Owen moved a bit, pulling away and off of her. The chill of the air swept over her bare wet skin and she shivered. He pulled a blanket from the end of the bed and covered her up. “Be right back.” Tara watched his glorious bare ass leave the bed room. The sink in the bathroom ran for a few minutes and then he returned with a washcloth in his hand.
“If you think that cold wet washcloth is coming anywhere near me, you’re wrong buddy!” She tightened her fists on the blanket and grit her teeth.
He chuckled and shook his head. “It’s warm. I promise.” He pulled up the bottom of the blanket, baring her to him from the waist down. He’d already seen her. Had his mouth over just about every inch of her skin. Still, heat burned her cheeks and flushed throughout her entire body as he gently cleaned her up. Then disappeared from the room again.
Tara stared up at the aged ceiling tiles. Crap. The store. She sat up and scooted to the edge of the bed and glanced around, trying to find where all her clothes had landed.
“Tara,” Owen said, coming back through the bedroom door.
Tara turned to look and struggled to speak. He was just beautiful. Sculpted from tanned skin, stretched over granite hard muscles. His cock was hard…again.
They’d just finished. How could he still be hard?
She could still feel everything they’d done. Her body ached and throbbed, but one look at her sexy bear man and her traitorous libido decided she needed more.
“I—Ummm—The…” What had she been thinking about?
Store. Right.
“I have to check on the store. Mom is still in Anchorage. It’s just been sitting open and—”
He held up a hand and shook his head. “Ava messaged and said it was boarded up. She checked on her way into town.”
“But, who?” Tara’s chest tightened. “If they know about us, then…”
Owen shrugged. “I don’t know who did it. Ava didn’t get out of her car. She didn’t want to attract attention to herself.”
“Were you checking messages in the bathroom?”
Owen chuckled. “No, just now. My phone was in the living room. I heard it go off earlier, but I was preoccupied and wasn’t about to let it interrupt our time.”
“Oh.” Tara’s voice came out softly. “I’m supposed to help at the community center tonight. Katherine will be expecting me.”
“I’m not leaving your side.”
“But they will see you. We talked about this.”
“I’m not leaving you. Not while Raish still breathes.”
A cold chill slithered down Tara’s spine at the mention of the wolf. She’d momentarily forgotten about that particular problem. They would be back. It was only a matter of time.
Tara had met assholes like Raish before and they never gave up, not even after a beating. They got even. They got revenge. But they never gave up. Her stomach flipflopped and she swallowed down her nausea.
“You can’t stay with me every second.” There it was. The words neither of them wanted to say. The threat lurking over their relationship. It was supposed to stay a secret. Hidden. She was supposed to wear obnoxious perfume and sneak around so no one noticed they were together—none of the tribe that is. But the wolves would come back. She’d forgotten the wolves would come back.
“I will stay with you until I breathe my last, Tara.”
Dammit. This was going to be a problem. The whole ‘breathe my last’ part. Yeah. That wasn’t going to work for her.
12
After much convincing and swearing that she would be with Katherine the whole time, Tara finally got Owen to drop her at the community center. They were having a special afternoon meal for the seniors in town and she’d have to be dead before she bailed on Katherine—mostly because Katherine would hunt her down personally. Death would be the only valid excuse for no-showing. There really weren’t many places to hide in a town like Mystery, except maybe the woods.
She rolled her neck and waved back at Owen where he was sitting in his truck, watching her walk to the front door. She shooed her hands at him, but the truck didn’t budge, and he shook his head.
Tara sighed. She pulled open the front door and stepped into the large entry space. Another quick peek over her shoulder showed Owen’s truck rolling slowly forward. Good. At least he wasn’t going to sit there—obvious for the whole world to see—all afternoon until she was finished.
He’d insisted that he come back to give her a ride home, but she’d flat out had to tell his growly ass no. He didn’t know the meaning of the phrase low profile and she really didn’t want his last breath to be anytime soon.
