Bearly Accidental (Accidentally Paranormal Book 12)

by Dakota Cassidy

  The choice was made for her when the rectangular window of the bar, facing the street, blew wide open, shattering glass everywhere, spraying the shards across the room.

  Wanda came tumbling in like some freakish gymnast on steroids, nailing her landing and making it stick, before she ran after Andre, grabbing him by the neck.

  Bullets began to fly in all directions from Stas’s men, whizzing around the air like deadly flies, all aimed at Wanda.

  That was when Cormac burst from the booth, his mouth wide open as he roared his rage. His neck bulged, his fists still behind his back, but he broke the restraints without missing a beat.

  Oh God. He was going to shift. He was upset and angry and those emotions had fueled a shift.

  She had to stop him or risk his being discovered by people passing by.

  “No, Cormac! No!” she screamed while bullets flew. She attempted to free herself from Dennis, but he was too damn strong.

  Dennis howled before he threw her to the ground with such force, she was sure she was going to have another cracked rib.

  Which made her mad as hell. Goddamn it, hadn’t she been knocked around enough? What the fuck was with the manhandling her these days? Every time she turned around, someone was kicking her ass, and she’d had enough.

  But the outraged roar from Cormac set her into motion. His bones crunched, shifted, twisted until he was forced forward to his haunches, almost knocking what was left of his human chin on the ground.

  “Cormac, no!” she screamed once more, but he was too far gone and as he fully shifted. His deep black coat shimmering under the bar lights, he headed straight for Dennis, his gaze deadlocked.

  She caught the surprise in Stas’s eyes when Cormac took shape, no longer cool and unruffled, and clearly shocked that Cormac was now one of them. He’d been smart to keep that hidden for as long as he had while he was huddled in the booth.

  He was impressive in bear shift, enormous, wide, solid, a deep almost ebony. His coat was healthy and shiny, his paws easily ten inches wide, his hump, the muscle between their shoulder blades they used to dig, was mammoth.

  But he’d never withstand a beating from seasoned vets like Andre and Stas.

  They’d kill him. If she was sure of nothing else, she was sure, in comparison to bears who’d shifted all their lives, Cormac was weak.

  Dennis, who had no time to react and shift himself, began to shoot in wild arcs.

  Marty, who’d shifted now, too, howled, long and eerily pitched, the sound whipping around the room and hitting Teddy’s eardrums at every angle. Marty lunged for Dennis, successfully knocking the gun out of his hand, but she crashed into the side of the bar, taking some stools and a man or two with her. The impact left her unmoving on the floor.

  And that was when it turned into werewolf versus bear.

  Howls roared through the bar, making it quake as the shift took over Stas’s men. The floor crunching beneath bear paws to the tune of broken glass.

  Cormac changed direction and stalked two of Stas’s men, tearing after them with a loud roar.

  Carmine Ragusi, weenie that he was, came around the corner, witnessed the rampage, and huddled in a ball, sliding down the wall, his eyes wide, his stout body quivering.

  Andre shifted right in Wanda’s clutches, his clothes blowing off his body and his teeth, sharp and gleaming, sprouting forth in the low light of the bar.

  He went for Wanda’s neck, but she managed to hold him off by grabbing his snout and flipping him to the ground, breaking one of the cocktail tables, the wood splintering and flying.

  And then she shifted, too, with a piercing wail full of anger. She went for Andre like a rabid animal, rushing him as he reared upward before falling on his back and crushing a portion of the bar.

  Darnell bellowed from under the table where he’d hidden earlier, “Teddy! Look out!”

  Teddy scrambled on the floor, turning just in time to see Dennis racing toward her, his eyes wild with a year’s worth of hatred. As his legs pumped, he began to melt, his clothes falling away, his body distorting until he, too, was in bear shift. His enormous head loomed closer and closer. The sound of his paws pounding on the floor, over glass, over bodies scattered from one end of the big room to the other, resonated in her ears.

  In that moment, that paralyzing, heart-pounding moment, she froze.

  He was going to kill her. He’d win. He’d succeed in finishing what he’d started.

