Muttering, his uncle stormed off and Bo followed him. The entire way to the police chief’s office everyone went out of their way to greet Bo, some asking after Blayne. It was weird and made him nervous. By the time they arrived at Adam’s office, Bo was tense and anxious. Before he knew it, he’d begun to organize the chief’s incredibly disorganized desk, ignoring the deputies and his uncle who watched him.

“Sorry,” Adams said as he walked in from a back room. “Just got off the phone with our people in New . . . what’s that boy doin’?”

“Ignore him,” Grigori said.

“Yeah, but—”

“Ignore him or we’ll be here all goddamn day!”

Bo held up a near empty Pepsi can that was warm and had probably been sitting there for three days. “Are you saving this for a reason?”

“No, but—”

He dropped the can in the trash and kept organizing while Adams began talking. Obviously the chief had faced the fact he had two choices here: Let Bo clean—or deal with an anxious, big-fanged hybrid.

“Heard from our people in New York. Those Van Holtz fellas are gettin’ pretty anxious about your girl. They were pushing for more info on the ones who caught her.”

“Why?”

“They weren’t real sure, but they heard it had something to do with her father.”

Grigori sniffed. “Probably wants them dead for touching her. Not that I blame the man.”

“The bears in New York weren’t real helpful to the Van Holtzes or us. They kept saying they had more research to do.”

“Research about what?”

“Got me. The one I talked to was acting real sketchy. Don’t much like sketchy.”

“Me, neither,” Grigori agreed. “Think we need to worry?”

“Doubt it. Because we’ve got the one thing no one—bears or anybody else—wants to risk. We’ve got the boy. They want him to play for this year’s Cup with the Carnivores.”

“See, kid?” Grigori asked him while Bo diligently organized the chief’s paperwork. “The whole hockey thing is actually paying off.”

Blayne had been running for about an hour, avoiding the Kamchatka bear territory like Bo told her to, although she didn’t see why. Irina Zubachev had been ever so nice since Blayne had dropped nearly three hundred dollars of Bo’s money on hair products from Irina’s store.

Turning, Blayne headed toward the ocean.

She couldn’t believe the beauty of this place. She wondered what it looked like in the summertime, but right now, in the midst of winter, it was truly a wonderland. Snow was everywhere, and icicles hung from the many trees and buildings she passed. Bears of every type roamed around, often in their shifted form, none of them showing her much interest. And whilethey had lakes and rivers filled with salmon, they also had a lot of seals. Where they got the seals from, she didn’t want to know. How many met an untimely end as a polar meal, she also didn’t want to know.

Instead, Blayne kept running, her small pack of dogs behind her.

She saw a small walking bridge and headed for it. As she ran across, she saw her first sign of locals in human form this far away from town. Two males, polars, fishing. She ran up to them and stopped.

“Morning!”

They both jerked a little before turning only their heads to look at her. Their scowls faded and they smiled.

“Blayne Thorpe. What you doing out here?”

“Running!” She patted the dog that pressed up against her side. He was trying to warn her off, but she knew there was nothing to worry about. She’d met Earl and Frank the day before, and they were so nice!

“I only run when chased,” Frank muttered.

“Did that trick work?” she asked.

“Like a charm,” Earl said, rewarding her with a smile. “Where’d you learn to fish anyway, city girl?”

“Daddy. He took me fishing all the time. He said it was the only way to get me to give him some peace and quiet, otherwise I scared off the fish—and the one who got the biggest fish, didn’t have to clean it. I haven’t cleaned a fish in eight years.”

“Where you off to now?” Frank asked.

“Loop around town. See if I can spot Bo.”

The two bears chuckled and nudged each other.

“Would you two grow up?”

“Just be careful. Lot of ladies after that one,” said Earl.

“You’ll have some competition,” Frank added.

“We’re friends,” she argued.

“Yeah. Friends.”

“Is that what they call it these days?” asked Frank.

Shaking her head and laughing, she said, “I give up!”

“You might as well,” Earl yelled after her as she took off running. “Once a bear sets his sights on you, it’s real hard to get away!”

“Also known as stalking in other parts of the country!” she yelled back.

And she laughed again despite herself when they yelled back, “Only if you’re caught!”

Dee didn’t realize the greatness of the fox connections until she stood outside the Brooklyn bear’s headquarters. Unlike the Group’s faux office building, the bears had a five-story brownstone that, from the outside, appeared like a nice family home on a decent piece of land in a quiet Brooklyn suburb. But as she’d gotten closer, Dee spotted the multi-camera security system that ringed the property. And, when her eyes strayed to the trees—the black bears sitting in them, keeping watch.