This—was for the best.
“Second Avenue, yes?” he gritted out.
Terri sniffed and refused to look at him.
“Your address,” Tony repeated. “It's Second Avenue. Am I right?”
She gave a curt nod.
Narrowing his eyes, Tony turned out of the highway and swung into the city. He would drive her home, watch her walk away from him and he would leave.
She wasn't the one for him.
Keep telling yourself that, Tony-boy.
Tony snarled. Shit! Now he couldn't even get her voice out of his messed up head.
CHAPTER FIVE
Terri undid her seat belt as Tony pulled up in front of her condo. Closing her eyes briefly, she released a deep, shuddering sigh.
She didn't claim to understand men, but Tony was a complete and utter mystery unto himself. He seemed to crave and want her one minute, and the next minute he was snarling and snapping at her like she'd committed a heinous crime by touching his forearm.
There was something between them. She could feel it. But Tony didn't seem to want to acknowledge it. In fact, he seemed furious about it. He seemed to despise himself for being attracted to her.
Terri tossed her hair over her shoulder. Well, he could go stew in his own juices.
She didn't have time for moody, cranky men. Even if he was the only man who made her feel alive in a long time.
“Well, here I am. Home sweet home,” Terri announced jauntily, stepping onto the curb. Tony retrieved her large backpack from the boot and handed it to her. He stood beside the car and watched her quietly.
Terri turned and waved. “Thanks for the ride. I...I'll see you around.”
Tony nodded, his eyes burning into her. She sensed that he wanted to tell her something, but all he said was, “Goodbye, Terri.”
“Um, bye, Tony.”
With a brief flash of brake lights, his car disappeared round the corner. Terri turned and trudged towards her condo, trying not to feel disappointed. Mumbling and grumbling, she walked right into a hard, masculine shoulder.
“Oh, Silas!” she exclaimed. “What a surprise! What are you doing here?”
“I was waiting for you, Terri,” Silas replied with a thin smile.
Terri frowned. “Waiting for me? Why?”
His smile was still stretched across his face but there was no warmth or humor in it. “Because you're my girlfriend.”
“I am?”
“Yes. I was worried about you.”
Terri blinked at him, speechless. Finally, she said as gently as she could, “Silas, you're a nice guy. We've been on a few dates and it's been fun. But I'm not sure I'm ready to commit to a relationship. My work is crazy as you know. I have to travel with my boss, and I'm frequently out of town. It's just not...”
“You are my girlfriend, Terri. We've been together long enough and we get along fine. You said so yourself. I've tried not to rush you or pressure you. I've given you enough time. You know I want you, but you've been giving all sorts of excuse not to sleep with me. It's not right. I've waited long enough. I will have you, Terri.” Silas grabbed her arm and yanked her to him.
“Hey! What do you think you're doing? Let go of me!” Terri struggled but Silas gripped her tighter. She felt the tips of his claws digging into her arm and she cried out. “Ouch! Silas! You're hurting me! Your claws...”
“I've been very patient with you, Terri. More patient than necessary,” Silas growled.
“Necessary?” Terri squawked. “What the hell...!”
“Stop fighting me, Terri!” Silas snarled into her face. “I can be nice. I can be nasty.” He gave an exaggerated sigh. “It could have been good for you, Terri. But you had to choose the hard way.”
“I didn't choose anything!” she shrieked, hitting him over the head with her backpack.
Silas tore her backpack out of her hand and flung it into the bushes. “But I choose you. I'm going to Turn you. Then I'll breed you.”
“What!” Terri gaped at him. “What are you talking about? You're not turning me into anything. And you're definitely not going to breed me!” she spat. “Breed! Oh my, have we gone back in time? Are women cows or sows? And I thought you were a nice guy.” Terri let out a high-pitched laugh. “Why are all the nice ones crazy? I should have stuck with the bad boys.”
Silas's face was contorted in fury. She could see his fangs elongating as his face wavered between human and bear. He lunged forward, his jaws widening.
