Green Bearets: Kiefer: Base Camp Bears, #5

By Amelia Jade

Lieutenant Kiefer Hartmann was on duty. Tasked to watch the grounds of Base Camp to prevent a surprise attack, he was simply doing his job when he saw the strange figure ready to jump from the roof. But after charging to the rescue, it appears that perhaps he'd gotten things wrong. Now the gorgeous woman he'd just tried to save thinks he was out to kill her.

Two weeks. For two whole weeks Peyton Raine has been kept penned up at Base Camp. She wasn't overly upset about it. Not toward the Green Bearets at least. What happened to her wasn't their fault. After being rescued from the clutches of the evil Fenris shifters, it was expected that she would go back home. There was only one little problem with that…

The more time she spends with the Kiefer, the more Peyton realizes he doesn't know about her condition. The way he treats her is refreshing and she finds herself wanting to spend more and more time with him. But a chance encounter during an unexpected trip back into human civilization has threatened it all. Can the pair unravel the secrets of her past together, or will the truth of Peyton's real identity rip the lovers apart?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Amelia Jade
• Release date: Nov 4, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386540632

Book preview

Chapter One

Kiefer

The stars shone brightly, glittering with the brightness of a billion diamonds hung forever just out of reach. Each one was just slightly different and yet the same, a hypnotizing starscape that threatened to turn his attention away from his task at hand.

With a shake of his massive head he focused back down into the real world, ensuring his footsteps carried him steadily across the gravel pathway. He moved with purpose, not haste. There was no rush, nowhere specific to be that demanded his arrival in the shortest period of time. Instead, there was a series of points that had to be visited, in a vaguely certain order to ensure a modicum of efficiency.

But as long as he arrived at each point in relatively decent time, there was no need for him to move at anything more than a leisurely walk. After all, he was supposed to be on watch, and if he moved too quickly, it was likely that he would miss something important.

The path he was on crested the top of a small hill and leveled out. To his left stood whitewashed buildings in serried ranks, their windows mostly darkened. Here and there a light shone through, but that was to be expected. He wasn’t the only one standing watch, after all. It was simply that his responsibilities were on a level far greater than those of the occupants of the buildings.

Overhead the sky was briefly taken from view as he passed under the oversized branches of one of the Vallenwoods. The trees towered nearly two hundred feet into the air, their trunks thicker across than he was from head to toe. Considering that he was on the far side of six and a half feet tall, that was no small feat.

The pathway turned from gravel to hard-packed dirt as he crossed perpendicular to the buildings, glancing into each one as he passed, ensuring that the occupants were asleep, or at least in their bunks. While no one could force someone into sleep without using something against the rules, it was likely that none of them would be awake unless absolutely necessary. Their training would often leave them exhausted to the point where they were out the moment their heads hit the pillow.

A smile crossed his face, turning him from a stern-faced demon of the dark into something that almost resembled a friendly person.

Not a human, because I’m not human.

The thought crossed his mind, and he smiled. No, he wasn’t human, even if his appearance made it look that way. At least, mostly human. The slightly less-than-realistic size of him—including the copious amounts of muscle packed onto his already thick frame—were a slight giveaway, but not enough to convince anyone that he wasn’t human.

After all, they couldn’t see the fantastic strength built into those muscles, strength that would put even the strongest of the humans to shame without even breaking a sweat. Nor could they see the rather superhuman nature of his healing abilities, that would ensure he only died from an injury so severe death was practically instantaneous. And even some of those he could survive. Nor could they see how easily his eyes pierced the dark around him, turning the world from a thing of black to shades of gray and color that no human would ever experience. A look at him wouldn’t reveal the speed with which he could move either, his reactions faster than any human to ever walk the earth.

But it was the smile that would fool them all. After all, things that weren’t human couldn’t smile, could they? Not with as much genuine happiness as he could. After all, just because he wasn’t fully human, didn’t mean he was fully non-human.

Until I let my animal loose. Then it’s easy to see the difference.

Turning into a two-ton beast capable of ripping his foes apart in seconds was a bit of a giveaway, after all. But right then and there, he could have easily passed for a full-blooded human, instead of the walking hulk of a bear shifter that was his true nature.

Lieutenant!

The voice cracked out through the dark, and Lieutenant Kiefer Hartmann spun to face the direction it had come from just as a baby-faced shifter came charging up out of the dark to slide to a halt in front of him. His fist slammed to his chest in a proper salute, and Kiefer returned it casually.

Yes, soldier? he asked calmly, wondering what had possessed this man to act so hurriedly.

They all look so young, he thought, eyeing the youthful features as he waited for the shifter to speak. Was I ever truly that young? He shuddered internally at the thought.

Then he noticed the blood-red band around the man’s left arm, just below the shoulder. It obscured his ranking marker, which was always printed on both sleeves of the standard white T-shirt that was the uniform of the Green Bearets, the trained bear shifter warrior elite.

