Bearly Christmas

by Becca Fanning

  She shrugged. “We got to know each other better. That’s not nothing.”

  He pulled up his mouth in a half smile. “No. That’s not nothing.”

  “I’ll talk to them again. Maybe eventually I can get them to see the light.”

  “Let’s hope.”

  He stood and dropped a $5 bill on the table. Must be just soda then. She stood as well and followed him out of the bar. He waved to her as he walked in the opposite direction.

  She was almost to her car when she turned around. “Slade! Wait!”

  She ran over to where he was unlocking his car door. He turned to face her. She stopped in front of him, leaving just a foot or two of space separating them. Then she reached up, took a fistful of his shirt, and pulled him toward her as she leaned it.

  She pressed her mouth to his hard, not letting him back away easily. But he didn’t back away. He put his hand at the small of her back and drew her closer. He kissed back just as hard.

  She laughed when she ended the kiss. “Sorry, I… I guess I’m so starved for time with men and you’re just so hot.” She winked at him. “I spend way too much time in a household of women. They get on my nerves. It’s really refreshing to hang out with you. If you ever want to do it again, let me know. You have my number from when I called you.”

  “Okay.” He nodded. “I just might call you then.”

  “I hope so.”

  He kissed her again, short and sweet, before she hopped off to her car.

  Maybe it wasn’t the smartest thing to do, but she really didn’t have a choice. She wanted him so badly and he just sat there, looking all sexy. It was the first of anything she’d felt since Valerie died and if she didn’t act on it, or do something to keep it going, then it might fade and she’d be right back in her grief, lonely. She was sick of feeling lonely. And she wanted Slade.

  Well, that was one way to show her leadership abilities, wasn’t it? To take charge and make the first move? He had to like that. Most guys did. Found it hot when the woman acted first. Usually it was because the guy didn’t want the pressure of making the first move, of the chance of rejection, but that couldn’t be true in Slade’s case. He had far too much confidence to be one of those guys. No, with him, it would be about the challenge. She’d challenged him by making the first move. Now, he had to step up and take charge unless he wanted to let her run the show. And she was pretty sure that, being a man, his alpha was stronger than hers.

  Good then. Let’s see what he does. See what move he made. See how much he really wanted her in return. She hoped it proved to be as much, or more than, she wanted him.

  * * *

  Veronica was on her way home when her phone rang. At first, her heart skipped. Was it Slade? But when she looked at her phone, she saw Beth’s name on the caller ID.

  “Hey Beth,” she said.

  “V? Where are you?”

  “On my way home. What’s up?”

  “You should probably hurry.” Beth sounded worried and her voice was hushed.

  “Why? What’s going on?”

  “Did you go to meet Slade?”

  “What? Why would you think that?” She hadn’t told any of them, and she’d been careful. How did they find out?

  “That’s what Christina said. And now, she’s got everyone going over there to attack them.”

  “What?! Attack them how?”

  There was a muffling sound, like someone was covering the phone.

  “Beth? You there?”

  The call ended. She must have hung up. Beth probably called without the others knowing. She could have endangered herself if they’d told her not to tell Veronica. They might have attacked her as well.

  Well, Veronica wasn’t going to allow this. She pressed harder on the gas and scrolled to Slade’s number on her phone.

  “Hey,” he said when he answered.

  “We have a problem.”

  “Okay. What?” He already sounded ready to handle the situation. Ready to take charge. She liked that.

  “I just got a call from my clanmate. She said Christina is leading an attack on your guys.”

  “What else do you know?”

  “She just told me to hurry, so I’d guess it’s going on now. She seemed to know I was meeting you.”

  “Let me know if you get any more information,” he said.

  “I will. You too.”

  “Veronica?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Thank you.” Then he hung up.

  She drove as fast as she could back to her house. When she got there, she found the place empty. No note, nothing to say what was going on. It looked like it could be any normal day with them scattered off dong their own thing, their own parts of running the business.

  If it weren’t for Beth’s call, she would have no idea what was happening right now. She quickly stripped down, then ran out the back door, changing into bear form before her feet even hit the grass.

  She picked up their scent instantly. She knew it so well, it wasn’t hard. The problem was stopping long enough to really concentrate. Their smells were all over the woods. They were all through there all the time, so finding the most recent trail took a second, though she had an idea of which way they had headed.

