Would it be possible to have a relationship with Briggs? Who was her test subject? Toby had suggested it, but she wasn’t sure. It would be a strict violation of her code. She wasn’t sure if that was something she was ready to do.
Maybe I can talk to him after this is all said and done, she thought. But she knew, by that time, it would be too late. She would have lost him by then.
She turned back to the house, ready to go in and grab some of Toby’s pizza – and Jay was standing in front of the door. Kat froze immediately. He was closer to her car than she was; there was no way she could run to it and get inside before he beat her to it.
Briggs’ car puttered down the street and was gone.
She could scream for Toby, but she knew Jay could silence her before she made enough noise.
Trying to project confidence, she walked up her sidewalk. “You’re not supposed to be here, Jay.”
He smiled a dirty smile. His eyes were dark and beady, his jet black hair grown long and past his shoulders. He was unkempt, his clothes baggier than any she had ever remembered him wearing. His prosthetic leg, which attached just below his knee, was dirty and scuffed. His shoes were muddy.
“What happened to you, Jay?” she asked, astounded. As their relationship degraded, so too did Jay’s appearance, but this was something else. There was something seriously wrong with him now. Drugs? Mental illness? Kat didn’t know, and she didn’t care.
She’d stayed with him even after he’d gotten verbally abusive and controlling. She had hoped she could change him. But when she’d confronted him about cheating on her, he’d hit her. And that had been the final straw. She had vowed never to stay with someone like that, and she had meant it.
He still didn’t answer.
“Jay, I have a restraining order on you. You need to leave here, now.” She tried to put as much force into her voice as possible, to show she wasn’t messing around – hoping the entire time that she wouldn’t set him off. He was dangerous. Unstable. Scary.
His laugh was shrill. “So, what, Kat?”
He came two steps closer to her. Kat shied two steps back. She desperately wanted to stand her ground and show him that she wasn’t afraid of him, but she was. And he could tell. His smile grew wider.
“Jay, please don’t do this.”
“What are you going to do, Kat? How did you let us come to this? What went wrong?”
“You cheated on me and abused me, Jay! That’s what went wrong! Don’t put this on me.”
“You weren’t doing what you needed to do for our relationship.”
“Don’t, Jay. Don’t blame me.”
“We can fix this, though,” he said, and his smile lit up his whole face. For a second, he seemed believable. For all of his faults, Jay had always been able to defuse situations, had always been able to make everyone else believe that everything was going to be okay. But she knew it wouldn’t. No matter what he said, she would never listen to him again. “I’ve decided to give you another shot.”
“Get out of here, Jay.”
“Invite me in.”
“No,” she said, planting her feet. “Get out of here, or I’m calling the cops.”
He was on her immediately. He never laid a hand on her, but he had her backed against her car before she could blink. “You haven’t been returning my calls, Kat.”
“I got a new number,” she spat, her anger starting to overwhelm her fear. “I wouldn’t answer, anyway.”
“What’s your new number? You need to learn to answer me when I call you.”
“No,” she whispered, her voice shaking.
“Look, Kat,” he said, pulling back and immediately switching to his friendly demeanor. “Do you know how much I’ve been worrying about you? You haven’t been answering my calls and I thought maybe something had happened to you. It’s a good thing I’ve been keeping tabs on you, to make sure you’re safe.”
“I knew it was you,” she said, venom in her voice. “Did you think you were being sneaky?”
“No, no,” he told her, as if she was stupid. “I wanted you to see me. I wanted you to know that I was watching out for you. Keeping you safe. But now...now, I don’t know if I can.”
“Good,” she said. “Mind your own damn business.”
“Kat!” he yelled, coming back at her. “You are my business. And you’ve been hanging around that new guy lately. He’s dangerous. Do you know what he is?” A pause. “He’s a Shifter. One of those freaks! You know what they do to people? To women? He’s not safe to be around, Kat.”
“I can handle myself, Jay. Now, get out of here. Now.”
“Let me keep you safe,” he whispered, leaning close to her. She balled her fists up, ready to attack him. His breath was hot on her neck. “I can keep you safe from him.”
Then he was back away from her, out of arm’s reach. “How are you going to keep me safe from a Shifter, Jay? He’s more of a man than you ever were!”
And then Jay was coming back at her, and she knew this time, she had to fight – and then a voice yelled, “Get the fuck outta here!!”
