by Juniper Hart
You know what this is. He’s your mate.
The unbidden thought sent a hot flush through her body.
That’s impossible. He’s a bear. I’m a demon. I’m not meant to be mated with anyone. I’m too independent, too strong for most men. I’m…
She was out of excuses, that was what she was. She couldn’t deny that she had been unable to get Damon out of her head and whatever god was directing their story didn’t seem to want them apart. But everything about it was so wrong.
Then why does it feel so perfectly right no matter how much I try to fight it?
The flash of headlights distracted her from further pondering the dilemma in which she found herself and she hurried toward the door to greet Damon and Miguel. She inhaled, sensing the discontent in a wave as the five bodies emerged from her small vehicle.
Silently, Liv stepped back to allow the irate family inside the house, the female bear pausing to glare at her.
“Who is this?” she demanded of Damon. “I didn’t know that anyone else was going to be here.”
“This is Liv,” Damon explained quickly. “She’s a friend.”
“She’s a demon!” Ana snapped. “You expect me to share a house with her kind?”
Anger spiked through Liv, but she contained herself, knowing that Ana was just as confused by what was happening as everyone else. Moreover, she wasn’t about to unleash on the woman in front of her children.
“I’m just leaving,” Liv said crisply, nodding toward Damon as Ana shoved past her rudely. “My keys?”
He shook his head and stuck the keychain into his jacket.
“You’re not going anywhere,” he said, ushering everyone inside before closing the door. “This is the safest place for everyone right now.”
Liv had expected his resistance but she knew she had to stand firm.
“I just want to go to my apartment and pick up a few things,” she replied. “I’ll come right back.”
To her surprise, Damon continued to shake his head.
“No,” he said flatly. “They’re already outside your apartment. I saw them waiting in front when I went to get your car. They’re expecting you to go home. It’s not the place to be. Whatever you have there can wait a few days until this dies down.”
The information shocked Liv and she faltered slightly.
Shit! Roderigo must have regained consciousness already. I missed my window of opportunity. I should have killed him too. He deserved it more than Joaquin.
She felt a wave of guilt shoot through her. Taking a life was never easy, no matter how much one might deserve it.
“Come inside and relax,” Damon said with morbid amusement. “That’s all you can do right now.”
He put a hand on her arm to steer her back into the house and an unexpected shiver shot through Liv.
How can he have that effect on me at a time like this? she thought, exhaling as she allowed herself to be led toward where the others had gathered. But she found herself relishing the feeling. It was the closest thing to comfort she’d felt in a long while and she knew it would likely be the last time she’d experience it for an even longer while.
Damon sat her on the sofa and Miguel took his wife and children upstairs to get settled, no one speaking another word to her.
“Liv,” he said quietly and she turned expectantly toward him.
“Yes?”
“I’m going to need your help,” he told her earnestly.
“My help? With what?” she asked, mildly confused.
“You’re going to have to get in touch with your contacts in the States.”
Liv stared at him blankly.
“What?”
“We’re going to need to get Miguel’s family out of the country. This threat isn’t going to die down any time soon and they need a safe place. I can’t keep them holed up here forever. It’s only a matter of time…”
He trailed off before opening his mouth to add something but seemed to reconsider his words.
“W-what do you want me to do about it?” Liv choked even though she had a vague sense of where this was going.
“You must have some kind of extraction process at your paper,” Damon insisted. Liv’s eyes narrowed.
Extraction process. Where did he learn that term?
She remembered that he had been in the military, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something more happening, something she couldn’t see.
“I…I mean, there is…” Liv said slowly, her mind racing.
There’s an extraction process for us. But we’re not journalists.
Unimaginably, the situation had become even more complicated.
“I don’t know how that’s going to help Miguel’s family,” she said, realizing that Damon was still staring at her.
Why don’t you call your father for help? she wanted to ask but it was a stupid question. Lucien had no interest in the plight of a poor, Colombian bear family. He’d laugh at Damon just as hard as he’d laugh at me. And order us both home.
“You can try, can’t you? How do you protect your sources?” Damon pressed, unwilling to let the matter go. “Liv, you know they can’t stay here. Los Asesinos will find them and they are ruthless.”
I’m well aware. That’s why I’ve been sent here to disassemble them, she thought.
She sighed and darted her eyes away.
“I’ll see what I can do,” she said, knowing there was nothing she could do. If she didn’t give Damon some hope, he would grow suspicious and the last thing she needed him to discover now was that she was working for his father. It was too late to come clean with him now. He would think she was sent there to spy on him.
He’s going to find out eventually, a logical voice argued. The truth is inevitable.
Liv silenced the voice, reminding herself that she couldn’t very well say anything with Miguel in the house. The average shifter had no idea about the Cabal. Mass panic would ensue if the world learned the truth about them, that there was no real division among the species except for the one that the Cabal had created decades ago. Liv was certain that Damon had never disclosed their existence to his friend.
