Beck Bear (Daughters of Beasts Book 2)

by T. S. Joyce

  “You’re a good brother, Rhett,” Dr. Monroe called after him. “But you can’t be her legs forever. At some point she needs to learn to stand on her own.”

  He understood what Dr. Monroe was saying, really he did. But the doctor was human, and before Sara, he’d only treated a handful of shifters. And none of those were lions. And none of those were the daughters of an Alpha. And none of those had dealt with the pressure Sara had since birth.

  It had started snowing again, so Rhett zipped his winter coat up to his neck. He pulled his phone out of his back pocket, and then he called a number he never thought he would’ve called again. Dad’s.

  “I figured you’d call,” Dad answered. “I know with Sara’s return, I’ll get you back, too.”

  “You think so?” he growled.

  “Of course. You two are inseparable. Always have been.”

  “No matter what Sara decides, I’ll never be part of a Pride who destroys its own lions.”

  “If you’re talking about Sara, you’re wrong. She’s stronger than you think she is.”

  “Oh, I know how strong she is. I’m the one who’s here, Dad. I’m the one visiting her, watching her progress, watching her growth. Where were you? Huh? Where the fuck were you when she lost her animal to those fucking drugs you shoved down her throat?”

  “I didn’t shove any—”

  “Bullshit. Seriously, I will call bullshit on every single lie you try to feed me. Give them to your damn Pride. They still have faith in you. I don’t.”

  “I thought I was doing what was best—”

  “For you,” Rhett snarled. “You wanted a perfect albino lioness princess to sit right beside you and make you look good. And you wanted a perfect albino lion prince to sit at your right hand and wage war on whoever you pointed at. And look at us. I turned singer for the masses, and she got addicted to the shit you gave her. I’m not calling to tell you I’m coming back with Sara. I’m calling to tell you that if she ever gets hurt again, I’ll kill you. And you and I both know you can’t call bullshit on that. I’m not my father. I don’t lie. Guard your neck, Dad. Take care of her like you should’ve always taken care of your daughter, and you’ll keep breathing. Screw her up, and I will steal that last breath from you so fucking fast your ghost will stand in your territory for a day, trying to figure out how the fuck he even came to be. Guess how many nights of sleep I’ll lose killing you.”

  He could hear his father swallow audibly over the phone, but he didn’t answer.

  “Guess the number, and I’ll hang up, and you won’t have to deal with me until you fuck up again. Guess, Dad.”

  “Zero.” His father’s voice broke on the word.

  Rhett hung up and almost, almost gave into the rage boiling in his veins. He almost, almost chucked his phone against the side of his old Chevy just for the satisfaction of seeing it shatter into a hundred pieces.

  He drove the entire way back to the mountains pissed at the world. It wasn’t in his nature to stay angry, but as long as he lived, he would never forgive what had been done to his sister. Or to him.

  It was dark by the time he turned by the mailbox onto the single lane road leading up to the trailer park. Part of him wanted to go home to his singlewide and drink until he got a song out of him and onto paper, because that’s the only way his muse worked nowadays. If he was obliterated, the words came. If he wasn’t, he just sat in this life, his feelings building up with no escape until he wanted to drown himself in booze and release all the tension. With a pen. With paper. And with an old guitar his mom had bought him the day he’d told her music sang to his soul. She should’ve been Alpha, not his dad. She was a queen paired up with a sack of shit who called all the shots in a Pride that would always be stagnant.

  He didn’t see the bear until it was almost too late. She came right out of the woods and into the road. He locked up the brakes, knowing he would hit her. Knowing it was too late to stop the momentum. The truck skidded sideways, and he saw the fear in her eyes just before he slammed into her. Pretty silver eyes.

  He heard the shocked grunt that whooshed out of her, felt her fur through the open window as he lurched to the side on impact.

  The truck rocked to a stop, and he winced away from the window, expecting an instantaneous and violent reaction from the she-bear. Grizzlies were terrifying, and even more so when they were hurt.

  And from the deep limp she had as she trotted a few steps away from the truck, he’d hurt her.

