"It was just a dumb thing. A couple of years back, there was another pack, and they were moving in on our territory. So we dealt with them." He refused to make eye contact with her, pointedly avoiding her gaze.
"You fought them?" She prompted him.
"Yeah. No-one was badly hurt but it was…scary, seeing what shifters can do to each other. Seeing Win like that downstairs, it just reminded me…" he shook his head, as if trying to dismiss the thoughts from his brain.
"Is that why you didn't go out there to fight in the first place?" Iris nodded out over the hills. It had been odd-seeing pretty much everyone else run out into the storm as soon as they heard there was something wrong, while Ian stayed behind. It wasn't that she thought he was a coward-just that it was strange he didn't go out to fight with his pack.
"Yeah," he mumbled. "It never really, it scared me, seeing that much power, seeing the power I had when I didn't keep it in check."
"But that doesn't happen every time you shift, right?" She cocked her head at him curiously.
"I don't know," he admitted. " I haven't shifted since then."
"What? You said it was…?"
"Three years ago." He nodded, and Iris' mouth fell open.
"Isn't it bad for you? Not to shift for that long, I mean?"
"I don't think so, but sometimes it feels as if it's going to burst out of me when I least expect it," he shook his head. "It's….I just keep remembering how much I lost control, and the thought of that happening again really doesn't sit right with me."
"So what will you do if you have to fight them?" Iris demanded bluntly. If she was stuck with, she wanted to know at least that he could defend himself, let alone her.
"I'll try hand-to-hand, I guess? I don't even know if I can shift any more. It's been such a long time since I last…." His words trailed off, as if he was trying to dredge up distant memories. "I can barely remember what it feels like, you know?"
"Do the rest of them know you don't shift?" Iris pushed further. This was all so odd to her.
"I don't think they've ever noticed," he replied, "I mean, we go out shifting together once in a while, but I usually just let them split up off ahead of me and meet them back where we started. They just think I'm the most punctual bear in the world."
Iris giggled at the ridiculousness of his sentence, and Ian smiled at her, the tension ebbing out of his face as he did so.
"I don't think I'll ever shift again, if I get the choice," he admitted, stretching and shifting himself so he was a few inches closer to Iris. "I know that sounds odd but…it's not a part of me I want to explore anymore. I'm done with that."
Iris looked back at him, and saw a sudden vulnerability in his eyes; he had been so in-control up until that moment, but right there and right then, he looked a little lost, as if he didn't know how to handle the truth in what he had just said. She realized that he was closer than before, only a few inches away. If she reached out her fingertips, she could just about-
Before she had a chance to follow those thoughts through any further, the door flew open. They both jumped to their feet, and Iris felt a flash of embarrassment despite the fact she hadn't so much laid a finger on Ian. Ian hurried towards Adam, one of the other groomsmen, who was standing in the door frame with a look of pure panic on his face. And I immediately knew what was going on, as soon as the door had opened, I had felt that familiar prickle across the back of my neck.
"They're here," he murmured urgently, as if he didn't want Iris to hear. But Iris took a few steps closer, tilting her head so she could make out everything he was saying.
"Who's here?" She demanded.
"The wolves. They're here. Inside the hotel."
Iris felt another rush of adrenalin, but this one was powerful enough that it almost knocked her off her feet, her vision clouded, and her knees began to buckle underneath her. Ian grabbed her as she stumbled back, and held her close to his chest as he turned back to Adam.
"How many?"
"Five," Adam replied. "Is she okay…?"
"She'll be fine," Ian shot back as I pulled myself upright again, using the bedpost as leverage. "Do we know where they are?"
"Down in the lobby. We managed to get all the staff evacuated, but we're all scattered around the hotel."
"Are they just…waiting for us?" Iris asked incredulously.
"That's the thing. One of them, the alpha, I think, he hasn't shifted, he's human." Adam's eyes were wide and confused, and he was about to continue when another one of the bridesmaids, Maya, appeared behind him.
"Adam, we need to get everyone downstairs," she reminded him urgently, then shot a look inside the room at the two of us. "We'll have this under control in no time, yeah?"
"Why are we going downstairs?" Iris asked fearfully. "Why are we trying to get closer to them?"
"They…he wanted to see everyone. He said that he wouldn't hurt anyone else as long as he could have a chance to get his say." Adam explained, his eyes sliding away from her's, breaking contact.
"And you believed him?" Iris exclaimed. She'd seen the damage these animals, and they were animals, whether they were shifted or not, could do. She didn't want to be trapped in a hotel reception with them.
