by Ashlee Sinn
“Our property,” Bo asked with a crooked grin.
My cheeks instantly heated. “Well, maybe. I mean…yes? I mean, maybe. Whatever. You know what I mean.”
“Yes, yes I do.”
“Excuse me, Ms. Housten?” A rather tall and lanky cop approached us cautiously. “Ms. Housten?”
“Yes,” Bo answered for me and the man gave him a sideways glance.
“Mr. Ward said that Ms. Housten could sign the paperwork needed for his release.” He looked at me with a kind smile. “If you don’t mind, miss. It will just take a few minutes.”
Bo nudged me forward. “Go ahead. I’ll keep these ladies entertained.”
“Bo, really?” I teased when he shrugged. He might love Kenzie, but I didn’t think Bo Callaghan would ever turn down attention from the opposite sex.
“This way, ma’am,” the cop said. “I’m Deputy Jordan.”
“Nice to meet you,” I said with a forced smile as I followed him through the hoard of Derrick lovers. When we walked through a small gate and down a tight hallway, I could sense the Derrick was nearby. And just as I thought I recognized his scent, we turned the corner and passed a room with a window. Inside sat Derrick, Brandt, and five other people apparently trying to hash out the release plan. As if sensing me as well, Derrick turned and met my eyes. He was still in his boxers but the warmth in his smile filled my heart. He mouthed the words “I love you” to me, and I did the same in return.
“Ma’am,” the deputy said with a slight edge in his voice.
“I’m coming,” I grumbled, placing my hand on the window and grinning at Derrick again. It pained me to walk away, but the sooner I got the paperwork signed, the sooner we could go home and try to forget about this mess.
“In here,” Deputy Jordan said, holding open a door at the end of the hall and waiting for me to step inside.
Something was off with him, but I couldn’t quite place it. Maybe it was his shifty eyes, one of which didn’t seem to stay in place the whole time. Or maybe it was the sweat beading up on his forehead. Regardless, I was so focused on Derrick that I figured my stress level was what was causing the weird feelings swirling around inside.
I stepped through the door and into a garage. It was on the back of the building where they kept some of the patrol cars. Why would Deputy Jordan have his desk back here? “What? Why are we—?”
The man grabbed me from behind and held a wet towel against my face, smothering me and smashing my nose. But not wet with water. Wet with something strong. A chemical. A chemical that burned my nose and lungs and instantly made me nauseous.
“Shh,” he whispered, squeezing me tighter. “Don’t fight it.”
“Fight…what….” I couldn’t focus anymore.
“Shh…” he said again.
Blackness swirled in my vision, and my bear was nowhere to be found. She’d abandoned me. No, she was asleep. Knocked out. Drugged.
And as the room faded into darkness, I thought about Derrick just twenty feet away.
I didn’t remember the car ride or being dragged into his house. But I must have been dragged because my jeans were muddy on the bottom and we were somewhere deep in the forest. I could tell by the sounds of nothing but birds and rustling leaves.
It took a long time before I could focus again. My head pounded like I’d been hit, but I had no bumps and instead attributed the pain to whatever chemical had been on that towel. Deputy…what was his name? Jordan. Deputy Jordan had taken me from the police station. A police station where there were actual police and no one was here for my rescue. How had he pulled that off?
“Oh yes, you’re awake.”
I tried to focus on my kidnapper. And then I tried to focus on the room. We were in a trailer. A double-wide with brown shag carpet complete with water stains, dark wood paneling walls, and the putrid stench of mold and dirty socks. But as the details came into view, my heart sped up with the fear surging through it.
Grizzlies. Everywhere. From paintings to figurines to what I hoped was a fake bear skin rug peeking out from the bedroom. A bear obsession that suddenly made everything clear.
“Here’s some water.”
I lifted my hand to take the red plastic cup, only to jerk back in surprise when I found that I was cuffed to the radiator on the wall. Looking down at my wrist in confusion, I yanked on it a few times, testing the strength.
