by Leela Ash
“Oh my god, Dad there’s a naked man over here. He looks dead!” the boy shrieked. That was followed by the sound of someone else – or the boy - running towards him. Conner wasn’t sure which, nor did he really care.
He groaned and grabbed his head as he tried to lift himself. Lights flashed before his eyes, and he fell back to the ground with a heavy thud, writhing in pain. He was dying; that’s all there was to it. Closing his eyes, he gave himself over to fate.
***
Lana paced outside the judge’s chambers as he went over the notes for the case to decide whether or not there was a case at all. In her gut she knew something was off, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. It was a strange case. The defendant, Cameron Marks, had no priors. Hell, he had never even gotten a traffic ticket. But now he was being indicted with three assault charges and attempted murder. One of the women whom he supposedly assaulted couldn’t even finger him. But that could have been chalked up to shock, so it really meant nothing. It made no sense, but the detectives weren’t bringing her anything she could use. He seemed to be implicating himself, but not to the point of a confession. Something wasn’t right.
The door swung open and Judge Patterson strode from the room. He was such a serious man, and she could swear that he never smiled. Ever. Not that she had much to say on that account. Lana wasn’t sure how long it had been since she had last smiled or had a good time. She didn’t even want to think about how long it had been since she had enjoyed a man’s company. And that didn’t just mean getting between the sheets, either. She hadn’t had a date in months. She shook her head. This wasn’t the time to be going over her love life, or the lack thereof.
The judge walked past her and she followed behind, hoping to get this day over with. Already she had been in court three times, and she still had two major clients to meet with. The day was far from over, but at least after this she’d be done with court for the day. She walked by the defendant’s brother, who was here to support him, and shivered. She glanced back over her shoulder to find his dark eyes staring back at her. There was a strange intensity within the blue depths, as if he were trying to read into her very soul. Lana shivered again and, averting her gaze, quickened her pace to get back inside the court room.
Now he’s someone I could picture trying to kill someone.
The thought stopped her in her tracks. Could that be why the case was so messed up? Maybe Cameron was innocent? But if so, then why would he take the heat? Stranger things had happened. Brothers could be very loyal, even to the point of serving time for crimes they did not commit. And now that she thought about it, she knew she needed to follow her gut instinct. It had never let her down before.
The sound of the gavel rang out in the room. Everyone grew silent waiting for the judge’s decision.
“Regarding the case of the state versus Cameron Marks, for three counts assault and one count attempted murder, with insufficient evidence I am forced to dismiss this case. If and when evidence is collected the case can be refiled with the state.” He hit the gavel again. “That is all.”
That was it. Even the judge couldn’t find a reason to keep Cameron behind bars, and now Lana had her work cut out for her. She had to bring someone to justice at least. She gathered her notes and placed them in her briefcase. At her back she felt eyes boring into her. A shiver of fear ran up her spine, and when she turned around Campbell Marks was staring insistently at her again. Catching himself he looked away, but not before she registered his contempt. His eyes looked even darker and more sinister than they had in the hallway. The man really gave her the creeps, and the first order of business was having someone check into his background. Something about his demeanor had her on edge. He was not a nice man, but just because he wasn’t nice didn’t mean he was the one who committed the crimes.
Or did it?
Lana didn’t know, but she would find out, and soon; something smelled rotten in Denmark, and she vowed to discover what it was.
Chapter 1
Lana had followed Campbell Marks since the judge dismissed the case against his brother Cameron, and she’d seen a couple of things she probably shouldn’t have.
To make matters worse, he caught her.
Luckily, she had been in her car and was able to get away. It turned out Lana’s theory was correct. It wasn’t Cameron who had committed the crimes but his older brother Campbell, a man with a long history of violence and domestic abuse under his belt. He had assaulted his ex-girlfriend, and the two men she had cheated on him with.
Gross, she thought, talk about getting around. I’d be pissed too.