Jay jumped, turning towards the sound of the voice. Kat turned, too, seeing Toby coming up the sidewalk. Despite his small frame, Toby looked menacing – more than a match for Jay. Jay flicked his eyes over to Kat, licked his lips once, and nodded. “Think about it, Kat. I can keep you safe, from that thing.”
And then he ran through the yard, disappearing into the darkness. Toby came up to Kat and she felt herself collapsing against him, near tears. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her close for a few moments. “Let’s get inside,” he said, leading the way.
Once inside, Toby locked the door, then checked all of the windows, making sure they were locked and the blinds were down. He got Kat a glass of cold water and brought it back to her. She dropped to the couch, shaky, wiping tears from her eyes.
“What the fuck was that dude doin’ here?” Toby asked, sitting down next to her.
“I don’t know. I think he wanted me to take him back.”
“Jesus, Kat. Did you have any idea he was like this?” When Kat didn’t answer, Toby gave her a look of incredulity. “You knew? And you didn’t say anything to me? Or call the cops?”
“I didn’t think he would ever do anything. I’ve been catching glimpses of his car. Just a few times over the past few months. And a couple nights ago, after your first meeting, I thought I saw his car outside when I was taking out the trash.
Recognition dawned on Toby’s face. “That’s what you were so worked up about!” Kat nodded. “You should have told me. We could have done something about it!”
“What would we have done, Toby?” she asked him.
He didn’t have a good answer, so he just shrugged his shoulders.
“I didn’t think he would actually do anything. But when he saw me with Briggs, something in him must have snapped. He went crazy.”
“You need to call the cops in the morning and let them know what’s going on,” he told her.
“I don’t know. Maybe he won’t be coming around here anymore.”
“Kat,” he told her, sternly. She nodded. He was right.
“I’ll call them in the morning and let them know what’s going on,” she said, taking a sip of her water. “What were you doing outside, Toby?”
He must have heard the tone in her voice, because he got defensive. “Nothing bad, Kat! I’m trying to get out and get some exercise. It helps keep my mind off of the drugs. It’s a good thing I was out there, too!”
“Yeah, I know,” she told him, and she believed him. “Thank you.”
“Anything for my little sis,” he said, smiling and getting up. “There’s some leftover pizza. I bet you’re starving. Want me to heat it up?”
“Please,” she told him. “I think I could eat the whole thing.”
“Well, I can’t help you there. There’s only four pieces left.”
That was way more than she would normally eat, but she told him, “Heat the
m all up, please.”
“Coming right up. I gotta warn you, though. It’s not as good as my homemade pizza, but it’ll do. I guess.”
Kat sipped her water in silence as Toby went into the kitchen. She heard him banging pots and pans, probably grabbing a skillet. Toby was always particular about how he reheated pizza – food was his code. Everything else in his life, Toby couldn’t give a shit about, but when it came to food – that’s what mattered. She sat patiently, knowing that he was doing everything in his power to make her the best pizza possible.
She would have taken it microwaved, or even cold, but when he came back and told her, “Skillet heated with the finest olive oil this side of the Mediterranean,” Kat couldn’t help but smile.
“That’s the bargain bin stuff from the store,” Kat told him, but she saw he was unfazed. She took a bite of it, letting her mind focus on the food. She did her best to keep it off of everything that had happened tonight.
She ate it all, somehow. But eventually, the pizza was gone and Toby took the plate back into the kitchen and started doing the dishes. She wanted to get up and help him, but she couldn’t bring herself to. She was exhausted.
The whole night was running through her mind: taking Briggs to that bar, where they’d danced together and sparks had flown. She knew it; he knew it. And then the fight with those men. The revelation of the Human Defense Force. Thinking about that made her shudder.
Then she thought of Briggs letting those men go, releasing his primal nature. And their moment on the beach, that she had absolutely loved, and then absolutely ruined.
Her happiness that the Aegis was working perfectly. Followed by knowing that she had messed up with Briggs.
And the night ending with Jay, coming at her in a deranged and dangerous way. She was scared of him, and would definitely be calling the cops, but would it be enough? She shivered, and hoped it would. At least Toby had made her pizza.
*
Briggs sat in his car, silence surrounding him. He couldn’t understand why he was so torn up about what had happened earlier with Kat. He understood where she was coming from, or at least, he thought he did. She was devoted to her work. It was her life. She wouldn’t risk jeopardizing years’ worth of work just for a relationship with him.