It marked him as one of the military police, those in charge of ensuring that order was kept in the camp. Considering that Base Camp generally housed three to four hundred bear shifters at any given time, the MPs’ task was not an envied one. After all, if a bear shifter was behaving out of line, it almost always came down to violence to stop it, and often times that violence turned deadly on a whim. The military police had the right to kill anyone that resisted them if necessary, without repercussion.

Because of that, most of the shifters tended to behave, or at least they quit misbehaving when the MPs arrived.

Kiefer frowned. Although he was on second watch, which lasted for another hour or so, the MPs did not need his authorization to act upon most incidents. They were commanded by a corporal, and it was his job to deal with any issues that required their presence. Which meant that if they’d come to see him, it was something that necessitated a command presence. And anything that necessitated his presence was therefore a bad thing.

It’s the Koche brothers sir.

Fuck.

You’re positive? Kiefer asked, trying to keep the dismay from his voice. This was not what he felt like dealing with tonight. His watch was almost over dammit; the next shmuck who came along could deal with the damn Koche brothers for him!

But no, that wasn’t the way things went. Nor, despite his internal complaints to the contrary, was that how Kiefer preferred to handle issues that arose under his jurisdiction.

Yes sir, I saw them with my own eyes, and the corporal told me to come find you while he assembled his team.

Kiefer nodded. That was smart. Dealing with the Koche brothers was something that would take either a deftness that Kiefer likely did not possess, or a hammer hard enough to crack a skull. The half-strength squad of MPs that would be on duty at this time of night would not be enough. The corporal would be gathering a full squad to deal with them.

Show me, he commanded, and the pair jogged back across the grounds of Base Camp, while Kiefer contemplated the situation.

The Koche brothers were notorious for their lack of respect for the rules. Unfortunately, they were also just as skilled as they thought they were, which made them a sort of double-edged sword. The Green Bearet high command didn’t want to deprive themselves of such an asset, but at the same time, keeping them around brought them all sorts of problems.

Like gambling. Gambling was strictly prohibited upon Base Camp grounds. It was perhaps an antiquated rule, but conflict over gambling debts, and the destruction caused when the debts were called in and one couldn’t pay, had risen to obscene levels.

Something to do with every person on the base being a trained warrior. When two or more behemoths went at it with each other, buildings tended to become flattened in a hurry. So, to prevent the continual destruction of Green Bearet property, the practice had been outlawed completely.

The Koche brothers, however, had a thing for gambling, and they held the rules in disdain. Kiefer had known that they were setting up an illegal gambling ring, but until that night, nobody had been able to catch them at it.

By the sounds of it, the private leading him had something to do with it.

How much? he grunted as they approached a storehouse set apart from the more highly trafficked parts of Base Camp.

The private glanced at him. Kiefer thought he was going to avoid the question, or lie, but after a moment’s hesitation the young shifter’s head dropped. Over two thousand, sir.

Over two thousand dollars in debt to the Koche brothers? That was not a position Kiefer wanted to be in. He knew that the MP would likely be booted from the Green Bearets for his transgressions. Even though he’d brought the gambling ring to light, it was unlikely that that would be enough to keep him enlisted.

Kiefer fought back a whistle as he considered it all, not wanting any noise to alert the occupants of the building up ahead. The duo had even moved off the gravel path and now crossed grass, their footsteps stealthy and carefully placed.

The corporal and his team should be here shortly, sir, the private said when nobody materialized outside.

Kiefer nodded. They’re all inside?

They were when I left.

Movement to his left caught Kiefer’s eye, and he saw the twelve-man Military Police squad approaching. They were coming fast, and didn’t show any signs of slowing down.

Or of leaving the path.

Kiefer swore at the amateurishness of it all and reached out to his right, fingers closing around the first hard object he grabbed. He hurled a stone from the path at them as they closed rapidly. A dozen heads snapped around to focus on him as the stone bounced off one of their own. They also froze in place, which is exactly what he’d been hoping for. With a complex set of finger motions he flashed them signals telling them to get off the noisy path and to wait for his signal before taking action.

What’s the signal sir? the private asked as he prepared to go rendezvous with his team.

If I’m lucky, the Koche brothers walking out the door single file and cooperating.

And if you’re unlucky? This time the question was asked very cautiously.

Come running when things start breaking, Kiefer muttered and rose to his feet.

The private choked off a laugh, and hurried across the ground to where the MPs waited in a small arc, blocking off the main door in and out of the storehouse.

Kiefer took a deep breath and headed toward the storeroom.

Chapter Two

Kiefer

The door opened easily and he strode inside, not bothering to knock. There had been no signs of a sentry outside, which meant that the Koche brothers considered themselves far enough away from regular passersby that they would likely never be intruded upon.

