Someone was injured. Badly.
She could sense it. It screamed at her just as the truck or car or whatever had appeared at the gates had been screeching as it got the hell away from the clubhouse.
Sweat leeched from her pores as she fought the rising tide of men gathered about the driveway.
Jesus, it was like they were never-ending. Then, she heard Major’s voice and felt like praising God for the fact she was close to the front because that was the only place he knew where to be—right in the middle of trouble.
“We need Pip. Get her.”
“I’m here!” she hollered the second she heard her mate’s words. “I’m fucking stuck!”
The men around her chuckled, but one of them—she thought it was Derick—hauled her up and overhead.
Jesus, she didn’t even want to think about the strength that took. She wasn’t exactly a tiny little miss. If only.
Hauled overhead, she was shuffled down the crowd like some kind of messed up crowd surf. She was jostled and jiggled around, someone even copped a feel to which she squealed, “Hey!” But hell, it was a damn sight easier than what she’d done to get that far in the wake of Shifters all intent on protecting their clubhouse.
By the time she made it to the front of the drive, she was panting from the sheer exhaustion of trying to remain still, of keeping her limbs tense so that she was easier to chauffeur around. When she stood on solid ground, she immediately pressed her hands to her knees and bent over to get her breath back.
“Well, that was horrible,” she panted as a little swathe of dizziness overcame her.
A hand came to sit on her lower back. “Are you okay, babe? We really need your help.”
She nodded. “Yeah, just give me a second. I can feel why you need my help.” Pip peered up and saw a woman lying on the floor. Mars was in front of her, as were Jarvis and Mundo, which meant she could see relatively little aside from the feminine feet that they’d failed to shield, complete with hot pink toenails and a pair of sandals Pip wouldn’t mind wearing herself. “Who is it?” she asked, somehow knowing what he was about to say and disliking it even more.
When he squirmed a little and let out a sigh, she had her confirmation before he even murmured, “Juanita.”
Pip grimaced, but he didn’t see it as she aimed it at her knees. Christ, she had no reason to be jealous. No reason whatsoever.
Yeah. Right.
He’d chosen to be with this woman.
Not the Bear. The man. That was what she’d gleaned from last night’s conversation. She’d spent fucking years moping around this goddamn clubhouse, just praying he’d see her as more than just a fuck toy and maid service, but no... He went for the trashy Latina slut instead.
He went to touch her again, but she shrugged him off. “Leave it,” she said in a low tone when he said her name. She didn’t want to deal with him now. Didn’t want to deal with this.
The mate bond didn’t stop jealousy. She’d seen that when she’d first met Christie. It certainly couldn’t stop jealousy over old lovers, and she was about to meet the very recent ex of her mate, and all after a late-night conversation she really wished they’d never had.
Even if she understood and could appreciate his motives, she’d have preferred, for the moment, to have been kept in the dark.
Maybe that made her fool, but all Pip knew was she sick and goddamn tired of hurting and being hurt.
Letting out a rough breath, she shouldered Mars out of the way when she saw brothers crouched around Juanita on either side of her. “If you want me to heal her, then back the fuck off,” she snarled, uncaring that the upper echelons of the MC were here.
Maybe they were surprised at her tone, or maybe they respected her gift enough to do as they were told, but they moved away, circling her loosely, without a word uttered.
It galled her that perhaps they knew who this woman was and what she’d been to Pip’s mate. Maybe they pitied her.
Rage flushed through her, and the need to heal that had urged her through the crowd withered a little at the emotion.
She stretched her neck as she knelt beside the unconscious woman and looked over her battered form. Tension didn’t seep from her at the sight. She was too riled up, too het up over what the Latina had been to her man.
