by Jo Penn
Tredd looked around and then pointed to himself. “Me? What?”
“Don’t think you’re going to sit around moping and whining until your mate returns. I’m not having two Croggen’s being lazy. I need you bear leaders up and protecting, and to stop tormenting Dalton. Prickly little hedgehog whines to Finn, who then blames me. Drives me friggin’ crazy. You can take Trekk’s shift at the station.”
Tredd curled a lip back from big fangs. “I don’t like the station. I get easily startled, remember? Do you want another accidental mauling on your hands?”
Urian growled. “That was Trekk! He’s the one easily startled! Don’t try that triplet crap on me. And then get out to the worksite and finish building those bear houses. I’m getting complaints the building work is taking too long. I hate complaints, makes my wolf want to snap and snarl. Come on, Drax, we have business to attend to.” Uri squeezed Tripp’s shoulder. “Maybe hunt down your mate and see how he’s doing. Spend some time with him. Date.”
Date? Tripp looked around, confused. Paranormals didn’t date. They sniffed out their mate and claimed.
A snickering beside him had Tripp glaring at Tredd. The other bear laughed.
“Date. Uri’s so funny.”
* * * *
A paranormal was trying to claim him as a mate! Edward was genuinely shocked. He should be disgusted and repulsed, considering his past, but strangely enough, he was merely disgruntled and annoyed. It wasn’t like Eddie hated creatures. He was just wary of them and disliked how they seemed to get their way most of the time, and the laws were structured around their ways.
Bitter, sure. Cynical, no way! He was a realist and just knew some big bear of a man, a police Captain for fuck’s sake, would be one of those bossy big alpha types he heard stories of. Edward hadn’t worked hard since the difficult times in his life to have it all shuffled aside by a mate.
Just the idea sent his blood pressure spiking. Knowing he couldn’t let the anger build, he did the stupid breathing exercises his psychologist advised.
After spending an hour and a half looking for a lawyer that could, and would, help, he finally found one keen to help him. Of course, then the lawyer turned out to be an anti-paranormal zealot. Edward was overloaded with information and felt pretty rotten for listening to half of what the lawyer raved about and just wanted to go home. First, he had to make a stop at the bank.
And damn, wasn’t that a bad idea! Man, his luck sucked today.
Two minutes after lining up to see a cashier to return the document he filled out a few days ago for an account transfer, three men in ski masks burst into the bank flashing nasty looking guns. The robbers immediately ordered everyone down onto the floor and to empty their pockets of phones and weapons. While one of the masked robbers collected the items and tossed them into a pile out of reach, another began issuing orders.
On the ground with his hands on his head, cursing his misfortune, Edward decided this was Second Croggen’s fault, too. After all, if it weren’t for the bear shifter, Edward would have been at work instead of the bank at this hour. And where were all those damn cops and soldiers that patrolled the city and valley? Everyone raved about Milson City’s safety record, how it was voted the safest small to medium size town in North America, and had all these expertly trained soldiers that patrolled the city, suburbs, and surrounding valley, but Edward had his doubts.
Especially since he was lying on the bank’s dirty carpet during a robbery, and there was no help in sight. Where exactly were these astounding soldiers now? Maybe he should find a new city to live in, one that actually lived up to its reputation…and away from the big hunky bear with the smoking hot body and sexy honey hazel eyes.
Whoa! Where did that come from! Edward thumped his head and quickly stopped when it caught the attention of one of the robbers who pointed a gun at him. Yeah, this was definitely the bear’s fault, too. He wondered if the shifter was as hugely muscled as he looked.
Apparently, that mate pull the zealot lawyer mentioned must have kicked in for Edward. The attorney said the pull to mate was the way a paranormal sucked creatures in. It was probably a pheromone, not some divine fate providing an instant connection between two or three creatures, and bringing them together.