We’ll figure out what to do with Miguel and then we’ll sit down and talk, she decided, knowing full well that she was procrastinating.
“But I really do need to get back to my apartment,” she told Damon quietly. “I can’t contact home without some of the stuff I have there.”
Damon eyed her speculatively.
“You can’t go now,” he insisted. “There were at least four of them. I assume more were watching that I couldn’t see. I can’t protect you if I don’t know where they’re coming from.”
Liv’s shoulders sank slightly and a half-smile touched her lips but before she could respond, Damon held up a hand.
“I know, I know,” he sighed. “You can take care of yourself.”
Liv shook her head, her mussed blonde hair falling along her shoulders to surround her in a silken shawl.
“That’s not what I was going to say,” she replied lightly.
“No?”
“No. I was going to say that I’ll be okay to lie low with you for a few days, until they scatter from my building.”
Surprise and a glint of pleasure lit Damon’s eyes and he nodded.
“That’s probably a good idea,” he said slowly, like he was waiting for the other shoe to drop. “I have provisions but maybe not enough for six people. I’ll head out and get stocked up. Why don’t you try to make nice with Miguel and Ana?”
Liv laughed.
“I’ll see what I can do,” she agreed. Their eyes locked and Damon’s hand reached up to cup her pale cheek.
“I panicked a bit when I saw you covered in blood,” he admitted. Liv’s heart fluttered.
“Sorry about that,” she sighed. “I really did try to get Miguel out of there before anything happened.”
“I know,” he said huskily. “You killed someone to save him.”
L
iv frowned at the reminder but Damon’s warm kiss shifted her mood instantly and she returned his embrace eagerly. Suddenly, it didn’t matter that the world around them was coming unraveled. In Damon’s arms, she was protected from anything and everyone. There was no Cabal or rogue bear gangs. There was no missing Wilder heir or species divide. There were only two beings, falling for one another in a turbulent time.
The sound of someone clearing their throat caused them both to fall back and look at Miguel, who stood at the threshold of the living room.
He surveyed them both with disdain.
“They kids are settled upstairs,” he grumbled. “Ana wants to take a shower.”
Damon nodded and rose from the sofa to get the Santos family linens as Miguel glowered at Liv. When Damon was out of earshot, Miguel shook his head, his eyes narrowed.
“You might have Damon fooled, chica, but I know you’re bad news,” he growled. “You shouldn’t have come here.”
The feeling of warmth that had blanketed her in Damon’s embrace was abruptly replaced by a sweeping of ice through her veins.
“That’s not very grateful,” she said haughtily. “Considering what I did for you.”
Miguel snorted but didn’t respond as he spun to leave Liv alone in the living room.
Fantastic, she thought grimly. Just what I need—more suspicion.
13
When Damon was sure that everyone was as settled as they were going to be, he took Liv’s car and went to the twenty-four-hour grocery store.
He couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching him but he knew it was mostly in his own head. Between Los Asesinos and the potential that Anatoli could be checking up on him, the stress was beginning to creep in on him.
He made it to the store without event and packed a cart high with any staples he thought the kids might like for the next couple days.
Would they even be safe there for a couple days? How long would it be before the gang figured out where they’d been taken? They weren’t exactly discreet in front of Ana’s family.
It was just another thing on the long list of worries that plagued him but Damon put it on the backburner for the moment. He vowed to stay vigilant as soon as he returned home, even if that meant staying up for the next three days.
At least Liv will be there.
The thought urged him to move faster and soon, he was back at the house, unloading his purchases.
As soon as he walked inside, the smell of something spicy and hot met his nostrils, making his mouth water slightly.
He found Liv in the kitchen, an apron wrapped around her slender frame as she hovered over the stove.
“What are you cooking?” he asked, impressed. She turned and smiled. Damon hoped that imagine of her would forever be etched in his mind.
“I just threw some things together,” she replied modestly but the disarray on the counter told him that she’d done much more than that. “I thought the kids might be hungry.”
The sentiment was unexpected and Damon felt a rush of arousal shoot through him.
She puts on a mask of being hard and cold but she’s got a huge heart underneath it all.
He wasn’t surprised by the realization in the least. He wouldn’t have fallen for someone who was calculating, like his father. Damon had seen something in Liv almost from the moment he’d laid eyes on her, like he’d been able to read her soul.
“Do you need some help?” she asked, nodding at the paper bags in his hands. Damon shook his head and set the groceries down on the counter.
“No, I’ve got this. Where is everyone?”
“Upstairs, I guess,” Liv sighed. “Avoiding me.”
A pang of sympathy overcame Damon.
“You have to understand, Liv. They’re suspicious of outsiders.”
“No, I get it,” she insisted. “It’s fine.”
But Damon knew it wasn’t fine with her at all. She was about to be confined to a house with people who were openly hostile toward her.
I’m going to have to do something to break the ice with her, Ana, and Miguel, Damon vowed as he retrieved the rest of his packages.