  “Shit,” he muttered. “I’m so sorry.”

  The enormous brown bear had her profile to him, just at the edge of his headlights, staring at him with wide eyes. She looked so scared. Danger. It was dangerous when they were scared.

  But he couldn’t just leave her out here. The way she glanced around the woods, she looked…lost.

  Breath shaking, Rhett shoved open the door beside him and got out slowly, hands up. “Whoa,” he murmured when she stood up on her hind legs. She went unsteady on her injured side and fell, barely catching herself on her front paws. She looked from him, to the woods, to him, and back again, as if she wanted to leave but didn’t know how.

  He didn’t understand. She should be charging him right now. Ripping into him for hurting her, but she didn’t feel angry to his animal. Just confused.

  “It’s okay,” he murmured, taking another step to her. “It’s unfamiliar territory. Juno, right?”

  She sat there, tensed like she would run at any moment.

  “You’re Remi’s friend, yeah? Grew up together or something. I think I heard her say that when I was spying on her and Kamp. I do that a lot. It’s boring here, and they talk all the time. Nothing better to do than listen to their blabbering. She said you two grew up in Damon’s Mountains together.” Truth be told, he was just yammering out loud so it wouldn’t be so intimidating to approach an injured grizzly. He cleared his throat and took another step toward her, hands out, head angled, exposing his throat in submission. Did that work for bears? It sure as shit worked for lions. He should’ve listened better when Remi talked about her people. “You said you know me, right? Rhett Copeland. I used to sing. Now I just fail at lumberjacking and drink a lot of beer. You could say I’ve found my calling.”

  The bear snorted and shook her head.

  “There we go. You like self-deprecating jokes. Okay. Here’s another one. I had everything, and I gave it up on purpose because, believe it or not, living in these mountains with a Crew of fuck-ups is me living my best life.”

  He was so close to the chuffing bear now. So. Close. Closer than he’d ever been to Remi’s bear without getting claw marks. And Juno’s fur was a mouse brown color that waved in the breeze to expose a lighter color underneath. Remi’s fur was course and tough, but Juno’s looked soft, and he wanted to touch it just to feel the difference. Pretty silver eyes. They looked the same color as the full moon tonight. It was snowing still, so here he stood, his fingers stretching to her neck, snowflakes falling all around them and clinging to the tips of her fur. Heart pounding out of his chest, he touched her fur just light enough to tickle.

  She clamped her teeth onto his arm so fast he had no time to react, only freeze and hope she had mercy on him. He could feel her big, sharp teeth putting pressure on his forearm, millimeter by millimeter, and her eyes held him trapped. Or enamored maybe. Did he care if this was his last day on earth? Things had gotten so fucked up. Would it even matter if Juno ended him right now?

  Out here in the snow, her powerful mouth on his arm tethering him to her…well, it became a special moment. Her bite was powerful but gentle enough to keep him there. Had he ever been so connected to another living being? For a second, he understood her. Let people close because she wanted comfort, but then punish them when they got too close. How many hundreds of times had he done that in his lifetime?

  She clamped down again, just a little more, then released him, and the moment was done.

  With a grunt of pain, she hunched into herself and shrank int
o the form of a naked woman. Juno was all that remained of the beast, her bare shoulders dusted with snowflakes, her hair wild, her knees drawn up to her chest, her thin arms wrapped around them. She was shivering.

  “Where am I?” she asked in a hoarse voice.

  “Rogue Pride woods,” he murmured, yanking off his jacket. He put it around her shoulders, scooped her up, and lifted her from the ground.

  “Where are you taking me?”

  “Somewhere safe.”

  “You better not be a serial killer,” she said through chattering teeth as he made his way to the truck.

  “I’m not a serial killer, but I do like Raisin Bran.”

  “What?”

  “It’s a cereal.”

  There was a split second of silence and then the cutest little laugh he’d ever heard. “That was a really lame joke.”

  “And yet you laughed. Terrible sense of humor on you.”

  “You hit me with a pickup truck.”

  “Yeah, well, that’s what you get for recognizing me.”