Not at all sure what to believe, but knowing he was in a bit of trouble here, Edward decided to just concentrate on the here and now. He realized that while he’d been mulling over his mate issue, a poor teller was being harassed to hand over money, and the manager was dragged over to the vault in the back of the bank. A person with a ski mask and a gun walked between customers and staff who were all prostrate on the ground, nudging a few here and there and warning what would happen if anyone tried anything stupid.
No one on the floor was moving. It was understandable, these robbers meant business. They slapped the bank manager around and were busy raiding the cashiers of their money while yelling at people and threatening to blast heads off. Everyone believed them, and no one tried to play the hero, thankfully.
But there was a problem, a big problem. The manager couldn’t get the vault in the back open. The robbers got antsy and dragged a customer and a teller up and threatened to put holes in them. It was a nightmare. Edward had never been more afraid in his life, and as he lay there having no clue what to do, how to stop this horrific crime, his life flashed before his eyes.
The good, the bad, the mediocre, and the downright ugly. But it was Edward’s life, one he wanted to keep. The memory of dancing with his mother in the living room to a Disney movie was bittersweet. That moment had been such a memorable moment, and everything changed too quickly soon after. When they lost everything, even each other. He remembered being in foster care and one of the kids with him proving the point of how strong a paranormal actually was. The child picked Edward up and tossed him across the playground as though he were a ball.
The boy had been five, Edward eight.
Edward had never blamed the kid, not entirely. He was young and a paranormal, he hadn’t meant to hurt Edward, not break three ribs, fracture his jaw, dislocate his right knee and snap his left wrist. Nope, the kid was just playing around. It had made Edward wary, but not quite enough to turn him off paranormals. No, that had come much later during his second marriage, to the manipulative, shifty prick Troy Butler, a paranormal. The difference between creatures and humans was brought home to Edward after Troy. For humans, it could at times be a seriously disturbing, damaging difference.
Edward had long ago learned to avoid creatures when and where he could, right after his ex-husband had said he’d used his wizard gift to seduce Edward. Apparently, it had been exceedingly simple at first, but as Edward built up a little backbone and smartened up, Troy used emotional and mental manipulation instead. Creatures were just…more of everything, and not always in the best way.
Growing up it had just been Edward and his mother, Milla. They were happy and doing well. Milla worked as a manager in a large department store, while Edward had friends and was doing well at school. Then along came Robert, a wizard. Milla fell for the con artist and quickly lost everything. Their lovely apartment, belongings, and all their savings. When Robert took off, and Milla discovered how bad the situation was, she fell into depression and lost her job. They ended up on the streets until Edward was sent to foster care. Thankfully, it was only for a year. Milla worked to get him back, but by then the damage had been done, and he would never be the same. And neither would she. Their happy little family was long gone. Milla could never stick to a job, she didn’t date and locked herself away. Edward withdrew, he didn’t trust others easily now, and avoided making new friends.
Yeah, he was a touch bitter about it all, but he didn’t mean to be. He just wanted happiness, that’s what drove him, and in some ways, he was content, and that may be just as good. But he had watched and learned. He and his mother were left destitute and alone. Edward had to scrap together money to pay for food. He went without nearly everything, and worked from the time he
was fourteen, lying about his age. Otherwise, he and his mother would have ended up turned out of the crappy tiny studio apartment they’d ended up in after she got him back from foster care.
Didn’t really matter now. He’d worked, and he was doing really well now—at least until that big damn creature declared Edward was his mate!
Right about now he wouldn’t mind that big hunky bear doing some rampaging against these robbers. Unfortunately, Edward hadn’t stopped to exchange digits. Surely though the captain of the city police force would be informed of a robbery, right? Then the bear could rampage as much as he liked. Edward just hoped someone had pressed a police panic button, or else he wasn’t so sure these robbers wouldn’t take out everyone to get to what was inside the vault.
He wasn’t ready to die yet. He was only thirty-seven, hadn’t achieved everything he was working so hard for, and to be honest, the bitterness that had simmered since childhood had risen too high after the incident with his ex-husband. He hadn’t worked through it all yet, there was still so much he wanted to deal with and figure out…and he may not get the chance. And what of the bear shifter? Was the creature the one to make Edward finally move past what twisted him up inside? Could Tripp Croggen ease the bitterness, or would the creature only add to it?