Her fingers curled into fists as she stared down at the woman. Her face was, quite literally, black and blue. There was nothing that told Pip how beautiful or even how ugly Juanita was because every bit of her face was swollen. Her eyes were puffy, doubling up until they were almost sealed closed. Her nose was definitely broken, which, she clinically pondered, was a first. Would she have to set it before healing it, or would the magic take care of that for her? Cuts seeped blood from her hairline, forehead, and cheeks. Her jaw had doubled up in size on both sides. Below, her clothes had been ripped and torn, and though she was covered, Pip had no doubt Juanita had been raped—probably several times.
At that, her rage dispersed some.
Pip knew what that felt like. For her, rape had been her savior. That was the only reason, Mikey, her brother, had gotten her out of the Snakes. He’d seen what his so-called kin had done to his sister, and he’d helped her escape.
She couldn’t help but wonder if Juanita’s rape would save her too... If The Nomads were involved, somehow Pip got the feeling Juanita would never be in danger again.
“Pip?”
The soft voice penetrated the odd focus that had settled over her like a lumpy blanket.
She looked up, saw Mundo was squatted beside her, and cocked a brow at him. “What’s wrong?”
“Why aren’t you doing your thing?”
The way he said, ‘your thing’, had her lips twitching. “Why aren’t I doing my jiggery pokery? My hocus pocus?”
He smiled at her, and she felt his relief. “Yeah. That.”
“Because I’m angry. And I’m hurt,” she told him simply. Then, spreading her fingers, she held her hands out, palms up, before her. “I’m not ready to touch her.”
“But, regardless of who she is, she’s in pain, darlin’.”
“I know that. I could feel it before,” she told him easily, her tone a little cooler.
“Before? But not now?”
“Not so much.”
“Why not?”
She sighed and impatiently spat, “I just told you. Because I’m hurt and I’m angry.”
“What can we do to calm you down?”
“Stop fucking pestering with me stupid goddamn questions. This woman was fucking my mate a few days ago. Would you like to come face to face with Christie’s ex?” When a spark of rage started to eat at the sympathy in his gaze, she leapt on to it with bared teeth. “No. Exactly. If you feel that fucking way, why the hell shouldn’t I?”
Almost as though she heard her words, Juanita moaned. The sound was loaded with the other woman’s agony, and it penetrated the odd shield that had separated Pip from her pain.
Pip winced a little then turned her palm over and rubbed her knee.
Tiredly, she murmured, “Go away, Mundo. Just leave me alone to do this.”
“Don’t you want Major...?”
Pip snarled. “No. I don’t want Major. I’ll deal with this myself.”
Mundo held his hands up in surrender. “Okay, babe. No worries. Whatever you need. We just... Well, we need her healed, Pip. She might have information for us.”
“And that’s all that fucking matters. The good of the fucking MC.” Pip sneered at him. “I’ve got the message, Mundo.”
He stared at her like he’d never seen her before, and this side of her, well, he hadn’t.
She worked hard to quell her bitterness at the past—worked hard to avoid the memories of how she’d been treated over the years. But today, for some reason, those feelings weren’t dispersing.
She hurt.
She was hurting.
Her mate had hurt her.
She bit her lip as tears started burning the backs of her eyes. Bow
ing her head, she didn’t even wait for him to scuttle off as she’d held out her hand and pressed it to Juanita’s face.
The instant she did, a cry escaped her. The pain… It was close to Troy’s, but Troy had a Shifter’s constitution. When she’d been healing him, his magic had been working overtime to heal him, and her aid had only sped up the process.
What Juanita was enduring was one-hundred percent human. There was no magical metabolism, no miracle from three Goddesses who really liked to fuck around with their kin and make them suffer.
No, it was just pain.
Wave after wave of it.
The instant her hand connected with Juanita’s cheek, Pip knew she needed Major. But she didn’t want him, and there was the difference.
The burning in her hand was white-hot already, and she’d barely even begun. With Major, the heat was controlled, but somehow, her rage seemed to help. Her anger was as hot as the fire in her hand, and with the two so close in temperature, they seemed to fight one another, battling for dominance over which hurt her more.
