A Taste of Honey by Ranae Rose

silver, either, as the ones shifter hunters favored were.
    Shifter hunters were stealthier than that – usually skilled woodsmen and marksmen who knew how to get away with murder. Literally. Ronnie gripped the edge of the kitchen table until his knuckles ached, suppressing a familiar wave of anger. Mandy, Jack’s mate, had nearly been killed by shifters hunters – it was a miracle she was even still alive. He himself and Jack had been shot as well.
    “Are you okay?” Violet’s sweet voice drifted through the haze of his recollections, mercifully shattering his brief reverie.
    “Yeah. I guess relief hasn’t really set in yet.” His phone was still warm in his hand, heated from the fairly lengthy conversation he’d had with Hargrove, during which he’d asked every question he could think of just to make sure that the gunman really was what he seemed, that there wasn’t so much as a hint of him being anything more sinister than a dangerous drunk who’d carried and discharged a weapon illegally.
    “I know what you mean,” she said. “Even though I know the shooting had nothing to do with the shifters here, a little shiver still goes down my spine every time I think about it. I mean, it hasn’t been long since Mandy was kidnapped.”
    It was true. The past year had been crazy, rife with hunters and bloodshed. But everyone had made it through – the only lives that had been taken were those of the hunters who’d plagued the mountains, and that was no loss. As far as violence went, Ronnie had only experienced one worse year in the course of his entire life. “I was thinking the same thing.”
    “We almost never had trouble with shifter hunters in Alaska. It’s different there – there are so many shifters that when a hunter ventures onto any pack’s territory, it’s like walking into a lion’s den. And packs form alliances and stuff to stay safe. Out here there’s a denser human population, but less shifters.”
    “The recent problems we’ve had with hunters are the worst acts of violence we’ve experienced in almost twenty years. Normally it’s not this bad.”
    “What happened twenty years ago?”
    “My mother was killed.”
    Violet’s blue eyes grew wide. “By shifter hunters?”
    “I don’t think so. The bullet that killed her wasn’t silver – we think someone was hunting illegally on private property and shot her while she was in her bear form, thinking she was an animal. Of course, she returned to her human form when she died. The person who murdered her must have fled – we found her body on the side of the mountain.”
    “That’s horrific. I’m so sorry.” She crossed the space between them with a couple steps and laid a hand on his forearm.
    “I was a preteen then. That was what inspired me to become a ranger. I wanted to protect the tribe and the other shifters in these mountains and I thought becoming a ranger would enable me to do it to the best of my ability.”
    “You were right. You were among the first to know about the incident with the bear today because of your status as a ranger.”
    “Yeah. Being able to protect the tribe makes me feel as if I’m giving her life and death some purpose. I think she’d be pleased that I’ve become a ranger and war chief.”  Confidence that his mother would be proud took the edge off the old sorrow, but a familiar sense of regret made his insides feel hollow for a few bleak moments.
    “Of course she would. You’ve saved lives, and not just those of your tribe members. The Half Moon Pack wouldn’t exist anymore if it wasn’t for you. Mandy told me about how you took a bullet rescuing her and Jack last spring. And then, we probably all would’ve been killed by those hunters if you and your father hadn’t helped us rescue Mandy.”
    Unable to resist anymore, he reached out and wrapped his arms around Violet, pulling her close so that her body conformed to his, soft and warm against him. “It was worth it – I never would’ve