Why would she? He was a failure. He’d failed at football. He’d failed at being a Marine. He was broke, homeless, living out of his car and showering at the YMCA. Oh, and he only had one arm. One real arm. He knew why she wouldn’t throw away her job for him. But it didn’t make it hurt any less.
It was for the best, though. He didn’t need anyone else to help him. He had been on his own for years. He knew what his life was about. And so what, if he didn’t like it? He was still alive. He was still kicking. He didn’t need her, he didn’t need her help, he didn’t need this damn arm. He flexed it. No, he thought. I definitely don’t need it.
And to top everything off, he was dangerous. He was a danger to himself, a danger to anyone around him, and a danger to anyone who got close. What would have happened if Kat hadn’t been able to tear him off of those men in the bar? He knew he would have shifted, attacked them, and then attacked Kat, too. He knew it with certainty in his heart.
So, it was best if she stayed away. She would be safe. That’s what was important.
So he sat in his car, silent, his mind wandering.
“Shit,” he growled. No matter what he did, he couldn’t get his mind off of Kat. Even flexing his new arm, grabbing the steering wheel, and moving his fingers couldn’t keep his thoughts off of her. He had to do something to keep his mind clear. He glanced over at the Y, its lights still bright. He watched as countless people ran, lifted, and worked out, even at this late hour. “Shit.”
He got out of his car, peeling off his nice clothes and tossing them in the back seat. He rummaged through a bag of dirty clothes, pulling out a white tee shirt and a pair of athletic shorts. When he had them on, he looked down, amazed. He had used his second arm without even realizing it. His memories of how to use it came flooding back, along with the memories of how he had lost it. He pushed those away and headed towards the Y.
If the people working the front desk realized he now had a new, prosthetic arm, they didn’t give any indication. Usually, he was thankful that he had been beneath their notice, but now, he realized he had kind of wanted them to notice him. To see that he wasn’t just some bum with one arm anymore. Now, he was one with two.
He wandered around the building twice, unsure of what he wanted to do. He had never explored the building. Instead, he had always been satisfied with hitting the showers and getting in and out. He was looking at the building in a completely different light, something akin to awe.
He couldn’t remember the last time he’d actually worked out. His lifestyle of missed meals and a lot of walking certainly kept him more in shape than some, but he was a Shifter: he was naturally larger, stronger, and tougher than most of the human population. He wondered if he still had it.
There was only one way to find out.
He approached a bench press, one of his favorites before he’d been injured. Touching the bar, even with his prosthetic hand, brought back a flood of memories from when he’d been a professional football star. Back when he had purpose. Had been wanted by all. He smiled a sad smile. Those times are long gone, he reminded himself.
He loaded the bench up with 200 pounds, unsure if he could even do that. Back in the day, he could have benched this with one arm. The irony of that situation didn’t escape him. He sat down hesitantly, looking around the weight room. It was mostly deserted, with the exception of a few other lifters, but they were paying him no mind. Good.
And he started his workout.
He did a couple of reps, got up, and loaded more weight on.
And more.
He didn’t know how many reps he knocked out, how much weight he piled on, how long he went for. All he paid attention to was the burning in his arm, the sweat running down his face, the beating heart in his chest. Everything he’d felt from earlier faded away to the back of his brain. It was always there, but he didn’t give it a second thought.
For once, Briggs felt at peace. He finished his workout, putting the bar back in place, and sat up. Two guys were standing above him, one holding a cell phone on him, recording. Briggs narrowed his eyes, a growl reverberating in his chest – not loud enough to escape his lips, not yet.
“Holy. Shit,” the guy with the camera said. “Dude, you gotta let me in on your secrets.”
The growl died in his throat and he turned towards the bench, counting the weights as he went. Then he doubled it. Holy shit was right. He didn’t think he’d ever reached that amount before, not even in his prime.
“Pretty good, huh?” he said.
“You’re Briggs Dawson, right?” the other guy asked. Briggs was wary about being recognized, but he nodded. “I thought you lost your arm.” The guy looked his arms over and his eyes went wide, as if this was the first time he noticed that one of Briggs’ arms wasn’t real.
“I’ve never seen a guy with one of those working out in here,” the cameraman said. “I didn’t think people could work out with them.”
“A new prototype,” Briggs said offhandedly. “I gotta hit the showers.”
He got up, smiling. The guys kept staring at him in awe. As he walked away, one guy yelled, “Man, I’ll spot for you tomorrow night!”
MARS (BBW Bear Shifter MC Romance) (MC Bear Mates Book 1) Page 27