He started putting things away, peering over Liv’s shoulder as she cooked.
“No offense,” he said lightly. “But I wouldn’t have taken you as the type to cook.”
Liv snorted and cast him a glance over her shoulder.
“Funny. I would have pegged you as the type to have a live-in chef.”
Their gazes locked, the unspoken words between them rife with tension.
What does she know about me? Damon wondered, swallowing his nervousness as he gave her a nonchalant wink.
“What can I say?” he said lightly, shifting away from her, the smell of her hair overcoming all else. “I’ve been fortunate.”
“Ah.”
Liv also returned to her meal preparation but Damon could feel her eyes following him as he moved around the kitchen. They were quiet for a long moment, each lost in their own thoughts, but it was Liv who spoke first.
“I was thinking about what you said,” she told him slowly. Damon flipped his gaze to her curiously.
“About?”
“About getting the Santos family out of Bogota. Maybe we can just move them somewhere else in the country instead of moving them to another country.”
Damon’s eyes narrowed slightly as he considered her offer.
“Where?”
“Somewhere out of the way,” she said. “Somewhere rural where the chances of them running into Los Asesinos are slim.”
Instantly, Damon thought of a dozen reasons why it wouldn’t work and voiced them aloud.
“Without a pack?” he said slowly. “No bear fares well without a pack.”
“Other bears live in the country. There must be packs out there,” Liv said with a twinge of annoyance.
“If there are, that only increases the chances of Los Asesinos finding them,” Damon countered. Liv scowled slightly.
“Not if they change their identities. No one needs to know who they are.”
“It’s safer for everyone to get them out of the country,” Damon insisted. “Why are you fighting it?”
Liv turned her head slightly, making it impossible for Damon to read her expression.
“I just don’t think Miguel is going to be on board with such a dramatic change.”
“He doesn’t have a choice if he wants to protect his family.”
Liv sighed and tossed a tea towel onto the counter to stare at him intently.
“I’m not sure I can get them out,” she intoned flatly. “You’re asking a lot.”
Damon frowned, the warnings inside him igniting again.
“You haven’t even tried,” he reminded her quietly.
“I know my boss. He’s not going to go for this.”
Frustration mounted inside Damon.
“You need to tell him that there are lives on the line…” he paused. “Or is it because they’re bear lives?”
Again, Liv looked away.
“It’s not because they’re bears…” she murmured but Damon didn’t believe her.
Anatoli is right. This divide is worse than ever before. How can we be so selfish with our own kind and not care about other lives?
He wished there was a way to contact Anatoli. She would certainly have a solution to this problem.
And then she’d yank you out of here so fast and reassign you, you wouldn’t even have a chance to say goodbye to Liv.
“Why won’t your boss help? They’re innocents, Liv. Surely there must be some way—”
Liv whirled, her eyes flashing.
“Why don’t you do something?” she snapped.
“Me?” he echoed. “What can I do? If I had a way of getting them out, I would.”
“Really?” The skepticism in her voice made his skin crawl.
She does know something, he realized. I need to confront her about it.
As if on cue, Miguel and Ana ambled into the kitche
n, their eyes veiled.
“Is this a bad time?” Miguel asked tersely. Both Damon and Liv turned their backs on one another, shaking their heads.
“No,” Damon sighed. “Are you hungry? Liv’s making a feast.”
Ana’s frown deepened but she didn’t say anything as Miguel shook his head.
“We just wanted to talk about what comes next,” Miguel explained, perching on a stool at the kitchen island. “What are we going to do?”
Damon shot a look at Liv but she deliberately avoided his eyes as she tended to the boiling pots.
“We’re trying to figure that out,” Damon explained. “I think we should try to get you out of the country.”
Ana gasped and shook her head vehemently.
“No!” she snapped. “I’m not leaving here because of some punk thugs!”
“It’s not just a couple of punks, Ana,” Damon told her grimly. “You’ll have an entire gang after you for this.”
“Miguel didn’t do anything!” Ana yelled, her face growing red with indignation. “That puta did! They should be coming after her.”
Damon bristled as Liv whipped her head around in surprise. Anger crossed her face.
“I saved your husband from being slaughtered.”
“You brought those men there to slaughter him!” Ana shot back. The females were face to face, each parting their mouths to show the start of their eyeteeth. Damon pulled Liv back gently and put himself between the women.
“Blame isn’t helping,” he said dully. “Los Asesinos are going to shoot first and ask questions later. And they’ll shoot anyone, Ana. You, the kids…”
Damon stopped as Ana paled to a near-opaque, the gravity of his words striking her.
“The smartest thing you can do is get out of the country.”
“And go where?” Miguel demanded, the anguish in his question almost palpable. “We have no money, Damon. We have no way of getting out of here!”
Damon pursed his lips together, knowing that everything Miguel said was sound and true. Alone, the Santos family would never survive. He had to find a way to help them, even if Liv couldn’t.
