Free Jade Crew: Fallen Bear (A BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance) (Ridgeback Bears Book 7) by Amelia Jade Page B

with a message from Garrett.
    Ferro’s. Now.
    Something was up. He knew it right away. As he walked back to his truck, he checked the message from Victoria. It was just her letting him know she was back at the apartments. He sighed with relief, and let her know he would be there as soon as he could.
    The cemetery was outside of town, and it would take him a good twenty minutes just to get to Ferro’s. The engine roared to life and he took one last look in the mirror as the graveyard disappeared in the dark behind him.
    Time for the first step.

***
    The red neon sign shone brightly in the dark and the bright white light spilling through the windows told him the place was open for business.
    Evan wondered if it was open to him, however. Garrett had sent him the text, telling him to be there. But that didn’t mean he was truly welcome inside. Not after all that he had done.
    “Why is it that these first steps are never easy?” he muttered with a wry smile. The entire drive back from Emily’s grave had been uplifting. It was as if his ability to finally recognize his own idiocy had been all that his memory of Emily was looking for. Evan knew he had a lot of apologizing to do, and it would be a long time before he could forgive himself. But he could finally begin to move on from his past, to prove to himself and those around him that he was a better person now.
    His hand paused against the smooth-sanded wood of the swing door that would take him inside. He knew this was it. He was committed, and no matter the judgment passed upon him by those inside, he would not be able to avoid it. Knowing that despite Garrett’s invitation Ferro and the others might still choose to ostracize him, to blame him—and rightly so in many cases—made it a lot harder to tip the balance of his weight and continue heading forward. It would be so easy to just back away, get in his truck, and go back to the apartments. That was what part of him wanted to do.
    But it wasn’t what he was going to let himself do.
    Steeling himself for the reaction he knew was coming, Evan pushed forward and into the bar that had at one time been his second home, even if he hadn’t deserved it.
    Conversation stopped. A hushed silence fell over the entire bar as he stood there in the entranceway, framed in the darkness of the night outside.
    Someone coughed.
    Glasses clinked noisily as shifters put their beers down in surprise.
    Nobody spoke.
    Evan wasn’t sure what to do. He could feel his cheeks heating in embarrassment, but still he held his position, waiting for a reaction of some sort.
    To his utter shock, it didn’t come from either group of shifters. Neither the Emeralds nor the Jades made a move. Both Ajax and Garrett were watching, but they weren’t looking at him. They were busy gauging the reaction of their crew to see how the other shifters took his return to the Tongue & Flame.
    It was Ferro who reacted first, reaching under the bar into his mini-fridge and pulling out a bottle of his house brew. A flick of his wrist divested it of the cap, and—after setting out a coaster!—he placed it on the solid mahogany bar in front of him. He caught Evan’s eyes, nodded once, and then returned to cleaning another section of bar.
    Without any further hesitation Evan stood up straight and strode through the bar until he reached the beer. Sitting down on a nearby stool he grunted a thanks to Ferro and took his first pull in months of the delicious beer.
    “Some things never change,” he said, sighing in contentment as the liquid amber left his taste buds tingling.
    He looked around behind him at the bar. Despite Ferro’s gesture of welcome, signaling to the others that he was allowed to stay, the room was still filled with tension.
    “And some things do,” he muttered to himself.
    “Not all change is permanent,” a voice said to his right.
    Evan looked up in surprise as Ajax, Alpha of the Emerald Crew, took the stool next to him, the solid oak frame