Even though she was thrilled that she’d been right, and her gut hadn’t led her astray, Lana wished she could kick her own ass. Since she decided to take the detective work into her own hands, she was now in a predicament she wasn’t sure how to get out of. She had evidence that she really couldn’t prove, which meant she couldn’t use it in court.
She realized too late she should have left the investigating to the police, but she couldn’t help it. She found herself wanting to prove that Cameron was innocent, even though technically it was her job to do the opposite. As the prosecutor of the case, she was going about it all wrong. To be honest, she wasn’t sure why she was so hell bent on finding out the truth. It was her job to prove without a doubt that someone was guilty. But in this case she couldn’t.
She was so engrossed in her own thoughts that she didn’t even see him coming. Campbell grabbed her and shoved her against the wall—hard. Lana didn’t have time to scream before his dirty hand covered her mouth.
“Don’t you dare make a sound, got it?” he hissed in her ear. Lana nodded, if only to get him away from her.
His stench made her gag as he rubbed against her and groaned. “Hm, you’re a big girl.” Then he had the audacity to roughly fondle her breast before backing away.
Now he was angry again. Talk about mood swings.
Lana was pissed. Any other time she wouldn’t have stood for that kind of behavior from a man, but this one just so happened to be holding a knife in his hand. Maybe things were worse than she thought. She could handle being groped. Hell, she could even handle being roughed up, but she wasn’t sure if she was up for whatever he was planning. She shivered in fear, thinking of the worst case scenario.
She began to speak but shook her head, thinking better of it. Sometimes talking got her in more trouble than it was worth. Maybe if she kept her trap shut he would leave her alone. But the likelihood of that was slim to none. This time she wasn’t able to get away.
“You stupid bitch, you should have stayed out of it. Cameron knew what he was doing. And now they’re after me.” Campbell jabbed his knife in her direction as if he were going to stab her. Lana didn’t fear many things, but in this case she certainly wasn’t feeling confident about her chances. An erratic man with a sharp weapon wasn’t a good mix—ever.
“He wouldn’t have gotten the time I would,” he continued, as if that explained it all.
She nodded, slowly understanding. Cameron was going to take the rap for his older brother. She already knew the two were only fifteen months apart, and they were closer than anyone could ever imagine. She shuddered. The things she had come across sickened her. They definitely weren’t your everyday ordinary family.
Cameron planned to do whatever punishment he got. He’d be out of jail and back on the streets before Campbell was able to commit another crime.
Maybe.
That was loyalty, and Lana shouldn’t have been surprised, but she was. She couldn’t imagine taking the blame for something she didn’t do, no matter how much she cared about the person.
She held up her hands in surrender. “Let’s calm down, Mr. Marks. I haven’t told anyone anything, and I won’t. I’ll forget about it all, and then we can go on with our lives like nothing happened. Okay?”
Campbell laughed wildly. “Yeah, like I believe that shit for a minute. I’m not stupid, you condescending bitch.” He ra
n a shaky hand through his dirty blond hair. “And people actually believe the shit you spew?” He stepped over her, and she cowered against the wall. As he leaned his face against her cheek, his hot breath whispered against her ear, “You’re going to pay for messing this up for me.”
Lana shuddered and gagged. The feel of his breath on her skin turned her stomach. “Please,” she said. She wasn’t exactly sure what she was asking for. At that moment she only knew that she wanted him away from her.
Conner’s beast roared, and his body shook with rage. His bear tried to break free, but even though he was still out of it from his injuries, he knew that couldn’t happen. All he knew for sure was that he needed to get somewhere and he needed to get there fast. It was the whole reason he left the hospital.
He wasn’t sure why he had felt the urgency to come this way, but even with no memory he knew not to ignore the bear inside of him. Instinct alone led him further into the city to a parking garage.
Really, what the hell?
But his other half paced inside his head, pushing him to hurry. He sped down to the lower level of a parking garage, and it wasn’t until he heard a woman’s plea that he knew why he was there.
