Ian: McCray Bruin Bear Shifter Romance

by Kathi S. Barton

  “That’s all we could find to eat most nights. Someone would leave a slice or two in a box. Dumpster diving got to be a way of life for us if we wanted to eat.” She shivered at the thought. “I’ll never forgive Josh for doing that to us. The three of us often went to bed hungry or sick on something we’d had to share. And living in a nasty car during last winter had me happy for a hot shower when I got here, as well as being able to have clean underwear. It’s the little things like that a person can miss when homeless.”

  “I’m sorry you had to go through that.” She told him it wasn’t his fault, but she did appreciate him making them a home. “I’m so happy to have you in our home that I have to pinch myself daily to remind myself I’m living with three of the most beautiful women around.”

  In answer to that, Jilly threw a tomato at him from her salad. They enjoyed their dinner. He was glad that Jilly liked her steak medium rare rather than well done. She even asked for extra sour cream for her potato, as he’d done.

  Ian thought he could be a very happy man with the way things were falling into place for them. He knew there was still the uncle to have to take care of, but he didn’t really foresee that becoming a huge issue. While he didn’t know for sure, he was very hopeful.

  By the time they were home, Lucy and Cybill were pulling in the drive. They looked exhausted but had gotten all the things they needed. Even the aprons for the staff were ordered. It was coming along nicely, Lucy told him, and was nearly asleep before she went up to bed. Tomorrow he’d tell her that he was a dad. Tonight that news was just for him, he thought.

  Chapter 6

  Josh wasn’t happy. First, they took his money, and now they’d locked him out of the house. He wasn’t stupid enough to say it was his home. The police and the attorney his nieces had hired had made it perfectly clear he had screwed up royally with the will. Josh was happy that so far, no one had mentioned he’d kicked the girls out. Perhaps no one cared. He certainly didn’t.

  He walked up to the house and smiled at the man standing in front of the front door.

  “May I help you?” Josh explained to him that he’d not been able to get himself any clean clothing or even his toothbrush when he’d left that morning. “From what I understand, you didn’t allow them girls to do that either.”

  So they did know about him and the girls. The man told him to move on.

  “But I need just a few things from the house—my wallet for one thing. I’m going to have to find a place to stay tonight until this thing is resolved, and without identification, that’s not going to happen. Be a nice guy, why don’t you, and let me go in for five minutes.”

  “No. I’m not even going to allow you to look into the house. Not until I’m told differently.” Josh asked him what harm it could do. “Plenty from where I’m standing. You’re a horrible person, and I’d rather cut off my arm than let you have a single comfort those girls didn’t have while you lived it up in their family home.”

  Rolling his eyes at the man, Josh told him he’d give him two hundred dollars. He didn’t even look interested, which he supposed was a good thing since he didn’t have any cash on him. Josh wanted the credit cards to his brother’s accounts so he could charge some clothing, as well as get the much needed room. No one used cash anymore anyway.

  He sat down on the front steps and pulled out his phone. Someplace on it had to be the phone number for Lucy—the phone was his brother’s. Apparently, when they’d gone on trips, they didn’t take their phones so no one would bother them. He thought that was just as bad as him tossing the girls to the side of the road. How the hell were they to get in touch with him if he didn’t have a phone? Whatever. Josh had always thought his brother and his wife were weird.

  Finding the number proved to be telling for him as well. It didn’t have just Lucy’s name there. It actually only said, “Daughter #1.” Shaking his head, he called the number. He waited for an entire minute before he realized the phone wasn’t working. Checking the battery and seeing it was fully charged, he knew that at some point in her teaching him a lesson, Lucy had turned the phone off. He turned to the man still at the door.

  “I don’t suppose you could let me go in and use the phone, could you? Or yours. I don’t care. I need to get in touch with my niece.” The man didn’t even look in his direction. “Are all people like you dicks, or is it just you? I swear to Christ, all I want to do is get my wallet so I can get a place to stay tonight. Perhaps get me a nice steak dinner. Hell, I’ll even buy you dinner if you will just allow me inside.”