The battle made energy spill over. It hissed and spat as it cascaded over Juanita in fits and bursts. Unlike the smooth waves that usually churned out of her, Pip felt this healing energy was rife with her discontent, with her anger and her jealousy.
Juanita moaned, the sound loud enough to pierce Pip’s focus. The other woman was still hurting. Like she hadn’t known that already.
Sympathy, ever present in Pip’s personality, tried to surge forth, but her jealousy and hurt was too overpowering. It quashed the sympathy, crushing it like it was a bug.
Her negative emotions swirled about her, somehow strengthening her until the burn in her hands was manageable. Now, the difference between healing without Major was the lack of diffusion. His presence helped the energy disperse.
Because he wasn’t there and she didn’t want him touching her, she had the wherewithal to get her other hand and place it on Juanita’s leg.
A cry escaped Pip as the pain from Juanita’s core burst into her. She flung her head back in remembered agony of the physical misery that came as part and parcel of the aftermath of gang rape. Her memories cascaded through her, overwhelming her until her healing energy slowed down to a trickle. Only sheer stubbornness and the desire to never have to touch this woman again had her shifting focus from those hellish times to today.
She was safe. Major, for all he was a fuckwit, would always protect her. No one would ever hurt her again—apart from him.
Oh, the irony.
She let out a groan as the thoughts made her energy swirl up once more. Juanita’s moan was less pained this time, and Pip sensed the other woman was close to being fully healed.
She wasn’t sure how she knew that when her usual monitors were all out of whack. She just did.
Trusting in the new instinct, she moved her hand further up to the woman’s belly and dropped the other to her chest. More energy trickled out of her, healing where it was needed, returning to Pip when it wasn’t.
She only realized then that that was the first time she’d healed without feeling as though she was magnetically connected to the person she was helping.
Was it because Juanita was the first full human she’d ever healed? Or was it simply to do with the cocktail of emotions that had disrupted the usual Zen in which Pip worked?
Regardless, she didn’t know and didn’t particularly care.
Her eyes popped open when she felt Juanita was healed. She got to her feet, stared down at the woman who was slowly coming to, then turned on her heel and headed for the crowd. The men immediately parted. Whether it was out of awe for what she’d done, fear of her temper, or sheer respect, she didn’t know.
And frankly, she didn’t give a fuck.
“You sulking?”
Considering she was in the exact same position as she’d been an hour ago, Pip wasn’t sure why it would seem like she was sulking.
Apart from the fact she actually was, that is.
“You shouldn’t be out of bed,” was all she said though.
“You and I both know that whatever the hell has been wrong with me during this pregnancy, you’ve healed it. Walking downstairs isn’t going to kill me.”
“No, but Mundo will when he realizes you’re out and about when he likes to know where you are.”
“The man’s a control freak.” Christie wafted away Pip’s concerns with a dismissive hand. “Where the hell can I go on this compound? He’ll find me soon enough. Anyway, he came and told me what happened.” She approached the sofa with caution and when Pip didn’t sit up and just stayed laying down on the long L-shaped sofa, Christie fell down onto the cushions with a huff of air.
“Damn, this is comfier than the old one,” she marveled, snuggling her ass into the leather. “Plus, the air conditioning is working better. I think that crazy ex of Major’s did us a favor.”
Pip blinked at Christie then gritted out, “You did not just say that?”
Christie grinned. “I think you’ll find I did.” She patted her belly. “It’s Junior. He or she has given me balls. I swear, I wouldn’t say boo to a goose before. Now, I don’t give a fuck.”
Pip rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I can tell.”
Christie let out a guffaw. “Anyhoo, I know you’re sulking because I’d totally be sulking too. I mean, sulking and castrating Mundo at the same time.”
“I like Major’s bits where they are, thank you very much. I’m just not very happy at the moment. That’s all.” She shrugged. “I’ll get over it.” She’d gotten over the other shitstorms in her life. Why not this one?
“Was it true? About her having been raped?”
Pip’s jaw worked, but she nodded rather than make verbal confirmation.
