Free Alpha Bear by Bianca D'Arc Page A

teams. We’re used to this kind of thing.”
    “Well…” Brody put in from the other side of
the salt line. “Maybe not this exact sort of thing, but we’re used
to danger and stopping bad guys. It’s actually kind of nice to be
back in the real world again, doing stuff that matters.”
    She couldn’t really argue with that. This
mattered. This was a battle for their hometown. What could be more
important than the fight of good against evil?
    “I didn’t realize…” she whispered, trying to
think how best to use their abilities. “This isn’t a traditional
fight. You can’t beat this thing. It can’t be killed in this
realm.”
    “Yeah, John told us,” Brody said. “We’ve got
specialized help coming—eventually—but until they can get here,
we’re it, so we’d better make this good.”
    Until a few minutes ago, she’d thought she
was it , as the sheriff had put it. But this could work. In
fact, this could really work.
    “I didn’t realize I was going to have help,”
she told them honestly as she resumed pouring the salt line. They
had to get the circle cast before dawn, or this would all be for
naught. “Do you guys want to come inside the circle with me?”
    “Better not,” Brody said after looking at
John for a moment. “We’re better if we’re mobile. The Alpha will
watch your back from inside. We’ll back you up from outside.”
    “Okay, but I don’t want any of you down by
the water. You need to stay out of physical reach of the creature,
and those tentacles are freaking long.” She shuddered as she
remembered the day before. “Don’t go any closer than halfway down
the circle. And whatever you do, do not touch the
salt. If the circle breaks, I’m toast.”
    “So we guard the perimeter,” Brody agreed,
nodding. “We can also distract the creature with our magic while
you work yours.”
    “I’ll be channeling the energy of the sunrise
and the blessings of the Goddess to protect this section of the
cove. If you can distract the leviathan without putting yourselves
in too much danger, it would be a big help. You’ll probably be able
to see the Light of dawn gather inside the circle before I release
it. The leviathan shouldn’t be able to see it until the last
moment, but since you’re the good guys, you might be able to see
the glow of it. That’s the critical point. I’ll need time to gather
it and release it at its zenith, when the dawn breaks.”
    “Roger that,” Brody said. “I’ll brief the
team. Lady be with you both.”
    “You too, sheriff,” she said as she realized
they were nearing the tricky part of the beach.
    “Keep watch now,” John directed Brody. “We’re
going to go fast over this section, and when we hit the point where
we started, I expect things will start happening fast, right?”
    “Exactly right,” she confirmed. “It’s almost
show time, but if it’s close, it could strike any time before I get
the circle closed. Everybody stay sharp.”
    Brody nodded and walked carefully off,
already talking into the tiny radio clipped to his ear. His eyes
scanned the pre-dawn darkness of the cove, and everyone seemed to
come to an alert posture.
    She turned to John. “I’m going to move fast
now. I’m going right in front of that big rock there. I think
that’ll get me close enough to do the job. Are you ready?”
    John touched her shoulder, placing a
surprising kiss on her forehead that felt like both a benediction
and a caress.
    “I’m with you. Let’s do this.”
    Urse moved as fast as she could past the
shoreline, casting the salt as neatly and quickly as she could to
form the circle. When she reached the point where she had started,
she took a deep breath, spoke a word of high magic, and laid the
final grains.
    With a whoosh of power audible only to those
who could actually hear magic, the protection slammed into place.
And then, as predicted, all hell broke loose.
    The water churned. Tentacles appearing at
random points all over the