  “The credit cards have been canceled too.” He looked at the woman in front of him and realized it was Lucy. “You aren’t going to get into the house. We’ve decided, as a family, that we’re going to sell it when we’ve gotten the things out of it that we want.”

  “I’m family. Why don’t you just let me live in it until you have it sold? It’s the least you can do for me.” She just laughed and sat down on the chair she’d brought with her. “You’re not a nice person, Lucy. What would your parents say about how you’re treating me?”

  “Great job? Kick him again while he’s down? I don’t know what they’d say about you dropping us off at the mall either, but I’m sure it wouldn’t be very nice. I don’t want you around, Josh. I don’t even want to be around you. I’ve come here today to tell you that first of all, we’re pressing charges against you. That in the very near future, you’re going to prison. You should have been a great deal nicer to us, and you might have been able to live a long and free life away from prison.” He told her they were all still alive. “Yes, we are, no thanks to you. We’re happy too. I’m married to a wonderful man. We’ve adopted my sisters so they can be safe too.”

  “What if I were to kidnap you right now? Do you think he’d pay me to get you back? With all your sickly sweet happiness, do you think he’d care whether or not you were still alive?” She looked to his left, and he turned too. “Mother fuck, Lucy. What the fuck is that?”

  “I believe it’s a great black bear. If you were to look closer, you’d see there are six of them around you. As much as I hate to warn you, Josh, you even reach out to touch me, and you’ll never be found. I do think, however, that would make it more difficult to sell the house.” He asked her why, keeping his eyes on the bears he could now see. “The blood. Bears are messy killers. Did you know that? I mean, just look at their claws. Ian, please show him your massive claws, honey.”

  The big bear came closer to him, and it was all Josh could do to hold onto his bladder. When the thing put out his paw, not only did the monster stretch out his nails, but his paw alone looked as if it was bigger than Josh’s entire head. He looked at Lucy when she thanked the bear, and he moved back.

  “You’re friends with bears now? Christ, what is this world coming to?” She said she was married to Ian. “Married to him? You’ve sullied yourself by marrying a shifter? What the fuck is wrong with you? Do you know what your parents would say?”

  “Why do you keep bringing them up? You think they care about what happens to us? I don’t know why I have to tell you this, but Josh, they’re both dead and have been for some time. Why would I even care what my dead parents think about anything I do?” She looked around again, then back at him when a man dressed in jeans and a T-shirt joined her. “You’ve met my husband before, Josh. But today, he has a few things he’d like to say to you.”

  “Touch her or her sisters, and not only will you die, but I will personally make you suffer in ways that you cannot imagine. Understand me?” Josh nodded. He wasn’t afraid of the big man. But when something made a noise next to him, he turned and looked right into the face of the biggest fucking bear he’d ever in his life seen. His bladder just simply let go. “This is my brother. He wants me to warn you that if I don’t do exactly what I told you, if you touch my family, then he will. And he’s a great deal meaner than any of the rest of us.”

  J
osh could feel the bear’s breath as it blew over his face. It was hot and incredibly sweet-smelling. It didn’t take away from the fact that he would and could bite him. The teeth of the bear looked like ivory sharp knives in a mouth full of them. Even the bear’s eyes, browner than he’d noticed before, looked mean. Intelligent, too, like he knew exactly what he was thinking.

  “Lucian said to tell you he does indeed know what you’re thinking. That he is reading your puny mind. Also, he said to tell you that you smell of piss. However, even before you wet yourself, he had your scent. That way, no matter where you are, where you would think to hide, he’d be able to find you quickly.” Josh asked him what he’d done to warrant such hostility. “Breathing? Your heart beating? But on top of that, you not only nearly killed my sisters-in-law and wife by throwing them out of their home, but you were also paid for it. If I had my way, I’d tell my brother to end your fucking life right now.”