  She picked up their trail and booked it, running at top speed for several long minutes and until she heard a distance growling sound. The sound of a fight maybe.

  She ran harder, her heart ready to burst from the speed. “What’s going on?” she thought to them.

  There was no response. So, they’d agreed to keep her in the dark. And it looked like Beth was playing along to appear like she was with them. Veronica tried to reach their minds, but they were shut off to her.

  She finally saw the flashes of black fur up ahead. There were more than four bears in the woods, wrestling and jumping on each other. But then she saw several bears run off, away from the group.

  “Stop this fighting now!” she shouted in her mind.

  Her four women turned and ran toward her, now that the bears they were fighting ran off.

  “What are you doing?” she demanded. “I forbid you from coming here.”

  “And we decided to take matters into our own hands,” Christina thought back, not pausing as she ran right past her. “We taught them a lesson. We’re not pushovers. We’re not weak girly bears.”

  Veronica turned, and now she was chasing after them. “Tell me what happened.”

  There was only silence in their heads. She knew Beth would tell her later probably, but she wanted them to fess up.

  “Did anyone get hurt?” she asked.

  “None of our clan,” Christina thought proudly.

  “And the Walkers?” Silence again. “You have all deliberately disobeyed me. I should fight and kill every one of you.”

  Christina laughed in her mind from several feet ahead of Veronica. “Go ahead. You think you can beat any of us? You wouldn’t even try. You’re all talk.”

  Anger flared again inside her. Slade was right. She had to do something. They were going to keep attacking. Keep stepping out of line. But the thought of taking the action she should take overwhelmed her. She wasn’t the best fighter, it was true. And though being alpha gave her some advantage in size and strength, it wouldn’t be enough. She didn’t want to fight them, either. Didn’t want to hurt them, even if they had done something horrible. There was enough pain in her life. She didn’t want more.

  When they got back to the house, they changed back to human form and Veronica shouted at them, standing naked on the back porch. “This is unacceptable, all of you! You have gone against my commands and you have attacked innocent men. I hope they press charges. I hope you all wind up in jail. Don’t think I’ll come to bail you out.”

  Christina glared back and Abby had a hard look, but Beth refused to look at her and Robin looked ashamed. At least she knew where she stood with each of them.

  “They won’t press charges because we’ll just attack again,” Christina said
. “I’m not afraid of jail time and besides, what are they going to say? That I turned into a bear and clawed them? He has obvious animal injuries. No one will believe him.”

  “Who?” Veronica asked.

  “One of the Walkers,” Abby said.

  “We went after one of the bee guys,” Christina said. “He wasn’t so tough after all.”

  “With four on one?” Veronica shrieked. “I guess not. I don’t know how many people would be, even those big men. How unfair and unethical. You fought one of them? All four of you?”

  “We waited until we could get one alone,” Robin said quietly. “It was Christina’s idea.”

  Christina turned and glared. “Well, someone had to take charge around here. Clearly you weren’t going to do anything.” She gestured to Veronica.

  “I was, actually,” Veronica said. “When you launched into your disobedient plan, I was talking with their leader, trying to come to an agreement. You know, the proper and civil way, like adults.”

  Christin huffed. “We’re bears, V. Don’t forget that. Our animal nature changes things.”

  Veronica snatched up her clothes from the floor where she’d left them and yanked her shorts on. “Yeah, well, our human nature doesn’t.” She pulled on her shirt next. “None of you will leave this house for the rest of the night. Do you understand me?”

  They all nodded except Christina. She narrowed her eyes and watched Veronica walk away.

  She dashed to her room and called Slade. He didn’t answer. When his voicemail came on, she said, “Is everyone okay? I have my clan here, and I’ve forbidden them from leaving the house. Please let me know what’s going on. I’m sorry, Slade. Christina just went behind my back and did this, and she doesn’t care that I commanded them to stay away from you. I hope everyone is okay. I’m so sorry.”

  She hung up and paced her room. Should she go over there? See what was wrong? But they might be hostile. They didn’t know the whole situation, unless Slade had managed to tell them some of it. But if he got home when they were in the middle of a fight, how much had he told them?

  And if one of the guys was hurt, they might be going to the hospital now. Maybe that’s why he didn’t answer. She felt so bad about the whole thing. She didn’t want anyone getting hurt, and somehow, she felt worse that it was one of the men who had. If one of her women was hurt, it would be their own stupid fault. They would deserve it. But the men had only been trying to make the situation better.