Considering that the storehouse they were using to operate their gambling ring in housed equipment rarely used anymore, they were probably right. It was only the fact that the MP private had decided to turn them in that had spoiled their fun.

Kiefer’s eyes rapidly adjusted to the brightness inside. There was nobody immediately in sight, but at the back of the storeroom, behind steel racks filled with what appeared to be gardening and lawn maintenance equipment there was the dull yellow-orange glow of lamplight. Raucous laughter sounded moments later, and Kiefer identified the sound of Maximus, the eldest Koche brother.

Striding through the racks, he rapped his knuckles off the steel row by row, announcing his presence as he went. The voices cut off immediately, replaced by low growls that bounced off the stone walls, giving them an even more sullen temper.

Nine figures became visible as he cleared the last rack.

Five of them stared back at him angrily. Four saw the lieutenant’s ranking on his shirt and they immediately cast their heads down, avoiding his eyes.

Kiefer pointed to those four, one at a time even as he rested a shoulder on the steel rack.

You, you, you and you. Out.

One of them looked at Maximus but didn’t move.

Kiefer pushed himself off the rack he’d leaned up against, his eyes and tone hardening. Now.

This time there was no hesitation as the foursome got up and left the room, scattering their chips on the floor as they went.

Aww, come on Loo-ten-ant, Kassian Koche complained, leaning back against the wall. We was winning!

Kiefer eyed the cards on the ground. Isn’t five-card draw supposed to be everyone for themselves? he replied just as laconically.

Kassian’s features twisted up into what might generously be called a smile, and an identical look appeared on the faces of his four brothers. There wasn’t an ounce of humor to be found in any of them.

That was why the corporal on night duty with the military police had assembled an entire squad. The Koche brothers were vicious, well trained, and operated flawlessly as a team. It was just poor luck that there were five of them.

Tell me again why I brought myself in here alone?

It wasn’t the first time the thought had gone through Kiefer’s head since he’d pushed the door open. Each time before, he hadn’t had an answer. This time around was no different, but he figured it was about time he set out to find one. The confrontation had started, and he really, really wanted to resolve it peacefully.

Although the MPs would have closed in to apprehend the four other Green Bearets—or ex-Green Bearets now, he supposed—they were still a long ways away if things turned sour. It would take them at least a second to hear the first noise, and another half a second to start charging to his rescue. Figure three seconds to dash down the length of the racks, and another half second to appraise the situation.

Five seconds. He would have to hold out for five seconds before his backup could arrive.

Iffy.

So, what happens now? Maximus asked, once again reasserting himself as the spokesperson.

Kassian subsided into a quiet smile, though Kiefer did not miss the way he and his brothers subtly changed the way they were sitting. Hands were planted on the ground, feet uncrossed.

They were preparing for a fight.

I think you know what happens next, he said quietly.

Maximus grinned, and Gavin, the middle brother, actually let out a quiet laugh.

Did ya hear that boys? The Loo-ten-ant is going to join us. He’s an ‘officer,’ so he’ll probably be better than us. Why, it’s likely he’ll even win a good chunk of our cash, the eldest Koche brother said, drawing out Kiefer’s rank to make it an insult. You will join us, won’t you? he asked, looking back up at the officer.

Kiefer closed his eyes and sighed. You know, I really wish you hadn’t done that, he replied, recognizing the offer of a bribe when he heard one. They were offering to let him win a chunk of the money on the cardboard box that acted as a table for them. A quick glance at it showed that Kiefer stood to walk away with several thousand dollars at least. Not bad for simply keeping his mouth shut.

But that wasn’t Kiefer’s way, and he had no intentions of taking the bribe.

Done what, Kiefer? Maximus asked, looking up at him innocently.

Tried to bribe an officer, he snarled, losing his temper at the insolence and general contempt displayed by the quintet.

Five heads snapped up to focus on him at his tone, and Kiefer knew any chance to do things peacefully had gone out the window.

Are you accusing us of something? Kassian asked quietly as the five of them tensed, ready to strike.

You’re literally sitting around a poker table, Kiefer said dryly, his eyes rolling.

Maximus’s hand twitched and Kean, one of the young brothers, moved. He was the closest to Kiefer, and had the best chance of reaching him.

Which is exactly why Kiefer had shuffled his angle and shifted his weight in a certain way. As Kean rose, Kiefer leaned back slightly and his booted foot lashed out, hitting Kean square in the face and sending him tumbling into Maximus. The elder Koche snarled and flung his younger brother away, charging at Kiefer.

But he’d been ready for this, and even as his foot snapped back to the floor Kiefer hauled with all his might. The rack groaned and then crumpled, bombarding the brothers with heavy tools and boxes, scattering their attack.

From the door outside shouts sounded and booted feet stormed down the aisle between