  All the ugly words and cruel jaunts raced through her mind. A year’s worth of healing and fighting her way back into shape would be for nothing.

  She was nothing. He’d said she was nothing. A no one. And now, he’d win.

  Helplessness swarmed her, invaded her, took hold of her, shaking her to her core.

  You’re nothing, Teddy!

  No! Nonono!

  Anger welled, rising up, shoving its way through all the ugly words, the cruel taunts, and a surge of anguish catapulted her to shift. Rage fueled her rapid change, her bones jolted, cracked, realigned—and then she roared.

  A roar of raw fury, an ear-shattering screech of a declaration.

  This was motherfucking war.

  Darnell began to lob fireballs just as Teddy rose on her hind legs and Dennis barreled toward her. Smoke filled the room, the plastic curtain melted, sending up a rancid stench. Darnell caught Dennis in the hide, but it was as if he was unaware his fur was burning because Dennis kept coming at her.

  Matching his growl, Teddy charged, falling to all fours, rooting her paws into the ground with each stride.

  She headed straight for him—everything else around her blurred. The bullets, the screams of fear, pain. The scent of blood. All of it faded and it was just she and Dennis.

  They crashed into each other, the power of his bulky body pounding into hers, stealing the breath from her lungs.

  They fell to the ground, hundreds of pounds slamming to the floor, and then she was on top of him, victorious, heady with her coup.

  He struggled, bellowing his surprise and outrage, twisting his bulk to attempt to escape.

  But Teddy lifted her front paw high in the air, ready to swipe at his throat, prepared to wipe his useless ass from the face of the planet—and then she heard Stas, far off and almost distant, leaving her surprised he hadn’t shifted, too. His voice clear, his words succinct and deadly.

  “Kill them!” Stas hollered the order to the two men left standing. But Wanda went for them, with Darnell hot on her heels. Wanda’s jaws opened wide as she made a dive for Bogdan, flattening him against the wall before they both crashed to the ground.

  From out of nowhere, Andre charged her Teddy, his fierce growl ringing out, reverberating in the fiery bar as he knocked her from Dennis, leaving Teddy crumpled in the corner.

  The pictures on the wall fell, cracking her on the head, splintered wood frames, aglow with flames, falling in her eyes.

  While Teddy fought to clear her vision and regain her bearings, a howl from Marty sang out as she leapt from one end of the bar, aimed right for Andre.

  So many things happened at once then. Just as Teddy was regaining her footing, Stas appeared beside Andre, gun in hand as Marty in wolf form flew in a graceful arc, slicing the air.

  Teddy glimpsed Nina at the smashed window, snow blowing around her dark beauty, her eyes assessing what was about to happen in less than a second.

  Stas had the gun pointed at Marty; he was going to shoot.

  Nina’s long limbs and dark hair flashed in Teddy’s line of vision, her body launching forward from the gaping hole in the window directly in front of Stas.

  She bellowed in an anguished cry of battle, “Not on my watch, motherfucker!”

  Just before Stas fired his gun—the blast ripping through the sounds of grunts and howls.

  In that split-second, that horrible, terrifying second, Teddy saw Nina’s face. Beautiful, full of anguish, fear riddling her deep dark eyes, before she went limp from the impact of the bullet.

 
Marty was in danger, and Nina had protected her. Just like always. Just like all the stories she’d listen to them laugh over while they’d made dinner and played board games. Not heeding the words of her friends, throwing herself without thought into the line of fire. Because Marty was her friend.

  Nina crumpled to the ground, an ugly crimson splotch spreading where her heart beat.

  Marty’s head reared back, her mournful cry filled with sorrow.

  And that was when Teddy recovered her mojo.

  No one was supposed to die. These people weren’t supposed to sacrifice themselves in her stead. The plan had been so simple. Get in. Get Stas’s confession on record, call the cops. Go home.

  But nothing had gone as planned, and even if it meant doing life, Teddy wanted someone to die. She wanted everyone who’d hurt Cormac and these people she admired to die.

  She wanted it to hurt. Hurt so bad they prayed for death.

  With that one mission in mind, Teddy saw red, a red haze of an agonizing death, washing over Stas and the last of his still-standing goons and Dennis.