  Juno snorted as he settled her into the passenger’s seat. “I hope I damaged your truck.”

  “Oh, you definitely did. We are at war now.”

  “I let you pet me. We are at peace.”

  “You tried to bite me. War back on.”

  She was giggling now, and he froze beside her seat, watching the easy smile on her lips. “Why are you out here without Remi?”

  The smile fell, and she cuddled deeper into his jacket. There was that look of confusion again. “I don’t…I don’t know. I didn’t mean to Change.”

  “You can’t control them?”

  “If I tell you a secret, will you keep it?”

  “If you do me a favor in return.”

  “I’m not boning you.”

  “Your loss, but I was thinking you should keep my secret, too.”

  “Ooooh. A secret for a secret. I tell you something big, and in return for shouldering it, I don’t tell a soul you’re hiding here.”

  “Clever bear. Now tell me your secret. I’m pretty good with them. I’ve learned that Remi is not. She will lay everyone’s shit bare.”

  Juno laughed again. “That she will.” She swallowed hard and pursed her lips, searching his face. And then she told him, “I’m supposed to die soon. I think my sickness has begun.”

  He wished. He wished hard. He wished she would tell him she was just teasing or that he’d heard a lie in her voice, but she was telling the truth. This beautiful stranger believed she would die. “Your secret’s safe with me.”

  “Pinky swear?” she asked, maneuvering her hand out of his jacket to offer one slender pinky.

  “Oh, God, I haven’t done a pinky swear since fifth grade. I have to remember how to do this.” He hooked his pinky onto hers and shook once.

  “Rusty, but you’ll get the hang of it,” she said supportively. “Your secret is safe with me, too. Whatever reason you have for being here, it’s none of my business. Unless you wanted to tell me.” She waggled her eyebrows.

  “Pass. Now we are at war again.” He reached across and buckled her in, then shut the door. The heater worked better when his truck was moving, and he didn’t like that she was shivering so much. It dug at an instinct to make her comfortable.

  She watched him climb in, shut the door beside him, and throw the truck into gear. She watched him ease his foot onto the gas and straighten out the truck, and she watched him as he guided the rig up the snowy road to the parking field. She definitely watched him as he hummed along to an old Beck Brother’s song that floated on the air through the radio.

  Her attention never left him, so he stopped humming and asked, “What?”

  Juno shook her head and said, “Nothing.”

  “You’re dying. Might as well tell me before you croak.”

  “Har har.” A few seconds of silence went by as he parked his truck by Grim’s old navy Bronco. “I look up to you.”

  “Everyone looks up to me. I’m tall.”

  “God, you’re impossible to compliment.”

  Rhett sighed and shook his head. “Look, I don’t need compliments. I don’t even like them. I’m not what everyone thinks. I’m just…me.”

  “Yeah, the me you’re talking about? Went against set-list coordinators during an entire sold-out tour and sang acoustic covers of some of my favorite singers at the end of every standing ovation you got. The me you talk about didn’t ever apologize for being a shifter and didn’t hide the animal. The me you talk about made me sit up for the first time in years and feel country music again. Not just hear it. Feel it. That’s pretty cool when you can affect people like that.”

  He sat there dumbfounded as she shoved her door open and got out. His jacket barely covered her butt as she walked barefoot toward the trail that would lead to the trailer park. Long curvy legs that had his dick throbbing, but her words had done something else to his body. His heart was pounding and his muse whispered a lyric for the first time in months without a lick of booze in him.

  And then she walked out, the one that got away

  I never got a chance to say

  after all this time, it’s still on my mind…

  I wish you stayed…

  Chapter Seven

  On the front porch of 1010 sat a chair with a pile of her shredded clothes. Juno’s purse was on top of that, all of her stuff tucked neatly back inside. A note had been paperclipped to the edge. The paperclip was supposed to be a dog bone, but looked like a dick when it was attached to something. She laughed. Couldn’t help herself. She was still about 35% pissed at Remi for hacking her airline account and messing with her career, but a dick was a dick, and they were hilarious.

  She plucked the letter off her purse and read it.