"The other option is to fight them, right here and now," Adam pointed out. "And we don't know how many people could get hurt or…worse."
The word hung in the air between them, heavy with implication. Iris glanced at Ian, who nodded grimly. Adam was right, they had to do what they could to avoid another skirmish with the wolves, even if it felt like the stupidest thing they could possibly have done at that moment in time.
As they walked out the door, Iris slipped her hand into Ian's without thinking. She just wanted some kind of comfort. Before, this had seemed so surreal it had been like an adventure, but now, faced with the prospect of coming up against a bunch of violent wolves who had already taken chunks out of various members of their party, it felt much more real and much more terrifying. Ian glanced up at her, and squeezed her hand gently, she felt a small wave of comfort brush across her as she looked into his eyes. She knew that he would do everything he could to protect her, and at least that was something.
They arrived in the reception hall a few moments after everyone else, the wedding party was crowded at one end of the room, and, at the other, the wolves were waiting. Two of them were prowling up and down just next to the door, their claws tapping threateningly on the polished wood floor. The other two were standing stock-still, flanking the human man who stood in the middle of all of them. Ian positioned himself in front of Iris, partially blocking her view, but she stood on tiptoes to peer over his shoulder. She had no idea what was about to go down, but her senses were telling her that it wasn't good.
"We're all here now," Dina spoke, her strangled voice cutting through the silence. "What do you want?"
The man with the wolves grinned and shook his head, glanced to the floor, then back up at Dina.
"You know what I want. You know." He took a few steps forward, and the wedding party tensed, tightening their ranks and drawing back. "I told you that if you ever tried this, if you ever really tried to be with someone else, I would get you out of it."
"I don't want you to get me out of this," Dina shot back, her voice sounding a little more assertive than before.
"You promised me," the man snarled, picking up his pace so he was striding towards her. "You told me that you never wanted to be with anyone else."
"I was wrong," Dina spat back, and the man came to a sudden stop. Time seemed to stand still for a second as he pondered her words. Iris realized she was holding her breath.
"There's nothing I can do to make you change your mind?" He asked. "You remember all the good times, Dina, I know you do. You remember how good we were together?"
"I remember how you cheated on me and lied to me and made me feel like I had to earn you," Dina replied, taking a step towards him. Her fiancé jumped forward, trying to pull her back, but she shook him off
. It sounded as if these were words she'd wanted to get out for a long time now, and she wasn't about to pass up the opportunity to say them.
"I kept you safe," he spat in response. "You think anyone here can do that for you as well as I can? You think he can?"
He gestured towards her fiancé derisively, and Dina reached out for her partner's hand, squeezing it tightly.
"Better than you ever could," she whispered, her voice full of certainty. The man looked taken aback, but what other answer was he expecting?
"Don't lie to me, Dina," he warned, approaching her once again. He was within a few feet of her now, and the wolves at either side of him weren't far behind. "I came all this way to prove to you that I still want you, that I'll do anything to have you. Isn't that worth something?"
"It isn't worth a thing to me," Dina answered firmly. "You aren't worth a thing to me. I don't know how I can make that more clear than I already have."
The man was so close now that Iris could see the look of disappointment flood his face as soon as the words came out of Dina's mouth. It looked like someone had punched him in the stomach, I couldn't imagine what would drive someone to do everything he had done to try and win Dina back, but clearly getting rejected had not even crossed his mind as a possibility.
"I don't even know why you think coming here would change my mind," Dina continued, raising her voice, clearly on a roll. "What, you thought I would run away with you and leave all of this behind?"
She gestured round at everyone, her husband-to-be, her wedding party, the hotel, and then looked back at him, her face set.
"If you leave now, we won't call the police. But that's only if you leave now."
Her voice was full of threat, and Iris had to admit she was impressed, she didn’t think Dina had it in her. Hell, she didn't know anyone who had it in themselves to stand up to a group of wolf-shifters the way she was right then. The man's face hardened, wiping away any trace of vulnerability that might once have been there. He pushed his head close to Dina's, and she stood firm, staring him dead in the eye.
"And what are you going to do about it if we don't?"
"What?" Dina shot back. Clearly this hadn't been in the game plan.
"That storm isn't going to let up for at least another day. Nobody's getting on to the island, not even the police. So your threats don't mean anything to me. In fact, I would suggest you take them the fuck back before you piss one of us off." His voice was full of menace, and I saw Dina's steely façade drop in a moment. She closed her eyes, tilting her head down.
"Please, just leave," she begged. "I don't want anyone else getting hurt and none of this…it's not going to change my mind. Do you get that yet, Freddy?"