Edward wouldn’t have minded finding out for himself. It had been a long time since he was interested in a man, and had never been interested in women sexually. He knew he was drowning in bitterness and had shut everyone out of his life, even his mother, and sometimes he was…lonely.
Yeah, sometimes he was bitter and lonely. Wouldn’t his therapist be so damn proud of Edward for acknowledging and admitting that! Funny how it was taking a life-threatening event and having to meet a creature declaring they were mates to make it happen.
The robbers became eerily focused. They no longer yelled and stopped pushing the bank manager around. They asked one more time for the vault to be opened. The manager protested he didn’t have the correct security clearance, and like that, one of the hostages was shot right in front of Edward.
Hostages screamed while others sobbed. Then there was silence and fear. The head robber took hold of the manager and marched the man to a back room. Edward didn’t like his chances of ever finding out if he could make the changes his therapist said were needed to be able to move forward with his life, and find some type of peace.
Oh Lord, that poor hostage. He’d just been alive and now…Edward gulped when the robber thrust the person he just shot away and looked around for a replacement. He was a goner for sure.
Chapter Four
“A hostage has been shot. I repeat, one hostage down.”
Tripp growled quietly as he swiveled around on his stomach to get a better view of the bank through the windows. This was the best position to see inside and line up a shot. He had sharp shooters on the roof near him, and teams ready to storm the front and back of the bank building.
He was pissed off the bank manager wouldn’t open the vault. The rule was in a hostage situation to do what you were told and make it out safely. By pretending he couldn’t open the vault, the stupid, stubborn rhino shifter, who was the bank manager, was placing everyone inside in danger. Tripp knew the odds of anyone else being unharmed had now gone down to a minuscule twenty percent, and that was just if the SWAT team, or one of the local council assassins took the criminals out first.
A teal scarf caught Tripp’s attention. Adjusting his binoculars, he zeroed in and almost had a heart attack.
Somehow, he managed to keep the bellow of fear and rage locked inside him, but the binoculars were crumpled beyond repair. Reaching over, he snatched another pair of binoculars from one of the officer’s hands and looked again, just to make sure his eyes weren’t deceiving him.
Ah, damn. That was Tripp’s mate in there! His newly discovered, slightly bitter, anti-paranormal mate who should be as far away from danger as Tripp could possibly keep the human.
“Boss?” a quietly pleasant voice said beside him. “What do you see?”
“I see hostages,” Tripp snapped at the precincts youngest detective, Darcy Beals. “Take out the robbers. Storm the place at the same time.”
“Good.” Sharpshooter, an owl shifter, Dene Owlington, responded immediately, eyes glued down the scope. “Well fuck, how does he get around so fast?” Dene fired two shots, barely a breath of space between. “Wounded the first, clipped the second. Shame you won’t let me just put a bullet through their brains,” Dene commented idly. The owl shifter had a lack of conscience issue that often saw the man reprimanded. “Avenger got the first who was bashing the bank manager’s head against the steel handle of the vault door.”
“We’ve got a runner!” Darcy exclaimed into a police radio.
Tripp listened to the action as he raced down five flights of stairs, out the front door of the building he had been on the roof of, and righted a woman and her toddler he bumped into, apologizing as he went. Running into the bank with gun drawn he scanned the room fast, noting the SWAT team had the robbers under control, and Avenger Vicus was in the shadows watching everything. With the situation well under control, Tripp went straight to the human with the teal scarf and crouched beside him.
“How you doing, Eddie?” Tripp asked gently, well, gently for him. He was known for being kind when the situation warranted, and downright hard other times. But this man was his mate, and Tripp could scent the waves of fear and shock rolling off the human. He would love to pick Eddie up and hold him close to comfort and reassure, but after this morning’s first meeting he was positive his mate wouldn’t be happily receptive.
