“Canines,” Ricky filled in. “They hate us a lot. Wolf. Jackal. Wild dog. Foxes. Doesn’t matter the breed or where you fall in the genetic line, if you’ve even got a bit of canine blood in you, they hate you.”

Barinov pulled to a stop in front of the palace. “It’s called the one-eighth rule.”

“The one-eighth rule?”

“If there’s more than one-eighth canine blood in a shifter, Kamchatka bears consider them canines.”

“And let’s face it,” Ricky said, grinning at her, “we all know there’s a little canine in everybody.”

She rolled her eyes but couldn’t help smiling. Such a goofball, this guy.

“Any special instructions before we get out of this car?” Ricky asked Barinov.

“Yeah. No sudden movements. Even if there aren’t any grizzlies within a mile of you, no sudden movements. None of them will like you, just accept that now. And all of them hate Novikov.”

“That boy sure has made a name for himself.”

“It’s not his fault,” Toni felt the need to remind them, since she was sure that one day she’d be having the same conversation about any or all of her siblings. “When you’re the best at what you do, it’s hard to remember there are other human beings standing right next to you.”

Ricky turned, rested his arm on the back of his seat. “How long have you been practicing that speech?”

“Since Kyle was six. Only this time I didn’t add, ‘it’s hard to remember there are other human beings standing right next to you, Senator’ or ‘your honor’ or ‘Mr. Prosecutor.’ ”

“The thing you need to keep in mind, Miss Parker—”

“Just call me Toni.”

“That’s Toni with an ‘i,’ ” Ricky felt the need to explain. “Not a ‘y.’ ”

“Right. Well, what you need to keep in mind, Toni, is that no matter what the bears here say, all they care about is keeping their territory safe, playing hockey, and making money off hockey. Keep that in mind, and you should be just fine.”

The front doors to the palace opened and very large males began to walk through those double doors. Toni had assumed the double doors were there just to look fancy; now she realized they needed to be there to allow males that wide to enter and exit the building.

Toni nodded and reached for the door handle. By the time she was stepping out of the car, Ricky was there, his hand pressed into the small of her back.

“No matter what,” he told her, “just remember I’m here. Vic is here. You’re not on your own, darlin’.”

“I know that,” she said honestly. “Because otherwise I would have made a wild run for the woods by now.Jackals are brave when our pups are around, but we’re not stupid.”

Toni headed up the stairs with Barinov leading the way. He spoke in Russian to the bear standing at the top of the stairs, a grizzly who was surrounded by a bunch of other bears that ranged from grizzly to black to polar to speckled.

“Ivan Zubachev,” Vic finally said in English, “this is Antonella—”

Zubachev cut Vic off with an angry snarl. “That American bitch, Malone,” he grumbled in an impossibly low voice, “sent this dog to talk to Yuri Asanov. Greatest hockey coach to ever live?”

Toni fought the urge to roll her eyes. She had to agree with Kyle. She simply did not understand the love of sports.

Instead of pointing that out, she said, “Miss Malone apologizes for being unable to attend, but she had a prior—”

“I don’t want to hear! Your mere presence insults this team. Insults Yuri Asanov. Go, pet doggy. No one wants to talk to you.”

“Wait a minute.” Toni couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “I do understand you’re upset about this, Mr. Zubachev. But I am authorized to negotiate with Mr. Asanov and the team.”

The bear glowered down at her. He had to be at least eight feet tall while human. She didn’t even want to imagine how big his bear form was.

His lip curling, he growled, “I hear dog barking . . . but it means nothing to me.” He gestured with his hand. “Go, little dog. Go play in next town with other dogs. There’s no place for you here.”

With one last glower, Zubachev turned on his heel and stalked off. The rest of the bears followed him.

Rage ripped through Toni’s system. She heard roaring in her ears. And as she saw those double doors begin to close, the proverbial leash she’d always used to keep herself calm in any situation snapped.

Ricky stared at the empty spot where Toni had been standing. Usually he reacted quickly in dangerous situations, but he had to admit he just never expected anyone to suddenly bolt after bears. Away from bears, yes. But after?

“Fuck,” Vic snarled. The hybrid charged up the stairs after her, but by the time he got to the doors, they were shut in his face and locked.

“Can we kick in the door?” Ricky asked as he ran up behind Vic.

“This palace was built by bears just before the Russian civil war hit Siberia in 1918. And none of the things that happened in the rest of Siberia happened here, because no one could get past the bears who guard this territory or their incredibly strong wooden doors.”

“We can’t just leave her in there.”

“I don’t think we have a choice.” Vic shrugged. “But her mangled body should be tossed out here anytime now.”