Terri screamed as she felt his fangs pierce her neck. Silas bit her savagely, ripping her skin and biting down the side of her neck. Terri tried to fight back, but she was no match for the bear. She felt thick, stiff fur sprouting from his arms as he held her down, and his teeth continued tearing into her neck.
Terri looked up, her vision blurring rapidly. Her only witnesses were the unlit streetlamps. It was early evening, but no one was about at this time. Her condo was situated at the corner of a quiet street, and the residents liked the privacy. Everyone was cozily ensconced at home, enjoying the remaining hours of their Sunday before the start of another manic work week.
Terri stared round in horror and dismay. The streetlamps couldn't come to her aid. She was going to be mauled to death by a crazy, sex-deprived werebear whom she'd stupidly mistaken for a nice guy.
Terri tried her best to scratch and kick the brute despite the excruciating pain. This bear's bite was definitely worse than his roar. She'd never heard him roar, not even once.
She jerked when she heard a thunderous, ferocious roar. The roar didn't come from Silas. It came from somewhere behind her. The roar sounded again, a sound of raw, violent fury. Silas threw her to the ground, and Terri looked up to see two huge bears clash above her, one white, one brown.
Terri scrambled away, hiccuping a delirious, demented laugh.
Now she had to contend with not one, but two ravenous bears. They seemed to be fighting over her, fighting over their food.
Terri rolled away and tried to get to her feet, but the ground seemed to be rocking and swaying, and she had no way of telling which way was up.
She fell back to the ground and tried to crawl away from the battling bears. She wasn't going to be any bear's snack if she could help it.
She looked around frantically for her bag. If she could reach her phone, she could dial for help. She cursed viciously when she remembered that Silas had thrown her backpack over the bushes. He was a right little shit!
Why couldn't she meet a nice, normal guy for once? She had a well-paying job, had a nice place, was fun to be around. She thought she would stick to dating sweet, nice guys, but all the seemingly nice guys wanted something from her. Sex, money, a free place to crash. She had dated a bad boy once. He had been bad to the core. Bad for her heart and bad for her financial and mental health. He had cleaned out her bank account and vanished.
So Terri had sworn off bad boys. She dated only nice, clean-shaven, well-behaved, polite young men. But she seemed to attract freeloaders or guys who were looking for a sugar mummy. She had dumped them like yesterday's trash, but being an infernal optimist, she had kept on looking. Looking, and dating, and getting bitten.
Terri put her hand to her neck. Why the hell did Silas bite her? She'd known that he was a bear shifter, but she hadn't known that he was a man-eater. It was illegal for shifters in the city to prey on humans. She was so going to report him.
She glanced over her shoulder just in time to see the white bear turn tail and run. There were splotches of blood on his white fur, and he was limping as he stumbled away.
Terri turned to face the growling brown bear. The magnificent creature stared at her with a pair of familiar brown eyes, and stalked silently towards her.
Oh shit! The victor had come to claim the spoils of his battle. He had come to finish his meal. Bloody au gratin Terri.
The bear crouched at her side and in two blinks shifted swiftly to human form.
&n
bsp; Terri stared up at Tony's face and gurgled a hysterical laugh. “Oh, it's you. This just isn't my night, is it?”
CHAPTER SIX
Tony grabbed Terri's shoulder and tilted her head to the side. Her wound was still bleeding, and he could see the jagged teeth marks on her neck. He snarled and gathered her swiftly into his arms. She made a small unhappy sound but she was in no state to protest.
Tony set off at a dead run. His car was just round the corner. He had stopped his car at a street corner and waited. He didn't know what he was waiting for. All he knew was that his bear wouldn't allow him to leave. His bear had stomped on the brake pedal and stubbornly refused to budge.
He had been sitting in his idling car for God knows how long when he heard Terri's screams. In a heartbeat, he had bolted from his car and raced back to her block.
What he saw wrenched his bear out of his skin and sent him flying towards Terri in absolute rage and pain.