  Juno-Bug. You Changed. We saw bear tracks and you totally destroyed your clothes. It’s my fault, isn’t it? When you get back to the trailer, I swear I will only be a fun friend.

  “Yeah? Not the life-ruining kind?” she muttered under her breath before reading on.

  I have a surprise. Put some clothes on. You’re probably super naked on account of ripping up all yours. That pantsuit was probably expensive, lady. Careful with your duds! Uhhh, don’t wear anything expensive tonight, for tonight…we ride! Go change now. I’m watching you. But not in a creepy way. Do you want a hot dog? I made lots. Wait, this isn’t a text message. You can’t respond. I’ll just bring hot dogs. Okay, go put underoos on. See you soon, bye.

  -Remi, Your Awesome Amazing Not Annoying Heart In The Right Place Good Intentioned Friend

  Juno growled, but it came out human. Oh, now her bear wanted to hide?

  Juno sighed and wondered how the hell she was going to tell Remi what Beaston had predicted. She was scared. Okay? She was terrified by what had happened tonight. Juno folded the letter and pulled her purse off the chair, made her way to the door. She was scared of dying. Scared of these first signs of sickness, scared of losing control and being remembered for her death, not her life.

  At the door, she turned just in time to see Rhett come out of the tree line and make his way to the trailer next door. He had on a white thermal sweater that had a V at the neck and showed off those pecs of his. The man had probably boned more girls than he could count.

  “Stop looking at me like I’m a hamburger, Juno. If you wanted to eat me, you missed your chance.”

  “I tasted you,” she teased. “You taste like beer and bad decisions. I spat you back out.”

  His chuckle was deep and gravelly and, yeah, it was sexy, too. Annoying. “Bad decisions, yes. I’ve actually patented a cologne with that scent. But beer? Nah. I haven’t had one yet today.”

  “Yet.”

  “About to change that right now. Night Juno.” His frosty blue eyes stayed on her until he disappeared onto the porch of his trailer.

  A few seconds later, she heard the plucking of guitar strings. God, he was so good. So natural. So enthralling. She could’ve stood out there listening all night if i
t weren’t for the freezing weather and her lack of “underoos,” as Remi had put it. Why was she so dang cold tonight? Oh yeah…because she was getting sick. Which wasn’t fair because shifters rarely even got sick. Normal shifters were born healthy and died of old age. And here she was, twenty-seven years young, and her days were numbered? She kind of wished Beaston had never told her this stupid destiny. She got it; he didn’t want her to waste her life. Because of his prediction, she’d worked harder, had slept less, got more done but, good God, what did a real day off even feel like? Like this? Like an emotional roller coaster that revolved around work, guilt over not working, or thinking about work?

  For the first time in her career, she wished she could just forget everything for a little while.

  Dress warm. And cheap. That was what Remi had basically told her in the letter, so she pulled on some skinny jeans, her pristine Ugg snow boots with pretty lace ribbons in the back, a tank top, and a white sweater. She turned this way and that in the mirror. Huh. She looked pretty good if she ignored the skinny jeans being a size too small and squeezing her butt fat upward into a muffin top. Which she actually didn’t ignore, because the tops of muffins were the yummiest part.

  An engine revved outside, and Juno grinned at herself in the mirror. Yep, tonight she was going to play and ignore all her worries. She grabbed her jacket and jogged out of 1010 to the edge of the porch.

  Remi and Kamp were each on mud-splattered four-wheelers.

  Remi held two hotdogs in the air. “Get on the back, bitch. Tonight, we ride.”

  “Doooo we call each other bitch now?” Juno asked in a high octave.

  “All the kids are doing it. Rheeeeett. Rhett,” Remi called with her tongue sticking out. Dear goodness, was she drunk? “Rhett, Rhett, Rhett, Rhett, Rhe—”

  “What?” Rhett yelled, throwing open the door to his trailer. “What, what, what, WHAT?”

  “Whoo, your eyes are really blue,” Remi said through an unapologetic grin. “Come play with us. We tried to get Grim, too, but the Reaper is in the woods again. You’re our second choice. Come on.”