  “I have to tell you both. I just don’t understand where this is all coming from.” He had to think fast when the big bear touched his nose to his cheek. “Can you please tell your brother to get the fuck out of my face? I’m having a hard time thinking.”

  “You’d probably be better off if you didn’t tax yourself with thinking. As for where this is coming from, you’ve been told, several times, why you’re in deep shit with us. If you need it repeated to you yet again, I think it would be best if we gave you a little remembrance, so you don’t have to be told again. You might just call it a lesson in remembering. What do you think?” Ian laughed as he continued. “It will be painful and ugly when the wound is scarred, but I think you’d remember it every time you looked at yourself in the mirror.”

  “No, no lessons.” He finally stood up, but it didn’t keep the bear from being right on his heels. “Lucy, why don’t we just start over? You know, go back to the way it was, where I live in the house with the money put back into my account. You and your sisters can live with Ian here. It sounds like he’s a fairly smart man, so I don’t think you’d be without your own funds soon enough.”

  “He’s worth more than my parents were. But it doesn’t matter if he was broke or rich, you’re not going to be living in the house, nor will I foot the bill for you living. You did notice that I said living. Because at the rate you’re going, I don’t see you doing that for very much longer. You’re going to have to get it into your head sooner or later that you’re not welcome in our lives. You’ve burnt that bridge. I’m not going to allow you anything. Not the house, money, or anything else you think you should have.”

  “This isn’t fair at all. You’re being incredibly selfish with this.” He took a step closer to her, thinking if he could simply reach out—

  Josh had no idea how it happened, but suddenly he was on his back with the large bear atop him. Not only that, but his great teeth were at his throat. If he’d had any kind of bowel movement in him, he surely would have shit himself. As it was, he pissed himself again.

  “Please don’t let him kill me.” Ian laughed, and so did Lucy. “This isn’t funny, you fucking idiots. Do you have any idea how close he is to just chomping my neck out? Pretty damned close.”

  “If he’d have wanted to, Josh, he could have taken your head off. But for now, he wants me to tell you that touching his family will get you killed.” Josh told Ian he wasn’t touching anyone. “No. Not when he took you down. But I did warn you that he could understand what you’re thinking.”

  This was getting way out of hand. Nothing was going his way either. When the bear moved off him, Josh didn’t move. The fucker could move fast, and he didn’t want to have to be held down like that again.

  A sudden move from the bear had him screaming in pain. Holding his face, hot blood seeping through his fingers, Josh knew he’d been cut. He didn’t even want to think about what it was that cut him. Looking at his niece, he asked her what the hell had happened.

  “I’d say you’ve been marked.” She stood up, and Ian picked up her chair. A quick kiss between the two of them had his belly churn up. Or it could have been from the pain. Lucy finally knelt down to his level, and he wanted to spit in her eye. A growl from all the bears had him swallowing hard. “I’d get to the hospital if I were you, Josh. It looks to me like you’ve pissed someone off.”

  “You’re going to pay for this, Lucy. I’m going to have the bills sent directly to you and that fucking husband of yours.” She laughed as she stood up. “You mother fucking bitch. You’re going to regret all of this. As soon as I’m up on my feet again, see if you don’t. I’m done being fucking nice to you.”

  She was still laughing when she got into the car with Ian. Josh really was going to get her, and when he did, her living on the streets was going to seem like a sunny vacation. The bear growled at him again.

  “You’re all brave and shit being a bear, aren’t you?” The bear, he would swear for the rest of his life, smiled at him. “When I get to the hospital, I’m going to tell everyone the McCrays are a bunch of savage bears. That’ll have them hunting you down and killing the lot of you. You’ll see.”

  The bear stood there for several seconds before it turned away from him. Josh started to stand up and was on his knees when the mother fucker pissed on him. Not just his head, but right in the wound that was still bleeding. Burning to the point that he was sick with the pain, Josh fell forward. Bumping his face on the filthy ground, the pain was too much, and he fainted dead away. Thankfully.

