, very much like the Regent’s, who always cloaked his thoughts. Did Xander know she was trying to read him? Was he intentionally putting up walls to block her way? After pondering the question, she dismissed the idea. It may have been because he was a shifter. She had never tried to read a shifter’s mind before. Probably because she had never met one in person.
Even for all her inexperience, and with all the tension Xander created, she was willing to bet that no other person—not witch, human or shifter—could send a chill down her spine the way Xander did just by looking at her. Now if she could just focus long enough to get the loud, overbearing, stubborn man to cooperate as they worked to protect Sector Two this winter.