She walked through the next set of doors and into the large fellowship hall. Katherine was scurrying around the round banquet table spreading white tablecloths over them. She paused and smiled at Tara.
“Hey, girl! ‘Bout time you showed up. And what on God’s green earth happened at the store? More vandalism?”
Tara closed the gap between herself and her best friend quickly. “Yesterday was something else. I’m not sure—”
Katherine’s hands clamped down on her shoulders and her friend looked at her with that you-did-something-you’re-not-telling-me-about look. And Tara was a terrible liar. “You look different.”
“I’m fine.”
“You were at the store when the crazy happened. You didn’t call me after the crazy happened. You haven’t answered any texts this morning.”
Tara held up a finger. “One, my phone got smashed during said crazy and yes I was there. I’m going to have Mom grab me another phone while she’s in Anchorage. In fact, I need to borrow your phone to call her.”
“Oh. Sure.” Katherine extracted her phone from her front jeans pocket and handed it over to Tara. “You look okay, though. You weren’t hurt. Who did it?”
“They aren’t from town and it’s a really long story that I’m going to have to reserve the right to tell you later, but I will explain everything eventually. I just can’t right now. I’m still trying to figure some things out and—”
“Oh my God! You got laid! Didn’t you? Was it the Owen guy? Please say it was him?” Katherine waggled her eyebrows suggestively and giggled. “I knew something was different.”
“Could you keep it down, please,” Tara said, her tone turning into a desperate hiss.
“You did!” Katherine’s voice was high-pitched almost undiscernible squeak. “It was him, right? I’m right?”
“Katherine!”
“Just tell me. I won’t quit. You know I won’t quit.”
Tara breathed in deeply, then exhaled slowly before nodded her head. Her friend turned into a jumping squeaking squawking cartoon figure worthy of being likened to Tigger. The ‘fit’ as Tara teasingly called them lasted about thirty seconds before Katherine ran out of steam and settled back onto two feet.
“He was good, wasn’t he?” Katherine whispered and elbowed Tara in the ribs gently. “Was it worth the wait? All the hype leading up to it.”
Tara couldn’t stop the grin that spread across her face. “It was lifechanging.” It really had been. She couldn’t remember ever being that happy with a guy before and there were so many complications with her relationship with Owen.
My relationship. Holy crap. That’s what it was though. She’d gone from zero to sixty in a matter of hours. He’d called her his mate or whatever that weird s-word he used in his own language. He said she glowed for him. The sex had been mind-blowing and she could still feel the hickey on her neck where the man had actually bitten her. Broken skin and everything. But they weren’t human teeth marks.
She’d inspected her neck in the bathroom before they left his place. Four distinct puncture marks in the soft part of her shoulder from fangs—her bear-man had fangs. And she wasn’t weirded out by it in the least. The wounds were already healing over, too. She hadn’t needed a Band-Aid or anything.
“Where is he? Why didn’t you bring him with?”
Tara shook her head and held up another finger. �
�I said later.” She punched in her Mom’s number and walked to the corner of the large room. Katherine huffed a little, but she quickly went back to preparing the room for the senior lunch.
The phone rang only once before her Mom’s voice came on the line. Weak. Thin. Shaky. “Katherine?”
“Mom, it’s me.”
“Oh, Tara.” The sobs came next. “Where have you been? I called you a half dozen times last night.”
Tara’s stomach climbed into her throat, threatening to make her puke. “Is Dad…” She couldn’t even say it.
“He’s alive.”
The rush of relief shot from her lungs like a rifle going off.
“He’s not doing well, though, Tara. The d-doctors…They are sending us home in a few days. As soon as he’s stable.”
The tightness returned, crushing Tara’s heart. “Why?”
“The cancer has progressed passed anything they can help with. Your dad doesn’t want to…he wants to be at home.” Her mom’s voice cut out for a second. Tara could hear an overhead speaker going off. “I have to go sweetie.”
The line went dead.