Deputy Jordan tsked at me. “Now, don’t pull on that too hard or I’ll be forced to put the trap on you.”
The trap? I followed his pointed finger to the wall above me where an old-school fur hunting contraption hung on the wall. The metal spiked teeth on each side of the clamp were rusted and corroded but it still looked menacing and painful. I glared at the man.
“What am I doing here?”
He tried to hand me the water again, but I refused. “You’re here because you complete my collection.”
“What are you talking about?”
He crouched down close enough for me to smell his arousal but not close enough for me to choke him. “I know what you are Ms. Housten. And I’ve always wanted a real, live grizzly.” His smile stretched wide, setting my instincts on high alert. “And it was like you answered my prayers yesterday when you revealed yourself. I said, Toby,” He stopped and looked at me with wide eyes. “Toby’s my first name by the way.” Brushing my hair out of my face, he continued when I pulled away. “I said, Toby, this is your chance. This beautiful lady is the answer to all of your hopes and dreams.”
Wrinkling my forehead, I winced with the pain. “You’re insane.”
“I’m not,” he said as though I told him he had blue eyes when they were really green. “I’m just so happy I’ve finally found you.”
He jumped to his feet and walked to the far wall where there was a bookshelf filled with dusty belongings. After digging through the area for a while, he came back with something rattling in his hands. I was horrified when he held out a necklace filled with grizzly claws and teeth.
“Where did you get that?” I whispered in disgust.
“I told you I’m a collector, right? It’s amazing what you can buy these days. Have you seen the skin?”
“No! I don’t want to!” I shouted when he ran toward the bedroom. “I just want you to let me go.”
He sat down on the couch and then moved to the recliner. Turning it so that he could face me, he settled into the seat as though deep in thought.
“Toby?” I asked again. “Please let me go.”
Biting his lips, he appeared to be contemplating my request for a few moments. Then he shook his head and my stomach dropped in fear. “Nope, sorry. No can do.” He rested his elbows on his knees and studied me. “You are too magnificent to let go. Now, change.”
“Excuse me?”
He waved his hand in front of him, the claw-tooth necklace still dangling from his grip. “Change into the grizzly.”
“I can’t.”
“Yes, you can. I saw you do it yesterday.”
“I can’t do it while I’m chained up.” Plus, I still didn’t feel her inside. It was like the drug that he’d knocked me out with had inadvertently affected my bear even more.
“Change!” he yelled, spit flying from his mouth.
I shook my head.
“You bitch!” Toby flung the necklace at my head, hitting the wall behind me. “I’m going out for a smoke, and when I come back, I better see a fucking grizzly in here.” He stomped out of the living room and slammed the aluminum door leading outside.
Oh, how I wish I could turn into a grizzly right now and rip him to shreds. The chain on my wrist would most likely break free when I shifted, but my bear was gone. Where are you? I reached out to her.
Nothing.
So I continued searching for her, all the while hoping that Derrick was already on his way here.
Thank god for Brandt. By the time we were shaking hands and finishing up with the paperwork, I was ready to kill someone. How this night, or day, had g
otten so far out of control continued to stress me out. Not only had someone broken into my house, but I’d been forced to beat a man. I didn’t like violence. I never had, and now I had to subdue narrow-minded people who trespassed on my property.
“I’ll finish in here and let you know if anything else comes up.” Brandt’s lawyer, a human friend that had worked with us for the businesses, shook my hand. “Just try to forget about all of this.”
“Sure,” I mumbled.
“Thanks, Richard,” Brandt said with a tired smile. “I appreciate your help.”
Richard nodded and left the room. The cops followed, leaving Brandt and me behind. “Sorry,” I said to my clan leader.
“Sorry? For what? I probably would have killed someone if they broke into my home. I don’t know how you restrained yourself.” He started to leave then stopped and faced me again. “Mated to Julia, huh?”
His snarky tone caught me off guard and instead of being worried about what he’d say, I wondered how he knew. “Yes,” I said slowly.
