Free Alpha Bear by Bianca D'Arc Page B

cove.
    Sweet Mother of All! The leviathan was
even bigger than she’d imagined. For a breathless moment, Urse
stood motionless, taking it all in. And for just that moment, she
almost lost her nerve.
    “Take it easy,” John said, his deep voice
rumbling near her ear. “We’ve got this.”
    Shutting her eyes and taking a deep breath to
center herself, Urse silently thanked the Lady that John had
decided to put himself on the line, to be by her side. His
strength, and the conviction that came through his words, renewed
her courage.
    She reached for his hand, squeezing it in
thanks even as a gentle calm came over her. That was John’s magic,
brushing against hers.
    Trapped inside the protection of her circle,
she could feel the gentle thrum of his power—vast, timeless and so
very Alpha. How had she missed it before?
    But that was a thought for later. Right now,
she had a sea monster to fight.
    Urse strode into the center of her circle and
turned her back on the thrashing in the cove. The leviathan was
getting closer, testing the strength of her wards. Urse’s goal was
to gather as much of the power and magic of sunrise into her circle
before she could release it against the creature. She would use the
magic of the earth, and the Light, to lay the strongest protections
possible on the cove. If this worked, within the hour, at least
part of the cove would be a no-go zone for anything with evil
intent.
    She raised her hands, facing the mountains in
the east, over which the sun would rise, and began to chant. She
alternated the chanting with spoken prayers to the Lady, and she
could feel the power begin to coalesce around her, filling the
circle with pure magic.
    Soon, the sun would rise, and the power would
be at its apex. That would be her moment to strike.
     
    John felt the most incredible energy
gathering around them. He had a front row seat to the most amazing
magic show he’d ever seen. And that was saying something.
    Bears were among the most magical of
shifters. They got used to seeing a lot of strange things. As
leader of the Alpha Team, John had seen, and done, a lot more than
most. But this was something new in his experience. Something good
and pure.
    Something he knew he could help with.
    John stood back to back with Ursula. She
faced the mountains. He faced the writhing waters of the cove,
alive with not just the giant leviathan, but what looked like an
army of its offspring.
    He added his own silent prayers to the ones
Ursula was speaking, and possibly for the first time in his life,
he felt magic in a new way. Shifter magic was of the earth, and of
the Mother Goddess. Human magic had a different flavor. But
Ursula’s magic was somewhere in between. Close to his own, with a
distinct tinge of bear—probably from the shifter way back in her
bloodline—but unique in its own right.
    The human magic John had witnessed in the
past called upon the Goddess as well, but this strega magic
called much more directly upon Her Light. It was hard to describe,
but it felt like Ursula’s magic was closer to the core. Closer to
the Mother of All in some indefinable way. John was gaining a new
understanding of the slight variations that made each race’s magic
a little different.
    Urusla’s chant ended while she seemed to take
a moment to regroup her energy. They were standing at the center of
a swirling maelstrom of golden energy that she had already gathered
into her circle. John could see it now, and feel it crackling in
the air around them. It was a heady feeling. So much magical energy
gathered in one place.
    He hoped it would be enough to deter the
swarm of sea monsters that were violently churning the waters of
the cove.
    “John?” Ursula’s voice came to him, filled
with power but also somewhat hesitant.
    “I’m here, honey,” he was quick to assure
her.
    “When the dawn breaks in a few seconds, I’m
going to turn around to face the cove. You’ll have to get behind
me.”
    “Which way do we turn?