He stared down at her, his face twisted up into a sadistic smile, and shook his head.
"It's not about changing your mind. It's about taking back what's mine."
"I've told you, just because you turned me-"
Iris would never have believed it if she hadn't heard it there and then, but an actual gasp came out of everyone in the wedding party. Iris looked to Dina's fiancé, his face didn't register any surprise, so he must have already known. Everyone else, though? Not so much.
"I was going to give you everything. We could have been together forever, running this pack, but you left me. But I still own you." He cut across her.
"You don't own anything about me," she spat in return. "You're a cheating, lying piece of shit, and I hope you rot in hell."
"You really think you can make things work with some human?" Freddy gestured derisively towards Tom, and Tom flinched back.
"Better than I ever could with you," she hissed in response, and in the moment that followed, it felt as if everything exploded into chaos.
Freddy shifted in a matter of seconds, Iris had never seen it in person before, and she barely had a second to take it in before almost everyone else around her had changed too. The only people left standing were the bridesmaids, Tom, and, of course, Ian.
Lorne, the bridesmaid with the short hair, quickly stepped in front of everyone and ushered them back a few paces. Iris stumbled over her feet, her senses working in overdrive as she tried to process everything around her. The wolves and bears came against each other hard and fast and furiously, the groomsmen were quick to deal with the wolves, but Dina was brawling angrily with Freddy, snapping and snarling and pacing around him. Iris couldn't take her eyes off of her, how had she not realized Dina was like that? How had no-one else? The bear pack seemed pretty attuned to the scent of other shifters, so how did Dina fly under the radar?
There was no time to ponder on it for two long, as the battle broke out in full fury around then. The reception area was already destroyed, smashed glass, counters tipped over, plants crashing to the ground. Iris' eyes were darting round the room, trying to take it all in, but Ian was already hustling them up the stairs.
"Come on, come on," he murmured, casting nervous glances over his shoulder as he drove them forward. "You'll get hurt down here, please."
Lorne cocked an eyebrow at him, and stayed where she was, it didn't look like she was going anywhere. One of the other bridesmaids, Tom's sister, Iris thought, had run off to stand with her brother. But the three of us who remained took the steps two at a time, sprinting towards safety, or, at least, safety for now. The two bridesmaids ahead of her had already vanished into their rooms when Iris went over on her foot, coming to a standstill and grabbing her ankle.
"Shit!" She hissed, and Ian stopped.
"What is it?" He demanded, but before she had a chance to answer, his face dropped. Iris slowly turned her head, and saw that, just behind her, one of the wolves had followed them up the stairs. It's hackles were raised, and it had flecks of blood smattered along its teeth.
In one motion, Ian grabbed Iris by the arm and pulled her up the stairs, she landed hard on her hurt foot, and turned to see where the wolf had gone. But by the time she looked, Ian had shifted, and his enormous bear form was blocking off the narrow corridor.
Iris' eyes widened, and she scurried hastily up the stairs, her heart slamming against her ribs. He said he would never do it again. Why now? Was it her? She dragged herself back to Ian's room, finding the door unlocked, and collapsed inside. As soon as the door was shut, she pressed her ear up against the wood and tried to make out what was happening on the outside.
She could hear snarling and snapping, but nothing conclusive, she couldn't tell whether the wolf or Ian had the upper hand. And the fight was still going on downstairs-she could make out the sounds of a conflict. She squeezed her eyes shut, and the first face that popped into her mind was Abby's, oh God, Abby. Panic washed over her like ice water. She needed to get back to her as soon as she could, she needed to cradle her in her arms and promise her than she would never let her get put in the danger she was in. Ellie had been right, and Iris wouldn't be surprised if she knew something was going on right at that very instant. How had it come to this? This was meant to be nothing more than a wedding, a trip away to give Iris a break from the banality of her life. But now all she wanted was the normalcy, the averageness. She would have given anything to have all of that back.
Suddenly, the door burst open, she jumped back, landing on her bad ankle, and fell against the bed. She tried to scramble to her feet, reaching for a hairbrush that was sitting on the counter next to her, anything to defend herself with, until she felt a pair of familiar hands on her, comforting her.
"Hey, hey, it's alright, it's me," Ian soothed her as she tried to twist out of his grip. It took a moment for the panic to dissipate-and then she looked up into his eyes, and she felt safe.
"Are you, what happened-I-" She stuttered, unable to get a grip on her words.
Edward (BBW Western Bear Shifter Romance) (Rodeo Bears Book 1) Page 47