  That was when she reared up and ran, head down, eyes glazed, straight at Dennis and Stas.

  She heard nothing, saw nothing but the end goal.

  Yet, even as she launched herself at them, Dennis was gearing up, too, and he sprang into action alongside Stas, who shifted where he stood. Powerful and wicked with rage, Stas rocketed into an all-out assault.

  The pair of them coming at her, all thick muscle and fur, didn’t daunt her even a little. The moment had come to wipe the earth of their scourge.

  Teddy roared one last time, her final wail of fury, before she set her sights on ramming into them.

  Stas’s teeth were barred, ready to sink into her flesh. Dennis, too, had widened his mouth, his yellowed chops dripping his special brand of angry venom.

  And then she stumbled, lost her footing on someone’s gun.

  A fireball screamed through the air, disorienting her, and Stas and Dennis took that opportunity to pounce.

  The force of their weight blew her into the wall, sheetrock crumbling around her.

  This was it. The moment men like Stas and Dennis won. She knew it. She was prepared for it even as she vowed to struggle to her death.

  Until there was another shriek, deep and heated, shaking the entire room.

  Cormac’s bulky body shot forward, and with his head down, he crashed into Stas and Dennis, knocking them clear across the room and almost over the bar

  He didn’t stop to catch his breath. No, he rushed them, didn’t give them the chance to regain their footing before he was on Dennis’s back and Wanda was on Stas.

  Dennis rolled and went for Cormac’s throat with a screech of torment, his jaws but a half-inch from the meaty flesh. However, Cormac was too quick. He raised his paw high in the air and took a long swipe.

  The tear of flesh made a sickening ripping noise, blood spurting from Dennis’s throat in gushes of thick red as he went limp.

  Cormac huffed, his broad chest heaving, his nostrils flaring before he let his head fall between his shoulders and his shift began to take hold.

  Wanda held Stas on the ground, her body realizing its human shape once again.

  Arch was there just as sirens rang out in the distance, throwing clothes at Wanda and Marty, who crawled to where Nina lie, her sobs cutting through the wail of the police cars Arch and Nina had been told to call if they were in the bar too long.

  Carl appeared, his greenish-pale face a mask of pain. But he handed clothes to Cormac and Teddy so they could dress before the police arrived. Just like they’d planned if the confession didn’t work out and they were attacked.

  The only part of the plan that had worked.

  Cormac rushed to Teddy, helping her pull on an oversized shirt and some sweats, quickly zipping up his jeans and pulling her to him for a quick, silent hug before he jammed his feet into his scattered boots and went to help Wanda.

  “I’ve got him, Wanda,” Cormac whispered as he helped her up and away from an unconscious Stas, keeping his eyes on her face. “Dress. Hurry. He won’t go anywhere.”

  Darnell ran from body to body, searching until he found Dennis, his face grim.

  “What do we do next?” Cormac asked from the glass-covered floor where small fires burned, sending tendrils of acrid smoke upward to the ceiling.

  Darnell dug into the deep pocket of his jeans and pulled out the recorder, instantly covered with blood from his fingers, and handed it to Cormac. “You give this to the po-po. Don’t lose track of it. The rest, I got, man. Go. Be ready just like we planned,” he urged with a slap to his shoulder before he turned and stooped to haul up Dennis’s lifeless body. Throwing him over his shoulder, Darnell was gone in the blink of an eye.

  Teddy knelt next to Marty, pushing her hair, soaked in blood and sweat, back from her face as she coaxed her arms into a sweater she’d never in a million years wear and begged her to put her pants and shoes on. “Please, Marty. I’ll help you. Get dressed before the police get here. We have to stick to the plan.”

  Marty did as she was told, rushing and shaking as she did all the things she should, and then she was beside Nina again, stroking her hair, pressing her cheek to her friend’s.

  Teddy fought a scream of frustration and sorrow as she pressed the sleeve of her sweatshirt against Nina’s wound, her breathing shallow and labored. “Where is the ambulance?” she asked, on the verge of hysteria. “We need help now!”