He didn’t know shit, except right at the moment it didn’t matter. The sound of her voice tightened his gut. His beast pawed at him, urging him to follow her voice. Otherwise, he drew a blank. He didn’t know what happened before he ended up in the hospital. The doctor said his memory would return in time and it could be a little at a time or all at once. Right now, that didn’t matter
The woman cried out, and something inside him snapped. He rounded the corner to see a man standing over a beautiful, plump woman. Both man and beast wanted to kill.
Mine! his beast cried in despair.
Conner shook his head in shock.
My mate.
He took a deep breath, inhaling her delicious scent and then narrowed his eyes on the man who was touching her. The man stunk of sweat, marijuana, and alcohol. He was also very sick, but the biggest problem was his waving a knife at Conner’s woman.
Conner barreled towards the man and swung a meaty hand at him, knocking the knife to the ground. The man hadn’t even seen him coming. He was too engrossed in scaring the woman. She gasped, and when he looked down at her, he saw a tear slide down her cheek. He wanted to reach down and wipe it away, but the man had shaken out of his daze and dove for the fallen knife. But Conner wouldn’t let him get that far. In one quick move he grabbed the man by the scruff of the neck and held him up, feet dangling in the air.
“You dared to touch her!”
The man paled and lost control of his bladder. The stench of urine filled the air, and Conner held him further from his body. Shaking him again, Conner felt disgust for the puny excuse of a man.
“Did you hear me? Don’t touch what isn’t yours, you worthless piece of shit!” Conner dismissed the man as a threat and tossed him to the side, not caring if he hurt him severely or not. It didn’t matter. He was on his deathbed anyways. Instead, he focused on the woman, who was watching him with wide, innocent eyes.
Conner knelt in front of her and placed a big hand on her forearm. His heart raced at the first touch and a tingle ran up his spine as heat filled his body.
Ours, his beast rumbled from within.
Conner’s jaw fell. She gasped at his touch and looked down at his hand. He pulled it away. “Sorry.” Then he smiled. “Are you okay? He didn’t hurt you, did he?”
She swallowed and shook her head. “You showed up in time. Thank you.”
“Where can I take you?”
She pointed right in front of her. “That’s my car. He cornered me before I had the chance to leave.”
Again, Conner touched her arm. She didn’t seem as scared. Her heart had slowed to a regular rhythm. “Let’s get you up off the ground then, okay?”
She nodded and allowed him to pull her up. He gaped at the woman before him. She was a tall woman with curves any man would fall to his knees for. She held herself with a confidence most women didn’t, and he found that was sexy as hell. She wore a tight skirt and a jacket. He could tell she was some type of business woman. His bear whined, wanting to be free.
She was perfect for him. She wasn’t too short or too small that he would hurt her. Fate had led him to his mate, after all the time he spent avoiding it. Now he wondered why. He didn’t even know her name, and at that moment in time, it didn’t even matter that he didn’t know his either.
Chapter 2
Lana kept her eyes on the biggest and sexiest man she’d ever seen. He must have been at least 6’5 because with heels she was about six feet and he towered over her. It didn’t escape her notice that he was in a hospital gown, and she sighed. Go figure he’d be a nutbag. Who left the hospital in a gown except a crazy person? His hand held hers and their gazes locked. His eyes were a deep shade of blue, and there was something about him that pulled her in. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach and her clit throbbed with need. It’d been too long she since she’d had sex, and this man didn’t have to do anything. She was aroused just by looking at him. Licking her lips, she cocked her head to the side. He followed the movement with his eyes like a hungry beast, and her heartbeat quickened.
She was so engrossed in him that she forgot about Campbell until it was too late. He snuck up on her angel and jammed the knife into his side. Roaring in pain, her rescuer fell to his knees. Lana screamed and stood frozen. Then the psycho pulled out the knife and wiped the blood on his pants coming towards her.