  She hoped whoever it was would be okay. She didn’t know which was the beekeeper, or even any of their names, but it didn’t matter. Whoever he was, he was one of Slade’s, and that’s what mattered. She didn’t want Slade to be hurt by this. And she really didn’t want him to turn against her through all this. What if he did, though? What if somehow, he thought she’d planned it that way, to get him out of the way so her clan could attack?

  Oh no. It did seem like a solid explanation. She’d set the time and place. How convenient. But then, she’d called him to warn him. To tell him to hurry. That had to mean something, right? He had to know, after all she’d told him, that she would never allow this. Would never order this. As her stomach tightened in panic, her phone rang.

  It was Slade. She held her breath and answered. “Is everyone okay?”

  “Hey. No. Knox is hurt really badly. We’re at the hospital.”

  “Oh my God, Slade, I am so sorry. You know I didn’t allow this. I forbid them from coming onto your property at all. I never wanted it to get to this. I never wanted a fight or for anyone to get hurt.”

  “I know. He’s going to be okay. But Veronica…”

  “Yes?” She gulped. Her mouth was dry waiting for his response.

  “We’re going to have to retaliate. I can’t just let this go. I owe my guys more than that.”

  “Okay, right. Of course.” She tried to breathe. “What does that mean, though?”

  “I don’t know yet. But I told the guys what you and I discussed today. They’re aware of the situation.”

  “But Slade—”

  “I gotta go.”

  “Bye,” she said, but he’d already hung up.

  She continued pacing, now worried for a different reason. What did it mean that he’d told them everything? That they wouldn’t hurt her because they knew? Or didn’t that matter? Maybe they didn’t care that she had forbidden them and they hadn’t listened. Maybe they thought if she couldn’t lead them, that she had to be taken out. Maybe it was going to be a huge slaughter.

  She went downstairs and checked all the windows and doors to make sure everything was locked up.

  “What’s going on?” Robin asked.

  “We have to be prepared for retaliation.” She spoke louder, so everyone could hear her, no matter where they were in the house. “I want a watch all night. Take two hours shifts and rotate. Bear form, around the house only. Stay close. Got it?”

  She heard a confirmation of some sort from each of them.

  “Watch starts now. I’ll go first.” Veronica changed back into bear form, but made sure her phone was close so she’d hear it if it rang again. She walked in a circle around the house, hoping it would burn off some of her anxiety.

  * * *

  Slade paced across the front of the living room, stroking his chin. The little hairs there needed to be trimmed, but it was the least of his worries.

  “I think we should go tonight,” Beck said. He’d been wearing a permanent scowl since he found out his brother was injured. He was ready to fight them all. He was agitated and angry. Even his girlfriend, Harmony, hadn’t been able to comfort him.

  “We have to be smart about this,” Slade said. “And if we go tonight, we’ll be fighting on no sleep, no rest, and emotionally and physically in distress. If we’re going to do this, we need to be in peak condition. Unless, of course, you don’t mind if someone else gets hurt.”

  “Of course he minds,” Amir said. “He knows you’re right. Don’t you, Beck?”

  Beck gave him a hard look, but said, “Fine. Tomorrow then?”

  “Tomorrow,” Slade said. “We’ll get a good night’s sleep and rest up. Then when we’re ready, we’ll go. Agreed?”

  “Agreed,” Amir and Daxton said.

  “Agreed,” Beck said.

  “But.” Slade held up his hand. “I’ve told you about Veronica. Unless she fights, do not hurt her.”

  “And if she joins in?” Dax asked.

  “Then she’ll either have lied to me today, or have changed her mind, and she’s no better than the rest of them.”

  The next evening, they gathered again. They’d spent a large part of the day at the hospital. Knox’s wounds were healing, and quickly. One benefit of being a shifter. But the fact that he still couldn’t use his arm, and his cuts hadn’t yet healed meant that he was badly hurt.

  Slade had been torn about Veronica. She had called to tell him what was going on when her rogue clan went after his guys. So, it was only fair to warn her back, right? But in that warning, he might be setting himself and his guys up. What if they planned something worse for their arrival? Would she tell her clanmates or keep it to herself? He couldn’t be sure. He was far from being able to fully trust her. And she was the leader of a group of his enemies. In the end, he decided to warn her, but give her no time. That way, if any of the other women found out, they wouldn’t have the chance to plan an attack.