  Suddenly the room filled with paramedics, who whisked Nina away on a sterile cot, hooking her up to an IV and blood-pressure cuff. The police entered right behind them, their eyes wide at the carnage, astonished that Cormac had Stas naked and pinned to the floor.

  And there were questions, and more questions, and chaos, and crime-scene tape and chalk outlines and Cormac handing over the evidence they’d gathered, relaying the events of the night. There was Carmine, huddled and shaking so violently, he had to be carried out on a stretcher in handcuffs. And all Teddy could think was, she needed to get to the hospital to be with Nina.

  And then she remembered Carl. Oh God. Where was Carl?

  Carl, who’d done everything he was told to do, while looking almost catatonic. Teddy pushed her way through the throng of police and outside, where onlookers gawked. Cormac followed, gripping her hand to keep her close.

  Then she saw him.

  Propped weakly against a pole, his eyes wide, his torment crystal clear.

  “Move!” she shouted to the people milling about him.

  She reached out her hand to him, thrust it through the crowd and gripped his cold, stiff fingers, and he collapsed against her, his shoulders silently shaking.

  Cormac sheltered them from behind, keeping the press and stray ambulance chasers from invading their circle.

  Keeping them safe as Carl buried his face in her neck and they both cried.

  Chapter 16

  After they finished up the endless slew of questions the police lobbed at them, both alone and together, Teddy wanted to collapse, but as they entered the hospital, she knew she’d never sleep until she witnessed Nina was okay. There’d been plenty of questions, too. Like how four women and a man had overpowered Stas and his crew of gun-packers.

  Somehow, they’d both managed to satisfy the police who seemed more interested in Carmine Ragusi and his wild tale of werewolves and bears.

  Cormac pulled her close when she’d answered the last inquiry and the police wrapped things up and let her go—for now, according to them. There would be later questions she’d have to answer—questions they’d all have to answer.

  “I can’t believe he killed his partner like it was no big deal,” Teddy mumbled. It had, in fact, been Mauricio who was murdered that night in the dealership, and Carmine had, in fact, led the police to believe it was his partner who was dabbling in the mob. Which led the police to keep things as quiet as possible.

  During the course of the night, Carmine Ragusi confessed to the m
urder of his partner and the cover-up and his connections to Stas Vasilyev. He’d also revealed where his partner’s body was buried, and that meant Mauricio’s family would finally have some closure.

  Teddy had heard a lot of mumbled chatter from his fellow police officers about Carmine and the story he told of bears and werewolves, all of which his now former colleagues were sure to talk about for years to come.

  Cormac pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “That son of a bitch had some racket going on. It was a lot of cash.”

  To say the least. But Teddy didn’t give a rat’s ass about Carmine or Stas or anything else but Nina.

  The nurses directed them to the waiting room on the third floor of the ICU and as they rode the elevator, Teddy sucked in gulps of air for courage. Covered in blood and smeared with black soot, she refused to give in to tears.

  Nina needed all the strength she could gather, and she’d hate everyone crying over her.

  Straightening her shoulders, Teddy saw the desk at the ICU was empty, so she and Cormac made a break for Nina’s room unnoticed.

  As they slipped inside, Teddy clung to Cormac’s hand as he led her to an empty chair.

  Marty sat next to her friend, and who Teddy assumed was Nina’s husband, Greg, sat across from her. He was beautifully handsome, classically perfect in so many ways, just like Nina said. But his eyes…his eyes were haunted, riddled with agony, raw with emotion as he held his wife’s hand next to his cheek.

  Marty laid her head on Nina’s belly, closing her eyes and gripping her friend’s hand. “Damn you, Statleon. You should have just let me turn you when I offered. But no. Nooo. You were far too busy with buckets of chicken wings and brewskies to worry about the fact that you’re not like us anymore. Too busy pretending to be a badass to realize there won’t be any self-healing this time. You won’t look at that fucking hole in your chest like all you need is a Band-Aid and a pint of O neg…”

  Marty paused, her breath shuddering in and out of her lungs, her head lifting to reveal blue eyes filled with sorrow so deep, Teddy had to look away before she shattered in a million pieces.