Brandt nodded and pinched his brows together. “I think that’s a great match.” Then to himself, he said, “I wonder why I hadn’t thought of that earlier.”
I tried to let my thoughts drift to her. It was tough because I was so upset, but imagining her smile and her amazing body had me back in my bed in no time. In fact, I was so enthralled with my happy place that I hadn’t even notice Bo enter the room.
“Hey, lovesick one,” he teased, and then he pushed a pile of clothes into my hands. “You better cover yourself before you walk back out there.”
“What?” I asked, mind still focusing on Julia. Where was she?
“Those groupies are…crazy.” Bo ran his hand through his hair and sighed. “Even by my standards.”
“I don’t care about them,” I said, stepping into my pants. “Where’s Julia?”
“She didn’t come in here?” Bo asked, genuinely surprised.
That set my instincts on high alert. “No. Why would she?”
Brandt looked at his brother in a way that demanded an explanation now.
“She came back here to sign some papers,” Bo said.
“Yeah,” I growled, “I saw her walk by, but where is she now?”
Bo and Brandt exchanged a look, and my heart froze. Something was wrong. My bear knew it. I knew it. Without putting the shirt on, I pushed past the guys and bolted into the hallway. Closing my eyes, I searched the air for her. It led me down the hall, away from the fan group out front and away from the shouts of my clan leader behind me.
Fear. I could smell her fear. And something else. Something…human that I couldn’t quite place. Slamming open a door at the end of the hallway had me stopping short. I’d always prided myself on being the sensible one in the clan—think first, react later. But when I scented Julia and the chemical, I couldn’t stop the roar that escaped my mouth.
“Oh shit,” Bo said, at the same time Brandt darted out of the room. “Oh my god, where is she? What happened?”
I dropped to the floor, breathing in her scent trail that led to an empty spot in the multi-car garage. The human aroma was there too, and I didn’t like the way it smelled like arousal. I growled again, barely able to control my shift.
“What’s going on?” the sheriff asked from the doorway. Brandt had dragged him into the room and seemed to have a strong grip on his arm still.
“Who parks in here?” Brandt demanded.
“I don’t know. We all do.” The sheriff’s fear only amped up my adrenaline.
“Who was here today?” Bo yelled at him.
“Deputy Jordan. Why?” His voice squeaked.
“Where does he live?” I growled.
“I can’t tell you that—ow!” Brandt had slammed the man against the wall, his body weight dangling underneath the hand wrapped around his neck.
“Where is he?” Brandt shouted.
“Out off Route 1,” the sheriff pushed out through the limited air in his mouth.
“I’m going,” I said, a second before I changed into my bear. My pants ripped, so I shook them off my back legs, giving Bo enough time to rush over to my side.
“Derrick, don’t be a fool. You can’t run through town as a grizzly!”
I huffed my response. “Fuck off,” I told him. And then I bolted out the lifted garage door and tried to follow the scent of the tires the best I could.
I’d lived here my whole life, so even though I would have run straight through the town to get to Julia, I could stay out of sight in the fields and woods that surrounded the road leading to Route 1. And, with my grizzly strength and the fear of losing my mate, I moved faster than I would have as a human. Within the hour, I’d discovered the small dirt road that hopefully led to where Julia was being held. It took a while, several miles at least, and I thought I’d lost the trail a dozen times. But then, I got a whiff of her fear again, which gave my bear and me the strength needed to keep sprinting forward.
I assumed Brandt and Bo wouldn’t be far behind, but they would’ve had to circle around in several areas if they drove, whereas I’d been able to cut almost straight across the land. So when I reached a small clearing with a patrol car and a trailer sitting on it, I forced myself to finally stop and think. It was hard…my bear didn’t want to pause, and my human side was just as anxious. But I had to be smart with my actions and I had to be sure.
As I watched, contemplating the best way to approach, a man screamed something from inside the trailer and then stomped outside. He lit a cigarette, pacing back and forth. Talking to himself, I studied the odd way he moved. His hands shook as he appeared to have a conversation that no one else would understand. I also paced behind the tree line, wondering if I should approach as a bear or as a pissed off human.