“It's your turn, bitch. Bigger doesn’t always mean smarter.” Campbell shoved her back, and she fell to the ground. She paled, knowing that she was going to die. He was crazy and clearly had no qualms about killing. Her body shook with a fear she had never felt before as sobs wracked her body. There were no words, no getting through to him. He was clearly off his rocker. Campbell knelt beside her with evil in his eyes and poised the knife above her. Lana squeezed her eyes shut and held her breath, waiting for the white, hot agony of being stabbed.
But it never came.
She heard a shrill scream and the smack of something hitting the pavement, followed by a loud, sickening crunch. When she opened her eyes, she froze. Her eyes rounded in shock and terror. She couldn’t breathe. A giant bear was standing over Campbell’s limp body. Blood poured from him and seeped over the concrete.
“Oh my god,” she whispered. The beast turned towards her with intelligent eyes.
She shook her head in disbelief and leaned back. It wasn’t possible. But where did her angel go? There was no way he picked himself up and left. Not when he went out of his way to save her, and he was injured. The bear’s eyes were the same deep blue she’d gazed into minutes earlier.
The man who saved her was the bear.
Standing up, Lana brought her hand to her feverishly hot forehead. She felt as if she might collapse, so she held onto the post to regain her balance. After a moment, though, she leaned over and vomited. Her eyes watered and tears slid down her cheeks. The stress had taken over, and as she let go, she realized something: her life was about to change and there wasn’t a damn thing she could do about it.
Conner watched his mate as she turned away from him in fear. His beast lowered his head in shame, but he wouldn’t regret saving her from the man with the knife. It was his job to protect her. He didn’t enjoy feeling her fear, though—especially her fear of him. She didn’t need to be afraid of him--he’d never hurt her. Closing his eyes, Conner tried to remember...anything.
He wasn’t doing well himself, but as soon as he had shifted, he started healing. He still tender, however, and it was too soon to be injured again. It was worth it. And even though he didn’t know who he was by name or who his family was, or hell, why he ended up waking up in a hospital bed, he knew one thing: That woman was his, and he had just protected her the way it was intended. With that in mind, he shifted back to his human self and pulled the gown back on. It wasn’t much, but it was
better than nothing.
He ambled towards her slowly and placed a hand on her back. She tensed beneath his touch and he dropped his hand. “He was going to kill you.”
Plain, simple truth.
“I know,” she replied, but she didn’t look at him. “Who are you?”
Conner scratched his head. “I don’t know.”
This caught her attention. She spun to face him and laughed humorlessly. “You don’t know? You turned into a bear and killed someone, but you don’t know who you are?” Her voice rose and her face turned bright with anger or fear, he wasn’t sure which. It could have been both.
He shrugged. “I was at the hospital. The doctors said I have amnesia, so no I don’t know who I am until my memory decides to come back. What I do know is I’m a man who is also a bear. He’s a part of me, and he killed to protect his mate.” Conner wasn’t going to beat around the bush. Something clicked. It seemed being blunt came natural to him.
“I’m sorry, mate?” she sputtered.
He raised his big hand and cupped her jaw. At first she tensed, but then he rubbed his thumb lightly along her jawline and she relaxed some. “Yes, my mate.” His eyes shined with excitement. Touching her was right. “What’s your name?”
She worked her mouth a few times so he dropped his hand back to his side.
“Lana.”
“Beautiful,” he replied. She still was shocked by him. “We should probably go?” His eyes drifted to the dead man, flaring with anger. Conner would have died before letting him harm Lana.
She shook her head. “I can’t leave. I’m the prosecuting attorney for the case we were building against him. He didn’t like it.” She peeked around him at the body and shuddered. “His brother was planning to take the fall, but the judge threw out the case because there was no evidence. Until now, anyway. The police had finally tied Campbell to the crimes. This isn’t going to look good.” She bit her bottom lip.