Tears streamed down her eyes, burning her cheeks. She couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t see straight. She leaned against the back wall and slid until her butt hit the floor. She set the phone down on the floor. Cradled her head in her hands and let out the most godawful cry. It echoed back and forth in the big room.
Footsteps approached. Katherine’s boots appeared next to hers where Tara was staring at the floor. Then her warm body was sitting next to hers. Her arms were around her, pulling her close. There weren’t any words exchanged. They’d been friends so many years it wasn’t necessary. They always just knew when the other needed to cry.
Her dad was dying. Really dying. The doctors had given up. Her mom had given up. She’d heard it in her voice. He was coming home to die. That was it. She was going to lose him and there wasn’t a damn fracking thing she could do about it.
They sat there more very long minutes and Tara cried until there wasn’t anything left. At least for now.
“I’m not telling you what to do, but unless you want the entire population of grammas and grandpas asking about your splotchy face and snotty nose—”
“I know,” Tara said, sucking in a shuddering breath. “I’m sorry to bail on you. I know there’s no one else here.”
“I’ve actually got a new friend in the kitchen. I’ll be good.”
“You sure?” Tara pulled away from her friend and wiped her face with the back of her sleeve. “A guy?”
Katherine nodded. “You go home. Sleep a little.” She pulled a small set of car keys out of her back pocket. “Here.”
“How are you going to get home?” Tara shook her head.
“Stubborn pain in the ass, woman. Would you stop it and just go get some rest? I’d tell you to call Owen, but you probably need a few hours to yourself.”
Tara did want Owen, but Katherine was right. She wanted to take a shower. Wanted to put on her fluffy pajamas and just cry a little more before anyone made her talk about it. And Owen would make her talk. She wasn’t ready for that.
“Thanks.” Tara took the keys.
Katherine stood, pulling Tara upright as she went. Hugged her again. “Love you, girl. I’ll check on you tomorrow, okay?”
“Yeah,” Tara said, giving Katherine a hard squeeze.
“I have to tell, Col. This is a non-negotiable, Penny.” Kann leaned against the stack of lumber that would become part of their cabin soon. Home. A real home with his mate. The building site was coming along beautifully, Col and Naomi’s cabin was nearly finished. They were laying footings for his and Penny’s now, but with all the crap about Owen and Tara…everything had grinded to a halt.
“He can’t kill the man for finding a mate.” Penny’s hand caressed the sidearm she had strapped to her thigh. His woman was tough. She might not have an animal inside her, but she was always armed to the teeth—guns, knives, an ax. Whatever was handy usually became Penny’s weapon of choice. Sexy as hell.
“My love, if it were just me, you know I wouldn’t. I agree with you. We aren’t on Reylea. We shouldn’t have to enforce old laws, but being branded an outcast is the worst thing that can be done to a warrior. It separates you from your family, your tribe, it prevents you from ever legally taking a mate. It’s the punishment reserved for those that don’t deserve a warrior’s death.”
“Bull. Fucking. Shit!” Penny said, her voice deepening to that husky growl that always made Kann want to strip her naked. Of course, it didn’t take anything more than just seeing her to make him want that. She was beautiful. Smart. Strong. And carrying his young.
“Col’s family was royalty. They enforced laws. They were the ones that everyone went to when there was a dispute. He’s been holding court for N’ra Valley since he was a teenager and watching his family do it since he was born.”
“We’re not in N’ra Valley anymore. This is Alaska. And that bear has just as much right to be here and find happiness as you or Saul or Tor and Col for that matter. Col turned a woman into a fucking dragon for heaven’s sake. It wasn’t like she agreed to that ahead of time. At least I knew that your damn bite might turn me into a zoo animal.”
Kann rolled his neck and smiled. His mate had been disappointed when she hadn’t been changed into a lion by his bite. She hadn’t said it outright, but he’d been able to tell. Honestly, he was glad she was still human. This world was difficult and the beast inside him was pissed he didn’t get to shift and run and hunt as often as he’d like.
But it wasn’t safe. It wasn’t ever safe for a wild animal—on any world.