But something cracked underneath my paw, and the deputy shot a glance in my direction. He quickly stomped on his cigarette and rushed inside. A few seconds later, I heard Julia scream, and that was the last thing I could comprehend.
Anger surged through me as I bolted forward. And realizing the need for opposable thumbs, I shifted back into human form just before reaching the front door. Kicking the flimsy aluminum was easy, but what I saw when I ran inside had me pausing for a second. Grizzlies. Everywhere.
And along the far wall of the living room, Julia was chained up with a scrawny man holding her by the hair as he pressed a large, silver knife to her throat.
“I guess it’s two for one day,” he snarled. One of his eyes wandered off into the opposite direction and for a second I thought maybe he saw the others approaching. But I hadn’t heard a car.
“Are you okay?” I asked Julia.
She bit her lip as the scent of anger surged through her. Lifting her arm, she yanked on the chain holding her tight. “I’m trapped.”
I tilted my head, trying to understand her words. Trapped. Trapped like an animal. “Your bear?” I asked, thinking I’d figured it out. And when she closed her eyes in response, I knew that her bear was hidden somewhere too deep to help. That wasn’t uncommon, although it was unusual in a life or death situation. Why had her bear abandoned her?
“Now I will have two grizzlies,” the deputy cooed.
“Like hell, you will,” I growled. But when I jumped forward he pressed the knife hard enough into Julia’s neck that the sharp scent of blood had me grinding to a halt.
“Not a good idea,” the man said.
I watched Julia. And she looked pissed. Tight jaw, wrinkled forehead, and eyes boring into mine trying to send a message. I didn’t know what she wanted me to do. Risking her life was not an option. And just as I was about to say that, the strong, amazing woman I could call my mate, surprised me again.
Not caring about the knife to her throat, she threw back her head and hit the man in the face. He stumbled just enough that she was able to swipe her leg out to the side and take him down. He landed on all fours and Julia immediately kicked him in the jaw with both feet. Moaning and covering his mouth, the man r
olled to the side at the same time Julia stood. She kicked him in the gut. Then over and over in the ribs.
I knew I should have jumped into the fight, but I was too enthralled with her skill to stop staring. But when the man finally stopped moving on the ground, she looked at me with just a few beads of sweat on her face. Holding up her chained wrist, she smirked. “Care to help me out of this?”
I rushed forward, yanking the chain off the wall and wrapping her in a hug. Covering her mouth with mine, I couldn’t seem to get enough of her. She tasted like watermelon on a hot summer day. Pine during the winter season. She tasted like my soul. “What happened to you? Did he hurt you?” I asked.
Shaking her head, she nestled against my chest. “No. I’m fine.”
The man groaned and turned to face us. “I would have cared for you,” he whispered to Julia.
“That’s it,” I growled, pulling him up off the ground with one hand and throwing him into the couch.
“Derrick! No!” Julia shouted.
“What?”
“You can’t kill him.”
“But he hurt you. He kidnapped you and hurt you!” My hands trembled with my bear’s need to fight for my territory and my mate.
“We can’t.”
I looked at her and took a breath to calm myself. “What are you talking about?”
“We have been exposed. The humans know what we are. How do you think they’re going to react if they can attribute a murder to one of us? They will lynch us all.”
“But he hurt you!” I screamed. I wasn’t mad at her, but I was also having a hard time thinking straight right now.
“I’m okay,” she said with a chill in her voice as she turned her attention to the deputy. He was sprawled on the couch, holding his right elbow and watching Julia with an intensity I didn’t like. She bent forward, pressing her face into his. “Consider this your lucky day,” she growled. “We know where you live. We know your dirty little secret. There are more of us than you, so I suggest you be on your best behavior.”
Standing tall, I watched her roll back her shoulders and contemplate her next move. I had no idea what she would do, so when she grabbed the man’s leg and twisted it hard enough to snap, I couldn’t help but smile.