A fucking polar bear was tearing into Terri's neck, biting down desperately, indiscriminately. Tony recognized the angle of the bite immediately. The bastard was trying to Turn her, biting directly into her vein to inject his shifter cells into her blood stream. He was trying to Turn her into a bear shifter against her will.
Tony reached his car and placed Terri in the passenger seat with infinite care. Her eyes had rolled back and she was starting to shiver. Her words were slurred and unintelligible.
Tony revved the engine and sped through the city streets. He was running out of time. From her symptoms, Tony knew that the shifter cells had taken hold in her body. Her human immune system would try to fight back, and she would develop a raging fever in the next few hours or so. Tony shot a panicked glance at the festering wound on her neck. It wasn't a clean, sharp bite. Terri must have tried to fight him off.
Tony had knocked the bastard off her before he could finish what he'd started. The Turning bite wasn't complete. He had managed to infuse her blood with some shifter cells, but it wasn't enough. Terri wouldn't be able to Turn fully. Her body would be in turmoil, struggling to Turn and fighting the Turn. She would be torn apart from the inside, bleeding from every orifice. It would be an agonizing, gruesome death.
No! He would not let her die.
He would rush her back to his clan. Someone would be able to help her. Some of the bears in the Nightfire clan had wise, old grandparents and great-grandparents. Surely one of them would know the ancient art of healing a half-Turned human.
“Please...” Tony breathed raggedly as he sped along the highway. He loved speed and racing, but he had never ever driven so fast in his whole life. He was now racing against time, against fate.
When Terri curled into a ball and started sobbing, Tony placed a trembling hand very gently on her back. His touch seemed to soothe her and she stopped crying. He knew that she was still in pain, but at least she didn't sound so scared and helpless.
“T-Tony...” Terri's voice was weak, barely a whisper.
“Yes.”
“W-where...are...w-we going?” She was doing her best to focus and stay conscious.
“Back to Moonstone Creek.”
“Wha—? Am I...going to d-die?” she whispered.
“No.”
“W-what's happening...t-to me?”
Tony didn't have the heart to lie to her. “You've been bitten, Terri.”
Despite her suffering, she snorted at him. “I know that!”
“It's not an ordinary bite. It's a Turning bite.”
“Huh?”
“He wanted to Turn you into a werebear like him,” Tony spat in rage. “Who is he?”
“Silas.”
“Is he your boyfriend?” Tony snarled.
She gagged. “No!”
Terri fell silent. Tony never took his foot off the accelerator. Neither did he take his eyes off the road, but he was aware of every movement, every little sound she made. At the moment, she didn't even seem to be breathing.
“Terri?” he asked worriedly.
“Am I Turning into a werebear? Is that why...I feel...so much...pain?” she wheezed.
“No. He didn't complete his bite. You can't Turn.”
“Oh. So...I'm still h-human.” Her voice was faltering.
“Yes. And no.”
Terri raised her head to look at him. Her gaze was clear for an instant before clouding over.
“You...lied to me,” she said very softly as her head slumped and her eyes closed. There was no fear in her voice, but she sounded hurt. “I am going to die.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Terri groaned...and growled.
What? What!
She snapped her eyes wide open and gasped. Did she really just growl? Like a bear?
She opened her mouth and another low growl rumbled out of her. Shit! Clasping her hands over her mouth, she looked up at the circle of worried faces hovering over her.
Terri tried to sit up but a jolt of pain seared through every nerve in her body. Her limbs jerked and twitched uncontrollably and she almost slapped herself twice with her out-of-control hands.
“What...who...?” she spluttered, feeling drool trickle from the slack corner of her mouth.
Terri heard someone call her name, and she saw her best friend, Abby, push forward and hold both her hands. “Terri, I'm here. We're all here with you. We'll find a way. We will...” Abby blinked rapidly and smiled, but not before Terri saw the glimmer of tears in her eyes.
“I'm screwed, aren't I?” Terri grimaced. “I...I'm stuck, not bear, not human, just...dying.”