“Shit. The poor bitch. I mean, she’s obviously a psycho, but no one deserves that.” Christie peered over at her. “Did you know about her? Before you healed her, I mean.”
“I did.”
“And you still healed her. Wow. Kudos to you.”
“Like you wouldn’t have done the same as me. You swore the Hippocratic oath.”
“Yeah, I did. But you didn’t. And I would, but I’d have hated every fucking second of it. I mean, it’s not like you want the woman to be hurting, and it’s not like you’re the one who put her in that state in the first place. It’s just... hard, right?”
Pip swallowed the emotions that were gathering at the back of her throat. “Yeah, it was hard. I didn’t want Major’s help, so I dealt with it alone. And she’s the first proper human I’ve healed anyway, so that was tough. I did it though.”
“Yeah. I know. Mundo came and saw me, told me how you’d been, what had gone down. He figured you’d need someone with ovaries to talk to. All the dicks swinging around here might be good for eye candy, but they’re useless when you’re feeling blue. Especially when you’re blue over one of the dicks.”
Pip grunted. “Tell me about it.”
“What can he do to make you feel better?”
“Erase the past seven years? Recognize me from the start? Not fucking believe another woman was his mate before finding me? How about any of the above?”
Christie grimaced. “You know he can’t take any of that back. As much as I get a kick out of making Mundo suffer when he really fucks me off by being a jerk, I know the limits. Major isn’t really to blame, Pip. You know that, right?”
“All I know is I got a shitty end of a deal. I saw Annette and Mars the first time they met. Jesus Christ, the fire in this place was nothing to that day. I’ve heard tales about you and Mundo. They said he was nearly itching out of his skin with the need to get to you. Kiko stopped his because of Mischa’s past, but the brothers all said he suffered for it. Then there’s Graver and Justiss with Toni. They met one night, and boom, it’s done.”
“Technically, it took a while for them to bond. Shit kept happening.”
“Yeah, but they fucking felt it. I’ve been in the deep freeze for all these years, and you know
what? I accepted it. I thought it was batshit, but I didn’t care. I let it go over my head because I was so fucking grateful that he finally saw me.
“I even rolled with the punch that he’d been dating someone before me. His past is his past, just like mine is mine. I wasn’t holding that against him, just the fact that his...”
Christie reached out and pressed a hand to Pip’s ankle when she fell silent. “Go on,” the other woman said softly. “Get it out. It’s like poison otherwise. Just eats you up inside.”
Pip clenched her teeth. “He chose her as a man. Said he thought she was his mate.” A laugh hiccoughed from her. “The Bear didn’t agree and that’s why they couldn’t bond, but what does that mean for me? It means I’m second fucking choice as per goddamn usual. The man wanted that bitch, while the Bear wanted me. Does that mean the man doesn’t want me at all? Is he putting up with me because the Bear would go crazy otherwise?”
Her last question seemed to make Christie pensive. She went quiet, then after a few minutes silence, murmured, “You’ll never know. But you don’t need to know, Pip. Not really. The Bear isn’t just half the man you know as Major. It’s most of him. It dictates everything he does, who he is, what he can do. It’s not like in the Shifter books, you know? They’re not sharing the same soul or some shit like that. They’re all Bear.”
“How do you know that?” Pip asked, tone suspicious.
Christie shrugged. “I’ve just seen it as I’ve lived among them. They’re too quick to turn to be anything else.”
“What do you mean?”
“Watch them and you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. Their reactions are pure animal. They react then regret. They don’t think before they do anything, just like a beast would.” Christie shrugged. “I’m not saying that excuses him, or that it takes away your hurt, but just take it into consideration, you know?”
“Where are they all?” Pip asked, neither confirming nor denying that she’d do anything of the sort. “It’s been quiet around here ever since I healed her. And considering the clubhouse is choc-a-bloc, quiet is a miracle.”
MAJOR (MC Bear Mates Book 5) Page 14