Penny was safer the way she was. He closed the gap between them and pulled Penny into his arms. “You love my zoo animal,” he said, putting his mouth against her ear.
Penny snorted a laugh and shoved playfully against his chest. “Shut up. I’m going to talk to Naomi.”
“Why?”
“Because I know Tara. And if she has fallen even half as hard as I fell for you, she deserves a chance to be with her mate. And Naomi is the only one who can make that happen, since the rest of you males are just going to roll over and—”
“Penny, he is alpha. We have a chain of command. Without it our animals would lose control. It would be chaos. We would act—”
“Like that damn wolf pack?”
Kann’s lip curled and a growl started in the base of his throat. “They have an alpha too—a prince actually. It’s just that Raish has no honor. Never has.”
“Well, it’s going to take a woman’s touch to fix this.” She gave him a crafty smile. A smile that said she knew exactly the trouble she was about to stir up. But with Naomi and Penny pregnant, both females knew every single male in the tribe would do anything for them. Truthfully, they would do anything for them whether they were pregnant or not. In fact, Kann had to admit that Penny’s plan to use Naomi to change Col’s mind about the bear was genius. If there was anyone who could change Col’s thick-skulled-fire-filled-mind, it was his mate.
13
Tara woke up suddenly and stared into the darkness of her bedroom. Someone was outside. She could feel it. She crept out of the bed to the window and pulled aside the bright pink curtains that had hung in her room since she was five.
Darkness.
Shadow.
The only street lamp in the neighborhood glowed eerily in the darkness about a quarter of a mile down the road. She couldn’t see a damn thing in her front yard. But that also meant whatever was out there couldn’t see either. She hadn’t left any lights on in the house. But the car in the driveway was a dead giveaway that she was present in the home.
Her skin tingled and dread crept up her back like frost creeping over the face of a windowpane. Had the wolves come back? Did they know where she lived?
She made her way silently through the chilly house, her wool socks allowing her to move without the slightest sound across the wooden floor. She crossed the rug in th
e center of the living area. A crunch of footsteps in the snow made her heart attempt an Olympic long jump from her chest to the front door.
Tara altered course, heading straight to the kitchen. She grabbed her mom’s heavy iron skillet and peered out the kitchen window into the black soup surrounding the house. The weight of the pan gave her little comfort, but it was at least something she could create a decent amount of damage with only one swing, and it wasn’t a knife someone could take from her and stab her with. Not that she really wanted to be clocked with a cast iron skillet either. But it seemed better than a knife. At least it had at first. She was double-guessing herself now.
Two golden eyes suddenly came into focus through the kitchen window. The air in her lungs refused to move. She swallowed a panicked scream and dropped the skillet to the floor with a terrifyingly loud thunk. Huffing and snorting came from the outside area and the eyes focused on her like they could see through the dark. Which made sense, right? Most predators could see in the dark way better than humans.
The eyes were about shoulder height, a bit lower than what seemed right for a person. But people weren’t what was hunting her. Still, they seemed really big to be wolf eyes.
The beast lumbered forward a few steps and then the golden eyes disappeared and a very patterned very human knock connected with the front door.
“Tara, it’s me. Open the door.”
Air slid into her lungs slowly. Owen’s voice gave her heart the ability to start beating at a more regular pace. Still, she couldn’t move.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” His voice rumbled deep and dark and sincere.
She took one step toward the door. Then another. Then another. Her hand touched the deadbolt and she took in a deep breath before turning the latch. “I heard you moving and came closer to the house. My bear…I just couldn’t help…please let me inside, Tara.”
It had been an animal.
Owen had been a bear.
Tara’s mind tried to wrap around that reality. She’d seen him as a bear once. But she’d been so scared and running and hiding and she didn’t really remember a lot about it. He’d changed so fast. One moment he’d been staring at her through the kitchen window as a huge animal and then the next he’d changed back and had knocked on her door.
Bearly Hanging On: Soulmate Shifters in Mystery, Alaska Book 3 Page 11