“No! Don't you talk like that!” Abby said fiercely. “You're not dying. The whole Nightfire clan is here. They're all werebears. They'll know what to do. The elder bears are talking, discussing what to do. They'll help you.”
Terri gripped her friend's hand even though she could hardly feel her fingertips. Her hands were going numb and she was shivering and sweating, freezing and burning at the same time.
“Abby...” Terri tried to choke back her fear, her tears.
Cole, Abby's mate and the Alpha of the Nightfire clan, came forward to touch Terri's shoulder. “You're not alone, Terri. We'll find a way together,” he said grimly.
His Beta, Dalton, stepped up and whispered to Cole, “Amanda, Connor's great-grandmother would like to talk to you.”
Cole nodded and was about to turn away when Terri grabbed his arm. “Please...I want to know.”
Cole and Abby exchanged a glance. Abby gave her husband a quick nod and gripped Terri's hand even tighter.
“Terri has a right to know. She should hear what Amanda has to say,” Cole told Dalton.
Dalton went off and returned promptly with a hunched, silver-haired lady with keen, green eyes. Amanda tapped her cane on the floor and looked straight at Terri. “I'm sorry, dear. There is no way to undo this. There used to be a way to reverse the Turn, but it's a lost art. It's a complicated, dangerous process. My mother knew less than half the steps, and I know even less than that. The knowledge died with my grandmother.” Amanda sighed. “I'm the oldest bear here. No one else even knows how to kick-start the reversal process. I only know that we have to bleed you first...”
“Do it!” Terri said through gritted teeth. “Bleed me, just...undo this thing.”
Amanda shook her head, leaning against her cane. “No. I cannot start the process if I don't know how to end it. I may...cause you even more suffering.” The lines on Amanda's face deepened, and she looked like she had aged another fifty years in the last five minutes. She looked at Terri with sadness and sympathy, and muttered what sounded like a prayer as she placed her wrinkled hand on Terri's forehead. “Be strong, child. Choose to live, choose to Turn,” she finished very quietly.
“What...are you saying?” Terri whispered.
“No human should be Turned against her will. What that werebear did to you was a horrible, terrible thing,” Amanda said, her eyes flashing with rage. “You have to choose, Terri.
”
“Choose?”
Amanda nodded. “We don't know how to undo what has been done to you. So...you have to choose, to live, to go forward, to...complete the Turn.”
“What a choice,” Terri muttered, doing a credible eye-roll despite her pain.
“It is your choice,” Amanda answered. “We will not Turn you into a werebear if you do not wish to be one.”
Terri gasped as another thunderbolt of pain hurtled down her body. She yelled and grabbed Amanda's hand before the elder werebear could leave her bedside. “I choose to Turn! I want to live...and kick his bloody ass! Help me, please!”
There was a flicker of a smile on Amanda's face. Her green eyes seemed to shine with relief and pride. “Good, good. You're a strong one. Choose, Terri. Choose the one who will Turn you.”
“What?”
“To Turn someone is a huge responsibility. To accept the Turning is an act of faith and trust. There has to be trust, and affection, between the two of you. You will always share a bond, a link, a connection. All your life,” Amanda added, with pointed emphasis on the last three words.
Terri blew out a breath and released Amanda's thin hand. She stared round at the crowd of werebears gathered around her bed. Terri frowned. No, this wasn't her bed. So whose bed was it?
“Where...?” she began, her voice rising.
Abby must have seen the panic on her face. “You're in Tony's house,” Abby said quickly, coming to her side. “He brought you here, remember?”
Terri scanned the faces and saw Tony standing against the wall, staring at her. He looked much the worse for wear. His hair was standing on end, as if he had repeatedly raked his fingers through it and his chin was covered with dark stubble. His eyes though remained alert and sharp. His mouth was set in a thin, grim line and his stance appeared relaxed, but Terri could see the strain in his tense, throbbing muscles.
Terri raised her finger and pointed. “I choose him,” she blurted out.
With an audible gulp, she rushed on, “I want him to Turn me.”
A Date For The Bear: BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance (Bear Brides Book 2) Page 3