Lovely, mismatched eyes peered up at Tripp hesitantly. One a dark vibrant blue, the other the same blue around the outer edges and green closer to the pupil. Tripp had never seen mismatched eyes before, except in pictures and on television. He found them fascinating. In fact, he found everything about his mate fascinating.
Those amazing, lovely eyes darted around the room before fixing on Tripp. “You came.”
Tripp nodded, smiling softly. Shock, his mate was in shock. Being a cop for so long, at least twenty years now, he’d seen a lot and knew what to look for. Reaching out, he slowly slid his hand over his mate’s shoulders and massaged ever so gently. It took at least three and a half minutes before he felt even the slightest amount of tension ease from the man.
Neither spoke. Tripp made himself comfortable on the floor beside Eddie and continued his gentle massaging as SWAT and the officers helped hostages and collected statements. Eddie laid his head down on the floor and slowly told Tripp what had happened. When Eddie was showing fewer signs of shock, Tripp helped the man sit up, speaking in a quiet, steady voice that seemed to help. Tripp noticed other customers and staff were in shock also. Some handled it with anger. Others were quiet, while some withdrew inside themselves. Everyone dealt with stress, shock, and upsets differently. It seemed his mate needed calm reassurance and a bit of coaxing to bring him out of it.
Soon Eddie was demanding answers as to what was happening, as he watched the cops move around and take statements, release customers, and the paramedics doing their jobs. Tripp was still sitting on the floor beside his mate when he waved Darcy over to get an update. The young detective, one who was much admired and had lots of potential, hurried over and related everything in a few minutes. He handed Eddie a bottle of water and a smartphone, and in his sincere, somewhat shy, adorable way, Darcy drew Eddie out of his shell completely and past the shock that lingered.
“What do you need to be done, Boss?” Darcy asked.
“Stick to procedure. Make sure all these hostages are aware of their rights and those that can help them.”
“Will do, Boss.” Darcy beamed at Eddie. “Nice meeting you, Eddie. I’m sorry you got caught up in this.”
“Edward.” Eddie looked confused, but genuinely seemed to like Darcy, so there wasn’t any of the attitude like earlier.
Tripp wondered if his mate liked Darcy because the guy
was just so damn likable, or because Eddie didn’t think Darcy was a creature. He’d like to know the answer to that and see just how far the anti-paranormal attitude went. Tripp thought about telling Eddie that Detective Darcy Beals was human, and a quarter vampire, to see how his mate reacted, but now probably wasn’t the time.
“Okay.” And Darcy was off, weaving through the crowds.
“You keep calling me ‘Eddie.’ My name is Edward.”
Smiling, Tripp nodded. “Hasn’t anyone called you Eddie before?”
Shrugging, Eddie looked around. “What happens now?”
“We have enough witnesses in case we need any in court.”
“I can testify.” Eddie’s chin jutted out.
Okay, his mate was asserting himself after being terrified. Tripp smiled and nodded. “Sure, I’ll put you on the list. Let’s get you up and out of here.”
“That would be nice…thanks, Captain.” Mismatched eyes held Tripp’s briefly before skidding away shyly.
Smiling, Tripp placed his hand lightly on the small of Eddie’s back and moved them through the thinning crowd. He nodded at Vicus, who faded more into the shadows before disappearing, and stopped to ensure the lead detective had control of the situation. Outside, he steered Eddie to his police car and put his mate in the passenger seat.
“Hungry?” he asked once they were driving.
“Hmm…yeah, a bit. I missed lunch.”
“Great, I’m starving. This can be our first date.”
Eddie was quiet a moment before untying the teal scarf and winding it around his hand instead. “About this…mate thing. Are you sure?”
Why did humans always doubt a paranormal? It bewildered Tripp, and bears didn’t like being confused and bewildered, it sent them into a frustrated rampage. As his mate wouldn’t appreciate that, Tripp wracked his brain to come up with a response the human apparently needed, so he could understand what this between them meant. In the end, Tripp went for simple and straight forward.