  ~*~

  Lucy laughed every time she thought of Josh after they were home. She’d once thought he was an okay uncle, but now that she was older and he was in her space more, she realized what a fucking nasty piece of shit he was. Looking over at Ian when he busted out laughing, she asked him what was going on. Sitting on the couch with him, she was glad he wrapped his arm around her.

  “He pissed on him.” It took him three tries to tell her who had done it this time. “Lucian said he pissed him off again, and when he was getting ready to leave Josh, Lucian pissed all over his face and hands.”

  “Did someone take pictures?” There was a camera on the front stoop of the house, but she had no idea if it was working or not. “He really thinks things should go back to the way he wants them. Like we would just say okay, no hard feelings for leaving us to die.”

  “He’s going to owe more than he can cover with his ass.” Lucy told Ian she hoped he ended up in jail. “Or a loony bin. Lucian called an ambulance for him. He was unconscious while they were still there. If Josh mentions that a bear pissed on him or even cut him, they’ll have him locked up so quickly it’ll be months before he’s out again.”

  “I thought most of the town knows you’re bears.” He nodded and told her why they’d still lock him up. “Oh. Okay, I guess letting it get out to everyone would be a bad thing. So just the town here knows for the most part. When he starts spouting off his mouth, then everyone pretends he’s nuts. I think he is anyway. I just can’t believe how dense he was being with all this going on.”

  “I’m not sure if he’s pretending to be that dense or he really is. Perhaps he thinks if he ignores the obvious long enough, whoever he’s talking to will just let him get by with it. It might have worked for him before.” Lucy didn’t know. She’d not seen a great deal of her uncle growing up. “I’m sure there is a good reason for that as well. But I guess we’ll never know. I’m going to see about getting us something to tide us over until dinner. What would you like to drink?”

  “I love you, Ian.” When he stopped moving, she stared at him. “I have been wanting to say that to you for a couple of days now, but it never seemed to be the right time. But I do. I think I have since I met you. Is this still the wrong time?”

  “No. It’s never the wrong time to tell someone you love them. I love you, as well. May I ask you how you figured it out?” She told him he was in her mind and heart all the time. “That’s a wonderful answer, Lucy. You’re the
same with me.”

  He moved back into the room and sat on the couch again. However, this time he was further away from her than before. Lucy wanted to ask him what was going through his head right now but was almost afraid to. He might, for some reason, tell her she wasn’t his type or something.

  “I don’t know what is going through your head right now, but you should know it’s not nearly as bad as your face is telling me it is. I love you very much. Just think on that, all right?” She nodded. “Do I want to know what you were thinking?”

  “More than likely not. I was afraid you were going to tell me something like it’s too late, or that you’ve changed your mind about us.” He said he would never say that. “I guess I knew that, but my head and my heart rarely agree on things. Like this. What this is between us.”

  “What do you think this is between us?” She told him her thoughts. “Yes, we did marry quickly because of your uncle and his ability to perhaps take your sisters from you. While that was what rushed us, I would have married you at any time, uncle or not. This just made it so you were all safe. And mine.”

  “I’m afraid.” He asked her of what. “Everything, I guess you could say. I’m afraid of something happening to the girls. Not so much now, but I do worry about them. That you’ll really think this was a bad idea.”

  “Tell me what you think would be a reason for me to think this was a bad idea. I love you, Lucy. I have since the first time I saw you. I’ve never wanted anyone to be in my life as much as I do you. You’re my reason for getting up in the morning, and for wanting to be a better man. I will admit I’m taking a lot of cold showers, but I can do that until you tell me you’re ready for us to take the next step in our relationship.” She asked him if that meant sex. “It means us making love. Sex is for relief, I think. Making love with you is what we’d be doing. A great deal of it, too, if you don’t kill me the first time.”

  She laughed. It was a good time to laugh, and she felt better for it. “I do love you. I really do.”