"She'll have to get over it," Bear said mildly.
Boondock smiled then. "She won't. Oh, the girl is brilliant at strategy in a tough business. The toughest. But she's all heart, and she's the most loyal person I've met in my entire life. That's one of the reasons she's been so good at her job."
All true words. "If you've betrayed her, she'll have to forgive me." Bear needed to decide which one to torture first.
"Can't I start shooting now?" Lucas asked, resting back against the concrete blocks, his stance nearly mirroring Boondock's.
"No," Bear said shortly, fully understanding Luke's need to get things moving. Bear was stalling because of Nessa, and he knew it. "Jasper? I bet it chaps your ass that Nessa is in charge. That pretty little thing gives you orders, and you have to take them."
Jasper's lips curled into a sneer that did nothing to take away from his handsomeness. "Oh, I don't know. There are orders from her that I've loved taking."
The intentional goad served to settle Bear into pure calmness. "You've never touched her, and we both know it. Does that hurt? That she'd choose a grizzly bear over you? An animal from a foreign land who can't throw fire. A beast several rungs below witches. Maybe she likes it rough, man."
Fire formed on Jasper's arms again, and he whiffed it out. "It won't last. She'll leave your ass before the month ends."
"There is that virus that negates mating bonds," Boondock said helpfully. "We can have her free of you in no time, animal."
"Who are the main witch targets today?" Bear shot back, eyeing them both. Watching body language.
Boondock finally showed emotion, heat flashing in his eyes. "Let us out of these cells so we can find out. It's our people under attack, and you have us contained. We need to get to work."
Jasper moved toward the bars again. "Maybe he doesn't want us to work. If the witch nation goes down, he can keep Nessa here all for himself. Maybe he's helping whoever wants to take us down. Witches and shifters have never mixed. Ever."
All right. They were getting nowhere. Bear's money was on Jasper. "Lucas? Unlock Jasper's cell."
The witch's eyes lit with anticipation. "You coming in, bear?"
"Yeah," he whispered, already planning to go for the jugular.
"Bear?" Logan called down the stairs. "I succeeded in finding your lieutenant. Had to go through some back channels and spend some time on the dark web, so you may need to cover me if I get caught. I've called him and have him online and will transfer to your phone. It's Duncan Vincent. Haven't found the other two guys yet."
Bear paused. If Duncan was on the ground, he could do a lot of good. Finally. He'd been trying to reach his friend for days. Figured Logan would be the one to find him. Hopefully the kid could find his other friends as well.
Bear punched a button on his phone and slapped it to his ear, moving away from the cell. "Why the fuck haven't you responded to my messages?" he snapped at one of his oldest friends and most trusted of lieutenants.
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Duncan snapped back.
Bear pinched the bridge of his nose. "Where the hell are you?"
"Still in Alaska, per your orders," Duncan snarled. "Freezing my furry ass off, in case you wondered."
"My orders?" Bear shook his head. "Are you drunk?"
Duncan barked out a laugh. "I wish. Why are you yelling at me?"
None of this was making a lick of sense. Bear tilted his head. "I've been trying to recall you for days. You can't be so far underground that you didn't know that. Why have you ignored my summons?"
Quiet ticked for the briefest of moments. "Man, you haven't called me. I've been trying to check in for days and have only received orders to lay low. There's chatter. A lot of it, and you need the facts."
Adrenaline flooded Bear's veins. A rock slammed into his gut so quickly he could barely breathe. "Duncan? Who told you to stay low?" Even as he asked the question, he already knew the answer. Turning, heat flushed down his torso as he faced Lucas, who'd pointed his laser gun at Bear's chest.
"Disengage the call," Lucas said, his eyes hard and an expression on his face that Bear had never seen before.
Bear ended the call. Everything inside him stilled. "Lucas."
"Yeah. Me." Lucas set his stance, too far away for Bear to attack without getting shot first. "I hadn't figured you'd conduct your own search for Duncan and the boys."